Meta Boss Select! Megaman Matchup Discussion 2.0

[Sari]

Hello blue bombers. The vs matchup is currently being discussed on the Wario boards, so if you'd like please drop by and share your thoughts on this specific MU.

http://smashboards.com/threads/wah-...nlink-and-megaman.391846/page-9#post-20951106

 

[Mega-Spider]

Hey guys! It's about the time we decide on who to discuss next!
Ryu was an interesting, but short discussion, since we have a lot that can hold him off. I was thinking of discussing Rosalina this week since some of us reported issues with her. Who else is in favor of this?

 

[Xavix]

While I go through the post to find some great things we said over the week, it's time for next character discussion! When I'm done updating the OP the next discussion will start. Rosalina seems to be next but who knows . Finally I'm glad that this matchup thread is doing well! I was really nervous putting it up so glad to see that it's been well received .
EDIT: OP updated! since nobody has posted yet I'll wait a few hours so we can come to an agreement. If nothing happens then is next!

 

[Megamang]

I agree with Rosalina, she is the MU I am most curious about other peoples approach. Especially appreciated would be tournament videos of you besting a Rosalina. She is a painful beotch.

We all know the crash bomber to hurt luma thing. Also, nair does a number on luma, but can be risky since she can beat it out with a number of moves.

Edgeguarding her is a must.

I'm getting ahead of myself here. But yea, I think Rosalina should be our next discussion, she is a popular tournament character that we can be nicely advantaged against, because if we know the MU well we probably will have much more MU knowledge than Rosa, since they will be worrying about other more common tournament threats.

Because of this, I would especially like to hear from people who play the same Rosalina in tournament frequently, or even friendlies, because there is a difference between what works due to them not knowing counterplay, to what really works.

What I do know, is that when I see Rosalina lose on stream, it is usually due to someone consistently dealing with Luma brutally and efficiently. Luma will follow a certain pattern once she is disconnected, and is way easier to predict than Rosalina. For this reason, it is always better (in my opinion and from what I've seen as an avid tournament watcher) to go for the more guaranteed punish on luma, unless you have a really solid read that can lead to a kill.

Neutral is very important in this MU, not only because we can kill Rosalina at the ledge, but because if she is near or off the ledge, Luma is much more likely to die.

Anyways, just some random ramblings because I like to type. Lets do Rosalina.

 

[Drarky]

I'm all up for Rosalina, which I find it to be an MU that you need to be VERY consistant, but at the same time it's very doable.

 

[Mega-Spider]

... Rosalina, Rosalina, Rosalina. This is a match up that is the equivalent of two walls trying to break the others defenses, and truth be told, Rosalina and Mega Man have a lot of similarities. As previously mentioned, both are walls for the other fighters to break through, with Luma being Rosalina's body guard, and Mega Man using his tools and himself for that matter to keep his opponents out. They also excel in neutral, being able to win neutral extremely quickly and easily in the hands of the right player. Both characters require patience to use. Truth be told, Rosalina's a glass cannon, and a reckless player is going to die very quickly because of Rosalina's light weight. The same can go for Mega Man. A reckless player is never going to get his/her bearings and not be able to do anything since their means of defense is broken.

Unlike a good amount of the cast, Mega Man DOES have an even chance against Rosalina, at the cost of being extremely, and I mean extremely consistent. Like, if you make one crucial mistake, it could potentially mean curtains for you. One noticeable advantage that Mega Man has is most of his moves are multi-hit, and go through Luma. Crash Bomber explodes on contact, and can rack up damage on the Luma. It's also extremely important to stay away from Luma and fend it off as hard as you can, as that thing can break through defenses more easily than most of the cast can. When you manage to take out Luma, Rosalina doesn't have much to use against Mega Man, though there have been reports that people struggle with the Gravitational Pull.

About the Gravitational Pull... it's an issue at a distance, but not one when Rosalina's in the air. Yes, it can nullify most of our projectiles, but here's something to note: We can use this to actually bait Rosalina. I've had times where a Rosalina player used Gravitational Pull on Air Shooter, only for me to use it again, sending them to their deaths. We can also use this as a way to get Slash Claw in there, and since Rosalina is light weight, she'll die quickly to this.

