Mewtwo
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This page includes write ups and various other notes from various Mewtwo players. The names of who wrote the matchup write up will be listed.
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Bayonetta
"It's like Kickball but the Ball wins." Even/-0.5
From Vaeyguh: Many Mewtwo mains find this matchup very irritating but with some practice, it becomes far easier
Neutral: Most of the time the Bayonetta is looking for whiff punishes or to catch Mewtwo off-guard (ex: Charging Shadow Ball with poor positioning). To rectify this, Mewtwo needs to be moving around a lot in this matchup. Make it harder for Bayonetta to hit you by playing around platforms and using short hops and shield. You always want to keep the Bayonetta guessing as to what you'll do and when you'll do it. Many of Bayonetta's neutral options are relatively committal due to Mewtwo's speed and ability to punish, so you want to be playing more of a bait-and-punish-esque gameplan. Punishing ABK or uptilt on shield are good starts and for more niche options like downward ABK you want to run away and then punish while she's in lag. Also, always keep the threat of shadow ball apparent. Shadow Ball is a killer in this matchup (on top of what it's already good for) since it can shut down one of her best options for air mobility and approaching, air ABK. Don't be afraid to condition shield and later go for grabs either, as due to her low weight Mewtwo's throws are exceptional against her. Don't be afraid to mix in an aggressive option like run up fair or up air for soft jump reads either, as long as you mix up your options Bayonetta's burst options are not nearly as scary.
Advantage: Bayonetta getting hit by strays does a lot against her, as well as common juggling options like up air or options if they recover on plats such as fair, bair, Shadow Ball, or Up Smash on stages that allow it. Due to her amazing recovery and reversal potential, I personally don't advise trying to edgeguard Bayonetta and instead recommend going for ledgetrapping. Mewtwo's ledgetrapping against Bayonetta is actually quite good considering the options Bayonetta's commonly take. Shadow Ball is the big standout here as, with proper timing, it can hit ABK from ledge pretty hard or at the very least force Bayonetta into a close-quarters situation while she has to consider the extra landing lag she has to deal with from the ABK. Holding shadow ball also allows you to cancel it into a quick run up fair for an easy ledgejump kill or go for a run up grab mixup. Aside from that many of Mewtwo's general advantage options still work against Bayonetta, aside from edgegaurding and possible overextensions, so in that regard changing your gameplan isn't as necessary as the other states.
Disadvantage: SDI. SDI like crazy. Mix up your SDI and DI. Do whatever necessary to get to ledge. You can sometimes get a cheeky kill by DI'ing ABK out and doing a fair when she tries to follow up, but other than that the disadvantage gameplan is to just get away from her by any means. Her ledgetrapping against Mewtwo isn't the greatest so long as you mixup recovery options and ledge options. Mixing up teleport to stage (the distance for where you end up) is generally pretty good to do if you don't do it every time. Double jump fair/Confusion 50/50 from ledge also works well as a good option, as well as drop ledge up air. What you mainly want to be aware of and avoid in disadvantage is her immediate kill options. Typically these are bair (a lot of Bayos will spam in near ledge which is your cue to either teleport or ledgedrop up air when she's trying to land), uptilt bair, rapidjab/fair into rapidjab, or ABK into another option (typically bair or waiting for your reaction). Shielding/Countering/Avoiding these options is your key to get back to neutral or punish her hard with a reversal.
Misc: Some Bayos will try to use Witch Time in neutral or after a shielded ABK so they can get an easy kill. If you recognize their pattern of doing this, punish with a free grab, delayed normal, or FCSB. Just something to be aware of.
TL:DR: Bait and Punish is a typically good neutral gameplan with some aggro mix. Always keep the threat of Shadow Ball apparent. Advantage relies a lot on strays and ledgetrapping. Mix up your SDI a lot and do whatever it takes to get to ledge in disadvantage. Also Witch Time exists.
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From TechnoPuff:
This matchup feels strangely polarizing for both characters. On one hand, Bowser can absolutely slaughter you with nearly any hit with his large, powerful hitboxes, simple but effective advantage and his amazing OOS option in Whirling Fortress. Bowser can consistently threaten KOs after only a few hits, especially due to Mewtwo's low weight, and he is extremely dangerous at ledge due to his various 2 framing/ledgetrapping options, even despite Mewtwo's amazing recovery. Bowser also often threatens mixups with his Flying Slam command grab, which is especially scary to a character forced to shield as often as Mewtwo.
On the other hand, Mewtwo has an equally amazing advantage against Bowser in all aspects, as Mewtwo combos and bullies/juggles Bowser extremely well(he's one of the only characters consistently susceptible to Nair loops), Mewtwo's high killpower allows them to KO Bowser fairly consistently despite his infamous weight, and even if you can't KO Bowser outright he is highly susceptible to Mewtwo's effective edgeguard game. Not to mention, Bowser has a rough time against Mewtwo in neutral, as his large frame makes it difficult for him to maneuver around Shadow Balls(although he can clank with and destroy most charges of Shadow Ball with a well timed Fair, so don't get predictable!) and Mewtwo's large and safe attacks without committing to predictable movement or hard reads in neutral. Mewtwo's privileged frame data also allows him to circumvent how potent Whirling Fortress is as an OOS option(aside from reckless Nairs), although it's still a 50/50 whether he will use Whirling Fortress or a grab/Flying Slam OOS, as Whirling Fortress easily beats spotdodges/obvious rolls after landing.
A couple other small things to note: Always avoid using Rapid Jab due to Bowser's Tough Guy mechanic. In a similar vein, try to restrict your usage of Disable in this matchup, as Bowser has small amounts of armour on many of his attacks that, while usually inconsequential, completely ignores Disable's pathetic 1% of damage(anecdotal, but I've even had him armour through my Disable with Down Tilt!).
