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

[Angiance]

Yeah, the harshness is just the way I criticize people; deal with it

How do we win matches? Shield, T-Jolt = Victory

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Angiance, I believe you are an intelligent individual so please, don't start acting like an idiot. If you're going to overdue the criticism, don't do it. Nobody wants to hear it. Sometimes it's insulting, sometimes it's annoying. Either way, unless you plan to be pleasant about it, your input doesn't really contribute at all considering everyone's just going regard your tone rather than what you actually said.

I'm not trying to be mean, I'm only trying to keep this on topic and drama-free.

 

[Angiance]

Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just be a sugar, spice, everything nice, fairy about it from now on *smile*

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Oh, I'm sorry, I'll just be a sugar, spice, everything nice, fairy about it from now on *smile*

That would contribute to it being annoying =o
One can be honest without being rude. It's much like the difference between someone saying "You shouldn't do that because blah blah blah" and someone saying "Only an idiot would do this because blah blah blah". There's a notable difference, correct me if I'm wrong.
You don't even have to listen; I'm just giving advice. I'm a friend here and I dislike when people are jumping on you about crap so just calm down.

 

[Angiance]

Tsh, fine man. People listen more when they're insulted though, in my experience

Questions anybody?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I suppose, but many will take it the wrong way.

What is the best way to deal with Ness when you're at a high percent? Many of them back off completely and fish persistently for a grab to get a back throw off and I feel like a lot of the options I've tried aren't the best. Jolts aren't an option because of psy magnet and f-air gets destroyed by well spaced pivot grabs.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

I think Angiance is just butthurt from me calling him out all the time.

OR HE'S IN LOVE WITH ME AND HE'S TRYING TO COPY WHAT I DO BECAUSE HE IS TRYING TO IMPRESS ME AND QUELL THE DOKI

But on the real though, don't be a **** to somebody if they are asking for critique. It doesn't work, it makes them feel bad and then they will stop asking. I'm only mean to people that do something for me to be mean to them or if I know them well enough to the point where I know they won't be offended. Stop being a douchebag please, you aren't even good enough to warrant an air of arrogance. That's reserved for me and Z only as of now ^_^


Anyway...actual pikachu things...

Thor's explanation was pretty much perfect. Good ****.

My inputs for B-reversed thunder off-stage are forward and jump (To jump off-stage obviously, and then I rotate the joy stick from forward to down, hit b, and then continue rotating it to back, like a half-circle motion. The actual necessary inputs are

1. Have momentum
2. Thunder
3. Press the opposite direction of momentum

B-reversing is also only possible if you switch directions, which is why there are the more complex versions when you, for instance, will be jumping forward, press back and t-jolt (to do a reverse jolt) and then press forward so the momentum kinda staggers and you are still facing forward. If you are doing a turn-around thunder, you are pressing back too quickly while still holding down as opposed to separating the two inputs.

 

[Angiance]

Okay, ESAM, shutup

In that situation with Ness, you've got to remember: we've got amazing overall speed, and a powerful counter-game

If Ness is REALLY gonna be predictable with his grab, of course, punish it. We have a nasty grab-release on him, so he shouldn't be so happy with his grab

His B-Air, of course, hurts; just keep your movement and spacing up, grab his landing; shield and punish his aerials

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ESAM: Who are the top Pikas other than yourself?

@ Angiance : B-air is the very move that knocked me out of bracket, haha. Cool, though! Thanks!

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Me and Z are the front runners right now. Pikapika and Anther are there, but they haven't done anything any type of recently...and Shimitake is getting SIGNIFICANTLY better, although he didn't make it out of pools at Apex, sadly (Seriously, he cried).

For Ness at high %...it's really hard. His movement is really tricky and it's really hard to anti air him because of his amazing hitboxes...I would play very minimalistic. You have to apply pressure while remaining elusive. I mean, if he gets the kill it's not the end of the world (Assuming not last stock). You want to secure your stock leads with grab releases and edgeguards so he is always working for a losing position so he gets aggressive so you can use the punish game Pikachu is known for (Grab punishes are dumb).

