Good stuff, @
ぱみゅ
. I've mostly said my piece but there are a few things I'd like to point out to you.
I probably should have mentioned this point before but MK's range
issue only applies to F-Tilt and maybe D-Tilt. The reason why is that, unless I'm mistaken, aerials don't clash. That means that, due to MK's sword, he wins aerial trades from the primarily punching & kicking cast by virtue of having no hurtboxes on his blade. This also goes for Nado too in some cases. (Another reason you should jump slightly before you Nado: transcendent hitboxes)
So when you take aerials out of the equation, (Up-Air & D-Air are honestly pretty fantastic anyway post-patch) where are MK's range problems?
Up-tilt has deceptively great anti-air range and beats any aerial above MK due to the aforementioned aerial mechanics, Down-Tilt is serviceable, and his Smash Attacks are on par or even better than any non-swordsman. I'm not about to call MK's range bad because of one garbage F-Tilt, especially because this MK is barely attempting to space his moves half the time due to his very Melee-esque play-style. I mean we've already established that we're not short-hopping F-Air and Dash Attack/Dash Grab are nothing short of amazing, so where is the range issue functionally? I think it's not a range issue but just MK's lack of a safe poking option that people seemingly want.
To add to that, MK's tilts are little more than "get off me" options in most cases. His big tools are Dash Grab, Dash Attack, D-Air, Nado, and the combos/options he gets off them with Smash Attacks being for punishment or KO power. So saying MK's tilts lack range is like saying Fox's Blaster lacks knockback, it's not really the point of the option. Even if F-Tilt had range, Dash Attack or Dash Grab would be better options most of the time anyway because Dash Attack is still safer on shield and either one would yield combo options which MK needs to rack-up damage.
I should probably back up to when I said MK has a "Melee-esque play-style." That's honestly just how I play MK, I play very aggressively on-stage with Dash Attacks, Dash Grabs, Tornadoes, and combos. I've never mained MK in Brawl so I never had the baggage of "
it's MK, I have to space and poke" when playing Sm4sh. I genuinely play MK like a high-level Melee Fox. I don't space you out, I open you up. I don't attempt to hit you for a 7% damage F-Tilt or a 6% F-Air, I break your open via pressure or mix-ups and combo you for 26%. The most spacing I actively use for MK's own attacks is deciding which of Dash Attack's two hitboxes I need to use to combo you with, D-Air spacing, or choosing when to fast-fall during an Up-Air chain to continue it. If you jump, I'll Up-Air you to the ceiling or just Nado OoS. I use a Wii U Pro Controller so due to that button layout I can Nado OoS or just Jump Nado in general without fail. In fact I really abuse Nado up-close, probably a little more than I should but the damage it nets is worth the risk; and because I jump Nado, I can always rise to the height where nado loses its landing lag so it's not nearly as punishable as it would be if I just grounded nadoed. The most anyone could get off a whiffed nado from me is an uncharged smash attack. (Keep in mind that Nado's horizontal movement speed is faster than a lot of character's running speed so I can boogie-away if needed.)
To add to that I've consistently beat ZSS player, Suyon, and Greninja player, Kero, two players that I not only consider two of the best in my region but two of the most cautious players I've ever had the pleasure of fighting in grand finals sets. If my seemingly reckless, aggressive MK play-style can get past their bait & punish play-styles, that's proof enough to me that I might be on the right track with this character and I'm definitely keen on sharing it soon with the rest of the board.
The next tournament I'll be at isn't until the 20th due to a family gathering today but I plan or bringing an SD card to get replays of every single tourney match I have (hopefully) so you'll see a lot of my MK in video soon. I might do a video showing off combos or just online matches before then now that classes are over but that depends of a few other factors. I got big plans for this character.