Falcon techniqies guide

[Face124]

Techs

Falcon specific:

Mock Wave-land: (dicovered by BananaTrooper)
Mock Wave-land is aerial Raptor Boosting into an angled platform, which will cause you to slide across that platform like a wavedash. The distance of the slide is proportional to when the Raptor Boost connects with the platform, although, if done very close, Falcon will slide almost no distance.

during the slide from Mock Wave-land, all actions that could normally be performed on ground can still be performed, however, most attacks will halt the slide completely.

Actions which don't halt the slide:
-First hit of jab.
-Grab.
-U-smash.
-Shield.
-Spot dodge.
-Crouch.
-Pivoting.

The primarily used action out of Mock-Waveland is jab or grab, and the fact that the second hit of jab halts the slide actually helps, as that means the second hit won't slide away and miss.

Mock Wave-land can be done on many stages, and I made a list of which ones it can be done on. Stage class is based on the SBR's recommended ruleset for Brawl.

Starter

Yoshi's Island (Brawl):
-At both sides, beside the ledges.
-On the tilting platform.
-On the tiny curves from the middle outwards.

Starter/counter

Castle Siege:
-The big angle in the middle of the first phase.
-The second phase, the two banners in both top corners.
-The third phase, the platform tilts, everywhere.

Delfino Plaza:
-Various shapes of the main travelling platform.
-The island with a link to the underground, the sides are slanted.
-The main square, the stairs at both sides.
-The roof of the houses just off the square, the 4 slanted roofs in the middle.
-The fountain area, the stairs.
-The Shine Tower, the curve at the center.
-The island with the green pipe, the sides are slants.

Halberd:
-The two sides near the ledges on the travelling platform.

Lylat Cruise:
-Everywhere, the stage tilts.

Pokemon Stadium 1:
-The windmill phase, The rotors of the windmill and the wooden bridge which the windmill stands on.
-The grass phase, the two hills in the middle.
-The fiery scene, the tree and the ground beside the burning house.
-The rock scene, the two slanted platforms, and the top of the mountain.

Counter

Brinstar:
-Either lower platform, once the connector slimy thing has been broken.
-All over the main platform, its very inconsistent.

Corneria:
-The back of the ship, on the rocket booster.
-The vertical wing.
-The nose.
-The middle, leading to the nose.

Distant Planet:
-The slope on the left.
-The monster thing.

Frigate Orpheon:
-The second phase, the middle there are two outwards slopes on the main platform.

Green Hill Zone:
-The big curve in the middle >.>

Luigi's Mansion:
-On the bottom level, at either sides there are tiny stairs.

Pictochat:
-LOADS OF PLACES.
-The two angles beside the ledges.

The Pirate Ship:
-On both sides of the ship.
-When the hurricane comes, anywhere, because it tilts the entire stage.
-On the brick island, the rightmost area.

Pokemon Stadium 2:
-The conveyor Belts in the electric phase, each has two angles at each side.
-The wind phase, both sides near the ledges have very slight angles.
-The ground phase, the hill of mud and the lower platform on the mine.
-The ice phase, both platforms.

Rainbow cruise
-The main ship, leading to the nose.
-Various platforms and tilting platforms throughout the stage.

Yoshi's island(melee):
-The pipes.
-The mountain.

Counter/banned

Mario Circuit:
-The tracks that aren't the floating platform.

Onett:
-The roofs of both houses.
-The tiny roof above the door on the yellow house.
-The electricity pole above the blue house.

Port Town Aero Dive:
-the phase when you are on top of that big ship thing.

Skyworld:
-The bottom left corner, beside the ledge.

Banned

Big Blue:
-Everywhere, the stage tilts.

Hanenbow:
-Any leaves, they tilt when hit.

Hyrule Temple:
-Loads of places.

Rumble Falls:
-Various slanted platforms, curved platforms and wooden stairs.
-When you come to an inconsistency in the waterfall, at the grey stone platform, below the stairs.

Spear Pillar:
-When that Pokemon tilts the stage, everywhere.

New Pork city:
-Various platforms.
-The ship in the middle.

The Summit:
-Everywhere, the stage slides at an angle.


Videos:

Falcon mock waveland
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9KvzuCp_qG0

Further reading:

Ayaz18's in-depth look.
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=194614



Falcon Kick ledge cancel

What is it?
Ledge canceling Falcon Kick is when you use Falcon kick so that the tip of the attack slips over the ledge (or edge of a platform) on a stage. If performed correctly, ALL ending lag from the attack will be completely canceled, and you will be in a state that you would be in at any time airborne. You can do aerials afterwards, jump (and footstool), hold into the stage and grab the ledge, air dodge and use specials as you usually would be able to airborne.

Combos:
There are many true combos that can be done using Falcon Kick ledge cancel, and there are two types discovered so far (I think both were by ToKneeOrNotToKnee...?) which are:

a) When the tip of The hit-box of Falcon Kick hits an opponent that is standing beside the ledge. The will be pushed off by the hit, and will still be in hitstun when your lag is canceled, so you can do aerials which are guaranteed to connect. Will work at low percents. It had been proven that a Knee can be avoided with SDI, so U-air and N-air are the only two guaranteed combos as of now. It may be possible to connect a D-air's nipple launch as long as Falcon doesn't fast fall. It has not been tested however.

b) When the middle hit-box of Falcon Kick knocks the opponent upwards, it is possible to jump out of the cancel and then perform a variety of aerials on the opponent. I was not involved in the testing though, so I am unaware as to which aerials work, but U-air definitely does.

