What would be a good secondary for Meta Knight?

[Topaz Pikmin]

So, ever since I picked up Meta Knight awhile ago, I haven't really played anyone else since. I suppose that could be a good thing since I'm having fun with him but the problem is I want to use someone else too and I just can't seem to find the right character.
I don't know why but none of the characters really clicked with me as much as Meta Knight has. So I decided to come here for help. If I enjoy playing Meta Knight, who else do you think I'd enjoy playing? Keep in mind, I don't really care to much about tier lists, I just like to play competitively for fun...if that makes any sense. So if I had fun with Meta Knight who else do you think I would enjoy?

 

[Conn1496]

If you want another good competitive character with tools that will be comfortable for you as a Meta Knight player, I think Pikachu is a nice secondary who is definitely competitively viable. Pika has a pretty different play style (Pika is waaay better in neutral.), but I think MK and Pika have similar feels in the sense they're combo driven (IMO) smaller characters who get a lot from similar moves and can kill off the top (Pika less so with thunder, but they can.). They're both incredible at edgeguarding and at recovery too and I think they have a similar skill level to boot (Maybe Pika has more techs etc.) but if you play MK I assume you're pretty good at learning those things (I mean, I cannot play MK for hell, but I love playing him. lol).

Other than Pika, I think Bayo (Yes, post nerf. ) is also a good option for an MK secondary. She has a little more pressure because of Neutral B, and while her combos are much harder and arguably more situational, she has a very similar bait/punish style with potentially huge rewards. I think she has to play a lot more defensive than MK, but I think her rewards are bigger because of things like Witch Time and Side-B > U-air still being a pretty good early/surprise KO option if you catch someone mid-air. I would still recommend Pika over her but I think Bayo could work out well, too since I feel she's slightly less linear than MK.

I hope one of these recommendations helps!

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

If you want another good competitive character with tools that will be comfortable for you as a Meta Knight player, I think Pikachu is a nice secondary who is definitely competitively viable. Pika has a pretty different play style (Pika is waaay better in neutral.), but I think MK and Pika have similar feels in the sense they're combo driven (IMO) smaller characters who get a lot from similar moves and can kill off the top (Pika less so with thunder, but they can.). They're both incredible at edgeguarding and at recovery too and I think they have a similar skill level to boot (Maybe Pika has more techs etc.) but if you play MK I assume you're pretty good at learning those things (I mean, I cannot play MK for hell, but I love playing him. lol).

Other than Pika, I think Bayo (Yes, post nerf. ) is also a good option for an MK secondary. She has a little more pressure because of Neutral B, and while her combos are much harder and arguably more situational, she has a very similar bait/punish style with potentially huge rewards. I think she has to play a lot more defensive than MK, but I think her rewards are bigger because of things like Witch Time and Side-B > U-air still being a pretty good early/surprise KO option if you catch someone mid-air. I would still recommend Pika over her but I think Bayo could work out well, too since I feel she's slightly less linear than MK.

I hope one of these recommendations helps!

I said before that I don't care about tier lists. I just want to know another character that I'd might enjoy if I enjoyed Meta Knight.

I'll still give my opinions about them, I guess.
- I have no idea how his Up-B works, so I probably won't get very far with Pikachu. Though I think the reason why I wouldn't use him is because I hate Pikachu. I don't know why, I just do.
- I don't think I'd ever get used to Bayo. Her recovery goes against everything I've ever learned as a Smash player.

 

[Jamurai]

MK has a weird mix of attributes: strong advantage and disadvantage states with a relatively linear neutral game based on ground movement. So he's fairly unique. Characters which play most similarly to him imo:

- (very) good ground game, converting into big damage

- bait and-punish orientated with strong advantage state, as well as a great offstage game and some overtuned tools

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

MK has a weird mix of attributes: strong advantage and disadvantage states with a relatively linear neutral game based on ground movement. So he's fairly unique. Characters which play most similarly to him imo:

- (very) good ground game, converting into big damage

- bait and-punish orientated with strong advantage state, as well as a great offstage game and some overtuned tools

Well, I did use to be a Kirby main.
The other characters you recommended for their ground game I don't really like, mostly for their recovery being bad.

The bait and punish characters characters you recommended to me seem pretty interesting especially Game and Watch, who I play causally. So I might try him out.

