Pika Q&A/FAQ Thread: Ask a Quick Question, Get a Quick Answer!

[[FBC] ESAM]

Nair, uair, U-smash. Those are the only ones that are notable (Since you don't have to drop shield to do any of them)

 

[Twigz]

Nice thank you, but out of the 3 which is easiest to land a hit with?

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Depends on the situation. If somebody lands right behind you, uair (the hitbox starts in the back on frame 7 [including the jump]). If they are on top of you, nair (hitbox starts on frame 7 [including jump]). If they are in front, U-smash (Hitbox starts on frame 9, but you have to Jump Cancel it so it is a little more). I tend to use U-smash the least, which I'm trying to fix, so nair should be your main one since people don't normally cross-up well enough that the nair will miss.

 

[Cassio]

Its all pretty situational. Dair and QA have uses those others dont cover too imo, although QA is very rare after being hit on shield.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Dair and QA are normally too slow. I would rather like...drop shield d-tilt somebody I was gonna try to dair.

 

[Pikabunz]

I guess dair oos would be good if a MK was spamming dtilt on your shield.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

ISSDI GRAB THAT ****

#Hardcore

 

[Cassio]

Yeah Dairs pretty slow, I just like it because it sets up into stuff so well. Primes right I was mostly thinking about dtilt moves, lol. I probably dont drop shield dtilt enough though.

I used to use QA as an alternate escape route when Im stuck in shield, but lately Ive been opting for other options too. Mostly cause i forget about it.

 

[OlympicPika]

Hey all! First id like to apologize for starting a unneccesary new thread. My bad. Anyway Ive been having some trouble with my approaches and need help! Thanks ~Lymp

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

There are a few obvious ones, such as FH T-jolt and run behind it. It makes your opponent do SOMETHING so you can react accordingly. You could slowly walk over to them and see what they do. SH fair is good (as long as you weave back if you don't poke their shield). Um...just try to watch some videos of me/Z/KPrime/Hayase to see some of our approaches in general

 

[Nicholas1024]

What are some of Pika's kill setups? I find landing the kill is one of the harder things for me to do with Pika, considering the opponent can spam shield and Pika has no kill throws.

 

[BlueXenon]

Hi Pikachu Players. Im thinking about maining Pikachu. Right now I main Meta knight and Lucario and I dont enjoy using them a lot. I decided to pick a different character to main that I like using more. After playing with other characters, I liked pikachu the most. The problems I have with pikachu are I dont have 2 hours everyday to practice in training mode and if I do have the time, i wouldn't want to. I usually use training mode at most 15 minutes a day. The second problem I have with pikachu is my extremely defensive playstyle. Iv'e played defensive for so long that im terrible at approaching, even with meta knight. I dont usually move around the stage a lot. I like using Pikachu because he's a lot faster than my current mains (mk is slow in the air, lucario is just slow) and I just have fun using him, I cant explain it well. Should I main pikachu?
I would still use MK and Lucario sometimes If i did main pikachu.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

I mean, do whatever you want bro.

@Nicholas: Don't force the kill, it will come to you. However, one thing I'm starting to like is if I hit a fair near the ledge, I f-tilt because people are expecting either u-smash or u-tilt since they don't want to get thundered. I've got kills at like 85% because of that. Other things are high % d-throw reads into F-smash, U-smash or nair.

 

[*Cam*]

Who else am I going to see tomorrow at WHOBO?

 

[Pikabunz]

Me, Esam, and Z.

 

[Ayce God]

I would just look up ESAM's vids on youtube and see if he has ever played against a pit.

I did that, found a old video of esam being destroyed.
clearly he didn't know the matchup at the time.
but I did notice something's.
thanks for the advice. n be nicer to me on YouTube LOL

 

[M15t3R E]

Hi Pikachu Players.
Yada Yada Yada

Hiya. It's always flattering to see another smasher enthused about the yellow wonder!
I just want to tell you that Pikachu is not a pick-up-and-play character like MK. There is a learning curve for him higher than most characters. A good start would be to check out our thread for all the info you should need to get started. Good luck!
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=225527

 

[PZ]

BlueZelda...hmm PurpleZelda no thanks I am fine with Purple Zebra.

 

[Gunnermaniac]

Why does everyone from that region have kismet as their picture :O

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Because kismet is awesome

 

[Cassio]

Hey ESAM, Im starting to get into doubles a bit and I was wondering how you use jolts effectively? Whats my responsibility and what is my partners, and what are good/bad situations to use them?

