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

[Legendary Pikachu]

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..

I agree with kaylo on her suggestion. Personally for me, I wasn't so good with ANYONE as a secondary until one of my friends long time ago wanted me to fight him with my all, just not with pikachu (sandbaggin until my friend got better as a brawler). Apparently, some innate skill allowed me to get better with almost all the cast eventually to the point that i can't really sandbag by choosing ANY particular character other than pikachu anymore.

Thanks to my friend and a long time of practice, I can say that my secondary is tried and true RANDOM BUTTON. Yay!

Best of wishes to you and your search for a second-in-command.

 

[Nicholas1024]

Yes, and as a side benefit, even if it doesn't 'click', it still makes you better playing against that particular character. It helps me out a lot. Whenever I run into a character I have trouble with, I simply go to the appropriate character boards, and practice with that character. It's not that hard to play at an intermediate level with any character. You just need to know the right moves to use (read: abuse). For example, with snake its the grenades and tilts, with MK its just about anything...

 

[Judo777]

i was looking in the video they have in the video threads and i was wondering if the buffered dthrow grab on sheik and fox have percents that they dont work at and what responses each character if they try at the wrong percents.

 

[Nicholas1024]

Try this one: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=225783

 

[Judo777]

i know i asked this already and the info u gave me was helpful but i didnt find the answer that i needed. At what percent do pika's dthrow CG not work on fox and sheik and what do they do to escape at those percents?

 

[KayLo!]

At what percent do pika's dthrow CG not work on fox and sheik and what do they do to escape at those percents?

I don't know the exact percentage for when it's too late, but I've never had any trouble as long as the Fox/Sheik was within 0-10%. K Prime knows more about CG frame data, though, so maybe he'll post and answer your question a bit more thoroughly.

If the CG is escapable because you started too late, Fox will be able to shine (reflector) out of it. Not sure what Sheik can do.... probably jump or footstool out.

 

[Pikabunz]

i know i asked this already and the info u gave me was helpful but i didnt find the answer that i needed. At what percent do pika's dthrow CG not work on fox and sheik and what do they do to escape at those percents?

You can start the cg on Fox from 0-50ish and the cg ends at around 100%. For Sheik it's like 20-50ish to 115%. I'm pretty sure they can't escape at those percents. If you try starting the cg at over 50% with a fresh dthrow, they can just DI out before you can regrab them.

 

[~Radiance~]

not a Q per say but just some input. Ive found that playing on wifi has a use, learning to play in slowed down time. Why this helps is because i noticed that after playing, and losing usualy, on wifi with lag, i was able to play against my friends outside wifi and use pika with amazing speed. I was mindgaming all ove rthe place becasue i was so used to the lag i leaned to play slow and it really helped me learn to play quickly and land techs. Just some advice for anyone wanting a way to practice. BTW, i used pika for this instance, cuz i still main him

 

[Taeran]

DDD has a Dashing and Shield Grabbing (forget the abbreviation) CG. Would it work, with Pikachu's Fthrow CG, to use Shield Grabs instead of Dashing Grabs, thus reducing slide on the grab. It's also faster with D3, and TL, Luigi, Diddy Kong and Marth can only be chained with the Shield Grabbing CG.

So would it let you CG other chars if it worked?

 

[gamesuxcard]

DDD has a Dashing and Shield Grabbing (forget the abbreviation) CG. Qould it work, with Pikachu's Fthrow CG, to use Shield Grabs instead of Dashing Grabs, thus reducing slide on the grab. It's also faster with D3, and TL, Luigi, Diddy Kong and Marth can only be chained with the Shield Grabbing CG.

So would it let you CG other chars if it worked?

I have no idea, but I want to test this now.

 

[ADHD]

How good is the rat on brinstar?

 

[KayLo!]

How good is the rat on brinstar?

It's our worst stage. Might be tied with Luigi's for that title, but a lot of Pikas don't think Luigi's is that bad since you can set up jab locks relatively easily (or just.... break down the house).

There's just nothing good about Brinstar at all.

 

[Legendary Pikachu]

How good is the rat on brinstar?

Well... I personally like it (and I am a jolter-pikachu... how's that?!... lol).

