Q&A Falco, King of the Birds: Game Play Discussion

[BltzZ]

Pretty sure this is the place for it, but I just took a stock in smash 4 without taking a hit and it made me feel like I was playing melee. I just needed to share this with people.

goddddamnnnnn that inspired me. lol GGs nice follow ups after the nair on the ground that looked sexy

 

[Cubonebonebone]

Thanks mang. I swear one day we will show people what our boy falco can do, and honestly I believe we will be seeing him doing work at apex.

 

[V_x_I_D]

Does anyone feel like they played Faclo better on 3DS as opposed to WiiU?
I'm great at For glory on 3DS but on WiiU I'm like 17 - 29 and it makes me mad because I know I'm much better than that...
I'm almost positive that most of the people I play against aren't that much better than me and I could beat them. Is it the possibility that the lag from the WiiU Pro Controller affects gameplay THAT much??

 

[Leg]

Has anyone found an efficient way to spike with Falco yet?

 

[Charhazzard]

Has anyone found an efficient way to spike with Falco yet?

Not yet but when an opponent is recovering off stage from high in the air I use high/ double jump dair facing away from them so if I miss I instantly Bair. It's an alternative to catch people off guard because people are gonna mostly expect fair so this is a good mix up.

 

[Ffamran]

Has anyone found an efficient way to spike with Falco yet?

Falco Phantasm spiking?

 

[Jackson]

Falco Phantasm spiking?

it can still be meteor cancelled, right? just wondering.

 

[Ffamran]

it can still be meteor cancelled, right? just wondering.

I have no idea what that means.

 

[Jackson]

I have no idea what that means.

Really? I'll explain. Some attacks are spikes, some are meteor smashes. I believe in Brawl all or almost all down-sending moves were meteor smashes, not spikes. Anyway, after a certain amount of frames of being sent downward by a meteor smash (moves that send you down like Captain Falcon's Dair or Falco's Side B), if you input your Up B or a jump, you will break out of hitstun and perform that jump or Up B. It's a lifesaver. However in Melee, some moves like Falco's Dair are spikes, which cannot be meteor cancelled. For the precise frame data on meteor cancelling I suggest you look it up.

 

[KlefkiHolder]

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Meteor_smash

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Spike

Melee only has a few spikes. Marth Dair (NTSC only tho), Falcon's Nipple Spike, and Falco's Dair are the only 3 that actually matter. Though some meteors are noteworthy, like Falcon/Ganon's offstage. Fox's Dair too, but thats incredibly weak as a spike.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Yes, Falco's dair can be teched with an up b or jump.
That makes it even more useless, but I'm pretty sure everyone's is that way.

 

[Ffamran]

@ Jackson and @ KlefkiHolder , I know what meteors and spikes are, but I didn't know you could cancel meteors. I also thought that meteors just replaced spikes after Melee which it seems to have done.

Yes, Falco's dair can be teched with an up b or jump.
That makes it even more useless, but I'm pretty sure everyone's is that way.

At least this isn't as stupid as teching Flame Choke.

Ganondorf *in a stereotypical tough guy voice with a Boston accent*: I'mma gonna slam ya, rookie. *Flame Choke*

Random fighter: *nope, awesome ukemi*

G-dorf *looking at the screen*: Really, Sakurai? Really? The he-

Rando: FAAAAALCON PUUUUNCH! HYESH!

Today we learned that our dear Captain Douglas Jay Falcon lives in Boston. Oh, and never look back at the screen. Never.

I wonder if making Falco's Dair into the only true spike would sort of balance - keywords: sort of - out the speed. That or make it an even stronger meteor where canceling it might mean nothing for people with weaker recoveries. Does Falco have the strongest meteor in this game? Aside from Ganondorf's Stomp and perhaps Captain Falcon's Nipple spike, I don't recall any other meteors being as strong as Falco's.

 

[KlefkiHolder]

Yeah in Brawl the meter window was made larger, thus rendering most downward moves, if not all, as meteor smashes. I don't know about Smash 4, but I would expect the same as Brawl.

The thing about meteor canceling is that its not all too strong. In Melee it was 8 frames, super short and rendering most except for a few to be canceled easily to avoid death. Brawl, 25 frames, which won't exactly save you a lot without a jump, and even with one. I doubt its changed, however.

 

[BltzZ]

Has anyone found an efficient way to spike with Falco yet?

