Match-up Thread 4: Captain Falcon

[FalKoopa]

Discuss vs.

Falcons can be uppercutted if they whiff any special moves, but thanks to his long limbs and fast movement speed, he can juggle Luigi with up airs very well. Fortunately, one down throw on Falcon makes him easy to combo thanks to his big frame and fast fall speed, about as easy to combo as Ganondorf. I usually never fail to get less than 59% off a grab at 0%. Unlike Ganondorf though, who can't answer to fireballs, Falcon can do a flying knee over them and hit you square on, so they are only average in this matchup. He can still be gimped with a well placed dair though. I usually win this match up though thanks to the sheer amount of how much I've played it now. If untrained though, can be a bit difficult. Falcon can juggle and get around your projectiles with speed, but often leaves himself open to uppercuts and combos hurt him. 55:45 Falcon.

Captain Falcon is too heavy to get a double fair off at 0%. You can't do it to him, Greninja, Sheik, Mega Man and to a lesser extent, Falco and Fox. Instead you'll want to fair then nair which will pop him up for maybe an utilt or usmash. Alternatively, you can just build a bit of % on him first before going in for dthrow combos.

I always recover super low against Falcon because if he goes too low to edge guard he can't recover back. Just missile really, really low until you're right under the ledge before going for a jump and an up B to sweet spot.

Fireballs help keep him out somewhat but they aren't the most important thing for the match. Dair and bair and nair will be your best tools. Nair interrupts his combos, bair can compete with his bair, which he uses to approach because it's great, and dair beats up basically everything else he can do. Out of a dthrow I like to bair falcon to get him off stage because I find edge guarding him to be super easy. Just hang on the ledge and knock him back with bairs until the stock is gone.

 

[STiCKYBULL3TZ]

Before I give my thoughts, I didn't see a Match-Up Thread #4. Did I miss it?

I don't think Falcon is a very tough MU for Luigi. But it can be very volatile if you're not careful. Falcon is very fast and hits hard. He can't combo Luigi as well as Luigi can combo him but they are pretty damaging. Luigi plays this MU best by keeping Falcon out with Fairs, Fireballs, and Bairs then finding openings to get grabs. Don't take unnecessary risks cuz Falcon will hurt you bad if you mess up.

I'm a fireballing Luigi so I tend to use Fireball a lot if the MU allows it. In this MU it works quite well as long as you know your distances. Falcon has no answer to fireballs and he's forced to try to either wait you out (which he can't do if he's losing) or work his way around them. If you Fireball too close, Falcon can run up, shield and get a free grab, or jump over it and Dair during your lag. A Falcon who's scared of fireballs is a losing Falcon because he will give up stage control in order to escape the range. Or he might shield a lot leaving you with free grabs.

Falcon can be combo'd pretty easily due to his fast falling nature. At 0% you can Dthrow->Fair->Nair->many options. He can be double Fair'd up to a decent percent. Dthrow->Dair spike is easier because he doesn't fly up as far from the Dthrow. When comboing at low percents, Falcon can possibly get a Nair off if your execution is off a little. Or he can touch the ground quick enough to jab you. Sometimes shielding to bait his counter and grabbing works well.

Falcon's edgeguarding game is pretty solid if you're recovering lazy. A side B can lead to Falcon kneeing you or spiking you. Up B has invincibility at some point but can be caught by a Bair if timed right. Recovering very low usually deters Falcon from edgeguarding. Luigi edgeguarding Falcon is pretty easy. His recovery has no hitbox so as long as you have one out it will beat him. Dair, Fair, Bair are all good options. Against Luigi, he shouldn't be trying to recover directly under the stage. Luigi's down B spike finishes him every time.

The main thing in this MU is to slow the pace down so he has to fight on your terms. Stages with a lot of space and not many platforms work great here. FD, Smashville, Duck Hunt. The main thing to worry about is airdodge traps. Falcon is very very good at covering airdodges and punishing you hard. Mix up

Luigi's favor 55/45

 

[Yonder]

We probably should have waited till the patch drops on the 15th before doing more matchups...anyways...

My facts quoted about Falcon are the same as before, same ratio or even. I've versed a million of them, just watch out for Falcon's uair and forward smash, these are easily his most effective tools in this matchup. Fireballs are alright to use here because if you miss even one, although the cool down is low for fireballs, Falcon will still be fast enough to punish you with something.

