Pikachu in depth guide, by pictish freak

pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

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pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

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pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

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pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

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pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

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pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

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stilettotrap · Jul 18, 2004

Hi, helsing here. Nice... it covers a wide variety of subjects, which is good. You might go a little more in-depth with the character match-ups as well. See if you can give us any character-specific combos and whatnot, and tell us what to watch out for. For example, I know for a fact that Falcon can chain grab Pikachu with his dthrow.

Only one other suggestion, really: you can use jump-cancelled up smashes out of a dash as well as dash-cancelled up smashes. It's almost always better to jump-cancel (dash, up and c-stick up) rather than dash-cancel (dash, crouch, c-stick up) the up smash - with jump-cancelled up smashes, you don't have to wait for Pikachu to crouch before you pull it out, and as with jump-cancelled dash grabs, you continue to slide a small distance due to the momentum of the jump. Try it sometime - there's a pretty noticeable difference in speed.

Yeah, it's good, but I'm sure Toast will have something more to say about it... I personally don't know enough about Pikachu to be much more specific.

pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

I got the feeling that when you posted it'd be with useful information.

Thanks man... I'll add that sorta stuff to the update. I honestly didn't know you could do that...

But you don't have to wait for Pikachu to crouch for dash cancel. The moment you hit down you can slam the stick up. I can see the benefit of extra momentum though.

Cheers ^^

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 18, 2004

Not bad. Critique time, though.

-Really left out the huge importance of uair. In some matchups the move is so crucial that it almost replaces nair as Pika's staple aerial. Also, edge cancelled reverse tailspike should be mentioned.

-Also left out the numerous combo opportunities into usmash. Running tailspike into usmash, nair into usmash, thunder jolt to usmash, etc.

-Thunder jolt is not useless against Doc for the same reason that pills are not useless against Pikachu. Besides, the angle on Doc's pills means that a lot of your jolts are going to get through, and Pika's maneuverability puts him at a slight advantage here. Pika's main problem with Doc/Mario is handling the priority and range of their bairs.

-Luigi's floatiness, jump height, and aerial priority mean that Pika will want to spam uair.

-Ganon; if you jump in, you're not even going to trade hits. You're going to take the hits, and Ganon can outprioritize jolt spam. Ganon's aerials own Pika hardcore; Pika'll always be fighting an uphill battle against Ganon, and it really just comes down to trying to play smart enough to lure into grabs, as Pika can combo Ganon well.

-Samus is the same kind of situation as Ganon; it will always be up hill, and for Pika, success or failure will always depend almost exclusively on how intelligently he plays. Ground bombing lets her wait out Pika's spamming, and prevent him from jumping in with an aerial. She can force Pika into playing a ground game, where she has significant advantages (dsmash hurts). Spamming from an angle such that jolt reaches her before hitting the ground will force her to move around and allow you to try for an offensive.

-You left out Pika's crucial uthrow chains on fastfallers.

-Young Link's projectiles aren't fast enough to really overwhelm Pikachu. I'd worry more about his sex kick priority.

-usmash to thunder is so not called "thunderflipping". Ew.

Again, good, but needs to be more in depth.

pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

Heh, thanks. I did mention the reverse tail spike in recovery.. I'm certain.

I'll add more to the up date. This is what I've got out so far, but I'll add stuff like Jolt set ups, I don't know I'm still working on it but I've found more than a few times I just run from stun on a thunder jolt to up smash or whatever..

I know Pikachu can go from up throw to N-air and stuff... but I don't think it chains. I'll try it again though.. obviously doing something wrong...

Thanks for the critisism, I knew I'd get it posting here ^^

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 18, 2004

Depends on damage.

Try uthrow to a running tailspike to utilt, usmash, or dsmash; depending on damage, you can continue chaining from there. Or uthrow to double uair to thunder. You may have to sacrifice the second uair, or give up the thunder, depending on DI, since you may need your double jump to change momentum.

Note on the running tailspike; it has to be executed immediately after jumping (you have about as wide a gap as Marth's double fair, probably), and be fastfalled perfectly. I won't say shuffled, because it won't always be on a short hop... But it always needs a fast fall, and that always needs to be timed precisely.

pictish freak · Jul 18, 2004

Wow.. I'm really impressed with your knowledge of Pikachu. I never thought there was anyone who had really looked into playing him beyond low level play..

Also keep in mind my guide above is being posted on GameFAQs and is intended for taking peopel from knowing nothing abou tPikachu to a decent Pikachu game. Perhaps in my update I should fill it with the really good high level stuff..

stilettotrap · Jul 18, 2004

RDT, would you mind explaining to us the properties of Pika's uair? The extent of my knowledge is that the trajectory depends on which part of the attack you connect with, but I've never been able to control it. Generally, I just end up doing random uairs and following the angle with whatever seems suitable. Somehow, I don't think that's the best way to do it...

