Q&A Ask about Pikachu! Hosted by Axe and N64! feat. dkuo!

[OliClutch117]

Also I would like some help on handling the Marth matchup. My friend who plays Marth has great spacing and I always have a hard time getting an opening. What are some ways to get around Marth?

 

[Captain Smuckers]

Dash dance like a champ. Pika's dtilt is a good tool against marth because it has considerable range compared to everything else. There is no real guaranteed way to get in easily, unfortunately, you just need to use a variety of baits and space very well. Also make use of the fact that pika is quite a bit faster than marth. Just make sure that once you do hit him, you beat the crap out of him and keep him above you so it's harder for him to escape/retaliate.

 

[FourStar]

Also I would like some help on handling the Marth matchup. My friend who plays Marth has great spacing and I always have a hard time getting an opening. What are some ways to get around Marth?

OMG that signature is sooo damn...... scarring

 

[FourStar]

I'm still here lol.

Keep in mind that in order to short hop, you need to release the x/y button before Pikachu leaves the ground. So after you press x/y, Pikachu stays on the ground for 3 frames (in a sort of crouching animation like he's getting ready to jump), and then he's airborne on frame 4. You have to release the button within those 3 frames.

I've gotten used to pressing and then releasing the button quickly, but a lot of others use the "sliding" method. They basically barely push x/y with the edge of their thumb, and then slide their thumb off of the button. You can slide your thumb downwards or to the right if you're using X (which is what I use).

Remember that Pikachu is the hardest character to shorthop with in the game (tied with Fox and a few other characters), so don't feel bad if you can't do it consistently right away. It does take practice.

Oh and i try that "sliding" method but i still struggle. does going from y to a but it works only half the time

 

[AXE 09]

Also what the hell are you guys talking about, pikachu sucks. I guess not as much as yoshi, but certainly he is worse than popo's stool

I'm so happy someone caught that reference lol

 

[OliClutch117]

DBZ abridged is really funny.

Oh and i try that "sliding" method but i still struggle. does going from y to a but it works only half the time

It just comes down to muscle memory and just practicing

 

[FourStar]

but is it better to go y to a or x to a?

 

[Spyro]

I would prefer the y button cause it's closer to the b button, but I just you the claw to play now. Really though, it's all about preference.

 

[indigestible_wad]

Give yourself a month of consistent practice for short hopping, like every day. If you can't get it 50% of the time after a month, then something's majorly wrong with you have you should quit the game. Seriously though, it takes at least a month to get the muscle memory for short hopping and wavedashing, and quite a bit longer to get perfect consistency. Just don't give up.

 

[FourStar]

Give yourself a month of consistent practice for short hopping, like every day. If you can't get it 50% of the time after a month, then something's majorly wrong with you have you should quit the game. Seriously though, it takes at least a month to get the muscle memory for short hopping and wavedashing, and quite a bit longer to get perfect consistency. Just don't give up.

LOL that's the kind of advice i would like

 

[OliClutch117]

How does Pika's Uair work exactly I sometimes can spike out with it but I have problems hitting it consistently. Where do I hit them with PIkachu's tail?

 

[N64]

How does Pika's Uair work exactly I sometimes can spike out with it but I have problems hitting it consistently. Where do I hit them with PIkachu's tail?

quoting myself from an earlier post:

Uair Hitbox Properties

Understanding how Pikachu’s uair works is crucial to his gameplay. Good uair use and understanding nets kills and sets up almost everything scary Pikachu has. So, how does it work? Pikachu’s uair has four distinct hitboxes that come out one after the other as his tail swings around his body. Each hitbox covers a different area and has a different knockback trajectory. Thus, getting the right hitbox to connect depends both on your positioning and timing. The best way to get used to it is just practice with it and get a feel for it.

The first hitbox comes out almost immediately and covers a large portion behind Pikachu from around the base of his tail to the top of his head. This hitbox knocks the opponent straight upwards. This part is great because of the speed it comes out, and it leads to a lot of Pikachu’s combos. For instance, if you shield an opponent’s attack with your back to them, you can jump and uair as soon as you leave the ground, and it will often catch them and send them upwards. You can then double jump and connect another aerial, or land and try to grab the opponent if they’re a fast faller, etc.

The second hitbox covers the area from directly above Pikachu’s head to slightly behind him. This knocks the opponent back and down in a pretty steep arc, thus pseudo-spiking them. Utilizing this is a huge part of his gimp game.

