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

[joelsdaman1]

Maybe try approaching aerially with bair, dair or maybe even nair? You could also QAC approach.

And also double down on camping. Thunderjolt is your buddy in this MU.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

With Pikachu, or what?
I personally find PIka vs ZSS extremely fun. One of my main practice partners is a ZSS so I play her all the time

First off, ZSS can't do much about jolt approaches. N-air pretty much is amazing in this match up; if you can get in on her, n-air is almost always your best option. Run up shield is a good approach option too, considering a ZSS typically will not throw out a grab and almost everything else she does to your shield gives you a free n-air.

If he runs away, don't run into d-smashes. Just shoot jolts. Honestly, take the lead, keep the lead. You can camp her out for the whole game if she wants to play run away with you; Pikachu does it better.

 

[Thor]

Hoenn, just play Falco - he then has to approach you (or else eat lasers), which he doesn't want, because you have a nasty boxing game and a CG. Don't look for usmash until KO percents - you should ask 1Pokemastr about those, but I'd imagine about 130% is when you can start KOing with it regardless of DI/MC on SV.

Pivot-dsmash? You shouldn't be close enough unless you're already looking for usmash, so just shield it and run away.
Side+b? You can roll behind or roll away, or just spotdodge it.
Neutral+B? You have a reflector.

Falco can also reflector the armor.

Or play Pikachu - Ookami's advice is not bad.

Keep in mind dsmash is [almost] 0 on shield, so don't look to punish it - look to punish the follow-up dsmash or the jab, or if they run away, you can too - you've got a projectile and there's no harm done, your shield will come back.

We can also ask ESAM about this MU - he apparently doesn't have problems with Salem.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

We can also ask ESAM about this MU - he apparently doesn't have problems with Salem.

ESAM's brother is Nick Riddle which another reason he's so good against ZSS

 

[1PokeMastr]

122 is essentially kill percent.

But Pikachu/ Falco vs Zss are both -1 for Zss

So it doesn't really matter who you play against her, just use who you're more comfortable with.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

So I've started using f-throw to d-air at mid percents and it's actually a good mix up. A lot of the time they throw out a spot dodge or other defensive option and if it lands, the knockback is great for getting another grab or stringing something together. Has anyone else tried this?

 

[Thor]

I'll try it... I often look for a dair follow-up after fthrow->usmash at 0%, but this sounds pretty good for midrange fthrow follow-up too.

 

[infiniteV115]

Pikachu is better against ZSS than Falco is. If you know this MU well you shouldn't have too much trouble against any ZSSs on your level

Jolts are good. FH jolts from the right distance, coupled with good aerial movement, are hard for ZSS to get in on, unless she starts running in before you shoot the jolt, so don't be predictable with them.
ZSS' dsmash is safe on shield, so you can't punish it directly but sometimes you can punish what she does afterwards if you're prepared for it. eg If you try to shieldgrab it, ZSS can just jab after the dsmash and it will hit you before you grab her, meaning that the ZSS might go for dsmash --> jab. If she goes for that, just shield the jab too, and then grab that XD
If she just runs away after the dsmash hits your shield you can't really punish that cause she2fast

If ZSS shields the landing hitbox of your dair, that's a free dsmash for her so be careful with that I guess. The ZSS you play against might not know that but at the very least he'll probably punish with a tilt.

When she's offstage, pay attention to how the ZSS recovers. If the ZSS usually downBs back onstage, hit her out of it with a dair. Now she's offstage again and she has no downB, so her only option is to tether (or jump if she still has her 2nd jump).
If the ZSS tethers with sideB, you can react to the sideB startup and go down there and clip her out of the tether with a sourspot nair (nair has a nice lingering hitbox so that's good). You don't really have to worry about ZSS edgeguarding you if you're recovering properly and edgeguarding her properly, cause it's too risky for her.

Her uair beats your dair (it beats every dair).
If she's gonna land with an aerial, run in and shield, and then you should be able to shieldgrab it most of the time if it was a nair. If she lands with bair, it'll work less often but it's still worth going for. Any other aerial is a terrible landing option against Pikachu.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I often go for a pivot grab after f-throw up smash

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Grats to ESAM for getting sponsored by CT

 

[1PokeMastr]

I like F-Throw to charged fully thunder b.

 

[Hoenn]

How do you platform cancel with pikachu?
I learned by using down on the Cstick, but that causes Dair2 to come out.

 

[Pikabunz]

I hold down and cstick up.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

I use a quarter circle motion [ v-->] to platform cancel into pikachu's walking/running animation. Just hold down and, as you go through, input something.

 

[infiniteV115]

Shameless plug on platform cancel stuff

 

[1PokeMastr]

How do you platform cancel with pikachu?
I learned by using down on the Cstick, but that causes Dair2 to come out.

By platform cancelling.

Jump up, hold down, let go of down when you pass through the platform

 

[Ookami Hajime]

What would be your advice on playing a good neutral game as Pikachu?

 

[Hoenn]

What would be your advice on playing a good neutral game as Pikachu?

I'm gonna assume you mean in general.
Look at your opponent's approach options, look at your approach options.
Look at what options you have to cover that particular character's approach options, but know what options are the best and use those the most. The less moves you have in the RPS the better, so you want your best option coverage moves.

