I am one of the few Olimar mains in pm, so I thought I might give some tips that may improve the game of other Olimar mains.
To this date, this thread includes sections about JUGGLING, STAGES, RECOVERY, and KO OPTIONS. I am currently working on a matchup section. I have recently began a section on Olimar tech skill / advanced techniques.
INTERESTING INFO
Olimar has very good aerials (all of them except for nair being kill moves). His down aerial is a meteor and his aerials can do up to 18%+ when used with flowered red, purple, or white pikmin. Olimar's 8-frame upsmash can kill heavyweights at as low as 80% (that is if the opponent has bad DI) on low-ceiling stages WITHOUT a charge IF it is done with a flowered purple pikmin. Upsmash is a very good out-of-shield option, as it is extremely fast, can start combos, and KO. Olimar's grab has properties that other tether grabs do not. The active frame is one of, if not, the fastest out of the tether grabs. You can grab some characters while they are hanging on the ledge. Out of the five types of pikmin, blue and white pikmin have the farthest grab range, and purple have the shortest. All of Olimar's throws can KO if done with blue pikmin.
JUGGLING
Olimar is a character built for juggling. His dtilt, uptilt, dash attack, upamash, nair, upair, down air (on a grounded opponent), upthrow, dthrow (for the lighter characters) all set up for deadly juggling combos. Once the enemy is above you, he or she is in big trouble. Upsmash out of shield and grab (dthrow for lighter characters and upthrow for heavyweights and fastfallers) are probably the most practical setups, but you should use whichever move best applies to your situation.
Upsmash is Olimar's fastest smash (active on frame 8), so you should chase your enemy down and spam upsmash (I have tried to DACUS with Olimar, but it is almost unnoticeable and does not make a difference), or you can try SHFFL upair, as it may put on more damage. Once the enemy is out vertical range of the upsmash, you have two options, you can either try to bait out their second jump and keep them off the ground, or you can follow up with multiple upairs. If you are playing on a platformed stage and they DI towards a platform, you can full hop upair, L-cancel on the platform, upsmash, and then follow up with more upairs. KEEP IN MIND that when you follow up with a full hop upair that you save your second jump if the if the enemy is within range so that after the first jump, you can use your second jump to hit with another upair, and in some situations, you may be able to hit with an up-b to tack on a little extra percent.
If the opponent DI's away in low percent juggling, use dash attack, dash or jump-cancelled grab, or dtilt (which moves Olimar forward) to keep them off the ground. If they do not DI properly, this gives you the opportunity to rack up massive damage. Start with several upsmashes and follow up with several up airs. After the first full hop upair, sometimes the best choice is to fast fall with a descending upair if the opponent is in very close range above Olimar. This will allow you to refresh your jumps and follow up with another aerial. In the case the opponent does DI away and you don't think you can connect an upair, use fair or bair so that you at least still do some damage and potentially set up for an edgeguard. If you are forced to use a fair or bair and it connects, you should throw a pikmin (side-b) in their direction to add extra damage. Keep in mind that the side-b may only hit if it intercepts the opponent's second jump, and that different pikmin have different trajectories, so most of the time you may not hit the side-b.
Olimar can use dair to escape juggling, and if you burn your second jump, you can use neutral b in the air to stall and throw off juggles. If you are feeling extra greedy, use neutral b to bait them in and then use dair to punish them. Remember that dair on a grounded opponent will bounce them up, so follow up with a combo, or if they "bounce" high enough, finish them off through the top blast zone with an upair.
STAGES
Because of these great juggling properties, Olimar favors stages with low ceilings, so try to avoid stages such as dreamland and fountain of dreams because of their high ceilings. Stages such as yoshi's story and warioware have very low ceilings, but beware because if you like to space yourself out, you may have difficulties. But remember that stages like these also have very close left and right blast zones, and this may aid Olimar because his fair, bair, fsmash, and dsmash can KO. I suggest a stage like pokemon stadium 2 that has a low ceiling and plenty of space. It is one of my favorite picks, as it has platforms that can extend Olimar's combo game. Visit http://projectmgame.com/en/stages or visit the project m website and click the stages tab and read about some of the stages and figure out which stage fits your play style.
RECOVERY
Olimar's recovery is pretty pathetic in PM, especially because of the reduced pikmin count. Here are some tips to mix up recoveries to keep your opponent guessing and make you more difficult to edgeguard.
One thing you can do is save your second jump by using your neutral-special first. Olimar has a pretty good second jump, so sometimes it is best to save it until you are under the ledge, just like how some Luigi players will save their second jump because Luigi does not have very good air speed and the jump proves better for vertical distance than horizontal distance. If you are hit very close to a blast zone, by all means you should use your second jump as soon as possible.
An important note to the neutral-special in mid air is that even though only the first time you use it you get slight vertical height and good horizontal distance, you should always use it as many times as possible because it will still increase your horizontal distance.
Another thing I sometimes do is save my neutral-special instead of my second jump so that if I am hit away from the stage while trying to recover, I have a little cushion of security. I like to do this sometimes because unlike brawl, the pikmin chain will not connect to the ledge if you are above it, so you will be left in a vulnerable position if you try to do so. Keep in mind that there is no hitbox on the neutral-special, so using it below the ledge may leave you in a vulnerable position.
