Landing

[Veskah]

So Olimar doesn't have the best air game, to no one's surprise. I can do well in a match when I have control of the stage. But the moment I lose it, I'm done. Unless the opponent messes up and allows me to regain my footing, I cannot figure out a way to fight my way back down to the stage. What do you guys do to retake it?

 

[Kon]

You're right, Olimar's air game isn't the best. There are some ways to get back to the ground. If you have a purple Pikmin in your line, you'll be fine. Grabbing the ledge and then throwing a purple one to make the part around the ledge safer is definitely a thing. even if you're somewhere in the air right above the stage, a purple pikmin thrown right can help you out. (if you're enemy tries to get you with a fair or bair for example, you have a situation to throw a purple pikmin at him)

You should also be aware that you have some mix-ups for landing without throwing out any move. A well timed airdodge can get you pass the opponent. Falling more "zick-zack" like may also make it more difficult to predict your landing spot. And saving your second jump to avoid the opponent is also always good. These are at least the options I consider when I want to get back on stage if I'm somewhere above the stage and want to get back to the ground.

If you want to get back on stage when being somewhere offstage near the blastzone, you also have good tools as an Olimar player. Your recovery is great, because you can control it that well. The less pikmin you have, the faster you can fly around and the lower you can go before recovering. You should mix up with your ways to recover. Sometimes recover high to surprise your opponent. Sometimes go for the ledge. Other times you may want to go underneath the stage to the opposite ledge. Or you want to recover and land on a plattform onstage. Also keep in mind you can use ONE aerial while you use your recovery. This makes it less risky to land directly on stage. Still, sometimes the ledge is the better option. You just have to watch how your opponent reacts. Will he try to gimp you? Maybe even get a spike on you? Or will he just try to not allow you to grab the ledge? Will he go for ledge trumps?
Even if you want to go for the most obvious ledge, you still can be less predictable by sometimes flying straight to the ledge and other times fly along the wall to the ledge. I've written more than perhaps needed, but this should show you how many options you have to recover and get back on the stage. Keep up mixing these things up to be almost unpredictable. Even if some people think it's easy to gimp Olimar, I feel like this is wrong. He has such a great recovery and he can even protect himself by throwing out an aerial during the recovery, so it's not like a "punish-me-please" recovery.

 

[Angbad]

Use up-B and b-reversal to mix up your landings. You really just have to be unpredictable.

 

[Greenpikmin]

To regain stage control: I usually find that a fast-fall nair into your opponent works well, follow up with an up tilt afterwards to put them in the situation you were just in, and depending on the character and percent you can do an up-air or two after the up-tilt.

 

[Freezie KO]

To regain stage control: I usually find that a fast-fall nair into your opponent works well, follow up with an up tilt afterwards to put them in the situation you were just in, and depending on the character and percent you can do an up-air or two after the up-tilt.

This is one of my favorites. When your opponent thinks you're going to recover far away, instead go straight towards them. Then use an auto-cancelled nair into them, crossing them up, so you land behind them. Then immediately up-tilt on landing. Very little they can do, and if you just land one of the multiple hits of the nair or up-tilt, you're on your way back to a safe neutral.

 

[Greenpikmin]

This is one of my favorites. When your opponent thinks you're going to recover far away, instead go straight towards them. Then use an auto-cancelled nair into them, crossing them up, so you land behind them. Then immediately up-tilt on landing. Very little they can do, and if you just land one of the multiple hits of the nair or up-tilt, you're on your way back to a safe neutral.

Yeah and its pretty safe too, the only scenario where you can be punished for the nair (providing you hit them with it) is if the character you're landing on has a fast move/good nair such as Mario, Yoshi, ect.

 

[Kon]

Yeah and its pretty safe too, the only scenario where you can be punished for the nair (providing you hit them with it) is if the character you're landing on has a fast move/good nair such as Mario, Yoshi, ect.

Also you can be punished for a miss-spaced nair into the shield, where you land in front of you ennemy who then may shieldgrab you.

 

[Sky Pirate]

Is the window for whistle-bouncing incredibly tight or nonexistent in this one?
I can bounce a midair pluck all day, but I haven't been able to do it with whistle...

 

[Blue Banana]

What's whistle-bouncing?

 

[koken]

@ Sky Pirate by whistle-bouncing you mean Short Hop + Whistle ?
If so, it's totally doable.

 

[Sky Pirate]

B-Reversing his whistle. From the old Brawl Olimar guide:

* Whistle Bouncing (B-Reversal) -
Input a whistle in the direction you're facing, then press in the opposite direction within four frames. The easiest way to do this would be to press 321 on the control stick (or Forward-Down, Down, Back-Down), pressing the "Special" button on the 3 (or Forward-Down) input. Used mostly for aerial mindgames, can also be used at an edge as a quick way of getting under semi-permeable platforms.

 

[-The Gucci Fairy-]

I just saw

B-Reversing his whistle. From the old Brawl Olimar guide:

* Whistle Bouncing (B-Reversal) -
Input a whistle in the direction you're facing, then press in the opposite direction within four frames. The easiest way to do this would be to press 321 on the control stick (or Forward-Down, Down, Back-Down), pressing the "Special" button on the 3 (or Forward-Down) input. Used mostly for aerial mindgames, can also be used at an edge as a quick way of getting under semi-permeable platforms.

I just saw this now and even tho im pretty late AF but its not possible to whistle bounce anymore sadly although you can whistle and then immediately do the b reverse pluck which is the closest thing we have to what god like whistle olimar had in brawl

 

[Indexxical!]

I just saw

I just saw this now and even tho im pretty late AF but its not possible to whistle bounce anymore sadly although you can whistle and then immediately do the b reverse pluck which is the closest thing we have to what god like whistle olimar had in brawl

I was just about to mention b reverse plucking myself. It also auto-cancels! The whistle should be used more, I agree, but from my time with playing Robin, I found that many characters can mix up their landings with their neutral-b.

To regain stage control: I usually find that a fast-fall nair into your opponent works well, follow up with an up tilt afterwards to put them in the situation you were just in, and depending on the character and percent you can do an up-air or two after the up-tilt.

And at higher percentages, you can fast fall nair right into up-smash as a great kill option. Just make sure your opponent wasn't launched by the final hit of your nair before you go for the up-smash.

 

[-The Gucci Fairy-]

I was just about to mention b reverse plucking myself. It also auto-cancels! The whistle should be used more, I agree, but from my time with playing Robin, I found that many characters can mix up their landings with their neutral-b.




And at higher percentages, you can fast fall nair right into up-smash as a great kill option. Just make sure your opponent wasn't launched by the final hit of your nair before you go for the up-smash.

Even at higher percents that isn't guaranteed especially against top level people who know how to beat olimar nair to uptilt is more reliable to get dmg,other than that its nice to have the oppurtunity to present itself.