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I see! Oh, that's rather unfortunate for Shimitake ={ But as you said, he's getting better ^^

All right, I've gotcha. I wish I could show you the match to critique, but I didn't play that much where it was being streamed. Sad face.
Also, what do you think of Pika's tier list position?

 

[Angiance]

I'm attending a tournament on Saturday, my first (though no one may show up). I'll be excited to play others (if anyone even shows up)

Pikachu is A tier, no doubts. After spending years of studying tournament vids, I realize that there are many mistakes that top Pika players make, which is why (considering his current position) he must be A tier; if those mistakes are fixed, that is

 

[Ookami Hajime]

First tournament Saturday? Woohoo! Good luck! Study your opponents in casuals as much as possible, learn their tricks, don't show yours, and bring home the money and reputation~!

I also believe that Pika should be bumped up a bit more~

 

[Pikabunz]

I'm attending a tournament on Saturday, my first (though no one may show up). I'll be excited to play others (if anyone even shows up)

Pikachu is A tier, no doubts. After spending years of studying tournament vids, I realize that there are many mistakes that top Pika players make, which is why (considering his current position) he must be A tier; if those mistakes are fixed, that is

How'd you find out about the tournament and why do you think no one will show up?

 

[Thor]

Based on how he's acting, I think Angiance's avatar represents him really well, because that's how he'd look if he were a Pikachu and a bunch of people finally decided they were sick of him. EDIT: Oh wait, that's a bow, not a bandage... oops.

That's reserved for me and Z only as of now ^_^

Anther doesn't get the right? Aw... he musta used to have it and lost it : (. (I mean, he's beaten M2K, that had to have earned it for him at some point...)

Also, what are our grab release options on Ness? Are they ground, air, or both? (Ex: Wario if we force air releases we get nair but nothing for a ground release, last I checked.) Are we awesome enough to get usmash on him [Ness], or just something like ftilt?

While we're on the topic I know MK's air release is pretty bad... if we can force that do we get a nair?

Also for tier listy stuff, Falco and Snake and Olimar can camp like crazy, Marth and MK lose to almost no one, and ICs have grabs while Diddy has bananas - they each have something that makes them obnoxious, which Pikachu doesn't have, so Pikachu's current spot makes sense to me. That said, given how Pikachu beats Falco and Snake and goes even (ish? I'd like to say 50-50 but some people here disagree) with MK I think moving above Falco would make sense, or else simply expanding A tier a slot, but I'm pretty sure too many people think Snake is just better than Pikachu in most MUs for Pikachu to move higher, even if it makes sense to people who play Pikachu.

 

[Angiance]

First tournament Saturday? Woohoo! Good luck! Study your opponents in casuals as much as possible, learn their tricks, don't show yours, and bring home the money and reputation~!

I also believe that Pika should be bumped up a bit more~

At LEAST the bottom of A tier. Thanks for the support, I'm gonna wear a Pikachu hoodie to the tournament (if there are actually players)

@ Pikabunz
I say that, because the registration seems empty. The tournament is actually in my town, although I'll have to walk back home (4-5 hour walk -_-)

@ Thor
Well, I put my personality into my Pika drawings, so yeah that's pretty much on point.

On Ness, we can finish our grab release chain with Dash U-Smash

Us pikas have: absolutely absurd evasion + pretty godly recovery tactics, very deadly grab game, STRONG OoS play, very commanding air control/platform pressure, etc.

 

[hell-dew]

I had a few good matches vs Will at WHOBO4 if you want to watch. You can look them up on youtube. In the actual tournament I went ICs but I played him in a BO5 MM which are all recorded.

Thx dude for the heads up Good stuff on those matches and that last game was nuts.

