The Official Falco Critique Thread

[-DR3W-]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2if5q-YFS4 - vs. Seagull (MK) 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_c2eVgc7Kw - vs. Seagull (MK) 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXSe5BDTw5o - vs. Seagull (MK) 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoiGHNR2Kek - vs. Seagull (Wolf) 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9w8iFiIWhA - vs. Seagull (Wolf) 2

just a few seriouslies

Nice Falco.
Are we the same person?

 

[Kasper!]

I like your falco omni

 

[Krugy]

Hey guys, I got some recent matches against an Olimar that's between me and 1st place at a tournament coming up. Would love some criticism, thanks in advance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqczle-_W0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFtLZCRIt_k

Note: I use standing lasers because he sits on the ground a lot and he hasn't learned to get around them well yet. Would love some tips on how to not get gimped so often...

 

[shadownoss45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycFsXE8G498

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8LpZ-OwtOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnMC2ZgaLnQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh3nfko1fW4

i wouldve got videos of me losing but i didnt have any replays of me losing. =(
i hope this is good enough i picked recent ones where it was a fairly close match
except the one against legan that was for lolz. he usually beats me anyways.

(edit)
if i ever d-smash after a shdl its because i failed at b-dacusing.

 

[Vlade]

Omni I just watched your matches against Seagull's MK and my advice is that you try and use ftilt more, there's not much MK can do to ftilt on shield. Falco's ground mixup game between ftilt and grabs is quite good so you should learn to abuse that.

Apart from a couple of technical mistakes you've got a nice Falco there, keep it up

 

[Zephyros]

@shaodwnoss
Careful about charging smashes with the expectation that your opponent will roll into them, you'll get punished; it's a hard habit to break, because it tends to pay off well in matches against players of less experience or against people who don't know you.
Some of your phantasm cancels were off, or occurred at times where I wasn't quite sure what you were going for. You are good at using dair, but falco has a pretty big move pool and lots of options to choose from, mix it up a bit. Instead of always dairing out of cg, throw in a gatling for easy damage if you expect your opponent to be able to recover. Fair is a very situational move, careful with that move.
Over all, you've got really got control over cg and daucus, and you spike like a madman.

@Queen

Careful with charges smashes (fsmash at lest 3 times in match one), you got punished hard. I would laser more if I were you, you can outcamp olimer, abuse it. Avoid the grounded lasers, its a bad habit to get into. Even if it is working here, the lag on it is much larger then shl. If you still want to you grounded lasers, do a shdl first and then transition into grounded lasers once you know you have a solid hit. Read DEHF's chain grab thread to learn how to best cg olimar, it looks like you are usually losing it after 2 grabs.

To avoid getting gimped, mix up your recovery. Learn and use the different illusion cancels. Mix up whether you go for the stage or for the ledge to avoid getting punished. Also, there is discussion going on in the falco boards right now concerning olimar, so that's a great place to look for match up specific tips.

 

[-DR3W-]

Hey guys, I got some recent matches against an Olimar that's between me and 1st place at a tournament coming up. Would love some criticism, thanks in advance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTqczle-_W0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFtLZCRIt_k

Note: I use standing lasers because he sits on the ground a lot and he hasn't learned to get around them well yet. Would love some tips on how to not get gimped so often...

To start, you're way too aggressive, especially for Olimar. Keep your distance more, I saw you were always in his face and didn't do a whole lot. Jabbing is almost always a good close-combat option. Lasers counter Pikmin camping. You really should heck out more on the Olimar matchup thread, which can be found here.

With all due respect, you have terrible control of Falco. You were all over the place and it was pretty hard to tell what your intentions were. To say the least, you were unable to short hop laser or immediate aerial phantasm. Knowing both of these is key as a Falco player. Quite honestly, I think your lack of control and knowledge leads to insecurities, which lead to pressure, which leads to the excessive and unnecessary spotdodging/rolling. I used to have the same problem and got so much farther after I conquered it. Anyways, I know you can do the same with practice. Just look for different creative and efficient options and practice in training mode. Sounds lame, I know, but it helps...trust me.

Oh, and stop charging smashes. Please. Haha.

You're alright, I guess, but work on the control and matchups. Best of luck and post some videos as you progress!

