Guide Pac Attack - Advanced Techniques and Strategy Guide

[dragontamer]

You don't want to fast fall with DAIR because the landing lag is the worst of all of Pac Man's Aerials.

Basically, you want to "float" with the DAIR. Short-hop -> Dair immediately, so that you're well into the auto-cancel window at the end of DAIR on your landing.

 

[Zage]

Neat trick you can do with B-air.

 

[Paper Maribro]

Neat trick you can do with B-air.

Thats hectic, it looks like you are cancelling the landing lag completely.

How does it work?

 

[Zage]

Honestly, I'm not too sure. Its a property unique only to b-air and I suspect other characters have aerial moves that can do the same thing.

Just use bair really close to the ground. I didn't record it but jumping isn't your only option. You can shield or w.e immediately. Becareful you don't land and do a jab though, it looks similar but you get a slight delay before you can act again after picking it up.

 

[PacDaddy]

Looks like we got another trick to use up our sleeves boys, check out the new video called J.C. Glide Tossing produced by My Smash Corner on youtube. I would link it but I still don't have 10 posts T_T.

Quick Synopsis: Basically when you have an item in your hand, by pressing then (jump) and instantly pressing , you effectively throw the item forward, while cancelling your jump and carrying your momentum forward. The cool part is you can throw the item any direction you want, so for a character like mega-man you can use this method to chain stun an opponent by glide tossing downward over and over. You can also use it to set up smash attacks and throws by using the hit stun off of the item if you toss it forward.

The possibilities look pretty endless for pac-man, especially since catching the key or melon off walls is already a pretty common tactic pac-mains use. This looks like it could open a ton of possibilities but I'll have to test it in training mode to see how it works.

Check out the video if my explanation wasn't clear enough.

 

[dragontamer]

According to the frame data, BAir has an auto-cancel window as long as the BAIR hitbox hasn't appeared yet.

So there isn't any attack that is associated with the movement. Its just equivalent to landing without doing any attack at all. 9 frame window for the auto-cancel (as it takes 9 frames for Bair to come out)

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Bair is also the aerial with the most range I think?

 

[Zage]

A friend proposed that jumping into a late b-air might be a bit better than just a regular empty jump, if your opponent is watching Pac they'll probably shield when they see the B-air animation start.

I have my doubts about this actually being practical though so I'm curious as to what you guys think. I'm only really seeing autocancled bair as a good tool to keep up Z-drop pressure.

 

[AGES]

Yeah bair auto-cancels as long as the hitbox hasn't come out yet, definitely a better way to grab a fruit compared to nair.

Looks like we got another trick to use up our sleeves boys, check out the new video called J.C. Glide Tossing produced by My Smash Corner on youtube. I would link it but I still don't have 10 posts T_T.

Quick Synopsis: Basically when you have an item in your hand, by pressing then (jump) and instantly pressing , you effectively throw the item forward, while cancelling your jump and carrying your momentum forward. The cool part is you can throw the item any direction you want, so for a character like mega-man you can use this method to chain stun an opponent by glide tossing downward over and over. You can also use it to set up smash attacks and throws by using the hit stun off of the item if you toss it forward.

The possibilities look pretty endless for pac-man, especially since catching the key or melon off walls is already a pretty common tactic pac-mains use. This looks like it could open a ton of possibilities but I'll have to test it in training mode to see how it works.

Check out the video if my explanation wasn't clear enough.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3_vOtY5kCc&feature=youtu.be

Pac doesn't get as much use out of this compared to Diddy Kong and Mega Man, but still i totally see some use for this, especially with the bell to get yourself closer to smash range after stunning your opponent.

In other news as I've finally got an Elgato I will be making a video soon(maybe tonight) showcasing a ton of ways to launch hydrants since the compilation of gifs I have atm is lacking and slightly outdated.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

When you are close enough to the opponent, a JC Glide Tossed Bell stuns the opponent BEFORE the Bell comes down again.

 

[AGES]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdo320ZiL7U

heres the video showcasing what you can do with the hydrants. Will add to the guide soon and might touch up on it overall.

EDIT: added it and touched up on the guide a bit while I was it at, fixed some errors, added a quick few small details and added Glide Toss under fruits. Wasn't sure whether to merge it with the Grabbing section or not but I gave it its own section for now.

 

[PacDaddy]

Pac doesn't get as much use out of this compared to Diddy Kong and Mega Man, but still i totally see some use for this, especially with the bell to get yourself closer to smash range after stunning your opponent.

In other news as I've finally got an Elgato I will be making a video soon(maybe tonight) showcasing a ton of ways to launch hydrants since the compilation of gifs I have atm is lacking and slightly outdated.

