Super Smash Bros. 4

Mewtwo (SSB4)

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Revision as of 11:43, August 19, 2016 by Einstein'sForGloryTASArchive (talk | contribs) (→‎Moveset: Updated the KO power of Mewtwo's back throw to be more accurate.)
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This article is about Mewtwo's appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4. For the character in other contexts, see Mewtwo.
Mewtwo
in Super Smash Bros. 4
Mewtwo SSB4.png
PokemonSymbol.svg
Universe Pokémon
Other playable appearance in Melee


Availability Downloadable
Final Smash Psystrike
Tier F (37)
Mewtwo (SSB4)
Mewtwo Strikes Back!
—Introduction Tagline

Mewtwo (ミュウツー, Mewtwo) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. Mewtwo was confirmed to return to the series as a playable character during the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 50-Fact Extravaganza on October 23rd, 2014 and was made available to the public on April 28th, 2015. However, those who registered both Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS on Club Nintendo before March 31st, 2015 would be allowed to download Mewtwo for free on April 15th, 2015.[1] Its appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4 makes it both the first downloadable character in Super Smash Bros. history and the second of three Super Smash Bros. Melee characters that were cut from Super Smash Bros. Brawl to return to the series, succeeding Dr. Mario and preceding Roy.

Mewtwo is now voiced by Keiji Fujiwara, replacing Masachika Ichimura from Super Smash Bros. Melee. As in Melee, Mewtwo has fully voiced victory quotes in Japanese that are re-recorded versions of its Melee quotes, although they were removed for international versions. Its phrases, and most of its grunts and other voice clips, are inspired by those in Melee.

Mewtwo is currently ranked 37th out 56 on the tier list, placing it in the F tier. This is a notable improvement from its ranking of 21st out of 26 in Melee, although it is still the lowest-ranked DLC character. Mewtwo's mobility has noticeably improved, while its entire moveset has been generally reworked to be less awkward and more usable than before. Many of its attacks have been improved, with Confusion and Disable in particular becoming much more useful, while its ground, air, and grab games have become very potent.

However, Mewtwo remains held back by its tall yet light frame, with its weight having become even lighter since Melee. As a result, it is still vulnerable to combos and juggling, while its already poor survivability is even worse than before. Mewtwo's other issues include some of its attacks becoming slower, while its approach has been weakened due to the removal of wavedashing and moonwalking and the weakening of dash-dancing.

It is worth noting that game updates have been released since the tier list's establishment. Like a number of characters, Mewtwo has been changed by these updates, with it in particular having received numerous buffs that have made it much more consistent and rewarding than how it was within the 1.1.3 metagame. These changes have been significant enough to garner it impressive representation and success in tournaments, most notably Abadango placing first at Pound 2016. As a result of it becoming a very viable, if difficult to master, character in competitive play, Mewtwo's rank on the tier list is heavily disputed, but most of the community agrees that it deserves to be ranked far higher than its current low-tier ranking, such as ZeRo having ranked Mewtwo 9th on his own personal tier list.

Attributes

Mewtwo has a variety of unusual, polarizing attributes. It has a very fast dashing and air speeds, making it a very mobile character. While it is tall, it is the second lightest character in the game, being surpassed only by Jigglypuff. Despite its great mobility, it has low traction, slow air acceleration, average gravity, walking and falling speeds, and a large frame, making safely landing and approaching difficult. Its double jump also has slow acceleration at the start, unlike other double jumps, which benefits its approach but further hinders its defense.

Mewtwo's throws are among the most potent in SSB4 despite having been toned down since Melee, as all of them have impressive damage outputs and two of them are viable for scoring KOs. Its forward throw is tied with Ganondorf's and max aura Lucario's forward throws as the most damaging throws of their kind in the game, which makes it useful for both damage racking and refreshing its stale moves. Its back and up throws are among the strongest throws in the game, making them reliable KO options. While its down throw lacks true combo potential, it can potentially lead to mindgames, due to it launching opponents just out of counterattacking range. Mewtwo's grab, however, has only average range, especially for a character of its size. Its pummel's damage output and speed are also only average at best.

Mewtwo's ground game is a mixed bag; while generally powerful and sometimes able to take advantage of a disjointed hitbox, all but a few of its ground moves (including down smash and down tilt) suffer from noticeable ending lag. As a result, its ground moves are risky to use if it they are whiffed, shielded, or dodged. Its neutral attack is very useful, as it is easily capable of leading into jab cancels and it can out-prioritize many moves. This enables Mewtwo to better utilize its grab game, quickly initiate combos when followed up by its up or down tilts, or act as a set-up into Disable. Mewtwo's up tilt can lead into its aerial moves and potentially itself on many characters even at high percentages if it hits them at the start of the move. Its forward tilt is powerful enough to KO, particularly near the edge.

Mewtwo's dash attack, while punishable, still provides respectable range and knockback, and its late hit is still able to hit opponents if they roll away from Mewtwo. Finally, its smash attacks all have above average strength; its forward smash has the most range, its up smash is the most powerful and fastest of the three, while also functioning as a powerful anti-air option, and its down smash has the least ending lag of the three, making it safe on hit.

