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

[SpectreJordan]

A combo I would definitely use down throw+forward air. I also do up throw+up air or neutral air and do more of them if possible.

I'll practice some of those. Anything good without throwing?

 

[TheGreatBrawler]

I'll practice some of those. Anything good without throwing?

1. Without throws, I would recommend doing down air when opponent is recovering or taking their time on ledge (when they lose ledge invincibility).

2. Whenever you miss your air attacks and can't go up higher to your opponents try to surprise them with up b to give more damage.

3. Another way you can ledge guard effectively is by using his up tilt, which can be done when characters are just above to grab the ledge (or are grabbing ledges). Up tilt can be used to take down recovering opponents as well. If the opponent is close to the stage by the side you can use up tilt (heel has to hit) to meteor smash them.

4. This one is a bit complicated, but with enough practice. Jump then air reverse falcon punch to the character grabbing the ledge, which will hopefully KO them.

5. Dash attack to forward air works. You can do Normal air right about ground then fall, short hop then forward air again and repeat this one more time, which should bring the character off the stage then do down air to take out a stock. Up air to knee is another combo, or up air repeatedly if you want to dish out more damage.

6. If your opponent is doing flurry attack (or jabs) you can do a short hop and forward air that would take them out at high damage.

7. Raptor boost (side b) can take out opponents at around 130% or higher, so if you don't have the chance to do side smash (plus side b has more range) use raptor boost to take them out.

I will try to add more soon, but here's what I can put for now.

 

[BigLord]

I'll practice some of those. Anything good without throwing?

First things first, Falcon isn't really good at anything else beyond punishing and punishing hard. A good Falcon plays patiently and not hyper agressively. Good options for punishing include dash attack, dash grab, fox-trot + jab, etc...

So... I don't understand why you don't want to throw people. Dash-grab is so so so so SOOO good now, basically a tether grab without all the recovery lag. You just need to practice its approach, since its reach is insane and hard to get used to.

@ TheGreatBrawler good advice, but be careful about Raptor Boost: it's a punish, not an approach, don't throw it around willy-nilly.

 

[TheGreatBrawler]

First things first, Falcon isn't really good at anything else beyond punishing and punishing hard. A good Falcon plays patiently and not hyper agressively. Good options for punishing include dash attack, dash grab, fox-trot + jab, etc...

So... I don't understand why you don't want to throw people. Dash-grab is so so so so SOOO good now, basically a tether grab without all the recovery lag. You just need to practice its approach, since its reach is insane and hard to get used to.

@ TheGreatBrawler good advice, but be careful about Raptor Boost: it's a punish, not an approach, don't throw it around willy-nilly.

Yes the dash then down grab is a really good feeling especially when you follow it up with a knee. Thanks for advice.

 

[BigLord]

At low percentages you're better off using f-throw -> dash attack, though! It's a true combo on some characters and a reliable follow-up on others (hard to escape). Good starter combo, use it all the time.

And f-throw needs more love anyway, heh.

 

[Maître Luigi]

Below is a list of follow-ups I have found from a dashing F-Throw (denoted as eF-Throw).

F-Throw

Spoiler

F-Throw -> Tackle (1)
F-Throw -> Tackle (2)

eF-Throw

Spoiler

Tackle (1)
SDSH/SDFH N-Air
SD RAR
SDSH/SDFH U-Air
F-Tilt
Gentleman

Although F-Throw is very limited in what follow-ups combo afterwards, eF-Throw has many options. Additionally, eF-Throw -> Tackle (1) combos on all characters except Jigglypuff but is also relatively useless on Kirby as it is only hit confirmed from 0-3%. For all other characters (excluding Shulk (heavy)) this juggles from at least 0-14%.

Other follow-ups such as F-Tilt and Gentleman (Jabs) only juggles very large characters. This might be possible to hit on other characters via pivoting as well as U-Tilt but I have not tried.

 

[SpectreJordan]

So... I don't understand why you don't want to throw people. Dash-grab is so so so so SOOO good now, basically a tether grab without all the recovery lag. You just need to practice its approach, since its reach is insane and hard to get used to.

Just looking at all my options lol

 

[WaluigiWeegeeSteel]

Does anyone know how to deal with Villager and Duck Hunt? The Villager's spacing hurts, and Duck Hunt is a bit hard to get in on. Can someone enlighten me on the match up?

