Trifroze
all is cheese, all is jank
Alright so first and foremost I think what we should be doing is discuss every matchup in this topic not on a weekly manner, but in a way that we move onto the next MU as soon or as late as we feel comfortable. No point in setting a strict time window when it could mean we still have things left to cover or that we will be at a solid conclusion in two days and sit doing nothing for five. We should invite the respective character boards to join in on the conversations and archive those convos into this first post along with pros and cons, a matchup summary and a +/-1 type of system, and any posts not related to the subject we're discussing at a particular time should be strictly ignored, but any conversation related to the MU at hand at a given time is welcome, the relevant bits will be picked and compiled eventually. If no one is against this, we should get started as soon as we can.
With the method we'd be using it would be the most beneficial to focus on one character at a time, get it out of the way and move on to the next one instead of glancing over several characters at a time. We should probably start from ones that we have some serious insight on and who are also the most problematic. The top tiers are probably the most important ones to discuss, however that is also precisely why we shouldn't discuss them unless we have players with truly sufficient experience versus said characters. I have quite a lot of experience versus generally all of them except Sonic, Fox and Sheik, so initially I'd like to start with someone other than those three, and I might know just the one. Regardless, we have to start with someone so let's kick this off with Diddy Kong, shall we?
Summary:
- One character at a time
- Start from biggest threats, but avoid ones we have no decent experience against
- Move on to another character when we feel ready, but try to keep this active
- Invite respective character boards to the conversation in this topic
- Archive said conversations into this post along with pros and cons, a matchup summary and a +/- system
With the method we'd be using it would be the most beneficial to focus on one character at a time, get it out of the way and move on to the next one instead of glancing over several characters at a time. We should probably start from ones that we have some serious insight on and who are also the most problematic. The top tiers are probably the most important ones to discuss, however that is also precisely why we shouldn't discuss them unless we have players with truly sufficient experience versus said characters. I have quite a lot of experience versus generally all of them except Sonic, Fox and Sheik, so initially I'd like to start with someone other than those three, and I might know just the one. Regardless, we have to start with someone so let's kick this off with Diddy Kong, shall we?
Summary:
- One character at a time
- Start from biggest threats, but avoid ones we have no decent experience against
- Move on to another character when we feel ready, but try to keep this active
- Invite respective character boards to the conversation in this topic
- Archive said conversations into this post along with pros and cons, a matchup summary and a +/- system
Discussion:
Start
End
Summary:
Both Falcon and Diddy have to respect each others' grab game, with Falcon being aided by his speed and Diddy having bananas to set up grabs. Stay in mid range outside of Diddy's aerials and use Falcon's speed to try to punish Diddy's aerials and prevent him from pulling out a banana, and if he manages to do it, play much safer. Diddy's aerials are still very good and his banana and grab setups dangerous. Note that Falcon can run over bananas without tripping during his initial dash, so use this to your advantage. While Diddy can combo Falcon pretty hard, Falcon can do the same to Diddy with a higher damage output and more dangerous options. Try to force Diddy to recover low whenever he's offstage and always attempt to gimp his up b or read and punish his side b. Falcon KOs Diddy easier than vice-versa after the patch. The matchup is considered approximately even.
Details:
Neutral is roughly even as long as you don't let Diddy get a banana out. Falcon is good at preventing and punishing this along with Diddy's many other options with his greater speed as long as you stay in mid range, just outside the range of Diddy's troublesome fair but close enough to punish things like dtilt. If he does get the banana out, he trades the ability to use his aerials for a quick and strong punish game. Hence you should avoid using dashgrab or dash attack unless you're sure you'll catch him off guard because otherwise he'll punish them with about 20% of damage. Play safe and approach with shield or spotdodge to bait him, or shorthop aerials since banana throw isn't fast enough to punish the likes of well-spaced uair or bair into shield. Cover yourself with your jab to prevent Diddy from throwing the banana at you or grabbing you whenever you can, it's an especially great tool in this matchup. Falcon can also straight up run over the banana without tripping during the his (long) initial dash animation. You can spotdodge or roll backwards against monkeyflip out of reaction and punish with dash attack or grab, or you can challenge it with uair or utilt.
Falcon's disadvantage is a bit worse than Diddy's because of his greater lack of defensive aerial options and his size and weight, but a stronger advantage because of superior speed on the ground and in the air, higher damage output and greater KO power. Diddy is one of those characters in disadvantage who can convert an opponent's bad spacing into his own advantage with his uair, so try to not end up above him after your uair follow-ups which can happen at low percents if you unnecessarily do them out of a fullhop.
One very important part is to always try to read Diddy's monkeyflip whether he's above you or offstage and challenge it with uair/dair or punish it with bair and in general try to scare him into recovering low. You can then intercept his up b with many of Falcon's lingering aerials such as the soft knee, bair or nair. Try not to let him angle his recovery past you onto the stage though. You can option-select this by dropping down with bair when he uses his up b, second jump back to the stage and punish him if he lands there. Falcon doesn't have to fear Diddy too much when recovering as long as you recover low, but watch out for drop zone fair and his dtilt on the 2 frame ledge vulnerability, which can get quite annoying at its worst.
Pros:
- Greater speed and lesser landing lag on aerials makes Falcon's ability to punish Diddy greater than vice-versa
- Better ability to intercept and prevent Diddy's bananas than most characters
- Higher damage output
- Stronger and safer KO moves
Cons:
- Banana turns the punish game around; Falcon has to slow his game down and play more safe with less reward
- Despite lesser damage output, Diddy has more guaranteed follow-ups out of a grab especially with Falcon's weight and gravity
- In addition, slower aerials and the lack of below-hitting ones leave Falcon with less options to free himself from combos
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: uthrow to uair is still somewhat of a KO option for Diddy while Falcon likes to kill horizontally
- Town & City: same as above, but to a lesser extent
Stages to pick:
- Duck Hunt: straight walls aid Falcon's recovery, a lot of space to move around in, large blastzones emphasize Diddy's lack of relative kill power
- Battlefield: high ceiling, platforms help Falcon arguably more than Diddy, you can meteor through the stage near the ledges
- Omegas with straight walls: all-around decent for Falcon, with a wall jump option when recovering
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Summary:
Both Falcon and Diddy have to respect each others' grab game, with Falcon being aided by his speed and Diddy having bananas to set up grabs. Stay in mid range outside of Diddy's aerials and use Falcon's speed to try to punish Diddy's aerials and prevent him from pulling out a banana, and if he manages to do it, play much safer. Diddy's aerials are still very good and his banana and grab setups dangerous. Note that Falcon can run over bananas without tripping during his initial dash, so use this to your advantage. While Diddy can combo Falcon pretty hard, Falcon can do the same to Diddy with a higher damage output and more dangerous options. Try to force Diddy to recover low whenever he's offstage and always attempt to gimp his up b or read and punish his side b. Falcon KOs Diddy easier than vice-versa after the patch. The matchup is considered approximately even.
Details:
Neutral is roughly even as long as you don't let Diddy get a banana out. Falcon is good at preventing and punishing this along with Diddy's many other options with his greater speed as long as you stay in mid range, just outside the range of Diddy's troublesome fair but close enough to punish things like dtilt. If he does get the banana out, he trades the ability to use his aerials for a quick and strong punish game. Hence you should avoid using dashgrab or dash attack unless you're sure you'll catch him off guard because otherwise he'll punish them with about 20% of damage. Play safe and approach with shield or spotdodge to bait him, or shorthop aerials since banana throw isn't fast enough to punish the likes of well-spaced uair or bair into shield. Cover yourself with your jab to prevent Diddy from throwing the banana at you or grabbing you whenever you can, it's an especially great tool in this matchup. Falcon can also straight up run over the banana without tripping during the his (long) initial dash animation. You can spotdodge or roll backwards against monkeyflip out of reaction and punish with dash attack or grab, or you can challenge it with uair or utilt.
