Guide The Marvellous Guide on Falco Lombardi - by bornfidelity.com v4.2

[PummeluffFTW]

Great guide and stuff, but...
...
...
...how the **** am I supposed to hold the controller to do stuff like that? xD
I'm adviced to use the control-stick, c-stick, A, B, X, R, L and Z - most of those nearly simultaneously O.o
I can SHFFL, I can wavedash, I can shinecancel - but I can't do most of the combos you described in this guide because it would take insane speed and accuracy with the fingers. (And yes, I am quite quick with my hands, but some of that stuff just seems plain impossible to me ._.)
Is there a special "trick" on how to position your fingers? Or do I just have to speed-**** my controller even more? =P
Thanks for any tips or flaming xD

 

[enza99]

zomfg crazy long i will study this thoroughly (as in skim and find the good moves that r to be used more often than the others =D just to hard to do alllllll the flashy stuff but at least i can pillar sometimes idk how but it just happens maybe some directions will help...)

 

[NickTheGreat]

Awesome guide, I love you.

You practically convinced me to play Falco, he's awesome!

 

[Gooperman]

Awesome, right now i mastered lcancelling my arials and im making up combos as i go, any ideas where to go next?, i am also practising my teching n stuff so i dont get killed so quickly

 

[Binx]

Gooperman, go to tournaments thats the best way to improve, it will happen naturally over time, the only specific advice we can give you is if you can post videos. I'm sorry thats just how it is. Make sure to work on basics, wavedashing, wavelanding, laser spacing, mixing up approaches, and of course reading DI so you can capitalize on combos. Remember when someone techs most of the time its an opportunity to keep comboing, so make a mental note to yourself everytime you combo to remember the situations they could tech and predict it so you can continue racking up damage.

As for someone earlier talking about speeding up their hands, yes thats exactly what you have to do, its like typing at first its slow and hard but then you know where everything is and you are typing at 60wpm at least like everyone else. It will happen the more you play and practice.

 

[KAOSTAR]

Awesome, right now i mastered lcancelling my arials and im making up combos as i go, any ideas where to go next?, i am also practising my teching n stuff so i dont get killed so quickly

I didnt read what the guy below me wrote and Im sure its good advice. Just work on consistency. Falco players do alot of repetitive motions that need to be precise. Stay active and just play more. As falco you should get some good DI but that will come with practice and exp.

 

[King Funk]

So if you play the guitar you might as well play Falco. And he's just awesome. Yeah, these are his pros.

*just bought melee*

I play bass guitar, who should I stick with?

 

[KAOSTAR]

You really cant ask that question. Its all personal preference. If ur a tourney *** look at the tier list and force yourself to get good with everyone in top and high tier.

Other than that play till you find someone you like.

Try sheik or marth. Then try a fox or a falco

 

[King Funk]

You really cant ask that question. Its all personal preference. If ur a tourney *** look at the tier list and force yourself to get good with everyone in top and high tier.

Other than that play till you find someone you like.

Try sheik or marth. Then try a fox or a falco

Woah... It was just a joke. ^^

I mained Falcon in 64 and Falco in Brawl, and right now I am learning all the advanced techs for Melee. But I have yet to choose a character. Of course I will try them all to see which fits me the best.

 

[KAOSTAR]

haha well sometimes ppl really ask these questions and want a serious answer. Didnt kno which one u wanted

 

[FALPILLARCO]

a nice thread for anyone coming into this game with an interest of playing falco. i think you should add a little more on the usmash and how its not just for vertical knockback, but that it can also be used as an actual bicycle kick for horizontal off stage action!

 

[TresChikon]

But you don't flip during a bicycle kick.

 

[AuraMaster]

Should I use Nair or Bair if i get a free air attack?

 

[trahhSTEEZY]

Too broad of a question. Depends on the percentage, the placement, on/off stage/opponent's character/etc!