No. 1 reason why the rat sucks on that stage, the cells and living walls null almost all thunder jolts.
No. 2 reason why the rat sucks on that stage, the cells and living walls lag supposedly quick moves slightly (b-air, f-air, d-smash [NOT GOOD if it doesn't hit opponent])
No. 3 reason why the rat sucks on that stage, the footing sorta makes it kinda awkward for QaC's and thunder gimps (decently high ceiling)

No. 1 Reason why I personally like it... 5 times (3 of them MK's) took me to that stage in hopes of shutting out my t-jolt spam... I hated the thought of that stage at first... but I realized that I am still pretty freakin' good with the spam from banking the platforms on the right.

No. 2 Reason why I personally like it... SAME REASON WHY DK's and IKE's LOVE IT! The LAG--when used to your advantage. I've gimped more people and performed more glitched shenanegans on this stage than any other stage (with exception of YI cuz its my fav CP... don't look down on me!). The cells and living walls help if you DELIBERATELY stall/lag you moves (f-smashes count, D-smash lasts a butload longer [AMAZING if it connects, even more if the opponent DI's into lava], and THUNDERBLAST). It's a makeshift version of 'Matrix thunder' and it was my battles on brinstar and YI that led me to finding/advancing the tech. Twice I have killed someone with the electric-teleportation-gimp-kill when doing a lagged thunder near the cell-bridge (aerial thunder), many more times I have killed opponents thining my invincibility wore of but to their surprise, they take a thunder to the face.

Personally its a love or hate thing EDIT: (Okay seems more like its just hate... but hey... try it yourself). I'd never choose the stage myself... but I won't ban it... and I'll even sorta chuckle if some1 counterpicks it against me--too bad they don't know I am the thunder matrix pikachu... hehe >:D.

 

[KayLo!]

LDPK, I can understand why you might like the stage, but.... all the stuff you mentioned is situational, gimpy stuff. A.k.a. stuff that's easily avoidable once the opponent knows about it. x.o

Not saying you're wrong, just pointing that out.

But the good thing about Pika is that he can work with pretty much any stage, bad or not. .....Still, Brinstar is probably the worst of the bunch. I can't think of any other stage I'd avoid rather than that one. ><

 

[Captain L]

Okay, so I've been using Pikachu for quite a while now, and I recently noticed that depending on how far you press the control stick to any side during a QA, the length Pikachu goes can be slightly changed.


First off, is this already known? (I'd assume it is)
Second, can anybody think of a decent reason why it would be at all useful? The only thing I can really think of is standing and QAing up (short) then down (long) for a useless QAC that looks kinda flashy.

 

[Legendary Pikachu]

Okay, so I've been using Pikachu for quite a while now, and I recently noticed that depending on how far you press the control stick to any side during a QA, the length Pikachu goes can be slightly changed.


First off, is this already known? (I'd assume it is)
Second, can anybody think of a decent reason why it would be at all useful? The only thing I can really think of is standing and QAing up (short) then down (long) for a useless QAC that looks kinda flashy.

Well, it is known and technically it goes like: "Quick attack can be inputted with 2 direction so long as the difference between the first direction and second direcion is at least 20-somethin' degrees apart. Simply, QA has approximately 16 directions total (the 4 cardinal direction North, S, E, W, and their diagonals NW, etc totalling 8 already and there are 8 more direction intersparsed between those 8 previous directions).... 16 total directions and the length more or less remains the same. The shortening you are observing is a QA that has hit a wall or ground or QaC where only the "horizontal" portion of QA is observed (the vertical portion is still there and if you didn't land on the ground you would still go full normal distance).

There are quite extroadinary uses for the total of 16 directions.

1) For instance, if you are keen on edgeguarding you can release from the ledge you are grabbing zip in almost ANY direction (16 possible or 15 if you don't count the blocking ledge) , zap a recovering opponent and return to hoggin the edge, which screw wolfs and some other characters if you get it right.

2) Another use for varying "horizontal" coverage while on the ground is QA barrages. Most beginner pikas can make due with the "normal diagonal" QaC. But sometimes, situations call for different lengths (like marth about to tip you if you normally QaC'd normal distance). If you take into account the non-cardinal directions you have like 3-4'ish length for just advancing to the right which could mean all the difference between getting sucked into Toon Link's spin attack or marth's tipper.