Falcon's disadvantage is a bit worse than Diddy's because of his greater lack of defensive aerial options and his size and weight, but a stronger advantage because of superior speed on the ground and in the air, higher damage output and greater KO power. Diddy is one of those characters in disadvantage who can convert an opponent's bad spacing into his own advantage with his uair, so try to not end up above him after your uair follow-ups which can happen at low percents if you unnecessarily do them out of a fullhop.
One very important part is to always try to read Diddy's monkeyflip whether he's above you or offstage and challenge it with uair/dair or punish it with bair and in general try to scare him into recovering low. You can then intercept his up b with many of Falcon's lingering aerials such as the soft knee, bair or nair. Try not to let him angle his recovery past you onto the stage though. You can option-select this by dropping down with bair when he uses his up b, second jump back to the stage and punish him if he lands there. Falcon doesn't have to fear Diddy too much when recovering as long as you recover low, but watch out for drop zone fair and his dtilt on the 2 frame ledge vulnerability, which can get quite annoying at its worst.
Pros:
- Greater speed and lesser landing lag on aerials makes Falcon's ability to punish Diddy greater than vice-versa
- Better ability to intercept and prevent Diddy's bananas than most characters
- Higher damage output
- Stronger and safer KO moves
Cons:
- Banana turns the punish game around; Falcon has to slow his game down and play more safe with less reward
- Despite lesser damage output, Diddy has more guaranteed follow-ups out of a grab especially with Falcon's weight and gravity
- In addition, slower aerials and the lack of below-hitting ones leave Falcon with less options to free himself from combos
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: uthrow to uair is still somewhat of a KO option for Diddy while Falcon likes to kill horizontally
- Town & City: same as above, but to a lesser extent
Stages to pick:
- Duck Hunt: straight walls aid Falcon's recovery, a lot of space to move around in, large blastzones emphasize Diddy's lack of relative kill power
- Battlefield: high ceiling, platforms help Falcon arguably more than Diddy, you can meteor through the stage near the ledges
- Omegas with straight walls: all-around decent for Falcon, with a wall jump option when recovering
Discussion:
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Summary:
Play patient and safe, punish everything you can with proper spacing, and avoid getting gimped. Risks, aggression and mistakes in general can be very costly in this matchup because both characters have a strong advantage but Falcon's disadvantage and recovery are worse than Yoshi's. However, Falcon also has better tools to play safe as well as punish mistakes and KO. Pressure Yoshi with your aerials and the threat of your speed at mid range into using his unsafe approach options and punish him for them or anything else he does, and capitalize on his recovery if you get a chance to hit him out of his up b. The matchup is about even.
Details:
Yoshi can strongly capitalize on Falcon's two main weaknesses: his linear recovery and his susceptibility to combos. Yoshi also has a good disadvantage in comparison to most characters because he possesses a frame 3 nair and jab both with good hitboxes that can set Falcon up for follow-ups, monstrous aerial speed and a projectile that covers his recovery. Falcon however is faster than Yoshi overall with safer options and better speed and range in neutral. Thus, it's very important for Falcon to play this matchup patiently while always spacing properly with safe follow-ups to avoid letting Yoshi get anything started, especially at lower percents when he can combo you from 0 to about 40-50%.
Pressure Yoshi in mid range with your speedy approaches or let him come to you with his limited approach options. Bair and uair work for intercepting his aerial approaches as well as for spacing around or pressuring Yoshi, as he has a tough time punishing Falcon's bair. Shield his shorthop egg throw approaches; the only thing he can do after one is nair which you can easily punish. He can start the command grab too, but you can jab him before it comes out or at least react with a spotdodge and punish afterwards. Fullhop egg throws give you enough time to run below him and start a juggle with uairs, and Yoshi does not want to get juggled by Falcon, just watch out for his b reversals. Yoshi's grab is slow and throws don't kill or combo so you don't have to worry about his grab game too much.
When you're getting juggled, don't airdodge because Yoshi's frametraps are way too good and he'll get you anyway. Instead focus on DI and jump away when possible. Also watch out for egg -> fair/uair and utilt -> uair which are kill % combos. Be careful if Yoshi is using the egg launch custom and avoid stages with walk-offs, this sends you pretty far back. When offstage, recover low as long as you have your second jump left and cover it with uair to avoid being gimped by his dair or nair. If you lose your second jump and get hit further offstage you can increase your slim chance of survival by recovering high in this scenario as long as it's possible. While Yoshi usually likes to recover high, he is much the same, if he has to use up b or he commits to an aerial after his second jump hence losing his superarmor, you can jab or dtilt him out of it at the ledge or anticipate and intercept his choice with dair to gimp him. Sometimes Yoshi players will jump from the ledge with a dair because it autocancels that way, however it's a long move and thus a huge commitment which you can punish with an fsmash upon reading or reacting to it.
Falcon kills Yoshi more easily than vice-versa, and with Falcon's general safety and speed advantage you can capitalize on this quite far if you keep playing patiently at high percents. Also keep in mind that Yoshi dies more easily vertically due to having low gravity, while Falcon survives better in that direction which coincidentally is Yoshi's preferred killing axle. In addition to your other KO options, you can particularly consider using Raptor Boost or usmash to try to catch him from shorthops and kill him early, although it involves some risk. You'll also find plenty of opportunities to land them as punishes if you wait enough.
Pros:
- Safer approaches and faster punishing game
- Much more threatening grab game
- Higher KO power
Cons:
- Disadvantage and defensive options at low to mid percents are pretty terrible compared to Yoshi
- Offstage is extremely dangerous especially after losing second jump
- Can't play risky due to the above, on the contrary there's no need either
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: while Yoshi dies pretty early vertically and Falcon doesn't, Yoshi also prefers to kill vertically, but if you think you can take advantage of the situation go ahead
- Town & City: same as above
- Anything with walk-offs: the egg launch custom is deadly here and who likes walk-offs anyway
Stages to pick:
- Battlefield: while a good Yoshi can be deadly with platforms, so can Falcon, and the ceiling is higher than average here
- Omegas with straight walls: Yoshi doesn't have anything to camp Falcon out with, there's room for Falcon to move in, and the walls help Falcon's recovery
- Duck Hunt: large stage for Falcon to capitalize on his better KO ability with walls to help his recovery
- Kongo Jungle: very high ceiling and large blastzones to capitalize on Falcon's KO ability, Falcon benefits from barrel and platforms for his recovery more than Yoshi does
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Summary:
Play patient and safe, punish everything you can with proper spacing, and avoid getting gimped. Risks, aggression and mistakes in general can be very costly in this matchup because both characters have a strong advantage but Falcon's disadvantage and recovery are worse than Yoshi's. However, Falcon also has better tools to play safe as well as punish mistakes and KO. Pressure Yoshi with your aerials and the threat of your speed at mid range into using his unsafe approach options and punish him for them or anything else he does, and capitalize on his recovery if you get a chance to hit him out of his up b. The matchup is about even.
Details:
Yoshi can strongly capitalize on Falcon's two main weaknesses: his linear recovery and his susceptibility to combos. Yoshi also has a good disadvantage in comparison to most characters because he possesses a frame 3 nair and jab both with good hitboxes that can set Falcon up for follow-ups, monstrous aerial speed and a projectile that covers his recovery. Falcon however is faster than Yoshi overall with safer options and better speed and range in neutral. Thus, it's very important for Falcon to play this matchup patiently while always spacing properly with safe follow-ups to avoid letting Yoshi get anything started, especially at lower percents when he can combo you from 0 to about 40-50%.
