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Brand new falcon need help!

KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000
Hello gentlemen, brand new falcon player here trying to get into the competitive scene in smash bros.
I'm looking for help on these things:

What are the techniques I should I learn (ledge trumps, prefect pivots etc.)
Is there any captain falcon guides I should watch/read?
Are there any captain falcon youtubers?
How exactly can you practice getting better at styling? (knees and stomps)

Thanks in advance for the help! I would really like to become good with captain falcon because he is definitely one of coolest characters in the game!
 

RyeSSB

Smash Cadet
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
31
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
NNID
RyanTheDrummer
3DS FC
3652-0543-2675
For techniques to learn as Falcon, dancetrotting/foxtrot cancelling, or whatever it's called now, is a very important technique for your arsenal. Dancetrots are mainly used to scare your opponent into doing something. For example, you could dancetrot in and out from your opponent, wait for the option they choose to use, and punish accordingly. There's some videos on YouTube demonstrating the technique, and Fatality uses it often in his game. Ledge trumps are a useful tool for any character in this game. The easiest way to do it consistently with Falcon is to run off and as you're falling off, use Raptor Boost to snap on the ledge. The timing was a little tricky for me at first, but if you do multiple repetitions of it, it should just become muscle memory. Perfect pivots might be a good tool for spacing and such but not a lot of Falcons use them.

Strong Falcons that I know of include Fatality, Acid, Tearbear, and Max Ketchum. They have slightly different play styles so it would be wise to watch all of them. There's probably some others, but they're probably the best Falcons, especially Fatality and Acid.

Trifroze has some videos about Captain Falcon. He has some guides for Falcon and a series of combo videos. https://www.youtube.com/user/zTwiliz
Other channels have guides but the ones I've seen don't really go in depth with the character.

I never style unless my opponent plays at a much lower level than me. Unless you mean comboing into those moves, never style unless your opponent is bad.

However, you can combo into knee at mid percents from up air, and also dthrow, but dthrow -> knee only works on light characters or if the person DIs in. From a dthrow or a juggle situation, you can also bait out an airdodge and punish with either dair or knee.

I hope this helped you get started with Falcon.
 

KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000
Thanks for the solid advice I'll start practing
 

dandeto

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Messages
108
Location
Medieval castle
Once I learned how to short hop, fast-fall a u-air, My game play got a lot better (I'll get to that later).
ZeRo is good at C. Falcon, and his competitive analysis is good. I recommend trifroze as well.

Watch Zero's vid here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fp_nadraL4

do knees in melee, and then graduate to Smash 4. That is what I did. It is much easier to learn setups from there, but here are a few tricks.

If you double jump extremely fast, your opponent will usually shield, and then come out once he realizes that you are not short hopping. You can fast fall, and knee than from there. Double jumping quickly also gives you more than just a single hop's height. Dair to knee works well. Remember how I talked about falling uairs? You need to execute this with the c-stick. Getting an up air and combining it into a knee from around 30/40 ish to over 100 is garunteed. Percent vary on different characters. All of these come with practice, and are handily taught in trifeozes vids.

Nairs ( of different heights in different situations) space vertically. Up airs space above and somewhat in front and behind. Short hop down airs are underused in my opinion. I use them as a punish, and try to combo into knees with them.

Falcons dash grab is arguably the best in the game. Combining from it is one of his best tools. On higher tiered characters ( and good players in general) you must be paitient. Stay in the neutral, and space well. When you see an opening, go for it! Falcon is extremely fast!

Want to see my combo video?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dQjEoS9UKkw

Good luck! I hope this helps!