 

[Eriol-kun]

Megamoves...

I find that better-than-average Megamans use moves you didn't mention (FF Fair, Bair stick out particularly) since Fair covers a lot of a forward arc and is quick, and the last hit of his Bair is really quick and has decent knockback for a Megaman move, so he can gimp you by trading or hitting you out of the stage with them and still recover with Rush. With proper spacing Falcon has moves that can counter them, though.

Usually this matchup doesn't give me much trouble since I probably haven't played really good Megamans that will keep me out-spaced with projectile pressure but I think those two moves are worthy of mention as well.

Does anyone know how to deal with Villager and Duck Hunt? The Villager's spacing hurts, and Duck Hunt is a bit hard to get in on. Can someone enlighten me on the match up?

Spoiler

Villager:
I try to keep pressuring constantly. Personally I think that Falcon's speed works against his Lloid Rocket which you see most if not all Villagers constantly using since he has a few options after putting it out as cover:
- SH Fair: Falcon Tackle beats it out and if you're not a whole screen away you will probably go through the non-active frames of the Lloid. Falcon Kick can work too but it's less
- Ftilt/Dtilt/Jab: Again tackle will probably beat it out but most Villagers don't use these too often after Lloid but might start after they realize SH Fair doesn't work too well
- Shield: Dashgrab range baby
- Spot dodge: Pivot whatever (grab, tilts)

Just be wary of his spacing with Fair, definitely the most annoying tool he has in my opinion. Also his nair is pretty good.

Duck Hunt:
Almost similar in that your speed is your greatest asset.
I probably use too much Falcon Kick in this matchup than what I really want since it goes through cowboys, pigeons, kicks cans back, punishes constant rolling... It seems to work but I'm just probably not playing very good DHDs, so much that I really can't remember any of his normals giving me substantial trouble. His recovery is also pretty bad in my opinion which works to your advantage for easy gimps once you get him out of stage.

 

[Maître Luigi]

Like most of Mega Man's moves, F-Air and B-Air have fairly low priority and significant recovery lag. If you find yourself in a situation where your opponent is trying to pressure with B-Air, approach with Captain Falcon's B-Air as it will out range and/or out-prioritize him. To my knowledge Mega Man does not have any follow-ups from F-Air and doesn't look like he will. So worst case is that you approach the same way (with your B-Air) or with U-Air but you might occasionally both get hit.

Also, you have a number of punishes out of shield and/or on whiff which apply to both F-Air and B-Air. You can use whatever move you like to punish Mega Man's F-Air. When punishing B-Air you seem to only be able to reliably Tackle, F-Tilt, Jab or grab.

 

[itsReaLitY]

How do you falcon mains throw out nair instead of fair im trying to play falcon and whenever I try to nair I throw the knee and I was wondering if there is a trick.

 

[Deleted member 269706]

How do you falcon mains throw out nair instead of fair im trying to play falcon and whenever I try to nair I throw the knee and I was wondering if there is a trick.

When moving through the air, let your control stick move back to the neutral position then press A. That's really all there is to it...

I was gonna ask if anyone can share some basic combos with me? Like when I play Ike a good one is Dtilt > Fair. Looking for simple little combos like that...

 

[Maître Luigi]

See the "Launchers and Immediate Follow-Ups:" section of my guide.
http://smashboards.com/guides/captain-falcon-true-combos-updates-new-format-and-some-data.20/

 

[BigLord]

How do you falcon mains throw out nair instead of fair im trying to play falcon and whenever I try to nair I throw the knee and I was wondering if there is a trick.

What @Rawkstar said AND, if you're really stumped, you could set your c-stick to "attack" and try diagonal attacks with it. Falcon will perform a nair that way.

 

[itsReaLitY]

Thanks I'll have to practice that because alot of his combos seem to work really well with his nair and its one of his best aerials when trying to approach.

 

[TheGreatBrawler]

You can do down throw>nair>dair/fair but have to be at side of the stage. That's a combo I do sometimes mainly to gimp by meteor smashing.

 

[Deleted member 269706]

What @Rawkstar said AND, if you're really stumped, you could set your c-stick to "attack" and try diagonal attacks with it. Falcon will perform a nair that way.

Looking for basic combos to use with Falcon. What are some good ways to rack up damage?

