Dealing with Captain Falcon

[BlackMamba]

Fighting a good Captain Falcon is an absolute nightmare. I feel like I try new things each time I face one but they only work on scrubby CFacs. How do you guys handle this matchup in terms of stage selection, escaping combos/knees, and getting things started in the neutral game?

 

[4tlas]

If they're a good player, there's very little you can do. First, at your preference, either pick a large stage (so you can tele to avoid him then Dins/tele for neutral) or a tiny stage (so he can't avoid you). The things to do in neutral are telecancel and Dins. Everything else will be avoided with ease by CFal. You have to be extremely careful to make sure he can't punish the startup of these moves. The only other thing I would suggest is camping under platforms, as that makes it more difficult for him to approach you with a running jump.

 

[Kaeldiar]

I hate this MU...I'll post more later but for now, I'd like to say:

Telecancel is NOT helpful against CF. He covers ground far too quickly, and the startup and endlag are too high.

Take him to FD or Smashville, preferably. Your spacie chaingrabs and up-smash chains, etc. will work to some degree on him as well. More importantly, lack of platforms linear-izes his already 'meh' recovery, making edgeguards much easier for you

 

[4tlas]

Telecancel is NOT helpful against CF. He covers ground far too quickly, and the startup and endlag are too high.

It is very difficult to use because of the startup and endlag, but I think the unpredictability is worth it. I suppose if you have A+ level movement you might be better off slowly advancing on him, but if my movement were that good I should probably just switch to Sheik (maybe that's the best option anyway).

 

[Downdraft]

This is 2.6b, but I'm sure there are a few things one can still learn from the video despite Zelda's drastic changes.

 

[Geth Drips]

I feel like a good out-of-shield game is really important in this MU. Up smash oos is useful to catch things like Falcons crossup Nairs and side-B. Up-B oos can be ok to reset to neutral but as mentioned before, the start-up and endlag are really easy for Falcon to punish. And of course LKs oos are going to have a lot of utility.
Zelda has nasty combos on Falcon from low up to pretty high percents, especially on platform stages. Winning neutral is a grind but Zelda can potentially take the stock off of one touch if the Falcon player doesnt know how to DI her combos, so try not to drop anything you start. F-tilt, up-tilt and up-smash are good combo starters at low percents. Also, I've been getting a lot of mileage with d-tilt -> grab at mid-ish percents.
As far as getting combo'd by Falcon goes, thats where I struggle a lot. I try to DI his d-throw away but Im not sure if thats the correct way to avoid the knee.

 

[Luis Alonso]

One of the most satisfying benefits of a Zelda v Falcon matchup is the potential of colliding a Knee and a Lightning Kick. Oh so satisfying when your kick wins, he's launched as a star, and you survive his brutal knee. Oh so satisfying.

 

[WhiteCrow]

Geth Drips knows what's up. OoS options are amazing in this match up, and they lead to lots of juicy tech chases.

I love this matchup, and I think it's 55/45 Zelda's favor. If you let a CF keep you in neutral all day then you're going to lose. You need to be heavy on the bait and punish routine. WD OoS is essential for baiting cross ups and netting you grabs and jabs. CF is great weight for our f-tilt and up-air combos. Any up smash that he DI's poorly is a free kick to us. He also has a predictable recovery, especially when Din's are in play. When you get a hard knock down you need to either tech chase or get a Din on the stage. You won't have many opportunities to set up in this match up and Din's Fire can really limit his movement.

Know when and how to anti air an approach. It you pivot up-tilt so the hit box ends with your back to CF you can react faster on the whiff. Up angled f-tilt can catch CF at a lot of angle you wouldn't expect. Utilize jabs's IASA frames to WD back or shield with an upward angle (I'll have to make a video of that or something)

And the bad news... CF's combo game is amazing. You will get d-throw knee'd. You will get stomp knee'd. You will die at 70% with bad DI as he carries you across the stage with up-airs. Learn combo DI and SDI. If you can escape a combo and nair CF you can get a lot of free damage and a grab setup. Our up-throw isn't a chain grab but we can get punishes off it.