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You Have A Fair Amount Left To Learn - Jamurai's MK Notes

You Have A Fair Amount Left To Learn - Jamurai's MK Notes

Game Versions
Smash Wii U
Introduction

Hello, I'm Jamurai and this is my Meta Knight (MK) guide. It is sort of different to your conventional guide; it is a set of notes I created to help myself become a better MK player, rearranged in a more guide-like format and added to, to help others who aspire to become a bat ball master.

If you're after another guide all about Meta Knight and his moves and techniques from someone more experienced, look no further than Bonk!'s guide.

:4metaknight:
A little about myself and why I wrote this, I finally got my hands on Smash for Wii U in May 2015 and was excited to pick up MK as my main, since I knew he is not the broken monster he used to be in Brawl. After messing around trying out lots of characters for a month or two, I have decided to stick with MK (unless Isaac is confirmed... and is good ;)) (Jan 2016 - RIP). He is so fun to play but I did not realise how complicated he was, and that he is much more difficult to play than I thought, or rather, he has a high skill floor.

I lurked the MK boards at first but I soon became somewhat active in asking questions and scouring them for information. At this time it was accepted that the boards were the only properly reliable place for information on MK. It took me a fair few hours but I've consolidated the fundamental stuff into a few pages of practical notes.

This character has been gaining popularity as top level players from multiple regions such as Abadango (Apr 2016 - RIP), Ito and Leo show what he can do in the competitive scene, and so it is to be expected that more and more players will be trying him out and picking him up. Hopefully, this guide saves new bats the trouble of trawling the boards for the information they need, and gives them a starting point as to what they need to get down and be consistent at first before they try footstool combos and whatnot.


UPDATE, JAN 2016: 'Contents' and 'Uair combos' sections added.


Contents
  • Meta Knight overview
  • Five important moves
  • Five lacklustre moves
  • MK user sins
  • Strategies
    • Baiting
    • Recovering/ledge getups
    • Edgeguarding
    • Covering enemy getups
  • Combos and techniques
    • Essentials
    • Slightly more advanced
    • If you really want to...
  • Uair combos in 1.1.5
    • The basics and how-to
    • Setup moves
    • Kill % rough guide
    • Combo-affecting factors
    • Video examples
  • Misc. notes

Meta Knight overview


MK is a
bait and (whiff-)punish character. Once you're in, you can manhandle the opponent with combos, versatile strings and devastating edgeguards and juggles, but it's getting in that's the difficult part. MK's neutral game is lacklustre and somewhat linear, and is difficult to play out. However, he does have a fair few baiting options which he can mix up with and can adapt to the enemy's playstyle.

  • Watch the opponent a lot to gauge their habits, and punish them for being predictable
  • At the same time, you have to try to be unpredictable. Mix up your play
  • Be patient. Try to recognise when punishes are unlikely to come off and simply wait for another opportunity. This will be easier with experience
  • Be especially patient against characters without many kill options (eg. Sheik, Pikachu). Rage makes MK's combos and edgeguarding extremely dangerous
A list of things you should try to implement into your game:
  • Walking around rather than dashing, so you can still use tilts and can dash in either direction at any moment. Good in a lot of matchups but avoid doing it too much against characters who have similar or better mobility to MK (eg. Sheik).
  • Baiting airdodges is very powerful with MK, make sure you move with their body as you wait for it. For example, an airdodge read can lead to Tornado, Fsmash, or U-air into Up-B
  • Spotdodge and foxtrot are important. SHFF can be an interesting mixup and bait tool. Although MK's rolls are very quick, you should still try to do them rarely, using walking and dashing as your primary movement
  • Stay in mid range and pressure them from there with moves like spaced Fsmash. You're not Marth, but you can still abuse your disjointed hitboxes. Baits work well at this range and your dash attack and dash grab are hard to react to. The opponent also may just end up scared and/or frustrated and attempt to approach, which is exactly what you want
  • Pummel your opponent when you grab them at mid-high %s, unless using sliding F-throw. Free damage is good for low damage-per-hit characters like MK.
  • Advanced movement techniques including dance trotting and perfect pivoting will give you terrifying ground mobility and burst movement. MK is very scary when dashing
  • Setting C-stick to attack is optimal for this character, with trigger jump. This allows you to use PP tilts, easy walking Dtilts, and when combined with trigger jump, allows you to move quickly horizontally while using Uair or Dair
  • Baiting, edgeguarding aggressively and punishing ledge getups (see below)
.
Five important moves

These moves are MK's five best ones in my opinion, and are ones which you should master using to become a good MK player.