Yeah after doing a lot of testing in the lab, it's def not as useful as I thought it might be. I was hoping the melon/bell/key would have the same properties as mega-man's buzzsaw but to no avail. I basically found 2 uses of glide tossing which we can take advantage of.
1. Glide tossing the cherry and strawberry is really good because it has a very slight knock back but the hit stun is enough for us to combo it into a tilt/grab/smash attack. All of the other fruits for the most part have too much knock back to use the slide portion of the technique.
2. As WeirdChill said, there are a couple of cute little bell combos you can do but they're pretty situational.

Overall not the most game changing thing in the world, but just another tool we can add. Not to mention its a useful technique to know anyway with the prevalence of diddy/mega-man.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Yeah after doing a lot of testing in the lab, it's def not as useful as I thought it might be. I was hoping the melon/bell/key would have the same properties as mega-man's buzzsaw but to no avail. I basically found 2 uses of glide tossing which we can take advantage of.
1. Glide tossing the cherry and strawberry is really good because it has a very slight knock back but the hit stun is enough for us to combo it into a tilt/grab/smash attack. All of the other fruits for the most part have too much knock back to use the slide portion of the technique.
2. As WeirdChill said, there are a couple of cute little bell combos you can do but they're pretty situational.

Overall not the most game changing thing in the world, but just another tool we can add. Not to mention its a useful technique to know anyway with the prevalence of diddy/mega-man.

Comboing will be the most useful application, instead of movement,

Maybe the "lower" fruit have Buzzsaw-properties?
I can see Galaxian bringing Wombo Comboes like crazy.

 

[Nu~]

This actually isn't game changing for mega man either because of the RNG of the metal blade.
For us though, this can get us a lot closer to the opponent while throwing our fruit and can lead to some nasty combos.
I was a ROB player in brawl, and I know this technique is amazing for entering mid range with your projectiles

 

[Zage]

We can only pick up our fruit once after thrown, I don't think this has much use for Pac since he generally wants to Zdrop his fruit if he has it in hand.

 

[BSP]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jdo320ZiL7U

heres the video showcasing what you can do with the hydrants. Will add to the guide soon and might touch up on it overall.

EDIT: added it and touched up on the guide a bit while I was it at, fixed some errors, added a quick few small details and added Glide Toss under fruits. Wasn't sure whether to merge it with the Grabbing section or not but I gave it its own section for now.

Mention launching hydrant with the trampoline too.

 

[Paper Maribro]

I think I have found something interesting

Obviously, you shouldn't be able to chain grabs together because of the 1 second rule… As you guys know, down throw has fairly low knock back and shoots the opponent fairly short in front of you on the ground. Except, Pac has a tether grab that doesn't come out so quickly. You know what this means? Pac has a tech chase down throw chain grab at low percents. So long as you read the tech or get up, you can legitimately chain down throws.

Tether grab has actually come out trumps on this occasion, without it the 1 second rule possibly wouldnt be bypassed.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

I think I have found something interesting

Obviously, you shouldn't be able to chain grabs together because of the 1 second rule… As you guys know, down throw has fairly low knock back and shoots the opponent fairly short in front of you on the ground. Except, Pac has a tether grab that doesn't come out so quickly. You know what this means? Pac has a tech chase down throw chain grab at low percents. So long as you read the tech or get up, you can legitimately chain down throws.

Tether grab has actually come out trumps on this occasion, without it the 1 second rule possibly wouldnt be bypassed.

This could extend many other comboes too!

 

[Nu~]

Dthrow--> Dthrow--> fthrow--> key
Amazing 43% combo

 

[Paper Maribro]

Well I just played a hell of a lot of matches with a friend of mine plus a couple on FG and did some training mode messing around.

Got plenty of (low quality) footage to show you guys soon when I can get the time to chuck it all together.

There is one down side to the chain grab, it isnt really a true CG because you can jump out of it…

BUT!!!!!

1) Punish the landing with another grab to continue the chain
2) Go aerial and use Pacs often superior aerial arsenal to hopefully deter them from jumping.

I had some seriously good CGs earlier that took the opponent into the 60%s and beyond. Obviously, this is best used as a surprise tactic so people dont learn to counter it too much but go out and wreak havoc with the weirdest and funniest looking Chain Grab ever.

 

[Nu~]

Ooo you can chase the jump with a side B

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Dang, this beats my combo of JC Tossed Melon Down -> Full Jab Combo -> DThrow.

Unless we paste the DThrow-DThrow-FThrow Combo after this one.

 

[CCCM89]

We can only pick up our fruit once after thrown, I don't think this has much use for Pac since he generally wants to Zdrop his fruit if he has it in hand.

what about a glided z-drop. would that be possible? or at least a jump canceled z-drop?

