Detailed Guide for a Tournament-Level Falcon
By Victra
I will not being going through each move in detail. Please refer to TheBlueFalcon's move set guide for more details on each move individually. Instead I will be organizing this guide in a similar way to my own personal notes for Falcon in Melee where I will be detailing strategies and which moves to use in what scenario.
About Me
I wanted to share some details on myself to give some legitimacy to my opinions before anyone begins to consider any of my advice in this guide. My name is Victra, a high level Falcon melee player from WC Canada and i've been an active competitor for 9 years. I've won a handful of local tournaments, in addition to placing Top 8 at semi-national tournaments and 129th at EVO (3rd in pools, one spot away from qualifying for bracket). Although Smash 4 is a new game, I know the fundamentals of Falcon's move set quite intimately and am confident of my insight on what tools and strategies will be useful for high level Falcon play in the context of Smash 4. With that in mind, you'll see a lot of comparisons to Melee that are relevant for Smash 4.
If you'd like to play me just let me know. My FC: 4012-5892-4996
If you'd like to play me just let me know. My FC: 4012-5892-4996
Overview of Falcon in Smash 4
Falcon seems like a very strong character in Smash 4 and is most comparable to his Melee version. A lot of Falcon's weaknesses have become mitigated in the context of Smash 4 while retaining a lot of his strengths. As someone who has played a lot of Falcon in Melee at a relatively high level, playing Falcon in Smash 4 feels very natural with the exception that you can no longer dash dance (like you could in Melee) and wavedash to adjust your movement and utilize platforms. Comboing with Uair is very Melee-esque. If you're looking for a fast character with huge mobility, and a strong grab and combo game or a character that feels close to Melee, Falcon is your character.
General Notes
- Nair, Bair, and Uair auto cancel
- Side B has KO potential
- Gentleman comes out fast and is much easier to execute
- You can sweet spot the ledge with UpB
- You have a long and fast ftilt to utilize the new Smash 4 pivot mechanics
- Dthrow sets up frame traps where you can combo and follow up with uair combos
- Good approach with Dash Attack that pops opponents up for uair and uair combos
- Dashing into shield allows you to approach and close distance safely (especially against projectile campers)
- Recovery is still weak, especially with the nerf to falcon kick
- Approaching is still unsafe and requires good baits to get an opportunity to get in. Falcon is still fast enough to capitalize on these opportunities and punish accordingly.
Example of Falcon frame trap scenario:
Grab into DownThrow or Dash Attack, run up, jump, wait.
If they airdodge, free knee at kill % or uairs to rack damage.
If they jump or attack, uair will beat both of those options and will combo into more uairs
General Notes
- Nair, Bair, and Uair auto cancel
- Side B has KO potential
- Gentleman comes out fast and is much easier to execute
- You can sweet spot the ledge with UpB
- You have a long and fast ftilt to utilize the new Smash 4 pivot mechanics
- Dthrow sets up frame traps where you can combo and follow up with uair combos
- Good approach with Dash Attack that pops opponents up for uair and uair combos
- Dashing into shield allows you to approach and close distance safely (especially against projectile campers)
- Recovery is still weak, especially with the nerf to falcon kick
- Approaching is still unsafe and requires good baits to get an opportunity to get in. Falcon is still fast enough to capitalize on these opportunities and punish accordingly.
Example of Falcon frame trap scenario:
Grab into DownThrow or Dash Attack, run up, jump, wait.
If they airdodge, free knee at kill % or uairs to rack damage.
If they jump or attack, uair will beat both of those options and will combo into more uairs
Gentleman
One of Falcon's most important moves. Invaluable in the context of Melee, and in Smash 4 it's no different. Gentleman acts the same way as it's Melee counter part except its much easier to do and is more forgiving now that rapid jabs have a built in finisher anyways. Gentleman allows you to apply pressure to shields after a nair on their shield, but more importantly the Gentleman can also stuff a lot of approaches, wall out opponents, reset situations, and gives you breathing room. Especially now that it's been discovered that you can perfect pivot, foxtrot, and dashdance in Smash 4, Gentleman is going to be an incredibly useful tool for Falcon. This is the go-to option for grounded falcon in neutral position.