Any thoughts?

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 18, 2004

Umm. Well, tailspikes are always done very near the tip of the tail, but not quite at the full edge of the range, and the difference between a tailspike and a reverse tail spike is very subtle... You really just have to play around and get used to it. I still sometimes do a reverse tailspike when I mean to do a forward one, or vice versa.

Most areas of the hitbox will launch the opponent straight up (well, to the side, too, depending on DI), however.

Pictish: I'm playing Pika exclusively as a tournament character... At least until I get frustrated like everyone else (Cauthon comes to mind) and realize the limitations.

Neophos · Jul 19, 2004

Use Pichu with the Googles......

na, just kidding=P

good FAQ pictish!!

i gonna Pika ditto you when i come to glasgow^^

pictish freak · Jul 19, 2004

Originally posted by Rainy Day Toast Pictish: I'm playing Pika exclusively as a tournament character... At least until I get frustrated like everyone else (Cauthon comes to mind) and realize the limitations. [/B]

Well, that's what I'm doing too. Nice to know the lower ters aren't completely ignored in america.. I wasn't entirely sure, shame NTSC has sheik's throws and Marth. I can barely beat good PAL Marth's with Pikachu, I can't imagine what it's like in NTSC.

PikachuPower · Jul 19, 2004

Hey nice guide, it helped me out a lot. There is one term I still don't really understand though, and that is jump cancelling or double jump cancelling.

You mentioned JC to U-smash. Well I don't really understand what that means. Obviously I could use some pointers.

Help me out here.

Deleted member · Jul 19, 2004

Post Deleted.

TWP · Jul 19, 2004

Dude this has become like a Pika Bible to me

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 19, 2004

Originally posted by PikachuPower
Hey nice guide, it helped me out a lot. There is one term I still don't really understand though, and that is jump cancelling or double jump cancelling.

You mentioned JC to U-smash. Well I don't really understand what that means. Obviously I could use some pointers.

Help me out here.

Double Jump Cancel only applies to Mewtwo/Ness/Peach/Yoshi.

Jump Cancel can refer to a number of things. With Pika, it's usually a JC grab (cancel your dash with a jump, cancel the jump with a grab; this lets you do the lower lag, longer range grabs from dashes), or a shield JC (cancel your shield with a jump, cancel the jump with a usmash). It can also refer to JCing a dash and canceling the jump with a usmash but I find crouch-canceling the dash to be easier.

pictish freak · Jul 19, 2004

In my guide I was reffering to JC from shield.. it's very useful.

Ah, played lots of Pikachu today.. I was using Fox but he bores me in comparison.

Anyway.. Yeah, cheers for the compliments guys, and the contribution, Decadent ^^

Electricmouse · Jul 19, 2004

Great guide pictish freak. You said some things that really made me rethink my strategies. I don't really have anyting to add since you pretty much covered everything.

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 19, 2004

Oh. I didn't notice that you said in your guide that fair can chain into usmash or dsmash.

I thought this, too, until I went to a tournament.

It can't. Your opponent recovers from the fair before you do, and can, at best, shield your usmash, and at worst, attack faster than you (I hate a lot of downsmashes from Peach before I learned to stop using this).

pictish freak · Jul 19, 2004

*sigh*

See, originally, I said something like:

'F-air does too little damage and doesn't trap the opponent long enough to be of any real use, the N-air is lilely a better option'

But then all over the place people insisted it worked. I hadn't tried it in tournaments or against good humans, but I took their word for it.

Blah, I'll amend that in the up date too.. meh, stupid of me to put it in without proper testing in anyway..

dark aeons · Jul 22, 2004

oh, so this is the guide before qwester.supersheep

PikachuPower · Jul 22, 2004

Is there any use at all for pikachu/pichu's skull bash? It might help a little to get back to the stage, but I found nailing the edge with quick attack is almost always better.

Why give characters pointless moves!!!

Qwester · Jul 22, 2004

Originally posted by dark aeons
oh, so this is the guide before qwester.supersheep

Actually, this is the Guide taken FROM my site... I originally put it up from a text file I recieved from pictish

Is there any use at all for pikachu/pichu's skull bash? It might help a little to get back to the stage, but I found nailing the edge with quick attack is almost always better.

