Skullbash is So terrible! - any reason to use it?

[Maple42]

With Heavy Skull Bash, you can kill mid-weight characters close to the edge with a jab reset at 17% ~
Tested on Sheik (as mentioned before, 17%):
Jab reset setup move (Fthrow, NAir, Dtilt) > Jab reset (3) > Heavy Skull Bash (charged as much as possible)
It really lets you capitalize on one missed tech ~
Even if you're not close to the edge for the kill, it still does the most damage out of all the jab reset options.

 

[Pogoshark]

Sometimes its good as a mix up, read a spot dodge and just skull bash since the starting lag is done by the time their spot dodge finishes. Its not the greatest, but the option is there.

 

[Perd_Zapley]

Other than recoveries I rarely use Skull Bash intentionally. However, in my noobishness, I've accidentally SB'd when I meant to QA and it's caught folks off guard or was able to punish a roll.


(First post, btw! Hi there, fellow Pikas, and thanks for all the great info on this forum!)

 

[Wiley]

Well I'm surprised, since I'm a newer Pika, that no one mentioned this as I just found it in my many hours in training mode with him.

Forward throw > quick cast skull bash at high percents connects nicely off stage for kills on cpu at the ledge. This just means it's yet another mix up for Pika. This forces high or low defensive options from people on future attempts. which you can then read depending on the mu and their recovery capabilities. But if Fthrow skull bash connects it's a kill at the higher %'s. Yes this is situational. and yes it's just a mix up that can be DI'd but mix up feels like a lot of Pika's game.


Another use is it puts you further out for gimping than a single full jump and you can aerial immediately after for deep gimping if need be with a saved jump.

Just what I've found so far. I don't much like it otherwise offensively, but you can't knock it at all for it's recovery ability. I feel like he has 2 hybrid recoveries that are very versatile... which to me is awesome.

 

[SafCar]

Well I'm surprised, since I'm a newer Pika, that no one mentioned this as I just found it in my many hours in training mode with him.

Forward throw > quick cast skull bash at high percents connects nicely off stage for kills on cpu at the ledge. This just means it's yet another mix up for Pika. This forces high or low defensive options from people on future attempts. which you can then read depending on the mu and their recovery capabilities. But if Fthrow skull bash connects it's a kill at the higher %'s. Yes this is situational. and yes it's just a mix up that can be DI'd but mix up feels like a lot of Pika's game.


Another use is it puts you further out for gimping than a single full jump and you can aerial immediately after for deep gimping if need be with a saved jump.

Just what I've found so far. I don't much like it otherwise offensively, but you can't knock it at all for it's recovery ability. I feel like he has 2 hybrid recoveries that are very versatile... which to me is awesome.

I feel like this could work well if you mix it up with grab chains where you punish a tech/recover from Fthrow with another Fthrow. This conditions them to try and do a get-up attack, only to be wide open to a free SB. If you get them off the ledge, there's even more options to take: Stage Spike potential with Bair, Edgeguard Omega stages with Thunder Jolt, or even drop down after a nair and pursue them with SB.

 

[p1ay6ack]

has no one seen ESAM use skullbash in the florida tourny? he pretty much won against diddy, and made a diddy player rage quit, using skullbash

 

[Perd_Zapley]

has no one seen ESAM use skullbash in the florida tourny? he pretty much won against diddy, and made a diddy player rage quit, using skullbash

I have not. But I want to!

 

[Ritronaut]

has no one seen ESAM use skullbash in the florida tourny? he pretty much won against diddy, and made a diddy player rage quit, using skullbash

That wasn't really skull bash, it was Heavy Skullbash, it is a custom Pika move and I think it outclasses normal skull bash because it gives him a kill option in the air, something Pika never had, along with a 50/50 mixup that could potentially kill at ridiculously early percents. Pikachu gets even better with customs.

 

[PKMudkip]

DI is probably the best reason, but it can be used as a finisher in a combo though.

 

[Pixel_]

Does anyone else use it to mix up getting to the ground?

