Pikachu

[Killtrox]

There are a couple things it could be. The first quirk of Quick Attack is that there's a minimum angle difference requirement between the two parts of the move. Moving from the Wii Classic Pro, with an octagon gate, to the WiiU Gamepad or a 3DS, with a circle gate, occasionally causes me to flub inputs and die to this.

The second possibility, as you said, is lag. The timing of the second quick attack is a little tight, compared to most recoveries, so you have to make sure you're correcting for the timing difference if you can detect any net lag... and I hate to admit it, but sometimes my inputs just get sloppy when I panic, and either my directions or my timing goes out the window, killing me at 10% after some attempted quick-fall Nair or b-reverse Thunder shenanigans or whatever.

By and large, though, I usually have no trouble getting Quick Attack to consistently do what I want in For Glory, so it's certainly something you can adapt to.

Any info on what that minimum angle difference is? Is it one "notch" on the GCN controller, or is it less?

 

[Emuchu]

Any info on what that minimum angle difference is? Is it one "notch" on the GCN controller, or is it less?

In Melee, it was 38 degrees, so... a little less than one notch (45 degrees). I don't know if they changed it in Brawl / Smash 4.

 

[JayWon]

I don't know why but D-air is one of the moves I use the least with Pikachu. Not implying D-air is a bad move whatsoever, its just Pikachu has SO many good moves it's hard to keep track of all of them. Anyone want to sell me on when/why I should use D-air more often? Which situations might D-air be superior compared to any other moves? Thanks in advance!

 

[Emuchu]

I don't know why but D-air is one of the moves I use the least with Pikachu. Not implying D-air is a bad move whatsoever, its just Pikachu has SO many good moves it's hard to keep track of all of them. Anyone want to sell me on when/why I should use D-air more often? Which situations might D-air be superior compared to any other moves? Thanks in advance!

I like to use SH AC Dair(1) (i.e. auto-cancelling short-hop Dair so you don't get the slam part of the move) against aggressive shielders. You can SH Dair into their shield, then either fall backwards and Dtilt or fall through them and Ftilt (Btilt?). You can do this with SH AC Fair, too, but Dair has a lower-reaching hit box, and has a quirky mixup where you can fast-fall at any time after the aerial hit to get out the slam.

 

[TheGoolick]

I like to use SH AC Dair(1) (i.e. auto-cancelling short-hop Dair so you don't get the slam part of the move) against aggressive shielders. You can SH Dair into their shield, then either fall backwards and Dtilt or fall through them and Ftilt (Btilt?). You can do this with SH AC Fair, too, but Dair has a lower-reaching hit box, and has a quirky mixup where you can fast-fall at any time after the aerial hit to get out the slam.

I've been wondering this for a while: how do you get the short hop dair to auto cancel?

 

[Emuchu]

I've been wondering this for a while: how do you get the short hop dair to auto cancel?

SH AC Dair(1) has a very tight timing window. You have to input Dair immediately after the jump, with a window somewhere in the ballpark of 5f or so (by sheer estimation). In other words, for button jumpers, you don't have the time to lift your finger between the jump and the Dair, and for tap jumpers, you have only an instant to tap jump and jimmy the stick back down.

I usually do it in a match by running forward, and then pressing Down+Jump~Attack, inputting the Jump~Attack as a rolled input with X~A (Wii Classic/Pro or 3DS). If you have Tap Jump on and you're playing with dual analogs and Right/C Stick Smash/Tilt (or a New 3DS), You can get it by hitting Left Stick up and Right/C Stick down at nearly the same time. Some people like to unload a jump button onto L or R to get more precision with these types of inputs, but that doesn't really work for me because Pika's SH timing is relatively strict, and I can't get my index finger to consistently pull it off.

Once you get the hang of it, you can get Dair(2) (i.e. the ground slam) out at will by fast-falling at any point during Dair's animation. The timing for AC Dair is so tight that you can decide to add the slam in at the last moment, it's great for when your opponent starts to expect the AC and starts to look for a landing punish.

 

[JayWon]

I need some clarification on Pikachu's Jab Locking (or just Jab locking in general).

So from my understanding if a character misses a tech they can usually do some sort of get up option but if Pikachu Jabs them pretty much immediately after they miss tech then they kinda get stuck in this animation and lose the ability to have a get up option? I understand after the 3rd Jab they are FORCED to get up but do you NEED to Jab 3 times? can I just Jab once and will they still have no option other than to get up? I really just don't want to increase the risk of screwing up the jab lock merely cuz I want an extra 2%.