Edgeguarding Rosalina is tough, but it's something we need to do. She has great recovery and like us, has amazing air acceleration, but she's pretty floaty, meaning we could catch her when she's using her recovery. Even though I've spiked Rosalina before, I usually prefer to either get a surprise U-tilt (keep in mind that it's only for the thrill and only a good idea when Luma isn't around), or the better option, Slash Claw her off the stage.

That's not to say Rosalina can't do anything against us. Like I said earlier, this match up is like two walls trying their hardest to break the other one down. Both walls need to have their bases covered at all times. If one slips up anywhere, the other can use that to their advantage. Since Mega Man's a fast faller, he's prone to being comboed by Rosalina, and worse, getting KO'd from the infamous U-Air kill with Luma. Gravitational Pull is a move that's more of a hassle when at mid-distance, so I usually recommend using those projectiles to beat Luma up. Focus on Luma at all times, and keep in mind who long it takes for Luma to come back. Use this time to wail on Rosalina as much as you can before Luma comes back.

From my experience, I'd say this is a 50:50 set, but I can see where others think Rosalina has the advantage. Remember to keep your bases as tight as she does, and focus more on Luma rather than her (thought you should keep an eye out for Rosalina as well). This is a match up that's all about patience. When one starts to lose that patience, that's when the MU will be decided. Make sure you aren't the one losing patience.

 

[Xavix]

Well I didn't type it but Rosalina it is! Something tells me wario is after that

 

[Eren Swaeger]

I think corrin or PIKACHU (WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LONG AGO ) should be next. But hey, that's just my opinion

But anyway, I like using crash bomb vs rosa because if it hits luma, it detonates immediately and may even hit rosalina. Reduce the amount of lemons, more metal blade. And if u dthrow, don't follow up with anything. Wait for luma to go back to rosa as they always call luma back when they get dthrowed. Leaf shield is ok just do what I said before. Bf/Dl is our go to stage. And if those are a no go, I say SV.

P.S. can we pls do pikachu next, lol

 

[Mega-Spider]

I think corrin or PIKACHU (WHO SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE LONG AGO ) should be next. But hey, that's just my opinion

But anyway, I like using crash bomb vs rosa because if it hits luma, it detonates immediately and may even hit rosalina. Reduce the amount of lemons, more metal blade. And if u dthrow, don't follow up with anything. Wait for luma to go back to rosa as they always call luma back when they get dthrowed. Leaf shield is ok just do what I said before. Bf/Dl is our go to stage. And if those are a no go, I say SV.

P.S. can we pls do pikachu next, lol

If it makes you feel better, we'll consider doing Pikachu after Rosalina.

 

[Eren Swaeger]

Fine by me

 

[Sorichuudo]

So are we officialy iscussing Rosa now?

 

[---]

The thread title has been changed, so it's official now.

 

[ravemaster47]

Rosa matchup I feel is even. Like many have already said, crash bomber is really useful against Luma. Metal blade is good for baiting gravity pull and giving us a way in. Being in the air against her is pretty rough for us, so proper spacing at all times is a given. U air is super useful against her imo. As she is pretty light and can kill her pretty early. Her recovery is easy to punish so getting her offstage puts us at a pretty good advantage. Rosa herself isn't the issue in the matchup I don't think, it's more Luma who makes things difficult.

 

[CopShowGuy]

Rosalina loves having people in the air above her and Mega Man can "usually" get back down to the ground pretty easily thanks to Leaf Shield. Really we have to take our advantage when we get her off stage which isn't usually too hard because we're good at grabbing. Dtilt is free damage when she has to recover low and we can keep doing it until she decides to recover high. Alternatively, we can just chase her off stage and pretty much bair as soon as she commits to recovering. Easier said than done, but not terribly hard.

 

[Mega-Spider]

I feel like we need more of us to discuss this MU. I don't know, it seems like we're a little slow on this MU.

