Meta Knight (SSBB)/Neutral special

This article is about the hitbox visualization in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. For the move itself, see Mach Tornado.

Overview

The hitbox of the move, without the tornado graphics shown.

The ending hitbox, that produces all of the knockback.

Known as Mach Tornado, it consists of Meta Knight spinning around very quickly, creating a yellow-orange tornado around himself. This attack consists of many hits. Anyone nearby will be slashed multiple times and get trapped in the tornado, while being damaged continuously. The maximum damage the move can do is around 21%. The move can be extended by repeatedly pressing the B button; this also allows Meta Knight to rise while using the move, and apparently increases the move's priority, with it becoming weak again towards the end. The final hit does moderate vertical knockback, and it can also Star KO if the opponent is very close to the upper blast line. The move lacks transcendent priority, unlike most of Meta Knight's other moves, though this actually makes it harder to punish him and grab him out of it. The move still grants Meta Knight a lot of protection, and he can use it to go through non-transcendent projectiles. It can even be used as a "followup" to air camping.

Mach Tornado can also be used as a recovery move while rising. It gains decent vertical distance and great horizontal distance, while being difficult to attack Meta Knight out of it, due to its large hitboxes being able to clash with ground and aerial attacks alike. However, Meta Knight cannot grab the edge while using the move - he will simply bounce off instead. He also cannot grab the edge during the first few helpless frames after using the move.

A well-known way to use Mach Tornado for a Star KO is to use multiple up aerials while rising and then using Mach Tornado. This is easier to do against floaty characters. However, the move leaves Meta Knight helpless after it is used.

Overall, Mach Tornado is known as one of the best moves in all of Brawl, being an extremely effective damage racker and a very useful recovery option due to not only giving a large amount of horizontal distance and some vertical distance, but also because of the protection it gives. There are ways to stop the move, including transcendent projectiles such as Falco's Blaster, and moves such as Meta Knight's forward smash and Snake's up tilt. Even then, however, the move is considered difficult to counter at close range.

Hitboxes

Loop hits

ID	Damage		KS	FKV	Radius			SDIx	H×	T%	Sound	Hit Bits
0	1%	Forwards	100	50	5.0	-2.0	0.0	1.0x	None	0%	SFX 24	11111111111111
1	1%	Forwards	100	90	5.0	-2.0	0.0	1.0x	None	0%	SFX 24	11111111111111
2	1%	Forwards	45	90	5.0	7.0	-9.0	1.0x	None	0%	SFX 24	11111111111111
3	1%	Forwards	45	90	5.0	7.0	9.0	1.0x	None	0%	SFX 24	11111111111111