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

[Roller]

Pika vs Diddy is annoying as hell. Thrzy lost to my diddy sparring partner last weekend.

 

[ThunderSt0rm]

Bleh, I was planning to secondary Pika for Apex for MUs like MK and Marth but after finding out one of his harder matchups is Marth I'm not so sure..... D:

Would it still be worth it to focus on making Pikachu a secondary (Luigi main) for Apex or go with another character? I have Falco experience and he seems to be the smarter option but Pikachu is just so damn fun to use.

 

[Jimmyfosho]

Did you not see the hitler video? Pika vs marth is even.

 

[Roller]

Pika vs Marth isn't that bad unless the Marth has pika experience. But on the whole, I think Falco probably covers more bad matchups.

But I'd pick a character you enjoy playing. So whichever you like playing as more. Also, long time no see. We'll have to get some games in at APEX, man.

 

[Ussi]

Bleh, I was planning to secondary Pika for Apex for MUs like MK and Marth but after finding out one of his harder matchups is Marth I'm not so sure..... D:

Would it still be worth it to focus on making Pikachu a secondary (Luigi main) for Apex or go with another character? I have Falco experience and he seems to be the smarter option but Pikachu is just so damn fun to use.

>MUs after apex
>metaknight

Pika goes even with Marth. Marth's recovery is limited and Marth doesn't have an effective boxing game. Use ftilt more

 

[ensane]

Just make sure you aren't jabbed, ftilted, faired, DB'd, or naired in the process. XD

 

[Ussi]

Jab and ftilt are dumb inferior options to DB unless ftilt had more range than db1 but ftilt is much more laggy than db1

 

[ensane]

I was just emphasizing his range.

 

[Ussi]

Doesn't help if you get punished after using it. Ftilt is punishable on block.. Db1 is a rekka so you can't punish right away without mind games and even then it's pretty safe.

 

[ensane]

That, and if you get baited into using ftilt on Marth's shield after a spaced DB, a second one would almost certainly poke. Why is Pika's shield so small? T_T

 

[Ussi]

Tilt your shield up

 

[ensane]

You can tilt shields?

...

Actually, I thought it would still poke, since it looks like the hitbox reaches the ground. Is that just misleading?

 

[ThunderSt0rm]

Pika vs Marth isn't that bad unless the Marth has pika experience. But on the whole, I think Falco probably covers more bad matchups.

But I'd pick a character you enjoy playing. So whichever you like playing as more. Also, long time no see. We'll have to get some games in at APEX, man.

So does that mean the OP and the matchup thread are outdated? And yea I can play Falco but I don't have the patience to laser camp enough when I should be. Plus playing Falco can get stale sometimes.

Definitely. As long as you don't go ICs the whole time in friendlies as I've heard from Burning Appendages

That, and if you get baited into using ftilt on Marth's shield after a spaced DB, a second one would almost certainly poke. Why is Pika's shield so small? T_T

Meh, I'm just happy with the fact Pika can shield grab. It's practically impossible with Luigi .-.

So in that case, what are the important things I should make sure to learn for Pika? I.e. is the QAC lock or w/e it is all that important? Are there specific chain grabs I should know for certain characters?

 

[Ussi]

CGs yes (fthrow to dthrow on ledge is one), QAL not really. It's got uses, but it's a gimmick. Focus first on using Pikachu.. Learn to follow up uair, learn low % combos, and then use tilts a lot. Save smashes for punishing.

 

[ThunderSt0rm]

Sometimes when I'm following up an uair it seems easy while other times I don't see it happening. Is there a specific way the uair should connect to allow this or is it possible from any hit from uair?

 

[infiniteV115]

About that big blue Pikathunder splashy hitbox (the one with the high knockback)...does it have more range behind Pikachu than in front of him? Or is it about the same on both sides?

I ask because of this

 

[Nicholas1024]

Does anyone have some tips for the Ness matchup? I'm getting kind of desperate at this point, in the weekly wifi tournaments I join in, my last four losses have been to that *insert extremely long and incredibly violent string of curses here*.

And yes, I've tried picking up marth, I just suck at the character.

 

[Stealth Raptor]

as far as i know thunder hits in a large ball with pikachu at the center

 

[Ussi]

Stop getting grabbed and use tilts more vs Ness.

 

[Roller]

as far as i know thunder hits in a large ball with pikachu at the center

Yeah, it's slightly more complex than this. However that is the concept. A series of circular hitboxes fall down the stringy thin hitbox of thunder. There's a vid somewhere...

 

[Stealth Raptor]

from my wall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__AnAdTwzys

 

[Pikabunz]

He's asking about T2 tho...

Hitbox vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jX2eeVeclB4#t=133s


And here's the hitbox thread:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=255734

 

[Roller]

Yeah. That's it.

 

[ThunderSt0rm]

For the dthrow CG on Fox is it only possible to do it when he's at 0% or can they be a bit higher than 0% (i.e. 1%, 5%, etc.)

Also same question for Falco's CG and anyone else that Pika has one on (I forgot most of the others off the top of my head or there's confusion as to who all there is a form of CG on)

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

For most people as the % goes up the less you can CG them. For example, if you grab fox at 0% the CG will go to 100% or so (I don't know the exact %s). If you grab him at 30%, it might only go to 80%. The amount of times you use the D-throw affects its staleness which affects whether or not the D-throw will keep the person in the CG knockback or the other one. Same applies for all the other characters. You just have to get a feeling for it, or if it is in the smaller CGs such as MK you can memorize the percentages...but that happens through experience and repetitive nature and guess/check.