Both of these combos are very circumstantial, and it is very unlikely that you will ever be able to use either of them in a real match. Still, pretty cool. Remember though, that Falcon Kicks length will be shortened if it hits an object that takes damage (ie, an enemy, an item or the poles in luigi's mansion), and so the spacing for ledge canceling will be shorter.

Further reading:

ToKneeOrNotToKnee's combos thread
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=203165



Reverse Falcon Punch
Technically not an AT, but still a technique. You can reverse Falcon Punch by tapping the opposite direction you were facing shortly after it has started. This is not a simple B-reversal, but rather Reverse Falcon Punch actually has different properties than a normal Punch. It does 1% more damage at both hitbox's, has more knockback, will change Falcon's momentum in the air and has a different animation actually showing Falcon twisting around before punching.

Dojo.[/URL]



Stutter stepped Raptor Boost
To stutter step a Raptor Boost you must Raptor Boost, and then immediately snap the control stick in the other dirction. The timing for this is very precise, so be careful when using it in a match. Stutter stepping the Raptor Boost will give it more distance than a usual one, and it is quicker.

By forcing Falcon into a B-reversal with the Raptor boost, he will not do the "wind up" that causes him to back away before rushing into your opponent. Instead he will boost starting from where he was initially standing. This causes him to get a bit more distance out of the boost, plus he will reach your opponent faster because he has to cover less ground from the start.

*Note* - It is technically not a stutter step, but a B-reversal, however, it actually has other practical uses than just turning around, and it is a lot like a stutter step.



Speed-hugging from a grounded Raptor Boost
It is possible to speed hug (grab the ledge instantly) after a grounded Raptor Boost. When you do a grounded Raptor Boost towards the ledge, if you go offstage, you will immediately be in fall special, and even when you try pulling into the stage, you still miss the ledge. Howvever, there is a method of grabbing the ledge during the fall special. To do it, you must not only pull into the stage, but also fastfall at the same time. The easiest way to do this (IMO) is to hold into the stage with the control stick, and mash down on the C-stick to fast fall. This method requires that your C-stick is set to smash though.

This works on all ledges, even ones on Yoshi's Island (Brawl) that are tilted. I don't know if normal speed hugging is faster or not, but this one feels easier.


General techniques (That can be applied to Falcon):

Jab canceling
In Falcon's jab, there is a period of time in between each phase of the jab which, if you press the jab button again, you will either move onto the next phase or (in the case of the multi-hit part) continue that phase. I you press any attack involving any buttons that could jab it will continue/move onto the next phase as long as it is within this period of time. So if you jab once and try to f-tilt/smash/grab afterwards, you move onto the second phase.

Moves that will not continue onto the next phase are:
-Specials.
-Jumping.
-Shielding, spot dodging or rolling.
-Crouching.

Jab canceling is canceling this period of time between phases so that you can immediately use one of the actions not listed above. It is done by performing one of the above actions, and it is accepted that crouch is most efficient.

Most Falcon's will jab twice and then cancel into a grab, and when you hear "Jab canceled grab", this is what it will mean. Off course, the jab can be canceled into various things, some Falcon's use tilts to punish people attempting to DI out of the jabs, some people cancel jabs into more jabs, and then may cancel that jab into other things. There are many possibilities. You can obviously jab cancel after one jab, or, after three, which brings me onto:

The Gentleman

"The gentleman", or "Gentlemaning" is canceling the third phase of Falcon's jab. Most people don't actually jab cancel when using this, but time it so that the phase is over when then perform another action.



Ledge hopping
Ledge hopping is releasing from holding onto the ledge, (By pressing down or away) and then using Falcon's jump to get back to the stage. This allows you to do any of your aerials/specials and your air dodge to get back instead of other vulnerable, predictable and slow ledge options.



Wall jumping
You will probably know how to do this, but I'll explain it and its uses anyway. Basically, jump towards a wall, then when you are about to hit it, tap away from it. You will jump away from it, and be able to attack the opponent. This is great for edgegaurding, especially on Final Destination (fall from the ledge then wall jump) using the knee to keep them away. U-air also, if you plan on keeping knee for the kill and this edge guard is just for damage building. You can also do this to RB into the stage, as an alternate method of returning to the stage. This can be done in almost every stage, so listing them is pointless. You can do it even off the ledge on FD, but its hard to miss the sweetspot. Be aware that you travel far more distance on stages without lips (IE, not FD), practice it a few times on stages like BF and Smashville, just so you get the spacing right.

