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

[BlueTerrorist]

MUH BREAD >:O!!!!

Gonna look up stuff for this character. I find him interesting.

 

[Snipnigth]

If you use any other throw bar Up-throw (except in stage position situations), you've been doing it terribly wrong.

Up Throw Up-Air true combos at kill percent due to throw-laser + rage mechanics.

i find that at 0% its a lot better to do dthrow to dash atack and then follow up, or my personal favorite dthrow to bair, at 0%~15% the bair wont knock him down or push him too far, he will land in his feet and close to you allowing for a follow up grab that works almost everytime, almost like a chaingrab, you do this 2 times, after that they will be at around 35%, at this point dthrow to bair will still combo but only if opponent dosent DI away, so here its much better to do like 2 or 3 pummel hits then the up throw to up air to bair or to another uair, if done succesfully it will rack up a good 66% or so.

 

[Snackss]

I figure most people do down throw on first grab at 0%, though on some characters I think you can get up throw to up tilt to another grab. Is there any trick to the up throw follow up at high percents? Whether the laser hits or not seems random, and if it misses they'll have already recovered before you can up air.

 

[Snipnigth]

I figure most people do down throw on first grab at 0%, though on some characters I think you can get up throw to up tilt to another grab. Is there any trick to the up throw follow up at high percents? Whether the laser hits or not seems random, and if it misses they'll have already recovered before you can up air.

at high% they can DI away from the laser shot, this apply on his bthrow as well, if the laser from the uthrow dosent hit then the hitstun wont be as long and you wont be able to true combo into uair, but you can still get a dodge read, to combo uthrow to up air the laser must hit and you must be fast with the follow up, at high % its not really a true combo since the laser hit launches them too far up, ill say the best % to start doing this combo is at 20%.

 

[Snackss]

How do people generally land back air? Do you try to use it on the ground, or most of its use is a surprise in the air?
And what are Falco's best punishes?

 

[Snipnigth]

How do people generally land back air? Do you try to use it on the ground, or most of its use is a surprise in the air?
And what are Falco's best punishes?

You can hit sh bair on characters as small as mario but tou have to be fast with the input, you can do pivot sh to bair on tall characters, or try and read a sh, bair air comes out at frame 4 i think and it has good priority so it will beat/trade many aerials. You can also fullhop and fastfall behind oponent into bair but its kinda ovbious, its also good to gimp with it, you can fullhop into fair your oponent will think you gonna land with lag but the animation finishis just in time to throw a bair before landing, it tricks a lot of ppl.

But the best way is to frame trap your opponent,for example in your uthrow if they dodge your upair, throw a bair as soon as you can, their dodge animation will finish just in time to get hit by it, you just need to position yourself correctly.

 

[ILOVESMASH]

vs fast fallers, D-throw to rar bair is an extremely good kill setup. It can kill characters like sheik at 80% which is ridiculously good.

 

[Saturn_]

Does Falco benefit more from stages like Battlefield or Lylat Cruise, with numerous platforms at various heights, or stages like Halberd or Smashville, with one long platform close to the ground?

Also, I'm a little confused by what people mean when they say Falco's Dair "autocancels." Auto comes from a Greek root meaning 'self' - Dair does not cancel itself the way Luigi's nair does, for example. I'm sure everyone in this thread has seen that you can FF-cancel his Dair, but that involves a frame perfect input and is the precise opposite of an "autocancel". Out of a full hop the Dair will end - but that's, uh, the move ending, not an autocancel. What exactly do you mean when you talk about "autocancel Falco's Dair"?

 

[Ffamran]

I think, but I'm not sure, but there's a certain point when all aerials don't suffer from landing lag. Aerials that autocancel early are like moves like Ike's Bair and Fair which when landed after a certain frame, has the moves cancel and Ike lands normally despite the animation looking a bit different. Some moves don't have a lot of landing lag even if you land before the autocancel frames like, Falco's Nair and Uair while others like his, Ganondorf, and Captain Falcon's Dairs have a lot of landing lag if you don't land after the certain frame where landing lag isn't an issue.

