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Things that are true about virtually every smash 4 tier list that don't make much sense, and for some reason are a recurring theme:Could Pikachu have been perceived as High-Tier this whole time because of ESAM's former success with the character?
From what I see, the electric rat just doesn't have it to compete with the likes of and
Dash attack is unsafe, with 30+ frames of ending lag. A jab lock is never truly reliable because it requires your opponent to miss their tech. B-throw doesn't even work well as a stock cap: with optimal DI, Mario dies at ~190% from the side of FD. D tilt to usmash: why haven't I seen ESAM use this (jab locks don't count because they often require a specific scenario and stop working at KO percents)?People seems to forget Pikachu has dtilt that can lead to a usmash, he also has plenty of jab locks and bthrow can kill, while unsafe, fsmash is huge and Ive seen it can only be punished when perfect shielded, dash attack can kill early and (not really sure on this one, would love the confirmation of another Pikachu main) I think fair can lead into usmash
Pikachu's dtilt does horizontal knockback, and I don't think it will ever launch the opponent close enough or do enough hitstun to be guaranteed into an upsmash or even particularly restrict your opponent's options. That's like saying Fox's dtilt leads to his upsmash. Pikachu does have jab locks, but remember that jab locks rely on the opponent's inability to tech -- if you watch high-level matches chances are low you will see jab locks occur for this reason. Do not mitigate the unsafeness of Pikachu's dash attack, it really is not worth the risk. As Bunbun129 mentioned, it has over 30 frames of endlag. "It can only be punished when perfect shielded" can be said about any strong smash; does that mean it is unpunishable? Of course not, especially considering that perfect shielding is not very technically demanding.People seems to forget Pikachu has dtilt that can lead to a usmash, he also has plenty of jab locks and bthrow can kill, while unsafe dash attack can kill early, fsmash is huge and Ive seen it can only be punished when perfect shielded, dash attack can kill early and (not really sure on this one, would love the confirmation of another Pikachu main) I think fair can lead into usmash
These largely have to do with optimization theory. On paper, all four of those characters would be scary if they had near perfect players, especially Ryu, but we really haven't seen that. The learning curve to reward ratio of Ryu and Pikachu is discouraging a lot of players (especially when you have characters like Cloud and Mario to consider), Yoshi's basic strategies have run their course just like Captain Falcon's, and Roy is practically wishful thinking and underscoring weaknesses that he has despite using them to regularly trash talk other characters like Link and Shulk.Things that are true about virtually every smash 4 tier list that don't make much sense, and for some reason are a recurring theme:
1) Ryu is top 5
2) Pikachu is top 10
3) Yoshi is top 20
4) Roy is higher than half the cast
Traditions will be traditions even if everyone agrees everything is plainly wrong or absurd.
Problem is, it's not consistent with the philosophy of the ranking. Yes, Ryu is scary in theory, but his results never backed up #4. Meanwhile, the majority of the cast was more or less in line with their results. Pikachu, Ryu, Roy, and others are notable outliers and exceptions to this rule, considering the 4BR list was supposedly results based.These largely have to do with optimization theory. On paper, all four of those characters would be scary if they had near perfect players, especially Ryu, but we really haven't seen that. The learning curve to reward ratio of Ryu and Pikachu is discouraging a lot of players (especially when you have characters like Cloud and Mario to consider), Yoshi's basic strategies have run their course just like Captain Falcon's, and Roy is practically wishful thinking and underscoring weaknesses that he has despite using them to regularly trash talk other characters like Link and Shulk.
I picked some sentenced that have basically zero information content. There are just some claims thrown into the thread. If you really want to convince people of your points you need reasoning. (What tools does Charizard have on the ground that makes him good enough? Why does he benefit from rage more than anyone else? Why are you sorry for people who may have a different opinion?1. He is no higher than mid, no way is he lower than mid. He is smack in the mid tier. Sorry to anyone who thinks otherwise.
2. [...] in general Zard benefiting from Rage more than anyone else in the game. [...]
3. [...] Zard has the tools to deal with basically anyone AS long as he remains grounded [...]
What do you mean by that?And the Pikachu Thunder Thing has been proven true on DI-read as well.
Also a Pika main- the largest issue is killing. There are no kill confirms that he really owns besides gimps, hard reads or Up/Down Throw to Thunder. Compared to all of the other things that most of the top tiers have in terms of killing potential, he has the worst options.Ok, as a Pikachu main I would love to listen what keeps Pikachu from being top tier? I mean, he can seal stocks way easier than the likes of Sheik (now), Mario, MK, and Sonic with attacks like usmash, fsmash, uthrow/dthrow thunder,offstage gimps etc..., and he has a lot of combos to deal damaga quickly, he has great neutral tools in sh fair, dair, quick attack, when in a good distance tjolt, full hop nair etc...
What baffles me is that not only does Pikachu have trouble landing KO moves, but he also requires sweetspots on them.Also a Pika main- the largest issue is killing. There are no kill confirms that he really owns besides gimps, hard reads or Up/Down Throw to Thunder. Compared to all of the other things that most of the top tiers have in terms of killing potential, he has the worst options.
