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

[hell-dew]

Pit is a lot like Peach IMO learn SDI for this MU it shuts down a stupid number of his options Uair becomes less annoying espically when hes planking Fsmash becomes way harder to kill with. and never try to camp him Pits camping game is ridiculous he can literally choose to almost never approach you. if the pit is half decent crouching becomes a lot less viable to I use pit as a secondary and il just aim the arrows down when their over top of the enemy which will easily nail you crouching so yeah make sure your PSing arrows walking PS is your friend. im pretty sure he can screw you royally on your recovery with the mirror shield with Pit your pretty safe around the D3 hammer Filt range i find dont be afraid to kinda weave in and out of him. also note that pit is a lot like pikachu with pretty sad Zoneing tools or at least range on his Zoning tools at least when compared to a character like marth who has alot more walling abilities. you really have to use your speed in this MU and out play him at CQC and apply pressure when you can. IMO pit has a advantage in the neutral against pikachu but if we get our paws on him he doesnt have a very good time. And tilts are your friend to D tilt for instance has good range in this MU. Be very careful of his WOI or his Up B cause when he activates it if he chooses to fast fall he drops stupid fast allowing for great surprising kills and really opens up his ability to land when your trying to juggle and watch out for Dairs and F/Bair espically WOI FFed ones. I cant remember off the top of my head cause its late but IIRC he can reflect skull bash to allowing an easy edge guard and he can also WOI cancel the ledge allowing for stupid fast ledge regrabs so be careful challenging him on the ledge, and same with when your recovering, be wary that if he predicts your obvious QA into ledge and hes around the ledge your probably dead cause that move has a silly sized ledge magnet on it to. so be alert and understand the weird properties of the moves so he cant surprise kill you.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Good job angiance.
And yes, SDI is immensely important for the Pit MU. Pit also has less range then you expect so poking at him with tilts is relatively safe through out the match. Hold onto any momentum you get apply pressure at close distances because we definitely beat Pit in the CQC game.
U-air for days; pit doesn't have many options when he's above you. D-air comes out too slow, and if you annoy him enough with u-airs, much like Marth, you can bait an aggravated d-air and punish it accordingly. A lot of damage on pit occurs from baiting and punishing his mistakes.

 

[Thor]

PZ, match wasn't recorded but his arrow control was better than I'd expected considering he's mainly a Melee guy (Samus and has this Fox obsession). I'll work on SDI (I've gotten at least some skills with it thanks to all the 40% combos I had to learn to SDI from Kirby (now they hit for like 15% which is the guaranteed part of a grab). That said he wasn't arrow looping or anything awesome like that, he just knew what to do with them. Thanks for letting me know that aerials (I'm guessing I'll be using mainly fair) clank. Also good to know it'll stop skull bash instead of poking me.

Pit is a lot like Peach IMO learn SDI for this MU it shuts down a stupid number of his options Uair becomes less annoying espically when hes planking Fsmash becomes way harder to kill with. and never try to camp him Pits camping game is ridiculous he can literally choose to almost never approach you. if the pit is half decent crouching becomes a lot less viable to I use pit as a secondary and il just aim the arrows down when their over top of the enemy which will easily nail you crouching so yeah make sure your PSing arrows walking PS is your friend. im pretty sure he can screw you royally on your recovery with the mirror shield with Pit your pretty safe around the D3 hammer Filt range i find dont be afraid to kinda weave in and out of him. also note that pit is a lot like pikachu with pretty sad Zoneing tools or at least range on his Zoning tools at least when compared to a character like marth who has alot more walling abilities. you really have to use your speed in this MU and out play him at CQC and apply pressure when you can. IMO pit has a advantage in the neutral against pikachu but if we get our paws on him he doesnt have a very good time. And tilts are your friend to D tilt for instance has good range in this MU. Be very careful of his WOI or his Up B cause when he activates it if he chooses to fast fall he drops stupid fast allowing for great surprising kills and really opens up his ability to land when your trying to juggle and watch out for Dairs and F/Bair espically WOI FFed ones. I cant remember off the top of my head cause its late but IIRC he can reflect skull bash to allowing an easy edge guard and he can also WOI cancel the ledge allowing for stupid fast ledge regrabs so be careful challenging him on the ledge, and same with when your recovering, be wary that if he predicts your obvious QA into ledge and hes around the ledge your probably dead cause that move has a silly sized ledge magnet on it to. so be alert and understand the weird properties of the moves so he cant surprise kill you.

