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

[TheGrunyan]

Pikachu is as mind-gamey as a character can be. He's cute, quick, and honestly, he's annoying to play against. Utilize everything he's got! Here are some examples that have worked for me many times:

-Uair string x2 then fast fall a thunder; after the the second uair, people tend to try and fast fall an air dodge past you but they end up dodging into the sweetspot instead.
-Running straight past someone and pivot grabbing can be helpful if they're a hugely defensive sit-in-shield kind of player.
-QAC (duh)
-After knocking someone off the edge, run up as if you'll follow them off and then fast fall a thunder right next to the edge. Some players, again, end up dodging into the sweetspot.

Those are just a few examples. Certain mind games only work on people with a particular mind set~

Most of these are solid, though don't fast fall thunder off the side. You'll probably die.

 

[Hoenn]

Thanks, I will try some of these out on people. These are good suggestions

To add to the mindgames, dowthrow a character that can be chain grabbed. They will probably want to air dodge to attempt to avoid the Nair, so Charge an Fsmash and whack them when they land
Did this to DLA in a pika ditto, so even fellow pikas fall for it

 

[hell-dew]

Skull bash has its uses IMO the main use it a direct forward frontal attack usually if your in the air in a really awkward spot. IE sometimes there is a MK trying to Edge guard me and if im directly in front of him i have no reason to fair when i just just skull bash him to get rid of him also its godlike against snake who doesnt really have a normal Fair. on the ground its hilarious in doubles But IMO there isnt much point in using it that ive found outside of very odd instances and i hate when i hit it by mistake. also angiance come out to tourneys find some way to come out. its crazy how much you learn by it. im still a pretty big noob in the grand scheme of things but its insane how much ive learned over the last couple months by just 1 day a week smashfests with a random tourney here and there.

hell i won a pikachu ditto and a snake battle because i fought Esams Pika once during friendlies and Allys snake a whole boatload of times at impulse. i just kinda remember situations they set up on me and abused those instances which i wouldnt have realized had i not faced them that said i need to work on habits cause i have a terrible rolling habit and i overuse the spotdodge :/

 

[Angiance]

@Hell-dew: dude, I really BADLY want to attend tournaments consistantely...like reeeeeeeeeeaalllllly, rrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally BADLY, I love impossible competition. The attatchment I have to my character is so strong that it's depressing...-_-;

 

[Hoenn]

@Hell-dew: dude, I really BADLY want to attend tournaments consistantely...like reeeeeeeeeeaalllllly, rrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally BADLY, I love impossible competition. The attatchment I have to my character is so strong that it's depressing...-_-;

What keeps you?

 

[Angiance]

A lack of transportation and caaaash, like dude I don't even have a car. Oh wellz though. xP

 

[deadjames]

A lack of transportation and caaaash, like dude I don't even have a car. Oh wellz though. xP

Try to find someone to ride with if you can, as for the cash I don't know what to tell you, but most tourneys aren't too terribly expensive.

 

[Angiance]

I really appreciate you guys' concern, my motivation's skyrocketed. Any Pika questions? :3

 

[hell-dew]

get your parents to drive you get some birthday money together try taking public transportation ask your parents and beg them (i know the feels man ive been there before) get a job if possible and try going.

ok random question is there some kinda timing thing on the B revevse/Wave bounced thunder i dont really understand why sometimes one comes out and other times the other does ive messed around time the timeing a bit can can kinda feel the difference.

my other question is about Jabs in doubles. Can your Foe SDI out of your Jab in a position like (say im the X and my partner is the Z and the Enemy is the B) X>B<Z so assuming my partner is pummel releasing/or something something akin to that will this work Till death? should i be hitting the enemy while hes being pummeled or barely out side of the range of my partners grab. and if they tried SDIing out which way can they do it im guessing someone like marth could force towards us then UpB.

or is the better option just to regrab pummel release.

 

[Angiance]

It won't work til death; Jab can be SDI'd left or right. For the person grabbed, Maybe Dash U-Smash, sweetspot Thunder, skullbash, U-Air footstool?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Most of these are solid, though don't fast fall thunder off the side. You'll probably die.

No, I wasn't saying that you go off the edge. You jump up in pursuit and then you fast fall to the ground near the edge and thunder, haha

Thanks, I will try some of these out on people. These are good suggestions

To add to the mindgames, dowthrow a character that can be chain grabbed. They will probably want to air dodge to attempt to avoid the Nair, so Charge an Fsmash and whack them when they land
Did this to DLA in a pika ditto, so even fellow pikas fall for it

No problem, my friend! And you're right! D-throw to charged f-smash is an amazing little mind game.