 

[ArchmageMC]

Would you recommend C stick be set to Attacks or Smashes? I can do Nairs just fine without the stick, but I'm tired of doing a nair when I wanna do a Uair. Sure both work, but uair is so much better, lol.

Also, about the Megaman matchup....

Its a pretty easy match. He can't really combo at all and relies on doing lots and lots of chip damage via Metal Blade/Lemons/Fair/CB/Leaf Shield/grabs. He has no real KO moves that he can combo into besides maybe a zair dropped metal blade into a Utilt (His second best kill move), which if you know about it, is fairly easy to work your way around. Not to mention he is a great weight to combo.

Just be weary of being off stage, Megaman has a great gimp game and thats how he usually gets his kills besides a utilt OOS or a backthrow at 180%+. Basically you have a much better kill window and combo potential than him, and only his fully charged charge shot is unblockable, you can jab everything else if need be.

Just like DHD, hes pretty simple due to the sheer lack of kill moves, but unlike DHD, he does have some scary kill moves (Utilt, Dsmash) that can kill at sub 100% if they're fresh. And also unlike DHD, Megaman has a very good grab game. Not Falcon levels of good, but still decent.

However if customs are on, Megaman will replace crash bomber with Danger Wrap. THIS move is basically megaman shooting bomb ombs with his side b that float up. Its a great anti air move and it kills as early as a raptor boost, which really works well for megaman and his chip damage.

 

[TheGreatBrawler]

Looking for basic combos to use with Falcon. What are some good ways to rack up damage?

Dthrow>fair
Dthrow>nair
Uthrow>uair
Uthrow>uair>uair
Uthrow>uair>fair
Dthrow>nair>nair>nair (fast fall then jump to do another
Bthrow>dair
Dthrow>nair>fair
Dthrow>nair>dair
Dthrow>nair>uair

The last three depends on which side of character you are.

 

[TheGreatBrawler]

Would you recommend C stick be set to Attacks or Smashes? I can do Nairs just fine without the stick, but I'm tired of doing a nair when I wanna do a Uair. Sure both work, but uair is so much better, lol.

Also, about the Megaman matchup....

Its a pretty easy match. He can't really combo at all and relies on doing lots and lots of chip damage via Metal Blade/Lemons/Fair/CB/Leaf Shield/grabs. He has no real KO moves that he can combo into besides maybe a zair dropped metal blade into a Utilt (His second best kill move), which if you know about it, is fairly easy to work your way around. Not to mention he is a great weight to combo.

Just be weary of being off stage, Megaman has a great gimp game and thats how he usually gets his kills besides a utilt OOS or a backthrow at 180%+. Basically you have a much better kill window and combo potential than him, and only his fully charged charge shot is unblockable, you can jab everything else if need be.

Just like DHD, hes pretty simple due to the sheer lack of kill moves, but unlike DHD, he does have some scary kill moves (Utilt, Dsmash) that can kill at sub 100% if they're fresh. And also unlike DHD, Megaman has a very good grab game. Not Falcon levels of good, but still decent.

However if customs are on, Megaman will replace crash bomber with Danger Wrap. THIS move is basically megaman shooting bomb ombs with his side b that float up. Its a great anti air move and it kills as early as a raptor boost, which really works well for megaman and his chip damage.

I would recommend c stick for attacks, it's a lot easier if you ask me, for both air attacks and tilts.

 

[BigLord]

I like using smashes on my c-stick because it reduces my inputs when I'm trying to punish someone with a f-smash (it's such a good punisher). But if you prefer it and don't like using Falcon's smashes anyway, go right ahead!

 

[ArchmageMC]

I like using smashes on my c-stick because it reduces my inputs when I'm trying to punish someone with a f-smash (it's such a good punisher). But if you prefer it and don't like using Falcon's smashes anyway, go right ahead!

My only reason for tilts on the C stick is that its great for characters like Megaman who hardly smash and instead use their tilts for kills/damage. Plus you can very easily perfect pivot a tilt using attacks on c stick, but you are right about the super fast Fsmashes.

 

[Silvalfo]

A tip for all Falcon beginners who seek strong combo opportunities:

Falcon isn't only combos. While it's very important to deal as much damage as possible when you get in on your opponent, it is more important to learn how to get the first hit, and even more important to learn how to not get hit.

