I need help with Falco

[Mk28]

I really like Falco's moves and I really like him alot, but for some reason I feel like that Falco is incredibly slow in this game and has really long landing lag with aerial attacks, making me wonder: Does he really prefer the air?. Can anybody give me some advice about Falco making him playable? Anything would help from Good and bad moves/scenarios or even the mindset to play when using Falco or whether he is meant to be played defensive or not.

So if you could drop a small piece of advice or even any links to guides/tutorials that would be nice.

 

[BltzZ]

I really like Falco's moves and I really like him alot, but for some reason I feel like that Falco is incredibly slow in this game and has really long landing lag with aerial attacks, making me wonder: Does he really prefer the air?. Can anybody give me some advice about Falco making him playable? Anything would help from Good and bad moves/scenarios or even the mindset to play when using Falco or whether he is meant to be played defensive or not.

So if you could drop a small piece of advice or even any links to guides/tutorials that would be nice.

Defense goes a long way with anyone in this game as it is geared to defensive play. Baiting attacks and reacting is the best thing for falco. Short hopping nair and up air and bair have no landing lag and you can throw a tilt or smash out on landing. Falco's fair off stage is amazing for gimping poor recoveries. Here's me abusing lucina off the edge. Check my channel out for more I got tons of more videos coming soon. Also falco has the highest jump in the game so at high percentages you can upthrow enemies and chase them to the top of the blast zone for an upair. Even at low percents a sweet spotted up air at the top can kill. You just need to get better acquainted with his new movelist. His brawl tools are all gone. I find some success with his dair but that's situational. His fair is more consistent for off stage kills. A bread and butter combo I do is Dthrow -> dash attack -> up smash.

Once your opponent gets condition to that what they usually do after the dash attack is jump what you can then do is Dthrow > dash attack > full jump fair. Works wonders

Super Smash Bros. Wii U - Falco's Fair vs Lucina: http://youtu.be/mkJg7BAQlhs

Falco dair Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - Falco(BltzZ) VS Luc…: http://youtu.be/P0CpZrVaEtg

I short hop alot to bait opponents to make mistakes and then punish it. Don't be afraid of captain falcon Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - Falco(BltzZ) VS Cap…: http://youtu.be/OIAZOL9u7MI

 

[Mk28]

Thanks for offering some of your advice, but now you've made me curious about specific moves that Falco has after watching your videos. How would you use and in which situations do you use Side-B, Down tilt, and Down-B?

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Side - b can be used to mix up your approach, if you land a hit on stage it sends them into the air, the hitstun is just enough to follow up in certain situations.
Always short hop it though, or else you will get a bunch of recovery frames.

D-tilt is arguably one of his best moves, use it as a jab mix-up or to just get some extra percent, good range, and it's a kill move. Also it sets up for smash attacks or grabs at low percent, and a full hop fair at higher percent around 70 or 80.

Down- B is a "back off" move, it does exactly that, keeps your opponent at a mid range away from you, be careful and don't use it too often, if it gets shielded it a free punish. Plus it has a chance to trip them and gives you a chance to tech chase.

 

[BltzZ]

I like to drop low off stage then side b Into opponents and if they blocked it and run at me do a f tilt towards them.

I Mainly use d tilt in my jab combos it requires timing though like jab jab pause then down tilt. Also when someones dashing at you you can use a down tilt just before they get to you.

My down B is possibly my favorite move to use. It causes trips which depending on my opponent and their tendencies when they fall if they roll foward I forward smash or down tilt or regrab it's optional. Lower percents go for a regrab. If they roll away dash grab them.

Also I can't stress this enough short hopping and empty hopping with falco is effing amazing for mind games. That lucario player on the town and city video I played around 1:13 and 1:43 my short hops tricked them. Also after a short hop if you dash grab falco slides a bit farther try implementing that. Anything else?

 

[GreatDave]

Great videos, thanks to BltzZ: I didn't know you can stop Capt. Falcon's side B with a grab! Is it the same for Ganondorf's side B?
Anyway, I'm discovering the bird is very good for hopping around and stress the rival.
I used to believe Falco hadn't kill moves (apart from smash moves) here on Wii U, but f-air and b-air are enough powerful...I just must get used to perform that b-air more often

Great thing you can perform a second jump AFTER side-B!