In comparison to its ground game, Mewtwo's aerial game is highly potent. Its air dodge makes it disappear for a brief time, which can make it difficult to track for the opposing player, while also being the fastest in the game, ending on frame 28. Its aerial moves deal respectable damage, high knockback, and can combo into themselves. Its neutral aerial has a long lasting active hitbox that can shield stab, outlast air dodges and start combos if landing as the enemy is being hit. Its forward aerial boasts impressive start-up, power, and range, alongside the ability to combo into itself at low percentages and the ability to KO at higher percentages even when stale.

Its back aerial is similar to the former, but has slower start-up to offset the very large sweeping hitbox behind itself while also possessing the ability to combo into itself before becoming a KO option at high percentages. Its long range can also hit opponents waiting below the edge, making it a useful move for edgeguarding. Its up aerial is a standard sweeping attack of moderate power and has good combo potential. Lastly, its down aerial is a very powerful meteor smash, with rather fast startup for its power and KO potential at high percentages. However, it is also the slowest of its aerials, has the most landing lag, and generally cannot be chained into.

Finally, its special moves are powerful, although risky, much like its ground game. Shadow Ball is one of the strongest and fastest projectiles in the game when fully charged. Teleport's ending lag, momentum, and start-up have been increased since Melee, and while these traits make it generally more risky to use when warping to the ground, it is still useful due to it rendering Mewtwo invulnerable for a split second and granting it considerable horizontal momentum.

Confusion, which was notorious in Melee for being virtually useless, has been buffed considerably and now helps Mewtwo's neutral game. It improves Mewtwo's defensive presence by now functioning as a proper reflector and its offensive presence due to it functioning as a long-ranged command grab that can grab through attacks with disjointed hitboxes, such as Ike's forward smash. Confusion's utility also extends to Mewtwo's recovery, as it grants a slight vertical boost when used in midair and it can completely reverse aerial momentum and direction. Disable also received some buffs, as its range and its stun's duration both increased. While it is still a risky set-up, it can guarantee combos and potentially KOs if it connects.

Despite Mewtwo's strengths, it has notable and fairly exploitable weaknesses. The most notable of these is its frailty; Mewtwo's tall frame combined with its low weight makes it very easy to KO, but its tall frame, couple with its average falling speed and average gravity, makes Mewtwo an easier character to combo than other characters of its size. Furthermore, Mewtwo lacks an effective aerial attack that can interrupt combos, and attempting to Teleport out of combos can lead to a punishment. This leads to Mewtwo being brought to KO percentages more easily than potentially any other character in the game. The majority of its moveset also possesses some restrictions, despite their advantages; its tail attacks do not render Mewtwo's tail intangible during the attack, which makes Mewtwo's tail attacks unsafe except for its down tilt.

Mewtwo's finishers are difficult to land with except for its forward aerial; its grab range is average, limiting its the use of Mewtwo's throws, its forward and down smash have somewhat slow startup, and its up smash is easily punishable due to its range being almost limited to above Mewtwo. While Disable can potentially set up for KOs, it is also risky to perform and can easily be punished if it whiffs. Lastly, Mewtwo is at a distinct disadvantage in a custom moveset environment, as it lacks custom moves due to its status as a DLC character.

Generally speaking, Mewtwo is an odd hybrid of playstyles: it fits the archetype of a speedy glass cannon that sacrifices attack speed and range for sheer damage and power, yet typically relies on bait and punish tactics and defensive maneuvers to keep opponents from performing rushdowns and capitalizing on its very tall frame and extremely light weight. This does not mean Mewtwo is forced to turtling, however, as its outstanding mobility, excellent aerial game, good frame data, and all-around powerful moveset make it a force to be reckoned with. Ultimately, this classifies Mewtwo as a "high-risk, high-reward" character due to it boasting numerous KOing options that have capable reach, yet being burdened with very light weight and a susceptibility to combos and juggling, it will have to capitalize on reads more often than not, giving Mewtwo a surprisingly high learning curve as a result.

In a similar manner to Marth, Mewtwo was initially poorly regarded in SSB4's metagame, due to its most serious flaws from Melee being worsened, which resulted in it suffering from low representation and poor results. After being heavily buffed in game updates, Mewtwo has received more representation and better results in the tournament scene, with its notable players including Blue, Mew² and Abadango. Following Abadango winning Pound 2016 while almost solely using Mewtwo, it is now regarded as a better character than initially thought, with most players considering it to be within the high-tier.

Changes from Melee

Mewtwo has received both buffs and nerfs since Melee, but it has overall been buffed relative to the SSB4 cast. First and foremost, Mewtwo has received many notable improvements; for instance, its aerials are better (its down aerial being the most heavily buffed in the game in terms of power), with highly reduced landing lag and added power. It also no longer has the worst tech in the game. More specifically, two specials that were previously viewed as useless, Disable and Confusion, were buffed in speed, usage, and the capability to chain into combos. Confusion in particular is now able to transfer projectiles to Mewtwo's ownership, improving its offense, defensive play against projectiles, and assisting in mindgames. Mewtwo's smash attacks were also buffed, with significant increases in knockback being applied to both its forward smash and up smash, improving its previously poor KO ability.

Mewtwo also dashes significantly faster, which greatly helps its ground game and Mewtwo's overall mobility. The removal of directional air dodging and more landing lag with an air dodge is also a significant buff to its Shadow Ball, which can be used to trap landings much more easily. The new air dodge mechanics also give Mewtwo an additional option when attempting to safely land back on to the stage. Furthermore, Mewtwo retains a very powerful up throw and a forward throw that can both deal decent damage and help refresh moves affected by stale-move negation. Finally, its new wall jump improves its already exceptional recovery ability.

