After getting used to my reborn main, I have realized just how much Meta Knight's edge-guarding ability is so heavily underdeveloped and underutilized. It's funny because MK was clearly never intended to be a character who killed you off the top at ludicrously low damages; he is obviously designed to be a character who racks up damage at low %'s, before forcing you offstage and harassing you until you can no longer return, or die outright. So many elements of his design support this:
-one of the best recoveries, with 5 jumps and 3 safe recovery specials. Unlike all other multi-jumpers sans
, Meta Knight's jumping ability is not offset by poor air speed and acceleration. His air speed is 0.99 (35th) at borderline average, while his acceleration is middle-of-the-road at 0.065. As such, unlike say
, MK's edge-guarding is not significantly hindered by limited maneuverability.
-fast, disjointed aerial attacks; dair is frame 4, tied with
's for the fastest in start-up, and semi-spikes. Nair is frame 6 with a lingering hitbox. Fair is frame 9 with long range, and most infamously, at frame 7, bair has good range and duration and absurd power.
-aerials that are surprisingly strong for their speed. In order of KO percents offstage on
:
*bair(90%)
*strong nair(100%)
*fair(120%)
*dair(140%)
-furthermore, the majority of the buffs Meta Knight received over updates, in one way or another, boosted his edge-guarding game:
*nair (7%/5%->10%/7.5%)
*bair (KBG 180->212 (lol))
*dair range increased
*f tilt (7%->8%, sends at a horizontal angle)
*jab (range increased, making it good for covering ledge options)
*reduced lag on nair and fair makes them safer to use for forcing opponents offstage
-----On a side note, Meta Knight was so drastically nerfed coming over from Brawl, and it always escaped any reason as to why such an overpowering option like the Rufio combo was left intact. This further goes to show it was never a part of his intended character design-----
Characters like
have strong edge-guarding games, but this strength is buried under a heap of flaws elsewhere in their design: most notably their lackluster neutral games. Being able to threaten someone offstage, in reality, does not matter when you cannot get them there in the first place, which is why
stands out from them: he has the tools and safety in his neutral game, along with the combo potential to rack up damage, both of which in turn make his edge-guarding ability a realistic threat to even those whose recoveries rival his own. Complementing this, Meta Knight has scary KO potential onstage, meaning he is essentially a "pick your poison" character.
As an MK player, I have a frame 8 up smash, a powerful and safe fsmash, an up special that hits on frame 7/8 and can easily be comboed into, and two throws that KO at reasonable percents. That, or I can opt to put opponents into a recovery situation, from where I can edge-guard and gimp with aerials, or hit ledge options with jab, usmash, fsmash, SL and Tornado.
I imagine that MK's new meta will still be terrifying for this reason: rather than doing everything in your power to avoid the ladder, you now have to consider and figure out what option MK will go for to KO. By staying at center stage, you risk dash attack -> SL, or down tilt tech chases. By staying at the ledge, you risk being put into an edge-guard situation.
Tl;DR Meta Knight, IMO, is still among the best characters in the KO department, due to varied KOing options that can be mixed up to keep opponents guessing.