What I sometimes like to do is what I call a tether cancel. to perform this, use pikmin chain and as soon as it attaches to the ledge, press down on the control stick and immediately use up-special again. this can work in certain mindgames to keep your opponent guessing when you will pull yourself to the ledge. KEEP IN MIND that the tether will only attach 3 times before you touch the ground to refresh. If you attempt a 4th tether, it will fail and you will fall to your doom.
Unlike other tether recoveries, Olimar's has a hitbox that will hit an opponent hanging on the ledge (after their ledge invincibility has ended) and will stage spike them if they miss the teck. This may happen often, as most players are used to tether recoveries not having a hitbox. This happened in a match between me and Chillin, when we were fighting over the ledge and I stage spiked him with the tether.
Olimar has a pretty huge grab range to the ledge, so sometimes the best option is to cross up an opponent with an airdoge, especially if not all of your pikmin are with you. If you only have 1 or 2 pikmin, and you have used your second jump and neutral-special, sometimes the best option is to use the pikmin chain early and grab the ledge in the helpless animation. The hop for the pikmin chain does NOT increase the less pikmin you have. The PMBR will probably patch this in a later update.
KO OPTIONS
Olimar has a variety of possible finishers. His kill moves include:
1. fair
2. bair
3. dair
4. up air
5. up smash
6. down smash
7. forward smash
8. forward tilt
9. All of his throws can KO at high percents if done with blue pikmin. Purple pikmin up throw can also KO.
Olimar also has some two-hit finishers. By this I mean stuff like fox's bread and butter move, upthrow-upair.
1. dash attack to an aerial or up smash
2. dtilt to an aerial
3. you can "drag" opponents in with a soft nair and L-cancel into an upsmash. You must avoid the strong, final hit on the nair by hitting the ground before it happens.
4. dair on a grounded opponent will bounce them up, allowing you to follow up with an aerial.
5. dthrow into an aerial is usually guaranteed unless the opponent DI's properly. Use upthrow for heavyweights and fastfallers.
6. Strong hit of nair into a different aerial.
7. Soft nair to down smash (credit to B.W.)
TECH SKILL / ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
Short hop pikmin throw waveland (SHPTW): This is probably one of the most practical techniques that can applied in many situations in game. All you have to do is short hop, immediatley initiate a pikmin throw (side-special), and waveland it (by airdoging into the ground at a downward angle as if you were wavedashing.) This may be a little difficult to master, but once you get the hang of it it is pretty easy. The technique requires good timing. Heck, sometimes I still mess it up by airdoging completely horizontally. You can use this to create a variety of mix-ups. One example is to short hop forward, pikmin throw, and waveland backwards and throw out a grab or a forward smash. This way you can bait in the opponent and punish. If you have purple pikmin, you can use the purple pikmin for the pikmin throw and waveland into a forward smash with a non-purple. This can make it extremely difficult for an opponent to approach, as you are constantly throwing out active hitboxes in the form of projectiles to space them out.
Teather-cancel: Use pikmin chain and as soon as it attaches to the ledge, press down on the control stick and immediately use up-special again. this can work in certain mindgames to keep your opponent guessing when you will pull yourself to the ledge. KEEP IN MIND that the tether will only attach 3 times before you touch the ground to refresh. If you attempt a 4th tether, it will fail and you will fall to your doom. This technique is mentioned in the recovery section.
Shield drop upair: All you do is shield drop through a platform and immediately uair. If the uair connects, this puts the opponent into a position above Olimar and sets up for a combo. To shield drop, while standing on a platform while holding your shield, slowly (but not too slow or else you will just angle your shield downward) push the control stick down and if you do it at the right speed, Olimar will quickly drop through the platform. Also, do not push the control stick too fast or else you will spot dodge. As soon as Olimar successfully drops through the platform, immediately perform an uair by using the c-stick. This is an extremely good out of shield option (OSO) because shield dropping only takes 1 FRAME for the character to drop through the platform. Any character in the game can do this, it can just be very difficult, so you should look up a guide on how to shield drop if you are having trouble.
Upsmash out of shield (USOS): This technique in a very good out of shield option because it is very fast, can start combos, and KO. The method I use for this is to hold shield, press up on the control stick, and immediately after you do that, press up on the c-stick. You should almost be pressing the control stick and the c-stick at the same time, but the control stick must be pressed before the c-stick. The way this works is that you can cancel a jump before you leave the ground with an upsmash. This means that you input a jump, but before the character actually leaves the ground, you can cancel the jump with an up smash. Since this is possible, you can cancel the shield with a jump, and cancel the jump with an up smash. Another way of performing this method is to press up on the control stick and immediately press a to cancel the jump into an up smash. You should hold the shield button while performing this technique so that you are protected until you initiate the jump. You should be able to find a guide on this technique if you are still having trouble.
Short hop, fair, waveland (SHFW): This is probably the most difficult to pull off (at least in my opinion). I still cannot do this one consistently. All you do is short hop, input a fair immediately after you leave the ground, and waveland it. You cannot fast fall to do this. The timing is difficult to get, but if you pull it off correctly, Olimar will slide a good distance when he hits the ground. You should be able use this to start combos (e.g. SHFW to up smash). I use the A button for this technique instead of the c-stick because it is closer to the jump button.
Pikmin throw reverse (PTR): Reverse your aerial momentum with pikmin throw. Run and then jump. Use a pikmin throw in mid-air in the direction you are facing. Immediately push the control stick in the opposite direction after you initiate the pikmin throw. The control stick must pass through the neutral position for this to work. Olimar's aerial momentum will shift in the opposote direction. Use this technique for mixups to surpise your enemy. If you time the pikmin throw soon enough, you will even be able to waveland it.
