Meta Falco: Approaches and Combos/Strings

[Legend Vermillion]

We can share here all our approach strategies or the combos/strings we have found. Let me start with this:

In terms of approach: Airdodge to the ground is no longer an option because the lag it has when you land on the stage. I think dash attack can punish a lot of things and has good range but be careful, in this game shield is so good and if we dash attack they can shieldgrab us easy. I dont know good way to get a grab since the range is garbage. Well spaced BAir can be a good approach too. Also jab is very good, you can use it for punishing dodges and similar.

Combos/strings:
DThrow -> dash attack/nair
UThrow -> UAir/BAir
At edge -> BThrow enemy out of the stage -> gimp with BAir or FAir

 

[shaneknows]

So funny I was thinking about posting this thread this morning. For approaching I have mostly been doing spaced bairs and nairs. I feel like Nair is easy to confirm into a jab string also. Early in the game I tend to use the shield to read how the opponent will approach since it is fairly safe and usually just resets the situation.

I havent found any worthwhile combos yet besides the obvious.

 

[Conda]

So funny I was thinking about posting this thread this morning. For approaching I have mostly been doing spaced bairs and nairs. I feel like Nair is easy to confirm into a jab string also. Early in the game I tend to use the shield to read how the opponent will approach since it is fairly safe and usually just resets the situation.

I havent found any worthwhile combos yet besides the obvious.

Nair has a flimsy hitbox in my experience - its easy to whiff some of the mutihits as it had no suction, or enemies can just sdi or drift out. I prefer fox's nair. Ive landed falcos nair yet it ends up whiffing the last half of the attack often, making it unreliable. You can sometimes still chain but it feels unreliable.

 

[WECsoul]

DThrow -> fair -> dash attack/ front smash (fsmash only against heavy opponents possible)

Depending on enemy character, it should work up to 40-50%

DThrow -> fair -> dash attack/ front smash (fsmash only against heavy opponents possible)

Depending on enemy character, it should work up to 40-50%

 

[Roy's ouR boy]

At 0% my favorite combo is Uthrow -> Nair. You can sometimes get a Bair afterward! (if you're feeling ambitious)
I like using phantasms to extend my strings such as: Ftilt -> tech chase phantasm. Phantasm can also give you a Uair follow up. Just read their air-dodges and stuff.

 

[Beetle Juice]

The Bread maker has returned!!!!
Behold my knowledge.

Down Throw-> up smash can be connected twice at low percent (three times on heavier characters). Can chase with Falcos weak nair, but i suggest you chase and grab.
Ftilt-> down B is your keep away.

Speaking of Down B it should be your new zoning tool, a spaced reflector does about four to five percent, causes trips, and forces re grabs on your opponents when rising on the ledge. This will also frustrate your opponent and for them to jump or roll towards you. That is what you want.

Short hop Side B doesn't auto cancels anymore, but the lag is minimal enough to react before your opponent reaches you. This is your retreating tool.

mid to high percents you will be depending on your gimps, not smashes (unless it is a out of shield up smash). Like LV said back throw is really good in this game, use it a lot, then from the Bair is to stop retreats from high air, Fair for low or if their aiming for the stage you can A. Fsmash or B. grab and back throw again.

Speaking of Fair do not be afraid to clash with an opponent recovering. Fair has strong priority, if you so happen to clash and made contact it is a spike, I have tried it vs shulk.

and of course, dash attack is to obvious, they will expect it or a short hop. Force them to approach with lasers if they do not have an reflector, they can not camp you with projectiles while you properly use your reflector. Make them approach, and slow down their approach with down b, and walk, do not run.

 

[mistermoo33]

DThrow -> fair -> dash attack/ front smash (fsmash only against heavy opponents possible)

Depending on enemy character, it should work up to 40-50%

Can you really pull this off despite the landing lag on fair? The dash attack / fsmash? Even if they vector away?

