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

[M15t3R E]

Zero invincibility frames? It's all just speed?

Pikachu has no invincibility frames with QA. I have seen people catch Pikachu mid-QA with a smash attack. That's a really bad way to go...

 

[1PokeMastr]

Is it true you can dair chain grab ?
I heard it goes dair grab f-throw dair tickle fsmash

Is this a combo ?

 

[Pikabunz]

That's not a combo.

 

[Pixel_]

But my initial question was about QA as a recovery tool.

If the Pikachu goes for the ledge; there's this video that talks about how to attack an opponent right before they grab the ledge.
They use Shiek as the example, but I'm pretty sure it works the same way. Basically, you're supposed to try to hit them slightly below the ledge, right before they grab it.

Alternatively, if they go straight onto the stage, I guess all you can do is try to read and punish.

 

[cerealkiller]

If the Pikachu goes for the ledge; there's this video that talks about how to attack an opponent right before they grab the ledge.
They use Shiek as the example, but I'm pretty sure it works the same way. Basically, you're supposed to try to hit them slightly below the ledge, right before they grab it.

Alternatively, if they go straight onto the stage, I guess all you can do is try to read and punish.

I've seen that video and I've knew about the ledgesnap vulnerability for a while but I'm intending to hit him even before that. I thought there were some invincibility frames in QA but now I think I can exploit his recovery better by chancing him before the ledgesnap.

 

[1PokeMastr]

That's not a combo.

You can at least humour me

What does Pikachu have that can be safely spaced on shields to avoid being grabbed ? That isn't a cross up

 

[M15t3R E]

You can at least humour me

What does Pikachu have that can be safely spaced on shields to avoid being grabbed ? That isn't a cross up

Well what do you mean by cross up?

 

[1PokeMastr]

Well what do you mean by cross up?

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Cross-up

 

[Thor]

You can at least humour me

What does Pikachu have that can be safely spaced on shields to avoid being grabbed ? That isn't a cross up

Grabs

T-jolt

Full-hop nair/uair are both options that work but they leave you in unenviable positions. You can Quick Attack through someone and that shouldn't really be shieldgrabbable if spaced. I THINK you might be able to space dair or fair [don't hit with the last hit of fair, that lags a lot], but I'm not sure.

If they mistime their grab, SH bair is safe from shieldgrabs as well, since Pikachu goes so low. Very unadvisable though, because they get some sort of smash attack for free if you do this.

There's probably better people to answer this, or there might just not be things that are safe. I'm not sure but dtilt might not be able to be grabbed at max range...

Also hello once again.

 

[M15t3R E]

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Cross-up

Plenty of options, like Thor listed. D-tilt comes to mind too. And against most of the cast you can fade away with fair to avoid getting punished with a grab. Those are the main examples that I use.

 

[I speak Spanish too]

What move does Pikachu have that can cover the most tech options? People constantly tech my nair jab lock set-ups and I want to know the move I can use to cover the most options. Usually people tech roll away or tech in place though.

 

[Pogoshark]

What move does Pikachu have that can cover the most tech options? People constantly tech my nair jab lock set-ups and I want to know the move I can use to cover the most options. Usually people tech roll away or tech in place though.

Skullbash or dash attack are great when they roll away, heavy skull bash in particular will destroy them if they tech in place since it kills very early up close
If they tech roll behind you you have at least put yourself far enough away from them to not get punished

 

[atv1992]

Hey guys c: this is my first post and my first question. What are your approach options against characters like Mario, Ness, Kirby and all the small characters in general? I've found that going for fair isn't the best option when they stay grounded since most of the time you won't hit them. So that makes me think hmm... Maybe dair or nair would be good options but then if they jump dair wouldn't be his best option... so... is nair his best option against small characters? Which option do you guys prefer? Thanks c: !

 

[Angiance]

Well, F.Air is pretty much always our best aerial, it's just against shorties you'll need to vary your usage of it; you'll need to space with Falling F.Air

N.Air is a very good aerial though, use it lots

 

[draydawg2020]

idk if this has already been posted but here is a frame data archive for pikachu: http://kuroganehammer.com/Smash4/Pikachu

 

[Kaladin]

So, for B-reversing thunder do yall just input down B then slide the stick towards the stage very quickly, or do you return the stick to neutral, then jerk it towards the stage? I'm having issues doing it super consistantly.

 

[Zajice]

I assume you mean wave bounce, since B reversing is just turning around with a B move (which wouldn't do much with thunder).


(Time stamped at down special part.)

 

[draydawg2020]

I assume you mean wave bounce, since B reversing is just turning around with a B move (which wouldn't do much with thunder).


(Time stamped at down special part.)

actually turning around with a special is not b-reversing. b-reversing changes your momentum. as a b-turn around does not

 

[Zajice]

God damn it. Worst part is I knew that already, but mixed myself up with the terminology. It's even in the same video I linked. You bounce either way, so my brain defaulted to "must be wavebouncing."

