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

[Angiance]

Okay, Ookami, ask specific questions regarding approaching Dedede if ya don't mind, so no one ends up having to write an essay on it :3

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Never mind, my friend, it doesn't matter that much. It was a simple question and if I knew that input on it would be this difficult to get, then I would not have asked, haha. I'm just trying to keep the thread going, just as you attempt to.

 

[Angiance]

Oh no, input is easy, it's just that we'll be able to give much more accurate input if it's more specific, since it's less taxing on our tiny human brains~

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I'm not actually curious about it at all, I'm only trying to keep the thread moving. I apologize if you're getting a headache over this.

 

[Angiance]

Haha, no headaches here, dude! ^ - ^

To anybody: If I'm hit, I should instantly focus on resetting my spacing, no? Cause I'd like to reverse the situation?

 

[Angiance]

Haha, no headaches here, dude! ^ - ^

To anybody: If I'm hit, I should instantly focus on resetting my spacing, no? Cause I'd like to reverse the situation?

 

[Mr.Pikachu]

I think that we can outcamp DDD, and not really have to approach, but then again DDD get us with those grabs and to be honest I think it's in DDD's favor in the air mostly because of his bair. Actually all his aerials (not sure about nair) outrange ours. Even on the ground he can easily stop us with ftilt, kill us at about 100% with utilt and I think he might actually be able to camp with Waddle Dee toss. All in all it seems like a pretty bad matchup, but then again pikachu has lots of speed, once you get inside DDD combo's work pretty well on him and I like doing lots of uairs since they can combo into pretty much anything on DDD. Sometimes I even go for thunder. Pika's grabs are pretty good too, we can chain grab him really good.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@Mr. Pikachu: Camping out Dedede does sound like a good choice honestly, haha

@ Angiance : I tend to reset the spacing depending on the character. I don't typically like letting MK get any momentum because that can lead to horrible things so I always back off when I get hit by him. Characters like Marth, Olimar, etc. are other examples I like to reset the spacing against just because they can very easily rack up more damage if they can land a solid hit.

 

[Angiance]

I think that we can outcamp DDD, and not really have to approach, but then again DDD get us with those grabs and to be honest I think it's in DDD's favor in the air mostly because of his bair. Actually all his aerials (not sure about nair) outrange ours. Even on the ground he can easily stop us with ftilt, kill us at about 100% with utilt and I think he might actually be able to camp with Waddle Dee toss. All in all it seems like a pretty bad matchup, but then again pikachu has lots of speed, once you get inside DDD combo's work pretty well on him and I like doing lots of uairs since they can combo into pretty much anything on DDD. Sometimes I even go for thunder. Pika's grabs are pretty good too, we can chain grab him really good.

Now, while Dedede has range, we have quicker aerials (frame 3 U-Air kills Dedede FAT A..) F-Tilt? Just P-Shield through that bs. Our grab is a much higher threat, no? Also, Dedede...camping us...don't make such funny jokes like that, I almost fainted from laughter, hahahaha! xP xP

Pikachu feels very similar to Meta Knight for some reason, maybe I'm just spaghetti noodles~

 

[Mr.Pikachu]

Well Bell I feel like not only is DDD's grab range is insane, but also causes a lot of damage so I sorta feel as though DDD's grab is a much higher threat of being able to chain grab us (maybe, not sure), causing a lot of damage and range is greater than ours. And I mentioned camping with waddle dees because they're a huge nuisance. It's not like DDD is gonna sit back and throw stuffed animals at us all day and not expect to get punished sometime soon, but they do block our tjolts if they're on the field, waddle doo's can beam whip us and gordo's is something we should watch out for. Yes we can easily use something like ftilt on them to refresh our moves and get them out of the way, but still I think they could be used like a barrier to shield him from tjolts and things like that. I'm just trying to point out things that people should watch out for and not underestimate these things. I was actually going to try to write a full report on DDD, but I was in class the time I typed that. Btw do you draw you pictures bell for your profile?

 

[Deleted member 189823]

Can you recommend me fast & aggressive PikaPika players? I want to see what an aggressive PikaPika is like.
I may possibly take a shot at this character, and I want to see more of a general rundown about how to play this character...probably not having the best of luck, checking out videos of the MK MU.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

shimitake and ESAM are pretty fast =o There's always Anther too.

 

[Thor]

Some questions: First, what's CQC? My SWF was not working for a while and maybe I missed where that was said, but ESAM's said it a couple times so I'm curious.