Videos: Very simple concept, so you shouldn't really need any, but here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=BlLT1zqDEsA (not Falcon, but you should get the idea)

Edgegrab from stage
There are actually two practical ones; the half circle method or the Raptor Boost method. I never really payed attention the the half circle one, because I found the Raptor Boost way is far easier. This is necessary for edge guarding, because when you grab a ledge, an opponent can't, and also, you get a period of invincibility, which means they can't hit you off it. There is also one very rare difficult one, which requires very precise spacing using a LC Falcon kick.

The Raptor Boost method:
Simply run off the stage, then immediately FF and Raptor Boost towards the stage. This is almost a necessity for Falcon, as edge guarding is important to his game. You should not hear any sound, and should only see a quick flash of red at his fist, then him on the ledge. Then you know you have done it correctly. You can also do it without the flash of red, although this is very hard. Be sure to practice it, as there is nothing more ridiculous than running off the edge then FK'ing to your doom.

Videos: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NcqqkXMk6RM

The half circle method:

If you dash towards the edge and at the last moment do a half circle turn with your analog stick you should grab the edge from the stage. The timing for it depends on the character. It's easiest with Luigi.

Thanks very much to Roderick for the quote.

The LC FK method:
The spacing must be very precise. Just Falcon kick from the correct distance towards the ledge, and you will ledge cancel the FK and fall onto the ledge. This may not have any apparent uses, but it does for mindgames. For instance, consider a Ganondorf recovering. He could recover medium height so that he lands on the stage, but to a Falcon in the middle of the stage that leaves him punishable, so, as most Ganondorfs do, he decides to recover low and try to sweetspot the ledge to remain safe. Then, just before he does his up-B, when he is to far away to recover onto the stage, you FK and grab the ledge. Epic.


Ledge cancelled Falcon kick
Falcon kicking so that the end of the Falcon kick reaches the edge at the precise point and cancels the ending lag. Falcon must not roll off the edge, but must fall, so he is immediately in control. This can be done into any aerial, a jump, and B-move, an AD, and to grab the ledge. If you go for an aerial, the best option is to go for a knee. The knee has the farthest reaching hit box in front of it, apart from N-air, which you would only get the first kick in with anyway (because you can only get both in at the apex of a jump). At low percents it connects, good for damage building and an OK edgegaurd, and at higher percents you get the flubbed knee > u-air fantastic edgegaurd combo. Using your second jump after it would be strictly for edge guarding if an opponent is recovering high, although it can be used for mindgames. Really there is no reason to AD or do a special, as there are better options.

Videos: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq8s5P_u40

Falcon Punch and Dive reversal
Basically turning the attack around immidiately after doing it. Useful for if you make a mistake or the opponent DI unexpectedly. Simply, after you have pressed either of the attacks, slam the contorl stick in the other direction. If you are having trouble with it, I reccomend trying to do it with Falcon Punch (because its easier) in traning on 1/4 speed. Note that Falcon Dive will have NO physical differences if it is reversed, although Reverse Falcon punch takes slightly longer, does one more % damage and has slightly more knockback.

Videos: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PQXKDzgq6kw

Pivot Wave grab (PWG)
Run at an opponent. When you are going through them, slam the other direction on the control stick and the grab button. If your controller setup is awkward, you can tap shield plus A to do it. The result is you will slide away from your opponent, doing a grab. The advantages are:

-It is a standing grab animation, less ending lag.
-You slide away, leaving you unpunishable.
-Its slower, which means it can go through spot dodges very easily.
-It has a bigger range than dash grab.
-It means you can do B-throw in the direction f-throw would have gone for a dashing grab. B-throw has more knockback, so its better for edgegaurding.
-It looks awsomely proffesional.

Videos:http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XELJ03eGElg (as fox)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XELJ03eGElg (as every character)

Stutter step
The stutter step can be done with lots of chars, and is a way for you to extend the reach of a f-smash. Very simply, just tap the oppositedirection from where you want to hit the F-smash, then smash in the the other direction. So, if you are B and you want to hit A, like this:
B A
you tap away from A, then immidiately smash towards them.

Videos: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=g9PRNsTxYqo (not falcon but you can probably get it)

Sliding Jabs
Yep. Sliding jabs. Basically run, pivot, dash (a small amount) and the hold the jab button. If you don't time the jab button correctly you will dash attack. This is useful for mixing it up and for mindgames, and there are more things you can do with it explained in this video. I only fint the basic run>pivot>dash>jab?grab useful, but you can do whatever you want with it.

Videos: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=dYvUZHyY_LQ

Auto land from wall jump (discovered by ArtieBoy)
Simply wall jumping on FD on Pokemon Stadium 1 then missing the sweetspot of the ledge and landing on the stage. This is useful for mixing up your edge game a bit and can lead to jabs or grabs. Original thread here:

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=210545

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucinx48lFJc

Lingering knee

Lingering Knee: sweetspot it against any wall in Luigi's mansion, Skyworld, Shadow moses Island (anyplace with damaging walls) or an item. Be sure to do this in anticipation that your opponent will move into it. Your knee will pause breifly on the obstacle/item and can sweetspot anyone that touches it for that full second pause.
This property is displayed in the beggining of my video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3p9VwOAcek if you are confused

Thanks to SmashBrother2008 for the quote. Basically it just prolongs the length of the Sweetspotted hitbox of the knee.