Usmash - need a read or they don't tech dtilt, and even then no sweetspot = 10-15% later kill.
Fsmash - need a read and sweetspot or you kill 10-15% later.
Uthrow/Dthrow + Thunder - still need to read b/c everyone knows the DI at this point - is prob the least read intensive of his options to kill people but still exist.
Gimps - his most/second best tool - current ledge mechanics makes this hard, certain characters it's very difficult even for Pika (Shiek)
Other than that, like his other aerials/basic attacks (Dair, Nair, Ftilt) won't kill till 130+ w/o rage and/or bad DI. If Pika got a real kill confirm, or if Usmash/Fsmash were slightly stronger, he'd be ok kill wise- but compared to most of the people above him, kill power is kinda atrocious, and at high levels where people don't do dumb things/fall into smashes, makes him hard to be successful.
Other issue is virtually no results outside of Esam.
At this point I think people using the game states in discussion in this topic is causing more confusion than anything. Pikachu isn't average in disadvantage. He's easily top 10, likely top 5, and arguably #1 in the state. I would rate Pikachu's disadvantage 10/10.The top tier in this game have dominant states of gameplay, and generally none of their states are outright bad. Cloud's bonkers neutral, Bayo's everything, Diddy's neutral, etc. Pikachu is pretty average in all three.
Mario's smashes are way better than pikas, and his edgeguarding is only slightly weaker. He also has a kill throw and unavoidable death combos depending on platform positioning/rage. There's no way pikachu seals stocks "way easier" than mario, I doubt it gets much easier than grabbing and killing someone even if they know how to DI your throws.Ok, as a Pikachu main I would love to listen what keeps Pikachu from being top tier? I mean, he can seal stocks way easier than the likes of Sheik (now), Mario, MK, and Sonic with attacks like usmash, fsmash, uthrow/dthrow thunder,offstage gimps etc..., and he has a lot of combos to deal damaga quickly, he has great neutral tools in sh fair, dair, quick attack, when in a good distance tjolt, full hop nair etc...
Underline the word read.And the Pikachu Thunder Thing has been proven true on DI-read as well.
Roy has a very delusional fanbase.These largely have to do with optimization theory. On paper, all four of those characters would be scary if they had near perfect players, especially Ryu, but we really haven't seen that. The learning curve to reward ratio of Ryu and Pikachu is discouraging a lot of players (especially when you have characters like Cloud and Mario to consider), Yoshi's basic strategies have run their course just like Captain Falcon's, and Roy is practically wishful thinking and underscoring weaknesses that he has despite using them to regularly trash talk other characters like Link and Shulk.
What makes me laugh is that Roy's biggest strength his punish game is one of the best if not the best in within this game.
John thank you for being a voice of reason among the chaos.Going to war right now!
https://twitter.com/JohnNumbers/status/712995724473069568
Edit: Hmm... how do I make a Tweet appear visibly on a post?
Also, this entire post is amazing. I knew a good deal of this already, but there was stuff in there I didn't know, plus a whole load of intel in general that has a severe publicity issue.
So... nice work leading the charge there.
Ryu is held back by people doing things like utilt to RANDOM FOCUS ATTACK MINDGAMES, instead of just going for clean simple stock ending punishes.Problem is, it's not consistent with the philosophy of the ranking. Yes, Ryu is scary in theory, but his results never backed up #4. Meanwhile, the majority of the cast was more or less in line with their results. Pikachu, Ryu, Roy, and others are notable outliers and exceptions to this rule, considering the 4BR list was supposedly results based.
I'll be honest, though, even in theory, Pikachu doesn't have what it takes to be top 5, because poor KOing ability is poor KOing ability, while a character like Ryu is held back mostly by technical demands.
Luma largely negating bayo's combos, witch time, divekicks, and taking advantage of her general propensity for being a big light body often in the air with issues getting in/landing means if Rosa of all characters doesn't win that matchup then I doubt anyone does.
Luma cannot shield or dodge Dive Kick. If Rosalina doesn't anticipate the 8 frame move, Luma has to eat it. I do think it's a matchup changing move, since Dunnobro is right: Rosalina + Luma shreds up Bayonetta. But a single pathway to Luma deletion changes that entirely.Is one move really enough to make this a bad matchup for Rosalina?
By "Divekicks" I mean the actual aerial downward angle downb that makes landing bayonetta such a threat. It almost never kills Luma or sends it offstage due to the positions, so it's really just a situation other characters would die where rosa loses next to nothing.Luma cannot shield or dodge Dive Kick. If Rosalina doesn't anticipate the 8 frame move, Luma has to eat it. I do think it's a matchup changing move, since Dunnobro is right: Rosalina + Luma shreds up Bayonetta. But a single pathway to Luma deletion changes that entirely.
