Pikachu

[~automatic]

If people wanna complain they can keep ******** about Brawl since that game sucks so much.

 

[BlitznBurst]

So what happens if Pikachu uses his Down B on the Mario Galaxy stage? Does it come from the top of the screen like always or does it actually change its rotation depending on where Pikachu is?

 

[pikachugamer21]

pikachu has been my main ever since the series first started i can't wait to be able to master him once again

 

[Goten21]

I'm surprised at how many people think Pika's final smash is bad...
It makes sense to me
Since he is so perfect, they have to debuff him on something, but it would be sad to ruin a good character like Pika... The only way out was to debuff the final smash and make it impossible to control

 

[pikachugamer21]

even with a bad final smash pikachu is still a force to be reckoned with

 

[Goten21]

even with a bad final smash pikachu is still a force to be reckoned with

Who needs a good final smash anyway, as long as your enemy doesn't get it. That's what was always important to me... I didn't actually care about using it myself, lol

 

[pikachugamer21]

Who needs a good final smash anyway, as long as your enemy doesn't get it. That's what was always important to me... I didn't actually care about using it myself, lol

great minds think alike my friend

 

[Pacack]

Hey, Pikachu fans! I'm working on a project that you might have heard of called Project: Thank You Sakurai! (If you haven't heard of it, you should check it out.) and I'm currently doing a poll to determine which characters should be on the virtual card that we're making for him. I would appreciate it if you guys would check it out here and vote for who you like. The characters from the Pokemon series that you can vote on include any that were in brawl last time (Pokemon Trainer is fine, Mewtwo is not). Pikachu is a definite lock, but Jigglypuff (who is borderline), Pokemon Trainer, Charizard, Ivysaur, Squirtle, and Lucario (who are all low on the poll at the moment) all need some more support. I would really appreciate your guys' feedback if you're willing to give it.

 

[Tabernacle]

Fatchu pls

 

[Rocket Raccoon]

 

[lordvaati]

Pikachu confirmed to be a scary m**********r again.

 

[Pikabunz]

Looks like no more thunder kills off the top.

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

Pikachu buffs are always fine by me. <3

Will certainly be interesting to see what people can do with this. :3

 

[FlynnCL]

The thundercloud is much lower, and if the cloud itself deals the meteor smash, it could mean that Pikachu loses his amazing kill power...

 

[Moon Monkey]

Do you guys think Pikachu's up-smash has been changed and now involves his tail? He's using his tail in both the beginning and last panels, but Bowser is being launched into 2 different directions. It could also be the same move that sends opponents flying into different directions depending on the sweetspoting properties of the move.

Thoughts?

 

[Nair]

So, his Nair got buffed. It now includes his tail to give him more radius for his Hit-Box.

His Quick-Attack has two jumps.

His Up-Air has less lag to it. So you can do it even faster now.

His Down + B now meteor spikes and has less lag afterwards. (Comparing to Melee) Allowing for combos.

How do you guys feel about this? I think Pikachu might become High-Tier!

 

[Chandeelure]

Pikachu needs to look more angry or serious like this:

I really dislike Pikachu's face, he looks happy all the time, it's weird. XD​

Yay.

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

Yay.

...

I see you took a fancy of my avatar.

I know you used it because I screen-capped that baby myself. :3

If you want to see him make that expression in action, go to the character roll call at the end of the direct when it shows Pikachu using thunder. Might want to slow it down if you are able.

 

[dezeray112]

Does anyone think Pikachu should have a new Final Smash or keep his old one?

 

[Morbi]

Does anyone think Pikachu should have a new Final Smash or keep his old one?

I wouldn't mind seeing a new Final Smash. I was horrible at Brawl's version of Volt Tackle. Something like Ganondorf's would have been better in my opinion.

 

[Nair]

Does anyone think Pikachu should have a new Final Smash or keep his old one?

* Ooo, I think the old one was okay, but for the unreliability of it I feel it lacked damage and knock-back. Perhaps if they buffed it, he'd be good to go.

* They could always change it to where your Smash Ball is a Thunderstorm that builds percent quickly, then strikes with a huge lightning bolt and sends them flying. That'd be pretty cool.

* They could also make it a movie-clip like Cpt. Falcon's "I'm gonna run you over", but of Pikachu running and slamming into the opponent.

 

[L9999]

*
* They could also make it a movie-clip like Cpt. Falcon's "I'm gonna run you over", but of Pikachu running and slamming into the opponent.

Like those scenes from the anime? Because that would be hilarious for the yellow rat.

 

[Goten21]

A nice screenshot (in-game) of pika making a facial expression

 

[Nair]

Like those scenes from the anime? Because that would be hilarious for the yellow rat.