 

[Wreck33]

Downtilt is a super weapon in this MU. It knocks luma off the stage if she's anywhere nere the ledge on either side when you down tilt. Its worth doing as soon as you see the opportunity even though it means getting punished if it gets miss spaced by Rosalina.

 

[p1ay6ack]

On the defensive end, Megaman should watch out landing on top of Rosa. Like most of the cast, rosa up air wrecks ppl and megaman being a fast faller that just makes things worse. if you are getting walled out to the edge of the stage, try to use rush and evade by jumping over her, but make sure not to be predictable about it. if you need to space away from rosa and need to do some safe pressure, use crash bomber. it will explode on luma and multi hit rosa keeping her on hit stun.

offense end, she's a really strong wall, but if you bait her out to do a jab on you and you are able to react fast enough to evade this, jump behind her or downard to her and go for either a bair or upair. this is a bit risky tho, but can work. if you manage to pop rosa in the air, wait for a bit, rosa is floaty enough to react fast out of histun and punish, so just jumping towards her and waiting for her to throw out a hitbox then evading and punishing that works wonders.

neutral, don't stay in one spot for too long. Rosa's roll is very good and against a good rosa, they can use their mobility to close the gap and punish our end lag on our lemons, and then get in on us. what works here is going for 1-2 pellets, then reading her approaches, and trying to make an optimal punish. metal blade can work depending on when its used. expect to play the patient game with rosa considering how strong of a fortress she is.

stage select: watch out for platform stages, some ppl say bf is a good stage for us, but against rosa, its an even better stage for her. if you do go bf, take it as a double edge sword. its both good and bad for us.

 

[Sorichuudo]

So, Rosalina.

Landing against her is a pain, Luma being the amazing meat shield it is, i don't know if we can even use pellets against her. Most of the time it seems Luma just take two to three lemons while Rosa punishes me with a dash attack or a grab.
I don't think she has reliable kill setups, one of the Rosa mains i play with once told me that she needs a good read to kill, case in point, most of our games where i lose, i get this close to bringing it back cause she can't finish me off. Still, her smashes are safer on shield than ours, at least is what it seems after the shieldstun patch.

So, what do we got going for us here?
Lets see, CB detonates on luma, the obvious. Is nothing much considering killing Luma is far more important than getting damage on her. LS and Dtilt can work when edgeguarding here, gets her in a bad position, but whatch out for her uair, most of them love using it before going for the ledge.

Killing Luma is pretty much mandatory, so what do we have for that? I know bair and utilt send it into tumble, when near the ledge, thats a dead Luma. Is there a way to space bair to hit Luma and Rosa without getting punished?
Even when i think i spaced it right, seems like i hit Luma, hit Rosa's shield, but the ***** still has time to run in and DA/grab me.


Anyone called the Rosa boards yet?

 

[Megamang]

If you hit an approaching ftilt on luma (important that you hit, if she uses a hitbox it can beat out the pellet, not stunning luma) you usually have enough time from stun to confirm a nair. I'm not sure if this is a guaranteed combo, but it certainly feels like it is. As someone else said, d-tilt is a solid mixup for knocking Luma offstage. Bair is amazing in the air, since an airdodge doesn't protect luma.

I personally like to use a lot of metal blade mixups, either throwing them directly at her or throwing them into my hand then chucking them at Luma. If they hit correctly, they will both damage Luma and Rosalina. This is key, because damage racked on just Luma doesn't matter if the rosa manages to keep you away once you kill Luma, AND Luma often lives and dies based on knockback more than total damage done. Additionally this is good, because the Rosalina will often Gpull the metal blade... accomplishing almost nothing. When she is holding the blade, I start a pellet barrage. Because as you know a single pellet will stop the metal blade, meaning her holding it accomplishes almost nothing.


Horizontal advantage/disadvantage means a lot more in this MU than most, and that is saying something. This is because a center stage luma will take forever to kill, while a Rosalina that is backed to the ledge will continually bleed lumas like it is nothing. So, go for the guaranteed positional advantage rather than a chance to hit Rosalina, especially if the luma is about to spawn. Speaking of which, keep track of the luma respawn timer (I think 12 seconds? Its mostly instict for me, and also you will notice behavior changes in Rosalina when her luma is about to be returned), nothing keeps momentum up like nairing a luma to death the instant it spawns.

