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

N64

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Teczero! heya. As a short summary to each of your questions:

Bair is Pika's least useful aerial. It's still nice as a combo finisher occasionally, as it has more knockback than nair and reaches slightly further behind him than nair. Its other uses are very gimmicky and unreliable (but i can talk about them if you want). As for fair, there was some discussion on this just one page back in the thread, here was my post on it:
I like fair occasionally as an air-to-air or for certain edgeguard situations. The main benefit of fair (imo) is it allows you to move through somebody while keeping them mostly in place. It can set up well for doublejump rising uair, which could then potentially extend your combo (or at least give you positional advantage). You can also use it to techchase on platforms sorta. Like, uthrow someone at a percent where they would have to tech on the platform, then full hop fair and it lasts long enough to likely catch standing tech and techroll in one direction (if you follow/space well), or catch them if they don't tech. This will keep them close and you can probably get a grab off it.

As for uair, Pikachad did a neat little video that might help. http://www.twitch.tv/pikachad/c/4343968 Otherwise, I don't really have a visual cue, it's always just been a positioning and feel thing. Hit them with the middle 2-3 frames of uair while Pikachu is on the opposite side of whatever direction you want to send them.

You will almost always use uthrow and bthrow. Uthrow is your combo-starter, bthrow is your I-want-them-off-the-edge-so-I-can-edgeguard. Fthrow is good occasionally if you grab them near an edge while facing the edge and don't want to uthrow. What you can get off uthrow changes depending on the character, of course, but it's still useful against pretty much everyone. Fastfallers you can chainthrow with uthrow on FD or set up platform chases on other stages. Midfallspeed chars you can get usmash at super low percents, rising uair into another aerial at medium percents, and nair at high percents (likely to send them offstage). Against floaties you'll probably just get a uair or maybe nair, pika doesn't really have a good throw against floaties.
Dthrow can set up gimmicky stuff, but the recovery on dthrow is about as long as the other person's hitstun, so you're not guaranteed anything (and it can even put you at a disadvantage sometimes).

If you want me to go further in depth into any of these, let me know!
 
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Teczer0

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Hm, interesting ideas for fair. I'll probably ignore his bair for the time being until I get more familiar with Pikachu.

And I'm glad to hear upthrow is his go to throw, its more or less the most used throw I used.

Thanks for the help N64 I'll try these out and come back with questions later. :3
 

dkuo

Smash Lord
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Apr 21, 2010
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omg tec0 on pika
nice

personally i use fair kinda sparsely
the main thing i like though is that it gives a little extra horizontal reach for offstage edgeguards
and rising fair links into falling uair spike quite nicely

bair...if someones behind you and you want to hit them hard? lmao
works well as a finisher to a uair chain if your nair is either stale or hard to hit
also has a really really weak ground hitbox which basically no one knows about. sometimes shieldpokes. next to useless tho :^)
 

festizzio

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Both the bair and dair ground hitboxes have saved me from shieldgrabs a few times. :D If they try to shield grab the first chance they get, you'll disrupt their rhythm.

Also, it seems like more people might start picking up Pika because of Axe, I hope I don't have to do too many Pika dittos :/
 

mynameisdog4

Smash Apprentice
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Axe beats Plup to make top 8 losers bracket. You guys were definitely right about neutral b being good to edgeguard Samus lol.
 

Humuck

Smash Rookie
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Apr 20, 2014
Messages
8
Hey guys, I keep reading that Pika can chain grab Fox. Whenever I'm playing a real person (instead of a CPU) I can't get the chain grab because they just DI away. I try to run forward a little or WD to get them again, but it's too late. I couldn't find videos anywhere of his chain grab, so I was just looking for advice. Thanks!
 

dkuo

Smash Lord
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dash and jc grab vs di away

jc grab: jump, and hit grab during jumpsquat animation
since youre in jumping animation your grab will just become a standing grab which comes out faster and ends less laggy

also holy moly
http://a.pomf.se/cyvrfp.webm

grats to axe at evo! 5th is a strong showing, and you almost took out armada too which i thought was CRAZY
do you still feel the same about pika vs peach as you used to?
 