That's exactly what I was thinking. :D

 

[XRagingxDemonX]

I dont know if this was mentioned or not, but at 32:53 pikachu makes a sphere around him then he partially goes off scree., but the player indicator catches what he is doing... What is he doing!?! Idk but it seems like they changed his thunder bokt from blue to Yellow. Now i dont remember anything being said about it.

 

[Nair]

I dont know if this was mentioned or not, but at 32:53 pikachu makes a sphere around him then he partially goes off scree., but the player indicator catches what he is doing... What is he doing!?! Idk but it seems like they changed his thunder bokt from blue to Yellow. Now i dont remember anything being said about it.

To be clear I see you're talking about the recent Nintendo Direct. I see what you mean by it appearing like he's different, but it looks to me like he was jumping like normal. Pikachu may have had an item on that magnetizes item toward him, or something of that nature. That's what it looked like to me anyway.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

I will be one of the people at the Smash 4 Best Buy demos, and I've mained Pikachu ever since I first played smash. I will be testing out quite a few things, but what are the top 5 things you'd like me to test out for you? You can list more than that but I can only work on a few, because I'm sure there will be a time limit as everyone has to have a chance to play. A combined top 5 consensus from this thread would be great. Thanks!

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

I will be one of the people at the Smash 4 Best Buy demos, and I've mained Pikachu ever since I first played smash. I will be testing out quite a few things, but what are the top 5 things you'd like me to test out for you? You can list more than that but I can only work on a few, because I'm sure there will be a time limit as everyone has to have a chance to play. A combined top 5 consensus from this thread would be great. Thanks!

I will be there to, but there are two things I can think of that you can test out.

The first is obviously the thunder mechanics. How is it different from previous Smash games?

The second is to see if Pikachu's headbutts transfer into a Finisher like how Fox did with his kicks in that one POTD.

Thats all I got right now.

 

[KayLo!]

I just want to know if he has Melee-strength usmash back.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

The first is obviously the thunder mechanics. How is it different from previous Smash games?

The second is to see if Pikachu's headbutts transfer into a Finisher like how Fox did with his kicks in that one POTD.

Thats all I got right now.

I just want to know if he has Melee-strength usmash back.

Ok, this sounds like a good top 3 then so far.

I'll test the thunder mechanics and see how they've changed, and I'll need to go find that POTD because this is the first I'm hearing of a "Finisher" though this would be great for his dash attack.

For Melee Usmash I'll need a little more info, what's the lowest percent it will kill a certain character? Testing on Fox would probably be easiest but if there's a more readily available stat then I'll test on that character instead.

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

Ok, this sounds like a good top 3 then so far.

I'll test the thunder mechanics and see how they've changed, and I'll need to go find that POTD because this is the first I'm hearing of a "Finisher" though this would be great for his dash attack.

For Melee Usmash I'll need a little more info, what's the lowest percent it will kill a certain character? Testing on Fox would probably be easiest but if there's a more readily available stat then I'll test on that character instead.

This is the POTD explaining this new mechanic. Naturally, this should mean that Pikachu's headbutt should transition into a finisher as well. Whether he still uses his head or uses something else like his tail is the real question.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

Ahhh, I see what you mean. I'd imagine it'd transition into something like his current ftilt. That's going to be fun to test out.

 

[CatRaccoonBL]

Ahhh, I see what you mean. I'd imagine it'd transition into something like his current ftilt. That's going to be fun to test out.

Fox isn't a good example. Kirby is a much more interesting case.

As you can see, while Fox kick just transition into another kick, Kirby gets a new move entirely.

Interesting to note it is based off of Kirby's fighter ability move "Smash Punch."

In theory, Pikachu's neutral finisher could also be based off a move from the Pokemon games.

 

[Choice Scarf]

I second testing out Usmash and Thunder. Can you also check if QAC is still in?

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

Definitely, I was planning on testing QAC myself. I won't put that in the list so other things I haven't thought about can have precedence but I'll write it down on the paper I'll bring with me in case I forget (not very likely though XD).

So, top 3:

1. Thunder mechanics; including whether or not Pika still floats if hit in air

2. Pikachu's new jab (headbutt) finisher move

3. Usmash strength (Brawl: will kill Fox at 107% on FD; will kill Pika at 108% on FD)

Other notes: remember to check QAC

 

[SmashShadow]

Definitely, I was planning on testing QAC myself. I won't put that in the list so other things I haven't thought about can have precedence but I'll write it down on the paper I'll bring with me in case I forget (not very likely though XD).

