CF's speed: more of a strength than one might think?

[Master Knight DH]

I thought I might post this in case people didn't already know about this.

Well, I decided to check out what people were talking about saying CF deserves bottom of the barrel. Because it got rather tiring, especially considering how messed up Ganondorf is. Surely if CF has a solid mix of power and speed he can't be all bad.

Well, he turns out to be hard to control, especially when his traction comes into play. But guess what? His speed has at least two good points.

#1 is CF's grab game. While CF's grab range is just standard at best (or at least not as ranged as Olimar's), he can use his high speed to move from a reasonable distance right into the opponent's face and grab him/her. No more SGing stopping you. It certainly will intimidate the opponent if they're aware of this. In fact, if they stepdodge, you get a few free punches. It's noteworthy against the laggy Ike, but

#2 is getting through certain defenses, G&W's Down Smash (or whatever is the doublehammer) for one. This is useful because you can force the opponent's hand at worst, and if they just try Down Smash spamming, you get them and deal some damage. You don't even need Falcon Kick for this. It's just a simple matter of gutting them with a timed charge attack, or timed grab if you feel that would work better. And yes, it was a human player who was G&W playing Whack-A-Mole so I know what I'm talking about. There's also blaster happy guys like Wolfs who can be punished if you work with this speed too.

My point is, that speed may be the key to an effective way to use CF. There's still the air game, but you'll want to mess up the opponent's concentration so that your speed edge can kick in.

 

[Ray/Boshi]

That's like one of the main things I see often that works. Different Dash, jabs, and grab variations.

 

[Ville]

The speed is helpful at avoiding attacks and setting up for new ones as well.
If your enemy attacks you he'll normally expect some shield or spotdodge, but not that you simply might take a step aside, I think this can be very helpful concerning mindgames.

A reliable 3rd way of evading would be really helpful

 

[MusicalMike]

I agree! I'd imagine that one who could master this speed would be a tough Falcon, Combine that with a person playing bait and punish and you got a nasty strat goin' down.
Good thinking man, props to you for looking for his strengths rather than focusing on his weaknesses. Too good.

 

[Master Knight DH]

Thanks.

Honestly, though, I think the most likely reason for Falcon being bottom of the tier list would be because of Meta Knight. Whose mere usage is frowned upon at best, but that doesn't stop people from abusing him. Yeah, Meta Knight dies at low percentages but you have to touch him first. And maybe Falcon can psyche Meta Knight abusers into a combo, but I honestly think in future SSBs there should be penalties to both priority and knockback applying in ways to deter annoying spams and overpowered move abuse.

Still.....FALCON KICK! *Falcon Kicks the Sandbag*

 

[Mr.Fakeman]

Another good thing about falcon is, he has fast SHFFL techniques and can punish other players that use SHFFL. Nair may be an underated move, but I noticed it has extremely good knockback when applied in SHFFL and also has a decent amount of priority. since there are two kick to the Nair which I may add, One of Captain Falcon's fastest air attacks. So yes, I'd have to agree strongly and I encourage you to think deeper in the possibilities, have a SH happy opponent? Nair becomes a good intercepter, even check for yourself! Before I was told Nair was not a good move for Captain Falcon, but now I'm starting to use it alot more

 

[Wogrim]

Another good thing about falcon is, he has fast SHFFL techniques and can punish other players that use SHFFL. Nair may be an underated move, but I noticed it has extremely good knockback when applied in SHFFL and also has a decent amount of priority. since there are two kick to the Nair which I may add, One of Captain Falcon's fastest air attacks. So yes, I'd have to agree strongly and I encourage you to think deeper in the possibilities, have a SH happy opponent? Nair becomes a good intercepter, even check for yourself! Before I was told Nair was not a good move for Captain Falcon, but now I'm starting to use it alot more

Why would you intercept with NAir instead of UAir or Knee?

 

[Mr.Fakeman]

1# knee is harder to sweetspot, so you need an attack that will garuntee a satisfactory effect and
2# Uair does have a range, but I just want to present a forgotten use for Nair. Also Nair has not 1 hit but 2 hits (both legs) and Uair 1, not that I'm saying Uair is pathetic. I admit Uair is an awesome approach, but afterall this is a discussion about speed and power right? Nair might be easier to press will it not?