Meta Knight (SSBB): Difference between revisions

|ranking = 1

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Meta Knight is notable for being at the top of the ''Brawl'' [[tier list]] (that being 1st out of 38 characters, standing alone in the SS tier, thus being his best placement in the series) due to numerous advantages. Meta Knight is a very fast character with fast ground speed, five mid-air jumps, multiple air options which give him great mobility and he has excellent frame data all around. Meta Knight also possesses many disjointed attacks with great range and [[transcendent priority]], which along with the speed of his attacks, easily allows him to keep out opponents and interrupt their approach without much risk, especially since Meta Knight is a small target. Meta Knight overall has an excellent set of ground moves and aerials which are complemented greatly with Meta Knight's mobility, attributes and overall range. Meta Knight's edgeguarding and recovery are both unarguably the best in the game due to the sheer amount of options MK has. With five mid-air jumps, excellent aerials, the ability to glide both manually and out of [[Shuttle Loop]] and having an entire set of special moves which can be used to recover, Meta Knight can easily make it back from anywhere off stage (while also being extremely difficult for the opponent to edgeguard him) and he can go incredibly deep for edgeguards. These factors also naturally give Meta Knight a very strong camping game as he can utilize his multiple jumps and aerials to stall either at the ledge or in the air which is very difficult to deal with. He also has many great [[combo]] setups, with a very strong combo game due to easily being able to string many of his attacks together due to his quick speed and frame data. His [[KO]] moves are quick, powerful, and reliable in addition to often being long ranged and even completely safe in some cases. Meta Knight also possesses two incredible special moves in [[Mach Tornado]] and Shuttle Loop. The former is an incredible mobility/recovery option which is very difficult for most characters to challenge/punish while the latter is not only a fantastic recovery move (putting MK into a glide) but it is also a fast, safe and powerful long ranged attack with a great amount of utility. The grounded version is excellent for shutting out approaches or punishing unsafe moves while the aerial version is a very powerful [[semi-spike]] which can lead to some very early KOes off stage, especially if the opponent does not [[DI]] it correctly.

Meta Knight does have a few weaknesses, however. Meta Knight is a lightweight character, meaning he is knocked out fairly easily, especially against characters with many high-power attacks such as {{SSBB|Snake}} although he does have strong horizontal [[momentum canceling]]. Meta Knight also lacks any sort of projectile or reflector, which can give him trouble against projectiles although his small size, fast ground speed, multitude of jumps and Mach Tornado give him strong options to play around projectiles, especially if they lack transcendent priority. Meta Knight also has poor [[air speed]] and while he can work around this in numerous situations, there are scenarios where poor air speed limits him, particularly in tight juggle situations. He also has a small [[shield]] which makes him somewhat vulnerable to [[shield stabbing]] from certain characters. Meta Knight's combination of high gravity and air friction also give him a fairly exploitable aerial [[grab release]] animation, which multiple characters can exploit, especially since Meta Knight can be forced into the animation by multiple characters. {{SSBB|Marth}} for example, can put Meta Knight into an aerial grab release and then followup into a variety of guaranteed moves, including forward aerial, dash attack, [[Dancing Blade]], [[short hop]] [[Dolphin Slash]], buffered down aerial, buffered up aerial, or buffered neutral aerial. Although Meta Knight has a great array of recovery options, they all leave him [[helpless]] so when used at the wrong time, they can be exploitable, although this can easily be avoided by strong players. He additionally may have trouble KOing against good [[DI]] and/or [[momentum canceling]], particularly if his best finishers are getting [[stale]]. He also has many multi-hit moves that are susceptible to [[SDI]], which can limit his ability to rack up damage easily, along with most of his moves having unspectacular raw damage output. These weaknesses however are either very difficult to exploit (especially for lower tiered characters) and/or Meta Knight can easily work around them.

As a reflection of this, Meta Knight has an incredible [[matchup]] spread, with Meta Knight arguably winning every single matchup in the game. Meta Knight's attributes and toolset overall give him the tools he needs to overcome or even dominate other members of the cast and while some characters can exploit Meta Knight's weaknesses, he can also exploit their weaknesses to an even greater degree. The only matchup which is arguably considered not winning for Meta Knight is {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}} as a single mistake from Meta Knight should result in a stock loss for him with the Ice Climbers' incredible grab game. Meta Knight however can play around the Ice Climbers well and if Meta Knight separates the Ice Climbers, he can easily KO the partner climber from there, and a solo climber is helpless against Meta Knight. This matchup overall is often considered to be slightly in Meta Knight's favor although the matchup is close and an argument could be made for the Ice Climbers winning or at least going even. {{SSBB|Pikachu}} was also once considered to be a potentially even matchup for Meta Knight (even being listed as such on the [[Character matchup (SSBB)|2013 Smash Back Room matchup chart]]) although by the end of the game's life, this matchup was considered winning for Meta Knight.

|fsdmg=40% to trapped opponents, 18% for others

|fsdesc=Swings his cape out directly in front of him while shouting "Know my power!" or "Behold...". If he misses with his cape, Meta Knight pauses for a brief time, and the Final Smash fails. When it connects (the trapping [[hitbox]] is a bit longer than the edge of the cape), characters nearby become trapped, the screen then darkens to black, and after a few seconds, Meta Knight performs a single, powerful strike, launching the trapped opponents with high, vertical knockback that can KO above 50% and ignores super armor. Any opponents who are not trapped are also attacked, but instead take about half [[damage]] and weak, upwards knockback. These slashes can also damage and even KO allies, without regarding Friendly Fire being disabled or not. The weaker slash can be avoided by dodging with correct timing.

}}

|victory-theme=MKTheme.ogg

|victory-desc=A metal remix of the ''Kirby'' victory theme, which originated from ''Kirby's Dream Land''.

|char=MetaKnight}}

==In [[competitive play]]==

===Most historically significant players===

:''See also: [[:Category:Meta Knight players (SSBB)]]''

*Meta Knight's eyes are never closed; this is also the case for [[Meta Knight (SSB4)|his ''SSB4'' incarnation]].

*{{SSBB|Bowser}}, Meta Knight, {{SSBB|Ike}} and {{SSBB|Marth}} can all perform the [[Floor glitch]].

*Meta Knight and King Dedede have repeatedly appeared as antagonists in their home series, but are not antagonists in the [[Subspace Emissary]]. Interestingly however, both characters are teased to be antagonists early in the plot.

*Meta Knight, the {{SSBB|Ice Climbers}}, {{SSBB|Ganondorf}}, {{SSBB|Mr. Game & Watch}}, and {{SSBB|Samus}} are the only characters whose icon in The Subspace Emissary and the Sticker menu is not based on their renders.