 

[Nickname87]

i m trying to make pac man my secondary and this really helps but how you grab the key for the z dropping

 

[Nu~]

i m trying to make pac man my secondary and this really helps but how you grab the key for the z dropping

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ZP8AuCyBA
This should help

 

[Nickname87]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ZP8AuCyBA
This should help

thanks that might take some practice lol

 

[Nu~]

Hey, how badly do you guys think it hurts us when an opponent steals our fruit?
I don't want this to be a major problem in our growing metagame

 

[Firedemon0]

Hey, how badly do you guys think it hurts us when an opponent steals our fruit?
I don't want this to be a major problem in our growing metagame

Personally I do not think it is an issue. Outside of some outliers (Duck Hunt Dog, other Pac-man players) most characters are actually gimped by holding onto fruit. They can only retaliate with specials or the fruit itself. When I play my secondaries, I do enjoy stealing the fruit and using Zdropping combos on Pac-man, its hilarious, so if the player has any ability with zdropping you may have an issue.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Hydrant acts like Villagers Bowling Ball when placed on Yoshi's Island's curved ledge.

Pac-Man has even more sick tricks on Yoshi's Island, the Hydrant Gushed Fruit acts weird when landing on the platform, allowing for even more crazy trajectories.

EDIT: Pac Mans Fruit in general gets crazy on Yoshi's Island's tilting platform.
Strawberry even bounces back. O.O

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

thanks that might take some practice lol

I learned the timing and positioning for this by using the timing of other actions. I short-hop backward from the ledge, immediately throwing out a Bair. As soon as the Bair finishes, I throw the key, and then quickly air dodge to catch it as it rebounds. When timed correctly, this whole process puts you right where you need to be to catch it. I don't know if this can help you, but I know other people do something like this.

 

[Nu~]

Pac-man's up B seems to be invincible while rising up. I fought nairo on stream, and every time he went for an Elwind spike, I up B'd straight through it without taking damage.

 

[Firedemon0]

Pac-man's up B seems to be invincible while rising up. I fought nairo on stream, and every time he went for an Elwind spike, I up B'd straight through it without taking damage.

It clashes with the attack. It is how I avoid almost all spike attempts. Even if I mess up the timing, I immediately get knocked back into the trampoline and have a very good chance to not only recover, but hit the player.

 

[Paper Maribro]

Here is something not very useful but neat to know of in any case. If you jump through a platform and throw it at the right time, key slows right down and travels half the distance.

Also neat to know and kinda useful grabbing Falcon at the very edge of the stage and down-throwing him, appears to stage spike him. Unfortunately this glitch only affects Falcon and only really works at the 85-100% range. This is handy because Falcon can usually live till a lot longer than that.

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Here is something not very useful but neat to know of in any case. If you jump through a platform and throw it at the right time, key slows right down and travels half the distance.

Also neat to know and kinda useful grabbing Falcon at the very edge of the stage and down-throwing him, appears to stage spike him. Unfortunately this glitch only affects Falcon and only really works at the 85-100% range. This is handy because Falcon can usually live till a lot longer than that.

This might be bigger than you think.

What if the platforms affect the other fruit too?
We could have 8x3 different trajectories in one default move!

 

[Rashid]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMBrKq_iCE
Do you think this can be utilized effectively with Pac-Man?

 

[Zage]

The slow key works on any platform that Pac-man can get level with, even FD. It's kind of hard to force, but it can catch spot dodging characters with huge hitboxes. I haven't seen it happen with any other fruit yet but, but I'm in training mode right now trying to replicate it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMBrKq_iCE
Do you think this can be utilized effectively with Pac-Man?

Definitely, while not useful for for Pac-man in specific, its another option for us and thats always good. How does it work exactly?

 

[WeirdChillFever]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtMBrKq_iCE
Do you think this can be utilized effectively with Pac-Man?

Does it only work with Smashes?

If that's the case, Pac's Smashes are super laggy and this shouldn't be used much.

Or does it work with tilts too?

If that's the case, DTilt 4 Leif.

 

[ChivalRuse]

How does d-throw combo into dash attack? Can his d-throw not be teched? I thought I tested this, but maybe I wasn't as thorough as I believed...

 

[Paper Maribro]

This might be bigger than you think.

What if the platforms affect the other fruit too?
We could have 8x3 different trajectories in one default move!

Due to the different release points of the fruit and the fact that some of them bounce, I think its gonna be only useful for Key. I cant see it working for Cherry, Strawberry, Apple or Bell. The others are maybes, but just go into training on battlefield and slow it down to one quarter and you will see what I mean about different release points.

 

[BSP]

How does d-throw combo into dash attack? Can his d-throw not be teched? I thought I tested this, but maybe I wasn't as thorough as I believed...

It doesn't on everyone. Maybe it true combos on some characters, but I know Samus for one can shield before a DA connects after Dthrow.

Dthrow can be teched.

I believe Fthrow -> Key on the other hand is unavoidable at low %.