What Falco's Dair autocancel is that people use his Dair at a high enough height that when he lands, he doesn't suffer from the landing lag of Dair. It's tricky and probably telegraphed, but the late hit of Dair does allow Falco to do a lot out of it since it doesn't have the hit lag or the landing lag of the early hit. For one, try Captain Falcon's Falcon Kick from one jump and from a double jump or a high enough place. Captain Falcon will have landing lag when Falcon Kick is still in the middle of its action, but he won't when it's finished.

For more info and probably more accurate info since I'm probably describing this incorrectly: http://www.ssbwiki.com/Auto-canceling.

The other one, frame canceling or perfect landing, is similar to L-canceling, sort of.

 

[Saturn_]

So you're talking about executing the move at a height where the hitbox is out until he lands but he suffers no landing lag? Is that correct?

 

[Ffamran]

So you're talking about executing the move at a height where the hitbox is out until he lands but he suffers no landing lag? Is that correct?

Sort of, it doesn't need to be height, but since height and falling are related, then yes. So, let's say Character X's Fair comes out at frame 10 and lasts until frame 20. So, that's a move that lasts for 11 frames - you count frame 10 as well. X also falls at an average speed and X's jump is average as well. So, from a jump, X's Fair will completely execute, but from a shorthop, it won't. Now, X like everyone else can fast fall meaning X can jump, Fair, and fast fall to negate the landing lag of say, 27 frames.

Here's the thing, there's a certain frame where landing lag is negated. So, let's say X's Fair autocancels after frame 17. That means, the move must be out for 7 frames or X will have landing lag from the move. I think that's how it works. It might be better to wait for Shaya or someone else to explain it.

 

[Saturn_]

So I'm trying to jump high enough to Dair, let the sour hitbox come out, then FF?

 

[Ffamran]

Pretty much unless someone decides it's a good idea to jump and let Falco hit them. It's probably not a good idea on a sword user or a someone with good disjoints on their attacks like say, Fox's Uair since the first hit is his tail.

Which is pretty much what A2 said.

You don't want to fastfall when autocanceling D-air. You do this at a specific height in the air to cover options either when juggling your opponent or landing. And if they get hit at low percents by the end of the move as you get close to the ground, you can get combos.

 

[A2ZOMG]

I do autocancel D-airs usually against taller opponents (really short characters like Diddy, Ness, and Pikachu you can't hit on the ground with autocancel D-air) or when actually trying to juggle/anti-air my opponent. While your frame advantage from landing the weak hit is pretty massive, if your opponent doesn't tech after getting hit by the meteor, you can also follow up smoothly with other stuff especially if they panic and mash buttons. Autocancel D-air also works well for baiting as your opponent will commonly try to respond by running up to say grab you, which you can often interrupt with your own ground attacks.

Fastfalling doesn't help you because it means you either land too soon to hit the autocancel window, or you would have to fall from much higher to reach it, and thus the distance from when your hitbox ends and you touching the ground would be greater.

 

[Ffamran]

So... @zCyRo confirmed that Falco's Reflector is a projectile. I was wondering about that since the Pits' Upperdash and Electroshock Arms can reflect Reflector. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIVa2g8zB9U.

 

[BltzZ]

So I'm trying to jump high enough to Dair, let the sour hitbox come out, then FF?

Precisely

 

[Ffamran]

Going to repost this from the Zelda Social just 'cause and to say one thing: Falco wasn't nerfed heavily at all. It was just one change as detailed below and the engine making him play differently which can't be helped such as you can't wavedash in Brawl or SSB4, edgehogging and the lack of acting out of Falco Phantasm made Falco's recovery different in Melee and Brawl, different moves, different damage output, different play styles, etc.. I'd even argue that Dair wasn't as bad as taking away Falco's ability to force approaches like a monster in Brawl or like a regular zoner in Melee.

