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PPMD's Falco Discussion Thread

`Rival

Smash Cadet
Joined
Sep 12, 2015
Messages
32
I've been playing Falco for just over four weeks now. I started during finals week and don't have an active scene when I'm back home, so I've only been practicing tech skill. So far, I've been working on the following:
  • Wavedash - 90% consistent, often perfect timing (20XX color overlays FTW)
    • Waveshine - 75% consistent
      • Waveshine backward - 50% consistent. Been working on it recently
      • Shine turnaround wavedash - 25%. Bad
  • SHFFL - 90% consistent without hitting, 75% on hit
  • SHL - 95% consistent, though I can only aim generally high and generally low at this point
    • Also experimenting with different full hop heights, such as top/middle, top/bottom, and laser at only one level
  • D/Nairshine - 80% consistent. I miss L-cancels more than anything else. Usually waveshine out of the aerial
  • LHDL - 80% consistent
  • I can do basic pillaring on a handicapped Bowser across FD, though I mess up a little
  • I'll sometimes try to string things together, experimenting with Utilt, Nair, etc., in combos. I'm using 20XX, so CPUs tech all over
  • I started today working on shine turnaround Dair from the ledge
How does this look so far, and what should I be working on next? Which of these is most important and which can wait? I'll play with others next semester, but I plan to practice a lot over the summer on a solid tech foundation. I know I need to work on moving with lasers and wavelanding; the latter will take me forever to get the timing down.

- practice your bread and butter combos on the character cast until its very consistent.
- i know it sounds basic but dashing around and dash dancing. having perfect control of your ground movement is so necessary
- shinegrabs, and double shines and converting off of them into combos
-JC grabs, and JC shines out of dashes and converting off them
- like bones mentioned, ledgedashing
 
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Frenzy231199

Smash Cadet
Joined
Oct 20, 2014
Messages
63
Location
Bristol, England
Well, I like that I look good so far, but I would definitely like some suggestions. What Falco-specific techs should I be mastering? What are other more universal techs I should work on? I've done a little Isai dropping, but I plan to do a lot more, and I can sometimes shield drop, but it's definitely not consistent.
As Falco, I think getting platform movement near perfect is really key as you will be using platforms for most of your combos and in neutral. Therefore, getting wavelands really smooth and getting Shield and Isai Drops consistent will boost your combo game and neutral a lot.

But yeah as Bones0 Bones0 said, getting your ledgedashes good is a no.1 priority as one of the most common mistakes newer Falco's make is doing ledge hop double laser way too much - ledge dash is superior in most cases.
 

FE_Hector

Smash Lord
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,420
Location
Raleigh, NC
Alright, so i was thinking a bit about Melee the other day, and I was wondering what you guys think of shine turnaround bair (probably more often SHFFL than AC) as an approach. I can't test it out for another few weeks on account of carpal tunnel, but I feel that it could be an excellent option of your opponent had already committed to an aerial option-- or you knew they would-- due to its crazy disjointing. Outside of that, it would probably be amusing.
 

Klemes

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
236
Location
France
Well, I like that I look good so far, but I would definitely like some suggestions. What Falco-specific techs should I be mastering? What are other more universal techs I should work on? I've done a little Isai dropping, but I plan to do a lot more, and I can sometimes shield drop, but it's definitely not consistent.
-ledgedash and other ledge options, such as firestall, LH>side platform WL, LH back>sideB edgecancel on sideplatform vs sideB shorten to regrab ledge. Also be comfortable to take the ledge very quick : WD back FF grab ledge, shine turnaround-firestall.

-practice wall tech, it's broken ! There's tech wall jump>upB (meh), tech wall jump>immediate sideB (best thing ever) and tech wall jump>airdodge on stage.

-keep working on lasers : advancing/retreating, run off DJ double laser (from ledge or any platform), run off laser/turnaround laser from platform. Isai drop laser is your friend, practice SHL>Isai drop laser, FHDL>Isai drop laser, Isai drop turnaround laser.

-spamming shffl aerials, dashing/WD back asap, laser>nair/dair, AC bair spam. One great falco bait is AC bair > dash back > dash in >nair/dair, but you've gotta be quick for it to work.

-adding shines in there : nair/dair>shine, AC bair>shine, first hit uair>shine. shinegrab, then nair>shinegrab, laser>shinegrab. waveshine, shinebair. double shine, double shine WD down, nair>double shine, shine OoS. These are hard AF to master, but well worth it so you should start practicing them early.

-wavelands. wavelands everywhere ! Empty SH>WL back is so good and confusing. WL on every plat/every stage, then shine>wavelands, you need these for your sick combos.

-be a DD and WD machine. WD OoS is the best OoS punish/escape.

That's about it for your techskill and movement program. Now to apply them concretely :
-vs 20XXcpu, combo them for days, be deliberate about what moves you use for what function.
Keep your combo under control by using shine and dair at lower%, then utilt, dair onto platforms and weak aerials at mid%. Always shine>WL when possible, so you get comfortable with it. Carry them off stage for a dunk or set up a strong hit like bair or fsmash : it's important to end your combos right.
-vs people, practice your spacing and defence, stay patient. Take very good care when you get an edgeguard, observe your opponent's options and habits and close out their stocks. DI with intention to get out of combos/survive. Never die thanks to your combination of shinestalls, mangles, shortens, wall-techs, ledgedash, and generaly be a legend on the ledge.

Do ask if you'd like info/advice on anything in particular.
 