Pressure Yoshi in mid range with your speedy approaches or let him come to you with his limited approach options. Bair and uair work for intercepting his aerial approaches as well as for spacing around or pressuring Yoshi, as he has a tough time punishing Falcon's bair. Shield his shorthop egg throw approaches; the only thing he can do after one is nair which you can easily punish. He can start the command grab too, but you can jab him before it comes out or at least react with a spotdodge and punish afterwards. Fullhop egg throws give you enough time to run below him and start a juggle with uairs, and Yoshi does not want to get juggled by Falcon, just watch out for his b reversals. Yoshi's grab is slow and throws don't kill or combo so you don't have to worry about his grab game too much.
When you're getting juggled, don't airdodge because Yoshi's frametraps are way too good and he'll get you anyway. Instead focus on DI and jump away when possible. Also watch out for egg -> fair/uair and utilt -> uair which are kill % combos. Be careful if Yoshi is using the egg launch custom and avoid stages with walk-offs, this sends you pretty far back. When offstage, recover low as long as you have your second jump left and cover it with uair to avoid being gimped by his dair or nair. If you lose your second jump and get hit further offstage you can increase your slim chance of survival by recovering high in this scenario as long as it's possible. While Yoshi usually likes to recover high, he is much the same, if he has to use up b or he commits to an aerial after his second jump hence losing his superarmor, you can jab or dtilt him out of it at the ledge or anticipate and intercept his choice with dair to gimp him. Sometimes Yoshi players will jump from the ledge with a dair because it autocancels that way, however it's a long move and thus a huge commitment which you can punish with an fsmash upon reading or reacting to it.
Falcon kills Yoshi more easily than vice-versa, and with Falcon's general safety and speed advantage you can capitalize on this quite far if you keep playing patiently at high percents. Also keep in mind that Yoshi dies more easily vertically due to having low gravity, while Falcon survives better in that direction which coincidentally is Yoshi's preferred killing axle. In addition to your other KO options, you can particularly consider using Raptor Boost or usmash to try to catch him from shorthops and kill him early, although it involves some risk. You'll also find plenty of opportunities to land them as punishes if you wait enough.
Pros:
- Safer approaches and faster punishing game
- Much more threatening grab game
- Higher KO power
Cons:
- Disadvantage and defensive options at low to mid percents are pretty terrible compared to Yoshi
- Offstage is extremely dangerous especially after losing second jump
- Can't play risky due to the above, on the contrary there's no need either
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: while Yoshi dies pretty early vertically and Falcon doesn't, Yoshi also prefers to kill vertically, but if you think you can take advantage of the situation go ahead
- Town & City: same as above
- Anything with walk-offs: the egg launch custom is deadly here and who likes walk-offs anyway
Stages to pick:
- Battlefield: while a good Yoshi can be deadly with platforms, so can Falcon, and the ceiling is higher than average here
- Omegas with straight walls: Yoshi doesn't have anything to camp Falcon out with, there's room for Falcon to move in, and the walls help Falcon's recovery
- Duck Hunt: large stage for Falcon to capitalize on his better KO ability with walls to help his recovery
- Kongo Jungle: very high ceiling and large blastzones to capitalize on Falcon's KO ability, Falcon benefits from barrel and platforms for his recovery more than Yoshi does
Discussion:
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Summary:
Falcon's combo and punish game hurts Sheik a lot more than Sheik's hurts you due to higher damage output and more dangerous finishers, however the real danger for Falcon is getting carried offstage since it can lead to gimps which Sheik excels at. DI away from her fair strings and always watch out for Bouncing Fish, Needles and stage spikes when offstage, and always mix up your recovery. Punish Sheik's up b ledgesnap vulnerability with bair whenever possible. Sheik's close range and long range games are better due to her tilts and needles respectively and approaches safer due to her great range and low lag, although Falcon has some safe approach options of his own and a more potent punish game at mid range. Falcon has the tools to combat Sheik as long as you avoid getting gimped, but it will happen to you from time to time. However Sheik's main weakness is her lack of kill power which Falcon excels at while also being much heavier than Sheik, so this evens it out quite a lot. The matchup is considered to be a disadvantage for Falcon, but not a massive one for now.
Details:
Sheik has safer options in neutral due to Needles, better frame data, good range and her low lag, but Falcon has some safe and dangerous tools of his own for both approaching and punishing. Watch out for Sheik's ftilt and dtilt which setup into combos as well as her dash attack and needles which can punish most things Falcon has on the ground. Stay in mid range just outside of her tilts and aerials and use dtilt to outspace her on the ground and buffered shorthop uair and bair to intercept her fairs. Sheik's needles are also unsafe at these distances, although you still have to watch out for her dash attack although it's a very unsafe option on her part. Punish all her mistakes hard with dash grab and uair juggles. Falcon's falling uair and bair are safe on Sheik's shield so you can use these for approaching and footsies, but nair can also control space although it's less good of a trade against her aerials and a bigger commitment than bair and uair. As always, cover your landings with jab if you feel like she'll try to grab you, but rapid jab doesn't work in this matchup.
Falcon's advantage in general is much more dangerous to Sheik than Sheik's advantage is to Falcon due to your higher damage output and more dangerous finisher, however Sheik can combo you offstage with fair strings and gimp you at relatively low percents if you make mistakes or she makes the right reads on your recovery. Hence it's always important to properly DI away from her combos and try to challenge her fairs with uair since it hits in front of Falcon. Be ready to airdodge Bouncing Fish and Needles and always mix up your recovery by covering your second jump with uair or airdodge if she approaches, using your up b immediately or delaying it, going straight for the ledge / landing onto the stage / grabbing Sheik out of a failed read with your up b etc. At low percents you can make it back with relative ease because you have all these options, however once you start getting knocked further and further offstage your options become more limited. Fortunately her fair strings stop working eventually as long as you properly DI away from them. Also always be ready to tech stage spikes. When Sheik recovers, you may chase her with RAR bair and dair, read and punish her bouncing fish, and always attempt to bair her ledgesnap vulnerability when she uses up b onto the ledge as it is fairly easy to do and can net you a KO at relatively low percents if she misses the tech or doesn't react in time. If she does tech, you can second jump uair after hitting her. Just don't go for it when she uses her up b close to the ledge or you'll be hit by the explosion.
Falcon has an easier time KOing Sheik when it comes to other areas, and his two safest options in neutral, uair and bair, also get rid of Sheik easily due to her fairly light weight. Sheik gets comboed and juggled pretty hard by Falcon so try to always get the most out of that and condition her to an airdodge to finish it off with a knee or dair. Sheik won't kill you until well after 150% as long as you don't fall victim to bad DI or unnecessary airdodges out of her throw setups in which case she can kill you with uair or up b earlier than that. Expect to get gimped occasionally, live to 180% occasionally and always KO Sheik between 80-140%. Since your often in rage, uthrow and bthrow can become more viable kill options as well.
Falcon does have the tools to deal with Sheik aside from the gimp factor, so be particularly smart about this one thing and acknowledge your competent neutral, better KO ability and more threatening advantage and utilize it all to make this MU as small of a disadvantage as you can.