Faking out an approach, retreating a little bit and hitting a bair on an opponent who tries to attack is far better than dashgrabbing out of the blue, missing due to a spotdodge and getting punished like hell.

My greatest mistake as a Falcon player has always been going in too much and getting punished. Falcon must play patiently and manly. Do not be hasty.

 

[Pendletron]

A tip for all Falcon beginners who seek strong combo opportunities:

Falcon isn't only combos. While it's very important to deal as much damage as possible when you get in on your opponent, it is more important to learn how to get the first hit, and even more important to learn how to not get hit.

Faking out an approach, retreating a little bit and hitting a bair on an opponent who tries to attack is far better than dashgrabbing out of the blue, missing due to a spotdodge and getting punished like hell.

My greatest mistake as a Falcon player has always been going in too much and getting punished. Falcon must play patiently and manly. Do not be hasty.

I make this mistake frequently, particularly against heavy zoning characters and projectile users, which is probably even worse. However, particularly against projectiles, faking an approach often accomplishes little and usually just gets me hit with a gyro or arrow. At what distance do you start your retreats? I undoubtedly am doing this wrong, and would love to see it in effective action. Do you (or anyone else) happen to have some clips of this sort of thing that I can study? I too often feel like my only recourse is to run in and hope I can powershield in time and get a grab or read a roll.

 

[BigLord]

I usually dash attack for a while until the opponent starts shielding whenever I approach. Then I pretend I'm going to dash attack, shield, roll backwards and instantly dash-grab them. Falcon's new dash-grab is so good, you can do this quickly enough to leave them without time to react.

 

[Jebus244]

I need help with the Greninja match-up. anyone have any tips or strategies?

 

[Silvalfo]

I make this mistake frequently, particularly against heavy zoning characters and projectile users, which is probably even worse. However, particularly against projectiles, faking an approach often accomplishes little and usually just gets me hit with a gyro or arrow. At what distance do you start your retreats? I undoubtedly am doing this wrong, and would love to see it in effective action. Do you (or anyone else) happen to have some clips of this sort of thing that I can study? I too often feel like my only recourse is to run in and hope I can powershield in time and get a grab or read a roll.

It heavily depends on the char. Against Sheik (when she isn't throwing needles), I find 3/4ths to 1 Battlefield platform's worth of distance safe. Empty short hops are quite useful against her, too. It moves you out of the way of grounded needles, dashgrabs and, if I really recall correctly, dash attacks, too. However you might eat ftilts or fairs if she reads you.

Against Dedede, it's pretty much the same distance. He's much less mobile but can ftilt/fair/dtilt if you're not careful. Against Charizard, who isn't very mobile nor fast, I can go slightly closer, but still being wary of his dashgrabs, dash attacks, SH fairs, sliding rock smash, Flamethrower or even Flare Blitz.

Faking out against Little Mac, for example, is dangerous as he can ftilt/dash attack every unsafe move of yours.

Against Lucario I tend to walk and powershield his blue balls, same against Pit.

It's all a matter of assessing the situation and choosing to make the move which can cover the most options from your opponent, or at least reset your situation to safe again. This sounds simple but adapting and thinking is exaustive and requires a brutal amount of training and wits.

 

[_Magus_]

Been having trouble getting consistent Uair strings out of downthrow, so I've been following one uair up with a gentleman at lower percents. Can someone help with my uair strings? Also, any other ideas for approaching besides nair>jab, nair> dash grab, or just plain old dash grab?

Btw, wanted to introduce myself. I'm a Ganondorf main that's decided to pick up falcon as a dual main. Thanks for your help!

A tip for all Falcon beginners who seek strong combo opportunities:

Falcon isn't only combos. While it's very important to deal as much damage as possible when you get in on your opponent, it is more important to learn how to get the first hit, and even more important to learn how to not get hit.

Faking out an approach, retreating a little bit and hitting a bair on an opponent who tries to attack is far better than dashgrabbing out of the blue, missing due to a spotdodge and getting punished like hell.

My greatest mistake as a Falcon player has always been going in too much and getting punished. Falcon must play patiently and manly. Do not be hasty.

You'd make a fine Ganondorf, sir!

 

[BigLord]

It's all a matter of assessing the situation and choosing to make the move which can cover the most options from your opponent, or at least reset your situation to safe again. This sounds simple but adapting and thinking is exaustive and requires a brutal amount of training and wits.

