Meta Knight (SSB4)

Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. 4
Universe	Kirby
Other playable appearances	in Brawl in Ultimate
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Galaxia Darkness
Tier	B (16)

Meta Knight (メタナイト, Meta Knight) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After initially being teased as a Mii Fighter costume in a Director's Room Miiverse post on August 11, 2014, his return to the series was announced in a Director's Room Miiverse post two days later.

Eric Newsome and Atsushi Kisaichi both reprise their roles as Meta Knight's voice actors in the English and Japanese versions, albeit via recycled voice clips from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Meta Knight is ranked 16th out of 54 on the tier list, placing him in the B tier. This is a moderate drop from his top-tier placement in Brawl, where he was ranked as the best character in the game by a considerable margin. Meta Knight's already impressive mobility has been improved: his already fast dashing and falling speeds have become even faster, while his extremely slow air speed has become drastically faster. Meta Knight's overall frame data remains extremely fast and Galaxia grants him disjointed range, which collectively enable him to retain his formidable combo game and edgeguarding potential. Incidentally, he also boasts a superb recovery: in addition to his multiple double jumps, all of his special moves are reliable at bringing him back on-stage. Finally, the universal changes to Smash 4's engine has acted somewhat beneficial to Meta Knight, with his susceptibility to grab release followups being weakened, and his combos being more reliable, which when combined with Smash 4's lower ceilings and his reworked Shuttle Loop allow him to setup reliable ladder combos.

Despite receiving some buffs, Meta Knight's overwhelming dominance in Brawl lead him to receive deliberate nerfs, with him also receiving indirect nerfs from Smash 4's engine changes. His outstanding frame data, range, and overall damage output, while still high, have all been toned down, while his approach has been weakened because of the total removal of Galaxia's transcendent priority. When combined with his continued lack of a projectile, these changes result in Meta Knight having a more difficult time overcoming camping strategies. While Meta Knight's very high fast falling speed is an important aspect of his mobility and makes him less susceptible to juggling, his significantly increased falling speed and gravity are detrimental because of his light weight, as it leaves him vulnerable to both combos and KOs. His endurance is also exacerbated by the nerfs to his recovery, including his aftermentioned gravity reducing the height of his mid-air jumps, and the removal of gliding hindering his horizontal movement (though his increased air speed somewhat compensates for this). While the aftermentioned changed to Shuttle Loop does make it a more reliable vertical recovery tool, the fact that is no longer leads to a glide not only hinders its horizontal recovery, but also makes it more punishable as an out of shield option and a less reliable edgeguarding tool. Finally, while updates buffed a lot of Meta Knight's attributes, they also nerfed his up aerial, making it harder for Meta Knight to perform his ladder combos.

Overall, despite getting heavily nerfed, Meta Knight retains many of his key advantages from Brawl. Early on, these have enabled him to secure strong tournament representation and results, courtesy of Tyrant, MKLeo, Katakiri, and Seibrik. However, after Version 1.1.5 nerfed his ladder combos, his best players have since relegated him to a co-main, a secondary, or even a retired fighter. Nonetheless, he still remains a viable character in the Smash 4 meta, owing to continued efforts from Leo.

Attributes

Meta Knight is an unusual blend of character archetypes. He is very small, to the point of being roughly the same size as Kirby, and is the ninth lightest character, yet he has the tenth highest gravity and an unusually fast falling speed. Like his fellow Kirby fighters, Meta Knight has multiple double jumps, but unlike most other characters who share this trait, his mobility is overall fast: he has above average walking speed, fast dashing speed, and average air speed and air acceleration. Due to it lasting 13 frames, Meta Knight's initial dash animation is relatively long, which gives him a slow extended dash-dance and a long fox-trot. However, his perfect pivot is rather long and therefore useful for re-positioning and evading attacks. Meta Knight also benefits from a jumpsquat that is 4 frames long, as well as a low short hop, which enables him to transition very quickly between his ground and air games. As such, Meta Knight's mobility is the most well-balanced among characters of his archetypes.