Also, do people here still consider MK/Pika 0 (an even MU)? ESAM used ICs a lot at APEX...

Also, Angiance is probably spaghetti noodles - our bair =/= nado (if it did Pika would be at least even with MK...). And then we don't have a nado and he does.

Also, how would you suggest I practice camping? Everyone's like, camp with tjolts (vs Ike, Dedede, Kirby, etc.), but I have a tricky time even just camping with Falco lasers, and with tjolts it's usually even harder. Is there an element of unpredictability I'm missing, or do I need to approach and retreat (fake them out somehow with whether I'm approaching or camping), or make sure I know exactly what I want to do when they start to close the gap, or camp for less time (i.e, don't hope for 5 t-jolts, use 1 or 2 to make them approach), or what? [There might be more stuff I need to ask about but this is what I can think of.] (I also try to do most of this, but seem unsuccessful - is it a matter of execution or the theory of it I have wrong?)

 

[Angiance]

Well Bell I feel like not only is DDD's grab range is insane, but also causes a lot of damage so I sorta feel as though DDD's grab is a much higher threat of being able to chain grab us (maybe, not sure), causing a lot of damage and range is greater than ours. And I mentioned camping with waddle dees because they're a huge nuisance. It's not like DDD is gonna sit back and throw stuffed animals at us all day and not expect to get punished sometime soon, but they do block our tjolts if they're on the field, waddle doo's can beam whip us and gordo's is something we should watch out for. Yes we can easily use something like ftilt on them to refresh our moves and get them out of the way, but still I think they could be used like a barrier to shield him from tjolts and things like that. I'm just trying to point out things that people should watch out for and not underestimate these things. I was actually going to try to write a full report on DDD, but I was in class the time I typed that. Btw do you draw you pictures bell for your profile?

Dedede's grab range is the longest in-game (non-tether), and he can chaingrab (I'm not sure if he can chaingrab us), but if we land a grab, because of Dedede's mass, he's eating about 50% damage, so I'd say we've got more dangeroud paws than him (I may be being biased however). Don't F-Tilt those monsters, Jab them (for super refreshing). Gordo's hitbox is actually very clashable, despite it's high power. T-Jolts don't make us, man, speed makes us, I only say this because it sounds as though you revolve your playstyle around T-Jolting, which I HIGHLY dislike. And yes, I draw my profile pictures with MS Paint, he's cute isn't he?

Some questions: First, what's CQC? My SWF was not working for a while and maybe I missed where that was said, but ESAM's said it a couple times so I'm curious.

Also, do people here still consider MK/Pika 0 (an even MU)? ESAM used ICs a lot at APEX...

Also, Angiance is probably spaghetti noodles - our bair =/= nado (if it did Pika would be at least even with MK...). And then we don't have a nado and he does.

Also, how would you suggest I practice camping? Everyone's like, camp with tjolts (vs Ike, Dedede, Kirby, etc.), but I have a tricky time even just camping with Falco lasers, and with tjolts it's usually even harder. Is there an element of unpredictability I'm missing, or do I need to approach and retreat (fake them out somehow with whether I'm approaching or camping), or make sure I know exactly what I want to do when they start to close the gap, or camp for less time (i.e, don't hope for 5 t-jolts, use 1 or 2 to make them approach), or what? [There might be more stuff I need to ask about but this is what I can think of.] (I also try to do most of this, but seem unsuccessful - is it a matter of execution or the theory of it I have wrong?)

I'm not sure what CQC is either, let's ask ESAM later. Honestly, like usual, I'd say it's 45/55 MK, JUST because of the technical differences, but that's just me.

It's just because our N-Air's are so similar, and our playstyle is pretty similar that I say MK is similar to us.

Camping is staying as far as possible, in an attempt to make the opponent come to you, you can't be doing it wrong~

 

[Deleted member 189823]

shimitake and ESAM are pretty fast =o There's always Anther too.

I'll check out shimitake, he seems a bit mysterious yet. I've seen ESAM before, but never payed too much attention, since I wasn't into PikaPika. Although we all know, he's undeniably great.

I also stumbled upon LeSyd, which is what I would like to play like as PikaPika. =) Man, I always take stuff from Europe. )=

 

[TheGrunyan]

I'll check out shimitake, he seems a bit mysterious yet. I've seen ESAM before, but never payed too much attention, since I wasn't into PikaPika. Although we all know, he's undeniably great.