Overall, Bowser is a simple character, and beating him will heavily rely on your ability to sniff out player habits and maximize your openings.
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From TechnoPuff:
In theory, Cloud is a simple matchup: He destroys you in neutral and advantage, but as soon as you get him offstage his stock should be as good as gone. However, fighting against Cloud is actually much more of a nuanced game that requires you to be tuned in at all times to play around his polarizing, but beatable tools. In neutral, Cloud players love using his massive, safe aerials(most notably Bair) to encroach upon your space while staying perfectly out of your burst range, and when attempting to cover landings with Shadow Ball, his aerials will often simply clank with and nullify most charges. However, Cloud (obviously) needs to actually be in the air to use his aerials, so throwing pre-emptive Shadow Ball's at shorthop height at mid/long range is a very effective deterrent, and the path's he needs to take to avoid them are much easier to play around. At close range, getting a feel on when your opponent likes to shorthop is crucial, as Mewtwo's fast, strong and large Fair is a great tool to swat Cloud out of the air before he can start fastfalling and using his aerials. If all else fails, you can rely on Mewtwo's amazing movement to position yourself well around Cloud's massive moves, although utilising the Slingshot technique is crucial here even more than most matchups, lest you leave your tail wide open as you attempt to retreat and space.
Once he gets around your Shadow Ball play, dealing with Cloud's close range pressure consists of many rapid-fire guesses, especially with regards to his infamous Bair. Due to the move's safety on shield, Cloud players absolutely love pushing various mixups after hitting your shield with it, and good Cloud players will be cognizant of Mewtwo's poor OOS options and abuse it even more. Landing Bair(-3 on shield) into Jab(4 frame startup) is a 7 frame gap at best that easily interrupts your attempts to utilise your frame 10 Nair or Fair OOS, but if you simply continue to shield the Jab you can punish him. Some Cloud players like to use other grounded moves after landing with a Bair, but these are countered similarly. Many Cloud players will attempt to continue pressure or bait out hasty options by dashing away or shorthopping again to threaten another aerial, but you can use the opportunity to go for your own pressure, retreat or try and retaliate with a sufficient burst option, but these can all be easily countered by Cloud, which is what makes his pressure so scary, so try to get a feel for your opponents tendecies during pressure. Cloud may also attempt to shield himself or spotdodge after landing with an aerial. While most Cloud players know all this and will attempt to condition you with Grabs, always remember that he gets very minimal rewards off them as he has no kill or combo throws, although getting thrown offstage can be scary due to Cloud's ledgetrapping.
Speaking of ledgetrapping, it can be very rough to deal with, but doable. Most Cloud players love proactively swinging to catch your options, so you can try breaking through the openings this can create with IDLJ Fair. If the Cloud is instead playing much more patiently and attempting to reaction punish your options by standing/shorthopping a bit away or shielding at ledge, you can use your unique, unreactable options to regain control such as IDLJ Shadow Ball > shield or ledge jump Confusion. Just remember to mix it up.
Due to Climhazzard's proficiency OOS, many Cloud players have developed a heavy reliance on the move. Luckily, you can very easily bait and punish it with your myriad of safe aerials, and once he becomes wary of using it you'll be able to get away with much more.
I've also personally found that Confusion is a surprisingly useful tool against Cloud. Obviously, it's a great way to deal with a Cloud shielding on a platform, looking to OOS you. However, the ability to cancel the startup of dashes with Side Specials allows you to perfectly space around his aerial approaches, as you can dash away at the perfect distance before instantly turning around with the move, and Confusion's large hitbox almost always reaches his landing. Furthermore, many players(in Ultimate, not just for Cloud) like to shield after landing with an aerial if they see it doesn't hit, which Confusion's command grab properties obviously beats. However, mileage may vary here, it's still a new theory I'm developing in this matchup, so I haven't had the opportunity to truly explore and field-test the effectiveness of it.
Overall, against Cloud, your main goal should be to play patiently and goad his committal options, get him offstage and edgeguard, edgeguard, edgeguard. The only thing that really throws a wrench in this is his character-specific Limit mechanic, as edgeguarding his empowered Climhazzard is often fruitless, so if you know he's going to have Limit and will use it while recovering(as most Cloud players like trying to save it through the use of airdodging, but this is easily edgeguard-able), you should instead try to time a Down-Smash.
Finally, speaking of Limit, it's something you have to heavily play around as Mewtwo. All of his empowered specials either kill exceptionally early or otherwise interrupt your gameplan, to say nothing of the superior mobility he gains due to his stats increase. While Cloud has Limit, your goal should be to bait him into wasting the move or waiting out the timer, either through ledge/offstage stalling, circle camping(watch out for Climhazzard though!) or proper spacing play.
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From: Mr Hokckey (aka Leonidas)
This is not a fun matchup. It's hard for Mewtwo to play his normal game because Diddy has such strong burst options in banana peel and Monkey Flip. So you need to be VERY prepared against these two moves if you want to do well in this matchup. Monkey Flip in particular is VERY difficult to punish; you basically have to know exactly when and how they are going to use it, and also how to actually punish it. The kick version goes through mini Shadow Ball, but a fully charged one will beat it out. Banana peel also goes through Shadow Ball and conditions you to shield, which Diddy can then punish with Monkey Flip.
If you successfully pick up a banana peel, hold onto it for dear life and start camping with Shadow Ball. Holding onto Banana is so powerful against Diddy because not only does it become MUCH easier to camp him, but you can punish him for shielding with SideB while still holding onto the banana. Additionally, Mewtwo can combo banana into Disable, which is probably the best banana punish that anyone could ask for.
