Five Things Every Lucas Should Know

[PK Starstorm]

this is the technique i've been trying to learn. the above vid looks just like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z30b3-6qdG8

 

[fear17]

good thread

 

[Dxt XXII]

Bump

I just wanted to help since these boards really don't have fighting guides (ex. learning how much damage fair does is fine, but you need to know how to use it)

 

[PK Starstorm]

how do u ftilt out of shield. I've seen in your vids u do this alot. the ftilt is my fave attack for him, but i can't land it very well.

 

[Dxt XXII]

Some of the times I sheild while tilting the control stick a bit. Then i release R button and press A. But most of the times I sheild then tilt then release R then A. Idk, but i've been forced to work on it cos most of the times I fight my bro who uses Kirby (MCZX)

 

[fear17]

Some of the times I sheild while tilting the control stick a bit. Then i release R button and press A. But most of the times I sheild then tilt then release R then A. Idk, but i've been forced to work on it cos most of the times I fight my bro who uses Kirby (MCZX)

what are you talking about?

 

[Dxt XXII]

The ftilt. I do it out of a shield all the time. The thing I do is that I tilt the control stick forward while still in the shield so it comes out faster. Lol I just realized the earlier post made no sense.

 

[Luur3]

Good stuffs. I need to continue working on my spacing

 

[MoonGhost]

Very useful info. It is basic, but sometimes after brawling for a while with Lucas or any character for that matter, you can get caught up trying to do something and realize that you're not playing your character the way you think you should be.

I always keep spacing in mind with pkfire, but I need to work on using tilts more. I'm decaying my smashes too much and having trouble with kos.

 

[lil cj]

Cool a new Lucas main
Welcome to SWF
MoonGhost

 

[MoonGhost]

Thanks, I hope I get to know a lot of you Lucas players.

 

[Dxt XXII]

Well, it's a small community here. Glad to meet you.

 

[Levitas]

stick around for a week and you'll know us.

 

[~Pink Fresh~]

levi only needs two posts till 4,000!
why did this get bumped anyway?

 

[FireKirby7]

why did this get bumped anyway?

Who cares, at least we got activity. :embarrass

 

[~Pink Fresh~]

activity about nothing = nothing. it's just about a new guy, who has joined the omelet chatroom. He will meet people there. Get some activity about something important, and I will be satisfied.

I AM NOT BEING MEAN =P

 

[Yoshi-Kirby]

One thing about PK Freeze: Do you guys think that you should only use it for edgeguarding or shoud you use it when your opponent is coming down, and has no double jump left, and you can mingame them to airdodge and hit with PK Freeze?

 

[Dxt XXII]

It's mostly used to force your opponent to air dodge, such as when they try to grab the ledge.

 

[~Pink Fresh~]

One thing about PK Freeze: Do you guys think that you should only use it for edgeguarding or shoud you use it when your opponent is coming down, and has no double jump left, and you can mingame them to airdodge and hit with PK Freeze?

i use it onstage more often against chars that can not get across the stage quickly. it also is good for punishing aerial approaches like you mentioned above this. it has little ending lag so it is pretty difficult to punish.

 

[akkon888]

Well, the Lucas forums doesn't see much action and we need to fix that. So I did this:

1. Spacing

Lucas has a very good defensive game, which can rack up damage and then go in for the kill. For spacing there are two attacks you should prioritize: F-Tilt and Pk Fire. If you approach or go for a combo, such as a Nair approach, it's generally a good idea to finish with F-Tilt. This does damage and has enough knockback to let you retreat back safely. It can also be done out of a shield and to keep opponents away if they try to approach.

Pk fire gives you multiple options. It's best done short hopping. If you short hop you can DI forward while Pk Firing to keep people at a comfortable distance. If they approach, you can wavebounce backwards to make it way harder on your opponent's part. You can wavebounce by B-Sticking, or waveland by jumping backwards and PK Firing forwards (though B sticking is better if you don't mind giving up the option of smashing with the c-stick). PKT and Psi magnet are very situational here, but it's best to be ready for anything.

