Falco Matchup thread

[Ershrek]

I didn't see a thread for his matchups so I thought there should be one made. How does everyone feel about Falcos matchups?

 

[Kelexy]

Anyone have any tips against inkling? i have trouble against inklings that use short-hop aerials alot. Anyone have any tips on how to counter that?

 

[Optihus9657]

Anyone have any tips against inkling? i have trouble against inklings that use short-hop aerials alot. Anyone have any tips on how to counter that?

My best advice against Inkling will be to take them to a platform stage first and foremost. This will help with mixing up your recovery and allow you to best move around the stage. Against short hop aerials in general, its hard to give you clear advice. If they are approaching with them, try to anti-air with up tilt. Another useful idea is to learn how to Perry as best as you can. Most of Inkling's aerials are single hit, so it isn't as hard. I would also keep separation as much as possible until their Ink runs out. Laser can stop splat bomb mid-toss, thus forcing Inkling to approach. Obviously I believe Inkling has a 60-40 advantage over Falco, so this advice doesn't guarantee success.

 

[Optihus9657]

Let's talk about our match up with the Fire Emblem cast. This being Marth, Lucina, Roy, Ike, and Chrom. From my experience in the past month of grinding online and playing with friends, it is apparent that Falco has toolkit that deals with swords very well. Their lack of a projectile forces them to approach and maneuver around our laser which allows us to react to their option with a grab or one of our plentiful anti-air options. As far as stage selection goes, avoiding Final Destination gives us more options to move and win stage advantage. Platforms also allow Falco to shark with up tilt, back air, neutral air, and up air. Of the many swordies I have played, a constant in their game is aggressively applying shield pressure. Down air O.o.S. is reliable and sets up plenty of combo potential, especially with Down air>back air being a kill confirm on certain areas of the stage. Forward tilt also works well in case they cross up your shield. I'm not trying to imply that we substantially win these matchups, but it is annoying to deal with as the opponent. As for ratios, my opinion is

Marth&Lucina: 55/45
Roy: 55/45
Ike&Chrom: Even

I find this significant due to the sword-heavy meta and the fact that these characters do well against the majority of the cast.
Does anyone else agree? Feel free to critique.

 

[Optihus9657]

So lately I've been really focusing on Falco's match ups against top tiers, and I'm working on making plenty of detailed posts. I really enjoy Falco and I want to make his worst match ups tolerable with community input and theory-crafting. I live in Michigan's upper Peninsula atm so I don't have any hope of developing a solid region. I play mostly online and so far I've made it to Elite Smash! I've been struggling to catch up with high level play but luckily I've had a couple people stay long enough to learn and analyze efficiently. I'm going to post in a format that best suits my ideas and try to implement them through text as clearly as possible. Be mindful that these are my own notes and it may not make sense to you, so feel free to critique constructively or ask questions if things aren't clear. Here goes the Pikachu/Pichu MU's:

•Dair crosses up short opponents' shields pretty well, however the sourspot will connect more often than sweetspot. This forces more tech chase scenarios. KNOW TECH CHASE OPTIONS(I haven't gotten that far)
•Use Down-tilt to discourage blind grounded approaches. This will also kill off the top at percent ranges north of 115%(roughly)
•Jumping T-Jolts are best for edge-guarding Falco and forcing defensive reactions in neutral. Do your best not to shield or stay stationary and use your reflector to stuff T-Jolt approaches.
•Avoid recovering close to the stage with Up B, as T-jolts cling to the stage and can gimp you.
•I found that short hop Bair/Fair/ and laser does best to air to air them and stuff out their jumping.
•Pikachu/Pichu's O.o.S./grab game is polarizing and should be faught with Lasers/stage control(preferably juggling opportunities)/ and aerial shield cross-ups (Dair/Bair/Up air). They have Up-tilt, F-tilt, grab, and Nair O.o.S.
•Pikachu/Pichu's Nair and Fair are incredible cross up and combo tools alike. Keep moving around the stage to avoid easy shield pressure.
•Falco has a heavy disadvantage offstage in this MU, aim to avoid aggressive edge guards(more so against Pikachu) and mix up your recovery! As well as opting for juggling combo finishes as apposed to forcing them off the stage.
•Pichu is definitely easier to ledge trap than Pikachu, due to Pichu's lack of a hitbox on his Up B.
•As far as stage selection is concerned, Pokemon stadium is preferred with its short ceiling and platforms. Avoid FD just cause I believe it to be bad for Falco anyway.
•This MU is definitely in their favor: Pichu is 55/45 and Pikachu 60/40

In summary: This match up is played preferably North/South, as apposed to East/West. Falco has better tools for killing off the top than he does off the side or off-stage in this MU. Pikachu's recovery alone makes him harder to deal with rather than Pichu. Also the fact that them being short makes it harder to connect your aerials when they are grounded. If anyone has any solutions or theories that could help the problems I brought up, that would be great.

 

[Optihus9657]

Ok so let's get in to what I consider to be Falco's worst matchup out of the entire cast. In fact it's so bad that it doesn't matter how high level you play with Falco, any player with half a brain can make life hell for our precious bird. If you are unfortunate enough to encounter this character online, I feel sorry for you. If you encounter one in tournament, just straight up play a different character. Seriously, it's not worth the frustration. Let's discuss our MU against the Ice Climbers.

