The Captain Falcon Q&A Thread

[BLI7ZARD]

question does falcon have any moves that can actually stop mks tornado?
And are/is(grammar?)his dtilt/Ftilt/utilt/ safe on block at max distance?
are his aerials safe if they hit behing the shield?

 

[Player-3]

i THINK ftilt is safe on block except agaisnt d3 and diddy with a naner,

FK and falcon punch stop tornado

 

[Acedude55]

Falcons d-tilt is underated

>_>
<_<
discuss

 

[Player-3]

obviously ace

so is his ftilt

 

[BLI7ZARD]

i THINK ftilt is safe on block except agaisnt d3 and diddy with a naner,

FK and falcon punch stop tornado

are you kidding me may be i should just stick with peach lol

 

[teluoborg]

Running away makes tornado stop.
Utilt can beat it, but you have to be mad good with the timing and spacing.

 

[BLI7ZARD]

oh yea i forgot about falcons speed thanks

 

[Darky-Sama]

question does falcon have any moves that can actually stop mks tornado?
And are/is(grammar?)his dtilt/Ftilt/utilt/ safe on block at max distance?
are his aerials safe if they hit behing the shield?

Utilt, Downsmash, Raptor Boost (depending how low to the ground the tornado is), Flubbed Knee (from the top of the tornado; very strict on timing and not recommended), Aerial Falcon Kick.

Once, I knocked MK out of the tornado with a Reverse Uair as well, but I couldn't ever get it to hit again after that. Not too recommended.

 

[RjPunch]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of picking up a third character. Who to pick up?
I'm having troubles trying to use ATs in my gameplay. What would be the best way to train?

 

[Darky-Sama]

Hey guys, I'm thinking of picking up a third character. Who to pick up?
I'm having troubles trying to use ATs in my gameplay. What would be the best way to train?

Dedication to your character is the only way to ensure improvement. But of course, we all main Captain Falcon here, so having at least one character as a secondary is probably the best option if you're trying to get anywhere in tournament placement. I'm not entirely sure who you should pick up though.

My two mains are:
-Zero Suit Samus.
-Captain Falcon.

It's always best to have at least one high-top tier character as a back-up incase things get too gay. Lol.

 

[Pete278]

On that note, who do you think would be the best secondary? Does Falcon have any really ungodly matchups that need covering, or does a more general counter-secondary work better?

 

[Darky-Sama]

Personally, my worst match-ups with Falcon are usually taken care of by my Zero Suit.

Bad MUs:
-Meta Knight
-Falco
-Pikachu
-Peach
-Luigi
-Mario

I would recommend seconding someone like Marth or Toon Link. Mainly for the fact that Marth is a pretty solid character with his range and superior air game. He has very few match-ups that aren't in his favor -- and he's not really that bad of a choice for a secondary for 'any' player to use, regardless of who they main.

Toon Link, the main reason I'm recommending him is because of his projectile control. That's one thing Falcon lacks, a projectile game- and Toon Link has one of, if not the BEST projectile game in Brawl (next to Snake). He has decent kill potential, a good recovery, multiple projectiles that can be used for mindgames and comboing. A decent character if you know what you're doing with him.

Snake is another good choice. No real need for me to explain why, since it's Snake we're talking about. But hey, most Snake mainers second Captain Falcon, so I don't see why Falcon mainers shouldn't use Snake.

Zero Suit Samus; not too sure how comfortable anyone else would feel about using her as a secondary, but she's a good choice too considering she has a way around just about anything thrown at her. She has a chaingrab on half the roster, a stun lock on the space animals, an infinite on ROB and Wario (though Wario can avoid it by spamming his bike). Best of all, if a player decides to get spammy with ya, you can spam right back. Double downsmash to sweetspotted Fair deals about 35%+ without failure.

Uhhh... or you could use Meta Knight. I've started using Meta Knight a bit more, for the reason he's one of the coolest Nintendo characters out there -- and if you go to a real tournament and you want MONEY, he's certainly your best bet at getting it. Yep, yep.

 

[lordhelmet]

I second MK but only use him if my opponent is a ***.

 

[teluoborg]

Marth is pretty good second for Falcon mains because you already know how to play him/her.
Because Marth's gameplay is so ****ing similar to Falcon's.

Spacing based gameplay ? Check.
Spammable aerial ? Check
First hit Nair ? Check.
Killer Uair with no landing lag ? Check.
Invincible UpB of doom ? Check.
Grab release on MK ? Check.

The only thing Marth lacks is awesomeness. But on the other hand he has better range and 555 options for any given situation.

Truly the best choice unless you want to keep looking manly, then go for DK or Jiggs.

 

[BigLord]

Jiggs is manly? Lol paradox.

I also use MK, mainly because he was so cool when I first starting using him. I even considered maining him, but I've always mained the good captain (in every other smash game) so I wanted to keep using him. I didn't even know MK was top tier and Falcon was bottom tier, lol.

Now I main the bottom tier and second the top tier, derp. I only use MK when I'm up against someone REALLY tough, though.