However, Mewtwo has received significant nerfs, especially to its survivability. One of Mewtwo's biggest nerfs in the transition is a large decrease to its already low weight (now being a mere six units heavier than Jigglypuff) and a slight increase to its already tall hurtbox, making Mewtwo significantly easier to KO. Teleport, formerly one of its reliable defensive options, has more landing lag, weakening its mix-up utility and its ability to escape pressure. Teleport is also more buggy due to the altered mechanics to its aerial ending lag, sometimes leading to Mewtwo bouncing off of the walls of certain stages. Mewtwo's attacks have also slightly slower start-up at the cost of their ending lag.

The removal of wavedashing also harms Mewtwo, as it aided its combo game and approach in Melee. The removal of double jump canceling is a double-edged sword: although it improves Mewtwo's recovery and allows for new types of combos, it nonetheless inhibits its combo game overall, as with the loss of wavedashing. Its throw-oriented combo game has been toned down significantly; the removal of chain grabbing as well as the generally slower fall speeds means Mewtwo can no longer chain grab with its up or down throws, while its down throw now has slightly more ending lag, making it one of the only characters with a down throw that cannot combo properly, and unlike it's forward throw, lacks the damage output to compensate.

Overall, Mewtwo has been re-balanced so that its moveset is generally more consistent than in Melee, but its survivability, approach and combo options have been nerfed due to its lighter weight and the changes in mechanics from Melee to SSB4. As such, Mewtwo still has a rather high learning curve and risky playstyle, though it does function as a very effective glass cannon.

Aesthetics

  • Change Mewtwo's design has undergone a few changes, much like the other playable Pokémon in SSB4. It now has a slightly smaller head, lighter skin and slightly more bulbous fingers, which makes Mewtwo more closely resemble its most recent appearances in the Pokémon core series. However, its initial trophy does not use this updated design.
  • Change Mewtwo's front side now faces the screen regardless of which direction it is looking.
  • Change Mewtwo is less vocal overall, as it no longer uses a sound effect when using Confusion, Disable and battering items.

Attributes

  • Nerf Mewtwo is lighter (85 → 74), now being the second lightest character in the game.
  • Buff Mewtwo walks faster (1.0 → 1.2).
  • Buff Mewtwo dashes faster (1.4 → 2.05), going from being tied for the tenth slowest in Melee to the seventh fastest in SSB4.
  • Buff Mewtwo's air speed is faster (1.2 → 1.25).
  • Buff Mewtwo's fast falling speed is faster (2.3 → 2.4). When combined with the new air dodge mechanics, this can help Mewtwo land easier.
  • Change Mewtwo is slightly taller, making it easier to hit and more susceptible to combos in certain situations, yet improves its range.
  • Buff Short hop, jump, and double jump are slightly higher. This improves its recovery potential and enables its forward, back and up aerials to autocancel from a short hop, despite their later autocancel windows.
  • Buff Mewtwo can now wall jump.
  • Buff Mewtwo crouches lower.
  • Change The removal of double jump canceling improves Mewtwo's recovery, as it can now use aerials or air dodges while keeping its momentum. However, it also hinders Mewtwo's combo game.
  • Nerf The removal of wavedashing and moonwalking and the weakening of dash-dancing all significantly hinder Mewtwo's approach.
  • Buff Techs' animations has been changed. They are now more traditional, making it harder for Mewtwo to be tech-chased.
  • Change Some of Mewtwo's tail-based attacks do not match their trails.
  • Change Item swings' animations have been changed.
  • Change Dash swings no longer hit multiple times.

Ground attacks

  • Nerf Neutral attack deals less damage (6% → 4% (hit 1), 2% → 1% (infinite)).
  • Buff Neutral attack has decreased ending lag (30 frames → 25). Its neutral infinite also comes out 2 frames earlier (frame 8 → 6), has decreased ending lag (30 frames → 25) and now has a finisher, an upward swipe.
  • Change Neutral infinite's animation has been slightly changed. Mewtwo now moves its body and its attacking arm is slightly bent instead of pointing straight forward.
  • Buff Sweetspotted dash attack deals 1% more damage (9% → 10%) and has increased knockback, improving its KO potential. Its hitboxes are also larger, with the furthest hitbox now being larger than the hitbox closer to its body, granting it disjointed range.
  • Nerf Dash attack's lingering hitbox lasts 9 frames shorter.
  • Change Dash attack's animation has been slightly changed. Mewtwo now performs a palm thrust while supporting its dominant hand with its other hand, rather than a double palm thrust.
  • Nerf Forward tilt has increased ending lag (32 frames → 36), comes out 2 frames later (frame 6 → 8) and lasts 1 frame shorter (frame 6-8 → 6-7).
  • Nerf Down tilt deals less damage (9% → 5% (near), 5% → 4% (far)), comes out 1 frame later (frame 5 → 6) and lasts 1 frame shorter (frames 5-7 → 6-7).
  • Nerf Up tilt deals less damage (10%/8%/6%/5% → 6%/5%/4.5%/4%/3%) and comes out 2 frames later (frame 6 → 8).
  • Buff Up tilt has decreased ending lag (21 frames → 17). Its decreased damage output also improves its combo and aerial follow-up potentials.
  • Buff Down tilt has significantly decreased ending lag (30 frames → 21), improving its set-up potential.
  • Buff All smash attacks have significantly decreased ending lag (40 frames → 32 (forward), 45 frames → 34 (up), 38 frames → 22 (down)).
  • Buff Forward smash has increased knockback scaling across all hitboxes (75 (sweetspot)/80 (sourspot) → 85/90), a larger hitbox (2u → 3u) and its sweetspot is easier to land than the sourspot. Its hitbox duration is also 1 frame longer. Sourspotted forward smash deals 4% more damage (12% → 16%).
  • Nerf Sweetspotted forward smash deals 1% less damage (20% → 19%). Forward smash also has slightly decreased range and it comes out 1 frame later (frame 18 → 19).
  • Change Forward smash's start-up animation has been slightly changed. Mewtwo now rears back both arms to one side, rather than rearing back each arm to each side.
  • Buff Due to the changes to stale-move negation, up smash deals 1.39% more damage (15.61% → 17%) and has altered knockback (40 (base)/118 (scaling) → 60/107), improving its KO potential. The first hit has increased set knockback (40/18/8 → 90) and the remaining six hits have also larger hitboxes, which makes its hits connect together better.
  • Nerf Up smash's initial hitbox is very slightly smaller.
  • Change Up smash's last hit has slightly less vertical range, but slightly more horizontal range.
  • Buff Down smash has increased knockback scaling (103 → 118) and slightly more range, improving its KO potential.
  • Nerf Down smash comes out 1 frame later (frame 20 → 21).