PolishSmash

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Nov 17, 2011
Messages
210
Location
New York, U.S.A.
What do I do against a Fox that keeps running up to me and double shining? He always does it when I'm close to the edge and I fall of the ledge because I don't react to it and he gets an easy shine spike.
 

Klemes

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
236
Location
France
Alright, so i was thinking a bit about Melee the other day, and I was wondering what you guys think of shine turnaround bair (probably more often SHFFL than AC) as an approach. I can't test it out for another few weeks on account of carpal tunnel, but I feel that it could be an excellent option of your opponent had already committed to an aerial option-- or you knew they would-- due to its crazy disjointing. Outside of that, it would probably be amusing.
Whenever he's in the air, bair is gud. So it'll work for sure, but
1. AC bair is better at anti-air, period. Less commital, so you're less vulnerable to DJ mixups and platform tricks, plus you're activable sooner so follow-ups are way easier. It also hits higher, which is good.
*little known fact : if you input an aerial attack (lasers might be concerned too, not sure) on the FIRST airborne frame, your jump, SH and FH, will be noticeably shorter. It's either good or bad depending on the situation, but anyway it seems hard to control reliably (for now) so whatever.
2. Shine turnaround is never not cool, buuuuut pivot is the superior option really. I haven't found out on my own, I stealed it from Weston Dennis' Stream. So yeah he was showing off with his dash > Pivot AC Bairs, bragging "this is the future, man" and I'm enclined to believe him.
Pivot jump is not THAT hard, and I swear once you get the feeling of it it's easy not to mess up ever. I trained to pivot nair with falcon literally 10min and now I'm the PNM (Pivot Nair Master). Other pivots like pivot jab/smash definitely feel trickier tho (and pivot utilt OooH My Gawd this one's a Bîtch).

So shine turnaround bair is fine, but frankly slower : time to input shine, turnaround, jump. And doing all this without wasting a single frame is... optimistic. I don't do frame data alchemy yet, but I'm fairly sure it can't compare to pivot's 1 frame. It's also more trouble to execute imo. Still, it could be better than pivot if you need to bair further than Falco's dash range, since you can shine instantly when in run animation (no crouch needed), and you can only pivot during dash.
So if you aim outside of falco's dash range, depending on the distance, you could wavesurf > dash > pivot > AC bair (mmmh need to practice. now.), or run > shine turnaround > AC bair I guess.

***About your wrist. I don't need to tell you to take care and go to the doctor (at least that's one thing you can be better at than M2K). I wish you the best of luck with this shît bro, It's gonna get better, at worst it'll take longer than expected. And you can always get titanium joints and optic fiber nerves or something. Don't think about it too much, I've been devastated after having a similar problem myself. Maybe focus on something other than Melee for a time, so you don't feel as bad for not being able to play how you want to right now.
Get well soon hector, peace.***
 
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`Rival

Smash Cadet
Joined
Sep 12, 2015
Messages
32
What do I do against a Fox that keeps running up to me and double shining? He always does it when I'm close to the edge and I fall of the ledge because I don't react to it and he gets an easy shine spike.
you gotta get out of there before he is in your face. depending on the spacing/timing, you can roll out, use full jump mixups, or retreat to ledge and ledgedash.

or hit him with something before he's close enough to shine

so its about recognizing fox's behavioural patterns and what he does before he runs in and double shines
 
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Klemes

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
236
Location
France
What do I do against a Fox that keeps running up to me and double shining? He always does it when I'm close to the edge and I fall of the ledge because I don't react to it and he gets an easy shine spike.
-Establish better laser control so his freedom of movement is very limited, this way he can't be in your face at all times.
-If he jumps often to get to you above your laser, AC(auto-cancel) bair (beats his nair/drill/anything) or FH nair to intercept him higher (or allow him there and reposition to laser his landing/utilt to beat/trade with him).
-Against run>double shine. Once you're more in control in this MU, it gets tougher for him to just run at you, and when he does, he can get punished HARD for it. Simply SH dair in place to destroy his rushdown. And it's hard to bait and punish, so it's not too bad if you whiff (just don't be dumb and whiff>shield/spotdodge/roll).
 

FE_Hector

Smash Lord
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,420
Location
Raleigh, NC
Whenever he's in the air, bair is gud. So it'll work for sure, but
1. AC bair is better at anti-air, period. Less commital, so you're less vulnerable to DJ mixups and platform tricks, plus you're activable sooner so follow-ups are way easier. It also hits higher, which is good.
*little known fact : if you input an aerial attack (lasers might be concerned too, not sure) on the FIRST airborne frame, your jump, SH and FH, will be noticeably shorter. It's either good or bad depending on the situation, but anyway it seems hard to control reliably (for now) so whatever.
2. Shine turnaround is never not cool, buuuuut pivot is the superior option really. I haven't found out on my own, I stealed it from Weston Dennis' Stream. So yeah he was showing off with his dash > Pivot AC Bairs, bragging "this is the future, man" and I'm enclined to believe him.
Pivot jump is not THAT hard, and I swear once you get the feeling of it it's easy not to mess up ever. I trained to pivot nair with falcon literally 10min and now I'm the PNM (Pivot Nair Master). Other pivots like pivot jab/smash definitely feel trickier tho (and pivot utilt OooH My Gawd this one's a Bîtch).

