Social PGD4: I changed the title.

[iVoltage]

Really its just throwing out moves to match your position and their position relative to the stage and platforms and such. If they are above you uair or nair, in front fair bair or nair, behind nair or bair, below isnt really a super great place but dair, fastfall fair, or nair are all ok options. On the ground tools i really like are pikas dtilt which can trip and get you a free grab, and ftilt which is a very nice get off me tool. Down smash is also pretty good at catching rolls, and covering the ledge.

 

[Angiance]

I've come to the conclusion that my combo game as pika is kinda subpar aside from the bread and butter "uthrow into thunder". I've been told Dthrow into UAirs works but I haven't had the time to try it yet. Are there other combos (i'm sure there are) or...

From super low percents, D.Throw > U.Tilt > U.Air > N.Air is fine, but you can also combo it into a falling F.Air after the U.Air in an attempt to reset the combo.

On certain characters, you can actually U.Tit them until they pop in front of you and then you can D.Tilt > Dash Grab.

Another standard combo is landing with an in-and-out F.Air and then D.Tilting. If you're going to land inside of their range with F.Air then you can Grab or F.Tilt if they pop up.

We have setups for T.Jolt as well: D.Tilt at a high percent will send them away far enough to set out a T.Jolt, F.Throw is also a good setup for T.Jolt.

Once T.Jolt is on the ground it becomes able to combo into things, such as U.Smash or Grab.

Quick Attack > U.Tilt/U.Air/N.Air is decent.

One last combo I'll mention is Dash U.Smash > Thunder, however in order for it to work properly the U.Smash must be sweetspotted.

 

[redfeatherraven]

There are option selects in the game, it's just that no one has bothered to figure them out. Even if we did find some for Pikachu, they probably wouldn't be that useful. An example of an option select would be like a standing grab to up to down + shield. What this does is if you land the grab, you'll do an instant up throw. If they spot dodge your grab, you'll do a buffered spot dodge which might dodge any possible punish. I can't really say how useful this is though.

This could be me just being easily enthused (common occurrence) but that sounds incredibly useful.

What counteracts that particular shenanigan?

 

[Pikabunz]

I just feel like you have plenty of time to react to your grab whiffing with a spot dodge that you don't even need to option select it. At least I think so.

 

[Leaf.]

Oh man.
Pikachu is pretty cool, yeah.

And I'm gonna be at Genesis.

 

[Zajice]

I haven't found Smash to really require things like option selects, and I've played plenty of 2d fighters that do. Smash isn't too mechanically complicated.

 

[Coro_]

My region is having our biggest smash tournament yet this weekend~ (Melee & WiiU)
I'll be headed in representing Pikachu as usual~

Also, I'm on the commentator team~
And I'm also gonna be cosplaying, as Red (it's a gaming convention so yeah) =w=

If you guys are interested to tune in, it'll be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/smashgofsg
Brackets are here: http://challonge.com/smashgsWiiU15

Gonna have fun this weekend~

 

[Wishes And Sunshine]

My region is having our biggest smash tournament yet this weekend~ (Melee & WiiU)
I'll be headed in representing Pikachu as usual~

Also, I'm on the commentator team~
And I'm also gonna be cosplaying, as Red (it's a gaming convention so yeah) =w=

If you guys are interested to tune in, it'll be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/smashgofsg
Brackets are here: http://challonge.com/smashgsWiiU15

Gonna have fun this weekend~

Good lord, you make me wish there was a Smash community here.

Speaking of cosplay, which trainer/Pokemon would you guys like to cosplay as? N would be pretty great, in my opinion. Though I could go without any costume and say that I'm Zoroark....

 

[Thor]

First, haven't been around in a while. Hope everyone's doing well.

