Guide: Captain Falcon Knee Setups

[Trifroze]

The first part of a series of at least 3 guides that I'll make for Falcon, covering his guaranteed knee setups:

In addition, here are the contents in text form (all are approximates and can be off by 1-4%, tested with 5% accuracy):

Dash grab down throw to knee (guaranteed / airdodge 50:50 limit)
Mewtwo: 20-55% / 85%
Pikachu: 20-45% / 75%
Rosalina: 20-50% / 65%
Kirby: 20-45% / 55%
G&W: 20-45% / 55%
Jigglypuff: 20-40% / 60%
- May work on a few others but only for a very short time and not near kill percents
- No chance versus heavies because down throw is slower and has more lag the heavier the opponent is

Up air to knee (guaranteed / airdodge 50:50 limit)
Average lightweights: 40-75% / 95%
Average mediumweights: 45-85% / 100%
Average heavyweights: 45-90% / 105%
- Works a little bit earlier on taller characters, in other words almost every heavyweight

Down air bounce to knee (guaranteed / airdodge 50:50 limit)
Average lightweights: 60-65% / 95%
Average mediumweights: 65-75% / 105%
Average heavyweights: 75-80% / 110%
- Precise, frame canceling helps a ton

Down B 3: Lightning Falcon Kick
Everyone: 0-999%
- Creates an infinite on all characters, timing is very lenient on Ness, Lucas, Lucario, Olimar and G&W

 

[NoahDaniel]

Great video! Very indepth, actually learned quite a lot of new stuff.

Spoiler

I'm sorry

 

[teluoborg]

Pretty based, as always. Do you have a textual list of the percentages the combos work ?

 

[CrypticStorm]

Excellent guide and great video as always Trifroze! Thank you for taking it upon yourself to show the world the way of the Falcon.

 

[TheSausXL]

Pretty cool. I was actually doing some testing and I found that The Knee actually has the most knockback out of any aerial. I found that it kills at 80% on Robin in the middle of FD with no DI and no rage. Other moves, such as Zelda's bair/fair and Bowser's bair were surprisingly weaker. The former killing at around 85% and the latter at nearly 100%. I couldn't do any more in depth testing because I was strapped for time so if anyone as any other info feel free to add.

 

[Trifroze]

Pretty based, as always. Do you have a textual list of the percentages the combos work ?

Yeah, I added it to the first post under the video.

Pretty cool. I was actually doing some testing and I found that The Knee actually has the most knockback out of any aerial. I found that it kills at 80% on Robin in the middle of FD with no DI and no rage. Other moves, such as Zelda's bair/fair and Bowser's bair were surprisingly weaker. The former killing at around 85% and the latter at nearly 100%. I couldn't do any more in depth testing because I was strapped for time so if anyone as any other info feel free to add.

Yeah, Zelda's bair (or whichever was her stronger kick) kills approximately 1% later than knee with VI and her other one kills a fair bit later. :^]

....I'm also pretty sure that the knee has special properties in the sense that vectoring (or commonly still called DI) is very weak against it, the angle of a VI'd knee knockback from the middle of the stage is not even nearly diagonal. If Falcon had Zelda's bair or fair though this would work on every character until like 60-70% so I can see why the knee has 14 frames of startup.

 

[Tricky Al]

...her other one kills a fair bit later

I see what you did there. >_>

This is great work Trifroze! I'm a newcomer in competitive smash and really favor Falcon. You and Gawain have really pushed Cap's boundaries. Keep up the good work!

Also, I was wondering if you ever entered tournaments. Your Falcon seems pretty solid but I can't find any matches on YouTube. I wanted to see some of these combos and setups in high-level play. Thanks again

 

[Nixon Corral]

Thanks, Trifroze. This is really helpful! I look forward to practicing these and putting them into play!

I was really impressed by the quality editing in this video. Very professional looking stuff.

 

[Zonderion]

This video is great!

As far as the heavies, are there any guaranteed combos into knee? For example, dash grab -> down throw -> to uair -> 2nd jump -> knee?

I wasn't sure if there are other potential combos that lead to knee that work on heavies.

 

[TheSausXL]

Yeah, I added it to the first post under the video.



Yeah, Zelda's bair (or whichever was her stronger kick) kills approximately 1% later than knee with VI and her other one kills a fair bit later. :^]

....I'm also pretty sure that the knee has special properties in the sense that vectoring (or commonly still called DI) is very weak against it, the angle of a VI'd knee knockback from the middle of the stage is not even nearly diagonal. If Falcon had Zelda's bair or fair though this would work on every character until like 60-70% so I can see why the knee has 14 frames of startup.

Also The Knee is a bit easier to hit IMO. If I'm not mistaken, there are more frames to sweetspot the Knee than the Lightning Kick.