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Donkey Kong
"Psychic beats Fighting type." From TechnoPuff:
This is a really unfortunate matchup for DK, and one where you can usually just run your typical Mewtwo gameplan and easily win. DK has a rough time dealing with Shadow Ball spam, and if he recklessly approaches he become extremely susceptible to Mewtwo's combos and especially edgeguards. His large frame makes him one of the few characters that Mewtwo can consistently loop Nair multiple times into a finisher, most often doing so(or other various combos) into an extremely easy edgeguard being your gameplan against this poor monkey. DK's large frame also causes Mewtwo Jab to do abnormally high damage, and he often just gets hit by many of Mewtwo's stray large moves, and his jump is too slow to consistently threaten with his Bair after jumping a Shadow Ball, lest he get interrupted by Mewtwo Fair. Additionally, DK's extremely poor OOS game lets you get away with way more than you normally would due to Mewtwo's extremely safe aerials(as long as you stay wary of his terrifying grab).
Of course, people don't play DK just to get similarly run over by every character. DK's dangerous advantage and grab game proves even more explosive versus Mewtwo due to their large frame making combos much more lenient, and some of his powerful moves kill Mewtwo extremely early. The infamous Ding Dong combo in particular(Cargo U-Throw -> Up-Air has an extremely wide and early window on Mewtwo(58-71% on PS2). Luckily, DK at least has a rough time edgeguarding and ledgetrapping Mewtwo, due to their many stalling and unique ledge options, and Mewtwo's powerful recovery ensures that DK has to fully secure the KO to take your stock. Overall, just be wary of DK's options, focus on your whiff punishing and Shadow Ball play alongside ensuring you abuse your advantage and DK will rarely ever get the chance to lay his hands on you.
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From TechnoPuff:
Mewtwo heavily dislikes this MU, as many of Falco's moves and aspects don't bode well. Falco's infamous advantage and combo game is even more prominent against Mewtwo, due to their large frame and poor disadvantage, which combines with Mewtwo's featherweight to allow Falco to have an extremely easy time KOing Mewtwo with his many kill confirms. Falco's extreme vertical mobility also cannot be remedied with Mewtwo's committal and long double jump.
Furthermore, Mewtwo has a difficult time playing around many of Falco's individual moves. Falco's massive Up Tilt can swat Mewtwo's out of the air extremely easily and lead into a devastating combo/kill confirm, often catching the tail hurtbox even when specifically trying to avoid the move. Blaster seems tailor-made for disrupting Mewtwo from neutral, halting Mewtwo in their tracks when trying to approach or charge a Shadow Ball, and is difficult/not worth it to reflect with Confusion. Even if Mewtwo is able to gain Shadow Ball charge, they still have a difficult time threatening Falco with it due to Reflector's frame 1 reflecting properties, forcing Mewtwo to nearly forego using higher charged Shadow Balls in fear of getting instantly reflected. Mewtwo also has a difficult time contesting Falco's long lasting aerials in air-air situations, and them being fairly unsafe on shield is a moot point against Mewtwo's poor OOS options.
Luckily it's not all bad. Mewtwo has a much, much easier time edgeguarding Falco than the other way around, and Mewtwo can just as easily keep Falco in disadvantage for long periods of time, although Falco can easily escape more committal options with Falco Phantasm or a fastfall airdodge due to his fast falling speed. Mewtwo can also very easily play around and punish Falco's OOS options, due to Mewtwo's safety and ability to space moves.
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Jigglypuff
"i feel like i'm playing war thunder in this mu" From TechnoPuff:
Simply put, this matchup is just plain weird. Likely even not because both Puff and M2 are actually evenly matched, but because this matchup results in so many strange, awkward and really funny interactions at nearly all times. On Puff's side, their advantage is extremely scary as confirms into Rest become significantly easier and more potent due to Mewtwo's massive size and weight, most notably with Puff's infamous dragdown Dair -> Rest. Furthermore, Puff thrives off taking stocks with edgeguarding similarly to Mewtwo, and is actually a genuine threat to you while recovering, especially if they know to cover your Teleport to ledge with their lingering Nair. While Mewtwo has quite an edge in neutral on paper due to better hitboxes and Shadow Ball, Puff has a surprising amount of maneuverability, with their superb air agility, many jumps and low profile crouch allowing them to dart in and out of your effective range constantly, waiting for the perfect opportunity to whiff punish you for an even slightly misspaced bad Shadow Ball or aerial. In disadvantage, while Puff's airdodge is slow at frame 4, they still have a frame 1 invincible option in Rest, turning certain combos into pseudo-RPS situations if the Puff player is aware of this(although it's still heavily weighted in your favour). Take, for example, Down Throw -> Fair: If you go for the Fair and they Rest, you die. If you don't go for the Fair and they Rest, or if you go for the combo and they don't Rest, they die. Of course, if you both don't go for your respective offensive option then nothing happens, but that's still missing an otherwise guaranteed combo. Additionally, Puff's amazing air movement and quick/strong aerials often leads to reversals if you even slightly mess up an edgeguard.