-Dandeto
 
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TheSausXL

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jun 19, 2015
Messages
64
Location
Mars
Those fine gentlemen up there did a great job explaining how to be a good, efficient Falcon player, but no Falcon is complete without a little style. Your main style moves, as you probably know, are as follows:

Stomp
Up tilt
The People's Elbow A.K.A forward smash (for those hard reads)
The Knee of Justice
Falcon Punch

So let's start from the top of the list downward. Stomp has many practical uses that are also very stylish. You have your obvious offstage spike, and an onstage one could possibly lead to a knee at kill percents. Another thing I like to do with it is when your opponent is at 0%, try doing a dash grab to forward throw if they don't tech the landing, then whack them with a dair to lock them, then proceed with whatever you like. It's not guaranteed that they won't tech or jump out of the way, but it works surprisingly often. One of the most stylish things you could do to someone is this: Say you are hanging from a ledge on a stage with a walljumpable wall. Your opponent is standing at the edge charging a smash attack or something like that. He's around 80%. Drop from the ledge by tapping away from the stage, then quickly walljump, jump again onstage and stomp him in one fluid motion. You should be facing the stage and you opponent should be in the air about a double jump up. He should be up there long enough for you to slam him with the gnarliest knee he's ever seen. This is very situational and rarely have I ever done this in a real match, but when that opportunity comes, and it will, you'll feel like a god.

Good ol' up tilt. Often dubbed the "rage quitter" by my friends, will make you feel so horrible you'd want to quit the game... If your the one on the receiving end. Believe it or not, there is an actual true combo into a spiking uptilt, which is falling up air to up tilt at around 50%. Do this at the ledge and you have yourself a clean, stylish kill. By far the most satisfying uptilt you could ever do is one that spikes either Fox or Falco's side be. Slamming those former top tiers with the heel of your mighty boot all the way to their doom is one of the best, and stylish things to do in the game.

Not much to say about the fiery People's Elbow besides the fact that if you get hit by it, you messed up big time. This move is good for those disgusting roll reads because of its range and power but if you miss expect to be punished. Getting smacked by the manliest elbow in the game will leave them regretting being born.

Knee. Infamous for its shockin electricity, feared for its devastating power. Land a knee and you know you have the upper hand. Good setups include dash grab down throw to knee, which is a true combo on most characters around 60%, and falling up air to knee from anywhere between 60% to 110%. If you are expecting an air dodge after a down throw, wait it out and knee them when they become vulnerable. This is a staple for C.Falcon because it is reliable, efficient, early killing, high damaging, and most importantly, loaded with style. Recovering opponents often get caught off guard by a "drop zone knee". The drop zone is the area which you fall to after running offstage that is directly diagonal and downward from the ledge. Quick, stylish, and potent. As I said before, stomp to knee is a true combo at certain percents (forgive me, I can't remember them of the dome). This will usually snag the kill, but if not, the true combo does a whopping 33% and they will usually be offstage for an edge guard opportunity.

FALCON... PAAAWWNCHH!!!! The elite in style and the ultimate in disrespect, you know death is coming as soon as Captain Falcon utters those famous words. It is the most famous move in the game for good reason, as it never fails to instill hype into onlookers, pride into your heart, and devastating dread and embarrassment into the unfortunate soul on the other end of the flaming fist. There are no set ups for this move, but rather good situations in which you should try it. When your opponent is on the ledge, condition them to do ledge rolls by holding a toward the ledge, but far enough away to not be hit by ledge attack, once they start consistently rolling on stage. Do a slick reverse Falcon Punch to end the stock. Trying to land and your opponent is charging a smash attack? Land with the Falcon Punch. Reading an air dodge after down throw works occasionally too. Finally, a new thing that I found out recently is that you can b reverse a Falcon Punch by inputting the command during another move. This is especially useful while walling with back airs and inputting a b reversed Falcon Punch towards the end of the back air animation. You should land facing your opponent with the explosive fist cocked back and primed.

I really hope this helped you brother. Style is the biggest part in Falcon's game because it is SCIENTIFICALLY PROVEN that a boring Falcon never succedes. Have yourself a good time wielding the most powerful and manly man in the universe and welcome to the club. Also, if you have any questions, it would be my honor to answer them.

:4falcon:Falcon be with you:4falcon:
 

dandeto

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Messages
108
Location
Medieval castle
Knight FF!
Read everything TheSausXL said... Multiple times! All of that is like the complete guide of styling! Those tips are really good! I could probably not be able to explain all of that as well as he! Good job Saus.