Meta Knight's most valued strength is his frame data: much like Sheik and Luigi, the overwhelming majority of his attacks have little delay, either regarding start-up, ending lag, or both. In fact, all but four of his moves have fewer than 10 frames of start-up, and their generally low ending lag is quite unusual for a swordsman. Meta Knight's sword, Galaxia, also grants him disjointed range. His dash attack is a reliable approach option thanks to its low ending lag, disjointed range, and the speed boost it grants. His dash grab covers a long distance, making it relatively hard to punish. His down aerial is one of the fastest of its kind, while his forward smash has low ending lag, making both useful for spacing. His out of shield options are also a defining part of his neutral game. He has fast, long-distance rolls, and Shuttle Loop, and his down aerials are quick, with the former's power making it deadly against opponents who land punishable moves on his shield. He can also opt for a grab, which allows him to start combos and rack up heavy damage. Altogether, these traits grant Meta Knight a decent neutral game, the ability to mix up his approach, and keep his opponents guessing.

Due to his attack speed, Meta Knight is also renowned for his incredible combo potential, with the ability to get very early KOs with guaranteed follow-ups. He additionally has notable finishers: his forward smash has high power and very low ending lag, making it spammable and hard to challenge even if shielded. His up smash is one of the fastest smash attacks in the game and has good power. His back aerial is very deadly offstage due to its high knockback scaling, and its autolink angle allows it to drag opponents downwards while edgeguarding or to force a lock. Though less effective, Dimensional Cape, neutral aerial, and up throw can still KO. However, his Shuttle Loop is his most frequently used KO move, owing to the numerous setups into it; it is additionally a powerful out of shield option due to its speed, range, and power.

Boasting five midair jumps and a special moveset full of recovery options, Meta Knight has an outstanding recovery. Mach Tornado covers a large amount of horizontal recovery, especially if mashed. Drill Rush can be used as a horizontal recovery and can be angled. Shuttle Loop covers a high amount of vertical distance and grants a fully controllable amount of horizontal distance. Dimensional Cape makes Meta Knight invisible, and allows him to move in any direction, making it the most unpredictable move in his arsenal and a good option for mindgames. His recovery, when combined with his quick and disjointed aerial attacks, contributes to a deadly off-stage game. Furthermore, his aerial prowess makes him among the most difficult characters to juggle consistently.

Meta Knight's grab game is effective. While his pummel is slow and his standing grab range is short, the former is highly damaging, and the latter is made up for by his long-ranged dash grab. His forward and down throws can combo into other moves even at higher percentages, his back throw is useful for launching opponents off-stage, and his up throw can KO at very high percentages so long as it lands on a platform. Partly due to his throw set-ups, Meta Knight possesses a good combo game. He can launch opponents into the air with his dash attack and throws, and these moves can combo into his up tilt, up smash, any aerial, Mach Tornado, and Shuttle Loop, and his up aerial can reliably lead into his other aerials. His back aerial uses the auto-link angle, allowing Meta Knight to drag opponents to the ground and jab reset with his down tilt, and the latter move can trip opponents and lead into combos, before opening up tech-chases at high percentages. With proper mastery of his combos, he can potentially zero-to-death his opponents, most infamously with the Rufio, a staple combo in his metagame that consists of a series of up aerials, which can then lead into a Shuttle Loop near the upper blast line for a virtually ensured KO.

Lastly, Meta Knight's edge-guarding potential is among the greatest in the game. Neutral and back aerials have long-lasting hitboxes and deal high knockback. Forward aerial has long range, a favorable launch angle, and decent power, and down aerial is the fastest semi-spike in the game. Due to these moves' low start-up and ending lag, Meta Knight can perform variations of the wall of pain without fear of reprisal, thanks to his recovery practically ensuring his safety. Lastly, he also has the aforementioned zero-to-death combo, which is particularly potent on floaty characters.

However, Meta Knight has noticeable weaknesses. His neutral game is notoriously linear, with only dash attack and dash grab being effective approach options. He also lacks a projectile, leaving him susceptible to camping strategies from characters such as Villager. His disjointed range, although good for his size, is still short in comparison to other sword-wielding characters, making it necessary to rely on his mobility and attack speed to capitalize on openings. Lastly, his fast attack speed is held back by most of his moves having very short-lasting hitboxes (with forward smash, down smash, and up/down aerials' hitboxes lasting only 1 frame), which necessitates proper attack timings to pull off effective combos.