For approaching do the same thing except from the other side. since run up shield is broken in brawl, please abuse it.

 

[Angiance]

I LOVE F-AIR!

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Did you see MilkTea playing Pikachu in the invitational? Pikachu is looking nice!

 

[Player -0]

Did you see MilkTea playing Pikachu in the invitational? Pikachu is looking nice!

Going to watch invitational matches later, didn't see them. I only saw the thunder nerf in a random match. Lasts a lot less time.

 

[Angiance]

Yes, I saw MilkTea, and am excited about how the game looks in general.

What I am most excited about, however, is the customizability of a any character's stats/special attacks; this will help balance the game AND add multiple variations in between each player's technique. It will also keep the game fairly fresh.

There are 3 variants of each special, so that makes...12 specials for each character, opposed to the standard 4.

What do y'all think Pikachu's alternate specials are?

 

[Player -0]

I think some alternate specials will probably be banned when deemed OP. I'm not sure about the stats/special attacks, it really just depends on the TO.

 

[Thor]

This is a kind of "random" question, but since shield comes out in 7 frames, does this mean you can't powershield on reaction any move that is 7 frames or less? I've read elsewhere that powershielding is where you hit shield at the same time as an attack would connect with you... does this mean you could powershield on reaction Falco or Ike's jab (frame 2 or frame 3) by holding shield at the same time as their jab comes out [if you had supreme reactions/animation knowledge], or do you need at least 8 frames (1 to react [if one has supreme reactions/animation knowledge] and 7 for shield to come out) to powershield on reaction?

If I'm allowed to ask here, does the same answer also hold in Melee?

 

[Angiance]

Thor, Shield is active on frame 1; Power Shield window is frames 1-3

 

[Player -0]

Angiance is right, Shield is up in 1 frame and it takes about 7 or 8 frames to drop it normally without jumping out of it or grabbing.

 

[infiniteV115]

Shield drop animation (ie letting go of your shield) is 7 frames long. I think you can interrupt this animation with jump or grab. If you powershield, you can interrupt the animation with a lot more (eg attacks).

Yoshi's shield drop animation is 17 frames long.

So yeah as long as the attack hits your shield on one of the first 3 frames that it's out, you'll powershield.

 

[Thor]

I read somewhere shield takes 7 seconds to get up fully AND to drop, so that you are immobile for 15 frames if you tap shield (7 to pull up, it's out for a frame, and 7 to drop) but this is good to know. Thanks!

 

[Hoenn]

Shield drops are WAY slower than shield startup. That's the only reason why I wouldn't be able to believe that.
You can just feel the difference.


Does anyone ever fool around with Platform cancel to instant fallthroughs?
Would a PC instant fall through Nair/Uair be a good option in any way?
I really want to incorporate this into my game. It looks so flashy

 

[Player -0]

Shield drops are WAY slower than shield startup. That's the only reason why I wouldn't be able to believe that.
You can just feel the difference.


Does anyone ever fool around with Platform cancel to instant fallthroughs?
Would a PC instant fall through Nair/Uair be a good option in any way?
I really want to incorporate this into my game. It looks so flashy

Bro, SV - QA to platform, hold down to drop through. Jump up again and platform cancel. Yeaaaaaaah.


I can't consistently do it yet, will probably mess with Brawl more if they ever figure out BB for the new wifi servers.

 

[Hoenn]

Yeah I do QA to instant drop thoughs all the time and that looks flashy, but just a normal platform cancel would be so much more useful for mixups. That's a good idea.

 

[Angiance]

No, don't use PC for that, it's fairly punishable; PC is for mobility/positioning, and that's it.

 

[Player -0]

Platform cancels can be used as mindgames too, especially if you're going to be flashy.

0:27

 

[Hoenn]

Having large amounts of tech skill intimidate people. Like, even with ICs, when I play sopo, I sometimes just spam it on the smashville platform and my opponent is just hiding in their shield... Hiding in shield, scared of a sopo...

PC dropping is amazing for mindgames and what people also forget is how great it is for momentum.
It feels good to have tech skill and can make you play with more confidence

 

[Ookami Hajime]

Played Smash 4 at best buy; Pikachu is still amazing but you can no longer jump out of QA, I think. Didn't work when I tried. Still amazing.

U-air has knockback and d-throw sends them as high as high brawl u-throw at high percent. Thunder got buffed significantly; all of T1 spikes directly into T2. N-air is still amazing and full hop jolt still works. All his aerials are great.

You can still b-reverse and wave bounce too.

D-smash got cuter ^^

 

[Player -0]

Wait, I thought only the cloud meteor smashes?

Thunder also looks like it got nerfed, it doesn't linger at all, making it more akin to 64 but slower.

I'm not sure, if I go to a Best Buy (friend told me there might actually be one in my area), I'll check it out.

 

[Ookami Hajime]

That's what I thought too. Possibly a bit buggy? Not sure, but spiking them off stage with it was awesome.
And don't worry about thunder; it doesn't linger but it is still immensely viable.
Do it! Go play!

 

[Hoenn]

Do we have any Grab release followups on any characters other than Ness, lucas, and wario?
I feel like we should at least have QAC followups out of air release

 

[Angiance]

SB4 Pikachu DOES have QAC actually

 

[Player -0]

If you're going to say something like that that you have to explain :l