The third hitbox covers the area from directly above Pikachu’s head to slightly in front of him. This knocks the opponent forward and down in a pretty steep arc, thus pseudo-spiking them. You can see the similarities between this and the second hitbox and both are pretty similar in what they do. They are not interchangeable in most situations however, as spiking someone towards or away from the stage are obviously not identical. Get used to the timing and positioning for each.

The fourth and final hitbox is the least useful, but still can set up some advantageous situations It covers a small area directly in front of Pikachu and knocks the opponent up and slightly over behind Pikachu. The knockback isn’t that substantial, but it stretches out further forward than the rest of pikachu’s aerials and you can occasionally combo it into another uair or usmash if the opponent DIs poorly.

hope that helps

 

[FourStar]

quoting myself from an earlier post:



hope that helps

hey have you played in any tournaments lately? cuz i would like to see how you play with pika

 

[V3ctorMan]

N64 is wising up, and changing from Pikachu to Yoshi.. =D

He is wising up, and joining the "awesome side"

 

[Strong Badam]

nah
andy wised up and quit the game years ago like we all probably should have XD

 

[N64]

yar. i'm pretty much retired by this point. Last tourney i played in was about a year and a half ago.

but i still lurk the forums! and pretend to be relevant!

 

[OliClutch117]

Thanks for that it helped a lot.

Against floaty characters how do you combo I can't seem to get a solid string against a jiggs or peach.

 

[FourStar]

yar. i'm pretty much retired by this point. Last tourney i played in was about a year and a half ago.

but i still lurk the forums! and pretend to be relevant!

do you have any videos of you though.... i wanna see you in your prime! :D

 

[oukd]

@oilclutch
comboing floaties with pika is pretty hard imo

you usually want to get links out of nair
landing a shffl strong nair or a *late* weak nair can usually combo into another aerial/usmash/grab/etc

uthrow > uair works pretty well, even better if you get the forward spike hitbox to continue horizontal combos

you can combo out of running fh dair since it carries stunned opponents to where you land AND youll ac yoru landing, but its pretty hard to land a fh dair or setup for one

getting a usmash vs low/mid percent can lead to some followups. sometimes you can even do 2 usmashes vs low percent
you can usmash > uair spike > horizontal followup like you're doing an uthrow thing

if you're comboing and you find people fly too far in front of you to land a nair, you can use uair since it stretches in front of you. just be aware itll launch the person backwards into the ground

also the default rising uair > followup works well too, esp with platforms


yeah just some ideaz ~_~

 

[FourStar]

i feel like pika's up everything (tilt, grab, smash, air) is just so good for every combos

 

[oukd]

they definitely are.
oh yeah if you followup combos into utilt that can lead to cool stuff too, forgot to mention that

i don't like doing too many uair combos though, at some point it feels like i'll be stuck doing uair>bair/nair 15% conversions every time i land a uair and i get impatient because im used to falco dealing 992037503572% per conversion. i prefer keeping them somewhat near me and the ground at all times so i can do easy followups

 

[FourStar]

they definitely are.
oh yeah if you followup combos into utilt that can lead to cool stuff too, forgot to mention that

i don't like doing too many uair combos though, at some point it feels like i'll be stuck doing uair>bair/nair 15% conversions every time i land a uair and i get impatient because im used to falco dealing 992037503572% per conversion. i prefer keeping them somewhat near me and the ground at all times so i can do easy followups

i like doing uair-uair-uair and then a dair/nair. i find it so effective

 

[Mormon Mammoth]

Everyone knows the best combo is the upsmash to upsmash combo.

 

[FourStar]

LOL like that is actually possible

 

[Spyro]

Actually you can upsmash > tech chase > upsmash on spaces at low percent.

Edit: Guys, I think I've seen Axe do something close to this http://youtu.be/JLuFpmoKUVQ?t=2m56s . I would not put it past him since Axe is a broken charcter

 

[FourStar]

Actually you can upsmash > tech chase > upsmash on spaces at low percent.

Edit: Guys, I think I've seen Axe do something close to this http://youtu.be/JLuFpmoKUVQ?t=2m56s . I would not put it past him since Axe is a broken charcter

axe is a god. he's good with any character...

 

[N64]

do you have any videos of you though.... i wanna see you in your prime! :D

not reallyyyyy... there's a few singles vids of me out there, but most of them are pretty bad.