That's true for pretty much every match-up we have against projectile characters, hehe

Against Lucario I tend to walk and powershield his blue balls

*giggle*

 

[HFlash]

I need help with the Greninja match-up. anyone have any tips or strategies?

Can you specify what exactly is the with that MU? C.F only really struggles vs characters that are 1: Have projectiles, 2: small, 3: have disjoints. Greninja doesn't really fit any of those descriptions so you shouldn't be having issues with him specifically.

 

[moreside]

Been having trouble getting consistent Uair strings out of downthrow, so I've been following one uair up with a gentleman at lower percents. Can someone help with my uair strings? Also, any other ideas for approaching besides nair>jab, nair> dash grab, or just plain old dash grab?

Stringing together up airs is dependant on DI, the character, rage, percent, etc. so the best way to improve at it is simply to practice a whole lot. It's not terribly difficult, and after a while you should get a pretty good feel for it. Out of down throw, you generally dash forward and jump into your first up air. Now, you get to choose an option based on your knockback. At lower percents you can just mash out another up air as you fall back down. If they are knocked back too far for this, you can use your double jump to chase after them and hit again. Alternatively, you can fast fall and jump up again after landing. Again, your ability to judge what to do will improve the more you practice it. It's also worth noting that at very low percents, neutral air is the preferred follow up from down throw, as it is way easier to hit.

As far as approaching goes, Captain Falcon is a punish character so you'll want to do your best to force them into a bad option. Lucky for us, Falcon is hella fast and freaks people out when you approach, causing them to react poorly. I generally like to do empty approaches to see how the react to certain things, and then punish accordingly. In terms of these approaches, you can dash dance in and out, dash forward roll back, dash in and jump back, and so on and so forth. This generally beats throwing out unsafe dash attacks or dash grabs that are liable to whiff if shielded / dodged / whatever. Spacing neutral airs and up airs is also good for approaching.

 

[Jebus244]

Can you specify what exactly is the with that MU? C.F only really struggles vs characters that are 1: Have projectiles, 2: small, 3: have disjoints. Greninja doesn't really fit any of those descriptions so you shouldn't be having issues with him specifically.

Greninja has the shuriken, he is small enough that he can't be hit by SHNair, and I belive his Utilt, Fsmash, and Usmash are disjointed. If you're not having trouble with him could you elaborate on how you play vs him? What do you look for? I can generally punish a shuriken with a FFUair->Gent, though if he shields I get grabbed. Probably my fault, I need to learn to roll away after jab(2) if he is able to shield it. I have a problem teching his Bair if he stage spikes because the timing is weird, I need to practice it vs someone.

But yeah, any tips on how you play vs him would be helpful.

 

[BigLord]

That last sentence (1st paragraph) is key, @ Jebus244 . Find a Greninja buddy and practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice practice (...)

 

[Jebus244]

@ BigLord And here I thought this thread would be helpful...

 

[Maître Luigi]

I need help with the Greninja match-up. anyone have any tips or strategies?

Greninja has the shuriken, he is small enough that he can't be hit by SHNair, and I belive his Utilt, Fsmash, and Usmash are disjointed. If you're not having trouble with him could you elaborate on how you play vs him? What do you look for? I can generally punish a shuriken with a FFUair->Gent, though if he shields I get grabbed. Probably my fault, I need to learn to roll away after jab(2) if he is able to shield it. I have a problem teching his Bair if he stage spikes because the timing is weird, I need to practice it vs someone.

But yeah, any tips on how you play vs him would be helpful.

In most cases F-Tilt will clash with Water Shuriken up to about half charged or slightly more. If you are hit by Water Shuriken at any point the hitstun is not great enough for any follow-up or the knockback is great enough where you become out of range; furthermore, Water Shuriken has significant lag on start-up and it is possible to punish if it whiffs while you are approaching.