Sorry :C

 

[KhaosOverdrive]

Wow man, this guide is amazing! I'm looking forward to learn a lot from this.

Thanks for sharing! And you guessed right, I love playing guitar.

 

[Avalancer]

I'm having trouble making waveshine combos. opponent keeps flying too far.
Besides shine > bair, are there any other reasonable shine combos

 

[Veetaak]

I'm having trouble making waveshine combos. opponent keeps flying too far.

Is it against a specific character(s) or does this happen on fastfallers aswell?

And are they flying too far to the sides or too high?

It could be that your opponent is just really good at SDIing and having good platform awareness. If so then he can escape your waveshine combos if you wavedash towards the side he did not SDI to.

For example: You are up against a Fox on BF. You shine him at the middle of the map and you then wavedash to the right while he SDIs to the left and then he techs to the left on the left platform. If this happened then he did a very good job escaping your combo. He is now far away from you. What you could've done is to either stay in your shine a bit longer, in the hope to react to his DI. (This is something I think they talked about on Dr PPs thread although I haven't done it before) or just simply have luck with your choice of direction. I should mention that when you are "guessing" which way to wavedash, it should be a prediction based on either his recent DI (By that I mean his DI from your previous attack, assuming it's a recent attack) because as Dr PP said; unless he consciously changes his DI within a few frames then he will most likely DI the same way on your shine as he did on your recent attack.

Or you base it on his previous playstyle and DI + where he and you are on the map + his % + character specific stuff. (+ mindgames. If you think that he will make a generally bad decision just to trick you)

Besides shine > bair, are there any other reasonable shine combos

I guess you mean while being in the air. Shine + every aerial works if their DI/Your speed allows for it. It's situational I guess. Bair is probably the best option overall as it tends to hit most often and it has the greatest potential knockback. Nair and Fair can be good if you are turned to the side of the map closest to the edge when shining. Shine > Dair works best on lower % imo, either as a gimping move or to continue a combo. Often times when I do a quick Shine > Dair on the map ppl don't expect it and they fail to tech it and you can react to their get-up or you might even have time to utilt them before they get the chance to roll/stand/attack from the ground if you are quick enough back to the ground.

I don't know if it helped but that's my take on it. It will become more difficult to combo better ppl but you just have to have your tech skill on point and some good predictions and reactions in order to do as most dmg as possible whenever you get those first clean hits

EDIT: lol, probably my biggest post ever on SWF. I don't know if anyone care to read it xD

 

[FoxLisk]

NOOOO

Your shine sends them at like, idk, a 30 degree or so angle away from the ccenter of you. so if you hit with the left half of it, they go up and to the left, etc.

so if you hit with the left side of your shine WD left; if you hit with the right side, WD right. this will allow you to reach fox/falco/cfal regardless of their DI at low percents and puts you equidistant from their two possible current locations.

against other characters or at higher percents sometimes you have to guess, and if there's a platform nearby its often best to WD under it so you can do waveland stuff. but in general just DI toward the side of your shine that hit your opponent. you can never end up too far away doing that.

 

[Veetaak]

NOOOO

Your shine sends them at like, idk, a 30 degree or so angle away from the ccenter of you. so if you hit with the left half of it, they go up and to the left, etc.

so if you hit with the left side of your shine WD left; if you hit with the right side, WD right. this will allow you to reach fox/falco/cfal regardless of their DI at low percents and puts you equidistant from their two possible current locations.

against other characters or at higher percents sometimes you have to guess, and if there's a platform nearby its often best to WD under it so you can do waveland stuff. but in general just DI toward the side of your shine that hit your opponent. you can never end up too far away doing that.

I didn't know that LOL

Gonna see for myself tomorrow. I always thought that they always went up without any DI no matter where you hit the from. How come I didn't know this earlier? :O If this is true then why were we discussing DI predictions on the shine? Or was that only if we hit with the center part of it?