I would like to add two more things about styling though. When facing a heavy character, such as fox, if you land a raptor boost at 0%, or another really low percent, you just might be able to squeak a knee in there. It's not a true combo, like in melee, but it still works sometimes. If you can't (meaning your opponent is smart), you might be able to read an air dodge and hit him with knee.

Stomp and up tilt is not the only spike!
There is another spike! Yesz! Falcon has three spikes! It is the mighty raptor boost! How I pull this off is when your opponent consistently comes to spike you or hit you when you are trying to recover, save your second jump. When he comes close jump and angle it backward, then once you are at the peak of the jump, or in range for the sweetspot, hit side B! Your opponent will be spiked! This is purely situational, and you will not be able to hit sweetspot every time. Also depending on where you are, you might not be able to afford saving your jump. This could also end in a suicide, so this is only viable in very rare occasions. This can also be done by going for disrespect.

I know it might seem like I use raptor boost a lot. I really don't! Only when I want a kill, or to fake out my opponent by retreating and then using side B to automatically turn around and hit them.

By the way...
A good dash grab setup is to short hop, hit with the weak hit of back air, and then turn around to go in for the grab.

I recently took a break from Sm4sh to play melee. It taught me a lot about how to utilize stomp and knee, because it is so much less laggy. Then when moving back to smash 4 I changed my playstyle with what I found works in both games. If you have melee I would highly recommend playing captain on it against lvl 7 CPUs to work on combos and utilizing ledges. Since there is so much hit stun in melee, it was easier for me to understand how his moves work in smash 4, although the mechanics at different. It is kind of hard to explain, but it ended up helping a lot. ( lvl 7's DI is mixed, Unlike lvl 8 or 9 in melee).
 
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KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000
Knight FF!
By the way...
A good dash grab setup is to short hop, hit with the weak hit of back air, and then turn around to go in for the grab.
Thanks for the solid information! The weak hit of B-air like a good idea can't wait to try!
 

TheSausXL

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jun 19, 2015
Messages
64
Location
Mars
I almost forgot some style tips that don't involve flashy kills. Not sure this one has a name, but let's just call it the "4th taunt". So what happens is if you run slow enough toward a ledge, you won't fall off, but you won't stop running either. Anyway, it basically just looks like you are running in place at the edge of the stage and it's extremely hilarious. The traditional way to do this is dash, and then slowly ease off the control stick until you are slower, but still in the running animation. However, this does not allow for maximum styling because it requires a delicate touch amd you can't really do it well when your hands are trembling from an intense match. Plus, if you are maining C.Falcon, your hands shouldn't be delicate, but rather manly and calloused. So, I better technique to use is sprinting and then moving the control stick to the bottom diagonal corner of the control stick if you are using a GC controller. This will slow you down to the required speed without the need for a delicate touch. Unfortunately, this method only works if you are doing it on the left side of the stage. For the right, you may have to hold it just above the bottom right corner. Also, this adds a tremendous amount of style to your drop zone knees, since you can just drop from the ledge instantly by increasing your speed. One of my favorite techniques to do.

Another is sticky walking. This technique also occurs in melee, and it is basically initiating your running animation while moving very slowly. To do this, you just want to flick one direction and then quickly in the other. This movement should be faster than the time it takes to dash, but slower than a perfect pivot. It should kinda look like you just ran in place. When you see this happen, gently push in that direction on the left stick (yes this does require a delicate touch but in this case it's worth it for the style points). If done correctly, you should start slowly running, and it looks freaking sweet.

Also, I'd like to say that it is awesome to see some awesome people putting their minds together and compiling some good info for a new member in the C.Falcon Man Club (get it? Instead of fan club?). Absolutely freaking brilliant.
 

Captain Farukon

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
204

here maybe you can learn a few tricks and techniques from this video that was a pretty tough falco
 
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KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000

here maybe you can learn a few tricks and techniques from this video that was a pretty tough falco
Dang captain farukon I can't view this video its private maybe you could post a link so i could open it in the YouTube app?
 

