what characters are good against metaknight? Should I use DDD or metaknight ditto people?
If so, can anyone go in detail good strats that work against metaknight? Like how to get out of tornado, or safe ways to kill or edge guard him. Can I suck up his tornado.. I'm pretty sure I can down smash it with DDD. Anything would be good. He's my worst matchup probably.
Metaknight has a few serious issues with his gameplay.
1. Incredibly laggy f/b air attacks
I know, you're thinking "they have zero lag". This is true, but only AFTER the attack is finished. His attacks take forever when he just throws them out due to the multiple hits they have. This can be easily abused by people that have large disjointed hitboxes (Dedede, Marth, Ike, etc.) by baiting MK's attacks and then attacking during the duration of the attack. Characters with really good rolls (such as Lucario or Pit) can simply roll behind MK and capitalize from there with a quick attack.
This requires a lot of patience and excellent spacing, but it works just fine. I do just as well with my Lucario as I do with my ROB, and my Lucario is very unpolished. This is simply because I bait attacks and roll behind MK and pressure him from there.
2. MK is incredibly light
It is very easy to KO MK off the top if you have the right attacks. Make sure you SAVE your best aerial killing moves against MK. Keep in mind that every time you grab someone and hit them out of the grab with the A button, each individual hit recharges your other moves! It only takes 9, so two or three grabs can recharge everything.
Characters like Donkey Kong can destroy Metaknight easily by only using two moves. Their high priority damage dealer (in DK's case, a back-air) and a powerful launcher (for DK, his d-smash). Other characters don't have it quite as easy, but my game against MK is generally just racking up damage and playing keep-away until he is at a killing %, and then I try to throw out an up-smash or other aerial killing move.
It never ceases to surprise Metaknight's when they die at a mere 50 or 60% because they DI up and towards you out of instinct. This is not the best DI for getting out of a vertical killing move; in fact it is almost the worst. Knowing that this is how most Metaknight players will DI, make sure you challenge them in the air. The higher you can get him in the air, the easier it will be for him to die. ROB's neutral air can take hom out as low as 50% if MK is recovering from too high above.
3. Metaknight's Recovery is limited
MK's recovery is AMAZING. He can ALWAYS get back if he's alive unless the player messes up. However, that doesn't mean it isn't limited. His recovery is very laggy unless he grabs the edge or cancels the lag with a glide attack RIGHT AS HE HITS THE GROUND. Knowing this, you can space yourself to where he can't glide attack straight into you and follow up from there. You KNOW he's going to waste time glide attacking nothing to cancel the lag; if he doesn't you can run up and grab him anyway. I generally just launch MK into the air out of a throw after he recovers and attempt to get him to use his up+b again somehow and repeat the process. This also helps in challenging MK in the air. MK will rarely avoid you when he is in a glide, so run up to him and use a high priority move (such as ROB's nair, Dedede's forward air, DK's bair, etc.). At worst, you'll both hit each other, but that doesn't matter because you're attack will be stronger than his glide attack and you'll have a much greater chance to KO metaknight from the air.
4. Metaknight has to commit to everything
Metaknight can't trick you. If he does an aerial, he has to commit to it. Knowing this, you should know that you can control the flow of the match by baiting Metaknight's moves. The closest thing to a "mindgame" that Metaknight has is "when will he throw out his tornado". Metaknight will always approach you because he has to, so you're playing rock-paper-scissors with somebody that shows his hand on 2 instead of 3. Use that to your advantage and don't attack until after you see him doing something.
Metaknight has a lot of
strengths too. That's why he's so good. I'm going to be doing the following section from a Metaknight player's perspective instead of opposing it... I think MK players might want some help to go with all this anti-MK advice
1. He has no lag to his aerials when he hits the ground
Metaknight can shorthop all his aerials and land with little to no lag. He can actually short-hop down-air and then follow it up with a neutral air without jumping again! This makes him an offensive terror. You ALWAYS want your opponent to shield, and if he does, you can attack his shield and then quickly float away and follow it up with whatever you want. If their shield is low and you are unsure of what to do, just throw out a tornado; they can only shield the whole thing if they have a full shield, so if you hit their shield once it won't work.
Watch out for players that want to capitalize on the lag that comes from the duration of your attack! The best way to hurt a metaknight is to hit him while he's attacking or during the short timeframe that he is unable to do anything. Most of Metaknight's good ground attacks have a lot of startup lag, so you don't have much you can do to push them away. Don't be afraid to throw out your "jab" (more like a sword frenzy than a jab) as it is very quick to come out. Your d-tilt can also be effective, since it increases the chances of them tripping and also moves Metaknight a little bit (this hurts your opponents spacing a lot more than you'd think).
2. You can always recover
If you are metaknight and you are recovering, grab the edge or land far away from your opponent. Always! Anything else is asking for trouble. Metaknight is way too light to just rush in and expect to trade hits, so you don't want to deal with that. His up+b is very predictable, so try to recover as safely as possible. You can choose when you want to attack any other time, so don't give them this advantage.
3. Be patient
If Metaknight waits for his opponent to attack, he always wins. That's all it takes to rack up damage, and then it just takes a little bit of effort to throw out a kill move. Just wait for your opponent to start up an attack and then run in with a forward air or a back air, and then follow up with other aerials if you can. Metaknight is ALL ABOUT RACKING UP DAMAGE. He has the best qualities he could ever ask for to do this, including that crazy tornado that he can throw out three or four times in a row to deal 40%+ damage.
If you want to work on being patient, get into the habit of using his tornado and only his tornado. Play your friend, and whenever you see the startup animation for an attack, start your tornado and run into them. Then land far enough away so you are safe, and repeat the process.
Remember that if someone is in a full out dash, they can upsmash, dash attack, jump into an aerial (including a running bair), or grab, and that is it. Characters like Dedede don't have a single good option from a dash against metaknight, and should be walking everywhere instead. If you see them dashing for no reason, punish them for it by just throwing an attack into them. What are they going to do? Their best option is to shield.
4. The over-b shield poke
Metaknight's will often see their opponent with a low shield. This is the PERFECT time to throw out your over-b, an often neglected move. Angle it down into the ground and their shield, and it will inevitably shield poke. At high %, this can even be a kill move, but all you're really hoping for is for them to be launched far enough away to where they have to recover, which is #5.
5. Make your opponent recover!
There are very few recoveries in the game that are unpunishable. Even those that seem powerful, like Dedede's up+B, can simply be shielded and then countered with a d-smash. That's all you're hoping to do out of their recovery: hit them with that d-smash!
The best ways to force your opponent off the ledge (forcing them to use their up+b) is to hit them with a neutral air or over-b. In some situations, your down+b can work, but that is rare.
6. When in doubt, up+B
At lower %, when you don't know what to do my advice would be throw out a tornado or two until you can figure something out. At higher %, throwing your up+B into the fray whenever you can is a great tactic. A lot of players will try to attack you in the air (and rightly so) for a low % KO against you; make it harder for them by throwing out your up+b! It has a HUGE radius and a lot of knockback, and if you even tap them with it it will greatly turn the tide.
Just remember to use your glide attack too if need be.
Directly answering M2K's question of "who is good against MK":
Anyone that has a really fast roll or fast attacks with high priority
Anyone that has a really good vertical KO move.
