Alright, since we're a bit behind in the other forums, I suggest that we do a little catching up, shall we? For this topic, We should analyze each of Pikachu's moves, and the different ways we use them. We don't want all the new Pikachu players to be just a bunch of Thunder-Spamming noob-maggots, do we?
Last Update: A little obvious but missed tip about landing thunder by stealth.
Contributors so far:
K2, Zylar, Press22, ESAM, Khanxay, Mister E, KayLo!, stealth raptor
AAA Combo: Headbutt
The facts:
The facts:
Last Update: A little obvious but missed tip about landing thunder by stealth.
Contributors so far:
K2, Zylar, Press22, ESAM, Khanxay, Mister E, KayLo!, stealth raptor
AAA Combo: Headbutt
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 2
Frames for hitbox to activate: 2
Element(s): Head
F-Tilt: PoundMany people know how to DI out of pika's dsmash. Whenever they do, you can follow up with a dash attack (maybe even a QAC into a tilt or smash). They are usually too busy mashing their control stick and c-stick to react to your attack once they break free of dsmash. They might be able to jump out of this "combo", but you've got nothing to lose.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 10 (Upwards) OR 9 (Side) OR 8 (Downwards)
Frames for hitbox to activate: 5
Element(s): Leg[ /quote]U-Tilt: Tail Whip (Up)Muhznit said:Has the best horizontal KO potential of Pika's Tilts. The knockback mechanism is a bit sensitive to spacing, though you may end up sending them backwards. It can also be aimed; the higher you aim, the better the damage/knockback, but you won't hit certain crouching shrunken characters.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 7~5 (Stonger at beginning, weaker at the end)
Frames for hitbox to activate: 7
Element(s): TailD-Tilt: Tail Whip (Side)one thing that you should add that one of pikas best ways to kill using thunder is to utilt into it.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 7
Frames for hitbox to activate: 7
Element(s): TailThis move is part of an important Advanced Technique! Go here for info.Nair: Rollout<-KILL MOVE!Personally, I love using it as a mindgame. I used to fight scrub Pikachus all the time on WiFi. Whenever they Dsmashed, they expected me to hold still and get hit like they do, but instead I DI'd out of it, laughing at their stupidity. However, they kept doing Dsmash, and I kept DI'ing out of it, and eventually I got sick of constantly changing my flow to rapidly mash up on the control stick to frantically get out of that move. It got really old really fast, and it became EXTREMELY annoying.
In other words, it became a true Pikachu move. Yanno those people who franticallly try to break out whenever grabbed, and they usually end up screwing themselves over when they end up DI'ing wrong because of their button mashing and end up losing their groove at the same time? Dsmash does the same thing to their psychological state. By forcing them to instantly switch from attacking to frantically mashing their way out of a move, you throw off their mental "groove" and they have to regain it all over again. I found out that by throwing someone off their groove, you eventually begin to start annoying the crap out of them. As Pikachu mains, you all know what happens once someone starts playing when they're annoyed, right? It's a free win!
I dsmash all the time now whenever I feel as if there isn't enough time to set up a move that can be actually followed up. It resets the playing field while at the same time annoying the crap out of them, and has thus become a key move in my arsenal of annoying tactics. :D
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 12~6 (Stronger at Beginning)
Frames for hitbox to activate: 3
Element(s): Body/Spin
Avoid the lag by: Immediate Input during a Short-HopI use it on platform stages like Battlefield or Lylat Cruise so that if they shield but still fall off the platform from the first hit, they get punished with the other hits (Which does 11% when fresh.)Uair: Tail Whip (Aerial)ESAM said:Bair is very good shield pressure, and can actually be used in a SH if you go towards the opponent, and then retreat. It normally pokes the shield at bottom-whichever side you came on (IE if you were on the right it pokes bottom right)
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 6~4 (Stronger at beginning)
Frames for hitbox to activate: 3
Element(s): Tail
Avoid the lag by: Immediate Input during a Short-HopDair: SparkMuhznit said:Like it's ground-bound brother, you can often hit twice with it. Sometimes you can combo into Nair with it. I use it in the combo I mentioned for Fair's entry (two attacks above) and in jumps to launch whatever's behind me into the air with me.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 12 (From Pikachu) + 4 (If the shockwave made on the ground hits.
Frames for hitbox to activate: 14
Element(s): Electric, HeadNeutral B: ThundershockMuhznit said:When I'm high in the air, I'd use thunder to halt my momentum, then fast fall into one of these. This can also work as an approach by stealing Ganon's "Thunderstorming" AT. Just short hop, and immediately input the move when you're about to leave the ground.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 9 OR 6 (Stronger in the air)
Frames for hitbox to activate: 19
Element(s): Electric, Indirect SpecialSide B: Skull Bash<-SUDDEN DEATH KILL MOVE!Muhznit said:Full-Hopped and used immediately in a jump, this has no lag to it. Use the time you're in the air to position yourself depending on your opponent. Sometimes you can land an F-Smash with your Thundershock, or maybe retreat and punish your pursuer with a D-Smash. If you're high enough, you can shoot a thunderjolt, QAC in front of it, and use the hitstun to catch your opponent off-gaurd.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 7~25 (Stronger if Charged)
Frames for hitbox to activate: 18
Element(s): Head, Direct SpecialMuhznit said:Pull it out of nowhere! Dash away from your opponent then jump and Skull Bash their face! In a free-for-all Act like you're fully charging it, then release it the moment your opponent thinks he'll dodge it! I once pulled a shield-break with it when my opponent held their shield up too long. Then I fully charged it and killed them with it.Up B: Quick AttackKayLo! said:Hey Muhznit,
I never forgot about you wanting information on Skull Bash, so while I was finishing up the KO percentages for SB on Final Destination, I gathered some extra info for you. It's kind of interesting, actually.... you were very right about just a little charge making a big difference in SB's KO potential.
