Q&A FALCON ASK !! Q&A and FAQ

[teluoborg]

Be mindful of her combo starters : side B, aerial dive kick, Dtilt, Utilt and up B. Once you get hit by one of those and she starts to combo you you have to vary your DI and spam airdodge to hope she whiffs something.
If she wants to use witch time abuse of your grabs.

Vary your recovery to avoid getting Dair'd

 

[Rango the Mercenary]

So basically, do you just DI away to avoid the knee setups from Uair and DThrow?

 

[teluoborg]

Depending on the character you're playing there are percentages where those follow ups are guaranteed, but when they stop being so then yeah away is the good DI.

 

[Fabulous32]

I was curious when people opt for dash attack over dash grab? I find I generally go for the grab because of guaranteed follow up, but was curious when I should look to dash attack instead.

 

[teluoborg]

Dash attack comes out sooner and doesn't have a blindspot like dashgrab has. Even though the follow ups are not as good as Dhtrow or Fthrow it still puts your opponent in a juggle situation, especially if you hit with the sourspot.

 

[Clamhat]

Following up on that, dash attack can hit aerial opponents and it has a lasting hitbox that can clank. Plus, following the RPS of Grab > Shield > Attack > Grab, you can stuff grabs with it as well.

 

[Metalex]

Can Captain Falcon force the opponent into a techchase scenario on a platform if he Dthrows them at low enough percents or is it always possible for the opponent do a doublejump or DI away to avoid it? (Mewtwo for example can force the opponent up on a platform with Dthrow at certain percents like this)

If the case is that they cannot jump away this can lead to a easy Dair lock on the platform which you can do many cool things from! Have landed it multiple times in matches since i got the idea a couple of days ago.
Maybe its not new though lol but at least for me it was a new discovery =) thought id ask here first if the platform setup cannot be avoided before i look further into it.

 

[The_FroG]

Looks like Gentleman is almost always a better option than Rapid Jab: shorter cooldown, more Base Dmg, less BKB but more KBG. Unless you're goal is knockback at low%s, it looks like Gentleman always wins out. Thoughts?

 

[teluoborg]

Metalex I do not know how true that scenario is but I've done it before. It's mostly in the heat of the moment and very DI dependant.

T The_FroG I agree, especially given how easy multi jab is to SDI. The only advantages of rapid jab are 3 more % on the shortest duration and longer reach on the final hit.

 

[The_FroG]

Also, I'm not understanding the autocancelling data in Kurogane Hammer's post. E.g. Bair has "1-4, 19>" written. Am I to read that as if you land at frame 19 or after ("19>") you only get 4 frames landing lag ("1-4") instead of the regular 12?

 

[KuroganeHammer]

19 and onwards autocancels

 

[teluoborg]

1-4 means that if you land on the first 4 frames of the aerial it will autocancel too. The hitbox doesn't come out so the only practical use is after being sent flying you can time your Bair to land with minimum lag and without having to tech.

 

[ZeruelX]

Sorry if this has been asked before, and I understand that this was touched upon in the intro to this Q&A, but I still have a lot of trouble fighting Link and Samus. Those two are probably my worst matchup, but according to a lot of good Falcon mains I know, they really shouldn't be. Like the beginning of this guide mentions, I usually try to close the distance either by air, or by dash shielding. However, once I get in somewhat close, I very often get grabbed. I try to keep it present in my mind to be waiting for the grab to spot dodge and punish, but they often roll behind me to grab, or grab once I whiff something. I'm usually told to play aggressive against them, but once I get in, I often find them rolling all over the place to evade my close range attacks, until they catch me in a bad spot and manage to get the grab or d/f smash to toss me back out. While I am in, I usually try to land my blows via nairs or gentleman, but I have been told to try crossover bairs and falling up airs more often. I think part of my problem may be that I go for dash grabs too often against those two. I also speculate that part of my problem is that I often wait in shield for too long, usually until I can roll out of the situation. I think this is because I'm not very confident in my OOS options. Could a dash attack OOS be something good to try to throw out once I manage to close the distance? What other stuff can I try once I get in to get my hits in on them while avoiding being grabbed and such? Especially if I notice them rolling around a lot? Is it usually a bad idea to try to engage those two in the air?

 

[teluoborg]

That's a lot of text lol.
One simple answer to your problem would be to vary your approaches and implement feints. If your opponents know that every time you run at them you will attempt something all they have to do is react accordingly. I would say that it is normal as Link and Samus players to make you lose your patience and rush in.

