Editing Meta Knight (PM)

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|name = Meta Knight

|image = {{tabber|title1=Meta Knight (PM)|content1=[[File:Meta Knight SSBB.jpg|250px]]|title2=Meta Knight (P+)|content2=[[File:PPlus Meta Knight.png|250px]]|title3=Dark Meta Knight (PM)|content3=[[File:Dark_Meta_Knight_PM.png|250px]]|title4=Dark Meta Knight (P+)|content4=[[File:PPlus Dark Meta Knight.png|250px]]|title5=Galacta Knight (P+)|content5=[[File:PPlus Galacta Knight.png|250px]]|title6=Concept Art (PM)|content6=[[File:NewConceptArtMetaKnightPM.png|250px]]|title7=Morpho Knight (P+)|content7=[[File:PPlus Morpho Knight.png|250px]]|title8=Samurai Meta Knight (P+)|content8=[[File:PPlus Samurai Meta Knight.png|250px]]}}

|mod = Project M

|base = SSBB

|moveset1 = Meta Knight (SSBB)

|altcostume = [[wikirby:Morpho Knight|Concept Art]], {{s|wikirby|Dark Meta Knight}}, {{s|wikirby|Galacta Knight}} (''[[Project+]]''), [[wikirby:Samurai Kirby|Samurai Meta Knight]] (''[[Project+]]'')

[[File:Concept Art Meta Knight PM 3.0.jpg|thumb|Meta Knight's Concept Art Costume from ''Project M'' 3.0 to 3.6]]

Meta Knight is currently ranked 1st out of 41 on the current [[Project M#Tier list|official]] [[tier list]], placing him in the S tier. This is the same as his placement in ''Brawl'', where he was notably ranked 1st out of 38, albeit not in a dominating fashion like his ''Brawl'' counterpart. Meta Knight retains his 1st place in the official ''Project+'' {{h2|Project+|tier list}}.

Meta Knight has an unusual character blend of character archetypes. He boasts multiple [[double jump]]s, an above average [[walking speed]], the fourth fastest [[dashing speed]], average [[air speed]], the sixth fastest [[falling speed]], and the ability to [[glide]]. He is also tied for the fastest jump squat, giving him a quick, albeit short, [[wavedash]]. He is small character, and is the fourth [[Weight|lightest]] character (being surprisingly heavier than {{PM|Fox}}). These traits give Meta Knight above average mobility compared to most characters of his size and weight.

His speed also gives him a versatile moveset and combo game. His down tilt can either be used to start combos up close, or be used for [[spacing]] or [[edge-guarding]] from a distance, thanks to its long reach. His [[neutral aerial]] has fast start-up, decent reach, high power, and a long duration, allowing it to be used as an [[out of shield]] option, an effective edge-guarding move, or a decent combo move. His [[forward aerial]] can be used as effective [[wall of pain]] move, especially on characters with poor horizontal recoveries such as {{PM|Roy}}. His [[up aerial]] has quick start-up, and low knockback, giving it very potent combo potential, notably on stages with low ceilings, where it can [[Rufio|combo into itself multiple times, and finish with]] [[Mach Tornado]], [[Shuttle Loop]], or even [[Dimensional Cape]] for early KOs. His grab game is also notably effective, despite his average grab range. His [[forward throw]] is very quick, making it difficult for the opponent to react to. His [[back throw]] is good for setting up edgeguards and sending opponents off-stage, and can KO lighter characters at very high percentages. His [[down throw]] can follow-up into a variety of moves at low percents, has [[tech-chasing]] capabilities, and can even [[chain grab]] certain characters at low percentages. Meta Knight also has good KOing options for his weight class. His [[forward smash]] has high knockback for a character his size, and has low ending lag, making it relatively difficult to punish despite is slow start-up. His [[down smash]] has notably low start-up, allowing it to be used as a quick escape option, and a combo finisher. Finally, his [[back aerial]] and [[down aerial]] have very high knockback and reach for their speed; down aerial also [[semi-spike]]s opponents, making it almost guaranteed to [[gimp]] characters with poor recoveries, even at low percents.

Outside of edge-guarding, Meta Knight can also have difficulty KOing despite his good options, as many of them either have difficulty hitting due to slow start-up and/or poor reach, or are prone to [[stale-move negation]]. His lack of a projectile also makes him susceptible to [[camping]] strategies against characters with a strong projectile game, such as {{PM|Snake}} or {{PM|Falco}}. Finally, if Meta Knight is down a [[stock]], he has difficulty getting the lead back due to his aforementioned frailty, and the fact that many of his combos that have the potential of doing high damage or pressure to his opponent are relatively difficult to perform, as many of them are based on reading the opponent's [[directional influence]].

