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

[Angiance]

I would HOPE Sakurai did something to make DI far less effective, considering this new Smash is more focused on comboes

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ Angiance : I personally think that DI should stay, as it is a mechanic that seperates smash from other games. It's also what stopped infinites in Melee and the fact that it helps with survivability is good too. I don't really think Sakurai was going for an additional combo factor in this game.

@ 1PokeMastr : I think that sounds pretty legitimate too but using it like zss's up B would be a little difficult because of thunder's long animation.

 

[Angiance]

Well, not COMPLETELY get rid of it, just make it less effective

 

[Terios the Hedgehog]

I thought you were dead.

I am? ****. No one told me.

Thunderspike sounds super fun and between that and Little Mac I like the way the mechanics are shaping up. I'm excited for 4.

 

[1PokeMastr]

Sakurai did also state that you can Di the spike to avoid the second hit.

Meaning Di probably plays quite a factor in brawl.

 

[Terios the Hedgehog]

I thought he said dodge as in once they're up there them hitting dodge is a 50/50 between thunder and delayed thunder.

 

[Angiance]

Well, no matter what happens, it'll still be a grand experience

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Maybe. As long as u-air and n-air remain amazing and he gets overall buffed, I'll be happy.

QA better retain it's ability to easily sweet spot the edge too and I'd like to see the return of a new and improved QAC.

 

[Angiance]

Honestly, I fully believe U-Air should have as much landing lag as Marth's F-Air, or Kirby's B-Air, it'd do a WHOLE lot for us

 

[Terios the Hedgehog]

I just want tailspike back. :C

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I'd love the tail spike back too but it wouldn't do any good if there isn't hit stun like Melee's D:

 

[Terios the Hedgehog]

The trajectory is still nice for setting up edgeguards and stuff.

 

[Thor]

I've been thinking of PS laser (If they laser) to SH Nair. Similar to how Mk's do it.
Maybe even Dsmash ?

If they can SDI properly, Dsmash MAY net you 10%, usually more like 7%. That's not a bad punish, but it's never going to KO them either. If they can't SDI, this is the best punish by a lot, at least in my opinion.

Sakurai's picture of the day features thunder's new mechanics and I really don't know if it is a buff or a nerf. Thunder spikes now =o

I KNEW THAT BRAWL- MAX PRACTICE WOULD PAY OFF!

Seriously though, Thunder spikes in Brawl-. If only Sakurai made it (while airborne) jump-cancellable too - the double Thunder wall!

EDIT: Oh wait just the cloud... still star KOs! Yay!

I don't care about the uair tailspike, I just want a b-air where we don't have to sit around and think "Gee, is it possible I can actually use this move?" (whereas with uair it's "how can I better use this move/mix it in more because I already use it lots?").

This is not a question thread currently. So I'll ask: Which is a better offstage option when low offstage with our second jump and intercepting Snake recovery - dair or nair? I feel like dair is usually a better option because it doesn't stale nair if he's not above like 120% (and my nair often needs some destaling), but should I just try to nair him farther away?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ Thor : I use n-air. I stale it out because I don't see myself killing with n-air too often in that MU. Mixing it up works fine though
@ Terios the Hedgehog : This is true =o

 

[PZ]

Uair in melee had soooo much knockback which is why tailspike with or without melee hitstun was amazing. I would like brawl pika's uair if footstool is still a thing in smash 4 for locks and random resets supposedly.
I love smash for DI which is why I prefer brawl over the others for the many more appliances of DI unlike the others. Some how some way living is possible unless you were thrown at high/absurdly high percents than the few sdi able throws come to mind (link,tink,etc). At least I think I can sdi throws...
The only thing I really want back is 64 pika's bair....I can't possibly think of anything to top that.(Wasn't it a drop kick? I think..?)

 

[Thor]

Oh gawd no one nerf DI, most characters got combed really hard in Melee by things like Falco's shine and dair.