Here's the secret :
-keep waiting. If you lose patience it means they win.
-learn to perfect shield their projectiles. Once you've mastered it there will be a distance where you can PS the projectile then dash attack/grab immediately to punish. It is a very crucial technique against projectile abusers.
-like I said above learn to feint them. Dash in then out. Jump over them but don't enter their offensive zone. As Falcon it is primordial to keep your opponents guessing.

All in all you shouldn't get grabbed by Link/Samus that often. Their grab is extremely slow and will be beaten by almost all of your grounded move (especially jab and dash attack). You kinda answered your other questions.

 

[ZeruelX]

Thanks for the tips. Actually, I got MM tomorrow against a Mario main. Do you have any tips for that? Any good Mario-specific combos or followups? Definitely need to read up on DIing his "Skill, Skill, Skill" (up tilt) combos and whatnot.

 

[teluoborg]

more importantly avoid him like the black plague at low percents or you're starting your stock with 50%. Try to outrange him with Dtilt and Bair. Don't get side B'd offstage, always mixup your recovery and save your second jump as much as possible. Look out for Fair spikes too.

Other than that good luck, this matchup is nerve wrecking.

 

[ZeruelX]

Would it be worth trying to go for any bair stage spikes or stomps? Or would that be too dangerous considering his up B?

 

[ZeruelX]

I would think that once he spends his second jump, almost any kind of gimp would close out the stock. Are any safe or reliable enough to go for?

 

[ZeruelX]

When I watch Fatality play, I notice that whenever he jumps, he is almost always facing away from the opponent, in the perfect position to do a bair. How does he do that? Is he RARing all of those?

 

[teluoborg]

Chill with the multipost bro. Try editing your posts instead.

Anyway to answer to your question :
-Yes you can try to Bair Mario's up B if you're sure you won't get caught in it. Be careful though because missing and letting him grab the ledge puts you in an awful position.
-if he's already used his second jump and too far from the ledge to up B then just go with a sourspot knee.
-yes RAR Bair is a very important part of Falcon's gameplay

 

[Jenknee]

So I have a few questions based around Falcon's gameplan

What reliable/safe moves does he have to throw out in neutral? I can think of dash attack, dash grab, FF Uair, RAR FF Bair, FF Nair, jab combos and anything out of a run-up shield bait, but is there any key move I can throw out which I'm missing in my game plan here?

How exactly should I punish airdodge? Often times I can dthrow and wait for an airdodge, or read it, but I'm not sure how to follow the opponent in the air without them drifting away. What I should punish with (maybe fair?)

And finally, are there any strong baits that I could implement in my play? I tend to use run-up and shield which can get me quite far vs some players, but it becomes predictable quite quickly. Is using Dance Trotting/Extended Dash Dancing effective, or does it lose too hard to being projectile camped?

 

[Oddler]

I remember reading a thread on dash-grab down-throws true combining into knees on light characters. I'm looking to reread that thread to memorise the roster & percents. Does anyone remember what it was called?

 

[Comet7]

what should i do against yoshi? eggs keep me from running around and i can't even begin to edgeguard him. should i space bairs in neutral? all i do now is try to read jumps with dash attack into up air sharking. and what are the optimal down throw combos? i can only vet d throw nair single up air.

 

[teluoborg]

walk and perfect shield. And use footstools offstage. That won't magically fix the matchup but that'll help.

If the opponent DIs correctly you don't have guaranteed combos on Dthrow because Yoshi is a heavyweight.

 

[Marso209]

Quick question for anyone who knows this, but does anyone know a good thread or have a list of what Falcon can use as Jab resets or at least, does anyone know about using Falcon's Dair as a jab reset I have seen some other people do it and wanted to know if it was a thing/reliable at all and if so how to do it. Thanks!

 

[Jenknee]

Quick question for anyone who knows this, but does anyone know a good thread or have a list of what Falcon can use as Jab resets or at least, does anyone know about using Falcon's Dair as a jab reset I have seen some other people do it and wanted to know if it was a thing/reliable at all and if so how to do it. Thanks!

You CAN jab reset with falcon dair til about 35~% and its fairly reliable out of a footstool (getting the footstool can be difficult sometimes though). After this it should spike them into the stage and they'll bounce back up though, so it won't be able to jab reset.

 

[KnightFF]

Hey guys what would you say is the best/safest way to punish cloud's up B?

 

[teluoborg]

Try Shield > drop shield > Dtilt.

 

[ILOVESMASH]

So I was watching a few matches of Ally in brawl using Captain Falcon and something I noticed is that he was using Down Smash a lot in the neutral. Why do Falcon Players no longer do this in Smash 4?