If anyway I thought about this for awhile and I thought out of all the characters that I'd want to secondary it'll probably be Bowser.
Just throwing that out there.

 

[metanight1311]

Sorry for the slight change in subject, but does anyone know how well fox stacks up as a secondary for metaknight?

 

[Conn1496]

I said before that I don't care about tier lists. I just want to know another character that I'd might enjoy if I enjoyed Meta Knight.

I'll still give my opinions about them, I guess.
- I have no idea how his Up-B works, so I probably won't get very far with Pikachu. Though I think the reason why I wouldn't use him is because I hate Pikachu. I don't know why, I just do.
- I don't think I'd ever get used to Bayo. Her recovery goes against everything I've ever learned as a Smash player.

It has nothing to do with tier lists. They're both just "competitively viable". You said you liked to be competitive so I thought about good characters in general and these are the two I'd consider good, fun MK secondaries. Though, considering your main problems with both seem due to their slightly awkward recoveries, I think calling yourself competitive in the OP, in any sense, is a little misleading...

Still, I would've probably recommended Pika and Bayo even if you weren't looking for competitive characters, but oh well.

The only other character I can maybe think of you might like is Falcon (Can rush down, has a good grab game, combos, etc. Much worse offstage than MK, but unmistakably faster with that same feel of Bait/Punish overall.).

MK is a weird character in that he's pretty unique in his toolset (Combos, great recovery, grab game, high pressure moves. Honestly, I think Pika is the closest you'll get.). He's just missing a few good ones, so finding a character like him or that can compliment him while still being fun for people who like MK is kinda hard.

(But as an aside, I don't play Pika much, but I used to hate Pika too before I really got into playing them in Smash, so I can kinda understand. lol)

Sorry for the slight change in subject, but does anyone know how well fox stacks up as a secondary for metaknight?

Fox would probably be pretty good, but he's a totally different character overall so jumping between MK and Fox could be a little jarring. He's got a very good arguably rushdown style, but most of his tools are good for hit and run, too. His combo game is far less reliable IMO than MK's overall though. They're basically incomparable IMO, but IDK, someone more knowledgable might be able to draw comparisons between the two you might like (They're both kinda fast I guess?).

However, by all accounts, Fox takes a lot of practice like MK, and is mostly solo viable. So at that point, you might as well just main Fox so you're not straining yourself. lol

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

It has nothing to do with tier lists. They're both just "competitively viable". You said you liked to be competitive so I thought about good characters in general and these are the two I'd consider good, fun MK secondaries. Though, considering your main problems with both seem due to their slightly awkward recoveries, I think calling yourself competitive in the OP, in any sense, is a little misleading...

Still, I would've probably recommended Pika and Bayo even if you weren't looking for competitive characters, but oh well.

The only other character I can maybe think of you might like is Falcon (Can rush down, has a good grab game, combos, etc. Much worse offstage than MK, but unmistakably faster with that same feel of Bait/Punish overall.).

MK is a weird character in that he's pretty unique in his toolset (Combos, great recovery, grab game, high pressure moves. Honestly, I think Pika is the closest you'll get.). He's just missing a few good ones, so finding a character like him or that can compliment him while still being fun for people who like MK is kinda hard.

(But as an aside, I don't play Pika much, but I used to hate Pika too before I really got into playing them in Smash, so I can kinda understand. lol)



Fox would probably be pretty good, but he's a totally different character overall so jumping between MK and Fox could be a little jarring. He's got a very good arguably rushdown style, but most of his tools are good for hit and run, too. His combo game is far less reliable IMO than MK's overall though. They're basically incomparable IMO, but IDK, someone more knowledgable might be able to draw comparisons between the two you might like (They're both kinda fast I guess?).

However, by all accounts, Fox takes a lot of practice like MK, and is mostly solo viable. So at that point, you might as well just main Fox so you're not straining yourself. lol

Okay, how do I put this...
What I meant was I that "No Items, Tourment legal stages only" is just how I like to play Smash. I'm not one of those people who care about tier lists, winning or tournaments. I don't care how well this character does against other top and high tiers, I just want to know what character I'd have fun with if I had fun with Meta Knight. Competitively, the character could be as viable as Jigglypuff for all I care. I just want to have fun with Smash and the tournament ruleset I what I find to be fun.
Does that clear things up?

