I can't beat Sonic.

[Flindigo]

No matter how hard I try, I cannot beat Sonic players. They're too damned fast. His moves last too long, he doesn't have enough ending lag, etc. I mean, a lot of the stuff I can see as simple player error, like rolling when I should've spotdodged or shielded, or not reading a roll with my dash attacks. I know how to stop his spin with my jab, but he can still easily retaliate. The taunts just add salt to the wounds. So any help would be appreciated.

 

[KaptenFullkorn]

can you jab the spin (ball or whatever) to cancel it? Im having some troubles with sonics aswell...

 

[Lionman]

Falcon kick breaks the Spin attack, use shield a lot, find a way to uair.

 

[BigLord]

Study Sonic videos online carefully. Notice how they play. Take mental notes about things you could do, as a Falcon, to counter them. For example, Sonic's dash attack is good if you're caught off-guard, but if they approach with it you can easily shield&grab them. Don't forget Falcon Kick to break their attacks, too!

All in all, what I'd do is try to figure out their playstyle (do they spin attack everywhere? Do they approach from the air instead?) and then try to counter it.

 

[Legaci]

I believe one of the best things to do against sonics would be to shield grab them after they try to attack, and then you can punish them. Try to u air them as well. As a sonic player, Falcons are not the most threatening thing for me.However, waiting and punishing is key my friend, especially when a lot of sonics mostly spin dash and link to spin attack. Grabbing them is very effective as well.

 

[jay-tee]

Sonics are a tricky match-up for the Captain imo. I mean, a character that runs faster than you and moves faster than you is not common if you use Captain Falcon.

To me, I just shield a lot, if they runs towards me I know they go for the grab, I just jab or dodge it. If they go for a spin-dash I just punish it with a Falcon Kick, if he's too close I just shield and if they jump past your shield (like most of them do) I jump out of shield and hit them with a back air.

 

[Mrwhatzitooya]

While Sonic can be tricky, once you get used to his moveset (just like getting used to Little Mac ) you can start to consistently beat that annoying blue hedgehog.

Falcon's multi-jab combo is something I'd definitely recommend, as most Sonic's don't expect their spin attack to be stopped, and it catches them off guard. Shielding is also useful if you're facing away from them when they approach.

As with a lot of characters (Zero Suit, other Falcons, etc), I've also found that Sonic players tend to use their diving kick as soon as they feel threatened in the air. Anticipate this and shield, before grabbing them and dealing out some severe punishment.

I hope this helps

 

[BoBoddy]

If you see them spinning you know shielding is a much safer option since there won't be a grab coming. Just wait them out then punish with uairs.

 

[Ree301]

I have some thoughts about this match up that could make it a bit easier to understand. From my experience playing good Sonics, their main strengths are obviously speed, combos and what I find most dangerous, tech chasing. This is just my opinion about the match and what works for me.

Things I look out for;

- Common Sonic practice is side/ down B > jump (hit confirm here). Yeah, Falcon Kick will work to break through this move, but the start up on it may put you in harms way. Only use it if they're recklessly abusing the spin dash approaches from afar. All in all, you want to try and react to it given each individual situation. If they hit you, the end. Expect about 30-40%. Reset to neutral by getting to your feet after they combo. If you shield, you can either counter after their side B's jump with an aerial (Uair or Bair?). If you fail to react here or if the situation isn't to your liking, wait. They'll attempt to pressure you coming back down. If they do the cheeky thing and use neutral B, you can, again, just shield said homing attack and full hop Uair after they rebound off of you. Anything else, just reset the space by running away or shield grab.

- When being hit at mid/high %, Sonic can side B > jump > Uair you for a true combo. A common follow up to this is up B > Uair. This can kill at surprisingly low %. Best not to challenge this as Falcon doesn't have many answers to being juggled. Air dodge and head back to the ground.

- Sonic edge guards by dropping up B springs on you when you recover low. Depending on the stage, use your wall jumps to stay out of the way or be ready to wall tech. Typically these springs won't put you in the blast zone, but if they do? Great job, you hit like 500% without dying.

- By far the most dangerous thing about Sonic is his ability to punish you almost anytime you're floored. Be mindful when using a get up attack or teching left/ right as Sonic can just space down B and chase you to another combo. Also, you'll want to be careful about rolling too much. This is always true, but in this case especially. Not only that but his Usmash at the edge of the stage is an answer to almost all options from ledge hanging (similar to holding A at the edge of a stage with Falcon). Don't challenge this by ledge hopping a move, jumping, attacking or quick standing. Roll to avoid the attack and punish the recovery.

- Any smash attack Sonic whiffs is bad news for him. Watch for these and whiffed Dair. Not only that, but he's lighter than most. Your side B will kill him from around 110% if you haven't landed a knee or smashes to end the stock.

- Ledge guarding the blue devil is a good place to rack damage. Sonic up B doesn't have a hit box, so hunt him in the air with weak Fair > Uair combo, strong Fair (you don't say), run off Bair into stage, and perhaps most importantly, stuff his up B with Dair (I'm not sure if his up B can sweet spot the ledge or not...). He may try to neutral B as you chase, but if you bait this and air dodge it, that's the stock.

 

[Gawain]

Sonic is a garbage matchup for every character in the game. His entire gameplan revolves around doing the same spindash approach from the ledge and then using his up b and aerials to protect himself if he his your shield or combo you if you are hit. That's literally as deep as it gets for him, either you read his post-spindash actions and get a hit in, you fail the read and get hit, or you stay in shield and he goes back to spindashing. Compound this with his f smash and back throw abd you've got one of the most degenerate matchups for anyone. Its very similar to Rosaluna and Ness in pacing. Just do your best to get reads abd punish hard

 

[Captain Justice]

If you see them spinning you know shielding is a much safer option since there won't be a grab coming. Just wait them out then punish with uairs.