Not really. I tend to have to jump higher because of the animation speed now but my spikes are usually done from a full jump. Versus how in brawl we could SH that all day.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Yeah, I've started doing all of his air attacks except the up-air in full hop to bait them to challenge it, his dair and fair are so strong.
Off stage for spiking, I still got nothing, you just have to rely on getting a good read and your timing.

 

[Cubonebonebone]

Hey guys I made a falco tutorial and would love if you could check it out and give me some input of what you think. I made a separate thread but thought I should show it to you guys here too.

 

[AlvisCPU]

Hey all. Not been on this part of Smashboards before. Hi.

tl;dr: "How do I Falco?"

I've got some kind of local Smash4 tournament coming in two days. Last one I went to (and my first!) I did very well with Shulk and placed 5th. What absolutely cleaned me out of that tourney was an amazing Villager player and two consecutive self-destructs in the loser's bracket. Shulk has issues against agile and projectile-using characters, and I got thinking that if I'd used someone else the result would've been very different. So naturally, I thought of my bro from back in Melee and Brawl - Falco. I loved his casual arrogance in the Star Fox games so I stuck with him as my main, even though I never played on a competitive level until Smash4. As a main, I dropped him harder than Fox drops Andross as soon as Shulk was revealed, but I think he could fit my needs once more - he's got a reflector and a laser. Sounds okay to me.

I know my way around Falco's movements based on my non-competitive Melee/Brawl experience and I had a read through this guide by Illuvial which has helped, though I think there's some value in actually discussing him with people, too. I think I still have some 'adapting' to do, in terms of kill moves and actually edgeguarding people (something I never used to do) but I'm getting there. Sounds like I'll also need to be more patient with my playstyle and take advantage of every opening. Mindgames, son.

What sorts of combos does Falco have? I understand that down-throw leads into a few things at low%s - other than dash attack, what does it combo into? For example, can you go into up-smash at low%s, something else at low/mid, and dash attack at mid? Outside of down-throw, anything else I should know?

Any general tips would be appreciated. Like, are there any sort of aerial tricks I can play? Which aerials are 'safe' with landing lag? I've never tried, but how reliable are the spikes with side-B? Any good advice for getting in close enough for the down-tilt?

A lot of this is probably stuff I could test myself, but hopefully you guys can save me a few hours of figuring out things that are already public knowledge. Thanks in advance!

 

[ArhyLis]

Hey all. Not been on this part of Smashboards before. Hi.

tl;dr: "How do I Falco?"

I've got some kind of local Smash4 tournament coming in two days. Last one I went to (and my first!) I did very well with Shulk and placed 5th. What absolutely cleaned me out of that tourney was an amazing Villager player and two consecutive self-destructs in the loser's bracket. Shulk has issues against agile and projectile-using characters, and I got thinking that if I'd used someone else the result would've been very different. So naturally, I thought of my bro from back in Melee and Brawl - Falco. I loved his casual arrogance in the Star Fox games so I stuck with him as my main, even though I never played on a competitive level until Smash4. As a main, I dropped him harder than Fox drops Andross as soon as Shulk was revealed, but I think he could fit my needs once more - he's got a reflector and a laser. Sounds okay to me.

I know my way around Falco's movements based on my non-competitive Melee/Brawl experience and I had a read through this guide by Illuvial which has helped, though I think there's some value in actually discussing him with people, too. I think I still have some 'adapting' to do, in terms of kill moves and actually edgeguarding people (something I never used to do) but I'm getting there. Sounds like I'll also need to be more patient with my playstyle and take advantage of every opening. Mindgames, son.

What sorts of combos does Falco have? I understand that down-throw leads into a few things at low%s - other than dash attack, what does it combo into? For example, can you go into up-smash at low%s, something else at low/mid, and dash attack at mid? Outside of down-throw, anything else I should know?

Any general tips would be appreciated. Like, are there any sort of aerial tricks I can play? Which aerials are 'safe' with landing lag? I've never tried, but how reliable are the spikes with side-B? Any good advice for getting in close enough for the down-tilt?

A lot of this is probably stuff I could test myself, but hopefully you guys can save me a few hours of figuring out things that are already public knowledge. Thanks in advance!

