I'm having a hard time with Falco's Air Game

[sparkyb]

When on the ground I feel that I am fairly fine with using Falco.
However, that's a different story in the air.

The main problem is that I'm having trouble landing his aerials. Especially his dair. I can land his dair and l-cancel it on stage, but off stage is a different story. I seem to always miss, or the opponent can air dodge it easily.
I'm okay with his neutral air. I feel I am using it a lot, I'm not sure if I should be.
I try going for his back air a lot because I know it has a lot of power and killing potential, but like his dair, I can't really land it a lot.
Finally, with his fair, I rarely use this. I feel it has a lot of landing lag and I don't want to be punished a lot for missing it, or them dodging it. If there is a method to using this safely, please tell me.

Well I think I covered everything I'm having trouble with. If anything else comes to mind I'll add to this. In the meantime, and tips on improving my air game with Falco?

 

[SoundChow]

Don't try to spam any one aerial, they all have their uses.

Nair is a very fast aerial option that is good if you're fighting bike Wario or spin-dash Sonic.
Up-air is a great aerial because it launches the opponent upwards leading into several combos, and also does a good 12%. It's also lagless so use it a lot out of a short-hop.
Fair has nice knockback, and is great if you full-hop it (zero endlag). A combo I like to do is dash attack, and if they instantly jump out of hitstun (happens frequently), go for a full-hop fair, this working only at higher percents. Shorthop phantasm to up-air/fair can also combo.
Bair is an amazing aerial, being a powerful kill move and having very little starting/ending lag. At mid-percents down-throw to bair combos and does a good 19%. If you're going to full hop an aerial, use fair b/c bair in my opinion is harder to hit, and fair's hitbox is larger and lasts longer.
Lastly, dair in my opinion is not very useful offstage because it's incredibly hard to hit, but it's amazing if you frame cancel it (can't do it for the life of me)

Hopefully this helped you. Also for your ground game, make sure to throw out u-tilt and d-tilt, both of those moves coming out fairly quick and launching the opponent into the air for fair/u-air combos.

 

[Ffamran]

Bare in mind that Falco is one of the slower characters in the air. He will fall fast, but he won't move fast in the air... or the ground for that matter.

Falco's Dair has the same timing as Captain Falcon and Ganondorf's - they come out at frame 16. I got used to the timing after the while and can pull it off from time to time. The thing is that Falco's Dair isn't a pivotal part of his game play anymore like it was in Melee and Brawl; it's more like Captain Falcon and Ganondorf's who if they know exactly where you're going to be off stage or know you're recovering predictably, will Dair you off the stage, but the difference is that Captain Falcon has the speed to catch up and set up a Nipple spike and Ganondorf's Dair meteors from the get go. Falco's is more like Mario and Yoshi's Fair where you have to time it and know when to use it. Also, learn your opponent's air speed and recoveries. I've fought so many Captain Falcons that I instinctively know their recoveries, speeds, and "feels".

Fair is more of an off-stage tool and an aerial tool. Sure, you can short hop it, but it's dangerous unless you are damn sure it will hit, otherwise, especially early on, the landing hit's knockback won't be enough to keep you safe.

As @ SoundChow said about Bair and Nair, use them like pseudo-sex kicks. If you played Wolf before or Ike, then you know about reverse aerial rushing which was a part of Wolf's game plan to throw out his Bair like a sex kick. Falco's Nair is fast and will probably interrupt a lot of things. Use it to combo as well.

One thing you could do is play other characters and know the basics of them. Keep your enemies closer than your friends? Is that how the saying goes?

Anyway, check out this thread for more combos and approaches with Falco: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-approaches-and-combos-strings.372417/.

Also, look up this guide by @Illuvial: Personally, I prefer the air!.

While it is dated, @Jtails's video guide is also helpful. For more videos, check out this thread: http://smashboards.com/threads/good-falco-videos.376351/.

And, if you want to practice with other Falco mains, go here: http://smashboards.com/threads/anyone-want-to-exchange-nnids-or-friend-codes.386513/.

 

[Leg]

I recommend utilizing Falco's Full jump more as well. It seems like his whole kit was designed around it.

Examples:
1. If you full hop a rising fair, it will end just before you touch the ground, allowing you to bair or nair to cover yourself.
2. At early percents, Rising Bairs can combo into itself.
3. Uthrow to Uair is a true combo out of full hop
4. Dair is easier to hit out of full hop (surprisingly) and if you sour spot, you can burn your second jump for another/followup.

Ill try to upload a video to give you some ideas later today. Falco's initiating jump is a very powerful tool; when you jump, you are assured to be above every other character in the game unless they burn another jump. That's a lot of positioning control, if you think about it.

 

[sparkyb]

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I'll have to try all of these out when I get the time.

 

[NotAnAdmin]

Pretty much what the rest of the crew said.
Practice his full hop fair and dair, good poking tools. Great poking tools actually. Fair can be used for a strong follow-up, since it has so many active frames.
Get used to using his bair on and off stage, once you get the hang of landing the sweet-spot and timing, you're on the right track.

Nair has it's uses as well, but don't rely on it too much, it has low priority and range.
Dair really should only be used to pressure your opponent away offstage, forcing an air-dodge at the right spot can be lethal. Also if you don't manage to get the spiking hitbox it still hits them away from stage usually, forcing them to recover with an up-b or something else depending on the match-up.

 

[Snipnigth]

Go for more faints and dodge reads too, a nice set up i like to make at 100% + is down throw to full hop bair, depending on di and opponent it could combo and kill if close to edge, but most of the times your opponent will DI and go for a dodge thats where you read that dodge and go for the bair....it also true combos at low % as mentioned by someone else in a post.

 

[Salmon]

A lot of the stocks I take as Falco usually come from an offstage opponent who is recovering from high. I like to drop onto the ledge and snap off into a back air to guard almost every time they are high and away.

Fairs only seem to be worthwhile in a full hop and like most of the guys here short hopping it is almost always not worth it.

 

[Legato]

Fair is mostly used after you have launched your opponent (dtilt, d-throw combo well into fair). Occasionally, you can throw it out when trying to recover against someone who camps the ledge excessively, but it is very punishable if missed.

Falco's aerial game is contingent on the momentum you gain before jumping. Dash on the ground before jumping when spacing your aerials, it will allow you to cover much more horizontal distance. In fact, many combos require this initial dash that I am sure is innate for many of us now.

Also, Falco can change directions very quickly when you land from a jump. This can be used for very fine-tuned and precise spacing for your aerials, but you really need to practice control (I have been working on it in training for ages and still can't move this character quite the way I want him to when in the heat of the match). Just practice moving Falco around the map without aerials first and get a feel for his movement options. He feels like a very slippery, yet smooth character that requires very precise/close spacing to your opponents especially when trying to follow up with aerials. Hope this helps, good-luck my friend!

 

[Conda]

The reason for that is, of course, his bad aerial mobility. Fox has to dash before jumping as well. Meanwhile Jigglypuff/yoshi can jump on the spot and move towards where they need to go thanks to their aerial movement.

 

[Zionaze]

fox and falco actin like they hoppin on the moon.