This is a very safe strategy to use. Alternatively, if you get the timing down using up-tilt will stop Sonic's spin dash and charge in their tracks. Like I said, you just have to get that timing down and you'll be set. After stopping them, however you go about it, grabbing is great to use if you can pull it off. I would suggest up throws followed by a string of uairs to build up some damage at low percents. When they get around 80%, a down throw followed by KoJ has HUGE kill potential.

 

[JingleJangleJamil]

No matter how hard I try, I cannot beat Sonic players. They're too damned fast. His moves last too long, he doesn't have enough ending lag, etc. I mean, a lot of the stuff I can see as simple player error, like rolling when I should've spotdodged or shielded, or not reading a roll with my dash attacks. I know how to stop his spin with my jab, but he can still easily retaliate. The taunts just add salt to the wounds. So any help would be appreciated.

Honestly, I have trouble with them too,but I use Falcon Punch as a kill move against them.Sure, it sounds ridiculous,but if I see them start charging the down-b I bait them to try to hit me, then when they miss I do a Falcon Punch while they are on their way back to try to hit me and they dash straight into it.

 

[BigLord]

Honestly, I have trouble with them too,but I use Falcon Punch as a kill move against them.

Lmao, that sounds so ridiculous. I gotta try that one

Probably isn't going to hit more than once, but still it's hilarious!

 

[Dekar173]

Honestly, I have trouble with them too,but I use Falcon Punch as a kill move against them.Sure, it sounds ridiculous,but if I see them start charging the down-b I bait them to try to hit me, then when they miss I do a Falcon Punch while they are on their way back to try to hit me and they dash straight into it.

what

 

[HFlash]

Honestly, I have trouble with them too,but I use Falcon Punch as a kill move against them.Sure, it sounds ridiculous,but if I see them start charging the down-b I bait them to try to hit me, then when they miss I do a Falcon Punch while they are on their way back to try to hit me and they dash straight into it.

Falcon punch confirmed Sonic Counter

 

[JingleJangleJamil]

Alright, so I just played against someone on FG who was pretty good with Sonic. I noticed that one of the best ways to fight sonic is by spot dodging a lot instead of shielding and if you ever roll behind them IMMEDIATELY go for a d-tilt.Do you guys use d-tilt when you use falcon? I notice a lot of people don't use his d-tilt,but it is an amazing move to to get opponents away from you and it is good when edge guarding, because not only is it rarely used,but they will also be guessing how you will edge guard them.

 

[HFlash]

Alright, so I just played against someone on FG who was pretty good with Sonic. I noticed that one of the best ways to fight sonic is by spot dodging a lot instead of shielding and if you ever roll behind them IMMEDIATELY go for a d-tilt.Do you guys use d-tilt when you use falcon? I notice a lot of people don't use his d-tilt,but it is an amazing move to to get opponents away from you and it is good when edge guarding, because not only is it rarely used,but they will also be guessing how you will edge guard them.

I use it mostly on characters who have short ranges and on times that the spacing between me and my enemy are right at the tip of dtilt, but they can't reach me. Sort of like marth's dtilt. Otherwise, I don't use it alot personally because it is meant more as a zoning move which isn't really the captain's game. I'll only use it during those specific cases try to to get a free hit with little to no risk

 

[BigLord]

dTilt is fantastic in this game, I use it all the time. It KOs Little Mac so easily mainly because his recovery sucks, heh.

 

[I ReZo I]

Sonic can be a pain sometimes, but honestly, its manageable. If you get sonic off the edge, its game over for him unless he reads it and responds appropriately.

SDSH Dair off the side on his way up from down low, jump as soon as the first Dair ends and you can get another one, if he doesn't air dodge, he gets spiked, if he does air dodge the first Dair and you read which way he DI's the air dodge, your second dAir will hit. Nothing to be scared of when sonic is recovering from down low.

If he does a dash attack and you shield it, you can reverse extended dash grab out of the shield, his only escape is up or properly timed spot dodge.

If you grab sonic, it is a guaranteed KO after sonic reaches 35% before the grab combo starts. You can true combo dThrow>ShortDashFullHop Uair>SecondJump KneeOfJustice.

If close enough to the edge, you can dthrow>SDFH Uair>SJ Dair

This can net you the spike and is easier to true combo than the knee. Although, you need to be careful, at lower percents the spike might not be strong enough to kill sonic due to his great up B vertical distance.

Also be weary of sonic edge guarding, Sonic can Dair at the edge for the spike and still recover, try to time your air dodge properly and if you have to, jump up B early to try and go above him as he is dropping low where you normally go.

Falcon kick can be used to recover I'd you are at the upper corners blast boxes, it will finish recovering when you are just above the edge and you can still jump and up b after it finished, just make sure you are facing the right way.

Once sonic is at 35% you can even KO him with a Dthrow>SDFH Knee

Also, Sonics aerials will beat out pretty much anything you throw, a knee that sweet spots will trade, and if sonic is at 45%+ when this happens, the knee will kill as long as you are near the edge of the stage.

Jab works to stop it but don't rely on it.
You have to play this match up based on your opponent.

I recommend one extreme or the other, or to randomly switch between.

Start out extremely defensive, then once you get an opening go all offense for the rest of the stock. Don't let him breath, similar to how Cap handles little mac.

Careful that you don't always shield when he starts the spin dash, all he has to do is cancel it with shield and dash grab you. Try to connect fair so it will trade with his aerials, if you are not comfortable with that, then play more defensive, but don't roll often. Spot dodge when you can, otherwise shff uair and nair and wait until you can get that dash grab which = ton of damage

Good luck, also the others covered most of your options already, so I didn't need to repeat what they said