I also stumbled upon LeSyd, which is what I would like to play like as PikaPika. =) Man, I always take stuff from Europe. )=

The character is called Pikachu. I recommend you call it that, as PikaPika is a Pikachu player, so this could cause some confusion.

 

[Pikabunz]

CQC is Close Quarters Combat.

 

[Angiance]

The character is called Pikachu. I recommend you call it that, as PikaPika is a Pikachu player, so this could cause some confusion.

Yes, I was actually confused about the whole "PikaPika" thing, I thought you were literally talking about the player, Oz, it's okay though, we all make mistakes! :3

I also stumbled upon LeSyd, which is what I would like to play like as PikaPika. =) Man, I always take stuff from Europe. )=

It's okay man, I actually really LOVE the european playstyle as well, and actually, it's what I base my playstyle off of (Trela too)

CQC is Close Quarters Combat.

Wow, I feel soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo stupid now, like seriously *Super Facepalm*

 

[Deleted member 189823]

Yes, I was actually confused about the whole "PikaPika" thing, I thought you were literally talking about the player, Oz, it's okay though, we all make mistakes! :3

It's okay man, I actually really LOVE the european playstyle as well, and actually, it's what I base my playstyle off of (Trela too)

It's not a mistake, I know who PikaPika is. I just find it funny to call him that.

How does Pikachu approach, anyway? I'm can be pretty narrow here, and usually stick with somethign the whole time...I don't want to make that mistake here. The guide says Pikachu generally approaches with AC'd F-Air, which can lead to other moves...but watching ESAM and even LeSyd, I hardly actually see them approach with that. /= I think I've actually seen them use D-Air more often.

 

[Thor]

SH Dair is apparently laggy (yes the version with no shockwave - someone told me like 2/3s of it is no hitbox but animation of dair) but I tend to like it as a mixup. It's in my opinion great for retreating against really aggressive players because if they close in just flip the control stick the other way to nail them, if they stop you just keep holding away and get some space back. Fair does this too but I think dair makes your hitbox smaller from a horizontal perspective (so you actually become out of range of something that would otherwise get the tip of you, at least it seems like that to me, I'm sure someone has the hitbox data on it).

I haven't played Brawl Pika seriously in a while actually (so many people in MN are Melee-only... but my Falco and Link are getting better in Melee!) but t-jolts are good for camping/annoying people (you have ground lag if you short-hop them, so full hops are often preferable unless it's like opposite sides of FD and it's not sonic). D-tilt I'm told is pretty good (like I said, haven't played in a while for reals so I haven't been trying to integrate that more but I should), Pikachu's grab game tends to be really good so you could always look to channel your inner Anther and run up -> spotdodge -> grab or fair or something.

In summary [for grounded opponents], t-jolt, SH dair (autocancel it or you'll get punished), autocancelled fair, fair late in the air (can catch people who shield for an autocancel and it can chain on landing into a grab, dsmash, or d/ftilt I believe), your grab game, and dtilt are all useful options. Our solid aerials and the fair mixups also let Pikachu try to tomahawk for grabs and tilts (tomahawk = where you jump and do nothing and land, usually in the hopes the other person will react prematurely or hide in shield so you can punish), where tomahawking is actually an option (whereas Snake tomahawking is mostly a joke unless the other person is at bair kill percents).

Other ideas: stuff OoS is fine too if you run up shield (shield grab is good because Pikachu's grab is good, you can also OoS nair/dair). Bair cancels w/out it's awful lag out of a full hop so if someone like MK is air-camping you, you could go gutsy and try to full-hop RAR a bair at them, which has worked for me far more often than I think it should (bair is meh but it's underrated by non-Pika mains from what I've seen). Uair also works for that and is often better for approaching aerial opponents from below. You can also use QAC for position but I think ESAM has reasons that it should be used sparingly (among others, at one point he said it's like minus on hit until like 85%, which means QAC offensively is often a sketchy proposition). This is a lot but hopefully it's helpful (also Angiance and co. helped me with some of this but I might be misremembering stuff so if it seems weird tell me).

 

[Angiance]

How does Pikachu approach, anyway? I'm can be pretty narrow here, and usually stick with somethign the whole time...I don't want to make that mistake here. The guide says Pikachu generally approaches with AC'd F-Air, which can lead to other moves...but watching ESAM and even LeSyd, I hardly actually see them approach with that. /= I think I've actually seen them use D-Air more often.