BTW: I'm not trying to be mean. Just want the best for my fellow Falcos. D:

 

[Krugy]

@DR3W

Thanks for the help. I understand all of it, and most of it I know I have a problem with, just hard to break the habit because I've been doing it for so long the wrong way. Is there an "easy" way to instant phantasm? I can't do it consistently. I used to laser more than a Falco should and when someone told me to tone it down a little I went too far and never found that middle ground. Thanks again for the encouragement haha

@Zephyros
Thanks for the advice. I read that thread and understand how to do it now, just need to get it down. Just in the last few days I'm better at switching the recovery, but still scared to do it on Pokemon Stadium, I'll have to go figure it out in training.


..Also I'll stop charging smashes now.

 

[shadownoss45]

@all of you:
can more better players critique my video? and thanks to Zephyros, but its wifi, its hard to not mess up a lot and its just not as good. I wish there would be tourney vids of me, but theres not. about charging smashes expecting people to roll into them, its like the only way falco has a good killing option. =/

 

[da K.I.D.]

thats a lie.

most of my falco kills come from shield camping and hitting people with either jump canceled up smash oos or hyphen smash oos.

 

[shadownoss45]

thats a lie.

most of my falco kills come from shield camping and hitting people with either jump canceled up smash oos or hyphen smash oos.

ok, fair enough, but is my usual way of killing any worse than yours? its preferance and efficiency and its what works on wifi (barely play offline). and up smash doesnt kill (not fresh) any chars (maybe jiggly) until 110 percent or more, with DI of course. and if i were to use more gatling combos as suggested to me, it wouldnt be fresh. =/ and you didnt want to take the time to watch the videos (im assuming) cuz its not like i randomly throw out f smash and stuff.

 

[-DR3W-]

@DR3W

Thanks for the help. I understand all of it, and most of it I know I have a problem with, just hard to break the habit because I've been doing it for so long the wrong way. Is there an "easy" way to instant phantasm? I can't do it consistently. I used to laser more than a Falco should and when someone told me to tone it down a little I went too far and never found that middle ground. Thanks again for the encouragement haha

..Also I'll stop charging smashes now.

Habits are hard to break. It may feel weird, but I would think specifically about MAKING SURE you don't do those things. Habits are done usually without really thinking/realizing it so thinking about it could really help. For example, try practicing against a CPU without rolling or spotdodging at all.
As for IAPing, it's simple. Just side b the instant you jump. It's quick finger movement, but you can do it. Training mode is great for things like that and laser practice.

 

[Krugy]

Habits are hard to break. It may feel weird, but I would think specifically about MAKING SURE you don't do those things. Habits are done usually without really thinking/realizing it so thinking about it could really help. For example, try practicing against a CPU without rolling or spotdodging at all.
As for IAPing, it's simple. Just side b the instant you jump. It's quick finger movement, but you can do it. Training mode is great for things like that and laser practice.

That makes perfect sense. I'll work on that tomorrow. Also I think an old CRT would be better for practicing and I'll get one here tomorrow as well. My LCD has a bit too much lag for frame specific techs like that. Thanks again for the advice. Check back again next month and tell me how much worse I've gotten when I post another!

 

[swordsaint]

If at any point your up smash is not fresh even if you're using gatling combo you're not using enoguh lasers and jabs.

 

[SN Viper]

If at any point your up smash is not fresh even if you're using gatling combo you're not using enoguh lasers and jabs.

this is a good way to think. at around 90% i start making sure that up smash will be ready to kill come 120.

also how many moves deep is damage degration 9 or 10

 

[swordsaint]

I believe its at 9.

And considering that each hit of jab is 1 space on the stale que it is very easy to unstale.

Grabs are also helpful given that each pummel + throw is also 1 each.

falco's should start appreciating how easily we can unstale our moves and use your upsmashes/fsmashes more for damage if its the best option at the time.

just remember

lasers
jab
grab and pummel

 

[Bloodcross]

Upsmash sucks.

!

 

[shadownoss45]

to prove a point:
Up-smash Kills D3 at 143 percent (no DI) from the middle of FD
F-smash kills D3 at 123 percent (no DI) from the middle of FD
*note none of the smashes were charged.
Up smash kills MK at 107 percent (no DI) from the middle of FD
F smash kills MK at 100 percent (no DI) from the middle of FD

lets say DI lets them live each smash 20% longer, and you tried kill both of them with each smash once and failed. you try again 5 moves later and the smash is still stale, and it fails again. Now they are at least 135-160 percent and dealt you to 100 percent damage.

