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

[dkuo]

play more matches until you get it best advice imo

to get into specifics specific, be aware of the fact that hitting people/shields will cause your hitlag to be a little longer

 

[OliClutch117]

You could try changing the button you use to L-cancel with

 

[FourStar]

thanks DKUO!
and olicluth how do you change the l cancel button?

 

[dkuo]

use the other trigger button lol (or z)

dont do that though <_< just stick with what you're comfortable with

 

[FourStar]

yeah you have to mod the controller to have it L cancel on the r trigger right?

 

[dkuo]

no, you can do it with either by default (or z)

 

[FourStar]

really?!?!?! i thought l cancelling involved the L button so for this whole time i could be using the R button? life just got easier :D and btw which trigger do you use?

 

[OliClutch117]

L just stands for Lag it doesn't necessarily involve the L trigger. If I had a nickel for everyone that made that mistake.

 

[AXE 09]

You can L cancel using L, R, or Z. I use R, but everyone's different.

 

[FourStar]

thank god l cancelling is so much more consistent now that i know i could use R :D thanks guys!

 

[Jolteon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvu4yo5RuBQ&t=5m

Pikachu is hot.

 

[dkuo]

lmaoooo that was tight

 

[FourStar]

hey so i was wondering is the pika vs marth MU even or who has the favor?

 

[N64]

I think it's an advantage Marth matchup, but axe makes it look pretty damn even.

I still say it's advantage Marth, but only very slightly
Marth has pretty good tools to keep pika out, but once pika gets in it can be pretty difficult for Marth to regain control.

 

[dkuo]

i also think its in marths favor but not by a huge margin

as with every other pika vs high-tier mu, it really boils down to mu familiarity

 

[Barbs Jr]

L just stands for Lag it doesn't necessarily involve the L trigger. If I had a nickel for everyone that made that mistake.

This is actually not true. N64 players cancelled with their left index finger on the z button, so the first competitive meleers used what felt most natural to them to cancel (the L button) since it used the same finger as in smash 64. Thus, z-cancelling became L cancelling in melee based on people using the L button to cancel out of habit.

The more you know

 

[Strong Badam]

^this isn't true. L-Canceling has always been short for Lag-Canceling, and tbh I highly doubt there was any sort of widespread L-Canceling in 64 before Melee came out. There wasn't any reason to get good at it because the Melee era is what invented the concept of hosting, attending, and traveling to tournaments. Metagame didn't really develop because the internet was in its baby stages. Etc. etc.

 

[dkuo]

^this isnt true, youre not my dad



i just wanted to continue the chain

 

[FourStar]

LOL all cuz i said l cancel was the l button....

 

[Barbs Jr]

^this isn't true. L-Canceling has always been short for Lag-Canceling, and tbh I highly doubt there was any sort of widespread L-Canceling in 64 before Melee came out. There wasn't any reason to get good at it because the Melee era is what invented the concept of hosting, attending, and traveling to tournaments. Metagame didn't really develop because the internet was in its baby stages. Etc. etc.

My source: directly from Isai who has been at the top of the n64 metagame since before melee came out and i believe he was part of the early melee tournament scene as falcon as well.

Think about it. why wouldn't people call it lag cancelling instead of l cancelling if that's what it stood for. Lag cancelling is the same amount of syllables as L cancelling, it doesn't even shorten it.

Of course there was widespread z cancelling in high level n64 play before melee. It's not that hard to find out by accident after playing seriously for a couple months, especially if you play link (I know several people that found it out by accident in the early stages of smash just by trying to shield when they hit the floor with his terribly laggy Dair). Remember that in smash 64 the window for z cancelling is 20 frames, not the 7 frames in melee.

Also, if it really was short for lag cancel, then why is it 100% completely consistently called z cancelling by n64 smashers and not l cancelling? The only time I've heard someone say L cancel for smash 64 was when they were meleers coming over to advanced SSB for the first time.

There's my evidence. Where's yours?

 

[indigestible_wad]

Imo I don't understand why people don't just call it shield cancelling. It involves only buttons that shield in either game.

 

[Rainbow]

that would be even more confusing, but whatever smash jargon makes no sense to new players anyway

 

[FourStar]

its called lag cancelling cuz it cancels out the lag.......

 

[indigestible_wad]

In the end, it doesn't matter how the term originated, popular opinion states that the L stands for lag, therefore that's what it is.

