Meta Falco: Approaches and Combos/Strings

[MoosyDoosy]

Falco is top mid tier. Holy **** he's so fun to play now with all his combo shenanigans.

 

[FUEGO!]

Falco is top mid tier. Holy **** he's so fun to play now with all his combo shenanigans.

I really think it has to do with him just having solid approach options with his aerials now too. He ACTUALLY plays like semi clone, since they've made Falco's aerial properties mimic Fox's much more than before. Fast fall D-air has never felt better, and if the rumor that Dair has less landing lag is true, then we have the reason for that as well.

 

[Ijuka]

vs Captain Falcon
at 0% dthrow -> shff nair -> shff nair -> shff nair -> RAR fj bair true combos in training mode for 51%. Can start with RAR nair so only need around half a FD for the whole thing. Not sure how DI affects this but it's still useful to know.

at 50% utilt -> uair -> uair -> nair true combo for 40%.

at 30% utilt -> nair -> fair true combo for 29%.

at 35% dthrow -> RAR shff uair -> utilt -> FJ uair -> DJ uair -> uair true combo for 53%.


Some pretty crazy combo options for a low tier, hum.

 

[PaperMic]

Sorry in advance for the bad English. Dyslexic french guy here.
First time posting here too. (Thank you spellchecker)

After a short hop, do immediately a Nair and fast fall as soon as possible. If the last hit
connects (The fourth one) there will be no landing lag. It's kind of the Dair Cancel but way
easier. I have been able to combo up 44% just doing Nairs against a Captain Falcon.
Canceling the landing lag of a single Nair is pretty easy when you're not online.

Try it yourself. Go on training mode using Falco. Play against a Captain Falcon at 0% on FD

Down throw, shff nair, Dash, shff nair, Dash, Full Jump Fair. 36%
Down throw, shff nair, Dash, shff nair, Dash, Full Jump Nair, fast fall, Double jump Fair. 47%
Shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, full jump Fair. 33%
Shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, full jump Nair 44%
Down throw, shff nair, Dash, Jump Cancel Up-Smash. 32%
Shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, Jump Cancel Up-Smash. 49% (Proper DI and very Precise)
Shff Nair, Dash, Dash Attack. 20%
Shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, shff Nair, Dash, Full Up Uair, Nair. 54% (Proper DI, Really Hard, Did it once)
*You can RAR your shff Nair mid combo for a turn around.

At mid %: Shff Nair, Dash, Full Jump Fair. 20%

Be creative.
After a down throw, the short hop Nair cannot be canceled on floaties like Jigllypuff or Kirby since the fourth slash won't connect.
Against a grounded character, timing will be different depending who you're facing since not all slashes will connect on every character. Small Characters like Pikachu or Kirby can only be touched by the fourth slash.
At mid percent, it pretty much guarantees a follow up.
I think you can Smash DI out of the Nair, but I have no way to test.

PS: Feel free to correct my grammar or to explain it better.

Edit: Grammar and precision

 

[Ijuka]

vs Fox

at 15% uthrow -> full jump uair -> falling nair -> RAR full jump bair true combo for 42 damage. Additionally will make the Fox player start maining Falco due to swag overload.

vs Lucario

at 0% dthrow -> shff nair -> shff nair -> full jump nair -> double jump fair true combos for 47%. The first nair can be done RAR so you barely need any room for this.

vs Rosalina and Luma

at 0% dthrow -> shff nair -> double jump nair -> double jump uair uair true combos for 47%.



Falco is pretty special in that he has very powerful combos against both fastfallers and floaties.

Hello, I made a combo video demonstrating some more advanced combos for Falco in patch 1.0.8. in training mode. Hopefully you all find it useful / entertaining!

Addition:

This works in more specific circumstances but does deal more damage.

 

[BltzZ]

Sick stuff dude I've been waiting for some more videos. I can do all these including the Rar up airs etc. However I can't get some combos to link as true combo consistently. Anything in particular you doing? Maybe FF the nair?

 

[Ijuka]

Fastfall the nair during / just after the final hit. Against Luigi in specific you would delay the first nair for just a moment because that allows you to link the second one much easier. Don't really seem to have many other true combos against him though.