Utilt > Utilt > Usmash on certain characters, Uthrow > Uair, Nair > Jab combos, a few more, I would just recommend messing around with him. Fair is sort of 'safe' on landing lag, since the hitbox on landing kind of protects you and 'fools' the opponent into trying to punish you. I wouldn't recommend using it often though, but Fair allows another follow up. Nair and Uair have almost no landing lag, and Bair has none. Spikes with SideB are best done in Gimping situations, look here: http://smashboards.com/threads/phantasm-spike.380354/
For Dtilt, I think it's best when the opponent is shielding; try baiting them with jabs, and when they let, Dtilt. Another way is out of your two jabs; delay them correctly to mix the opponent up and then launch the Dtilt afte ryour two jabs. Its sweetspot is weird. It's not too close to Falco but it is also not at the tip of his tail feathers. You sort of have to hit at the area where Falco's thigh and tail are.

 

[AlvisCPU]

Utilt > Utilt > Usmash on certain characters, Uthrow > Uair, Nair > Jab combos, a few more, I would just recommend messing around with him. Fair is sort of 'safe' on landing lag, since the hitbox on landing kind of protects you and 'fools' the opponent into trying to punish you. I wouldn't recommend using it often though, but Fair allows another follow up. Nair and Uair have almost no landing lag, and Bair has none. Spikes with SideB are best done in Gimping situations, look here: http://smashboards.com/threads/phantasm-spike.380354/
For Dtilt, I think it's best when the opponent is shielding; try baiting them with jabs, and when they let, Dtilt. Another way is out of your two jabs; delay them correctly to mix the opponent up and then launch the Dtilt afte ryour two jabs. Its sweetspot is weird. It's not too close to Falco but it is also not at the tip of his tail feathers. You sort of have to hit at the area where Falco's thigh and tail are.

Much appreciated. I think I'll have to play around with Falco a little bit to get the hang of some of these. I can't land up-tilt to save my life, but that might just be because I don't understand its range just yet. Same deal for going from aerial into follow-up. Thanks

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Hey all. Not been on this part of Smashboards before. Hi.

tl;dr: "How do I Falco?"

I've got some kind of local Smash4 tournament coming in two days. Last one I went to (and my first!) I did very well with Shulk and placed 5th. What absolutely cleaned me out of that tourney was an amazing Villager player and two consecutive self-destructs in the loser's bracket. Shulk has issues against agile and projectile-using characters, and I got thinking that if I'd used someone else the result would've been very different. So naturally, I thought of my bro from back in Melee and Brawl - Falco. I loved his casual arrogance in the Star Fox games so I stuck with him as my main, even though I never played on a competitive level until Smash4. As a main, I dropped him harder than Fox drops Andross as soon as Shulk was revealed, but I think he could fit my needs once more - he's got a reflector and a laser. Sounds okay to me.

I know my way around Falco's movements based on my non-competitive Melee/Brawl experience and I had a read through this guide by Illuvial which has helped, though I think there's some value in actually discussing him with people, too. I think I still have some 'adapting' to do, in terms of kill moves and actually edgeguarding people (something I never used to do) but I'm getting there. Sounds like I'll also need to be more patient with my playstyle and take advantage of every opening. Mindgames, son.

What sorts of combos does Falco have? I understand that down-throw leads into a few things at low%s - other than dash attack, what does it combo into? For example, can you go into up-smash at low%s, something else at low/mid, and dash attack at mid? Outside of down-throw, anything else I should know?

Any general tips would be appreciated. Like, are there any sort of aerial tricks I can play? Which aerials are 'safe' with landing lag? I've never tried, but how reliable are the spikes with side-B? Any good advice for getting in close enough for the down-tilt?

A lot of this is probably stuff I could test myself, but hopefully you guys can save me a few hours of figuring out things that are already public knowledge. Thanks in advance!

First I would say, throw everything you knew about Falco out of the window from Melee. He is so different at this point, you can't compare them.
As for kill moves, his reliable ones are his up air, fsmash and bair. I don't consider his up smash very reliable at high percent because it has an odd multi-hitbox that causes it to wiff too much for me to use it often.
dtilt > nair > jab combo works well
dtilt > fsmash is good as well, I find at higher percent off the dtilt you can go for a full hop fair. dtilt can set up for many of his moves
fthrow > shine is alright for easy chip damage
dthrow > ff fair > repeat is a "chaingrab" at low percent
Nair is just about the only safe move to approach with, but be careful, it has very little range and priority.

 

[Ffamran]

I'd like to add that Down Smash can kill later on, but works very well as a quick get off me move. Dtilt also kills and setup combos very well. Fair can kill, but later on and is more useful for off stage and damage racking.

For more combos, there's a thread dedicated to this: Falco: Approaches and Combo/Strings. I made a compendium there for the sake of listing, so if you want more information, ask the original poster which I've tagged as well.