His combo potential is limited at higher percents, as down throw is easy to DI and dash attack has high knockback scaling, forcing him to rely on reads to land follow-ups. Meta Knight's KO combos are difficult to master, making learning them crucial for success. Shuttle Loop is also highly punishable if it misses, difficult to use without a read or set-up, and is frequently stale, and its KOing combos related to up aerial are difficult to perform consistently. Additionally, even though all of his special moves are useful for recovery to some extent when used correctly, they leave Meta Knight helpless, so accuracy is crucial. Finally, despite his small size and light weight, his rather fast falling speed, the unusual shape of his hurtbox, and his lack of a reliable combo breaker leave him surprisingly susceptible to combos, especially against Sheik and Zero Suit Samus. At the same time, his endurance is poor because of the problematic combination of his light weight, very fast falling speed, and high gravity, collectively hindering his ability to survive strong hits.

Some of Meta Knight's custom moves possess a few benefits. Entangling Tornado draws opponents in and deals more knockback, but also has much more start-up, deals much less damage, and cannot be controlled as easily. Dreadful Tornado hits much harder, but cannot stall him in the air, and is slower. High-Speed Drill is faster and moves further, but cannot be aimed and has less power. Shieldbreaker Drill can break shields very reliably, but cannot be used to attack or recover effectively. Lazy Shuttle Loop hits even harder and covers much more distance than the default, but is very slow, making it difficult to hit the opponent. Shield Piercer is unblockable and moves farther, but is weaker. However, the advantages granted are much more situational overall and sacrifice the versatility of the default specials, which results in none of his custom options being especially worthwhile.

Overall, Meta Knight's strengths outweigh his flaws by a good amount, but unlike in Brawl, he is essentially a "high-risk, high-reward" character. This is evident with his high learning curve, as his most notable combos require precise spacing and timing to pull off consistently, while his disadvantage against camping often forces players to play patiently in the neutral game. Yet once he finds an opening, Meta Knight can pose a significant threat, once players find an opening and make the most of it with his extensive combo game and strong edge-guarding ability.

Changes from Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Meta Knight was near universally regarded as the best character in the entire game, to the point of being considered by many as broken. This is due to numerous factors: Meta Knight was incredibly fast due to his blazing ground speed, array of mid-air jumps, having access to a glide, and terrific frame data. In addition to his speed, most of his attacks were disjointed and possessed transcendent priority, making Meta Knight a very difficult character to challenge and punish.

As a result of all of these traits, Meta Knight was an incredibly dominant force in Brawl, with numerous characters heavily struggling against him, and even the characters who could deal with him still had a disadvantageous matchup against him. Likely as a result of how he warped the metagame, Meta Knight has been significantly reworked in Super Smash Bros 4 and while he did receive some buffs, he was truly nerfed overall.

Having been completely unmatched in Brawl, Meta Knight's frame data has been considerably toned down. Many of his attacks now have slower start-up lag, reduced active frames, and higher ending and landing lag, with his up aerial being a good example in all these aspects. Additionally, his aerials have much later auto-cancel windows, which, in combination with their higher landing lag, substantially hinder their safety as his neutral, forward, and back aerials no longer auto-cancel in a short hop. His range has been shortened, which makes his spacing ability much weaker and thus forces him to adopt a more aggressive playstyle. To further compound this, his overall damage output has been significantly reduced, now being below average. With the nerfs to several of his most pivotal neutral game options, such as down tilt, forward aerial, down aerial, Shuttle Loop and Mach Tornado, and the loss of gliding and the transcendent priority on his moves, Meta Knight's neutral game is overall significantly worse, leaving him more vulnerable to camping and zoning, especially with his lack of a projectile. The changes to his down aerial and Shuttle Loop, combined with the removal of edge-hogging, his shorter recovery, and the generally improved recoveries of the majority of the cast have collectively hurt Meta Knight's edge-guarding potential, and the loss of gliding removes some of his off-stage mix-ups. With his faster falling speed and the changes to hitstun canceling, Meta Knight can no longer momentum cancel and is more vulnerable to combos, worsening his already poor endurance.