Second, I tied my best performance at a Smash 4 tournament this far [or did better since it was a larger event] with 3rd at a 20 person tournament. I lost WR1 to a Diddy Kong who was supposed to be worse than me [I have beaten him before, but I think I'm really bad against Diddy Kong], but then worked through losers bracket all the way to Loser's Finals before bowing out to number 4 on the PR (I got one very close game from his Rosalina and Luma while dropping two games that were also very close, and he switched to Mii Smaller [Mii Brawler at tiniest weight/size], and though I have beaten it before, I was admittedly unprepared for the switch and didn't execute like I needed to to win). However, along the way I beat 3, 6, and 7 on the local PR [I am currently 10th, although that's subject to change]. No recordings occurred sadly. (The most exciting set was against number 7 on the PR, who is a Jiggs main that beat 2-1... game 3 was on Battlefield, and I got rested twice, but the second rest just barely didn't kill, so I managed to uair fastfall and charge a usmash enough to net the kill for the win.)

Third, in regards to option selects: They're a useful way to "commit" to high-risk options in a way that's not high-risk. The best example I saw was an option select made by a ZSS player, and it was something like shield -> immediate down -> up+B -> A (while not holding R). If done correctly, you either powershield up+B (desired outcome), spotdodge jab (if they whiff entirely), or dropshield jab (if no powershield occurs). In this way, you can punish something unsafe on shield, but do a rather low-commitment option otherwise [as jab is frame 1, and drop shield jab is thus frame 8, which is pretty fast (for comparison, nair OoS is frame 7 for us)].

Pikachu can get guaranteed footstool nair, and there was an option select discussed in a video relating to this [if people have watched the videos], but I'm not sure if Pikachu has option selects quite that threatening (we could obviously do something like powershield fsmash/usmash option-selected with spotdodge dtilt/utilt, but those are similar kill-power but slower moves with a slower protective measure if the powershield doesn't occur, so it seems less safe).

 

[Underhill]

Have you ever watch super smash bros tas videos with the player as Pikachu?

 

[Coro_]

I just got Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon~
Sorry smash, I'll be on vacation from you for a long while =w=;

 

[A10theHero]

I'm thinking about dropping Pikachu as my main for a while. Yesterday, I played after a long time and my skills at Smash 4 were garbage. I still dominated on For Glory and stuff, but I feel that those victories were more because of the character I'm using than my actual skills at the game. So I'm considering playing with low tier characters more for a while so I can improve at the fundamentals. I'd still play as Pikachu from time to time so that my Pika game doesn't become too rusty, but I think I can become a better player if I play with the more limited toolkit of a low tier character. What do you guys think about this?

 

[Thor]

I'm thinking about dropping Pikachu as my main for a while. Yesterday, I played after a long time and my skills at Smash 4 were garbage. I still dominated on For Glory and stuff, but I feel that those victories were more because of the character I'm using than my actual skills at the game. So I'm considering playing with low tier characters more for a while so I can improve at the fundamentals. I'd still play as Pikachu from time to time so that my Pika game doesn't become too rusty, but I think I can become a better player if I play with the more limited toolkit of a low tier character. What do you guys think about this?

In tournament, play the character that gives you the best chance to win. You get to play more rounds that way, which means more games against serious opponents and thus more time to improve as you play.

In terms of improving outside of tournaments, if you think you perhaps rely on Quick Attack too much, or that you had combos that were too easy or whatever, it might not be a bad idea. It'd also be beneficial to pick a different character that accentuates what you want to work on. Need work on hard reads and zone-breaking? Ganondorf is a good choice for that (needs the former and struggles mightily against the latter). Want to practice mixing up recovering? Little Mac may be your man [he has some mixups although he still has issues getting back against highly competent players]. Want to throw out aerials less carelessly? Marth might be your best option [as he has some decent lag and requires some precise spacing to make him more useful than Lucina]. Want to focus on landing more grabs? Try DK [not that great at getting them, but has tremendous reward for doing so] or Ness [high tier, but while he's a little better at grabbing, still gets huge reward as a reminder that you should be grabbing]. There are more examples but these are a few of them.

All that said, make sure you find them fun first, or you're missing the point of playing Smash in the first place.

 

[PF9]

Watched the Macy's Parade until the Pikachu float appeared. As is usually the case, Pikachu is the only Smash character with its own float in that parade.

 

[Umbreoff]

Since you guys were talking about tournament results, I got 33rd/122 at Kings of the North 4, a Wisconsin regional.

 

[A10theHero]

Hmm, the Pika boards are still pretty quiet. What if we made a community Pika guide? That'd be useful for everyone and it'd at least slightly increase the activity here. What do you guys think?

