Some Falco questions I have.

[Blueberry Kong]

Hey guys, since Brawl is dead, and I enjoy all smash games, I am looking to improve on my melee skills. I have chosen Falco as my main (yay)! I have all the tech skill so don't worry about that, but I have a few questions for you all:

1. How do I approach? I usually do so with Nair/Dair, but I generally find myself getting shield grabbed.

2. How do I play the neutral? Am I supposed to laser when they are far, and just space Bair when they are near? When do I go in?

3. How do I recover? Is it better to up b onto a platform? Should I ever side b onto stage?

4. How do I get back on from the ledge? Should I ever use normal getup, jump getup, or getup attack? Is ledge drop > jump the only viable option?

5. What do I follow up after a shine? A dair? Another shine in the air? Can up air work?

6. What throws do I use? They all seem so bad (lol).

7. How do I edgeguard? Do I sit at the ledge and ledge drop bair if they try to go on stage?

Answers to some or all of these questions are greatly appreciated - thank you.

 

[FriendGuy]

I am a terrible player but here's what I hear and say.

1. Don't go so deep into someone's shield. Failing that, remember to a. start your aerial late, b. fast fall, c. L-cancel. Shine ASAP. If they shield that too, jump away ASAP, with a fade back aerial if you can.

2. Someone who isn't a nub can answer. I just know that I laser when I can, and the enemy tends to make mistakes under the pressure.

3. First, try to go for somewhere they can't cover, but the most important thing is never be predictable and mix it up. Remember that side-b can be shortened by pressing b again during the *shing*.

4. Jump get-up is usually always a bad thing. Anything but ledgehop/ledgedash is dangerous when you're over 100%. Again, the important thing is to not be predictable.

5. Dair is good. Midair shine > dair is also good if you can pull it off (matchup/percent dependent). Uair is kinda iffy, but works if nothing else can reach. Bair or nair are good to get them off the stage if they're at a decent percent. Combos will come with experience. For now, focus on 2-3 hit combos, hit the lab sometime and and see what else works.

6. Falco's throws don't usually lead into anything (except sometime down throw). Grab is better for a mixup option, then throw to gain positional advantage / offstage. For D-throw, you can follow up if they miss the tech with shine or d-tilt (delayed a split second if they tech in place), or with a whole slew of options if they tech roll into a ledge / on a platform.

7. That's a good option, yes. Run offstage > double jump > Dair, making sure not to SD, is also pretty good for low recoveries. Downsmash is good, being lower body invincible and all, but can be wall teched.

Feel free to slay me for anything terrible I've said, good falco mains.

 

[Solarquatic]

I am a newish player as well, here's how I would answer:

1: Though it gets predictable (especially vs. competent people) dash-SHLs are my favorite way to approach. Lots of easy pressure to get people either moving or off the ground so getting shield grabbed isn't as much of an issue. When you finish approaching with Nair/Dar (my faves as well ) like Friendguy said, immediately throw out a shine, and if they're still around, just JC away.

2: In my experience when playing in the neutral, especially vs low mobility chars, SHL is your friend for maintaining stage control. it gives you an easy source of ranged pressure, and if you mix up with DDs/SHFFLs, you can easily find yourself setting up for a pillar, which is my go-to combo that I abuse against newer players who cant DI well. Vs. people who can DI though, I suggest playing it a bit safer and not always be trying to approach, use lasers to their full potential.

3: What Friendguy said is good here. Mix it up often, that's the key when being near the ledge.

4: ^

5: Shine->Dair is the base for setting up pillars, so I suggest learning it well. Timing etc. is MU dependent tho. IMO dair is one of if not the best of Falco's aerials, but for more shine followups, i've seen other people do midair JCS->Bair be used fairly often. Myself, I just stick to dair.

6: Falco's throws have a lot of potential, but yeah, some of them are iffy lol. (I'm looking at you, upthrow) Personally I prefer the air Dthrow as a combo starter because you can follow up with a shine or dtilt very easily, the first leading to a possible dair/such and the later setting up for more stuff vs. spacies in addition to being a solid kill option at high percents. Something I've found vs. spacies as well is that if you can guess their DI will be rolling away from a Dthrow, you can Bthrow, turn around with a dash, and regrab. This is pretty easy to DI out of, but against an unsuspecting opponent, you might be able to chain 2-3 together. Lastly, near the edge Fthrow->dair is also nice.

7: Friendguy has good answers IMO, lol. Runoff-DJ-Dair is very nice for hitting people who come in around stage level, and for people who mix it up by going higher, Bair works nice, same as if you are hanging off the ledge and can dropjump-Bair to keep them away.