Here's what I found (all tested on Mario, middle of FD, fresh, no DI in Training Mode):
- Skull Bash takes approx. 2 seconds to fully charge. I used a comination of a stop watch & the "1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi..." method to count, so it isn't terribly accurate, but it worked well enough.
- Based off of the above, I broke SB down into 5 charge stages:
At 0s (0% Charge), SB does 7 damage
At .5s (25% Charge), SB does 12 damage
At 1s (50% Charge), SB does 19 damage
At 1.5s (75% Charge), SB does 23 damage
At 2s (100% Charge), SB does 25 damage
- Damage-wise, SB gains strength slowly, then quickly, then very slowly at the end. At 25% charge, it does 27% of its max damage; at 50% charge, it does 67% of its max damage; and at 75% charge, it does 89% of its max damage.
- I also tested to see how SB's knockback changes during its charge stages:
When SB does 7 damage (no charge), Mario dies at 245%
When SB does 12 damage, Mario dies at 144%
When SB does 19 damage, Mario dies at 91%
When SB does 23 damage, Mario dies at 66%
When SB does 25 damage (fully charged), Mario dies at 61%
- Half-charged, SB KOs earlier than all of Pika's uncharged smashes, and at 3/4 charge, it KOs earlier than T2. Fully charged, it kills earlier than any other move Pikachu has.
....Which is great and all, but it's still almost useless offensively. Oh well, I hope this covers everything you were curious about! I may have gone a little overboard... it's the biopsych major in me. One too many labs, lol.
See you around the boards.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 5 (Both hits connecting)
Frames for hitbox to activate: ?
Element(s): Electric, Direct SpecialThis move is part of an important Advanced Technique! Go here for info.here.[/URL] One more thing: Even though platforms stop thunder from getting to Pikachu for its fullest KO potential, they also prevent thunder from being reflected onto Pikachu. Remember that when you're fighting the Lylat trio.We all know pika can perform double, triple, or even quadruple thunder to edgeguard. It's difficult, but worth learning and could pay off when you least expect it. An easier way to edgeguard people (especially against characters with horrible recoveries) is to ledgehop -> thunder. The thunder with hit pika (who is airborne) right beside the ledge. If your opponent tries to recover using their up b, he gets a sweetspotted thunder in his face (KO's at low percents). You won't get hurt since your invincible during thunder and in case that fails, thunder has good priority. If your opponent tries to wait out the thunder, two things can happen:
1. The thunder ends and pika grabs the ledge, granting him invincibility frames, and forcing your opponent to land on the stage (Most likely, he won't be able to make it, unless he is floaty or has an amazing recovery. If he does, free nair for you.).
2. Your opponent waits too long and plummets to his doom while you laugh.
Against characters with insane recoveries (Pit, MK, Pika, Rob, Kirby, etc.), you will have to resort to more aggressive edgeguarding. You will have to utilize triple/quadruple thunders against these characters, since they can easily wait out a single thunder.
Pummel/Grab Release: Fury Attack
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 2
Element(s): ElectricF-Throw: DischargeCheck here for info.[/URL]
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 10
Element(s): Throwing, ElectricThis grab is a viable chainthrow on the following Characters:
(Original testing by Ruuku)
Bowser - 0%-60%
Captain Falcon - 0%-60%
DeDeDe 0%-60%
Donkey Kong - 0%-60%
Falco - 0%-60%
Fox 0%-50%
Ganondorf - 0%-60%
Ike - 0%-60%
Link - 0%-60%
Sheik - 0%-70%
Snake - 0%-60%
Wolf - 0%-60%B-Throw: Seismic Toss<-SUDDEN DEATH KILL MOVE!Forward Throw and be combo'd into an usmash->thunder for those characters pika can't chain grab.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 9
Element(s): ThrowingD-Throw: SlamOne thing I like to do with bthrow. Stand near the edge and bthrow your opponent off the stage. If your opponent is at lower enough percent, do a thunder. Its very obvious, but you would be amazed how many people fall for it, since people airdodge on instinct when they hear "PIKA!!!!". Their airdodge runs out as they try to pass through the thunder and they get zapped. If you do this enough, your opponent will wise up to it, but I've thrown it in here and there and I've hit my opponent 75% of the time. Just something new to try.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 10
Element(s): ThrowingThis grab is a viable Chainthrow on the following Characters:
(Original Testing by Ruuku)
Captain Falcon - 0%-80%
Fox 0%-70%
Sheik - 0%-60%
Wolf - 0%-30%U-Throw: StrengthAt lower percents, dthrow can be combo'd into utilt, usmash ->uair, nair, any aerial, for those characters that can't be chain grabbed.
The facts:
Fresh Damage: 5
Element(s): Throwing, HeadMuhznit said:I use it to combo into Thunder at high percents. If I have a Bunny hood on, I may try to nail them with a Nair or other aerial.