Is Mewtwo Pika's Worst MU?

Oh hey there.

So uh, another Pika blog. But anyway, I was thinking that Pikachu is a fantastic counter pick to a handful of the top tiers in smash 4 like Sheik, ZSS, Bayo, Ryu, and more. The only top tier MUs that Pika loses or goes even is Mario, Rosa, and maybe Marth. Pikachu is so amazing, I first thought. However... There was another Pokemon that I forgot about completely. Mewtwo.

I did some thinking and then I was like, wow  the Pika vs Mewtwo MU looks bad. But how bad is it? Is it his new worst MU? I guess this is some new stuff for me and other Pika mains. Anyway, let's get started.

What I'll be talking about:

Neutral Game

Advantage

Disadvantage

Killing

Comparison

(Oh lord, this is a very long blog compared to what I’ve written before. Better put a TL;DR section)

(Yay, more before I start the blog rambling. This was started a very long time ago and was never finished until, well, you read it rn. Some info is outdated,and stuff I knew in the past may not be the same in the current meta. I tried to make it interesting as possible, but it's pretty much me covering two MU guides in one blog, it'll most likely be boring though. Sigh...)

So for this, I'm going to compare how the Pika Mario MU(currently his worst MU) and Pika Mewtwo MU is like to know which is worse. First, I'll be talking about neutral.

Neutral

Pikachu can't camp with thunder jolt since both Mewtwo and Mario have a reflector. They both can throw projectiles to have Pika approach instead.

Pika with his short range is forced to approach, and it doesn’t help when both Mario and Mewtwo can space better with their aerials than Pika. Mewtwo fair and Mario bair are both safe on shield and is hard for Pika to punish even with his speed because both Mario and Mewtwo can throw out a move that’s fast such as d-tilt to stop the approach. In general, Pika loses in approaching making him lose a bit more in the neutral.

Another thing that I ed is when ZeRo faced ESAM at I think Dreamhack 2017 is where the commentators commented that ZeRo played a very anti-grab game against ESAM. ZeRo knew that Pika gets a lot out of grabs and possibly get Diddy in a bad situation off of one d-throw combo.

Now coming back to Mario and Mewtwo, they both have superior air mobility compared to Pika, so approaching in the air is going to be hard. This also means that they can play an anti-grab game against Pika, which is his primary way of getting damage.

Mewtwo has faster run speed than Pika, but Mario has a bit less run speed than Pika. So Mewtwo has somewhat an easier time running away from Pika compared to Mario.

I have no clue how I forgot Quick Attack(QA). QA can punish small openings and can start a quick combo. Though it’s possible for Mario to escape QA combos at really low percents cause he can act faster than Pika after QA since Mario lands before QA ends. Mewtwo doesn’t land that fast since he’s floaty so low percent QA combos could work a bit quicker, but becomes harder to connect at higher percents because of too much knockback.

(Stuffing out QA is going to be mentioned in advantage, which is the next section. An easy way to stuff QA is with lingering hitboxes if you were wondering)

Advantage

Next we compare the advantage. One aspect that makes a character have an advantage is getting a combo starter and combing the opponent. As for possible combos, d-tilt is Mewtwo’s main combo starter, but is a very good combo starter and extender for Mario. Mewtwo has straightforward d-tilt fair or uair combos while Mario can do some interesting combos off of d-tilt like jab, grab, up tilt, etc.

Mario for sure has a better grab combo game than Mewtwo. However, Mario should do the Ally combo(up throw dair to an aerial) since Pika has a frame 3 nair to possibly combo break the infamous d-throw combo. This can be easily avoided by predicting it and shielding, racking more damage via Ally combo, or having rage.

Mewtwo does kind of have a grab game but his throw combos aren’t that rewarding compared to Mario. Just note that Pika has a slow double jump meaning that escaping combos via jump will be harder for Pika, relying more on air dodges or frame 3 nair to get out of combos.

Another combo starter is nair. Mewtwo’s nair combos to dash attack and grab sometimes and can lead to the footstool disable combo mid percents(which looks amazing af btw). Instead if doing the Nair footstool combo, Mewtwo can up tilt up smash instead.