Shuttle Loop


Details: Aerial version starts on frame 7, deals 6% then 6% again for 12% total. Grounded version starts on frame 8, deals 9% then 6% for 15% total, and the finisher has higher knockback than the aerial version. Can be angled slightly more forward or upward.

The best Up-B in the game in my opinion, when combined with MK's other properties.
Difficult to challenge as a recovery, powerful, amazing range, can be used to great effect out of shield and out of dash, and can be set up into in a variety of ways including Uair, dash attack (DA), throws, and Dtilt (at high %s).

The use of this move is hard to master and it appears if used when not aware of its nuances, especially in the air. On the first hit of the aerial version, there is a
sweetspot which locks them in place for the second hit so it always connects. There is also a sourspot which launches them upwards into the path of the second hit, which may miss especially is MK has rage. However, this can work to your advantage if you expect it because it lifts them higher before being hit by the finisher, which can be the difference between ending their stock and not doing so, especially after a Uair combo for example. One can also angle the Up-B to predict and catch DI angles.

The grounded version has a
surprisingly large scooping hitbox in front of and slightly below MK, similar to Doc's Up-B. It comes out fairly quickly (frame 8) which makes it great when jump-cancelled out of shield. It also catches opponents hanging on the ledge when used on-stage. The grounded version's finisher has very high knockback and can end light characters from ~110% or less. At kill %, this can be set up into by Dtilt, followed by dashing after them and using it when they hit the ground or tech.

Shuttle Loop is
one of MK's safer recovery options, but be careful because strong hitboxes like Ganon and Falcon's Dairs (from experience... ouch) can trade or outright beat the first loop if timed correctly. If you catch someone on the way up with both hits and snap the ledge, you can ledge jump and combo it into a second Up-B or Uair > Up-B for big damage and potentially a stock. There is a spot far down, almost vertically below the ledge where is Up-B is used, you will snap the ledge very quickly without doing the second loop, making it even safer.

This move is also great for
punishing airdodges, as well as opponents who like to
recover high, a good example being Diddy Kongs using Side-B all day. Make them pay for trying it against you, and make them afraid to be above you.

.
Dash attack

Note: this move is not as disjointed as it appears here, as the gfy does not show model stretching; MK's foot elongates in-game.

Widely thought of as the best dash attack in the game, and for good reason.
Frame 7 startup, covers a wide area in front of MK, crosses up the opponent making it fairly safe on block, amazing combo starter and whiff-punishment tool.

First and foremost, those who use this move well may make it look ridiculous, but despite what some say it's
not a move which can be spammed or used lazily against decent players. It needs to be crossed up on block or it's a free shield grab, and despite its properties, when used too much it gets predictable which is never a good thing. Whenever I panic a bit and get DA-happy, I eat a walk-away or pivot Fsmash, which makes a light character like MK very sad.

This move is best used to
whiff punish opponents. If they miss a move in mid range against MK, they should receive a pointy boot to the face for their mistake. It's a fast, burst movement hitbox and is designed for this purpose. It's also good for other things such as catching landings and low short hops.

Dash attack has
three hitboxes, with three different angles it sends the opponent at. The first (DA1) sends them forward and up, and is the hitbox you would hit with if you spaced it so it would cross up, ie. the one closest to MK's body. The third (DA3) sends opponents almost straight upwards and the hitbox is located on the toe, but is very unsafe on block. It also does 1% less damage. The second (DA2) is quite difficult to aim for, as it is the hitbox in between DA1 and DA3, and sends them at an angle in between the previous two.

