Rufio

The Rufio Combo is a famous Meta Knight combo, and is a staple of his meta game in both Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4.

Execution

Brawl

In Brawl, Meta Knight's up aerial is among the fastest moves in the game, with a total duration of 13 frames, meaning it can be performed four times within a second. It also has a hugely disjointed range, low damage (6%), and weak knockback. Along with his multiple jumps, all these traits make it a superb combo tool. The Rufio Combo consists of multiple up aerials, usually five or six, and finishes with a high-altitude Mach Tornado, dealing roughly 50% damage and KOing the opponent if they fail to escape. Though this combo is devastating, players commonly opt to replace Mach Tornado with Shuttle Loop. This is because Shuttle Loop has quicker start-up and, when used in the air, semi-spikes opponents with powerful knockback. Also, Shuttle Loop transitions into a glide, making it much safer if whiffed than Mach Tornado. This variation is very similar to Captain Falcon's most well-known combo in Super Smash Bros., which involved chaining numerous up aerials into a high-altitude Falcon Dive, and has been dubbed the Stairway to Heaven. In fact, some players refer to Meta Knight's up aerial combos with the same name.

There are several ways to start this combo. Meta Knight's down tilt has deceptive range, and has a chance to trip opponents, in which case they are wide open to a dash attack, which deals weak vertical knockback and easily follows into his up aerial. Down throw can be used, but opponents can easily DI and air dodge against this. Neutral and forward aerials, with their favorable auto-cancel frames, can also lead into a dash attack at lower percentages.

Smash 4

Meta Knight's up aerial is much slower, with a total duration of 27 frames, about twice as much as in Brawl. However, it deals 1% less damage, and its knockback is even weaker than before, and even with his decreased range, the move still has a deceptively large hitbox. Meta Knight's increased air speed also makes it more difficult to DI horizontally out of his up aerial combos.

The Rufio combo is still possible in its full form, but is considerably more difficult to pull off, due to the heavier lag on his up aerial. Mach Tornado deals much more knockback than in Brawl, but is now mostly forgone in favor of Shuttle Loop. While Shuttle Loop is much riskier to use since it no longer initiates a glide, it deals more damage, and the aerial version deals vertical knockback instead of horizontal, making it much deadlier when used near the upper blast line.

Like his previous iteration, Meta Knight has some reliable set-ups into this combo. Dash attack deals vertical knockback, and is now disjointed. Down tilt has shorter reach, but is still quick and safe, and can trip opponents. With the removal of hitstun cancelling, both down and forward throws can lead into the up aerial combo. Due to the severe nerfs Meta Knight has received in the transition to Smash 4, this combo is much more pivotal to his meta game.