 

[Soul.]

imo It would be better if we made a community Quick Attack guide. Like, this basically:

- Overview (I mean a general overview of QA itself)

- Quick Attack in the three gameplay states:

- Neutral
- Using Quick Attack in neutral
- Resetting back to neutral with Quick Attack

- Advantage
- QA in Advantage
- Other uses in advantage

- Disadvantage
- QA in disadvantage
- Other uses in disadvantage

- Using Quick Attack to punish defensive options

- Quick Attack Cancels and Ledge Cancelling
- Ledge Cancel explanation
- QAC explanation

- Mixing up QA angles

- Closing thoughts and shoutouts

QA is our best move; a thread about it seems long overdue.

 

[Angiance]

Quick Attack...our "best" attack?...apparently you forgot about our D.Tilt/U.Air/D.Air. Quick Attack a good move for mobility, but it's far from our best attack.

 

[A10theHero]

Quick Attack is our best move overall because of how versatile it is, but there's more to Pikachu than just that. If we do a community guide, we would give Quick Attack its necessary attention, but it's still important to talk about everything else this character has to offer.

 

[Angiance]

You just pissed me off...

Pikachu's greatest trait is his ability to FRAME TRAP his opponent. The attacks we have that are key to frame trap our opponent are D.Tilt/U.Air/D.Air.

I'm not saying Quick Attack bad, it is an excellent action for moving around, recovering, and repositioning...but holy Hell, you all overhype it way too damn much.

It takes 14 frames to start, is punishable if it hits a shield and even if we get both hits, we don't make much out of it once the percent gets higher since it is escapable (most opponents just don't realize it is escapable).

How can you all say it is our best move: D.Tilt is frame 7, has very good range, and ends in 10 frames. It controls the ground in front us, it's +1 on shield, and it even has the capability to set up jab locks at higher percents.

T.Jolt is a WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more useful special that Quick Attack. T.Jolt controls the ENTIRE STAGE if you set it out while the opponent is knocked up high, controls the whole edge and ledge if the opponent is offstage, giving us a downright MURDEROUS advantage.

Again, I'm not saying Quick Attack isn't amazing in it's own right...I'm just saying that you all are REALLY overhyping it, I mean wow...

 

[Soul.]

...You overhype up air lol

I don't think that move defines Pikachu. Yes it's good. Yes it's frame 4. Yes it frame traps. Yes it can help with follow ups, but I really don't think it is the move.

 

[A10theHero]

I don't think we should continue this conversation. If that's all it took to piss you off then I wouldn't want to see what happens when you get a counterargument, lol.

 

[Angiance]

Where did I state U.Air as being "the move," I'm pretty sure I simply stated that it is one of our actions that greatly aids our best trait which you even agreed with yourself, frame traps.

Hey, if you wanna really get into then fine...U.Air hits very high, I believe has some invincibility on the outer edge of the tail (could be wrong), sets up the nastiest landing traps, is very helpful on the ledge, is basically unpunishable if used correctly and...yeah, there it is

 

[Megamang]

I don't think we should continue this conversation. If that's all it took to piss you off then I wouldn't want to see what happens when you get a counterargument, lol.

Angry PMs mostly.


I like the idea of a community quick attack thread, perhaps we can post little gifs of its lesser known utilities.

For example, at really high percent, the second hit of QA can kill off the top if you go for a hail mary read. This works for me on occasion because i often quick attack down -> diagonal down to return to my juggle after a uair string.

To clear things up, uair is a disjoint (pikachu used iron tail!) But the only attack which makes pika invincible is blue thunder.

 

[Angiance]

Who in the...flllllyyyyyiiiing Hell would get KO'd off the top by Quick Attack, I mean you literally have to put forth effort to get hit by that as the opponent

 

[Coro_]

Quick Attack is unique to us and is the defining factor in many matchups (whether the opponent has answers to it or not), and really taken by itself could be the best move in the game from sheer versatility. It breaks neutral completely since we can use it to escape, it's probably the most versatile recovery move, it's a combo starter at low-mid%s, it's very hard to predict due to the number of directions we can go, it can cancel in certain situations; really it's usefulness cannot be understated.
Yes, it has startup, yes it has endlag, yes if you land too close it's not safe on shield. The key point is using it intelligently and not spamming it and zipping around the stage endlessly with it. Angles of approach are also important, since QA can completely go around attempts to stop it if you condition them to expect it from one angle then switch to another.