Also, your biggest advantage in this Matchup is your weight. Don't get gimped, off the top or bottom, and you should only have to keep up in damage to win.

 

[BugDoctor]

A lot of my input echoes what has been said already. I think this matchup is 50:50.

Mega Slide is great for getting Luma out of your face or off the edge if you're nearby. Just make sure to use it effectively and don't spam it so that you get punished less.

My Crash Bomb use increases tenfold in this matchup, and for multiple reasons. Firstly, as we all know, it explodes on contact with Luma and deals guaranteed damage if that happens, so a distanced Luma will eat a few of these and cause the Rosie to call Luma back. Secondly, if Luma is close to Rosie, Crash Bomb splash damage will hit her as well and deal some damage to both, which is a bonus. Third, if you manage to latch a bomb onto Rosie herself, it's very likely that Luma will take damage even if Rosie shields. Finally, once a Rosalina realizes you're gonna use Crash Bomb a lot, they will often start panicking and throwing out Gravitational Pull. This can be baited and punished pretty well once you have them guessing. It's a great tool in this matchup for both damage and mindgames.

This probably goes without saying, but as soon as you get a grab on Rosalina (if you do), immediately throw her and shield. Pummeling for any decent amount of time will lead to Luma knocking you out of grab, possibly costing a stock depending on Luma's attack. Get your throw in, and if you think you can get a followup without punishment, try for it.

If you're going to F-Smash, you need to mindgame it like crazy. I usually go for quick pivot smashes if anything.

Metal Blade can be useful, but Rosalina can Gravity Pull it from super far away. She can use it against you, but that doesn't really do much for her thanks to our excellent projectile-stopping game, so I find that most Rosies will just toss it away or leave it somewhere. Metal Blades are another good mindgame tool, however, particularly thanks to Z-Dropping. Usually if you have a blade in hand, a player will expect you to toss it at them. You can still do this, but mix it up with some approaching shorthops, z-drop the blade in the air, and perform some other attack or land a grab. It can be tricky if they are using Luma correctly, but varying your blade use is integral here. If they are Grav Pulling the heck out of every Blade, you can bait this as well and go for an uppercut, as the lag on Gravity Pull will usually last longer than Mega Man's full hop + downward-thrown blade approach.

Use pellets to tack damage onto Luma, as every bit counts here. Air Shooter is fairly useful, again for direct damage or mindgames. If you get a Rosie in the air, throw some shooters at her to see what she does. If she Grav Pulls them, then next time you do this you can Rush and Slash Claw/Flame Sword instead for a solid punish. Landing Air Shooter is also good in this match, as Rosalina's height makes her pretty easy to catch with the hitbox.

Gimping her is pretty doable as well, since her Star Launch is pretty slow and telegraphed. I find it tough to Hard Knuckle her at the very edge, but if you go out there and try to F-air or B-air, it seems to work a bit better. There are a lot of times when I catch her with Spark Shock as well if she tries to overshoot the ledge as a mixup. It's a great tool for that if you can predict her trajectory.

One trick I like to do in this matchup: If you encounter a Rosalina who likes to sit back and send Luma just over the ledge to try and cover your getup using Luma's rapid job, drop down, jump and use an Air Shooter. If you're close enough, the tornado will actually cause some knockback to Luma and it will just fall slowly to its death. I've done this a couple of times, and even if it doesn't connect properly, it can still add a lot of damage.

I try to go to the ledge as often as I can when I'm above Rosalina, unless there's a clear opportunity to get directly to the ground. It's not worth it to challenge her amazing upair halo.

