I nerfed him very slightly, just like I did to Mario, but I think I'm much better at coming up with buffs than nerfs, as I haven't fully decided my formula for nerfs. I decided to just make his flaws a bit more prominent overall for more consistent counterplay. Thankfully, though, Mewtwo is a character who only needs minor changes from what I know about him, so I didn't have to go crazy, just change a few moves.
Also, a bit about my current balance philosophy. Some people suggest either only giving out buffs and no nerfs whatsoever, or just making everyone meet in the middle. I don't fully like either of them on their own; sometimes, you just have to give a few nerfs because some characters just totally invalidate others, and you have to nerf those tools a tiny bit so the others can compete. On the other hand, nerfing the top tiers too much to make everyone meet in the middle sucks all the individuality and fun out of the characters. I definetly don't want a game where everyone plays just like Pit.
So, I try to mix both; I set a very high bar (like high tier) to set characters at, which allows me to nerf as few characters as possible, and spend much more time on buffs, and I go for the minimal amounts of nerfs I can (Mewtwo's in fact the lowest character on the current tier list that I nerfed, and he's still definitely a high tier, just more risky); only characters above Marth and Ryu got nerfed (so, only 10 characters got nerfed, and only very slightly), everyone else got buffed/was not changed
General
- Mewtwo’s second dashing speed buff has been undone (2.05 → 1.9).
- Slightly slower air speed (1.25 → 1.2)
- Some of his bad hitboxes that haven’t been patched out have been fixed.
Ground Attacks
- Dash attack has more ending lag (FAF 39 → 42).
- Forward smash has slightly more startup (Frame 19 → 21).
- Mewtwo’s up smash is slower (FAF 44 → 50).
- Down Smash is slower (Frame 21 → 23)
Air Attacks
- Forward aerial has a different launch angle (50 → 84)
Grab/throws
- Standing and dash grabs have noticeably decreased range, making them harder to utilize consistently. This is because his grab game is one of his best traits, and his throws are already balanced enough, so I figure a nerf to his grab range would be the fairest option.
- Floor attacks now have an electrical effect.
Special moves
- The recoil from releasing a fully charged Shadow Ball in midair is even greater now, making it better for boosting Mewtwo back onstage if he’s facing the right direction, but at the same time places him in even more danger if facing the wrong direction. The projectiles are also tossed a bit slower (Frame 23 → 25). Finally, the hitbox when charging has been re-added.
- Teleport no longer leaves Mewtwo helpless,and it is easier to travel across the ground with it, but he can still only use it once, and it covers less distance. This furthers Mewtwo’s high-risk, high reward nature; now he’s even better at onstage combos, but he has a harder time making it back onstage without his double jump.
