Pikachu and Pac-Man

[Pacack]

In your opinion, what is the matchup against Pac-Man like, and how do you think he should be countered by our little Pokemon friend? I've been playing against my brother a lot, whose his main is Pikachu, and I want to give him a few tips.

In general, I fight him aggressively, with my primary moves being my aerials, which come out fast (nair comes out on frame 3 or something ridiculous like that) and combo into each other for good damage accumulation. I also use the fruit often, since it's such a versatile move, and I use all of them as much as I can, with the key being what I use the most, for obvious reasons. The Hydrant is a fantastic tool as well, but I try not to over-abuse it, since it's so easily hit back at me. (That said, I use the Hydrant a bit more on my brother than I do others, since he's still learning how to really punish me with it.) My primary kill moves are my smashes, though I do occasionally mix it up by using my side special (which I normally only use for recovery).

I'm more than willing to give you more information if you're curious about something.


Also, any general Pikachu tips for my brother would be greatly appreciated. He's definitely a casual player, but he really wants to get better, with his primary goal to beat me.

 

[shlemon]

Pikachu is all about strings. To play effectively you want to land 3 hits for every hit you take (since he dies early and does low damage per hit), So use your mobility and small size to dance around and chase your opponent. Many attacks link very well.

Utilt, utilt, utult, (jump) uair, (jump) uair is a very simple combo that lands well at low percent. bair is excellent for chasing down at mid range, due to its high mobility and long-lasting multi-hits (plus you are *very* small during it's land animation). His grabs are great too, especially since his run speed is good. You can go (fthrow, fair, fair), or (dthrow uair uair) at low percent. At around 100-120 percent uthrow to thunder will spike and kill some characters if by the edge (and they dont predict it). Nair is fast, multi hit, has decent knockback and can be used to finish combos, or attack OOS. Dont be afraid to T-jolt. Especially when in the air, since you can chase it after landing and grab them when the jolt forces a block. Tbh, pretty all of pikachus moves have their place (except maybe skull bash). Mix up heavily and learn to chase down your opponent to the ends of the earth!

The second half of the equation is don't get hit! You can die at 90% if you take a heavy strike. Stay spaced out until they overcommit, and then relentessly chase them down for several hits. If you get hit, escape and return to neutral before trying again. You have to alternate between high offense and spacing to keep the balance of racking damage without getting hit. Remember that T-jolt can force them to approach, giving you a further neutral advantage.

Note that usmash is easily your best kill move. Don't stale it!

Pacman is a fairly standard match-up, so just practice the general pikachu mind-set and have fun!!