Punish Rosie's dash attacks with Spark Shock or Mega Upper, depending on the situation. Hit Luma every chance you get, and apply your standard zoning and mixup game when Rosalina is alone...or even go in a bit more aggressively. Gimp her when she's off edge as best you can to either kill early or rack up damage. Once you get her around 60 or 70%, she's pretty much at kill percentage; anything else is just gravy. Contrast that with Mega Man's heavyweight status and you have a pretty decent matchup as long as you don't get killed early via gimps or upair strings. Don't underestimate her, think about your approaches, and make sure you're varying the use of your moveset, and you'll be able to take her down reliably. Bear in mind that nearly every Rosalina user plays her differently, so adapt accordingly.

 

[Diamond Octobot]

Just a little thing to note : Rosa can die from a grounded UAir. Just sayin' .

 

[BugDoctor]

Regarding my last post, I think I lied by accident. Doesn't seem a close up-air will stagger Luma enough to kill over edge. The ones I hit must have just been close to dying. My bad.

 

[Sorichuudo]

Metal Blade can be useful, but Rosalina can Gravity Pull it from super far away.

FREAKING. THIS.

I am pretty sure i had my MB pulled by her down B, literally as the match started and i threw it down in front of me.


Advices for how to capitalize when Luma is dead? Rosa gets very defensive when that happens, i'm thinking about going in with LS up and MB in hand, do you guys have any other ideas?

 

[BugDoctor]

FREAKING. THIS.

I am pretty sure i had my MB pulled by her down B, literally as the match started and i threw it down in front of me.


Advices for how to capitalize when Luma is dead? Rosa gets very defensive when that happens, i'm thinking about going in with LS up and MB in hand, do you guys have any other ideas?

The other day, I had someone do this exact thing and I had never previously seen it before. I tossed my starting blade down and she just dashed in and scooped it from halfway across Smashville. Immediately changed my starting moves on the next game, haha!

When Rosalina gets extremely defensive and attempts to keep away, this is when she will do her best to negate your projectiles and minimize her damage, I find. At this point, I will usually toss projectiles at her, including pellets, as they at least create pressure. Usually, she will start to Grav Pull. At this point, I'll throw a leaf shield on and she'll usually anticipate me throwing it at her and will Gravity Pull, but that's the perfect time to run in and land a grab, dthrow, plus preferred follow up depending on percentage. She'll also usually roll a lot at this point, and try to stay to the edges. Approach, get within roll distance of her, and if she dodges into you, you can punish it with a Spark Shock or Flame Blast.

Another thing some Rosies will do is prolong their time off stage. This usually involves them hanging out down near the very bottom near the blast zone and then star launching up at the last moment. Use this time to try and get a gimp, as there's not much she can do after she burns her double jump!

 

[Megamang]

First off, what Bugdoctor said is great advice. I just want to make a little change, in that if she is above d-throw combo percentage, use another one of Mega's great throws. I see a lot of mentioning of d-throw when it doesn't follow up any more, and I hope people aren't committing to this. Fthrow and Uthrow both do significantly more damage, and when you add a single 3% pummel, megaman's grab damage goes from Yoshi level to near Ryu level. Definitely worth it! D-throw is a nice mixup if you think you can get a hit in, but uthrow puts them in a bad position too, and does more damage to boot. If they are expected a bthrow, f-throw puts them really far. Needless to say, throw them off the nearest ledge if possible.


Anyways, once you kill luma, I like to start fighting for position on the stage. If you can back her to the ledge, you can just tack on damage with pokes and projectiles, constantly kill respawning lumas, and top it all off with a couple of leaf shielded dash grabs to offstage throws for solid damage and positioning.

 

[Mega-Spider]

So, here's the quick notes for this MU:
Use Crash Bomber on Luma
Never lose your guard
Try your hardest to keep neutral
Edgeguard Rosalina
Move. A lot
Bait Rosalina's Gravitational Pull
Be just as offensive as defensive

If anyone feels like adding more to this, feel free.

 

[Sorichuudo]

So taking from where P1ay6ack left off:
Stages to go?
Is lylat a good stage against jer? Cause she may get lylat'd when recovering, but the same goes for us, plus the stage messes up with our projectiles.

 

[BugDoctor]

So taking from where P1ay6ack left off:
Stages to go?
Is lylat a good stage against jer? Cause she may get lylat'd when recovering, but the same goes for us, plus the stage messes up with our projectiles.