Mentioning that D-Tilt is a very quick damage racker. Another good defense is N-Airing the instant you get off the ground during the jump. Also, in walled in stages, like Green Greens, Corneria, etc, PK Thunder is an extremely viable defensive projectile.


2. Approaching

Approaching can be a problem, but here Lucas also has many options. You can approach with Fair, but you would have to be very carefull as you can be sheild grabbed or jabbed. If you try a dash attack, most likely you will get punished. And please just forget about dashing and U-Smash. It can be so easily dodged and punished that you would be way better off just standing back (unless you get extremely lucky and they DI into your attack).

Nair approch can be very usefull, as it can lead into multiple combos. Just be carefull not to land right in front of the other person; either DI backwards or forwards after the first hit connects. Fast falled full hopped dair can knock the opponent into the ground and again, you should not land directly in front of them. A PK Fire or a grab approch, mostly the latter, will not work due to their predictability and the grab's lag.

Again try the shorthop N-Air which you kinda mentioned. Shorthop D-Air works as well, and is not as predictable. I also find PSI Magnet to be quite useful in approaching, since it is extremely unpredicable.

3. Recovering

Most people underestimate Lucas' recovery. PK Thunder can be angled in a variety of ways, and is hard to predict. Zap jumping (second jump and PK Fire at the same time) is usefull, and can be used to recover from way off the screen or even from under the stage. Tether recovery can be used to prevent being spiked when you are close to the edge. If you are not close enough to tether, you should air dodge while jumping, which travels the same distance as his second jump but with invincibility frames, which allows you to recover safely.
If you are way off to the sides, you can pull out Psi Magnet to move you towards the stage a bit. Most importantly, be unpredictable.

Keep in mind that PSI Magnet is excellent for controlling horizontal and vertical knockback. Also, I found that N-Airing is good for controlling knockbacks as well. PK Thunder does take a while to master, but when you master it, you will be able to recover at angles 60 degrees to the platform (Like being close to the center of FD).


4. Edge Guarding

Lucas is an awesome edge guarder, and don't let anyone tell you other wise. Pk Thunder can be used to chase opponents offstage. But this can get predictable, so instead aim where they are going to be or circle them. You can thunderslide off the stage by using Pkt while running. This can rack up damage, edgehog, or even KO if you are lucky. Since you have the rope snake, you can slide off and tether to edgehog. You can fight off stage with the odd Fair or U-Air, but it's better to go for the bair spike.

If you get skilled at PK Thunder, you can even use it as a very effective edgeguard by actually jumping off the platform and preforming a PK Thunder edgehog.


5. KOing

Theres not much to say here. Down throw kills at over 150%, and Back throw at around 130-140% near the edge. Fair kills near the edge at very high percentages.

And his smashes: D-smash is more defensive, mostly to stop people who roll alot, but can KO easily at about 120% from anywhere. F-Smash is probably Lucas' best KO move. It's fast, has good range, and kills at about 100%. U-Smash abuse will get you killed instead. It is very situational, since it has a ton of lag. You can pretty much KO with anything, but they are not even worth talking about (for example, PK fire kills at way over 200%).

It is always best to set up your smashes, such as with the dair->dtilt->fsmash combo.

Lucas I do not think is as strong a smasher as he is a disabler. I have rarely killed people with one attack and rather with a series of weak attacks to keep the enemy off the platform. Like jump>F-Air>F-Air>Jump>N-Air>PK Thunder to platform.



So there you are. And here are another 5 things every Lucas should know:

1. Dair spike is extremely weak.
Yes, but it is still functional as a spike.
2. The stick is probably your best KO option.
3. U-Smash abuse will be punished.
4. You really should not play aggressively against MK.
YES!
5. Lucas' jab is on of the fastest attacks in the game, as is comes out on frame 2.
Ike's comes out at frame 3. And trust me, Jab Combo is Ike's bread and butter. You probably shouldn't ask me why I know.