However, Meta Knight has received some noteworthy buffs. His already good mobility has been improved: his air speed is drastically faster, he dashes and falls faster, and he has gained a new movement option in his long perfect pivot. Several of his attacks are stronger, most notably his forward and up smashes, back aerial, and Dimensional Cape. Due to the changes to hitstun canceling and the updated gameplay physics, Meta Knight can perform true combos more reliably, especially with his dash attack, which has become his most reliable combo starter and is now a large part of his game plan. His up aerial also remains a strong combo option due to these changes, despite its severe nerfs, and his altered Shuttle Loop, while having far less utility, has become an incredible combo finisher and KO move near the upper blast line. His grab game is both more rewarding and more consistent, due to the mechanic changes somewhat making up for the nerfs to his damage output. He also benefits from the removal of chain grabbing and the changes to aerial grab releases, which were previously one of his weaknesses.

Meta Knight has also received buffs over time via game updates, and while they are helpful, they do not nearly compensate for the loss of his overwhelming strengths from Brawl, and version 1.1.5 nerfed his up aerial further.

Overall, Meta Knight's direct changes drastically hindered him in many ways, making him a much worse character on paper, and while the changes to the game's mechanics greatly benefited him overall, they were not enough to offset his nerfs and make him one of the best characters in the game. As a result, he was one of the characters who was the most severely nerfed from the transition to Smash 4, alongside King Dedede, Falco, Marth (during the initial release), Wario, and Olimar. Due to retaining the majority of his key advantages from Brawl, however, Meta Knight is widely considered to be a viable character, and while his tournament success and representation is much lower, he has still seen more results and representation than a majority of the cast which has given him consistent status as a high-tier character throughout Smash 4's lifespan.

Aesthetics

• Meta Knight's design is now a combination of his official artwork for Kirby: Squeak Squad and Kirby Super Star Ultra, and his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His gauntlets are from Squeak Squad and Super Star Ultra, and the polished finish of his mask, pauldrons and sabatons are from Super Star Ultra. Additionally, his pauldrons and sabatons are from Brawl. Lastly, the aesthetic used in Smash 4 has resulted in Meta Knight's body and sabatons being more vibrant.
• Meta Knight has received two new alternate costumes. The first is based on Galacta Knight, while the second is based on Dark Meta Knight.
• The sides of Meta Knight's visor are now curved slightly inward instead of being straight, his sabatons now have harness bootstraps, and very minuscule battle damage details have been added to his pauldrons. These changes are unique to Smash 4.
• Meta Knight's eyes do not move as freely as they did in Brawl.
• Meta Knight's sabatons' sound clips are higher-pitched.
• Whenever Galaxia is swung, its blade glows white, instead of yellow. Additionally, its trail is yellow with turquoise accents, instead of whitish gold with navy blue accents. Lastly, its swing sound clips are lower-pitched.
• Up taunt's animation has slightly changed. Meta Knight now emits a whitish amber tornado around himself, similarly to Mach Tornado. It also has updated sound effects.
• Defeated/No Contest animation has slightly changed. Meta Knight now claps while holding Galaxia, instead of clapping without it.
• Meta Knight's previously unused damage yells from Brawl's Sound Test are now heard when taking high knockback.
• Shield and rolls' animations have slightly changed. Meta Knight now wraps himself in his cape when performing them.
• Jump's animation has slightly changed. Meta Knight now somersaults forward instead of at an angle.