 

[BltzZ]

Great videos, thanks to BltzZ: I didn't know you can stop Capt. Falcon's side B with a grab! Is it the same for Ganondorf's side B?
Anyway, I'm discovering the bird is very good for hopping around and stress the rival.
I used to believe Falco hadn't kill moves (apart from smash moves) here on Wii U, but f-air and b-air are enough powerful...I just must get used to perform that b-air more often

Great thing you can perform a second jump AFTER side-B!

Definitely dude and no problem always glad to help! I've never been able to try it on a ganondorf but his Side B is a grab so i figure he would have more priority over us. Fair people off the stage make them work to recover and get those early kills

 

[GreatDave]

Definitely dude and no problem always glad to help! I've never been able to try it on a ganondorf but his Side B is a grab so i figure he would have more priority over us. Fair people off the stage make them work to recover and get those early kills

Thanks again
Ganondorf is tough, slow but too powerful when he put his hands on ya. I've some difficulties playing vs Ganondorf players, or also with fast characters (ZS Samus, Greninja, Fox, Sonic). Sometimes I meet very annoying Mario players, they stress me a lot!

Plus, Falco has good moves to hit after a dodge (down smash), but the problem is that online there's often some LAG, it's so hard to time the dodge in order to avoid an attack and then strike

 

[LightLV]

I really like Falco's moves and I really like him alot, but for some reason I feel like that Falco is incredibly slow in this game and has really long landing lag with aerial attacks, making me wonder: Does he really prefer the air?.

Yes, he does. But the difference now is that he's also very powerful on the ground. Falco is somewhat of a fighter now, when he's in your face he's at his most dangerous, and 4/5 of his aerials have decent kill potential in some way. The thing I think has most been changed about Falco is that the new nature of his projectiles has given him a style of play that encourages bait-punish scenarios. But once he gets the ball rolling, he has no problem whatsoever being aggressive.

Here are some things that have significantly helped me stop getting destroyed with Falco.

Neutral Game ::

Spoiler

- Falco's Jab and Ftilt range is pretty great on this game. It's not Fox-level stupid, but it's very fast, beats most other neutrals and can setup some throw gimmicks as well, which is great because Falco's Dthrow leads to a guaranteed combo of some sort at nearly all percents. (Note that Dthrow > Jump laser X2 works at higher percents)

-It's extremely important to learn what range Falco's laser is safe at on hit or block. You can bait people into pseudo frame traps with this move if they're trying to punish it. If you're successful at this, you will severely break people's flow.

-Falco's laser speed and range nerfs are both a blessing and a curse. It's widely known that it's heavily punishable, but it's still not a projectile that can be ignored or disrespected, because like i said, Falco is highly dangerous up close now.

-Reflector is another great tool if you happen to bait someone into trying a risky approach, especially in the air or with a dash attack because it has decent priority. Again, this is foolish to use up close, but people commonly disrespect this move anticipating an easy punish.

- Falco Phantasm is a very, very situational move on the ground. At the right range, (enemy near the end of the path) I think you can even combo this move into a back air, but this is highly unsafe if blocked. At closer range (enemy closer to your starting point), this move is likely safe if you did it in the air. Or you can use it to gain space on someone, or (again) bait a punish attempt.

Aerials:

Spoiler

- IMO Falco's Dair is the absolute worst move in his arsenal. Compared to other spikes, this move really doesn't hold much weight anymore. Its sweetspot got nerfed, its sourspot sends them upwards, its slow and has disgusting landing lag.

- Falco's BAir is amazing. It does great shield damage, is extremely fast, has nearly zero landing lag and KOs at decent percents. This move is also safe on block at the correct range. Only downside is its speed, which doesn't allow you to use it like a sexkick.

- Nair has a wonky hitbox, but there are a few very great points about this move to keep in mind. It has alot of active frames and hits, so it's good at catching airdodges AND spotdodges, or initiating platform pressure. If you land this attack in the air, you can land and go directly into a jab setup if you're at the right positioning.

- Uair is a typical up air, it's fast and KOs very well. The reason this move is great on falco though is obviously because of Falco's ridiculous initial jump height, meaning he can get in position to land it much easier than other cast members.

