Pikachu's Neutral Game

[busken]

Any character's neutral game should be centered around converting into their win condition. Some character's have viable options into getting their win condition making them all the more viable. In this meta, a classic example would be Luigi. Luigi's win condition is obviously the grab because off it he has guaranteed kill-setups. Not only does Luigi have many tools to get the grab(fireball, u-tilt, sour spot nair, jab, etc) but these are all viable options in other aspects of the neutral such as approaching, spacing, and mix-ups. To make matters even worse, grab beats one of the most strongest defensive options in the game(shield).

Pikachu's win condition is converting edge guarding into a kill. If have watched any Pikachu's montages you'll see that more often then not that edge guarding and missed techs are often converted into kills. Pikachu's neutral game should basically consist of getting the opponent off-stage and covering tech options. Utilizing tools to achieve this goal is how to maximize Pikachu's viability as you are playing to your greatest strength.

Pikachu has many mix-ups in the edge guarding department such as QA into ledge trump and special move manipulation. As edge guarding is very MU dependent the most important thing to champion is option select and risk vs. reward. I encourage you to post videos on how you edge guarded a certain character and what options you considered. Getting the opponent out of neutral is the real challenge though. However, with QA ledge cancels,n-air, and d-tilt are great spacing options and can help lead into tech chases where option select and stage positioning are the most important things to consider.

In this thread, feel free on set-ups you use to get the opponent out of neutral, get stage control, and overall option select in tech chases and edge guarding. Character specific scenarios are encouraged as well. Feel free to share spacing options as well as combos that have flowchart formula for option select.

 

[DeathlyFerret]

Thunder Jolt, Thunder Jolt, Thunder Jolt.

Thunder Jolt gives good coverage, is hard to avoid, and can possibly set up for grabs/attacks.

 

[DeathlyFerret]

However, with QA ledge cancels...

Quick Attack also cancels on slopes and moving platforms.

 

[NachoThePikachu]

I'm a bit of a risk taker, and I'll go way off the playform to chase and finish off players that I managed to send off screen. A simple Neutral Air, if sweet spotted, will kill very easily. Fast falling Fair into someone to deny them access to the ledge is also something I've done, as well using the same arial to give a final push off screen.
Bairing someone to the bottom of the stage should be fairly easy to do if you can react quickly enough to save yourself.
Pikachu's QA will easily save you if you go digging around offstage, so I'm willing to do that. (Saving an extra jump just incase ain't too bad of an idea either)

Thunder, if you let it hit you, will catch you in the air (as well as give you a tiny jump, if I remember correctly) and give you a chance to recover. This can stop high-recovering characters in their tracks, haha, and if you're lucky enough, actually meteor with it. (Surprisingly enough, I've done it once or twice. It was awesome :D)

It really depends on the character you're combating. Low-recovering characters are easier to make recovery-fail and high-recovery characters are a little more tedious to deal with without thunder-spamming >u>

 

[ClassicJono]

QA ledge trumps are weird. I can do them sometimes and sometimes I just QA edge cancel instead. I just hold the joystick towards the ledge after a QA ledge cancel but sometimes it doesn't work (occasionally I SD if I'm only using the first part of QA).
What are the exact inputs to perform QA ledge cancels?

 

[Ritronaut]

If I remember correctly, Pikachu doesn't gain much from ledge trumps does he? his bair has no extention like most bairs so usually you don't get much off of a ledge trump, except I guess if they regrab the ledge you can punish their vulnerability. Actually now that I think about it the ledge regrab vulnerability strategy could be really good, since people might be caught off guard by the QA trump.

 

[M15t3R E]

If I remember correctly, Pikachu doesn't gain much from ledge trumps does he? his bair has no extention like most bairs so usually you don't get much off of a ledge trump, except I guess if they regrab the ledge you can punish their vulnerability. Actually now that I think about it the ledge regrab vulnerability strategy could be really good, since people might be caught off guard by the QA trump.

I have waited on the ledge before and dropped down to let the opponent grab it and ledge trumped with a QA and proceeded to bair them. On the other hand, this has also backfired. I don't know how safe it actually is. Probably depends on the opponent's character's aerial game.

 

[phili]

If I remember correctly, Pikachu doesn't gain much from ledge trumps does he? his bair has no extention like most bairs so usually you don't get much off of a ledge trump, except I guess if they regrab the ledge you can punish their vulnerability. Actually now that I think about it the ledge regrab vulnerability strategy could be really good, since people might be caught off guard by the QA trump.