You can still wavebounce thunder, but really, the direction you face landing back on stage with a thunder doesn't matter much.

 

[Angiance]

All of these wacky terms~

 

[momochuu]

what combos can pikachu do from a quick attack confirm at various percentages? can you use it to confirm into a kill move at all?

 

[Thor]

what combos can pikachu do from a quick attack confirm at various percentages? can you use it to confirm into a kill move at all?

I can't figure out a KO confirm unless you space perfectly and get the thunder spike [I did it once on accident, haven't been able to replicate since... and they were at like 150%].

I don't know what true combos and doesn't, but I look for nair or uair, and then bair or fair depending on spacing [since nair uair are faster and usually do more (uair is good for combos and nair is good for knocking away for edgeguards - bair and fair are as well but bair is really risky unless they're at high enough percents where you can fullhop it and fair only hits in front). I do these in the 40% to 110% range, but I have no idea if that's actually real or not.

If you predict an airdodge of a uair or whatever, you could just fullhop thunder and connect with the base of it - I saw ESAM do it and it's not that hard [I've landed it once, but I'm no ESAM].

The knockback is too high to confirm to any smashes at kill percents [they usually pop high enough that even immediate airdodge won't cause them lag on the ground because it'll be done], so barring the Thunder trick or such ridiculously high percents that an aerial kills [bair by the edge does the trick around 140%?], I don't think so. I'm almost certain you can't true combo into heavy skull bash, but once again, airdodge reads can occur...

Sorry if this wasn't very helpful - I mostly go by feel and haven't really labbed it like I probably should, but it's what works for me.

 

[JinormusJ]

Someone in the General questions thread suggested that for me to get good, I should understand neutral game; since then I started Maining Pikachu after playing as Shulk and have had great results, but want to educate myself on the basics before diving deeper into the game to avoid bad habits

What exactly is "Neutral game" and how does it pertain to Pikachu?

 

[Pixel_]

The neutral game applies to all characters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYWXCTKKDV0

 

[Zajice]

Someone in the General questions thread suggested that for me to get good, I should understand neutral game; since then I started Maining Pikachu after playing as Shulk and have had great results, but want to educate myself on the basics before diving deeper into the game to avoid bad habits

What exactly is "Neutral game" and how does it pertain to Pikachu?

Essentially, the neutral game is just the dance you do with your opponent when both of you are in an even position fishing for the first hit to start applying pressure, combo, or kill. This is when you mostly use your quickest, safest, and longest ranged moves and projectiles, and opt for the slower/stronger moves just to punish mistakes your opponent makes in their neutral.

For example, with Pikachu, you'll most likely be doing autocanceled fairs, spacing d-tilt, and throwing out neutral b jolts. As soon as they get hit by any of these, or even shield them, you can start planning your next move. If they get hit, go for follow ups. If you can't follow up, use moves that limit their options. Generally, up tilt, up air, and nair are nice and safe options around this point. A good read can net you a smash attack. If you hit their shield, guess their shield options. Catch a roll with an attack, wait for a spotdodge to punish, block an out-of-shield attack, or just grab if they keep shielding.

None of this is set in stone stuff that applies to every situation, so you'll just have to experiment, or watch videos to see what other Pikachus do. Just don't overshoot and get greedy. If your followups are no longer safe, back off and reset to neutral again.

 

[JinormusJ]

The neutral game applies to all characters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYWXCTKKDV0

That was super helpful; definitely watching their entire series
Thanks so much!

Essentially, the neutral game is just the dance you do with your opponent when both of you are in an even position fishing for the first hit to start applying pressure, combo, or kill. This is when you mostly use your quickest, safest, and longest ranged moves and projectiles, and opt for the slower/stronger moves just to punish mistakes your opponent makes in their neutral.

For example, with Pikachu, you'll most likely be doing autocanceled fairs, spacing d-tilt, and throwing out neutral b jolts. As soon as they get hit by any of these, or even shield them, you can start planning your next move. If they get hit, go for follow ups. If you can't follow up, use moves that limit their options. Generally, up tilt, up air, and nair are nice and safe options around this point. A good read can net you a smash attack. If you hit their shield, guess their shield options. Catch a roll with an attack, wait for a spotdodge to punish, block an out-of-shield attack, or just grab if they keep shielding.

None of this is set in stone stuff that applies to every situation, so you'll just have to experiment, or watch videos to see what other Pikachus do. Just don't overshoot and get greedy. If your followups are no longer safe, back off and reset to neutral again.

Really good summary and really helpful; I wasn't using 2 out of my 3 options consistently, I would usually dash-attack and occasionally grab, but never shield or spotdodge.