Pros:
+ Better mid range game due to higher speed and all Sheik's options bar properly spaced aerials being unsafe from dash grab
+ Dtilt outranges her immediate ground options
+ Falcon's uair and bair are good for trading with Sheik's fair
+ Higher damage output
+ Much better KO ability
Cons:
- Offstage is extremely dangerous and Sheik has combos to get us there
- Close range is worse due to Sheik's faster jab and tilts that combo or lead into above combos
- Sheik's mid range isn't bad either due to her high speed and dash attack
- It can be hard to find openings in neutral with Sheik's frame data, range and low landing lag
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: to avoid any early shenanigan kills from Sheik such as dthrow uair
Stages to pick:
- Omegas (with straight walls): helps Falcon's recovery quite a lot by giving more options
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Summary:
Falcon's combo and punish game hurts Sheik a lot more than Sheik's hurts you due to higher damage output and more dangerous finishers, however the real danger for Falcon is getting carried offstage since it can lead to gimps which Sheik excels at. DI away from her fair strings and always watch out for Bouncing Fish, Needles and stage spikes when offstage, and always mix up your recovery. Punish Sheik's up b ledgesnap vulnerability with bair whenever possible. Sheik's close range and long range games are better due to her tilts and needles respectively and approaches safer due to her great range and low lag, although Falcon has some safe approach options of his own and a more potent punish game at mid range. Falcon has the tools to combat Sheik as long as you avoid getting gimped, but it will happen to you from time to time. However Sheik's main weakness is her lack of kill power which Falcon excels at while also being much heavier than Sheik, so this evens it out quite a lot. The matchup is considered to be a disadvantage for Falcon, but not a massive one for now.
Details:
Sheik has safer options in neutral due to Needles, better frame data, good range and her low lag, but Falcon has some safe and dangerous tools of his own for both approaching and punishing. Watch out for Sheik's ftilt and dtilt which setup into combos as well as her dash attack and needles which can punish most things Falcon has on the ground. Stay in mid range just outside of her tilts and aerials and use dtilt to outspace her on the ground and buffered shorthop uair and bair to intercept her fairs. Sheik's needles are also unsafe at these distances, although you still have to watch out for her dash attack although it's a very unsafe option on her part. Punish all her mistakes hard with dash grab and uair juggles. Falcon's falling uair and bair are safe on Sheik's shield so you can use these for approaching and footsies, but nair can also control space although it's less good of a trade against her aerials and a bigger commitment than bair and uair. As always, cover your landings with jab if you feel like she'll try to grab you, but rapid jab doesn't work in this matchup.
Falcon's advantage in general is much more dangerous to Sheik than Sheik's advantage is to Falcon due to your higher damage output and more dangerous finisher, however Sheik can combo you offstage with fair strings and gimp you at relatively low percents if you make mistakes or she makes the right reads on your recovery. Hence it's always important to properly DI away from her combos and try to challenge her fairs with uair since it hits in front of Falcon. Be ready to airdodge Bouncing Fish and Needles and always mix up your recovery by covering your second jump with uair or airdodge if she approaches, using your up b immediately or delaying it, going straight for the ledge / landing onto the stage / grabbing Sheik out of a failed read with your up b etc. At low percents you can make it back with relative ease because you have all these options, however once you start getting knocked further and further offstage your options become more limited. Fortunately her fair strings stop working eventually as long as you properly DI away from them. Also always be ready to tech stage spikes. When Sheik recovers, you may chase her with RAR bair and dair, read and punish her bouncing fish, and always attempt to bair her ledgesnap vulnerability when she uses up b onto the ledge as it is fairly easy to do and can net you a KO at relatively low percents if she misses the tech or doesn't react in time. If she does tech, you can second jump uair after hitting her. Just don't go for it when she uses her up b close to the ledge or you'll be hit by the explosion.
Falcon has an easier time KOing Sheik when it comes to other areas, and his two safest options in neutral, uair and bair, also get rid of Sheik easily due to her fairly light weight. Sheik gets comboed and juggled pretty hard by Falcon so try to always get the most out of that and condition her to an airdodge to finish it off with a knee or dair. Sheik won't kill you until well after 150% as long as you don't fall victim to bad DI or unnecessary airdodges out of her throw setups in which case she can kill you with uair or up b earlier than that. Expect to get gimped occasionally, live to 180% occasionally and always KO Sheik between 80-140%. Since your often in rage, uthrow and bthrow can become more viable kill options as well.
Falcon does have the tools to deal with Sheik aside from the gimp factor, so be particularly smart about this one thing and acknowledge your competent neutral, better KO ability and more threatening advantage and utilize it all to make this MU as small of a disadvantage as you can.
Pros:
+ Better mid range game due to higher speed and all Sheik's options bar properly spaced aerials being unsafe from dash grab
+ Dtilt outranges her immediate ground options
+ Falcon's uair and bair are good for trading with Sheik's fair
+ Higher damage output
+ Much better KO ability
Cons:
- Offstage is extremely dangerous and Sheik has combos to get us there
- Close range is worse due to Sheik's faster jab and tilts that combo or lead into above combos
- Sheik's mid range isn't bad either due to her high speed and dash attack
- It can be hard to find openings in neutral with Sheik's frame data, range and low landing lag
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: to avoid any early shenanigan kills from Sheik such as dthrow uair
Stages to pick:
- Omegas (with straight walls): helps Falcon's recovery quite a lot by giving more options
Discussion:
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Summary:
Falcon's dash grab is a tool that makes him faster than Sonic at mid to mid-long range, although Sonic is still much faster in terms of dashing itself and can pressure better with speed alone. Needless to say both characters punish each other easily. Sonic isn't a combo heavy character and his damage output isn't huge either, so Falcon's advantage is relatively much stronger in this matchup. Unlike Falcon, Sonic doesn't have safe approaches but he can mix them up very well, and while you have options against all of them sometimes it'll require awareness and decent reaction on your part which is the main challenge here. Hence you should mainly stay within a range where you can comfortably shield/hold jab on his spindashes but still react if he tries to grab you instead while pressuring him with your aerials and punishing any commitments with your faster dash grab. Try to keep Sonic in the air when you get him there and always punish his dair and landings. While Sonic can't really juggle Falcon, he is good at punishing Falcon's landing options with his speed. When Sonic is offstage you should mainly try to get his ledge vulnerability with dtilt or bair unless he's very far offstage in which case you can RAR chase him. You shouldn't be gimped by Sonic's spring unless you're knocked so far offstage that you don't have the option to hit the spring with an aerial or maneuver around it with your up b at all, and if he chases you down with aerials you can outright grab him out of them with up b's grab range. Falcon kills earlier in this matchup. All in all Falcon vs Sonic is roughly even.
Details:
Falcon can stop Sonic's spindash by holding jab resetting into a boxing situation or sometimes outright beating it, and you can shield Sonic's spindash and punish any follow-up attacks like neutral b or his aerials with uair and bair. Sonic has decent boxing options in his jab and ftilt, but your dtilt outranges his boxing options and jab puts him into a much worse position than his jab puts Falcon. Spring jump is Sonic's safest option to get away from trouble, but it puts him in the air for juggles and landing punishes even if he goes for an autocancelled dair. You can hit him out of this with uair or punish his landing with dash grab or dash attack even if it's autocancelled as long as you time it well which you have plenty of time for. The main problem here is reacting to Sonic's mixups and avoiding being pressured into throwing out an unsafe option which Sonic can punish. Falcon's aerials bar knee and dair as well as the second hit of his dsmash are safe on shield and Sonic does not want to get dash grabbed or put in the air so Falcon has pressuring options of his own. Always techroll his dthrow and switch up your direction; Falcon's techrolls are incredibly good while his tech getup is average at best.
Falcon's advantage is much better because he has higher damage output and longer combos, and while Sonic has good aerial speed he's floaty and his aerial mobility is terrible, although Falcon's isn't great either. Sonic mainly gains the upper hand on landing punishes and by knocking Falcon far enough offstage that he can gimp you with spring, otherwise you can easily maneuver around it though and Falcon's up b grabs Sonic out of all his aerials easily aside from a well timed bair. When Sonic is offstage you shouldn't go after him unless he's far away because his up b has invincibility at the beginning of it and the spring can gimp you if Sonic manages to jump above you, so instead try to hit his ledge vulnerability with dtilt or bair which may easily gimp him especially at higher percents. If he's far enough offstage that he has to commit to his second jump well before the ledge, chase him down with RAR bair and dair.
