R.O.B. Matchup Analysis #5 - Captain Falcon

[GwJ]

Villager coming next week.

Again, post matchup ratios if you're comfortable.

 

[Anuran]

Gyro on the ground limits falcons movement a whole lot because of the changed to his momentum mechanics.

 

[Ze Diglett]

Yeah, Gyro really is your best friend in this matchup. Keeping one between you and Falcon can really restrict his approach options. Only problem is if he dashgrabs it. Projectile spam in general keeps Falcon at bay if you can read when he drops his shield and/or punish overshielding with a grab. As for matchup ratio, I'm gonna say 60:40 in R.O.B.'s favor just to be safe. As long as we keep Falcon out of our face, the matchup is pretty easy IMO.

 

[GwJ]

It's easy to say to keep a gyro down and use projector spam, but how easy is it to keep falcon out of our faces? I played Gohan yesterday and guys falcon was so fast that I couldn't establish any field control. I'd say it's closer to 40:60 than 60:40.

 

[PUK]

Falcon has no way to get out of a disadvantage state, but can combo us for days.
If we apply huge pressure by alternating projectile game and close game (mostly jab, n-air, side-b, d tilt) we win. The best way i found to take the advantage is to put a gyro, wait, send him offstage, let him go to the ledge and put a gyro on the ledge to limit his options.
On the other way his punishes are stronger than ours, he's a lot safer, can invalidate a lot of our option with his jab, beat us in the sky, slaughter us offstage. If we let too much the gyro on the ground we lose one of our way to reset to normal.


Some things i would like to add: the laser is really punishable in this MU, the gyro clank with falcon kick and is the safest way to gimp him.

Basically 5,5/4,5 for ROB if we play perfectly, but one mistake can lead to our death

 

[teluoborg]

Hum no sorry, ROB has no reliable way to apply pressure on Falcon. The only way that ROB can have the advantage in this matchup is if Falcon is afraid of projectiles.

If you play a for glory Falcon that goes in full ****** then yeah you'll win easily, but if the Falcon doesn't want to rush in your Nairs then what do you do ?

In long range your lasers and gyros are relatively safe, but in mid range everything you do gets outranged by Uair, dash attack and dash grab, and in close range jab beats your fastest options and Dtilt outrange them.


The only things ROB has that I find strong in this matchup are his Uair, his Dthrow and his Uthrow. Dthrow>Uair works really well on Falcon at early to mid percents, and Uthrow will kill with rage, and having a throw that can kill is always a strong option.

Beside that you're forced to mix up a lot or get punished.

It's Falcon's advantage.

 

[PUK]

The way to apply pressure is the same as always: gyro tossing/dropping, jab1 to grab, Nair to gyro, side b to catch roll and landing etc. Dash grab will never work on falcon.
I know than dash grab is falcon's bread and butter, but it's punishable. Dash attack only work to catch landing or the gyro if u're quick enough and Jab 123 is good but at high percent it's hard to follow and the infinite only beat kids.
In the first sight you see a bad camper against a "rush down" character but rob is not more a camper than falcon is a rushdown (is this good english?)

 

[PowerHungryFool]

Falcon has a definite advantage here. He can manuever around our projectiles with relative ease, and once he gets close there isn't much we can do. He has aerial combos for days, a bitchin' dash grab with too many follow-ups, and good kill options. He has one of the easiest spikes in the game, when combined with ROB's slow, predictable recovery, we have a large disadvantage off-stage as well. Our only chances against a competent falcon are using ALOT of mix-ups and gimping falcon's bad recovery. The matchup is 65:35 in Flacon's favor, I say.

 

[asmodeus]

Well, Falcon's dash attack is a pretty good move to counter gyro. He can catch it, clank with it (so cancel his animation to punish ROB) or send it away (I think his move finish before ours). So you need to be in motion (more than other MU) especially with your down B, making Falcon's DA harder to use.

It's all about gyro. if he avoids it, you're in trouble. It's really important to hit shield at least (no perfect shield !).
Nair is really useful too but careful with Nair > Dtilt, Falcon can punish it with a dash Grab.

T&C is a pretty bad stage here (and i'm not a DF big fan). I recommend Halberd, Duck Hunt or Smashville.

