Tips for a new Falco player?

[ZeroFox]

Hey guys, I recently picked up Falco in an attempt to add a 4th character to my list of tournament-ready mains (Meta Knight, Wolf, Fox).

I've only practice with him for a couple hours over the past couple of days, and I was just looking for some tips.

I would like to know which moves should I stick with and which moves should I generally avoid...

I seem to use a lot of SHFF dairs, or SH bair to approach. Nair seems alright, but fair's ending lag is just unfortunate. Should I totally scrap that as a viable approach? What should I be using as an approach?

I tend to stick to bairs/dairs for off stage killing, and usmash/fsmash for ground kills (especially hyphen smash/boost smashes for the usmash).

I understand the more advanced concepts of Falco's chaingrab -> dair spike, his laser lock, gatling combo, and smashboost and can perform those techniques well.

Sorry if I didn't make any sense...any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ftl]

Fair is not viable for much, really. There isn't any sort of consistent use for fullhop->fair, though I've seen top falcos (sethlon, sk92) use it on extremely rare occasions.

One thing you did not mention at all is his lasers. Shdl is quite good for camping; laser->boostsmash can be a combo at appropriate range, and it's reasonable for killing. If you want to get really good with Falco, there are some matchups in which you should resort to camping with lasers, and throwing in IAP (immediate aerial phantasm)s. Falco can play a really lame and yet effective camping game with that; you can't rely on it versus some characters, but there are some that get shut down by it.

Nair/dair/bair are all pretty good, bair is probably least used as an approach out of those, it's a good killing move though.

Pay attention for opportunities to use dsmash, though it's got pretty short range so don't count on them cropping up too often.

Other than that, read around or watch some videos, I guess. I can't really describe how to play falco all in one post.

 

[ZeroFox]

One thing you did not mention at all is his lasers. Shdl is quite good for camping; laser->boostsmash can be a combo at appropriate range, and it's reasonable for killing. If you want to get really good with Falco, there are some matchups in which you should resort to camping with lasers, and throwing in IAP (immediate aerial phantasm)s. Falco can play a really lame and yet effective camping game with that; you can't rely on it versus some characters, but there are some that get shut down by it.

Yeah I was in a bit of a rush when I was writing this, which is probably why it didn't make sense, and probably why I failed to mention any of his special attacks. I do SHDLs and utilize aerial phantasms as well, but I might need more practice to use them effectively. I was just focusing on getting tips on other attacks I should be using.

Anyway, thanks for the input!

 

[Squipy]

I seem to use a lot of SHFF dairs, or SH bair to approach. Nair seems alright, but fair's ending lag is just unfortunate. Should I totally scrap that as a viable approach? What should I be using as an approach?

Well first of all you shouldn't be doing SHFF dairs approaching. It's a surefire shield grab against an opponent worth his salt. Instead, you regular SH dairs, and di backwards to avoid a shield grab and being punished. Never approach with fair. Try approaching with nair a lot more. It has no landing lag and sets you up for a jab > whatever you like.

 

[ZeroFox]

Well first of all you shouldn't be doing SHFF dairs approaching. It's a surefire shield grab against an opponent worth his salt. Instead, you regular SH dairs, and di backwards to avoid a shield grab and being punished. Never approach with fair. Try approaching with nair a lot more. It has no landing lag and sets you up for a jab > whatever you like.

Thanks a lot. Yeah it's taking some time to get used to what the best way to approach and do other stuff is. I never approach with fair anyways as the lag is horrid. But I'll definitely try SH dairs with backwards DI. Thanks again.

 

[GodAwful]

Well first of all you shouldn't be doing SHFF dairs approaching. It's a surefire shield grab against an opponent worth his salt. Instead, you regular SH dairs, and di backwards to avoid a shield grab and being punished. Never approach with fair. Try approaching with nair a lot more. It has no landing lag and sets you up for a jab > whatever you like.

Has anyone else noticed that some times when you d-air a shield you push them far enough back, and sometimes you get shield-grabbed? I think it has to do with whether you sweet-spot the d-air or not.

 

[AH-86]

Ohhh well my thoughts are not gonna be as deep as other Falco players, but here we go.

