Ness and Lucas are 45:55? What?? Thunder jolt and Thunder can't be used? OH NO!!!
It really doesn't make that big of a deal.
Ness (Shaky practice)
Ness is irritating to fight, but it is definitely in our advantage. He has good damage-racking abilities...but his main things for damage, PK Fire and Grabs, are pretty easy to avoid. His spacing is very annoying, but you can just jump over him and come down with a FF fair and combo him. Ness has a good nair, and it will be used a lot OOS, but it doesn't really make that big of a deal. If you are smart with your T-jolts and thunder you can still use them. Also, Ness doesn't heal that much from either of them, i think its how much damage it would do normally, and then you could hit him with something for more damage!
Edgeguarding Ness is very easy. You don't necessarily have to intercept him and kill him straight off, but you should definitely be getting some damage. If you are invulnerable on the ledge when Ness PK Thunders (moving) he has to go to the level, in which case you could ledgehop nair him off. NEVER go out to intercept unless you are a stock ahead...you will most likely die. WHen you run into him when he PKT2s, the distance Ness travels will probably be halved, so it is very good if you can do that if you are a stock ahead. Ness will annoy you with PKT when you are off the level, and will probably get some damage due to how fast it is and the properties of its tail. Your edgeguarding is clearly better than Ness's.
Killing is weird in this Match-up. Ness has a better kill move, (B-throw) but we will have an easier time killing. Grabs aren't that easy to set up as ness without PKFire, which you shouldn't be getting hit with at any %. You will die around 135% no matter what on basically any legal stage (Maybe with a few exceptions). However, pika will kill at around the same %s and will have a much easier time getting those kills. U-tilt thunder works against ness, he doesn't have time to get his PK Magnet out, so that is still a guaranteed kill. F-smash will kill him at around 140% from the middle of FD, and U-smash will kill around 130% or so. BE careful at high %s, try to space him out with D-tilts and F-tilts.
Once Pikachu is inside, you HAVE to make it count. However, you can't be reckless because nair OOS will hit you away really quick (I think nair comes out in 3 frames or so for him). Grab combos and fair combos will definitely come in handy, and you should be doing some pretty good damage. On the other hand, Ness can't really do much to Pikachu in close range besides hit you away. Ness wants to space pikachu out with fairs, bairs, and PKFire. The most annoying of this is fair, but it is still pretty easy to get around.
At worst Ness is 50:50, i say at least 55:45 Pikachu's favor.
Lucas (Galeon practice)
Lucas is a much different fight. Both characters excel in Close-combat fighting which makes the fight way more tedious for us. Also, Lucas has more reliable kill moves than Ness with his F-smash and D-smash.
Edgeguarding Lucas is a key. Once you get him off the level, you need to get a lot of %. Lucas will not easily be edgeguarded for kills, but you can definitely get %. Lucas's tether is very good and it makes it considerably more difficult to edgeguard him. If he is all the way out there, he will have to PKT. Don't go after him and try to hit him away, you will end up taking around 30-40%. Instead, wait for him to either go for the ledge (ledgehog him with good timing and he will die) or go for the level (F-smash/U-smash/grab/nair/dair him away back off the level). You will probably get most of your damage from edgeguarding him.
As Pikachu, we have to be much more careful of Lucas edgeguarding us than we have to worry about Ness. His PKT is better at edgeguarding (more damage and it doesn't disappear after one hit) and if he reads your QA right, he can hit you with a F-smash or even U-smash. If you stay on the ledge too long, lucas can dair you and make it really difficult to get back to the ledge.
Killing will be in Lucas's favor in this Matchup. Any time you are on the ground (lying there, have option to roll, get up, or attack) you will most likely get hit by a F-smash. It is a scary *** position let me tell you. I almost lost a set yesterday beacuse he hit me to the ground at around 70% on the edge of smashville. He tripped when he tried to F-smash and i could get up and kill him before he could hit me. I was so lucky it wasn't even funny...D-smash will hit your sidesteps and kill you at around 135% on FD, and F-smash will kill you at around 110% on FD, and around 80% on smashville (near the edge).
Pikachu's killing in this matchup isn't bad either. We still have our normal options, nair/F-smash/U-smash/u-tilt Thunder. Lucas's momentum cancel isn't fast enough to be able to absorb the thunder, so you are safe in that regard. Lucas's momentum cancel isn't that great. Once you get him off the level make sure you do some damage (as stated above).
Close combat is a very interesting place to be in this Matchup. We have our usual tools (grab/fair/nair/dair) but Lucas has some very good options as well (nair/jab/f-tilt/d-tilt/fair). I feel that pikachu has a slight advantage in this position, but you must be VERY careful not to mess up or Lucas will have you right where he wants you. Lucas can do some very heavy damage with nair combos and grab combos. At high % watch out for FH Dair (if you dont' tech) to D-tilt lock to F-smash (guaranteed death assuming Lucas doesn't **** up). Both characters really have to play on their toes when in close range, both characters can **** the other characters up if they aren't too careful.
Neither character is good at camping. PKFire is easy to Pshield, and T-jolt will let lucas absorb somewhere around 15-18%. This doesn't mean the Matchup is difficult, it just means we have to be very very careful when we use our Jolts and thunders. Baiting a Magnet is a very plausible maneuver in this Matchup. If you are right under a Lucas, they will most likely use the Magnet, in which case we can jump up and hit him with nair/uair-nair/dair/bair.
Lucas, I feel, is a closer match than Ness. 55:45 at best for pikachu, even at worst.
![[FBC] ESAM](/data/avatars/l/92/92614.jpg?1365783210){kind=avatar}
Tjolt ain't that fast.
). Jolts are really only there for a few hits here and there and to refresh other moves, not like snake and his ******** nades. You can use them safely and they do serve their purpose.
