Captain Falcon Matchup Workshop :: Come Ahwn!

[TheBlueFalcon]

The Captain's matchups, lowly and great. Discuss thy foes' moves!​

This Week's Foes

Since this is the first week it's probably best to start off with a couple of notorious contenders. Let's talk...

Little Mac

- and -

Sheik
(Workshop ends 10/21)​

Overview

Captain Falcon's triumphant return in Smash 4 has brought many new players to the fold, as well as generating a huge array of new matchups for veterans to learn and master. Unlike his moves, which can be factually analysed and reported in one post, Falcon's position against the many other fighters in the roster is subject to continual discussion, development and progression as the game matures.

Therefore, thread is intended for analysis and discussion of the most pertinent CF matchups initially, eventually expanding to cover the whole cast and providing a solid point of reference when dealing with any opponent.

Further to this, I propose that we hold a weekly workshop on two characters, allowing all interested Falcon players to give their input on the matchups and also a rating. We'll then take an average of the viewpoints and ratings to compile an info box on each fighter, which can be quickly brought up as needed in the future.

Workshop Template

Please use the following format when analysing a matchup:

Fighter: (character name)
Analysis: (your detailed input and views on the matchup)
Rating: ?? - ?? (fighter icon)

For the rating, this is a numeric indication of how strong each fighter is in the matchup. Start with Falcon's rating and then the opponent's.
For a Falcon ditto, the rating is 50 - 50 .
For a Little Mac MU, it might be 45 - 55 (for example).
For Meta Knight in Brawl, it might have been 15 - 85 , etc.

Spoiler: Code:

:4falcon:[size=6][b]?? - ??[/b][/size] :OTHERFIGHTER:

Matchup Database

Spoiler: CAPTAIN FALCON

- MANLY ART GOES HERE - (please suggest)

50 - 50
Knee clashes with Knee, sparks flying, and fiery fist meets flaming punch, sun glinting furiously off both shining visors.
Only the true Falcon will emerge unscathed from this manliest of all Smash matchups. Disregard your nerves, throw cowardly inhibitions to the wind and conquer yourself!
Show them thy moves!

- Fin -​

 

[TheBlueFalcon]

Fighter: Little Mac
Analysis: (From previous post)
Goes without saying but keep this boxer in the air and mindgame around him. Mac's extreme power when grounded and near-helplessness in air completely changes the way the game works. Approaching him direct is practically suicide for Falcon (even worse than Brawl Bowser) as he cuts through our grounded attacks like a hot knife through butter.
As said he's all but completely helpless midair though so that's the time to take him out, meaning he's Knee fodder, but his fastfalling helps him get grounded quick so don't waste your opportunity.
Bait his laggy punches and strike back hard using any means available. Watch out for U-smash as it's practically lagless on cooldown and a good Mac will try to use this to bait you instead.
Basically - onstage and grounded he will make short work of you, get him in the air offstage and he's as good as dead.

Approaching from the air is extremely risky meaning he has a huge advantage in For Glory, the only stage being FD in that mode.
Mac's Counter lasts a very long time, starts up fast and has a sizeable disjoint to boot, making Knees and other predictable attacks even more risky. His resistance to being grabbed means you'll have to box clever (pardon the pun) and outwit him.
This one can go either way fast due to Mac's everything-or-nothing nature. I feel it's slightly in Mac's favour due to For Glory.
Rating: 40 - 60

--

Fighter: Sheik
Analysis: Haven't had much experience fighting good Sheiks, perhaps others can offer input here.
Rating: ?? - ??

 

[M@v]

Sheik's annoying in for Glory mode because of the slight amount of lag, and needles. No effective way to get around them. This is a MU that will be much better on the wii U version because it will be easier to control falcon to get in on sheik. It seems Falcon also has a hard time landing upairs at any percent off throws for some reason. I still don't have nearly enough experience in any particular matchup yet to make a ratio, and even if I did, I feel match ups will have different ratios based on the game version due to controls.

TL:DR Needles are annoying are hard to deal with as Falcon, especially if you are on For Glory mode.

 

[Weeman]

Pikachu has to be one of the worst matchups he has. His thunder projectile is so good and spammable against Falcon.

 

[mlorenzo]

For little mac, I feel that this matchup is slightly in our advantage. We have superior air game and little mac doesn't have a reliable way to approach us. Our jab have more uses and we can stop his approach with pivot grabs, and jabs. One throw equals good percentage and mac offstage.

As long as we capitalize on the offstage game and punishing landing, mac doesn't have many options. Falcon if one of the few characters that can punish most of mac attack with dash grab or dash attack. As long as you space him and take advantage of our superior movement speed, Falcon should be able to win the matchup.

The goal in this matchup is to put mac in the air off stage, and falcon has various tools to do this. Things to be careful are: Mac can punish our landing, Mac's armor attack, and jab gimp.

Also, I don't think we should put ratios yet. We should use for now Advantage, Slight Advantage, Even, Slight Disadvantage, and Disadvantage.

 

[philipawalker]

Rating: 70 - 30
Fighter: Little Mac

Usually I have no trouble against Little Mac.
Keep Little Macs at the edge and there isn't much they can do. Grab and throw them off, they'll go into a panic. Usually you can tell which kind of recovery they'll choose based on their height and distance from the stage.

- If they jump back with an Up B, stay on stage and either up tilt or down tilt. I prefer dtilt, as I find it easier to pull off, and it's usually enough.

- If they try to recover with a side B, just dair em.

- If they're very far off, meet them off the edge early with a bair.

If the Little Mac is smart and stays away from the edge, just shield/grab and toss em up in the air. Falcon is fast enough to punish after blocking mac's attack with his shield. Just run up immediately after and grab.

 

[mlorenzo]

Also if they recover from the bottom of the stage you can power shield and grab Little Mac, since he doesn't auto snap the ledge.

 

[Gardex]

^ That wont happen if the Little Mac knows what he's doing.
Little Mac can simply wait a bit and then up b to not go above the ledge.
...or he can simply reverse the up b and autosnap to the ledge

 

[philipawalker]

^ That wont happen if the Little Mac knows what he's doing.
Little Mac can simply wait a bit and then up b to not go above the ledge.
...or he can simply reverse the up b and autosnap to the ledge

If this happens, run off the stage and bair them (although this is a bit more tough).

 

[Gardex]

What stops you from running off and bairing in the first place?

There's no difference in him reversing his up b or not when it comes to time-window. What you can do is grab the edge right after he does it to pop him up

 

[TheBlueFalcon]

Came across some decent Sheiks yesterday, not enough data to type up an analysis yet but it's clear that staying in close to Sheik is the way to go.
Sheik is extremely good at mid- to long-range and she can use her new water grenade special as an edgeguarder, though it leaves her open if she misses.
Once we start to put the pressure on Sheik though she has a hard time responding, especially when in the air. Her tilts and jab are still good at close range.
I think any seasoned Sheik is going to be a tough contender for Falcon. Looking forward to playing more of this matchup.

Regarding Mac, I've found that good Macs will try to avoid getting grabbed (easier for them in lag) and their insane speed allows them to close distances quickly and get in a hit.
I agree that we need to throw or otherwise get them off the stage using any means necessary, but be careful of his Counter. It's better than Marth's and can be a nasty surprise when going for the finisher.

Ratios at this early stage are an approximation only so don't worry about having to commit to a permanent figure, we can update later if necessary. As a rough guide meanwhile:

Even = 50 - 50
Slight advantage = 60 - 40
Advantage = 70 - 30
Large advantage = 80 - 20
Hard counter = 90 - 10 and above

(Works in reverse for disadvantages.)