• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Detailed Guide for a Tournament-Level Falcon

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0

Detailed Guide for a Tournament-Level Falcon
By Victra
Hi fellow Falcon players, my name is Victra. I was able to get Smash 4 a few days before street date and have spend a lot of time playing exclusively Falcon in For Glory as well as in local tournaments in WC Canada both online and offline. I wanted to share a few of my thoughts on Falcon in the context of Smash 3DS. This is of course, based on initial impressions over the 5 days (at the time this was initially written, but this will be updated as time goes on) I have been playing this game in a competitive setting with other high level players in my region, and of course are subject to change as the meta advances.

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

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
Overview of Move Set
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

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.

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 %.​

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.
 
Last edited:

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
You can also true combo into the knee from uairs. For example, if you land a uair on a low or grounded opponent (lets just say ZSS or Mac or similar weight characters since the percents are similar) at ~45 or so percent, land, then jump and do another uair, you can use your double jump and knee for a true 3 hit combo that ends in the knee. Kills if you start at 40. You can also do this from a dthrow instead of the low uair. Or any time you hit them with a uair in the late 50 to 60ish percent range and are close enough to double jump and knee. This last scenario happens quite a lot.
 

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
Recorded 3DS matches will be scarce since we only have one guy who has the equipment for it, but I have a few matches from a local tournament last weekend that I'll be able to share. Hopefully I'll get more in the future as well.

Otherwise I might have to figure out some ghetto way to record this via camera or something haha
 

adlp

Crewnaria
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
Messages
661
Location
Southern UT
NNID
adlpsfko
Switch FC
SW 2193-3260-2448
nice start on falcon, i'm stoked for where the meta takes him
 

Haptic

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
360
Location
Houston, TX
3DS FC
2251-5184-4442
I would very much like to see some matches if you have any to post. I'm new to Falcon, but have always wanted to learn him. In Brawl I skipped him because he seemed so incredibly weak, but he looks to be in a much better place for Smash 4. To clarify, the gentleman is a combo of just the first two jabs from Falcon, and not the third hit of the combo, correct? So a standard approaching combo would be single-hit n-air -> quick press of A to get the two jabs out -> shield-grab? Any time I try to do a quick press of A for the two jabs into L/R to grab, it just performs the third hit of the combo instead, which knocks them away.
 

TrollheartBlue

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 28, 2014
Messages
17
Location
Colorado, USA
When edge-guarding is it best to primarily stick with bair? I find myself SD'ing occasionally by going for a knee or a dair while edge-guarding and it's embarrassing.
 

Stafy

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
246
Location
California (Bay Area - Oakland)
If you want to stay on the stage, utilize all of your tilts. Ftilt is great for those that are about to hit the edge but not close enough to cling on. Utilt, if you can hit it, spikes them down, but even if you don't sweetspot it, they still get sent horizontally. Dtilt can flat out kill people.

If you want to jump off the stage, Bair is a good option, along with Uair. If you hit Uair backwards, you can hit them to the side as opposed to the skies, which can break people. Knee and Dair you should do if you are certain you can hit them with it, though knee is good for punishing predictable recoveries or if they already used their second jump or free falling. You just have to take into account their movements to hit them.

To be honest, you probably don't even need to hit them with the sweetspot of knee for some people. Weak knee is still pretty nice, just make sure you still have your second jump in case you need to get back on stage.
 

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
When edge-guarding is it best to primarily stick with bair? I find myself SD'ing occasionally by going for a knee or a dair while edge-guarding and it's embarrassing.
Well SD's happen pretty commonly for anyone when edge guarding online simply because of the lag (which is why characters who are awful off stage are doing so well in the environment). But for the most part, yeah. Bair and sometimes nair are his best options. What I'll sometimes do is if they're trying to recover low, i'll jump off and then fast-fall nair and catch them with the second hit. Falcons fast falling speed makes this incredibly hard to avoid, it works really well on anyone with an up B with poor overhead or horizontal hitboxes (ie Captain Falcon himself, Robin, anyone with a non damaging up B).