At low %s, dash attack can
combo into a variety of things, including Tornado, most aerials, and even itself (against fast fallers who DI down + away). At mid %s, it only combos into Uair and Up-B, and at high %s it only combos into Up-B, and that's if they DI poorly (ie. not away). DA3 is the best hitbox for comboing because it sends opponents straight up and it is more difficult to DI out of followups; for DA1, DIing away limits what MK can get. However, DA3 is much less safe. My advice is to use it for hard punishes only.

Instant dash attack is a very easy and useful technique any MK player should make use of. To perform it, smash your control stick to the side and the C-stick down or up. Your dash attack will then come out on frame 7 from a standstill. If you try to do this with A instead, you will perform a stutter step Fsmash.

Fsmash

Dtilt

Bair

.
Five lacklustre moves

These moves are ones which may seem alright or even good at first, but in reality you should rarely use them as they are not that useful or are outclassed by other moves.

Fair

Jab

Utilt

Dsmash

Drill Rush

.
MK user sins: things to avoid/drop
  • Being predictable, not mixing up
  • Going for unsafe punishes or punishes which have a slim chance of coming off
  • Rolling too much
  • Using a lot of short hop aerials in neutral
  • Dropping kill confirms
  • Not baiting for punishes
  • Not baiting airdodges
  • Not using Bthrow or Uthrow near the ledge for more damage
  • Not pummeling at mid-high%s for more damage (except for running Fthrow)
  • Recklessly approaching
  • Not crossing through the opponent with dash attack when approaching
  • Not using Tornado

Strategies

Baiting:
  • Being in mid range increases the chance the opponent will approach you thinking they can attack you because you're vulnerable. Think of the range of Charizard's Fire Breath, minus where Mario can Ftilt you from
  • Foxtrotting and dance trotting mixed up with normal walking and dashing
  • Dash into shield, foxtrot away or backroll
  • Tornado and DCape cancel, Drill bouncing off the floor (admittedly rarely used)
  • Fsmash has surprisingly low lag, especially compared to the Fsmashes of other characters. Throw it out and react to your opponent:
    • Fsmash again!
    • Dtilt (very quick)
    • Shield, then shield grab or Up-B OOS
    • Or the usual dash attack (DA) or dash grab.
  • SHFF/empty hop into grab etc.
  • MK's perfect pivot is quite long and useful to space and bait
Recovering/ledge getups:
  • Safest recovery is usually to use multiple jumps to go low, then recover with Up-B
  • Drill and DCape are other options you can use to mix it up
  • Ledge jump + Dair
  • Neutral getup + Ftilt, Dtilt, or grab. Can forward roll afterwards too (but don't do it every time)
  • Use getup attack and roll getup rarely; roll getup is really slow and easy to punish on reaction
  • Mixups:
    • Drop down, double jump, Uair/Fair
    • Drop down, Up-B (hold down after you Up-B in order to not grab the ledge before the second hit)
    • Drop down, DCape back onto the stage
Edgeguarding:
  • If they recover mid-low, have your back towards the opponent. Use the back hitbox of Nair which is disjointed and hits harder. You can also use Dair and Bair which are both very dangerous to characters with mediocre recoveries, especially if they lose their jump. Dair sends them at a semi-spike angle, and Bair scales with high % and rage extremely well
  • If they recover high, you can try to catch them with Uair or even Up-B. Baiting airdodges is key here, you could also go for full hop Tornado (for the autocancel) if you're confident of a read
  • Use Nair at the edge to hit characters with teleports (eg. Zelda, Sheik, Mewtwo) attempting to sweet spot it
Covering enemy getups:
  • Wait just outside getup attack range, between that and where they will be if they roll, and react to their option or read them based on their habits
    • Dash grab their neutral get up, pivot grab their roll
    • Uair a ledge jump, or Up-B if confident of a read. Baiting an airdodge is very possible here
    • Their drop down double jump aerial shouldn't reach, unless it's a projectile which you should be able to shield. Up-B OOS if they land on stage
    • If they wait, you should be able to dash and Up-B out of it and catch them with it once the invincibility wears off
  • Alternatively, stand a bit further forward, in between the edge and where they will roll to
    • This is a good position to take advantage of jab. It will cover neutral get up and ledge jump, and should clank with a lot of aerials. Fsmash acts similarly, it is safer and more powerful but less likely to connect because it isn't multi-hit. It will trade or outright beat aerials
    • React to a get up roll as normal
  • You can also just shield near the edge but not quite at it
    • If they drop down double jump aerial, or just wait, use Dair OOS
    • Shield grab their neutral getup, or DA their roll getup
    • Use Utilt against a ledge jump, you could also Usmash, Uair, or Up-B if confident of a read
  • Tornado also covers most options. If you use it often it can condition them to wait which gives free ledge trumps
  • If you ledge trump them, Bair, Dair or Uair them and then edgeguard
  • To punish regrabs it depends on the character, but use Fsmash, Up-B or Dsmash
  • Something to experiment with: standing on the edge facing the stage and jabbing the enemy's neutral getup will force MK off the edge, cancelling his jab lag, possibly leading to followups such as Up-B and Uair