 

[Leg]

Speaking of Down B it should be your new zoning tool, a spaced reflector does about four to five percent, causes trips, and forces re grabs on your opponents when rising on the ledge...

I havent played much as Smash4 Falco, (mostly because I dont have a 3ds :C ) But I am a brawl Falco main. In brawl, a reflector trip meant free grabs. If reflector causes trip indefinitely, would it be possible to down throw, force a trip with reflector, and then grab them again?

 

[Legend Vermillion]

I havent played much as Smash4 Falco, (mostly because I dont have a 3ds :C ) But I am a brawl Falco main. In brawl, a reflector trip meant free grabs. If reflector causes trip indefinitely, would it be possible to down throw, force a trip with reflector, and then grab them again?

I have been trying that but reflector hits the enemy when he is still in the air, so they wont trip :/

 

[Leg]

I have been trying that but reflector hits the enemy when he is still in the air, so they wont trip :/

Ah. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of this. Mkay... would jab reset them to the ground, allowing reflector to trip? That's the only other option I think would even lead to reflector besides ftilt...

 

[Beetle Juice]

I have been trying that but reflector hits the enemy when he is still in the air, so they wont trip :/

of course in the air it only pushes them back a little, but it slows down any momentum towards you.

Ah. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who thought of this. Mkay... would jab reset them to the ground, allowing reflector to trip? That's the only other option I think would even lead to reflector besides ftilt...

jabs does not place them on the ground, in fact, jab strings lift them up from the ground. In this game ftilt is safer than jab because of the end lag, falco's fastest and safest ground moves are ftilt and dtilt.

 

[Mettie7]

While not very strong, only 10%, D-Throw > SH Down B works against some characters. Heavier characters don't require the SH, but they might at higher percents. Probably not worth it, but it doesn't do much knockback to there may or may not be combo potential in there, idk

 

[Beetle Juice]

In terms of custom moves, down throw and side B (the short one with strong knock back) can work if you're willing to sacrifice your recovery. It has a stronger knock back at the beginning on the phantasm. But I don't really think that it is worth it, maybe just preference.

 

[Wulfy07]

Dthrow->fair is almost guaranteed on reaction (from personal experience) and if not, it is pretty safe.
On characters around marth's weight class: Dthrow->ftilt-jab combo will usually result in at least 30%. NOTE: if they fall quickly and tech off the throw, the f-tilt will be short enough that the jab will hit them out of a neutral tech.

Fair is great for edge guarding. D:

Oh, actually, will tournament allow custom moves? I am 90% sure that alterations regarding power/speed/defense will be out, but would custom movesets be permitted? (Personally, I'm slightly against it, but idk).

 

[Beetle Juice]

Dthrow->fair is almost guaranteed on reaction (from personal experience) and if not, it is pretty safe.
On characters around marth's weight class: Dthrow->ftilt-jab combo will usually result in at least 30%. NOTE: if they fall quickly and tech off the throw, the f-tilt will be short enough that the jab will hit them out of a neutral tech.

Fair is great for edge guarding. D:

Oh, actually, will tournament allow custom moves? I am 90% sure that alterations regarding power/speed/defense will be out, but would custom movesets be permitted? (Personally, I'm slightly against it, but idk).

so far special moves are permitted because it adds variety

 

[Opana]

Dtilt->Ftilt->Dtilt->Dash Attack->Full Hop Fair->Jump into Phantasm

Does 53%, would probably be hell to pull off and is just a string but a nice one when it works. Tested on Bowser and I expect it to only work on heavies, if anyone aside from Bowser is even affected.

 

[McDareth]

You can Dtilt to punish an opponents approach at at low percents you can Dtilt > Nair if they try to jump after the Dtilt or Dtilt > Dash Grab if they try to air dodge or just land on the stage. For other grab setups I've been trying to get Jab > Jab > Shield > Shield Grab as a lot of characters fall out of Falco's Jab after 2 hits and opponents that know this will try and throw out a move or hold back and shield.