Attributes

• Meta Knight walks slower (1.22 → 1.18).
• Meta Knight dashes faster (1.847 → 1.9), although he dashes slower relative to the cast, going from the 6th highest out of 39 characters to the 12th highest out of 58 characters.
• Meta Knight's air speed is significantly faster (0.752 → 0.99), going from the third lowest out of 39 characters to the 23rd lowest out of 58.
• Meta Knight's air acceleration is lower (0.08 → 0.075), although his faster air speed more than compensates for it.
• Meta Knight is slightly heavier (79 → 80).
• Meta Knight falls much faster (1.39 → 1.66), going from the 19th fastest out of 39 characters to the 16th fastest out of 58. This improves his vertical endurance and allows him to land more safely, but makes him more susceptible to combos.
• Meta Knight's fast falling speed is significantly faster (1.946 → 2.656), going from the 19th fastest out of 39 characters to the 16th fastest out of 58. This makes him less susceptible to juggling.
• Meta Knight's gravity is higher (0.0956 → 0.11). This aids in his ability to land safely, but hinders his endurance, increases his susceptibility to combos, and reduces the height of his mid-air jumps.
• Meta Knight's full hop is higher despite his higher gravity.
• Meta Knight is larger (size multipler: 0.95x → 1x). This makes him easier to hit, and while this would improve his range, this is offset by many of his attacks having considerably worse hitboxes, making his larger size a hindrance overall.
• Meta Knight's body hurtbox is slightly smaller (5.51 → 5.4).
• Rolls have a longer duration (frames 5-12 (forward)/4-12 (back) → 4-15 (both)).
• Rolls travel further due to Meta Knight's larger size.
• Backward roll has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 28).
• Forward roll has more ending lag (FAF 24 → 28), removing its status as the fastest roll.
• Air dodge has less startup (frame 4 → 2) and ending lag (FAF 40 → 31).
• Air dodge has a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 2-25).
• Spot dodge has less ending lag (FAF 26 → 25).
• Spot dodge has a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 2-15).
• Meta Knight's item throw is weaker (1 → 0.9333333). When combined with the removal of glide tossing, this hinders his item game (although Meta Knight still retains his lengthy super glide toss).
• The changes to hitstun canceling and Directional Influence both help and hinder Meta Knight. They improve his KO and combo potential, but make him much more susceptible to combos because of his heavier weight, higher gravity, and faster falling speed. These changes also prevent him from performing momentum canceling, hindering his horizontal endurance. Nevertheless, it benefits him overall as it allows him to have a more consistent combo game despite his frame data nerfs.
• The strengthening of pivoting improves Meta Knight's neutral game, punishment game, and evasiveness.
• The removal of chain grabbing improves Meta Knight's endurance.
• The removal of gliding hinders Meta Knight's recovery. This also means that Meta Knight can no longer use his glide attack, meaning that Meta Knight no longer has a completely safe landing option, which also has the potential to lead into follow-ups or KOs.

