Meta Knight Should Be Top Tier. What's Stopping Him? | Character Crisis

Meta Knight used to be the undisputed best character in Smash Bros history. But with his latest iteration in Smash Bros Ultimate many players have forgotten what makes Meta Knight such a fearsome opponent. With each Smash game that Meta Knight has graced his position on the tier list has only gotten worse. But after playing as the character I have learned that it isn't the character that is holding him back from being incredible.

Sorry if my voice sounds different in this I was recovering from a cold when I recorded it.

Choose my next main!

Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
00:37 - Preconceptions on Meta Knight
02:51 - Meta Knight Training Mode
04:54 - Meta Knight Combo Video
05:54 - Meta Knight Tournament Report
09:12 - Final Results

Songs Used
Battlefield
Gourmet Race (Brawl)
Green Greens (Melee)
02 Battle (Brawl)
Gourmet Race (Brawl)
The Legendary Air Ride Machine
Meta Knight's Revenge
Nightmare Battle (Kirby Star Allies)

[RufioTheThird]

I'm so happy I found this video. I absolutely love the idea of this series, such a fun concept.

I love this channel and can't look forward to more of this after I watch your previous Character Crisis videos. Such a comforting series that feels so sincere which is content I've really missed. It really celebrates all fighters in this game that serves as a love letter to something you like first and content second which is something I always try and look for

[oathstar]

When Brawl came out I mained MK without knowing he was broken, so when a friend and I went to a tournament and was told MK was banned, I knew I was screwed. Now many years later I now know he was indeed broken lol.

[thomaspharma]

I didnt notice that your character moves his mouth until now lmao

[benross]

MK is mostly held back by a really linear neutral, in my opinion. A lot of chraracters can just play around/cover his grounded options like dash grab/DA, and keep MK out forever/outbox him. He is also very inconcistent, as his combos are both character and percent specific, and at mid percents he is just not that scary of a character that generally has to work a lot harder to win neutral. Very tough character to solo main, although there are MUs he is great in, like heavies, most swordies, and especially floaty characters. Very strong CP character/anti meta threat, but pretty complex for a secondary. Great comain though

[dragonsswarm]

I've mostly played Ridley in the few times I've played smash ultimate, so this series seems like a good overview of the characters I would be interested in trying out.

[afternoonz]

Watching your combo I really do think that you could main MK! Being able to already do some of those shows you can click with him with the time!

[LuigiXP]

Great video as always! I always thought Meta Knight was a fun character but hes too complex for me too play often also I love how Palutena's hair turned gray because of the green screen lol anyways great video

[omurice]

WAIT THE MOUTH MOVES IN THE PNG HERE AS WELL??
Awesome vid as always! Being able to drop by the streams watch MK grow was a lot of fun.

[happymaster]

4:36 the reason that hit is you teleported Into the fighter you were pushed forward but still hit because of where you should've been

[RobertGunn]

This is a great way to start my Tuesday mornings!! Thank you!

[exo_vvlpine]

I can't believe you made me a meta knight believer
Glad to see my first main in smash 4 getting his video
keep the good work ❤

[EmiDelta]

You should do Robin next
..wait.. who?

[darklight]

Ive mained meta knight for years from brawl to 4 but than didnt buy ultimate a year later not even touching the past games so the rust was alot and the difference felt weird but im back in a meta knight server and will reach way beyond what i was before! (Also amazing video and you didnt do bad at all for being inexperienced👍)

[GiantCaliber]

The Kirby casualties are… alarmingly high…

[hudsonfoster]

I didn’t even realize that you only had 2k subs until looked at the views and sub count on this video. Keep up the good work man! I hope by the end of the series you have around 50k subs.

[DNPC]

As soon as I saw the thumbnail I said "NOT AGAIN"

[trongtran]

9:15 using this stage as green screen. Smart lol.

[bixielikesbloons]

Yo I made it into the video. GGs from malfunky, loved the video. Keep up the good work!

[DuyuCoyote]

Here's a suggestion. A slept on character that can dominate in the right hands. 2213 Mii Swordfighter. Shuriken, Gale Stab, Stone Scabbard, Power Thrust. You will run into some of the same things ridley struggles with but I find 2213 MiiSF edges out with more options against that pressure. Good luck.

[keeshuunedited]

Love Meta Knight. He was the character I wanted in Smash the most all the way back in Melee. He used to be one of my worst characters, now he's one of my best. He's just so unique!

All that said, it took me a long time to realize why top level players don't use him much:
- Too much effort for what you get out of him. Important for not draining your mental stamina in long tournaments. There are other characters that can do what he does more consistently, easily, and in some cases even better. One of my favorite matchups in Smash is Meta Knight vs Pikachu. They both have a lot in common. Lots of disjoints, tiny, fast, absurd recoveries, up air combos, randomly extremely powerful options and they both want to get early KOs off-stage. Though Pikachu just feels like a character that can adapt to new situations better, and t-jolt lets him more easily force things. I might be a bit biased though, since the best player I know moves like ESAM with Pikachu, and I might also be going "Pikachu is mr potential" with the little bit of time I've put into Pikachu out of curiosity.
- Primary game plan is rather linear. In general you can overwhelm most people with Meta Knight's speed an disjoints, but going up against the best of the best that I can attack, it feels like you're kinda getting stuck into bait & punish strats where the opponent is dictating the pace of the match the whole time. I just woke up so it's kinda hard for me to describe that despite him having all the traditional qualities of a top tier, his kit just doesn't work well enough together like other characters do, and I feel like he's the only character like that off the top of my head in the roster.

Still going to use the heck out of Meta Knight though because he is so fun to play, and everyone tells me that they love fighting my Meta Knight. Just the existence of dimensional cape adds an extra mental stack on the opponent sorta like having Samus's fully charged charge shot available at any moment the second the opponent forgets about the move, and I get addicted to characters that have a way to induce some sort of "fear" or things for the opponent to be cautious of.
Also there are some matchups that just feel absurdly easy with Meta Knight, even though when I look at matchup charts he's pretty even across the board.