Stratocaster
Smash Ace
Note that I'm still working on the platform tech chasing portion.
Notes:
0-20%
Throw quickly and hope they miss the DI, then up smash or up tilt. If they DI away, they can jump out, tech, or land, and you will have to read their option. If they always DI away consistently, consider using down throw for an easier mix-up game where you basically can up smash, shine, or drill their options. If they land on a platform, read their tech with an up air or try the reaction tree outlined below.
20-50%
If they don't DI, up tilt into whatever. If they DI away, dash JC up smash. An alternative for greater risk/reward is to mix-up dash JC grab and reading a jump out with full hop up air. If they land on a platform, read their tech with an up air or try the reaction tree outlined below.
50-80%
If they don't DI, up tilt > SH aerial. If they DI away, dash SH aerial.
80%-110%
Use full hop aerials.
110%+
Up throw up air will KO on most stages, but full hop Nair is usually enough to set up for an easy edgeguard with no SDI risk.
Up throw - Up tilt - Grab / Shine / Up tilt (0-17%)
No DI on the up throw only
No DI on the up throw only
Up throw - Read Option (0-19%)
DI Away on the up throw only
At this range, the goal is to hit Falcon off stage for an edge guard (whether this requires a few combo hits or one hit).
For no DI:
-To follow up on a Knockdown low to the ground (like Up throw - Nair) tech chase with an instant Nair to cover no Tech. Shine after the Nair for tech-in-place or run over to the tech roll away and grab, shine, or do something else that will be safe on shield or catch them dashing away. Alternatively, just do a hard read with a forward smash for the in place or away options and wavedash back Up tilt the tech roll in which hits them back out.
Platform Tech chasing
Read based:
Note with DI away at low % with missed tech or tech-in-place how up air cannot quite connect in time to be guaranteed (though it may work anyway). Falcon could have buffered roll out. Also Fox must start Up Air very close to the ground to hit low enough.
Reaction based:
Beats them if they do Shield, beats them if they don't shield. Land behind them to avoid a shield grab.
Notes:
- Fox's Up Throw will read the DI on frame 8, and there are 8 frames minimum from the start of the grab. This leaves 16 frames of start-up from the beginning of the grab, which is on the border of human reaction time. In situations where Falcon may not foresee getting grabbed, it is crucial to throw as fast as possible as punishing no DI is much better.
- The port closer to P4 has one more frame advantage on throws. This will be noted where it may matter. Otherwise assume everything works on both ports.
0-20%
Throw quickly and hope they miss the DI, then up smash or up tilt. If they DI away, they can jump out, tech, or land, and you will have to read their option. If they always DI away consistently, consider using down throw for an easier mix-up game where you basically can up smash, shine, or drill their options. If they land on a platform, read their tech with an up air or try the reaction tree outlined below.
20-50%
If they don't DI, up tilt into whatever. If they DI away, dash JC up smash. An alternative for greater risk/reward is to mix-up dash JC grab and reading a jump out with full hop up air. If they land on a platform, read their tech with an up air or try the reaction tree outlined below.
50-80%
If they don't DI, up tilt > SH aerial. If they DI away, dash SH aerial.
80%-110%
Use full hop aerials.
110%+
Up throw up air will KO on most stages, but full hop Nair is usually enough to set up for an easy edgeguard with no SDI risk.
Up throw - Up tilt - Grab / Shine / Up tilt (0-17%)
No DI on the up throw only
- In this percent range, up tilt will not knock down, and his landing frames can be punished. With no DI on the up tilt, you can even be in position to convert into a shine. The shine has a 4 frame input window. Any earlier and they can land cancel the hitstun, any later and they can shield.
- Another option if they don't DI the up tilt is another up tilt which can combo into more up tilts until they DI away, at which point a grab, Nair, Bair, techchasiing on a platform, or maybe something else will be required.
- The most guaranteed option is grab. Even if they DI the up tilt away, a quick JC grab should still catch them. It also beats out basically any of Falcon's quick options (especially shield) after landing so even if the grab is slightly late, it should still work most of the time.
- Here, the grab is slightly more delayed than the fastest possible grab, so Falcon can just barely get the shield out, but it still won't help him in this situation. The best Falcon can do (without inputting frame perfect dash away) is to buffer roll and hope Fox is several frames late.
