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General Tips For Pikachu

UltimateXsniper

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
803
Location
Virginia
3DS FC
5198-2617-9626
Hey all, I wanted to make a thread for everyone to make tips about Pikachu. Basically the concept of this is to comment what Pikachu can or cannot do and how you should play with him. Hopefully any newcomers or anyone wanting to improve on Pikachu can learn a few things by looking at advice given by players who are competent with the character.

I'll go first and I'll talk about a couple moves that are great starters to combos.

Nair, this move is fantastic as it comes out quick. It multi hits and you could get in another hit in low percentages with it's
final hit, but the move is so much better when it comes to shortening the attack. By shortening the attack, you won't let your opponent fly away from the last hit it usually does. To do this is to simply press A before landing. Once you've done this, you can start using another attack which can vary by the position your opponent is. But generally you'll probably be using the up tilt attack. You can do this at any percent too.
Side note: Nair does 4 hits total, the fourth hit is when the opponent will fly off. Make sure you can land before the 4th hit goes off so that way the move will cancel and you can start attacking with another move.

Up tilts, this is also a great move to pull and has decent range. If you haven't done so, make sure to turn off tap jump. In low percentages you can get a couple up tilts in and at higher percents, you can still combo with it. You can pull off something early in percentage like up tilt, up tilt, and then uair 2 or 3 times and possibly finish off with bair (More likely possible to do it in 2 uairs) which does a healthy amount of damage. You can also go for up tilt and Nair which can also bring up more combo opportunities depending on the stages and where the platforms are. You can usually combo with up tilt for the majority of the match.


These 2 moves are phenomenal and you can keep the combos going even longer if you use these 2 together and take advantage of the platforms above you.

If anyone else wants to add in tips that they find useful and helped them along the way of playing Pikachu then please do share!
 
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Midoriki

Smash Cadet
Joined
Oct 3, 2018
Messages
50
Down tilt is amazing! Its Pikachu's fastest tilt, hits further away than f-tilt, lowers your hurtboxes under lots of attacks, and has great followups if you have fast reactions and/or good reads.

At very low percents it can trip into a guaranteed grab. I generally go for the grab without even waiting to see if it tripped, its not a true combo without the trip, but its fast enough to work a decent chunk of the time if your opponent didn't buffer their fastest option.

Once you get to higher percents (starts at 83% for Mario) it puts your opponents into tumble, and it hits at the perfect low angle for you to run after your opponent to get a jab lock or tech chase. Its hard to pick the right option, but its safer and easier to land a down-tilt than a raw grab or smash.
 

Codebox

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jun 13, 2018
Messages
80
I need help improving my Pika play. I'm trying to work on utilizing D-tilt and F-tilt more, love using his U-tilt and aerials. I'm just trying to work on ledge options and edgeguarding. I'm okay at getting a spike, but trying to work on more drag down, recovery etc. I struggle against sword characters and have no idea how to approach or what to do against them since they wall me out every time. Does anyone have any tips for me?
 

UltimateXsniper

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
803
Location
Virginia
3DS FC
5198-2617-9626
I need help improving my Pika play. I'm trying to work on utilizing D-tilt and F-tilt more, love using his U-tilt and aerials. I'm just trying to work on ledge options and edgeguarding. I'm okay at getting a spike, but trying to work on more drag down, recovery etc. I struggle against sword characters and have no idea how to approach or what to do against them since they wall me out every time. Does anyone have any tips for me?
Pikachu's neutral B is pretty good and can gimp people. Not a bad option to use and if they come back, well at least you did a bit of extra damage to them. You could also go under the stage a bit and down B making it harder for your opponent to get back because of a giant lightning bolt is in his/her way. Also don't be afraid to go far out when edge guarding. a jump, side B, and up B makes Pikachu's recovery amazing and it's hard to die falling to your death. For sword characters, I'd try getting up close. They beat you in range so it's hard to space them out so you might as well find opportunities to get in close and deal damage.
 