 

[AlvisCPU]

First I would say, throw everything you knew about Falco out of the window from Melee. He is so different at this point, you can't compare them.
As for kill moves, his reliable ones are his up air, fsmash and bair. I don't consider his up smash very reliable at high percent because it has an odd multi-hitbox that causes it to wiff too much for me to use it often.
dtilt > nair > jab combo works well
dtilt > fsmash is good as well, I find at higher percent off the dtilt you can go for a full hop fair. dtilt can set up for many of his moves
fthrow > shine is alright for easy chip damage
dthrow > ff fair > repeat is a "chaingrab" at low percent
Nair is just about the only safe move to approach with, but be careful, it has very little range and priority.

Don't worry - I've got pretty much nothing in my head from Melee anymore. I've not touched Melee since the moment Brawl came out. Even then in Brawl, while I played religiously on my own, I only ever played against my friends who aren't really gamers, so I ended up avoiding using him and dominated with anyone else.

I agree that down-smash can be pretty good for KOs too, at higher%s because it hits horizontally.

I've had a bit of a play around today, I think I've got to get into some down-throw combos and bit better. I keep going for the usmash near 0% and missing. dtilt->nair->jab combo sounds impressive, I'll have to try it out. Same for the pseudo-chaingrab. I have to admit, now that I've been using it more (and actually trying to edgeguard) fair is a lot better than I gave it credit for, especially if the last hit lands. (Also, what's a shine? I've heard the term thrown around, but again, new to competitive play and it's something I never picked up on.)

As for nair entries, really gonna have to practise that. As a Shulk main I'm much too used to abusing the disgusting range on nair for approaches, nearly every time I try to nair with Falco as an approach on a grounded opponent I miss completely because I misjudge the range. Same deal for bair.

The link is much appreciated, Ffamran, not sure how I missed that before. (On a sidenote out of curiousity, is your account name a FFXII reference?)

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Don't worry - I've got pretty much nothing in my head from Melee anymore. I've not touched Melee since the moment Brawl came out. Even then in Brawl, while I played religiously on my own, I only ever played against my friends who aren't really gamers, so I ended up avoiding using him and dominated with anyone else.

I agree that down-smash can be pretty good for KOs too, at higher%s because it hits horizontally.

I've had a bit of a play around today, I think I've got to get into some down-throw combos and bit better. I keep going for the usmash near 0% and missing. dtilt->nair->jab combo sounds impressive, I'll have to try it out. Same for the pseudo-chaingrab. I have to admit, now that I've been using it more (and actually trying to edgeguard) fair is a lot better than I gave it credit for, especially if the last hit lands. (Also, what's a shine? I've heard the term thrown around, but again, new to competitive play and it's something I never picked up on.)

As for nair entries, really gonna have to practise that. As a Shulk main I'm much too used to abusing the disgusting range on nair for approaches, nearly every time I try to nair with Falco as an approach on a grounded opponent I miss completely because I misjudge the range. Same deal for bair.

The link is much appreciated, Ffamran, not sure how I missed that before. (On a sidenote out of curiousity, is your account name a FFXII reference?)

Shine is a nickname for all of the StarFox character's reflector move, don't really know how it started, but I guess it's a little faster to say or type than reflector.
Also I forgot there is sort of an approach with Falcos up air. The hitbox on it is a bit deceiving.

 

[Float SSB]

Has anyone found an efficient way to spike with Falco yet?

I get one every few games with conditioning but it isn't something I go for without a read. I find fast fall fair over the edge to just be a better option most of the time.

 

[Shaya]

Trade the dair with vertical recoveries / hard read their jumps off stage with it.

 

[Ffamran]

Oh ho ho ho, Uair is a beast move! It's fast, combos, and kills! Freaking amazing! @KayJay is freaking awesome!

Now that's out of my system, I've fought two Falco's today - surprise, huh? - and they spammed Falco Illusion a lot. I know it's a good approach, but it's not that great, right? Are there even any combos using Falco Illusion as the start? I only know of the F-throw off ledge and Falco Phantasm "trick" that can net early kills and that's it.

Using Bair from the ledge is wicked. Hitting a someone recovering back is all right, but how do people do Bair people while they're holding on to the ledge? It looks like strict timing, but man, it's like a kick in the face to people thinking they can get a breather.

Oh, and the Nair from ledge. Is it just a short hop or what? I tried doing it and I tend to get a full hop from ledge.

Also, not using Fair (constantly) on-stage definitely helped my game. It's one of those derp moments, but I also realized that it might be a side effect of moving forward in the air. I remember I used Fair a ton in Brawl for every character. So, it's probably a habit or something.

