Competative Pika - In depth report.

[pyrnight]

Alright, I've been playing since Saturday, I've probably docked 20+ hours on brawl already and the Niagara Crew is starting to bring some serious stuff to the table. This is just my general impressions of Pika so far.

Ground game:
smashes come at fast, have epic range and massive knockback. Upsmash isn't that great but I'm having tonnes of success with side and down smashes.

Smashes:
Down smash sends the victim in a seemly random direction, although it actually depends on spacing. This is good because opponents don't know how to DI it properly, because they can't predict where they are going very well. Sometimes if they don't DI because of this, and you are close to them, it sends them strait up and and down+b finishes them.

Spaced correctly a downsmash can spike with the last part of the attack, did it vs a peach today.

Down+B:
I've killed peach and such as ~70% with down+B, when they're already in the air. Its an amazing move, has a longer vertical range than it did in melee, and lasts a very long time. Also pika becomes one giant powerful hitbox when the lighting touches him, I've killed at 60% with that. Down+B is an excellent edgegaurd, because brawl is so floaty most people arn't recovering from below. In the case that they are coming up from below the stage, the hitbox around pika itself at the end of UP+B it goes over the ledge.

Bair:
This move is ridiculous. It has something like 7 different hits, and usualy goes through shields on the last hit. If you do hit with this move from the start, you can chase their DI during the move and hit them with all 7 parts of the attack (or how many parts there actually are). I'm going to get videos of this up as soon as I get my equipment back.

B
Spamable, you can move very far backwards after using it in the air. 'Nuff said.

Recovery
Side+B -> Up+B will get you back from anywhere. Seriously. Even if you are far below the stage, doing UP+b at a 75 degree angle, then 75 degrees in the opposite direction will get you up from pretty far down, and side+b will take you very far horizontally. The only situation where the recovery really doesn't work is when you are far off the stage, and a pretty low vertical height.


I haven't seen much pika gameplay yet, and I think I'm pretty good, not to be cocky or anything. I will try and get some of my matches up very soon, probably on friday or saterday at the latest.

PS: I am WTFOX from the AMC/Infinate Shine/Lucas Waveland video. Niagara crew wins!



Any questions about PIKA: please ask away



ADDED
Uair:
Very low knockback, but thats the best part about it, because you can get it off 2 or 3 times in a row. Then you opponent has to land, and you can get them with neutral+b or if they are close, a dsmash or something.

 

[Ryuartyi]

Pikachu's up-smash doesn't have as much knock-back as it did in Melee? Is it still a viable way to kill opponents?

 

[SensFan]

Thanks for the post! I've been waiting for one like this!

Glad to hear he's got good smashes! As a loyal c-stick spammer, this is useful news to me! His Down-B is my favourite attack in the game! I was pretty good with it even when it was only average. Glad to hear it's improved! I don't know what you mean by his b-air having "parts", but I know I suck at executing b-airs, so I hope the attack isn't instrumental to a good Pika.

Thanks again, please update more!

 

[pyrnight]

Ryuartyl: Yeh, much less. I haven't tested it to much but I haven't found it very useful to kill.

SensFan: the B-air hits like 7 times in a row, its not a single back kick or something, pika kicks and spins and generally flails like a old man having a seizure.

 

[SensFan]

Oh, it's not just the kick he does in Melee? So is it more like his f-air now?

Very interested in vids. Maybe a moveset demonstration as well as some 1 on 1's

 

[ALFET]

How is taunt bug, still in?

I loved torturing people like that.

"PIKA PI-SIKE" and I smash them. Please tell me it's still in ;~;

 

[Agosta44]

Can he smash out of his wave taunt like Melee?

 

[TheMagicalKuja]

Can't answer that myself, but Pikachu's taunts feel much faster to me.

Both his down smash and his down b are much more annoying(ly awesome), but I had problems connecting with his up smash.

 

[ThaDirtyG]

Great post! I've been waiting to hear more on Pika since E For All!

Can't wait to see your vids! The only ones I've found up until know have hurt my heart... A LOT. I see some great looking moves and a player with no clue how to use them.

I'm sure yours will be much better

 

[ss118]

How does the d-smash do against shields?

That's what I used it for in melee, and I hear it's beefed. But I hope it can still stop shield grabbers.

 

[pyrnight]

Oh man. Dsmash wrecks sheilds. Not only does it kill the shield plenty, it usualy lasts long enough to hit their feet once the shield has worn down a bit.

I played fox and shiek mainly in melee so I'm not familiar with the wavetaunt-> smash but i'll try it out in brawl tonight

Yeh I can demonstrate pikas moves and what not but I'll try and get my match vids up first.

