Some Pikachu Questions

[Demenise]

Hey. I'm trying out Pikachu in Brawl, for he was one of my favorites in Melee. Therefore, I have a couple questions about him.

1) Is he played by a lot of people?

2) Does it take a lot of skill to play as him? Does it take a lot of skill to play as him well (when compared to the skill needed to battle with other characters)?

3) Are there any matchups that you absolutely have to switch characters to play against the opponent, or does Pikachu stand a chance against everyone?

4) How does Pikachu do off-stage? Can he go off-stage for edgeguarding?

5) Where do you think he'll be on the tier list

Thanks.

 

[Van Jones]

Welcome to the Pika board.

1) Pikachu isn't played by a lot of people. ;(

2) It doesn't take a lot of skill to do things like spamming dsmash and tjolt, but it does take time and practice to correctly use all of Pikachu's techs. It is even harder to implement them in your game plan. However, it is VERY rewarding once you reach that level.

3) Match ups are subject to many variables. Things like pvp skill level and pvp familiarity affect match ups as much as the characters used do. Here is a link that depicts the overall feelings of this boards Pika players in terms of character match ups: http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=182206

4) Pikachu isn't a really good character to try to use off-stage. You can do things like thunder edge-guarding, but Pika should really try to stay on stage as much as possible.

5) I don't really know where Pika is going to end up, but I don't really care. All that matters to me is that I enjoy the game while playing with characters that I feel comfortable with.

 

[PkTrainerCris]

Hi demenise!!! LOL... another pokemon trainer on the pika boards.....
1) Hes not played by a lot of people, but unless now its played for more people tahn in melee( come on, i didnt know anyone else who used him well)
2) Pikachu is easy to pickup(good recovery, proyectile, thunder, dsmash, bair...are all attack easy to use and spam...) but its kinda hard to get at a good level with him, but when you do you will notice the diference easily
3) So far, i havent feel like any character makes an awfull match for pikachu, i think pikas game is versatile enough for having a chance in every battle
4) Offstage pikachu is a good character, not great, but good, he doesnt have any spikes or meteors, some of his aerials are great for juggling, nad others have good nockback, but i prefer the aerial battles on the stage, a plus of pikachus offstage game is that you can go very far without fear to suicide thanks to his good recovery
5) I think that pikachu is gonna be middle high or high tier

 

[Demenise]

Bad News Bear:

Thank you for all your help, and for that thread. What I really mean to ask is not what his bad matchups are, but if you think that, if you main Pikachu, you'll absolutely NEED a secondary to take care of some matchups that are too hard. Do you have an answer to that?


Chris:

Thanks. And yeah, I like Pokemon. Pikachu's always been one of my favorites, and in Brawl, I don't want to abandon Pokemon completely (even though my favorites are Pokemon Trainer, Pikachu, and Jigglypuff. )


Finally, I added something to number 4 if you guys want to expand on it. If not, then feel free to ignore it.

 

[Van Jones]

Alright, this is gonna be a round about answer, but here goes...

I would say that everyone should have a main, a second, a probably a third. I play three character because I enjoy playing the game that way, but I also believe that this approach toward the game is valid for two reasons:

First, playing around with many characters in order to find a second and a third allows you to familiarize yourself with the roster . By doing this, there is less of a chance that you will be surprised when someone picks a character that you do not normally battle against. (You also kinda have take this reason a step forward and learn the techs an stuff for the specific characters, or at least how they operate, but it still keeps your from being completely surprised during crunch time.)

Second, and most important (answering your question), I do believe that some match ups are simply too hard. If two people of equal skill are playing against each other and one player picks a character that has a known advantage over his/her opponent's character, that player already has the scale tipped in his/her favor. Now, if the player with the advantage is also the better player AND has complete command of the character's different techs, it can be near impossible for the player with the disadvantage character to win.

