Pika Ledge-game Focus

[herbmaster%]

I'm in the process of finding a main to focus on, and I've decided to make a return to Pikachu. His u-air has the ability to send foes upwards and diagonally downwards, which is too sexy. quick attack is great for recovery, retreat, and style. The girls love him for being cute/tough/cool/sexy. he's the very first character I picked up in smash 64, and after trying to become a falco, fox, and marth, i've decided to return to the tunduh-rat with optimism. it just feels like the right way to go. now, to my inquiry:Sweet spotting the ledge with quick attack feels really REALLY nice when I'm successful, but is world crushing when unsuccessful. To practice my q-a game, should I just jump off the edge and decide when and how I should q-a myself until the best options are found? idk it's such a versatile move! Does anyone have any helpful screenshots?

 

[N64]

In short, yes, just practice it.

Don't have any specific screenshot/videos to give you, but being comfortable with the distance and angles upB has gives you a lot of versatility while recovering. The main one you'll probably use is directlyup -> downleft/right to the ledge. This auto-sweetspots and, if you start the second part far enough away from the edge, is difficult for many characters to edgeguard. Once you're comfortable with that, going further out and doing upleft->downright and upright->downleft is useful. It also autosweetspots and gets you to the ledge quicker and from further out. Lastly, just left->downright and right->downleft from out and a little above the stage can be useful too.

I made some quick MSPaint drawing to demonstrate, hope it makes sense:

 

[herbmaster%]

Thanks for the paint job ^v^, i couldn't help but laugh for a moment! very nice. There's also up-left/right up, which I've noticed is especially tricky sweetspotting on battlefield after getting that low. Also, I saw a video of axe on yoshi's going straight forward toward the stage, then up. have you ever caught yourself doing that? I tried it a few times and it actually canceled my second movement after hitting the stage.

 

[N64]

Yeah, you'll mainly want to look for opportunities to go at the angles I showed because you'll 'snap' to the edge if you're passing it at a downward angle. Just make sure you aren't still holding down (or downleft/right whatever) as pikachu gets to the edge or you'll pass through (and die). If you go straight left/right or just up to the ledge, it's less safe. Pika will end his upB, and then grab the ledge if he's next to it, which takes slightly longer than 'snapping' to it (and thus its easier for chars to hit you before you get the edge).

What it sounds like you're talking about with axe is him going straight over then straight up, and either landing on the yoshis platforms (since they hang out over the edge) or falling back down and catching the ledge. This can be potentially useful if you intend to go for the ledge, and then see at the last moment that you opponent is edgehogging you, so you upB over and up, hope they roll on reaction for the invulnerability, then you'll fall back down and catch the ledge once they're off. If they just hang on the ledge though, you'll fall helplessly.

The other thing it sounds like you're talking about it just a weird interaction with ledges. It's hard to describe it, but if you upB at an angle towards the stage and very slightly up while you're right next to the ledge, you'll sometimes kinda clip up and just land right on the edge facing the stage. Dunno why this happens.

Or, you could be talking about slightly riding the stage with the second part of your upB, similar to Foxes doing precise upB angles on yoshis and FoD to sweetspot the ledge. This can work ok with pikachu, but again it's not a true sweetspot, so only particularly useful if it's somehow the safest of your options (or only option).

 

[herbmaster%]

(Jackie Chans Grandpa) "onemmooore thing", what's your youtube username? it's fairly difficult to find anything by searching "n64" and "pikachu" lol

 

[herbmaster%]

and i'll start using the "ask about pika" thread from now on, since that's precisely what I'm doing on this thread.

 

[N64]

I don't really have any videos up that are newer than 5-6 years old. If you want to watch Pikachu matches, obviously Axe and Pikachad are the best references.

If you're reeeeeally interested though, I have a few friendlies up from some years ago under https://www.youtube.com/user/MentalFly

 

[oukd]

those are some great diagrams lol

 

[herbmaster%]

may not get much out of subscribing, but I'm subscribed B) also, I was on Georgia Melee on fb and saw a post listing all the best GA players, and noticed you're on there. I'm from Auburn, AL and live within 100 miles from your location, so if you're ever free to smash someday, hit me up! I'd love to drive down and play another pikachu.

 

[Cubelarooso]

You should come down to Hidden Power Monthlies in Mobile.

 

[N64]

Neat! I don't really travel much these days, pretty much only to Atlanta (1.5 hours from me). I will be at Tipped Off, which is going to be an awesome tourney! Hopefully you can make it to that, I always enjoy meeting fellow pika players.

 

[herbmaster%]

I've been to a couple of HP's, one in May, one in July during evo. Both were a blast, besides being decimated by a few people. I'm planning on making the next one, as well as Tipped Off now. My training starts this week!

 

[Mr. Bean]

wait wait so with marth for example (and alot of other characters) when "ramen noodling" you need to press down then let go because pressing down too long kills you. But with Pikachu, when you up-b left/right then down-left/down-right you need to hold down to grab the ledge? why is that

 

[N64]

I'm not familiar with the term ramen-noodling. Regardless, no, if you hold any down angle while passing the ledge, you won't grab it. It's important to let go of the control stick before you reach the ledge or you'll pass right by it and fall to your death.

 

[Mr. Bean]

Ramen noodling is just wavedashing off and grabbing the edge really fast because it's "instant" like ramen noodles.
I guess I misunderstood something.