Punishing ledge vulnerability is really good. Trump, then get up on stage and bait your opponent into regrabbing ledge. Once they regrab, you can dsmash, which sometimes stage spikes. Imo this is a very good option for pikachu.

If the opponent is clever and decides not to grab ledge after being trumped, you can follow their attempted landing on stage and punish it with grab, usmash, or even dash attack (if they are at very high percents).

Also, QA is not necessary for ledge trumping. With Pikachu, it is extremely easy to run off the edge of the stage and immediately grab ledge. It is so easy, that sometimes you may grab ledge accidentally when trying to run off stage and use an aerial. QA is still useful though, if you happen to attempt an edgeguard and miss it, you may QA to the ledge, possibly trumping your opponent.

I hope this information is useful. Happy edgeguarding!

 

[Ritronaut]

Punishing ledge vulnerability is really good. Trump, then get up on stage and bait your opponent into regrabbing ledge. Once they regrab, you can dsmash, which sometimes stage spikes. Imo this is a very good option for pikachu.

If the opponent is clever and decides not to grab ledge after being trumped, you can follow their attempted landing on stage and punish it with grab, usmash, or even dash attack (if they are at very high percents).

Also, QA is not necessary for ledge trumping. With Pikachu, it is extremely easy to run off the edge of the stage and immediately grab ledge. It is so easy, that sometimes you may grab ledge accidentally when trying to run off stage and use an aerial. QA is still useful though, if you happen to attempt an edgeguard and miss it, you may QA to the ledge, possibly trumping your opponent.

I hope this information is useful. Happy edgeguarding!

I hadn't considered down smash... That sounds actually really good for stage spiking. (Or possibly even getting the 1 frame vulnerability?) Also, I know it isn't necessary to QA for ledge trumps, but you can quick attack and kind of slide on the stage from mid-stage to the ledge, which could really catch your opponent by surprise.

 

[RunawayPanda]

Why study neutral when we can skip it?
Up b in, up b out and shake it all about

Ok but seriously, I like to mix up the way I play a lot when I play. I can go from a very campy thunder jolt(y) styles to a super rush down style (way more fun), but changing it up is obviously really important. I played a lot and started to plateau in skill and I noticed that I used up b way too much (ironic ^), but up b is great to punish random rolls when they are far and can sometimes lead to something like up air. If you have a jump happy opponent, power shield them and grab or go for a down smash, it's a great anti air.

And extending into getting that off stage gimp to get a kill, you can shoot a t jolt and run along side it and either confirm into an up smash (if they don't shield) or a grab (if they do shield). This will allow you to throw them off stage. Then do all ur thunder, bair and nair shenanigans.

 

[Tachyon3]

Another great option when ledge trumping with Pikachu is to use thunder. If your opponent is at high percent, and you knock them off the ledge with a ledge trump, and wait for your opponent to grab ledge again, the base of thunder actually hits characters hanging on the ledge . Due to the opponent being on the ledge, this option can kill at around 80-90% with rage.

Then after that if you ledge trump again, it becomes a mix up from there. You can ledge trump, run back and do a pivot forward smash because your opponent doesn't want to grab ledge again.

If we're talking straight ledge trump to bair, then you are right. Pikachu does not gain much from ledge trumping. That is where we have to be creative. Too many times I see players letting their opponents grab ledge for free when they can force a ledge trump and be in an advantageous position. Nothing bad really happens when you go for the trump unless you mess up and fall off the stage haha.

Let me know what you guys think about these options and see if they work for you

 

[Thor]

As for ledge-trumping, if you can do that adorable walk-off bair trick [where you instantly land and do the landing hit], you'll stage spike them [and this often deeply confuses people].

Otherwise off ledge trump, I like one of three options - 1) if they airdodge, fastfall and try to hit them with the meteor on thunder you can get the cloud to spawn basically at ledge height if you're gutsy, and can still recover as long as you double jump before thunder, OR get onstage and either 2) run off bair when they go to ledge [will get them, not as awesome as the other bair trick but it works and is way easier] or 3) wait to space an fsmash when they regrab ledge.

If they don't airdodge, I like get onstage because even if they don't go for ledge again, they now have to land, and we can cover that.

Edit after reading thread: That thunder trick above sounds godlike.

 

[busken]

Basically, Pikachu's edge guarding strategies vary in viability from MU to MU. What we really need to find it HOW TO GET OUR OPPONENT OUT OF NEUTRAL. We need to find combo set-ups that get us into advantageous positions, QA mix-ups to stay unpredictable, and thunder jolts to apply pressure. We also need to find how we can achieve the latter. How to get the initial grab to to start combos, to get into an advantageous position. How to use QA as a cross-up option, etc. Now that I think about it, a combo thread would be really helpful.

