Meta SSB4 Falco Matchup Discussion 25 - Pikachu - Bad Day to be Part Flying-Type

[Ffamran]

Welcome to the Pikachu matchup discussion.

All credit goes to Quas-quas for the original images.​

Here's a link to the main post: SSB4 Falco Matchup Discussion - Main Post. This will be more for general matchup discussions like making a suggestion and such. Or, you could head over to the social thread and ask there: Where We Prefer The Air And The Points Don't Matter!. Or PM me if you really have to, but don't make a habit out of it.

Oh, and if you guys and girls want to play each other to have fun or learn about the MU, check out the NNID and FC sharing thread on the Falco boards: http://smashboards.com/threads/anyone-want-to-exchange-nnids-or-friend-codes.386513/.

There's also the regular NNID and FC sharing threads in the Online discussion if you just want to ask anyone to play.

Notice: Some rules, guidelines, and tips. Some of these are a given since you joined any forum.

1. Be respectful of each other. No insults, no trolling, no flaming, or any of that nonsense.
2. Be aware that some of the discussions can and will be old, so don't call out someone for "wrong" data if that post was referring to say, patch 1.0.3 stuff.
3. Be impartial; learn to see things from other sides. So, don't boast about all the advantages. Notice weaknesses and strengths from both parties.
4. Stay on topic.
5. Have fun.

And here is a frame speed ranking of their regular attacks and grabs - no Specials yet, sorry - to clear up on things since sometimes a move may feel slow, but it's actually fast and vice versa. Plus more information doesn't always hurt. Data from Pikachu Moveset Data by @Pikabunz and the Complete Hitbox/Frame Data For Every Character threads.

As of patch 1.1.4.

Move Hit Frames||
Jab|2-4, 10-12, 17-21, 22-26, 27-31, 32-36, (infinite), 41-42|2-3, (infinite)
Dash Attack|8-11 or 12-19|6-9 or 10-16
Ftilt|6-8|6-8
Utilt|5-9, 12-16|7-13
Dtilt|7-9|7-8
Side Smash|17-19 or 20-20|15-17 or 18-20 or 21-22
Up Smash|7-12, 13-20|10-11 (front) or 12-13 (top) or 14-17 (back)
Down Smash|7-9|8-9, 11-12, 14-15, 17-18, 20-21
Nair|3-5, 6-9, 14-17, 21-24|3-5 or 6-20
Fair|10-13, 14-17, 18-21, 22-25, 26-27, 28-29|10-12, 14-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-26
Bair|4-5 or 6-12|4-5, 8-9, 12-13, 16-17, 20-21, 24-25, 28-29, 32-33
Uair|7-11|4-6 or 7-8
Dair|16-19 or 20-31|14-26
Grab|8-9|6-7
Dash Grab|10-11|8-9
Pivot Grab|11-12|9-10

 

[A2ZOMG]

I haven't personally experienced a lot of Pikachus that really take advantage of his mobility and edgeguards. What I can say is that Falco's good frame data and range help him a lot in this matchup especially since he doesn't really care about T-jolt zoning. Head to head, Falco's normals are great against Pikachu's, and Pikachu is light enough to be KOed fairly easily by either B-throw or D-tilt. However I imagine that his juggles and edgeguards are actually pretty scary once he gets in.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Pikachu's uptilt and and upair combos are absolutely brutal.
Although he doesn't deal too much damage per hit, be sure to know that he's got you locked in the air with hitstun until about 40 percent.
Falco can NOT get caught by it or he's in for a bad time. In the neutral he's going to need to stay back taking care to not get caught by his projectiles. It's pretty much the same as before on Falco's side of the match-up, stay out of range and annoy the opponent, punish when you are in range. This match-up will test your edgeguarding skills.

Falco can win but it's another uphill battle, 55-45 in my opinion.

 

[Ffamran]

One more thing, Pikachu's Dash Attack is incredibly powerful for some reason. Late hit probably not so much, but the clean hit is just ridiculous. At high level play, it might not be as bad, but getting killed by it just feels cheesey. Heavy Skull Bash is just something to remember since I don't think it's spammable and more like a punish or a read. I'm going to assume Falco can panic Blaster up-close or Reflector on reaction to stop it.

Pikachu's Up Smash is like Fox's. There's a sweet-spot somewhere that makes it really strong. Try not to land on it... Side Smash is where Falco will run into trouble with his Falco Phantasm recovery. This might be a matchup where Falco Phase is a safer option. Because of lack of a front hitbox, Falco's going to eat Pikachu's Side Smash if he overshoots his recovery. Pikachu can also Jab at the ledge like Captain Falcon and Little Mac? to annoy and edgeguard.