Also, for bair, the kick was nice, but I think something new might be awesome... hm... actually nearly everyone has a bair that's almost exactly the same (seriously... Falco, Snake, ZSS, Wario, Lucario, Dedede, Wolf, Fox, Pit, Peach, ROB, Kirby, DK, Sonic, Ike, Sheik, Ness, Luigi, Mario, Samus, Bowser, Falcon, Jiggs, Zelda, and Ganon all have single-hit, strong bairs... I may have left off some characters too.) But Pikachu's bair is currently unfortunately weaker for not being a "normal" bair. Anybody want a harder hitting melee bair?

I really like uair for juggling, so if tail-spike, make half the hitboxes juggle and half tail-spike (or most tailspike) just so that I can make sure I'm actually juggling, not hitting them off to one side of the stage or the opposite on accident. Or maybe I should just get better at uair...

Dealing with Peach, anyone? Or do I just need more diagonally-below uair when she's floating [in the way that a Melee Jiggs just needs more bair]?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ PZ : Yup, N64 b-air is something I've wanted back for a while, but Sakurai's all like "PIKA DOESN'T KICK". I really just want pika to have another aerial that has quick-ish start up and good knockback. And yes, I agree that DI makes smash as amazing as it is.

 

[M15t3R E]

@ PZ : Yup, N64 b-air is something I've wanted back for a while, but Sakurai's all like "PIKA DOESN'T KICK". I really just want pika to have another aerial that has quick-ish start up and good knockback. And yes, I agree that DI makes smash as amazing as it is.

Pikachu kicks during his f-tilt. Kicks in the anime too. I would be very happy with Sakurai if he brought Pikachu's bair from N64 back. That has been my biggest hope for Pikachu in the next game.
About thunder spiking, I can see uses for that as a setup. Whoever noted that it could have the same applications as ZSS's up-b was right on the money.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ M15t3R E : But f-tilt is like a strange horse-kick. The old n64 b-air was some crazy martial arts stuff.

And with ZSS you meant the up b, not u-smash.

 

[M15t3R E]

@ M15t3R E : But f-tilt is like a strange horse-kick. The old n64 b-air was some crazy martial arts stuff.

And with ZSS you meant the up b, not u-smash.

Yes, up-b. The "pikacopter" isn't exactly more realistic than his original bair.

 

[Mr.Pikachu]

I think the thunder spike is a nerf. Thunder kills were the most reliable way to get a kill and now that's it's a spike yea you can do an usmash out of it (I think) but then again they could DI and you'd kill less with it

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Yes, up-b. The "pikacopter" isn't exactly more realistic than his original bair.

But pokemon says the pika copter is a daily routine for pika

 

[Angiance]

N64 kick? Nah, how about a B-Air with an animation similar to Toon Links B-Air, except Pika will use Iron Tail for it

 

[1PokeMastr]

Sounds like a reasonable thing.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Not bad I guess.

Watching the trailers again, I've noticed thunder's cool down lag has decreased dramatically. Also, the amount of over all hit stun in the game looks much like brawl.

 

[1PokeMastr]

I wouldn't judge the hitstun based off of trailers.

Just look at brawl's trailers, or the short videos they have play when you stay on the start screen too long.

Looks like melee in some aspects, but it's not.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I understand what you mean, but I was just noting that because of how quickly they were able to act in someway after being sent flying during the part of the trailer where four players were fighting it out. Momentum canceling with still be a thing, perhaps.

 

[Angiance]

If Sakurai takes advantage of ONLINE UPDATES, we wouldn't have to worry about stupid stuff considering the balance could be made more proper via forced update

 

[1PokeMastr]

I doubt Sakurai would implement patches within his Smash game.

Also considering all he mentions in his daily photos is making sure the game is completely balanced before it's final release.

 

[Angiance]

*sigh* well damn then...

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Any way that we abuse properties of the game to make it competitive along with our rule set and style of play used to be things Sakaurai didn't really understand.
It seems a lot like Sakurai is finally embracing the competitive side of the community, if even just a little bit. He's regarding us a bit more now.

 

[Thor]

Complete balance is nearly impossible. I just hope no character has an MU spread that has no disadvantageous MUs (unless they have at least 5 even MUs, plus the mirror MU... then it would be okayish, because there's a wide variety of characters to choose from if you don't want to play a bad MU). I'd also like to avoid any -4 MUs, and avoid most -3 MUs if possible...

I think my Peach question went unanswered...