Offensively, I've tried charging it all the way, mostly to see how they react in hopes of breaking a shield, but it never really worked so far.

 

[Passion]

Other than recoveries I rarely use Skull Bash intentionally. However, in my noobishness, I've accidentally SB'd when I meant to QA and it's caught folks off guard or was able to punish a roll.


(First post, btw! Hi there, fellow Pikas, and thanks for all the great info on this forum!)

This. For some opponents, unleashing it at full-charge against their shield will push 'em too far to punish, that's a thing... but other than that, for lols? Or the whole ride to the other end of the stage gives you time to think about what you had for breakfast.

 

[Afrobean]

The only time to use skull-bash offensively is if the opponent is screwing around long enough for you to fully charge it. Otherwise, it should only be used as a recovery.

If they're screwing around and letting you fully charge it, there's a good chance they'll shield it and get a free punish while Pikachu is lying on the ground taking a nap after the attack is done.

I like using Skull Bash offensively though. Just always uncharged. For reads and mix-ups. One easy read is if you think they might roll away, shooting off a Skull Bash can encourage them to roll away... only to get hit by Skull Bash anyway because it has a longer range than their roll. Another way of tricking people to get hit is if you're running away to the right and your opponent is chasing you, suddenly using side B to the left catches people off-guard all the time. It can also be effective at catching people off-guard if you aim to just barely hit the tip of their head or the lowest part of their feet. Not sure why that is, probably because they don't know how to time the shield or they don't think you're actually trying to hit them?

And if your opponent isn't good or just doesn't know how to react to unusual strategies, you might be able to spam side B. That's pretty fun.

Oh, I also like using it to bait. I'll Skull Bash over their head for a recovery when Quick Attack would probably be better/safer, but I plan it out so that I should be able to act again before they can get to me. They'll think they get a free hit because I was sloppy with my recovery, but actually they just end up running into a bair or something while trying to punish. Do people think Pikachu's side B leaves him helpless or something? I'm honestly surprised by how often this works for me.

But yeah, even vanilla Skull Bash can do a lot of great things. If you're only using your Skull Bash for recoveries, you're not getting your money's worth.

 

[Thor]

Missed Rest and shieldbreak punish. I believe it hits harder than any other move Pikachu has.

Similar application for teams when a teammate lands a grab in a 2v1 - start charging it and release a partial charge the moment they ground release from the grab.

The use of skull bash to beat out Bowser Junior's clown kart is something I'll keep in mind...

 

[SafCar]

Missed Rest and shieldbreak punish. I believe it hits harder than any other move Pikachu has.

*cough cough*Fsmash*cough cough*

 

[Thor]

*cough cough*Fsmash*cough cough*

Are you telling me fully charged sweetspot fsmash does both more damage and more knockback than skull bash? I'd thought fully charged skull bash did more KB at least. Also if fsmash is somewhat stale but skull bash is fresh, skull bash would then be better [stale moves are a thing].

 

[Pikabunz]

Uncharged fsmash has more knockback than a full charged skull bash. Also skull bash should never be used as a bait, read, mix-up, or whatever. It's awful offensively!

 

[PikaTrey]

I'll use skullbash sometimes as a chase option to catch rolls

 

[Dark 3nergy]

I mean its only real use is as a mix up for recovery. This is actually very important, why? Skull bash can be charged and Pika sits in place while it charges up. Depending on how finicky the opponent is, you can bait them out to do a move whilst you charge it. The move cancels when you grab the ledge and lets not forget if you accidentally use it mid platform the ending lag is not so bad if you fall off the stage. Back to recovery though, with Quick Attack having a lot of applications on the stage a good opponent is gonna learn how you use it quickly, so throwing in a Skull bash to stall or mix up recovery will throw the smart ones off. Stalling with Skull bash back and forth, especially if your really high in the top of the blast zone, is a great way to get yourself to relax and think for a moment while you stall. Stalling is actually a good idea to do for really heated fights against a smart opponent so I recommend it.