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Mikey Da Bawse

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No questions here, but thank you Axe.
Your EVO performance inspired me to pick the game back up and continue playing Pikachu.
 

N64

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Yeah, main things i see are recovery and edgeguarding. Sheik can be a little tricky to edgeguard at times, but it's mostly just about getting/refreshing ledge invulnerability at the right time and reacting appropriately when she's forced to recover on stage. For your recovery, practice sweetspotting the ledge from above. Once you're comfortable with that, it avoids a lot of potential damage.
 

dkuo

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woah smasher89 arent you an ics player? nice pika play :)

basically what n64 said. im sure youre already familiar with the ledge "flowchart" vs recovering sheik, but i do see you throw out a bunch of jolts/attacks from center stage that dont really do much during edgeguard as pika. i feel like you have a general unwillingness to hog the edge but its such a powerful position to operate out of as pika, and i think android picked up on this too and took advantage

other ledge stuff i recommend practicing:
- ledgestalling with upb rehog http://i.imgur.com/2c4kO.gif its suuuuuuuuuuuuuper gooooooood
- ledgedashing into a variety of options

might cover punishment stuff later but im falling asleep atm
 

AXE 09

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Thank you so much for the congrats and everything you guys! I'm just working hard to show some Pika love lol.

Chad, the tutorials you do with N64 are fantastic. Please keep it up!

Also thanks to Mortality, you guys will probably see me at a lot more tourneys :) More Pika!
 

festizzio

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Always look forward to watching you play Axe! Your play at EVO was mind-blowing, I was so hoping you would beat Armada, you did so well though!

Is there anything outside of Smash you do to either physically or mentally prepare yourself for a tournament?
 

Chaosphere

Smash Rookie
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Jul 15, 2014
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Peoria, IL
I'm a new smash player. Always loved pika and after watching Axe play at evo combined with the documentary really got me inspired to learn and play smash. Anyways, I'm proficient at other fighting games and I understand a lot of the terminology. Right now my biggest issue is controlling my character. I'm a little confused on how I should be going about some things.

Do you use c-stick for aerials or control stick+A? When are the best times to use the c-stick vs control stick+A?

Which button do you use for jump, x or y? is there a benefit to using either or is it just personal preference? Having some issues consistently short hopping as i keep pressing the jump button too hard on accident. Been trying to remain relaxed in the middle of fast paced scenarios but the pressure builds and I start hitting buttons pretty hard lol.

Which shoulder button do you use for shielding and wavedashing? Do you use L or R? I'm currently using L for L canceling and using R for shield and wavedash. The only time I run into an issue is when I want to wavedash out of shield. Since I'm already using R for shielding AND wavedashing it makes the shield dash kind of easy to mess up. Considering switching to L for shielding but it feels uncomfortable at the moment.

I know these are some pretty fundamental/basic execution questions, but since I'm just starting I figured I should get all of this stuff hashed out now as opposed to later as once I get set in my ways, it'll be harder to untrain any bad habits when I could have just been practicing the correct way in the first place.

Anyways, if you have time to answer these questions and any other tips for new players/pika players you might have would be great.
 

Palmerfan

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The basic rule of thumb is use what you can pull off best. If you have no preferences yet, practice jumping with Y and aerials with C-stick. But until it becomes an inhibiting factor, feel free to play with tap jump and control stick+A aerials if thats what works the best for you, even though it might not be optimal. Also, keep in mind that short hopping has nothing to do with how hard you press the button, but instead with how long the button is held down. Just get your finger off it quickly and you're fine.

I suggest using different buttons for wavedashing and shielding so you can wavedash OOS easily. What you said seems fine, though.

Some pika tips? Watch the tutorial N64 and Pikachad did, and get consistent with techskill and movement. If you can't do something 100% of the time practicing in your room, you won't be able to pull it off in a tournament match. Know your combo options out of up throw, and learn how to edgeguard properly. Good luck!
 