I would very much like to see some matches if you have any to post. I'm new to Falcon, but have always wanted to learn him. In Brawl I skipped him because he seemed so incredibly weak, but he looks to be in a much better place for Smash 4. To clarify, the gentleman is a combo of just the first two jabs from Falcon, and not the third hit of the combo, correct? So a standard approaching combo would be single-hit n-air -> quick press of A to get the two jabs out -> shield-grab? Any time I try to do a quick press of A for the two jabs into L/R to grab, it just performs the third hit of the combo instead, which knocks them away.
Well I'm going to be uploading some online matches soon as a practical demonstration of some combos I was showing earlier since people have asked for it. Hopefully in better quality than that video. Many people who got into Smash in Brawl or even in this game, simply don't understand Falcon's greatness because they didn't really play 64 or Melee, where he's great in both. If you watch any videos of Falcon being played at a high level in either of those games, he works the same for the most part. His uair is extremely potent like in 64 and his throw game is almost as good as it was in Melee(dthrow is a better, uthrow is worse). Also, the gentleman is all three hits. It's just his jab combo without the rapid hits.
 

TheBlueFalcon

Smash Cadet
Joined
Feb 16, 2012
Messages
43
Location
Port Town
Thanks for this great post. It's good to see more in-depth analysis emerging.

Gentleman is definitely a go-to move when grounded. D-throw to Knee at ~65% is so good it almost feels broken; a refreshing change from Brawl (combo was still viable in that game on certain characters but nothing like in SSB4).

The new dash-dancing/foxtrot mechanic looks to have serious potential and will definitely mean good things for Falcon's moves. Personally I'm going to make mastering this new technique a priority.
Will make an update to moveset post soon.
 

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
When edge-guarding is it best to primarily stick with bair? I find myself SD'ing occasionally by going for a knee or a dair while edge-guarding and it's embarrassing.
Just takes some practice. Even weak aerial hits are enough to either kill them outright depending on their recovery, or knock them far enough for you to repeat the process. You can't weak knee into uair for fatty gimps like you could in Melee though with the different uair knockback.

If you want to stay on the stage, utilize all of your tilts. Ftilt is great for those that are about to hit the edge but not close enough to cling on. Utilt, if you can hit it, spikes them down, but even if you don't sweetspot it, they still get sent horizontally. Dtilt can flat out kill people.
Tilts are great in this scenario. What I like to do is stand away from the ledge right where they would potentially be if they were to roll from the ledge. I think this will cover all their ledge options, especially considering how short the ledge invincibility times are and how few options players have on the ledge in this game (especially with the nerf to airdodge landing lag from Brawl and of course the lack of wavelands from Melee)

If they already grabbed the ledge:

Scenario 1: Normal/Attack Get up
DTilt which sends the horizontally and can out right KO, or run up grab if your reaction time is on point.

Scenario 2: Roll up
Knee, Gentleman, FSmash

Scenario 3: Jump up
Run up Uair

I would very much like to see some matches if you have any to post. I'm new to Falcon, but have always wanted to learn him. In Brawl I skipped him because he seemed so incredibly weak, but he looks to be in a much better place for Smash 4. To clarify, the gentleman is a combo of just the first two jabs from Falcon, and not the third hit of the combo, correct? So a standard approaching combo would be single-hit n-air -> quick press of A to get the two jabs out -> shield-grab? Any time I try to do a quick press of A for the two jabs into L/R to grab, it just performs the third hit of the combo instead, which knocks them away.
The entirety of single hit nair and the 3 hits of gentleman is a true combo. I like simply connecting the final hit of gentleman is the way to go since you can use your speed, run up, and follow up on it which is what you'll be getting if you were to down throw anyways. Or you can simply opt towards resetting the situation depend on the context.