On the other hand, most of Puff's strengths in this matchup apply nearly exactly the same to Mewtwo. Due to Puff's abysmal weight and your array of extremely powerful moves, they get absolutely blown up when you hit them, even more so than they do against the rest of the cast. This is to the point that a simple DTilt -> Fair becomes a legitimate kill confirm at ledge at surprising %'s. Even beyond how easily Puff dies to basic combos or advantage play, preemptively swatting them out of the air or whiff punishing errant Pounds with Fair or catching a landing with DSmash is something Puff has to worry about much earlier than other characters. I seriously just cannot overstate how quickly Puff dies to everything you do. In neutral, while Puff certainly does have all the agility required to outmaneuver you, doing so perfectly requires significantly more effort and patience on the Puff player's part than it does from you. Even so, you have a lot of options to stop their shenanigans, from throwing preemptive Shadow Balls at shorthop height to heavily restrict their movement, powerful burst and poking options to swat them out of the air, and vastly superior grounded movement on top of your air movement which rivals Puff, allowing you to out-position them both in the air and on ground. In disadvantage, while Puff's combos are extremely threatening as previously stated, they really struggle to catch Teleports out of disadvantage, and mashing your large and fast Fair out of hitstun often puts a stop to any cheeky Puff players trying to bait panic options like airdodges. Offstage, Puff is just as scared of you as you are of them. Due to how long you can linger offstage and how slowly Puff falls, you can often put them into checkmate situations by forcing an airdodge with Bair, and simply hitting them with another before they can act. Additionally, any failed edgeguards that Puff attempts lead to easy and deadly reversals on your part, even easier than Puff does to you. Even if you don't want to risk dogfighting offstage like this, most edgeguards that Puff actually commits to are easily Teleported past. Finally, if you don't even want to play this offstage game at all, Down Smash catches a recovering Puff easier than most, as they have to either jump or airdodge to ledge.
There are a few other weird quirks with this matchup, such as being unable to Disable a Puff who missed a Rest or how easily Puff can destroy weaker Shadow Balls with aerials or especially Pound, but overall this is a strange matchup filled to the brim with funny interactions, offstage dogfighting, and both characters rarely living above 100%.
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From TechnoPuff:
I personally like to think of Kazuya as a Souls-style boss fight. If he hits you, you will die. But you have all the tools to play around his predictable and slow attack patterns/smaller burst range and whittle him down without him ever laying a finger on you. One of Kazuya's defining traits is his advantage/combo game, and one of Mewtwo's is their disadvantage(or lack thereof). Plain and simple, if you get stuck in a Kazuya combo, I'm sorry to break it to you but you're most likely dead. Furthermore, this often renders Mewtwo's amazing recovery as a moot point, as you obviously can't use it when neutral losses often result in an express ticket to the blastzone. Of course, that's not to say you should give up as soon as you get hit by a stray EWGF. Mix up your DI in sporadic intervals to try and escape, and especially do your best to DI away from platforms, due to his unique checkmate scenarios utilizing them with specific routings. Additionally, his EWGF is an extremely potent tool in its own right, forcing you to be much more careful in your floaty aerial approaches due to its proficiency as an anti-air.
Luckily, though, Kazuya may somehow have even worse disadvantage than Mewtwo, which can and should be exploited when playing against him. Shadow Ball is invaluable here for keeping Kazuya out, as his reflector is extremely committal, and your projectiles are both equally non-committal and can be faked out. Kazuya can also be edgeguarded easier than many other characters, although directly hitting him out of Devil Wings can be deceptively difficult. Kazuya's options and neutral are just overall extremely committal, and Mewtwo has all the neutral prowess you could want to constantly avoid, outplay and whiff punish him. Certain moves such as Gates of Hell or Oni Front Kick are also often ineffective against Mewtwo, as their low knockback angles are a moot point against such a powerful recovery. Overall, Mewtwo's great movement, advantage, hitboxes and projectiles gives you everything you could want to outplay Kazuya without him ever laying his hands on you, but any mistake you make will be paid for dearly.
Oh yeah, don't use Rapid Jab either, as he shares the Tough Guy mechanic with Bowser.
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From TechnoPuff:
This matchup can feel very rough, and it's probably the worst of Mewtwo's FGC matchups. Ken has no trouble hanging with you in neutral with his passable projectile Hadouken(although charging Shadow Ball over about half will allow it to plow through Hadouken), and once he gets close to you he will absolutely rend you in half with his oppressive frame data, damaging combos and kills you extremely early with his potent Shoryuken. Ken is often known for his inconsistent advantage and combos, but Mewtwo's massive size often offsets this, making him extremely scary to get hit by in any context. Luckily, Ken's disadvantage is very subpar, especially when abusing Nair to shred through his attempts at using Focus Attack. Mewtwo also has an extremely easy time edgeguarding him due to his slow recovery specials and air speed, so primarily focusing on getting him offstage will do you well.
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From TechnoPuff:
On paper, this matchup doesn't seem great, as K.Rool's killpower, notoriously difficult to edgeguard recovery, less committal projectiles and large hitboxes seem bad for Mewtwo, but practice this matchup feels extremely Mewtwo favoured. K.Rool is one of the easiest characters to combo in the game, and that stays true for Mewtwo: his comically large body and slower moves can sometimes allow Mewtwo to keep him in disadvantage until taking the stock. In fact, I'd argue that K.Rool is 'the' easiest and best character to combo with Mewtwo in the game, as unlike Kazuya or Bowser you can end combos with Jab to deal extreme damage, which combines with his ridiculous hurtbox to let you have your way with him. K.Rools projectiles, while often not actually hitting K.Rool back if reflected, are still usually worth it to reflect, as he cannot punish you for reflecting them due to his slow speed, often being left to try and commitally reflect them back or avoid them. K.Rool's reflector, while definitely something you need to be wary of as Mewtwo, is much more telegraphed than reflector's like Falco's. Furthermore, while Mewtwo has little hope vertically edgeguarding K.Rool(although I personally have actually done it before with rising DJ Dair), Mewtwo's best edgeguaridng tools just so happen to be kinda good horizontally, so Mewtwo just has to go for earlier edgeguards, which they already should be doing against most characters. Finally, most of K.Rools other options are very committal, and Mewtwo also just so happens to be kinda good at whiff punishing, and Mewtwo has all the attributes and tools needed to easily outmaneuver K.Rool.