 

[Conn1496]

Okay, how do I put this...
What I meant was I that "No Items, Tourment legal stages only" is just how I like to play Smash. I'm not one of those people who care about tier lists, winning or tournaments. I don't care how well this character does against other top and high tiers, I just want to know what character I'd have fun with if I had fun with Meta Knight. Competitively, the character could be as viable as Jigglypuff for all I care. I just want to have fun with Smash and the tournament ruleset I what I find to be fun.
Does that clear things up?

Well, that's not "competitive" then. lol I like playing Smash the same way, I by all accounts call myself a total casual. Still doesn't really change the fact Pika and Bayo are still good, fun, secondary choices if you like MK and just want characters like him that also compliment him, regardless.

But if you just want 'fun' characters, it's not really about what the character can do at all then, so asking for a "secondary to MK" isn't going to get you any particularly good answers. You can't have a "fun secondary" because only you can gauge what you find fun or not.

I guess my only advice to finding fun characters is just to try them all. Maybe look at a couple of guides just to see what each character can do, and see if anything sticks out. My secondary changes a lot since I'm not so invested in finding a character who can back up my main, and more invested in characters I just like playing, so if you're just playing for fun, I'd just suggest sticking solely to MK unless you just have an urge to play a different character that day, it's basically what I do, and I've picked up a few regulars. It's basically the easiest way to go about it.

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

Well, that's not "competitive" then. lol I like playing Smash the same way, I by all accounts call myself a total casual. Still doesn't really change the fact Pika and Bayo are still good, fun, secondary choices if you like MK and just want characters like him that also compliment him, regardless.

But if you just want 'fun' characters, it's not really about what the character can do at all then, so asking for a "secondary to MK" isn't going to get you any particularly good answers. You can't have a "fun secondary" because only you can gauge what you find fun or not.

I guess my only advice to finding fun characters is just to try them all. Maybe look at a couple of guides just to see what each character can do, and see if anything sticks out. My secondary changes a lot since I'm not so invested in finding a character who can back up my main, and more invested in characters I just like playing, so if you're just playing for fun, I'd just suggest sticking solely to MK unless you just have an urge to play a different character that day, it's basically what I do, and I've picked up a few regulars. It's basically the easiest way to go about it.

Okay, I see what you're saying. I was just wondering what other characters my fellow Meta Knight mains enjoyed in an attempt to try to find more characters to play.

But are you sure there isn't a different name for my playstyle? Because whenever I think causal, I think of something more like the "For Fun" ruleset. (Items, every stage in the game, more than two players.) I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I always saw it as playing by tournament rules means you play competitive.

 

[Conn1496]

Okay, I see what you're saying. I was just wondering what other characters my fellow Meta Knight mains enjoyed in an attempt to try to find more characters to play.

But are you sure there isn't a different name for my playstyle? Because whenever I think causal, I think of something more like the "For Fun" ruleset. (Items, every stage in the game, more than two players.) I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I always saw it as playing by tournament rules means you play competitive.

Well, you don't have to be competitive to use competitive rules. Competitive rules get put in place to try and balance the game a little better and reduce the chaotic nature of it. If you prefer that, so what? To each their own. I know I do. Either way, it's still definitely casual if you just play to have fun. Casual is just such a broad term, like... It's been made a dirty word by the community IMO, but it's basically 90% of the playerbase... Maybe more.

People who only like playing "For Fun" mode and with things like items are a whole different type of casual players, and that's fine. To be honest, they're more of the "party players". Back in the Brawl days, me and my friends would play with that formula all the time and now it seems a little alien to me unless I'm feeling particularly chaotic that day. lol I'm sure there are probably even a small group of competitive Smashers who like items... Scary, I know.

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

I'm sure there are probably even a small group of competitive Smashers who like items... Scary, I know.

I still have nightmares about the Beetle...

 

[Conn1496]

I still have nightmares about the Beetle...

I'd hate to see how you react to Gust Bellows then. xD Goodbye, sweet stocks.

 

[ZTD | TECHnology]

Characters you should have a secondary for:



Note: I think a lot of people greatly exaggerate the Mario MU, but in this assessment we consider him.