I've had difficulty getting too much off of tripping opponents with the Reflecter though as if they don't roll in or not act out of the trip, they can just roll back and by the time Falco catches the Reflector, it's pretty much a neutral situation again.

 

[Beetle Juice]

I've had difficulty getting too much off of tripping opponents with the Reflecter though as if they don't roll in or not act out of the trip, they can just roll back and by the time Falco catches the Reflector, it's pretty much a neutral situation again.

You can always short hop phantasm is they roll away.

 

[Conda]

You can Dtilt to punish an opponents approach at at low percents you can Dtilt > Nair if they try to jump after the Dtilt or Dtilt > Dash Grab if they try to air dodge or just land on the stage. For other grab setups I've been trying to get Jab > Jab > Shield > Shield Grab as a lot of characters fall out of Falco's Jab after 2 hits and opponents that know this will try and throw out a move or hold back and shield.

I've had difficulty getting too much off of tripping opponents with the Reflecter though as if they don't roll in or not act out of the trip, they can just roll back and by the time Falco catches the Reflector, it's pretty much a neutral situation again.

His custom 3 is awesome as an alt. it doesn't reflect, it just destroys, which removes some of falcos scariness to big-projectile characters like samus and lucario. But it's so easy to shoot falco with moves like theirs because you just have to shoot him from behind to avoid it from being reflected. Can still be shielded of course but when falco has his back turned (like in some aerial situations), your projectile is simply not gonna get reflected.

Falcos reflector also doesn't stall him mid-air, which further shows it's not a fantastic aerial reflector at times (though sometimes retaining momentum while reflecting is desirable for falco).

So trading out the reflective properties and limiting it to simply erasing projectiles when hit is fine defensively, still. It just doesn't have that offensive thread respect-requirement anymore.

BUT

It becomes a bus. It hits like a truck out of nowhere and makes it useful in 100% of match ups and can't be punished if it hits, making it more worth the risk. Unlike the default which can still be punished on trips and is only useful against projectile users, since the physical hit isn't really worth the end lag risk-wise.

 

[BltzZ]

Can you really pull this off despite the landing lag on fair? The dash attack / fsmash? Even if they vector away?

Yes its possible. D throw - Short hop fair - when i land i do D tilt - Followup with another fair or a dash kick, should be 45-50% but only from early percents like 0-10

 

[Conda]

Posted this in the stickied general chat thread.


Just had an awesome time with Falco and have to share some things I've learnt. I have been doing the same with Bowser Jr lately and trying to figure out what he can be strong at. My other fav is Ness, but he has weaknesses that top players always get used to taking advantage of, and they haven't really gone away, so I don't see him as a dependable character to main.
But Falco? Oh boy, he's quite the beast.
-----


I'm finding Falco to be VERY good. I think we're seelping on him - his neutral game is absurdly good. He has great moves to use at every angle that combo at low %s and kill at high %. Vertically he can combo even on high knockback moves due to his jump height. He has, great specials, awesome customs (fast firebird and down B 3 are great options), and amazing offstage game.


Seriously, offstage is absurdly good. Due to his fall speed and the nature of his aerials, he can swoop in within the blink of an eye and confidently edgeguard.
Facing forward you can fair gimp which drags them down and then sends the horizontally, and Falco can recover no problem thanks to his ridiculous jump height. Facing backward you can use his instant-bair which is super powerful - we just haven't really been using it as well as we could due to the control stick.

The spike is still great, no reason to think it's bad - yeah it's not instant, but Smash bros has been removing more and more instant spikes in each game and replacing them with wind-up ones. Yeah it'd be nice to have the broken insta-spike, but now it's balanced like Ness's, Falcon's, DK's, Samus's, etc. It's still a VERY powerful spike for Falco's weight class, and Falco's jumping physics make it very easy to land this move.

