Help meh, need pika advice

[DerfMidWest]

I recently picked up pika as a secondary, and like using him allot (he's my puff slayer :D )

I'm a Pichu main, so my Pika plays allot like my Pichu, do you have any suggestions on how I should alter my playstyle?

 

[DerfMidWest]

Yea, also need help with peaches. I find it harder to uair spike and gimp/ edgeguard them.

 

[dkuo]

ICG would have a lot to say about this...if only he wasn't banned

I don't know much about Pichu but I'll list some differences that you should probably take into consideration.

• Obvious: Pikachu is faster, heavier, and jumps higher. Pikachu fastfalls a little faster too. Overall, he's better with movement other than the fact that he can't walljump.
• Not so obvious: Pikachu's shield is smaller than Pichu's (smallest out of everyone). Similarly, Pikachu's grab is shorter than Pichu's (shortest out of everyone ).
• Correct me on this if I'm wrong: from what I know, all of Pikachu's attacks in general are similar but have more range(dtilt!)/priority/damage than Pichu's. Their aerials all work very similarly other than uair, which you can read more about at http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=12324951#post12324951. That'll probably be your main gameplay changer since it provides a solid tool for gimping.
• Pikachu's dsmash catches opponents in multiple hits and throws them in erratic trajectories. Additionally, Pikachu's fsmash only hits once but has a similar trajectory as Pichu's if the final hit of Pichu's fsmash connects.
• Not sure about this one, but I think most of Pikachu's attacks have slightly longer lag. I know that some of his aerials have more landing lag.

If I knew anything about Pichu's metagame/playstyle I would give you advice on changing your playstyle. Pikachu's playstyle is probably somewhat similar to Pichu's, except that Pikachu has to capitalize more on gimping opportunities.

As for Peach, you already read my post in the social thread but you should get advice from other Pika players as well.

PS - don't double-post, use the edit function in the future. Welcome to smashboards

 

[DerfMidWest]

Ok. Sorry for double post lol.
And thanks for help (again)

 

[_Xanatos_]

Pikachu's usmash is the strongest in the game, so a Pikachu should use more Jump-cancelled and OoS usmashes than a Pichu.

Pikachu has longer ranged ground attacks, so you should space ground attacks further away. In general, utilize tilts and fsmash more often than you would with Pichu, and approach with dash-cancelled tilts.

Uair has more range, and it can tail-spike. Just check out the thread that dkuo posted.

Finally, don't be afraid to use Pikachu's jolt and grab pummel. They won't damage you.

 

[DerfMidWest]

*is not phased by pichu's self damage*

fro playing as pika more, all I've really noticed is that he's slower, has more lag, has a sexier uair, and doesn't have good UpB stuff (due to his lag) but can use UpB to gimp people's recovery.
I don't see why I would upsmash OoS more with pika, because its still a good tactic with pichu since his upsmash is still strong. I also find pika's fsmash to be worse than pichu's, all though Pichu's can be DI'd out of, it still kills faster and people will rarely sdi out of it anyways unless they are floaty.

 

[_Xanatos_]

Yeah, Pichu's fsmash is good, just shorter. Pichu's is great for edgeguarding certain characters who don't sweetspot the ledge. Even if they sdi out, they fall down, and you can just repeat when try to grab the edge again. Though I'm sure you know all of that, since you are a Pichu main.

And yeah, don't be afraid of that self-damage, you masochist pichu punk lol.

Also, respect the Pika fsmash. Great range and powerful.

 

[DerfMidWest]

Oh I don't disrespect Pika's fsmash, I just don't think that its as good as pichu's, It still decent for edgeguarding, which is probably the way that I'd mostly use Pichu's fsmash anyways.

 

[_Xanatos_]

Pichu's is better?

Pikachu's fsmash is stronger, has longer range, and deals more damage (like 21%).

And there are still the facts that Pichu's does self-mutilation damage, and you can sdi out of it, though those seem to be only minor details to you.

 

[festizzio]

For Peach, watch out for Nairs and Turnips, and space your approaches so you don't get caught in a cc'd downsmash. I would also say try recovering from below the stage, or far above it so you don't get hit by a nair edge guard. As for uair spikes, I say don't base your Peach game around them, but be proficient enough at them so you can use it if the opportunity ever presents itself.

 

[DerfMidWest]

Pichu's is better. Pikachu has more range and deals 4% more than pichu (pichu will deal 21%, pika does 25%), yes, and it can't be sdi'd out of, but look at the difference in knockback. Pichu's sends them like 2 or 3 times farther than pika's.

People can SDI out of pichu's fsmash, but that will rarely happen at low percent, which is alright because Pichu's kills are all gimps at low percent anyways. As for self damage, fsmash will give you like 2 damage... thats not significant, and on average, you will take 10%-20%(20% being you are spamming electric moves anyways) per stock total, thats not that big of a deal imo. the majority of your electric attacks only deal 1% to yourself.

The main way that Pichu uses fsmash is when preventing somebody from grabbing the ledge (in which case SDI'ing won't help them anyways) or out of a pawd, both are hard to escape.

The only advantage of pika's fsmash is the range and the fact that it can't be SDI'd out of, either way Pichu's is still better, you just have to use it smarter, its not something you can just throw out there.

 

[_Xanatos_]

Yeah, I agree with all that. Except the part about Pichu's sending opponents 2 or 3 times further than pika's.

But I think we both underestimated how tricky Pichu is. Pichu has great fsmash power at lower percents whereas Pikachu doesn't at all, but around 75% and above, Pikachu's fsmash steadily becomes more powerful relative to Pichu's.

So I can see where you're coming from now. Since you said that Pichu relies on low percent gimps, I can see why you appreciate a fsmash with great power at low to medium percent.

Also Pikachu's fsmash does 21% and Pichu's does 14%, I believe.

 

[DerfMidWest]

if all parts hit, Pichu's does 20% (i was off 1% but w.e.), I tested in training a couple times. Pika's does 25%.

but yea, the power doesn't matter too much imo, because you are probably using fsmash (for both) not to rack up damage, but to kill and/or get them off stage.

And yea I guess Pika's would be better at 75%+, but really pichu's is going to send most characters too far off to recover at 75% anyways (and i think pika's too)

anyways, both are useful, just the way I play makes Pichu's better I guess.

But yea, the 2 or 3 times farther part was exaggerated, but it does send them farther at lower percent.

/misunderstanding