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This is a deceptively difficult matchup that might actually be losing for Mewtwo, though I'm willing to believe it's even. Boxing situations against Kirby are extremely dangerous for Mewtwo. He doesn't have any fast out of shield options to stop Kirby from spamming tilts on his shield, meaning that you will have to rely more on defensive mixups such as holding shield, dodges, parries, or any other way to disengage that you can think of. Kirby also has very strong anti-air tools against Mewtwo. His tiny hurtbox and general preference to stay grounded makes it very hard for Mewtwo to land aerials on him. Kirby can easily punish his landings with Utilt and Usmash (which are both intangible on the foot), and even his aerials can sometimes cleanly beat Mewtwo's. And of course, almost any move that Kirby lands can easily guarantee massive damage or an early kill. Aside from that,
The typical answer to beating Kirby is to wall him out in neutral with projectiles or disjoints, but Mewtwo doesn't have enough of either for this to be easy. Thus, Mewtwo has to go about this in a rather unorthodox way. In my opinion, the four most important moves to master in this matchup are Shadow Ball, Confusion, Jab, and Dsmash. Charging Shadow Ball is great to force specific reactions. Confusion (SideB) is a big, disjointed command grab that is great against shield, and can also be used in the air. Jab is a fast "get off me" tool that is basically free 20% every time you land it, but unfortunately, Kirby can crouch under it. Finally, Dsmash is huge, strong, and lagless, and very difficult for Kirby to punish because he's slow. Simply standing in place and charging it sets up a mindgame that is heavily skewed in your favor. Of course, your other moves will be useful in other situations, but those four are the most important IMO.
That said, because Mewtwo isn't built to zone out Kirby with ease, you will find yourself in a lot of scramble situations, but panicking will only get you punished harder. The scramble situations are indeed doable and potentially very rewarding for Mewtwo; just stay on your toes and hold your ground.
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From: Mr Hokckey (aka Leonidas)
This is a matchup that a lot of Mewtwo players hate, but in my experience, it gets much better the more you know about the character. Ness can be very tricky because he has a LOT of movement mixups, and many of his moves have deceptively low lag. If you want to REALLY know Ness's gimmicks by heart, you might want to research the character yourself. But here are a couple of things that have been particularly useful to me.
- Watch out for the diagonal PK Fire from a platform. Shield or reflect.
- If he's doing weird PK Thunder mindgames, just don't contest it unless you have a 100% free punish.
- You can true punish Ness for absorbing Shadow Ball with PSI magnet, but for some reason, only if he uses it in the air.
- Ness has a lot of crazy shield pressure. Look for gaps where you can disengage, or punish out of shield.
- A lot of Ness's aerials have HUGE hitboxes and autocancel windows that can trip you up if you aren't ready. They are very hard to punish, and often it's best to just not try it. But if you pay close attention, you'll find windows.
As long as you know what you can or can't punish, you'll find that neutral is very doable with the right usage of speed, hitboxes, and camping tools. Ness is vulnerable to edgeguards and juggling, so take full advantage of that.
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From: Mr Hokckey (aka Leonidas)
Jab and Shadow Ball absolutely carry Mewtwo in this matchup. When using Shadow Ball, try to charge it enough so that it can pass through Thunder Jolt; the more charge, the better. Pikachu loves approaching by jumping in at a 45 degree angle with a Tjolt, and it is a very threatening approach. This means that throwing a fully charged Shadow Ball at jump height is one of the best things that you can do in this matchup. You'll need the right distance and timing and it might not hit, but it discourages this approach option while being very safe.
As for boxing situations, literally just Jab. It's Mewtwo's fastest move (frame 5), hits both on the ground and in the air, and is basically free 20% with one button, sometimes even more. Pikachu is very good up close and Mewtwo will probably be combo'd a lot, but hilariously, he can often make up all that damage with just one or two Rapid Jabs. There will be plenty of times to use other moves as well, but when in doubt, just Jab. :)
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From TechnoPuff:
Pyra can be frustrating to fight at times for a multitude of reasons. Tail moments can and will happen frequently here, and Pyra's massive aerials, most notably Dair, among her other normals and specials can make it difficult to whiff punish her despite her sub-par frame data. Additionally, her supreme kill power makes trying to play around her massive moves that much scarier. You also have to be wary of stalling offstage and recovering predictably against Pyra, as she can easily shut you down offstage with her fast and massive Fair, and her Dair can very easily 2-frame you or shut down sharking attempts. You do have some positive aspects though. Pyra has poor disadvantage when you're right in her face and during combo situations, so making sure she has no room to breathe is an effective strategy when you find a hit. Her OOS options are very poor and/or committal, so you can really abuse your superb frame data. To properly abuse her aerials, Pyra typically has to actually be falling, so interrupting her jumps with Fair can be effective, although a smart Pyra may try to intercept with a rising aerial of their own, but this is much more committal on their part and can be punished accordingly. Reflecting Blazing End is difficult and must be done as a read, but is extremely rewarding. Furthermore, Pyra is easy to edgeguard, so try to sniff out their recovery habits and intercept them accordingly.