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N64

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Hey Chaosphere, welcome to the Pikommunity!

can we call this the pikommunity, how have we not come up with that terminology yet?!

Anyways, you're right in asking about fundamentals first. As you said, it's much easier to get yourself on the right track early than try to go back and re-program your muscle memory. Having said that, much of what you asked is up to personal preference! Go with what feels right to you.

For aerials, it's generally best to cstick all of them (besides nair, which you can't obviously). This allows you to have better aerial control than you would otherwise. For instance, you can more easily do a dair without fastfalling, or you can fair while holding back to fade away, etc.

For jump button, it's entirely preference. Neither really has a distinct advantage. Just use whichever feels the most comfortable / makes the most sense to you. As far as getting short hopping down, it's mostly just practice practice practice it till you get consistent. I've heard some people just tap it, others slide their finger quickly off the jump button as the press it, as well as a couple other techniques. Find which is more consistent for you, and practice practice.

Shielding button is similar, just preference. I use L for absolutely everything and I don't run into much difficulty feeling overloaded with that. I think most people have a "wavedash button" and then a "shield/tech/l-cancel/etc. button", which makes wd out of shield easier for them, but it's not required for that tech.

If you're just starting out, i'd suggest checking out my guide: http://smashboards.com/threads/pikachu-guide-2011.312544/
It's a pretty good starting spot imo to learning Pikachu.

If you have any more questions as you continue playing, feel free to ask! We're generally a friendly bunch and only electrocute people occasionally.

Edit: the video Palmerfan mentioned can be found here. If you have the time to spare (it's 3 hours long), I suggest you check it out!
 
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Teczer0

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Thank you so much for the congrats and everything you guys! I'm just working hard to show some Pika love lol.

Chad, the tutorials you do with N64 are fantastic. Please keep it up!

Also thanks to Mortality, you guys will probably see me at a lot more tourneys :) More Pika!
Teach me all your secrets at Zenith omg
 

Chaosphere

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Jul 15, 2014
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Thanks for the tips guys. I haven't even looked at any of the other characters' communities but you guys are way friendlier than any of the other communities I've been a part of. I thought c-stick for aerials seemed like it would be more accurate, but then thought that such a rigid, long movement with my thumb from x/y down to the c-stick seemed almost impractical. I guess not! Dat smash execution barrier. Time to go make short hop to uair not seem so awkward.
 

dkuo

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personally i do short hop uairs by pressing y first and moving my control stick up during the jumpsquat animation
makes the uair come out super early

unless i dont want to do it asap in which case i just do y > cstick up
you can probably just move your thumb fast to cstick instead if you want an early uair

and welcome :D
 
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AXE 09

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Always look forward to watching you play Axe! Your play at EVO was mind-blowing, I was so hoping you would beat Armada, you did so well though!

Is there anything outside of Smash you do to either physically or mentally prepare yourself for a tournament?
Physically not really, but I do like doing pushups sometimes and just staying in shape (that's just as a general health thing, not sure if it affects my game play or not but pushups do help me to not feel cold too).

Mentally, I have to tell myself to not freak out since it's tournament. Just play your best and think like you're playing a friendly, except don't do all the dumb SD stuff you do in friendlies haha. Basically just stay calm and do your best. At least until the match is over, then you can pop off if you win XD



EDIT: I got a Thunder into Fsmash combo last night. First time I've ever done that lol
http://gfycat.com/GrayBonyBalloonfish
 
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dkuo

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its like you did a stomp > knee but with a ghost falcon below the stage stomping into an imaginary ground
 
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Bones0

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If Green Greens were legal, we could call it Walgreen Greens Drake when Axe cps it.

On a less important note, the event I'm going to tomorrow has a mid tier tourney so I figured I'd try and use mostly Pikachu. :D
 

Bones0

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Some of the most consistent and efficient Pikachu play you will EVER see:


On a serious note, my Pikachu tech got a lot better throughout the tournament and I actually ended up getting 4th out of 30 players. This character is too fun. :awesome:
 

dkuo

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you failed to mention that it was a mid tier tourney LOL
i didnt read your last post oops

good stuff tho
 
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festizzio

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Thanks for the advice Axe! I have a lot of problems with the mental part of the game, despite having played for so long. When I'm playing against a good/ranked player, and get them down to the last stock or near there, I start thinking I could actually win and I get really nervous. I'm going to try stopping coffee before a tournament, I think it makes me too jittery and nervous.