Sonic's main kill options are his bair, uair, back throw, usmash and fsmash, the latter two of which you shouldn't really get hit by, although watch out for the deceptive range of Sonic's fsmash although Falcon has deceptive range of his own. Falcon can survive Sonic's back throw particularly well for some reason even though it's a horizontal KO move, and actually kills Sonic earlier with his own back throw as well as uair and bair which are the moves you should mostly be throwing out in this matchup aside from your usual knee/dair traps.
Pros:
- Stronger advantage due to combos and higher damage output and better KO ability
- Faster and more threatening mid range punishing option in dash grab
- Safer neutral options with aerials and a better aerial game
Cons:
- Falcon has more trouble offstage
- Sonic's dash speed is still a lot faster than Falcon's
- Sonic has a lot of mixup options in neutral and a stronger ground game combined with his speed
Stages to ban:
Skyloft, Delfino, Duck Hunt, FD/Omega: large stages with a lot of camping options for Sonic and FD emphasizes Sonic's better ground game
Stages to pick:
Battlefield, Town & City: platforms emphasize Falcon's better aerial give while also relieving pressure that Sonic can create on the ground
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Summary:
Falcon's dash grab is a tool that makes him faster than Sonic at mid to mid-long range, although Sonic is still much faster in terms of dashing itself and can pressure better with speed alone. Needless to say both characters punish each other easily. Sonic isn't a combo heavy character and his damage output isn't huge either, so Falcon's advantage is relatively much stronger in this matchup. Unlike Falcon, Sonic doesn't have safe approaches but he can mix them up very well, and while you have options against all of them sometimes it'll require awareness and decent reaction on your part which is the main challenge here. Hence you should mainly stay within a range where you can comfortably shield/hold jab on his spindashes but still react if he tries to grab you instead while pressuring him with your aerials and punishing any commitments with your faster dash grab. Try to keep Sonic in the air when you get him there and always punish his dair and landings. While Sonic can't really juggle Falcon, he is good at punishing Falcon's landing options with his speed. When Sonic is offstage you should mainly try to get his ledge vulnerability with dtilt or bair unless he's very far offstage in which case you can RAR chase him. You shouldn't be gimped by Sonic's spring unless you're knocked so far offstage that you don't have the option to hit the spring with an aerial or maneuver around it with your up b at all, and if he chases you down with aerials you can outright grab him out of them with up b's grab range. Falcon kills earlier in this matchup. All in all Falcon vs Sonic is roughly even.
Details:
Falcon can stop Sonic's spindash by holding jab resetting into a boxing situation or sometimes outright beating it, and you can shield Sonic's spindash and punish any follow-up attacks like neutral b or his aerials with uair and bair. Sonic has decent boxing options in his jab and ftilt, but your dtilt outranges his boxing options and jab puts him into a much worse position than his jab puts Falcon. Spring jump is Sonic's safest option to get away from trouble, but it puts him in the air for juggles and landing punishes even if he goes for an autocancelled dair. You can hit him out of this with uair or punish his landing with dash grab or dash attack even if it's autocancelled as long as you time it well which you have plenty of time for. The main problem here is reacting to Sonic's mixups and avoiding being pressured into throwing out an unsafe option which Sonic can punish. Falcon's aerials bar knee and dair as well as the second hit of his dsmash are safe on shield and Sonic does not want to get dash grabbed or put in the air so Falcon has pressuring options of his own. Always techroll his dthrow and switch up your direction; Falcon's techrolls are incredibly good while his tech getup is average at best.
Falcon's advantage is much better because he has higher damage output and longer combos, and while Sonic has good aerial speed he's floaty and his aerial mobility is terrible, although Falcon's isn't great either. Sonic mainly gains the upper hand on landing punishes and by knocking Falcon far enough offstage that he can gimp you with spring, otherwise you can easily maneuver around it though and Falcon's up b grabs Sonic out of all his aerials easily aside from a well timed bair. When Sonic is offstage you shouldn't go after him unless he's far away because his up b has invincibility at the beginning of it and the spring can gimp you if Sonic manages to jump above you, so instead try to hit his ledge vulnerability with dtilt or bair which may easily gimp him especially at higher percents. If he's far enough offstage that he has to commit to his second jump well before the ledge, chase him down with RAR bair and dair.
Sonic's main kill options are his bair, uair, back throw, usmash and fsmash, the latter two of which you shouldn't really get hit by, although watch out for the deceptive range of Sonic's fsmash although Falcon has deceptive range of his own. Falcon can survive Sonic's back throw particularly well for some reason even though it's a horizontal KO move, and actually kills Sonic earlier with his own back throw as well as uair and bair which are the moves you should mostly be throwing out in this matchup aside from your usual knee/dair traps.
Pros:
- Stronger advantage due to combos and higher damage output and better KO ability
- Faster and more threatening mid range punishing option in dash grab
- Safer neutral options with aerials and a better aerial game
Cons:
- Falcon has more trouble offstage
- Sonic's dash speed is still a lot faster than Falcon's
- Sonic has a lot of mixup options in neutral and a stronger ground game combined with his speed
Stages to ban:
Skyloft, Delfino, Duck Hunt, FD/Omega: large stages with a lot of camping options for Sonic and FD emphasizes Sonic's better ground game
Stages to pick:
Battlefield, Town & City: platforms emphasize Falcon's better aerial give while also relieving pressure that Sonic can create on the ground
Discussion:
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Summary:
Pikachu can completely avoid Falcon's jab and grab in his fair and bair landing lag animations so Falcon will sometimes have to resort to dtilt and dash attack as punishes, but on every other move he can resort to his usual choices or just try to powershield and jab Pikachu's fair and bair. Getting Pikachu in the air is very rewarding since Falcon's aerials straight up beat all of Pikachu's with proper spacing. Falcon also has some character specific knee follow-ups on Pikachu out of a dash grab buffered dthrow between 45-65% with any DI. In addition, Falcon's up b grab disjoint beats all of Pikachu's aerials which is something to consider when recovering, although if you get read or have to recover from far away you should expect to get gimped, but until higher percents it's far from free for Pikachu as long as you mix up your recovery and don't get your jumps eaten by offstage thunderjolts. If Pikachu recovers with side b or stalls with down b you can hit him out of them quite easily and you can also try reading his QA path with dair. QA on stage can be punished if you shield it and thunderjolts are often punishable if you dash and powershield them. Avoid getting grabbed because Pikachu also has high damage combos on Falcon and landing from them can be very difficult. Falcon's killing ability surpasses Pikachu by a large margin with more reliable setups and safer kill moves, but watch out for usmash and fsmash as well as dash attack at higher percents. All in all this matchup is in Pikachu's favor because Falcon dislikes most things Pikachu can do to him, but it isn't nearly as one sided as many make it out to be. Patiently shield Pikachu's attacks and avoid getting grabbed, be smart about recovering and up b usage, use your superior range and hitboxes to your advantage with dtilt and aerials, understand when grab and jab work and when they don't and punish Pikachu accordingly with high damage combos and some early kill setups to overcome the disadvantage as much as you can.