I would say 40:60 (Falcon's favor)

 

[Jams.]

For aforementioned reasons and from personal experience, I would also say that the matchup is 60:40 in Falcon's favour. The difference between a Falcon that knows how to use gyro and a Falcon who doesn't makes a huge difference in this matchup.

From my experience, retreating nair and retreating gyro are solid midrange options that punish Falcon's approaches but are fairly difficult to punish. Falcon's physics make him pretty susceptible to fair chains, so you can potentially take an early stock off of fair or nair near the ledge if they DI poorly. Also, grounded gyro is important as it removes his dash grab approach; most Falcons I play with will dash attack to pick up grounded gyro, so try to bait that out and punish.

 

[teluoborg]

I know than dash grab is falcon's bread and butter, but it's punishable. Dash attack only work to catch landing or the gyro if u're quick enough and Jab 123 is good but at high percent it's hard to follow and the infinite only beat kids.

Yes but a good Falcon will use his dash grab like a good rob will use his side B : always to punish and never to approach (except in mixups). The differences being that Falcon's dash grab has more burst range (meaning it reaches distance much faster) less lag and beats shield, so it can be used to punish a lot of things that other characters can't punish. Of course like ROB's side B, if you can predict Falcon's dash grab you can punish it.

It has drawbacks too, like having a big blind spot between standing grab and dash grab range. Falcon can compensate this blind spot with pivot grab but that's a bit slower and thus can be reacted to and punished. ROB doesn't have good tools to zone Falcon in this blind spot though.


Another thing : I don't think ROB has that hard of a time against Falcon when recovering. The only aerials you should fear are Uair and Bair because the first comes out very quickly and the second will kill you. When recovering from below you open yourself to getting spiked, but ROB's up B is very good to avoid spiking, all you have to do is vary the timing of your ascension, throw out a rising Nair/Uair and you'll be safe. If you have to recover from above then do it from very high so that you can avoid Uair and Bair, and mix up your descent onto the stage with Nairs and B reverses.

If I had to give a number it'd be 6-4 Falcon's advantage, but what you should remember is that it's nowhere unwinnable for ROB.

 

[FalKoopa]

The match-up is in favour of Falcon, easily. 60:40 at least, if the Falcon knows what he is doing.

Falcon will attempt to charge at you before you can throw out a gyro or a laser, plus try to knock you into the air, at which point you're combo meat. The safe way to play is keep a gyro between you and him at all times, and punish his whiffs. Going for a grab is too risky to be worth it, imo.

Recovering low is necessary offstage as Falcon can't really interrupt you there.

 

[Anuran]

The match-up is in favour of Falcon, easily. 60:40 at least, if the Falcon knows what he is doing.

Falcon will attempt to charge at you before you can throw out a gyro or a laser, plus try to knock you into the air, at which point you're combo meat. The safe way to play is keep a gyro between you and him at all times, and punish his whiffs. Going for a grab is too risky to be worth it, imo.

Recovering low is necessary offstage as Falcon can't really interrupt you there.

But doesn't recovering low make you susceptible to dair spikes? Generally I shoot gyro recover high and nair onto the stage.

 

[FalKoopa]

But doesn't recovering low make you susceptible to dair spikes? Generally I shoot gyro recover high and nair onto the stage.

I haven't seen many Falcons attempt it, so that escaped my mind.

 

[GwJ]

You always need to be prepared to hover when recovering or really just stagger your up B since robs recovery is much easier to punish this time around. Make it obvious through your movements that "If you want to dair me, you're going to eat a uair if you fail."

You need to deter them from even trying. They can't spike you if they don't try.

 

[PUK]

Against someone with poor distance recovery i used to drag him very low to avoid spike. Usually the opponent renounce to edge guard and go back to the stage even if he has a stock lead.

 

[Jams.]

I honestly feel recovering low is safer in this matchup as well. Falcon's uair's great range and speed means he can trade or beat ROB's nair fairly reliably. Recovering with nair in this matchup will usually get you punished, but if you generally have more chances to recover if he uairs you. On the other hand, Falcon should almost never hit you with dair, but if he does the stock is over.