3) Straight up amazing application of different QA length's, direction, and timing. HERE, Anther beats the snot out of a Yoshi with a make-shift 0-death u-air>QaC lock combo. While that's fine and dandy, many opponents don't fear the combo all that much cuz they THINK it is pretty predictable (must be near, must be more or less short hopped for practical execution, and QaC straight down)... WRONG! Here, anther knicked the yoshi with a sourspotted u-air and still nailed the combo-death. LATER.... he not only racked up the yoshi beyond recommended damage to execute the combo, but he u-air'd the yoshi at near full hop (can't QaC straight down at that point to lock) AND STILL was able to QaC chase and NAILED THE YOSHI in another LEGIT lock. Sadly, Anther missed the jab-cancel>death part but just imagine if he nailed it. (Note* he used a south-south-west direction that travelled farther down TOWARDS the yoshi then a somewhat short diagonal toward the right).

Concerning Anther's match and not nailing the 2nd combo-death, who cares about missing at that point--Anther just showed his opponnet that he could u-air ANYTIME, QA almost ANYWHERE, and lock-potentially-instant KO his opponent from pretty much ANYWHERE in the freakin' stage. Anther then proceeded into a DRUNKEN QaC FRENZY (who can blame him... lol i'd do the same thing if I just did what he did). All nubs and a loadfull of even higher-skilled players of brawl would almost P*** their pants after seeing that--or at least be like, "Man.... needa REALLY watch out for that ****."

(Discovery Disclaimer. The other variations of QA>Lock at full hop and double hop,etc. for the 0-death have been mentioned before in the original thread, but for me, Anther's vid is my personal first time seeing it done in tourney)

Anyway... sorry for the riled up response. I got carried away

*primarily because i nailed the 0-death for the first time today and got perfect 0-death's another 5 times by the end of the day... woohoo!*

Hope the information was enlightening.

 

[Nefarious B]

Hey guys I've been considering picking up a secondary for my worst MU (Falco) and was thinking since Pika has that nifty 0-w/e CG on him, he might be a good choice. What do you guys think of that matchup?

Mostly I'm thinking between Kirby and Pika, and Pika seems like he'd proly have a better matchup, but at the same time would also be harder to learn.

Thoughts?

 

[IxxI]

Hey guys I've been considering picking up a secondary for my worst MU (Falco) and was thinking since Pika has that nifty 0-w/e CG on him, he might be a good choice. What do you guys think of that matchup?

Mostly I'm thinking between Kirby and Pika, and Pika seems like he'd proly have a better matchup, but at the same time would also be harder to learn.

Thoughts?

Pikachu isn't all too difficult to learn. Since you play Zero Suit Samus, you should be able to play Pikachu without a problem. The match-up with Falco, IMO, is either 55:45 Pikachu, or 60:40. That CG is really helpful. I believe you should play Pikachu, he's a blast to use. Pikachu is just a little difficult to control at first, but it will all come naturally with time an experience. Trust me.

 

[Razek]

pikachu is obviously good choice to use against falco. another char thats good against falco is wario(he has a cg against falco) or MK. but using MK is the cowards way out. in the end you should try them out and see which one you like the most that fits your style.

-gallax

 

[KayLo!]

I hate MK, but using him isn't cowardly, lol. If you can play him well (a.k.a. not be a random scrub copycat MK), he's, ya know, the best character in the game and not ridiculously hard to use.

 

[Captain L]

Thanks for the sweet vid and the...... very in-depth answer.
I guess that's why everyone says anther is "The Best"


Although, I'm still pretty sure that you can slightly adjust the length of your QA. Try just tapping up B, then returning the control stick to neutral. You go straight up, but not quite as far as if you'd held up the whole time. It's slightly lower than a full hop, which means if you QA down afterwards with the control stick all the way down, you'll hit the ground again. It works in other directions. Try measuring using the lines on FD. If you push your control stick right or left on FD but not all the way to the edge of the Joystick area, you won't go quite as far. (Yes, it's similar to QAing at an angle into the ground, but you don't have the ability to Cancel it).

 

[Pikabunz]

It's already known that you can QA in different lengths. There's no point in practicing it, imo. The short QA is only shorter by like half an inch.