Aerial attacks

  • Buff All aerial attacks' landing lag was reduced, although they still have more lag than when L-canceled in Melee (17/8 frames (normal/L-canceled) → 13 (neutral), 25/12 frames → 14 (forward), 28/14 frames → 17 (back), 20/10 frames → 13 (up), 28/14 frames → 18 (down)).
  • Buff Neutral, forward and down aerials have decreased ending lag (55 frames → 46 (neutral), 40 frames → 38 (forward), 58 frames → 46 (down)).
  • Nerf All aerials except down aerial autocancel later (frame 37 → 46 (neutral), frame 35 → 36 (forward), frame 30 → 38 (back), frame 33 → 36 (up)), with its neutral aerial no longer autocanceling from a short hop.
  • Buff Neutral aerial's first eight hits connect together better and its last hit has a larger hitbox that deals increased knockback (70 (base)/80 (scaling) → 40/110).
  • Nerf Neutral aerial deals less damage (1.5% → 1% (hits 1-8), 6% → 4% (hit 9)). It also comes out 2 frames later (frame 5 → 7) and its landing hitbox has been removed.
  • Change Neutral aerial's aesthetic visuals have been changed. The electricity now flashes green, yellow, blue, cyan and purple at varying intervals instead of flashing mauve and cyan at a consistent rate.
  • Nerf Forward aerial deals 1% less damage (14% → 13%) and lasts 1 frame shorter.
  • Buff Forward aerial has increased horizontal range and its hitboxes are also more disjointed from Mewtwo's arm.
  • Change Forward aerial's angle has been altered (84° → 50°), which allows it to combo into itself in another way. Its KO potential is also horizontal rather than vertical.
  • Change Forward aerial's animation has been slightly changed. Mewtwo now swipes in a scooping motion instead of turning its body inward towards its swiping direction.
  • Nerf Back and up aerials have increased ending lag (16 frames → 23 (back), 24 frames → 26 (up)).
  • Buff Back aerial's x-axis offset is larger (5.1 → 5.5), improving its horizontal range.
  • Nerf Back aerial comes out 1 frame later (frame 12 → 13).
  • Buff Near up aerial deals 1% more damage (10% → 11%), lasts 1 frame longer and has improved combo and KO potentials.
  • Nerf Mid and far up aerial deals less damage (11% → 10% (mid), 14% → 9% (far)). It also comes out 1 frame later (frame 9 → 10).
  • Change Up aerial's sweetspot is now placed near Mewtwo's body as opposed to the tip of its tail, removing its tipper.
  • Nerf Aerial sweetspotted down aerial deals 1% less damage (16% → 15%).
  • Buff The removal of meteor canceling makes down aerial significantly stronger.
  • Buff Down aerial comes out 3 frames faster (frame 18 → 15), lasts 2 frames longer (2 → 4 frames) and autocancels earlier (frame 45 → 42), now autocanceling from a short hop due to Mewtwo's increased jump height. Its hitboxes are also much larger and more disjointed from Mewtwo's leg, increasing its vertical and horizontal range below it.
  • Change Down aerial's animation has been slightly changed. Mewtwo now thrusts its leading foot downward in a more pronounced stomping motion and exudes more darkness visual effects, even though the attack does not have a darkness effect.