Speaking of that, here's a question: do you guys think pushing an opponent off the stage can be a good thing? I mean when he's shielding and we're hit him, he, uuuh, gets pushed off the stage by the knockback.

Can it be punished in some way?

 

[lordhelmet]

Jiggs is manly? Lol paradox.

I also use MK, mainly because he was so cool when I first starting using him. I even considered maining him, but I've always mained the good captain (in every other smash game) so I wanted to keep using him. I didn't even know MK was top tier and Falcon was bottom tier, lol.

Now I main the bottom tier and second the top tier, derp. I only use MK when I'm up against someone REALLY tough, though.

Speaking of that, here's a question: do you guys think pushing an opponent off the stage can be a good thing? I mean when he's shielding and we're hit him, he, uuuh, gets pushed off the stage by the knockback.

Can it be punished in some way?

You have to predict how they will get up from the ledge.

If they hit "A" or "over" you can punish them with a Knee. Roll you can dsmash them, if they jump you can uair them.

 

[Darky-Sama]

Jiggs is manly? Lol paradox.

I also use MK, mainly because he was so cool when I first starting using him. I even considered maining him, but I've always mained the good captain (in every other smash game) so I wanted to keep using him. I didn't even know MK was top tier and Falcon was bottom tier, lol.

Now I main the bottom tier and second the top tier, derp. I only use MK when I'm up against someone REALLY tough, though.

Speaking of that, here's a question: do you guys think pushing an opponent off the stage can be a good thing? I mean when he's shielding and we're hit him, he, uuuh, gets pushed off the stage by the knockback.

Can it be punished in some way?

Yes, Jiggs is manly. Her hair is actually a tumor.

Pushing an opponent off the stage can be a great thing. Mainly because it's easy to predict how a player will recover with their character and depending on how good you are at timing your attacks, you can punish in various ways; possibly even a knee. If they stay on the ledge, you can run off and Bair or Uair them for a stage spike if not. Falcon is EXTREMELY good when it comes to punishing opponents offstage and in the air.

 

[BigLord]

I'm glad that my style involves a lot of pushing then. Thanks guys, I'll work on knowing my opponents then.

 

[Darky-Sama]

I'm glad that my style involves a lot of pushing then. Thanks guys, I'll work on knowing my opponents then.

Captain Falcon has an amazing pressure game. Since he's constantly staying right in his opponent's face, most characters are limited to how offensive they can really be against him, especially against his aerial game. His ground game, one mistake or poorly spaced attack can result in them getting punished by a grab. Since he's such a fast character, he can get close enough to grab between an opponents attacks.

Falcon's grab game and air game are his best aspects.
His ground game can be linked with his auto-canceled aerials for better results than just throwing them blindly toward an opponent. Auto-Canceling to his ground game works extremely well if you're trying to play aggressively and pressuring.


Here's some things I've recently started abusing and recommend people to use:
*[Auto-Canceled = AC]
*[Fast Fall= FF]

Weak AC Bair -> Buffered Dash Attack.
Weak AC Bair -> Buffered Grab.
Weak AC Bair -> Buffered Upsmash.
FF First Hit Nair -> Falcon Dive.
FF First Hit Nair -> Forward Tilt.
FF First Hit Nair -> Jab Barrage (no jab cancel).
FF First Hit Nair -> Stutterstep Backwards -> Raptor Boost.

 

[BigLord]

Flubbing the first Nair hit is something I already do without really noticing it, lol. I've never tried combo'ing though... I just use it on instinct, and it usually works well enough. I'ma gonna try those movestrings, then.

 

[Darky-Sama]

The first hit Nair combos are guaranteed and easy. All you have to do is perform the attack you choose to do after they're lifted off the ground and you're set.

The stutterstep Raptor Boost, I'm not sure how much people would like using that. It works well for me because I use a lot of Raptor Boost mindgames that look manly, like... jab cancel -> Raptor Boost from behind them.

The cool thing about Raptor Boost is if you apply it like you would in a dash dance (meaning between Falcon's dashing animation, before it begins, you cancel it and go the other way; except while going the other way, you press the special button to Raptor Boost), Falcon will slide behind his opponent and instantly hit them with the Raptor Boost. Of course, they can shield, but it's amazing for shield pressuring in that case, since it hits, the cooldown time is about the same amount of time it takes the opponent to drop their shield. Maybe a couple frames after.

 

[BigLord]

What I really hate about using raptor boost is basically going off the stage, though. Blame my ******** controller, it makes me go right instead of left and vice-versa, sometimes.

(a new, shiny white controller is coming from play-asia, fortunately)

So that's the reason I don't use raptor boost a lot.

By the way, you think a string like...
Weak AC Bair -> Buffered Grab -> Fthrow -> Grab -> Fthrow -> etc

... Is possible? On which characters? The heaviest, maybe?