 

[I Am Normal (IAN)]

http://youtu.be/5qVL_i2WCJY
More combos and nair strings.
P.S. Thanks for putting some of my videos here Ffamran! I appreciate it.

 

[Ffamran]

http://youtu.be/5qVL_i2WCJY
More combos and nair strings.
P.S. Thanks for putting some of my videos here Ffamran! I appreciate it.

The music choice makes me feel like I'm in Hawaii.

Hello, I made a combo video demonstrating some more advanced combos for Falco in patch 1.0.8. in training mode. Hopefully you all find it useful / entertaining!

Addition:

This works in more specific circumstances but does deal more damage.

If you don't mind, I merged your thread with the main approach and combo thread.

 

[MOI-ARI]

Im happy for Falcoboards and its Falco users getting what they deserved, a more solid falco ^-^

I haven't tried 1.0.8 Falco, but i'll be sure to borrow some tips from here if you all dont mind. haha

is there a link to his patch notes? i cant find them...-_-

 

[Ffamran]

Im happy for Falcoboards and its Falco users getting what they deserved, a more solid falco ^-^

I haven't tried 1.0.8 Falco, but i'll be sure to borrow some tips from here if you all dont mind. haha

is there a link to his patch notes? i cant find them...-_-

Here: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-patch-history.375247/page-5#post-19436999, and here: http://smashboards.com/threads/lucas-roy-ryu-1-0-8-community-patch-notes-17th-19-30.406319/. Thinkaman's almost got his "Mastercore" clone up so we can get exact changes on pretty much everything, but IASA and end lag. In other words, we'll get exact details on Falco's Uair and Fair's startup.

 

[MOI-ARI]

Here: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-patch-history.375247/page-5#post-19436999, and here: http://smashboards.com/threads/lucas-roy-ryu-1-0-8-community-patch-notes-17th-19-30.406319/. Thinkaman's almost got his "Mastercore" clone up so we can get exact changes on pretty much everything, but IASA and end lag. In other words, we'll get exact details on Falco's Uair and Fair's startup.

Thank you!

 

[BltzZ]

Here: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-patch-history.375247/page-5#post-19436999, and here: http://smashboards.com/threads/lucas-roy-ryu-1-0-8-community-patch-notes-17th-19-30.406319/. Thinkaman's almost got his "Mastercore" clone up so we can get exact changes on pretty much everything, but IASA and end lag. In other words, we'll get exact details on Falco's Uair and Fair's startup.

I just saw on that thread he posted his data falco got a lot of love

 

[FUEGO!]

Here: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-patch-history.375247/page-5#post-19436999, and here: http://smashboards.com/threads/lucas-roy-ryu-1-0-8-community-patch-notes-17th-19-30.406319/. Thinkaman's almost got his "Mastercore" clone up so we can get exact changes on pretty much everything, but IASA and end lag. In other words, we'll get exact details on Falco's Uair and Fair's startup.

HAHA, i KNEW IIIIIIT. Even though it was minor, i was telling people that his Dair was changed to hit better/easier and the spike is much easier to hit, and now I know why!!

 

[McDareth]

@ McDareth , your video just got uploaded. Moral of the story: Never trade with Falco's Fair 'cause he ain't a fair player.

Oh, thanks. This is another video that I made on it that does a bit more on his Fair, and shows off some other trades setups/opportunities

These are all the characters that I've personally gotten it to work on (more focused on recovery moves as you can trade with any move in general):

• Mario
• Bowser
• Link
• Ganondorf
• Zero Suit Samus
• Marth
• Lucina
• Meta Knight
• Fox
• Falco
• Pikachu [I've gotten it on him but the time I did it didn't kill]
• Captain Falcon
• Shulk
• Roy

The easiest was I can describe setting it up is to aim for hitting them with either his beak (which in my experience either has ridiculous priority or is just invincible) and his head or hit them with the body so they take the hit and force him to stop spinning.

This is one of my favorite things in Smash 4 lol :D
---
As a side note I need to recondition myself to not fade back when doing Nair or Fair for his new followups as my old habit was to try to position them to keep them safe or catch someone trying to shield grab. They are really strong combo tolls now though that I need to take advantage of them.