Rating: Fundamental
Dash Attack
This is another one of Falcon's most important moves and is the most significant change from Melee to Smash 4 for Falcon. Dash Attack has huge priority and will pop opponent and put them in a terrible position, in which you can frame trap them and follow up with uairs. In addition, Dash Attack gives Falcon something he desperately needed in Melee which was a grounded approach that gives you a positional advantage and an aerial follow up (very similar to Peach's Dash Attack in Melee). This is a great option if you see your opponent miss a tech (especially after Gentleman). Bair also can combo into Dash Attack. Be careful to not Dash Attack into shield. Falcon is so fast, mixing up between grab and dash attack approaches (much like Peach/Shiek in Melee) is going to be very strong.
Rating: Fundamental
FTilt
FTilt is going to be a great tool for Falcon in Smash 4 because of the new pivot mechanics and the prevalence and strength of rolls. You can perform a retreating dash and space pivot FTilt to punish unsafe approaches and back rolls. Once the more difficult perfect pivots mechanic becomes standard we may see this replaced simply with Gentleman. Right now I'm a fan of this move as a defensive option. You can also cross up shields with properly spaced FTilts.
Rating: Useful
UTilt
Situational edgeguarding tool that is a great spike at the edge if they have no ledge invincibility or if you catch them getting up from the ledge with no invincibility. You won't be landing this on players who recognize that they need to get off the ledge and utilize their ledge option before their invincibility expires, especially with it's lengthy start up time.
Rating: Situational
DTilt
This is a great choice at the ledge for punishing normal get up and ledge attack off the ledge with proper spacing. Especially with the new change to it's knock back, it'll send a lot character's beyond the limits of their recovery, and can also KO off the sides (even earlier with poor VI).
Rating: Useful, Situational
FSmash/USmash/DSmash
Falcon's Smashes have always been fairly situational across Melee, PM, Brawl, and now Smash 4. The start up and end times on Smashes and lack of range are not worth performing unless you're confident in a read. Just like in the other games Falcon has better options. One scenario is down throwing, and following up with a charged usmash if you expect them to airdodge.
Rating: Situational
Fair
The knee is harder to land in Smash 4 but it's still a great option for similar scenarios. Weak knee still has good priority that you can use to stuff when getting yourself grounded, and edgeguarding characters with weaker recoveries. Just like in Melee you can also punish rolls with good reaction. The biggest strength comes from the frame traps in Smash 3DS where you can punish with Knee.
Rating: Useful
Nair
Nair can autocancel and is great in the neutral game much like in Melee. Nair has great priority and you can space nair against shield and follow up with gentleman if you they're thirsty for a shield grab. Single hit nair into gentleman is a true combo.
Rating: Useful
Uair
Just like in Melee, Uair is going to be Falcon's best move. You can instant uair oos to hit opponents directly above you (characters tall enough anyways), and will pop them up for more uair follow ups. You can uair, and if you force out an airdodge, you can you uair again and catch it. Even better, is if you catch them without a jump in which case you can go to town with more uairs. It takes some practice to be able to follow up and fast fall mid combo appropriately to continue catching your opponent. Turning off tap jump will be useful when there's no c-stick option. Doing so will allow you to easily drop through platforms and uair.
Rating: Fundamental
Dair
Proper timing you can stuff approaches from below as you are trying to get yourself grounded. Otherwise, this is a high risk high reward option where if you miss there is a lot of landing lag, but if you get the hit you can get a strong follow up, including a knee. You can cover a tech option with stomp similarly to how you would in Melee. Otherwise, not something I would use all too often.