If you get caught in I believe U-throw - that or D-throw - to Thunder, DI to the left or right. Even with poor air speed, Falco can get out. Don't be like EE and just take the hit since Falco's not a heavyweight. Pikachu can also Thunder near the ledge and have it run parallel to the ledge. Reflect it if you can or stall out your recovery as long as you can.

Reflecting Thunder Jolt isn't really worth it along with reflecting Thunder since it's probably not going to be spammed. Reflector Void would be a good option for launching Pikachu and killing near the ceiling.

 

[isaiah :)]

so like fox and falco in most match ups, pika can play mind games against them, pika doesnt actually need to approach just cause the laser doesn't even touch him when crouched, so he forces an approach without even moving, falco may have a little more of a disadvatage against pika in terms of mobility there is a giant gap, however the same can be said about falco and kill power, pika's biggest issue is killing in the neutral, its extremely hard for pika to get a kill in the neutral game compared to other characters, your best bet is too keep a strong neutral game( cause pika still does have a strong neutral game, just lacking finishers for it) and avoid the edge, pika has a powerful edge game and a skilled player can gimp you really early. oh and smashville can be your best CP against Pikachu because the moving platform tends to save a lot of characters from pika's terrifying gimps and edge guards

 

[Thor]

Pikachu's bair gimps Falco pretty badly from what I know/have seen - it can rather easily intercept Phantasm and if you're stuck firebirding, a fastfall bair that trades will meteor smash you [or it looks like one and acts like one] while the trade means we pop up and get to QA to the ledge. Falco Phase is probably helpful in this MU for that reason [as is Fast Fire Bird or whatever its called].

DI uthrow thunder. Almost always DIing forward is a good idea - yes we can jump forward and catch you, but if you DI behind too much, a Pikachu player can land dthrow thunder (I've done that to a few different people). No DI will almost always be death in any case, because Falco is (at least sort of) a fastfaller who is light, so it works on him at later percents while the base of thunder KOs him somewhat early.

Stages with platforms like Battlefield help protect you from uthrow thunder, but Pikachu's QA lets it move around more on those stages. Kongo Jungle almost fully inoculates you from it, but the high blastzones mean usmash won't kill us for a while, and the slopes allow us to Quick Attack Cancel almost anywhere while being even harder to hit. The barrel and lack of stage spiking is a plus for Falco [barrel gives you another mixup option for recovery, given Falco's superb jump, side+b, and having up+B to get that last extra distance], but I still wouldn't take a Pikachu there. Smashville is probably the neutral you want, but I don't know if a Pikachu will give it to you, at which point it depends on if you prefer Battlefield or FD [if using 3 starters rules].

One more note: I don't think Falco can reflector on reaction to stop heavy skull bash since it's best used up close (but I do not know the frame data, so maybe I'm wrong). Panic jab MIGHT (???) do it (testing required? It's mostly a punish tool or a hard read tool, and shouldn't come out often unless you are constantly being punished or the opponent is bad. Incidentally, I think it can be used at least on prediction to annihilate Falco's non-Falco Phase customs for early KOs [also testing needed].

 

[gameplayzero]

also something that hasn't been noted. Watch where you Fire bird. Don't do it towards the stage as Pika's projectile will hit you and give you a hard time.

As already mentioned off stage is pretty much just a bad place to be for the bird against the Pik with the bolts and bair stage spikes. Honestly I'd probably mix up my recovery a bit depending how the pikachu gimps. Only go low if you are super confident in your stage teching skills. Might be better to just try to choose a stage with platforms just so you don't have to worry about all of that.

 

[AmishTechnology]

Pikachu is probably Falco's worst matchup. A run of the mill Pikachu is more trouble than a good Mario. He is basically the antithesis to everything Falco wants in a matchup.

Pikachu is short. This, combined with his animations and short frames on a lot of his moves, makes him hard to grab even when he hits your shield or whiffs lol. Pikachu's short stature also nullifies one of Falco's few good assets: the RAR bair. You are not hitting a grounded Pika at all with this, one of your most potent KO and neutral options. It is awkward to use against an aerial approaching Pika too because you two short hop at quite different heights + he is tiny and hard to hit aerially. His small stature alone is bad enough.