So shine turnaround bair is fine, but frankly slower : time to input shine, turnaround, jump. And doing all this without wasting a single frame is... optimistic. I don't do frame data alchemy yet, but I'm fairly sure it can't compare to pivot's 1 frame. It's also more trouble to execute imo. Still, it could be better than pivot if you need to bair further than Falco's dash range, since you can shine instantly when in run animation (no crouch needed), and you can only pivot during dash.
So if you aim outside of falco's dash range, depending on the distance, you could wavesurf > dash > pivot > AC bair (mmmh need to practice. now.), or run > shine turnaround > AC bair I guess.

***About your wrist. I don't need to tell you to take care and go to the doctor (at least that's one thing you can be better at than M2K). I wish you the best of luck with this shît bro, It's gonna get better, at worst it'll take longer than expected. And you can always get titanium joints and optic fiber nerves or something. Don't think about it too much, I've been devastated after having a similar problem myself. Maybe focus on something other than Melee for a time, so you don't feel as bad for not being able to play how you want to right now.
Get well soon hector, peace.***
I hear ya with the pivot stuff, I was mostly thinking already running sorta as a reaction. Like I said, it was a silly thing that came to mind the other day. As for my wrist, thanks a ton. Going to the doctor is why I know it's carpal tunnel, and I've been resting it a lot. Hopefully it'll be better in the next two weeks, but obviously I can't control that.
 

RevySSB

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
64
I don't have that much problems with Marth anymore but now i think my problems with shieks get's really obvious. I think i run into her grabs when shes camping at the ledge and her needle cancels are hard to get around. If i'm playing against a good shiek she just techchases me and i'm the one always running away. What are some good stuff to think about when you are playing against sheik? I often switch to Fox after i have lost a few matches with Falco and it becomes clear that the only reason im not getting 4 stocked is because lasers.
 

FE_Hector

Smash Lord
Joined
May 26, 2015
Messages
1,420
Location
Raleigh, NC
I don't have that much problems with Marth anymore but now i think my problems with shieks get's really obvious. I think i run into her grabs when shes camping at the ledge and her needle cancels are hard to get around. If i'm playing against a good shiek she just techchases me and i'm the one always running away. What are some good stuff to think about when you are playing against sheik? I often switch to Fox after i have lost a few matches with Falco and it becomes clear that the only reason im not getting 4 stocked is because lasers.
Shooting low lasers does wonders against Sheiks that wanna stay grounded. If you can keep stage control and annoy her with lasers, handling her approaches isn't really hard at all. If you KNOW she wants the grab, you could shield and dair OoS once she starts coming in as a way to fool her. If she's jumping in an attempt to space aerials or get needles -> grab, know where her effective ranges are and just beat her with utilt. Airborne Sheiks lose so hard to utilt.
 

Klemes

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
236
Location
France
I don't have that much problems with Marth anymore but now i think my problems with shieks get's really obvious. I think i run into her grabs when shes camping at the ledge and her needle cancels are hard to get around. If i'm playing against a good shiek she just techchases me and i'm the one always running away. What are some good stuff to think about when you are playing against sheik? I often switch to Fox after i have lost a few matches with Falco and it becomes clear that the only reason im not getting 4 stocked is because lasers.
Try not approaching. At all. Maintain stage postition, she shouldn't be able to get in on you on on the ground.
Use lasers (lots of 'em), AC bair (mind where you land so she can't just grab you for it) and f-tilt to push her away, if you space it on shield you're safe too. What's even better is laser>ftilt, and laser>jab is very nice as well. You can get laser>jab>grab which is nice, jab>fsmash at mid/high% on DI in, and anyway you're very safe doing laser>jab>dash back + it can get a reaction out of her (shieldgrab... that's basically all sheik mains do) you can punish easily with dair/fsmash.

Stay patient, by now she will get in shield a lot more when you're close (so she can get more shieldgrabs... so sneaky), so you should just grab her for free. uthrow is best, ftrow is fine to get a tech chase near the ledge/throw her offstage. If you're confident enough go for SAFE shield pressure, bait shield grabs and punish, poke with nair>shine/laser>dtilt if she doesn't budge, look for her roll : what I do is I let her roll away, keep my stage control, laser to keep up the pressure, but watch out to NEVER let her roll in and be fine. It's a free punish, dair/shine/fsmash, whatever's best in the situation.

If she tries coming in from above. CC shine all her aerials forever (+50% or something), utilt and AC bair beat everything. You can also AC bair>utilt for variety. If she feigns a drop>aerial but DJ to a platform : punish her ! shine>waveland is best, rising dair is also nice. When she's gonna land close to you position yourself outside her range and laser before she touches the ground : no PS, no shield either, which means you can laser>grab/shine/ftilt/turnaround utilt(it's hard but it's probably the best punish)/fsmash(not a true combo but honnestly it works all the time, you can get so many laser>fsmash kills on aerial opponents)

Needle>grab is a trap you can avoid easily. When she's jumping you have all the time to space yourself outside of needle range and laser her landing, or right below her to utilt. When you do get needled spam shine, it's going to work often. The only place you can't see it coming from a mile away is when she runs off a platform>needle. So be wary of this space, you should be anyway because of run off>fair/bair.

If she's obviously reluctant to approach (which she should be). Don't do anything you can get punished for. Laser till they understand the true meaning of spamming. Be comfortable with platform laser tricks so she has nowhere to hide (isai drop>laser, run off>laser, run off>turnaround laser, run off>DJ>double laser(from platforms or from ledge), FH>laser on both platform heights...). You'll want to be clean with those so you don't mess up and let her take center stage, just run up grab, or get hit with the full charge needles. Never let her hit you with this disgusting 17%, it's not hard except close range mindgames maybe. Also don't. get. grabbed. by the ledge. Whatever you were doing there, it wasn't worth it, just don't give her anything by the ledge, let her have her fun and keep her there with lasers, ftilt, grabs...