 

[Nocally]

I need some clarification on Pikachu's Jab Locking (or just Jab locking in general).

So from my understanding if a character misses a tech they can usually do some sort of get up option but if Pikachu Jabs them pretty much immediately after they miss tech then they kinda get stuck in this animation and lose the ability to have a get up option? I understand after the 3rd Jab they are FORCED to get up but do you NEED to Jab 3 times? can I just Jab once and will they still have no option other than to get up? I really just don't want to increase the risk of screwing up the jab lock merely cuz I want an extra 2%.

One jab is fine, no need for all 3 if you are not confident in your execution skills

 

[isaiah :)]

can we please have a more active page?

 

[IsmaR]

Easier said than done.

Unless anyone wants to take initiative, of course.

 

[Pikabunz]

There will be stuff to talk about after the patch.

 

[IsmaR]

I've been on and off with Pika since the 3DS version, but I'll be glad check/help find any changes made with said patch.

 

[TimeMuffinPhD]

Does anyone know how Pika's D-tilt works? Sometimes it knocks down the opponent and sets up for a grab etc. Doesn't do it all the time though.

 

[KentaKurodani]

You have to sweetspot it to get a trip AFAIK

 

[Megamang]

Does anyone know how Pika's D-tilt works? Sometimes it knocks down the opponent and sets up for a grab etc. Doesn't do it all the time though.

You have to sweetspot it to get a trip AFAIK

I was under the impression it was simply a trip chance; there are a few moves that have chances to trip now. Kirby's D-tilt comes to mind.

Perhaps the sourspot can never trip, but from what I understand this doesn't mean the sweetspot will always trip.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

http://thesmashhub.com/written-guide-pikachu-a-primer-by-esam/

Hey guys I wrote a guide! Check it out :D

 

[21stSalamander]

http://thesmashhub.com/written-guide-pikachu-a-primer-by-esam/

Hey guys I wrote a guide! Check it out :D

I checked it out, very detailed stuff. looking forward to part 2 :D

 

[phili]

http://thesmashhub.com/written-guide-pikachu-a-primer-by-esam/

Hey guys I wrote a guide! Check it out :D

This guide is awesome. Also, the video tutorials you've been doing on youtube recently are amazing. Keep it up ESAM!

 

[M15t3R E]

I'll have to sit down and read this guide from start to finish when I get a chance. I've checked out every competitive Pikachu guide on YouTube and I never learn anything new to me. But if anybody can teach me more about Pikachu it'd be ESAM.

 

[tr3v]

http://thesmashhub.com/written-guide-pikachu-a-primer-by-esam/

Hey guys I wrote a guide! Check it out :D

Super informative, thanks for the guide!

 

[Kaladin]

So, for those who didn't just watch the shockwave stream, we have combos into HSB. Esam got Dthrow uair uair uair HSB on multiple occasions, as well as fair HSB. Now I just need to actually unlock that custom so I can care....

 

[phili]

So, for those who didn't just watch the shockwave stream, we have combos into HSB. Esam got Dthrow uair uair uair HSB on multiple occasions, as well as fair HSB. Now I just need to actually unlock that custom so I can care....

Was at my local weekly so I didn't get to watch this. Will it be uploaded to youtube? If so, please let me know which channel as I would love to watch and study those combos

 

[Kaladin]

Was at my local weekly so I didn't get to watch this. Will it be uploaded to youtube? If so, please let me know which channel as I would love to watch and study those combos

It was on Tourney Locator. Idk if it'll be on youtube, but you can just watch the past twitch broadcast.

 

[phili]

It was on Tourney Locator. Idk if it'll be on youtube, but you can just watch the past twitch broadcast.

Thanks man. The matches are already all uploaded to TourneyLocator's youtube channel if anyone wants to check them out

 

[LaserResal]

Anyone alive in here? lol New patch is out and there's not a whole lot to talk about but still

 

[Emuchu]

Anyone alive in here? lol New patch is out and there's not a whole lot to talk about but still

That's because everyone's still running Lucas, Roy, and Ryu, haha. Pika hasn't changed all that much, so I can't see much discussion coming up until the inevitable DLC matchup discussion can start.

 

[Diddy Kong]

Yo Pikas, am interessted in picking Pikachu up as a secondary as Pikachu was my first actual main ever. How do I play Pikachu effectively in this game? What are his absolute bread and butter combos, and what should I be doing in a match as Pikachu? I tried to pick him up before, but am just terrible currently with Pikachu, and I'd like to improve. Any help is appriciated.