Also, what sort of roll(s) is pikachu best fit to play? I usually team with a marth or snake if that helps, but i bet it can depend on the MU too. Knowing their rolls/ways they support pika would be nice if you happen to know that too.

 

[#HBC | J]

Heya, I'm a representative of the Lucas boards and I didn't want to clog up your Social thread with asking to possibly come over to our boards to discuss the Pika MU a bit if it isn't too much trouble to ask so I decided to post it in here for good measure.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=326207

Thank you very much regardless!

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

@Cassio you really just have to think about the risk/reward of using a jolt. What are the odds that the opponents will get out of the way, make your partner get hit, and then follow up as opposed to being disrupted? That's pretty much the question right there.

For the role thing, it is better to be aggressive in general with a Snake since Snake has such powerful punishes and grenades can be deadly to the other team (if you pay enough attention and don't get hit by too many). With marth, I would say play more defensive since Marth has a lot of safe pressure so he should be going in more than you.

 

[Cassio]

Awesome thanks! Also do you happen to have a video(s) of what you feel demonstrates how pika should be played in doubles?

Actually a few more question too. From throws from your partner what are pikas best follow ups usually? I like thunder but Im not really sure if its that good. And whats pikas best throw so a partner can follow up?

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

at low % for follow-ups, dair is the best (the hitstun is enough so your partner should be able to recover). For kills, obviously thunder.

Um...I mean you can watch my matches with MVD or Mekos to see how I play, not sure how well it stacks up to the theory, though.

 

[M15t3R E]

Heya, I'm a representative of the Lucas boards and I didn't want to clog up your Social thread with asking to possibly come over to our boards to discuss the Pika MU a bit if it isn't too much trouble to ask so I decided to post it in here for good measure.

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=326207

Thank you very much regardless!

Ah, MU discussion. My specialty. I'll be right over, and I advise all Pikas who know even a little about this MU to discuss as well.
It's about time the character boards began re-discussing MU's.

 

[BlueXenon]

Is it bad to use pikachu's down b against characters with down b counters? like marth, ike fox, falco, wolf, lucario.

 

[M15t3R E]

Is it bad to use pikachu's down b against characters with down b counters? like marth, ike fox, falco, wolf, lucario.

A Marth, Ike, or Lucario player must be an utter noob if they use counter vs Pikachu's thunder. The only situation in which one of these characters should use their down b in response to Pikachu's thunder is for Fox, Falco, and Wolf when they are launched and Pikachu goes for the kill with thunder.
That said, feel free to use thunder under this situation. But the way to do it would be to do a thunder as you are jumping horizontally. That way, if it is deflected, it won't hit you back.

 

[#HBC | J]

Ah, MU discussion. My specialty. I'll be right over, and I advise all Pikas who know even a little about this MU to discuss as well.
It's about time the character boards began re-discussing MU's.

Thank you so very much for your input and yes, I agree whole-heartedly to your statement.

 

[Syko_Lemming]

ESAM, I see you break out of grabs so quick. Particularly against Ally. How do you mash?

 

[Pikabunz]

I just...mash buttons. I kinda figured out a way to shake my controller so that my fingers press the buttons as the joystick rotates. Mashing with the C-stick is troublesome because you have to put it back to neutral every time, really not worth it.

Also, there's a hack that counts your button presses when you mash, so you can use that to practice and find out the best mashing method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hoO_OdK3Qw

ESAM! Try that hack out. I wanna see how fast you can mash.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Oh my god that is godlike. K_Prime, if you do it with your method, I'll do it with mine.

 

[Pikabunz]

kk, but you gotta get a replay for proof when you do it.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Of course, sir.

 

[Pikabunz]

My highest is 93 so far. I'll record after I break 100.

 

[Syko_Lemming]

Does it matter if you're pressing more than one button at a time? Like, if you are holding A while you press B, does that still count as two button presses?

 

[Pikabunz]

Yes, holding A then pressing B will count as 2 inputs as long as they're different actions. Holding X and pressing Y will only count as 1 input since they're both jump. Also, pressing A and B at the same time will count as 1 input.

 

[Syko_Lemming]

Also, pressing A and B at the same time will count as 1 input.

How small is the window of "the same time"?

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Same frame

 

[Syko_Lemming]

Excellent then.