Mario’s nair can lead to a grab but it’s not safe as Mewtwo’s nair. Fast fall(FF) nair can lead into a follow-up such as grab but it’s unsafe and situational. Strong Nair out of shield(OoS) can lead to a tech situation at mid percents, which can lead to a jab lock or a tech chase read.

One last combo starter-ish move I’ll mention that both character have is up tilt. Mario’s up tilt by itself isn’t that good since it doesn’t have range but sure as heck good for racking up damage after d-throw. Up tilt leads to aerials, which can extend the combo. Other than that, I can’t think of a good use of this move. It’s not an anti-air approach since up smash is a thing(and lack of range too).

Mewtwo’s however, could be used as a anti-air. It has range and decently fast, coming out at frame 8, and the late hitbox at 9 -13. I saw Aba use this as a combo extender once against Larry(?) when he went d-tilt, d-tilt, perfect pivot(PP) up tilt, into another uptilt. It was pretty crazy when I first saw it. Also, up tilt to up smash is kind of busted. Up tilt itself leads to more up tilts and PP up tilts too.

Now I’ll be talking about edge guarding/edge trapping Pikachu. Pika does have one of the best recoveries in the game with QA and mixups such as side b and thunder. Pika can also shoot T-jolt if he wants too. Even if you shoot the T-jolt kind a low, it can wrap around if it hits the stage.

I want to mention how you can try to edge guard a Pikachu, but that's probably enough info for a whole different blog so... I'll just say that side b and down b are punishable with a spike and you can try to use a long lasting hitbox to interrupt QA. QA somehow makes Pika's hurtbox really big which is something I don't get but that just makes it easier to edge guard sadly.

He can get off the ledge kind of free by dropping off the ledge into immediately double jump QA towards the stage. It’s really quick but moves like Mario nair can trade or beat out QA. Pika does also have double jump off the stage fair but Mario’s up smash OoS can punish it. Mewtwo can try to beat out/trade with QA with nair and beat out double jump fair with up tilt or up smash OoS.

Disadvantage

In disadvantaged state, both Mewtwo and Mario have better air mobility so they can try to drift away after Pika does a d-throw combo. Mewtwo has the best air dodge in the game(other than bitch time -- I mean, Bat Within) and he can use that to try to land, but using it a lot will lead into a punish. If Mewtwo needs to land aggressively, he can use dair, since it randomly doesn’t have much landing lag. He can also use nair or maybe fair/bair too. One more thing Mewtwo can do to get out of disadvantage is Teleport edge canceling, most notably on stages like tri-plads.

Mario on the other hand, doesn’t have that many useful landing options like Mewtwo but he has some too. Soft nair is a thing that can start a grab combo if Pika isn’t aware but it isn’t the safest option. There is also landing dair which is kind of unsafe too but can start a combo if it connects. Kind of situational moves that I just thought of are cape in the air to stall your landing and FLUDD when you land. Bair tbh is the safest move you can use to land but only if you’re facing away from Pika. But you can use cape to face away to be able to bair.

Worst place you can be against a Pikachu is being offstage. Both Mewtwo and Mario have ways to recover without taking a ton of percent from Pika.

Mewtwo’s main recovery is teleport and could be two-framed by lingering hitboxes such as... frikin most of Pika's aerials lol. Mewtwo can try to stall out his recovery with side b and reflect T-jolts if he needs to. I don't know how useful double jump cancel neutral b is when recovering but it’s a random mix up so it could work. Speaking of neutral b, full charge can shoot Mewtwo from the opposite direction he shot it in, so he could shoot it away from the stage to use that momentum to come back to stage. It's pretty punishable but still a random mix up that you can use. Regular not full charged Shadow Balls can try to interrupt Pika from edge guarding Mewtwo.

Mario has up b as his main recovery tool. It’s a bit more hard to challenge it because its start up frames are intangible and can possibly stage spike if Pika isn’t careful. Though this doesn’t mean it’s impossible to gimp Mario though. If Pika tries to nair or dair up b in the later part of the move, he could possibly trade and probably gimp him. Other tools Mario can use to come back to the stage are side b to stall out his recovery and FLUDD to try to push away Pika.