They are now gonna camp in fear of dying, and almost any move they use on you sends you off stage and you get dealt 20 percent each time, this happens twice. you are now near or above their percent and they can camp the timer and sheild all day until they get an Up tilt or d smash in. The smash you used was Up smash and it failed you. If you hit with f smash earlier they would have died.

Now because every move is situational the up smash was more handy, but f smash is still technically the better killing option. And ftr most of my killing moves are with and aerial attack. =P

 

[da K.I.D.]

to prove a point.

up smash kills mk at 117 guaranteed WITH DI. (seriously, I dont understand why people find percents for kill moves without DI, it serves no purpose and honestly, its really stupid to find out when a move will kill if it wont even kill in a real match. thats where people get screwed over. its stupid and people need to stop going based on that but thats not the main point)

how bout instead of up smashing meta at 100 and than staling your kill moves, you jab and laser for another 20% and actually wait until the move is actually going to kill before you use it.

that way, you dont have to deal with mk camping for his life, and taking more damage because of it.

Its called knowing your character and playing the game correctly.

also, f smash is not the BETTER killing option. It is simply the STRONGER killing option.
f smash sweetspot has about the same range as up smash, is slower, and cannot be used out of a run. even though it is a bit safer than up smash. the speed and range capabilities given by dacusing make up smash a BETTER killing option.

Please excuse my rashness. this is one of the topics that really gets on my nerves.

 

[shadownoss45]

to prove a point.

up smash kills mk at 117 guaranteed WITH DI. (seriously, I dont understand why people find percents for kill moves without DI, it serves no purpose and honestly, its really stupid to find out when a move will kill if it wont even kill in a real match. thats where people get screwed over. its stupid and people need to stop going based on that but thats not the main point)

how bout instead of up smashing meta at 100 and than staling your kill moves, you jab and laser for another 20% and actually wait until the move is actually going to kill before you use it.

that way, you dont have to deal with mk camping for his life, and taking more damage because of it.

Its called knowing your character and playing the game correctly.

also, f smash is not the BETTER killing option. It is simply the STRONGER killing option.
f smash sweetspot has about the same range as up smash, is slower, and cannot be used out of a run. even though it is a bit safer than up smash. the speed and range capabilities given by dacusing make up smash a BETTER killing option.

Please excuse my rashness. this is one of the topics that really gets on my nerves.

Ok i miss used the word better instead of stronger. Im sorry that i don't play the game correctly in YOUR OPINION. The way sakurai wanted the game to be played i with all items on and every stage playable, 2 min timer. So with your logic your playing the game wrong too. And i do know character falco but i dont study at which percent a certain move kills a certain character, did you include the size of the map and kill margins? if you did than congradulations, but i doubt you did.

And apparently you dont know your character either because you can f smash out of run.
Dash-Foxtrot-Stutter Step F smash= f smash out of run.

edit: i want you guys to critque my falco instead of arguing about kill moves xD, shouldnt stuff like that go in the general discussion thread anyways?

 

[swordsaint]

Ok i miss used the word better instead of stronger. Im sorry that i don't play the game correctly in YOUR OPINION. The way sakurai wanted the game to be played i with all items on and every stage playable, 2 min timer. So with your logic your playing the game wrong too. And i do know character falco but i dont study at which percent a certain move kills a certain character, did you include the size of the map and kill margins? if you did than congradulations, but i doubt you did.

And apparently you dont know your character either because you can f smash out of run.
Dash-Foxtrot-Stutter Step F smash= f smash out of run.

edit: i want you guys to critque my falco instead of arguing about kill moves xD, shouldnt stuff like that go in the general discussion thread anyways?

are you dumb? he told you why you were wrong and gave evidence, that's fact. don't act all cut about it because someoe told you weren't right.

dacus > stutterstep. Stuttersteps are short as hell and not really useful for falco's fsmash.

 

[da K.I.D.]

technically that is using a f smash out of a dash, not a full run.