Details:
Pikachu can avoid Falcon's jab and grab during the entirety of his bair and fair landing lag all the way until his IASA frames so it's advised to use dtilt or dash attack for punishing these moves instead, or powershield and jab them. Pikachu is also too low to the ground for grab and jab during the beginning of his dair landing lag, dash attack endlag and QA endlag, but as long as you time your grab or jab properly you can get him easily, just don't try to punish him too early. However Pikachu cannot crouch under either one of them as long as his ears are within Falcon's range. In general you'll find yourself using bair, dair, dtilt and dash attack more in this matchup than most others because you sometimes need to hit lower to the ground than what grab and jab allow, but they are still among your best options, you just have to be aware of when to and when not to use them. Thunderjolt shouldn't be a huge problem since you can easily dash forward, powershield it and dash grab/dash attack punish or uair if Pikachu is in the air. Falcon can also punish Pikachu's QA on shield with dash grab if you have decent reaction and combo Pikachu pretty hard due to dthrow having very little endlag on such a light character. Pikachu has longer strings on Falcon especially at low percents but his damage output is lower making the outcome roughly equal, although just like in the Sheik matchup you should avoid being escorted offstage as much as you can. Pikachu has a far better disadvantage than Falcon with easier time landing and much better recovery, but again much of it is thwarted by Falcon having arguably the best advantage in the game whereas Pikachu only has a good one because of lacking range, aerial mobility and powerful finishers.
Dthrow to knee is a true combo on Pikachu between 15 to 50% with any DI, and about 35% further with any DI except up+away and dthrow to bair works similarly between about 40 to 100%, so a Pikachu who's aware of this can't risk it too much in neutral. Pretty much all of Pikachu's aerials lose to Falcon's equivalents with proper spacing; Falcon's bair and uair trump Pikachu's horizontal options and uair trumps Pikachu's dair although the spacing on that one is quite precise. Falcon's up b grab disjoint also beats all of Pikachu's aerials should he jump offstage to try to edgeguard you, but in this scenario you need to confront him from the side as the grab has no hitbox above Falcon. This means that Pikachu won't get free gimps on Falcon and should never face you from the drop zone as long as you're close enough to the stage to utilize your mid-air jump and/or up b grab. Mix up your recovery as much as you can in general: maneuver your up b high if you think he'll try to gimp you from above, use it normally if you think he'll drop in front of you with an aerial or delay it to try to react to whatever he does, and uair him out of your mid-air jumps or just airdodge if you think he'll use thunderjolt or thunder.
However, when you have to recover from far away a good Pikachu will almost certainly get the gimp, but you usually won't be sent far enough for that before about 100% especially by Pikachu. This is still where you'll probably find yourself dying most of the time since Pikachu lacks kill power otherwise except with hard read moves such as his usmash, fsmash and down b setups which can be avoided with DI. Falcon on the other hand has similar setups from dthrow to knee as mentioned earlier but as early as 50% and avoided only by diagonal DI upwards and away, and Falcon's usual kill moves will get Pikachu early because of his light weight. Backwards hit dsmash is something to consider in this matchup, it hits all the way to the ground, has decent range and is safe on shield despite having slow startup, but bair, uair, dair, fair and bthrow should be your primary options as always. You can also gimp predictable side b and down b choices from Pikachu or try to read his QA destinations with dair. All in all, expect to kill Pikachu much earlier than he kills you, and also expect to get gimped much more often than you'll be gimping him.
Pros:
+ Ability to punish everything Pikachu does on shield, although QA requires decent reaction
+ Aerials and dtilt outrange and beat Pikachu's options
+ Better KO ability and considerably higher weight
+ More dangerous advantage and setups on stage
Cons:
- Falcon's grab and jab are shut down in a couple scenarios
- Falcon's recovery is easily gimpable by Pikachu at higher percents
- Tough disadvantage on all regards
- Pikachu has an easy time landing with QA
Stages to ban:
Battlefield: Pikachu loves platforms and QA ledgecancels, and BF offers those.
Lylat: same reasoning as above.
Stages to pick:
Final Destination, Omegas with straight edges: gives Falcon space to work with, removes platforms from Pikachu, and straight walls give Falcon more recovery options.
Duck Hunt: A lot of space and straight edges here as well, most of the platforms are too high for Pikachu to make good use of.
Town & City: High platforms are good for uair kills, smaller blastzones make recovery slightly easier.
Smashville: Fairly neutral, the platform helps Falcon and his bad recovery more than it helps Pikachu.
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Summary:
Pikachu can completely avoid Falcon's jab and grab in his fair and bair landing lag animations so Falcon will sometimes have to resort to dtilt and dash attack as punishes, but on every other move he can resort to his usual choices or just try to powershield and jab Pikachu's fair and bair. Getting Pikachu in the air is very rewarding since Falcon's aerials straight up beat all of Pikachu's with proper spacing. Falcon also has some character specific knee follow-ups on Pikachu out of a dash grab buffered dthrow between 45-65% with any DI. In addition, Falcon's up b grab disjoint beats all of Pikachu's aerials which is something to consider when recovering, although if you get read or have to recover from far away you should expect to get gimped, but until higher percents it's far from free for Pikachu as long as you mix up your recovery and don't get your jumps eaten by offstage thunderjolts. If Pikachu recovers with side b or stalls with down b you can hit him out of them quite easily and you can also try reading his QA path with dair. QA on stage can be punished if you shield it and thunderjolts are often punishable if you dash and powershield them. Avoid getting grabbed because Pikachu also has high damage combos on Falcon and landing from them can be very difficult. Falcon's killing ability surpasses Pikachu by a large margin with more reliable setups and safer kill moves, but watch out for usmash and fsmash as well as dash attack at higher percents. All in all this matchup is in Pikachu's favor because Falcon dislikes most things Pikachu can do to him, but it isn't nearly as one sided as many make it out to be. Patiently shield Pikachu's attacks and avoid getting grabbed, be smart about recovering and up b usage, use your superior range and hitboxes to your advantage with dtilt and aerials, understand when grab and jab work and when they don't and punish Pikachu accordingly with high damage combos and some early kill setups to overcome the disadvantage as much as you can.
Details:
Pikachu can avoid Falcon's jab and grab during the entirety of his bair and fair landing lag all the way until his IASA frames so it's advised to use dtilt or dash attack for punishing these moves instead, or powershield and jab them. Pikachu is also too low to the ground for grab and jab during the beginning of his dair landing lag, dash attack endlag and QA endlag, but as long as you time your grab or jab properly you can get him easily, just don't try to punish him too early. However Pikachu cannot crouch under either one of them as long as his ears are within Falcon's range. In general you'll find yourself using bair, dair, dtilt and dash attack more in this matchup than most others because you sometimes need to hit lower to the ground than what grab and jab allow, but they are still among your best options, you just have to be aware of when to and when not to use them. Thunderjolt shouldn't be a huge problem since you can easily dash forward, powershield it and dash grab/dash attack punish or uair if Pikachu is in the air. Falcon can also punish Pikachu's QA on shield with dash grab if you have decent reaction and combo Pikachu pretty hard due to dthrow having very little endlag on such a light character. Pikachu has longer strings on Falcon especially at low percents but his damage output is lower making the outcome roughly equal, although just like in the Sheik matchup you should avoid being escorted offstage as much as you can. Pikachu has a far better disadvantage than Falcon with easier time landing and much better recovery, but again much of it is thwarted by Falcon having arguably the best advantage in the game whereas Pikachu only has a good one because of lacking range, aerial mobility and powerful finishers.
Dthrow to knee is a true combo on Pikachu between 15 to 50% with any DI, and about 35% further with any DI except up+away and dthrow to bair works similarly between about 40 to 100%, so a Pikachu who's aware of this can't risk it too much in neutral. Pretty much all of Pikachu's aerials lose to Falcon's equivalents with proper spacing; Falcon's bair and uair trump Pikachu's horizontal options and uair trumps Pikachu's dair although the spacing on that one is quite precise. Falcon's up b grab disjoint also beats all of Pikachu's aerials should he jump offstage to try to edgeguard you, but in this scenario you need to confront him from the side as the grab has no hitbox above Falcon. This means that Pikachu won't get free gimps on Falcon and should never face you from the drop zone as long as you're close enough to the stage to utilize your mid-air jump and/or up b grab. Mix up your recovery as much as you can in general: maneuver your up b high if you think he'll try to gimp you from above, use it normally if you think he'll drop in front of you with an aerial or delay it to try to react to whatever he does, and uair him out of your mid-air jumps or just airdodge if you think he'll use thunderjolt or thunder.
