Dealing with Falco Pressue

[Toe]

I've had this problem of dealing with Falco's pressure ever since I have started playing and even as I get better I still seem to have a lot of trouble with it. Currently I try and stuff Falco's approaches with jabs and lasers with power shielding. I feel like I still just get pummeled from their pressure and I'm just missing something with my game-play. Between his lasers and general comboing I always have a ton of problems. Any advice will be appreciated. Also on a side-note, I want to wave dash out of shield but my problem is that I do everything with my R trigger. I know there is a way to wave dash out of shield with a single trigger but I full press my R upon plugging my controller into the gamecube/wii in order to make power shielding easier so I am unable to use this method. Should I just learn to use the L trigger when shielding and continue using R for everything else, or just try and power shield without the preset full pressed R trigger? I'm sure this second part may sound confusing so if any clarification is needed please let me know, thanks!

 

[Life]

Falco's pretty tricky to deal with. Sometimes it's best to just take the laser and hit him afterwards e.g. with a jab or a DD grab. It's only a little bit of percent, which you'll more than make up for with one good opening on Falco (make sure your punishes are on point!)

Remember that if space animals are just spamming buttons on your shield and you don't know what to do, you can hold c-stick to the side and you'll roll out of it on the next possible frame.

As for trigger trick, I don't think it's actually supposed to make powershielding easier? The main reason people do it is so they don't accidentally light shield when they mean to fully shield, but since powershielding is frame perfect for lasers anyway I don't see how that would make a difference. That said, for a lot of people, wavedashing OOS with both triggers is easier than doing it with one trigger, but it's ultimately up to you.

 

[YoloTango]

Powershielding is significantly easier with the trigger trick/mod in my experience

 

[Toe]

Thanks Life, yea I think I need to do some work on my movement between lasers because currently I do struggle acting out of the stun from a laser with anything more than a jab. And as for the triggers, I did notice a significant different in my ability to powershield when having the trigger pre-full pressed but I will look into practicing without it as well as trying to use both triggers!

 

[MACKU]

I'm also at a loss here. My friend who I play most frequently with has seriously stepped up his pressure, and it feels like there is no time between the laser/dair/shine/grab whatever approach for me to act. If I don't powershield, I feel like I'm stuck in shield stun and incapable of wd oos away, shield grabbing, or anything really. Is my timing just off? Are there moves that I could be throwing out that I'm not?

 

[Nicholas1024]

Fair out of shield is pretty good against Falco lasers, and will straight up punish him for badly spaced ones. (That is, ones that are within fair range but too far away for him to shine or otherwise pressure.) Going to the platforms can also give you a breather against him, although I wouldn't recommend staying there if he comes closer. Counter is amazing against spammy falcos, as it destroys them when they're being predictable. If you use it against the nair/dair approach, they'll typically lock themselves out of the tech because they tried to L-cancel, giving you the chance to follow up.

Generally speaking, Falco has to make a choice with each individual laser against Marth. The lowest height lasers are almost impossible to powershield, but can be jumped over with just a short hop. Higher lasers will beat a shorthop, but are far easier to powershield if you crouch. (This is because the laser will go over Marth's head while still being inside his shield, giving you something like a six frame window instead of the usual one frame window.)

If Falco gets too close for comfort, just roll away. He's not a fast character, and it's harder for him to chase unless he specifically reads the roll.

Sometimes it can be better to take the laser without shielding, as it doesn't have very much hitstun, and you can throw out a move almost immediately.

Whatever you do, just stay patient and wait for your moment. See, while it's very hard to get a solid hit on Falco, you have enough tools to make it difficult for Falco to start a solid combo on you. The damage from stray lasers and the occasional stray hit is more or less irrelevant, considering that these characters can potentially 0-death each other.

 

[MarthZ]

for the Wave dash out of shield one button to do that you don't hold down R all the way but L I would only recommend if you're left handed

 

[MACKU]

Fair out of shield is pretty good against Falco lasers, and will straight up punish him for badly spaced ones. (That is, ones that are within fair range but too far away for him to shine or otherwise pressure.) Going to the platforms can also give you a breather against him, although I wouldn't recommend staying there if he comes closer. Counter is amazing against spammy falcos, as it destroys them when they're being predictable. If you use it against the nair/dair approach, they'll typically lock themselves out of the tech because they tried to L-cancel, giving you the chance to follow up.

Generally speaking, Falco has to make a choice with each individual laser against Marth. The lowest height lasers are almost impossible to powershield, but can be jumped over with just a short hop. Higher lasers will beat a shorthop, but are far easier to powershield if you crouch. (This is because the laser will go over Marth's head while still being inside his shield, giving you something like a six frame window instead of the usual one frame window.)

If Falco gets too close for comfort, just roll away. He's not a fast character, and it's harder for him to chase unless he specifically reads the roll.

Sometimes it can be better to take the laser without shielding, as it doesn't have very much hitstun, and you can throw out a move almost immediately.

Whatever you do, just stay patient and wait for your moment. See, while it's very hard to get a solid hit on Falco, you have enough tools to make it difficult for Falco to start a solid combo on you. The damage from stray lasers and the occasional stray hit is more or less irrelevant, considering that these characters can potentially 0-death each other.

Thanks for the thorough and prompt reply. I think a lot of this well help. I just need to learn on keeping myself within threat distance and keep myself from opting for shield every time when I could be more offensively defensive/punishing.