There a many problems with Falco that allow for Ice Climbers to play however they want. Most of Falco's aerials require landing, and with IC being short in stature this is troublesome. They also possess a disjoint(small but effective) and this makes any option we have risky, especially due to Falco's frame data having long lasting cool down. And their de-synced grab combos are ridiculous as well. Pray to God you don't play against this: https://youtu.be/A35dpRU4_s8 online...
Falco's lasers are even more of a problem when it comes to de-syncing the Ice Climbers, you basically end up doing it for them. "Congratulations, you played yourself"
Their neutral B is also devastating against Falco's recovery, and will basically gimp you to extinction if you are forced out of your double-jump.
I haven't played any high-level ICs, but with the few encounters I've had online against decent players, I can tell you there isn't a way to play around theses weaknesses unless your opponent just decides to SD. You can try to kill Nana or Popo in order to isolate the other(the general strategy), but Falco's lack of hard-hitting/long range moves makes this near impossible. This matchup is horrible, no question about it. IMO I consider the ratio 85/15 IC favor. One of, if not the worst MU in the game.
Anyone have the same problem/experience? Anyone ever have ANY success against an IC player? Any secret knowledge that I may be overlooking?

 

[Nubby]

This might be the wrong thread to put this question but I've been having trouble against Falco, any of you Falco Mains have advice to give on what Mario should do in the MU against Falco?

 

[J.I.L]

Falco's up smash attack is so pathetic, it's hit box is so ridiclous low. It's a complete downgrade from smash 4, why would they nerf falco from smash 4 when he was just average in smash 4? I don't get it.
Nubby
No.

 

[BitBitio]

So lately I've been really focusing on Falco's match ups against top tiers, and I'm working on making plenty of detailed posts. I really enjoy Falco and I want to make his worst match ups tolerable with community input and theory-crafting. I live in Michigan's upper Peninsula atm so I don't have any hope of developing a solid region. I play mostly online and so far I've made it to Elite Smash! I've been struggling to catch up with high level play but luckily I've had a couple people stay long enough to learn and analyze efficiently. I'm going to post in a format that best suits my ideas and try to implement them through text as clearly as possible. Be mindful that these are my own notes and it may not make sense to you, so feel free to critique constructively or ask questions if things aren't clear. Here goes the Pikachu/Pichu MU's:

•Dair crosses up short opponents' shields pretty well, however the sourspot will connect more often than sweetspot. This forces more tech chase scenarios. KNOW TECH CHASE OPTIONS(I haven't gotten that far)
•Use Down-tilt to discourage blind grounded approaches. This will also kill off the top at percent ranges north of 115%(roughly)
•Jumping T-Jolts are best for edge-guarding Falco and forcing defensive reactions in neutral. Do your best not to shield or stay stationary and use your reflector to stuff T-Jolt approaches.
•Avoid recovering close to the stage with Up B, as T-jolts cling to the stage and can gimp you.
•I found that short hop Bair/Fair/ and laser does best to air to air them and stuff out their jumping.
•Pikachu/Pichu's O.o.S./grab game is polarizing and should be faught with Lasers/stage control(preferably juggling opportunities)/ and aerial shield cross-ups (Dair/Bair/Up air). They have Up-tilt, F-tilt, grab, and Nair O.o.S.
•Pikachu/Pichu's Nair and Fair are incredible cross up and combo tools alike. Keep moving around the stage to avoid easy shield pressure.
•Falco has a heavy disadvantage offstage in this MU, aim to avoid aggressive edge guards(more so against Pikachu) and mix up your recovery! As well as opting for juggling combo finishes as apposed to forcing them off the stage.
•Pichu is definitely easier to ledge trap than Pikachu, due to Pichu's lack of a hitbox on his Up B.
•As far as stage selection is concerned, Pokemon stadium is preferred with its short ceiling and platforms. Avoid FD just cause I believe it to be bad for Falco anyway.
•This MU is definitely in their favor: Pichu is 55/45 and Pikachu 60/40

In summary: This match up is played preferably North/South, as apposed to East/West. Falco has better tools for killing off the top than he does off the side or off-stage in this MU. Pikachu's recovery alone makes him harder to deal with rather than Pichu. Also the fact that them being short makes it harder to connect your aerials when they are grounded. If anyone has any solutions or theories that could help the problems I brought up, that would be great.

I've actually found that when playing against these guys, especially Pichu, you can camp them SO hard. Lasers are great tools for deterring approaches, yet forcing them as well. This tacks on a few percent every hit. They can really only approach through the air, and Falco's great anti-airs lets you keep them away. They can try and camp you themselves, but Lasers are transcendent and Shine is quick, letting you return fire safely. Lastly, every neutral-b Pichu fires off causes it to take a bit of damage, and Pichu is easy to KO.
I've won matches using him as a counterpick, just by camping with Lasers and Shine, anti-airs when they approach, and quick kills when Pichu hits ~90%. Pikachu is harder to kill, doesn't deal recoil, and is quicker on the ground, making it a lot tougher, but the same principle.


Also sorry for necro