Diddy loses to:



Note: The Sheik vs Diddy MU is one of great debate since patch 1.1.5. In this assessment, we consider her.

Sonic loses to:




Note: The Rosa vs Sonic MU is one of much debate as well. In this assessment, we consider her.

Mario loses to:



Note: There's a lot of debate about Mario's MU spread and overall capability. One person may say "Mario is ****ing broken" and another may say "Eh, he's top 10 I guess".

Rosa, Cloud and Mewtwo are commonly believed to win. However Sonic and Diddy are more debated. We still include them here.

So if you're trying to legit cover matchups without resorting to a ditto, you're best bet is or . gets a shout out for beating Sonic while going even with the other two. If you don't mind a ditto then or also work well.

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

Maybe I should've not posted a question like this to Smashboards AND Reddit. So many people from both sites are giving me so many character suggestions. I swear if this keeps on going in the direction that it is, I going to have every character in the game recommended to me.

 

[Jamurai]

Sorry for the slight change in subject, but does anyone know how well fox stacks up as a secondary for metaknight?

I used Fox as a secondary for a fair while, he's a very strong choice and only really loses to Rosa, Luigi and Sheik, all of which MK can handle pretty well (especially Rosa lol). Problem is he's a "screw up once, u die" type character against someone who knows the MU. He is light as hell and his recovery is rather exploitable. Also he's quite easy to screw up on because he's so fast, as well as other stuff like tight AC windows on Uair and Dair. If you use him I'd like properly co-main him and practise him almost as much as you do MK so this doesn't happen to you.

 

[metanight1311]

I used Fox as a secondary for a fair while, he's a very strong choice and only really loses to Rosa, Luigi and Sheik, all of which MK can handle pretty well (especially Rosa lol). Problem is he's a "screw up once, u die" type character against someone who knows the MU. He is light as hell and his recovery is rather exploitable. Also he's quite easy to screw up on because he's so fast, as well as other stuff like tight AC windows on Uair and Dair. If you use him I'd like properly co-main him and practise him almost as much as you do MK so this doesn't happen to you.

Thanks for the advice Jamurai.

 

[RosalinA]

I'd hate to see how you react to Gust Bellows then. xD Goodbye, sweet stocks.

At least you can shield the gust bellows and it doesn't affect you.

 

[Topaz Pikmin]

At least you can shield the gust bellows and it doesn't affect you.

You can do that?!
That knowledge could've saved me so much salt...

 

[RosalinA]

You can do that?!
That knowledge could've saved me so much salt...

Yeah, if you shield it while someone's blowing at you, you stay in shield and you don't move. Little Macs everywhere shall praise me. But you're a MK and Kirby main, so you don't have much to worry about.

 

[C0rvus]

I've been thinking about some secondaries, and I think some strong choices for coverage are:
Has good Diddy, Fox, and Mario matchups. Leaves you a bit vulnerable to Sonic, but in that case a supplemental Cloud is in order. Sheik is kind of an issue still.
Can handle everyone save for Rosalina and Mewtwo, who Meta Knight himself can deal with. Has a pretty high learning curve for a secondary.
Deals with Sheik, the Mario brothers, and can handle Sonic better than borb. Might also lose to Diddy.
Solid character who can deal with Sheik, Fox, maybe Diddy. Sonic matchup seems a bit suspect but it's probably better than with MK.
Tech uses Sonic, who can handle all of MK's dodgy matchups for the most part. Leaves you dealing with Sonic dittos though, if that's your idea of a tolerable time, by all means go for it.
I've been thinking about this one myself. A similar character who can go toe to toe with Diddy, Sonic, Fox. Sheik is still a problem but I guess you could supplement that and his suspect Mario matchup with a pocket Mewtwo.

 

[MKchouy]

I think is a really good secondary for MK as well. Easy to pick up, relies 100% on fundamentals, Goes 50:50 with Mario, Diddy, M2 and Pika. Slightly loses to Cloud, Sheik and Fox, gets bopped by Sonic though.

Only if you're feeling edgy I guess lol, otherwise truthfully does all of those MUs even better and is easier to play/more rewarding.

Edit: Forgot that Dark Pit and MK both share a bad MU with , if you want to be different and still cover some bad MUs go with dark pit, if you want ease and true MU coverage, just go with Cloud lol