I'm here to answer questions if someone wants advice or anything but I'll be completely honest if I don't know, guys, haha
Otherwise, I'm happy to help, mmkay?

 

[TheGrunyan]

No, I wasn't saying that you go off the edge. You jump up in pursuit and then you fast fall to the ground near the edge and thunder, haha

Thanks for the clarification. I was confused by the one piece of seemingly bad advice mixed with all of the good advice.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Oh my god so many posts because y'all are bouncing annoyingness off of each other.

Please keep this thread related to STRICTLY pikachu questions. No filler, no asking about tournaments people run...just Pikachu. There are PMs and wall messages for the other crap.

Also, QAC isn't that good offensively. It is used in certain situations and when people don't expect it but it's minus on HIT until like 95%.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I'm not sure if I'm part of what you just said but I apologize if so.
Let's get back on track guys ; ~;

 

[Angiance]

Any questions? :3

 

[Reth92]

Well... what are pika's best spacing tools?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

D-tilt, f-tilt, f-smash.

 

[Player -0]

Thanks, I will try some of these out on people. These are good suggestions

To add to the mindgames, dowthrow a character that can be chain grabbed. They will probably want to air dodge to attempt to avoid the Nair, so Charge an Fsmash and whack them when they land
Did this to DLA in a pika ditto, so even fellow pikas fall for it

You mean people don't try to DJ airdodge and just airdodge ._.?
Or if you're a character with a decent Dair then DJ dair, it's a decent mixup I guess but if you can read the airdodge then just T2 Thunder them.

Also against characters you may not be able to regularly CG like Luigi (Cuz Nair, at least in my experience anyway) if they throw out a nair or dolphin slash (Marth) you can just shield and punish with another grab or an upsmash.

 

[Angiance]

@Reth92: Our best spacing is D-Tilt, F-Air, and U-Air. F-Smash is better off saved for it's incredible sweetspot damage/knockback.

 

[Hoenn]

You mean people don't try to DJ airdodge and just airdodge ._.?
Or if you're a character with a decent Dair then DJ dair, it's a decent mixup I guess but if you can read the airdodge then just T2 Thunder them.

Also against characters you may not be able to regularly CG like Luigi (Cuz Nair, at least in my experience anyway) if they throw out a nair or dolphin slash (Marth) you can just shield and punish with another grab or an upsmash.

You'd be surprised how many smart players fall for this. People don't think straight when under pressure lol
I learned this from the pikachu tips video series that CAM used to make...
I went to a tournament and it works really well especially when they are at high damage.
Do you want to know why this works? Humans are VERY stupid creatures

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Honestly, it's because people tend to take more defensive options when their percent is higher. While a Marth may dolphin slash at 30%, they're not likely to try that at a higher percent because of the chance of you shielding and punishing the landing.

@angiance: It's preference. F-smash is a good spacing tool as well as kill move.

 

[Angiance]

Honestly, it's because people tend to take more defensive options when their percent is higher. While a Marth may dolphin slash at 30%, they're not likely to try that at a higher percent because of the chance of you shielding and punishing the landing.

@angiance: It's preference. F-smash is a good spacing tool as well as kill move.

It CAN be used for spacing, but being able to KO an opponent at around 90% at the edge with a fresh sweetspot F-Smash is more important, especially since we already have better spacing options.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

It CAN be used for spacing, but being able to KO an opponent at around 90% at the edge with a fresh sweetspot F-Smash is more important, especially since we already have better spacing options.

I repeat, it's preference =o
With good DI, most characters aren't going to die 90%. With bad DI, someone could die just as easily from nair =I
I use f-smash for both killing and spacing and it often depends on who I'm up against. Your opponents choice of character can heavily alter the role that f-smash plays in a match.

 

[Angiance]

I didn't say it wasn't preference, I just said it's better off saved. Hitting with F-Smash just once stales it's power alot, like 21% damage drops to 18% from one use. But yes, I agree that it IS preference.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I agree to a certain point with you as well, but I just think that, at times, f-smash isn't ALWAYS better off being saved for the kill.
I don't really want to keep lingering on this so yeah, haha

Anybody else have any interesting questions?

 

[Player -0]

You'd be surprised how many smart players fall for this. People don't think straight when under pressure lol
I learned this from the pikachu tips video series that CAM used to make...
I went to a tournament and it works really well especially when they are at high damage.
Do you want to know why this works? Humans are VERY stupid creatures

Maybe it's just me, I always DI away and typically DJ + Airdodge against throws like Mario D-Throw, Pika D-Throw, and other awkward throws. I haven't fought against many real people too though so....

 

[Angiance]

Player-0, do NOT AJ after a throw like that, or EVER when the opponent is neutral, it puts us in a pretty bad position. What to do: N-Air, or AD > Shield.

