Meta Knight (SSB4)

Meta Knight (, Meta Knight) is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4. After initially being teased as a 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 1st out of 38. 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 grants him disjointed range, which collectively enable him to retain his formidable combo game and edge-guarding 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.

However, Meta Knight received heavy nerfs in the transition to SSB4, likely owing to his dominance in Brawl. His outstanding frame data and range, long-distanced recovery and overall damage output have been toned down, while his approach has been weakened because of the total removal of '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. Meta Knight's very quick falling speed is also a double-edged sword: while it is an important aspect of his mobility, it is also 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, with the most notable example being the removal of gliding.

Regardless, Meta Knight retains many of his key advantages from Brawl, which have enabled him to secure strong tournament representation and results.

Attributes
Meta Knight is an unusual blend of character archetypes. He is very small, to the point of being roughly the same size as, 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 enable 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 and, the overwhelming majority of his attacks have little delay, either in regard to 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,, 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-distanced rolls, and Shuttle Loop and his down aerial 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 gives him the opportunity to start combos and rack up heavy damage. Altogether, these traits grant Meta Knight an 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 followups. 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. 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 aerial's 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 staled, and his 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. 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 nerfed significantly 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 hinders 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 was 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, , (during the initial release), , and. 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.

Ground attacks

 * Neutral attack:
 * Hits 1 and 2 retain their range in front of Meta Knight as the far hit's larger hitbox equals out its closer placement.
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Hits 1 and 2 retain their range in front of Meta Knight as the far hit's larger hitbox equals out its closer placement.
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward tilt:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up tilt:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down tilt:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Dash attack:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Forward smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Up smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:
 * Down smash:

Aerial attacks

 * Neutral aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Forward aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Back aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Up aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:
 * Down aerial:

Throws/other attacks

 * Grabs:
 * Pummel:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Pummel:
 * Forward throw:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Back throw:
 * Up throw:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Down throw:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Floor attacks:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Edge attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:
 * Trip attack:

Special moves

 * Mach Tornado:
 * Drill Rush:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Drill Rush:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Drill Rush:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Drill Rush:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Drill Rush:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Shuttle Loop:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Dimensional Cape:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:
 * Galaxia Darkness:

Update history
Meta Knight has been buffed via game updates. In updates 1.0.4 and 1.0.8, damage output, knockback, reach, and attack speed were improved on some moves. Update 1.1.0 reduced the number of Galaxia's trails on his moves to match his moves' hitboxes, considerably improving his accuracy. The specific buffs to his neutral attack, forward tilt, and neutral aerial have given him more options with which to relieve pressure, and the increased power of his neutral and back aerials have enhanced his KO and edge-guarding potential. Update 1.1.1's changes to shield mechanics have also been beneficial for Meta Knight: thanks to several of his attacks hitting multiple times and/or having high hitlag modifiers, most notably forward aerial and forward smash. However the one indirect buff that really improved Meta Knight was 1.0.4 adjusting LSI to no longer apply on hits that launch between 65-115 degrees; this change made Meta Knight's infamous ladder and bridge combos that would define his meta significantly more potent, allowing Meta Knight to string more up and down aerials in the same combo and to connect at wider percentage windows, while also allowing the Shuttle Loop finisher to KO significantly earlier.

While these buffs do not make Meta Knight nearly as potent as he was in Brawl, they have still allowed him to recoup some of his initially weakened offensive potential and remain viable with some notable tournament success. However, update 1.1.5 would then nerf Meta Knight; although its decrease of forward aerial's landing lag made it into a new approach option, it altered up aerial's launch angle to be more diagonal and increased its SDI multiplier, both of which make it harder for up aerial to combo into itself for early KOing ladders on most characters. However, the same update and update 1.1.6 also brought significant nerfs to, and , who were some of his most challenging matchups prior to these updates. Overall, Meta Knight has improved since the initial release of SSB4.

 1.0.4

 1.0.6

 1.0.8

Technical changelist 1.0.8

 1.1.0

 1.1.1

 1.1.5

Moveset
For a gallery of Meta Knight's hitboxes, see here.

Tier placement and history
Upon SSB4's release, Meta Knight's heavy nerfs were quickly noticed. The severity of his shorter recovery, hitbox durations and range, lack of transcendent priority, and slightly slower attack speed all contributed to the perception that he was a mid-tier character at best, as he now required a much more aggressive playstyle. However, after being buffed over several game updates and seeing increasingly noteworthy results from some of his players from Brawl and new players across different regions, most famously, top players such as reevaluated their opinions on Meta Knight. This saw a subsequent rise in Meta Knight's popularity; and  occasionally used him and Abadango decided to main him, with his perceived advantageous matchup against the top-tier  boosting his metagame even further due to it rendering him as a valuable counterpick.

Players started to acknowledge Meta Knight's KO potential, superb frame data and proficiency at edge-guarding as being reliable against the entire cast, while his Rufio combo could KO any character at some of the lowest percentages possible if performed correctly, all of which were traits that he retained from Brawl. As a result, Meta Knight was subsequently ranked at 10th on the first 4BR tier list. However, many players believed he should have been ranked even higher, with a major reason being that he was considered to lack notably disadvantageous matchups aside from.

However, Meta Knight's status went into a sudden decline after his up aerial combos, which were pivotal to his success, had been nerfed in update 1.1.5. As a result, several of his best players either began to co-main him (such as adopting Sheik and ), transition him into a secondary (such as MkLeo adopting  and  as his new mains), or even drop him entirely (such as  and ). Although Meta Knight has maintained his high-tier status throughout SSB4's lifespan thanks to his solid punishment game, popularity as a counterpick to Rosalina & Luma, and his playerbase consistently achieving good results, he has steadily dropped on subsequent tier lists regardless. He has since dropped to 13th on the second tier list, then to 14th on the third tier list and, despite Leo bringing better results after using him once again, he has recently dropped once again to 16th on the fourth and current tier list, although this was before Leo's stellar performance with Meta Knight at 2GG Championship.