 

[~N9NE~]

Watching some videos, the down B, looks very useful this time round. Pikachu looks promising.

 

[JoeTang]

It's the same thing as Melee, where he spins with his legs extended, but it rounds up multiple hits instead of a single knock-back move.
I've been having issues landing Up Smashes too. Up Tilts are pretty useful though as always, as are Neutral Airs. Down Air seems to have good knock back though I haven't used it often, just because I'm not used to it. It seems fairly useful for edge guarding while you're off the edge. With the new auto-edge grab, Quick Attack might be more easily used to edge hog than before, but I actually haven't tried it myself.

 

[ALFET]

Can he smash out of his wave taunt like Melee?

I just played today, it's gone :|

 

[SensFan]

As someone who used Peach whenever I got sick of losing with Pikachu, I am VERY glad to hear I can now use her broken d-smash on the sexy rodentia.

 

[Gea]

Pika is *really* good now. Feels great, naturally awesome. Win.

 

[pyrnight]

^ I totally agree. Just plays so smoothly and fluently, and is effective and fun to play.

 

[Kilala]

Pikachu is so full of win now! It gives me the jitters X3 Im taking advantage of everything it has to offer!
I've dodged so many attacks with it's little crawling ability c:

I am very big fan of Pikachu air+a attack it surprises opponents from using any counter attack and thats great c: In melee it was stoppable if the opponent grabbed you or plainly hit you but in Brawl it kinda gives the opponent an aftermath that flinches the opponent while you continue the routine.

And Pikachu's B couldnt be better!!! in melee the only thing it would do was shock the opponent at the same spot, but in Brawl they rejuvenated Pikachu's thunderjolt from the first SSB, It will now push the opponent back! It is the perfect way to spam from an opponent preparing to combo-you from far away (I'd like to compare it to melee's Falco's laser gun when it would stop you dead in it's tracks)

And of course Pikachu's thunder is deadlier than ever if you hit it at the right spot and I took advantage of my friends while they were floating in mid air >8D

But yeah I have to agree than Pikachu's up smash is different and a bit weaker now, i noticed that when my opponent was over 170% damage and i striked him with pikachu's up smash, it wouldnt go as far as it use to, same goes with it's side smash, it'd hit in two directions, either to the side or upwards. But Pikachu's down smash is as good as melee's.

Im seeing a very bright future for our cute little yellow eletrical mouse.

 

[SJAK47]

^ Wouldn't Pikachu's down smash be better than his Melee counterpart's?

 

[Kilala]

Actually when I think about it, it does indeed have a little more -umph- than melee's then again I couldnt use the down smash with the c-stick like i used to, it's a bit different with the c-stick, if you tilt it downwards, it may give you a normal down+a attack, not a down-smash attack, thats a bit annoying for me.

But yeah it does cause a little more damage, and i say the best thing about it is that no one can escape from it unlike melee where characters could just move away.

 

[Ryuartyi]

So, it's basically a vortex again? That's really good since Pikachu's up smash isn't too good now.

 

[mog112]

after playing brawl for a lil while now, I def think pikachu is one of the better characters.

 

[pikachu22]

Hey thanks, Pika is my main i have been playing him for years and years now haha.So does the side B charge faster and fly further than it ue to. it use to be completely useless in a 1vs 1 match is it still like that?? and at first i wasnt happy about the Uair being changed.That tail spike has killed so many people at low damage.....but maybe it will be okay since it has comboing abilities.....

 

[ALFET]

Pikachu's Skull Bash, nerfed in terms of damage, buffed in terms of distance.

When I use it on the edge of Final Destination, you slightly end on the OTHER edge, then fall off.

 

[SJAK47]

His Skull Bash should not be used for actual battling, but for recovery. There are better moves than Pikachu's hit-or-miss (and more misses than hits) Skull Bash.

 

[pikachu22]

Yup,your completely right.The lag in melee left him vulnarable to get hit everytime.But you are WRONG in one aspect.That move is the ultimate pikachu newb killer.and its my fav to use against poor players ....i wish they would change lag time so i could use it more often

 

[WTFJ?]