Pikachu's general approach, is speed, literally

SH AC F-Air is one of our main fencing tools, SH AC D-Air is for reads, or catching spotdodges, airdodges, etc.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I'd just like to point out that according to the official tier list, Pikachu is now the absolute only character in the game who is dead even in the match up with MK. Just throwing that in there, though it may or may not be my personal opinion =o

@Oz: Pikachu's approach options are heavily debatable, but I personally only approach with d-air if my opponent is NOT on the same ground as me (example: if they're in the air or on a platform). D-air happens to be favorite oos option instead. As angiance said, it's great for reading defensive options like dodges of sorts.
F-air approach is O-K if you space it well. It's not thrown out as much as people make it seem though.

@ Thor : Jolt camping is literally just laming people out with distanced full hop n-airs. Normally people camp to either:
1. Force and approach
2. Be annoying
3. Damage foe without the risk of taking damage
People do very rash things when they're getting slapped in the face by projectiles. If they finally manage to close the gap they're going to stay in your face =o QAC if you want to keep camping; we've got great mobility. If you'd like to ask anything else more specifically, I'll try to help with an answer if I can ^^

 

[Phoenix Lord']

I recommend you call it that, as PikaPika is a Pikachu player.

I think you mean PikaPika!.

 

[PikaPika!]

People call pikachu pikapika and its super annoying for namesearching

 

[PKBeam]

am I a bad person by gimping a Falco at the ledge with jolts?

 

[Player -0]

am I a bad person by gimping a Falco at the ledge with jolts?

Yes, what you should be doing is killing them the trolliest way possible. Try jabbing instead. Or even QA spam so he keeps sinking lower.

 

[TheGrunyan]

am I a bad person by gimping a Falco at the ledge with jolts?

Not at all. Play to win.

 

[Angiance]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBMbnYpNyd0‎ Criticize me please?

 

[TheGrunyan]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBMbnYpNyd0‎ Criticize me please?

Don't forward smash so much. It works okay on wifi, but in an actual match you'll get punished a lot for it.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ Angiance : I don't know if it's wi-fi input lag, mis-buffers, or choice, but you threw out a lot of random smashes. Be careful about using F-Smash so much and try to avoid using d-smashes outside of those absolute panic moments or landing traps. Otherwise, it is punishable. Also, fast falling a SH F-air, isn't a great option so try not to throw it out, like, ever. SH F-air without the fast fall and let it auto-cancel instead.
The most crucial thing you need to work on is extremely important; U-air. You used it, like, twice? It is undoubtedly one his best moves as it combos into itself, n-air, racks up damage adequately, and comes out immensely quick. Try to input it into your play style. Also, on pokemon stadium, do not approach on specific transformations. Though you ended up getting the kill in the end at the rocky area, you should have left that spot a long time ago because of how risky it is to play down there. Pikachu is equipped with a projectile so camp your heart out as it is much to risky and you can be gimped at 5% if you don something dumb or your opponent does something clever.
Outside of that, I admire your offstage bravery on wifi and your spacing's all right. You get really good grabs and your QA patterns are well timed, regardless of wifi. Your d-airs are great and I'm going to try inputting the way you use that move into my own play style. Good job! ^^

 

[Thor]

fast falling a SH F-air, isn't a great option so try not to throw it out, like, ever.

I disagree on this one. Angiance uses it to land a couple grabs, and I'm not sure that that particular trap works right, but I know for sure fair -> dsmash is a combo and I think fair to grab is too (frame data says yes?). That said, FF SH fair if they shield it is at best a grab (or a flub from them) and may be a free jab combo/tilt/smash for the other person if they shield it, so AC SH fair is often safer, as Ookami pointed out, but letting it AC every time actually means you can't land the grab, at least last I checked.

Otherwise I agree with most of it. Like he mentioned, u-air. The other person gets you with like 4 at the start of the video - maybe try to jump out? If that fails, you should try to air dodge through it when he commits to the jump, or else just SDI/DI to make it harder (mistimed AD is a free nair or dair so I understand why you didn't, but if he's jumping for that 3rd uair you should be able to just AD through it and escape the combo). Nice job.

 

[Angiance]

Thanks for your input guys, I'll try and record & upload a newer match since I've gotten far, far better then I played in the video.

 

[hell-dew]

I disagree on this one. Angiance uses it to land a couple grabs, and I'm not sure that that particular trap works right, but I know for sure fair -> dsmash is a combo and I think fair to grab is too (frame data says yes?). That said, FF SH fair if they shield it is at best a grab (or a flub from them) and may be a free jab combo/tilt/smash for the other person if they shield it, so AC SH fair is often safer, as Ookami pointed out, but letting it AC every time actually means you can't land the grab, at least last I checked.

