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

[DrRiceBoy]

When I first played the demo, I didn't really like how Pikachu played. Not much kill power, nerfed thunder, etc... he felt weird/different and I didn't really like that. After ~10 years of using Pikachu (he was my first ever character I played and mained) I would finally drop the guy, even if I did really like him as a Pokemon. (his evolution, Raichu, is one of my favorites. Speaking of which, Game Freak pls mega raichu). I honestly felt he didn't fit me anymore.

So much for that lol. He's one of my most used characters in Sm4sh. I guess you can't really drop a character you used for so long just like that. I generally like big/heavy/powerful/slow characters, but for some reasons I always see myself going to Pikachu, the very opposite of big/heavy/powerful/slow. Something tells me he's going to stick with me as long as the Smash series lives... and it seems I don't really mind it.

Contrary to my first impressions of Pika in Sm4sh, he feels great now. After messing with for awhile I realize that he is still great to play. He received some nerfs here and there (most notably Thunder. It was my favorite move...), but I can see some of the buffs clearly now. His dash attack especially. Great punish tool, great knockback, and can even kill. Considering this thing use to be Pika's worse move, I'm very happy to see that it's great.

His new alternate costumes, in my honest opinion, are the best in the game. Since Pikachu is the almighty mascot of the Pokemon series, it's extremely nice to see that his hats represent the Pokemon games, and at the same time making himself look adorable. The only hat he doesn't have is Gen 4's (Lucas) and Gen 5's (Hilbert, Nate) but I suppose that can be excused because goggles and party hat are awesome. Ethan hat is my favorite, as HeartGold is my favorite Pokemon game in the main series. (All time favorite has to go to Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness)

 

[SyncNatsyu]

When I first played the demo, I didn't really like how Pikachu played. Not much kill power, nerfed thunder, etc... he felt weird/different and I didn't really like that. After ~10 years of using Pikachu (he was my first ever character I played and mained) I would finally drop the guy, even if I did really like him as a Pokemon. (his evolution, Raichu, is one of my favorites. Speaking of which, Game Freak pls mega raichu). I honestly felt he didn't fit me anymore.

So much for that lol. He's one of my most used characters in Sm4sh. I guess you can't really drop a character you used for so long just like that. I generally like big/heavy/powerful/slow characters, but for some reasons I always see myself going to Pikachu, the very opposite of big/heavy/powerful/slow. Something tells me he's going to stick with me as long as the Smash series lives... and it seems I don't really mind it.

Contrary to my first impressions of Pika in Sm4sh, he feels great now. He received some nerfs here and there (most notably Thunder. It was my favorite move...), but I see some of the buffs. His dash attack especially. Great punish tool, great knockback, and can even kill. Considering this thing use to be Pika's worse move, I'm very happy to see that it's great now.

I'm not sure but I think the demo's pika and this pika still have the same buffs/nerfs. Personally I think the new thunder is a buff since we can force our foes down and still kill off the top if we want.

 

[Shaymin slicker]

(Nice being new here.) Anyways! I still feel like thunder is a huge nerf. Getting Ko's under 100% with Pika seemed natural to me. (Not like it's impossible, it's just hard to do it). At least it does a meteor smash so when they go towards the ground you can send them back up with the Up smash....

 

[Angiance]

The old Thunder was just plain better

 

[DrRiceBoy]

I'm not sure but I think the demo's pika and this pika still have the same buffs/nerfs. Personally I think the new thunder is a buff since we can force our foes down and still kill off the top if we want.

Ah yes, demo's Pika and this Pika have the same buffs and nerfs. What I was trying to say is that when I played him in the demo I didn't quite like him, but after messing with him a little in the full game I realized he's still great to play. Will edit post.

I disagree. New Thunder is definitely a nerf as explained by @ Shaymin slicker . I don't think I've ever KO'd someone off the top with the new Thunder. I've also noticed that new Thunder doesn't linger as long.

 

[ZTD | TECHnology]

So I guess I'll introduce myself.