You just made me curious... I just checked Falco's frame data throughout the games. Thanks to @Xeylode for the In-Depth Falco Frame Data and @Bones0, @Kadano, @Seikand, and @Magus420 for the Falco Hitboxes and Frame Data.

As of patch 1.05 SSB4 and this doesn't have damage output, landing lag, end lag, etc.

Move Hit Frames|||
Jab|2-4, 10-12, 18-22, 23-27, 28-32, 33-37, (infinite), 42-43|2-5, 9-???, ???, (infinite)|2-3, 6-7, 7-8, 13-14, 19-20, 25-26, 31-32, (infinite)
Dash Attack|8-11 or 12-17|4-17|4-17
Ftilt|6-8|6-8|5-9
Utilt|5-9, 12-16|4-9, 12-16|5-11
Dtilt|7-9|7-9|7-9
Side Smash|17-19 or 20-20|16-20 or 21-21|12-21
Up Smash|8-12, 14-19|8-17|7-15
Down Smash|7-9|7-9|6-10
Nair|3-5, 6-9, 14-17, 21-23|3-5, 6-9, 14-17, 21-24|4-31
Fair|12-17, 18-23, 24-29, 30-34, 35-36|6-33 (multi-hits), 34-35|6-8, 16-18, 24-26, 33-35, 43-45
Bair|4-5 or 7-11|4-7 or 8-19|4-19
Uair|10-14|10-14|8-9, 11-14
Dair|16-18 or 19-31|5-7 or 8-21|5-24
Grab|8-9|6-7|7-8
Dash Grab|10-11|11-12|12-13
Pivot Grab|11-12|9-10|N/A

Optional: Some frame data analysis and comparison.

Spoiler

What changed throughout the game and what stayed the same or were similar throughout the games? Falco's Jab remained as a frame 2 Jab each game, but acted differently with Melee's being the fastest to transition from Jab 1 to Jab 2, but the Rapid Jab parts seem to be similar except for the lack of frame data on Brawl Falco's infinite which could be assumed as 6 frames in between each Rapid Jab. In other words, his Rapid Jab stuck close to each other in transition. Still, could you imagine SSB4 or even Brawl Falco with his Melee Jab frame data? SSB4 Fox's Jab cancel is insane, but Falco who gets even more out of grabs?

Dash Attack was only changed in SSB4 where Falco gained 5 frames of start up and a late hit. While it remains a powerful tool through each game, SSB4 with his previous frame 4 Dash Attack would be even stronger. Ftilt just gained 1 frame of start up in Brawl and remained as so in SSB4 and lost a frame of end hit frame. Nothing much to write about that. Utilt actually reflects his Melee Utilt instead of his Brawl Utilt which was faster by 1 frame in hit, but the second hit was the same. Once again, nothing much to say, especially since Utilt is now a double hit beginning with Brawl. Dtilt, surprisingly stays the same through each game.

Side Smash progressively gets slower each game, but not as much between Brawl and SSB4 and the end frames stay the same between Melee and Brawl while losing 1 frame in SSB4. That said, it's not that different, right? Well, I don't know the IASA frames or whatever where Falco can act out. Up Smash is similar between games as well, with it gaining 1 frame of start up from Melee and gaining 2 frames per game for end frames. It's similar, but with Up Smash being a double hit in SSB4. Down Smash gains a frame of start up and loses a frame of end frame from Melee to Brawl.

