Weekly Character Showcase: Mewtwo

Welcome back to another edition of Weekly Character Showcase! This is a series where we analyze the playable characters in Smash 4 and what they can do with both general and character-specific advanced techniques.

This poll's winner is, funnily enough, the champion of Pound 2016: The Genetic Pokémon, Mewtwo!
With Abadango's recent victory, interest in this character has risen and now we're here analyzing what the Psychic-type can do in this fierce competition. To help with this article we have Kamtheman56, the owner and Metalex,a player from the Mewtwo Discord.

General ATs

Although the potential of Perfect Pivots has yet to be fully explored, Mewtwo's PP is really useful. It gives him the ability to approach with down tilt, which is an incredible combo starter. You can follow down tilt with almost any aerial and sometimes even two, with Dtilt -> Fair -> Fair being a common combo in Mewtwo's arsenal. B-reversing also gets some use in his moveset. "WaveBouncing and B-Reversing are super useful for Mewtwo when combined with Shadow Ball, as they allow you to change your momentum on the fly and to mix up your landings and such."

Character-specific

Due to his special mid-air jump, Mewtwo gets access to Double Jump Canceling (or DJC for short). This phenomenom occurs when Mewtwo uses Shadow Ball or Disable in the middle of his jump animation. This interrupts all of his momentum. "Double Jump Cancel is a pretty essential part of play with Mewtwo as it allows him to effectively shorten his jump height allowing for some mighty fine mindgames and baiting options from an opponent."
With this, Mewtwo can halt his ascent after a footstool with either Shadow Ball or Disable, the former allowing for a jab lock with the small charge and the latter providing an opportunity to decimate the opponent's stock.

But this is not all Mewtwo has. As is the case with all Teleport up-Bs (and Pikachu's Quick Attack), Mewtwo can cancel his Teleport by sliding at the edge of the stage or platform. "Teleport Cancel is a generally nice tool for Mewtwo to have as you can cancel all the endlag of the teleport simply by teleporting onto the edge of the stage or a platform. This allows for more intricate stage control and positioning, as you are able to quickly move around the battlefield."

Mewtwo warping around Battlefield​

It can also be used to edgeguard by feigning retreat and then immediately striking with a Teleport-Cancel and a well-placed Forward Air or Back Air.

In general, Mewtwo should be played defensively with an emphasis on footsies, using his long tail to strike from afar and waiting for the opponent to mess up and then attacking with a barrage of powerful moves.

"We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokemon
And we succeeded..." pic.twitter.com/sI6E2ZFuhT

— Virum (Old Profile) (@Virum_SD) April 3, 2016

Well, that's all for today! If you enjoyed this week's showcase, be sure to stay tuned. Also, if you wanna know more about Mewtwo, be sure to head over to the character boards.
And of course, special thanks to both Kamtheman and Metalex, as well as the Mewtwo boards for providing their opinions on the matter.

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Did you like the article? Let us know in the comments below! Don't forget to vote for next week's character!

 

Glad to see Mewtwo soaking up some attention. Though I don't play him much anymore, it still puts a smile on my face to see him in action.

 

Lookin' mighty fine to see the things I said being quoted here, definitely one of my favorite write ups.

 

The article turned out pretty good! It's maybe a little bit short on information but it's a nice summarize of Mewtwo's techniques and what they are about so people who read this and want to know more can read our guides on the Mewtwo forums.

Would be interesting to see Greninja in the next article!

 

.....oh well...

 

I don't play Mewtwo but I really enjoyed the article and even learned a little about fighting him. It'll be nice to finally be prepared when the super cat starts warping all over the place.

 

Glad to see Mewtwo soaking up some attention. Though I don't play him much anymore, it still puts a smile on my face to see him in action.

Wasn't Mew2king defeated by a mewtwo player? I have seen a pretty high rise in mewtwo compeditively. Heck, he's a solid high-tier, even before 1.1.5.

 

Wasn't Mew2king defeated by a mewtwo player? I have seen a pretty high rise in mewtwo compeditively. Heck, he's a solid high-tier, even before 1.1.5.

M2K was defeated by Mew², but I would chalk it up to MU inexperience and M2K not being as dedicated to Smash 4 as others are.

Abadango recently won Pound 2016, I think? I know he won one of the major tournaments. Anywho, I wouldn't classify Mewtwo Pre-1.1.5 as a solid high tier. He wasn't awful like most claimed but I'd say he floated around mid-tier.

 

Wasn't Mew2king defeated by a mewtwo player? I have seen a pretty high rise in mewtwo compeditively. Heck, he's a solid high-tier, even before 1.1.5.

Oh the Irony

 

It's crazy how just adding a few things to the character through patches can make him win huge tourneys. Not to discredit Abadango, who's an awesome player anyway, but it's super rare to see a low tier win a major, and Mewtwo is no low tier anymore.