Throws/other attacks

  • Nerf The removal of chain grabbing hinders Mewtwo's damage racking ability, as it can no longer chain grab with its up or down throws.
  • Nerf Standing and dash grabs have increased ending lag (24 frames → 28 (standing), 32 frames → 33 (dash)). Dash grab also comes out 1 frame later (frame 8 → 9).
  • Nerf Pummel deals 1% less damage (3% → 2%).
  • Buff Pummel is faster.
  • Buff Forward throw's Shadow Balls are larger and pass through the thrown opponent, improving their reliability.
  • Nerf Forward throw's Shadow Balls do not travel as far as they did in Melee.
  • Change Forward throw's animation has been changed. Mewtwo now levitates and has one of its feet planted down during the throw.
  • Nerf Back throw deals 1% less damage (11% → 10%) and has decreased knockback scaling (80 → 75), hindering its KO potential.
  • Change Back throw's animation has been changed. Mewtwo now levitates and then throws an opponent in a backhanded motion without looking behind itself.
  • Nerf Up throw has decreased knockback (100 (base)/70 (scaling) → 72/65), significantly hindering its KO potential. However, it is still the strongest up throw in the game if DI is taken into account. It also has slightly increased ending lag, slightly hindering its safety at low percentages.
  • Nerf Down throw deals 2% less damage (11% → 9%) and has slightly increased ending lag, hindering its combo and set-up potentials to the point that it now requires hard reads.
  • Buff Down throw has a slightly faster animation.
  • Change Down throw has an altered angle (69° → 74°).
  • Change Down throw's animation has changed. Mewtwo now does a front flip instead of a full body spin.

Special moves

  • Buff Fully charged Shadow Ball is much stronger, has a larger hitbox and has increased range, improving its KO potential.
  • Nerf Shadow Ball's charging time has increased and it no longer has a hitbox while charging.
  • Change Shadow Ball's movement pattern is much less erratic. This improves it accuracy, but makes its trajectory more predictable.
  • Change Darkness now emanates from both of Mewtwo's hands instead of just one while saving a fully charged Shadow Ball.
  • Nerf Confusion deals ≈0.9505% less damage (10% → ≈9.0495%).
  • Buff Confusion now functions like a traditional reflector, as it changes reflected projectiles to Mewtwo's ownership and has a damage multiplier (1.4x).
  • Buff Aerial Confusion gives Mewtwo a slight vertical boost after its first use, giving it recovery potential.
  • Change Confusion now consists of eight small hits instead of one large hit.
  • Change Confusion's aesthetic visuals have been changed. It now appears as a ripple of psychic energy that is almost identical to the animation Confusion has used since Pokémon Black and White Versions, instead of as a flash of energy.
  • Change Teleport provides Mewtwo a small amount of forward and/or backward momentum, slightly improving its recovery potential. However, it plays out its momentum granting ending lag even if Mewtwo re-appears on the ground, slightly making it more punishable.
  • Change Teleport's aesthetic visuals have changed. It has Mewtwo disappear within a purple ripple rather than a yellow flash.
  • Change Teleport has slightly increased start-up. This slightly improves its maneuverability, but makes it slightly more punishable.
  • Buff Disable's stun duration has increased and its ending lag has decreased, improving its set-up potential.
  • Nerf Disable deals 1% and minor knockback to an aerial opponent instead of launching or tumbling them.
  • Change Disable's animation has been slightly changed. Mewtwo now tilts its head at an angle and its eyes turn green, instead of keeping its head straight and its eyes turning yellow.
  • Change Mewtwo now has a Final Smash, Psystrike. Mewtwo undergoes Mega Evolution to become Mega Mewtwo Y and then immediately uses Psystrike, a powerful sphere of psychic energy that is fired from its palm, can pass through walls and powerfully launches any opponents it hits.

Update history

Mewtwo has been heavily buffed as of update 1.1.5. Some of its attacks have had their damage outputs increased, their lag decreased, and their hitboxes' sizes and durations increased, all of which improve its offense. Additionally, update 1.1.3 made Mewtwo considerably faster by increasing its walking and dashing speeds, which enables it to chase after opponents and thus allows it to mix up its playstyle to sport a more consistent offensive presence alongside its typically defensive presence. Mewtwo's dash speed was increased even further in update 1.1.5, now being slightly faster than Sheik's. Said update also slightly increased Mewtwo's incredibly light weight, which marginally improved its survivability issues. Mewtwo also slightly benefits from the changes to shield mechanics brought about by updates 1.1.0 and 1.1.1; the universal increase to shieldstun allows Shadow Ball, some of its sweetspotted attacks and Confusion-reflected projectiles (such as a reflected tree, a reflected fully charged Charge Shot or a reflected fully charged Shadow Ball) to heavily damage a shield. Due to these aforementioned changes, Mewtwo is considered much more viable than it was upon release, with many players considering it to be comfortably within the high-tier, rather than its current low-tier placement.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.0.8

  • Buff Neutral aerial's landing lag decreased: 19 frames → 16.
  • Nerf Up smash's initial hitbox size decreased.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.0

  • Buff Forward throw deals 2.5% more damage: 10.5% → 13%.
  • Buff Down smash's knockback scaling increased: 112 → 118, improving its KO potential.
  • Buff Air dodge's animation slightly changed. If Mewtwo air dodges while holding an item, the item will disappear as well. This enables Mewtwo to avoid giving away its location, improving its safety. However, this can be mitigated if its name tag is visible or if Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DSthe bottom screen marker is placed on it.

Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.3

  • Buff Mewtwo walk speed: 1.0 → 1.2.
  • Buff Mewtwo dash speed: 1.696 → 1.9
  • Buff Mewtwo's air speed is faster: 1.15 → 1.25.
  • Buff Forward smash sourspot damage: 15% → 16%.
  • Buff Forward smash hitbox size: 2.0 → 3.0.
  • Buff Neutral air landing lag: 16 → 13.
  • Buff Forward air startup: 7 frames → 6.
  • Buff Forward air landing lag: 18 → 14.
  • Buff Back air x-axis offset: 5.1 → 5.5.
  • Buff Back air landing lag: 21 → 17.
  • Buff Up air damage: 9% → 10%.
  • Buff Up air landing lag: 16 → 13.
  • Buff Down air hitbox duration: 2 frames → 4.
  • Buff Down air landing lag: 22 → 18.
  • Change Down throw angle: 69° → 74°.
  • Buff Shadow Ball is slightly increased in size.
  • Change Shadow Ball deals less recoil.