For coming back off the edge, Pika can pressure you with t-jolt, fair, f-tilt, and maybe hard read f-smash. Mewtwo can get off the edge with side b command grab if Pika is holding shield too close. Mewtwo can also jump air dodge, double jump(DJ) fair, DJ nair, and DJ dair.

Mario can use reverse cape to make him face away from the stage to DJ bair, jump air dodge, DJ nair, and DJ dair. Mario and Mewtwo have better air mobility than Pika so they can try to get center stage by floating back since Pika can't catch them in the air. However, Pika can chase them down by running though.

Killing

Now for killing, Pika has up smash, f-smash, up throw thunder, d-tilt jab lock, up tilt thunder, really high percent up and back throw, and gimps. Pika doesn't have a hard time killing but most of the set ups require a read of DI or where they're going to tech and such.

Mario has all his smashes, back throw near the ledge, bair at really high percents, uair at really high percents, dair, and fair spike. Mewtwo has sour spot up tilt up smash, straight up up smash, up throw, maybe f-smash, b-throw DI mix-up, fair, sour spot landing dair, maybe uair and bair, and the RAR nair footstool disable combo. Pika is the only one with a kill throw conversion but Mario and Mewtwo have aerials that kill earlier than Pika.

Comparison

Neutral

So now the comparison. I think Mario has a better reflector since his reflector starts and ends faster. Mewtwo’s reflector activate on frame 12(the command grab part starts at 12 too)and first actionable frame(FAF) is frame 45. Mario, on the other hand, has his cape reflector come out at frame 6, while his hitbox is at 12. His FAF is 36. I didn’t mention this before but both nairs can get rid of t-jolt, it only needs to hit a specific part of the nair to get rid of it.

For the projectile, I think Mewtwo has it better since his can eat through thunder jolt. Mario has a better one for landing and Mewtwo has it better for approaches. They do have the ability to b-reverse and wave bounce their neutral b’s, making it harder for Pika to juggle them.

Mewtwo fair and Mario bair can space very well. I really can't chose which one is better as a spacing tool. Mewtwo fair hits harder for sure but Mario can use like two bairs off a short hop(one rising and another landing). Mario can up smash since he's usually facing away from the shield after bair but Mewtwo can drift backwards after hitting the shield with fair, covering a possible punish using d-tilt or jab. Mewtwo has more air mobility so he can easily drift than Mario. They both can cross up shield with Mario dair and Mewtwo nair. Both can lead to follow-ups if the shield is released too early. Idk who to give this to, so I’ll just say this one is a tie for now.

Advantage

As for combos, Mewtwo wins d-tilt, nair, and up tilt combos and Mario wins throw combos. Though it may seem like Mewtwo has a better combo game, Mario has a really basic combo game that can be easily pulled off. He can get more damage than Mewtwo but if you know when and how you can escape, Mario can’t get his damage. Low percent combos Mario wins for sure having multiple d-throw follow-ups, but I think Mewtwo wins mid and high percent combos, since he can take a stock off of them.

As for edge guarding and trapping Pika, both nairs can stuff out recovering QA but it's kind of hard since it's fast. But QA is somehow enlarges Pika's hurtbox so hitting it would be easier. Mewtwo has a bit more options to try to stop Pika's DJ fair and DJ QA than Mario with his bigger hitboxes.

Disadvantage

As for getting out of combos in disadvantage, Mewtwo has a better air dodge so getting out of combos with air dodge is easier. Mewtwo is also floaty making him get out of combos easier. Mewtwo is also lighter making him get out of combos easier too. But being a floaty makes him more susceptible to juggles and being light makes Mewtwo die earlier. Landing dair out ranges and out powers Pika’s anti-air options but Pika can power shield it and then punish it. Teleport cancels can be annoying to catch but they’re only really useful on platforms. Something to note is that Mewtwo’s DJ is slow making jumping out of combos a bit more harder. Mario doesn’t have as much air speed as Mewtwo but Mario isn’t floaty so he’s kind of less susceptible to juggles. In general, I think Mewtwo has more options for landing but can struggle to get out if he gets caught and uses his resources.

