Q&A Pikachu Q&A Thread (Ask a Quick Question, Get a Quick Answer)

[ZTD | TECHnology]

In the anime, all Pikachus sounded the exact same except Ash's, Sparky (Richie's) and Puka (that surfing Pikachu from Seafoam Island). Pikachu in game sounds like Ash's so I just choose to think it's Ash's.

 

[Soul.]

Yeah, Pikachu in Smash sounds like the one in the anime.
I'd rather not waste my time theorizing stuff about it, though. I just think it's a Pikachu and nothing else.

 

[Angiance]

@ Hoenn
The way I see it, after Fthrow it's a "do as you wish" sort of thing. Personally, I prefer the Dair (great damage + setup)

 

[Soul.]

@ Hoenn
The way I see it, after Fthrow it's a "do as you wish" sort of thing. Personally, I prefer the Dair (great damage + setup)

Was that a pun?

Either way forward throw is some sort of suboptimal throw that helps you follow up with dash attack or something.
I'll have to see if Fthrow → DAir is a thing.

 

[Hoenn]

@ Soul. It is not a thing, I am talking about tech chase option coverage.

@ Angiance I mean, what are the best ways to cover each option. (You can cover more than one at once). I am asking for the optimal way to go about doing so

I want to make my hits count, not go for a throw and drop my punish

 

[Soul.]

@ Soul. It is not a thing, I am talking about tech chase option coverage.

@ Angiance I mean, what are the best ways to cover each option. (You can cover more than one at once). I am asking for the optimal way to go about doing so

I want to make my hits count, not go for a throw and drop my punish

Oh, I thought it was. Does Pika really have tech chase options in this game? I don't think it does.

Are you talking in a "what if" scenario in that you get tech chased and don't know what to do?

 

[Hoenn]

@ Soul. If you forward throw someone at low percents, sometimes you get a free dash attack or they hit the ground. This is dependent on 3 things I think. Fastfall speed, weigh, and DI.

If they hit the ground, you obviously get a tech chase. ESAM seems to go for tech chases a lot

 

[Angiance]

There are many, many things you can do after Fthrow, which is why I just say it's a "do as you wish" deal

 

[M15t3R E]

Oh, I thought it was. Does Pika really have tech chase options in this game? I don't think it does.

Are you talking in a "what if" scenario in that you get tech chased and don't know what to do?

I always go for the tech chase. It might be an instinctive thing, though it also certainly helps when the opponent establishes a pattern, but I tech chase with Pikachu pretty darn well. In most cases, the opponent is going to tech roll away from you. Pikachu is more than fast enough to follow the roll and meet it with moves like grab or nair.

 

[Chey]

I still use way to few tilts and too many smashes.. tilts are just so much faster, but I kinda forget about them

 

[Soul.]

@ Soul. If you forward throw someone at low percents, sometimes you get a free dash attack or they hit the ground. This is dependent on 3 things I think. Fastfall speed, weigh, and DI.

If they hit the ground, you obviously get a tech chase. ESAM seems to go for tech chases a lot

Oh, so forward throw is a tech chase tool. I didn't know that. I do know that you get a free dash attack sometimes, though.

 

[Hoenn]

@ Angiance Everything is a "do as you wish" situation, Like, I could jump off the stage and give my opponent a free stock at any time if really felt like it. I am asking what the optimal options for tech chasing are after a forward throw.

@ Chey Utilt is a really great combo starter at low percents. Perfect pivot up-tilt Oos is an amazing punish option at low percents. when you perfect pivot it, you also turn around, so the back hitbox is what hits them (It is a lot faster in the back)
Dtilt is really good for beating out Oos options and reaction punishes. It works really well for spacing them out in these situtions.
I think these are the most important tilts to get used to and good ways to apply them to your game. I personally almost never use Ftilt, but I don't know when to use it.

@ M15t3R E So you like to Dair over them then follow the roll? Do you react to the roll, or just read it? I want to optimize my tech chasing

 

[Angiance]

@ Hoenn
Fine then

The most reliable action would probably have to be Grab (run behind and pivot grab to test their DI)

SH Nair is real good for catching them as well

Utilt, as usual, works wonders if they go behind ya

 

[ZTD | TECHnology]

F Tilt is best used as a mixup or an anti air tool when angled upward. Down Tilt is typically a better spacing tool as it's faster, trips, has better horizontal range and less cooldown. F Tilt does setup for potential tech chases as well. So occasionally I'll use it as a follow up from a T Jolt or QA (specifically on cross ups) if I think I can force a tech chase option.

 

[M15t3R E]

@ Angiance Everything is a "do as you wish" situation, Like, I could jump off the stage and give my opponent a free stock at any time if really felt like it. I am asking what the optimal options for tech chasing are after a forward throw.