However, when you have to recover from far away a good Pikachu will almost certainly get the gimp, but you usually won't be sent far enough for that before about 100% especially by Pikachu. This is still where you'll probably find yourself dying most of the time since Pikachu lacks kill power otherwise except with hard read moves such as his usmash, fsmash and down b setups which can be avoided with DI. Falcon on the other hand has similar setups from dthrow to knee as mentioned earlier but as early as 50% and avoided only by diagonal DI upwards and away, and Falcon's usual kill moves will get Pikachu early because of his light weight. Backwards hit dsmash is something to consider in this matchup, it hits all the way to the ground, has decent range and is safe on shield despite having slow startup, but bair, uair, dair, fair and bthrow should be your primary options as always. You can also gimp predictable side b and down b choices from Pikachu or try to read his QA destinations with dair. All in all, expect to kill Pikachu much earlier than he kills you, and also expect to get gimped much more often than you'll be gimping him.
Pros:
+ Ability to punish everything Pikachu does on shield, although QA requires decent reaction
+ Aerials and dtilt outrange and beat Pikachu's options
+ Better KO ability and considerably higher weight
+ More dangerous advantage and setups on stage
Cons:
- Falcon's grab and jab are shut down in a couple scenarios
- Falcon's recovery is easily gimpable by Pikachu at higher percents
- Tough disadvantage on all regards
- Pikachu has an easy time landing with QA
Stages to ban:
Battlefield: Pikachu loves platforms and QA ledgecancels, and BF offers those.
Lylat: same reasoning as above.
Stages to pick:
Final Destination, Omegas with straight edges: gives Falcon space to work with, removes platforms from Pikachu, and straight walls give Falcon more recovery options.
Duck Hunt: A lot of space and straight edges here as well, most of the platforms are too high for Pikachu to make good use of.
Town & City: High platforms are good for uair kills, smaller blastzones make recovery slightly easier.
Smashville: Fairly neutral, the platform helps Falcon and his bad recovery more than it helps Pikachu.
Discussion:
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Summary:
Luigi is all about grab combos, and they will hurt Falcon badly at low percents usually getting him up to 40-60% in one string. Jab works for interrupting some of these though, and Luigi has a hard time getting in on a character as fast as Falcon even with the aid of his fireballs which Falcon can just powershield. On the other hand, Falcon will juggle Luigi hard since his uair goes through Luigi's nair when properly spaced and Luigi is a very floaty character. Luigi's recovery should get gimped by dair nearly every time if he resorts to side b, and if he goes extremely low with it you can resort to punishing his up b or down b when he has to use those. Luigi can gimp Falcon as well with down b if Falcon has to recover from far away losing his recovery mixup options, otherwise it shouldn't happen much. Luigi also likes to kill vertically which Falcon can survive very well while dying early vertically himself, which now with the uair nerf Falcon unfortunately doesn't have any safe options for so he can't really take advantage of it without hard Raptor Boost or usmash reads. The key to this matchup is taking advantage of Falcon's better neutral and avoiding Luigi's grab. The matchup is considered approximately even.
Pros:
+ Better neutral game and speed
+ Easier time offstage
+ Uair beats Luigi's nair and Luigi gets juggled hard
Cons:
- Tough disadvantage at low percents
- Falcon loses CQC because of Luigi's frame 2 jab
- Luigi's KO options are more reliable
Stages to pick:
Battlefield: Platforms can break Luigi's dthrow setups and the high ceiling makes killing for Luigi harder
Smashville: Has FD ceiling but is horizontally smaller benefitting Falcon's horizontal KO power
Omega (with straight ledges): Walls let Falcon chase Luigi's side b as deep as he wants to since he can walljump back, also FD/Omega in general is good for Falcon
Stages to ban:
Halberd: Low ceiling gives Luigi much earlier kills out of his dthrow
Town & City: Same as above to a lesser extent
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Summary:
Luigi is all about grab combos, and they will hurt Falcon badly at low percents usually getting him up to 40-60% in one string. Jab works for interrupting some of these though, and Luigi has a hard time getting in on a character as fast as Falcon even with the aid of his fireballs which Falcon can just powershield. On the other hand, Falcon will juggle Luigi hard since his uair goes through Luigi's nair when properly spaced and Luigi is a very floaty character. Luigi's recovery should get gimped by dair nearly every time if he resorts to side b, and if he goes extremely low with it you can resort to punishing his up b or down b when he has to use those. Luigi can gimp Falcon as well with down b if Falcon has to recover from far away losing his recovery mixup options, otherwise it shouldn't happen much. Luigi also likes to kill vertically which Falcon can survive very well while dying early vertically himself, which now with the uair nerf Falcon unfortunately doesn't have any safe options for so he can't really take advantage of it without hard Raptor Boost or usmash reads. The key to this matchup is taking advantage of Falcon's better neutral and avoiding Luigi's grab. The matchup is considered approximately even.
Pros:
+ Better neutral game and speed
+ Easier time offstage
+ Uair beats Luigi's nair and Luigi gets juggled hard
Cons:
- Tough disadvantage at low percents
- Falcon loses CQC because of Luigi's frame 2 jab
- Luigi's KO options are more reliable
Stages to pick:
Battlefield: Platforms can break Luigi's dthrow setups and the high ceiling makes killing for Luigi harder
Smashville: Has FD ceiling but is horizontally smaller benefitting Falcon's horizontal KO power
Omega (with straight ledges): Walls let Falcon chase Luigi's side b as deep as he wants to since he can walljump back, also FD/Omega in general is good for Falcon
Stages to ban:
Halberd: Low ceiling gives Luigi much earlier kills out of his dthrow
Town & City: Same as above to a lesser extent
Discussion:
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Summary:
Falcon vs Rosalina matchup completely revolves around how well you can get red of Luma, and Falcon can do this very well. Rapid Jab finisher sends Luma across the stage and DA works for shorter distances, and it doesn't really matter if you get punished for it as long as you get rid of Luma. When Luma is around though, Rosalina can wall Falcon out quite well. The real downfall here is how well Rosalina can edgeguard and gimp Falcon, although you can meteor or punish her recovery pretty easily as well. Falcon's killing setups are easy and deadly on Rosalina once Luma is gone, in fact you should be killing her at 50-80% more often than anywhere else, but usually you first have to get rid of Luma and then chase her down. Dash grab down throw to knee is guaranteed regardless of DI between around 45-65%. It's hard to call this matchup anything but even.
Pros:
- Getting rid of Luma is relatively easy
- Kill setups work well vs Rosalina, and because of that you don't need to deal that much % per stock
- Rosalina has a lot of trouble vs Falcon's juggles
Cons:
- Falcon gets gimped pretty hard here
- Playing neutral around Luma can be difficult
- Rosalina also juggles Falcon easily when given the chance
Stages to ban:
FD/Omega: Rosalina can get too much stage control without platforms around
Halberd: Just because of Rosalina's uair and usmash
Stages to pick:
Battlefield: Platforms help Falcon around Rosalina's neutral
Smashville: Same as above
Delfino: Falcon moves around this stage better than Rosalina and suffers less for being forced to move
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Summary:
Falcon vs Rosalina matchup completely revolves around how well you can get red of Luma, and Falcon can do this very well. Rapid Jab finisher sends Luma across the stage and DA works for shorter distances, and it doesn't really matter if you get punished for it as long as you get rid of Luma. When Luma is around though, Rosalina can wall Falcon out quite well. The real downfall here is how well Rosalina can edgeguard and gimp Falcon, although you can meteor or punish her recovery pretty easily as well. Falcon's killing setups are easy and deadly on Rosalina once Luma is gone, in fact you should be killing her at 50-80% more often than anywhere else, but usually you first have to get rid of Luma and then chase her down. Dash grab down throw to knee is guaranteed regardless of DI between around 45-65%. It's hard to call this matchup anything but even.