General advice.
-stay patient, don't rush it, you'll regret it everytime. Establish control, wall her out, set up corner pressure, if she tries to get in/whiffs a shieldgrab, then you punish her and go ham !
-combo her hard. Easy to say I know, watch tons of top falcos vs sheik to pick up their juggles, platform combos, etc.
-edgeguard her well. Again learn how it's done from the best. Never give her the ledge then punish upB lag with the best move in the situation : fsmash and dtilt to kill at the right%, bair to repeat edgeguard, dair/shine/utilt to start combo at lower%.
-when being techchased. mix up everything, including the DI before you tech ! tech in place>shine is good, tech in place>buffer spotdodge is good (hold L/R+c-stick down), DI away+tech away is good. Act immediately out of the tech animation (dash away, jump, jab is pretty good since it's fast and she won't CC it if she's running). Don't tech in. Too easy to catch, only time it's good is if she jumped (?) and therefore can't chase you.

Don't pick fox anymore, it's counter-productive. You can do it with falco, you just need to play the MU right.
 
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RevySSB

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jul 20, 2015
Messages
64
Try not approaching. At all. Maintain stage postition, she shouldn't be able to get in on you on on the ground.
Use lasers (lots of 'em), AC bair (mind where you land so she can't just grab you for it) and f-tilt to push her away, if you space it on shield you're safe too. What's even better is laser>ftilt, and laser>jab is very nice as well. You can get laser>jab>grab which is nice, jab>fsmash at mid/high% on DI in, and anyway you're very safe doing laser>jab>dash back + it can get a reaction out of her (shieldgrab... that's basically all sheik mains do) you can punish easily with dair/fsmash.

Stay patient, by now she will get in shield a lot more when you're close (so she can get more shieldgrabs... so sneaky), so you should just grab her for free. uthrow is best, ftrow is fine to get a tech chase near the ledge/throw her offstage. If you're confident enough go for SAFE shield pressure, bait shield grabs and punish, poke with nair>shine/laser>dtilt if she doesn't budge, look for her roll : what I do is I let her roll away, keep my stage control, laser to keep up the pressure, but watch out to NEVER let her roll in and be fine. It's a free punish, dair/shine/fsmash, whatever's best in the situation.

If she tries coming in from above. CC shine all her aerials forever (+50% or something), utilt and AC bair beat everything. You can also AC bair>utilt for variety. If she feigns a drop>aerial but DJ to a platform : punish her ! shine>waveland is best, rising dair is also nice. When she's gonna land close to you position yourself outside her range and laser before she touches the ground : no PS, no shield either, which means you can laser>grab/shine/ftilt/turnaround utilt(it's hard but it's probably the best punish)/fsmash(not a true combo but honnestly it works all the time, you can get so many laser>fsmash kills on aerial opponents)

Needle>grab is a trap you can avoid easily. When she's jumping you have all the time to space yourself outside of needle range and laser her landing, or right below her to utilt. When you do get needled spam shine, it's going to work often. The only place you can't see it coming from a mile away is when she runs off a platform>needle. So be wary of this space, you should be anyway because of run off>fair/bair.

If she's obviously reluctant to approach (which she should be). Don't do anything you can get punished for. Laser till they understand the true meaning of spamming. Be comfortable with platform laser tricks so she has nowhere to hide (isai drop>laser, run off>laser, run off>turnaround laser, run off>DJ>double laser(from platforms or from ledge), FH>laser on both platform heights...). You'll want to be clean with those so you don't mess up and let her take center stage, just run up grab, or get hit with the full charge needles. Never let her hit you with this disgusting 17%, it's not hard except close range mindgames maybe. Also don't. get. grabbed. by the ledge. Whatever you were doing there, it wasn't worth it, just don't give her anything by the ledge, let her have her fun and keep her there with lasers, ftilt, grabs...

General advice.
-stay patient, don't rush it, you'll regret it everytime. Establish control, wall her out, set up corner pressure, if she tries to get in/whiffs a shieldgrab, then you punish her and go ham !
-combo her hard. Easy to say I know, watch tons of top falcos vs sheik to pick up their juggles, platform combos, etc.
-edgeguard her well. Again learn how it's done from the best. Never give her the ledge then punish upB lag with the best move in the situation : fsmash and dtilt to kill at the right%, bair to repeat edgeguard, dair/shine/utilt to start combo at lower%.
-when being techchased. mix up everything, including the DI before you tech ! tech in place>shine is good, tech in place>buffer spotdodge is good (hold L/R+c-stick down), DI away+tech away is good. Act immediately out of the tech animation (dash away, jump, jab is pretty good since it's fast and she won't CC it if she's running). Don't tech in. Too easy to catch, only time it's good is if she jumped (?) and therefore can't chase you.

Don't pick fox anymore, it's counter-productive. You can do it with falco, you just need to play the MU right.
Wow a lot of to stuff to think about nice! I will be saving this in a txt to read when i start giving up. Now the problem is just to start thinking, theres so many good stuff that you wrote that i never did. What i was doing was either just not approaching at all, or i was just lasering and shine dairing until i got a lucky bair or a fsmash. I thank you for the time you put in writing this.
 