 

[Emuchu]

@ Tachyon3 : I agree with what you're saying. Pikachu doesn't get a freebie with his ledge trumps the way a Shiek or Falcon would, but that's really par for the course as far as we're concerned, right? I also recently watched that "Slip Edge" Tech of the Week video, which is pretty neat since you can bait certain offensive recoveries (Marth and Mario UpB-ing past the ledge to hit you before the ledge snap comes to mind) by loitering around the edge and then roll dodge into the trump or a Nair / Bair.

@ Thor : Please tell me more about this walk-off Bair trick! It sounds a bit like, "if you fall off the ledge and instantaneously Bair, Pika will land on the stage." Is that what's happening? So would you ledge-trump > get on stage > Bair trick? Or is this way cooler than I'm imagining, here, and it's actually ledge-trump > release > Bair trick, were you can somehow get that move out right from the trump?

@ busken : I agree that the neutral game is a tricky thing to pin down with Pika--the discussions here often focus on what to do once you've hit someone rather than how to go about hitting someone. I actually find Pika, weirdly enough, to be most analogous to Sol Badguy / Ragna the Bloodedge from GG / BB. They're all characters that are horrifying to have on top of you because they just go ham and hit buttons, but they all have to combine those gutsy plays with a surprising amount of neutral footsies to get in there. There's a theme on the boards for those guys of, "If we knew exactly why we did everything we'd probably play [someone else]," and you can see this kind of thing with, say, ESAM's Pika where it sort of looks like he's always going ham and YOLO-ing, but really a lot of Pika's gameplay is matchup-, stage-, and player-dependent and you're just building a really long vocabulary of really specific responses to really specific situations.

What I find to be the most helpful way of thinking about Pika is that I want leverage what my opponents are expecting from Pika and punish their counterattack response. In other words, you have to learn to punish people for what they will do rather than what they have done, although that reactionary piece is useful, as well. For example, everyone knows about Pika's SH Fair FF: it's one of his best combo starters, Pika's like to approach with it, and it's dirt easy to shield grab. So you can land a SH Fair FF out of grab range, watch for the grab attempt, and then bam! You go ham with Dair > trip > Grab > Zap > Fthrow > Dash Attack > Fair > Fair. Another example: Pika's QA is really unpredictable, and annoying, so often times your opponent will try to predict where you'll go and punish you for it with a YOLO Usmash or whatever. I like to QA as an offensive approach and usually aim to hit with the 2nd movement, so observant opponents will start to shield the hit and Utilt or something as a punish, so you can, say, spot dodge Ftilt or Pivot Fsmash after the landing since you already know they're likely to attack out of shield. There's a certain methodical ballsiness that goes with playing the Pika neutral, where you have to make calculated risks to provoke your opponents into pressing buttons that they think are safe punishes, but that are really your chance to explode in their face (Yes, I know that PIKACHU doesn't learn EXPLOSION).

Geez, wall of text. I'm procrastinating at work! Sorry!

 

[busken]

@ Tachyon3 : I agree with what you're saying. Pikachu doesn't get a freebie with his ledge trumps the way a Shiek or Falcon would, but that's really par for the course as far as we're concerned, right? I also recently watched that "Slip Edge" Tech of the Week video, which is pretty neat since you can bait certain offensive recoveries (Marth and Mario UpB-ing past the ledge to hit you before the ledge snap comes to mind) by loitering around the edge and then roll dodge into the trump or a Nair / Bair.

@ Thor : Please tell me more about this walk-off Bair trick! It sounds a bit like, "if you fall off the ledge and instantaneously Bair, Pika will land on the stage." Is that what's happening? So would you ledge-trump > get on stage > Bair trick? Or is this way cooler than I'm imagining, here, and it's actually ledge-trump > release > Bair trick, were you can somehow get that move out right from the trump?

@ busken : I agree that the neutral game is a tricky thing to pin down with Pika--the discussions here often focus on what to do once you've hit someone rather than how to go about hitting someone. I actually find Pika, weirdly enough, to be most analogous to Sol Badguy / Ragna the Bloodedge from GG / BB. They're all characters that are horrifying to have on top of you because they just go ham and hit buttons, but they all have to combine those gutsy plays with a surprising amount of neutral footsies to get in there. There's a theme on the boards for those guys of, "If we knew exactly why we did everything we'd probably play [someone else]," and you can see this kind of thing with, say, ESAM's Pika where it sort of looks like he's always going ham and YOLO-ing, but really a lot of Pika's gameplay is matchup-, stage-, and player-dependent and you're just building a really long vocabulary of really specific responses to really specific situations.