Shimitake also lost in Apex cause his pool was stupid as @#@# He had Meek and BloodCross in his pool. Meek signed up with Meek instead of meek speedy thus was a bottom seed... Meek ISNT a freaking bottom seed hes a stupidly good sonic and i can bet you Shimitake didn't know that MU worth a damn hell I freaking did half decent on my last game against meek cause i kinda know the matchup (thank true blue for bodying the hell out me in flordia back when i was a total scrub lol) plus he lost game 1 which basically means hes pretty screwed on the CP front cause sonic is pretty much auto ban Yoshis meaning hes now gonna take you to lylat.... have fun with that sonic on lylat when your stuck with Pikachu is pretty crap. And from what ive seen most pikas hate that stage. Plus on top of that more then half of canada was rooting for meek there and he was getting mad crowd hyped where as Shimitake didnt have a whole ton of support backing him up. Really rough situation. cool guy though he seamed like he had a lot of fun after that day.

 

[Cassio]

I think Espy once said Yoshis isnt that bad vs Sonic because jolts make the invincibility thing not that bad.

Also Prime (for sure) and I are around or a little better than shimitake, though last I played shimitake was when he spent two weeks in cali last September and he got some training with me and Z. He got a lot better over that time period and since then I dont think me and Prime have played, so maybe he made more improvement. I feel he shouldve had the potential to beat meek but probably didnt have the MU experience.

Honestly ESAM you have some crazy good consistent reaction and tech skill which I think is the #1thing causing such a big gap, especially as important as it is for pika.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ Angiance : Quite a walk =o

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Holy **** Truth, you're a thing?!? O.o

Also, I haven't seen you/Prime play in a while while I Have seen Chimitake, which is why i put him above y'all. He also is pretty damn good now from when I played him.

 

[1PokeMastr]

4-5 hour walks are nothing.


Especially when your legs are almost 4 feet long.

 

[Angiance]

I'm bout to be up there above'em all. Best Pika? I think so. Even if I lack experience now, I got a spirit blazing brighter than 100'000'000 suns; not gonna stop learning, not gonna stop asking questions, never gonna stop improving

- Angiance Bell

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ Angiance : That's how it's done. Don't get bopped by Marth like me, haha

 

[Angiance]

ESAM, I notice against Marth, after you F-Throw you U-Smash in place; is this to scare Marth into a bad Dolphin Slash, or is just a mistake on your part?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

When a pika ever u-smashes in place after a f-throw, it's always a misbuffer, haha.

 

[Angiance]

Well, that would explain it a little.

Okay, another question...why is it that literally EVERY pika, when the opponent has or is about to have falling momentum, will either FH or AJ an aerial? It puts us in a bad position, I don't get it...I mean, why go hop above the opponent and get punished, when we can just space SH U-Air and get a punishable reaction on the opponent's part?

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

I mess up or I'm trying to bait them by clicking my controller so they think I'm going to run and u-smash so they try to up-b out of it, and i get a free punish.

I'm not exactly sure what situation you are talking about in the last post...I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Angiance]

Okay...this is just one example: a pikachu lands a U-TIlt (it is DI'd, however), it knocks the opponent up to about FH range, >>>so now the pikachu tries to follow up with a FH U-Air<<<

This will put us right beside the opponent (probably not 100% accurate), probably not hit, and possibly reverse stage control. Why FH U-Air in that instance, when we can just SH U-Air to get a reaction

Other example: on BF, a pika tries to FH U-Air against an opponent on a lower platform...WHY? It's BETTER to stay in SH range in that instance, like SH D-Air or something.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Oh I misread aerial as T-jolt, my bad.

 

[Angiance]

So I attended my first tournament today, and I'm actually surprised at how well I did

I lost my first match by technicality, but got to LF, then had to leave due to my ride having a busy schedule *sad face*

Somethin' I learned: F-Tilt is GREAT

 

[Pikabunz]

Who'd you play against?

 

[Angiance]

Here's the bracket
http://challonge.com/Viva_la_Smash_II_Brawl_Singles

Pretty small bracket, unfortunately

I'd love to challenge higher level players. Probably gonna migrate to PM, it's just a pleasure to play

 

[1PokeMastr]

Is there a stream archive ?