Klemes

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 4, 2015
Messages
236
Location
France
I had a recent set where I got wrecked by Kira (creator of SSBM Tutorials) lol. Can anyone give me any tips/advice?
Honnestly you did fine. Sure everything could be improved :
offense with better (and SAFE) shield pressure, shinegrabs, not dropping combos (obviously) mainly with better tech coverage, both on platforms and on the ground.
Your defense got you a fair amount of openings (that's the beautiful thing with falco), but could be more effective with
1. better spacing (always visualise fox's shffl nair range) and reads on his movement (you know what the fox wants, that ain't mango)
2. better laser control (still figuring that out myself, we all have to watch more PPMD to learn on that topic), or at least MORE lasers, as long as they don't get you punished (aka work harder, not smarter. lol).
3. better choice of moves+staying mobile. By this I mean AC bair kinda beats every single approach, just don't get DD grabbed/run in shield grabbed (he needs a read on you to get this), it's so good because it beats everything while being a very small comitment. shffl dair in place/fade back to destroy fox running at you, kind of a read, but you won't get punished for that easily either anyway. utilt destroys fox in the air, just gotta time it right, I always utilt too early and get hit for free personaly, ugh. Moving constantly and smartly contribute to make it near impossible for him to approach without (big) risks. Because you're a moving target with better hitboxes that shoots lasers.
4. Shine OoS is good, just have to recognize you can go for it (=you're not gonna get nair>shined), buffer roll out is good.

So these are Ideas to work on, but here's what cost you the set : edgeguards.
Had you not dropped so many, you'd have won EZ. Watch several times every one of them, ask yourself what would have covered his recovery, what other options did he have ? Determine a flowchart (for each different edgeguard in the set) that would have covered everything in this situation, and see if you're able to close out fox stocks better next time you play friendlies.
Things to keep in mind :
- laser to make him drop low if you can, when he's below the ledge, run off DJ>dair like PP does. dsmash is good too if he's low but closer to the stage.
- always cover the ledge, foxes love their ledge. use down angle ftilt, ledge hop bair, lets you enough time to punish if he went high most of the time. But watch out for high upB>fade back to ledge.
- cover sideB with bair, dair (for a brutal kill), fsmash if he's far.
 

drunkfalco

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jun 21, 2016
Messages
2
Hey guys, so I am currently trying to further my punish game and one of the things I've been working on is getting shine>dair and/or shine>bair as fast as possible like at the end of some of Westballz's combos. I can consistently jump cancel my shine and input a dair or bair very quickly when my shine doesn't hit anything, however, I am getting stuck in my shine almost every time I try it on another character. Am I trying to jump while still in hitstun? How should I go about practicing the fastest shine>bairs and shine>dairs possible?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 

WondrousMoose

Mind the antlers
Joined
Nov 8, 2014
Messages
834
Location
College Station, TX
NNID
WondrousMoose
3DS FC
3024-5909-8345
Hey guys, so I am currently trying to further my punish game and one of the things I've been working on is getting shine>dair and/or shine>bair as fast as possible like at the end of some of Westballz's combos. I can consistently jump cancel my shine and input a dair or bair very quickly when my shine doesn't hit anything, however, I am getting stuck in my shine almost every time I try it on another character. Am I trying to jump while still in hitstun? How should I go about practicing the fastest shine>bairs and shine>dairs possible?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Yeah, you're just jumping too soon. Practice the combo on another fighter, and be sure that you're in the air. If you're grounded, you'll have to go through jump squat, causing you to miss the small window.
 

Bones0

Smash Legend
Joined
Aug 31, 2005
Messages
11,153
Location
Jarrettsville, MD
Hey guys, so I am currently trying to further my punish game and one of the things I've been working on is getting shine>dair and/or shine>bair as fast as possible like at the end of some of Westballz's combos. I can consistently jump cancel my shine and input a dair or bair very quickly when my shine doesn't hit anything, however, I am getting stuck in my shine almost every time I try it on another character. Am I trying to jump while still in hitstun? How should I go about practicing the fastest shine>bairs and shine>dairs possible?

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Try using tap jump + C-stick instead of X/Y + A.
 

Choice Mheat

Smash Rookie
Joined
Jun 8, 2015
Messages
12
Hey guys,
Out of a desire to motivate myself and a fair bit of pride, a month ago I challenged a friend to a Falco ditto $100 mm at the end of summer. I'm improving fairly quickly, but I want to level up. I can do most techniques well except the unnecessary ones in my mind like shine Bair, double shine, ledgedash etc. What's the most efficient way to spend my time practicing?

I do netplay and practice on a crt. Would going to a local (xanadu) help all that much? I'm mostly just asking what practice gives the most milage.

Also FYI, my friend was consistently 3-4 stocking me and I couldn't waveshine when I challenged him.
 
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Frenzy231199

Smash Cadet
Joined
Oct 20, 2014
Messages
63
Location
Bristol, England
Hey guys,
Out of a desire to motivate myself and a fair bit of pride, a month ago I challenged a friend to a Falco ditto $100 mm at the end of summer. I'm improving fairly quickly, but I want to level up. I can do most techniques well except the unnecessary ones in my mind like shine Bair, double shine, ledgedash etc. What's the most efficient way to spend my time practicing?

I do netplay and practice on a crt. Would going to a local (xanadu) help all that much? I'm mostly just asking what practice gives the most milage.

Also FYI, my friend was consistently 3-4 stocking me and I couldn't waveshine when I challenged him.
Ledgedash is not unecessary lol, it is your best technique off of the ledge in most situations. Personally, I'd spend 2 hours a day getting all of the tech you will be using super consistent, you should be able to do everything without thinking about the inputs. Going to a weekly would greatly enhance your improvement as you can apply theory to matches and learn to play under pressure. But seriously, you should learn ledgedash as quickly as possible as it prevents you from getting in the habit of doing double lasers or aerials from the ledge. Finally make sure to watch as much melee as possible so you can learn answers to as many situatons as possible.
 