It would feel awkward if I'm the only one not knowing about that xD

So, yeah. If this is the case then I guess my post is only worth noting if you hit them with the middle of the shine.

 

[FoxLisk]

There is no exact center, where they go straight up, as far as i know.
Pretty easy to verify with a friend. They always go to one side or the other with or without DI. You can DI it as to go straight up but that's uncommon.

you have to guess DI on the shine if you want some sort of non-auto-combo follow up, if platforms are involved, or against floaties who dont have such easy autocombos, so its still important. but until 38% i think against fox/falco and until... like 45ish % against CF you DI towards the way you're hitting them you get another hit.

 

[-LzR-]

I couldn't find a Q&A topic so I decided to post here. Sorry if this is the wrong place.
I second Falco and main Puff. I want to get better with my Falco, but I think I do too much advanced stuff instead of the basics. What to focus on when using Falco at the basic level?

 

[trahhSTEEZY]

First off, the Q&A for falco's is "Dr. Peepee's Discussion thread". Ask anything there.

As for what to focus on, i suggest learning how to waveshine onto platforms, it's one of the main tools you'll use in continuing your combos. also learn the different ways to laser. Learn Isai drop lasers, ledge hop lasers.

also learn to properly shield pressure. this is very important. I'm not sure how advanced you are, but I find double shines and shinegrabs essential in falco shieldpressure.

 

[FoxLisk]

First off, the Q&A for falco's is "Dr. Peepee's Discussion thread". Ask anything there.

As for what to focus on, i suggest learning how to waveshine onto platforms, it's one of the main tools you'll use in continuing your combos. also learn the different ways to laser. Learn Isai drop lasers, ledge hop lasers.

also learn to properly shield pressure. this is very important. I'm not sure how advanced you are, but I find double shines and shinegrabs essential in falco shieldpressure.

essential? really? i never doubleshine anymore, and when i used to do so it didnt help me much. shinegrabs are a nice mixup but far, far from essential at any level and probably not worth doing until you're at a level where you have to use a lot of mixups to get any mileage out of your shield pressure because the payoff is very low compared to landing an aerial or shine.

i'm not saying there's anything wrong with using them heavily, mind you - if that's what you prefer i'm sure you can make a totally valid style incorporating extensive doubleshine & shinegrab usage, but they're not essential in general.

shine wavelanding & laser tools, however, are actually essential!

however these are actually all technical answers. so now that i've spewed pedagogy all over this thread i will try to answer the question.

The short answer is: spacing, pressure, and reads, but you presumably already know that. For falco specific applications of these: Shield pressure, as Trahh mentioned, is important to have down. be comfortable landing your aerials at different heights (very early, very late, and middle at least).

learn how to use your gun right. you cant just shoot someone and win, and you cant just approaching shl twice and dair and win. you want to use your gun to:
-force your opponent in the air if he wants to stay grounded (marth, samus, others) or onto the ground if he wants to stay floating (puff, peach, others).
-clip opponents as they land from aerials, giving you time to pressure or grab or sometimes even just land an aerial.
-clip opponents if they're kinda out of your combo but still in a really bad position - a laser before they get to touch ground can mean the difference between another dash attack and a c-c-c-combo breaker
-force your opponent to shield when it's uncomfortable for them. if they can PS reliably this means you have to cut down on lasers a lot and dont use them when they're ready for it. takes a lot of learning. DD a lot. empty hop sometimes.
-not let your opponent be an ******* and wait for you to commit to unsafe approaches. do some lasering, get in their face but safely, dont get WD back grabbed

learn when not to use your gun:
-when you're running scared, you probably dont want to reverse laser. this will get you dash attacked or run up > shield / possible PS > ****ed a lot. laser if your opponent is giving you space to, but dont get fooled into thinking you have space/time to laser.
-if your opponent is moving freely and close to you you probably dont have time to shoot them. e.g. if fox is like 1 running sh away from you and you try to shoot him, if he chooses that time to approach you're ****ed.

bair and utilt are your friends. use them for defense.

ummmmmmm hopefully thats a good start?

