Namco has a long history of their console exclusive characters becoming wildly stronger then their rigorously arcade tested counterparts. Pokkén Tournament, it turns out, is no exception to that legacy.
Since their initial appearances in Pokkén’s release, the two console exclusives- Mewtwo and Shadow Mewtwo- have enjoyed a comfortable place at the top of the tiers. It was, however, for very different reasons- Shadow Mewtwo was propped up largely by his (now patched out) infinite pillar, whereas Mewtwo simply had crazy damage output for a character of his health, and options, and safety. While Shadow Mewtwo may still be very strong without his infinite, he still has paper thin health. The original Mewtwo, in comparison, was a much more execution-and-risk free top tier, and the lack of any balancing to his moveset upped his stock a lot more in version 1.2.
ぽてちんさんが決勝で魅せてくれた、開発者いわく「強力な連携」です。ご覧下さい。 pic.twitter.com/rFQqOcZXYs
— 小路ＫＯＧ (@kkkog) May 15, 2016
Well, it’s hard to argue who the best Mewtwo is now.
A quick rundown of the infinite- score a knockdown that guarantees a blocked back+Y flame pillar. Time the pillar to hit just after they get up, and do the Barrier Command Grab on their wakeup. If they jump, they get hit by the flame pillar, and you can juggle into the first two hits of Mewtwo’s homing string, get a hard knockdown, then repeat. If they attack, they get hit by the pillar on the ground, and you combo into the command grab, homing attack, repeat. If they don’t jump, they get grabbed, Homing Attack, repeat.
NO ESCAPE pic.twitter.com/01C9fxAqYf
— Swillo (@PandaKingEX) May 22, 2016
Swillo, who finished top 8 at Dreamhack Austin, confirming the lack of escape options.
Those of you that followed the Phase Shift article a while back likely know the meat of why this happens- only the last hit of character’s homing attacks will ever phase shift. Mewtwo’s pillar never phase shifts. Neither does his combo-starting command grab.
Much like the Shadow Mewtwo infinite, this will likely get patched out fairly quickly. How they tackle this will be curious, though. This is pure speculation, but there are a number of ways they can easily remove this.
- Make Flame Pillar phase shift on hit. (Or at least cause phase points)
- Remove command grab’s ability to be combo’d into. (Or out of!)
- Remove the exceptional juggling ability of Mewtwo’s homing attack.
- Cause homing attack to cause a air reset on juggled opponents.
I am not suggesting that they should or will do any (or all) of these, but considering the mechanical workings of what causes this to occur, these are the most likely properties to be changed on the move itself.
What do you think should be done to fix this pattern, if anything?