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

[Angiance]

Well I mean...I dunno how to explain it...nevermind

 

[Thor]

Well, if you play an ICs player who's really into reactive play, they might just stand still... for a while at least. I really like dair (maybe too much) - its startup lag isn't THAT bad (less time than a Falco laser in Melee I believe) and it feels almost like how Melee nair should be used (not that I use it right) - you can come in hard with it or weave away and if done properly, you've functionally tomahawked with the added reason to shield, so you can still get a grab. That said, I know it has more startup than pretty much everything Pika has but fsmash and Thunder.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

I am sorry if the following question is redundant, but I feel that I must ask here, since it's one of the most active topics, in these boards:

Regarding the D-Throw CG (especially against Falco & Snake), any visual trick (as in, looking at Pikachu) to get the timing down? I think you can press grab once the opponent's invincibility frames (well, at least that's what it looks like, after the D-Throw) are over and that's the timing?

 

[1PokeMastr]

Pika boy literally made 2 threads about the CG.
They should be compiled with a bunch of other thread things on the front page of the Pikachu board thing.

Too lazy to link, I have chicken.

 

[Deleted member 189823]

I saw them, and I tried but it didn't work for me.
Doesn't help that I can't run Brawl at full speed at Dolphin.

phack

 

[M15t3R E]

I saw them, and I tried but it didn't work for me.
Doesn't help that I can't run Brawl at full speed at Dolphin.

phack

What you should do is slow down the speed in training mode and practice buffering the CG, which allows you to extend it further compared to the unbuffered CG.

Yah, I pretty much just want to use Pikachu now.

I love the way you guys hype him.
On topic:


How do you guys deal with Olimer, assuming you're going solo Pikachu? What makes that MU so bad, if it really is -2?

That is.... an awful MU. I believe everyone here switches characters against Olimar. He's the one character that will force virtually every Pika player to switch. I personally switch to my Peach.
Olimar can space Pikachu like no other and grab all of his approaches as well as harass him with Pikmin. It's a nightmare- not something I'd wish anyone to experience.

 

[M15t3R E]

Sorry for the double post.

 

[hell-dew]

yeah oilmar is brutal I would easily recommend getting a secondary for him

random question how to fight lucas? i know in singles we get Grab into stuff his nair/Dair stuff is just wack From what i understand you cannot punish Nair our areials just Dont seam to beat it unless it hits sheild while Dair i get that your supposed to DI it but not much else. in doubles he seams to shut down a lot of our stuff (thunder and jolts) which brutally sucks

for Dairing and auto canceling There is the press the jump button and down A fast choice (which can be tricky to do consistently my fingers dont always get it if im not warmed up) there is the jump button and slam C stick down method which works better but i dislike doing that there is also the tap jump method which is stupid easy to pull off but i dont like using tap jump

and Ftilt is a wicked kill move definitely a good move to be aware of mainly when your foe is living to damn long which happens to me a lot.

 

[PKBeam]

Try to get Lucas below you and Uair juggle him.
If he tries to SH PK Fire (as he should) then duck under it. If he doesn't SH it just hop over it. Or you can SH AD but if you're too predictable you will eat a Dsmash.
You need to start worrying about Dair at around 60-70 because that's when it starts locking. Just hold up if you get hit by it. All 4 hits are 20% so try not to get hit by it at all.
Nair (17% total) is 100% safe on block so just avoid it in the first place. If you block it tilt your shield behind you after he lands otherwise you'll get poked with Jab.
I think your SH Nair OoS can punish Dair.
Pikachu gets GR -> Usmash if you can get a grab.

On a lightweight like Pika Dthrow will kill at about 130 with good DI. Fair, maybe 130 or 120. Ftilt I think a bit later than Fair.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

http://www.twitch.tv/momentum_shift
Streaming around 12 pm if any of you want to see

 

[infiniteV115]