 

[trahhSTEEZY]

maybe essential was too strong of a word, but regardless i feel mixing in both of those with regular shield pressure can heavily increase your odds of them not escaping.

 

[FoxLisk]

maybe essential was too strong of a word, but regardless i feel mixing in both of those with regular shield pressure can heavily increase your odds of them not escaping.

i dunno, they have their place but i think if you're asking for falco things to learn, they're really really late on the list. they dont really beat anything that you cant beat otherwise, and its a lot of technical overhead that could be better spent elsewhere.

 

[-LzR-]

Thanks for the long respond. Yes I have the basics and everything mastered so I needed Falco specific stuff. I never even though of wavelanding to platforms from shine, sounds amazing.

 

[fwb]

Is pillaring supposed to prevent you from getting shield-grabbed? I'm using the 20XX training pack, activating the P2 constant shield-grab, and I'm getting grabbed every time. Or are we assuming that human shield-grabbing won't always be perfect?

edit: I can do it now....it appears that the only way to shine a well-timed shield grab is to dair very late in the shffl (so you hit at the mid point or lower of the shield bubble).

Is this correct? I've never seen it discussed in guides or videos. Also, in a lot of matchups (especially dittos), I've noticed that it's important to get aerials out early during a sfhhl approach or else you will get shffld first every time, which kind of goes against the above late aerial technique.

 

[Kankato]

This guide is so old it lists Jiggs as Mid tier.

 

[TheBlazingFist]

I've been looking for a character to main when i finally have the chance to buy melee and you have solidly convinced me to play Falco. I will definitely be referring to this guide while trying to learn him, so thanks a bunch for making this.

 

[AlphaQHard]

Awesome Guide!
I have some notes
-Falco's U-air is easier to hit than fox's U-air
-You can angle fox/falco's Foward tilt in 3 different directions
-You can angle fox/falco's Up B in 16 different directions
-Falco's Phantasm travels more distance than his firebird
-Not sure if you wrote this one, but short hop laser/full jump lasers/double jump lasers are great safe edgeguarding moves

I mentioned that Falco's shine didn't spike as Fox's did. But as a substitute, you could jump offstage, hit with the shine, shinecancel immediatly and spike your foe to death - and DI back on, or use your third jump.
It's rather tricky, and most of the time there are better options - but heck, it looks nice. That's reason enough to use it, right ^_^

3rd jump? where does the 3rd jump come from or do you mean his Up B is his 3 jump?

 

[AlphaQHard]

double post

 

[LightningLoops]

Both you and CunningKitsune have excellent guides. Helped me excel in Melee and Project M.

 

[Asdfpie]

So if you play the guitar you might as well play Falco

-
Well, there goes that. I guess I don't have a choice now, do I...

 

[deadPhoenix]

Thanks for the guide. I'm an amateur player and I've been having a really hard time with my approach, this guide helped a ton. Also, I feel like I understand my character a lot more now after reading this as well. Hopefully now I can improve as fast as I'd like.

 

[Bijan]

Thanks for this awesome guide! I just started playing Falco and I already love him!

Edit: He is now my third main!

 

[Pikachutobal]

Thanks for this guide
Good Work c:

 

[NotAnAdmin]

I haven't gotten a chance to read all the way through this just yet, but thanks so much for a nice guide for Lombardi.
I want to get into Melee, and I didn't get into comp smash until PM was a new thing. I'm basically starting from scratch.

 

[8_bit_D]

This has improved my Falco immensely!! Thank you!

 

[Cthulhu's Underling]

OK, let's say I'm doing a reverse SHL. In that situation, who the **** returns the stick to its neutral position by hand? I have never once seen anyone do that. Is that really a thing?

 

[skdmx]

for meteor canceling, is there a certain timing for it? is it possible to do it too fast?