From TechnoPuff:
Mythra is an extremely oppressive character by design, which Mewtwo's weaknesses only make more apparent, with your only consolation being that she has to switch to a slightly better matchup to KO you. She's got it all: a sword, amazing frame data up close that Mewtwo has trouble punishing, extended combos made easier by Mewtwo's large frame, oppressive advantage and neutral, great disadvantage, Foresight which invalidates certain combos and mid-range zoning... Not to mention, the 'weakness' of Mythra's struggle to secure KOs is much less prevalent against a character like Mewtwo, with her smash attacks and confirms into Lightning Buster able to take your stocks at surprisingly early percents. Luckily, as with her counterpart, she is easily threatened by edgeguarding(although not quite as much as Pyra), and forcing her into using Photon Edge to recover is usually a free stock for you. While she has a multitude of options to approach and whiff punish you with, they can all be surprisingly committal and punishable(especially her Nair, which is -10 on shield and therefore nearly always punishable with your own Nair OOS), so sniffing out which ones your opponent prefers and using their specific counterplay(shorthop-height Shadow Balls to halt aerial approaches, Shadow Ball fake outs to bait out committal dash attacks or Foresight attempts, etc.) will help you immensely. Finally, while her OOS options aren't nearly as bad as Pyra's, it's still worth noting that she still has a lot of trouble punishing you OOS, especially without committing to Ray of Punishment.
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In exchange for a huge hurtbox and overall horrible disadvantage state, many of Ridley's moves have ENORMOUS hitboxes, decent frame data, and lot's of damage, and he's also quite fast. The key to this matchup is the right amount of respect. If you don't respect Ridley and try to mash at him mindlessly, he will punish you very hard. On the other hand, if you respect him too much and play scared, you'll give him too much breathing room, and he will overwhelm you easily. In short, Mewtwo has more than enough tools to control neutral and bully Ridley in disadvantage, as long as you don't let him get in your head.
For this, it's helpful to know Ridley's best moves and what they're good at. Here's a list of them.
- All of his tilts are big and can be safe if used properly. Ftilt is especially strong in the corner and on ledge, and it does kill when sweetspotted. Utilt is a good anti-air and can combo into Uair for a kill. Dtilt has REALLY far range and can combo. However, they can all be whiff punished from the right angles.
- Fsmash and Usmash have pretty good frame data for how strong they are. They're punishable, but don't be surprised to see these thrown out from time to time. Also, don't fall for Dthrow into airdodge read with Fsmash! You'll die at 40!
- His air game is solid. He has three jumps and can use them for timing mixups. Nair is HUGE, long lasting, and can autocancel towards the end. It has many uses, but is definitely punishable.
- SideB can catch you shielding, but it has to be used preemptively because it is very slow. As long as you're ready for it, you can simply react and whiff punish.
- Ridley's UpB can hit you from below the ledge while he's recovering, so don't stand too close to the ledge.
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From TechnoPuff:
Roy is a difficult, but doable matchup, as his privileged frame-data and kill power alongside his high mobility and rushdown playstyle gives him a constantly threatening presence at nearly all times(especially at close range), not to mention Mewtwo's other weaknesses being easily exploitable by him. Roy's sword may not be as large as other characters, but it still often leads to him out-prioritizing your moves, not to mention Mewtwo's hurtboxes often leading to Roy landing sweetspots that he otherwise would not. He can easily prey on Mewtwo's poor OOS and anti-air options with his extremely fast and safe aerials. His recovery can also be surprisingly difficult to edgeguard.
You still have lots of tricks to outplay Roy, though. Many Roy players absolutely love approaching with constant shorthop aerials, so covering his airspace space with Shadow Balls is very effective at discouraging this habit, which greatly helps fighting him as his grounded approach options can be surprisingly committal and punishable. Roy's own OOS and anti-air options are relatively passable, but you can obviously abuse your own powerful frame-data to bait and punish his options accordingly(just watch out for Blazer's armour!). You similarly abuse Roy's relatively poor disadvantage to take his stocks nearly as early as he take yours.
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Steve
"I'm going to Fair because it is strong." From TechnoPuff:
The Bad(and stuff to look out for):
No matter your stance on Steve as a character, there's no denying his status as a defensive juggernaut with the ability to heavily capitalise on your mistakes, rack up damage and take stocks quickly, so you need to be extremely cognizant at all times against Steve due to his many dangerous options. It should come as no surprise that he is inherently able to exploit Mewtwo's weaknesses well: Getting grabbed or up-tilted at low percents is extremely costly due to Mewtwo's large frame, and Steve's myriad of potent kill options such as Bair and F-Smash(especially with diamond tools), his Dair/Anvil and Minecart all become extremely scary after one or two neutral losses due to Mewtwo's weight. Furthermore, Steve can easily exploit Mewtwo's poor, bait-able anti-air and OOS game with his large and powerful moves and many landing options, and he can very easily goad Mewtwo into prone positions to counterpoke Mewtwo's tail or otherwise exploit Mewtwo's hurtbox issues.
The ever-memetic Minecart in particular is a move you'll learn to really hate: it's mere existence almost completely nullifies the effectiveness of throwing any charge of Shadow Ball's in midrange neutral due to it's nigh-impenetrable projectile armor, getting hit by the powered version or getting grabbed by the extremely active command grab portion of it above 100% is almost guaranteed to take your stock due to it's power/Steve's ability to combo off of the grab, reflecting it without a read is extremely difficult due to Confusion's less than stellar startup, and to top it all off you'll often get hit by its extreme active frames when trying to jump over it and land due to Mewtwo's tail dragging behind them. As such, sniffing out the Steve's Minecart habits will do wonders for you, as many Steve players have 'tells' or specific actions/setups they'll do to try and bait you into getting hit by Minecart.
