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

[jmjb]

I have trouble initiating up tilt strings, by that I mean I can't find any good openings to get that first up tilt going. what ways do you guys use to get the opponent in position for up tilt? I feel like jigglypuffs rest is easier to land than up tilt is lol.

 

[Angiance]

I have trouble initiating up tilt strings, by that I mean I can't find any good openings to get that first up tilt going. what ways do you guys use to get the opponent in position for up tilt? I feel like jigglypuffs rest is easier to land than up tilt is lol.

Spam it til they run into it, cause it's a pretty meaty hitbox

 

[Noro~]

If they hit your shield with a laggy move: Shielddrop > Uptilt (works for dash attacks that place your opponent behind you, too).
Uptilt works as a good anti air if the opposing hitbox isn't too disjointed.
Grab > Uptilt is an option specifically against Fox (?) at 0% (and without rage).
Also you can hit pretty much every character on the ledge without invulnerability with your Uptilt (Hitbox in FRONT of Pika only).

 

[Uncle Honey]

I have trouble initiating up tilt strings, by that I mean I can't find any good openings to get that first up tilt going. what ways do you guys use to get the opponent in position for up tilt? I feel like jigglypuffs rest is easier to land than up tilt is lol.

utilt is simply another option just like anything else. Don't rely on it for damage. I've gone through whole games without finding an opening to land an utilt...actually I don't know if that's true, but definitely not always at low percents.

 

[CyberZixx]

I wanna pick up Pikachu. im curious what his best tools are in neutral. best tools for edgeguards. what are his throw combos, combo strings and kill set ups? Any notable weekness?

 

[alexthepony]

i think pikachu is soley based off what u can do depending on what percent your opponent is.
like what can you do(like combos, spacing, trying to kill with certain moves) with pikachu.
0-20
20-40
40-60
60-80
80-100
100-120
120-140

 

[Thor]

I have trouble initiating up tilt strings, by that I mean I can't find any good openings to get that first up tilt going. what ways do you guys use to get the opponent in position for up tilt? I feel like jigglypuffs rest is easier to land than up tilt is lol.

You can pull a Kirby and roll -> utilt.

You can start utilt strings after landing from an autocancelled aerial - if you have short hop autocancel fair timing down [there's a late fastfall that needs to occur for optimum timing], an up tilt will stuff most out of shield options [you can space to avoid shieldgrab], and if they get hit, you can go from there.

You can sometimes run up, then shield or spotdodge and utilt out of shield/after the spotdodge.

If you have perfect pivoting down and someone goes for a SH or fullhop aerial, you might be able to perfect pivot under them or away from them and intercept the aerial with a utilt.

I'm not sure if we can short-hop airdodge [we can I think, might require a fair autocancel to avoid lag], but if we can, SHAD utilt can get some utilts in sometimes, especially if your opponent almost always tries to meet an approach with an attack.

At low percents, if you dthrow, some people will airdodge, and if you [instead of going for an aerial] walk forward and utilt, you can hit them out of their airdodge and go from there.

If I connect with fair and fastfall, oftentimes a utilt can hit and start a utilt string from that. It doesn't seem guaranteed though...

This is likely not an exhaustive list, but it should be helpful in at least thinking of ways to land utilt.

--------------------------------------

Question: I know people have discussed fair -> usmash in the past... is that ever guaranteed? Is fair -> dsmash ever guaranteed [one frame faster]? Is it percent-dependent? Vertical spacing dependent? Or is it purely a mixup?

 

[Noro~]

I've been wondering, just how many frames are we airborne on a short and full hop, respectively?
I never see that information on any source for Frame Data.

 

[Pikabunz]

I've been wondering, just how many frames are we airborne on a short and full hop, respectively?
I never see that information on any source for Frame Data.

38 and 58.

Question: I know people have discussed fair -> usmash in the past... is that ever guaranteed? Is fair -> dsmash ever guaranteed [one frame faster]? Is it percent-dependent? Vertical spacing dependent? Or is it purely a mixup?

It's dependent on rage, vertical spacing, opponent's weight, and which hitbox of fair you hit with. One hitbox pops them up and the other pulls them down. Opponent's percent doesn't affect it. This is something I need to look into more, but ff fair to upsmash can be guaranteed on some characters with the right conditions.

 

[Soul.]

Regarding kill setups on previous posts, up throw to Thunder is one, though it's not as reliable as other top tiers' kill setups due to DI. RAR Thunder lets us follow the DI of the opposing player (or so I heard); it takes practice to get it down though.

In neutral we're generally seen using QA, Jolts, forward air and down tilt to name a few.

 

[Wishes And Sunshine]

At what percentages does the Uthrow to Thunder combo work at the ledge?

 

[alexthepony]

At what percentages does the Uthrow to Thunder combo work at the ledge?