- Overall the disadvantage of using an up tilt over up smash (the following option) is that it can provide another opportunity for Falcon to DI away from an up throw, a more difficult follow-up with Falcon's mix-up potential in that situation. Both can be strong options depending on your opponents response.
No DI on the up throw only
- At low percent, the priority is getting Falcon above about 20%, since combos and edge-guarding are much more effective once Falcon has a little damage built up on him. Unlike with Fox or Falco, you cannot chain grab Falcon from 0%. The above options are fairly escapeable (especially with SDI) so it arguably may make more sense to take the damage immediately available and set up a tech chase opportunity.
- If they do not DI the up throw, immediately up smash. Keep in mind that at 0% the window is tight (2 frames?), and a stale up smash may not cause Falcon not to get knocked down by the smash. Shooting a laser or two at the beginning of the stock helps make this an easy connection. It can do up to 26% which is important damage regardless of dropping additional follow-ups.
- After the up smash, wavedash, walk, or turn to the landing spot to set up for a tech chase. Making a habit of always wavedashing is the safest bet. Shine tech-in-place and jab a missed tech (forces normal get-up up to ~30%). If they tech roll there are several options. Keep in mind Falcon's post tech options: Shield, Dash away, Spot dodge, Roll, Jab, and Side B dodge. These are the only things Falcon can do if you are only a few frames late on the reaction. Running shine isn't really punished by any of these things and has a strong reward. Grab is best against shield and grab-shine can actually beat Falcon's poor spot dodge. Rolling or evading the grab is the only way to beat it. A running SH Dair should beat out any attempts to retreat.
Up throw - Read Option (0-19%)
DI Away on the up throw only
- If they DI the up throw, they must either tech, jump out, or perhaps land normally. The will have 1 to 5 frames out of hitstun before hitting the ground (More % = More frames before hitting the ground). At most levels, the typical action is to tech, though more advanced Falcons will likely jump out or cancel the tumble into a normal landing lag. (Note to Falcons: try to Bair or Fair just before hitting the ground to autocancel into normal landing lag)
- Covering a tech chase scenario has been covered above, but basically wavedashing to the landing spot and cover the options with jab (missed tech), shine (tech-in-place), or running shine (tech roll).
- If the Falcon tends to jump of hitstun, then it can be covered with a full hop up air read which can do devastating damage to Falcon with no jump. This options works at a wide percent range as well, but variations in Falcon's drift make it not completely reliable, and it may be punished if they don't jump.
- Falcon can also escape hitstun by wiggling out of hitstun, or inputting a Nair, Bair, or Fair to autocancel. Setchi has some info on this method, but there are a few more options to beat this than he points out.
- Dash JC grab, dash SH Dair, and dash JC Shine will catch Falcon if you are fast enough. JC shine is ideal if possible, but obviously difficult. If you are a little slow, Falcon may be able to jump or roll out. Grabbing isn't ideal since it only resets the situation. Dair is a fine as long as you don't land where they can possibly shield grab it.
- The last three options are only guaranteed with good execution if you read the AC land rather than a jump or tech. If you do them on reaction to Falcon's AC land then it becomes a mix-up game between shield, jump, and roll for Falcon. It's an advantageous spot for Fox, but be careful about using anything Falcon could ASDI down.
- Another option if the Falcon is really good at escaping up throw options is to use down throw. Remember that with down throw you can pummel then buffer the throw with c-stick for extra damage.
- Here are 6 Basic options:
- Tech-In-Place
- Tech Roll Towards Stage
- Tech Roll Towards Ledge
- No Tech, No DI
- No Tech, DI Behind
- No Tech, DI Ahead
- Immediate Up smash covers options 1, 4, and 6. Note that they cannot tech after a tech-in-place due to the teching lock-out window, and no tech they cannot tech during the early portion of the bounce
- Option 5 (No Tech, DI Behind) at can be covered with immediate turn up smash (<10%) or dash back JC up smash (>10%) and they shouldn't be able to tech if you're fast enough. Other options here are dash back drill or turn jab reset. Jab reset is great because it gives an optionless reset, but it also can be SDI'd out of. Drill always gives an option reset.
- The tech rolls (options 2 and 3) can be read with a running shine, drill, or up smash. I can generally recommend running shine. Drill is fine if they don't SDI out. Up smash can be teched, but do to the way tech lockout windows work, it's very unlikely.