Thinkaman has the following data for Water Shuriken:

Spoiler

Water Shuriken (uncharged)
Frame 1- 2: 11% 20b/85g (KO@ 214%) 50° Slash
Frame 1- 2: 3% 10b/85g (KO@ 616%) 50° Slash
Max Damage: 11%

Water Shuriken (charged)
Frame 1-28: [0.7%]x5 100f/50w 21° 0.15-Hitlag 0.6-SDI Slash
Frame 1-28: 0% 30b/85g 50° 0.6-SDI Slash
Frame 30-31: 9% 40b/122g (KO@ 168%) 60° 1.5-Hitlag Slash
Max Damage: 12.5%

he is small enough that he can't be hit by SHNair

It's true that SH N-Air does not hit Greninja in his normal standing state and many of his animations, but it does hit shield and does set off substitute, which you can punish hard when that happens; furthermore, if you delay the N-Air slightly after the short hop you can fast fall the second hit and juggle with that (best follow-ups are typically Tackle (1), eF-Throw and eD-Throw). The latter is one of many possible ways to hit N-Air. Keep in mind that both Ganondorf and Captain Falcon's N-Air have four hitboxes (two for each hit).

I belive his Utilt, Fsmash, and Usmash are disjointed

This seems to actually be the case from the raw data. But, regardless of the disjointedness of these moves they have a relatively long recovery and are punishable ([I[i.g.[/I] Knee, Grab, D-Air, U-Air, etc).

I can generally punish a shuriken with a FFUair->Gent, though if he shields I get grabbed.

If you aren't getting to Sheninja fast enough with SH/FH U-Air~FF and end up hitting sheild you will be at about -1 to -5 frames when you hit the ground (if you're hitting at the last moment possible you will be at -1 frames) you will have 5-6 frames to respond with something as the grapple acts on frame 7 for shield grabs. As a side note you have significant hitstun after landing U-Air (assuming neither of the two hitboxes of U-Air (2)) and have much better follow-ups (at low percents only Grab, Tackle (1) and Jabs are viable follow-ups).

I have a problem teching his Bair if he stage spikes because the timing is weird, I need to practice it vs someone.

Teching in this scenario is always a challenge and I agree you should practice this but do so in general and not just against Greninja.


This list shouldn't be taken too seriously but here is the comparable size of Greninja's and Captain Falcon's attacks:
http://pastebin.com/vRk1UsHe

 

[Jebus244]

If you aren't getting to Sheninja fast enough with SH/FH U-Air~FF and end up hitting sheild you will be at about -1 to -5 frames when you hit the ground (if you're hitting at the last moment possible you will be at -1 frames) you will have 5-6 frames to respond with something as the grapple acts on frame 7 for shield grabs. As a side note you have significant hitstun after landing U-Air (assuming neither of the two hitboxes of U-Air (2)) and have much better follow-ups (at low percents only Grab, Tackle (1) and Jabs are viable follow-ups).

That's a bit of an issue. 5 to 6 frames is faster than anyone can react, so basically it's a hard read. It comes down to learning your opponent in the course of a 2 stock match, but even then there is a large margin for error. I typically come out of a Uair swinging, so if the Greninja shields perfectly, I have already started my jabs, in which case, after the gentleman, he has ample opportunity to grab.

 

[Vega4993]

So far there is 2 true combos I have seen with Falcon, Down throw Dash to F-Air if done right and Falling U-Air Dash to F-Air. Has there been any more found???

 

[Jebus244]

So far there is 2 true combos I have seen with Falcon, Down throw Dash to F-Air if done right and Falling U-Air Dash to F-Air. Has there been any more found???

Oh yes! Some great guides have been written by some fantastic people. Check these out.http://smashboards.com/guides/capta...-serving-justice-updated-new-videos-added.25/
http://smashboards.com/guides/capta...-serving-justice-updated-new-videos-added.25/
http://smashboards.com/threads/captain-falcon-true-combos-updates-new-format-and-some-data.373500/

 

[Eriol-kun]

As Captain Falcon, do you pummel or throw after a grab right away? Is it better to do one over the other if given the option?

I usually pummel but I am not sure if to get into the habit of throwing. The Cap'n has a pretty good pummel that can rack up some nice damage, but I can see the DI advantages to immediately throwing, for example.

 

[HFlash]

@ Jebus244 If you can't hit him with with SH FF Uair/Nair, try using the ground to approach him. Although he has a projectile, he can't move while charging it, so it's not like he can camp you by spamming and moving back. Try just approaching with run up shield, dash grab, or dash grab, perfect shielding his shuriken and you should have a reliable way of getting in on him. Otherwise, just be patient, and let him approach as his shuriken can't zone you out like other projectiles in the game can. Sorry for the late reply Busy with life stuff