Want...punctuation... just kidding.

Thanks for all the advice. Yeah, he angled arrows down when I crouched but it was a good way to avoid the first arrow on the ground. He went for mirror shield gimps but Pikachu is hardly screwed (for skull bash, depends on how early he shields it and how far down you are, and only really matters if we have no jump), because for QA we can go straight up or else diagonally above or below him when needed during QA (he got my skull bash once but I didn't die (QA onto SV platform above me), the one time he tried to mirror shield my QA I got the ledge then naired him while he was still airborne coming back to the stage, after that he more or less just shot arrows at me when I was offstage). Like, just from playing it, he will only really mirror shield it if we start really close to him or else are really obvious, which shouldn't happen unless he's already hit us back offstage (without getting jump back) at least once (i.e., we then only have one option to reach the stage, and even then it's really two options because we can choose which angle is first and which is second).

As for challenging Pit on the ledge, I just stood back a bit and shot t-jolts, got him with one while in the wings actually but he can reactivate it so there was no harm to him. I didn't really think I had pressure options besides a hard read, but he wasn't exactly eager to jump off the ledge either (once or twice he came straight up and ran into an aerial, he did a few regrabs after that when I got him to the ledge).

Also, random question now: I've read that multihit attacks (Pikachu fair/bair, MK's tornado) only enters the stale-moves list once if it hits a player/SV balloon/fly guy, and not at all if it only hits shield. I've also read that Pikachu's fthrow enters the stale-moves list multiple times because of multiple hits (and is therefore a good way to freshen up smashes/nair used earlier in the stock). Does using it cause it to only enter the stale-moves list once, or multiple times?

 

[Angiance]

Okay, not to sound stuck up, but PLEASE call me "Bell" everybody; Angiance is my artist name

F-Air registers once on hit, I would think F-Throw is the same. Shield hits don't register into the stale moves ratio

 

[Angiance]

Double posted again, sorry

 

[PZ]

Okay, not to sound stuck up, but PLEASE call me "Bell" everybody; Angiance is my artist name

F-Air registers once on hit, I would think F-Throw is the same. Shield hits don't register into the stale moves ratio

I apologize for the misunderstanding sir. I will try not to make the same mistake again...although it was inevitable.

 

[Angiance]

It's nobody's fault, if I could change my name on here I would. Our tail is our best weapon; so swift, so dominant

Jab seems like a great defense, am I wrong?

 

[AtneyB]

Jab is bad.
Very super situational tool, useful mostly for lock or get your opponent tripping (so get lucky).
The recover is too damn high.

 

[Angiance]

Like, if we're in a situation where we NEED speed; a last resort defense

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Using jab will get you punished, but at certain times holding a jab out is definitely worth it becuase it refreshes your moves so quickly. Like if you are at 40% and your opponent is at death %, refreshing your nair/other kill moves will help a lot in securing it, even if you get hit for jabbing (Or you can get lucky with the trip)

 

[Angiance]

Right, and another question

I played a Diddy, and I felt like the match was reliant on banana control; shouldn't I practice item control?

I'm upset that none of my tourney matches were recorded, I truly wanted to show y'all all of the things I've picked up from years of studying Anther, ESAM, and a few other players *shrugz*

 

[AtneyB]

Like, if we're in a situation where we NEED speed; a last resort defense

I don't see/know many situations requiring that move as a defensive option but maybe when you miss a grab and buffer a jab. And even then...

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Last resort defense should be like...D-smash if anything, or just DIP

Banana control is really important. However, it isn't how to use them offensively, moreso just how to catch the bananas when thrown at you or if they are on the ground. You want to keep the bananas away from diddy since his entire game is revolved around the bananas. He WILL be better with them than you.

 

[Player -0]

Not getting tournament matches recorded sucks.

I feel if anything is a GTFO it would be Nair, D-Smash, D-Tilt. Or you could just straight up dash away.


If you're doing friendlies item battles are the best.

 

[Thor]

Last resort defense should be like...D-smash if anything,

When I was really bad this was my first resort. Now I avoid it whenever I can (unless I see that they can't SDI it, or if I'm facing stupid ******* Ice Climbers) [no offense, ESAM].

Also jump and look to need AD/land is probably a better option for desperation. If they follow change directions and nair/fair. Jump away Thunder is a good desperation option mixup (i.e., if you keep finding yourself in dire straits) because it can often punish a grab (I once saw an epic KO where Pikachu Thunders and MK grabs and uthrows, Thunder KOs MK since he's at like 120% and the Pikachu is at like 180% where uthrow would've KO'd [MK didn't DI is part of why]. Was probably the best desperation Thunder ever).