I know that a lot of players will disagree with me, but I am just givng you my $0.02

 

[Piman34]

pika is great in the air, and offstage too, with nair and with my research on wall jumping, even with some dair/fair really far off the stage that has good knockback can lead to easy low % kill's if you can get them off the stage (b-throw, thunder, etc)...for the most part he has a shot at beating every character, however as you will learn some are WAY harder than most. That being said, we try to discuss different characters here on the boards to help understand strengths and weaknesses, and help all the pika players to know what to do and not to do in certain situations

as far as a secondary: i would definitely pick someone who covers pikachu's weaknesses. Olimar is a good choice, as is meta knight or mr game and watch, they all bring something to the board that helps you cover most matchups

sorry if i repeated anything that was said, i dont have my glasses right now, and cannot see very weell >.<

 

[Waddle Dee Army]

1) Not really. I have two main characters and Toon Link is far more common than Pikachu. This gives Pikachu a huge advantage over Toon Link. Fewer Brawlers have seen Pikachu and are not sure how to fight Pikachu.

2) When compared to Toon Link, Yes. Pikachu's recovery is a pain in the butt to use properly. Toon Link is far less likely to suicide.

3) Nope. Pikachu does at least OK against every other character I faced. No significant disadvantage for Pikachu. None that I have seen.

4) Pikachu has several of Brawls best edge guarding techniques. Use them to your advantage.

5) The tier list is ********.

 

[gallax]

i would suggest finding someone to fight falco. like game and watch or DDD(chaingrab and offstage ability). other than that everythings pretty darn accurate.

 

[Waddle Dee Army]

i would suggest finding someone to fight falco. like game and watch or DDD(chaingrab and offstage ability). other than that everythings pretty darn accurate.

Why King DeDeDe? He is a large target and easy to hit. Mr Game and Watch can be challenge because of the evil bucket, but I usually have close matches with Mr Game and Watch. The Secret against Mr Game and Watch is this. Once he fills his bucket, he cannot use it to defend himself. Constant bombard him with lightning attacks which either smashes him, or he is forces him to empty the bucket to defend himself. Falco is a pain the butt. I only fought one good Falco I lost badly with Pikachu. My Toon Link won one and lost one, but Pikachu seemed useless. I just assumed I played a bad match.

 

[Kyari]

Why King DeDeDe? He is a large target and easy to hit. Mr Game and Watch can be challenge because of the evil bucket, but I usually have close matches with Mr Game and Watch. The Secret against Mr Game and Watch is this. Once he fills his bucket, he cannot use it to defend himself. Constant bombard him with lightning attacks which either smashes him, or he is forces him to empty the bucket to defend himself. Falco is a pain the butt. I only fought one good Falco I lost badly with Pikachu. My Toon Link won one and lost one, but Pikachu seemed useless. I just assumed I played a bad match.

I think he's saying to play as Game and Watch to make matches against Falco easier.

Game and Watch is a good choice, I agree with that.

 

[gallax]

i was saying to use DDD if you dont like G&W. his CG is great and the bair is a bad *** move. G&W is my counter for falco though. i am trying to learn this matchup as best i can but it is difficult without a good partner who uses falco. tommy g is the best in florida but i never play him. ESAM would be the best guy to talk to about this.

 

[phaMR2]

1. I haven't seen much people play with pikachu. I think that's a good thing. =D
2. IMO, pikachu is a character you can pick up and play with and be good with him quick. But to be godly with pikachu, time is required.
3. Negatory. At least, not so far.
4. Since his recovery is better than a good amount of characters, edgeguarding is definitely possible.
5. Tires don exit.

 

[Waddle Dee Army]

i was saying to use DDD if you dont like G&W. his CG is great and the bair is a bad *** move. G&W is my counter for falco though. i am trying to learn this matchup as best i can but it is difficult without a good partner who uses falco. tommy g is the best in florida but i never play him. ESAM would be the best guy to talk to about this.

I have not tried to use Game and Watch against Falco, but I will continue to use Toon Link agaisnt Falco.

 

[Stealth Raptor]

I personally use Lucario as my falco counter. but ddd? idk, i just cant see that being a counter. large and open to lasers, chain grabable (lol a word?), and slow compared to falco. I thought falco was too light to be cg'd by ddd......

 

[gallax]

naw, ive seen DDD win matches against falco. col bol beat tommy g(who has posted here before) with his DDD. its very hard, but it works. my counter for falco is still G&W.

 

[Van Jones]

My counter to Falco is Marth.