Something new to add: Falcon's jab is ABSOLUTELY useless again Luigi. Nair cans it every time and hits Falcon for more damage back in the trade off. Someone the jab will reset and the Falcon will try again, take the trade off. Luigi will take maybe 3% while Falcon takes 10-12% about per nair.

Also, Falcon is extremely easy to dair gimp. With experience, I land it more often than not when he recovers. eventually, Falcon is dead when off stage if you work at it enough with dair spikes.

So I'm leaning towards 50:50 here, the new number because of the nair destroying jab and the ease of gimping Falcon with dair

 

[MonkeyArms]

I'm going 7-3 for this match up in luigi's favor
Luigis fireball can force him to approach from the air (literally the last thing a captain falcon main wants).
Luigi can combo him all day because he has no combo breakers and is a fast faller.
Luigi can easily kill falcon because he's so large.
However captain falcon can edge guard luigi pretty well.

 

[Yonder]

I'm going 7-3 for this match up in luigi's favor
Luigis fireball can force him to approach from the air (literally the last thing a captain falcon main wants).
Luigi can combo him all day because he has no combo breakers and is a fast faller.
Luigi can easily kill falcon because he's so large.
However captain falcon can edge guard luigi pretty well.

I feel that ratio is a bit too high but to each their own. You should also consider how much of a role Falcon's superior mobility in all aspects over Luigi benefits him here.

 

[MonkeyArms]

I feel that ratio is a bit too high but to each their own. You should also consider how much of a role Falcon's superior mobility in all aspects over Luigi benefits him here.

It doesn't benefit him much because that's what luigi wants you to do unless he's off the ledge: come right towards him

 

[FalKoopa]

We probably should have waited till the patch drops on the 15th before doing more matchups...anyways...

Well, I had made the thread before the direct, so...

 

[TriTails]

I can say that if Luigi gets juggled then he'll have to pray for the best so that he won't get Raptor Boost'd or Falcon Kick'd on the way below. I play Falcon and those two things are legitemately crazy at catching landings. Our best bet to dodge em is the usual: Go to the ledge. However though, we may run the risk on getting D-air'd or U-air'd. My advice is just to save your double jump, time your airdodges and grab that ledge.

Onstage, we combo Captain pretty hard. However, Falcon packs speed AND power. His attacks are generally safe on our shield because traction.

Except Falcon Kick.

Hillarious thing I found: If he does Falcon Kick at midrange (Not point blank, but also not too far away) and we shield it, we get a free grab or FJP. Why? Because apparently, Falcon Kick pushes Luigi so hard that Falcon will actually carry Luigi till the end of the move. While he is stuck in the end lag, captialize with whatever you want. I don't know if this is also the case with other characters, but for Luigi, it works.

Keep in mind he also has the longest dash grab in the game, but it misses at point blank. Though, he'll generally time it so he doesn't trigger it right in our faces. So yeah, unless you are fighting noob Falcon ignore this point. Remember that his D-throw combos off to U-air juggles, and worst of the worst, Knee of Justice. So we want to avoid that. Though, the latter is quite hard to do, but U-air is easy, and will juggle you to no end, so... well, grab him before he can grab you.

I think this MU is even. Because even though we destroy him once we get him in our combos (Falcon's disadvantage is terrible), he has a mobility that is leagues above Luigi, and hits hard. Though, we gimp him really easily. Just pop in your drill kick (D-air) or chop (F-air) and he is usually done. This might tip the scales (Don't ask) in our favor slightly.

As a side note, this MU is fun and actually doesn't involve too much camping. Boxing everywhere!

 

[Tbagz]

I'd really like to give this match up a 55-45 in Luigis favor.

Pros:
Easy Combo's
easy finishers with Dthrow+Nair(Cyclone)(Buster) because of fast fall speed
easy dunk/ stage spike (if you know captain falcons recovery frames)
can NAIR for a 50-50 trade with falcon while being juggled.
Better boxing options
Fireball Zoning options to force approaches/ shields

Cons:
Falcons rush-down gameplay/Juggles
edge guard game over 9000
Luigi's easy gimpable
Show me your moves

 

[TriTails]

Falcon's edgeguard game isn't all that strong. Just avoid the D-air and B-air and you're fine (Unless you're fighting a computer that can attack perfectly during the ledge vunerability).

But watch out for D-tilt, it semi-spikes, and he has a chance to Dair you.

Forgot about U-tilt. Yeah, SJP to the ledge works, but make sure you DO NOT shoot up the ledge AND do NOT grab the ledge at the time the hitbox is out.