 

[Angiance]

Probably not *sadness*

 

[Thor]

3rd is a nice job for first tournament, not bad Angiance.

Also the reason some people won't like to put Pikachu as bottom of A tier (Even if it just means moving the line so A tier has 4 characters) is:
A: the break between Pikachu and ZSS is not clear for most, so they'd move her up, and since she's not too far from Wario and the panel's made it clear that 10 is too many in top tier...
B: Pikachu (As mentioned in another thread) doesn't have a "Abuse this to even out unfamiliar MUs" while the other top tiers have silly moves that let them make the non-top tiers feel like crap unless they already have their counters well-practiced, and even then it's not great to be lower tier. Pikachu can QAC like crazy, but that's not high reward and it's not low-risk either, if your opponent knows that it's minus on hit below certain percents, while Pikachu's "standard" approaches are low-range or somewhat easy to deal with [let's be honest, if you get more than 6 t-jolts to land in a game across the 3 stocks you're either edgeguarding well with them or pretty lucky to have that damage on your opponent].

I think Pikachu makes sense in A tier, but I'm not sure where that leaves ZSS and Wario on the list... maybe a further breakdown (addition of A- tier with only Pikacu and ZSS, move Lucario to B and Wolf to C+?) That might work...

Anyway, tips versus Pit anyone? I could use some, as I'd like to avoid the arrows that knocked me out of bracket in my own first tournament a little bit back (he probably got like 100% total in our two matches with those things between edgeguarding me and the two times I foolishly tried using some long-range t-jolts...). Other info would be nice (although I did use some tricks people here recommended already, like dthrow to nair until he airdodged it, then a KO with dthrow to charged fsmash on the airdodge read. Thanks for that one ESAM!)

 

[Angiance]

Pikachu: high survivability, great damage racking, dominating stage/air control. Our KO capability is decent with U-Tilt, Jab, and N-Air

Against Pit's arrows we should be using Upwards F-Tilt, PS, or Crawl

Ask me some questions about the Pit MU, go ahead :3

 

[Angiance]

Sorry double pot

 

[PZ]

Well, I usually make sure my sdi is on point when fighting pit but if arrows is the main problem than there are a few things I could say.
If you are getting hit by arrows in a way where it seems like they combo into each other than you should hold down to lessen the hitlag and shield to block the next. If you are having trouble blocking them in general walk don't run although depending on your position running may be a better idea. Angiance already mentioned the options to avoid getting hit by arrows so I won't go any further.
You said your getting hit by them offstage. This leads me to believe you are not recovering correctly or in an unpredictable fashion.

Things I can say about the mu:
Uair *****
Nair is THE best kill move here
Pit can't punish a spaced dtilt OR FTILT(at least I think so)
Watch out for his insanely fast dsmash and obvious kill moves like glide attack, dash attack, and bair. This should keep you living for a long time. O yea do not fail to DI fair for it actually kills early with mis DI.

 

[Thor]

high survivability

We are in the bottom third of the cast for surviviability if someone lands a solid hit [unless this is all wrong...], although the percent difference is not that large between the levels of survivability (except at the edges of the rankings). http://www.ssbwiki.com/Momentum_cancelling Fortunately we can be tricky to hit with a strong enough blow.

My arrow problem was usually along the lines of Pit fsmash at like 110% (I'll work on the SDI) and he immediately starts up with the arrows [I started to try to jump to avoid one arrow, then [sometimes fastfall, othertimes not] AD through the next, repeat the AD until I can QA the ledge, is that a good way to deal with them or is there something less obvious?]. Crawling helped a little (I did try that) and on the ground PS or regular shielding was fine, but I'm right to think we can't camp, right? Also I did land the nair KOs and a sourspot fsmash KO near the ledge off of his whiffed fsmash (but is that actually fast enough to punish it?)

 

[PZ]

Well, thats not a bad way to deal with it in that situation but keep in mind our aerials can eat through them as well. I am actually curious about watching the match now. The pit sounds like he has good arrow control.