SH/FH dair is great if you feel desperate but think your opponent is baiting you (waiting to fsmash you out of dsmash) - still good maneuverability and a high reward if you guessed right.

 

[Angiance]

I was thinking of SH N-Air as an offensive move originally, but considering it's overall duration and landing lag, it seems more defensive

Like, when I think "offense" I imagine a move that can be thrown out safely (D-Tilt, FH T-Jolt); SH N-Air seems more like a counter move

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Nair is both. As an OOS option it's amazing, but because it comes out so quickly (Tied for our 2nd fastest move with uair, only slower than jab) and has good knock back it is good offensively. It sets up pressure really well too.

 

[Mr.Pikachu]

Can you guys help me against ice climbers? Honestly I think the tier list should have IC as 1st, their grab is too godly. Anyways I try staying on platforms and just spamming tjolt until they try to uair me off then I just dsmash, but I end up having trouble when I get on the ground because they always grab me weather I'm running away or approaching.

 

[Angiance]

Somethin' that bothered me is how SH N-Air is frame 7, which seems slow for some reason (compared to other character's close range attacks). I'll practice it

FH T-Jolt is great in this. The grab is a stock, but we'll only get grabbed if we fear it. SH N-Air breaks them apart, Dash Grab > B-Throw is decent, D-Smash is decent (Nana can't DI), SH F-Air is okay; don't fear that grab

 

[Hoenn]

I like jab
I think jab is good at covering ledge options on characters that have nothing to cover their top
I have gotten into gimping situations because of it
If you jab at the edge, you can catch people's double jumps and it makes gimping easier
I also like jab as a surprise option out of spot dodge, I just don't overuse this option

I know I've said this before, but I love jabbing on platforms

 

[M15t3R E]

I like jab
I think jab is good at covering ledge options on characters that have nothing to cover their top
I have gotten into gimping situations because of it
If you jab at the edge, you can catch people's double jumps and it makes gimping easier
I also like jab as a surprise option out of spot dodge, I just don't overuse this option

I know I've said this before, but I love jabbing on platforms

I've found that jab as an edgeguard can only work if it catches the opponent off-guard. I've gimped with it during friendly fights but ultimately whether it's punished or not it is statistically underwhelming compared to other options. For edgeguarding, I recommend jumping an inch off stage and tossing a thunder at the most inopportune time for your opponent, that is right as they are about to recover to the ledge.

Somethin' that bothered me is how SH N-Air is frame 7, which seems slow for some reason (compared to other character's close range attacks). I'll practice it

FH T-Jolt is great in this. The grab is a stock, but we'll only get grabbed if we fear it. SH N-Air breaks them apart, Dash Grab > B-Throw is decent, D-Smash is decent (Nana can't DI), SH F-Air is okay; don't fear that grab

Nair OOS is equal in speed to a grab OOS. These are Pikachu's two fastest options OOS. Which one to use depends on the situation and opposing character. Typically the grab will be more easily punishable.
And I believe it's been stated and even demonstrated numerous times, but against ICs all you can truly do is to continue spamming the thunderjolt and dive in when their guard is let down.

 

[Angiance]

Well, Grab is 1 frame faster then N-Air OoS. NOBODY edgeguards like...grr, when the opponent is offstage, GRAB THE LEDGE: from here we can drop off to U-Air, Thunder, or N-Air (TWO FRAME 3 AERIALS); U-Air controls the air extremely well, making an opening for N-Air

 

[M15t3R E]

Well, Grab is 1 frame faster then N-Air OoS. NOBODY edgeguarda like...grr, when the opponent is offstage, GRAB THE LEDGE: from here we've can drop off to U-Air, Thunder, or N-Air (TWO FRAME 3 AERIALS); U-Air controls the air extremely well, making an opening for N-Air

1 frame quicker? I wonder about that due to the startup of the SH. Anyway, if you are often able to prevent the opponent from grabbing the edge simply with a quick aerial (or anything else honestly), then you have a strength over myself and every other Pika player I've seen. I recommended thunder edgeguarding because especially in high levels of play it is the safest option.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Grab = frames 6-7, nair = frame 7

NEVER SHORTHOP NAIR VS ICS. It is terrible and can get you grabbed. Percent doesn't exist in that MU so all you should really worry about is getting grabbed, so don't worry about getting punished as long as it isn't a grab.