@ Chey Utilt is a really great combo starter at low percents. Perfect pivot up-tilt Oos is an amazing punish option at low percents. when you perfect pivot it, you also turn around, so the back hitbox is what hits them (It is a lot faster in the back)
Dtilt is really good for beating out Oos options and reaction punishes. It works really well for spacing them out in these situtions.
I think these are the most important tilts to get used to and good ways to apply them to your game. I personally almost never use Ftilt, but I don't know when to use it.

@ M15t3R E So you like to Dair over them then follow the roll? Do you react to the roll, or just read it? I want to optimize my tech chasing

Yes, dair is a great tool for covering rolls and get-up attacks. Just make sure to autocancel it. You can also opt to grab or SH nair. Their rolls and tech rolls are usually predictable because they want to get away from you using it.

 

[Pogoshark]

Hey guys, I'm trying to pick up Pikachu as my new main and I was wondering if I could get some feedback.
Ive only been playing Pikachu for about a day so obviously Im pretty bad, but I thought Id upload a match and get some pointers

My main problem is I dont know what combos into what and how to follow up off of my attacks.
Ive heard a fastfalling fair combos into grabs and smashes but I havent had any luck at all getting it to work.
(sorry for desynchronised audio, my capture card was playing up)

 

[Angiance]

@ Pogoshark
You're doing fairly well for a day one Pikachu, you'll probably figure many things out on your own to be honest, but uhhh...

Landing Fair can go into grabs with ease, but smashes don't really combo well out of it, dunno who told you that; Landing Fair > Usmash can be a decent KO method, but other than that, Landing Fair > Grab should be the thing

You were using Fsmash too often. Fsmash has tons of range, but don't use it so often

You were also using Ftilt too often. Ftilt is a fairly solid attack, and the fact that it can be angled is huge, but it lacks range and shouldn't be used in neutral so often

Use Dtilt much more, it's an absolutely amazing zoning/spacing attack, and can trip which nets you a Dash Grab. Dtilt doesn't even have to trip either, it gives you a frame advantage and throws your opponent off

You were landing with Dair a ton, which is very, very, very bad (although it can be a decent mix up at times). Practice ACing Dair, that way you can use SH Dair onstage, it's a masterful Air to Ground attack to be used in neutral, because it sets up for more pressure while putting out heavy damage (12%)

Oh, and don't be so obvious with the Landing Fairs; you came from high up in the air with a Landing Fair, which is easy for an opponent to react to

 

[Soul.]

FAir should be followed up with a grab. You could follow up with usmash, but I don't think it's safe on shield.
The only use I can see of FAir → USmash is for punishes / baits.

FTilt is good on the edge, especially when angled up.

When you're offstage, try to predict where the opponent is going to land. If you predict well, they will get hit by the meteor smash hitbox Thunder's cloud has, easily KOing them if you're close to the blast zone.

Down tilt is good in neutral because zoning and stuff. Mix it up with Thunder Jolt to cover space.

And of course, as Angiance (or Bell or something) said, practice short hop autocancelled DAir.

@ Pogoshark : You'll be a better Pikachu as time progresses. Just wanted to say that.

 

[Pogoshark]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'll keep practising

 

[Leaf.]

Hi everyone.
Pika stuff.

 

[Soul.]

oh hey.

I didn't know this until now. Huh.
Apparently down tilt trip to SHAC DAir is a true combo (not shown in video).
Not sure if this is going to have uses but whatever. If you dtilt and if it trips, you're supposed to grab.

 

[redfeatherraven]

Hi everyone.
Pika stuff.

We bringing the spice now?

Also good evening to the rest of you.

 

[Hoenn]

Does anyone here know anything about the ness matchup? I do well against some of the best players in my region but get knocked out by every low level pocket ness. I have tried diddy kong and shiek but I find the same struggles no matter who I play with so I want to try pika. I always get grabbed even though I try SUPER hard to avoid grabs in the MU. I struggle like crazy in neutral. What is the best way to play against ness in neutral? Does anyone here know anything pikachu can exploit about the matchup? Any feedback will be both helpful and NESSisary

 

[Leaf.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M4DlalzHKo
Here is a set of me vs a Ness from about a month ago. I'm not sure how much watching it will help, but you might learn something.

I believe I heard somewhere (like the Apex stream or something) that jumping into the PK thunder from Ness' Up Special won't make it disappear until the tail of the thunder has completely left his body. But I think clashing a move with it (Thunderjolt, or dropping in with a hitbox out) will cause the thunder to go away. But if you're going to go deep to interrupt that, make sure you are ready to tech the potential stage spike (It ended up costing me game one.)

Ness' N-air is fast and big (like ours) so unless you're doing grab follow-ups/combos incredibly quickly you may want to end your string a bit early with a fast n-air of your own so that you don't get your combo interrupted and take damage yourself.