Lucas (ie Blacktwins) likes to go for jab1 --> grab and nair shield pressure --> jab1 --> grab. Bait it and punish.
When you get Lucas offstage, try to position yourself in a way that you can scare him into using his jump and trying to tether to the edge rather than coming all the way onstage (eg standing/jumping near the edge), and then when you think he's going to tether (or you see the airdodge) run off and edgehog/tether. If you edgehog he'll tether and miss, then he's forced to upB, and you can just drop off and hit him in the startup of upB, especially since Pikachu gets off the edge faster than other characters. No joke, I think skullbash would be good for a situation like this, you can just drop off and hit him with an uncharged/barely charged skull bash and then go back to the edge or jump and harass him some more. Drop off ledge --> DJ jolts also work and are safer. Drop off ledge --> uair --> footstool after 50% or so would be ideal (I think below this % it won't work? Not sure what the exact percentage is but I imagine it's around 50). If he's close enough you can probably drop off and QA1 him and use QA2 to get back to the edge, and rinse and repeat. If you're too worried about all off these, drop off ledge straight downwards --> fall for a bit --> DJ thunder would be a good away to get guaranteed damage (use it to interrupt the PKT2) and it's pretty safe cause if Lucas used his upB to recover he probably doesn't have a jump...so he wouldn't be able to punish you afterwards without putting himself at serious risk. You have a lot of options and they are pretty easy to execute in and of themselves, the hard part is getting him into the situation where he has no jump and has to upB.

If you have a habit of jolting an opponent that's at the edge (you shouldn't have this habit against Lucas but w/e) and you notice that he starts healing off of it, bait the magnets by making it look like you're going to jolt and then drop down and sourspot nair him or something. eg if you usually FH jolt towards opponents at the ledge, do an empty FH, or FH and jolt towards the centre of the stage.

If you're getting daired above like 70% or whenever the percent is that you'd have to worry about the dtilt lock, hold up and be ready to tech. If you started getting dtilt locked anyway, SDI for your life and hope he goes for more dtilts. If you manage to SDI behind him he could easily screw up the lock cause he might go for another dtilt and miss, and then get flustered and miss the getup punish. You shouldn't really get hit by the dtilt lock if you have a decent amount of Lucas experience.

If you're avoiding the dtilt lock then that's pretty good because outside of that, Lucas has a hard time killing with those super strong kill moves (smashes). If you avoid the dtilt lock and other ways for him to get a smash on you (should be pretty easy to avoid usmash/dsmash, fsmash is more reliable for Lucas but still fairly risky for him), Lucas probably won't be able to kill you until around 150 (this also assumes you're not getting spiked by bair/dair offstage lol). His other kill options consist of uair, fair, ftilt and dthrow, and all of these probably won't kill until around 150. Bthrow won't kill until around 160/170 assuming good DI. Speaking of good DI, if Lucas ever grabs you, you should be DIing up as soon as you see that you got grabbed (like against most characters). Then if you see that he's going for dthrow, you can react to the animation and DI horizontally (I believe you're supposed to DI through/behind Lucas).

 

[M15t3R E]

I'm feeling lazy so here's a post I made almost 2 years ago about this MU for the Lucas boards that explains the MU from the perspective of both characters.

