Strategies Against Projectiles?

[JDegner790]

Alright. So what I'm needing is, as the title explains, some way for Meta Knight to perform halfway decently against a character with projectiles. Dimensional Cape, unfortunately, does not work. As most Meta Knight players know by now, there's a little thing called invulnerability frames, and these aren't present for about half of the attack sequence. Furthermore, this move leaves Meta Knight incredibly vulnerable upon missing and gives plenty of time for the opponent in question to either 1) dodge roll out of the way, 2) grab Meta Knight and beat the snot out of him, or 3) **** him with a FSmash (Dedede, in particular).

The next move in question is Drill Rush. This is a more plausible option; but stronger projectiles such as Super Missiles and Pit's Palutena Arrows still hit and can leave Meta Knight vulnerable once again. Furthermore, even if no projectile interrupts the attack, the end of the attack leaves you vulnerable once again.

Then, we have Mach Tornado. Probably the easiest and most reliable option, this is what I've been using at the moment but it still doesn't seem to work well because when tilting the Control Stick, Meta Knight spins diagonally rather than horizontally and consequently sets himself up for a USmash or something of the like, which is usually far more deadly than the Waddle Dee or Arrow are.

So, any ideas?

PS. The final and most obvious option is to fly above said projectiles. However, given Meta Knight's somewhat disappointing aerial speed and altitude gain per jump, this also doesn't create any sort of solution to the problem because you simply get hit by the projectile during your jump. You will almost always be interrupted.

 

[Christova]

Alright. So what I'm needing is, as the title explains, some way for Meta Knight to perform halfway decently against a character with projectiles. Dimensional Cape, unfortunately, does not work. As most Meta Knight players know by now, there's a little thing called invulnerability frames, and these aren't present for about half of the attack sequence. Furthermore, this move leaves Meta Knight incredibly vulnerable upon missing and gives plenty of time for the opponent in question to either 1) dodge roll out of the way, 2) grab Meta Knight and beat the snot out of him, or 3) **** him with a FSmash (Dedede, in particular).

Agreed. Keep away from D-cape unless you're sure you can get a hit from it.

The next move in question is Drill Rush. This is a more plausible option; but stronger projectiles such as Super Missiles and Pit's Palutena Arrows still hit and can leave Meta Knight vulnerable once again. Furthermore, even if no projectile interrupts the attack, the end of the attack leaves you vulnerable once again.

I don't particularly like Drill Rush because it leaves you incredibly vulnerable, and many projectiles will still hit (I know pit's arrows, half of Samus's stuff, Din's Fire, and maybe even Wolf's pistol?).

Then, we have Mach Tornado. Probably the easiest and most reliable option, this is what I've been using at the moment but it still doesn't seem to work well because when tilting the Control Stick, Meta Knight spins diagonally rather than horizontally and consequently sets himself up for a USmash or something of the like, which is usually far more deadly than the Waddle Dee or Arrow are.

If you're careful about how often you press B during MT you'll be able to achieve a near-horizontal plane of travel. I'm not quite sure if that's what you're talking about, but either way it's not incredibly great at blocking projectiles.

So, any ideas?

PS. The final and most obvious option is to fly above said projectiles. However, given Meta Knight's somewhat disappointing aerial speed and altitude gain per jump, this also doesn't create any sort of solution to the problem because you simply get hit by the projectile during your jump. You will almost always be interrupted.

Hit the nail on the head. Jumping to avoid with MK isn't the smartest, especially because, as you said, his aerial agility isn't the greatest. Din's Fire will almost always hit you, and Pit can fire off arrows really very quickly. Generally with MK I try to dodge the projectiles (usually shield dodging, I don't like floating around as MK) and get close to the opponent. From there, it really depends on which character you're up against, but as soon as you get close your options open up.

Bottom line: if you're trying to counter projectiles, you're playing on your opponent's terms. Get close to them so you can control the balance of the game. I hope this helped.

 

[Raphs182]

Just to add to the list put, you could always jump high enough to avoid most projectiles and then just glide as close as you can and try to either slash the *******, or cancel it before they **** you.

By canceling it you might fake them out into thinking your going to attack, which may let you grab them while their shield is up or just stop their onslaught of projectiles. If they roll away, try to chase them, but don't get yourself shield grabbed. The reason I say to chase them because if they are anything like the people I play, they'll roll until they are far enough to spam you some more.

 

[Rx-]

Horizontal Tornado is effective, and is easy once you get the timing down. There are a precious few projectiles that can interrupt the Tornado. If Drill Rush doesn't work for these, then you have to resort to rolling through. Rolling through projectiles to gain ground on a spammy opponent is one of the most underrated tactics I have ever heard.

 

[Pledge]

Short hop/tornado.

 

[X6488]

In my opinion, the best way is shorthop aerial dodges. Just make sure you watch your opponent and his projectile, then time the dodge. It hasn't failed me yet.

 

[JDegner790]

I would completely agree with the posts stating dodge rolling/air dodging as an option, but the problem is that these tactics require a decent amount of timing and since the online is in the state it's in now, they're hard to rely on. But in a face-to-face setting, yeah, they would generally work.

 

[HideandSheik]

short hop air doges

or up B and glide in would work for me.

usually just dodge or short hop air dodge them, sometimes the up B and glide is good to close in quickly before they can spam you with projectiles.

 

[lonelytraveler8]

It really depends on the situation and stage.

If it's a space animal (excluding fox), you can simply short hop over them if you aren't too far away. Excess distance (for example, if you're on one side of FD and they're on the other), rolling is probably the fastest way and safest way. A SH will put you at the perfect height to dodge one of Falco's lasers...you might need a quick second jump to dodge one of Wolf's, or just air dodge since they are so slow.

Most other projectiles can be tornado'd through and this is typically the best strategy if the distance between the two of you is minimal. At larger distances, rolling or air dodging is probably the way to go to prevent them from being able to react to the tornado too quickly.

If you can't tornado through, then air dodge or roll. Be careful of Snake's Nikita. He can cancel it if he expects you to roll or airdodge, and you may run right into it.