Overall, Meta Knight stands as a "high-risk, high-reward" character. His high learning curve means he must be able to perform his combos consistently, and because he is a ''glass cannon'', he also has to make careful decisions of his every action. Despite Meta Knight's notable weaknesses, his quick movement and attack speed, strong recovery, and formidable combo game, are enough to make a threat to the rest of the cast. Because of this, Meta Knight is viewed by the Project M community as a viable character (placing 5th on the [http://clashtournaments.com/project-m-3-02-preliminary-tier-list/ Project M 3.02 preliminary tier list] and 11th on the [http://clashtournaments.com/project-m-3-02-final-tier-list/ finalized one]). Though his tournament presence had gone down after the significant changes he received in transition to version 3.5, it did not significantly impact his viability when compared to other characters such as {{PM|Zelda}} and {{PM|Mewtwo}}, as his current 1st place ranking shows, courtesy of the buffs he received in version 3.6b and 3.6.

Meta Knight was universally considered to be the best character in ''Brawl'' due to many reasons such as his amazing frame data, aerial game, large amount of disjointed attacks with transcendent priority, his un-contestable recovery/edgeguarding and his insanely oppressive specials (mainly [[Mach Tornado]] and [[Shuttle Loop]]). These factors resulted in Meta Knight heavily dominating ''Brawl'''s metagame with numerous players seeing him as [[broken]]. As a result, Meta Knight has received both [[buff]]s and [[nerf]]s from the tranistion from ''Brawl'' to ''Project M'', but was moderately nerfed overall.  

 

He had some of his overwhelming advantages weakened in the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Project M''. His aerial game, recovery and edgeguarding have all taken a hit. Meta Knight now only has 4 jumps instead of 6 and his gliding has seen a huge nerf. Meta Knight can now only access gliding via [[Shuttle Loop]] and he can only glide for 80 frames. In addition, he gains much less height when gliding up. As for his aerials, his up and down aerials have seen a huge decrease in their speed making them far less oppressive. His notorious [[Mach Tornado]], and [[Shuttle Loop]] have also been significantly downgraded. Unlike most of Meta Knight's moves which have lost their transcendent priority, Mach Tornado has actually gained transcendent priority. This is a detriment as Mach Tornado now loses to every hitbox in the game rather than nullifying a majority of moves. Mach Tornado also has a shorter duration and travels slower. As well as the aforementioned nerfs to Meta Knight's gliding, grounded Shuttle Loop is weaker and has lost its invincibility while the aerial version no longer sweetspots ledges, suffers from extreme landing lag if he lands with it during its startup and the sweetspot is harder to land and has lost its edgeguarding potential.

 

Despite these nerfs, Meta Knight has received some buffs that continue make him a threat to the rest of the cast (albeit to a lesser extent). His already impressive ground speed was increased further and his previously awful air speed has been greatly increased. Many of Meta Knight's moves have increased KO power such as his forward smash, down aerial and back aerial (which now only consists of a single hit making it more reliable). Some of his attacks also have decreased ending lag and the reintroduction of [[L-canceling]] makes his aerials safer than ever on shield.

 

Overall despite his sizeable nerfs, Meta Knight remains one of the most dominant characters and he was even ranked 1st on the latest ''Project M'' tier list. Despite this, he is nowhere near as dominant as in ''Brawl'' with the rest of the cast having a better chance facing off against him and his strong tournament results/representation are much less prevalent.

*{{buff|Meta Knight's jump-squat is one frame faster (frame 4 → 3).}}

*{{change|Meta Knight has much more [[traction]] (0.055 → 0.09) This makes it easier for him to punish out of shield but greatly reduces the length of his new [[wavedash]].}}

*{{nerf|Along with {{PM|Pit}} and {{PM|Charizard}}, Meta Knight can no longer glide with the jump button, though unlike these characters, who received a new special move that allows them to glide, Meta Knight only possesses his [[Shuttle Loop]] glide, significantly shortening his recovery. The duration of the glide is no longer infinite (the entire duration was reduced from infinite to 80 frames) and it gains much less height when angled up.}}

