Meta Knight (SSBB)/Side special

Hitbox visualization showing Meta Knight's Drill Rush.

Hitbox visualization showing the grounded finisher of Meta Knight's Drill Rush.

Hitbox visualization showing the aerial finisher of Meta Knight's Drill Rush.

Overview

Meta Knight leaps sideways with his blade outstretched. A multi-hit move covering a fairly large distance (it can also be tilted up and down) lasting a good two seconds, with the final hit producing upward diagonal knockback if used on an aerial opponent (it has some KO power at high percentages when used offstage close to the side blast line, though this is rather risky due to the move making Meta Knight helpless). The move hits 10 times, dealing 1% damage per hit. Also, when the move's animation is finished in the air, Meta Knight pulls back a bit while gaining some vertical distance. The move lacks transcendent priority, unlike most of Meta Knight's moveset.

Tilting the move upward gives Meta Knight great vertical distance when used during recovery, with the additional pull back after the move gaining even more vertical distance. Out of all of Meta Knight's recovery moves, Drill Rush gives the most vertical distance (even more than the initial upswing of Shuttle Loop).

It is possible to cancel the ending lag of the attack by making the end hit the edge of any platform, allowing it to be virtually lag-free, and allowing it to be used to rush opponents in on stages such as Battlefield - this is known as Drill Rush Canceling.

Overall, the move is very useful for recovery, but as an attack it is not too useful, as the move can be escaped before the final hit is landed, and it has little followup ability due to making Meta Knight helpless in the air and the ending lag (even when used on the ground, there is some ending lag).

Hitboxes

Rushing

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle		BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	Heedless	Piercing	Strechy	?2	?5	?6	?11	Hit Bits
0	0	6	1%	0		Forwards	60	50	0	4.0	0	0.0	14.0	4.0	0.8x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111
1	0	6	1%	0		Forwards	100	50	0	3.5	0	0.0	2.0	4.0	0.8x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111
2	0	6	1%	0		Forwards	50	50	0	5.0	41	3.5	0.0	0.0	0.8x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111

Grounded Final Hit

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle		BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	Heedless	Piercing	Strechy	?2	?5	?6	?11	Hit Bits
0	0	0	3%	0		Forwards	30	130	0	4.0	41	6.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111
2	0	0	2%	0		Forwards	30	100	0	7.0	41	-8.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111

Aerial Final Hit

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle		BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	Heedless	Piercing	Strechy	?2	?5	?6	?11	Hit Bits
0	0	0	3%	0		Forwards	30	200	0	9.0	41	-2.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111
1	0	0	3%	0		Forwards	30	200	0	8.0	41	6.0	0.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash													11111111111111

Timing

Multihits	26-65
Final hit (grounded)	66-67
Final hit (grounded)	66-70
Animation length	96

Grounded

Aerial

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Hitbox change

Meta Knight's moveset

Neutral attack · Forward tilt (1 · 2 · 3) · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Glide attack
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Forward roll · Back roll · Spot dodge · Air dodge · Techs
Floor attack (front) · Floor getups (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor getups (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Floor getups (trip)
Edge attack (fast) · Edge getups (fast) · Edge attack (slow) · Edge getups (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash