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

[redfeatherraven]

Scrubs use Link as their ultimate win condition. Are you sure?

That's a funny way to spell Little Mac.

 

[Angiance]

Feel free to ask any questions, sir <3

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Hey, so I've come across some of you Pika mains and he seems pretty excellent. I'd love to know more about quick attack used as an attack. This is a new concept to me, so can I get an overview of the strengths and weaknesses of this option? For instance, how vulnerable is pikachu after going past you? Both hit confirm and passing through shields. And what sort of invulnerability frames does the move grant? Finally, when does pikachu opt for this and why? Any help would be appreciated, as I am genuinely interested in this.

 

[Angiance]

Sorry, we can't give any of our weak points away. I'll tell ya how to use it offensively though ♡♡

You'll want to use QA when the opponent is attempting to outrange your normal attacks, since QA's range is literally 3/4ths of the stage. It's recommended that, offensively, you aim for the first zip of QA, since it comboes into the second zip; if your first zip gets shielded, ya can just flee with the second zip (if you believe your opponent will unshield, although it's risky, you can use the second zip to go back into them instead of fleeing, although I personally recommend just fleeing)

Pika-pi~ ♡♡

 

[Sonsa]

Hey! Pikachu's really fun! I'd love to practice him and get him in my pocket. I guess I'm also just curious... what's up other Pikachu people?

 

[Angiance]

Feel free to ask any questions, sir!!! ♡

 

[Saikyoshi]

I'm trying to make an N64 custom for Pikachu. I already have most of it down;
Costume: Party hat
Specials: Thunder Jolt/(any version of Skull Bash)/Meteor Quick Attack (due to it having 64 startup time, albeit not the same effect)/Distant Thunder

I'm just having trouble figuring out how to and how far to adjust his stats.

 

[Zajice]

I'm trying to make an N64 custom for Pikachu. I already have most of it down;
Costume: Party hat
Specials: Thunder Jolt/(any version of Skull Bash)/Meteor Quick Attack (due to it having 64 startup time, albeit not the same effect)/Distant Thunder

I'm just having trouble figuring out how to and how far to adjust his stats.

Whatever makes you break a shield with one up tilt.

 

[Sonsa]

Oh, Im no sir, but um. Questions. I guess: Why don't I see many people use skull bash? It's great for punishing rolls and can help recovery similiar to Luigi's green missile! Is the endlag just not worth it?

 

[Soul.]

Skull Bash isn't used because its ending lag is punishable, it's bad as an offensive move and isn't worth it. It's used as an horizontal recovery.
Heavy Skull Bash (Side B 3) has an offensive purpose in that it lets Pikachu have another way to KO (early) after a jab lock. Recovery distance doesn't matter because Pikachu's recovery is good as it is already. Shocking Skull Bash is meh.

 

[Sonsa]

Skull Bash isn't used because its ending lag is punishable, it's bad as an offensive move and isn't worth it. It's used as an horizontal recovery.
Heavy Skull Bash (Side B 3) has an offensive purpose in that it lets Pikachu have another way to KO (early) after a jab lock. Recovery distance doesn't matter because Pikachu's recovery is good as it is already. Shocking Skull Bash is meh.

I dunno, Im starting to think regular skull bash is a little underrated. It may not have Luigi's random chance to kill, but its faster and rather strong. Good roll punisher! Even at high level you could try and condition your opponent into rolling by doing Pika's great approach of thunder jolt into grab.
It could also punish landings, which are a lot more punishable in this game! Of course I don't think you should just throw them out because of the endlag, but I do think they'll be used by advanced Pikas as the meta develops more, and I wanna get a head start :D

 

[Soul.]

Perhaps, but with customs being a thing, Heavy Skull Bash is pretty much mandatory for Pikachu sets.
Up smash can punish rolls if done correctly. Down smash can do that too but idk.

Oh yeah, Jolt > grab is a thing. Even more of a thing when using Thunder Wave > grab.

 

[Sonsa]

Perhaps, but with customs being a thing, Heavy Skull Bash is pretty much mandatory for Pikachu sets.
Up smash can punish rolls if done correctly. Down smash can do that too but idk.

Oh yeah, Jolt > grab is a thing. Even more of a thing when using Thunder Wave > grab.

Ah, I guess Im thinking more about tourneys without customs, but yes, agreed! Those roll punishes... yes, but I think Skull Bash can have better knockback than down smash. And yeah, I looove thunder wave!

 

[Angiance]

Rule #1: DON'T USE SKULLBASH OFFENSIVELY, UNLESS YOU'RE FEELING SUPER CUTE~

There are ALWAYS better actions than Skullbash in the offensive area, trrrrrrrust me~ ♡♡♡♡♡

You benefit much more off of standing still and doing a Utilt, catching their roll behind you-combo mode gogogo!! ♡♡

 

[Soul.]

Heavy Skull Bash after a jab lock though.
That move needs further testing to see if it can do anything outside of KOing after jab locks.

 

[Angiance]

Nope, it's a basic attack for cheap KOs, we've learned all we can-pika

 

[Soul.]

>HSB
>cheap attack

 

[Sonsa]

Ah, well okay. Too bad I feel cute so often~
Edit: Approached with aerial thunder jolt into skull bash and worked pretty nicely! But hey, Im no Pikachu expert.

 

[redfeatherraven]

I've finally gotten around to adding my NNID to the left.