*{{buff|[[Neutral attack]] has less ending lag (frame 39 → 37), and the multi-hits have an altered angle (361° → 60°/120°) more base knockback (8 → 25), allowing them to connect better, due to the universally increased fall speeds. The final hit also deals more damage (2% → 3%) and knockback (13 (base)/60 (growth) → 40/100).}}

*{{nerf|Neutral attack can no longer be held and it can no longer be used to [[jab lock]] opponents.}}

*{{buff|[[Dash attack]] has less start-up lag with a longer duration (frames 5-11 → 4-14) and has an added late hit that deals 3%, giving it a longer duration.}}

*{{nerf|The clean hit has a shorter duration (frames 5-11 → 4-7) and dash attack has more ending lag (frame 32 → 38).}}

*{{nerf|The third hit of [[forward tilt]] has more startup (frame 2 → 3) and ending lag (frame 34 → 35).}}

*{{buff|[[Down tilt]] deals more consistent damage (4%/5%/6%/7% → 5%/7%), and the inner half of the move now launching foes vertically (361° → 80°), giving the move more combo potential.}}

*{{nerf|Down tilt has increased start-up (frame 3 → 6) and ending lag (frame 16 → 20). It also gives less distance forward, removing its ability to pseudo-crawling, and decreasing its reach. It can also no longer lock opponents.}}

*{{change|As with almost every other character, Meta Knight no longer has one consistent voice clip for his smash attacks. He also now vocalises when using down smash.}}

*{{nerf|Forward smash has more ending lag (frame 42 → 49), and causes Meta Knight to step back more during its initial delay, somewhat decreasing its reach. It also has smaller hitboxes (7u/6u → 5.5u/4.92u).}}

*{{buff|[[Up smash]] deals more damage (3% (hit 1), 2% (hit 2), 4% (hit 3) → 4%/3%/5%), and the third hit has increased knockback (62 (base)/145 (growth) → 40/185). It also has less ending lag (frame 50 → 45) and Meta Knight's [[DACUS]] covers more distance improving up smash's approach potential.}}

*{{nerf|Up smash has smaller hitboxes (5u/6.3u → 4.099983u/6u (hits 1 & 2), 6.5u/7.5u → 6.97/6.5 (hit 3)).}}

*{{nerf|The first hit of down smash has less knockback growth (93 → 80), and the back hit has more start-up (frame 10 → 14). It also has more ending lag (frame 35 → 45) and smaller hitboxes (5.5u/5.2u/4.9u/4.6u → 4.51u/4.263967u/4.018u/3.772u).}}

*{{nerf|All aerials have increased landing lag (15 frames → 17 (neutral), 15 frames → 18 (forward), 12 frames → 16 (back), 12 frames → 15 (up), 15 frames → 16 (down)) though this is compensated with the introduction of [[L-canceling]].}}

*{{buff|[[Neutral aerial]] has increased reach, and a longer duration (frames 3-24 → 3-28). The sourspot also deals more damage (7%/6%/5% → 9%).}}

*{{nerf|Neutral aerial has more ending lag (frame 32 → 43) and [[auto-cancel]]s later (frame 25 → 36) no longer doing so in a short hop. It also has a new late hit which deals less damage (7%/6%/5% → 4%).}}

*{{buff|Meta Knight has a new [[back aerial]], where he performs a single quarter-circle slash behind him making it more reliable. It has less ending lag (frame 46 → 36), making it easier to wall of pain into itself. It also deals more damage (10% → 14%), making it stronger despite its decreased knockback growth (175 → 100).}}

*{{buff|[[Up aerial]] deals more damage (6% → 8%) with its knockback growth compensated (125 → 105). It also auto-cancels earlier (frame 21 → 19).}}

*{{nerf|Up aerial has increased start-up (frame 2 → 5) and ending lag (frame 14 → 23), reducing it's combo potential despite it's decreased knockback growth (125 → 105).}}

*{{buff|Meta Knight has a new [[down aerial]], where he performs a somersault before slashing downward in a horizontal arc. It deals more damage (9%/7% → 14%/11%) and knockback (15/30 (base), 105 (growth) → 30/20 (base), 80/90 (growth)) improving its KO potential. The sweetspot now takes priority over the sourspot and there is only one sourspot hitbox rather than two.}}

*{{nerf|New down aerial has much more start-up (frame 4 → 12) and ending lag (frame 26 → 40) greatly hindering its utility outside of edgeguarding. It also auto-cancels later (frame 24 → 37) no longer doing so in a short hop and its angles have been altered (23° (clean), 35° → 35°/361°) hindering its edgeguarding potential.}}