 

[Quicken The End]

How much of a key factor is the QAC in Pika's gameplay. I use it some, but find it pretty unnecessary.

 

[gallax]

anther would be ashamed of you quicken.

 

[Quicken The End]

anther would be ashamed of you quicken.

:O From now on I'll QAC>everything else

Spoiler

jk

<- I hope I'm doin that right, lol

 

[gallax]

yeah!!!!!! now you got the idea. lol.

 

[KayLo!]

You should definitely know how to QAC, but it's not a fundamental Pikachu skill, imo.

It's really only useful for baiting and random situational stuff like quick edgehogs.

QAC > thunder is pretty good, though.

 

[Quicken The End]

I know how to QAC, I just don't really use it. QAC> thunder is sexy though

 

[Kantō]

what characters can successfully pikachu down CG?

 

[Pikabunz]

what characters can successfully pikachu down CG?

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=225783

 

[Kantō]

thanks for the link K prime

 

[momaspeare]

hey guys
what do you mean? who is the better player? Anther or M2K?? only a question...
I saw videos and both are very good player so I want to hear your opinion.

 

[altairian]

<troll>
who cares?
</troll>

Based on tourney results, M2K. Both are amazing players though, and to the point that arguing who's better than who is silly.

 

[bschung]

Is it possible for Pikachu to KO someone with Thunder1 while Kirby/Metaknight is up-throwing him (i.e. in Doubles)? I've been trying to, but I either miss both, or KO both of them.

Tried switching controller ports around, too.

 

[PK Slap]

This question isn't only for pika, but i'm pretty new here and don't know where to put these things. Sorry.

But for the question.. Pretty noobish but how do you guys ftilt? Seriously! I have done it before but most of the time when i try to i fsmash. And by most i mean about 95%. if i hold the control stick before pressing a, i dash, if i press thrm at the same time, i smash. So how do you ftilt so easily abd is there a way to turn off smashes with control stick+a?

 

[Pikabunz]

Is it possible for Pikachu to KO someone with Thunder1 while Kirby/Metaknight is up-throwing him (i.e. in Doubles)? I've been trying to, but I either miss both, or KO both of them.

Tried switching controller ports around, too.

I've been wanting to test this for a long time but never got around to doing it. But I will soon.

This question isn't only for pika, but i'm pretty new here and don't know where to put these things. Sorry.

But for the question.. Pretty noobish but how do you guys ftilt? Seriously! I have done it before but most of the time when i try to i fsmash. And by most i mean about 95%. if i hold the control stick before pressing a, i dash, if i press thrm at the same time, i smash. So how do you ftilt so easily abd is there a way to turn off smashes with control stick+a?

Just push the control stick foward like half way and press A. If you're still having trouble you could always change your c-stick to tilts instead of smashes, that is if you're using a GC controller.

 

[PK Slap]

I've been wanting to test this for a long time but never got around to doing it. But I will soon.



Just push the control stick foward like half way and press A. If you're still having trouble you could always change your c-stick to tilts instead of smashes, that is if you're using a GC controller.

Thanks a bunch, i'll try it out. Also, just for the record, i used to use a gc controller but switched to wiimote and chuck and now prefer that =)

 

[gallax]

ok so me and raz tested the uthrow+ thunder kill move. it works. you need to have the lowest port priority when uthrowing. but, there was something strange that happened. after we killed with the first uthrow+ thunder we could never get another kill. it would just bounce both chars off the thunder and not kill them. it was like one kill max from uthrow+thunder.

 

[Pikabunz]

I just tested the upthrow thunder thing. I set the ports like this.

P1: Pikachu
P2: Snake
P3: Metaknight

I was able to ko Snake with thunder every single time so we know it works. But with MK he only surived the first ko, every other ko MK died with Snake. I restarted the match like 10 times and came with the same results. First upthrow+thunder MK lives and Snakes dies and ever time after that they both die. Really strange.

 

[Zodiark]

Hi !

I started pikachu 2 days ago and I have some questions .

1) I don't understand the term ' buffer' to do Chaingrabs . So , when I D-throw my opponent when should I press the grab button ?

2) For the F-throws chaingrabs , I F-throw my opponent and I start dashing when pikachu is grabbing ?

Sorry for my bad english x)

Thanks .