Whistle reverse: The same concept of the PTR, but with the whistle instead. Remember the control stick must pass through the neutral position for this to work. You can squeeze in a fair before you hit the ground and if you are close enough, you can fit in an up-smash to start a combo. This technique can also be wavelanded.
MATCHUPS
I may not know that much about every matchup, but a local card store may start holding weekly tournaments so I will be able to get much more matchup knowledge to share.
Olimar vs. Wario
Wario is an ideal weight for juggling, especially at low percents. He can be chaingrabbed with dthrow, just watch out for Wario's high-priority aerials, especially his dair, because you will be below him when you are juggling. If Wario Dairs your shield, you can punish with an up-air out of shield. Many Wario players full jump aerials, so read their jumps and intercept with a fair. Wario lacks a projectile, so use pikmin throw to your advantage. Watch out for his neutral-special "command grab", as it can grab opponents while in the air, so don't just aimlessly shield when he is above you or vise versa.
Olimar vs. Mario
Neither character has a distinct advantage in this matchup, but you need to watch out for Mario's dair, as it has TONS of priority and will got through Olimar's up smash and up aerial. If you are playing against a Mario that loves to use fireballs, use dtilt to clank and crawl under them and punish him. Try to keep red pikmin because they are resistant to fireballs.
Olimar vs. Luigi
This matchup may be a little difficult for Olimar. Because of Luigi's weight and floaty-ness, you cannot really chaingrab him and your juggling combos are more limited. Also, Luigi has very good aerials, so you have to be careful. Luigi has much more ground mobility than Olimar because of his wavedash, so use forward smash, down smash, and grab to keep stage control. Again, just like the Mario matchup, red pikmin are resistant to fireballs, so keep that in mind.
Olimar vs. Peach
Peach can be difficult for Olimar to chaingrab and her aerials have good priority. Block her turnips using side-b or just wavedash to catch them. Be sure not to spam grab too much because when peach is floating right above the ground, she cannot usually be grabbed, and you could be punished. Peach can be difficult for Olimar to juggle because of how floaty she is, so use side-b to get extra damage, as pikmin can outrange turnips. Unfortunatley, Peach can just nair pikmin right off her. Just look out for the stitch-face.
Olimar vs. Bowser
Each character has pros and cons in this matchup. Bowser can use crouch armor to crawl right through a well-spaced fsmash or a purple pikmin in pikmin throw, so it may be difficult to keep him out. If you see him crouch-cancelling, use your grab to setup for juggles. Bowser absolutely consumes these combos, so you can easily rack up ludicrous amounts of damage. You have to try to keep Bowser from shoving you off stage and trowing you into an edgeguard, as Olimar has a pretty pathetic recovery that can be easily gimped. Bowser is a huge target, so use every opportunity you get to stick a pikmin to him or start a combo. Remember to watch out for the up-b out of shield, as it is a KO move, and the ledge attack, as it hits under the stage and could gimp you. For this matchup, I would suggest that you play smart, or should I say........cmart! g-get it? Because cmart is... a... Bowser... main... (sound of wind blowing.)
Olimar vs. Yoshi
Yoshi has an ideal weight and falling speed for Olimar's juggles. He can be chaingrabbed without proper DI. Use pikmin throw to block egg throw and force an approach. Olimar's grab can easily intercept Yoshi's egg roll, and when you start a juggling combo, try to bait out his second jump and keep him off the ground. This will make it almost impossible for Yoshi to recover if he is hit off stage. DI away to escape combos. A note for Melee players: remember that Yoshi can now jump out of his shield, so don't always expect him to roll.
Olimar vs. Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is a little unlike the other heavyweights as he has more range and better speed. Just as in the Bowser matchup, utilize your side special and rack up as much damage as you can whenever you get a combo started. Try to pick a stage with a low ceiling and try to KO him off the top, because of DK's great horizontal recovery. A well spaced dair can beat out DK's up-special and put him just low enough under the stage to make recovery impossible. Use this to gimp and take off early stocks. Watch out for the dash attack off stage as it can put Olimar into a position to be gimped.
Olimar vs. Diddy Kong
Diddy Kong has become a very popular character, especially among the pros, so it is important that you know this matchup. Diddy Kong has a decent weight for juggling and can be chaingrabbed with down throw. He can have a lot of stage control when bananas are used effectivley, so one of the most important tips I can give in this matchup is to wavedash to catch and pick up bananas. This allows you to safely move over them and catch them without the worry of tripping. You can even catch the peanuts that come from peanut pop-gun by wavedashing. In mid air, you can catch projectiles either by air doging or pressing Z. Look out for the side-special monkey flip because it functions as an aerial grab and cannot be shielded. Also, since it is a grab, it has tons of priority, so if you do not space your aerials effectivley, then the grab will eat through the attack like super armor. The grab will act as a meteor and send you down if if connects in mid-air. Also, watch out for the dash attack off stage because it can put Olimar into a very vulnerable position to be hit down by Diddy's dair or rocket barrels. A good tip for this matchup is to be able to meteor cancel effectively in order to avoid gimps at low percents. To meteor cancel (cancelling downward momentum when you are hit with a meteor attack) you have to jump or up-special 16 frames (I think it is 16 frames, but I am not absolutely positive) after you are hit downward. If you try to meteor cancel before you are hit or before the 16 frames passes, then there is a punishment lag where you cannot meteor cancel for a certain amount of frames. This is similar to teching where if you press the shield button more than 20 frames before you hit the ground, then you cannot tech for 40 frames. Sorry for getting off topic. Diddy Kong's recovery can be surprisingly hard to predict, but if you can get a good read, a well timed dair proves to be very effective. Thanks to a reply left by GrizzleDrizz1ed, who shared some very good information on the matchup.