Technical changelist 1.1.3

Change Old value New value
Walking speed 1.0 1.2
Dashing speed 1.696 1.9
Forward smash hitbox 2u 3u
Sourspotted forward smash damage 15% 16%
Neutral & up/forward/back/down aerial landing lag 16/18/21/22 13/14/17/18
Forward aerial start-up 7 frames 6
Back aerial x-axis offset 5.1 5.5
Up aerial damage 7.5% (far)/ 9% (mid) 9%/10%
Up aerial hitboxes' size 4.7u (hitbox 0)/ 3.9u (hitbox 1)/ 3.1u (hitbox 2) 5u/4.5u/4u
Up aerial knockback 0 (base)/100 (growth) 40/97
Down aerial hitbox duration 2 frames 4
Down throw angle 69° 74°


Super Smash Bros. 4 1.1.5

  • Buff Mewtwo is slightly heavier: 72 → 74.
  • Buff Mewtwo dashes faster (1.9 → 2.05), now being slightly faster than Sheik.
  • Buff Up smash ending lag decreased by five frames.
  • Buff Neutral aerial's multi-hits hitboxes are larger: 2.3u → 3u.


Moveset

  Name Damage Description
Neutral attack   4% Extends its arm and emits repeated pulses of dark energy before finishing with an dark energy-infused upward swipe. The first hit can be jab canceled, which allows Mewtwo to combo it into itself, a throw or any other attack.
1% (loop), 2% (finisher)
Forward tilt   10% (near), 9% (mid), 8% (far) Swings its tail forward. Can be angled and has good range, but has low knockback.
Up tilt   6% (nearest), 5% (near), 4% (far), 3% (farthest), 4.5% (farthest hitbox to opponents in front of Mewtwo) Backflips and strikes opponents with its tail. Deals more damage the closer the opponent is to Mewtwo, with point-blank opponents being able to be juggled with two or more hits. It has high range overall, as it can hit opponents near Mewtwo's back.
Down tilt   5% (near), 4% (far) Crouches and sweeps its tail 180°. Has respectable utility due to being Mewtwo's fastest tilt, a good out of shield option and Mewtwo's best combo starter, being able to combo into a neutral, forward or up aerial, an up smash and more.
Dash attack   10% (clean sweetspot), 9% (clean sourspot), 6% (late sweetspot), 4% (late sourspot) Lunges forward and performs a dark energy-infused palm thrust. Its clean sweetspot has above average knockback. Depending on the hitbox it hits with and the opponent's damage, it can combo into neutral, forward and up aerials. It also has a notable amount of range for a dash attack, making it a decent punish tool when spaced properly.
Forward smash   19% (blast), 16% (arms) A double palm thrust that releases a blast of dark energy. Moderate start-up, but rather low ending lag and powerful enough to KO quite reliably. KOs around 114%, while the sourspot KOs around 122%.
Up smash   1% (hits 1-6), 10% (hit 7) Thrusts its arm upward and conjures a galaxy-shaped swirl of dark energy. Can miss small opponents, but the last hit deals the highest knockback out of any of Mewtwo's smash attacks. Good for trapping aerial opponents, particularly those near the edge. KOs around 107% if all of its hits connect.
Down smash   15% Extends its arm downward and launches a burst of dark energy from its fingertip near its feet. Similar to forward smash, but also has the benefit of having slightly less ending lag. One of the few down smashes that does not hit on both sides. KOs around 111%.
Neutral aerial   1% (hits 1-8), 4% (hit 9) Discharges electricity around itself, with the last hit launching the opponent back. The hitbox stays at Mewtwo's body, but the move lost its landing hitbox from Melee, meaning opponents could end up close to it if the move ends early. Regardless, it is a good move for disrupting opponents.
Forward aerial   13% A dark energy-infused swipe. One of the fastest and most powerful forward aerials in the game, having 5 frames of start-up and KOing around 143%. At lower percentages, it can easily be used as a follow-up after a down tilt or a neutral aerial. It can also combo into itself at lower percents as well.
Back aerial   13% (near), 11% (mid), 9% (far) Whips its tail behind it. It has highly disjointed range, but deals more damage when the opponent is closer to Mewtwo's body like its other tail-based attacks.
Up aerial   11% (near), 10% (mid), 9% (far) Backflips and strikes opponents with its tail, similarly to its up tilt. Does more damage when the opponent is closer to Mewtwo's body. As it has mainly a vertical hitbox, it is unable to hit opponents beside Mewtwo.
Down aerial   14% (grounded opponents, aerial sourspot), 15% (aerial sweetspot) A backflipping, dark energy-infused stomp. It has decently fast start-up in proportion to its very high knockback scaling, while being a powerful meteor smash when sweetspotted. Grounded opponents are launched diagonally upward with high knockback, which further makes it a very good KOing option.
Grab   Telekinetically holds an opponent. Mewtwo's grab range is average.
Pummel   2% A small jolt of electricity. It has average speed.
Forward throw   3% (throw), 2% (Shadow Balls) Telekinetically lifts the opponent diagonally in the air before firing five Shadow Balls at them. As of update 1.1.0, it is tied with Ganondorf and max aura Lucario's forward throws as the most damaging forward throws in the game. However, the Shadow Balls can be reflected if the opponent wears a Franklin Badge.