Rating: Situational
Bair
Bair is a great move that can also auto cancel. You can combo Bair into Dash Attack. Bair can also KO with the strong hit relatively well. Another really good use for Bair is run off bair as an edgeguard if your opponent rides the wall to recover or is still hanging on the ledge with no invincibility). You can jump out and bair as an edgeguard much like you can in Melee. Jumping will cancel your turning animation. So if you can go into full dash, turn the other way (you will get turning lag here), and jump, you will retain your momentum and you can bair that way.
Rating: Useful
Throws
DThrow is the only relevant throw. FThrow and BThrow are good options to get opponents off the stage if you grab them near the ledge. UThrow can get them in the air and frame trap them, leading to more uairs.
Rating: Situational
Dthrow
Just like in Melee, wait and bait out an attack and grab them. This is Falcon's best throw. Can follow up with Uair, and puts opponents into a terrible position where you can frame trap them and follow up with more uairs. At low percents you can also follow up with nair.
Rating: Fundamental
Neutral B
Hard read for the s w a g.
Rating: Situational
Side BRaptor boost is a huge improvement from Melee since now you can KO off the top as early as 100% depending on the stage and whether or not your opponent VI'd properly. Just like in Melee, this is a move that is risky to use to approach outright, but you can cross up shields, punish rolls, and punish missed moves. Smash 4 as a whole does have some problems with getting KO's but this is a great answer for Falcon to get kills, and puts a lot of pressure on opponents to not miss big commitment moves (ex: Marth Fsmash) or are roll-happy.
Rating: Fundamental
Up B
You can sweet spot the ledge now god bless. I've also found that you can combo into UpB after Uair much like you could with Falcon in 64.
Rating: God bless
Down B
Seems to be a little bit more forgiving as a move in this game as the knockback is significant. Similarly to Side B, don't use this as an approach outright otherwise you will get punished.
Rating: Situational
One of Falcon's most important moves. Invaluable in the context of Melee, and in Smash 4 it's no different. Gentleman acts the same way as it's Melee counter part except its much easier to do and is more forgiving now that rapid jabs have a built in finisher anyways. Gentleman allows you to apply pressure to shields after a nair on their shield, but more importantly the Gentleman can also stuff a lot of approaches, wall out opponents, reset situations, and gives you breathing room. Especially now that it's been discovered that you can perfect pivot, foxtrot, and dashdance in Smash 4, Gentleman is going to be an incredibly useful tool for Falcon. This is the go-to option for grounded falcon in neutral position.
Rating: Fundamental
Dash Attack
This is another one of Falcon's most important moves and is the most significant change from Melee to Smash 4 for Falcon. Dash Attack has huge priority and will pop opponent and put them in a terrible position, in which you can frame trap them and follow up with uairs. In addition, Dash Attack gives Falcon something he desperately needed in Melee which was a grounded approach that gives you a positional advantage and an aerial follow up (very similar to Peach's Dash Attack in Melee). This is a great option if you see your opponent miss a tech (especially after Gentleman). Bair also can combo into Dash Attack. Be careful to not Dash Attack into shield. Falcon is so fast, mixing up between grab and dash attack approaches (much like Peach/Shiek in Melee) is going to be very strong.
Rating: Fundamental
FTilt
FTilt is going to be a great tool for Falcon in Smash 4 because of the new pivot mechanics and the prevalence and strength of rolls. You can perform a retreating dash and space pivot FTilt to punish unsafe approaches and back rolls. Once the more difficult perfect pivots mechanic becomes standard we may see this replaced simply with Gentleman. Right now I'm a fan of this move as a defensive option. You can also cross up shields with properly spaced FTilts.
Rating: Useful
UTilt
Situational edgeguarding tool that is a great spike at the edge if they have no ledge invincibility or if you catch them getting up from the ledge with no invincibility. You won't be landing this on players who recognize that they need to get off the ledge and utilize their ledge option before their invincibility expires, especially with it's lengthy start up time.