Nair is faster by 1 frame starting in Brawl. Between Brawl and SSB4, is the same except for losing a frame of end frame. Between Melee and Brawl, it became a multi-hit instead of a sex kick which stayed out 8 frames longer. Fair became slower from Brawl, being 6 frames slower in start up while ending at the same frames. As for Melee, it's out for less. Bair also stayed the same in hit frame, but SSB4's lasts the least ending at frame 11 while both Melee and Brawl ended at 19. Also, starting in Brawl, it gained a late hit. Uair lasts the same between all games with Melee being the fastest and a double hit. So, nothing much to say, except that basically between Melee and Brawl, Uair just became the second hit of Melee Uair. Dair... A frame 5 spike. Yeah, it had to change in my opinion as either a fast, but weak spike or a strong, but slow spike. From Melee and Brawl to SSB4, it gained 12 frames of start up. Between Melee and Brawl, it lost 3 frames of end hit frames and gained a late hit.

Falco's grabs are wonky and don't stay consistent. Falco's fastest Grab was in Brawl, Melee, then SSB4 while his fastest Dash Grab was SSB4, Brawl, then Melee, and Pivot Grab which I don't know if it exists in Melee, became slower in SSB4 by 3 frames also Pivot Grab.

Aside from engine changes affect how the games were played and therefore changing Falco's play style in each game which can't be helped, what "killed" Falco was one change: Blaster which allowed him to approach and force approaches while tacking on damage. In Melee, Falco shoots at frame 23 and every 24 frames per shot on the ground while he shoots at frame 13 and every 16 frames per shot in the air and autocancels whenever Falco touches the ground. In Brawl: frame 12 on the ground with a total of 56 frames from shooting to holstering and frame 10 in the air with autocancel frames from 1-41 while the move last from I think if I'm reading and thinking about it right, frames 10 for the shot to 41 for the holster. Yeah... That's a monster. I don't know when SSB4's Blaster autocancels or if it even autocancels. Here's the thing: It looks worse than Melee's Blaster which from watching videos of Falco using it, was not as horrible as Brawl's laser wall. Hell, they could have kept Melee's Blaster's frame data, made the lasers travel about a third of FD, and made the autocancel window at frame 17 or something where Falco has to shoot first before he lands or else. Everything else about Falco pretty much stayed the same, was changed by a frame or two, and was similar enough that it didn't really matter.

Edit: Why did I post this in the Zelda Social again...

 

[Saturn_]

Does Falco's reflector reflect EVERYTHING??? I'm just starting to play around with this!

 

[Snackss]

Every reflector reflects every projectile. And projectiles includes Villager's tree and dash attack.

 

[Ffamran]

Unless specified like how Reflector Void does not reflect energy-based projectiles like Mario's Fireball.

 

[Macedonian]

hey guys, im a mario main but ive been putting some major time into falco these last two weeks and have been gettig pretty solid, i absolutely love the killing Dtilt, the Bair and ive gotten a ton of kills off stage with the Fair.

My question is what is falco supposed to do at a disadvantage, when im comboed by rapid jabs i cant seem to ever get out compared to vs mario where my Nair and UpB both could really save me from people continuing strings on me. Even normal strings it seems very far to get people off me once they start combing me with this character. Nair just feels flimsy and low in priority. It just feels very concerning to me that flaco seems easy to combo and very light.

The Nair really confuses me, im having trouble finding many uses for it that dont end in me being punished unless i hit them with the very last hit of the nair, basically guys i really need help understanding the Nair and how to use falco when im at a disadvantage.

 

[Ffamran]

Falco's disadvantage state is one of the worst ones along with Captain Falcon, Mega Man, Ganondorf, Ike, Shulk, and other characters with not-sex kick Nairs like Fox, Yoshi, Link, Mario, Luigi, and Sheik. Falco's slow air speed, lack of a sex kick, fast fall speed, and being a lightweight makes him easy to juggle.

Falco's Nair is used more for comboing and it might be able to gimp people with the last hit when used low off stage, but I'm not sure. Nair's small range is what makes it difficult to get out of situations since it basically circles around Falco's upper body while sex kicks cover the entire body and more. With SSB4 Falco gaining Brawl Wolf's Bair, he lost a front hitbox which could have made his Bair a way to get out of stuff in SSB4 since it comes out at frame 4 which is 1 frame slower than most Nairs like Luigi and Yoshi's and it was Falco's only sex kick in Brawl and his second sex kick in Melee because he had Fox's Nair in Melee. To this day, I have no idea why Falco has Wolf's Bair instead of his Bair from Melee which by the time of Brawl was unique since Fox gained a reverse whip kick and Wolf's Bair was a reverse back kick.

