Hey all, reviving this thread now that I learned more about the game and analyzing skull bash more. I don't really know what I'm trying to argue, but I feel skull bash's uses are either too niche or already covered by the rest of Pika's kit. So I guess I would like to see it tweaked and given more utility considering how... I don't know, incomplete it feels?
We can agree skull bash is useful for horizontal recovery. The endlag after release makes Pika plummet quite a bit, so you can't use it too low, but Pika's quick attack helps recover from deep anyway. But because Pika is light, there's a rather fine limit where you can use skull bash offstage and not get punished by it since too high of a percentage would just kill Pika off the side. Use it too close and you could either fly over the stage vulnerable to attack from below or close to the ledge in the area where many characters are comfortable edgeguarding. Therefore even as a recovery augmentation to quick attack it is still situational. So what other uses can we make for it?
I always thought that a move named "skull bash" implied good offensive capability. However, because of its low knockback and massive endlag it is unsafe to use in neutral and not rewarding when uncharged. It's also closer to the Melee version, so the buffs to max speed/distance and damage cap from Brawl aren't there. The biggest issue with skull bash is its commitment - once you use it you have to go in a linear direction and suffer endlag whether on ground or in the air. Charging it also leaves Pika very vulnerable to counterattack, which would cancel out the charge and render your efforts useless. It's saving grace is that you can act out of it, but because of the endlag it is hard to follow up with another move because the opponent is ready for you. So there are many elements of the move that make it both unique and detrimental.
Trying to take leaves out of the pages of other characters, it seemed the theoretically best way to use such a move was either as a punish/tech chase, a combo finisher, or movement option. Looking at similar moves, the closest move to skull bash in terms of properties and use is Luigi's Green Missile, which gets the benefit of the misfire which increases its speed, power, and most interestingly, its hitbox size (If the hitboxes are like melee's shown on
this thread.) It's somewhat unpredictable, though the indicator mechanics PM has provided Luigi means it has instantaneous and controllable mixup potential can get some use offensively as combo finishers, as discussed
here. It can also be stored via shield, so while you have to commit with a regular missile the fact that it can be stored gives it much greater offensive power. Granted, it suffers the same vulnerabilities of endlag, but the threat of the misfire makes it riskier to punish.
Other characters have similarly punishable moves, but they at least have more benefits than skull bash does:
- Wario's Side B - good knockback and hitbox growth as a punish, can be cancelled via jump/squat ground, little endlag from aerial landing
- Squirtle's Side B - Has negative priority and a small hitbox but can be turned around, cancelled, and used at various speeds
- Ike's Side B - can be jump cancelled into a myriad of options, offstage is risker but can walljump out of it
- MK's Side B - similar weaknesses but at least has some directional control, I want to say it's harder to hit out of during active frames, not sure
- Peach's Side B - in the same vein as Pika but apparently has enough knockback to make up for it (thread)
So while Pika has all of these problems to deal with, other characters' equivalent moves are either powerful enough to justify its vulnerabilities or don't have as much commitment. So if you read wrong or react to slowly, suddenly you're at the disadvantage. This makes techchasing very tight and not worth it, especially since the lack of immediate knockback and damage makes successful reads little rewarding.
Punishes are also unfeasible in normal situations. You'd want to charge skull bash enough to both knock the opponent at least offstage AND put them in enough hitstun to follow up properly AND have a situation where they wouldn't just shield or spotdodge. So what does that leave us? High percentages where you should have just killed them with Up smash or Bair? Rest punishes and shield breaks, where a fully charged Up smash or F smash does more damage? Maybe offstage where you have the risk of skull bashing off the screen and SD'ing off the side?
What's left is the movement options. I found you can't tilt and smash skull bash for different lengths, but that didn't really serve a purpose in melee anyway since it was only about a character length difference. But there are a lot of it's neat little tricks involve a lot of ledge play and take advantage of how skull bash can grab the ledge, and true to Pikachu they all require meticulous positioning. Working with the ledge is also great because it removes Pika's endlag issue:
- Skull Bash from the stage and land on the edge for a ledgehog
- From the ledge, drop down and immediately skull bash for ledge stall shenanigans
- Jumping offstage as if going for a gimp, but then skull bashing back to the ledge (mix-up? Easier means of turning around?)
While this is useful, Pika can do all of this with Quick Attack, which is faster (speed), safer (snaps to ledge quicker), and has more directional versatility. Since a Pika main would probably be using more quick attack anyway there's little reward from memorizing another set of movements/positions when they are limited and punishable. Maybe you can use it as movement mixups like how you can walk instead of dash, but just jumping or dashing/walking would better serve that purpose.
So TL;DR Skull bash is redundant in every situation, where that's only good for recovery and even then barely. It's just too risky to use, and it's unfortunate because Pikachu already has his "use this move to get punished" move in dash attack. I don't like the idea that a character would have moves with this lack of utilization, and while you can argue that moves with less utility are present among many characters I hope it is in the PMBR's creative interests to reduce such traits from the whole roster without leaving Pikachu behind.
So...I guess, discuss? Any possible uses I may have not considered?
not really worth it