Avoid anything with high platforms so she can't up-air you to death at stupidly low percents. That's for certain. I have no problems taking Rosalina to Lylat, as it seems like the toughest one for her to successfully star launch to ledge on and a lot of times this leads to either a free punish, or to her falling to her death.

Stay away from Town & City, Battlefield, and Dreamland if possible. All the rest are decent. Duck Hunt provides a lot of space so that you can keep distance from her, as well as large boundaries to avoid any janky KOs from her juggles. It's probably a good bet. The only thing to watch for is the tree at the left, but if she waits up there you can just pressure with Air Shooter and eventually she has to move, unless she wants Luma to take a ton of damage.

 

[Megamang]

I personally don't mind battlefield, you just have to be conscious of avoiding being above the platform when she can jump off of it. While this isn't foolproof, I find that I usually survive much longer than being gimped early, and with rage my kills aren't effected much, sometimes they are even earlier since I survive so long.

At lylat, we have lagless utilt and landmine crash bombers as an advantage... but im not a fan. First off, this is one of the only MUs where crash bomber is a great zoning tool, so I don't like that the tilt ruins this. Additionally, Rosalina can cover all the platforms with Usmash and cover side platforms with running Rar Bair and stuff much easier... It just feels like the layout lets her execute her gameplan to its fullest. I often kinda land on the top platform, mix it up with falling past to other platforms, falling through the top platform with an airdodge (leaf shield up of course), etc etc... and lylat you don't have those options. Additionally, pellets are less effective when the stage is tilted. And the tilt can help luma out in odd situations, say you hit a midstage nair and she goes towards the elevated portion, the rising platform can grab luma.

Its not a bad pick, since megaman has the utilt and landmine tricks... but I feel that its not a good stage for any character we want to be constantly zoning, since it hurts that. Also, say you are zoning with pellets and your side starts raising. Suddenly, you are 'above' luma, and that sucks. It can happen the other way, but I find it hard to utilize as effectively.

Additionally annoying, is that if she hits you upwards in the air when the stage is dipping, the blastzone can lower and kill you. This can happen to her too, but its less likely since she gets kills from the air while we get them from the ground.

In general, I feel like R&L can 'pick up' lame kills and combos from chaos, where a slow steady game where your projectiles wear them down is the best bet for us. So a chaotic stage is meh.

Its a decent stage choice, but I'd rather go to other starters. SV is nice since the platform can save our recovery, but if she lands on it we should always hit a bair and knock her back out. If she is on the platform, uair will make quick work of her and luma, whereas we can take a hit on shield then rush or simple jump away.

 

[Xavix]

Slightly delayed (unexpected things) but week 3 is ! (You happy Eren ?) I'll have some rosa stuff on the OP on Monday, too busy to do it right now.

 

[ravemaster47]

Interested in the pika matchup. The hardest thing I have to deal with in this matchup is quick attack. I can never punish it properly..

 

[Megamang]

I find I mostly get quick attack with retreating Nair hitbox, personally. The move is really frustrating at first, but you can learn to beat it. It pressures shield decently, but pika doesn't recover fast enough to keep up the pressure flawlessly so don't be afraid to shield when you see it coming.

The hurtbox really stretches and contorts in really strange ways when he Quick attacks. When he does the infamous double grounded quick attack, the hitbox is above him and is pretty huge. I find that a FH metal blade downwards can work wonders, or even from a quick double jump. Since he is moving all over the place, it is likely to hit him. If it does, you can often confirm into a utilt, though sometimes you have to wait for him to fall a little, and at high damage you might have to settle for a usmash. On the other hand, pikachu's is pretty light, so the utilt kills crazy early (you will often be high rage due to pikas very effective low damage combos, more on this later) and when he is going to far to utilt reliably the usmash should definitely be killing. I have taken back a lot of pikachu games this way, pika is not the best at zone breaking without his quick attack, keep up the pellet wall and look for stuff like this. Powershielded U/F smash from pika into a utilt can also bring games back.