Rating: Situational
DTilt
This is a great choice at the ledge for punishing normal get up and ledge attack off the ledge with proper spacing. Especially with the new change to it's knock back, it'll send a lot character's beyond the limits of their recovery, and can also KO off the sides (even earlier with poor VI).
Rating: Useful, Situational
FSmash/USmash/DSmash
Falcon's Smashes have always been fairly situational across Melee, PM, Brawl, and now Smash 4. The start up and end times on Smashes and lack of range are not worth performing unless you're confident in a read. Just like in the other games Falcon has better options. One scenario is down throwing, and following up with a charged usmash if you expect them to airdodge.
Rating: Situational
Fair
The knee is harder to land in Smash 4 but it's still a great option for similar scenarios. Weak knee still has good priority that you can use to stuff when getting yourself grounded, and edgeguarding characters with weaker recoveries. Just like in Melee you can also punish rolls with good reaction. The biggest strength comes from the frame traps in Smash 3DS where you can punish with Knee.
Rating: Useful
Nair
Nair can autocancel and is great in the neutral game much like in Melee. Nair has great priority and you can space nair against shield and follow up with gentleman if you they're thirsty for a shield grab. Single hit nair into gentleman is a true combo.
Rating: Useful
Uair
Just like in Melee, Uair is going to be Falcon's best move. You can instant uair oos to hit opponents directly above you (characters tall enough anyways), and will pop them up for more uair follow ups. You can uair, and if you force out an airdodge, you can you uair again and catch it. Even better, is if you catch them without a jump in which case you can go to town with more uairs. It takes some practice to be able to follow up and fast fall mid combo appropriately to continue catching your opponent. Turning off tap jump will be useful when there's no c-stick option. Doing so will allow you to easily drop through platforms and uair.
Rating: Fundamental
Dair
Proper timing you can stuff approaches from below as you are trying to get yourself grounded. Otherwise, this is a high risk high reward option where if you miss there is a lot of landing lag, but if you get the hit you can get a strong follow up, including a knee. You can cover a tech option with stomp similarly to how you would in Melee. Otherwise, not something I would use all too often.
Rating: Situational
Bair
Bair is a great move that can also auto cancel. You can combo Bair into Dash Attack. Bair can also KO with the strong hit relatively well. Another really good use for Bair is run off bair as an edgeguard if your opponent rides the wall to recover or is still hanging on the ledge with no invincibility). You can jump out and bair as an edgeguard much like you can in Melee. Jumping will cancel your turning animation. So if you can go into full dash, turn the other way (you will get turning lag here), and jump, you will retain your momentum and you can bair that way.
Rating: Useful
Throws
DThrow is the only relevant throw. FThrow and BThrow are good options to get opponents off the stage if you grab them near the ledge. UThrow can get them in the air and frame trap them, leading to more uairs.
Rating: Situational
Dthrow
Just like in Melee, wait and bait out an attack and grab them. This is Falcon's best throw. Can follow up with Uair, and puts opponents into a terrible position where you can frame trap them and follow up with more uairs. At low percents you can also follow up with nair.
Rating: Fundamental
Neutral B
Hard read for the s w a g.
Rating: Situational
Side BRaptor boost is a huge improvement from Melee since now you can KO off the top as early as 100% depending on the stage and whether or not your opponent VI'd properly. Just like in Melee, this is a move that is risky to use to approach outright, but you can cross up shields, punish rolls, and punish missed moves. Smash 4 as a whole does have some problems with getting KO's but this is a great answer for Falcon to get kills, and puts a lot of pressure on opponents to not miss big commitment moves (ex: Marth Fsmash) or are roll-happy.
Rating: Fundamental
Up B
You can sweet spot the ledge now god bless. I've also found that you can combo into UpB after Uair much like you could with Falcon in 64.
Rating: God bless
Down B
Seems to be a little bit more forgiving as a move in this game as the knockback is significant. Similarly to Side B, don't use this as an approach outright otherwise you will get punished.