He is fast. Yes, Falco prefers the enemy to approach. Pika is one of those characters who is simply too good at it and is a speed demon. Lasers are basically never safe, it is hard to punish Pika with his silly frame data and mobility and short height, and Pika has no qualms with reaching and punishing your own mistakes.

His off-stage game rivals Jigglypuff and Meta Knights. This is horrible news for Falco. You can get gimped at 0% just as easily as someone like Falcon or Ganon against Pika with all the thunder, bair tornados, etc. Recovering is not nearly as simple as against most characters. Meanwhile, Falco struggles to even take advantage of one of his strongest assets: edge guarding. Pika has a ridiculous recovery.

You can't simply try to just take it off-stage lime against Falcon. Pika doesn't get combod like Falcon or Mewtwo. Pika is very tough to catch, so getting the KO on him is atrociously difficult because Falco lacks a hoo haa like Meta Knight dash attack into shuttle loop, kill throw like sanic or Ness or Mewtwo, super vertical KO move like Mewtwo usmash, or hulk strength attack like Ganon/Ike tilts.

So far, I am just forced to swap to my MK or M2 for this MU. I think the only other MU to do that for my Falco is Kirby (MK and Puff are manageable for very different and special reasons).

 

[isaiah :)]

Pikachu is probably Falco's worst matchup. A run of the mill Pikachu is more trouble than a good Mario. He is basically the antithesis to everything Falco wants in a matchup.

you forgot to mention that Falco is nearly perfect weight to get comboed often by pikachu's insane air combos. and Mewtwo get's comboed just as bad as falco

 

[Ffamran]

Would prefer it if I didn't have to quote this over...

As promised here is part 7 in the smash fundamentals: character loyalty segment.

Falco vs Pikachu

it's a match where it can go either way, depending on whoever manages to carry the lead early game. I say 5/5 because both Falco and Pikachu have the tools to control the stage, but also deal a lot of damage without being too close to their opponent. Falco needs to play a very patient and careful game, while knowing when to take risks at the right time.

While Pikachu certainly has more options in terms of killing at mid-high percents in comparison to Falco, Falco can protect himself very well and counter a lot of the tactics that most pikachu players tend to focus on (down throw setups, jab lock combos, etc) with well timed jump ins, reflectors, etc. The key to winning this match is to find the right openings, control mid stage, and when possible taking risks off stage to gimp Pikachus recovery. While the latter does sound hard (pikachu quick attack is so fast), your lasers can definitely throw off Pikachu's timing, which can provide you with an entry for a fair off stage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36uHx04CA2I&feature=youtu.be

I don't really agree with the ratio - game's kind of young - and usage of Reflector. The other issue is that ESAM alone shows how strong Pikachu is played at a very high level; Falco doesn't really have that. The way ESAM uses Thunder Jolt is more like a distraction since if you pay attention to it a lot, react to it a lot, the Pikachu player will pick up patterns and exploit that. Smart usage of Quick Attack would also cause issues for Falco who can't really catch up, especially with default sets. Cassio has said Falco would do well on the ground because his options usually covers himself unlike Fox who can't jab or Utilt - he has to reverse Utilt - Pikachu. With patch 1.0.8, Falco's air game is quicker and safer, but it's not something that drastically shifts the air game in favor because of Falco's slower air speed. Another problem is that this isn't a common MU. I can only assume that Zanryo and Mook fight each other a lot which is one person's Falco against one person's Pikachu.

 

[NualphaJPN]

I respect your input Ffamran, appreciate that

The reason I dropped 5/5 instead of lets say 6/4 is for the same reason you mentioned, the matchup isn't common. It would be unfair to drop a 6/4 7/3 on this since, when you consider the ratio of high level pikachu players to falco players, its not very comparable. You have really only one solid consistent pikachu, that being ESAM. Amsa uses pikachu, but never in a major tournament, so not much can be said there.

For now at this point, giving it neutral ratings only keeps the playing field open to change, since over time with more information/tech that is discovered, can swing the pendulum a little. Plus, with the new patch Falco can hold his own a little better in this matchup compared to before. Its not easy by any means, but with enough knowledge about how to approach the matchup, it can be even at most times, at least for now.

Japan doesn't really follow or use customs, so I can't really provide much insight on that. It's mostly looked at from a non customs point of view. I do hope however, that we can get to see MORE high level Falco in tournament play to better analyse this MU much deeper. I'll be taking Falco out to more tournaments here in Tokyo, and match him up against the more stronger players here and see how well he fares there.