Meta Knight (SSBB)/Neutral special

Overview

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

The ending hitbox, that produces all of the knockback.

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

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

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

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

Hitboxes

The amount of time the loop hits of Mach Tornado hits depends on various factors. Meta Knight has to spin a full 360° in order for the hitboxes to hit again. Meta Knight's spin speed starts at 80° per frame and it decreases by 1.5° every frame. The loop hits end once Meta Knight's spin speed reaches 10° per frame. For the first 70 frames of the spin, pressing the special button increases Meta Knight's spin speed by 16° although his spin speed maxes out at 80° and button inputs are only read for every 10 frames. After the first 70 frames, button inputs are no longer read and Meta Knight's spin speed reduces by 2° every frame.

This ultimately means that the gap between loop hits can be as low as four frames and as high as 12+ frames depending on when Meta Knight lands the move and depending on if he is mashing or not.

Loop hits

ID	Part	Rehit rate	Damage	SD	Angle		BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct	Blockable	Reflectable	Absorbable	Flinchless	Heedless	Piercing	Strechy	?2	?5	?6	?11	Hit Bits
0	0	0	1%	0		Forwards	0	100	50	5.0	0	0.0	-2.0	0.0	1.0x	None	0%																				11111111111111
1	0	0	1%	0		Forwards	0	100	90	5.0	0	0.0	-2.0	0.0	1.0x	None	0%																				11111111111111
2	0	0	1%	0		Forwards	0	45	90	5.0	0	0.0	7.0	-9.0	1.0x	None	0%																				11111111111111
3	0	0	1%	0		Forwards	0	45	90	5.0	0	0.0	7.0	9.0	1.0x	None	0%																				11111111111111

Final hit

ID	Part	Damage	SD	Angle	BK	KS	FKV	Radius	Bone	Offset			SDIx	H×	T%	Clang	Rebound	Type	Effect	G	A	Sound	Direct
Final hit (grounded)
1	0	3%	0		35	170	0	11.0	00	0.0	8.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash
Final hit (aerial)
1	0	3%	0		35	170	0	11.0	00	0.0	6.0	0.0	1.0x	1.0x	0%							Slash

Timing

The frame strips only represent the move if the special button is not pressed to extend its duration. The move's duration can be increased up to an extra 70 frames by mashing. Additionally, if Meta Knight is in the ending animation on the ground for the first three frames of the animation and he ends up in the air on the fourth frame, the hitbox will remain active until the animation ends.

Loop hits	12-58
Final hit (grounded ending)	1-3
Final hit (aerial ending)	1-2
Animation length (ending)	29

Hitboxes (grounded)

Hitboxes (aerial)

Lag

Legend (1 square = 1 frame)

Lag time

Hitbox

Loop point

Meta Knight's moveset

Neutral attack · Forward tilt (1 · 2 · 3) · Up tilt · Down tilt · Dash attack · Forward smash · Up smash · Down smash
Neutral aerial · Forward aerial · Back aerial · Up aerial · Down aerial · Glide attack
Grab · Pummel · Forward throw · Back throw · Up throw · Down throw
Floor attack (front) · Floor attack (back) · Floor attack (trip) · Edge attack (fast) · Edge attack (slow)
Neutral special · Side special · Up special · Down special · Final Smash