So, top 3:

1. Thunder mechanics; including whether or not Pika still floats if hit in air

2. Pikachu's new jab (headbutt) finisher move

3. Usmash strength (Brawl: will kill Fox at 107% on FD; will kill Pika at 108% on FD)

Other notes: remember to check QAC

Could you also test and see if you can B-reverse thunder like in brawl if that wasn't already covered by thunder mechanics.

OT: Pikachu's forward air looks to have better hitboxes as well as his thunder jolt being faster.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

Absolutely

Just to be sure we're on the same page, since that's a tech I think I did before learning its name: B-reverse is when you run to one side, thunder but then immediately turn back to the other side, causing your thunder to be in one place and you floating away from it, right?

If so, awesome. If not, I need to learn a new tech.

I will put the fair and jolt comparisons on there too just to make sure, so it's easier to verify later on.

Semi final list:

1. Thunder mechanics; including whether or not Pika still floats if hit in air, and if b-reversing is still present

2. Pikachu's new jab (headbutt) finisher move

3. Usmash strength (Brawl: will kill Fox at 107% on FD; will kill Pika at 108% on FD)

Other notes: remember to check QAC

compare fair hitboxes to be better and tjolt speed to be faster than Brawl

 

[Choice Scarf]

Thinking about it more and seeing some Pika play on stream today, can I also request Uair, D-tilt, F-smash, and Dash Attack properties as secondary objectives? Specifically, can Uair be acted out of shield and send opponents upward/weird directions? Is d-tilt still a good spacing tool? When does F-smash kill? Is dash attack actually useful? I can list more things to check about every move but if its too much then we can deal with it later (and just focus on the current things regarding Thunder, etc.)

Anyway, based on this, we could theory craft what Pika can and can't do.

• Quick Attack into ground causes massive endlag, QAC unconfirmed but sounding unlikely
  
• Apparently no smash DI, so maybe moves like Bair-copter and D-smash are harder to escape?
• Pikachu can "laser lock" - not sure what they mean here (Jabs? If no QAC then no QA lock)
  
• Throws are laggy - unsure about chaingrabs or follow ups after F-throw
  
• No crouch cancel = no CC to Dsmash
  
• U-smash out of dash and shield possible, so hopefully U-smash is useful
  
• Ledge invincibility based on percent, air time, and distance traveled - sounds like Pika could possibly double jump to double QA to sweetspot the ledge (really from anywhere) to take advantage of both the air time and distance conditions

Also, /r/smashbros had posts on how b-reverses were confirmed and aerials were laggy. So we should see how SHFF aerials and B-Turnaround Jolts work, because if they nerf QAC then Pika's approach options are suddenly very limited. B-reverse Thunder might actually become extremely important for edgeguarding.

I want to analyze the video from Nintendo's tourney (and the one match Pika was in) for some of the other moves so badly, it cannot come soon enough.

 

[Sapphire Dragon]

That's an awesome writeup. I can definitely do all those secondary objectives and maybe 3-5 more of them.

That's awful they reinstated lag on QA. -_- It's possible QAC still exists but you actually have to try to do it and do it correctly, otherwise you get the lag.

Will check bair copter and dsmash DI potential with Sudai.

I am unsure what laser lock means too- potentially some kind of trapping thing with b-reversed thunder and jolt since jolt looks faster? I'll have to see.

I will attempt as many followups on throws as I can.

Ledge invincibility is going to be hard for me to test because I don't usually pay a lot of attention to it. I can sweetspot the ledge but I don't abuse durations. I will still try to give a general timeframe for when the blinking stops, though. Also remember that skull bash is great for recovery (assuming Pika doesn't lose height with it now, I'll check that too). I will check SHFF aerials but I am not experienced with b-turned jolts, so I will try to practice that some tomorrow before I leave.

So, Semi final list again:

1. Thunder mechanics; including whether or not Pika still floats if hit in air, and if b-reversing is still present

2. Pikachu's new jab (headbutt) finisher move

3. Usmash strength (Brawl: will kill Fox at 107% on FD; will kill Pika at 108% on FD) Fsmash: (Fox@FD %, Pika@FD %)

4. Skull bash recovery

5.

Other notes: remember to check QAC

compare fair hitboxes to be better and tjolt speed to be faster than Brawl

trying QAC incorrectly may get you lag.

check bair copter and dsmash DI potential with Sudai.

try trapping with b-reversed thunder and jolt since jolt looks faster? laser locking?

try followups on throws

check b-turned jolts

check SHFF aerials and ledge invincibility mechanics

 

[Choice Scarf]

Great! Thanks so much for doing this. If people complain just say it's for science

I also found and will analyze the match from the invitational, but probably tomorrow so anyone else can look at it.