What I find to be the most helpful way of thinking about Pika is that I want leverage what my opponents are expecting from Pika and punish their counterattack response. In other words, you have to learn to punish people for what they will do rather than what they have done, although that reactionary piece is useful, as well. For example, everyone knows about Pika's SH Fair FF: it's one of his best combo starters, Pika's like to approach with it, and it's dirt easy to shield grab. So you can land a SH Fair FF out of grab range, watch for the grab attempt, and then bam! You go ham with Dair > trip > Grab > Zap > Fthrow > Dash Attack > Fair > Fair. Another example: Pika's QA is really unpredictable, and annoying, so often times your opponent will try to predict where you'll go and punish you for it with a YOLO Usmash or whatever. I like to QA as an offensive approach and usually aim to hit with the 2nd movement, so observant opponents will start to shield the hit and Utilt or something as a punish, so you can, say, spot dodge Ftilt or Pivot Fsmash after the landing since you already know they're likely to attack out of shield. There's a certain methodical ballsiness that goes with playing the Pika neutral, where you have to make calculated risks to provoke your opponents into pressing buttons that they think are safe punishes, but that are really your chance to explode in their face (Yes, I know that PIKACHU doesn't learn EXPLOSION).

Geez, wall of text. I'm procrastinating at work! Sorry!

I personally believe in very methodical game play. You think about every situation and perform an action. Not saying that you shouldn't take risks but you should weigh that with the reward. This approach to the game is the reason why Mew2King often called the "robot" has been very successful. The first sentence in the last paragraph is pretty much universal, but their are many things to consider to get an accurate read. Whenever I try to go for a play when my opponent has a bunch of options I think about "Have I exposed them to this situation before; are they expecting it?" "What is their best option?" "What move can I use to cover multiple options?" "Are they playing off their habits?" "What do I risk and what is my reward?" "Do they have MU knowledge?"

A common example is that most people expect FH TJ approach with Pikachu. They never get hit by it and they usually choose a defensive option to avoid it such as roll, spot dodge, jump, and shield. The pikachu player might think "I know he is expecting X approach, so I'll chose Y option, to counter opponent's Z response. This, in my opinion, is a mistake. I usually go by the phrase "Everybody is dumb until proven otherwise" Basically, never assume that your opponent will know what you're doing until they prove it. No matter what approach Pikachu takes he has no option to cover both roll, shield, spot dodge, and jump at the same time. Their are even MU variables which make it even more complicated. It's an unnecessary risk that would reap a small reward. In the beginning of a game, you usually want to go for safe options and be sure not to overextend or commit. The benefit to playing defensively or safe, is that you can scout out the opponent's reactions and make more accurate reads. Well, this is completely off-topic.

 

[Thor]

@ Thor : Please tell me more about this walk-off Bair trick! It sounds a bit like, "if you fall off the ledge and instantaneously Bair, Pika will land on the stage." Is that what's happening? So would you ledge-trump > get on stage > Bair trick? Or is this way cooler than I'm imagining, here, and it's actually ledge-trump > release > Bair trick, were you can somehow get that move out right from the trump?

I have done it myself in training and got it exactly once in tournament [but they buffered roll so it didn't work anyway]. It's really tricky [I think it's frame perfect or almost frame perfect], but ESAM attempted it in tournament, though the guy was still invincible so nothing happened. I'm trying to find the video where he does it but I have yet to find it [I think it occurred on FD].

Basically if you walk off and immediately bair, you land onstage instantly and get the landing hitbox [it's frame one]. From what I heard in the video, this hitbox will launch them up [and maybe in?], so it stage spikes them, and it's near instantaneous. It also looks adorable [just the bair landing animation, but doing it from a walk]. If we could get ESAM in here he might be able to explain it more.

And yes it's ledge-trump > get onstage > bair trick. You can't do it directly from the ledge as far as I know.

 

[busken]

I have done it myself in training and got it exactly once in tournament [but they buffered roll so it didn't work anyway]. It's really tricky [I think it's frame perfect or almost frame perfect], but ESAM attempted it in tournament, though the guy was still invincible so nothing happened. I'm trying to find the video where he does it but I have yet to find it [I think it occurred on FD].