Anytime a character is up in the air you can run up to them and force a frame trap scenario. It's important to remember that Uair (just like in Melee) will trade or out right beat moves from above. You can dash to where they are, and flow chart it.

Scenario 1: They Airdodge
A. Are they at kill %? Knee
B. Are they low %? Uair

Scenario 2: They Double Jump
Uair combo/juggle since they have no jump. Try your best to catch then and fast fall and land on the ground to reset your jumps asap when needed. The only way they'll really be able to get out of this scenario is to drift away from the stage.

Scenario 3: They Attack
Space your uair and hit them with your long as heck spider legs and go to town with those BnB uair combos/juggles
 
Last edited:

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
On a side note, I was able to perform a few 64-esque combos with uair into upb. Will confirm if this is frame tight at certain %s.
 

Weeman

Smash Crusader
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
5,279
Location
México
What control scheme do you recommend?, i've grown used to jump with Y and attack with A, but those inputs don't really allow me to do those Uair strings while shorthopping constantly.
 

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
I like the standard controls for the most part. I do prefer having tap jump turned off since there's no cstick yet. This allows for SH Uairs to be a lot easier (especially oos) and gives you better control of your uair juggles and combos, and lets you drop below platforms and uair a lot easier.
 

abit_rusty

Smash Lord
Joined
Nov 7, 2006
Messages
1,544
Location
East Lansing, MI
NNID
Rontuaru
3DS FC
2895-8974-0662
Great mini-guide. Any success with dair to knee? It seems like it could work on players who have no idea how to tech but teching seems extremely easy in this game and most of my attempts just get snuffed out because the tech-input window seems way too forgiving. Of course, they just hit the ground and tech back up immediately and dair's horrendous lag gets me punished.
 
Last edited:

CookingMama

Smash Rookie
Joined
Aug 25, 2014
Messages
11
Location
Boone, NC
NNID
Cooking-Okasan
This is a great introduction guide for beginner falcons! Hopefully we start to see more falcons in 1v1 (I've yet to have a falcon ditto outside of people revenge picking him (which never works out in their favor))

Another solid way to edgeguard, especially on plateau stages like tomodachi or tortimer's island, is to go for those wall jump aerials. Since the kill zones are so wide on most stages and everyone seems to live well above 100%, it's not that difficult to get people off the stage and set up something like a wall jump upair, bair, or knee for style. It's also a very unexpected and stylish way to return to the stage. Nothing's more satisfying than wall jumping behind an opponent on the stage with a crisp knee for a kill.

with that being said, will scar jumping be possible in this game?
 
Last edited:

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
not sure if you can scar jump since there's no cstick option for the 3ds

falcon dittos are as fun in Smash 4 as they are in the other Smash games. Falcon dittos forever haha.
 

Haptic

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
360
Location
Houston, TX
3DS FC
2251-5184-4442
falcon dittos are as fun in Smash 4 as they are in the other Smash games. Falcon dittos forever haha.
Would you want to get in a few Falcon dittos sometime soon, then? I feel like I could learn quite a lot from playing with you. I'll add your FC next chance I get, mine is in my profile.
 

Haptic

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 13, 2010
Messages
360
Location
Houston, TX
3DS FC
2251-5184-4442
Alright, I added you. I'll have a lobby open until someone joins, if you're available.
 

Weeman

Smash Crusader
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
5,279
Location
México
Man, the gentleman really is useful for pretty much anything, though i still don't get the pivot backwards jump thing, it doesn't seem like it retains any momentum to me.
 

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
Man, the gentleman really is useful for pretty much anything, though i still don't get the pivot backwards jump thing, it doesn't seem like it retains any momentum to me.
It's a really neat thing where you're not really "pivoting" like you would out of initial dash. You pretty much disrupt the turning lag animation with your jump. So you dash, turn the other way, (you would get that turning lag here), jump asap, and you'll end up jump backwards. Really good when you get the back flip animation since it carries the momentum better and sends you farther.
 