IF rosalina where to down b the thunder, would rosa be able to do it right during the time the spike hitbox is activate?
the frame data says it as a projectile it active at frame 16-85, and rosa can down b projectiles. but the cloud hitbox is 13-15 frames, so can rosalina down b the cloud hitbox at 13-15 or does she have to wait till it becomes a projectile at frames 16-85.
if you are confused about my question let me know.

 

[Pikabunz]

At what percentages does the Uthrow to Thunder combo work at the ledge?

By work do you mean kill? It kills at about the 100-120% range.

IF rosalina where to down b the thunder, would rosa be able to do it right during the time the spike hitbox is activate?
the frame data says it as a projectile it active at frame 16-85, and rosa can down b projectiles. but the cloud hitbox is 13-15 frames, so can rosalina down b the cloud hitbox at 13-15 or does she have to wait till it becomes a projectile at frames 16-85.
if you are confused about my question let me know.

I don't know what the cloud counts as. I know Fox can reflect it and Ness can absorb it, but for some reason, Rosalina cannot down b the cloud. So yeah, you can spike her with the cloud during her down b.

 

[Thor]

By work do you mean kill? It kills at about the 100-120% range.

I don't know what the cloud counts as. I know Fox can reflect it and Ness can absorb it, but for some reason, Rosalina cannot down b the cloud. So yeah, you can spike her with the cloud during her down b.

Unless hitting her breaks up the downb, she still can steal the bolt though, which means if you do it offstage, there is a nontrivial chance you SD... be forewarned!

Also, does Villager's pocketed thunder always meteor? I was told it does, and if so, that's a hazard in singles and a gimmick that sounds amazing in teams.

 

[Pikabunz]

It only meteors if you're directly in front of Villager when he uses it. The meteor hitbox does extend low enough to meteor characters hanging on the ledge.

I don't know if you saw it yet, Thor , but I wrote a little guide all about fast fall fair comboing.
http://smashboards.com/threads/ff-f...th-that-can-be-combined.422440/#post-20395737

 

[Thor]

It only meteors if you're directly in front of Villager when he uses it. The meteor hitbox does extend low enough to meteor characters hanging on the ledge.

I don't know if you saw it yet, Thor , but I wrote a little guide all about fast fall fair comboing.
http://smashboards.com/threads/ff-f...th-that-can-be-combined.422440/#post-20395737

Exactly what I was looking for and didn't know about. Thanks!

 

[Wishes And Sunshine]

Speaking of SDs offstage, how can I connect Thunder with Pikachu's body offstage? I've watched videos in which three or more Thunders have been used one after another. But when I attempt it, I fall down and am forced to recover with Quick Attack.

 

[iVoltage]

Speaking of SDs offstage, how can I connect Thunder with Pikachu's body offstage? I've watched videos in which three or more Thunders have been used one after another. But when I attempt it, I fall down and am forced to recover with Quick Attack.

You have to use your double jump to stop your forward momentum then thunder. Its way easier than it looks lol. If you dont then you just fly forward and it does nothing for you. Oh and im fairly certain you can wall jump and do it so thats most likely way better if you can.

 

[Wishes And Sunshine]

By work do you mean kill? It kills at about the 100-120% range.

I wished to know when it acted as a true combo... Or is it even a true combo?

 

[Pikabunz]

I'd say when they're at about 90%+ it becomes a true combo if they don't DI.

 

[Wishes And Sunshine]

I'd say when they're at about 90%+ it becomes a true combo if they don't DI.

Pikabuns, isn't that like saying cars cause crashes if traffic rules aren't followed? A true combo should be independent of DI.

 

[Pikabunz]

They won't always DI though. Sometimes your opponent won't react to your uthrow fast enough.

 

[Soul.]

Can someone please remind me again what moves of ours are useful at ledge coverage?

 

[Pikabunz]

Are you talking about hitting the 2 frame ledge grab invulnerability?

 

[Soul.]

Ledge attacks, rolls, jumps, standard getup, etc

 

[Pikabunz]

I like anything with long lasting hitboxes. Dair is really good for that. It lasts 13 frames, hits kind of hard, and is pretty safe. If you try to cover their ledge jump with dair, but they go for a roll instead, you have enough time to recover from the dair and punish their ledge roll. Other good options are auto cancel fair, nair, and fsmash.

 

[A10theHero]

Couldn't Pikachu's down smash also be useful against opponents who recover vertically?

 

[Soul.]

I like anything with long lasting hitboxes. Dair is really good for that. It lasts 13 frames, hits kind of hard, and is pretty safe. If you try to cover their ledge jump with dair, but they go for a roll instead, you have enough time to recover from the dair and punish their ledge roll. Other good options are auto cancel fair, nair, and fsmash.

