How do you play Pikachu?

[RoxburyGuy58]

I've spent all summer getting better with my other characters (which payed-off immensley), but neglected Pikachu. I always thought "he's so easy to use, I barely need to practice with him!" Now my strategy is stale, and I can barely win with him, but I don't want to give him up. I've watched some Anther vids and took his strategies for a test run. Using Thunder Jolt for mindgames and approaches is good, but my general combat skills with Pika aren't that good. This is probably because my combos rely too much on sheildgrabs. So does anyone have a solid strategy they'd like to share? I'm always looking for ways to get better.

 

[K 2]

I had the same problem you did: trying to shieldgrab too much. Here's a solution to that. Go to custom controls and turn off shield/grab. I do that whenever I notice I'm doing something repeated. That helps break the habit of shield grabbing too much. Of course, whenever you play in a tourney or something, you want to turn shield back on, but whenever you are "training", that helps a lot. Utilize tilts and aerials into your game; they rack up damage quickly and keep your kill moves fresh.

 

[Excellence]

I played a Pikachu earlier who was really good. I'll find his name and give you a referal so that you can ask and or play him for some first hand information.

 

[Muhznit]

This is EXACTLY why I came up with this thread. When developed enough, we'll have multiple inputs on Pikachu's moves for new players to build a style from.

Quick Tips:

1. Your kill moves are (from best to worst): F-Smash, Thunder, D-Smash, U-Smash, Nair. Don't spam them, or they'll get weak and you won't be able to kill.
2. Against reflectors, don't bother trying to kill with Thunder. More often than not, you'll kill yourself instead. Use thunder mainly under platforms so that they can't reflect it into you.
3. Quick Attack Cancel is Pikachu's best friend. Learn how to do it here.
4. Pikachu's Tilts are amazing. U-Tilt has more range than D-Smash, D-Tilt is speedy and Pika's 2nd-longest attack, F-Tilt is a good substitute for F-Smash because of its KO potential.
5. Pikachu's chaingrabs (F-Throw and D-Throw) are awesome. Use them.
6. Lucas is your worst enemy. Be careful not to QAC into his U-Smash, and all of his tilts are faster than Pikachu's. He can absorb Thunder or Reflect it, and step-dodging is easy for him to punish.

 

[M15t3R E]

T-jolts/QAC for approaching and spacing.
Anything quick for punishing.
F-air/U-air/Grabs for comboing.
Thunder for edgeguarding.
Smash attacks/QAC -> Thunder (AT) for kill moves.

Watch more Anther videos and learn to perform all of his techniques in Training.
Then try to incorporate them one by one in online friendly brawls. That's what I did.
Also check out our various stickys around the Board.
We are constantly trying to make it easier for players like you to pick up Pikachu.

 

[RoxburyGuy58]

I'm not really a Pika-n00b, I just lost my touch. But I greatly appreciate the help.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

This is EXACTLY why I came up with this thread. When developed enough, we'll have multiple inputs on Pikachu's moves for new players to build a style from.

Quick Tips:

1. Your kill moves are (from best to worst): F-Smash, Thunder, D-Smash, U-Smash, Nair. Don't spam them, or they'll get weak and you won't be able to kill. (F-Throw and D-Throw) are awesome. Use them.
   

I think U-smash is a better kill move than D-smash. D-smash is too easy to DI out of...but yeah, don't spam them at low %s. The only one that is good to use at low %s is D-smash because it ***** sidesteps and kills shields if they aren't at a new shield.

 

[StarWaffle]

I am a dedicated Pika user, but i find myself fixated on different aspects of pikas gameplay in evry match i have. Some times i get way to focused on grabs and then get KOed real quickly. Other times i get waaay to familiar with dsmash and sometimes i just completly forget about his tilts or arieals. I find it really hard to find a good balance between all of his moves. I usualy become stale and predictable like 1 minute and 1/2 into the game. I usualy fall for the same trick like 3-4 times in a row and become an easy opponent. I think that the most important thing to do to be a great pika user is to be unpredictable :\ never let your opponent know what your doing next and just keep them guessing and on their toes.