Notable players
Any number following the Smasher name indicates placement on the PGR 100, which recognizes the official top 100 players in Super Smash Bros. 4 of all time.
 * - One of the best Meta Knight players in the world. Placed 1st at Niconico Tokaigi 2016 and Clutch City Clash, 2nd at Battle of BC 2, 3rd at Umebura Genesis Cup, 5th at 2GGC: Nairo Saga, 7th at The Big House 5 and Umebura Niconico Qualifiers, and 9th at Umebura 21.
 * (#47) - The best active Meta Knight player in the world. Ranked 9th on the SoCal Power Rankings and 38th on the Panada Global Rankings v5. He has wins over, , , , , , , and.
 * - Master of diversity. 1st at CEO 2016. Has a win over.
 * - Formerly ranked 7th on the Philadelphia Power Rankings. Placed 33rd at Smash 'N' Splash 4 and 17th at Smashadelphia 01. Has a win over.
 * - One of the best Meta Knight players in the North America. Placed 2nd at 2GGT: Fatality Saga, 4th at 2GG: Pay It Forward, 13th at, and 17th at GENESIS 3 and EVO 2016. Ranked 17th on the SoCal All-Time Smash 4 Power Rankings, and was formerly ranked 37th on the Panda Global Rankings v1 and 1st on the NorCal Smash 4 Power Rankings.
 * - Placed 1st at TGC 4, 5th at PAX Arena and Syndicate 2016, and 9th at Key to The PG House's European qualifier. Formerly ranked 5th on the German Power Rankings.
 * - Placed 4th at FC Smash 15XR: Return, 5th at Shuffle VII, and 7th at Frostbite before switching to.
 * - Placed 9th at Sumabato Tokaigi Qualifiers and Hirosuma Tokaigi Qualifiers.
 * - 13th at, 17th at Port Priority 2 and Shine 2018. Has wins over , , , , , and . Ranked 4th on the Washington Smash 4 Power Rankings.
 * (#3) - The best Meta Knight player in Mexico, and was widely considered the best Meta Knight player in the world before only playing him as a secondary. Placed 1st at 2GG Championship, Smash Factor 4, Smash Factor 5 and Battle of BC, and 5th at Get On My Level 2016. Ranked 1st on the Mexican Power Rankings. Has wins on, , , and.
 * (#87) - One of the best Meta Knight players in the world. Placed 5th at, 7th at , and 17th at . Has wins over , , , , , , and . Currently ranked 40th on the Panada Global Rankings v5.
 * - Placed 2nd at Casino Royale 2 and Tampa Never Sleeps 6, 5th at Glitch, and 33rd at Pound 2016 before switching to.
 * - Placed 25th at The Big House 5. Formerly ranked 20th on the SoCal Power Rankings. He has wins over, , and.
 * - Placed 4th at Umebura 16, 7th at Umebura 20, and 33rd at GENESIS 3.
 * (#96) - The best Meta Knight in Northern California. Currently ranked 2nd on the NorCal Power Rankings. He has wins over and.
 * (#64) - One of the best Meta Knight players in the United States. Placed 1st at 2GGT: The False Awakens, 3rd at 2GGT: Fresh Saga and 2GG: Pay It Forward, 7th at 2GGT: Mexico Saga and 2GGT: KTAR Saga, 9th at Paragon Los Angeles 2015, 13th at CEO 2015, and 17th at EVO 2015. Ranked 16th on the SoCal Power Rankings.
 * (#55) - A main with a strong Meta Knight secondary who has defeated players such as . Currently one of the best Meta Knight players. Ranked 4th on the Midwest Smash 4 Power Rankings and 39th on the Panda Global Rankings v5.

Solo Events

 * All-Star Battle: Brawl: Meta Knight is one of the opponents fought in this event. All of the opponents debuted in Brawl.
 * The Ultimate Swordsman: As, the player must defeat Meta Knight, , , , male , female Robin and . All of the opponents wield swords.
 * Unwavering Chivalry: Meta Knight must defeat Marth without defeating or.

Co-op Events

 * Final Battle Team-Up: Meta Knight, using his -based alternate costume, is one of the opponents two players must defeat.
 * Sky Pirates: Meta Knight and must defeat a team of  and  in a one stock battle on Pilotwings before the plane returns to the airfield.
 * The Ultimate Battle: Two players select a character and must defeat the entire roster.
 * Visiting Onett: and  must defeat Meta Knight,, , Falco,  and . All of the opponents are outer space-based characters.

Trivia

 * Meta Knight has a few distinct aspects that differ from and :
 * He does not have a conventional meteor smash.
 * He retained his side special from Brawl.
 * He retained his Final Smash.
 * He has recycled voice clips.
 * He uses the more subdued tripping sound effect generally used for realistic characters.
 * He does not have a hammer-based attack.
 * Despite gliding being removed, frame data and animations for gliding and related things remain in non-patched files for Meta Knight. This was likely a result of Meta Knight's data being recycled from Brawl. This is also true for and his clone,.
 * If one looks closely at Meta Knight's leading/left foot during his up smash, it flips around on his model during the move. This is mainly seen via slowing down time or pausing at the right time.
 * Meta Knight will grunt twice whenever he goes into his reeling animation.
 * Meta Knight and are the only two characters whose clapping animation are slightly different in between the two versions. In Meta Knight's case, he wields Galaxia in the 3DS version.