 

[shadownoss45]

are you dumb? he told you why you were wrong and gave evidence, that's fact. don't act all cut about it because someoe told you weren't right.

dacus > stutterstep. Stuttersteps are short as hell and not really useful for falco's fsmash.

sorry bro, i realize the second part, but he said you couldnt do that I told him he could. And when you say things like "are you dumb" do you expect people just to give intelligent responses back? And im pointing out things that was wrong with his arguement. He is right about all of what he said, aside from what i corrected. I didnt say he was wrong and it is my fault for saying "its like falcos only killing option."And would you guys agree hes not great at killing? i think so. And srsly why dont you watch my vidoes and correct me on that instead of telling me im "dumb" because of a very insignificant arguement you sm to be taking too srs.

kthxbye

 

[da K.I.D.]

everyones kinda right here...

so let just move on, and not argue about stupid things.

instead, let me as this question, why is there a falco video critique thread AND a falco video archive thread?

 

[swordsaint]

If people wanna use my thread as a critique thread as well I'm more than happy for it to turn in to that.

 

[Slain Avenger]

I've wanted to get my vids critiqued for a while cause I really want to improve my falco, if that would help then please xD.

 

[shadownoss45]

I've wanted to get my vids critiqued for a while cause I really want to improve my falco, if that would help then please xD.

post the vids, and hopefully everyone will help you. and to everyone else it was pointless and lulzy. =P

 

[Slain Avenger]

post the vids, and hopefully everyone will help you. and to everyone else it was pointless and lulzy. =P

I posted my vids a while ago, no reply >.>

 

[Mick27]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slnuwmJ3HUo
Any advice anybody?

 

[Slain Avenger]

I though I'd give it another shot, though I do have some better vids I want to upload tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbXm9zdQos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PduF6sSFiRg

 

[SlashTalon]

I though I'd give it another shot, though I do have some better vids I want to upload tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbXm9zdQos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PduF6sSFiRg

Biggest tip I can give you is: Powershield more. You were standing in your shield a lot which is time that can be used for more productive things, like lasers and jumping around.

Hone your reflexes with shielding and your left control stick, mix up walking/running more, practice DIing outta the tornado

CALM DOWN WITH THE REFLECTOR!

 

[-DR3W-]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slnuwmJ3HUo
Any advice anybody?

First thing I noticed was your obsession with BDACUS. Don't get me wrong it's convienant but not great enough to be your must used move. Both your successful and unsuccessful attempts at BDACUS got you punished hard. Chill out with that.

Also you need to camp more and pace yourself. It's Falco's best feature - being able to force almost any character in the game to come into YOUR territory or suffer. You can control the flow of the match but you let his bananas do that because you were impatient. Work on being less reckless, it's something most people aren't good against.

You seem to like to use smashes, which are good for kills, but not racking up damage. They decay, and Falco already has a pretty difficult time killing. So just use other moves to get damage on and save the smash attacks for the kills. Oh, and don't charge them. Only I can do that and get away with that.

Overall you have pretty decent knowledge of Falco and his potential, but don't know how to utilize it well. Pace the match with camping and just be more careful. Even on recovery it was obvious what you were going to do, so switch it up. Stop repeating your mistakes and try new things and you'll get much better much faster.

 

[-DR3W-]

I though I'd give it another shot, though I do have some better vids I want to upload tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABbXm9zdQos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PduF6sSFiRg

In addition to SlashTalon's post, I think you tried grabbing a lot. And phantasms were off but that's mostly because of the stage. I think out-of-shield usmash would be good in this matchup but I don't know a whole lot about it. And every time you used reflector you could, more safely, have used ftilt.

Mick's BDACUS obsession could have really come in handy...

I like your Falco, keep it up.

 

[shadownoss45]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycFsXE8G498

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8LpZ-OwtOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnMC2ZgaLnQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh3nfko1fW4

i wouldve got videos of me losing but i didnt have any replays of me losing. =(
i hope this is good enough i picked recent ones where it was a fairly close match
except the one against legan that was for lolz. he usually beats me anyways.

(edit)
if i ever d-smash after a shdl its because i failed at b-dacusing or i failed at buffering a dash attack.

re posted so people will actually critique

 

[swordsaint]

no ones gonna critique wifi games.

at least most people won't want to.

