Pokémon Trainer pre-release strategy/trick compilation

[chaostails7]

Hey all. I'm spending way too much time obsessing over this character, so I've come up with a list of what I hope are non-obvious strategies/tricks that may help once the game comes out. Let me know if you have suggestions to improve this list, and feel free to try these when the game comes out!

I will update stuff as discussion progresses, though probably not once the game actually releases.

Disclaimer: I don't know if all of these will work yet, as a good chunk of them are theorycrafting. Many of them I've actually observed, but a lot of them I've just thought of.

• Switch to close and/or shorten combo windows
• Switch to prevent opponents from getting a read on you
• Switch to stall against overextending opponents that double jump/go deep for edgeguards
• Switch to avoid committal kill moves (like Up-Bs) mid-combo to turn certain death into 50/50s

Neutral

• Upsmash opponents landing on lower battlefield platforms
• Cross up shields by approaching with neutral air dodge
• Cross up a shield with Nair
• After crossing up a shield, Ftilt from behind
• Ground rush Ftilt
• Edge cancel withdraw
• Use withdraw to cover distance faster
• Withdraw under linear fsmashes, such as the Belmont's
• Ground rush crouch under linear fsmashes
• Use Water gun to clash with opponent's projectiles(?)
• Release charged water gun during ground charging to maintain stage position when opponents run in
• B-reverse water charge
• Charge water gun while moving by cancelling w/short hops
• Defend yourself during water gun charge with SH aerials
• Use water gun to whiff punish opponents from outside of their range
• Use water gun to punish landings

Edgeguarding

• Ledge Trump -> Bair
• Shield on ledge, then cover all ledge options with UpSmash OOS
• Use dair drag opponents down to the blast zone at low percent

Recovery

• Use water gun to spray ledge trapping opponents
• Hit opponents standing too close by waterfalling above the ledge, then falling back to the ledge if you miss
• Hug the wall on stages with a sloped wall (like Battlefield), then waterfall facing away from the stage and grab ledge backwards
• Wall cling -> Waterfall

Landing

• Mix up your momentum by B-reversing an aerial water gun charge
• Mix up between jumping out of an aerial water gun charge, air dodging, or releasing it
• Withdraw as a RARE mixup

Neutral

• Up throw to bullet seed
• B-Reverse SH bullet seed
• Jab, Nair, Bair, or bullet seed out of shield
• Nair -> Utilt
• Razor leaf on shield to approach
• Space razor leaf to hit shield as you land a grab
• Razor Leaf to UAir/Vine Whip
• SH vinewhip (Does this Autocancel?) to hit platforms and anti-air
• Dair through platforms
• Untechable Dair to Uair (kill confirm?)
• Fair near the edge -> Dair offstage spike at low-mid %s
• Ground Rush Dtilt

Edgeguarding

• Dair spike through stage lips
• Nair drag down to blast zone
• Bullet seed ledge scoop
• React to getup options with Bair
• Ledge Trump -> Bair
• Razor leaf to force airdodge -> grab ledge -> Bair

Recovery

• Use razor leaf to turn around when knocked off stage to cover yourself with Bair
• Razor leaf just above the ledge while recovering to disrupt ledge traps
• Dair stall
• Vine whip can go past horizontal or even down
• ...or just switch to Charizard

Landing

• Mix up DAir stall with No Float dair (performed with a fast fall)?
• Fast-fall Bair

Neutral

• Flare blitz through certain projectiles (like Cloud's)
• Ftilt, Bair, or flamethrower to damage shields -> Flare blitz to break them
• Ground Rush Ftilt for a safe, dangerous poke
• Ground Rush Utilt to juggle
• Ground Rush jab or Dtilt
• Fly out of switch
• Back throw -> Fair at 0

Advantage

• Techchase w/Flare blitz
• Shield on ledge, cover all options with UpSmash

Edgeguarding

• Flamethrower edgeguard - angle down for vertical recoveries and hitting ledge
• Short burst of flamethrower to halt momentum
• Spam new faster Nair

Disadvantage

• Use Fly super armor to combo break

Recovery

• Flare Blitz high against slower opponents
• Stall and mix up momentum with 3rd jump before angling Fly

Landing

• Don't even try. Just switch to Squirtle
• ...if you really must, then Fast Fall Neutral airdodge may work
• Landing Dair may beat many anti-airs

Note: I used this thread for reference for certain things, including formatting, and the Pokemon Trainer Discord for a lot of discussions.

 

[FlameSSBU]

Sick Guide. Lots of good info. Whats the P Trainer discord?

 

[chaostails7]

Disclaimer, which I will add to the original post: I don't know if all of these will work yet, as a good chunk of them are theorycrafting. Some of them I've actually observed, but not all.

The PT discord is here https://discord.gg/dKR3hkY

 

[1FC0]

It would be great if PT has combo's that extend beyond Pokemon, like maybe combo'ing from Squirtle's moves into Ivysaur's Uair.

 

[chaostails7]

Definitely not going to happen. 38 frames of switch is going to outlast any endlag of your last move. MAYBE you'd get 50/50s.

 

[1FC0]

That is what I expect too.

 

[Jmacz]

Do we have to wait for approval for the discord, no messages are showing up for me?

 

[Masonomace]

Okay so, I've really taken a liking to the OP. Well done, I really like this concept "sheet" of a strategy for battle in general. Someone correct me if I'm wrong because admittedly I haven't kept up with PT meta all that recently but, stale move negation won't refresh its queue with switching, right?

Like, if you were Squirtle and charged Water Gun without using it, your first Bullet Seed as Ivy switched over wouldn't weaken in damage and or launch power, would it? If this was a topic, then we could sum up PT's move-set to be carefully utilized properly in that you wouldn't weaken all three character's moves throughout the match / set.

Example: Both Ivysaur and Charizard have useful side specials and back aerials. This is because Ivy's razor leaf and back air are extremely useful for Neutral, and bullying into Advantage whereas for Charizard, his flare blitz is a destructive tech-chase kill and back air's sweetspot kills very reliably with little to no Z-axis issues along with relatively low landing lag for such a move. So in case one is using Ivy's razor leaf and back aerial too much, Charizard heavily loses his kill power for flare blitz and back air if Ivy was switched for Zard at later percents.

I wanna say that I don't own the game personally. I would normally have these things labbed out extensively, but just curious about it. If it was like this, then it comes down to "is Squirtle's X move a better move overall to his kit than Ivy's or Zard's X move?"

I could make this post much more useful if I was experimenting with everything but alas. What do you all think?

 

[chaostails7]

Unfortunately, staleness transfers between pokes during a switch. More thought will have to be put into how that affects things - right now, it's hard enough to manage combos and tricks for 3 characters @_@

 

[arbustopachon]

You can skip the switch timer by using up b vith ivysaur

 

[chaostails7]

It's actually any special move or taunt - anything that the trainer has an animation for. This makes solo-maining a lot more viable, and lets you keep to the matchup you like.