Rating: Situational
Neutral, Aggression, and Defensive Tips
Neutral
- Dash into shield to close distances safely
- Learn to Perfect Pivot, Fox Trot, and Dash Dance in Smash 4
- Control space with pivot ftilt and auto cancelled nair
- Tomahawk into grabs or single hit nair into gentleman (true combo)
- Empty jumps backwards are great ways to create distance. If they approach you can single hit nair.
- Abuse rolls if your opponent can't punish them yet.
Aggression
- Pay attention to if they opt to shield your approach or stuff and mix up your approaches accordingly
- Dash Attack into Uair Combos
- Grab, Dthrow into Uair Combos
- Comboing effectively with uairs takes some practice. You can force/wait for airdodges and uair juggle. If you use your second jump, you can fast fall to the ground to reset your jumps and continue your juggle before you opponent hits the ground (depending on their character). You will also have to fast fall accordingly mid combo to continue catching your opponent with uair. I've gotten a few knees this way as well to punish air dodges. Falcon is going to rely a lot on the frame traps provided by dash attack and dthrow and the punishes that follow.
Example frame trap scenario:
Grab into DownThrow or Dash Attack, run up, jump, wait.
Frame Tight (True) Combos
- Single Hit Nair into Gentleman
- 65-80% Downthrow into Knee
-Jumping will cancel your turning animation. So if you can go into full dash, turn the other way (you will get turning lag here), and jump, you will retain your momentum and you can bair. This is really good for edgeguarding.
Defensive
- Gentleman can stuff approaches and wall opponents out.
- Uair from below if they approach from above. Uair will stuff or trade with moves coming from above and will allow you to continue juggling
- Instant uair and grab are good options oos
- Gentleman is love. Gentleman is life
- Dash into shield to close distances safely
- Learn to Perfect Pivot, Fox Trot, and Dash Dance in Smash 4
- Control space with pivot ftilt and auto cancelled nair
- Tomahawk into grabs or single hit nair into gentleman (true combo)
- Empty jumps backwards are great ways to create distance. If they approach you can single hit nair.
- Abuse rolls if your opponent can't punish them yet.
Aggression
- Pay attention to if they opt to shield your approach or stuff and mix up your approaches accordingly
- Dash Attack into Uair Combos
- Grab, Dthrow into Uair Combos
- Comboing effectively with uairs takes some practice. You can force/wait for airdodges and uair juggle. If you use your second jump, you can fast fall to the ground to reset your jumps and continue your juggle before you opponent hits the ground (depending on their character). You will also have to fast fall accordingly mid combo to continue catching your opponent with uair. I've gotten a few knees this way as well to punish air dodges. Falcon is going to rely a lot on the frame traps provided by dash attack and dthrow and the punishes that follow.
Example frame trap scenario:
Grab into DownThrow or Dash Attack, run up, jump, wait.
Scenario A: If they airdodge
Free knee at kill % or uairs to rack damage.
Scenario B: If they jump or attack
uair will beat both of those options and will combo into more uairs
Very devasting if opponent used up jump. You can continue to juggle with uairs to rack lots of %.
Free knee at kill % or uairs to rack damage.
Scenario B: If they jump or attack
uair will beat both of those options and will combo into more uairs
Very devasting if opponent used up jump. You can continue to juggle with uairs to rack lots of %.
Frame Tight (True) Combos
- Single Hit Nair into Gentleman
- 65-80% Downthrow into Knee
-Jumping will cancel your turning animation. So if you can go into full dash, turn the other way (you will get turning lag here), and jump, you will retain your momentum and you can bair. This is really good for edgeguarding.
Defensive
- Gentleman can stuff approaches and wall opponents out.
- Uair from below if they approach from above. Uair will stuff or trade with moves coming from above and will allow you to continue juggling
- Instant uair and grab are good options oos
- Gentleman is love. Gentleman is life
Note: Will update as the meta progresses.
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