InfiniteRE

Smash Cadet
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
63
Is there any good kill confirm moves for pika? I know obviously downB is a good kill confirm after an up throw, but its risky and has high punish potential. I'm just looking to be a little more versatile with pikachu because I went to a tournament with pikachu and after a few successful rounds my opponents figured out that I am a one trick pony that just plays super aggressive and reliant on edge guard kills. Is there any good camping or baiting options for pikachu? because I couldn't really find any viable options for any playstyle other than aggressive.
 

UltimateXsniper

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
803
Location
Virginia
3DS FC
5198-2617-9626
Is there any good kill confirm moves for pika? I know obviously downB is a good kill confirm after an up throw, but its risky and has high punish potential. I'm just looking to be a little more versatile with pikachu because I went to a tournament with pikachu and after a few successful rounds my opponents figured out that I am a one trick pony that just plays super aggressive and reliant on edge guard kills. Is there any good camping or baiting options for pikachu? because I couldn't really find any viable options for any playstyle other than aggressive.
I'm labbing something and so far I found you might be able to Nair to Up smash around 110-120% maybe higher once di comes into play. Also maybe try Nair to down smash? Can't really find much that kills lower than 100%
 

Invaderruto(Bilbo)

Smash Rookie
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
Messages
2
Switch FC
6230 8261 2060
Not saying it applies to every pika player I seen floating around, but don't see enough players running behind their aerial executed thunder jolts (Neutral B). If you start throwing these things out while in the air, there is 0 lag upon landing back on the ground, allowing you to run directly behind the jolt, often times allowing you to get a free grab in if you see the player is shielding alot of them, allowing you to perform any grab combo you're able to execute granted their percentage allows. Alternatively this strategy of running behind jolts can also work reasonably well to combo into Fair with, considering it's troublesome for a lot of players when they often don't hold shield down long enough for the entire duration of the attack, or works well if you feel they are not shielding enough, allowing you to hop into buffered Fair chains (it can combo into itself) which can combo very easily at early percents, and if your opponent is using bad DI (Directional Input) or not any at all, they will almost always get hit by at least 2 Fairs and it will occasionally combo up to 4 times depending on stage positioning, DI, and character size. These are really nice because it will almost always knock you opponents well off the edge of the stage allowing you to quickly get back onto the stage with a quick attack and now you can work on an edge guard strategy from there. As mentioned previously, thunder jolts (Neutral B) is very good for sniping and gimping some characters, while having the Dair spike can be leathal in the hands of a skilled and practiced player. I've been playing pika for a good while and I'm still learning alot, but aerial thunder jolt is an incredible tool that can really turn the tides if you're struggling in a match up and aren't sure how to open up some of your more defensive opponents. It's helped me out in so many ways.

On a side note... Go practice Pika's Quick Attack (UP B) and it's double zip mechanics to death in training mode. You will save yourself so much headache if you can avoid SD'ing(Self Destructing) every single match, by learning how to properly recover with it and getting really really used to the feeling of it's necessary quick inputs.
 
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Invaderruto(Bilbo)

Smash Rookie
Joined
Feb 11, 2019
Messages
2
Switch FC
6230 8261 2060
Not saying it applies to every pika player I seen floating around, but don't see enough players running behind their aerial executed thunder jolts (Neutral B). If you start throwing these things out while in the air, there is 0 lag upon landing back on the ground, allowing you to run directly behind the jolt, often times allowing you to get a free grab in if you see the player is shielding alot of them, allowing you to perform any grab combo you're able to execute granted their percentage allows. Alternatively this strategy of running behind jolts can also work reasonably well to combo into Fair with, considering it's troublesome for a lot of players when they often don't hold shield down long enough for the entire duration of the attack, or works well if you feel they are not shielding enough, allowing you to hop into buffered Fair chains (it can combo into itself) which can combo very easily at early percents, and if your opponent is using bad DI (Directional Input) or not any at all, they will almost always get hit by at least 2 Fairs and it will occasionally combo up to 4 times depending on stage positioning, DI, and character size. These are really nice because it will almost always knock you opponents well off the edge of the stage allowing you to quickly get back onto the stage with a quick attack and now you can work on an edge guard strategy from there. As mentioned previously, thunder jolts (Neutral B) is very good for sniping and gimping some characters, while having the Dair spike can be leathal in the hands of a skilled and practiced player. I've been playing pika for a good while and I'm still learning alot, but aerial thunder jolt is an incredible tool that can really turn the tides if you're struggling in a match up and aren't sure how to open up some of your more defensive opponents. It's helped me out in so many ways.