Not saying that Pikachu doesn't have good frame data and ability to frametrap, but he's hardly the only one with that, QA is unique to him and is probably his biggest 'selling point', if you will.

Though please don't hail mary with QA2, if you're using it that high up you'll be dropping like a pancake if you guess wrong XD
There's safer moves to hail mary with off the top XD

 

[Volt_Storm_7]

Pikabunz I thought of you when I saw this. Either I forogt which eevolution you were, or I'm right. Right?

http://grabsmash.com/products/nch00...luxe-edition?t=shiny_video&variant=8912290757

 

[Megamang]

Hail mary is hail mary, dont do it if you wanna be safe


Trying think of other outlandish QA uses, dunno. You can combo qa2 into blue thunder if you get a platform cancel on battlefield.


Also, not competitive related but... it kills in sudden death lol.

 

[Angiance]

Quick Attack...is not...that good...oh my God, please stop overhyping it.

 

[Megamang]

We are talking about the possibility of a community driven thread on one of the best specials in the game. You can contribute or not, but you are not a mod so dont try and controll what we talk about.


Anyway, did you know QA automatically cancels on the floor of dreamland? You have to go inwards, think of dreamland as extremely slightly being a slope with the peak at the middle. Definitely makes the stage more tolerable against those that will pick it against you (dk, zss, rosa)

 

[Angiance]

I STRONGLY dislike you, Megamang.

 

[Megamang]

In the way that you'll come around to loving me? Or in the way you'd hit your kids for saying 'mang'?

 

[Angiance]

Just...stop...

 

[Thor]

Who in the...flllllyyyyyiiiing Hell would get KO'd off the top by Quick Attack, I mean you literally have to put forth effort to get hit by that as the opponent

I have netted several sudden death kills with it when I've ventured into For Glory, and nearly every time it happens, the opponent leaves instantly. It's quite useful in sudden death because you're hard to hit as many characters who lack the solid nair needed to contest it, and you can be extremely safe between not even going near them, mixing up which side of them you end up on, and edge-cancelling it.

Quick Attack is actually safe on shield against a lot of characters if you go away from them [for instance, Ganondorf can't do anything (duh), but also Kirby is I believe too slow to get any punish on us]. I think it's Pikachu's best move because it also can completely negate landing traps on its own [there are times when Nairo has used up his double jump and down+B and ZeRo uses bouncing fish in the area Nairo will land and he has to eat the hit or up+B out and then get hit afterwards anyway... Pikachu can land almost effortlessly with careful use of Quick Attack], can start combos [for how much you hype up our tilts, hitting the second hit of Quick Attack lets you start utilting them afterwards], and can also help with tech chases [for the aforementioned reason]. It's also useful for applying mental pressure - the slightest hole in someone's attempt to corner us allows Pikachu to quickly reset to center stage with an option that also has combo-starting potential.

 

[eltoroguaco]

Let me know, do you guys have any Pikachu merc? I know Axe got his caps that he always use for tournies. For that, I bought a Pikachu Tee on gamestop :3 (Cause they sell merc now.)

 

[Coro_]

Pikachu merc? XD
I went to the last tourney dressed as Pokemon Trainer Red and a 1:1 pikachu plush =w=

 

[Thor]

Pikachu merc? XD
I went to the last tourney dressed as Pokemon Trainer Red and a 1:1 pikachu plush =w=

Any pictures? That outfit sounds awesome.

 

[Dashie]

it's a combo starter at low-mid%s...

It can combo without ledge cancel similar to down/up throw and up tilts if you could understand the trajectory the opponent will be sent.
Just as a small note.

 

[Coro_]

Any pictures? That outfit sounds awesome.

That's me on commentary there~
I've got a proper cosplay pic elsewhere too if you wanna see it

 

[Underhill]

View attachment 86035
That's me on commentary there~
I've got a proper cosplay pic elsewhere too if you wanna see it

Looks good, man.