Basically if you walk off and immediately bair, you land onstage instantly and get the landing hitbox [it's frame one]. From what I heard in the video, this hitbox will launch them up [and maybe in?], so it stage spikes them, and it's near instantaneous. It also looks adorable [just the bair landing animation, but doing it from a walk]. If we could get ESAM in here he might be able to explain it more.

And yes it's ledge-trump > get onstage > bair trick. You can't do it directly from the ledge as far as I know.

Any footage?

 

[Ritronaut]

I'm 99% sure I got it. It took me a couple tries, but I think got it. You have to walk off and I would suggest using the C stick for inputting Back air since it makes it 10x easier.

The inputs are Walk off>C stick Bair>Immediate hold back on the analog stick

(Also I'm sorry for the bad quality, I would adore a capture card but money is a thing)

Maybe I didn't do it right? It did absolutely nothing, no stage spike, just some average hit sending diddy a little to the right. nothing ):

Diddy was at 80% by the way, and pikachu was at 0%.

Useful or not, could this be done consistently? Probably.

 

[busken]

It seems useful because it sends them at a favorable position to be edgeguarded.

 

[Adam Sanders]

I think to play the neutral as Pikachu you have to be able to bait your opponent in to throwing out moves which you can then punish. I would say the best moves to use in neutral are fair,down air, quick attack, down tilt and thunder jolt. These are all fairly low commitment moves which I think are the best to bait out reactions and still remain relatively safe. You have to use these reactions to your moves to build up a picture of your opponents habits which will help you out of the neutral and into an advantageous situation.

You can use your replays to analyse specific parts of the neutral game you are losing. This can then help you to pick better options when you face the same opponent the next time.

 

[Gibbs]

So I mentioned some of this in the thread on tilt controls and perfect pivots, but I think that Pika's grounded neutral is severely underrated at the moment. All I hear usually is how pika's neutral relies on FH t-jolt and QA. While it's true that these tools are extremely powerful, if they were patched out of the game tomorrow I still think Pika would still be in the top half of the cast and be borderline competitively viable.

Fox trotting and full length dash dancing are super useful for pika, and super underutilized. There has been a lot of detractors to smash 4 dash-dancing because it's a pale shadow of the spacing tool that was dash dancing in melee. But just because it's not as good as it was in melee, doesn't mean it's not a great option that people should be incorporating into their game.

To compensate for the predictable length of full length dash dancing, incorporating perfect pivots out of fox trot provides pika with his fastest micro spacing options. With all the spacing options that these movement options net us, the mix-up and mind-game potential is huge.

The biggest benefit I've seen from incorporating foxtrotting and dash dancing is that I've been landing a lot more d-tilts, up-tilts, forward smashes, and grabs. And that's not even considering how much mileage I've gotten out of QA out of dash dance.

 

[Migetman3214]

Hey guys,

Just thought I'd point out some things I like to do or have done (which have probably been pointed out already) and the success rate I've had with them (if I were fighting a decent opponent).

-NeutralB -> grab -> Uthrow -> Uair -> Fair(FF) -> Uthrow -> Uair ->Fair(FF) -> Usmash
7/10 - Works especially well with bigger fighters (ex: DK, Bowser)

-grab -> Uthrow -> jump + DownB
4/10

-Dash -> NeutralAir (x3)
2/10 - Usually works at lower percentages, FF is bad for this

-Fair FF with opponent off stage (meteor smash)
4/10

-grab -> Fthrow -> Fair (FF) (x3)
7/10

-Fair (FF) (x5)
9/10 - Max times I've been able to chain is 5

-Utilt (x5) -> Uair -> Fair (FF) -> grab -> Uthrow -> Uair -> Bair
5/10 - Usually at low percentage
ALT1: -Utilt (x5) -> Uair -> Fair (FF) -> Usmash
6/10
ALT2: -Utilt (x5) -> Usmash (held)
9/10
ALT3: -Utilt (x5) -> Uair -> Fair (FF) -> grab -> Uthrow -> DownB
3/10

Another thing I found is that using DownB in the air definitely tricks your opponent because your fall speed increases really slowly. I usually use it if I'm hit into the air and they're waiting for me to come back down. They charge their smash and I usually have another jump ready after DownB. It's risky, though. If your opponent is really good at reacting and reading, they'll take advantage of the ending lag.

I main Pika and I'm only decent. My reading and button/stick execution aren't that good so I'm always messing up what moves I do vs. which moves I meant to do. Any tips will help!

