Granblue Fantasy Versus Metera Guide – Rice Fighters

So, you want to join the most elite class of cultured people, who gather under the title of “Metera Main” do you? Well, you’ve come to the right place. I’ll take you through Metera’s overall gameplan, key normals and specials, and some setups. So lets descend into the pits of degeneracy with our Granblue Fantasy Versus Metera Guide, shall we?

How To Play Metera In Granblue Fantasy Versus

Metera is a zoning character. If you are the type of player who prefers a more defensive style or more balanced style, as opposed to something more rush down and aggressive, then you’re definitely going to gel with this character. Her greatest strength is in keeping the opponent away and trying you’re utmost to make sure you don’t get put in the corner.

Metera has NO invincible reversal. This means that if you get put into the corner and knocked down, your only options are to block and patiently wait for your opponent to mess up their block strings or do something unsafe. Your other option is to take the extremely risky road of doing your Super Skybound Art as it is invincible on start-up, but will leave you wide open and you will lose your super meter.

Metera is a master of levitation magic, this gives her access to her unique ability which is a short, forward-moving hop. This move is a great asset to her as she can use it to distance herself, or if you feel you have a read on your opponent, you can use it to close the gap and put on some pressure or punish a whiffed attack.

It’s important for you as a Metera player to not only be good at zoning your opponent so much that they want to rage quit, but also be able to turn on the aggression when you feel the opportunity presents itself. Metera does have some fantastic tools to deal devastating amounts of damage. I’ll go over these specifically when we talk about her special attacks.

Pros and cons

PROS:

Tons of projectiles

Ability to double jump

Butterfly trap combos lead to great damage in the corner

Excessively Horny

CONS:

Mediocre normals. Especially close range

No Invincible reversal outside or her supers. The corner is a terrifying place for Metera.

Anti-air is fairly high-execution demanding different timings for different characters.

Excessively Horny

Key Normals, Special Attacks and some Set-ups

I won’t be going into Metera’s close-range auto-combo strings, as these are fairly standard amongst the entire cast and Metera’s strings certainly aren’t anything too special.

Here are Metera’s most important crouching normals:

2L/Crouching Light – This is a low hitting attack which can link into Metera’s standing light auto-combo string. Having a combo-able low is important for opening your opponent up. Using Metera’s short hop to close the distance and force your opponent to block high, then immediately poking low with her 2L is a great way for Metera to apply pressure when closing the distance.

A slightly more niche use of this attack is to hit the opponent meaty after a throw. After performing a throw, dash up on the opponent and do a slightly delayed 2L. This will then link into her medium auto-combo. This set-up requires a fairly specific timing, so take a little time to practice this in the training room.

2M – Unlike her 2L, Metera’s 2M doesn’t hit low. It does however, have a good range and is an excellent button pressuring in the corner from a safer distance. When in the corner, this button can be cancelled into her specials, which followed up by the correct combo, can deal some big damage.

2H/1H – Now this is a really important normal for Metera. The arrow can be shot as shown above, at an angle in-front of Metera, or it can be shot directly up. This is Metera’s best way at dealing good damage from an anti-air attack. It’s important to note that Metera’s unique short-hop can be cancelled into from her normals. So the combo is as follows:

Anti-air the opponents jump-in.
Short-hop
Attack with JH(Jump Heavy)
Land and perform another 2H
Short-hop cancel
Attack with JH, land and perform another 2H and then cancel this into her special 623M/The Great Fall

Now, that may look a little bit intimidating, but with some practice, I promise you can do it. It is also important to note that the way you end this combo can vary. You could replace the last 2H with a standing heavy attack and cancel into super instead and you can even change up the combo entirely if you’re close to the corner.

2U – THIS MOVE IS UNSAFE. I can be safe when spaced properly, but it’s quite specific.So, I just want to put that out there. A lot of the time, when new players see a forward-moving normal like this, they have a tendency to use this attack to close the gap regardless of the risk. Street Fighters Vega and Bison spring to mind.

