The Genetic Pokemon - Three Expert Opinions On Smash 4 Mewtwo

When it was announced that Mewtwo would 'strike back in Smash 4, it left many fans excited. Players hoped he would rise beyond his poor standing in Melee where he currently is 21st on the tier list. The dev team dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon, but did they succeed? We brought in three Mewtwo experts to weigh in on the character.

• RayNoire - Power ranked #6 in Wisconsin using Mewtwo. Placed Top 8 and sometimes top 4 in Milwaukee's Construct tournaments (the biggest tourney series in WI). Placed 17th Kings of the North 4. Plays on the UW-Madison Collegiate Crew
• Speedshocker - Has had notable tournament performances in North Carolina.
• MewSquared - Several solid and high placings in Texas with notable wins over Denti, Aerolink, Gyo, and Karna.

So how do these three experts feel about Mewtwo in Smash 4? Let's find out!

Disadvantages​

Mewtwo is not a character without flaws as all three experts were able to point out issues. The biggest one each expert mentioned was simply his weight. "Although Mewtwo does weigh slightly more than Jigglypuff, his height and tail actually cause him to die earlier, thus making him even more easy to KO." Speedshocker explained. This weight combined with his floatiness can create other issues as well.

"His floatiness makes it very hard for him to land back on the ground, which is where you wanna be in the neutral." Mewsquared told us. "It can be very difficult to get back in the neutral when recovering from off stage as his big size and floatiness allows opponents to harass him during his recovery and landing options."

"People know about the weight, but Mewtwo's also got a lot of issues with his hitboxes on almost every move he has." RayNoire also mentioned. "His frame data is pretty bad (fastest move is frame 6, fastest aerial frame 7), he has a horrible time getting off the ledge, his OoS game is among the worst...There's more but you get the idea."

Advantages​

However even with these weaknesses Mewtwo has some great strengths to make up for them. "I'd say one of his biggest strengths are his powerful d-tilt/standing combo links." Speedshocker said and Mewsquared agreed. "Mewtwo has amazing combo potential with his jab and tilts, with both heavy damaging combos and kill confirm combos."

MySmashCorner Showing Off His Combo Potential​

His combo game is greatly aided by a strong ability to space and zone. "His attacks also have incredible range and relatively safe disjoints." Speedshocker told us. "He has an amazing projectile in Shadow Ball, which has quick startup and is quite safe due to Mewtwo's ability to reflect with Confusion." These qualities fit into his gameplan very well according to Mewsquared. "With Mewtwo, you want to space and zone the opponent with tilts and Shadow Ball pressure, then link into his many confirms for massive damaging combos. He is great at spacing with his tail moves and his floatiness can be used to effectively bait air dodges for punishes."

This isn't the end of his advantages either. While his weight and floaty nature at times can be a disadvantage it can also be quite a boon for Mewtwo. "His weight and floatiness can actually help him escape many of the other cast's combos." Mewsquared said.

Relevant Matchups​

Each player found certain matchups among the top tier to be in Mewtwo's advantage and disadvantage. Speedshocker gave a general rundown on what kinds of characters Mewtwo has issues against. "His worst MU's are often dependent on one key factor; can they keep the pressure on him? Mewtwo can't stand characters that are fast and always on top of him. He can't charge Shadow Ball, and literally if they're "above" him, he can't hit them with his pokes. (Jab and Dtilt) which can cause some real problems."

RayNoire mentioned Fox, Mario, Captain Falcon, Yoshi, and Meta Knight, and Speedshocker mentioned Sheik and Little Mac as some of those fast characters that gave Mewtwo issues. MewSquared mentioned Pikachu and Zero Suit Samus but also said "Both the matchups are doable, however it forces Mewtwo to play outside of his comfort zone, as you'll have to be in the air a bit more often then normal."

However he is not without some positive top tier matchups either. RayNoire gave his thoughts on Mewtwo doing well against Rosalina. "Mewtwo's best top tier matchup is probably Rosalina. Mewtwo finds it very easy to get rid of Luma and it's tough for Rosa to land." Mewsquared looked at Luigi as "by far Mewtwo's best matchup. Mewtwo dominates Luigi, it is one of Mewtwo's best matchups in general."

Is Mewtwo Viable?​

All three experts had varying levels of optimism and skepticism on her viability on the national level with RayNoire being on the lower end. "I'll just say that I think Mewtwo is among the least viable characters in the game. Where most people put him on tier lists right now (bottom 3/5) is about where he's at."