Basically, don't feel like you are behind in a stock until you lose it. A quick Uair -> Bair, or even a few failed approaches that eat pellets, and you are back in this. You can kill pika ridiculously early if you have 150%+. Speaking of which, learn Pikachu's kill setups to avoid this.

He will be going for u-throw thunder probably the most. This one can be avoided if you DI behind him, but he can mix that up with d-throw so you go straight up. But, he has to mix up the throws AND read your DI, so it isn't reliable. Try to keep him out with mobile pelleting and projectiles, he should take a lot of damage from pellets before he can land a grab. His run speed isn't great, and his grab range is pretty lackluster, so be safe with pellets and he will struggle to get the uthrow stuff..

He might try to drag you down with fair, then go for a usmash.. Here, you want to actually SDI downwards to hit the ground ASAP, since this only true combos if you suffer landing lag after he has landed, since fair has 15 frames of landing lag (I believe, its something like this). Otherwise, watch for over zealous approaches on your end where you walk into a f-smash, this is really not good and will score him kills early. Take the safe landing option! Don't try and land next to him for a pellet mixup or something, unless you are confident he won't fsmash, or that you will hit first (ie sawblade coming down, crash bomb attached, good pellet momentum)

The last, and most dangerous to megaman, is gimping. Bair, fair, nair, dair, can all set up gimps that lead to your early demise. Bair is a 5050 where you time the ledge tech to survive, or he fastfalls, you fall out of bair, then if you had pressed the tech attempted you will airdodge and die. The others are just really solid edgeguarding moves. I can't offer many tricks here, its down to a reading situation. Save your double jumps, avoid him at all costs. If he is below you suspiciously, watch for the initial cloud hitbox of thunder, which will spike you.

Finally, to end stocks when all else fails, pikachu has uthrow. This will take forever on megaman, so just know that you are basically dead around 180% if you get grabbed by a rage pika, probably close to 200% fresh.


I mention mostly quick attack and killing stuff, because those are the keys. If you can punish quick attack, pika really longs for burst mobility or hitboxes to close the gap you create. You are faster in the air, and more mobile on the ground IF you are shooting, since he has to shield or otherwise get stopped by pellets constantly while you can move and pellet. I also mention kill setups, since the game can easily be won by you surviving forever with even one of your stocks. Pika that struggles to kill is a dead pika, unless you are just getting outplayed really hard. If you can beat quick attack, you can just keep him out, keep pestering him with pellets, and he will die eventually. Bthrow kills or even uthrow kills might be your friend in the MU. Leaf shield has mixed success on quick attack, but shielding + leaf shield is pretty much safe and will usually net you some hits, which can easily lead into a grab. Bair will do work in this MU, you won't frequently gimp pika but when you keep trying to block the ledge with dair you can get some randy gimps. If he tries to go high to avoid this, to platforms, punish with uair or bair.


Basically, you will get combo'd early, but don't get discouraged or let this make you think you are losing. Once his strings wear out, he has to beat you in neutral a LOT to finish you off, win your game back here with our amazing neutral.

Dtilt is safe on shield, just retreat and go for pellets again, swearing to yourself you won't let him get that close. DI AS SOON AS YOU ARE GRABBED. Even if the thunder hits, you aren't dead, so keep DIing. I'll say it one last time, survival is them most important thing in this MU.

 

[Diamond Octobot]

What Megamang said is pretty much what I think.
Keep DI-ing Pika's throws if he gets to grab you and try to mix high and low recoveries (Thunder is a really good edge guard tool if you didn't know), since if he goes low, you can use Rush and go high, and you can go a bit deeper if he decides to go high.
Thunderjolt can be a pain to deal with, since it bounces over your Buster Shots, but you can just cancel them with Leaf Shield and potentially get some damage in. Just remember that if he uses it too close to you, you can just run and USmash him.
Most of the time, we want to avoid using raw Jabs, but I think they might give us an edge against grounded Quick Attacks. Just Jab when you don't need to move, and try to keep your spacing tight. Activating a Leaf Shield when he tries to run at you or when you are far enough is a good option, since he won't get to punish you. You can also try to get your regular Item Metal Blade game going once you got enough momentum (just trust in your feelings on that )
The only thing I really want to warn people about is leaving Pikachu the stage control for even a second. If you do, you are going to have a really bad time, since Thunder and Thunderjolt give really good coverage, and his smashes are good, his USmash in particular.