GenNyan

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Ledgedash is not unecessary lol, it is your best technique off of the ledge in most situations. Personally, I'd spend 2 hours a day getting all of the tech you will be using super consistent, you should be able to do everything without thinking about the inputs. Going to a weekly would greatly enhance your improvement as you can apply theory to matches and learn to play under pressure. But seriously, you should learn ledgedash as quickly as possible as it prevents you from getting in the habit of doing double lasers or aerials from the ledge. Finally make sure to watch as much melee as possible so you can learn answers to as many situatons as possible.
Idk. If this guy has never practiced it before and will MM in a month or two, I don't think practicing ledge dashes is a valuable way for him to spend his time. It's obviously amazing once you learn it, but it's not something you can half-ass. It takes a tremendous amount of time to get to the point where it's useful, and even then it'll be twice as hard in a high stakes MM.

Hey guys,
Out of a desire to motivate myself and a fair bit of pride, a month ago I challenged a friend to a Falco ditto $100 mm at the end of summer. I'm improving fairly quickly, but I want to level up. I can do most techniques well except the unnecessary ones in my mind like shine Bair, double shine, ledgedash etc. What's the most efficient way to spend my time practicing?

I do netplay and practice on a crt. Would going to a local (xanadu) help all that much? I'm mostly just asking what practice gives the most milage.

Also FYI, my friend was consistently 3-4 stocking me and I couldn't waveshine when I challenged him.
You should be able to learn how to shine bair in a reasonable amount of time and it's pretty useful in general.

As for the going to locals part: **** yes. That is probably one of the best ways to improve. Focus on learning and not necessarily results. Play as many friendlies as possible (take breaks tho, don't kill yourself) with as many people as possible, but the matches should have a purpose. Before you start each game, think about one aspect of your gameplay that you will focus on during the match and try to improve. Don't autopilot. The actual tournament has the added bonus of preparing you for the pressure of the actual MM.

Netplay is good practice, but try to create conditions similar to what you'll experience at the MM (In person, using the TV that'll be used for the set, etc), so that there's no surprises. And it goes without saying to make sure to practice tech skill and lots of it.
 

CP Adagio

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Apr 11, 2016
Messages
52
Idk. If this guy has never practiced it before and will MM in a month or two, I don't think practicing ledge dashes is a valuable way for him to spend his time. It's obviously amazing once you learn it, but it's not something you can half-***. It takes a tremendous amount of time to get to the point where it's useful, and even then it'll be twice as hard in a high stakes MM.
I agree with most of what you say but honestly ledge dashing is not that hard to do and it's almost never not useful.
The inputs are: Down-DJ-Waveland
Of course difficulty is subjective but its not as complicated as a lot of Falco tech.

And is it really that hard to know how to use ledge dash usefully? If you do it right it's literally a technique that will get you onstage invincible with basically no lag and ready to use a move. Outside of maybe getting predictable with it, ledge dash has almost no downsides and is EXTREMELY useful.
 
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GenNyan

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I agree with most of what you say but honestly ledge dashing is not that hard to do and it's almost never not useful.
The inputs are: Down-DJ-Waveland
Of course difficulty is subjective but its not as complicated as a lot of Falco tech.

And is it really that hard to know how to use ledge dash usefully? If you do it right it's literally a technique that will get you onstage invincible with basically no lag and ready to use a move. Outside of maybe getting predictable with it, ledge dash has almost no downsides and is EXTREMELY useful.
I might have picked some words wrong in my previous post, but I meant that if he isn't able to do it consistently, he will just fall to his death. Of course it's an amazing tech if you do it right.

Choice said that he wasn't able to waveshine a month ago, so I assumed that there's still a few more basic holes in his tech skill that would be worth resolving before adding ledgedashes. I mean, wavelands are only a single part of ledgedashes, but he might not know how to do that yet. If his fundamentals are sound, then I agree and he should totally go for it.
 

CP Adagio

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Messages
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I might have picked some words wrong in my previous post, but I meant that if he isn't able to do it consistently, he will just fall to his death. Of course it's an amazing tech if you do it right.

Choice said that he wasn't able to waveshine a month ago, so I assumed that there's still a few more basic holes in his tech skill that would be worth resolving before adding ledgedashes. I mean, wavelands are only a single part of ledgedashes, but he might not know how to do that yet. If his fundamentals are sound, then I agree and he should totally go for it.
Agreed. In hindsight I should have realized that his tech might not be consistent enough to consistently ledge dash. If he can though, I totally recommend learning it. Ledgedash is godlike mang
 

Choice Mheat

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Jun 8, 2015
Messages
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I think I was pretty broad and unspecific of my skills in my first post. I CAN do any of the techniques including ledgedash, doubleshine, sometimes shine Bair. Being able to do it is different than knowing it so well that you can do it under duress. I'm already practicing about an hour or more every day. My only issue is spending my time on things I will definitely need. PP barely ledgedashes (not saying I'm PP) but I want to know if I should put effort into clean Wavelands, platform punish etc. What is most important for the Falco ditto?
 