It helps quite alot for recovery, Just smash B and you'll get more distance then if you just tilt B. Also, because you're closer to the edge when using quick attack, it gives you more options in where you can land, sweet spot, back onto the level, above the edge, through someone edge guarding. More options is always better. Plus you can spam >B to stop youself flying off the edge rather than wasting your jump so early in the recovery process. Again, more options. -_-

PikachuPower · Jul 22, 2004

I'm not sure if you are trying to agree with me that quick attack can almost always be better then skull bash for recovery reasons, or disagree with me saying skull bash can be very helpful when recovering.

Quick attack has more options (I think you said that also..) making it a better choice for recovery.

If you do think of any ways to use skull bash though, please tell me. (sorry for my ingnorance)

pictish freak · Jul 22, 2004

Read the section on recoveryin my guide. It explains how and when to use skull bash in teh recovery section >.>

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 22, 2004

Quick attack is so versatile and has such long range that it renders skull bash useless, in my experience. Skullbash anywhere near the edge will get you killed.

Electricmouse · Jul 22, 2004

I use skull bash for recovery only rarely. Only in the extreme cases when I know that my quick attack will not get me back so I use a quick skull bash to go forward some then I use quick attack to reach the stage. Just don't hold skull bash and be ready to quick attack as soon as the lag from skull bash is over. I wouldn't recommend skull bash for recovery if quick attack can get you back.

PikachuPower · Jul 22, 2004

advantages/disadvantages

I play pikachu and pichu, and I was wondering what the main difference between them really is. Like what are some advantages pika has over pichu and vise versa.

I know some differences, like pichu has less lag time, (in most cases) and that pichu is knocked farther, (obviously) but it is also harder to hit pichu.

Pictish I know you're good with both, so I was wondering what the main difference in strategy is between them. Right now I am decent with both I guess, but I'm playing them with pretty much the same strategy, and pikachu is my best.

pictish freak · Jul 22, 2004

Originally posted by Rainy Day Toast
Quick attack is so versatile and has such long range that it renders skull bash useless, in my experience. Skullbash anywhere near the edge will get you killed.

At a long range, skull bash first before double jump gets more range if you mash B. Sure Quick attack will get you there anyway but if you can get closer first you've got a tad more range on agility and possible more places to use quick attack to.

Of course, never use it near the edge or it's instant spike or other random edgeguard tactic, but it tacks on a touch better recovery.

Infil · Jul 22, 2004

If you use Skull Bash when you're sent away with 100% damage or so, it will reverse your direction without using your second jump. I find it useful enough to use with some regularity.

Some other things that I didn't see in the FAQ that I think are worth noting:

On Hyrule Temple, if Pikachu is below and someone else is above, Thunder has just enough range to irritate people. There is no wind up lag, since they are hit with the very top of the cloud. In one-on-one battles, you'll almost never be in that position, but in multiplayer matches, it's something to keep in mind. You can get 2 or 3 of the hits off at low percetages, too, since Pikachu has zero lag.

Also, one of the first things I do (situation depending) when edgeguarding is send out a projectile. There are times when it's not useful to use, but you can pick apart people with weak recoveries, slow their return speed, and generally knock them lower and lower so their options are more limited. If it misses, there's no harm done, but if it hits it's almost always beneficial. Of course, you don't want to fire it so close to the edge that you'll save them from dying by giving them another upB, but it's worth using in all other aspects, I've found.

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 23, 2004

DI all taken hits properly and you'll find you never want skull bash. Trust me. Besides, I find that the falling time after skull bash keeps it from being worth it.

The note on skull bash direction reversal is good, though, in case you screw up the DI... If you are DIing (towards and up), chances are that when you die, it'll be off the top.

PikachuPower · Jul 23, 2004

Where can I find pikachu vids? I wanna see one of the best pika players at work. :D

Electricmouse · Jul 23, 2004

I recommend gettingk dc++ for pikachu vids. The name of the smash hub is ssbdc.no-ip.com. There are some pika vids but not many. I recommend RDT's vid and anything by azen or chu.

Rainy Day Toast · Jul 23, 2004

Keep in mind that my vid sucks past the first half.

Azen and Chu are a **** of a lot better than I am, but as far as I know, there are only very old vids of their Pikas available.

Deleted member · Jul 23, 2004

Pikachu feels too slow for me. And I play Zelda and Mewtwo well, so that says something.

But really, more emphasis on tailspike. That's the only char I can think of that has close to the insane advantage of shinespike. And doesn't have the juggle problems.

I spoke to Rori shortly before he picked up Falco. He told me that to win he had to constantly find new ways to upsmash from shield. That sounds pretty limited to me.

PikachuPower · Jul 24, 2004

I have gotten to Dc++, but I don't know how to see the vids. What do I go to from there?

Pikachu in depth guide, by pictish freak

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