 

[Darky-Sama]

Ironic, I have a white controller being sent to me from Play-Asia too. xD

Uh, the pseudo-chain grab with Falcon's forward throw isn't really guaranteed. You'd have better luck following up with an aerial after a down throw. If you do want to try that at lower percents though... don't get greedy after the first foward throw -> regrab, instead, try something like...

Weak AC Bair -> Buffered Grab -> Fthrow -> Grab -> Dthrow -> Uair or (turn around) Bair.

Mix up the strategies so people won't expect it and DI the RIGHT way.

 

[BigLord]

^Yes, being unexpected is key with captain falcon, but so is racking up damage, and that's the main reason I asked if that pseudo-combo would work. I've tried on CPUs and... it basically worked, so I guess a good player wouldn't fall for it as easily.

 

[Darky-Sama]

Don't get me wrong, the pseudo-chain grab is pretty good because the opponent has to make a split-second reaction to even avoid the second grab. But if they see it coming, that's usually not a problem. After the first forward throw -> regrab works, I'd recommend just stopping with the chaingrab there and using a different throw. Down throw would probably be your option for a follow-up.

And yeah, computers don't know how to DI properly. They just know how to shield and spot dodge at just the right time. +10,000 rolls per match.

 

[Zatchiel]

Captain Falcon Match any1?

 

[teluoborg]

Don't get me wrong, the pseudo-chain grab is pretty good because the opponent has to make a split-second reaction to even avoid the second grab. But if they see it coming, that's usually not a problem. After the first forward throw -> regrab works, I'd recommend just stopping with the chaingrab there and using a different throw. Down throw would probably be your option for a follow-up.

I beg to differ.
After the Fthrow chaingrab worked once keep using it, just change the timing between two grabs.
I usually do Fthrow > regrab > Fthrow > wait > opponents does something to avoid being grabbed again (like spotdodge or combo breaker) > reregrab > Fthrow again > etc.

Obviously you can use the other throws to mix up your game, but Fthrow is the best.

 

[Player-3]

nipple bair > jab is amazing

i pulled it off multiple times

 

[BigLord]

^Only when the opponent is still not in high percentages, though.

Darky-sama, yeah bots are mostly dumb, and I also thought that... Until a Falco lvl9 CHAINGRABBED ME. I kid you not. So I don't really know what to expect from non-human opponents ._.

Also, what we discussed here was VERY useful to me. I managed to beat the hell out of some friends of mine, and looking pretty manly in the process. YESZ!

 

[†Slader7†]

Any news on the creation of Falcon's hit bubbles hacks?

 

[Darky-Sama]

Of course you can mindgame them to get another grab in, but constantly forward throwing can be avoided if the player knows what's coming.

Also, another combo that I've posted before:

FF First Hit Nair -> Jab Cancel -> Down Throw -> Show Me Your Moves.

 

[Kishin]

If you think the other person is going to side-step dodge the next grab then dash -> backflip knee them.

 

[Darky-Sama]

You could also RAR a weak Bair -> Regrab.

You've just gotta be creative with Falcon and know how to time everything just right.

 

[Kishin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRQcSFQ6Szc#t=1m00s

How did I do this?

 

[Darky-Sama]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRQcSFQ6Szc#t=1m00s

How did I do this?

Bowser can do this amazingly well. If you use an aerial while landing or jumping through a platform, it's possible to fastfall with it and a character will just cancel all of it's momentum and they won't even start the aerial animation. It's really awesome, but difficult to pull off.

I remember me and LiquiGen were practicing it with Bowser and Sheik on Battlefield about five months back. But that's the first time I've seen anyone use it effectively with Falcon though, so awesome job.

EDIT: You can also double jump and fastfall to do that. It cancels the landing animation. Just came to my mind.

 

[teluoborg]

nipple bair > jab is amazing

i pulled it off multiple times

Is nipple Bair more than the front of the weak Bair ? If not then we're doing the same thing except I'm doing weak Bair to turn around Jab. And yeah it's gud (plus weak Bair has range).

@Slader7 : No news yet for the Falcon hitbubbles.

 

[Darky-Sama]

That's what he means. Nipple Bair sounds funny though, because when you think about a nipple spike, it's the sweetspotted spike. Then a nipple bair is like... flubbing it.

 

[Kishin]

Bowser can do this amazingly well. If you use an aerial while landing or jumping through a platform, it's possible to fastfall with it and a character will just cancel all of it's momentum and they won't even start the aerial animation. It's really awesome, but difficult to pull off.

I remember me and LiquiGen were practicing it with Bowser and Sheik on Battlefield about five months back. But that's the first time I've seen anyone use it effectively with Falcon though, so awesome job.

EDIT: You can also double jump and fastfall to do that. It cancels the landing animation. Just came to my mind.

Oh I see now... I always did notice that platform cancel there but it baffled me a bit but now I just realize it was me doing the platform cancel and buffering a walk off.

 

[moyshe]

Can falcon boards resist the epicness of this picture?

 

[HiddenBowser]

You guys are all scrubs. I would kick all your ***** in the ditto.