*{{nerf|Standing and pivot grab have increased start-up (frame 6 → 7 (standing), frame 7 → 9 (pivot)) and ending lag (frame 30 → 31 (standing), frame 35 → 36 (pivot)).}}

*{{nerf|The universal increase to all character's fall speeds hinders up throws KO potential as its knockback and damage were unchanged.}}

*{{buff|[[Down throw]] has a shorter animation due to Meta Knight stomping less times, giving it more follow-up [[tech-chase]]ing capabilities, and allowing Meta Knight to [[chain grab]] a few characters more effectively.}}

*{{nerf|Down throw has increased ending lag, and the reduced number of stomps results in it dealing less damage (11% → 9%). Its increased knockback reduces it's combo ability at higher percentages.}}

*{{nerf|Mach Tornado's acceleration, deceleration and duration were significantly decreased. Contrary to most of Meta Knight's moves, Mach Tornado now has transcendent priority allowing any move in the game to hit Meta Knight out of it making it far easier to challenge.}}

*{{buff|Aerial [[Shuttle Loop]] has a longer duration (frame 8-36 → 8-37). Grounded Shuttle Loop's late hit also deals more damage (5% → 6%).}}

*{{change|Aerial Shuttle Loop now launches opponents vertically (25° → 80°). This improves its KO potential near the upper blast line but removes its edgeguarding potential.}}

*{{nerf|Grounded Shuttle Loop has less base knockback (90 → 85), lacks [[intangibility]] on startup, has a smaller hitbox, and a shorter duration (frames 8-14 (clean), 15-36 (late)) → 8-9/10-31). The aerial version's sweetspot also has a shorter duration (frames 8-14 → 8-9) making it much harder to connect. It also no longer auto-sweetspots the ledge on startup and if Meta Knight lands during its startup, he will now suffer from a high amount of landing lag.}}

*{{buff|Grounded Dimensional Cape does not disable specials and airdodges.}}

*{{change|Added a dust effect when Meta Knight is nearing the end of his glide timer.}}

===Most historically significant players===

 

*{{Sm|Boiko|USA}} - Ranked #23 on [[PMRank 2023]].

*{{Sm|SipMastah|USA}} - Ranked #9 on [[PMRank 2022]] Using a combination of Meta Knight, Lucario and Sonic.

*{{Sm|EmuKiller|USA}} - Ranked 39th on [[PMRank 2018]], and 13th on [[PMRank 2017]]. Placed 1st at [[We Tech Those 2]] using solo Meta Knight.

*{{sm|Lunchables|USA}} - Ranked 11th on [[PMRank 2022]] and has ranked as high as #2 on [[PMRank 2016]]. Picked up Meta Knight in 2022 while maining Marth, Roy, and Toon Link.

*{{Sm|Qtip|p=Washington|USA}} - Formerly ranked #45 on [[PMRank 2022]] and 3rd on the Washington ''Project M'' Power Rankings.

*{{Sm|swiminonland|USA}} - Ranked #48 on [[PMrank 2023]].

*{{Sm|Tealz|USA}} - Formerly ranked #33 on [[PMRank 2022]].

*{{Sm|Yung Quaff|USA}} - Formerly ranked #31 on [[PMRank 2022]].

 

Meta Knight has gained two new costumes. One is based off of his evil Mirror World counterpart, {{s|wikirby|Dark Meta Knight}}, from ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby & the Amazing Mirror}}''. The other is based off of concept art for the canceled [[wikirby:Kirby for Nintendo GameCube|GameCube ''Kirby'' game]], included in the collectible book that came with ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby's Dream Collection Special Edition}}'', which featured a new Meta Knight-like character with a stylized mask and armor that resembles a butterfly. This design would later be used for {{s|wikirby|Morpho Knight}} in ''{{s|wikirby|Kirby Star Allies}}''.

|colspan=8|[[File:Meta Knight Palette (PM).png|frame|center|Meta Knight's alternate costumes in PM]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadSSBB.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadWhiteSSBB.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadRedSSBB.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadGreenSSBB.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadBlueSSBB.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadPinkSSBB.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadDarkPM.png]]

|[[File:MetaKnightHeadConceptPM.png]]

*Meta Knight's Concept Art alternate costume has an error where his sabaton strap appears to have no texture. There is, however, a patch that fixes this problem- as well as an error involving his cape.[http://forums.kc-mm.com/Gallery/BrawlView.php?Number=209301]