The data supplied for MK's planking is nearly enough proof to show that perfect planking is unbeatable. Not just really good, completely beyond the capacity of any human, regardless of skill, to counter except by never letting MK have the lead. That advantage is so great that I believe it would meet even the strictest criteria for a surgical ruling to limit planking.
You should have taken note of the "nearly" I put in there. The evidence is extremely strong, however given that it is within our capabilities to prove beyond any doubt that it is not possible to punish the vulnerability period of perfect planking, with the tools we have available (visible hitbubbles, psa, frame advance, skill trainers... I've been working on a research plan for this). It would be a large time and work commitment that would require several people working on it but it is possible to test, perfectly and completely, all the options that could be used against perfect planking and weigh them against the many permutations of planking the MK can take advantage of.
Basically create several frame accurate input maps for the best permutations of planking (variable spacing, frame perfect execution) and create a skill trainer based around this. In frame advance, using visible hitbubbles and with all the characters of A-tier or higher demonstrate that there is no safe way to position a hitbox to intercept MK during his frame of vulnerability on the down-b ledge regrab (the only true counter option to planking). Its frame perfect so skill and reaction time aren't an issue for the tester. If there is any option this would reveal it. Get video. On paper MK flat wins, but this would be concrete irrefutable proof of the broken nature of planking and you could even show this by making the plank trainer available, providing much more detailed info than even what DMG has (DMG is amazing though fo' reals), and having the visual proof that people unfamiliar with frame data analysis can understand more readily.
I hate the MK debate btw. I'm sure most of us do at this point, ESPECIALLY people who are conflicted about this and feel sort of alienated from both pro and anti-ban. This is my first major post regarding the issue and I hope it at least adds something new to the debate. Like many people I main metaknight in Brawl, and I am not persuaded by the pro-ban argument that he is detrimental to the game. Brawl is what it is, if I don't want to play it I'll play B+. MK has a really amazing set of capabilities and no hard counter. That's a reflection of the poor balance of this game, but not a reason to remove him. On the other hand if MK genuinely has a strategy that is proven as unbeatable, and which requires a surgical rule that hinders EVERY other character unnecessarily, than I would support either a ban or a lgl specifically targeting MK. Though people can argue that it is a slippery slope, this isn't really a substantive argument if there is a very specific problem and effective enforceable means to deal with it.
Don't flame me plz