Ground attacks

• All of Meta Knight's sword-based ground attacks have lost their transcendent priority. This significantly hinders Meta Knight's neutral game as it makes it much easier for opponents to challenge his ground moves.
  • However, this also makes it much easier for Meta Knight to cancel out projectiles, as he no longer has to rely on the dash attack to do so.
• Neutral attack:
  • Neutral attack's animation has slightly changed. Meta Knight now leans slightly farther inward while swinging Galaxia.
  • Neutral attack launches opponents at a higher angle (361° → 60°/84°) and it has lower knockback scaling (40 → 30). This makes the move connect much more reliably as grounded opponents are now put into the air when the move is performed, preventing them from shielding.
    • However, the move's angle change also removes its ability to lock opponents.
  • The third and fifth hits now hit in front of Meta Knight. This makes the move connect much more reliably, as there is no longer a large gap between the second/fourth hits and the next hit that hits in front.
    • This also leaves Meta Knight much less vulnerable to whiff punishment due to the shorter gap between every hit in front of him.
    • However, this also removes the move's ability to hit opponents behind Meta Knight.
  • Neutral attack has a lower SDI multiplier (1× → 0.6×). When combined with the weakening of the mechanic, along with the move's other changes, this makes it much more difficult to escape from.
  • Neutral attack has larger hitboxes (5u → 5.8u/6.8u) that are now extended.
  • Every hit now has identical horizontal hitbox positions (z offset: 6/14.8 (hit 1)/7.2/14.8 (hit 2)/0/-3.6/-9.2 (hit 3)/7.2/13.6 (hit 4)/-2/-10.4 (hit 5) → 8.5/13.5 (all)/z stretch: 8/8 (all)). This gives hits 3-5 more range in front of Meta Knight, and it gives hits 2 and 4 more range inside of Meta Knight.
    • Hits 1 and 2 retain their range in front of Meta Knight as the far hit's larger hitbox equals out its closer placement.
    • However, this also gives hit 1 slightly less range inside of Meta Knight, as well as removing hits 3 and 5's ability to hit behind him.
  • Every hit now has identical vertical hitbox positioning (y offset: 4.8 (hit 1)/6/11.2 (hit 2)/5.6 (hit 3)/6.4/10.4 (hit 4)/6.4/5.6 (hit 5) → 5.3 (all/y stretch: 5.2 (all)). This now gives every hit consistent vertical range, giving hits 1, 3, and 5 more vertical range but significantly reducing hits 2 and 4's vertical range.
    • The move as a whole has much more vertical range relative to Meta Knight overall due to the far hit's larger extended hitbox.
  • The first hit and the near hitbox on every hit deal less damage (2% → 1.2%).
  • The far hitbox on hits 2-5 deals more damage (1% → 1.2%).
  • Neutral attack has a new finisher, a backflipping slash. It deals much more knockback (13 (base), 60 (scaling) → 60/140) compared to the previous finisher.
  • The finisher uses one much larger extended hitbox (4u/4u/4u → 8u) that is positioned further away from Meta Knight (z offset: 14 → 20), giving it much more range.
  • The finisher has more startup lag (frame 1 → 3) and much more ending lag (FAF 12 → 35) compared to the previous finisher, making the neutral attack in general a far more committal move compared to other neutral infinites.
    • When combined with its higher knockback, this notably prevents it from leading into a down smash at higher percents.
  • The finisher has a much higher hitlag multiplier (1x → 2.5x), making it much easier to DI.
• Forward tilt:
  • Meta Knight now vocalizes during each of forward tilt's hits, instead of only during its last hit.
  • If Meta Knight buffers forward tilt, he will no longer automatically perform the second hit.
  • The first hit has more startup lag (frame 3 → 6) and a longer total duration (FAF 24 → 26).
    • However, its total duration was not fully compensated, giving it slightly less ending lag.
  • The first two hits deal less damage (4% (hit 1)/3% (hit 2) → 2% (both)).
  • The first two hits transition later (frame 5 (hit 1)/4 (hit 2) → 11/7). This makes performing all three hits in quick succession much slower, hindering the move's mixup potential and safety.
  • The first two hits have smaller hitboxes which are now extended (5u/5u → 3.5u/3.5u) and the far hitbox has been moved closer to Meta Knight (z offset: 18 (hit 1)/19 (hit 2) → 13/16), reducing their range, especially the first hit.
  • The first two hits have lost their nearest hitbox, significantly reducing their range inside Meta Knight and removing their ability to lock opponents.
  • The first hit launches opponents at a lower angle (60°/80° → 66°/85°), making it connect more reliably into the second hit.
  • The first two hits now have consistent base knockback (14/8 → 8). When combined with their lower damage, this makes the move connect more reliably at higher percentages.
  • The third hit deals more knockback (50 (base), 113 (scaling) → 80/107).
  • The third hit has less ending lag (FAF 34 → 31).
  • The third hit launches opponents at a lower angle (65° → 361°). This improves its KO and edgeguarding potential, but removes its set-up potential.
  • The third hit deals less damage at close range (5% → 4%).
  • The third hit has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 2×), making it easier to DI.
  • The third hit's far hitbox is smaller (6u → 5u), it has been moved closer to Meta Knight (z offset: 19 → 14), and the near hitbox has been removed, reducing its horizontal range despite now using an extended hitbox.
    • However, the near hit is larger than the previous upper hitbox (5u → 6u), and it is now extended, giving the move slightly more range above Meta Knight.