As always, Steve's Blocks are an ever present tool to protect him while he mines more materials, and further limits usage of Shadow Ball due to their projectile immunity. Without iron to use Minecart and Anvil or his infamous diamond tools, Steve is exponentially easier to play against, so ensuring quick destruction of his block walls is a must, which Mewtwo luckily has multiple tools to aid in this task(covered below). However, these tools are nowhere near perfect in doing so and all have specific situations they are more effective in, so mindless block-breaking is just asking to get slammed by a F-Smash or Minecart. Furthermore, Mewtwo's slow fall speed is absolutely not conducive to simply jumping over blocks, and doing so without heavy conditioning will typically lead to getting intercepted by a painful Up-Tilt string or Up-Smash, especially due to Mewtwo's unique double jump making fake-out approaches over blocks extremely difficult and and telegraphed.
Steve's normal and aerial attacks are beasts in their own right, especially when empowered with his crafting ability. His Up-Tilt/Up-Air is a constant threat whenever you choose to come close to him, leading into painful combos or kill confirms. Shielding this move is extremely scary, forcing you to roll or Teleport away. Steve's Jab has a similar effect due to it's speed and reward, but it's also often thrown out after his myriad of low-endlag moves and autocancel aerials to disrupt your attempts at whiff-punishing him. Sword Fair/Sword Bair's proficiency out of shield force you to keep your pressure tight, although they can be baited with Mewtwo's assorted blessed aerials. To compliment the damage potential of the previous moves, he has a myriad of fast, high-knockback normals that cover similar ranges but will take your stock extremely early due to Mewtwo's frailty, such as F-Smash, U-Smash, Down-Smash, Bair and Dair/Anvil, which all have their own specific counterplay. F-Smash and Bair become particularly potent when used with diamond tools and can feel frustratingly difficult to play around, especially when spaced or autocancelled. While D-Smash and Anvil can be reflected, they must be done as a read, and failing often results in a lost stock. Up-Smash, while especially scary due to Mewtwo's tendency to stay above opponents and the surprising size of its scooping hitbox, grants you a hard punish if Steve whiffs it or you manage to shield it(even on a platform), potentially into a Disable. Overall, while Steve's normals and burst range can be daunting to deal with, getting used to the ranges that you can easily play around them will do wonders for you in this MU.
Mewtwo's offstage strengths are also heavily neutered by Steve's various strengths. In terms of getting the Steve offstage, he has many different recovery mixups, so edgeguarding him can be extremely difficult without hard reads or picking up on his habits. While recovering yourself, things also can look quite bleak, as Steve has many ways to attack your otherwise amazing recovery. His Down-Tilt and Down-Smash very easily hit attempts to Teleport to ledge, and as such must be waited-out or reflected(they are both projectiles). Blocks are also extremely dangerous offstage, as even even a simple dirt block ceiling can completely block you from recovering low as Teleport does nothing to break them, punishing attempts to wait out the aforementioned attacks.
Even if you get on the ledge, getting off isn't easy either, and requires heavy observation, although as usual you do have lots of unique, albeit specific counterplay options(covered further below). While I can't possibly hope to list every Steve ledgetrap option, here are some common setups to watch out for:
- Steve standing on a TNT, looking to Down-Smash -> airdodge: The classic. Try to time your invincibility frames as they detonate.
- A block at neutral getup distance with an Anvil on top: One of the most annoying to deal with. Whatever you do, DO NOT BREAK THE BLOCK!!! Instead, you can try rolling, Teleporting, waiting for the Anvil to despawn, or reflecting the Anvil with Confusion.
- TNT on a platform with Steve looking to blow it up at roll distance with Up-tilt: This setup aims to blow up(heh) conventional universal ledge options on reaction, but also counters lot's of Mewtwo's unique options, so don't roll, neutral getup, getup attack, idly ledge jump in, IDLJ aerial or try to Teleport past him. Instead, you have to try playing around the Steve's reactions with this one, as they'll typically just blow up the TNT as soon as they see any movement from you. Ledge jump Confusion can work to protect against the explosion, and IDLJ Shadow Ball charge -> immediate shield is often fast enough to beat their reactions.
Above all else, you've gotta remember that while you have lots of counterplay options available to you, all your counterplay options have their own dangerous counterplay available to Steve. Never become over reliant on anything, mix up your timings whenever you can, and pay attention to what and when your opponent adapts to.
The Good!(and unique ways you can play around his options + misc. tips):
While Steve's Blocks are a behemoth of a tool, you have lots of interesting ways to counter them. In terms of countering the classic 3 block high wall(or other similar setups) quickly, you have a few options. Just remember to not be predictable with your options or timings or else you will get punished:
- Landing Fair: One of your safest options. Quite effective at shredding through multiple blocks at a time especially when paired with an accompanying tilt, but has the downside of staling your Fair for its other uses and being telegraphed due to Mewtwo's slow jump. Not the greatest against unique block arrangements or a more proactive Steve.
- F-Tilt: A much more committal option that only strikes the lowest block and is very prone to counterpokes, but has a the valuable benefit of being able to hit Steve through wall, even when he's a fair distance away! Doing a pivot-F-Tilt into the wall, while telegraphed, is the best way to hit an unsuspecting Steve while he mines, especially when he's close to the corner and can't retreat away from your attack.
- D-Smash: Hits multiple blocks at a time and destroys them very well, on top of being difficult to hard punish by Steve due to its low endlag. Great against higher-tier blocks, wacky arrangements and multiple layers. Still punishable due to its committal startup and hitlag that blocks force you into.
- Landing Bair: Your most committal, but largest option. Does heavy damage to non-iron blocks with a massive effective range to boot, but easily counter-able by a ready Steve. When done right up against a wall, not only hits the entire wall, but does so to multiple layers behind it as well. Still an effective but slow option when spaced. Great against large structures done by Steves expecting to be allowed to mine.
- D-Tilt: Extremely non-committal, especially when spaced, but equally non-damaging to blocks. Typically only does meaningful damage to dirt blocks when spaced, but still useful due to it's speed anyways.