Space Stranger

space cowboy
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
Messages
14,767
Location
Toy Hell
NNID
ThePowerBlaster
3DS FC
1160-9748-6431
Great tips. My main problem with Falcon is approaching, I usually rely on his Nair to give me some momentum. Any tips?
 

Weeman

Smash Crusader
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
5,279
Location
México
Great tips. My main problem with Falcon is approaching, I usually rely on his Nair to give me some momentum. Any tips?
Punish a lot with "gentleman", try approaching spammy characters like rosalina or link by fox troting and shielding, grabbing or dash attacking them, down throw is really great to combo into Nair at low percentages, and Uair strings at 25% plus approximately, try not spamming Raptor boost or Falcon Kick when people run away from you, and try not to roll a lot. Some things that have been useful to me at least.
 
Last edited:

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
Great tips. My main problem with Falcon is approaching, I usually rely on his Nair to give me some momentum. Any tips?
In general I actually approach using Falcons amazing dash grab range. Another good approach, as long as you are patient, safe, and have the finger dexterity for it, is using his uair. If you do a shorthop towards someone and throw your uair out at the last second to hit them, you can follow up with just about anything you want. If you land a "landing" uair like this at around the 40s to 50s, you can pretty much guarantee a follow up into another uair and then end with a knee for a KO.

Really, for Falcon's approach you just need to be patient and wait for the right opportunity. Utilize his fast dashing speed, huge dash grab range, and his uair's unbelievably low landing lag (tied for lowest in the game).
 

victra♥

crystal skies
Joined
Jan 20, 2007
Messages
14,275
Location
Edmonton
Slippi.gg
victra#0
Falcon, like his melee counterpart, is incredibly fast. A lot of the times, especially at lower levels, players will just throw moves randomly. You can close the distance fast as soon as they over commit with a move, and just get them with a grab or dash attack.

If your opponent is a bit smarter in the neutral game you'll have to start forcing them to make those over commitments by dashing into shield or dash away pivots and trying to bait them out.

My preferred options to approach are dash attack or grab since they give you exactly what you're looking for. An opponent airborne for you to juggle. If they approach you in the air it saves you the trouble of getting them up there so you can dash under them and start uairing them.

SH nair is going to be character dependent. A lot of characters will be able to beat this move out outright or they'll be too short that you're gonna get punished for using this. If anything I'm really starting to like single hit nair since it combos in gentleman. On that topic, you can combo break by slipping out a nair as soon as you land on the ground and then following up asap with a gentleman.
 
Last edited:

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
Falcon, like his melee counterpart, is incredibly fast. A lot of the times, especially at lower levels, players will just throw moves randomly. You can close the distance fast as soon as they over commit with a move, and just get them with a grab or dash attack.

If your opponent is a bit smarter in the neutral game you'll have to start forcing them to make those over commitments by dashing into shield or dash away pivots and trying to bait them out.

My preferred options to approach are dash attack or grab since they give you exactly what you're looking for. An opponent airborne for you to juggle. If they approach you in the air it saves you the trouble of getting them up there so you can dash under them and start uairing them.

SH nair is going to be character dependent. A lot of characters will be able to beat this move out outright or they'll be too short that you're gonna get punished for using this. If anything I'm really starting to like single hit nair since it combos in gentleman. On that topic, you can combo break by slipping out a nair as soon as you land on the ground and then following up asap with a gentleman.
I agree on the nair especially. I don't use it unless they're "Falcon-sized" opponents. If you are fast enough on the input you can hit with the first kick and then fast fall into the second one on characters as short as Lucina. That's probably the shortest you can go though with that move.
 

Weeman

Smash Crusader
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
5,279
Location
México
My only problem with practicing at For Glory, is that i lose precision when executing his moves, since i always seem to get input lag, just had some amazing matches against a Wario though, we endep up 3 to 3. One of the main problems i'm talking about is not being able to do a Uair chain after a down throw, only hitting the first one,landing, and getting punished afterwards.
 