To spike, simply jump off the ledge toward a recovering opponent - fall below them and let them get above you. Then you use Falco's super fast double jump and DAIR at the same time to swoop up - by the time you reach your height, your dair hit and your foe gets spiked. You can do this at super low percents and it's safe because of how safely you set it up - if you don't think you can hit your opponent, don't DJ up and simply return to stage. If you miss, you can get back to the stage super quick from your position. As a non-floatie, you have the ability to surprise your foe with a spike in ways most characters cannot.


But enough about the spike - fair is absolutely amazing as a multi-hit as it's completely inescapable and you can drag foes down, up, or wherever you want.

Uair is a beast - a falcon/kirby/etc esque arc kick that is super easy to land compared to Fox's, and Falco's jump height means you can combo into this easily, and can swoop up to land a killing blow just like Fox can. The only difference is Falco can go MUCH higher than Fox, and thus can reach foes near the blast line to land that amazing KO hit (you can also FAir if you like).

You can also pull off uair-bair combos high in the sky, I've done it twice in the past handful of matches unintentionally. Definitely want to master this. Uair at low percents has low knockback that lets you pull stuff like this off, yet you can do a different version of it at higher percents. You jump -> uair -> DJ to foe's position and bair or fair .

Falco's jumping style is the thing that enables him to be great in the air. We're focusing too much on his lasers and dair nerf and not realising what he can do in the air now that hitstun is a thing.


And my favourite thing of all - dtilt. A killer at 120~, and super SUPER quick. This OOS to punish attacks is very dependable. Barely any need to try and land a smash attack if the foe is in front of you at at 120~, just dtilt. If they survive, pursue them into the sky and land a fair, bair, or uair as all of them will kill that high. That's what's amazing about Falco - he really does prefer the sky in Smash 4.

 

[BltzZ]

Posted this in the stickied general chat thread.


Just had an awesome time with Falco and have to share some things I've learnt. I have been doing the same with Bowser Jr lately and trying to figure out what he can be strong at. My other fav is Ness, but he has weaknesses that top players always get used to taking advantage of, and they haven't really gone away, so I don't see him as a dependable character to main.
But Falco? Oh boy, he's quite the beast.
-----


I'm finding Falco to be VERY good. I think we're seelping on him - his neutral game is absurdly good. He has great moves to use at every angle that combo at low %s and kill at high %. Vertically he can combo even on high knockback moves due to his jump height. He has, great specials, awesome customs (fast firebird and down B 3 are great options), and amazing offstage game.


Seriously, offstage is absurdly good. Due to his fall speed and the nature of his aerials, he can swoop in within the blink of an eye and confidently edgeguard.
Facing forward you can fair gimp which drags them down and then sends the horizontally, and Falco can recover no problem thanks to his ridiculous jump height. Facing backward you can use his instant-bair which is super powerful - we just haven't really been using it as well as we could due to the control stick.

The spike is still great, no reason to think it's bad - yeah it's not instant, but Smash bros has been removing more and more instant spikes in each game and replacing them with wind-up ones. Yeah it'd be nice to have the broken insta-spike, but now it's balanced like Ness's, Falcon's, DK's, Samus's, etc. It's still a VERY powerful spike for Falco's weight class, and Falco's jumping physics make it very easy to land this move.

To spike, simply jump off the ledge toward a recovering opponent - fall below them and let them get above you. Then you use Falco's super fast double jump and DAIR at the same time to swoop up - by the time you reach your height, your dair hit and your foe gets spiked. You can do this at super low percents and it's safe because of how safely you set it up - if you don't think you can hit your opponent, don't DJ up and simply return to stage. If you miss, you can get back to the stage super quick from your position. As a non-floatie, you have the ability to surprise your foe with a spike in ways most characters cannot.


But enough about the spike - fair is absolutely amazing as a multi-hit as it's completely inescapable and you can drag foes down, up, or wherever you want.