-SH Double laser is good, but SH single laser is even more awesome!
-Both (with the right timing) can be followed up by and up smash, aerial phantasmal, or jabs (anything that comes and hist in a few frames)
-Learn all the stuff about the shine
-dash attack into up smash (great damage)
-single or double Jab can be followed by grabs, shines, Ftilts, or more jabs, and they are teh MIND GAME!
-However triple jabs are even UBER AWESOME!
-Don't forget Down smash is your best weapon against smash spammers like metaCOCK just remember to spot dodge!
-Chain Grab like there is no tomorrow, but CG to spike until you can..
-Pivot Grab is a basic move you need to learn with this bird.
-forward smash is difficult to get a kill with, if you encounter skilled players wait until they left and opening, so this becomes a quick dead.
-the up smash is the same thing, but a boost smash caught them off guards, so learn IT!
-N air is awesome when you are below a platform, and can be followed with another one (if the first one is fast fallen)
-down air can be used for pressure the opponent on the ground so space it, and spike with it!
-his f air is sort of weird use it, but is better to be avoided
-Back air below a stage (when someone is recovering) makes an instant stage spike KILL!
-LEARN HOW TO BUFFER YOUR MOVES because FALCO IS NOT AN EASY CHARACTER TO MASTER
-When falco's side b is the best move to recover, but if they know what are you going to do is easy to get edge hogged
-His up B is SLOW AS ****, used as a last measure to recover from a side knock back, but you wont have other alternative when you are spiked so be advised!
-There is more, but it deals with more meta game, so from this you are on your own. I hope this helps you a little.

 

[The H Kid]

Well....
Don't be afraid to kick.

 

[8AngeL8]

Learn to do the gatling combo, for sure. It's one of his best damage builders on the ground.

I find one of the best skills a Falco player can have is to be unpredictable with the side-b recovery. You have to psych them out in the air, bait attacks, and then get in when he isn't expecting it. If an opponent can predict your recovery, you are DEAD.

 

[ZeroFox]

Learn to do the gatling combo, for sure. It's one of his best damage builders on the ground.

I find one of the best skills a Falco player can have is to be unpredictable with the side-b recovery. You have to psych them out in the air, bait attacks, and then get in when he isn't expecting it. If an opponent can predict your recovery, you are DEAD.

Luckily I know the Gatling combo, and I've been a Fox player ever since the days of Melee, so being unpredictable with Falco's recovery options shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[Rh1thmz]

A couple of things that people haven't mentioned yet:

-Even though fair is definitely a bad approach and a bad aerial to SH into, it can be an effective off-stage edgeguard on some occasions against people who have exhausted their jumps. Other than that, it doesn't have much use.

-SHDL is good, but it gets very predictable quickly, so make sure to mix it up with SHL, empty shorthops, IAP's, SH aerials, and maybe even some shines when you're not camping. In general, Falco can be a very predictable character, so variety is especially important.

-Falco has some very good rolls and a good spotdodge in comparison to most of the cast. Don't be afraid to use them over some of your other spacing options on occasion (such as B moves minus UpB)...it can only add to the variety that is neccessary for a Falco to be successful.

 

[illinialex24]

A couple of things that people haven't mentioned yet:

-Even though fair is definitely a bad approach and a bad aerial to SH into, it can be an effective off-stage edgeguard on some occasions against people who have exhausted their jumps. Other than that, it doesn't have much use.

-SHDL is good, but it gets very predictable quickly, so make sure to mix it up with SHL, empty shorthops, IAP's, SH aerials, and maybe even some shines when you're not camping. In general, Falco can be a very predictable character, so variety is especially important.

-Falco has some very good rolls and a good spotdodge in comparison to most of the cast. Don't be afraid to use them over some of your other spacing options on occasion (such as B moves minus UpB)...it can only add to the variety that is neccessary for a Falco to be successful.

I really haven't found any use for fair and I still prefer bair then. But can you setup a fair after a grab or something??

 

[8AngeL8]

Fair is good off stage if they are approaching from below. You walk off the stage without using a jump and fair into them. You will pull them down out of recovery range, and you can JUST make it back with two jumps and your up-b. Other than that, I don't think it has much use.

 

[GodAwful]

I really haven't found any use for fair and I still prefer bair then. But can you setup a fair after a grab or something??

You can be pretty sloppy with your timing and still stage-spike somebody who's out of invincibility frames and hanging on the ledge. It can also be useful for harassing opponents recovering above the stage; if you want to keep your b-air fresh.

 

[ZeroFox]

Thanks for all the tips guys, they're certainly helping. I've seen a dramatic improvement in my Falco over the past couple of days.

 

[AH-86]

**** lets create a guide made by the best ideas of the falco community!!!!

 

[ZeroFox]

**** lets create a guide made by the best ideas of the falco community!!!!

Lol, aren't there already 2 guides for Falco???

Not that I object, I just wonder if a 3rd is really necessary. =P

 

[8AngeL8]

If we come up with anything that isn't already covered we can just add them into the already existing guides. It's nice, concise and readable right now, there isn't any need to make it more confusing.