Also that combo was ridiculous! That's the kind of stuff I dream about doing!
 

Smasher89

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woah smasher89 arent you an ics player? nice pika play :)

basically what n64 said. im sure youre already familiar with the ledge "flowchart" vs recovering sheik, but i do see you throw out a bunch of jolts/attacks from center stage that dont really do much during edgeguard as pika. i feel like you have a general unwillingness to hog the edge but its such a powerful position to operate out of as pika, and i think android picked up on this too and took advantage

other ledge stuff i recommend practicing:
- ledgestalling with upb rehog http://i.imgur.com/2c4kO.gif its suuuuuuuuuuuuuper gooooooood
- ledgedashing into a variety of options

might cover punishment stuff later but im falling asleep atm
Thank you, regarding the unwillingness to hog the edge, i wasnt comfortable to quickattack to it since i hadnt played pika in a while but i felt the pick had its uses in that set. I´ve been working a bit on the ledgehogs but still need a bit of practice with that, i am correct that pika shouldnt get edgeguarded right?
 

dkuo

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edgeguarding pika with sheik is possible but very tricky. one pika starts getting knocked far away he becomes easier to edgeguard if the opponent edgeguards the pika like sheik

you could just wd hog as well. a little slower but still gains you a powerful position
 

knightpraetor

Smash Champion
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Oct 20, 2005
Messages
2,321
1. when is it better to full hop upair out of shield vs sh upair? i notice that full hop upair doesn't seem to combo as well and doesn't hit as low either.

2. does pikachu's chaingrab on spacies work from zero regardless of DI?

any tips on fighting luigi? i played in that low tier tourney bones mentioned earlier, but i found yoshi vs luigi to be a lot easier in general.
 

dkuo

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1. i generally like sh uair over fh uair but fh uair is much much easier to do. plus it works out well when theres a plat above you and opponent is mid/high%. if thats not the case then sh uair is pretty good - even if you dont get a followup you get good position

2. i dont think it works from 0 if di is involved. maybe 10 with reads? usually i like racking at least 30% before feeling comfortable with cg's

vs luigi is hella hard
http://smashboards.com/threads/ask-...d-n64-feat-dkuo.240209/page-106#post-14854643
2014 addendum to my post below n64's is that luigi ftilt priority is good at zoning you out, so ftilt is not an empty threat like my 2012 self believed
 
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Dinowulf

Smash Journeyman
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Jan 31, 2012
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Selma, Alabama
Hey Pikaboards. Yes I am a Yoshi player but I started teaming up with a pikachu in Florida. I wanted to know for doubles matches (Yoshi & Pikachu) what role do you think Pikachu be best for Support or the aggressor? What about Edge Guarding options. The only legit team i know of this of course is Axe & Vectorman and i can't find a lot of matches to study the team matchup.
 
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V3ctorMan

Smash Champion
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Jun 25, 2006
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Sierra Vista AZ
We usually get top 12, at things we enter, but that's not saying much.. I think our best was recently at EVO, where we got Top 8... Yoshi is most definetely the tank in this MU, there's alot of interesting quirks, and qualities of this matchup... There are also some bads, I'll write up a few things in the morning... :)
 

Humuck

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 20, 2014
Messages
8
Hey guys, I'm not sure if anyone has addressed this, but could N64 and Chad please transfer their videos from twitch to youtube before all this twitch havoc happens. I don't know if they already said they would, but I wanted to make sure because they are so helpful and everyone would appreciate it!
 

N64

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Yeah, that's a good suggestion. Just talked to chad a bit, and he'll see what he can do. Putting the 3 hour tutorial on youtube is probably not doable atm, but he said he'd try to get it stored somewhere in case.
 
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