Back throw   10% Telekinetically throws the opponent backward. It is one of the deadliest back throws in the game near the edge, KOing even heavyweights at around 162% without rage.
Up throw   12% Telekinetically swirls the opponent around its body before launching them upward. A reliable KOing option starting at 135% on middleweights without rage. While its knockback is surpassed only by Charizard's as of update 1.0.8, the angle it launches opponents makes it KO significantly earlier, as DI has very little effect on it. With proper DI, this throw retains the strongest vertical trajectory even when Charizard is landing on a platform, although Charizard's surpasses it when Charizard's up throw lands on high platforms, such as the ones on Battlefield and Town and City.
Down throw   4% (slam), 5% (throw) Telekinetically slams the opponent to the ground and spins to whip them with its tail. It has low knockback and somewhat high ending lag. As a result, it cannot properly combo into most of its moves and its only use is to react to an opponent's options and punish it.
Forward roll
Back roll
Spot dodge
Air dodge
Techs
Floor attack (front)
Floor getups (front)
  7% Levitates and spins around, striking opponents with its tail.
Floor attack (back)
Floor getups (back)
  7% Levitates and spins around, striking opponents with its tail.
Floor attack (trip)
Floor getups (trip)
  5% Gets up and swipes on both sides.
Edge attack
Edge getups
  7% Swipes its tail in front of itself while climbing up.
Neutral special Default Shadow Ball 2.5% (uncharged), 25% (fully charged) Charges a large, dark purple sphere of dark energy between its hands. It can then be fired immediately or can be canceled, then charged up again. While its charge time is quite long, a fully charged Shadow Ball is one of Mewtwo's viable KOing options, as it KOs around 112%. If used in midair, the recoil will moderately propel Mewtwo backward, which can help or hinder its recovery. A fully charged Shadow Ball has transcendent priority, but can still cancel out certain projectiles. Deals a great amount of shield damage if fully charged, but not quite enough to break one.
Custom 1 N/A
Custom 2 N/A
Side special Default Confusion ≈9.0495% (throw), 1.4x (reflected projectiles) Emits a ripple of psychic energy from its hand. Has impressive utility due to functioning as a grab, a reflector and even a recovery option. As a grab, the ripple spins opponents around and leaves them tumbling downward, dropping them in front of Mewtwo and allows it to follow-up with other attacks. As a recovery option, its first use in midair gives Mewtwo a slight vertical boost.
Custom 1 N/A
Custom 2 N/A
Up special Default Teleport Teleports to a different location. It is completely invulnerable during the move. It has less ending lag if warping directly back onto the ground, while it gives Mewtwo some horizontal momentum if ended in midair.
Custom 1 N/A
Custom 2 N/A
Down special Default Disable 1% Crouches slightly and emits a minuscule spark of psychic energy from its eyes toward the opponent, stunning them. It only works if the opponent is facing Mewtwo and making eye contact with it. If the opponent is in the air, they are slightly launched backward with set knockback, instead of being stunned. Useful at high percentages to guarantee a KO, but difficult to land. It should be noted that Disable can be reflected by a particularly vigilant opponent.
Custom 1 N/A
Custom 2 N/A
Final Smash Psystrike 30% Mega Evolves into Mega Mewtwo Y and performs Psystrike, its signature move in the Pokémon games. Psystrike is a powerful sphere of psychic energy that plows through both opponents and walls, and any opponent caught will be stunned before being launched by an intense, mind-shattering blow.

On-screen appearance

  • Emerges from a large mass of dark energy and then falls gently to the ground. It is similar to Lucario's on-screen appearance, albeit with dark energy involved instead of aura.
MewtwoOnScreenAppearanceSSB4.gif

Taunts

  • Up taunt: Closes its eyes and folds its arms as it levitates on the spot, spinning around as it laughs sinisterly. This taunt returns from Melee.
  • Side taunt: Surrounds itself in a flame-like field of dark energy, similarly to Lucario's up taunt.
  • Down taunt: Its eyes briefly shine before it faces the screen, then thrusts its arm towards the screen while emitting a small spark of dark energy while posing similarly to its official art in Super Smash Bros. 4.
Up taunt Side taunt Down taunt
MewtwoUpTauntSSB4.gif MewtwoSideTauntSSB4.gif MewtwoDownTauntSSB4.gif

Idle poses

  • Motions towards itself with its arm further from the screen.
  • Draws its arms toward itself and strikes a pose.
MewtwoIdlePose2SSB4.jpg MewtwoIdlePose1SSB4.jpg

Crowd cheer

English Japanese
Cheer
Description Mewwwww-two! Myuuuuu-tsu!
Pitch Group chant Group chant

Victory poses

Mewtwo speaks during its Japanese victory poses.