 

[dkuo]

hey let's steer discussion back into pika metagame realm guys :o


if there was a player interested in picking up pika that was asking you for advice on him, what would be the absolute number 1 most important thing you would tell them that is vital to pika success? assume they already know (or at least know to first learn) general stuff like tech, spacing, experience, etc. im kind of struggling to come up with a single response to this myself

 

[FourStar]

hey let's steer discussion back into pika metagame realm guys :o


if there was a player interested in picking up pika that was asking you for advice on him, what would be the absolute number 1 most important thing you would tell them that is vital to pika success? assume they already know (or at least know to first learn) general stuff like tech, spacing, experience, etc. im kind of struggling to come up with a single response to this myself

Learn how to effectively use Pika's Uair into combos cuz that moves is SOOOOOO good for me to start combos

 

[Msamuleman]

hey let's steer discussion back into pika metagame realm guys :o


if there was a player interested in picking up pika that was asking you for advice on him, what would be the absolute number 1 most important thing you would tell them that is vital to pika success? assume they already know (or at least know to first learn) general stuff like tech, spacing, experience, etc. im kind of struggling to come up with a single response to this myself

That's really hard to say. On one hand, Pika's Uair is versatile as hell with its great ability to gimp and combo depending on positioning. Yet, at the same time I feel like quick attack is more integral due to the fact that it seems great for recovery, edgeguarding, and additionally mindgames which is something that a lot of recoveries can't really boast as far as I can tell. It just feels like a potentially more abusable tool IMO.

 

[Captain Smuckers]

dash dance

 

[dkuo]

thats not really pika specific though <_< but yea dd/wd spacing probably the most important thing for every character

 

[Strong Badam]

i'd say the biggest point when deciding to main pikachu is being okay with losing after outplaying your opponent to varying degrees.

 

[AXE 09]

Definitely master his Uair. That move alone makes Pikachu amazing.

 

[N64]

you are able to cancel taunt by shielding after a certain point, before its normal animation or soundfile end.



Edit: but for srs, learn uair hitbox spacings and timings. It's one of the most influential things I can reasonably lump into one category.

 

[Captain Smuckers]

thats not really pika specific though <_< but yea dd/wd spacing probably the most important thing for every character

dash dance

also strong bad knows what's up

 

[N64]

So my question/curiosity is: how often do you guys use bair? In what situations will you use it? Do you like it as a move?

 

[Captain Smuckers]

I don't, I won't, I don't

...except sometimes after rising up airs....

 

[dkuo]

i used it today to do a crossup on shield into ground hitbox shieldpoke. totally by accident though.

(i dont use bair)

 

[AXE 09]

Throwing this out there: Here's a recent set vs Tai lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJk2YTuEVRY
I also played against Wobbles, but I didn't use Pikachu in that set. And in the set of Wobbles vs Tai, I commentated for any of you who want to check it out =)


To answer the question about Bair... I don't use it much at all =/ I like to use it sometimes after rising Uairs, and occasionally as a move when falling while my opponent's behind me (it's kind of deceiving so they'll get hit by it, and even if it doesn't hit, their next move whiffs because Pikachu is so flat on the ground, or they'll get hit by the last hitbox when Pikachu lands on the floor).

Also I sometimes like SHFFL Bair when they're behind me, because it's a move that's not easy to punish since it hits their shield twice with that landing hitbox.

 

[N64]

I once ledge-cancelled a fair into bair on IHSB. He turned and looked at me for a second, and then turned back to the game. I love IHSB.

Bair was probably my least used aerial (I love dair and fair too much), but I still threw it out as an approach occasionally because it's just so janky. It would often hit because wtf is pikachu doing... where is the hitbox on that thing... pikachu you don't have a helicopter attack... etc.

It also ducks ganon's shieldgrabs if he does it too quickly. What a goofy move.

 

[Msamuleman]

In all honesty, I almost never use my Bair unless by accident. It's just feels kinda pointless in most cases when I have three other generally entirely superior aerials to choose from.

 

[dkuo]

good work at salvation axe your pika is seriously fearless...i dont get it. tai also seems like he improved a lot, might just be me though
and im stealing 9:45

watching the set, i feel like people don't punish getting hit by pika's weak nair, it barely does anything most of the time...woo