I definitely felt when the match "reset" though, and me and my opponent were jumping and dashing around fishing for the first hit. Nice to know in aware of these concepts without initially knowing what they are

 

[Kaladin]

Adding to the discussion about the neutral- should the stun custom, T-wave, be used in the neutral much? ESAM does it sometimes, but I want other opinions.

 

[Zajice]

It can be used pretty similarly to the default, however it's a tad laggier (at least I think) and moves a shorter distance in exchange for the stun. You just gotta compensate for that when you use it. It can be worth it though, as the stun can get you some guaranteed followups, even kill moves.

You can also do stupid **** like this.
http://gfycat.com/AllImaginaryGrouse

 

[busken]

Yeah just read some of the above comments, we definitely need a combo thread. Hope we get some contributors.

 

[Arkleus]

Can you help a pika out? How do you do the back air off the ledge kill?

 

[Ritronaut]

Can you help a pika out? How do you do the back air off the ledge kill?

The stage spike one or the blast zone one?

Either way, it's whatever side of your bair their on, I don't think direction you're facing matters. You can DI while using bair to move them to a certain spot in it, but be careful not to let them slip out!

 

[isaiah :)]

Can you help a pika out? How do you do the back air off the ledge kill?

dash to the edge if you just wanna do a falling bair quickly hit the c stick towards the stage side when he falls off the ledge if they are recovering next to the stage, otherwise you don't need to use it. if you wanna do it and be safe, just go to training and get on the edge, bair off and QA back over and over, you will get the hang of it really quick

 

[wingey1984]

What should my strategy be when I get the opponent to 80%-120%? From 0-80, I can combo to build damage and maybe gimp. From 120+, landing an uncharged smash attack or a thunder is usually enough to kill, but 80-120 seems to be the magic percent where combos don't work well and it's too early to kill. What should my strategy be at that point, just building damage?

 

[busken]

What should my strategy be when I get the opponent to 80%-120%? From 0-80, I can combo to build damage and maybe gimp. From 120+, landing an uncharged smash attack or a thunder is usually enough to kill, but 80-120 seems to be the magic percent where combos don't work well and it's too early to kill. What should my strategy be at that point, just building damage?

That's why I made an edgeguarding thread(tips on how to edge guard certain charatcers) and a neutral game thread(how to play pikachu in neutral) if you've probably noticed pikachu doesnt have many kill confirms outside of upsmash thunder, u-throw thunder, and custom setups. Basically, since pikachu lacks kill confirms outside of customs your whole neutral game should be focused on getting the gimp. Early stock reads are so important since pikachu lacks the kill confirms. Better yet, pikachu has the tools gimp alot of characters at very low percents. You need a very strong punish game.

 

[MasterCheeze]

'Sup?

Where my High Voltage peeps been at?

I been playin' Pikachu a lot lately, gotta know what my roots in Smash is.

If anyone ever wants to play, you let me know dang it.

So, uhh... that's all.

 

[Muffin!]

Where can I find a good basic overview of pika? Strength, weaknesses, strategies, basic combos. Seems like all the youtube videos are just move analyses and most of the stuff here is more in depth than what I'm looking for. Just looking for a starting point to get a handle on the character.

 

[Arkleus]

dash to the edge if you just wanna do a falling bair quickly hit the c stick towards the stage side when he falls off the ledge if they are recovering next to the stage, otherwise you don't need to use it. if you wanna do it and be safe, just go to training and get on the edge, bair off and QA back over and over, you will get the hang of it really quick

The stage spike one or the blast zone one?

Either way, it's whatever side of your bair their on, I don't think direction you're facing matters. You can DI while using bair to move them to a certain spot in it, but be careful not to let them slip out!

Thanks guys this actually helps, kind of getting the hang of it. Still getting the kill can be tricky as you need an insane read. Do you guys know how it this connects?

 

[HoSmash4]

Hey guys. I've played Smash for 6 years using wii mote + nunchuck and I know the Pikachu is quite a technical character. How will using just a wii-mote affect my gameplay without a c-stick?

 

[isaiah :)]

yeah, pikachu's Bair has a lingering hit box



- this is all pika has, he is a difficult character to pick up so there isn't a lot of top players picking him up, however Esam has a written guide on smash hub that i highly suggest you check out.

 

[Ogopogo]

The only technical parts of Pikachu are really his up-b cancels. The nunchuck control stick is as good as a gamecube one, so it won't be limiting to you. However it's good to have the ctick as well.

When I played Project M with the "wiichuck" I set up and down on the dpad so that I could overcome the limitations of not being able to do a falling up air or down air without fast falling. I don't know how it works in Smash 4 but I would recommend that.

You don't have the sides of a c stick with that setup, but you could also put grab on the c button and put side smash on the sides of the dpad. This is only good if didn't use the c button beforehand.

Another thing you can do if you really need a button to tap jump with s set down on the dpad to jump, so it's within easy reach.
Hope you can find a control setup that works for you.