If anyone wants to help a scrub get buff, hit me up.

 

[CarbuncleHero]

Rising uair> Heavy Skull Bash/Double Jump Heavy Skull Bash is a true combo above ~70 percent. Something like utilt> uair> HSB works too at a lower percent. Also it's quick enough to toss out occasionally after a FF fair, esp. when the opponent is popped into the air.

 

[WolfieXVII ❂]

Scrubs use Link as their ultimate win condition. Are you sure?

I cri

 

[Soul.]

I cri

Nah don't worry, there's always Toon Li---

If anyone wants to help a scrub get buff, hit me up.

I thought you weren't a scrub because Brawl

 

[WolfieXVII ❂]

I've finally gotten around to adding my NNID to the left.

If anyone wants to help a scrub get buff, hit me up.

Request sent
PREPARE YOURSELF

Nah don't worry, there's always Toon Li---

I thought you weren't a scrub because Brawl

Real scrubs go

 

[Soul.]

Real scrubs go

I forgot Samus was a thing.

 

[Dark 3nergy]

Chiming to support tjolt>grab being a really good set up. I have used it a lot and i like how it forces my opponent to make a quick decision. Thundewave custom move is really the only thing i would swap out normal tjolt for.

 

[Soul.]

Agree with post above. Thunder Jolt > grab is legit. You can have the jolt running to make the opponent shield so you get a free grab at higher percents and KO with up throw > Thunder. Thunder Wave turns Pikachu's gameplan into something similar to ZSS'. Paralyzer > grab is her forte; our forte would be Thunder Wave > grab > free aerial.

There's also a Thunder Wave chain somewhere. I'll post it later.
edit: https://gfycat.com/JitteryIckyErmine

 

[redfeatherraven]

I thought you weren't a scrub because Brawl

Nah, I was a scrub there too. Been a scrub everywhere for a while. My Melee pika was the least scrubby of the set, but that dropped off four years ago. There's been reasons here and there, but ultimately without a regular playgroup my motivation hasn't been the highest.

I'm hoping that some combination of online and reaching out to the local scene can correct that and I can finally get somewhere.

Request sent
PREPARE YOURSELF

Don't see it for some reason.

PM me your NNID perhaps? Can try from the other direction.

 

[(Buddha)]

My Greninja not being Mewtwo reaction

 

[Angiance]

Tjolt is gimmicky in every smash game, any strats deved for it will only work consistently against lower level players. It is too easy to gain stage over a Pikachu that tries to Tjolt, but no one realizes it

 

[A10theHero]

Hey guys! What are all currently known advanced techniques with Pikachu? I wanna improve muh skills! :D

Edit: Also, can somebody please explain to me the significance of B-Reverse Thunder? Like what can we do with it?

 

[mercy]

Agree with post above. Thunder Jolt > grab is legit. You can have the jolt running to make the opponent shield so you get a free grab at higher percents and KO with up throw > Thunder. Thunder Wave turns Pikachu's gameplan into something similar to ZSS'. Paralyzer > grab is her forte; our forte would be Thunder Wave > grab > free aerial.

There's also a Thunder Wave chain somewhere. I'll post it later.
edit: https://gfycat.com/JitteryIckyErmine

What's stopping your opponent from rolling behind your all too obvious grab attempt and Fsmashing you in the back?

 

[redfeatherraven]

Just in case some of y'all haven't heard.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/27/a...of-star-trek-dies-at-83.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=0

Rest in peace homie.

 

[Soul.]

I sometimes forget this exists.

 

[Hoenn]

I said a while ago that Uthrow thunder was not reliable... would you all say that uthrow thunder is a lot like jigglypuff rest in melee? I say that because I played someone that knew the pikachu matchup extensively and I got like 4 Uthrow thunder kills on them throughout our set. So maybe it might be like melee jigglypuff in the sense that melee is like 14 years old and people still fall for that.

Also, when uthrow thundering, do you react to the DI, or just read the DI and go straight for the thunder?

 

[Jaguar360]

Speaking of Thunder throw combos, has anyone else tested d-throw to Thunder yet? It's still working very well for me, though I still need to find exactly when it is guaranteed for various characters. It's a really solid alternative to U-throw to Thunder from my experience.

Anyone else been finding d-throw to Thunder pretty reliable when u-throw to Thunder stops working? I don't have the exact numbers, but it worked on Mario around 115% to 180% without rage and worked against various characters in the matches I played afterwards.

 

[Hoenn]

I don't use dthrow thunder very often because of Uair being my preferred combo throw. My uthrow is almost always stale

 

[Soul.]

I dunno. I tried it once, it was eh. It would be good as a mixup though. Unless I'm wrong, mixing up throws makes it so that the opponent doesn't DI.

 

[Hoenn]

The problem that I see is this. If they do not DI away. What are they to be afraid of? What reason do they have to never DI up or never DI in a way that would let them get hit by thunder.

When I play against a pikachu, I ALWAYS DI away when I expect a throw when I am at high percent

If they don't DI away, they Die
If they DI away, they don't die
Which one of these options seems better?
I like living, personally

 

[Jaguar360]

I'm getting it between 115-184 with Diddy (factoring in rage though). I've tested it with both "Stop" and "Jump" (I'm not sure if the Wii U version has more options than 3DS, but it seems inescapable at these percents on here).

 

[DanishButrCookies]

I do like me some Pikachu, as well as pokemon