As a multi-hit move that starts with a 3%, short range hit, anything with more range and does 8% more will out-prioritize it. Someone with a sword or a disjointed move like either Mega Man's Flame Sword (Fair) or Rosalina's aerials will just hit Falco before he can do anything or someone with an aerial that does at least 11% like Ganondorf's Uair which does 13% from the front and 12% near the top will just wreck Falco's Nair. For one, people just have to hit Falco behind or below and Nair won't do a thing not to mention. Here's info on priority from the wiki: http://supersmashbros.wikia.com/wiki/Priority.

Anyway, the best thing you can do is try to get to the ledge or away from your opponent and reset things to neutral. There isn't much you can do with Falco, Captain Falcon, Ganondorf, or Ike when they're at a disadvantage. Shulk at least has the Monado Arts to shift through and increase his air speed, jump speed, knockback taken, etc. and Mega Man still has his Metal Saw to throw if he's far away enough along with other customs. Falco's Reflector might work, but I don't know since if you miss it's going to be painful.

 

[Snackss]

The nair doesn't have a vacuum effect, so all it can really do is keep people out with short hops. They won't want to approach Falco when he's spinning around, though it's not flawless. It can also combo into jab, which is pretty much the main way to make it safe. Neutral air can also act as sort of frame trap into down smash if the last hit doesn't land, but that seems a little unreliable and unsafe. But it's not like Mario's or Luigi's where you can just mash it and get out of trouble. It can a little bit, but it's not that great. You can also try up air, but Falco doesn't have a good escape tool.

If you're trying to get rid of someone, make a little bit of room and you can try an instant air Phantasm (hop and immediately side B as soon as you leave the ground). It's not universally safe on shield but not everyone will react to it, and if they get hit, depending on where both of you are on the stage you can get a back air or up air followup.

 

[BltzZ]

D throw to short hop nair at lower percents helps me throw people off. Usually opponents who I've played many times. if all hits connect it launches them behind falco with can lead to a regrab or dash attack - up smash - then up tilts to a bair. Falco's combos are very situational. Racking up damage with falco is easy. D tilt is cool but doesn't kill until 140 which is ridiculously long and I hate raged opponents lol. I wish we had a guaranteed kill option like diddy kong ZSS and pikachu etc :/.

 

[Ffamran]

We can use Falco's U-throw at higher percents to bring THE FEAR.

Seriously, Falco's either going to murder you with Uair, Bair, Reflector Void, or bait with Up, Side, Down Smash, Dtilt, etc.

 

[BltzZ]

We can use Falco's U-throw at higher percents to bring THE FEAR.

Seriously, Falco's either going to murder you with Uair, Bair, Reflector Void, or bait with Up, Side, Down Smash, Dtilt, etc.

Yeah that I do love but have you tried b reversing in the air after a meaty bair?? I've been practicing it and the extra 3 to 6 percents not to mention the gimping is funny

 

[Ffamran]

Hmm... Nope. I don't really know how to B-reverse and I just figured out RAR Bair. Most of the reason is that I don't want to wreck the Circle Pad - only have a 3DS, unfortunately. Anyway, I remember someone mentioned using Blaster after a throw:

Also swag combo.
Down throw -> short hop lazer.
Absolutely no reason to use this,
Aside from when down throw or up throw combos don't work. But really,just swag combo

I think Falco can use B-throw to Blaster early on, especially if someone doesn't expect it.

 

[Snackss]

You just push B and then immediately in the opposite direction in the first couple frames. Though it's easier and safer with other characters, and Greninja actually gets mileage out of it with his crazy Water Shuriken shenanigans.