 

[PaperMic]

Low quality demonstration of perfect (?) Shff Nair.
This is just some examples.

 

[PepaCorn]

..........

 

[BltzZ]

Saw a pretty cool string someone upload on reddit. https://vine.co/v/eiJBap9JKxn

 

[Trunks159]

Man from these videos Falco is insane. Tons of free dmg.

 

[I Dair You]

Heres some potential Falco strings/follow-ups (Tested vs Marth)

Dthrow > SH nair (x2) > SH fair (offstage) > reflector [41%]

Uptilt (x2) > SH nair > FH fair > reflector [43%]

Upthrow > FH upair (x2 fastfall) > FH nair > fair [48%]

Upthrow > turn around FH upair > (fastfall) nair > dtilt > FH fair > reflector [49%]

Jab cancel > dtilt > SH nair (x2) > SH fair (offstage) > reflector [51%]

Upthrow > turn around FH upair > (fastfall) nair > uptilt > FH nair > reflector [52%]

Upthrow > turn around FH upair > (fastfall) backair > FH upair > (fastfall) nair > uptilt > FH upair > fair [74%]

IMO Falco's main tools for setting up combos are uptilt, upthrow, dtilt and dthrow. The new patch changes to nair and fair have greatly boosted his combo potential.

 

[McDareth]

Saw a pretty cool string someone upload on reddit. https://vine.co/v/eiJBap9JKxn

I remember seeing this and wanted to see how true it was so I tried it out on a Falcon computer in training who was set to jump (I forgot he started it with a falling up air). The Rising Dair > Falling Nair > Grab worked at 80, 90, and 100%. And the Up Throw > Up Air killed Falcon during the 100% attempts. I'll have to try it again with the Falling Up Air as I was trying to figure out how to set it up.

 

[FUEGO!]

IMO Falco's main tools for setting up combos are uptilt, upthrow, dtilt and dthrow. The new patch changes to nair and fair have greatly boosted his combo potential.

I put this to the test last night against my friend's Ryu, and I think you're on to something here. F-throw can be used as a mix up for tech chases still, and B-throw is still AMAZING at the ledge, BUT yes, Up-throw and D-throw are definitely the ones we need to be spamming. Uptilt and Dtilt are great options if you can't seem to get the grab on them as both have similar results as their throw counterparts.

 

[young grasshopper]

I used falco back in the 1.0.3 days, but ended up swapping through multiple characters. The recent 1.0.8 update has brought me back and I love it

 

[EddyAOS]

I feel like Falco is great against slow characters like Ryu, but I always get pwned if I use him against Mario.

 

[BlueBirdE]

Something ive been messing with lately against falcon:
Dthrow to rar bair if they miss tech ftilt x2 frame cancel dair run behind sh nair off stage to fair as close to blast zone as u can get. Seems like falcon is forced to tech at 0 havent seen one jump out. If they tech i feel my options are covered for example if they tech away an ftilt would watch them. Anyone want to look more into this thatd be great

 

[Ffamran]

I feel like Falco is great against slow characters like Ryu, but I always get pwned if I use him against Mario.

Ryu's actually as fast as Mario ground speed-wise who is faster than Falco. Not sure about air speed and fall speed, but they're pretty good from what I heard. Ryu's moves are pretty fast, but it really depends on what move since he has tapped and held normals like tapping jab does this while holding jab does that.

 

[Dark Dire Wolf]

How do you guys FF the last nair hit. I'm not good at gaming but it still seems hard to time it just right. Also, to clarify, the input sequence for the nair chains are jump > nair > movement stick forward > control stick down for fast fall > jump > nair...

 

[Foster J.]

What the actual Sakurai angle madness is this

 

[knu_OOKA]

What the actual Sakurai angle madness is this

It's a ledge cancelled jab finisher. Just make sure you're the very edge of the stage when you start the jab and Falco will fall off the stage once you hear the final hit. When this happens, you can jump and also do an aerial or special if you time it right. Pretty hard, and also DI dependent.