 

[djbenny89]

How important do you believe extended dash dancing is for our boy in sm4sh?? It's something I look at and think it could be so helpful, but to be honest it seems like a pain to learn. I play Melee much more so than sm4sh so I'm used to grinding out tech skill and don't have an issue with it usually, but with extended dash dancing I'm having much more trouble. Do you guys think it's worth putting in the time and learning to do it consistently?

 

[Comet7]

So I was watching a few matches of Ally in brawl using Captain Falcon and something I noticed is that he was using Down Smash a lot in the neutral. Why do Falcon Players no longer do this in Smash 4?

defensive options afterward were stronger in brawl

How important do you believe extended dash dancing is for our boy in sm4sh?? It's something I look at and think it could be so helpful, but to be honest it seems like a pain to learn. I play Melee much more so than sm4sh so I'm used to grinding out tech skill and don't have an issue with it usually, but with extended dash dancing I'm having much more trouble. Do you guys think it's worth putting in the time and learning to do it consistently?

yes, yes, and yes. get good at pivots too.

 

[teluoborg]

Ally was using Dsmash a lot in the neutral because he knew how to get away with it. Dsmash doesn't have lots of lag after the second hit so you can try to do that to bait an approach from your opponent, but smart players won't buy it.

djbenny89 dash dancing is a 4 frame window in smash 4. To relate it to melee tech that's about as much as shield dropping or perfect shielding, you have to be on point. And yes EDD is very important for Falcon's neutral game so learn it.

 

[luke_atyeo]

hey dudes, I'm trying to collect a bunch of quick easy info graphics on essential character knowledge to make a quick reference guide for commentators (we all hate it when a commentator says something that is wrong)
This shulk thing here is an example of the kinda stuff I am looking for

I'm going around to all the character boards and it'll be a little messy for me to try and check them all, so if you have any cool things like that, or just some useful info that I could turn into a similar picture, please send me a message. Cheers lads.

 

[Zmac122]

The yoshi sub mods tilt me to much. How are the mods here?

 

[Possom]

Anyone got any advice on how to fight Lucario/Pikachu?

 

[teluoborg]

Lucario : it's a battle of nerves. Lucario has no set ups when it comes to killing but will terminate you really early if he has enough rage. His main kill moves are Bair, Uair, ASC Usmash and side B. Learn to manoeuvre around these moves with your superior mobility and you should be fine. If you manage to take the first stock before he does that's good because his kill power is null without rage so you can widen your advantage without the fear of dying.
When offstage be careful about Bair walls and Dairs.

Pikachu : forget everything you know about playing Falcon because none of your tricks work on him. Prefer to space him with Bairs and Dtilts with the occasional dash attack/grab and NEVER try to punish his landing because he low profiles under everything save for Dtilt and dash attack. Ban Lylat and when offstage be very careful because all Pika has to do to kill you is Bair while falling towards your general direction, always mix up your recovery to the maximum.
Except from gimps you shouldn't die to Pika. His main kill options are Usmas and Fsmash punish your rolls and ledge options and Uthrow > down B. Always mix up your DI of Uthrow between in and out.

 

[Possom]

Lucario : it's a battle of nerves. Lucario has no set ups when it comes to killing but will terminate you really early if he has enough rage. His main kill moves are Bair, Uair, ASC Usmash and side B. Learn to manoeuvre around these moves with your superior mobility and you should be fine. If you manage to take the first stock before he does that's good because his kill power is null without rage so you can widen your advantage without the fear of dying.
When offstage be careful about Bair walls and Dairs.

Pikachu : forget everything you know about playing Falcon because none of your tricks work on him. Prefer to space him with Bairs and Dtilts with the occasional dash attack/grab and NEVER try to punish his landing because he low profiles under everything save for Dtilt and dash attack. Ban Lylat and when offstage be very careful because all Pika has to do to kill you is Bair while falling towards your general direction, always mix up your recovery to the maximum.
Except from gimps you shouldn't die to Pika. His main kill options are Usmas and Fsmash punish your rolls and ledge options and Uthrow > down B. Always mix up your DI of Uthrow between in and out.

Thanks for the tips. I try to avoid fighting Pika with Falcon but sometimes you get counterpicked you know? And Lucario is a difficult character to find information on.

 

[Possom]

Anyone know when dair goes into footstool?

 

[FBomb]

What controller setup is the most effective for falcon? I been using the default setting and wonder if theres a better setting to help with advance techs

 

[Lionman]

Can you SDI vs Bayonetta with Falcon?