Uair is a beast - a falcon/kirby/etc esque arc kick that is super easy to land compared to Fox's, and Falco's jump height means you can combo into this easily, and can swoop up to land a killing blow just like Fox can. The only difference is Falco can go MUCH higher than Fox, and thus can reach foes near the blast line to land that amazing KO hit (you can also FAir if you like).

You can also pull off uair-bair combos high in the sky, I've done it twice in the past handful of matches unintentionally. Definitely want to master this. Uair at low percents has low knockback that lets you pull stuff like this off, yet you can do a different version of it at higher percents. You jump -> uair -> DJ to foe's position and bair or fair .

Falco's jumping style is the thing that enables him to be great in the air. We're focusing too much on his lasers and dair nerf and not realising what he can do in the air now that hitstun is a thing.


And my favourite thing of all - dtilt. A killer at 120~, and super SUPER quick. This OOS to punish attacks is very dependable. Barely any need to try and land a smash attack if the foe is in front of you at at 120~, just dtilt. If they survive, pursue them into the sky and land a fair, bair, or uair as all of them will kill that high. That's what's amazing about Falco - he really does prefer the sky in Smash 4.

Good stuff man really awesome finds. I rarely can air chase opponents to follow with an uair but I contribute that to my lag and control stick issues

 

[Ziem'sPit]

For heavies, At low percentages (0% - 20%) my go to is:
Grab -> DThrow -> UTilt/chase into Up Smash -> Grab -> DThrow/FThrow -> Dash Attack -> Fair -> Dash Attack/Forward Smash
The full thing deals like 50%
(Tested on )

For everyone else:
Grab -> FThrow -> Dash Attack -> Fair -> Dash Attack/Forward Smash

 

[McDareth]

You can always short hop phantasm is they roll away.

Yeah, I just saw this today actually in Falco dittos verses FOW so I'll try to incorporate this.

 

[Beetle Juice]

I went to a tournament today, and ran some matches with falco on friendlies as a warm up, and my perspective is changing about falco, I run him online, and inputs run amok, but vs a couple of players with that one microwave lag he seems better than what he appears to be, I've been incredibly successful with gimps, continuing mix ups between air attacks and baiting the grabs. I use to think a good lil mac is a horrible match up but after spamming phantasm, reflector and jabs lol, it looks like like living hell for lil mac (I say its an even match up though). Not to mention how good fair has become offstage and full hopped. I will try to get some videos up on the next tournament. (I went pit, got 2nd lol)

Imma go falco all the way. whoop whoop

Edit: also Down smash semi spikes and has good knock back (sour spot close to Falco's body), its good for a fair gimp set up.
#GamecubeController

 

[Wulfy07]

I went to a tournament today, and ran some matches with falco on friendlies as a warm up, and my perspective is changing about falco, I run him online, and inputs run amok, but vs a couple of players with that one microwave lag he seems better than what he appears to be, I've been incredibly successful with gimps, continuing mix ups between air attacks and baiting the grabs. I use to think a good lil mac is a horrible match up but after spamming phantasm, reflector and jabs lol, it looks like like living hell for lil mac (I say its an even match up though). Not to mention how good fair has become offstage and full hopped. I will try to get some videos up on the next tournament. (I went pit, got 2nd lol)

Imma go falco all the way. whoop whoop

Edit: also Down smash semi spikes and has good knock back (sour spot close to Falco's body), its good for a fair gimp set up.
#GamecubeController

Personally, I think Falco would be a decent favorite, but I have been wrong before. :D

 

[Beetle Juice]

Personally, I think Falco would be a decent favorite, but I have been wrong before. :D

That's how I felt about him when brawl first came out. (though I'm not a big fan of brawl) Falco turned out to be a good character.

 

[Attila the Hun]

So it's not great, but for swag points you can do Dthrow>Dair at low %'s.

The dair if done right catches them if they miss the tech and gives a forced get up.