 

[ILOVESMASH]

's Up Air may be good approach option now. At low percents, it can allow to confirm into grab, which is huge since he gets a huge amount of reward off of grab. At mid to Higher percents, its a solid juggle option and can setup into numerous followups with bair, nair, and fair.

Also is there any reason as to why 's SH airdodge is never used? Being able to cancel its landing lag when you imput a Fair or Bair can be a nice setup for grabs.

 

[BlueBirdE]

Sh airdodge into tilts, jabs, side b are my go tos when i use that. Can catch people slipping

 

[Antonykun]

What the actual Sakurai angle madness is this

BAN*FALCO

 

[knu_OOKA]

I used sh

's Up Air may be good approach option now. At low percents, it can allow to confirm into grab, which is huge since he gets a huge amount of reward off of grab. At mid to Higher percents, its a solid juggle option and can setup into numerous followups with bair, nair, and fair.

Also is there any reason as to why 's SH airdodge is never used? Being able to cancel its landing lag when you imput a Fair or Bair can be a nice setup for grabs.[/q

's Up Air may be good approach option now. At low percents, it can allow to confirm into grab, which is huge since he gets a huge amount of reward off of grab. At mid to Higher percents, its a solid juggle option and can setup into numerous followups with bair, nair, and fair.

Also is there any reason as to why 's SH airdodge is never used? Being able to cancel its landing lag when you imput a Fair or Bair can be a nice setup for grabs.

I use Falco's upair all the time actually. I use it to land and fast fall it when I use it to approach.
As for SH air dodge, I was trying it today, and I see the utility, but the controls feel a little awkward to me.

 

[young grasshopper]

's Up Air may be good approach option now. At low percents, it can allow to confirm into grab, which is huge since he gets a huge amount of reward off of grab. At mid to Higher percents, its a solid juggle option and can setup into numerous followups with bair, nair, and fair.

Also is there any reason as to why 's SH airdodge is never used? Being able to cancel its landing lag when you imput a Fair or Bair can be a nice setup for grabs.

I can't seem to get anything out of a grab. Unless my opponent is bad at DI, the only thing I can follow a Dthrow up with is Fair, and barely at that. What are your tips for getting the most out of grabs?

 

[ILOVESMASH]

I can't seem to get anything out of a grab. Unless my opponent is bad at DI, the only thing I can follow a Dthrow up with is Fair, and barely at that. What are your tips for getting the most out of grabs?

I'm not that good, but at low percents, d-throw can combo into rar bair into regrab. You can pseudo chain grab people with this. You can also do Up throw to up air to nair against certain characters.

 

[ArhyLis]

I can't seem to get anything out of a grab. Unless my opponent is bad at DI, the only thing I can follow a Dthrow up with is Fair, and barely at that. What are your tips for getting the most out of grabs?

It really depends on what character you use it on. Fast Fallers and Heavies are the easiest to perform combos on. Pretty much experiment against the whole cast and see what works against who, it may try your patience, but worth it in the end, I promise.

 

[young grasshopper]

I'm not that good, but at low percents, d-throw can combo into rar bair into regrab. You can pseudo chain grab people with this. You can also do Up throw to up air to nair against certain characters.

thanks, I would never had thought of RaR Nair as a followup

It really depends on what character you use it on. Fast Fallers and Heavies are the easiest to perform combos on. Pretty much experiment against the whole cast and see what works against who, it may try your patience, but worth it in the end, I promise.

Ok, my play style usually relies upon fundamentals and simple combos, so I rarely go into the lab. I guess I'll have to put some lab time in for falco, since grabs are a major part of my gameplay

 

[Ffamran]

Someone made a basic combos video. He could have gone much further with most of the combos, but they're like starter combos.

 

[BltzZ]

Just played a couple matches against roy had some decent combos and strings, decided to throw them together let me know what you guys think

https://youtu.be/bVW-Tt8UUqs

 

[G_Baby]

I really appreciate this thread, just feel like so much information is being put in each day. Different stringing opinions... videos etc. Is there any way for us to start condensing all posts week by week and deciding which ones most of us can confirm? Maybe something like these are the basic strings vs Light chars... here are the ones for slightly heavier characters etc?