What is the right situation to use Short-Hop Fast-Fall Aerials?

[Mini_Mac]

This is something that has been baffling me for a while. A lot of times when I post on Smash Boards about how to handle certain MUs, a lot of people will bring up mechanics that sound effective at the professional level but when I try to incorporate them into my own play, I get punished very hard especially against good players.

One of the biggest things that people mention that I should start incorporating are Short-Hop Fast-Fall Aerials.

As a Captain Falcon main, people always tell me, "you gotta start incorporating these moves into your play" and believe me; I have been constantly practicing this mechanic on a routine basis and various speeds in training mode for hours and hours a day like SH FF N-airs, B-airs, and U-airs, and even SH FF U-airs and SH FF B-airs as Cloud but when I try and use them in FG and on wifi friendlies (I havent used them extensively in tournament yet), I always run into a big problem:

I get punished hard when I use them and miss.

When I'm watching the pros like MKLeo and Fatality who play characters that benefit a lot from this mechanic, a lot of times they throw SH FF aerials out in the neutral and I hardly ever see them get punished for it if they miss or if the move is shielded.

Now before I continue, let me clarify that I try my absolute hardest to not spam this mechanic when I'm playing an actual match because if I was, that would answer my question of why I am not having any luck in this technique.

That being said, when I talk about how I get punished for missing a SH FF aerial, I get BODIED as in a clean F-smash right in the face or I get grabbed.

Other than smash attacks, I also get punished by grabs as well.

When I practice this technique on the CPU in training mode, I try my best to get propper spacing as well as obviously performing the actual move.

So to sum it up, the title of this thread is basically my question. What is the right situation to use Short-Hop Fast-Fall Aerials? Should I study each individual MU and see if they have any punishing options if I miss a SH FF aerial or is there something that applies to all MUs that I need to consider?

That is basically the best way I can ask my question. If anyone is confused about any of what I am trying to say in this thread, let me know and I'll clarify more.

 

[MarioManTAW]

Are you missing completely? SHFFs are usually used in very close range, so if you're not close enough you could get punished. As far as being safe on shield, I honestly don't know which aerials are, but I'm pretty sure at least Fair is if you space it correctly.

 

[PURGE THEM LIKE THE]

Falcon's falling neutral air and foward air are bad choices in the neutral. They're unsafe on block and have little range. Up air and spaced back air are safe on block, though a sword would still swat them down. One of the main purposes for any character to throw out aerials in the neutral is to condition the enemy to shield. This is especially good for Falcon because of his grab combos.

However, it's not completely necessary for him because his speed allows him to play a game of 50/50s in the neutral. At a specific range there is too little time for the opponent to react to a dash grab or dash attack from Falcon. Dash grab if you think they'll shield, and dash attack otherwise. The reward Falcon gets for guessing correctly is generally greater than the risk.

You can mix it up by dashing in with a RAR backair or a falling up air. The enemy will want to shield the up air because it's a combo starter, leading to more up airs or maybe the knee for a kill. At high percents back air will kill, which, too, will scare the enemy into shielding.

When the enemy is scared into shielding, you can play around with them by doing empty jumps and then suddenly fast falling to the ground to dash in for an unreactable dash grab. This is tomohawk grabbing.

This is just a general gameplan. Obviously, you'll have to change it up depending on the matchup, like not jumping so much against swords or jumping more against enemies with slow aerials.

As for you getting hard punished with smashes, who are you playing against that does that? If you're eating a smash attack to the face on for glory, keep in mind that your thought process as you play is likely more complex than their's. They probably throw out smashes randomly instead of as an attempt to counterattack you. Just don't overthink. You probably don't even need to use the previously mentioned mixups on them to win.

 

[Mini_Mac]

"As for you getting hard punished with smashes, who are you playing against that does that?[/QUOTE]"


Marth, Lucina, and Samus mainly because their forward smashes come out pretty fast. Against others, I get grabbed if I whiff the SH FF U-air or if they shield it sometimes.

I could be completely wrong however on their ability to immediately punish on with an F-smash if I miss a FF aerial. Maybe my reaction time and my bag of options needs some work.

I do appreciate your help bro! This is very helpful information! I agree that I tend to overthink a lot. I was straight up terrified at my last tournament because I was pitted against a Corrin while I was playing Falcon and approaching with anything like FF aerials I feel is crazy risky in that MU because he kept spamming B-air to keep me out for the reason that it inches Corrin farther away from me and I was at kill percents so I would have been finished if I got hit.

I hate that MU.

 

[PURGE THEM LIKE THE]

Those three have frame 10 forward smashes, which, combined with the 7 frames to drop shield, should not be viable punishes on blocked back or up airs. That's only if they didn't perfect shield, though. If they're perfect shielding your aerials, they likely were expecting them.

It's probably not your reaction time that needs work, but, rather, your awareness. That's something that will get better as you play more. It's just a growing process. I feel that one of the main things that separate mid level players from top ones is awareness. They've been put in situations so many times that picking the correct option is like clockwork.

Falcon's up air is -2 and -3 on block, so combined with his frame 3 jab, shield grabbing should be impossible. You're probably using the up air a bit too soon before you hit the ground. Try to input the up air as close to the ground as possible but not so close that the attack doesn't come out.

Also keep in mind that you have to act after you hit their shield with the up air. Sitting there in shield, for example, will still get you grabbed. You could try jabbing to call out their shield grab. If you think your up air hit too soon and was, thus, unsafe, you could try rolling away to avoid a punish. If you've conditioned the enemy to stay in shield after blocking falling up airs, you could try being bold by grabbing them after an up air.

For Falcon vs Corrin, all of Corrin's attacks are disjointed. In general, you want to stay grounded as much as possible against disjoints. You will get swatted out of the sky for jumping. Focus on whiff punishing. This is one of Falcon's strongest qualities. You need to bait Corrin to throw out an attack that will miss and then dash in with Falcon's incredible speed to punish. If Corrin is throwing out a lot of back airs, he's giving up more and more of the stage. Keeping inching forward until he's at the ledge, where he will be forced to do something, which you can bait and whiff punish.

I would've gone with Cloud for this matchup, though.