Combos and techniques to focus on

MK has an interesting combo game. A lot of them are character- and percent-specific. However, some are (relatively) simple and are important to know for any aspiring MK player. The ones which I think a new-ish MK player should concentrate on learning first are listed here, they will enable you to dish out plenty of damage in your games.

Essential stuff:
  • Dthrow > Usmash/Nair or Nado or DA
    • Low %s: 0-10 (Usmash), 0-20 (Nado and DA)
    • Usmash and Nair are very reliable and work against any DI but do less damage than the other two options (counting followups from DA)
    • Tornado works against upwards or no DI; when SH'd and mashed properly, it should autocancel too
    • DA works against away or no DI
      • Bthrow also combos into DA at 0% and does more damage
  • DA or Fthrow or Dthrow > Up-B
    • Very wide range of %s until very high ones (~120)
    • If used as a primary damage racking tool, can stale Shuttle Loop quite hard, which as our main kill move could be a bad idea. This is our only combo option from mid %s and higher though
    • Can kill if Up-B is not stale
    • Can be punished at early %s after Up-B, but you should be using the previous combo at these %s anyway
    • Fthrow always needs to be a "dash throw": dash grab the opponent, neutralise the control stick and press forward immediately. You will throw them very quickly and slide along the floor afterwards. Fthrow is very hard to DI because it comes out so quickly, making the Up-B easy
    • Up-B out of dash is important here
    • Up-B from a jump at high %s to hit the sweetspot, but do it grounded at lower ones because it comes out faster
    • Angle your Up-B depending on opponent's DI
    • Use Dthrow if throwing from a standing grab, eg. pivot grabs
  • Grounded Up-B out of shield (OOS) and out of dash
    • Kills from about 110%
    • Input jump (cancels shield drop and dash) and then immediately Up-B (cancels jump)
    • Easy with tap jump, if you hate tap jump, like I do, I find binding jump to L/R works wonders (whichever you don't use for shield). Otherwise you have to move your thumb from Y/X to B extremely quickly, which is very difficult comparitively
Slightly more advanced, good to learn:
  • Dthrow > Fair > Up-B
    • Low-mid %s: 0-35
    • Works against upwards or no DI
    • From 0-15%, unless MK has rage, the Up-B can be airdodged but it's usually unexpected so it can work once. After that the opponent should mash airdodge so probably don't try it
  • Ftilt 1 > Up-B or grab or DA
    • The first hit of Ftilt into Up-B at 120%+ is an almost guaranteed kill setup; the only way it can be avoided is by a jump with a buffered airdodge
  • Dtilt > Up-B or DCape
    • High %s (~100+)
    • Dtilt landing can be teched, but it isn't easy because Dtilt is quick and the trajectory is horizontal
    • For lightweights, use Up-B from 100%, it kills often
    • For midweights, use Up-B from 110-115%+ (may not kill that early, depends on the stage and character)
    • For mid-heavyweights, use DCape from 110%; Up-B is likely to be stale and hence do less damage, and it should set you up for an edgeguard or at least a juggle
  • Fastfall (FF) Nair > DA
    • True combo at early-mid %s
    • Nice setup for Uair strings or simply an Up-B
  • Dtilt > Fsmash or DA or grab...
    • These work at early-mid %s
    • Reliable if Dtilt trips them
If you really want to:
  • DA or Fthrow ± DA or Bthrow + DA > Uair > footstool > FF Nair or FF Bair > DA or grab...
    • Works at very early %s
    • If you DA before the Uair, it should be SH, if not, FH
    • Try to only hit with one hit of Bair
    • Instead of FF Nair or FF Bair, you can let them bounce on the ground (footstools are not techable) and do up to 3 Dtilts to force them to do a neutral getup, followed by:
      • Tornado, for reliable damage
      • Fsmash, to get them offstage
An old video of Bonk! showing footstool combos (and pre-1.1.5 Uair combos):