 

[busken]

Thats punish game not neutral game

 

[Megamang]

I think of pika like Ali. Ropadope those dopes. Perfect pivot backwards dtilt is probably the safest thing in the world. You are tiny, abuse this a lot. I agree pika will have more ground game in the future. Learn what moves whiff with a dtilt, because you can punish and dodge simultaneously. For example, if ryu starts charging a fsmash, a ducked pika dodges unless you are totally way too close.

Crawling needs more usage, back crawl is nice for spacing. Back crawl away from ledge getup into tilt into edgeguard is sweet, and really safe (if they ledge roll, you utilt! Woo).

B reverse your tjolts to attack with cover, or to just alter your momentum positively.

Quick attack is game changing. Pika gets like 40% from bnb utilt uair nair stuff, this is right when qa2 starts comboing. Done properly, this means one hit can lead to really high damage or kills once pika gets in. Or, pika can easily reset to neutral if he feels threatened. When to do each is a matter of playstyle, but remember your options!

Ftilt angled upwards does more damage, and can kill around 135 at the ledge. Personally i keep it fresh for this alone, as it has really helped me secure kills against fsmash savvy players.

 

[Felth]

This is the Current Neutral Rankings, I think that we should talk more about the Neutral Game of Pikachu. I want to develop more the Neutral of as a community. Please help me with this goal . First of all we need to answer some questions.

Some important questions:

• What are the differences in Pikachu's neutral game when the opponent has 0%, 50%, 100% ?
• What if Pikachu has rage?
• Pikachu Approaching options.
• Pikachu tools to beat an approach
  • Aerial approach
  • Ground approach
  • Platform approach
  • Projectile grounded approach
• Pikachu pressure
  • General pressure in the Neutral
  • Shield pressure
  • Against opponents with reflectors
  • Against opponents with better projectiles

If you want to share some important information or discuss about other subjects, please comment.

 

[Felth]

Someone has some ideas about Shield pressure?
It's possible to do a Fair safe on shield? If not, it's possible with other aerial? Depends on the MU?

 

[busken]

Someone has some ideas about Shield pressure?
It's possible to do a Fair safe on shield? If not, it's possible with other aerial? Depends on the MU?

F-air isn't safe on shield and landing f-air is super telegraphed. RAR u-air however is a good option on shield, since you can drift back and land with stuff like TJ or quick attack to keep up the pressure. D-tilt is also very safe on shield as well.
Generally, Pikachu's shield pressure is all about forcing your opponent to drop shield and punish them for it.

 

[A10theHero]

What are the differences in Pikachu's neutral game when the opponent has 0%, 50%, 100% ?

I know this specifically asks for information about Pikachu's neutral game, but I included some extra content. Basically, I wrote about what your goal is, your main options in neutral, and some things you should aim for when in the advantage state through those tools.

Something that stays consistent regardless of your opponent's percent are your defensive options. This includes Quick Attack, Down Tilt, Thunder Jolt, SHAC dair, crouching/crawling, and RAR uair. The defensive options will pretty much always have the same role (Down Tilt is a safe shield poke, Thunder Jolt can lead to a grab or force a reaction, etc.) but at later percents, they may gain additional uses (like being useful for jab locks). Regardless, they will always have these original roles.
The roles of the offensive options (fair and Quick Attack) change as your combos and strings change. For example, at low to mid percents, fair is good for comboing. At higher percents, it becomes better at sending your opponent offstage.*

Spoiler: *

Note that even at low to mid percents, fair could lead to edgeguarding situations and kills depending on your spacing and stage control, but at higher percents, it becomes more consistent at doing so, to the point that I would call that its new main role.

Anyways, without further ado, here it is:
0%: Racking up damage (this is where Pikachu excels)

Spoiler

You can accomplish this goal by initiating a string with fastfall fair, grab (mainly Down Throw), up tilt, Thunder Jolt or Quick Attack. Your goal is to hit them upwards, stun them in the air with a Nair or hit them with a fastfall fair, and up tilt/re-grab them once they're on the ground again. Try and get as much as you can from these strings.
Other combos/strings such as SH fair to FH fair and Forward Throw to Dash Attack are also viable choices.
When playing it safely, Down Tilt can be a good tool for poking shields. If you trip your opponent with it, you can grab them and initiate a string. Quick Attack, Thunder Jolt, SHAC dair, crouching/crawling, and RAR uair are also more defensive options.
If you can get them offstage while performing your strings, you can edgeguard them and potentially earn some quick kills.