On a side note... Go practice Pika's Quick Attack (UP B) and it's double zip mechanics to death in training mode. You will save yourself so much headache if you can avoid SD'ing(Self Destructing) every single match, by learning how to properly recover with it and getting really really used to the feeling of it's necessary quick inputs.
As a guick addition to all of this, I should add that Bair (Back Air) combo strings will similarly have the same effect as the Fair combos, by true comboing into each other, often times working even better than Fair if you can pull them off, and if you've hit them with a combo from 0 and have taken them off the ledge, as you are also out there, one of the fastest and optimal ways to return directly to the ledge, so I've recently discovered is to, out of the last hit in the air combo string, immediately fast fall, into an immediate horizontal quick attack (Up B, with a horizontal zip input toward the corresponding ledge). Doing this correctly can allow you to put on some serious pressure by swiftly dropping down and continue with an effective aerial attack option or occasionally a well executed thunder (Down B...which I just tested, and you can do quick drop into thunder>jump>quick attack and still recover, I've yet to see how much utility this could offer... But it can it can be done, and we all now know XD) depending on the situation. Mind you, you will have to become a rather brave soul in order to fly off or drop and attack, so learn how to properly recover from these spots way out there, but if anyone can do it, Pikachu has undoubtedly got one of the best recovery skills and options in the game. (PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE QUICK ATTACK... YOU WILL EVENTUALLY GET A FEEL FOR IT, DON'T GIVE UP AND IN TIME YOU WILL TAME THIS WILD UNRULY BEAST OF AN ATTACK/RECOVERY) Needless to say, if you ever want to pull off some bad ass edge guarding, practicing that quick return to ledge grab and out of that you can set yourself up for some really early kills on your opponent by playing with some various aggressive options from it. Not to mention if you can kill them with this aggressive kind of set up, you will more than likely instantly shake them up alot, commence the sloppy play on their end. XD So... best of luck... and go practice your Quick Attack more! Much love for the Pikachu community here. I'm still training a lot. So, if anyone's got any other cool options or tech for Pikachu, I'd love to see more of it posted here. You don't have to write novels like me either xD, but it would be really cool to really tap into this character's full ability and potential and see us all really get the most out of it. Catch you on the flip flop, later!
:ultpikachu:
 
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UltimateXsniper

Smash Ace
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
803
Location
Virginia
3DS FC
5198-2617-9626
I have something small to bring up but may be important to a Pikachu player. This small thing is about controller preference. Now, I'll just say right now that the Pro controller is perfectly fine and viable and is what some players use these days at a competitive level. However, if anyone hasn't decided which controller to use yet and they plan on maining Pikachu, the GC controller may be the better controller. For the most part the preference is subjective but where it matters to the character is that GC controller has edges on the stick which is generally better for angles in recovery. Pikachu's quick attack will benefit using this as you will preform certain angles more efficiently than you would with a pro controller, which has no edges to help guide you for angles.

To anyone who already uses a Pro controller, you shouldn't have to worry too much about it, but for anyone else who is either new or was thinking about changing controllers, the GC controller is a good option for Pikachu players (and other characters who can use angles to their advantage as well).
 

MasherSSBU

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
3
Pikachu has some INSANE combos in ultimate. If you look at ESAM he's got some incredible nair loops going on, but it's almost impossible for me to practice/pull off, so a lot of practice is involved.
 

Constadin

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Jul 13, 2015
Messages
89
Concerning the controller. I am playing since melee with gcc, I have more than 10 which I repair and even mod by myself... recently I bought the pro controller and I can't be happier with the purchase. For pikachu specifically, the lack of edges enables me to better control quick attack than guide me. I have found muself in many cases being able to recover with pro controller where as with the gcc I wouldnt have
 
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