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Bones0

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I think I was pretty broad and unspecific of my skills in my first post. I CAN do any of the techniques including ledgedash, doubleshine, sometimes shine Bair. Being able to do it is different than knowing it so well that you can do it under duress. I'm already practicing about an hour or more every day. My only issue is spending my time on things I will definitely need. PP barely ledgedashes (not saying I'm PP) but I want to know if I should put effort into clean Wavelands, platform punish etc. What is most important for the Falco ditto?
For the Falco ditto, you can actually get away with mixing up LHDL and LH Phantasm. Falco is the only top tier too slow to cover both of these options though, so you will need to learn to ledgedash eventually. The biggest determination in who wins the Falco ditto at low level is largely punish game and negation of their punish game through good DI and teching habits. If your opponent is competent at shine OoS, shield pressure will also be important. Being able to laser well in neutral is helpful, but gets tricky with lasers coming back at you.

Honestly, the biggest thing you should probably be focused on is your nerves. If you've never played in a tournament in person, you will very likely be ****ting your pants in a $100 MM. But that's part of the game, so you might as well embrace it. If you go to Xanadu tonight I will be there so just find me. We can play a few games and I can watch one of your sets and give you a better idea of where you're at and what you need to work on.
 

Frenzy231199

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For the Falco ditto, you can actually get away with mixing up LHDL and LH Phantasm. Falco is the only top tier too slow to cover both of these options though, so you will need to learn to ledgedash eventually. The biggest determination in who wins the Falco ditto at low level is largely punish game and negation of their punish game through good DI and teching habits. If your opponent is competent at shine OoS, shield pressure will also be important. Being able to laser well in neutral is helpful, but gets tricky with lasers coming back at you.

Honestly, the biggest thing you should probably be focused on is your nerves. If you've never played in a tournament in person, you will very likely be ****ting your pants in a $100 MM. But that's part of the game, so you might as well embrace it. If you go to Xanadu tonight I will be there so just find me. We can play a few games and I can watch one of your sets and give you a better idea of where you're at and what you need to work on.
Out of interest, what do you do to punish LHDL, it seems harder for Falco to punish than say Fox or Marth?
 

Bones0

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Out of interest, what do you do to punish LHDL, it seems harder for Falco to punish than say Fox or Marth?
If I read it or am already on a platform, I jump above them and dair. If I'm on the ground and dealing with it on reaction, I either shine (easiest timing but worst range) or aerial OoS between the lasers (preferably bair but nair works just as well at higher %s). It should also be possible to jab between the lasers if you get hit or usmash OoS, but I haven't had an opportunity to test or practice implementing these.

Unfortunately, like I said earlier, you cannot be within range to do these options and also be able to punish LH Phantasm which is why I tend to either stay on a side plat or further towards the center so I can punish the Phantasm or keep them in the corner if they LHDL.
 

X WaNtEd X

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I have two questions:

1.

So something I've found myself struggling with lately is following up after getting a dair that doesn't pop up that also doesn't lead into shine. If I hit it but land sightly behind or in front, out of the range of shine, I find myself automatically doing shine anyway.
To break this habit, I've been focusing on making sure I reactively do something else in these situations. The three main things I've been doing are grab, dtilt, utilt, and jab.

I think out of these options, utilt is the best. If I land so I'm facing toward the other player, is turn around utilt always guaranteed? If not, when is it guaranteed?

2.

Imagine the following scenario. You've just shined a fast faller on one of the side platforms of any of the platform stages at medium or low percent. They DI to the top platform. After wavedashing ou of your shine, you follow them and waveland to the top platform. You aren't fast enough to get there for another shine, but you're in position to tech chase. What should you be doing in these scenarios?

I find myself going for a lot of hard reads or just random hits to maintain control. Sometimes I'll just utilt in place. Sometimes I'll follow a roll and jc shine. Sometimes I'll even dash attack. But I don't really have a systematic approach to this situation. And while I think my reads tend to net me fairly optimal punishes, I feel as if there's a way to cover everything and get these punishes, or at least maintain control.
 

CP Adagio

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Apr 11, 2016
Messages
52
I have two questions:

1.

So something I've found myself struggling with lately is following up after getting a dair that doesn't pop up that also doesn't lead into shine. If I hit it but land sightly behind or in front, out of the range of shine, I find myself automatically doing shine anyway.
To break this habit, I've been focusing on making sure I reactively do something else in these situations. The three main things I've been doing are grab, dtilt, utilt, and jab.

I think out of these options, utilt is the best. If I land so I'm facing toward the other player, is turn around utilt always guaranteed? If not, when is it guaranteed?

2.

Imagine the following scenario. You've just shined a fast faller on one of the side platforms of any of the platform stages at medium or low percent. They DI to the top platform. After wavedashing ou of your shine, you follow them and waveland to the top platform. You aren't fast enough to get there for another shine, but you're in position to tech chase. What should you be doing in these scenarios?

I find myself going for a lot of hard reads or just random hits to maintain control. Sometimes I'll just utilt in place. Sometimes I'll follow a roll and jc shine. Sometimes I'll even dash attack. But I don't really have a systematic approach to this situation. And while I think my reads tend to net me fairly optimal punishes, I feel as if there's a way to cover everything and get these punishes, or at least maintain control.
Not sure if I understand 1 but I'll answer my solution to number 2. Typically I'll make a read but increase my chances of success by down smashing so I can cover missed tech/tech in place depending on timing as well as tech roll to one side.
 

X WaNtEd X

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But dsmash ends the combo and can be amsah teched. At higher percents I might try that. But at the range I'm discussing, I don't like that.
 

FE_Hector

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I have two questions:

1.