These doubles sets are from a tourney that were probably the closest to 'my prime':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pHPTg4FSMw (cuts out at the end)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwUGN6LANl0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaA9zgNBEJw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp2USkMNqOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEp-XpmpJ6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4dArg48eK0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUTJ7N3nT5U

also a set of us getting wrecked by wobbles & doh in a oklahoma tourney from around the same time out there somewhere. can't find any singles vids from after like 2007 though.

 

[FourStar]

not reallyyyyy... there's a few singles vids of me out there, but most of them are pretty bad.

These doubles sets are from a tourney that were probably the closest to 'my prime':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pHPTg4FSMw (cuts out at the end)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwUGN6LANl0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaA9zgNBEJw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp2USkMNqOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rp2USkMNqOM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4dArg48eK0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUTJ7N3nT5U

also a set of us getting wrecked by wobbles & doh in a oklahoma tourney from around the same time out there somewhere. can't find any singles vids from after like 2007 though.

wow i'm really impressed. your such a patient pikachu.i'm kinda jealous

 

[N64]

I used to be a looooot more impatient heh. Basically all of my specific matchup knowledge is "ok, when is it not safe to just try to rush in on this char."

 

[FourStar]

I used to be a looooot more impatient heh. Basically all of my specific matchup knowledge is "ok, when is it not safe to just try to rush in on this char."

its okay i'm really impatient. that's why i kinda suck

 

[oukd]

its aite ive been playing for 3 years and im still impatient as hell

 

[FourStar]

its aite ive been playing for 3 years and im still impatient as hell

idk i guess personality has to do with it as well to right?

 

[oukd]

i guess you could say that

its hard to say though. i always feel like im too impatient, but most people who play me say im a more of a defensive/receptive player
so maybe im actually more patient than average simply because i think im impatient and see it as one of my main things to work on

 

[OliClutch117]

I have a very hard time with playing pika defensively it seems that every time I should have been patient. I just run in there and hope to get the hits I want. Needless to say my Pika isn't very good because of that

 

[AXE 09]

I'm pretty terrible with patience lol

 

[oukd]

@oilclutch (and others too i guess) spending time zoning with dtilt/ftilt/dd and waiting for approach opportunities pays off big time. i suggest putting more time into improving/focusing on this during your games if you feel your patience is lacking

 

[FourStar]

pika is really for people who are pretty aggressive. i mean you still need to play defensive at times but overall he is for aggressive players.

 

[Captain Smuckers]

nair right at them all day erryday

 

[OliClutch117]

One of my biggest problems is playing against someone who I just can't seem to get in on for example Marth. I can't ever seem to get in and attack, so I try and be patient and sit back. I get so bored that I just want to run in and kill Marth but when I try I get Fsmashed and... Dead

 

[oukd]

^ focus on punishing oos (learn wd oos vs fsmash for starters) and nairing over dtilt. stick to marth closely to make his tipper less of a threat and try to shield hits when you're close. don't get grabbed while in shield though, try to zone/attack when marth looks for the grab

pika is really for people who are pretty aggressive. i mean you still need to play defensive at times but overall he is for aggressive players.

i dont know if i agree with this. a balanced mix of both is very important imo, but i wouldn't say that he's *for* aggressive players.

pikachad plays a fantastic pika and he plays very defensively - just watch this set to see what i mean http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeOx9B1SPo4

chad likes to hang back until opportunities present themselves, mostly waiting for the opponent's commitments instead of forcing his own hand. he does not play a very crossup/mixup-heavy game which is very unlike today's meta, but it works well for him - rather, he opts to commit in situations where he's more certain of punishment. this is entirely viable for pika thanks to his decent mobility and conversions vs most of the cast.

unfortunately i can think of a number of characters that are better than pika at this

on the other hand, axe plays an extremely aggressive mixup game. watch this in comparison http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOLArR7lKQw

while he does play pretty safe, he's not reluctant on approaching before the opponent commits, especially thanks to how strong his punishments are relative to the opponent (often due to MU knowledge). even when initializing an approach fails to convert, pika still has many followups that can be considered mixups vs specific defensive options, most notably after crossup nair on shield. forcing more mixups allows for more opportunities for conversions.

unfortunately i can think of a number of characters that are better than pika at this

(axe does fall back on patient play when the situations calls for it though, so im not saying that defense is lacking in his arsenal)

aggressive play creates more opportunities for conversions, and its up to the opponent to adapt to all of pika's mixups on his approach. defensive play takes away the opportunity for opponent options on mixups and instead relies on pika landing the punishments vs opponent commitments. finding the sweetspot between the two is pretty hard, but id say that both aggro-centric and defense-centric play are, at the very least, viable.