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

[~Radiance~]

alright, i should have a vid by tomorrow then. Sorry to ask so many questions but i just wanted to ask one more thing. I wont be able to practice agianst my friends regularly untill like a week from now, but i still want to practice. Should I practice against a cpu to help me get stuff down or should I just not practice at all?

 

[KayLo!]

CPUs can be good for practicing some things. Like spacing and DI. But humans >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> CPUs, without a doubt, since the comps just... react to your button inputs, really.

 

[Frio]

When I practice DI I just sit there and let the comp have its way with me =/

 

[~Radiance~]

Should I play them on a higher level then? I usualy practice against 9s but I keep hearing that 7s are the best to play against, is that true?

 

[KayLo!]

Should I play them on a higher level then? I usualy practice against 9s but I keep hearing that 7s are the best to play against, is that true?

Uhh, doesn't really matter, but 8 or 9 is good I guess.

When you're playing a CPU, at the end of the day, the level won't make a huge difference.

 

[~Radiance~]

Ok, I got a video of me playing.
Unfortunatley its against a cpu but if you have the time check and see if you can give me any advice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbVeE4itT3U

Thanks again. This site has been extremley helpful.

 

[Pikabunz]

You probably should've posted that in the critique thread, oh well. I'll check your vid out later.

 

[~Radiance~]

oh whoops, sorry. Ill post it there. Thanks again.

 

[Afrayail]

Doubles

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this has been asked previously, but does anyone have some suggestions for a Pika-Partner? My friend and I were messing around with an MK and Pika team earlier, but we want to try something new to take to some local tourneys.

Some characters he is comfortable playing with, regardless of tier:
MK, Falco, Toon Link, Link, Mario, Lucas, Ike, Marth, ZSS

I'm going to go ahead and guess that a few of those aren't recommended , and obviously he's not well practiced with everyone equally, but we're willing to work things out and give it a try. Please feel free to suggest the best from that list, and maybe just list things you've experienced/seen/think will work.

Thanks everyone!

 

[KayLo!]

Best teammates for Pika are Snake and G&W. Wario works well too.... and MK of course, but that's not what you're looking for, hehe.

Uhh, from the characters off your list.... I haven't seen any of them do especially well with Pika, but maybe LDPK will be nice and reply with some knowledge. He seems to do a lot of different doubles combos.

 

[Legendary Pikachu]

Hi everyone,

Sorry if this has been asked previously, but does anyone have some suggestions for a Pika-Partner? My friend and I were messing around with an MK and Pika team earlier, but we want to try something new to take to some local tourneys.

Some characters he is comfortable playing with, regardless of tier:
MK, Falco, Toon Link, Link, Mario, Lucas, Ike, Marth, ZSS

I'm going to go ahead and guess that a few of those aren't recommended , and obviously he's not well practiced with everyone equally, but we're willing to work things out and give it a try. Please feel free to suggest the best from that list, and maybe just list things you've experienced/seen/think will work.

Thanks everyone!

Yay! Doubles thoughts that is not Pika+G&W/Pika+Snake (not saying that what Kaylo said isn't true.... cuz she is pretty much right), but I like the varied team combo's.

I have tons of personal experience with partnering with the names highlighted in yellow up there. There's lots to say that will be said in the "2 on 2 pika team thread soon", but if you want my input, feel free to pm me. Be sure to list any "hierarchy" that your friend prefers (which of the characters is he good with from best to worst).

As a start, my brother is a Toon Link main (Arc-thefallen-). I feel that for me, this team is most "versatile" for us since its both of our mains. Killing power is very lacking in this team so you'll have to make it up with pure teamwork, but the team comboes are pretty advantageous once you ge the feel for them. Unlike most other characters in the game, toon link's u-tilt and u-smash tend to send the opponent vertically up behind Toon link so that sets up easy thunder KO's (cuz you'll be behind him on the other side killing the other guy--most likeliy). Once you can DI out of Toon Link's foward smash regularly, that opens new ways of killing unsuspecting opponents that are all over pikachu without smiting pika. Toon Link's floatiness gives you some breathing room for your groundgame (tjolts/grabs/dsmash) and his projectiles limit fatter opponents (snake, ddd, maybe a preoccupied marth) while you can weave through and clean up any leftovers. Quite honestly, its an attrition match (deal loads of damage, and tilt for the KO [and taking advantage of situational gimps/spikes/thunders]). I can mentor much if you are somewhat serious (i can be boring :/).