Captain Olimar vs. Captain Falcon
Captain Falcon can be chaingrabbed with up and down throw and has a decent weight and falling speed for juggling. You can intercept a falcon kick or raptor boost with a grab. Use Olimar's side-special to your advantage because falcon players can have trouble dealing with projectiles, and well-spaced aerials can make it very difficult for him to approach. Olimar's dair off stage is very effective against Falcon's recovery, but you need to space them well because Falcon's up-special is an aerial grab, so it has tons of priority. Olimar's dair can act as an effective gimp at low percents if timed well.
Olimar vs. Wolf
In my opinion, I think that Olimar does very well in this matchup. You can chaingrab wolf with up throw and Olimar's dair is very effective on wolf's recovery move, as it is on all space animals. Watch out for the side special recovery, I have yet to meteor that move, and so often to I see people hit with the sweetspot while trying to edgeguard. Wolf eats Olimar's juggling combos, so you can rack up massive damage. DI away from wolf to escape pillar combos. Up-smash out of shield is probably Olimar's best option for escaping shield pressure. down or up throw to an aerial and dash attach to an aerial at higher percents is guaranteed unless it is properly DI'd. Try to avoid playing on stages with lots of platforms bacause Wolf's shine covers most of the platform and allows him to easily extend combos.
Olimar vs. Fox
I myself am not a very big fan of this matchup because Fox's falling speed makes it almost impossible to juggle and chaingrab at low percents. Chaingrabs can be done at early percents with blue and purple pikmin, this also applys to the Falco matchup. Since he is a fastfaller, fox is vulnerable to the dash attack, down throw, or up throw into an aerial at higher percents. The most important tip I can give in this matchup is to recover high to avoid shinespikes. Olimar's dair is very effective on Fox's recovery, and it can be used to gimp at early percents.
Olimar vs. Falco
Falco is difficult to juggle and chaingrab at low percents. At moderate percents, Falco eats Olimar's juggling combos. I suggest that you play on a stage that has plenty of platforms to extend those combos. DI away to escape pillar combos and jump and use platforms to avoid lazer spam. Falco is also vulnerable to the dash attack, up thrw, and down throw to an aerial at higher percents. Since Falco has a mediocre vertical recovery, he can easily be gimped and edgeguarded with dair.
Olimar vs. Ice Climbers
I do not have much to say about this matchup because I have never played against an Ice Climber main. The only thing I can really say is that I think you DI down and away to escape chaingrabs.
Olimar vs. Zelda
I think that this is a bad matchup for Olimar. Zelda is so light and floaty that she cannot be chaingrabbed and juggling combos are very limited against her. Not only that, but she can use teleport to get to the ground. Instead of juggling, I would suggest a combo like up throw-fair-fair-dash attack-fair. Zelda can easily neutral-special pikmin off her, so I would suggest to throw pikmin to bait her to do it, then punish. If Zelda does not angle dins fire down at all, Olimar is short enough to run right under. If she does angle it down, then use dtilt to crawl under and clank standing fireballs. Pikmin can also get rid of standing firebells with f-smash and pikmin throw. Zelda is difficult to edgeguard because of her godly recovery. I played a Zelda in tournament once. I got wrecked the first match. I switched to Bowser the second match and did better but still lost.
Olimar vs. Shiek
I think that this is one of Olimar's worst matchups. I the opponent has good spacing, It becomes very difficult for Olimar to get in. A well spaced fair from Shiek will trade with Olimar's fair. You must recover high or close to the stage against Shiek to avoid gimps. DI down throw down and away. A wall of fairs can give you breathing space against Shiek. Honestly, for this matchup, I would suggest a character change. Maybe I just don't play the matchup right.
Olimar vs. Link
Link can be chaingrabbed with down-throw and he is very susceptible to juggling combos. Link is very campy in the neutral game, so you may be forced to get in there and start a combo. I don't know much on this matchup, but once I start going to weekly tournaments, I will get more matchup experiance.
Olimar vs. Ganondorf
This matchup can be difficult for Olimar because Ganon's aerials have so much priority and Olimar doesn't seem to be able to crouch-cancel any of his attacks. Ganon's fair has a huge disjointed hitbox on it, so make sure to respect his space. One tip I would suggest is to run up, shield, let him hit and punish with an out of shield option. Dash-dance and try to bait him in to making mistakes and punish. Virtually all of Olimar's combo starters work on Ganon, and once you get started, you can rack up good damage. Ganon can be chaingrabbed with dthrow. Similar to the captain Falcon matchup, use pikmin throw and other ranged attacks to your advantage. When you are grabbed with a flame choke, you have several options. You can tech or just wait on the ground. If he is predicting your techs, then sometimes the best option is to purposely miss the tech and use the invincibility of the get-up-attack to knock him away. Gimps with dair apply to this matchup, but watch out for the aerial side-special suicide move, as you will be the first to die in that situation. No lead is too good against Ganon, as Olimar is light and Ganon hits so hard. You can be at death percent in a matter of a few hits. Try to make the most out of each stock.