 

[Hoenn]

That did help and I will take notes from this, I still have no idea what mixups I should use vs ness in neutral
I noticed that you did a lot of AC dairs, fsmashed, spot dodged, and grabbed a lot. If you needed to approach you mostly went in with Thunder Jolts. Is that what I should do in neutral?

I am starting to realize that ness cannot do anything if he cannot get the grab, so as long as I can cover the shield option and grab option I should be safe, I am not really sure how to go about doing so though.

 

[Soul.]

There is this weird, beautiful thing called down tilt.
If you get a grab off it Ness is in for a ride. Just don't get grabbed.
Approach with QA I guess.

 

[Coastward]

starting to get a bit more serious about smash 4.

obviously pikachu is the best character in the game, so i'm gonna be pick him up.

can you guys point me into a good starting direction for tools i can use to start learning? there's a lot of smash 4 content floating around so i'm hoping there's maybe a giant condensed post somewhere.

thanks.

also im coastward, nice to meet you.

 

[Soul.]

starting to get a bit more serious about smash 4.

obviously pikachu is the best character in the game, so i'm gonna be pick him up.

can you guys point me into a good starting direction for tools i can use to start learning? there's a lot of smash 4 content floating around so i'm hoping there's maybe a giant condensed post somewhere.

thanks.

also im coastward, nice to meet you.

Welcome. This is the closest I could find.
http://smashboards.com/threads/rais...things-to-practice-in-your-spare-time.385662/

This video is helpful if you want to know the sweetspots of fsmash, usmash and other stuff:

Thread source is here:
http://smashboards.com/threads/pikachu-guide-tutorial-moveset-tips-video.386701/

 

[Hoenn]

There is this weird, beautiful thing called down tilt.
If you get a grab off it Ness is in for a ride. Just don't get grabbed.
Approach with QA I guess.

There is this weird, beautiful thing called down tilt.
If you get a grab off it Ness is in for a ride. Just don't get grabbed.
Approach with QA I guess.

So I should use Dtilt a lot on ness? What reason is that exactly other than to trip them and help you get grabs?

 

[Soul.]

So I should use Dtilt a lot on ness? What reason is that exactly other than to trip them and help you get grabs?

Just use it for spacing. It has more range than ftilt; it's fast, frame advantage, etc.
Pivot ftilt is okay if you want to go back to space in the ground.
I don't know a lot about the Ness matchup honestly. What I know is that you shouldn't get grabbed. If I recall correctly you have to DI down in order to avoid the fair combo.

 

[Chey]

Hey, I'm trying to cancel my down aerials from short hops and barely manage it, any tips what I have to watch out and do, so it works? ._.

 

[Hoenn]

@ Soul. I know that DIing up avoids fair, but then you get hit with Uair (which is way less damage than fair chains so that's good), but I'll check out DIing down.

I am really bad at spacing dtilt, but I guess that is something I can improve on, thank you

@ Chey Try using the A button instead of the Cstick for dair if you haven't already, when I AC Dair, I almost always press X and A at almost the exact same time
Just for encouragement, Back in brawl for like a few weeks I struggled to do it consistently, but with practice I got it down consistently and I don't think I have messed it up since

 

[Psyant]

@ Chey : If you use tap jump, up on analogue stick and down on cstick at about the same time (cstick a tiny bit later) make it pretty easy for beginners. That's how I did it back in Brawl when I didn't have much tech skill. Alternatively you can just slide your thumb down from Y to A instead very quickly, but that's a little more difficult if you're not used to it.

 

[Chey]

Thank you for your tips, they really helped! Gonna practice now!

 

[Leaf.]

Dtilt is a lot better than fsmash for spacing, I really need to use it a lot more.
I've stopped using so much fsmash recently, though. I really abused it in that set because he kept letting me hit with it.

 

[Soul.]

Wait, if Dtilt is better than FSmash for spacing (which I'm aware), what is the latter's purpose? Just another way to KO?

 

[Leaf.]

Mixup/probably should be saved for KOing. It catches landings fairly well/reaches far offstage when someone doesn't recover very low, and being close to the edge already means it'll KO earlier.

But, I like going offstage more if I'm edgeguarding. Especially if they're low, fair/bair <3

 

[Soul.]

Hmm. That's cool. I didn't know that.
Jab lock FSmash is pretty good to me. Using it for this and the ledge thing is good enough.

Offstage Thunder though

 

[Leaf.]

That's another thing that I don't use enough. If they're too high, it's great. But if they're even with me, or lower, I still like getting up close. If they air dodge the first attack, I can follow up.

Jab lock fsmash is my most favorite thing.

 

[SirroMinus1]

Whats your Favorite Shield Drop Options? I like Short Hop N-Air & Up Tilts. N-air is good for resetting the situations, Up-tilt can be good for combos and other situations.

And i would like to know how you use Pikachus Neutral B because there's a broad range of uses for it.