Slow your roll Lil home boy. Considering I know the Bayonetta in Chicago, Tyroy, that beat Hyuga and nearly beat both Mr. R and Ally, I may be biased in this entire spiel.Yet again
ONE BI-MONTHLY TOURNAMENT BANNED BAYONETTA.
It's literally the ****ing equivalent of a small 20 man tournament banning a character because the people decided they didn't want to play vs them. IT DOESN'T ****ING MATTER
Get back to me when Pulse bans it from the Arcadian or some ****, THEN you'll have something to talk about.
People
I'm looking at ****ing you Chicago
are taking this SERIOUSLY way out of proportion right ****ing now.
Optimally, if Bayonettas can configure a Luma killing combo from a Dive Kick start... but I just looked up Luma's HP and holy s**** 52 points that is so much OMG that is not fair wtffffBy "Divekicks" I mean the actual aerial downward angle downb that makes landing bayonetta such a threat. It almost never kills Luma or sends it offstage due to the positions, so it's really just a situation other characters would die where rosa loses next to nothing.
I will admit Bayo is pretty good at getting rid of Luma, though.
Actually, I just tested it. Since luma has no di/air dodging to worry about, dk + dk + witch twist + nair sends a fresh Luma almost 4/5th across f/d. That's... Well, when I said "If Rosalina doesn't beat her, no one does" I should mention I meant that in a "She's our only hope" sort of way.Optimally, if Bayonettas can configure a Luma killing combo from a Dive Kick start... but I just looked up Luma's HP and holy s**** 52 points that is so much OMG that is not fair wtffff
Dive Kick + Dive Kick + Witch Twist does about 17%. And Dair, which does have a very good Luma killing angle, adds another 8%.
I would recommend Bayonettas trying to solve the Rosalina matchup to start there.
Post-patch I could see him holding his own against . Maybe a couple of others, but he still likely loses 40-60 or worse against roughly half of high tier, even if those are more winnable now. Not likely better than low-mid. For comparison, Ganondorf I think is probably still bottom 15 and he should be able to hold his own against and maaaybe depending on how relevant their buffs/nerfs are to the MU. Granted none of Zard's bad MUs are likely as bad as Dorf-Bayo, but his MU spread against the relevant cast is still decidedly uphill. Most mid-to-high-mid chars have better high tier MU spreads. I might be underestimating Zard's buffs, and admit that I'm not as familiar with his MUs as Dorf's, but there are a lot of characters out there with solid tools, and the only way to really sort out the mid-tier muddle is to look at high tier MU spreads.Strong-Arm Some characters that I see being in the middle of the cast are Wario, Robin, and DK. Would you say Charizard is comparable to them, because I can't see it. Whenever I think up a match up spread for him it's pretty bad, because he loses to like every relevant character.
This got me rolling as I was really trying to imagine that scenario.Fighting Rosalina is still like sneezing with a mouthful of oatmeal while wearing a diver's helmet
Actually, no. CPUs refuse to cancel hitstun with an airdodge. Pit's Dthrow > Uair works to the point where it's a kill combo on CPUs when that's definitely not the case. From my experience labbing the Pits I can safely say most training combos are fake because most people assume one of many things is correct when it isn't.Most training mode combos are true btw. There are not that much situations where the combo counter is mistaken. The main problem with training mode is the lack of DI. If you are not convinced by the combo counter you can put the CPU at Lv9, get the grab and switch their behavior to "attack". They will play like a normal LV9 CPU and thus airdodge on reaction.
And the Pikachu Thunder Thing has been proven true on DI-read as well.
That's actually interesting. Is it true though? Who specifically was against banning MK in Brawl and is in favor of banning Bayonetta now?I don't like bayonetta, but I do find it weird that the most vocal players in support of her ban were against banning MK
This. I'd wager that having a "it's here for good" mindset is more healthy and productive.Yeah it's true the bar has been lowered, but can you blame the people? They've been getting spoiled with patches and even on Zero's prank call to Nintendo, we've found out that the more people complain, the more likely things will be addressed.
Brawl was my favorite even with KD3 invalidating my characters, even with pika ruining my Wolf, even with Snake and disjoints on dtilt and dtilt, with Ganon being bad, with MK and ICs too. Why was it my favorite? The community was fresh and wasn't riding the coattails of Melee as it was dropped pretty quickly from their community and Brawl players quickly learned to be independent and smart. They knew the game was busted, but IT WAS THEIR BUSTED GAME AND THEY LOVED IT! Not repeating the sentiment of git gud and adapt, but what I'm saying is people need to get self reliant and not hope for things to go their way all time. It usually doesn't work that way. I mean the patch dropped randomly, so if people keep striving forward for anti Bayo strats and then a Nerf patch comes her way, then it won't be a problem. Right now having a moping party won't help. I dunno about you, but I get motivated whenever I feel like I got punched in the mouth as next time I will punch back harder.
This got me rolling as I was really trying to imagine that scenario.
Ally, Anti. Dunno about ZeRo though considering his main I doubt he was crazy about it.That's actually interesting. Is it true though? Who specifically was against banning MK in Brawl and is in favor of banning Bayonetta now?