Otherwise I agree with most of it. Like he mentioned, u-air. The other person gets you with like 4 at the start of the video - maybe try to jump out? If that fails, you should try to air dodge through it when he commits to the jump, or else just SDI/DI to make it harder (mistimed AD is a free nair or dair so I understand why you didn't, but if he's jumping for that 3rd uair you should be able to just AD through it and escape the combo). Nice job.

Fair to like a lot of things works a lot better on wifi then it does offline and ive been grabed armored out of the mutihit box of Fair SH fair isnt god like or amazing its a good tool dont abuse it if it gets read or if you use it to much your gonna get punished. Dsmash is also really bad if you use it to predictability high level players can predict it and be ready to SDI before you even do the move getting out of it really damn fast leaving you in a awkward position.

as for bell your spacing needs some work a word of advice learn to not challenge situations your constnatly losing in. there is no harm saying screw it and skull bashing if you really high up to land more near the middle or just fast fall away and land safely with a QA. also you approached with Dair like 3 times in a row at some point. Mix up your stuff more. also pivot grab more just in general and calm down on the smash attacks. the dude you were fighting was godawful at punish them a lot of better people wont be. another thing is stage control usually gets turned to crap when your at higher% but remember its a lot harder to kill someone from the middle of the stage then at the sides. when your at high% and the opportunity arises dont be afraid to take the middle especially against another pikachu considering pikachu is godawful at zoneing. also your recovery need work on the predictability it wasnt being punished very well but take a note of that and be more careful with your second jump its really damn hard to corner someone off stage with their better players will eliminate your jump then kill your for it.

aside from that i liked some of your Nairs and tech skill wise you seam alright and you have some consistency. go out there and get some practice with higher level players

 

[AtneyB]

I also stumbled upon LeSyd, which is what I would like to play like as PikaPika. =)

<3
I'm not sure if it's a good idea tho ^

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I disagree on this one. Angiance uses it to land a couple grabs, and I'm not sure that that particular trap works right, but I know for sure fair -> dsmash is a combo and I think fair to grab is too (frame data says yes?).

I definitely exaggerated a bit by saying it should never be thrown out, but more of that it shouldn't be thrown out as often as it was. It's very obviously very punishable on shield is the main reason I say it should be avoided, but if you are 90% sure it'll hit, go for it. I'm pretty sure landing f-air doesn't guarantee a grab, plus grab armor breaks through it and THEY could end up getting the grab. D-smash won't help if your opponent can SDI well. It can give you space or set up for a tech chase, but that's it.

 

[Player -0]

D Smash can probably be used near the edge so your opponent SDI's out in a semispike fashion. Then you can edgeguard......






Unless it's MK :Kappa:

 

[Ookami Hajime]

There you go =o Another idea.

 

[Mr.Pikachu]

If I record my ssbb match on my SD card can the content be used to make it into a video?

 

[Thor]

I'm pretty sure landing f-air doesn't guarantee a grab, plus grab armor breaks through it

I can't remember where exactly but I know I read (and tested [although my testing wasn't using a TAS or anything so...] that) there is a frame advantage if you hit the opponent and land while in the middle of a fair, an advantage big enough that they can't shield/grab a dsmash. Both dsmash and grab are out on frame 6 so I said grabs *might* work. ESAM, if you're out there, input on this would be appreciated. I think it also lets you link to tilts (ftilt, maybe dtilt/utilt if in the right spot? [if you land where they are behind you then utilt) guaranteed if done right (sort of like a Fox dair dsmash combo).

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I can't remember where exactly but I know I read (and tested [although my testing wasn't using a TAS or anything so...] that) there is a frame advantage if you hit the opponent and land while in the middle of a fair, an advantage big enough that they can't shield/grab a dsmash. Both dsmash and grab are out on frame 6 so I said grabs *might* work. ESAM, if you're out there, input on this would be appreciated. I think it also lets you link to tilts (ftilt, maybe dtilt/utilt if in the right spot? [if you land where they are behind you then utilt) guaranteed if done right (sort of like a Fox dair dsmash combo).

Falling F-air does link into u-tilt and maybe f-tilt, but through experience, I don't believe it links into d-tilt guaranteed either; it can be shielded. I'm not sure about the frame advantage involved with what you're talking about with f-air, but you could be right.