 

It's crazy how just adding a few things to the character through patches can make him win huge tourneys. Not to discredit Abadango, who's an awesome player anyway, but it's super rare to see a low tier win a major, and Mewtwo is no low tier anymore.

It's rare for a low tier to even place in top 16 for a major.
Hence why Link's also not a low tier since he's just started to frequently place.

 

M2K was defeated by Mew², but I would chalk it up to MU inexperience and M2K not being as dedicated to Smash 4 as others are.

Abadango recently won Pound 2016, I think? I know he won one of the major tournaments. Anywho, I wouldn't classify Mewtwo Pre-1.1.5 as a solid high tier. He wasn't awful like most claimed but I'd say he floated around mid-tier.

Bare in mind. Most of the really essentialy buffs he got were in 1.1.3. Like Up-Air being not crap, and Fair getting it's great frame data. and his initial speed boost. Really, the new buffs weren't all that major for him. I'm sure the run speed buff gave him some new follow-ups, and the weight buffs helped him survive longer, but most of his tech was present before 1.1.5.

 

Bare in mind. Most of the really essentialy buffs he got were in 1.1.3. Like Up-Air being not crap, and Fair getting it's great frame data. and his initial speed boost. Really, the new buffs weren't all that major for him. I'm sure the run speed buff gave him some new follow-ups, and the weight buffs helped him survive longer, but most of his tech was present before 1.1.5.

Rising D-Air anyone?

 

He wasn't awful like most claimed but I'd say he floated around mid-tier.

Oh you...

I'm really liking these character showcases and with the way the current poll looks, I'm most excited to see what is to be said about the highly underrated Greninja.

 

Nice I always appreciate these weekly showcase stuff ^_^. I votedd 4 TL he's 1 ov me favs...ninja mite tak it tho.. lol I no mind mewtwos hav such sweet combos..ex. Dthrow fair...

 

Lookin' mighty fine to see the things I said being quoted here, definitely one of my favorite write ups.

Seriously? It's just a quote. Stop being an Attention *****

 

as a naturally defensive player this makes me really happy. finally my playstyle can be useful to my crew lol

 

as a naturally defensive player this makes me really happy. finally my playstyle can be useful to my crew lol

Personally, I'm glad that Mewtwo's offensive game has gotten buffed (via patches).

I think D-tilt -> Uair -> FF Nair -> D-tilt -> Uair is a true (or semi-true) combo

 

Seriously? It's just a quote. Stop being an Attention *****

No u.

10no us

 

Personally, I'm glad that Mewtwo's offensive game has gotten buffed (via patches).

I think D-tilt -> Uair -> FF Nair -> D-tilt -> Uair is a true (or semi-true) combo

is it? ill have to try it out, do you know the %?
tbh i find mewtwo similar to marth sso i might be able to apply my marth knowledge to him.

 

Personally, I'm glad that Mewtwo's offensive game has gotten buffed (via patches).

I think D-tilt -> Uair -> FF Nair -> D-tilt -> Uair is a true (or semi-true) combo

is it? ill have to try it out, do you know the %?
tbh i find mewtwo similar to marth sso i might be able to apply my marth knowledge to him.

Abadango actually pulled it off

If it doesn't auto-load it starts at 4:14

 

Abadango actually pulled it off

If it doesn't auto-load it starts at 4:14

The Bair after the final Uair in fact also true combos!

Getting the opponent to stay in the Nair on the way down and landing in front of you is pretty difficult however and works best on fastfallers but it's a cool combo for sure.

 

The Bair after the final Uair in fact also true combos!

Getting the opponent to stay in the Nair on the way down and landing in front of you is pretty difficult however and works best on fastfallers but it's a cool combo for sure.

Hopefully this will bring Mewtwo step closer to Top-Tier High-Tier.

 

Abadango actually pulled it off

If it doesn't auto-load it starts at 4:14

that looks like a true combo now that ive seen it. the nair keeps tripping me up though

 

I feel bad for M2K. He once was the best in Melee and Brawl, but now isn't getting into top 8 in either melee or sm4sh.

 

I feel bad for M2K. He once was the best in Melee and Brawl, but now isn't getting into top 8 in either melee or sm4sh.

Maybe that's due to all of the patches in SSB4 and him going across 3 different titles rather than focusing on one?

 

Wasn't Mew2king defeated by a mewtwo player? I have seen a pretty high rise in mewtwo compeditively. Heck, he's a solid high-tier, even before 1.1.5.

Yup. Got destroyed by Mew^2. I suppose the reasoning for his low tier is due to the lack of people actually playing him... I mained for a while when he came out, and he wasn't exactly as good as he is now (since he moves faster and his USmash has dropped a few frames, as well as the increased range with Nair.)
All in all, I see more of an easy B rank to possibly A-. Mewtwo's just a diamond in the rough, as are many characters.