50%: Still racking up damage (and maybe earning some kills)

Spoiler

Your defensive options remain the same for the most part. (As you will see later, some of them can lead into a jab lock at these percents)
Strings are shorter at this percent. Down Throw to uair can still be a true combo depending on a few factors and it could still potentially lead into other aerials. The lower the percent is in this range, the easier it will be to initiate and perform a string.
Nair isn't as useful of a combo tool at these percents but it becomes a better OoS option in terms of knocking your opponent away.
Jab locking could get you a kill at these percents. Down Tilt (which starts allowing jab locks around 60-70%), SHAC dair, nair, Forward Throw, and Jab (off a platform) will be your main ways to start a lock (assuming your opponent doesn't tech; note that they can't tech a platform tumble). Forward Smash is your best follow-up to a jab lock--it is a strong move with a somewhat lingering hitbox which gives some room for error in your timing. I remember Pikabunz said that Up Throw/Down Throw (such that they land on a platform above you) followed by a partial graze with fair (to lock them) can also be useful in certain situations.
Edgeguarding is also a potent option here. At higher percents, it's naturally easier to knock your opponent farther away from the ledge.

100%: Getting the kill (the struggle is real most of the time)

Spoiler

If you can get a read with a Smash Attack, you can get the kill. You can be punished for this, however. So try to play patiently and avoid being predictable with this.
Your kill confirm in the range of about 100-150% is of course Up Throw to Thunder. Unless you've practiced this combo a lot in both Training Mode and actual matches, this isn't going to be that reliable for you. The more you practice this, the better off you'll be. Do note that if you can grab and Up Throw your opponent fast enough, they might not DI and you can get the easy version of this combo.
Also realize that getting a grab is much harder at these percents. Fastfall Fair, Thunder Jolt, and read are the only things that can lead into a grab.
Like before, your defensive options stay the same.
Down Tilt and SHAC Dair might still be able jab lock depending on the character. Jab off a platform definitely will still work.
Edgeguarding can also lead to kills, so getting your opponent offstage is a viable option. A lot of options such as fair and OoS nair can no longer lead to strings, but it is much easier to knock your opponent offstage with these moves and initiate edgeguard.

What if Pikachu has rage?

His strings are shorter. They still work pretty well but you will have to account for rage. For example, at low percents, you may be able to chain 4 up tilts on your opponent. With rage, you may only be able to use one or two. Regardless, you can still follow up with a fastfall fair to bring your opponent back down for a grab.
Killing also becomes easier.
This is something ESAM tweeted fairly recently:

Sheik:
U-smash: Smashville 96 (no rage) 93 (50% rage) 82 (100% rage) 74 (150% rage)

I...I didn't realize how much of a difference rage made

— ESAM (Stride Esports) (@imESAM) March 1, 2016

These percents are from the sweetspot of Pikachu's uncharged Up Smash on Sheik with good DI on Smashville.
As you can see, rage can have a noticeable impact on your kill percents. A lot of moves that kill at outrageously high percents can kill at somewhat less outrageous percents with rage.
However, because Pikachu is a light character, he won't benefit as much from rage as, say, Bowser or some other heavy character. Nonetheless, surviving to high percents is not impossible. Unless you're fighting a character with solid kill confirms (not that even Sheik's down throw is simply a 50/50) or you died early to a good Smash Attack read, you can still benefit from this mechanic.

Pikachu Approaching options.

• Pikachu tools to beat an approach
  • Aerial approach
  • Ground approach
  • Platform approach
  • Projectile grounded approach
• Pikachu pressure
  • General pressure in the Neutral
  • Shield pressure
  • Against opponents with reflectors
  • Against opponents with better projectiles

If you want to share some important information or discuss about other subjects, please comment.

I am pretty tired right now, so I will add more to this post later.

Someone has some ideas about Shield pressure?
It's possible to do a Fair safe on shield? If not, it's possible with other aerial? Depends on the MU?

As busken already said, fair isn't always safe on shield. However, it can be if you execute it well:

A perfectly auto-canceled fair is +1 (or -6 with oos) for Pikachu. This is almost as good as Sheik fair.

(http://smashboards.com/threads/pikachu-metagame-discussion.373464/page-17#post-20227455)
Other than that, I agree with pretty much everything busken said with the addition of SHAC dair. It's an alright defensive technique as a cross-up on shields. Of course it has other uses such as punishing spot dodges, edgeguarding, and trading aerials. But the fact that you can land behind them after executing the move is why I'd say it has use when playing defensively.

 

[Lethrokai]

Hey guys, semi-related issue here but I've been considering the change between using c-stick for tilts and for smashes and I was wondering which you guys find being more beneficial to neutral. For example tilts could be better for microspacing with down-tilt or getting the early frames on up-tilt but at the same times I've found myself getting quick reactionary down-smashes and f-smashes through reads in neutral which have changed games for me using c-stick for smash attacks.