For coming back to the stage, Mewtwo had better air mobility but his up b doesn't have a hitbox, making him susceptible to 2 frames. He also has side b to move forward and reflect t-jolts. I think Mewtwo has more range on his teleport than Mario’s up b. Mario has mainly his up b with side b to reflect t-jolt and stall in the air and FLUDD to push Pika if he's too close. Overall, Mario’s up b is harder to challenge than Mewtwo’s Teleport but Mewtwo can mix-up his options a bit more than Mario.

Killing

Honestly, Mewtwo seems like he gets killed more easily than Mario but because of Mewtwo’s weight and being a floaty, but the up throw thunder percent window is smaller and works on earlier percents. D-tilt jab locks won’t work as effectively since the angle would be a bit more up, so Mewtwo could land with an aerial instead. However, Mewtwo’s tech rolls are meh if I and his double jump is slow so it might be hard to jump out of it. Mewtwo can avoid Pika’s kill set-ups better but raw kill moves like smash attacks can kill him earlier than Mario. I won’t cover Mario against Pika’s kill set-ups since he’s mid weight and the set-ups should work normally.

Mewtwo has better kill aerials and a better kill throw than both Pika and Mario. However, Mario has safer smash attacks than Mewtwo. In general, Mewtwo can take stocks better than Mario can but can lose a stock easier than Mario can.

If none of what I said made any sense as a comparison, I made a chart to make your life a lot easier:

(Shoot, forgot to fix the thing on force approaches smh)

So uh, that was a lot of information. Let me try to summarize it:

-Mario and Mewtwo both have more moves that space better than Pika

-Mewtwo has more range than Pika and Mario

-Mario has bair and cross-up dair, while Mewtwo has fair and cross-up nair to space

-both can prevent t-jolt camping with reflectors. Mario’s cape is a better reflector

-both can space Pika with projectiles, Mewtwo’s is better on the ground and also eats up t-jolt if charged enough while Mario’s is better for landing

-both can play an anti grab game if necessary

-both can combo and a lot of damage

-Mario has better combos out of d-throw and Mewtwo has better combos out of tilts

-both have good follow-ups from aerials

-Mario has better low percent combos while Mewtwo has more mid and high percent combos

-edge guarding Pika with both characters are hard but both have many options to ledge trap Pika

-DJ QA can be stuffed out with both nairs. Mario up smash can beat out DJ QA with intangible head but Mewtwo can trade or beat QA with up smash and up tilt

-both have b-reverse, good air speed, and good aggressive landing options to get out of juggles

-Mewtwo has better air speed but floaty, while Mario has an easier time landing quicker

-both can make Pika’s life harder with their good recoveries

-Mewtwo is susceptible of getting hit when recovering cause teleport can be 2-framed easily, while Mario’s up b is harder to challenge

-both can use side b of the ledge to nullify t-jolt

-Mewtwo has better raw kill moves and set-ups

-Mario survives longer than Mewtwo because more weight, but Pika kill confirms are harder to land on Mewtwo cause floatiness and weight

Oh. My. God. I’m done. This is by far the longest blog I’ve ever made. Took me 6 months including procrastination to finish. I feel like that none of you actually read the whole thing but if you did, thank you for doing so. Anyway, thanks for reading, I guess I’ll see you guys later whenever I stop being lazy.

But then I forgot the most important part of this blog and that is what the heck I feel about the Mewtwo Pika MU, fml. What made me have this idea is that theoretically, this MU looks super bad for Pika just because Mewtwo can do the stuff Pika does but slightly better, and shuts down Pika’s options relatively well just like Mario, but also better. ESAM also hasn’t taken a set off of Aba’s Mewtwo, which shows that this MU sucks for Pika. Though ESAM beat Wadi so ESAM might have lost cause Aba is just a better player or something(except Wadi beat ZeRo before Aba did with Mewtwo so...).

Anyway, I feel like that Pika Mewtwo is bad as Mario Pika for sure, but I’m not a 100% sure if which one is worse. Oh well, better go Link or Shulk against them instead of Pika.

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Oh yea XENOBLADE 2 HYPE YEEE