pikachu's down smash is the new peach down smash in melee trust me, it annoyed all my friends and a certain known bowser player no names.... and pikachu will be one of the top tiers also told by that person, because he was really annoyed by it haha pikachu has more priorities now then alot of other characters and advantages if used really well... Pikachu is just too good... too bad no tail spike anymore that was my favorite spike from him . The best combo Ive used is short hop F-air to D-smash it connects trust me I love it now since theres no L-canceling thats one less button to press.. ( if D-smash doesnt K.O.) and if they dont DI out of the D-smash , then Thunder but if it doesnt K.O ,then Thunder again if there straight above still for the sure it will K.O. ,because after the 1st Thunder most likely they wont have enough time to DI out of the way of the first thunder so the second thunder will connect Ive experimented this every time. Its my favorite combo... Id name it but im sure someone has done this before already it was possible in melee but 2 thunders haha thats awsome if theres no one that has claimed it then ill just call it WTFJ? cause i always get that when I do that, but if not its ok, just dont hate on me I wont be mad if its called something already .... just be careful cause they can sometimes air dodge at low percentages or if they have a reflector like Fox, Wolf, Zelda, Pit, Mario and others it will hit pikachu so either move a lil bit so the thunder doesnt hit you so if they do try to reflect then it wont hurt you

 

[Tyros]

Haha... wall of text above.
Anyway...
Awesome! I can't wait to play the new 'Chu. I'll be the official Pikachu Guy online, whenever I get the ability to GO online. n.n;

- Tyros

 

[DaFlameking]

for those competitive pikas who heavily relied on tail spikes (like me) back in melee, it is alot much harder to pull it off in brawl. =/

maybe its too floaty, the gameplay is slower, i couldnt pull it off after 5 tries T_T

 

[Yukiwarashi]

As someone who used Peach whenever I got sick of losing with Pikachu, I am VERY glad to hear I can now use her broken d-smash on the sexy rodentia.

You and me both, brother. I'm going to be giving my brother 100x the pain he brought me with that dumb Peach. >=)

 

[nevershootme]

A perfect example of pikachu's competitive potential

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFIzs6NId2w

me and a bunch of friends playing teams, I was playing olimar though

 

[PltnmNgl]

ooh...i like the combo at the beginning...

Seems like fair is the new nair...

 

[SJAK47]

And the Fair is somewhat back to combo form.

 

[marthownsxd]

It it just me or does anyone miss the fact in melee that Pikachu's UpAir was a semi spike, unless you hit it unproperly and it saves your opponent. At least it is more consistent and you know where a character will go when you hit them with an UpAir.

 

[erdrick9024]

I do miss the tail spike (I tried several times to land one before finding it was removed), but I'm sure I'll adjust. If nothing else, I can use it like Pichu's up-air. (I loved that thing. I've stalled matches for at least 30 seconds just by keeping them in the air with it. [Yes, they were actually good players.])

Even without a spike though, neutral B provides a decent edgeguard. It actually has some semblance of knockback even if you don't hit with the ball, and has a noticeably higher rate of fire. You can very effectively and safely control the ledge just by sitting back and spamming it. On top of that, you can do it from a closer location, and additionally control the space above you with thunder. (To be honest, I've only tried it on one Pit player with low Pika experience, but it sounds good in theory. It definitely screwed with his usual recovery tactic of aiming under the ledge and coming up to sweetspot it.)

On the Skull Bash, I did an uncharged one to see how they changed it, and freaked out over how far it sent me and how quickly I got there. Not to say it's blinding or anything, but it's much faster than Melee's. There's also a little less cool-down lag, so you could probably use a couple for recovery (as opposed to using one, then being close to death) if you actually needed to.

Also, I don't know if anyone else noticed, but it feels like Pikachu has a significantly lower ledge-grab time. Normally you have to wait half-a-second or so before you can let go of the ledge after grabbing it, but ledge hopping feels much faster with this guy. I'm not clear on the specifics of the new ledge-grab/drop mechanics, but looking into this might be worthwhile.

 

[Ruuku]

I can already see Pikachu having some issues versus Pit and Metaknight. But I have to say that well placed thunder jolts can mess up Pit's recovery and zone out Metakight.

 

[kitsuneboy_geoff]

My only regret about thunder jolt is its noticeably faster "drop" when you use it in the air. In melee, it travelled down at a way shallower angle... aka, it was longer range. But whatever. It's faster now.

 

[pikachu22]

I can already see Pikachu having some issues versus Pit and Metaknight. But I have to say that well placed thunder jolts can mess up Pit's recovery and zone out Metakight.

has anyone seen any good videos of pika vs meta or pit??

 

[TheMagicalKuja]

No, but I've fought some. I've found Pikachu having a difficult time approaching Pit, but Metaknight's easier to smack around.

 

[SJAK47]

I can see why Pikachu has problems with Pit and Metaknight. High comboing characters will mostly likely juggle Pikachu around since Pikachu has more power potential moves than combo moves. Plus a lot of Pikachu's moves are close range attacks, and the only effective moves against a Pit or Metaknight might be a well placed Thunder. But since we are all essentially rookies at the game so far, we can't do much else other than to speculate. I'm sure in time, there will be tactics and mindgames that will give Pikachu the advantage over the likes of Pit and Metaknight.