  • The third hit's lower hitbox has been removed, reducing its range below Meta Knight.
• Up tilt:
  • Up tilt has less ending lag (FAF 36 → 35).
  • Up tilt has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frame 7 (early)/8-12 (mid)13-18 (late) → 8/9-10/11-14).
  • Up tilt has an altered animation where Meta Knight does not jump as high. This gives the mid and late hits less range above Meta Knight.
  • Up tilt has a higher hitlag multiplier (1× → 1.2×), making it easier to DI.
  • The early hit now has a hitbox on Meta Knight's sword, giving it much more vertical range.
  • The early hit's lower hitbox is positioned further away from Meta Knight (z offset: 0 → 2.2), giving it more range in front of Meta Knight.
  • The early and mid hits now launch opponents towards Meta Knight (85° → 95°).
  • The early hit deals less knockback (40 (base), 120 (scaling) → 60/90).
  • The early hit's new sword hitbox deals less damage (7% → 5%), which, along with its lower knockback, greatly hinders its KO potential.
  • The early hit's lower hitbox is now static, rather than being attached to Meta Knight's hand. This means that while the hitbox is larger (7u → 8u), it is actually roughly one unit smaller in-game, as its size is no longer increased as Meta Knight's hand moves.
    • When combined with the hitbox being moved further forwards, this greatly reduces the move's range behind Meta Knight.
  • The early hit's lower hitbox is positioned much higher (y offset: -1.7 → 15.2), with the move no longer hitting below Meta Knight or even reaching below his feet, despite him now jumping during the early hit. This allows shorter characters to crouch under the move.
  • The mid and late hits now deal consistent damage on the sword (7%/8% → 7%).
  • The mid and late hits deal less knockback on the sword (35 (base), 145/130 (scaling) → 60/90), significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • The mid hit's hand hitbox deals less damage (6% → 5%) and knockback (35 (base), 120 (scaling) → 60/90), significantly hindering its KO potential.
  • The mid and late hit's have smaller hitboxes (6u/6u (sword)/10u (mid hand)/6u (late hand) → 5.5u (sword)/8u/5.5u).
  • The mid and late hits' sword hitbox is now one extended hitbox rather than two normal hitboxes. This hitbox covers less range overall due to its smaller size.
• Down tilt:
  • Down tilt deals more damage at far range (4% → 5%).
  • Down tilt has higher base knockback outside of the furthest range (11/6 → 15).
  • Down tilt has more ending lag (FAF 16 → 19).
  • Down tilt deals less damage at close range (6%/7% → 5%).
  • Down tilt has a lower trip chance (30% → 25%).
  • Instead of having four regular hitboxes, down tilt has two extended hitboxes, one which hits grounded opponents and another that hits aerial opponents. These hitboxes are smaller (3u (far)/4u/4u/4u (near) → 2.2u (grounded)/3.2u (aerial) and they are positioned much closer to Meta Knight (z offset: 20 → 13 (grounded)/8 (aerial)).
    • The move also does not extend as far inside of Meta Knight (z offset: 2 → z stretch: 6), giving it less range inside of Meta Knight.
  • Down tilt has a new animation where Meta Knight does not move nearly as far forward. When combined with its altered hitboxes, this greatly reduces the move's range to the point where the move has around 70% the range against grounded opponents and less than 60% the range against aerial opponents.
    • This new animation also considerably hinders the move's use as a pseudo-crawl option.
    • This new animation is also longer (25 frames → 35), increasing the amount of time Meta Knight cannot turn around after performing the move.
  • The introduction of the 3 hit lock limit combined with down tilt's higher ending lag, and Meta Knight's slower forward roll hinders the move's 0-death potential against opponents who missed a tech.
• Dash attack:
  • Dash attack has more startup lag with a shorter duration (frames 5-11 → 7-11).
  • Dash attack deals less damage (6%/7%/8% → 5%/6%).
  • Dash attack covers less distance overall.
  • Dash attack now always launches opponents in the direction Meta Knight is facing. This allows it to set up combos more reliably but hinders its ability to set up crossups.
  • Dash attack deals more knockback (40 (base), 88 (scaling) → 70/90). When combined with the changes to hitstun canceling and DI, this significantly improves its combo potential (now being one of his best combo starters).
  • Dash attack has larger hitboxes (4.2u/4.2u/4.2u → 5.5u/5u/4u) which are positioned further away from Meta Knight (z offset: 0/2/4 → y offset: -1/-6/-10), greatly improving its range relative to Meta Knight.
• Forward smash:
  • Forward smash deals more damage (14% → 16%) and knockback (28 (base), 99 (scaling) → 30/(108/98), significantly improving its KO potential, especially the near hit.
  • Meta Knight now vocalizes once his forward smash's hitboxes become active, rather than as soon as he starts it. Due to its high startup lag, this makes forward smash harder to react to while being interruptible at the end.
  • The changes to shields significantly benefit forward smash as the move is now safe (in terms of frame advantage) against a sizeable portion of the cast.
  • Forward smash has an altered animation. Meta Knight now draws Galaxia farther back and slashes outward in a more pronounced motion, ending the slash behind himself and taking a while to re-adjust to his neutral stance (which can be interrupted).
  • Forward smash's hitboxes are positioned lower (y offset: 6.4 → 5).