I do wish Falco had a better running up smash, but compared to the barren wasteland that is Greninja's reliable KO setups, he seems okay.

 

[Zionaze]

Not sure how this hits but at super high %s D-throw into Dash fullhop Lazer = 2 scenarios.
1. Opponent getting hit by lazer and then getting hit by Fair = Death
2. Opponent Airdodges lazer and gets caught in Fair = Death

 

[BltzZ]

Hmm... Nope. I don't really know how to B-reverse and I just figured out RAR Bair. Most of the reason is that I don't want to wreck the Circle Pad - only have a 3DS, unfortunately. Anyway, I remember someone mentioned using Blaster after a throw:


I think Falco can use B-throw to Blaster early on, especially if someone doesn't expect it.

You wanna hit the opposite direction your facing then let go of the analog stick then hit B quickly. @pawclaw uses it a lot I think i saw it from him not too sure

 

[Macedonian]

If you hit Dtilt I've had it kill game and watch at 105, I know it's a lightweight charachter but Dtilt kills earlier then 140, I even once killed paulatana with an Utilt at 147 percent.

So what exactly are we supposed to do as he bird when cought in say a falcon or fox rapid jab? Or a Mario bros down throw combo?

 

[Snackss]

Rage and character weight are important, of course. Both can KO sort of early with a lot of Rage.

Falcon's jab you need to DI out of and jump over him, because it the finisher has really good horizontal range. A good Falcon won't stretch it out long enough for you to escape, though. Fox's you can just block, chances are you'll be able to shield and punish. It's not a very good jab combo. You can't escape Luigi's down throw, there's basically nothing to do but mash jump because air dodges will just get you hit by more aerials, a smash attack, or another grab on landing. Mario's down throw you can shield and roll backwards or grab him. I think Falco even gets two chances to shield the up tilt and can jump away if hit, fast fallers like Falcon only get one chance or else it's nearly guaranteed 50%.

 

[Macedonian]

This problem combined with falco's light weight and imperfect recovery is raising a lot of concern with me for how viable this character can be in a tournament setting, i'm a new smasher but i've been playing a lot and am hoping to eventually start doing tourneys.

im hesitant to keep pouring time into a character when it feels like it could be better spent elsewhere if im really focused on improving and how to play the game vs good people correctly right now.

 

[Snackss]

We don't know. Falco has so little work put into him that it's hard to say what's viable or not, because the current metagame is composed heavily of top tiers plus Mario and Captain Falcon. Some characters who are actually pretty good, like Link, aren't used right now because the top tiers are far too dominant. When Sheik and Diddy in particular have been made much more modest, we'll see what happens, although it will be hard to convince people to use Falco when Shulk, Fox, and Mario are probably more appealing options to competitive players.

 

[Ffamran]

If you hit Dtilt I've had it kill game and watch at 105, I know it's a lightweight charachter but Dtilt kills earlier then 140, I even once killed paulatana with an Utilt at 147 percent.

So what exactly are we supposed to do as he bird when cought in say a falcon or fox rapid jab? Or a Mario bros down throw combo?

Fox and Falco's rapid jabs can be DI'd out and you could DI and hold shield and I think the Pits' rapid jabs and Greninja's are like this as well. Those Rapid Jabs shouldn't be prolonged unless say, someone's away and don't know what to do, so they rush in or something which means a rapid jab finisher can catch. Little Mac, Palutena, Rosalina - especially if she can have Luma hit you back meaning you're getting ping ponged -, and I think Captain Falcon's rapid jabs are the most difficult to get out of - don't quote me on this. Also, don't rapid jab Jigglypuff since rapid jabs have a tiny window where anyone can act and in Jigglypuff's case, a Bair or Rest will come out as a punish. This goes for a lot of characters and not just Falco.