Also it is cool that you gave some characters that the d-throw set up works on in the vid. I was meaning to put together a list myself but couldn't find the time.

 

[alexthepony]

If my character is not quite light enough for this to be guaranteed, how do i properly di it, so I don't get hit with it anyway?
alsowould the best option for the 50 50 be to di down and away and airdodge? or just away and airdodge?
if you don't know the answer to this question its fine, but does luma have any interruptions to stop flcon from this combo?

also are there any guaranteed setups from uthrow to knee? how should I escape this?

 

[TexasCrusader]

If my character is not quite light enough for this to be guaranteed, how do i properly di it, so I don't get hit with it anyway?
alsowould the best option for the 50 50 be to di down and away and airdodge? or just away and airdodge?
if you don't know the answer to this question its fine, but does luma have any interruptions to stop flcon from this combo?

also are there any guaranteed setups from uthrow to knee? how should I escape this?

First post and I thought this would be a good way to practice visualization. Anyone feel free to correct me or add to this.

My friend and I have been trying to figure this out as well so here are some of my conclusions:

The lighter you are, the easier it is to get Kneed. Dash grabs enhance the likelihood even further. That being said, you do have options.

We Falcons still have to correctly read your DI after a down throw to land the Knee. The best way to avoid the Knee is to not get grabbed obviously, but after that, you should vary your DI. I believe that the worst way to DI is towards or down. These make the Knee easier to land unless you really mix someone up by doing it. Hell, DI-ing towards or down makes you susceptible to any option because it makes nearly anything a true combo. Even a RAR can be quite deadly. If you DI up, I believe that the Knee will still connect some of the time, if Falcon full hops. I do not see upwards DI to be very beneficial most of the time. I think it's a great way to eat a ton of Uairs. You aren't getting obliterated by a Knee, but you might eat 3 or 4 staled Uairs. I believe the best option is to DI away or up and away. Uair is still guaranteed for quite a while, but at least you aren't getting killed by a Knee.

On to the Uair to Knee combo, there isn't much you can do about the Uair itself. You're going to eat one with proper DI. As far as I've tested, it's easier to land the Knee if you sweetspot the Uair (which is closer to Falcon). That means that you're going to want to DI away from the sweetspot. This might be the time where you DI up just above the sweetspot.

I hope this was helpful.

 

[alexthepony]

First post and I thought this would be a good way to practice visualization. Anyone feel free to correct me or add to this.

My friend and I have been trying to figure this out as well so here are some of my conclusions:

The lighter you are, the easier it is to get Kneed. Dash grabs enhance the likelihood even further. That being said, you do have options.

We Falcons still have to correctly read your DI after a down throw to land the Knee. The best way to avoid the Knee is to not get grabbed obviously, but after that, you should vary your DI. I believe that the worst way to DI is towards or down. These make the Knee easier to land unless you really mix someone up by doing it. Hell, DI-ing towards or down makes you susceptible to any option because it makes nearly anything a true combo. Even a RAR can be quite deadly. If you DI up, I believe that the Knee will still connect some of the time, if Falcon full hops. I do not see upwards DI to be very beneficial most of the time. I think it's a great way to eat a ton of Uairs. You aren't getting obliterated by a Knee, but you might eat 3 or 4 staled Uairs. I believe the best option is to DI away or up and away. Uair is still guaranteed for quite a while, but at least you aren't getting killed by a Knee.

On to the Uair to Knee combo, there isn't much you can do about the Uair itself. You're going to eat one with proper DI. As far as I've tested, it's easier to land the Knee if you sweetspot the Uair (which is closer to Falcon). That means that you're going to want to DI away from the sweetspot. This might be the time where you DI up just above the sweetspot.

I hope this was helpful.

do you know where the sweetspot is? or is just anything after 11 of the uair? do you mean di your self NOT to get hit by the sweet spot uair, or di your self after getting hit with the uair. I am kinda confused about your 2nd paragraph

 

[TexasCrusader]

do you know where the sweetspot is? or is just anything after 11 of the uair? do you mean di your self NOT to get hit by the sweet spot uair, or di your self after getting hit with the uair. I am kinda confused about your 2nd paragraph

The sweetspot appears to be anything that deals 11 damage (as opposed to 10). It seems the sweetspot is close to and in front of Falcon (possible the first few frames of the move). I suggest you try to DI away from the sweetspot of Uair. It's not as easy to connect a Knee after a sourspotted Uair. DI any way you think will help but realize Falcon has other aerials to counteract your DI. If the Falcon player doesn't expect your DI or misreads it, you can make him miss his combos.

If you do get hit with the sweetspot of Uair, you can still DI but not that much.