 

[Slain Avenger]

What swordsaint says is true, especially due to the fact that most of the stuff I saw in one vid will probably only happen in Wifi.

Based on the Shiek vid though, Work on your spacing a little more. Also, don't always SHDL, SHL is just as good and even better in some situations when you opponent isn't jumping. Lastly, if you really throw you you down smash whenever you're trying to go for a bdacus, then you're abusing it a little too much, bdacus is a situational kill move, not something that should be spammed in order to get a kill.

Either than that, it's all pretty good, but it's a wifi vid, so a real vid will probably be better.

 

[Mick27]

First thing I noticed was your obsession with BDACUS. Don't get me wrong it's convienant but not great enough to be your must used move. Both your successful and unsuccessful attempts at BDACUS got you punished hard. Chill out with that.

Also you need to camp more and pace yourself. It's Falco's best feature - being able to force almost any character in the game to come into YOUR territory or suffer. You can control the flow of the match but you let his bananas do that because you were impatient. Work on being less reckless, it's something most people aren't good against.

You seem to like to use smashes, which are good for kills, but not racking up damage. They decay, and Falco already has a pretty difficult time killing. So just use other moves to get damage on and save the smash attacks for the kills. Oh, and don't charge them. Only I can do that and get away with that.

Overall you have pretty decent knowledge of Falco and his potential, but don't know how to utilize it well. Pace the match with camping and just be more careful. Even on recovery it was obvious what you were going to do, so switch it up. Stop repeating your mistakes and try new things and you'll get much better much faster.

DR3W, I appreciate you taking the time critique my falco. I am way too aggressive as you said and I think that is where I take at least 50% of my damage. I think that if I were to NEVER approach head-on (like I do with all of those dacus's and bdacus's) that I would be a lot better off. This video was recorded about 6 or 7 months ago and I have definitely learned some things since then. Truth is, I started playing this game a little over a year ago (coming from a ssbm background) and when I learned how to dacus/bdacus I guess I became obsessed with it. :S I haven't been on any forums since a year ago so I haven't really properly learned the ways of falco. (i.e. camping/controlling the stage/better recovery options, etc.) I am learning many things now by just reading what all these good falco players have to say. I know falco very, very well...I just need to play smarter, as you said. Again , thank you for your time DR3W. If I post another video (which I will be very soon and it'll be more recent) I would like if you'd critique once more.

 

[-DR3W-]

DR3W, I appreciate you taking the time critique my falco. I am way too aggressive as you said and I think that is where I take at least 50% of my damage. I think that if I were to NEVER approach head-on (like I do with all of those dacus's and bdacus's) that I would be a lot better off. This video was recorded about 6 or 7 months ago and I have definitely learned some things since then. Truth is, I started playing this game a little over a year ago (coming from a ssbm background) and when I learned how to dacus/bdacus I guess I became obsessed with it. :S I haven't been on any forums since a year ago so I haven't really properly learned the ways of falco. (i.e. camping/controlling the stage/better recovery options, etc.) I am learning many things now by just reading what all these good falco players have to say. I know falco very, very well...I just need to play smarter, as you said. Again , thank you for your time DR3W. If I post another video (which I will be very soon and it'll be more recent) I would like if you'd critique once more.

No problem man, it's my pleasure.

Didn't realize you were a Melee Falco main - not many of those (to my knowledge). Maybe you can post a Melee match or two sometime.

I'm looking forward to seeing your Falco improve as much as possible. LET YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL SHINE FORTH.

Anyways yeah you can count on my two cents for your future vids, just keep em comin.

 

[Mick27]

DR3W -
Eh, actually i played Marth in melee, and i sucked. lol. Never really played melee with any seriousness, more or less just messed around. i might have another match for you to watch by tonight. ... I'll see what i can do. Do you have any videos of yourself playing falco? I would love to see them.

 

[-DR3W-]

DR3W -
Eh, actually i played Marth in melee, and i sucked. lol. Never really played melee with any seriousness, more or less just messed around. i might have another match for you to watch by tonight. ... I'll see what i can do. Do you have any videos of yourself playing falco? I would love to see them.

I know you would, but I can't get to hardly any offline tourneys, so I don't have any videos. Wifi ruins Falco and I'm not posting a video of myself in that. I'm probably going to go to a tourney in a month or so and get some matches saved and uploaded.