Hope the little bit helps. Pm me if you are interested in any other matchups besides snake and g&W at the moment or want more on the TL/pika. It'll save me the time for writing later when the 2on2 thread gets to wherever i am at.

Peace. If you have time, you may want to look into some samus and pika tricks (which also work with everybody else in the cast)... lol >>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goyou4A6k2s&fmt=18

PS. I apologize to my pika buddies for the video spammin' (still obsessed about my video, you will have to forgive me.... the obsession willl wear off... eventually... lol)

Edit: I'll see if i can add some of my older team vids that were done a while ago if that'll help a lil'.
Edit 2:
Old pika and MK (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CkWGkHDGEg&fmt=18)
Old Loser Finals pika and pika (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mtPBMgkaPg&fmt=18)
Old Loser Finals pika and G&W (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pPA2JzQ_FU&fmt=18)
Old Loser Finals pika and Lucas (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8a1cWI4b4M&fmt=18)

 

[Afrayail]

Hey, thanks a lot guys. My friend actually is probably worst with Snake, so I don't think we'll give that one a try, but I'll see if G&W is of interest to him. Other than that, Toon Link is his main right now, actually, so I'm sure he'll be stoked to practice that team. I'd certainly love to hear anything else you'd have to say; don't worry about the boring part I just appreciate you taking the time to give me some valuable advice.

I'll make sure we check out the vids later, when I actually getta see him again ^_^; And I'll get to PMing you after we work out our team a bit and see what areas we'd like more of your advice in.

Thanks again!

 

[~Radiance~]

I have trouble landing pikas runing grab. Everytime i press it as I am about to hit my opponet, i just roll through them as pika fails the grab. Do i need to press it earlier? Also, I try to grab OoS and I keep getting pushed back when I get hit which makes it hard to punish wth grab, what am I doing wrong?

 

[Legendary Pikachu]

@ Afrayail: Thanks nice to hear. Please send me a pm of any questions you have about Toonlink/pika teams. I'll be quick to respond.

@ forever zero: yes, just press the grab button earlier if you are rolling through the opponent most of the time. As for the grab OoS, i think what you are experiencing isa defensive opponent or an opponent with a massive beatstick (ike's sword, Dk... etc...).

The entire goal of an OoS grab, is like reversing the momentum in a fight--they hit your shield and you grab them out of the attack afterwards and stopping their combo/assault. So for an effective OoS grab, some situations must be set up already:

1) YOU are standing still and the opponent RUSHES at you with either an aerial or a dash attack or weaker attack, hitting your shield and (although you slide back from the attack, in this situation, your opponent also will skid with you most likely--that's how the OoS grab will land)

2) Your opponent is standing still and YOU RUSH towards them by walking or dashing towards them. In this scenario, even IF some like Ike tries f-tilt you from staning position, when you block the attack by pressing the shield button as you are dashing and about to reach then, your foward momentum from the dash keep you closer to your opponent whenever the attack lands (you skid backwards a lot less because you still have some foward momentum) and the OoS grab will better land.

3) If only skidding is the problem (assuming you ARE spaced correctly within range of grabbing the opponent ), then powershielding may be an option. It's a lot easier to powershield in brawl than it is in melee. If you powershield ANYTHING, you don't skid AT ALL from an opponents physical attack, so you'll be in range for the OoS grab.

The OoS grab strategy falls apart whenever you are up against a retreating, or very defensive opponent (passive Marth f-air barrage for example), since the range for the successful grab is very tight and one skid will put you outside the range. Try to do OoS grabs only when you are being attacked agressively, or rushing aggressively with a shield. In either case, a shield is swiftly colliding with an attack for a succesful follow-up sheild-grab.