- If they do not DI, Up tilt into a string of up tilts until the DI away, then re-grab (DI away, lower %), wavedash up tilt (DI away, higher %), tech chase (DI onto a platform), or hit them off stage.
- If they DI away, dash JC up smash is the easy damage. It doesn't combo further if they DI out, but often it could put them off stage or make them tech on a platform.
- Re-grabbing also somewhat works. The re-grab is sometimes TAS guaranteed depending on the exact staleness, port, DI, and %, but regardless, it's a small window. Assume it is not quite guaranteed since you are likely to not execute perfectly anyway, but they also may not jump perfectly, so it can work. The chain grab can condition them to jump out, and you can read that with a full hop up air (or another aerial). This makes it into a 50/50.
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At this range, the goal is to hit Falcon off stage for an edge guard (whether this requires a few combo hits or one hit).
For no DI:
- Up tilt up to ~70%. Follow up with a SH (40-60) or FH (60-70) Fair / Nair / Bair / Uair (1st hit). The Fair can combo if spaced and timed correctly. Nair and Bair may combo if they DI in. Otherwise they can set up for a tech chase or edge-guard. They also act as a DI mix-up because DI away to avoid the Fair combo leads to bad DI on a Bair (for instance). The DI on up tilt shouldn't matter much unless it helps them land on a platform, but it will effect exactly how the aerial is done.
- From 70% to 110% SH or FH Bair or Fair. It's better to hit them lower to the ground because that helps set up a combo, edge-guard, or tech chase, but the FH can make sure you reach in time (also because of platforms).
- Above 110% Up air will usually kill except on Dreamland. Bair however is almost as guaranteed if not more because of how easy the edge guard is.
- Dash attack begins knocking down when Falcon is at 40% (before the throw). It will force them to tech unless they SDI up.
- SH Fair, Nair or Bair up to ~80%. Nair or Weak Bair needs to be used below 60% just because Fair hits too low. Fair is best for combos and is fairly easy above 60%. It can be replaced with a weak Bair, but Fair mostly easier while weak Bair is slightly better. Nair does more damage, is maybe the easiest to use, and can set up a tech chase or edge-guard. Bair is superior to Nair, but it requires a tighter window to hit with.
- From 80 to 110% FH Nair, Fair, or Bair. It is the same reasoning as before, basically. Bair is not technically guaranteed so Nair is a safer choice if they can escape the Bair.
-To follow up on a Knockdown low to the ground (like Up throw - Nair) tech chase with an instant Nair to cover no Tech. Shine after the Nair for tech-in-place or run over to the tech roll away and grab, shine, or do something else that will be safe on shield or catch them dashing away. Alternatively, just do a hard read with a forward smash for the in place or away options and wavedash back Up tilt the tech roll in which hits them back out.
- Above 110% just Nair. It should always at least send them off stage for a simple edge-guard. Up air will usually KO, but you risk SDI.
Platform Tech chasing
Read based:
- Choose a tech option and place an Up air (below 50%) or Bair (above 50%) where they will be.
- Advanced: Falcon can use double stick ASDI to escape platform combos. This section will cover how to work around this issue, but is a WIP.
Note with DI away at low % with missed tech or tech-in-place how up air cannot quite connect in time to be guaranteed (though it may work anyway). Falcon could have buffered roll out. Also Fox must start Up Air very close to the ground to hit low enough.
Reaction based:
- The tech rolls can be covered similarly to the read option. Up air (below 50%) or Bair (above 50%) to follow the tech option. It is harder than the read, but it is a reasonable window (especially Bair).
- For missed tech either use full hop dair or double jump dair (auto cancel) to reset with only 1 or 2 hits (so they can't SDI slide off). The reset is really hard to attack out of (2 frame window) so they are likely to just stand or roll. At high %, just use a full hop nair or bair.
- For tech in place again use one of the dair options, but be sure to land behind Falcon so if he gets his shield out he can never shield grab the dair. Then you can grab or shine grab. Shield drop up air might be an issue here, but Falcon can't really roll. Rising nair is good at high % where it usually shield pokes.
Beats them if they do Shield, beats them if they don't shield. Land behind them to avoid a shield grab.
- Wavelanding on the platform immediately is another way to start a reaction tech chase. Just grab any of the techs, and jab or wait for the missed tech. Shield grab option select get-up attack or normal get-up and grab the rolls.
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