Falcon is top tier

[A2ZOMG]

Why do you say the grab game isn't hugely amazing? I more or less agree; I'm just wondering what your reasons are. The major problem I can think of is that almost the entirety of the cast can get an aerial out before Falcon can once thrown, lowering chances of uair juggles and completely erasing the chance of dthrow --> knee (unless of course the opponent doesn't move).

Falcon's throws do average damage and have average setup value. Falcon himself however is good at followups, although he isn't a very strong character for the most part. Usually he doesn't kill you extremely low from landing a grab, he'll just do a string that will net him over 20 damage if it works correctly. Falcon can do decent fairly consistent damage from his throws, but rarely can he ever set up early kills. Juggling with Falcon ultimately requires a bit of reads, meaning small mistakes will make it fail, and his reward isn't high enough to make his grab game amazing.

There's other characters who also do good damage off of throws as well, but it's also important to note that most of these characters have better standing grab range than Falcon and have fewer troubles setting up into a kill move in more conventional ways. Even if Falcon is more consistent in his followup damage than a lot of these characters, he's not as threatening overall most of the time due to his lack of really reliable finishers.

An amazing grab game goes to DDD, Falco, or even Marth. DDD and Falco are obvious, but Marth's followups for example actually have very solid kill potential (F-throw to tipper F-air or U-throw to forced airdodge -> U-smash). Falcon's grab game for the most part is pretty standard quality. Nothing really really amazingly good, but it has stuff going for it that works. It works because Falcon is fundamentally good at juggling by spamming U-airs, which for the most part don't kill since they have to be used for dealing damage.

 

[Player-3]

uthrow is a terrible setup for anything at high percents, it's a kill move at 200 on most chars bar snake/DK... it doesn't setup for ****

 

[BigLord]

Yeah, I agree with P3. Unfortunately, Uthrow is our most useless throw. I find myself never using it, and when I do I immediately regret doing so.

By the way, what do you guys think about combo 34, the "new AT"? IMO, it gives a whole new meaning to this thread.

 

[Player-3]

what?

no falcons uthrow is awesome

i was talking about marths b/c of a2s post

 

[BigLord]

How is it awesome?

 

[Player-3]

sets up for juggles agaisnt people like DK oli etc

 

[King Omega]

Most Falcons need to uthrow more. It's more powerful than dthrow and sets up far better than fthrow. Bthrow is only useful if you pivot grab and need it to start up your edgeguarding. Uthrow, jump, wait for the airdodge (or stay low to avoid their aerial), KNEE. It's not all that reliable but it works.

As a semi-consistent Marf submain, I can say his uthrow is pretty useless in most case. Where it shines is chucking an opponent onto a platform at low percents, and then it's an easy follow-up to hit them when they roll or get up.

Lol Marf.

 

[Darky-Sama]

Uthrow looks pro.

Percents below 40% and above 200% are the best times. Most of the games when I'm trying to show off, I abuse jabs, grabs, fthrows and bthrows, then once they're at a KO percent, I use uthrow on them.

It's more satisfying to me than a Knee.

 

[Raze King]

Why in the world do you need to approach as falcon, IMO falcon's should bait rather than approach. There are alot of attacks that falcon has that fool the opponent into thinking that they can beat it out. My favorite is down smash because it is relatively safe, spammable only if u can push your opponent out of grab range with the tip of the foot. Just try charging a fsmash, dsmash or even a falcon punch the minute you knock a character away, 90% of the time they'll jump towards you and attack cause there thinking "That's laggy and i can punish them. " By time they reach you, your attack will be finishing while they are in the middle of there attack. However, this doesn't work very well with characters with swords.

 

[†Slader7†]

Sometimes you are Forced to approach



or you can eat nades and lasers

 

[King Omega]

Why in the world do you need to approach as falcon

You most certainly, definitely, assuredly have to approach with Falcon.

Also, dthrow, pivot grab, uthrow, aerial. Sexy little hitstring there.

 

[Ramzeh]

*looks at topic title.*

 

[Darky-Sama]

Why in the world do you need to approach as falcon, IMO falcon's should bait rather than approach. There are alot of attacks that falcon has that fool the opponent into thinking that they can beat it out. My favorite is down smash because it is relatively safe, spammable only if u can push your opponent out of grab range with the tip of the foot. Just try charging a fsmash, dsmash or even a falcon punch the minute you knock a character away, 90% of the time they'll jump towards you and attack cause there thinking "That's laggy and i can punish them. " By time they reach you, your attack will be finishing while they are in the middle of there attack. However, this doesn't work very well with characters with swords.

I see what you're getting at, but players are often forced to approach with Falcon for the sole fact that he lacks a projectile game.

Playing defensively, baiting, fake-outs and {the one I stress the most} not trying to follow up just about everything you do with another {not guaranteed} attack, HOPING that it will hit when 75% of the time it won't.

That's how a competitive Falcon SHOULD play.

 

[lordhelmet]

^ Exactly what Darky said.

 

[Ramzeh]

That's how a competitive Falcon SHOULD play.

Lol.

Hi darky <3

 

[Darky-Sama]

Yes. Competitive Falcons ftw.

Ramzeh. <3

 

[teluoborg]

Playing defensively, baiting, fake-outs and {the one I stress the most} not trying to follow up just about everything you do with another {not guaranteed} attack, HOPING that it will hit when 75% of the time it won't.

That's how a competitive Falcon SHOULD play.

Agree with almost everything.

But by experience the most effective thing to do with Falcon when you landed a hit is passive aggression.

Going for the follow up is stupid.
But going defensive gives the opponent a break, which is exactly what he needs to go back to camping (because let's face it, no one will ever try to approach you).

When you've just hit your opponent your best bet is to rush to him while still being completely reactive to what he's doing.
Doing so forces the opponent to make a choice between turtling, fleeing or countering your "coming soon" offense. Wait for him to make that choice and punish accordingly. Rinse and repeat as much as you can.

Why it works is because in this situation you have what most characters lack to apply pressure : speed/mobility (and manliness).
So your opponent is forced to make a quick choice before he eats a Uair/dash attack.

It's very matchup dependant so there will be times where it won't work (like, if you're fighting MK), but Falcon's mobility is the only thing that he excels in, so use it.

 

[lordhelmet]

Thanks Darky and Teluoborg for the intelligent posts, I'm working on the "in-depth metagame" part of my guide, so I quoted both of you.

Edit:

Darky, be on AIM tomorrow!

 

[Darky-Sama]

Which is what I usually do too.

Forcing the opponent off the stage with forward / back throws is pretty nice too. Forward throws are especially good because it sends them horizontally. Then you can wait and punish how they get back onto the stage. If you don't follow up, you can even throw a "Show me your moves" to intimidate them and force them to come after you rather than camping on the ledge or planking.

 

[teluoborg]

Yeah Dtaunting during a match is legit.
Rarely safe but when it is it's your best move. Srsly.

 

[Ramzeh]

But by experience the most effective thing to do with Falcon when you landed a hit is passive aggression.

I like you.