Specific Characters Match-up: Pikachu vs Mii Brawler

[Felth]

I know that there's a Matchup Thread. But I don't like that the information is spread among different pages because the discussion can be changed to different characters and that could be a little messy. To avoid this, I suggest the following idea: one post for each character. Following some general points I'll organize all the post in a very simple way.

I propose to study in this post the Brawler MU. If you want to discuss other Matchup and you liked my idea just write a post following this idea. Suggestions of any type are welcome (I'm not an expert of Smash so it's probably that you know more than me about this).

Mii Brawler:

• Neutral Game:

• Stage selection and Ban:

• Specific Situations:
  • Ground - Ground:
  • Ground - Air:
  • Air - Air:
  • Off Stage:
  • Some situation to punish or to look (Situations that are advantageous to pikachu vs this character)
  • Situations to avoid?

Extra information:
​

• I don't want to lose all the information that the community has discovered at this point. Most of this theory it's in the MU Thread.

• You can read the document made by the User Umbreoff which summarizes the previous post. Click here to see the document. I'm transcribing this document into a pdf version with access to new options. If you want to check the progress of this document I'll invite you to see the PDF Online Version.

• With respect to the Killing Section: add Good Set-ups to perform the killing (not just the final attack). Set-ups performed in specific Stages are also welcome.

• With respect to the Stage Selection Section: we should discuss what stages to avoid and what stages are good for Pikachu. The Smash Player Esam made a Depth Analysis on each Stage. Recall that some stages could be good for Pikachu but are even better for other character that's the reason for why we should discuss this kind of things here (one example is Halberd: IMO is good for Pikachu but not against Meta Knight).

• With respect to the Difficulty Section we should discuss how difficult is this MU for Pikachu. If it's possible it would be good to associate a measure to this difficulty. I think that this section should be completed once we developed a lot of theory in the corresponding MU, otherwise is just speculation.

• With respect to the Specific Situations Section we should discuss what to do in both scenarios.

 

[Soul.]

I honestly think we win this matchup, lol. Mii Brawler is the most one-dimensional, most perceived "top tier" only because of one move: Helicopter Kick. This is pretty much his only KO move, or at least, the most used one. He's extremely reliant on grabs to do something, and assuming customs are on, Mii Brawler is a "top tier" character when both players have even percents. Once the other player is at 60% or more he can't KO you until late percents (130-150% something?) so you probably don't need to worry. This is a linear character we're talking about.

Jolts are good at stopping his approach, though he has Feint Jump for burst mobility. Try to catch his landings with QA and punish effectively.

You should be DIing the down throw so that Brawler doesn't combo you to something, something Helicopter Kick. Don't stay in the ledges of the stage or try to shield near them; Mii Brawler can use that to his advantage and start to grab, combo you and KO with Helicopter Kick (again) because that move KOs early on the left and right sides of the stage.

I'm not sure how good Brawler's neutral is, but it's highly likely that it has to do with grabs, NAir pressure and Helicopter Kick once he gets the grab. Almost certain that we win here. QA is obviously a good way to approach, but don't use it a lot; you'll become predictable and your opponent will get a read. Down tilt being the great move it is, sets up for trips which leads to grabs (down throw, forward throw). Down throw leads to up air, which you can follow up with even more up airs or NAir.

Forward throw, at early percents, sets up for dash attack. Short hop DAir is another way to approach and start doing work with that percent. Jolts pretty much force him to approach, so I suggest you use them. Jabs beat grabs in this game, too, so that helps.

Also, the most important thing to remember is... never, never, and never take him to Smashville. I can't stress this enough. This stage is where his early KOs become more prominent, and as a result, make the matchup seem harder than it is.

tl;dr:
- Don't get grabbed
- Don't make him go to Smashville (seriously it's important to remember this)
- Don't stay near the ledges of the stage
- Punish his landings
- In neutral, use Quick Attack, down tilt and Thunder Jolt to force Mii Brawler to do something.

I know nothing more than that. Be aware that this is just what I think about the MU. Also, it's worth mentioning that I'm talking about small Mii Brawler here (as that is the most common one), not medium or heavy-sized.