Now this is a MU I used to play a lot more often when Brawl was a new game. It seems enthusiasm for this Earthbound boy has waned, though I do not understand why.
Let me state this right up front: Pikachu and Lucas go virtually even.
Both characters have their pros and cons in this MU. Pikachu moves faster, but Lucas has more range on a few of his key attacks.
The good Pikachu player will exploit the biggest pro he has here- his faster speed. The good Lucas player will make every attempt to space out the Pikachu player's barrages of attacks while playing very defensively.
Starting out, expect the Pikachu to throw out thunderjolts like it's no tomorrow. He doesn't care about Lucas' magnet since he's already at or near 0%. And even later on in the game, he may surprise Lucas with a thunderjolt, hoping for him to absorb it, so that he can use the move lag to his advantage. Don't fall into this mind game and trap.
On the ground, Lucas should throw out PKF to punish Pikachu's advances. Doing a jump backwards while using PKF is very safe. Zair is a great spacing move for Lucas and outranges Pikachu's very shortrange fair, which is often used to approach. Expect Pikachu to punish Lucas' lands with grab (if in range) or dtilt. He may also punish Lucas' lands with d smash. To escape this, SDI up. And if Pikachu grabs Lucas early on, expect a buffered d throw CG up to 33%, followed by a nair. Dair is an excellent tool for Lucas and is extremely difficult for Pikachu to punish. Pikachu would have to see it coming and respond with a nair. When Pikachu wishes to finish Luacs off, f smash is the go-to move. It outranges much of Lucas' arsenal. SH nair is a great priority move that is hard for Pikachu to do anything about. But don't spam it because the Pikachu does have options. OoS nair or a grab can make the Lucas player regret using nair should he pressure with it too often. Oh, by the way, did I mention OoS nair? That is so scary for the Lucas. Always expect this when the opportunity is presented to the Pikachu player. Lastly, if Pikachu is getting too close for comfort, jab is the GTFO move. Never be predictable. That is key.
In the air, neither player wants to be directly above the other. Lucas should try keeping Pikachu at bay with zair or PKF if he's approaching from the horizontal. Pikachu's uair is so quick and has such disjointed range that even Lucas' dair may prove no match. While Lucas is below, he should go all out with his own uairs. When edgeguarding Pikachu, Lucas' PKT is useful at least as a one-of move in postponing Pikachu's recovery. Lucas should not bother going for it a second time during the same edgeguard session, as the Pikachu's recovery will ultimately outspeed the next PKT, potentially leaving Lucas vulnerable. Lucas' d-smash can punish a faulty skull bash recovery, and u-smash will punish (and often kill) if the Pikachu makes the mistake of landing back onto the stage rather than grabbing the ledge. Now, when Lucas is trying to get back to the stage, he has his work cut out for him. Lucas should not be predictable with his up b recovery. Pikachu's sheer speed makes that all too punishable. And beware of Pikachu's thunderjolt hitting Lucas while he is in the process of aiming the PKT at himself in order to recover (any experienced Pikachu player has pinpoint deadly accuracy with thunderjolt while edgeguarding ;]). If launched far, Lucas should use his magnet to recover part of the way provided that Pikachu is not already chasing him and able to punish it. Then recover with zair if possible.
As far as stages, Battlefield is a pretty good stage to take Pikachu to. And if it's available, Pikachu will love to take Lucas to Halberd.

That's it from the top of my head. Hopefully ESAM will chime in. Everyone should watch MEKOS vs ESAM- there's 5 games between the two players in the grand finals.

 

[Thor]

You don't NEED a secondary for Olimar (Anther didn't seem to have one), I just know most people around here have one. I know my Falco's not as good as my Pikachu, but it's a big MU changer for me getting a reflector and lasers, as well as a stronger CG, so I end up sometimes end up switching if I lose one of the games, but I don't find it mandatory to switch.

P.S: I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Lucas (or maybe it's just Ness) can shield/roll/jump after absorbing a projectile for a brief window, so be careful of using t-jolt to bait - we might want to ask a Lucas knowledgeable about his down+b properties about this.

 

[PKBeam]

Speaking of good DI, if Lucas ever grabs you, you should be DIing up as soon as you see that you got grabbed

I wouldn't really do this unless you're at the edge or you're really prepared for it because he can just Uthrow and you will die at like 130. I saw this happen to a Squirtle who died at 120 and Pikachu isn't that much heavier than Squirtle.

Fthrow's trajectory is automatically good DI so we wont ever use Fthrow to kill, even if you're at the ledge Dthrow will probably kill earlier.

dthrow, and all of these probably won't kill until around 150.

I'm almost certain that Pikachu dies at 140 from Dthrow with good DI.

P.S: I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Lucas (or maybe it's just Ness) can shield/roll/jump after absorbing a projectile for a brief window, so be careful of using t-jolt to bait - we might want to ask a Lucas knowledgeable about his down+b properties about this.

When Lucas (or Ness) absorbs something with his magnet he can treat it as a shield, i.e. he can do anything with his magnet that he could do out of his shield, including Usmash, any aerial, Up-B and rolling. While he rolls he still absorbs stuff.

He cannot cancel an aerial magnet.
----------------------------------------------------
Also remember that Wavezap is pretty much only punishable from a read. If you go to edgeguard/egdehog him he can just do that and he's safe. Pikachu cannot gimp a Lucas who is recovering correctly any much more than the reverse.

And if you want to take us to Halberd that's fine but just remember you die 10% earlier from Dthrow/Uthrow
If it's legal Brinstar turns this into like +2 Lucas

 

[1PokeMastr]

All throw animations from Lucas are slow enough where you can just react to the throw and Di it properly.
But the general rule for non upward kills throws is to hold up, which is easier to say than getting super specific about it.

 

[Angiance]

We stomp Lucas, end of story

 

[M15t3R E]

I personally am a fan of the MU's involving characters with the magnet or reflectors. I turn their asset into a detriment every time by baiting it out and using their move lag against them.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

FH b-reversed jolt to make someone use their reflector/magnet. It brings a smile to your face when they fall for it

 

[Pikabunz]

Reflector and magnet can be canceled though.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

If they're still in lag, you can punish the lag is what I mean.

