Meta Knight (SSB4)/Forward aerial

Hitbox visualization showing Meta Knight's forward aerial.

Overview[edit]

Meta Knight slashes in front of himself three times. It has the longest range of his aerial attacks and hits on frame 9, giving it some utility as a spacing and landing option. At very low percents, it can combo into another forward aerial, or into Shuttle Loop until mid-percents. Its long range, good speed, and decent power make it effective in a Wall of Pain. However, the move has moderate landing lag, fairly high ending lag, and low damage, requiring very precise spacing to avoid being punished, and is also his slowest aerial. Combined with its subpar combo ability, these factors give it overall limited utility, and it is generally thought to be his worst aerial attack.

Update history[edit]

1.0.4/ 1.0.0

Hits 1 and 2 have less set knockback against aerial opponents (90 → 40) and they no longer use the auto-link angle against them (365° → 85°). This removes forward aerial's drag down setups, as well as hindering its edgeguarding potential.

1.1.5

Landing lag (20 frames → 16).

Hitboxes[edit]

ID	Part	Damage	SD	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Sound
Hits 1-2
0	0	1.5%	0	0	100	40	4.5	0	0.0	6.0	13.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%	Slash
1	0	1.5%	0	0	100	40	4.0	0	0.0	3.0	7.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%	Slash
2	0	2.2%	0	30	130	0	4.5	0	0.0	6.0	13.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%	Slash
3	0	2.2%	0	30	130	0	4.0	0	0.0	3.0	7.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%	Slash
Hit 3
0	0	3%	0	60	140	0	6.5	0	0.0	5.0	13.0	1.0x	2.0x	0%	Slash
1	0	3%	0	60	140	0	6.5	0	0.0	2.5	7.0	1.0x	2.0x	0%	Slash