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
My only problem with practicing at For Glory, is that i lose precision when executing his moves, since i always seem to get input lag, just had some amazing matches against a Wario though, we endep up 3 to 3. One of the main problems i'm talking about is not being able to do a Uair chain after a down throw, only hitting the first one,landing, and getting punished afterwards.
I hear you man. Happens to me too. The best thing you can do is just try to adjust mid-match. Or find training opponents here that are close to your region.
 

Space Stranger

space cowboy
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
Messages
14,767
Location
Toy Hell
NNID
ThePowerBlaster
3DS FC
1160-9748-6431
Falcon, like his melee counterpart, is incredibly fast. A lot of the times, especially at lower levels, players will just throw moves randomly. You can close the distance fast as soon as they over commit with a move, and just get them with a grab or dash attack.

If your opponent is a bit smarter in the neutral game you'll have to start forcing them to make those over commitments by dashing into shield or dash away pivots and trying to bait them out.

My preferred options to approach are dash attack or grab since they give you exactly what you're looking for. An opponent airborne for you to juggle. If they approach you in the air it saves you the trouble of getting them up there so you can dash under them and start uairing them.

SH nair is going to be character dependent. A lot of characters will be able to beat this move out outright or they'll be too short that you're gonna get punished for using this. If anything I'm really starting to like single hit nair since it combos in gentleman. On that topic, you can combo break by slipping out a nair as soon as you land on the ground and then following up asap with a gentleman.
Cool, my standard method usually works well with players who are pretty average at the game. It may be the reason why I am countered easily if I continue a match. I'll work on my approach. Thanks guys!
 

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
Cool, my standard method usually works well with players who are pretty average at the game. It may be the reason why I am countered easily if I continue a match. I'll work on my approach. Thanks guys!
Keep at it dude. I also recommend going into training and practicing on your true combos. A tip, if you set the AI to level 9 it tends to DI away so you can practice against people who DI away from your throws (most people).
 

Captain Norris

Smash Lord
Joined
Aug 28, 2014
Messages
1,445
Location
Final Destination
NNID
ZeldaFan3280
any tips for going from down throw to Knee? I always seem to be off. Like I get caught up in the lag of the throw and it will not let me react as quick as I want.
 

Gawain

Smash Lord
Joined
Sep 7, 2014
Messages
1,076
NNID
Gawain
3DS FC
5069-4113-9796
any tips for going from down throw to Knee? I always seem to be off. Like I get caught up in the lag of the throw and it will not let me react as quick as I want.
The lag makes it harder to pull off online sometimes. You just have to get the timing down. You do need to dash before you jump into the knee. The length of the dash before the jump depends on their DI. Also, you can still knee them at even higher percents (80s and 90s) if you quickly double jump into the knee.

The way I did it was I went into training mode and slowed it down, then watched the animation to see when it frees Falcon up for action. Then I just practiced the timing till I got it just right.
 

iVoltage

$5.99 Abuser
Joined
Apr 18, 2014
Messages
472
Location
Murfreesboro, TN
This guide has helped so much its not even funny. I've been using it as a guide and practicing these techniques for around an hour and a half. Not only has my falcon improved, my general play has aswell since you posted the link to learn how to dash dance, pivot ect. (Its really hard to dash dance on a 3ds) So an immense amount of gratitude to you! Good luck to you on completing the guide as the meta progresses.
 

Weeman

Smash Crusader
Joined
May 5, 2014
Messages
5,279
Location
México
Any tips on how to land back on stage safely? I've noticed Falcon, despite being a great juggler, has problems with getting juggled himself, it gets really hard to land back o nthe stage safely against the likes of Shiek or even Ness, since his Dair is hard to land and easy toi punish.
 
Top Bottom