I was thinking lingering hitboxes too, especially ac'd nair on standard getup (some characters seem to use their nair for this). I didn't know dair could cover ledge jumps though.

Are those other options good for covering ledge rolls specifically, or covering ledge options in general?

 

[Pikabunz]

They're good options in general. Don't forget that ledge trumping is an option too.

 

[Soul.]

I agree that ledge trumping is indeed an option, but given people buffer their options on the ledge I don't think it's possible to trump unless they don't buffer accordingly. If they don't buffer then we might be able to trump with back air. I'll keep that in mind.

I do wonder how exactly you buffer a ledge option so that you don't get trumped by opposing players ever though

 

[Pikabunz]

Just mash whatever you want to do; jump, roll, or attack. However, I believe you cannot buffer ledge get-up or ledge drop. If you go for those options you will be forced off the ledge no matter what. So that's when you would want to ledge trump your opponent, when you think they're going for a ledge get-up, ledge drop, or they just stay on the ledge for too long. Also, ledge trump dair is an option too, but you have to be really fast for it to be guaranteed. The sooner you grab the ledge after they do, the more frame advantage you will have after the ledge trump.

 

[Coro_]

Couldn't Pikachu's down smash also be useful against opponents who recover vertically?

Pikachu's dsmash can catch opponents recovering in certain circumstances, I believe. I use it a lot myself since if it hits it sends them at an amusing angle, diagonally away (it practically looks like a stage spike)

 

[Mega1256]

How do you edgeguard luigi?

 

[Thor]

How do you edgeguard luigi?

If you catch him side+bing, go for dair or [if he is way high up], a thunder spike into the base [even just the bolt is still damage and resets things]. If you have a stock lead and he has used up tornado, a fast-fall bair on top of him will usually be the stock, though it will cost your own at the heights where this is practical.

If he does that thing where he goes really low and does double jump up+B almost immediately, putting a nair in the way is a good bet, but if you can risk it, falling from the ledge then doing double jump thunder can cover it in a decisive way [especially since it can stage spike depending on how you space it]. Dair works as well but lasts less time and I'm unsure if bair actually works.

You can dair him out of cyclone as well.

Does anyone have videos of themselves fighting a good MK? I still struggle with neutral in that MU more than I feel I should in an MU where I've been told Pikachu is supposed to win neutral somewhat handily.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

So has anybody else noticed that sometimes a T-jolt will be on the ground under a moving platform and then suddenly the T-jolt skips to the top of the platform?

Why does it do that ;-;

 

[Angiance]

...I've actually never even seen that myself, but it's likely Sakurai related

 

[A10theHero]

Am I right to assume that it did not visually come into contact with the moving platform while skipping across the stage? I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the coding that makes Thunder Jolt latch onto the ground and skip across it. Whatever it was probably made Thunder Jolt "think" that the platform was the next part of the stage. What exactly happened though, I cannot say.

 

[jmjb]

any tips on getting double straights across the stage with quick attack?
like when you go right >right, or left > left. what I've been doing is trying to go slightly above perfect right, then slightly below perfect right.
is this how everybody else is doing it? soooooo many times this results in me landing right on top of my opponent cause only 1 goes thru, thus I take a nice Fsmash or up smash to the face.
anyone want to share their own techniques for doing this more accurately?

 

[M15t3R E]

any tips on getting double straights across the stage with quick attack?
like when you go right >right, or left > left. what I've been doing is trying to go slightly above perfect right, then slightly below perfect right.
is this how everybody else is doing it? soooooo many times this results in me landing right on top of my opponent cause only 1 goes thru, thus I take a nice Fsmash or up smash to the face.
anyone want to share their own techniques for doing this more accurately?

There's only one way to do this every time. After inputting up+b input right then right+down (imagine southeast direction on a compass). If moving to the left twice, it's just the reverse inputs.

 

[ZantetsukenLion]

Hey ya'll! I over the last few months picked up and have grown to adore him, he's quickly becoming my co-main with , and due to that enjoyment I thought it'd be high time for me to come into Q&A so I know whether or not I'm doing this right.

I have down all of his auto-cancel aerials and most of the quick attack angles, my QAC is a bit rough only able to do it about 3 times in quick succession and nearly not at all in a match. My off-stage game is mainly comprised of his amazing N-air and Up-air if going for a mix up with a few rising thunders here and there for a mix up or if I don't think my opponent can respond to it that well. Also having a bit of trouble with continuing a combo after d-throw > UP-tilt(for low percent/fast fallers) > full hop u-air > u-air (at the arc of the full hop) > into double jump DI reaction, can't seem to notice a persons DI that well within combos, following that issue FF F-air into regrab after the usual d-throw combo is another big issue for me, can't seem to notice the DI.

If ya'll could give any tips and any information of what else I should be learning to git gud with the little mouse that would be wonderful! Hope you're all having a good day as well.