 

[Pikabunz]

There won't be any lag if they hit your projectile.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

They won't hit your projectile if you shoot your jolt in the opposite direction. FH b-reversed jolt. When they assume you will jolt at them, you use it in the other direction and punish the lag.

 

[Pikabunz]

Wouldn't they recover before you or just not use their reflector?

 

[Thor]

^^^That was my thought. Admittedly, I like trying to t-jolt so that I can rush in pretty much alongside it (by starting it high enough up) so that they don't get to absorb it unless they have it up as I'm there and before the t-jolt is there. Not very practical though.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Wouldn't they recover before you or just not use their reflector?

I'm going off of the thought that they assume you'll jolt BEFORE you do it and put up their reflector/psi magnet when you jolt, regardless of the direction.

 

[1PokeMastr]

Thunder Jolt is slow and easy to react to.

 

[Angiance]

Which is it's overall purpose; controlling the area

 

[Ookami Hajime]

How would you describe how Pika's neutral game should be played? At mid range, how should your options be played out?

 

[Thor]

Don't get hit.

- Isai

It still never fails if you follow his advice to the letter.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Though Isai's words are inspiring and true, I'd like a little more detail for pika-specific neutral game, haha

 

[Angiance]

From neutral you really want to get a FH T-Jolt approach goin', but you also have QAC with no intent to attack, just to freak the opponent out and reposition.

D-Tilt as bait to get at them given it's 10 frame cooldown, D-Tilt > FH T-Jolt is a decent attack string.

F-Tilt is REALLY great to remember if you're not sure since it beat/clash with things

 

[1PokeMastr]

I like letting them hit my shield.

 

[Tube of Jokes]

Hey.
Does thunder 2 (the one around pika) get staled if you hit with thunder 1?

 

[Angiance]

Hey.
Does thunder 2 (the one around pika) get staled if you hit with thunder 1?

No, no it doesn't

 

[Tube of Jokes]

No, no it doesn't

Nice! Thanks :D

 

[Thor]

Though Isai's words are inspiring and true, I'd like a little more detail for pika-specific neutral game, haha

I never really got how "mid-range" mid-range is (are we talking just inside the tipper of Marth fsmash and like his fair range, or like halfway across Smashville mid-range), but the FH t-jolt is good - I don't use QAC much, maybe I should be I think it leaves you open for longer than I'd like. Angiance's other advice (dtilt - Pikaslide!) is good as well.

I also just like walking back and forth against hyper-passive opponents - walk forward a few steps, backward one or two... you still have all your options (except jab I guess - have to stop for that) and you can "float" [move around] just inside or outside of range of your opponents attacks. Also, Pikachu has an adorable walking animation, so you get something nice out of the deal aesthetically as well.

Incidentally, if you think the opponent is going to rush you, I really like SH dair - you can fade away and have almost no endlag to it (I think it's like 13 frames from last hitbox to ground, feels even shorter to me) and you can also hit someone who is rushing in and get a solid 12% on them for it, with a good chance to follow up or take the advantageous position.

I also like shield if you think they are going to rush and they jump - it has to be a tomahawk or else they hit your shield and you punish, and if it's a tomahawk you can try to counter with shield-grab or OoS aerial-that's-not-bair. [I think theoretically some characters may have some aerials safe on shield, but most of those are safe because of the followups they have that come out before your grab - if you bait out the followup and shield it you still get the punish. I know MK glide attack is truly safe on shield (you can dsmash prior to shield-grab, maybe even can just grab them) - we should probably see if there is a list of other truly safe on shield attacks.]

Maybe everyone knew this, or maybe someone had spiked something I was drinking prior to me playing some Brawl, but I learned (or think I learned) that FH Pika dair autocancels when going from the base of Smashville to the platform. Does anyone else do this? I like to do it if I think they'll drop through the platform, and to put a nice hitbox on me if I want to jump at them on the platform. Other uses?

 

[Ookami Hajime]

@ Thor : Those were all very helpful! Thanks

 

[1PokeMastr]

I think Pikachu should participate in fisticuffs.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I think that's a brilliant idea

 

[1PokeMastr]

What ho! Ye challenge me to a brawl ?

EN GARDE!