Any of the information presented may be changed. I will probably come back and add more. Meanwhile, please comment and share any tips you have with Olimar
To this date, this thread includes sections about JUGGLING, STAGES, RECOVERY, and KO OPTIONS. I am currently working on a matchup section. I have recently began a section on Olimar tech skill / advanced techniques.
INTERESTING INFO
Olimar has very good aerials (all of them except for nair being kill moves). His down aerial is a meteor and his aerials can do up to 18%+ when used with flowered red, purple, or white pikmin. Olimar's 8-frame upsmash can kill heavyweights at as low as 80% (that is if the opponent has bad DI) on low-ceiling stages WITHOUT a charge IF it is done with a flowered purple pikmin. Upsmash is a very good out-of-shield option, as it is extremely fast, can start combos, and KO. Olimar's grab has properties that other tether grabs do not. The active frame is one of, if not, the fastest out of the tether grabs. You can grab some characters while they are hanging on the ledge. Out of the five types of pikmin, blue and white pikmin have the farthest grab range, and purple have the shortest. All of Olimar's throws can KO if done with blue pikmin.
JUGGLING
Olimar is a character built for juggling. His dtilt, uptilt, dash attack, upamash, nair, upair, down air (on a grounded opponent), upthrow, dthrow (for the lighter characters) all set up for deadly juggling combos. Once the enemy is above you, he or she is in big trouble. Upsmash out of shield and grab (dthrow for lighter characters and upthrow for heavyweights and fastfallers) are probably the most practical setups, but you should use whichever move best applies to your situation.
Upsmash is Olimar's fastest smash (active on frame 8), so you should chase your enemy down and spam upsmash (I have tried to DACUS with Olimar, but it is almost unnoticeable and does not make a difference), or you can try SHFFL upair, as it may put on more damage. Once the enemy is out vertical range of the upsmash, you have two options, you can either try to bait out their second jump and keep them off the ground, or you can follow up with multiple upairs. If you are playing on a platformed stage and they DI towards a platform, you can full hop upair, L-cancel on the platform, upsmash, and then follow up with more upairs. KEEP IN MIND that when you follow up with a full hop upair that you save your second jump if the if the enemy is within range so that after the first jump, you can use your second jump to hit with another upair, and in some situations, you may be able to hit with an up-b to tack on a little extra percent.
If the opponent DI's away in low percent juggling, use dash attack, dash or jump-cancelled grab, or dtilt (which moves Olimar forward) to keep them off the ground. If they do not DI properly, this gives you the opportunity to rack up massive damage. Start with several upsmashes and follow up with several up airs. After the first full hop upair, sometimes the best choice is to fast fall with a descending upair if the opponent is in very close range above Olimar. This will allow you to refresh your jumps and follow up with another aerial. In the case the opponent does DI away and you don't think you can connect an upair, use fair or bair so that you at least still do some damage and potentially set up for an edgeguard. If you are forced to use a fair or bair and it connects, you should throw a pikmin (side-b) in their direction to add extra damage. Keep in mind that the side-b may only hit if it intercepts the opponent's second jump, and that different pikmin have different trajectories, so most of the time you may not hit the side-b.
Olimar can use dair to escape juggling, and if you burn your second jump, you can use neutral b in the air to stall and throw off juggles. If you are feeling extra greedy, use neutral b to bait them in and then use dair to punish them. Remember that dair on a grounded opponent will bounce them up, so follow up with a combo, or if they "bounce" high enough, finish them off through the top blast zone with an upair.
STAGES
Because of these great juggling properties, Olimar favors stages with low ceilings, so try to avoid stages such as dreamland and fountain of dreams because of their high ceilings. Stages such as yoshi's story and warioware have very low ceilings, but beware because if you like to space yourself out, you may have difficulties. But remember that stages like these also have very close left and right blast zones, and this may aid Olimar because his fair, bair, fsmash, and dsmash can KO. I suggest a stage like pokemon stadium 2 that has a low ceiling and plenty of space. It is one of my favorite picks, as it has platforms that can extend Olimar's combo game. Visit http://projectmgame.com/en/stages or visit the project m website and click the stages tab and read about some of the stages and figure out which stage fits your play style.
RECOVERY
Olimar's recovery is pretty pathetic in PM, especially because of the reduced pikmin count. Here are some tips to mix up recoveries to keep your opponent guessing and make you more difficult to edgeguard.
One thing you can do is save your second jump by using your neutral-special first. Olimar has a pretty good second jump, so sometimes it is best to save it until you are under the ledge, just like how some Luigi players will save their second jump because Luigi does not have very good air speed and the jump proves better for vertical distance than horizontal distance. If you are hit very close to a blast zone, by all means you should use your second jump as soon as possible.
An important note to the neutral-special in mid air is that even though only the first time you use it you get slight vertical height and good horizontal distance, you should always use it as many times as possible because it will still increase your horizontal distance.
Another thing I sometimes do is save my neutral-special instead of my second jump so that if I am hit away from the stage while trying to recover, I have a little cushion of security. I like to do this sometimes because unlike brawl, the pikmin chain will not connect to the ledge if you are above it, so you will be left in a vulnerable position if you try to do so. Keep in mind that there is no hitbox on the neutral-special, so using it below the ledge may leave you in a vulnerable position.
What I sometimes like to do is what I call a tether cancel. to perform this, use pikmin chain and as soon as it attaches to the ledge, press down on the control stick and immediately use up-special again. this can work in certain mindgames to keep your opponent guessing when you will pull yourself to the ledge. KEEP IN MIND that the tether will only attach 3 times before you touch the ground to refresh. If you attempt a 4th tether, it will fail and you will fall to your doom.