- Confusion: Doesn't actually break blocks. However, it can actually reach through a single layer of blocks! Great against a Steve sheilding right next to his wall expecting to counterpoke you.
- Teleport: Instead of breaking blocks, you can also go around them despite Mewtwo's slow fall speed due to this move! Of course, it can be easily baited and punished, so it's useful against a Steve conditioned to expect you to always break his blocks. Just make sure to try and aim into the stage, as actually interacting with any blocks with Teleport almost invariably shoots you away in freefall, making you easily punishable and look stupid.
While Minecart is obviously an extremely powerful tool, it just requires different counterplay than Mewtwo typically does to similar burst options. As stated previously, whereas a lot of similar burst options in SSBU are stopped in their tracks by Shadow Ball's, Minecart trucks through them like nobody's business. Luckily, you have quite a few anti-Minecart options at your disposal. Lots of Steve players like using Minecart slightly in the air to plow through the mid-range that Mewtwo loves so much, but often get predictable with their timings, doing so as soon as they see you in your desired range. Also stated previously, lots of Steve players also have 'tells', or setups that they like to try and confuse you with before Minecart-ing, which often also have them start in a similarly slightly-above-ground position. Luckily, Fair is an amazing tool that perfectly covers this space, and breaks Minecart's knockback armour with extreme ease, although this can only be done with good reactions and a good grasp on the player's Minecart habits. Alternatively, Confusion is another decent option for dealing with a Minecart-happy Steve, as while it doesn't actually do much to the Steve beyond his valuable iron being wasted and regaining stage-positioning if he stays in the cart(still great!), the reflector hitbox is extremely active, so you can be much less precise compared to using Fair.
As a sidenote to Minecart, any Steve player worth their salt absolutely knows how good it is an amazing anti-Shadow Ball tool and aren't afraid to abuse it as such, so you can employ many of the mindgames useful in other matchups to counterplay this knowledge; where you start charging Shadow Ball to elicit a reaction from your opponent(in this case Minecart), and punish, or at least avoid it accordingly. Once the Steve player becomes less trigger-happy with their precious Minecarts, you'll be granted some leeway to actually throw your Shadow Balls more often and apply further pressure on the Steve.
Whenever Steve is above you, Anvil is an ever-present and dangerous threat, so figuring out when specific Steve players like using it is vital to surviving against it. Using Confusion to reflect it is always a potentially extremely rewarding option, but it must be done as a read.
While edgeguarding a Steve can be difficult, instead opting for abusing Mewtwo's various ledgetrapping tools can be a much more effective alternative. Down Smash is an invaluable tool here, for a multitude of different reasons:
- While recovering, Steve actually has a rough time hitting an opponent actually standing above the ledge beyond heavily telegraphed high recoveries, so it's virtually riskless to attempt a 2-frame with D-Smash, releasing it upon reaction to the startup of Elytra, or reacting to him getting close to ledge if he's further away.
- Assuming Steve manages to get on the ledge, D-Smash still manages to be of great use, as long as you stand slightly away from the ledge so you don't get hit by ledge-drop UAir. As long as you aren't getting predictable with your timings on using it, it heavily pressures him to get off ledge, and will completely blow up attempts to Minecart off the ledge, alongside having low enough endlag to react accordingly to other options. Additionally, if he starts planking under the ledge and mining under the stage, just start mashing that c-stick down(again, slightly away from ledge), as it very easily hits him unless he commits to going far under the stage, which you can quickly capitalize on(although you should be careful of reversals), or again wait for him to inevitably come back to the waiting arms of your D-Smash.
Also, using other moves such as Fair, D-Tilt and Shadow Ball to pressure a Steve on ledge is typically as effective as they are on other characters, just as long as you don't rely on a single option too much(as with anything).
While Steve's disadvantage is very powerful, Mewtwo's advantage is just as strong! Once you manage to break through his defences, Steve can be suprisingly easy to combo with BnBs due to his very average stats, and pressuring him beyond true combos is made extremely easy when he has no iron, so make sure to make the most out of every opportunity you find and keep a constant watch on his resources to know what you can get away with!
Oh yeah, and D-Smash always breaks his Crafting Table by simply using it twice(and sometimes leads to funny hitbox extensions), so ensure you're doing that whenever you get a moment to breathe vs. Steve.
In Conclusion(and some potential gameplan tips):
Again, Steve can be a very daunting opponent to go up against, but you have lots of tools to disrupt his gameplan, so make sure you use them when appropriate! It's always important to closely monitor his materials so you know when to be wary of his valuable iron moves/when to ignore them and pressure him further, and when to play around his high-grade tools. He becomes exponentially easier and less mentally taxing to fight the less stuff he has, so keeping him in a lower-powered state is extremely important.
Above all else, effectively playing against Steve requires you to learn how to put a constant, looming pressure on him that's enough to keep him off his precious materials, while also not overextending into his deadly moves(which then give him time to mine more). Mastery of this balanced pressure style makes playing against Steve much less frustrating. As lame and taxing as this playstyle can feel, especially if you enjoy a more aggressive Mewtwo, it pretty essential to beating the scary block man.
Finally, speaking of lame(depending on your outlook), you unfortunately have to really do your homework and get experience if you wanna beat Steve more consistently. Although I've already written a lot, all I've got down here is rudimentary knowledge on what Mewtwo has in this matchup, gained from occasionally playing the few mid-level Steves in my local region. I've barely scratched the surface on this extremely complex matchup, so you've really gotta get out there and be proactive. Read up on his properties, and maybe take him for a spin yourself to understand more about his moves and limitations. Hit up your local/wifi Steve mains and grind it out. With enough time and effort, you can do it, and overcome Steve!
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Mewtwo
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