Mk can be countered, it all depends on match ups.
MK either destroys or comfortably wins every match up if he is allowed to camp the ledge repeatedly with a lead. i won't go into the specifics, but it's very hard to hit MK from this position if he does it in a particular way. even if this isn't abused repeatedly, it's a very powerful tactic he can use to 'escape' on-stage pressure to force the other guy to leave him alone for a bit.
everyone agrees that MK is absolutely the best character REGARDLESS, and when you consider that the above strategy allows MK to run from and neutralize almost any situation or just make it quite risky to even land a hit on him...yea......
someone made the comparison to shin akuma earlier in thread. there is a clear distinction that must be made between the two characters (and traditional fighters and brawl in general) but i believe the two characters DO share a common thread, so to speak.
shin akuma is a very overt kind of broken. dude was just doing stuff that was impossible to respond to; it was like shin could attack at will. most characters had literally no chance at winning, and shin was doing stuff that characters, and the game itself, were
simply not meant to handle.
MK is not quite like that... but brawl isn't about attacking at will. there is a much lower reward for landing a hit than in pretty much any traditional fighter. combos are usually limited to like... 20% of your lifebar, and only work at the start of the lifebar. out of 3 lifebars, or stocks.
and the damage doesn't even win the match by itself! but it does make it much, much easier to take a stock, which is the true objective of (competitive) brawl. so imagine emptying the opponent's health bar in street fighter... now you have to hit them with a strong enough move to send them on their way.
so basically, the conditions for winning are a bit more complicated than in street fighter.
so first of all, MK is an amazing character in his own right. an unparalleled recovery that allows him to move around off stage almost at will. very quick attacks with great range which cannot trade or 'clash' with normal attacks (transcends normal priority). a special move, tornado, that is very difficult to beat straight up for most characters due to its mobility and high priority. and difficult to punish for most characters due to its safeness on shield and, again, mobility. excellent 'dragon punch' move with shuttle loop that, when grounded:
is invincible on start-up, can be used instantly out of shield (shielding is very powerful in brawl due to an almost complete lack of stun when it is attacked, the lack of chip damage, and assortment of defensive maneuvers that are available instantly), doesn't even have any true 'cooldown' or vulnerability afterward since it cancels into glide (still punishable sometimes), and is capable of taking a stock at higher percents (140%+).
o, and when used aerially on someone recovering off stage, it becomes an absolute monster of a gimping move. which means you take the stock by preventing recovery on stage instead of outright knocking them out (but it can do that too!!). it loses the invincibility but becomes even harder to punish due to defensive measures being severely restricted (no shield, air dodging requires a lengthy commitment, movement is limited). did i mention the move is really fast?
anyway, MK can excel playing defensively or aggressively. he's that fuckin flexible. whatever a matchup demands, MK can do it. now consider that he is all kinds of good, but there are some characters that can go toe to toe with MK (depending on the stage lol)... Falco and Diddy are generally agreed to be the best bets.
well. MK can just decide to... not fight. yep. just camp the ledge, as i previously stated. performed well, this tactic makes even landing
one attack a risky venture. he can hit you off-stage and cost YOU a stock. or even run/fly/tornado/whatever over to the other ledge and start it again!! characters are
simply NOT meant to handle that. and why would they? MK is hanging over the edge of an endless fucking abyss!!!! and falling into it means a lost stock. but MK has 5 air jumps, 4 fucking special recovery moves, a command glide in addition to the one after shuttle loop, and very quick aerial moves with great range to protect himself with. what the fuck does he care?
it's kind of like how in traditional fighters, you want to stay in the middle of the stage and out of the corner because it limits your options and puts your opponent at an advantage. in smash, you wanna stay ON stage and away from the edges. except, not only is MK the best character everywhere else, he actually gets BETTER when he's put in the corner!!! WTF.
the best bets are items that can be created on command (grenades, bananas, etc.) since throwing them down is safer than going down there yourself. yet MK has so many mobility options that he always has some way to avoid it. and most of these items are pretty weak, grenades notwithstanding. so, you hit MK once...great. is he still ahead by percent or stock? go do it again... and again. and he can still beat your ass if you do manage to bring it back!
i think it's hilarious that even MK himself struggles to beat his own strategy.
did i mention MK becomes invincible for a bit whenever he grabs the ledge?
sorry to 'tourneyfag' the shit out of this post, but it is what it is. gave me a good excuse to listen to my pandora station for the first time in a while. c:
alison you can't even call ivysaur by its real name, which is IVYSAUR NOT BULBASAUR hopy shit dude are you serious