 

[Leg]

Are there even any combos using Falco Illusion as the start?

This works if your opponent likes to chase, or DI towards you; Run off a ledge, immediately phantasm onto the stage and charge a Fsmash in the opponents direction. If they pop into the air and DI towards you, its a free kill (and early! Charged Fsmash kills at about 70%).

Not really a combo, but a read that still works for me from my Brawl Falco's kit.

 

[RPK]

You're mixing up landing lag with auto cancelling.

You can sh rising uair auto cancel (maybe even fast fall), which is something I believe fox cannot do this game.

Fox can SH auto cancel Uair. Its just really difficult

 

[Float SSB]

Illusion is situational. In those awkward situations where you are trying to land and they are trying to stay under you, I like to use illusion to get away or punish a missed attack of theirs. I also will use it to chase down recoveries or punish at certain ranges.

Only fast fallers and heavies at some percents you can actually use the last part of the hitbox to launch them and true combo with uair or bair.

Keep in mind, illusion recovers faster if you jump and instant illusion (so you are technically doing the air version) than if you just do a grounded illusion. it is actually very hard for most characters to punish it without a read.

 

[Zionaze]

i like to use aerial illusion after i finish a jab combo since it sends falco at the perfect distance for a Fsmash/UpSmash/U-tilt/Nair/ or RAR Bair

 

[Float SSB]

i like to use aerial illusion after i finish a jab combo since it sends falco at the perfect distance for a Fsmash/UpSmash/U-tilt/Nair/ or RAR Bair

OOH, good to know.

Falco is depressing me right now though. There are some matchups that I just cant seem to overcome with him. I was just practicing for a few hours with a really good ZSS and I was winning maybe every 4 or 5 games with Falco even when I was adapting pretty heavily. There is just a lot she can do that Falco doesn't seem to have a reliable punish for. I switched to sheik (I haven't played her since 3ds) and bopped ZSS for an hour straight without dropping a game. There was SO MUCH that I could punish as sheik that I couldn't as Falco. I was a Sheik main in Melee and PM and played her a bit in Brawl so maybe I should just stick to her

 

[BltzZ]

OOH, good to know.

Falco is depressing me right now though. There are some matchups that I just cant seem to overcome with him. I was just practicing for a few hours with a really good ZSS and I was winning maybe every 4 or 5 games with Falco even when I was adapting pretty heavily. There is just a lot she can do that Falco doesn't seem to have a reliable punish for. I switched to sheik (I haven't played her since 3ds) and bopped ZSS for an hour straight without dropping a game. There was SO MUCH that I could punish as sheik that I couldn't as Falco. I was a Sheik main in Melee and PM and played her a bit in Brawl so maybe I should just stick to her

The ZSS matchup is difficult you have to rely on reads. I play it all the time against my cousin who plays ZSS one thing i've noticed is when she does her down B flip and kicks your shield she must land and cant do anything you can punish with a grab then follow up. Really tough to gimp her due to her Down B invincibility but it isnt impossible. Fair works good on her off stage as it does to everyone but she can avoid it which is so annoying. Her grab can grab twice so spot dodging or rolling backwards to get away from it doesnt help its so annoying. You have to roll foward to avoid it and then punish. When shes got you in her up air combo try to DI away to avoid her up B early kill and use your nair rapidly it helps. Good luck and lol i also used sheik to molly whop him. F tilts FTW

 

[Float SSB]

The ZSS matchup is difficult you have to rely on reads. I play it all the time against my cousin who plays ZSS one thing i've noticed is when she does her down B flip and kicks your shield she must land and cant do anything you can punish with a grab then follow up. Really tough to gimp her due to her Down B invincibility but it isnt impossible. Fair works good on her off stage as it does to everyone but she can avoid it which is so annoying. Her grab can grab twice so spot dodging or rolling backwards to get away from it doesnt help its so annoying. You have to roll foward to avoid it and then punish. When shes got you in her up air combo try to DI away to avoid her up B early kill and use your nair rapidly it helps. Good luck and lol i also used sheik to molly whop him. F tilts FTW

Yea I was starting to figure it out. This guy figured out that I knew how to punish down Bs so he wouldn't go for them too much unless he was punishing me. He just had wicked good reactions to my approaches and some great auto cancel tech. I have never been someone how practices just one character though so I will just keep my Falco and Sheik sharp. There are plenty of matchups where I fell WAY more comfortable with Falco. It is hard to replace the juiciness of landing his bair.