I'm Tech_Chase but I might be changing my tag to Cool Trainer Tech on account of me maining Pokemon lol. I run the metagame development and research work for the Charizard community and also did the same for Dedede in Brawl (hence the Back Room status). Pretty knowledgeable player. I absolutely love Pikachu in this game so he's my other main character at this point. I'll be here as well, contributing to the discussions, posting observations and whatever. I know there's knowledgeable people like @Pikabunz and @Tagxy here, but I'm hoping to help as well. Hope to do well with Pikachu in tournament as well. I'll be around

 

[LunarWingCloud]

Good to see another converted to the Pika clan!

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

So I guess I'll introduce myself.

I'm Tech_Chase but I might be changing my tag to Cool Trainer Tech on account of me maining Pokemon lol. I learn the metagame development and research work for the Charizard community and also did the same for Dedede in Brawl (hence the Back Room status). Pretty knowledgeable player. I absolutely love Pikachu in this game so he's my other main character at this point. I'll be here as well, contributing to the discussions, posting observations and whatever. I know there's knowledgeable people like @Pikabunz here, but I'm hoping to help as well. Hope to do well with Pikachu in tournament as well. I'll be around

Hiya Tech. :3 Welcome to the social. ^^ I love the work you do with Charizard. Maybe once he's fleshed out and you've gotten some rest, you could delve into Pika. ~

 

[Nebulax]

When I first played the demo, I didn't really like how Pikachu played. Not much kill power, nerfed thunder, etc... he felt weird/different and I didn't really like that. After ~10 years of using Pikachu (he was my first ever character I played and mained) I would finally drop the guy, even if I did really like him as a Pokemon. (his evolution, Raichu, is one of my favorites. Speaking of which, Game Freak pls mega raichu). I honestly felt he didn't fit me anymore.

So much for that lol. He's one of my most used characters in Sm4sh. I guess you can't really drop a character you used for so long just like that. I generally like big/heavy/powerful/slow characters, but for some reasons I always see myself going to Pikachu, the very opposite of big/heavy/powerful/slow. Something tells me he's going to stick with me as long as the Smash series lives... and it seems I don't really mind it.

Contrary to my first impressions of Pika in Sm4sh, he feels great now. After messing with for awhile I realize that he is still great to play. He received some nerfs here and there (most notably Thunder. It was my favorite move...), but I can see some of the buffs clearly now. His dash attack especially. Great punish tool, great knockback, and can even kill. Considering this thing use to be Pika's worse move, I'm very happy to see that it's great.

His new alternate costumes, in my honest opinion, are the best in the game. Since Pikachu is the almighty mascot of the Pokemon series, it's extremely nice to see that his hats represent the Pokemon games, and at the same time making himself look adorable. The only hat he doesn't have is Gen 4's (Lucas) and Gen 5's (Hilbert, Nate) but I suppose that can be excused because goggles and party hat are awesome. Ethan hat is my favorite, as HeartGold is my favorite Pokemon game in the main series. (All time favorite has to go to Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness)

I really felt that for a while too. At first, playing the demo, he felt weird and not so fun. That was pretty heartbreaking, considering my history with him in every game. But after some time getting used to the changes, he went back to main status very quickly. Change can be jarring sometimes, but it doesn't really matter for long.

(and yes, thunder definitely is nerfed.)

 

[SyncNatsyu]

You know I'm not sure, has anyone figured out why thunder can go through platforms? From what it looks like, thunder can go through platforms(or floors for that matter) during its first half of the animation. As in as long as thunder goes through something before over half of it appears it'll continue to pass through.

 

[Shaymin slicker]

Ah yes, demo's Pika and this Pika have the same buffs and nerfs. What I was trying to say is that when I played him in the demo I didn't quite like him, but after messing with him a little in the full game I realized he's still great to play. Will edit post.

I disagree. New Thunder is definitely a nerf as explained by @ Shaymin slicker . I don't think I've ever KO'd someone off the top with the new Thunder. I've also noticed that new Thunder doesn't linger as long.

I've thunder spiked a Jigglypuff at 97% but that's about it. It's kinda rare to see a thunder spike kill anymore.