For ICs you really have to play patient and wait for them to mess up/commit. You will probably have the % lead early because you will hit them with a T-jolt or 2 forcing them to approach. QA is amazing in the IC MU both offensively and defensively. You can run away really easily with it or if they commit to an aerial like FH uair you can QA under them, deal some %, and then run away.

 

[Angiance]

Well, M15t3R E, I'm a theorist, and an artist; I try to positively develop my pika in unique ways using every grain of technical info I have

Dunno, when we choose to fear (in any real life instance actually) something we are more likely to get caught by it, ironically...in my experience anyways, but oh wellz *shrugz*

In-tournament, I was reliant on U-Tilt, N-Air, and Gimping as KO methods (safety reasons). Should I be using the other attacks?

 

[1PokeMastr]

You could also just SH Nair and unplug their controller, then thunder.

 

[Hoenn]

In the IC matchup, I always time them out
I have runaway plans on every stage and circle camp
for example:
smashville camp the platform.
If they try to Uair, I move to the ground
If they try to pressure me on the ground, I run to the ledge, thunder stall and plank. From here I wait for the platform to come near me and return to TJ spamming.

To beat ICs, you need to not be impulsive, stay patient and just stick to the gameplan.
The misconception is that by gameplan I mean a really simple 1 step strategy.
Don't go to battlefield and just think "I'm just gonna stay on the top platform on battlefield and stay safe".
Your runaway strategy needs to be VERY black and white and needs to account for everything ICs can do.
Remember QACing defensively is your best friend, just stay away from their range

Dealing with the pressure of this MU:
Once you have your strategy down, and you know how to run away effectivly on every stage, the pressure shouldn't effect you anymore. You have nothing to be nervous about.
You need to have am defensive answer to every possible situation you could be in with an ice climber.... Once your have that figured out, you no longer will feel so tense, you know what your best option is.


How to practice:
Get a high level CPU and time it out without getting hit by anything
The CPU will go for options that IC players don't usually go for
It teaches you to avoid smashes, Aerials (Uair mainly), and specials...
You don't have to spam thunder jolt when using this practicing method, the CPU will get hit by most of your jolts and won't emulate playing against a good IC player that power shields.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Can you guys help me against ice climbers? Honestly I think the tier list should have IC as 1st, their grab is too godly. Anyways I try staying on platforms and just spamming tjolt until they try to uair me off then I just dsmash, but I end up having trouble when I get on the ground because they always grab me weather I'm running away or approaching.

Camp. Barely approach, and camp. After you get a solid hit, don't over commit, but apply immense pressure. D-smash is high-risk high-reward because, SDI'd or not, it separates them. Though if you whiff it, you lose a stock. T-jolts for days and QA away when they get too close. If EITHER of them are in the air, KILL THEM.

ICs aren't number one simply because, though they've got the grab shenanigans, they don't dominate the metagame.

 

[hell-dew]

IM curious as to what your gameplan is for Yoshi`s cause That is a stage i get messed up on against ICs. I find it pretty hard to run when they can just close the middle of the stage in on you and that platform isnt safe at all to camp on. Personally I dont mind fighting them on BF or even Lylat. FD is pretty much auto banned smashviles whole camp the platform thing works pretty well although it kinda sucks when the Platform cancel grab you something I just learn to respect. what moves are even realatively safe in this MU?I find a lot of moves you have to get really close with and PS grab tends to shuts down a lot of CQC game although i find grabbing and backthrowing or Upthrowing to be a god send. i know Dsmash is stupid good for killing nana but if your miss your getting grabed. Jolt spam seams to work wonders espically because nana seams to mess up on PS timing due to the weird input window she has allowing you to snipe her with out a whole lot of trouble.

I know for break ups thunder Dsmash and Fsmash pointed to where ever nana is running are just godlike. and foot stool just wreaks nana.

Also i wanted to ask about this cause i was curious i was wondering if the slants on stages like YI affect chain grabs mainly the Fthrow ones ive messed around with it and cant tell if im just missing the grab of if Lylat and Yoshis are just trolling me. also in the falco MU what do people normally do against his jab. i tried SDIing back and Fsmashing but the hurt box extends me back into his jab >.> havent had a whole lot of luck with tilts either. its proably one of my biggest troubles in that MU his annoying jab i swear he can jab out of way to many situations. ive been jabed out of a dair then chaingrabed... what would be the best responce if hit by falcos jab?

the other thing was his phantasm. do we have any moves to intercept it cause im getting pretty annoyed with that attack i might just learned the grab timing at this point.