 

[Twilight_Galaxy]

hey i was wondering how to practice things like hops or and i really need to get better timing with my fairs and i was wondering if there is any way to cancel the lag in a dair because i make that crucial mistake often... also i find myself oftentimes spamming the infamous down b as well as down a and i know thats not bad so i was wondering how to stop myself from using them

 

[Frio]

hey i was wondering how to practice things like hops or and i really need to get better timing with my fairs and i was wondering if there is any way to cancel the lag in a dair because i make that crucial mistake often... also i find myself oftentimes spamming the infamous down b as well as down a and i know thats not bad so i was wondering how to stop myself from using them

There's a thing called auto canceling where you time where you attack during your air attacks to have no lag when you touch the ground. You can auto cancel all of Pikas air moves. N air, F air, and u air auto cancel with just a short shop. B air needs a full hop to get the auto cancel. To perform an auto cancel you neeed to start your attack right after you jump. To short hop you just very lightly tap the jump button. If your using a gc and having trouble getting the auto cancel with D-air, I find it a lot more easy to use the Control stick and c stick. Just practice short hopping in training mode by just tapping the jump button very lightly. then start doing stuff like adding in a fort hop f air after.

For down B and Down a (by down A I'm assuming you mean Down smash since everyone starts there) you'll probally just learn to stop spamming those over time as you get punished from doing it more and more during matches. You could also just stop using all together in friendlies and then input it back into your game later.

 

[Alphicans]

Is it normal to become obsessed with pikachu when you main him?

 

[Pikabunz]

It is very normal.

pikaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!

 

[~Radiance~]

yeah its normal, eh heh heh. I drew a picture of him the day I mained him.

 

[Twilight_Galaxy]

thanks frio for the help! i love the pikachu community its soooo helpful! and ye i did mean down smash btw im just used to calling it down a haha. Also im not that new to pikachu i've used him since ssb 1 (and then fox and mario on melee) but i still have trouble with spamming .. i think its because pika is easy to pick up but very hard (and very rewarding i might add) to master. It also doesnt help when i go battle new kid or other kids around town because im so used to playing around two pretty good guys who main lucas and marth that i always play like im facing them... is there any way to stop that?

one more question... is it a good idea to do doubles with a falco and if this matters his playstyle is alot like seth's falco

 

[Syko_Lemming]

Would it be possible to chain D-throws until 30 on some characters, then out of the last D-throw, turn around and SH Uair > the footstool combo, or is that wishing for too much?

 

[KayLo!]

Would it be possible to chain D-throws until 30 on some characters, then out of the last D-throw, turn around and SH Uair > the footstool combo, or is that wishing for too much?

If they can be CG'd to that percentage, in theory, it can work.

one more question... is it a good idea to do doubles with a falco and if this matters his playstyle is alot like seth's falco

LDPK, we need you again!!!

 

[Kaffei]

Hi, I have a question.
Ok well I have a friend & he mains Toon Link, & his grab thing is so long & he spams it 24/7
but I keep getting sucked in. He doesn't do it predictably, he just somehow grabs me.
Also, this on Wifi so there's a TINY delay.

What do I do?

 

[DaomarIsBear]

Quick question: Looking to see who you all think is the best Pikachu player. Top 5 or whatnot. You know, best tournament results. Videos are also nice.

 

[Van Jones]

There is a thread that answers this question.

 

[Pikabunz]

Quick question: Looking to see who you all think is the best Pikachu player. Top 5 or whatnot. You know, best tournament results. Videos are also nice.

Pikachu Power Rankings Thread

Video Thread

 

[DaomarIsBear]

Rightio, sorry about that. I'll look a little harder before posting next time.

 

[IxxI]

Erm, is it just me or is the social thread gone? I can't find it.

 

[KayLo!]

Erm, is it just me or is the social thread gone? I can't find it.

Look harder. I de-stickied it, lol.

It also doesnt help when i go battle new kid or other kids around town because im so used to playing around two pretty good guys who main lucas and marth that i always play like im facing them... is there any way to stop that?

It'll come with experience. Once you get used to playing against different characters and different people, you'll learn to adapt more quickly.

one more question... is it a good idea to do doubles with a falco and if this matters his playstyle is alot like seth's falco

Never done doubles with a Falco, but it sounds like a mediocre team to me.... not one of the best combos but definitely not a bad one. You guys might have a little trouble killing; that's all I can think of.

LDPK or someone else with more doubles experience might be able to give you better advice.

Hi, I have a question.
Ok well I have a friend & he mains Toon Link, & his grab thing is so long & he spams it 24/7
but I keep getting sucked in. He doesn't do it predictably, he just somehow grabs me.
Also, this on Wifi so there's a TINY delay.