Unlike other tether recoveries, Olimar's has a hitbox that will hit an opponent hanging on the ledge (after their ledge invincibility has ended) and will stage spike them if they miss the teck. This may happen often, as most players are used to tether recoveries not having a hitbox. This happened in a match between me and Chillin, when we were fighting over the ledge and I stage spiked him with the tether.
Olimar has a pretty huge grab range to the ledge, so sometimes the best option is to cross up an opponent with an airdoge, especially if not all of your pikmin are with you. If you only have 1 or 2 pikmin, and you have used your second jump and neutral-special, sometimes the best option is to use the pikmin chain early and grab the ledge in the helpless animation. The hop for the pikmin chain does NOT increase the less pikmin you have. The PMBR will probably patch this in a later update.
KO OPTIONS
Olimar has a variety of possible finishers. His kill moves include:
1. fair
2. bair
3. dair
4. up air
5. up smash
6. down smash
7. forward smash
8. forward tilt
9. All of his throws can KO at high percents if done with blue pikmin. Purple pikmin up throw can also KO.
Olimar also has some two-hit finishers. By this I mean stuff like fox's bread and butter move, upthrow-upair.
1. dash attack to an aerial or up smash
2. dtilt to an aerial
3. you can "drag" opponents in with a soft nair and L-cancel into an upsmash. You must avoid the strong, final hit on the nair by hitting the ground before it happens.
4. dair on a grounded opponent will bounce them up, allowing you to follow up with an aerial.
5. dthrow into an aerial is usually guaranteed unless the opponent DI's properly. Use upthrow for heavyweights and fastfallers.
6. Strong hit of nair into a different aerial.
7. Soft nair to down smash (credit to B.W.)
TECH SKILL / ADVANCED TECHNIQUES
Short hop pikmin throw waveland (SHPTW): This is probably one of the most practical techniques that can applied in many situations in game. All you have to do is short hop, immediatley initiate a pikmin throw (side-special), and waveland it (by airdoging into the ground at a downward angle as if you were wavedashing.) This may be a little difficult to master, but once you get the hang of it it is pretty easy. The technique requires good timing. Heck, sometimes I still mess it up by airdoging completely horizontally. You can use this to create a variety of mix-ups. One example is to short hop forward, pikmin throw, and waveland backwards and throw out a grab or a forward smash. This way you can bait in the opponent and punish. If you have purple pikmin, you can use the purple pikmin for the pikmin throw and waveland into a forward smash with a non-purple. This can make it extremely difficult for an opponent to approach, as you are constantly throwing out active hitboxes in the form of projectiles to space them out.
Teather-cancel: Use pikmin chain and as soon as it attaches to the ledge, press down on the control stick and immediately use up-special again. this can work in certain mindgames to keep your opponent guessing when you will pull yourself to the ledge. KEEP IN MIND that the tether will only attach 3 times before you touch the ground to refresh. If you attempt a 4th tether, it will fail and you will fall to your doom. This technique is mentioned in the recovery section.
Shield drop upair: All you do is shield drop through a platform and immediately uair. If the uair connects, this puts the opponent into a position above Olimar and sets up for a combo. To shield drop, while standing on a platform while holding your shield, slowly (but not too slow or else you will just angle your shield downward) push the control stick down and if you do it at the right speed, Olimar will quickly drop through the platform. Also, do not push the control stick too fast or else you will spot dodge. As soon as Olimar successfully drops through the platform, immediately perform an uair by using the c-stick. This is an extremely good out of shield option (OSO) because shield dropping only takes 1 FRAME for the character to drop through the platform. Any character in the game can do this, it can just be very difficult, so you should look up a guide on how to shield drop if you are having trouble.
Upsmash out of shield (USOS): This technique in a very good out of shield option because it is very fast, can start combos, and KO. The method I use for this is to hold shield, press up on the control stick, and immediately after you do that, press up on the c-stick. You should almost be pressing the control stick and the c-stick at the same time, but the control stick must be pressed before the c-stick. The way this works is that you can cancel a jump before you leave the ground with an upsmash. This means that you input a jump, but before the character actually leaves the ground, you can cancel the jump with an up smash. Since this is possible, you can cancel the shield with a jump, and cancel the jump with an up smash. Another way of performing this method is to press up on the control stick and immediately press a to cancel the jump into an up smash. You should hold the shield button while performing this technique so that you are protected until you initiate the jump. You should be able to find a guide on this technique if you are still having trouble.
Short hop, fair, waveland (SHFW): This is probably the most difficult to pull off (at least in my opinion). I still cannot do this one consistently. All you do is short hop, input a fair immediately after you leave the ground, and waveland it. You cannot fast fall to do this. The timing is difficult to get, but if you pull it off correctly, Olimar will slide a good distance when he hits the ground. You should be able use this to start combos (e.g. SHFW to up smash). I use the A button for this technique instead of the c-stick because it is closer to the jump button.
Pikmin throw reverse (PTR): Reverse your aerial momentum with pikmin throw. Run and then jump. Use a pikmin throw in mid-air in the direction you are facing. Immediately push the control stick in the opposite direction after you initiate the pikmin throw. The control stick must pass through the neutral position for this to work. Olimar's aerial momentum will shift in the opposote direction. Use this technique for mixups to surpise your enemy. If you time the pikmin throw soon enough, you will even be able to waveland it.