Uair combos in 1.1.5

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

The changes

Farewell to Meta Knight's infamous
setup move > Uair x 1-6 > Up-B kill combo, which was compared to Brawl ICs chaingrab, and somewhat invaildated the concept of matchups for this character. In 1.1.5, Uair was reworked in the following ways:


Blah

Here are listed the effects of these changes:
  • If the opponent enters tumble state before the combo works on them, they can DI away and/or quarter circle SDI down and away, and they will escape easily.
  • This applies to the vast majority of characters. The only ones who are still susceptible are Jigglypuff, Rosalina, Peach and maybe a couple of others (needs testing).
  • Uair does not combo into itself at really low %s any more.
  • Uair > Bair can be escaped without an airdodge by more characters.
  • Uair's side hitboxes send opponents at a very horizontal angle, which means they don't link into Shuttle Loop well at all. However, the bigger central hitbox still works.

The best way to perform this combo is with trigger jump and C-stick attack. Using the trigger to jump instead of X, Y or tap jump and using the C-stick to input Uairs, this frees the control stick to be dedicated to horizontal movement. Without this setup, you are decreasing the speed with which you can move in the air which is important when chasing the opponent's DI, and Uair's side hitboxes' knockback. Also, a cool thing is if you hold down the trigger, whenever you input a Uair with the C-stick while MK's wings are out, you will double jump automatically.

To learn how to do this combo, I recommend using either ROB or Peach in training mode. These characters are piss easy to practise the combo on. However, once you have the inputs down, which shouldn't take long, move to
99-stock CPU matches ASAP. This is because in training mode, there is no staling or rage. Uairs stale naturally because you use many of them in this combo, so 99-stock matches help you to get used to Uair being stale which affects the combo greatly. You can also use a second controller and your foot to practise the combo while they are DIing away and so on.

.
Setup moves

There are four moves to set up Uair combos:

  • Dash attack
  • Down or forward throw
  • Utilt
  • SH or FH Uair
Dash attack is the easiest one to use, at low to mid %s it pops the opponent right above you. There are three hitboxes to dash attack, termed hitboxes 1 to 3 (H1-3). H2 is pretty similar to H1 and is difficult to specifically go for, so it is treated in the same way. H1 is when hitting with the majority of the foot and MK's body, and sends the opponent forward and up and deals 6% fresh. H3 is when hitting with the tip of the foot and sends the opponent almost straight upwards, however it deals 5% fresh which gives it overall less knockback. Because H3 sends the opponent straight up, you can combo into Uair at earlier %s than H1. It is also more difficult to DI away from MK. However, it is much less safe because it does not cross up on shield.

Down and forward throw are rarely used to set up Uair combos but they can work. Dthrow is only true if the enemy does not DI away, but this will very rarely happen vs a competent opponent because of the long animation. Fthrow is not true at most %s even when dash throwing because of its low hitstun, but it is very quick so the opponent may not airdodge in time if they are not expecting it, which makes it a decent mixup.