Captain Farukon

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
204
Dang captain farukon I can't view this video its private maybe you could post a link so i could open it in the YouTube app?
Weird last time i checked that video was public oh well give me a second i ll post my own video
Finally here it is , there was some minor lag now and then so my moves where kinda rough and i didnt expect the spike but in the end everything went fine, my best advice is...practice the KNEE , down throw to knee is godly
 
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KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000
Weird last time i checked that video was public oh well give me a second i ll post my own video
Finally here it is , there was some minor lag now and then so my moves where kinda rough and i didnt expect the spike but in the end everything went fine, my best advice is...practice the KNEE , down throw to knee is godly
Thanks Faukon this is great help, by d-throw to knee would mean d-throw air dodge read to knee? because I saw fatality do it and oh it's amazing! If so who should I practice it first on in training?( I'm thinking DDD but apparently d-throw on a heavy weight means extra start up lag for falcon) Hope you can take time to answer my questions ty!
 

Captain Farukon

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jan 21, 2015
Messages
204
Thanks Faukon this is great help, by d-throw to knee would mean d-throw air dodge read to knee? because I saw fatality do it and oh it's amazing! If so who should I practice it first on in training?( I'm thinking DDD but apparently d-throw on a heavy weight means extra start up lag for falcon) Hope you can take time to answer my questions ty!
No my friend, D-throw to knee is a true combo but you need to learn the % of each character , light weight chararcter like pikachu usually are below 50 and heavy weights like Falcon, Ike and Link are among 70 or 80% also some ultra heavy weight cant be combo like ganondorf or bowser , with them you need a different set up.
Lucina, Marth, Fox and Z-Samus are the best character to practice the d-throw to knee in my opinion
also there is another combo but its harder : d-throw, u air and Knee but you need even more precise DI to land it
 

KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000
Yeah I saw triforces old video on true d-throw -> knee combos, very good I'll get working on it
 

ErebusTheDefiler

Smash Rookie
Joined
Oct 5, 2015
Messages
2
For techniques to learn as Falcon, dancetrotting/foxtrot cancelling, or whatever it's called now, is a very important technique for your arsenal. Dancetrots are mainly used to scare your opponent into doing something. For example, you could dancetrot in and out from your opponent, wait for the option they choose to use, and punish accordingly. There's some videos on YouTube demonstrating the technique, and Fatality uses it often in his game. Ledge trumps are a useful tool for any character in this game. The easiest way to do it consistently with Falcon is to run off and as you're falling off, use Raptor Boost to snap on the ledge. The timing was a little tricky for me at first, but if you do multiple repetitions of it, it should just become muscle memory. Perfect pivots might be a good tool for spacing and such but not a lot of Falcons use them.

Strong Falcons that I know of include Fatality, Acid, Tearbear, and Max Ketchum. They have slightly different play styles so it would be wise to watch all of them. There's probably some others, but they're probably the best Falcons, especially Fatality and Acid.

Trifroze has some videos about Captain Falcon. He has some guides for Falcon and a series of combo videos. https://www.youtube.com/user/zTwiliz
Other channels have guides but the ones I've seen don't really go in depth with the character.

I never style unless my opponent plays at a much lower level than me. Unless you mean comboing into those moves, never style unless your opponent is bad.

However, you can combo into knee at mid percents from up air, and also dthrow, but dthrow -> knee only works on light characters or if the person DIs in. From a dthrow or a juggle situation, you can also bait out an airdodge and punish with either dair or knee.

I hope this helped you get started with Falcon.
Can you perfect pivot and dancetrot on the Wii U pro controller cause i have been trying both for an hour and haven't even gotten lucky once. O.o
 

KnightFF

Smash Cadet
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
51
NNID
Crazyronan3000
Can you perfect pivot and dancetrot on the Wii U pro controller cause i have been trying both for an hour and haven't even gotten lucky once. O.o
I am able to dance trot on mine try practing with Lucina first
 
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