short hopping is overrated for Pikachu

[Spyckie]

As Pikachu, I find myself short hopping less and less. Why is that? Well, a full hopped thunderjolt has no landing lag, and this is the best thing that Pikachu has by far, slightly better than QAC, many times safer than fair-> dsmash, and all in all, very, very abusable.

First, Pikachu's projectile angle is perfect. I mean, there is absolutely no better angle that you can have for a projectile. Why? because the projectile guards pikachu as he approaches someone on the ground, which makes it a very safe approach. Because there is no landing lag, you can do thunderjolt->dsmash, thunderjolt -> grab, or anything else that you fancy. Its very good... its effectiveness is on par with falco's laser spamming in melee.
A 'nice try award' goes to mario, whose fireballs go slightly downward, but not nearly enough to do any good.

Second, Pikachu can MOVE IN ANY DIRECTION before and after the thunderjolt. Lucas has to go backwards, and ness can't move at all. Pit... I laugh in his general direction. Pikachu can use it as an approach or as a defensive maneuver, and no landing lag means that enemies trying to get close will have an fsmash or dsmash to their face.

Third, it places pikachu in a superior position against most other projectile spammers. Pikachu is above them while they are on the ground. Most projectile spammers spam forward; very few go up at an angle (yoshi and boomerangs is about it). It frustrates them to no end.

Finally, you can QAC full hop thunderjolt. It integrates well with pikachu's other moves already - what's not to like?

In short, why use the short hop fair as the staple approach since you have a chance of getting shield grabbed, out prioritized, or just plain getting owned? With the full hop thunderjolt, you're bound to have an effective all round approach, defense, and projectile spam that will leave your opponent with very few options to attack.

The full hop thunderjolt. Brought to you by sakurai himself.

Disclaimer -

No, I don't mean to say you should give up shorthopping altogether; keep it in your arsenal for mindgames, shield counters, and certain characters that it works against. I'd just like to see some more full hop ownage since no one really has picked up on it yet.

 

[Noypi_GjD]

The topic should be "Full Jumping is Underrated" instead of "Short hopping is overrated." Short Hopping is still superior for characters with great aerials without landing lag. For example, Wario is amazing with his SH Dairs, Fairs, and Uairs =/.

 

[BrawlBro]

Ya but we're not talking about wario, this is the pikachu thread..

Ill have to give this a try but I agree the angle on his full jump thunderjolt is just plain saucy.

 

[D20]

Short hop fair autocancels. You can do combos out of it like short hop fair --> utilt --> utilt --> uair --> nair. Short hop fair --> dsmash works great, too. Finally, short hop nair autocancels.

 

[Ussi]

i agree, full hopping is much more effective. But still Mario's cape stops it =\.

 

[DTKPch]

On your point about QACing a fullhop thunderjolt, doesn't QAC lead to 2nd jump, so it's impossible to shorthop after QAC anyway?

 

[Tagxy]

short hop nair autocancels? I can't seem to recall whether it does or not, but I thought it didnt.

 

[Spyckie]

tagxy, it does - however, you can still get hit out of fair and nair by other attacks, and autocancelling isn't as good as it sounds because you are limited to attacking right out of your jump (which may not be the best timing for your attack anyways).

And, you can't get hit out of thunderjolt

 

[leafgreen386]

FJ'd thundershock is a tactic I abuse a LOT, although sh'd fair is still a very good approach. The fair has the priority and instant lead in to combos, which I find is better most of the time, especially considering pika is fairly speedy. Then again, I like playing in close quarters as often as possible, as it severely limits the opponent's options. Getting hit out of a fair is a problem, although that's where the speed and priority come in. You're trying to catch them with it when they can't do anything about it. And remember that even if you whiff, dsmash is fast, and has range and priority, basically eating through whatever your foe might retaliate with.

I abuse FJ'd thundershock when my foe is spamming projectiles, when they aren't fast, when I want some more space but I'm out of dsmash range, and most importantly when I feel like whatever I'm doing isn't working. It interrupts their flow, and helps you gain control of the pace of the match by getting out of their range and forcing them to make the approach if they just stand there. Although I tend to meet them halfway there, and use the thundershock as my own approach. It's a very good move, and I don't deny that, but I would never use it as the main way to approach a foe. I dislike "resetting the cycle" (a term I use for when play shifts from one player applying pressure to having both players separated again, and one or the other having to make a whole new approach) too much, as typically once I get in close quarters, I can shift the match to my advantage with proper spacing of fairs, dsmashes, and fsmashes (I like this move too much for my own good, probably, but it's range and ability to disrupt an approach and catch an opponent out of the air is so good!), but hey, if that isn't working, then resetting the cycle, getting some space, and from there tipping the balance in my favor is a fine plan.

 

[Lucky 1276]

i agree with this; i use this strategy all the time especially against those ike players who like charging up their moves

 

[Night-k-]

in pika vs pika... man thunderjolt is a powerful approach compare to shorthop

 

[aznzc]

i agree with what everyone is saying about full jump should be used more, the thing that tend to happen in a full jump is you get air combo on. i mean i only use full jump when i am barely above their short hop so the thunderjolt will hit them head on. but i still think short hop is still better to increase pikachu's speed factor. i recommend quick attack thunderjolt to full jump cause you can't short hop off that. that way u don't have to use either short hop or full jump.