This attack’s main use is the corner carry that it provides along with the untechable knockdown. For example, when performing a combo that you know won’t kill the opponent, you can end it with 2U. This gives you an advantageous knockdown while keeping your specials ready and not on cooldown.

Metera’s key far-standing normals:

5L/Far-Standing Light – This isn’t the greatest normal in the world, but it is a low hitting attack with decent range. This is quite unique, as Metera is standing when she performs this. It may just clutch you out a game or two, as people may underestimate the range at which this attack can connect from. The best use is to throw this attack out for a quick poke when the opponent tries to take a step forward.

5M – Metera needs to put the blades on her heels to some use, and that is exactly what this attack is for. This is her farthest reaching normal that isn’t a projectile. It’s important to note that towards the start of the attack, it can clip people out of the air. It will always combo into her medium arrow specials. So make sure to use this button as a spacing tool to keep yourself away from the opponent. This is also a great button for whiff-punishing any poorly spaced attacks from your opponent.

5H – This is your special move that isn’t actually a special move. Metera’s far-5H is an almost fullscreen projectile which has the same properties as your special move projectile, and that’s very important. That means this move can clash with other characters projectiles and can then be cancelled into your special attack projectile. Along with that, it will also trigger Metera’s butterfly traps, which we will go over soon.

JL/Jumping Light – Definitely not Metera’s best jumping normal, however this attack will hit as a crossup. So, if you’re planning on jumping over your opponent to open them up, this is your go to button.

JM – This is the button you want to use if you’re trying to pressure your opponent from a jump. It has great horizontal range, and is a double-hitting attack, making it easier to convert from, should you get the hit.

JH – This can also be used as a pressure tool instead of the previous JM. Should you land a hit with this attack, it will deal a lot more damage than JM. This attack is extremely important for performing Metera’s anti-air loop.

5U/Zephyr – This is Metera’s unique skill and the short-hop which I spoke about previously. Important things to know about this skill are that you can cancel it from normals, and that you can use it twice. Meaning that you can use it once to short-hop forwards and then hold back to use a second short-hop backwards. You could implement this in ways to bait anti-airs form your opponent and then punish with a projectile, or your 2U slide.

Overhead – Overheads are always a great mix-up tool to keep your opponent on their toes. But Metera’s has some unique uses. Just like her far-standing 5H, this overhead arrow shares the special properties. This means that a butterfly trap setup on a cornered opponent can be set off by her overhead. The arrow will set off the trap and if it hits you can convert into a combo, if they block the overhead, the trap will still go off and force your opponent to block, meaning more opportunity for you to put on the pressure.

*The notation for these specials corresponds to a keypad. So 236 is Quarter Circle Forward(QCF) and 623 is Forward, Down, Down-forward like a shoryuken motion.

236LMH/Starry Sky (High) Light, Medium and Heavy – Metera’s Tiger Shot.

This is your primary zoning tool along with her Low arrow. The heavy/EX version of this arrow is a 3 hit projectile. This means that if you’re matched against an opponent who is trying to play the zoning game with you, throwing the heavy version out will guarantee you win the projectile war. UNLESS, it’s against a character like Zeta, as her projectile has beam-like properties and will clash with other projectiles and continue on to hit you.

Metera can also use this attack while airborne. She will angle the arrow depending on the button you press:

Light will fire an arrow almost directly below Metera.

Medium will fire at a more horizontal angle.

Heavy will fire at the same angle as medium, but hits numerous times and allows you to jungle and combo afterwards.

A fantastic use of this special is to bait throws and convert into Metera’s 2H short-hop loop. If you notice your opponent is throwing often, bait them by using a jumping medium, then immediately jump and perform the Heavy Aerial arrow. As soon as you land, convert into the previously mentioned 2H loop. Mixing her far-standing heavy with her high and low arrows are the key to zoning your opponent into a state of complete hopelessness.

214LMH/Starry Sky (Low) – See above. Plus, should you face smaller characters, such as Charlotta, this is a better zoning option as Charlotta can duck under Metera’s high arrow. Also, should you manage to land a 2M close to the corner, cancelling into 214H will juggle the opponent later where the high arrow may miss.