Speedshocker felt more in the middle on his viability. "Depends on the dedication honestly. I've seen characters being used on a national level that many once thought to be flat out bad.Mewtwo is not an exceedingly exceptional character in general. He has flaws that are obvious, and his attacks aren't always that safe. If you want to use Mewtwo on a national level, you're going to have to put in the effort to focus on his strengths and have the knowledge to make up for his weaknesses."

Mewsquared remained confident that Mewtwo was viable on a national level. "He has plenty of options and tools to handle the top tiers and although he may lose some match ups every matchup of his is doable. I do not believe he loses any matchup incredibly badly. However some are much easier with the help of certain stages."

Advice For Mewtwo Mains?​

RayNoire had this to say. "Base your neutral around Dtilt. Know what options counter it and your options against those options, and mix up from there. Learn ALL your landing options; you will need them. RAR your Nairs. More generally, know what you're getting into. It's going to be difficult and bad things will happen. Embrace the challenge and don't get flustered."

For those wanting to play as Mewtwo Speedshocker stressed that patience while staying in proper position was key. "Mewtwo isn't easy to use, and isn't for everyone. If you want a character that has powerful mobility, insane grabs, and some unique perks, then Mewtwo might be the one for you. The best advice I can give specifically is work on keeping the opponent where you want them to be. If something isn't working right, position yourself in a spot where it is. Stay on your toes, and keep your calm. Like a Psychic Pokemon should be, Mewtwo is all about the mind."

Mewsquared had his own advice to share. "My advice to anyone looking to play Mewtwo is completely 100% forget about his weight. I believe his light weight is the biggest thing that distracts people from Mewtwo's many strengths, and creates the illusion that he is a bad low tier character. I have always said this to those people since the very beginning, his light weight only matters if you get hit. Why are you always getting hit? Focus on his strengths, develop your spacing and combo game, and you will begin to understand how good Mewtwo really is."

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A special thanks to RayNoire, Speedshocker, and Mewsquared for their help with this article. With so much valuable Mewtwo information not everything was able to fit within a single article. To learn more about Mewto and see the full interviews with these three players be sure to check out the Mewtwo forums here on Smashboards by following this link.

Agree or disagree with these Mewtwo experts? Sound off in the comments below and stay tuned to Smashboards for future expert analysis on characters from all Smash titles!

 

I was going to use him because PSI Boys, but yeah, his weight and his hitboxes. I feel like he's a strong character, but even against Mewtwo players, I've had an advantage at times because of his bad grab range and his attacks not reaching out further like they should. I think those should be fixed. And his weight as well. Don't give me this BS that he's floaty and light weight because he's using his PSI on himself or whatever. He's 260 lbs. Samus is in a heavy suit, letting her survive, and she's floaty as well. Must be that Gravity Suit...

 

Oh really? I'm not the one heavily saying Mewtwo is a free meal to Rosalina. And even before Mewtwo's actual release, that's all I read from your posts. You should seriously take up in stand-up. I think I would die laughing at this denial.

Except I outright said more than once that it isn't free. Just in her favour more than people are giving credit for. Mewtwo can of course still win, but that goes without saying, since it's the same with any other character.

Also "that's all I read" does not equal "that's all you said". It's your problem if you specifically filter people's posts down to an excuse to hold a petty grudge against them. Which you have just shown yet another literal example of in this very thread (refer to the above paragraph on this post).

 

Except I outright said more than once that it isn't free. Just in her favour more than people are giving credit for. Mewtwo can of course still win, but that goes without saying, since it's the same with any other character.

Also "that's all I read" does not equal "that's all you said". It's your problem if you specifically filter people's posts down to an excuse to hold a petty grudge against them. Which you have just shown yet another literal example of in this very thread (refer to the above paragraph on this post).

What grudge? That's all you say, which isn't surprising. And maybe not free, but definitely near it. Which honestly with you, isn't much of a difference.

 

What grudge? That's all you say, which isn't surprising. And maybe not free, but definitely near it. Which honestly with you, isn't much of a difference.

Bringing up pent up aggravation from alleged events from the past is the definition of releasing a grudge you've held.

If you interpreted my posts as saying it's free or near that then that's your problem and not mine.

 

Bringing up pent up aggravation from alleged events from the past is the definition of releasing a grudge you've held.

If you interpreted my posts as saying it's free or near that then that's your problem and not mine.