 

[Uncle Honey]

I've been messing around with skull bash used to gimp Luigi's recovery.

 

[Afrobean]

Stalling with Skull bash back and forth, especially if your really high in the top of the blast zone

Yeah, I love doing this. I've had it backfire a little once or twice, but it usually works out alright. Because Skull Bash is so bad, people aren't familiar with it, so they have a hard time predicting and punishing it, even when it's totally punishable.

 

[MrTeddyBear]

Hey guys, I was wondering how you can go extra far with Skull Bash/Heavy Skull Bash, like much further than usual. I saw ESAM do it in this video at around 2:40, and I tried to replicate it with no success. The thing I tried was performing side+B like a smash attack, since Diddy's side-B goes further when performed like that. Maybe it has something to do with the momentum from Dark Pit's down B?I think I've seen it in his other videos too (the recent tourney matches from Florida) but I'm not sure if he did it under the same conditions (performing it right after getting pushed away). So I'm wondering what causes the Skull Bash to go that far?

EDIT: After further testing I've found out that it was indeed the momentum from Dark Pit's Down B that made Skull Bash go that much farther, and it works with any move that sends you horizontal. I think it works a lot like the Wectoring thing that Wario used to have in the early stages of the game.

 

[SmashRacer]

If you use Heavy Skull Bash as soon as Hitstun have ended, you get some sort of Momentum Boost and go much farther than usual. That's all

 

[Kaladin]

Skullbash gives us infinite horizontal recovery. Nothing to sneeze at.

 

[Pikabunz]

So Skull Bash is good for ledge guarding against some characters. If you know they're going to the ledge just skull bash at the ledge and hold down. By holding down you won't grab the ledge and you leave a very long lasting hitbox that will hit if they try to grab the ledge. This can even stage spike!

 

[Lomogoto]

It can be used to punnish someone who wiffs their up b but still has too much mobility to punnish with another attack. Charging it to cover the whole ground so they have no place to land safely can be a better option sometimes.

Beside that punnishing people who roll away too often or throw out poorly spaced and/or overly charged smashes. Players with huge hitboxes (DDD comes to mind) occasionally feel too safe with charged smashes so i will start to charge skull bash to punnish the enevitable wiff.

 

[Thor]

So Skull Bash is good for ledge guarding against some characters. If you know they're going to the ledge just skull bash at the ledge and hold down. By holding down you won't grab the ledge and you leave a very long lasting hitbox that will hit if they try to grab the ledge. This can even stage spike!

This actually works against almost everyone due to the 1 frame of vulnerability before grabbing the ledge, although some [like Mario bros.] are hardish to hit with this due to the nature of their up+b. I find it especially useful vs Sheik [and am considering trying it vs Villager], and it's made even easier with Heavy Skull Bash because Heavy Skull Bash never snaps the ledge [like Little Mac's up+b].

 

[Underhill]

You'll be lucky if you either hit somebody by accident or their shield to the ledge with the Skull Bash to push them off; Otherwise, good luck using it outside of the recovery.

Usage for Skull Bash

• I do it by accident when I try to use the thunder jolts for a b-reverse.
• I sometimes use the Skull bash as a mix-up when I get launched on top-left or right with di as long its not Fox, Rosalina, Marth, Sheik, or even Link to catch me with their disjoint up-airs to beat it either to juggle me or for a early kill.
• If I'm on Battlefield, FD, Town and City, or Smashville, I full charge the skull bash and use it to go under the stage to avoid pressure off-stage and being read. But only if its a slow character and not Mario, Captain Falcon, Zero suit Samus, Fox, or Sheik because there's good chance for them to go for a ledge trumip or punish me if QA angle is being read, mostly by Mario.

 

[Zanku]

skull bash offstage towards someone trying to get back onstage or for the ledge after their double jump or if you can challenge their upB and it stops them dead in their tracks and gimp them

 

[DoleNath]

I've used it to mix up people thinking I'm going to back air them while they are trying to recover. Its funny when you stage spike someone with skull bash then footstool them to their death.