For Mario's D-throw to Utilt combo, there's nothing I know that Falco can do. At least Dr. Mario hits harder meaning Falco can get out, but Mario's a pain. If you get caught, then take the damage and counter back since Mario can't repeat it again at later percents, but he can do other combos. For Luigi, well, I don't know since I haven't fought a lot of Luigis. The thing is that Mario builds damage, but doesn't have the raw power Falco has behind pretty much all of his attacks; Falco has 11 kill moves: Utilt, Dtilt, Up Smash, Side Smash, Down Smash, Uair, Fair, Bair, Dair, B-throw, and U-throw. Utilt, Dtilt, Down Smash, Fair, and the throws kill later compared to the others, especially if Falco can get someone really high into the air and Uairs or Bairs them, lands a Dair spike, or gets a Fair gimp. Add in Reflector Void and Falco Charge which isn't that great, but Falco ends up with 13 kill moves and Utilt, Dtilt, Up Smash, Uair, Fair, Bair, and Reflector Void can combo.

I guess, play it safe since Falco can't rush people like Captain Falcon.

Falcon's jab you need to DI out of and jump over him, because it the finisher has really good horizontal range.

Captain Falcon's rapid jab finisher is disjointed and is probably the most disjointed move in the game, but it's not like 64 Kirby Utilt, Melee Marth's grab, or Snake's Utilt size of disjointed and it's not that insane like theirs. For reference, Snake's Utilt can do this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYOHlpMqJcI.

Edit: Captain Falcon's rapid jab finisher.

This problem combined with falco's light weight and imperfect recovery is raising a lot of concern with me for how viable this character can be in a tournament setting, i'm a new smasher but i've been playing a lot and am hoping to eventually start doing tourneys.

im hesitant to keep pouring time into a character when it feels like it could be better spent elsewhere if im really focused on improving and how to play the game vs good people correctly right now.

In Melee, Falco's recovery was bad and I think it was the same in Brawl. Now, it's a bit better despite Falco Phantasm not having a hitbox at the end of its travel since Falco can act out it Phantasm and its customs and there's no edge hogging. Still, by default, Fire Bird is gimpable, but Fast Fire Bird isn't even though it sacrifices some distance and control since it launches fast, but remember, Falco has a wall jump which makes up for Fast Fire Bird's travel distance.

And like Snackss said, there's not a lot of Falco players and his metagame is probably lagging behind a lot of characters. I mean, I just figured out how wacky Fast Fire Bird can be and we figured out that D-throw to Dash Attack doesn't work on everyone, especially against characters with fast Nairs like Yoshi and Luigi, but RAR Bair out of D-throw is good and maybe a better option than Dash Attack and Falco's U-throw leaves a lot of people into a danger zone.

To see Falco in a tournament setting, I suggest watching GimR who has been working on Falco a lot and it's amazing. This recent video speaks for itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NHdMJWysk4. Still, the issue remains where people don't know Falco and people don't know how Falco works with certain matchups even against popular characters like Sheik, Fox, and Captain Falcon. It's a double-edged sword of being unknown and not knowing. Be sure to check out the Falco video thread: smashboards.com/threads/happy-feet-falco-video-thread.376351/. For one, this is probably the coolest, most stylish, and most fluid Falco play I've seen and it's online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uWkQ6z06m9s! It's against Pon's Ganondorf, a well-known Ganondorf player from Japan. The Falco fight happens around 5:17, but I suggest watching the whole thing since it's awesome.

 

[Balgorxz]

sup falco mains I finally found a way to consistenly get the perfect landing on fast fire bird but isn't as useful as the ground version of the falco somersault but its much easier.
we all know falco can perform a perfect landing by landing right after the end of falco's somersault, this can be done by doing an angled input of fast fire bird but honestly the direction is really strict and its not easy to do.
the perfect landing will end in falco landing with no lagg and carrying the momentum from the fast fire bird abling falco to get attacks instantly with increased range right after landing.
Today I found a way to consistently get the aerial version of the falco somersault perfect landing with no dificult inputs just short hop double jump with falco right after the animation of the second jump start input fast firebird to the side, this will end with falco performing a falco somersault and landing perfectly ready to attack or grab.