If that's your summary of your thought process to me, then that's your mistake. Over-analyzing me isn't doing you any good and still confirms you from doing what you do best: Devolve everything around your space mom.

 

If that's your summary of your thought process to me, then that's your mistake. Over-analyzing me isn't doing you any good and still confirms you from doing what you do best: Devolve everything around your space mom.

Once again, you're literally not even making sense again.

Bye.

 

Once again, you're literally not even making sense again.

Bye.

Again, you're sweeping your judgement in your posts.

As usual.

 

Hey guys, I wanted to let you know that if you do want to play my Mewtwo, just send me a PM. I'm always open for some fun times.

 

Definitely not better. Puff's aerials are safer on shield, string together easier, come out faster, and kill more reliably. Well, neutral and back air do, anyway. Puff also has 4 more jumps and higher air speed.

Game and Watch's are definitely better for killing. Dair spikes, fair is your nair but stronger, up special is a fantastic combo finisher that kills early on the side blastlines, uair is very strong and can true comboed into via dthrow. They also deal more damage and have longer lasting hitboxes with better range and disjoint, making them more difficult to challenge. Game and Watch's can also be comboed into and bair strings very well into itself. Game and Watch may not have six jumps, but his jumps are higher and he has an Up Special that takes him rather high and very far, (it also has 9 frames of invincibility) meaning he can survive spikes unlike her (I'm sure you remember that gif where I spiked a Puff around 48%) and has a less gimpable recovery. I will give you that your aerials are generally safer on shield and you have higher airspeed (G&W's is nothing to scoff at though).

 

Game and Watch's are definitely better for killing. Dair spikes, fair is your nair but stronger, up special is a fantastic combo finisher that kills early on the side blastlines, uair is very strong and can true comboed into via dthrow.

Down air is also unsafe on shield and on whiff, unlike Jigglypuff. Forward is two frames slower and isn't as safe on shield. I'll give you up air.

They also deal more damage and have longer lasting hitboxes with better range and disjoint, making them more difficult to challenge. Game and Watch's can also be comboed into and bair strings very well into itself.

All of his aerials can be sidestepped except for back air, so they don't have longer lasting hitboxes. Jigglypuff's forward air also combos into itself and a back air offstage is pretty much game 9/10 times.

Game and Watch may not have six jumps, but his jumps are higher and he has an Up Special that takes him rather high and very far, (it also has 9 frames of invincibility) meaning he can survive spikes unlike her (I'm sure you remember that gif where I spiked a Puff around 48%) and has a less gimpable recovery. I will give you that your aerials are generally safer on shield and you have higher airspeed (G&W's is nothing to scoff at though).

If you get spiked as Jigglypuff, your career has come to an end and you need to never play a video game again for as long as you live. Your brother doesn't count. His career was over the moment he hovered his icon over Jigglypuff's portrait.

 

Down air is also unsafe on shield and on whiff, unlike Jigglypuff. Forward is two frames slower and isn't as safe on shield. I'll give you up air.

All of his aerials can be sidestepped except for back air, so they don't have longer lasting hitboxes. Jigglypuff's forward air also combos into itself and a back air offstage is pretty much game 9/10 times.

If you get spiked as Jigglypuff, your career has come to an end and you need to never play a video game again for as long as you live. Your brother doesn't count. His career was over the moment he hovered his icon over Jigglypuff's portrait.

If you're using Key onstage a lot, you're not using it right. It shines best used offstage since it can spike, cover low recoveries, and you can recover from it if you have your double jump left. Does Jigglypuff's dair have this kind of versatility offstage? Interesting fact (that's not really a point), your dair has more landing lag than mine. "Strange, isn't it"? My fair is safe on shield if you space it properly (Unless it's against a tether grab, but none of your fair isn't fast enough to escape that either).

Mine may not be that long-lasting, but they beat out yours in legth (by a surprisingly short margin, 71<73). Fair and bair combo into eachother. Bair -> bair -> up special kills at 60% and gimps characters with bad recoveries even earlier.

Just because it's hard to spike Jigglypuff doesn't mean it's an invalid argument. She dies to these almost as early as Mac's.

I'm not saying her aerial game is bad. It's just that I think that Game And Watch's is just as good, especially offstage. They both have perks over eachother and things they share in common.

 

If you're using Key onstage a lot, you're not using it right. It shines best used offstage since it can spike, cover low recoveries, and you can recover from it if you have your double jump left. Does Jigglypuff's dair have this kind of versatility offstage? Interesting fact (that's not really a point), your dair has more landing lag than mine. "Strange, isn't it"? My fair is safe on shield if you space it properly (Unless it's against a tether grab, but none of your fair isn't fast enough to escape that either).