So which do you feel works best in Pika's neutral game?

 

[busken]

Nah, f-air isn't plus 1 on shield

 

[A10theHero]

Hey guys, semi-related issue here but I've been considering the change between using c-stick for tilts and for smashes and I was wondering which you guys find being more beneficial to neutral. For example tilts could be better for microspacing with down-tilt or getting the early frames on up-tilt but at the same times I've found myself getting quick reactionary down-smashes and f-smashes through reads in neutral which have changed games for me using c-stick for smash attacks.

So which do you feel works best in Pika's neutral game?

The difference is minimal in my opinion.
Personally, I like c-stick set to tilts. Perfect pivot down tilt and up tilt are pretty nice and I wouldn't have access to them without this setting. However, their benefits in neutral aren't that substantial. I don't know what your skill level is, but perfect pivots only add a slight nuance to your playstyle anyways--this is the kind of thing to learn only after you've mastered normal spacing. To be honest, choosing not to have a c-stick set to tilts wouldn't mean you could never be a good Pikachu player. So I'd say that having your c-stick set to tilts is better, but it wouldn't make a huge difference in neutral.

Nah, f-air isn't plus 1 on shield

Pikabunz , can you confirm or deny this?
Is an auto-cancelled fair safe on shield?

 

[Pikabunz]

Pikabunz , can you confirm or deny this?
Is an auto-cancelled fair safe on shield?

Yes, if it is perfectly auto-canceled and you land outside their grab range.

 

[Gibbs]

Yes, if it is perfectly auto-canceled and you land outside their grab range.

Frame advantage is so complicated in this game. Since Mac has a frame 3 upB OOS could he hit a perfectly spaced/auto-canceled pika fair? What about Bowser (more mobility in whirling fortress, but later startup at frame 6)

 

[busken]

Yes, if it is perfectly auto-canceled and you land outside their grab range.

No such thing as perfectly autocanceled. It's just an autocancel. Secondly do you have any footage of this because from what I know and tested this is incredibly false.

 

[Pikabunz]

Frame advantage is so complicated in this game. Since Mac has a frame 3 upB OOS could he hit a perfectly spaced/auto-canceled pika fair? What about Bowser (more mobility in whirling fortress, but later startup at frame 6)

I don't know how much range Mac's upb has, but it's fast enough to punish it if it's OoS. The OoS advantage for auto-canceled fair is -6 so that means anything that can come out in 6 frames OoS will be fast enough to hit Pikachu before he shields.

No such thing as perfectly autocanceled. It's just an autocancel. Secondly do you have any footage of this because from what I know and tested this is incredibly false.

When I say perfectly auto-canceled I mean landing on the first frame that fair would auto-cancel. If you land on a later auto-cancel frame then you're going to have a worse frame advantage. ESAM has even talked about how safe fair is on shields. If you want proof then look at Pikachu's frame data and do the math.

 

[Baby_Sneak]

Y'all have like, no poking tools lol. Y'all have the speed to get around attacks, so I think it's heavily MU-based with y'all

 

[A10theHero]

Y'all have like, no poking tools lol. Y'all have the speed to get around attacks, so I think it's heavily MU-based with y'all

Down Tilt says hi.

 

[Baby_Sneak]

Down Tilt says hi.

Small ranged, no?

Are you controlling space with that thing? The closest spacing tool you guys have is Fair and that's short-ranged too. Playing neutral for y'all is all about getting around attacks and dipping and dodging to get close

 

[A10theHero]

Small ranged, no?

Are you controlling space with that thing? The closest spacing tool you guys have is Fair and that's short-ranged too. Playing neutral for y'all is all about getting around attacks and dipping and dodging to get close

You were asking for a poking tool. Down Tilt only has a shorter range than Forward Smash, and it is +1 on shield.
It has more range (and is generally safer) than fair. And yes, you can space with it. The neutral you described is for a more defensive Pikachu. That definitely is a part of his neutral but we can't forget to mention his ability to apply pressure. Aggressive Pikachu (aka 90% of ESAM's playstyle) can force a reaction from your opponent and punish them. This baiting and punishing is also important. Thus, in my opinion, an optimal Pikachu player should play a mix of these two styles.

 

[Baby_Sneak]

You were asking for a poking tool. Down Tilt only has a shorter range than Forward Smash, and it is +1 on shield.

So technically you guys do have pokes (I wasn't literal btw, just comparing pika to others), they're just not as good as others