 

[Cassio]

Random stuff I want opinions on and to share. Maybe people use some of this and just didnt post it, or you find it wouldnt be a useful mix-up. Anyways, thoughts?

QA's hitbox will clash with most attacks and projectiles. In this situation quick attack will continue and the opposing attack will be canceled/clashed. Pikachu only has a hitbox for 4 frames of each part of QA (out of like 20-30), so hoping it will randomly clash wont work and youll likely get hit, but timing it to clash is not too difficult.

Try QAing past/away from your opponent, then immediately QAC a QA back at them into an attack. It will frequently catch an opponent off guard and is very nice against opponents waiting for you at the edge when youre offstage/on the ledge.

From the ledge, if you drop down then QA up immediately you will shoot past it. From there you can use the second part of QA to get back onto stage and potentially land a QAC nair. This mix-up works well if you mix in one or more drop down QAs that will snap to the ledge before hand.

Practice the spacing on autocanceling a full hop dair, and a fast falled dair. Many opponents suspect a ground hit from dairs that arent short hopped, and the animation before the autocancel makes it difficult to determine between one or the other. Since dair is most powerful at the end, if it hits a shield they are stuck in it a bit longer then usual. Full hop dairs also beats several short hopped and some full hopped aerials.

Fsmash/stutter step fsmash opponents that try to space or attack you with non-aerial (maybe a small amount of aerial) long ranged attacks. (Dont confuse with attempting to space with fsmash outside their hurt range or on shields, which you shouldnt do).

Grab opponents that dash at you as a mix-up (unless they have a disjointed dash attack), learn to grab armor certain dash attacks. This is especially good vs MK.

 

[Stealth Raptor]

From the ledge, if you drop down then QA up immediately you will shoot past it. From there you can use the second part of QA to get back onto stage and potentially land a QAC nair. This mix-up works well if you mix in one or more drop down QAs that will snap to the ledge before hand.

used this since two thousand eight. drop -> QA to ledge, repeat a couple times, quickly QA past ledge and onto stage. amazing mixup to returning onto stage

 

[ThunderSt0rm]

For most people as the % goes up the less you can CG them. For example, if you grab fox at 0% the CG will go to 100% or so (I don't know the exact %s). If you grab him at 30%, it might only go to 80%. The amount of times you use the D-throw affects its staleness which affects whether or not the D-throw will keep the person in the CG knockback or the other one. Same applies for all the other characters. You just have to get a feeling for it, or if it is in the smaller CGs such as MK you can memorize the percentages...but that happens through experience and repetitive nature and guess/check.

Yea, even before knowing who all I could dthrow CG I could partly tell where the CG would end.

Now if you drop a CG on Fox are you still able to continue it if you grab him again because your dthrow is still stale?

Also where can I find CGs/combos/strings for MK? I saw some listed in the main guide but didn't find anything else in other threads iirc.

 

[BioDG]

Ask a quick question, eh?

Okay so I'm picking up Pikachu so forgive me for such a noob question: Best uses for nair?

 

[Roller]

yes, if you drop a cg and grab them again with no (or in some cases a few) hits in between you can continue the cg.

There is a chaingrab guide which includes percentages for all CGable chars, however there isn't a guide for "strings," save for the fleedle deedle thread.

I'm pretty sure both of those can be found in the pika forum directory thread.

And BioDG, kind of a vague question. But Nair is ubiquitous. Can be used as a follow up to uair/uairstrings, can be used out of sheild to punish opponents who chose a poor approach, can be used out of quick attack as a SURPRISE type thing, you can jump offstage and nair someone to finish them off, etc. There are a ton of uses, just keep in mind that if you want to use it as a kill move (which I usually do) then you can't over use it when your opponent is at highish percents, otherwise it will be too stale.

 

[BioDG]

Yeah I guess it was more so some of the bread and butter uses to get me started. That's some good info to start with though!

And yeah, I'll admit I was kinda lazy. I'll check out that stuff before I return with more questions.

 

[DUB]

When you are stuck in Falco's Jab 3, can you SDI up and N-air? I know with Diddy you can U-air so you can probably U-air with Pika as well.

 

[infiniteV115]

I imagine you would be able so SDI behind him and dsmash.

Or if he's at the right % and you're quick enough, SDI behind him and grab him, then CG to 100 or something and then usmash.
That'll teach him to jab3.

 

[Stealth Raptor]

I definitely sdi to grab loool

 

[Zodiark]

sdi to grab is the best option.

It's been a long time I didn't visit this forum ! Did you guys manage to master perfectly the dash->uair->footstool thing ?

 

[KRiMz0N]

ok every time im in his jab 3 and i sdi out of it i end up being **** out way behind him and in the air the lag preventing me from even ffing to a pivot grab or something am i doing it wrong

 

[Ussi]

SDI behind and down i guess?

 

[infiniteV115]

I am now confused because of the commentary at Apex 2012

Is it possible for Snake to grenade pull when being dthrow CG'ed by Pikachu even when Pikachu doesn't screw up the buffering?

 

[Pikabunz]

Yes, Snake can still pull nades or footstool. It depends on the percent you start at though. The only guaranteed way to dthrow cg without him pulling nades is to fthrow him 3 times from 0% then start the dthrow CG.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

What Prime said.

I wonder if me vs Razer is up.

Also, wtf at Rarity Rat