Mine may not be that long-lasting, but they beat out yours in legth (by a surprisingly short margin, 71<73). Fair and bair combo into eachother. Bair -> bair -> up special kills at 60% and gimps characters with bad recoveries even earlier.

Just because it's hard to spike Jigglypuff doesn't mean it's an invalid argument. She dies to these almost as early as Mac's.

I'm not saying her aerial game is bad. It's just that I think that Game And Watch's is just as good, especially offstage. They both have perks over eachother and things they share in common.

Hey guys, I'm pretty sure this article is about Mewtwo, not Jigglypuff vs. G&W...

 

"Don't get hit" -Mewsquared, 2015

 

Mewtwo's design is so flawed it's odd he hasn't got the Ike treatment yet. He either needs to be a glass cannon to make up for his weight or needs to have better evasive options with more opportunities to inflict damage (which is apparently his current design, a tricky character).

Once again, you're literally not even making sense again.

Bye.

You are a strange rosalina obsessed weirdo fanboy and you need to screw off. Does this make enough sense?

 

Mewtwo's design is so flawed it's odd he hasn't got the Ike treatment yet. He either needs to be a glass cannon to make up for his weight or needs to have better evasive options with more opportunities to inflict damage (which is apparently his current design, a tricky character).


You are a strange rosalina obsessed weirdo fanboy and you need to screw off. Does this make enough sense?

Nice meme m8head. Did you come up with it yourself or did you get that ****post from 4chan?

 

Well I seem to have missed a lot... NOT.

Regarding the Mewtwo vs. Luigi matchup it's just that Mewtwo very solidly beats Luigi in neutral, having answers to his fireballs, range to keep him out and mobility to evade him. Of course Luigi still does Luigi things if he gets in.

Pre-patch a case could have been made for it being even due to Luigi's easy-peasy throw kill combos, but now he has to work much harder to take the stock, which makes Mewtwo's advantage in neutral all the more apparent.

 

Calling him floaty is a bit misleading, he's only barely floaty at worst as his fall speed is actually pretty average.

That moment when you realize that every character in Sm4sh is floaty aside from Fox.

 

That moment when you realize that every character in Sm4sh is floaty aside from Fox.

Dedede is the fastest faller in Smash 4.

 

Dedede is the fastest faller in Smash 4.

No, he's the 2nd fastest.

 

Atleast I know I'm not the only dedicated Mewtwo mainer in sm4sh

 

The thing that doesn't make sense to me is how light Mewtwo is. I know he's floaty and all, but he shouldn't be THAT light

 

The thing that doesn't make sense to me is how light Mewtwo is. I know he's floaty and all, but he shouldn't be THAT light

Nobody gets why he's so light.

Except Sakurai.

 

Nobody gets why he's so light.

Except Sakurai.

even in Pokemon he's not that light.. doesn't make sense.

 

He may be physically heavy, but the way he uses his psychic powers makes him easy to send flying. The same goes for Rosalina.

 

He may be physically heavy, but the way he uses his psychic powers makes him easy to send flying. The same goes for Rosalina.

But weighing less than a 2-Dimensional object?

 

But weighing less than a 2-Dimensional object?

Anything with low gravity weighs more than paper with normal gravity.

 

I disagree with him doing well against Rosalina (I main both characters myself so I'm not biased either), but I agree with everything else.

yeah,same here. I use both characters as well,they are both light. But Rosalina has alot more advantages than Mewtwo. Mewtwo can be super floaty and all, but he is a bit slow in air, also his hitbox and frame data are a bit bad too.

 

yeah,same here. I use both characters as well,they are both light. But Rosalina has alot more advantages than Mewtwo. Mewtwo can be super floaty and all, but he is a bit slow in air, also his hitbox and frame data are a bit bad too.

Mewtwo has the 3rd best air speed in the game and average falling speed.

Anything with low gravity weighs more than paper with normal gravity.

Game and Watch isn't paper. He's a two-dimensional object. Surely the fact that Mewtwo is 3D alone would make him weigh more.

Shouldn't this logic mean that Jigglypuff should be heavier than Mewtwo?

 

as a mewtwo main, I think mewtwo definitely deserves a buff. I just need his hit boxes to have a little more punch and slightly faster.

 

At least somebody does not look down upon my main. For once...