So something I've found myself struggling with lately is following up after getting a dair that doesn't pop up that also doesn't lead into shine. If I hit it but land sightly behind or in front, out of the range of shine, I find myself automatically doing shine anyway.
To break this habit, I've been focusing on making sure I reactively do something else in these situations. The three main things I've been doing are grab, dtilt, utilt, and jab.

I think out of these options, utilt is the best. If I land so I'm facing toward the other player, is turn around utilt always guaranteed? If not, when is it guaranteed?

2.

Imagine the following scenario. You've just shined a fast faller on one of the side platforms of any of the platform stages at medium or low percent. They DI to the top platform. After wavedashing ou of your shine, you follow them and waveland to the top platform. You aren't fast enough to get there for another shine, but you're in position to tech chase. What should you be doing in these scenarios?

I find myself going for a lot of hard reads or just random hits to maintain control. Sometimes I'll just utilt in place. Sometimes I'll follow a roll and jc shine. Sometimes I'll even dash attack. But I don't really have a systematic approach to this situation. And while I think my reads tend to net me fairly optimal punishes, I feel as if there's a way to cover everything and get these punishes, or at least maintain control.
1.) (IDK your level) but part of this could be SDI on the dair, and part of it could be that you're not pulling back/hitting forwards on the stick enough as you hit your opponent so that you position yourself perfectly. For an overshot dair, utilt is definitely a really good option, and turnaround utilt should be alright for a undershot one, though grab should work pretty well. Alternatively, remember that an opening does not always have to be some kind of monster punish. If you mess up a bit, there's nothing wrong with just trying to reset to neutral.

2.) I'm relatively sure you can cover everything with dsmash from the middle of all top platforms. Alternatively, if you do have a read, then a JC shine or a smooth utilt or something like that that you know you can combo off of works perfectly fine.

EDIT: Alternatively, you could just work on your techchasing because plat techchases are far easier than on the ground due to your opponent not getting the full length of their techroll. I'm relatively sure you can dair rolls and shine tech in place on reaction.
 
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Frenzy231199

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1. Depends on percent and how high you hit the D-Air but above 30 and a low D-Air it's probably guaranteed. 2. you can tech chase with D-Air to cover rolls and Up-Tilt to cover missed tech / tech in place on reaction but it's hard lol. Dash Attack can work at low percents because it doesn't send them far even if they DI away but I think learning the D-Air tech chase is best, which is something I'm personally working on at the moment.
 

Frenzy231199

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1. Depends on percent and how high you hit the D-Air but above 30 and a low D-Air it's probably guaranteed. 2. you can tech chase with D-Air to cover rolls and Up-Tilt to cover missed tech / tech in place on reaction but it's hard lol. Dash Attack can work at low percents because it doesn't send them far even if they DI away but I think learning the D-Air tech chase is best, which is something I'm personally working on at the moment.
Also D-Smash does work but you were talking about low percent so D-Air / Up-Tilt / Shine is better in my opinion.
 

X WaNtEd X

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and part of it could be that you're not pulling back/hitting forwards on the stick enough as you hit your opponent so that you position yourself perfectly.
This is exactly what happens. But even at top level, you can't always guarantee the perfect positioning. In situations where you're punishing lag or something, it's more on you. But when you're scrambling in neutral, it's not always going to work out perfectly. That's why I think it's important to know what to do in these kind of situations.

For an overshot dair, utilt is definitely a really good option, and turnaround utilt should be alright for a undershot one, though grab should work pretty well. Alternatively, remember that an opening does not always have to be some kind of monster punish. If you mess up a bit, there's nothing wrong with just trying to reset to neutral.
Yeah but I don't think this should be the type of situation where you accept a mess-up. I feel like you should always be able to get something at least.

2.) I'm relatively sure you can cover everything with dsmash from the middle of all top platforms. Alternatively, if you do have a read, then a JC shine or a smooth utilt or something like that that you know you can combo off of works perfectly fine.

EDIT: Alternatively, you could just work on your techchasing because plat techchases are far easier than on the ground due to your opponent not getting the full length of their techroll. I'm relatively sure you can dair rolls and shine tech in place on reaction.
I like the third alternative. What do you think of shining tech in place on reaction and following with jc shine or utilt for tech rolls? Utilt would be if landed toward one side of the platform and tech rolled in a way utilt would cover it.
 

FE_Hector

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What do you think of shining tech in place on reaction and following with jc shine or utilt for tech rolls? Utilt would be if landed toward one side of the platform and tech rolled in a way utilt would cover it.
I think it should be treated more like a Sheik/Falcon's techchasing. You don't needa do a preemptive shine for their tech in place and then WD out and choose another option if they techrolled-- you can just see what they're doing and react to it if you position yourself properly.

As for your comments to the other situation, probably just test out utilt if they're behind you and see if you prefer grab vs turnaround utilt when they're in front of you. I think that the grab is closer to guaranteed, but you're not as likely to get as big of a punish directly off of it.
 

X WaNtEd X

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I think it should be treated more like a Sheik/Falcon's techchasing. You don't needa do a preemptive shine for their tech in place and then WD out and choose another option if they techrolled-- you can just see what they're doing and react to it if you position yourself properly.
To clarify, I meant using shine on reaction to cover tech in place.
 

FE_Hector

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To clarify, I meant using shine on reaction to cover tech in place.
Yeah, definitely shine tech in place. I'm not sure if you have time to get over and utilt the opponent when they techroll, but JC shine should probably be possible. The frame data we looked at in the Discord made it look possible to dair on techrolls on reaction on plats, and just barely possible on the ground.
 
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