A small excerpt of the music that would play on the title screen of Pokémon Red, Blue and Green Versions.
  • Turns its back to the screen and looks back over its shoulder, saying "Hmm..." In the Japanese version, it says "私はなぜ ここにいるのか...?", which translates to "Why am I here?"
  • Thrusts its hand forward, emits dark energy from its body, and growls. Appears very similar to its down taunt. In the Japanese version, it says "私はまけるわけにはいかない!", which translates to "I cannot lose!"
  • Does a single spin and then poses while laughing ominously and emitting a flame-like field of dark energy around itself. In the Japanese version, it says "愚かな!", which translates to "Foolish!"
MewtwoPose1WiiU.gif MewtwoPose2WiiU.gif MewtwoPose3WiiU.gif

In competitive play

Notable players

Active

Inactive

Trophies

Mewtwo comes with matching character trophies, which are unlocked as usual, though its Alt. trophy will also be automatically granted on start-up in the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U version. Its existing non-fighter trophy remains in the game, completely unchanged; both it and the Classic trophy are simply labeled as "Mewtwo" in-game.

Mewtwo
Ntsc Mewtwo puts its psychic powers to great use in this game. Not only does it have floaty jumps, but its telekinesis gives its attacks extra reach and its throws added power. However, its light body makes it easy to launch, so if you're willing to take the risk of getting in close, it might just be worth it!
Pal Mewtwo puts its psychic powers to great use in this game. Not only can it float in midair, but its telekinesis gives its attacks extra reach and its throws added power. However, its light body makes it easy to launch, so if you're willing to take the risk of getting in close, it might just be worth it!
Game Boy: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)
3DS: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)
Mewtwo (Alt.)
Ntsc Mewtwo's Confusion side special not only repels projectiles—it also reflects the damage back on your opponent. Its down special, Disable, stuns an enemy for longer the higher its damage is. Disable only works on foes that are facing Mewtwo.
Pal Mewtwo's Confusion side special not only lets you repel projectiles—it also reflects the damage back on your opponent. Its down special, Disable, stuns an enemy for longer the higher its damage is. As it works by having Mewtwo glare at its foe, this only works if they make eye contact.
Game Boy: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)
3DS: Pokémon X and Pokémon Y (10/2013)
Psystrike
Mewtwo's Final Smash starts as Mewtwo Mega Evolves into Mega Mewtwo Y. It then fires a huge psychic projectile that penetrates enemies and obstacles. This projectile doesn't do any damage, but it freezes every foe it hits in place. They can even be frozen midjump! Afterward, every foe hit with this projectile will take a powerful psychic hit to the head.
Mewtwo (non-fighter)
Created from modified Mew DNA, Mewtwo was designed to be the ultimate Pokémon. It didn't take on any of Mew's kinder traits and only uses its intelligence to destroy its enemies. Or...so it seems. Perhaps it just feels frightened or even tormented, and that's why it lashes out. Whatever the reason, Mewtwo is not to be messed with.
Game Boy: Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue (09/1998)
GB Advance: Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen (09/2004)

Alternate costumes

Mewtwo Palette (SSB4).png
Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4) Mewtwo (SSB4)

Trailers

<youtube>P-zJOntZRHo</youtube>

Gallery

Trivia

  • Mewtwo's official artwork is posed nearly identically to its official Melee artwork.
  • As a possible callback to Melee, Mewtwo has only one voice clip for when it is KO'd.
  • Mewtwo folds its arms in several of its animations, including its up taunt, Hammer animation, up tilt, helpless, asleep and teeter, result screen animations, and its screen KO animation.
  • Prior to update 1.0.7, it was possible to access buggy versions of Mewtwo's custom special moves via a glitch involving shared Mii Fighters. Most of these crash the game, with the exception of both variations of Confusion, a non-functional version of Disable that sends Mewtwo into its helpless state, and a version of Disable which zooms the camera in on Mewtwo and temporarily slows down time, all of which have limited functionality. It is unclear whether the glitch involved accessing custom moves that were incomplete or data not intended for use of custom moves. One of the variations of Mewtwo's glitched custom Confusion is very similar to the soul breaker glitch. It is speculated that these were unfinished custom specials and that DLC characters were intended to have customs. While the glitch was removed by update 1.0.7, it was still possible to view replays containing these special moves prior to update 1.0.8.
  • Mewtwo is the only veteran DLC character with a new voice actor, and the only character in SSB4 to speak only in the Japanese version.
  • Mewtwo is the only DLC character to have been free to download through a special offer.
  • Mewtwo is the only DLC character who does not share equipment types with any other DLC character.
  • Mewtwo's non-fighter trophy has different features than the design of it as a playable character, such as having smaller eyes, a shorter tail, and a lighter shade of purple for its midsection and tail. Mewtwo's playable model and trophy are modeled after the first Pokémon movie, differing slightly from Mewtwo's model in Pokémon X and Y, which has larger and rounder eyes than either of the two to match Mewtwo's official art by Ken Sugimori.
  • Mewtwo's light weight in SSB4 contradicts its weight in the Pokédex, where it is listed as weighing 269 pounds; in SSB4, Mewtwo is only six units heavier than Jigglypuff despite being more than twenty times heavier than the latter, which the Pokédex lists as weighing 12.1 pounds. This is seemingly due to its telekinetically-induced anti-gravity.
  • Mewtwo and Lucario are the only two playable Pokémon in Smash 4 who do not make their on-screen appearance from a Poké Ball.
  • Mewtwo is the only playable Pokémon to have one special move of its typing (Psychic) while all other Pokémon have two or more (barring Final Smashes).

References

  1. ^ [1]