Whistle reverse: The same concept of the PTR, but with the whistle instead. Remember the control stick must pass through the neutral position for this to work. You can squeeze in a fair before you hit the ground and if you are close enough, you can fit in an up-smash to start a combo. This technique can also be wavelanded.
MATCHUPS
I may not know that much about every matchup, but a local card store may start holding weekly tournaments so I will be able to get much more matchup knowledge to share.
Olimar vs. Wario
Wario is an ideal weight for juggling, especially at low percents. He can be chaingrabbed with dthrow, just watch out for Wario's high-priority aerials, especially his dair, because you will be below him when you are juggling. If Wario Dairs your shield, you can punish with an up-air out of shield. Many Wario players full jump aerials, so read their jumps and intercept with a fair. Wario lacks a projectile, so use pikmin throw to your advantage. Watch out for his neutral-special "command grab", as it can grab opponents while in the air, so don't just aimlessly shield when he is above you or vise versa.
Olimar vs. Mario
Neither character has a distinct advantage in this matchup, but you need to watch out for Mario's dair, as it has TONS of priority and will got through Olimar's up smash and up aerial. If you are playing against a Mario that loves to use fireballs, use dtilt to clank and crawl under them and punish him. Try to keep red pikmin because they are resistant to fireballs.
Olimar vs. Luigi
This matchup may be a little difficult for Olimar. Because of Luigi's weight and floaty-ness, you cannot really chaingrab him and your juggling combos are more limited. Also, Luigi has very good aerials, so you have to be careful. Luigi has much more ground mobility than Olimar because of his wavedash, so use forward smash, down smash, and grab to keep stage control. Again, just like the Mario matchup, red pikmin are resistant to fireballs, so keep that in mind.
Olimar vs. Peach
Peach can be difficult for Olimar to chaingrab and her aerials have good priority. Block her turnips using side-b or just wavedash to catch them. Be sure not to spam grab too much because when peach is floating right above the ground, she cannot usually be grabbed, and you could be punished. Peach can be difficult for Olimar to juggle because of how floaty she is, so use side-b to get extra damage, as pikmin can outrange turnips. Unfortunatley, Peach can just nair pikmin right off her. Just look out for the stitch-face.
Olimar vs. Bowser
Each character has pros and cons in this matchup. Bowser can use crouch armor to crawl right through a well-spaced fsmash or a purple pikmin in pikmin throw, so it may be difficult to keep him out. If you see him crouch-cancelling, use your grab to setup for juggles. Bowser absolutely consumes these combos, so you can easily rack up ludicrous amounts of damage. You have to try to keep Bowser from shoving you off stage and trowing you into an edgeguard, as Olimar has a pretty pathetic recovery that can be easily gimped. Bowser is a huge target, so use every opportunity you get to stick a pikmin to him or start a combo. Remember to watch out for the up-b out of shield, as it is a KO move, and the ledge attack, as it hits under the stage and could gimp you. For this matchup, I would suggest that you play smart, or should I say........cmart! g-get it? Because cmart is... a... Bowser... main... (sound of wind blowing.)
Olimar vs. Yoshi
Yoshi has an ideal weight and falling speed for Olimar's juggles. He can be chaingrabbed without proper DI. Use pikmin throw to block egg throw and force an approach. Olimar's grab can easily intercept Yoshi's egg roll, and when you start a juggling combo, try to bait out his second jump and keep him off the ground. This will make it almost impossible for Yoshi to recover if he is hit off stage. DI away to escape combos. A note for Melee players: remember that Yoshi can now jump out of his shield, so don't always expect him to roll.
Olimar vs. Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is a little unlike the other heavyweights as he has more range and better speed. Just as in the Bowser matchup, utilize your side special and rack up as much damage as you can whenever you get a combo started. Try to pick a stage with a low ceiling and try to KO him off the top, because of DK's great horizontal recovery. A well spaced dair can beat out DK's up-special and put him just low enough under the stage to make recovery impossible. Use this to gimp and take off early stocks. Watch out for the dash attack off stage as it can put Olimar into a position to be gimped.
Olimar vs. Diddy Kong
Diddy Kong has become a very popular character, especially among the pros, so it is important that you know this matchup. Diddy Kong has a decent weight for juggling and can be chaingrabbed with down throw. He can have a lot of stage control when bananas are used effectivley, so one of the most important tips I can give in this matchup is to wavedash to catch and pick up bananas. This allows you to safely move over them and catch them without the worry of tripping. You can even catch the peanuts that come from peanut pop-gun by wavedashing. In mid air, you can catch projectiles either by air doging or pressing Z. Look out for the side-special monkey flip because it functions as an aerial grab and cannot be shielded. Also, since it is a grab, it has tons of priority, so if you do not space your aerials effectivley, then the grab will eat through the attack like super armor. The grab will act as a meteor and send you down if if connects in mid-air. Also, watch out for the dash attack off stage because it can put Olimar into a very vulnerable position to be hit down by Diddy's dair or rocket barrels. A good tip for this matchup is to be able to meteor cancel effectively in order to avoid gimps at low percents. To meteor cancel (cancelling downward momentum when you are hit with a meteor attack) you have to jump or up-special 16 frames (I think it is 16 frames, but I am not absolutely positive) after you are hit downward. If you try to meteor cancel before you are hit or before the 16 frames passes, then there is a punishment lag where you cannot meteor cancel for a certain amount of frames. This is similar to teching where if you press the shield button more than 20 frames before you hit the ground, then you cannot tech for 40 frames. Sorry for getting off topic. Diddy Kong's recovery can be surprisingly hard to predict, but if you can get a good read, a well timed dair proves to be very effective. Thanks to a reply left by GrizzleDrizz1ed, who shared some very good information on the matchup.