 

[M15t3R E]

IM curious as to what your gameplan is for Yoshi`s cause That is a stage i get messed up on against ICs. I find it pretty hard to run when they can just close the middle of the stage in on you and that platform isnt safe at all to camp on. Personally I dont mind fighting them on BF or even Lylat. FD is pretty much auto banned smashviles whole camp the platform thing works pretty well although it kinda sucks when the Platform cancel grab you something I just learn to respect. what moves are even realatively safe in this MU?I find a lot of moves you have to get really close with and PS grab tends to shuts down a lot of CQC game although i find grabbing and backthrowing or Upthrowing to be a god send. i know Dsmash is stupid good for killing nana but if your miss your getting grabed. Jolt spam seams to work wonders espically because nana seams to mess up on PS timing due to the weird input window she has allowing you to snipe her with out a whole lot of trouble.

You have good stages to work with against ICs: SV, PS1, BF, Lylat. You are right to ban FD. Pikachu simply cannot outcamp ICs on the ground. Ice blocks are too good. We've gone over how to deal with ICs. Just camp them and keep moving.

I know for break ups thunder Dsmash and Fsmash pointed to where ever nana is running are just godlike. and foot stool just wreaks nana.

Also i wanted to ask about this cause i was curious i was wondering if the slants on stages like YI affect chain grabs mainly the Fthrow ones ive messed around with it and cant tell if im just missing the grab of if Lylat and Yoshis are just trolling me.

Yes, slanted stages like YI and Lylat mess up Pika's CGs. Doesn't matter against most characters since most of them can only reliably be forward or down thrown 2-3 times before a follow-up u-smash or aerial.

also in the falco MU what do people normally do against his jab. i tried SDIing back and Fsmashing but the hurt box extends me back into his jab >.> havent had a whole lot of luck with tilts either. its proably one of my biggest troubles in that MU his annoying jab i swear he can jab out of way to many situations. ive been jabed out of a dair then chaingrabed... what would be the best responce if hit by falcos jab?

the other thing was his phantasm. do we have any moves to intercept it cause im getting pretty annoyed with that attack i might just learned the grab timing at this point.

Against Falco's loljab, if it hits you, SDI and jump away. If you can tell he's about to grab, spotdodge first and jump out of harm's way. I think you've been trying to punish something when you should just jump away and reset the situation.
Phantasm often loses to u-tilt and thunder. Thunder may be too slow unless phantasm is teleghraphed so u-tilt is your best bet.

 

[Thor]

Honestly I think the tier list should have IC as 1st, their grab is too godly

But Meta-Knight.

Seriously, he beats ICs solidly. ZSS also is pretty awful for them (Range, dsmash), as are Peach (float) and TL (bombs and mobility). MK's best counters are Pikachu and I think Falco on FD, and those aren't actually counters, just significantly closer matchups [I'm pretty sure Diddy on FD and Snake on some stage or other also comes pretty close to even with MK, as do ICs on FD].

Percent doesn't exist in that MU

It exists past like 150% or something (later for other characters, earlier for like Jigglypuff). SoPo can make a KO off one false move, and double ICs can too (although they usually try to bait you because they never want to lose Nana).

I also recommend dropping your grab-based defenses in favor of more aggressive offense past that percentage, because a smash will kill you if you were trying to avoid the grab, and the grab will kill you with a flicked c-stick (i.e., stop eating the uairs and try to counter them). If you're at 150%, then unless you're sure you can avoid a strong uair/fair/bair/nair, you might as well take advantage of the fact that most ICs aerials will KO you and stop worrying about the grab at that high a percentage - it allows you to do mix-ups where the punish is getting grabbed (if they read you) because let's face it, if you do a mixup to avoid getting grabbed and the punishment is an aerial, at those percents you die anyway, so you can do stuff the other player may be less likely to expect, given that people seem to fear grabs vs ICs even at like 180% (at those percents, a grab is just a smash attack, nothing more). Maybe ESAM thinks I'm just an idiot for saying this, in which case, enlighten me as to why avoiding the grab past 150% is still so much more valuable than just playing like you're fighting a Marth or MK at high percents or something. It at least seems to work out for me.