What do I do?

TL's grab takes a while to come out, so unless you get combo'd into it, you shouldn't be getting grabbed all that often. If he's spamming it, bait the grab and then punish hard, because if he misses, he's left vulnerable for a very, very long time.

Just work on your zoning. Don't whiff attacks within his attack/grab range, and never just stand/shield there in a spot where he can grab you. He has to be on the ground and not doing anything else (other than possibly shielding) to perform his grab, so if you avoid being directly in front of him in that situation, you should be fine.

 

[gallax]

yeah TL's grab game is horrendous. if you are getting grabbed a lot it implies that you are being predictable. TL's generally will not grab since missing can lead to a free hit. what you should do is stay in the air more and try to land before the tink does so that you can pressure him. if you have any vids you should post them so we can watch. or, if you want some tricks, go to the vid section and watch my vids. they are about 2 months old but still give you a good understanding.

im going to try and get some more vids of me vs the toon link thats there soon.

@ everyone- are there any matchups that anyone would like to see that are not in the video guide?

 

[altairian]

Ok I have an extremely general question but I'm asking here because pikachus are cooler than most tactical discussion people. Is there a technique to shield more quickly out of a dash? I feel like when I'm watching good players they can shield faster out of their dashes than I can o_O

 

[Pikabunz]

Like out of the initial dash? There's no technique behind it, some characters can just shield faster out of the dash than others. Sheik is the fastest while Marth is the slowest, try it out yourself. Pikachu, unfortunately, is one of the slower characters.

 

[altairian]

Ah ok, guess it's just my perceptions messing with me then. Thanks =)

 

[Dabuz]

is luigi mansion a good pikachu stage?


dabuz

 

[KayLo!]

is luigi mansion a good pikachu stage?

No, it's one of his worst, imo. The only good thing about it is that it's easy to set up jab locks when the house is standing.

Luckily, I think it's usually banned in most regions.

 

[Legendary Pikachu]

yeah TL's grab game is horrendous. if you are getting grabbed a lot it implies that you are being predictable. TL's generally will not grab since missing can lead to a free hit. what you should do is stay in the air more and try to land before the tink does so that you can pressure him. if you have any vids you should post them so we can watch. or, if you want some tricks, go to the vid section and watch my vids. they are about 2 months old but still give you a good understanding.

im going to try and get some more vids of me vs the toon link thats there soon.

@ everyone- are there any matchups that anyone would like to see that are not in the video guide?

I got a buttload of vids with me versus my brother (Arc-thefallen-) who I personally think is one of the nation's best TL's, with subtle approval by Chudat (who liked the entertaining challenge). He also seconds Ness, Lucas, Samus, and Falco with skill akin or equal to those of high level mains.

I personally fight lots of marths, DK's, olimars, and warios as pikachu.

I can take care/contribute to all of those matchups video-wise.

Question is, where would we request for the vids be posted? Here? or the volt tackle vids thread?

 

[KayLo!]

Question is, where would we request for the vids be posted? Here? or the volt tackle vids thread?

Video thread. All video stuff goes in the video thread, although you can link to vids here if they relate to a question, of course.

 

[Legendary Pikachu]

one more question... is it a good idea to do doubles with a falco and if this matters his playstyle is alot like seth's falco

Okay, for the falco matchup, it's success is entirely based on whether you and the falco can avoid EVERY single hit of each other's attacks. If you cannot say that you and your partner falco will never (almost never) hit each other by accident, then this team is NOT for you.

The pikachu MUST know the height of the lasers and the vertical increments between consecutive laser shots to dodge ALL of then. The Pikachu MUST crawl a lot more to cover short amounts of space with grounded lasers. The falco MUST sometimes hesitate when firing laser salvos (that's a REALLY BIG disadvantage for falco).

Individually speaking, pikachu generally kills by upward gimp, and falco by sideways/downwards gimp. NEITHER compliment in killing direction. Neither can take 'special' advantage of the other's projectile attacks (you sorta see Falcos team more often with heavy hitters/5-jumpers/and Ness/lucas healers or G&W) with exception of reflecting t-jolt but that's a waste of time in many situations.