Pros:
- Getting rid of Luma is relatively easy
- Kill setups work well vs Rosalina, and because of that you don't need to deal that much % per stock
- Rosalina has a lot of trouble vs Falcon's juggles
Cons:
- Falcon gets gimped pretty hard here
- Playing neutral around Luma can be difficult
- Rosalina also juggles Falcon easily when given the chance
Stages to ban:
FD/Omega: Rosalina can get too much stage control without platforms around
Halberd: Just because of Rosalina's uair and usmash
Stages to pick:
Battlefield: Platforms help Falcon around Rosalina's neutral
Smashville: Same as above
Delfino: Falcon moves around this stage better than Rosalina and suffers less for being forced to move
Discussion:
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Summary:
Both characters have a very strong punish game and good mobility, but in comparison to Falcon ZSS' has a better recovery and an easier time getting out of disadvantage with her flip jump. She has kill confirms out of grab, nair, down smash and paralyzer so watch out for being hit by any of those at around 40-80%, although down smash near the ledge is always dangerous and her grab will guarantee an uair at virtually any percent. ZSS' only weakness in this matchup is her slow grab which you must abuse and punish in the neutral, while trying to anticipate and powershield her falling shorthop aerials. Paralyzer can be punished if powershielded very close to her, so stay in mid range but watch out for her dash grab as well. Offstage she can drop off and backwards flip kick meteor Falcon's recovery if you have to recover low or from far away, so try to mix it up as much as you can. Her occasional high flip jump recovery should be punished by back air. Abuse shield in this matchup while outgrabbing her and you should do well enough. Slight disadvantage for Falcon.
Pros:
- Falcon outlives ZSS unless he gets grabbed at a bad time or gimped
- Falcon can punish ZSS' missed grabs among other things harder than most characters
- Playing midrange is a bit easier because her grab is slow
Cons:
- Getting in can be difficult for Falcon
- Offstage is very dangerous for Falcon whereas ZSS usually gets back for free
- ZSS is one of few characters that can match or outdo Falcon's mobility and kill potential
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: This is a must as ZSS can kill with dthrow -> uair -> uair -> up b before the last hit of up b even comes out.
- Delfino: Similar to above but only during transformations, however to a much more ridiculous extent.
- Town & City: Low ceiling as well, just low enough that ZSS' up b combo will kill at low percents if done optimally.
Stages to pick:
- Lylat: ZSS generally hates the tilting with her aerials and paralyzer, also is big enough to prevent her up b cheese.
- FD/Omega: Has a lot of space and prevents ZSS from getting early kills off the top.
- Battlefield: Her up b combos won't kill off the top here ever if you have proper DI and don't get grabbed on a platform.
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Summary:
Both characters have a very strong punish game and good mobility, but in comparison to Falcon ZSS' has a better recovery and an easier time getting out of disadvantage with her flip jump. She has kill confirms out of grab, nair, down smash and paralyzer so watch out for being hit by any of those at around 40-80%, although down smash near the ledge is always dangerous and her grab will guarantee an uair at virtually any percent. ZSS' only weakness in this matchup is her slow grab which you must abuse and punish in the neutral, while trying to anticipate and powershield her falling shorthop aerials. Paralyzer can be punished if powershielded very close to her, so stay in mid range but watch out for her dash grab as well. Offstage she can drop off and backwards flip kick meteor Falcon's recovery if you have to recover low or from far away, so try to mix it up as much as you can. Her occasional high flip jump recovery should be punished by back air. Abuse shield in this matchup while outgrabbing her and you should do well enough. Slight disadvantage for Falcon.
Pros:
- Falcon outlives ZSS unless he gets grabbed at a bad time or gimped
- Falcon can punish ZSS' missed grabs among other things harder than most characters
- Playing midrange is a bit easier because her grab is slow
Cons:
- Getting in can be difficult for Falcon
- Offstage is very dangerous for Falcon whereas ZSS usually gets back for free
- ZSS is one of few characters that can match or outdo Falcon's mobility and kill potential
Stages to ban:
- Halberd: This is a must as ZSS can kill with dthrow -> uair -> uair -> up b before the last hit of up b even comes out.
- Delfino: Similar to above but only during transformations, however to a much more ridiculous extent.
- Town & City: Low ceiling as well, just low enough that ZSS' up b combo will kill at low percents if done optimally.
Stages to pick:
- Lylat: ZSS generally hates the tilting with her aerials and paralyzer, also is big enough to prevent her up b cheese.
- FD/Omega: Has a lot of space and prevents ZSS from getting early kills off the top.
- Battlefield: Her up b combos won't kill off the top here ever if you have proper DI and don't get grabbed on a platform.
Discussion:
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Summary:
A very volatile matchup where both characters can do big damage to each other once they get in and where it's tough for both to recover back to the stage. Falcon can down tilt or down air meteor Fox's recovery depending on which one he opts for, and Fox can down smash Falcon's ledgegrab fairly easily so delay your up b whenever you see him charging it. Abuse shield in this matchup especially when you're at kill percents, as even if Fox gets a grab there's nothing threatening he can get directly off of it. On the other hand from low percents Falcon can chain together as many as three neutral airs on Fox, and although not guaranteed, down throw to knee is viable in this matchup because of how light Fox is. Falcon has a stronger and safer aerial game especially in the neutral, and after the patch you can go for falling up air on shield to jab which can't be shieldgrabbed to send Fox offstage, and eventually mix it up into grab and of course knee if Fox fails to shield the hit. A slight advantage for Falcon.
Pros:
- Stronger and safer aerial game
- No need to be particularly afraid of grabs
- Similar damage output with better survivability
Cons:
- Weaker ground game, although dash grab and dash attack are always good
- Recovery can be tough against Fox's down smash
Stages to ban:
Generally anything with a low ceiling due to Fox's up smash and up air
Stages to pick:
Pretty much anything else, especially Battlefield, Dreamland and Smashville due to platforms
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Summary:
A very volatile matchup where both characters can do big damage to each other once they get in and where it's tough for both to recover back to the stage. Falcon can down tilt or down air meteor Fox's recovery depending on which one he opts for, and Fox can down smash Falcon's ledgegrab fairly easily so delay your up b whenever you see him charging it. Abuse shield in this matchup especially when you're at kill percents, as even if Fox gets a grab there's nothing threatening he can get directly off of it. On the other hand from low percents Falcon can chain together as many as three neutral airs on Fox, and although not guaranteed, down throw to knee is viable in this matchup because of how light Fox is. Falcon has a stronger and safer aerial game especially in the neutral, and after the patch you can go for falling up air on shield to jab which can't be shieldgrabbed to send Fox offstage, and eventually mix it up into grab and of course knee if Fox fails to shield the hit. A slight advantage for Falcon.
Pros:
- Stronger and safer aerial game
- No need to be particularly afraid of grabs
- Similar damage output with better survivability
Cons:
- Weaker ground game, although dash grab and dash attack are always good
- Recovery can be tough against Fox's down smash
Stages to ban:
Generally anything with a low ceiling due to Fox's up smash and up air
Stages to pick:
Pretty much anything else, especially Battlefield, Dreamland and Smashville due to platforms
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