 

[Ookami Hajime]

My answer to peach is literally jolts and f-air. F-air shuts down float completely. Run under floats and u-air/n-air. Don't try to punish Peach's f-air as it is virtually lag less if performed correctly (plus, a second f-air tends to always be used immediately after a whiffed first f-air. Don't take the bait!)
Pay attention to every turnip pull and take a quick look at the expressions. Don't play overly defensive when she has a stitch face either; if you're shielding and she glide tosses it at your shield, she can immediately d-tilt and Pika's shield will break instantly.
Edge guard her aggressively as she has basically zero horizontal options when coming back to the stage. Jump off and n-air her; if you are level with her, she can't do anything except f-air and, if close, n-air. A whiffed n-air puts her in a horrible spot though so Peach's rarely ever will go for it. They'll almost always recover low.
I don't remember your original post so if you have any specific questions, ask away. (I sub main the princess <3)

 

[hell-dew]

Complete balance is nearly impossible. I just hope no character has an MU spread that has no disadvantageous MUs (unless they have at least 5 even MUs, plus the mirror MU... then it would be okayish, because there's a wide variety of characters to choose from if you don't want to play a bad MU). I'd also like to avoid any -4 MUs, and avoid most -3 MUs if possible...

I think my Peach question went unanswered...

no its not impossible i would say starcraft 1 was proably one of the most balanced games ive played where many things are very powerful and everything could be felt as cheap to some extent. the thing is blizzard didnt get to that point overnight they spent a lot of time looking at people playing the game patching it slowly and extensively tested things in both high level and low level play. Sakarai is hell bent on releasing a completed product (which is respectable) but i dont think he should be dead set against any patches period. there will be things missed there will be exploits found and stupid stuff that no amount of in house play testing is gonna find. balancing is tough though and japanese game devs are prideful as heck. I would definitely not be surprised if there were no patches period though.

in terms of peach if you SDI her stuff it makes the MU a nightmare for her.

 

[Angiance]

Whelp, best we can do is appreciate the new fighter we'll be goin' to

For Pikachu, I seriously hope this is the red alt costume

I would ROCK this costume EVERY day

 

[M15t3R E]

Thor, Peach's floating can be shut down with a rising u-air or a well-spaced fair. However, if she's an inch above ground a jolt can hit her. I use Peach as a secondary. What else would you like to know?

Watching the trailers again, I've noticed thunder's cool down lag has decreased dramatically.

Oooh boy. That means more thunder spam.

 

[Angiance]

Actually, I recommend a sharply spaced U-Tilt (from the back) against MOST aerial approaches, simply because U-Tilt makes our character's frame go fairly low to the ground causing the opponent's aerial to whiff; U-Tilt also has great vertical range, and is more productive then SH U-Air

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Whelp, best we can do is appreciate the new fighter we'll be goin' to

For Pikachu, I seriously hope this is the red alt costume
View attachment 11398
I would ROCK this costume EVERY day

That female Pikachu, though.
I'd play that female Pika every day of the week. It's just like how so many ICs players prefer to play as Nana .-. It's just a thing, you know?

 

[M15t3R E]

Actually, I recommend a sharply spaced U-Tilt (from the back) against MOST aerial approaches, simply because U-Tilt makes our character's frame go fairly low to the ground causing the opponent's aerial to whiff; U-Tilt also has great vertical range, and is more productive then SH U-Air

In my experience, u-air is too slow to use as anti-air in some cases, including a very mobile Peach floating towards you. A rising u-air allows you to be more unpredictable and less counterable due to the increased movement compared to u-tilt. Peach's dair is slightly disjointed but moreover your u-tilt has no chance of countering her fair.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

In my experience, u-air is too slow to use as anti-air in some cases, including a very mobile Peach floating towards you. A rising u-air allows you to be more unpredictable and less counterable due to the increased movement compared to u-tilt. Peach's dair is slightly disjointed but moreover your u-tilt has no chance of countering her fair.

This is true. U-air is a better counter to peach's float than u-tilt.

It IS true that we can move with SH U-Air, but SH U-Air is slower than U-Tilt since we have to go through it's lag and SH's airtime before we're active, which is actually punishable

SH u-air comes out faster than u-tilt.