Anyways a small video where it shows how much distance falco travels after getting a perfect landing after somersault, usmash is first then 2 dsmash, I've been trying this for 3 hours and my success rate of getting this right is like 70%.
I can do the grounded version too but it's much harder.

 

[Ffamran]

I forgot to ask this sooner, but would anyone be interested in talking about Falco move by move? This idea would be from @Los4Muros who found out about this type of discussion from a Spanish forum for Marvel vs. Capcom. Here's the thread in use now: http://smashboards.com/threads/samus-ftilt-weekly-move-analysis.383884/#post-18307792.

So, we could discuss Falco move by move and how they should be applied. If you all want, then it could be a thread or it could be discussed in this thread: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-approaches-and-combos-strings.372417/, but that's more about comboing and approaching rather than on specific moves.

@Captain Rage Quit 69, your http://smashboards.com/threads/pers...ves-outdated-only-contains-1-0-3-info.373382/ thread could be useful for this.

Edit: Run off Dairs, anyone? It worked against a Fox I fought who charged Fire Fox too close to the ledge, so maybe this is something that Falco can do against Fox, Falco, Ganondorf, Captain Falcon, Diddy, etc., the characters with exploitable recoveries.

Edit 2: Edit Harder: I can't believe I forgot this. The reason why I mentioned Captain Rage Quit 69 is that I'd like it if the Falco boards works as a community. I'm fine with doing all the MU discussions, the frame data thread, and other moderating stuff, but you're all allowed to do whatever. I'm not a general or anything, but more like an ambassador or representer of the Falco boards. I don't want to be doing everything since that's not how a community works; it's like there's no "I" in team.

 

[ILOVESMASH]

sup falco mains I finally found a way to consistenly get the perfect landing on fast fire bird but isn't as useful as the ground version of the falco somersault but its much easier.
we all know falco can perform a perfect landing by landing right after the end of falco's somersault, this can be done by doing an angled input of fast fire bird but honestly the direction is really strict and its not easy to do.
the perfect landing will end in falco landing with no lagg and carrying the momentum from the fast fire bird abling falco to get attacks instantly with increased range right after landing.
Today I found a way to consistently get the aerial version of the falco somersault perfect landing with no dificult inputs just short hop double jump with falco right after the animation of the second jump start input fast firebird to the side, this will end with falco performing a falco somersault and landing perfectly ready to attack or grab.

Anyways a small video where it shows how much distance falco travels after getting a perfect landing after somersault, usmash is first then 2 dsmash, I've been trying this for 3 hours and my success rate of getting this right is like 70%.
I can do the grounded version too but it's much harder.

You know, this could mitigate for Falco's loss of Dacus and improve his approach game tremendously. Really interested to see how this move will play out in competitive play.

 

[Ffamran]

You know, this could mitigate for Falco's loss of Dacus and improve his approach game tremendously. Really interested to see how this move will play out in competitive play.

There's more info in this thread: http://smashboards.com/threads/official-standard-custom-moveset-project-falco.380331/.

Now I'm wondering what uses it would have when repeated and how Falco's grab game will be affected by this since it sets Falco at idle meaning his grab is frames 8-9 instead of 10-11 like his dash grab or 11-12 like his pivot grab.

 

[Balgorxz]

You know, this could mitigate for Falco's loss of Dacus and improve his approach game tremendously. Really interested to see how this move will play out in competitive play.

well it's like a DACUS that works on titls,grabs and specials too but I found some attacks don't carry the momentum from the fast fire bird but they are still instant for example ftilt stops falcos momentum.
anyways in the gif I used usmash normally but I didn't use jump cancel usmash, after testing a bit I realized I can actually stop the fire bird momentum using jump cancel upsmash after the perfect slide