Ulevo
Smash Master
Alright, so I had a bunch of matches today, and thus this discussion is here. Throughout my matches I noticed times when my Shuttle Loop kills were really consistent, and other matches where my opponent would for some seemingly unknown reason get out of what I thought was a guaranteed combo. I have also seen posts on here with complaints about Shuttle Loop hitting them out of the way of the 2nd hit with the 1st hit, which I also started experiencing in training mode when I got home to test it.
So. I suspect that rage might have something to do with part of this nonsense. However! I figured out something that might be causing Meta Knight to miss his Shuttle Loop's second hit: you can angle it. Try it. If you hold back, he goes more vertically upward. If you hold it forward, he goes more on a 45 degree.
Some other factors at work here. There are two primary ways to link in to Shuttle Loop. First is the dash attack, and the second is the forward throw. Something I noticed is that dash attack has two primary hit boxes, one when it first comes out, and one that lags behind. In training mode, you can tell which is which since the initial hit box will do 6% while the secondary meaty hit will do 5%. If you hit an opponent with the initial hit box, it will send them more in front of you horizontally. If you hit them with the weaker hit box, it will send them more straight above you. How you effectively combo them seems to really depend on which part of the dash attack you use. Also, as far as I can tell, I think linking in to Shuttle Loop from forward throw requires you to get momentum from the dash, meaning you can't link the combo if Meta Knight is standing still before he throws.
I don't have anyone to test this with since I'm home now, and no second controller. I need people to check this stuff out and see if you can DI in such a way where these don't allow Meta Knight to link. I feel like whether or not Meta Knight can reliably do this or not will heavily decide how good or bad Meta Knight is.
So. I suspect that rage might have something to do with part of this nonsense. However! I figured out something that might be causing Meta Knight to miss his Shuttle Loop's second hit: you can angle it. Try it. If you hold back, he goes more vertically upward. If you hold it forward, he goes more on a 45 degree.
Some other factors at work here. There are two primary ways to link in to Shuttle Loop. First is the dash attack, and the second is the forward throw. Something I noticed is that dash attack has two primary hit boxes, one when it first comes out, and one that lags behind. In training mode, you can tell which is which since the initial hit box will do 6% while the secondary meaty hit will do 5%. If you hit an opponent with the initial hit box, it will send them more in front of you horizontally. If you hit them with the weaker hit box, it will send them more straight above you. How you effectively combo them seems to really depend on which part of the dash attack you use. Also, as far as I can tell, I think linking in to Shuttle Loop from forward throw requires you to get momentum from the dash, meaning you can't link the combo if Meta Knight is standing still before he throws.
I don't have anyone to test this with since I'm home now, and no second controller. I need people to check this stuff out and see if you can DI in such a way where these don't allow Meta Knight to link. I feel like whether or not Meta Knight can reliably do this or not will heavily decide how good or bad Meta Knight is.