 

[BltzZ]

Yea I was starting to figure it out. This guy figured out that I knew how to punish down Bs so he wouldn't go for them too much unless he was punishing me. He just had wicked good reactions to my approaches and some great auto cancel tech. I have never been someone how practices just one character though so I will just keep my Falco and Sheik sharp. There are plenty of matchups where I fell WAY more comfortable with Falco. It is hard to replace the juiciness of landing his bair.

Tough/annoying matchups for me as falco are Yoshi Sonic and Rob lol. Offline my falco is way different because of the lack of lag i can do my empty hops bait which i love doing. I wish nintendos servers weren't potatoes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLuu2xJUNc8&list=UUzsJLyYOl-6idSCmvjs1K4w

 

[NotAnAdmin]

ZSS is one of the characters I feel Falco just can't keep up with.
She has so many options with her projectiles, and whip moves. Falco really does have a hard time just finding the opening.
I looked a bit of a high level player named Officer Jenny I think, and she showed some of ZSS' recovery options and other stuff, shes probably the best ZSS to play in recent tournies.
All I can say is look at the tapes, know the character and watch out for the signs.

EDIT
Those ledge cancels are too good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBh4L1rVS1o

 

[BltzZ]

ZSS is one of the characters I feel Falco just can't keep up with.
She has so many options with her projectiles, and whip moves. Falco really does have a hard time just finding the opening.
I looked a bit of a high level player named Officer Jenny I think, and she showed some of ZSS' recovery options and other stuff, shes probably the best ZSS to play in recent tournies.
All I can say is look at the tapes, know the character and watch out for the signs.

Yeah exactly, Tier lists annoy me when people think because someones in the S rank that someone lower like falco cannot compete. True he has a hard time but with enough practice learning falco certain approaches to do and to avoid and making good reads anyone is beatable you just have to play smart.

 

[Zionaze]

i have yet to fight a ZSS that doesnt get stunned by her own taser :\

i personally have trouble with Yoshi, Diddy, Rosalina, Mii fighter, Jigglypuff, Ness and Sonic

 

[Leg]

I'm also having alot of trouble accepting Falco how he is. I've pretty much completely moved to using Megaman.

As others have said, he's missing the tools that not only allow him to "keep up" with "Better" characters, but that make him, well, Falco. No dair, no lasers, can barely Side B, weird Usmash, ect. I don't know, I understand how he's supposed to play, and he's just too different for me now. When I fight characters like Shiek who can fair me out of my nair, I just can't handle it.

I want to stick with Falco, I really do, but I can't. He's just too much work without enough payoff. I think Ill have to put him on the bench until I'm completely comfortable with Megaman, or he catches a much needed patch.

 

[Alexander Duprey]

I'm also having alot of trouble accepting Falco how he is. I've pretty much completely moved to using Megaman.

As others have said, he's missing the tools that not only allow him to "keep up" with "Better" characters, but that make him, well, Falco. No dair, no lasers, can barely Side B, weird Usmash, ect. I don't know, I understand how he's supposed to play, and he's just too different for me now. When I fight characters like Shiek who can fair me out of my nair, I just can't handle it.

I want to stick with Falco, I really do, but I can't. He's just too much work without enough payoff. I think Ill have to put him on the bench until I'm completely comfortable with Megaman, or he catches a much needed patch.

stop trying to play him like other falcos, once you make that disconnect you'll be fine. You dont need dair or lasers to be viable/good. You probably should be approaching with nair, it doesn't have very good priority or combo-ability.

 

[Zionaze]

I'm also having alot of trouble accepting Falco how he is. I've pretty much completely moved to using Megaman.

As others have said, he's missing the tools that not only allow him to "keep up" with "Better" characters, but that make him, well, Falco. No dair, no lasers, can barely Side B, weird Usmash, ect. I don't know, I understand how he's supposed to play, and he's just too different for me now. When I fight characters like Shiek who can fair me out of my nair, I just can't handle it.

I want to stick with Falco, I really do, but I can't. He's just too much work without enough payoff. I think Ill have to put him on the bench until I'm completely comfortable with Megaman, or he catches a much needed patch.

am i the only one who combos with side B? i usually follow up a combo with an aerial side B which puts me in a position where i can freely B-air/N-air/U-tilt/U-smash or whatever the heck i want.
falcos run speed isn't fast enough for him to chase opponents but a spaced aerial side B allows him to follow up on certain strings.