Yeah, I know it's not even close to 100%, but swagswagswag.

 

[OddCrow]

This combo is solid but only works on people a couple times before they learn.

Dthrow -> dash attack -> up tilt x2 -> here you have to read and either Up-Air, Neutral Air, or Upsmash depending on how they VI (up, none, down) builds over 50%, really only works under 30 or so tops

 

[Charhazzard]

I'm really loving the fast firebird custom now, after using it a few times I realized it's a great tool for approach regaining neutral spacing and keeping constant aggro.

Here's a short vid of me trying to get used to fast firebird. Maybe you guys can apply this to your game as well.Ssb4 Falco fast fire bird:http://youtu.be/

 

[Illuvial]

I'm really loving the fast firebird custom now, after using it a few times I realized it's a great tool for approach regaining neutral spacing and keeping constant aggro.

Here's a short vid of me trying to get used to fast firebird. Maybe you guys can apply this to your game as well.Ssb4 Falco fast fire bird:http://youtu.be/

That's some sick tech! I love Fast Firebird against characters with good offstage game, as against competent opponents Fox and Falco's base firebird is just too slow and easy to gimp

 

[Zionaze]

Ive been playing Falco for the past month and regularly use this combo/chaingrab(?) at 4~9%.
D-Throw > ShFair > Dash Grab > Repeat 2~3 times. this generally stacks up to 40% if done correctly, and it seems to me its guaranteed on almost every character. *on a side note if done against little mac near the ledge :V
/watch?v=ROP0KPKhn-0&list=UU_iJ4XRiam4C3WwGfm_Ka4Q sorry for potato quality

regarding my previous post, it seems on some heavier characters/fast fallers it might be more effective to just D-Throw > 2 Up Smashes > u-air/u-tilt rather than the tricky chain grab

 

[Charhazzard]

Ive been playing Falco for the past month and regularly use this combo/chaingrab(?) at 4~9%.
D-Throw > ShFair > Dash Grab > Repeat 2~3 times. this generally stacks up to 40% if done correctly, and it seems to me its guaranteed on almost every character. *on a side note if done against little mac near the ledge :V
/watch?v=ROP0KPKhn-0&list=UU_iJ4XRiam4C3WwGfm_Ka4Q sorry for potato quality

The link is messed up repost or edit the link.

 

[Zionaze]

The link is messed up repost or edit the link.

its a youtube link btw and i cant post links yet Q_Q just made this account

 

[Ffamran]

Meh... On the ground: sweet-spot Dair and follow up with pretty much anything - Up Smash, Up Tilt, Down Tilt, Side Smash. Only works at around 60%, though and it's incredibly risky if the opponent shields or dodges since the ending lag and "freeze" frame spells death for Falco.

 

[JamesUK7]

Here's a short clip of a decent string I got against a friend the other day! (Not a guaranteed combo I know) Kinda reminded me of what Falco could do in Brawl...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRrxxRRlDEw&index=1&list=UUAzqc1RuzUCek7pt8UmsgAQ

 

[SaturnFrost]

Down tilt-->Down B
Works up to about 35

Nice little chain grab
Downthrow -->Fast Fall Fair-->repeat
Works up to about 40ish (noticed someone else posted this as well).

 

[Zionaze]

an escaped n-air tends to put myself in the perfect position for a sweetspotted b-air and i often use it to kill as its almost guarenteed

 

[BltzZ]

an escaped n-air tends to put myself in the perfect position for a sweetspotted b-air and i often use it to kill as its almost guarenteed

Ikr I cannot wait for a C stick to lands those consistently

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Can you really pull this off despite the landing lag on fair? The dash attack / fsmash? Even if they vector away?

Probably not with someone who will vector as soon as they notice they have been hit.
f-throw to shine works also at lower percent and near ledge can catch someone off guard to cause a quick gimp. I think it works until about 60% percent or so haven't done much testing.