Utilt is mainly used out of Dtilt locks which are talked about below. The grounded (sourspot) hitbox is quite narrow, but if landed sends the opponent straight upwards which makes a Uair followup very easy. Perfect pivot Utilt is another way to land this move, this is not used often but may become a staple if PPs become common at top level play. This setup move combos at later %s than dash attack and has a wider range, but it is more difficult to land (unless the opponent is locked).

SH Uair is very useful in certain matchups, ie. those who love to approach from the air. A good example is ZSS, she loves to jump and throw out an aerial on the way down eg. Nair, but she is not good at using rising aerials. Thus if you read her jump and the % is right you can SH Uair and keep Uairing her until she dies to Shuttle Loop.

.
Combo-affecting factors

Rage: Rage increases the knockback dealt by all your moves, so as one gains rage, combos will work at earlier %s. As a general rule of thumb, with 100% rage, Uair combos will start working at around 10% earlier. As a result, Puff, Peach and Rosa can all be 0-deathed if MK has rage.

Uair staling: As you use Uair repeatedly over the course of a match, the move will stale and it will do less damage and knockback (-0.5% dmg per hit). As a general rule of thumb, for every 0.5% damage reduction, the minimum combo % increases by 1. This is a very good thing, not only because you can combo at later %s but also the range widens as well. Because it deals less knockback you can land more Uairs and get them very close to the top blastzone more often, which you need to be able to kill the opponent with Shuttle Loop.


Bair + Dtilt lock: Bair is an autolink multihit move which means you will carry your opponent with you while doing the multihits, similar to Fox's Fair for example. Fastfall (FF) Bair into the ground can set up the opponent to be locked with Dtilt. You can lock them with walking Dtilt up to three times, then they will do a forced getup. This is a perfect time to use a setup move for a Uair combo, most commonly Utilt but dash attack also works.

FF Bair can be teched but there is a relatively small window to tech it and it can be unexpected. You can
vary the amount of Dtilts to tailor their % to when they can be finished off, similar to how you can vary how much damage Tornado does to do the same thing out of DA > Tornado. There are multiple ways to set up FF Bair, for example:

  • Dthrow or DA > turnaround Uair > FF Bair (the main way)
  • (Dthrow or DA >) SH Uair > Uair > FF Bair
  • Dthrow > perfect pivot SHFF Bair or RAR FF Bair
  • F/Bthrow > DA > Uair > FF Bair
.
Video examples

Ito shows correct and incorrect FF Bair practice. The first stock is correct form where he fast falls after the second hit connects. The second stock is incorrect, here he fast falls before the second hit connects which causes the opponent to bounce fully, which they can react out of and maybe punish you.


Miscellaneous notes
  • Instant dash attack: Smash control stick left or right + smash C-stick down
  • Dthrow, run after opponent, they may airdodge for fear of Up-B or whatever = free Tornado, or RAR Bair for the kill at mid-high %s
  • Tornado goes through weak projectiles and can catch enemies in their end lag, similar to Drill
  • Rising Dair is a good cover for a whiffed DA
  • From 0-55%, Dtilting an opponent off a platform makes them "pratt fall", similar to footstool falling, which can be followed up in a similar way to a footstool
Author
Jamurai
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Latest updates

  1. Uair combos section finished

    Finished text and added video examples
  2. DA > Uairs > Up-B % guide added

    Rest of section still in progress
  3. Dedicated Uair combos section added

    Not complete, should be finished tomorrow

Latest reviews

Very Outstanding and accurate to us Meta Knight mains
Very detailed and informative, a useful resource both for people who want to understand Meta Knight in greater detail (for better or worse). Great job!
Shhhhhh people arnt soppost to know about this.....
Awesome guide man! This is just what I needed. I've felt so helpless making the transition from Brawl with so few resources out there, but this is a really well put together all-in-one resource. Thank you!
By far the best guide.
gud
Very nice guide mate.
Jamurai
Jamurai
How dare u
Great work! Detailed and well organized.
Very good guide! I'm trying to improve my MK and I've learned very useful tips and I love the way everything is explained. Good job!
This is a very detailed guide! Extremely well done!
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