- Fair is a very funny but powerful move. One of the best things about this move though is that once it starts, if Falco touches the ground during its active frames, landing lag will be replaced with an attack, so aerial chasing with this move is pretty good. The hitbox on it is pretty good and doesn't slip out much and has alot of active frames. It actually has a decent chance of KOing the opponent near the ledge, so this is an easier move to use on characters coming back at high altitude over Bair if you like.

 

[Float SSB]

must get used to perform that b-air more often

Falco probably has the best overall bair in the game right now. It is a solid kill move starting at around 120 when you sweet spot it. 100 if you are near the edge and like 80 if you are over the edge.

By the way @ BltzZ when you do d throw to fair it is almost always possible to do d throw to turnaround bair. You don't have to perfect pivot for it just basically start your dash and then hit the opposite direction and SH at the same time. Turnarounds during dashes are stupid quick this game. I can post up a video later if people wanna see what it looks like.

 

[BltzZ]

Falco probably has the best overall bair in the game right now. It is a solid kill move starting at around 120 when you sweet spot it. 100 if you are near the edge and like 80 if you are over the edge.

By the way @ BltzZ when you do d throw to fair it is almost always possible to do d throw to turnaround bair. You don't have to perfect pivot for it just basically start your dash and then hit the opposite direction and SH at the same time. Turnarounds during dashes are stupid quick this game. I can post up a video later if people wanna see what it looks like.

Thanks yeah funny that you menmentioned that haha I saw keitaro use it and I played some friends and got it off a few times I'm going to muscle memory this move because I feel we can get kill setups or nasty strings with this. I'd love to see a video btw

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Yeah, it's a great way to pile on some percent, and at the lower percent you can bair > bair or probably a upsmash or up-air off of a dhthrow

 

[I Am Normal (IAN)]

Falco's aerials are all very good. Fair kills early offstage, and with Falco's buffed recovery, he can go almost completely offscreen and make it back. Short hop Bair is a great out of shield punish if you have your back faced to the opposition, and is a strong tool all around. Nair is good for taking up space and it covers both sides. Up air can juggle and be followed up out of up throw at low-mid percents. And lastly, while dair is his worst aerial, it is great for spiking linear recoveries. So yes, I think Falco does prefer the air.

 

[Zionaze]

ive been messing around with his D-throw followups and noticed that they do near identical amounts of damage in total so its really up to how much swagpoints / comfortable you are.

 

[Float SSB]

Thanks yeah funny that you menmentioned that haha I saw keitaro use it and I played some friends and got it off a few times I'm going to muscle memory this move because I feel we can get kill setups or nasty strings with this. I'd love to see a video btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdkFmabN4q4&list=UU35Vldvxy59DjGwvLx-eQ7g

I will post a training mode video with my hands soon

 

[Mk28]

Does Falco have any solid combo starters or follow up moves other than his down throw?

 

[Ffamran]

Does Falco have any solid combo starters or follow up moves other than his down throw?

Up throw followed by Uair, Nair, or Bair and maybe Fair. From the ground, you can repeat Utilt or Up Smash a couple times and Dash Attack usually leads to an aerial like Nair, Uair, Bair, or Fair. You can sort of chain Bairs from the ground, but I think you might have to purposely sour-spot them. For spacing purposes: Ftilt followed by Reflector. Nair to Utilt or Up Smash is something that works and you can repeat it. Uair on taller characters might work, so, Uair > Down Smash or something.

Anyway, I haven't updated the compendium, but there's the Falco: Approaches and Combos/Strings thread if you want more.

 

[BltzZ]

Does Falco have any solid combo starters or follow up moves other than his down throw?

Down tilt, Up tilt and dash attacks are other combo starters. The most guaranteed is the grab combos of course.

 

[Foster J.]

The most typical Grab Combos would probably be
DThrow -> Dash Attack -> Angled FTilt works generally at all bit the highest percentages
DThrow -> USmash -> Jab Combo works at low percentages, gotta be fast and move slightly ahead and C stick that Up Smash
UThrow -> UAir if you can jump fast enough, generally work if you grab him around 60-70 %