I wished thunder lasted a bit longer though. It would make reversing thunder seem much more effective. (Obviously)

 

[Exceladon City]

I'm kinda in a multi-main situation at the moment. I'm looking to consider one character to focus my time into and Pikachu is looking like the next candidate. Howdy.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

I'm kinda in a multi-main situation at the moment.

Tell me about it, lol. XD I already have 4 characters I love and want to be equally good with. So many good characters in this game.

Welcome to the social.

 

[Gamingboy]

I've been using Pikachu mostly.... It's a bit tough to do the Quick Attack recovery with the 3DS (I sometimes am unable to do two jumps), and I suck at Smash right now, but I think that can partly be drawn up to the fact that i haven't done competitive smash in a long time and that I still have my old N64 Down-B habits drilled into me. Lol.

 

[Volt@ge]

I'm also struggling a bit with Quick Attack. I just can't get the double vertical QA down, yet funnily enough I've retained my ability to do the double horizontal one when on the ground. ><

 

[M15t3R E]

I'm also struggling a bit with Quick Attack. I just can't get the double vertical QA down, yet funnily enough I've retained my ability to do the double horizontal one when on the ground. ><

You understand how to do it right? After all, you say you have the double horizontal QA down. Make sure each QA (when doing the double) are inputted at a different angle. The timing should come naturally after a short while.

 

[Volt@ge]

Yeah, it's weird. I think it's just because I've had more practice with the horizontal variant, seeing as it has more combat applications, Pika's recovery doesn't exactly call for a dead vertical recovery 9 times out of 10.

 

[M15t3R E]

Yeah, it's weird. I think it's just because I've had more practice with the horizontal variant, seeing as it has more combat applications, Pika's recovery doesn't exactly call for a dead vertical recovery 9 times out of 10.

Right, typically to recover you'll be using diagonal up/left then diagonal up/right assuming you are recovering back to the left stage ledge, otherwise the inverse. That said, try all angles until it becomes muscle memory.

 

[BellaLunaWolf]

Do any of you have any Pika tips for off-stage edgeguarding? Or "gimping" techniques that Pikachu is praised for? For someone who calls themselves a Pikachu main, I don't think this has ever been my strong-suit with Pikachu and is an area I'd like to improve.

 

[M15t3R E]

Do any of you have any Pika tips for off-stage edgeguarding? Or "gimping" techniques that Pikachu is praised for? For someone who calls themselves a Pikachu main, I don't think this has ever been my strong-suit with Pikachu and is an area I'd like to improve.

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth at least a thousand more. Look for recent ESAM videos for 3DS. Preferably ESAM vs Nakat. Those are good sets.
Before you start edgeguarding off-stage, become adept in recovering back to the stage from any distance. Pikachu has the tools to do this perfectly. Then try multiple aerials and thunder off-stage.

 

[dettadeus]

Go to the video thread and watch the Pika v ROB games I posted. I had a ton of good edgeguarding in those.

 

[Nocally]

Do any of you have any Pika tips for off-stage edgeguarding? Or "gimping" techniques that Pikachu is praised for? For someone who calls themselves a Pikachu main, I don't think this has ever been my strong-suit with Pikachu and is an area I'd like to improve.

This advice might not be too competitive viable against good players, but thunder jolt is godlike because of it's ground hogging properties, if your opponents character doesn't have a good recovery, you can harass with the jolt.

 

[SyncNatsyu]

I've been curious, how does everyone SH with Pikachu? I mean by what your control scheme is. You use a jump button then input down? or you tap jump to FF? I have tap jump on with pika but off with jiggs(or If I can't turn it off I rarely use it.)instead using the jump buttons on x/y to SH. I wanna know cause I'm having trouble Shing with pika(i'm guess because his jump speed is faster than jiggs)
Trying to consistently get SH fairs and Dairs.

I'm posting this in both S.threads btw to get both inputs.

 

[Angiance]

SHing is something you just need to spend about 15 mins at a time practicing in Training Mode. Eventually, it will become natural feeling to perform a SH

Good luck

 

[Wiscus]

I've been curious, how does everyone SH with Pikachu? I mean by what your control scheme is.