623LMH/The Great Fall Low, Medium, Heavy – This is Metera’s only air-unblockable attack, so if you’re ready for it, you can cancel 2H into this attack and even if the opponent blocks the 2H, they will be hit by the follow-up. Other great uses for this attack are to force your opponent to block after a throw, or combo-extension in the corner. Other than that, make sure to throw this move out if you believe your opponent will attempt to jump at you, but only use it if you’re at a safe distance.

22LMH/ Aetherial Seal Light, Medium, Heavy – This is what I have been referring to as ‘Butterfly Trap’. This is the key to Metera’s pressue game after scoring a knockdown.

Her light version will create a single butterfly that slowly moves across the screen. The medium version will travel faster along the same path. If you’re at a safe distance and successfully zoning out the opponent, you can throw either one of these two versions to add a layer of pressure even from a distance. Should the opponent jump and you trigger the butterfly trap, the hitbox extends upwards and sits them back down.

The EX version creates two butterflies, one on top of the other. The top butterfly will begin to descend after a small period of time. The main use for this special is after you gain a knockdown. Bring out the butterflies and then use a mix of jumping and standing block strings to pressure and then end the block strings with an arrow special, which triggers the butterfly and forces your opponent to continue to block, which then allows you to continue to put on the pressure. Should you land the hit, you can get some crazy juggle combos. For example:

Near standing heavy

Heavy high arrow/236H

Butterfly trap triggers

Down Heavy/2H

High butterfly trap triggers

Heavy Great Fall/ 623H

Slight dash forward

Near standing heavy

Skybound Art/236236H

This is one of the more simple corner combos stemming from Metera’s butterflies and it will deal more than 50% of your opponents health! There are a ton of different variations and starters for this set-up. You can end the combo with an attack that will re-stand your opponent and try to go for a reset or a throw. You can use the butterflies to simply scare your opponent into blocking and throw them. If they’re blocking low, go for the overhead attack, trigger the butterfly and get a full combo.

236236H/Dense Caress – I guess you could call this Metera’s Flash Kick?

I want to list Metera’s super attacks as well, mainly because they have some genuine usage outside of being damaging combo enders. Dense Caress, much like The Great Fall, is air-unblockable. This means that this can be used to counter jump-ins! When used raw, this super attack will deal 35% damage. If you have the read on the jump, or you’re confident in your reactions, pulling this out as an anti-air will really shake your opponent up. You’ll be living rent-free in their head.

236236U/Rapid Pulverize – Metera’s most damaging super when she hits with the full-art at close range. BUT, it can still be useful in very specific situations. Note that both Metera’s supers are invincible on start-up. So if timed correctly you can beat untrue block strings, or if your reactions are up to snuff and you’re ready, you can punish projectiles.

Metera is the queen of zoning, so always remember to make your opponents aware of that.

IMPORTANTLY!!! During the super cinematic, Metera will do a Jojo’s “Ora ora ora ora” and then step on the opponent. So! It is your duty as a Metera player to always try to win using this super!

The ONLY TRUE REASON to play Metera….

As I’m sure all you weebs know, in anime there are certain sources of power so great that every anime fan knows them.

Super Saiyans
Devil Fruits
Alchemy
Nakama power-ups
“Who the hell do you think I am!”
Maids
Tsunderes
Meddle-cat Hanekawa performing a tongue twister

Amongst all these godly powers, one stands above them all… ARA ARA~ ENERGY!!!

That’s right, Ara ara~ energy will turn you into a puddle of the man or woman you once were. Metera dons the title of Ara Ara~ queen in GBVS and that’s the only real reason you NEED to be playing this character!

Now go, my fellow degenerates! Swarm the online world of GranBlue Fantasy Versus! Remember to get the PC version, so you’re prepared for those lewd mods… I’ll chill now.

Thanks for taking the time to read this one. I know it’s a long one and quite in-depth, but I wanted to really explain what I’ve figured out about the character. I may also do a guide on Narmaya soon, along with Djeeta and Soriz as they release soon. So please let me know if that would be of interest to you!

Ora Ora! Ara ara~

Conor