Captain Olimar vs. Captain Falcon
Captain Falcon can be chaingrabbed with up and down throw and has a decent weight and falling speed for juggling. You can intercept a falcon kick or raptor boost with a grab. Use Olimar's side-special to your advantage because falcon players can have trouble dealing with projectiles, and well-spaced aerials can make it very difficult for him to approach. Olimar's dair off stage is very effective against Falcon's recovery, but you need to space them well because Falcon's up-special is an aerial grab, so it has tons of priority. Olimar's dair can act as an effective gimp at low percents if timed well.
Olimar vs. Wolf
In my opinion, I think that Olimar does very well in this matchup. You can chaingrab wolf with up throw and Olimar's dair is very effective on wolf's recovery move, as it is on all space animals. Watch out for the side special recovery, I have yet to meteor that move, and so often to I see people hit with the sweetspot while trying to edgeguard. Wolf eats Olimar's juggling combos, so you can rack up massive damage. DI away from wolf to escape pillar combos. Up-smash out of shield is probably Olimar's best option for escaping shield pressure. down or up throw to an aerial and dash attach to an aerial at higher percents is guaranteed unless it is properly DI'd. Try to avoid playing on stages with lots of platforms bacause Wolf's shine covers most of the platform and allows him to easily extend combos.
Olimar vs. Fox
I myself am not a very big fan of this matchup because Fox's falling speed makes it almost impossible to juggle and chaingrab at low percents. Chaingrabs can be done at early percents with blue and purple pikmin, this also applys to the Falco matchup. Since he is a fastfaller, fox is vulnerable to the dash attack, down throw, or up throw into an aerial at higher percents. The most important tip I can give in this matchup is to recover high to avoid shinespikes. Olimar's dair is very effective on Fox's recovery, and it can be used to gimp at early percents.
Olimar vs. Falco
Falco is difficult to juggle and chaingrab at low percents. At moderate percents, Falco eats Olimar's juggling combos. I suggest that you play on a stage that has plenty of platforms to extend those combos. DI away to escape pillar combos and jump and use platforms to avoid lazer spam. Falco is also vulnerable to the dash attack, up thrw, and down throw to an aerial at higher percents. Since Falco has a mediocre vertical recovery, he can easily be gimped and edgeguarded with dair.
Olimar vs. Ice Climbers
I do not have much to say about this matchup because I have never played against an Ice Climber main. The only thing I can really say is that I think you DI down and away to escape chaingrabs.
Olimar vs. Zelda
I think that this is a bad matchup for Olimar. Zelda is so light and floaty that she cannot be chaingrabbed and juggling combos are very limited against her. Not only that, but she can use teleport to get to the ground. Instead of juggling, I would suggest a combo like up throw-fair-fair-dash attack-fair. Zelda can easily neutral-special pikmin off her, so I would suggest to throw pikmin to bait her to do it, then punish. If Zelda does not angle dins fire down at all, Olimar is short enough to run right under. If she does angle it down, then use dtilt to crawl under and clank standing fireballs. Pikmin can also get rid of standing firebells with f-smash and pikmin throw. Zelda is difficult to edgeguard because of her godly recovery. I played a Zelda in tournament once. I got wrecked the first match. I switched to Bowser the second match and did better but still lost.
Olimar vs. Shiek
I think that this is one of Olimar's worst matchups. I the opponent has good spacing, It becomes very difficult for Olimar to get in. A well spaced fair from Shiek will trade with Olimar's fair. You must recover high or close to the stage against Shiek to avoid gimps. DI down throw down and away. A wall of fairs can give you breathing space against Shiek. Honestly, for this matchup, I would suggest a character change. Maybe I just don't play the matchup right.
Olimar vs. Link
Link can be chaingrabbed with down-throw and he is very susceptible to juggling combos. Link is very campy in the neutral game, so you may be forced to get in there and start a combo. I don't know much on this matchup, but once I start going to weekly tournaments, I will get more matchup experiance.
Olimar vs. Ganondorf
This matchup can be difficult for Olimar because Ganon's aerials have so much priority and Olimar doesn't seem to be able to crouch-cancel any of his attacks. Ganon's fair has a huge disjointed hitbox on it, so make sure to respect his space. One tip I would suggest is to run up, shield, let him hit and punish with an out of shield option. Dash-dance and try to bait him in to making mistakes and punish. Virtually all of Olimar's combo starters work on Ganon, and once you get started, you can rack up good damage. Ganon can be chaingrabbed with dthrow. Similar to the captain Falcon matchup, use pikmin throw and other ranged attacks to your advantage. When you are grabbed with a flame choke, you have several options. You can tech or just wait on the ground. If he is predicting your techs, then sometimes the best option is to purposely miss the tech and use the invincibility of the get-up-attack to knock him away. Gimps with dair apply to this matchup, but watch out for the aerial side-special suicide move, as you will be the first to die in that situation. No lead is too good against Ganon, as Olimar is light and Ganon hits so hard. You can be at death percent in a matter of a few hits. Try to make the most out of each stock.
Any of the information presented may be changed. I will probably come back and add more. Meanwhile, please comment and share any tips you have with Olimar
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