I use x to jump, I also have L as my extra jump button which helps me out with a few rising attacks and some other character stuff, you just need to grind out the sh window in training mode, youll get it, like Angiance mentioned.
I have tap jump off since I'm used to that from brawl yoshi.

 

[ZTD | TECHnology]

I think I spend hours a day practicing QA alone. I feel like its totally necessary to get the most of out him unless you're just really good with technical stuff by default.

Plus I'm entering a very big event this weekend. A few top players will be there as well. Pretty sure it'll be streamed again, so maybe you might see me. I'm looking to do as well as I possibly can at this event and see how I've progressed in the last month.

 

[dettadeus]

I use X for jumping, except for when I do full-hop thunder jolts when I use Y. I never have trouble short hopping but it's really a problem that goes away over time. I've been playing smash since I was like 5 so I don't even remember learning how to lol.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

I always use default controls. Never felt the urge to need to change them. Then again, I'm not exactly top competitive tier, either

 

[ZTD | TECHnology]

I have Y as Grab and just relocated the second Jump to R. I only use X to Jump and it makes more sense to me to have a main button as a Grab rather than a shoulder button. Took me a few different setups but I found this one to work the best for me by far.

 

[Choice Scarf]

I have just always used L for shield, so that was switched. I may put jump on R and grab on Y though, still toying with it.

 

[BellaLunaWolf]

I find myself using Y to jump while playing Smash 3DS. It still feels awkward to use L for grab, so I think I'll set it to X.

 

[Choice Scarf]

Pikachu is a competitor on Conquest, along with Charizard, Lucario, and Greninja together as Pokemon vs the Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda characters. Go represent and raise your Pikas!

 

[LunarWingCloud]

I've been using L on Grab and X/Y on Jump, but I was thinking of switching Y to Grab since I find myself unable to keep my left hand set to be ready to press L for anything.

 

[Nocally]

Pikachu is a competitor on Conquest, along with Charizard, Lucario, and Greninja together as Pokemon vs the Fire Emblem and Legend of Zelda characters. Go represent and raise your Pikas!

already contributed 33 points, but before the 1.0.3 update, Pokémon were lacking far behind fire emblem, and a little bit behind the zelda representatives.

 

[BellaLunaWolf]

already contributed 28 points, but before the 1.0.3 update, Pokémon were lacking far behind fire emblem, and a little bit behind the zelda representatives.

Sorry for the silly question, but how can you tell how many points your contribute to Conquest? The number of stars you accumulate?

 

[SyncNatsyu]

Sorry for the silly question, but how can you tell how many points your contribute to Conquest? The number of stars you accumulate?

not sure how you contribute points but you can check on the current conquest screen and it'll tell you how many you've given to a team

 

[Volt@ge]

Pretty sure you contribute simply by playing games online as the character, I dunno if you get more for winning but yeah. You can see how many you've contributed by looking at the Pie graph, it should say sorta top-left something like "Your points: ___"

 

[Nocally]

Pretty sure you contribute simply by playing games online as the character, I dunno if you get more for winning but yeah. You can see how many you've contributed by looking at the Pie graph, it should say sorta top-left something like "Your points: ___"

What this person said. Also you can only contribute ONCE every 16 hours. The amount of points you get for that specific match is dependent on how well you do, a win usually nets you 5+ points, and a loss around 2 points.

 

[BellaLunaWolf]

What this person said. Also you can only contribute ONCE every 16 hours. The amount of points you get for that specific match is dependent on how well you do, a win usually nets you 5+ points, and a loss around 2 points.

Ah, I see. How long can you rack up (or lose) points in this one contribution? For as long as you play a Pokemon character in an online session? Or is it some predetermined amount of battles in one online session that you contribute as featured characters?

Looks like last time I only got 8 points. Gotta do better next time.

EDIT: Actually are your points the total you've accumulated since this particular Conquest began? And you can only contribute in ONE measly match every 16 hours?

 

[Nocally]

EDIT: Actually are your points the total you've accumulated since this particular Conquest began? And you can only contribute in ONE measly match every 16 hours?

yes and yes.