Also, to hell-dew, know your chaingrab and execute it. If that Falco is still going to get into jab range to try to mess you up, even after you've shown him you know the CG, he's got guts [the CG from 0% is 2 fthrow, a pummel, and dthrow to about 100% - I think it's 13 dthrows, but I'm not positive on the number]. If you can, try to crouch and hold shield - we can CC in this game to reduce hitstun by (I believe) 33%. I know one Olimar trick is to CC the first jab, letting Olimar powershield the second jab, and I think the same trick works for Pikachu (verification/rebuttal of this would be helpful, seems to work for me). Then you can try to shieldgrab him upon powershield and go to town for 100% in grabs or whatever.

 

[Hoenn]

I just remembered another strategy against ICs
If your thunder jolts wears down their shield enough, then go in and Dsmash...
You have to be quick, and don't be predictable about it lol

Do we have any aerials that are safe on ics shield?
ESAM mentioned never SH nair-ing
Do we possibly have any FH aerials that are safe?
I feel like Dair would be too slow, Nair would get you hit by an IC Uair, Bair.... No, Uair maybe?

 

[M15t3R E]

I just remembered another strategy against ICs
If your thunder jolts wears down their shield enough, then go in and Dsmash...
You have to be quick, and don't be predictable about it lol

Do we have any aerials that are safe on ics shield?
ESAM mentioned never SH nair-ing
Do we possibly have any FH aerials that are safe?
I feel like Dair would be too slow, Nair would get you hit by an IC Uair, Bair.... No, Uair maybe?

You can't expect an ICs shield to get worn down because powershielding t-jolts is easy. Even if powershielding didn't have its property it'd still be a risk to run in and d smash like that. The only aerial safe against ICs are those used while the ICs are airborne.

 

[Thor]

Is a max-range dtilt (possibly with Pikaslide) safe? I know we can mix it up with a Pikkaslided fsmash/something else if needed... or is it only safe if they misread the mixup (i.e, run up shield in anticipation of fsmash, or run up to grab and we get them with the fsmash, but if they read it we're toast)?

 

[M15t3R E]

Is a max-range dtilt (possibly with Pikaslide) safe? I know we can mix it up with a Pikkaslided fsmash/something else if needed... or is it only safe if they misread the mixup (i.e, run up shield in anticipation of fsmash, or run up to grab and we get them with the fsmash, but if they read it we're toast)?

It can cost you a stock if powershielded if nana is still around. So if it's read then it can be fatal. If not read it can work. Esam knows better than anyone that against ICs you must be extremely patient (i.e. campy).

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

FH nair and RAR FH uair are decent. That's about it.

FH dair isn't worth it because if you are trying to read a jump they can just uair

 

[1PokeMastr]

For Falco's Jab if it's the rapid, try just SDi behind -> dsmash.
If it works against Kirby, it works against Falco's too.
Or maybe SDi up + nair.

You don't need to pummel for the CG on Falco, D-Throw starts at 19% (Two F-Throws from 0), no pummel needed.

Also Falco's first hit Jab > Snake's U-Tilt in terms of hitbox size, but in disjoint size, Snake wins because of where his hurtbox stays.

 

[Thor]

You don't need to pummel for the CG on Falco, D-Throw starts at 19% (Two F-Throws from 0), no pummel needed.

Huh. I've always read that Falco can break out like a dthrow or two early if you don't pummel, so the pummel ultimately nets extra grabs, but... maybe that's just garbage (although I do know you can land several dthrows from 19%).

For Falco's Jab if it's the rapid, try just SDi behind -> dsmash.
If it works against Kirby, it works against Falco's too.

Dsmash is a lame option if they can SDI... ftilt if you're in position is probably better, or else nair, uair, or fair.

Or, because we're Pikachu, a grab.

Something tells me it was never the rapid jab being discussed though, but I don't know.

 

[Angiance]

Falco's rapid jab = SDI behind > U-Tilt or Grab

 

[Thor]

I was asking about stages and finally found that stage thread, but it's like 2 years out of date or something... it says our advantageous stages vs MK (the ones we do well on) are FD and BF, while SV is neutral and we should look to strike Yoshi's and Lylat. I take it this changed over time since the order you now gave was BF FD Lylat SV Yoshi's. Is this a metagame shift or more knowledge or what, and could we get that thread moving again (it looked really useful, especially if we could extend the list so it has the top 7 characters, Lucario, and then used when someone wants to discuss a character and stage choice (so for me, I'd like to then after those look at Kirby and maybe some others after that). Or is that a bad idea/too much work?