 

[TheGrunyan]

Player-0, do NOT AJ after a throw like that, or EVER when the opponent is neutral, it puts us in a pretty bad position. What to do: N-Air, or AD > Shield.

Don't nair if you're gonna land, do a landing fair instead. Its autocancel isn't atrocious, and it has so many follow-ups.

 

[Angiance]

Grunyan, in that position F-Air doesn't have time to come out, and landing F-Air isn't good anyways unless the opponent sucks at DI or reacting.

 

[TheGrunyan]

Grunyan, in that position F-Air doesn't have time to come out, and landing F-Air isn't good anyways unless the opponent sucks at DI or reacting.

It does have time to come out. Nair is bad for landing, much worse than fair. Fair is our best option for landing with an aerial, and even if they do DI it, they won't have time to punish before you can shield.

 

[Angiance]

As a Pikachu, if I D-Throw, my follow-up will be SH N-Air (frame 7) vs. the slammed Pika's F-Air (frame 10); if the slammed Pika uses it's N-Air (frame 3 since it's already in the air) it may outspeed my follow-up, unlike F-Air. Yes, N-Air's landing lag is terrible, but if the opponent gets hit it's not really punishable. A landing F-Air against a non-sucky opponent is bad since they'll usually just outspace it...just trust me, Landing F-Air isn't that great. SH F-Air is freaking GAME CHANGING as a spacing weapon though, absolutely amazing.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Grunyan is right. Fair is really good option coming down and it actually comes out pretty fast if you do it immediately. Plus, as he said, the follow ups are very versatile.
You're right in a way about SH fair though. It's a good tool, though not as amazing as other character's spacing weapon. It's not amazing, not horrible.

 

[Player -0]

Player-0, do NOT AJ after a throw like that, or EVER when the opponent is neutral, it puts us in a pretty bad position. What to do: N-Air, or AD > Shield.

Eh, I'm used to doing it because the only person I really play mains Oli so they do things like D-Throw -> Up smash, and D-Throw -> Fair.

Edit - Speaking of which, do we have any moves that beat Oli Up Smash?

 

[Angiance]

@Ookami: Regardless of the speed of the input, F-Air is still out on frame 10 and will be outsped in the whole D-Throw > N-Air situation. Landing F-Air leaves us stuck on the ground, directly in front of the opponent, for 15 frames; it's easy to shield and punish it since we'll only deal 2-3 of the 5 hits on-shield, and it's also easy to step SLIGHTLY BACKWARDS and punish it. Yes, SH F-Air IS amazing as a spacing weapon: 5 slightly disjointed hitboxes, much better range than one would expect, shrinks our character frame (allowing us to slip past certain hitboxes), pressures shields, allows us to get in on our opponent, allows us to chase an opponent trying to be evasive, beats certain projectile approaches, and blah-blah-blah...it's AMAZING

 

[TheGrunyan]

Angiance, you fail to take into account the end lag of down throw and the time it takes to jump.

 

[Angiance]

Well actually, sir, I'm pretty sure I typed SH N-Air is out on frame 7 (4 squat frames + N-Air's 2 frame start-up), and have you ever heard of this game mechanic called "hit-stun?."

 

[TheGrunyan]

Well actually, sir, I'm pretty sure I typed SH N-Air is out on frame 7 (4 squat frames + N-Air's 2 frame start-up), and have you ever heard of this game mechanic called "hit-stun?."

Sorry, didn't see the short hop part. If they're still in hitstun, then the nair is guaranteed, so it doesn't matter what move they try to do; nothing will happen.

 

[Angiance]

Well since it's out on frame 3, freaking lightning fast, it gives us at least a chance to escape (if they do the input slow, or they can't buffer), which is always better then nothing. :3

 

[Hoenn]

Eh, I'm used to doing it because the only person I really play mains Oli so they do things like D-Throw -> Up smash, and D-Throw -> Fair.

Edit - Speaking of which, do we have any moves that beat Oli Up Smash?

Yes we do. Fair and Dair
It is color dependent though, you have to know olimar's pikmin order.
IIRC dair beats purple Usmash
I'm pretty sure all of our aerials beat white pikmin lol

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@Angiance: That's dependent on whether it connects or not that it is easy to punish. Landing f-air's lag isn't actually vey long at all.
And you're acting as if I said f-air is a horrible spacing weapon. It's not. It's just not absolutely fantastic. It's not without faults. It's got technical advantages to it, but if it was perfect, Pikachu wouldn't have difficulty approaching with it as well. It isn't safe on shield and due to his moderate aerial mobility, he can't space it as amazigly as others.