Edit: This is kinda outdated, as I made it before Tyr made his guide
This is still a good guide from the moment.

Comment stuffs in Cyan.

 

[VideoKidHEERO]

I've been a Lucas main, since Brawl came out, but I don't know if most Lucas players know this, but Nair is great for setting up combos. On larger characters such as Bowser, DK, and even ROB, if you land a Nair, you can follow it up by almost any of Lucas' smash moves (most of the time, it works well with F-smash) it also catches most Falco player off guard.

Nair -> Upsmash is a falco killer :D

 

[Dev2000]

I've been a Lucas main, since Brawl came out, but I don't know if most Lucas players know this, but Nair is great for setting up combos. On larger characters such as Bowser, DK, and even ROB, if you land a Nair, you can follow it up by almost any of Lucas' smash moves (most of the time, it works well with F-smash) it also catches most Falco player off guard.

Nair -> Upsmash is a falco killer :D

i tried that just now and it works fine for me thank you

 

[Chris is me]

Can you put "Spacing" in huge bold letters? It's really what makes or breaks Lucas IMO.

 

[akkon888]

Can you put "Spacing" in huge bold letters? It's really what makes or breaks Lucas IMO.

Spacing on Lucas really doesn't have as much effect as it does on Marth or Ike, where their actual damage is purely affected by spacing. Mindgames would be Lucas' main tactic; a good mindgame would enable Lucas to not be punished for certain attacks and would easily lead to win. But yes, spacing is important to an extent.

 

[~Pink Fresh~]

Spacing on Lucas really doesn't have as much effect as it does on Marth or Ike, where their actual damage is purely affected by spacing. Mindgames would be Lucas' main tactic; a good mindgame would enable Lucas to not be punished for certain attacks and would easily lead to win. But yes, spacing is important to an extent.

That is not true. spacing is really what makes or break him. most of his moves have sourspots and sweetspots, so that negates your damage based argument. Now, if you were to nair into an other move you would want to end up behind him, which is where spacing comes into play. another example is when you FH dair somebody. when you FH dair you hope to combo into another move, but the next move as to be spaced well. pk fire is purely for spacing. ftilt has to be spaced well or, it can be shieldgrabbed. seriously, spacing is what makes a lucas player successful. mindga,es do not make him less punishable because his moves alreadty have little lag. good spacing would make him less punishable than mindgames would.

 

[Levitas]

Spacing is one of the most fundamental skills one can have in smash. If you're using anyone and not spacing, you're doing it wrong.

 

[VideoKidHEERO]

i tried that just now and it works fine for me thank you

Oh yeah, no problem. Anything to try and help any Lucas player out there
I love the little dude..., he's got the best hair in the game xD

I'm trying to find a way to work on every match up, so if you have any advice on the MK, Diddy, or Snake match-up, please help me out

 

[VideoKidHEERO]

That is not true. spacing is really what makes or break him. most of his moves have sourspots and sweetspots, so that negates your damage based argument. Now, if you were to nair into an other move you would want to end up behind him, which is where spacing comes into play. another example is when you FH dair somebody. when you FH dair you hope to combo into another move, but the next move as to be spaced well. pk fire is purely for spacing. ftilt has to be spaced well or, it can be shieldgrabbed. seriously, spacing is what makes a lucas player successful. mindga,es do not make him less punishable because his moves alreadty have little lag. good spacing would make him less punishable than mindgames would.

I completely agree with you!
As useful as mind games can be, it's not gonna completely put the match up in your favor, especially against characters who, I hate to say it this way, but characters who are much better, such as the MK's and Snakes of the world.
Your spacing makes or breaks your game, because if you fair, dari, and on occasion, even nair, you will most likely get grabbed, people will see the opportunity and just punish. Most Lucas players die at around 100-120%, but if you have great DI you can go to about 150%, just a slight difference, but still, Lucas can be so easily abused if you don't space properly.
(I ranted..., that was not meant to be >.>)