This MU feels like a 50:50, but if you ever let your focus loose, you might just get busted.
(P.S.: Lemons still stop everything, and Jab's hitbox is just good enough to clank with everything)

 

[Mega-Spider]

is a character that I need more adequate experience with to really provide solid advice for. Every Pikachu I've fought has been on For Glory, and lag can kill Pikachu, so it's not really fair to base match ups on stuff like that. From what I've noticed, Leaf Shield seems to be pretty helpful in this match up since it negates Pikachu's Neutral B (something Pikachu mains love to spam). I've also been reading some of the comments about DI'ing away from Pikachu's throws, so that might work too.

Again, I don't have a lot of experience (adequate experience) on this MU, so I don't feel like I can offer much. Still, a little help is better than none at all.

 

[Drarky]

I have a friend of mine which mains Pikachu, he's not that good so I don't really have a lot of info into the MU, but I think probably one of the more important things to keep in mind is the fact that Pikachu struggles BADLY at killing. Combine that with a pretty low weight and one wrong guess can lead into him getting Shoryuken'd.

As always, keep yourself in calm and stuff. It helps a lot in this MU.

 

[Megamang]

Couldn't agree more. Part of being calm, is to remember you aren't necessarily behind if the pikachu opens with a strong combo. It takes him a lot less work to do the first 60%, than the second 60%. and if you play your cards right, the third 60%.

Your throws just get deadlier and deadlier. he isn't winning the MU by damaging you, remember.

Also, something I forgot to mention in my initial Pika post... his dash attack is a decent kill option. It can be used from a run, obviously, and covers decent ground. The first hit is the only one which will kill. The downside, is that it is extremely unsafe. You can drop shield and utilt, usmash, or maybe d-smash (haven't done extensive testing, I just know the move is terribly laggy) Watch for that starting around 130%, and be happy if he stales it before then.


Something I also might have forgotten, or at least bears repeating... DONT LET HIM CHAIN FAIR YOU OFF THE STAGE. This is all up to you. You can SDI through pikachu, and will be launched behind him. He can move back to somewhat prevent this, but then he isn't moving forward so the chain doesn't push you offstage anyways!

 

[CopShowGuy]

One of our more analytical players is a Pikachu main so he's pretty good at finding holes in strategies. Some of the effective things he's done versus me is playing more patient than me via full hopped retreating Thunder Jolts. Eventually he got a kill throw at 180%. That was the first stock. It was pretty silly. For the most part, Pikachu wants you off stage or tumbling up above him. He also likes to grab at the ledge and just pummel you until you fall so he can dash off and bair or nair. Your best best is to mash out and use Rush immediately.

Pikachu has worse problems killing than we do but his combo game is good. It doesn't do much damage though so it really just builds up rage for bair or bthrow or even utilt if he makes a laggy mistake. So pretty much what everyone else said. Pikachu will combo us for days when he gets in but it isn't lethal. Just be sure you tech well or you'll be eating a deadly usmash.

 

[Diamond Octobot]

Btw, if you ever feel like a Quick Attack is coming, you can always USmash/DSmash. Buuut don't miss or you'll get comboed again XD

And probably relevant to the Rosalina MU :

 

[xIvan321]

What I know is Pikachu tends to struggle at killing and as for thunder jolts, we can actually trade forward smash. For the most part you'll need to have your leaf shield equipped a lot for this mu because you beat QA when combined with shield and thunder jolts even without it.

I play this MU a ton with my friend who plays the character pretty well, and I think its 50/50.

 

[Meistermayo]

Sorry i know we are not talking about dk but this is pretty big:

Zdrop combos could be very devastating.

The highest ive gotten this combo is 72, and could potentially lead to a dair spike