The team does better to AMAZING if synergy is present. My brother seconds falco and I main pika and we feel that the the team has some REAL VALUE against opponent teams where racking damage is REQUIRED for the kill (DDD's, Snakes, DK's) since this falco/pika team when played right, racks percentage from upways, sideways, and everyfreakin'way's like no other team from almost anywhere on the stage.

Lasers do NOT collide with t-jolts so you can have superimposed layers of lasers and jolts from different angles. Rollers eat falco chaingrabs, powershielders eat lasers (if they attempt to powershield the t-jolts), campers (non-G&W/healer/relfectors) get *****, and marth's cannot swat lasers.

Moreover, although neither characters' kill directions compliment each other, both have like true chaingrabs for like 75% the cast and have the projectiles/jabs/weak knocks to set up for each other's chiangrab. Many times does my brother spam full hoppped/doublejumped lasers to screw someone's airdodge or landing recovery while i am at the bottom read to sweap their feat with thunderblast or charged foward/u-smash (we average 2 thunder KO's with laser assists per match). Both have fast moves (QaC and Instant-jump illusion) that allow each other to traverse a flat stage, trading places and opponents if the situation calls for it.

If hitting each other is hard NOT to do, you guys can try both standing somewhat in teh center of the stage and fighting the opponents facing away each other (so the lasers and jolts don't screw the other's chaingrab/rhythm.

Counterpick battlefield and Japes and mixing the horizontal and vertical projectile zoning to shut out opponents. Other stages could use experiementing but the 2 mentioned above worked best for my brother and my playstyles.

Summary:

-use against opponents taller/fatter/huskier than pika
-use to rack damage (projectiles/chaingrab) > KILL
-use when you know what your teammate is thinkin'

-DO NOT USE, when facing some reflectors/all healers/G&W
-ADVISED NOT TO USE againstany team with MK/Kirby combo (you'll maybe hit pika more than your opponents.

Hi, I have a question.
Ok well I have a friend & he mains Toon Link, & his grab thing is so long & he spams it 24/7
but I keep getting sucked in. He doesn't do it predictably, he just somehow grabs me.
Also, this on Wifi so there's a TINY delay.

What do I do?

No joke (my bro mains TL), you must read him better than he can read you.

My bro has gotten sick nasty with the grab, and at high level play i can say that i can't really avoid it too much at all. I am not sure if your friend has gotten that far with the grabs, but just reading the grab and spotdodgeing from "hook-shot-range" max distance is the best for me personally. I would stay on the farther range because at that point, you have time to react to mindgamed f-tilts/smashes/and the slow-but-surprising f-air, but the grab-lag will still give you enough time to walk up and SEVERELY punish the TL.

Watch out for b-airs, u-tilts and smashes, and spin attacks when you attempt to avoid being grabbed by hovering above or behind TL.

EDIT: Darnit! Sorry for double post.... wont happen again

 

[Twilight_Galaxy]

dude thanks for the advice! that sounds challenging yet sometimes rewarding. I dont think i will go through with it though because we both spam spam spam so im not sure it would be the best idea.

the other guy i wanted to do doubles with was marth... my friends marth is pretty good and we work well together.

anyways do you or did you guys find it hard to find a secondary character in brawl? because i can't seem to find any other character to play with. The closest guy i got to was wolf, but im not that great...

my last question (for now) how can you make it easier to nair and move at the same time? When i triy this i almost always fair or uair =[ I need to get the nair down because its an epic move but i cant

 

[KayLo!]

anyways do you or did you guys find it hard to find a secondary character in brawl? because i can't seem to find any other character to play with. The closest guy i got to was wolf, but im not that great...

It took me a long time to find a secondary that I liked, and I ended up picking Zelda..... which is as good as having no secondary at all, lol, because she doesn't really cover any of Pika's bad MUs. (She does take care of ICs and Diddy for me, though, better than my Pika does.)

Keep playing around with other characters. Eventually something will click; if not, we're lucky that Pika is pretty tournament viable on his own.

my last question (for now) how can you make it easier to nair and move at the same time? When i triy this i almost always fair or uair =[ I need to get the nair down because its an epic move but i cant

Just practice. Make sure your control stick is in the neutral position a split second before you hit the A button. You'll get it with enough time and practice.