I. Introduction
People have been claiming for a while now that Falco's transition to P:M has provided him with an unintentional buff through some of the mechanics carried over from Brawl, such as the Reverse Aerial Rush, B-reversed lasers, Wavebounced lasers, so on and so forth.
I am here today to tell you that this is true.
I have gone to the lab, and what I have found is as clear as day. However, I have to provide a three part disclaimer for this guide:
First and foremost, I am by no means a master of Falco. I consider myself to be an intermediate player at best, and what you'll find in this guide is almost entirely the theorycrafting and lab experiments of that player mingled with a dash of what I've actually been able to apply in both friendly and tournament settings. Please feel free to correct any mistakes, be skeptical of my arguments, and share your thoughts.
Secondly, the techniques and applications that I present below are by their very nature experimental and risky. You are playing Falco and you are likely going to lose stocks trying to figure out how to use this effectively, so please don't forget that.
Thirdly, all frame data used in this guide comes directly from the Falco Hitboxes and Frame Data thread for Melee Falco, which can be found here: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-hitboxes-and-frame-data.300397/
, and nothing has been or could have been calculated without this data. The only thing I could imagine that would cause discrepancy between the data there and what happens in P:M is the one frame physics delay present in both Brawl and P:M, but I have literal zero understanding of that phenomenon so I can't really say anything on the matter other than citing my sources.
So now, without further ado.
II. What is the RAR?
When a character dashes forwards, there is a certain number of frames during which they can input the opposite direction in order to begin a new dash animation in that direction (dash dancing). When the initial dash input is held beyond this point, turning around requires the character to perform their turnaround (skid) animation.
Jumping during this animation will maintain the momentum from running while causing the character to turn around, essentially jumping forwards while facing backwards. This is useful for grabbing the ledge, using a backwards facing hitbox, etc. Here's one of the few P:M demonstrations that I was able to find:
http://youtu.be/pwk3VgZDuEs
Keep in mind that the fourth input (the second ->) is to maintain your momentum through the use of your aerial mobility, and get the most distance of out your RARs.
III. Yeah, yeah, get to the good stuff.
Sorry, but we have to trudge through a little bit more minutia before we can get to application, just so nobody gets lost. At least, this is about Falco specifically. To understand what makes the RAR useful in some situations and bad in others, we have to talk about Falco's three best aerials- dair, nair, and bair. Let's refer to some frame data:
I could get really into the numbers here to explain why each attack is good for different things, but I'll try to keep it short with some generalized statements:
-On stage, when L-cancelling is in the mix, the differences in the three attacks in terms of their speed and safety (i.e. how "committal" they are, and how fast you can perform another action after performing them) is almost negligible, but these differences become more and more significant when 1) Shields get involved and 2) approaching frame perfection, which is actually easier than it sounds. Bair is the worst for pressuring shields and continuing combos, but carries the benefit of being able to most reliably put your opponent in an edgeguard situation or even kill at high percents all by itself.
-Off stage, where L-cancelling is impossible, bair is 10 frames faster than dair, with a safer hitbox, and while only 4 frames faster than nair, is considerably better at both gimping and killing outright due to it's higher knockback, provided that you can actually ensure that your foot makes contact with their face.
-This means that offstage, bair is, on paper, the safest and most effective edgeguarding tool that Falco has. In Melee, Falco's ability to use it was essentially restricted to the space around the ledge itself, but in Project M- finally, the point of it all, Falco can RAR to put bair where he has never been able to put bairs before, opening up his offstage game, and still have a second jump, airdodge, and phantasm or firebird to get back on stage.
IV. Application: Edgeguarding and gimping
Here's a rundown of three possible scenarios and applications, presented in the beautiful glory of my MSpaint skills:
*Not to scale.
The red line is my favorite, so I'll explain it first. The inputs go like this:
Run to ledge -> Turn -> Short hop -> immediately hold stick away from stage for maximum momentum -> short hop again -> keep holding that stick -> bair
In this case, your bair will land over a Phantasm's length away from the ledge, and it will be impossible for you to recover. This is essentially a horizontal bombsoldier, and while I have only used it successfully against CPU's, but I can see it having application against characters with recoveries like Mario, Marth, and Samus, or anyone with horrible DI.
The green line represents the safest use of Falco's RAR, which is a double full hop interception. Every now and then, the floaters, gliders, teleporters, and what have yous of PM will think that they can simply go over you, having the hubris to forget that you are a GODDAMN BIRD. When you soar into the sky to deliver a swift kick to the face, they will soil themselves with shame and realize that neither land nor sea nor sky are safe from your wrath, as you casually make your way back to the stage.
The yellow line, however, is where things get somewhat ambiguous. This is the zone where you're trying to punish tether recoveries- if you believe such a thing is possible. I, myself, have hope.
This zone is too far away from the stage to make spiking the enemy a viable option, but close enough that with a RAR -> bair -> double jump -> firebird you might be able to make it back. Maybe. I know it's possible, but I'm not sure that I'm a bad enough dude to figure out exactly how to make it back consistently. There's also the fact that if you don't block the tether, you literally just set yourself up to be ledgehogged.
V. To Be Continued
This is all I have time to write at the moment, and I'm sorry that the first version of it is so completely ****ty. Some things in this version of my so called guide have been recalled from memory, so I certainly won't get offended if anyone corrects me on anything. My access to a lab is restricted by time and distance at the moment so I haven't been able to double check a few things. I've managed to set up a twitch account, learn how to use OBS, and order a mayflash adapter all in the last 24 hours or so, so hopefully next week sometime I'll be able to provide visual references if not make a video guide.
Here's a list of sections I'd like to add in the near future:
- An in depth explanation of why RARing on stage is pretty much balls most of the time
- Stage Specific information
- Matchup specific applications.
And maybe more stuff. Thanks for reading.
People have been claiming for a while now that Falco's transition to P:M has provided him with an unintentional buff through some of the mechanics carried over from Brawl, such as the Reverse Aerial Rush, B-reversed lasers, Wavebounced lasers, so on and so forth.
I am here today to tell you that this is true.
I have gone to the lab, and what I have found is as clear as day. However, I have to provide a three part disclaimer for this guide:
First and foremost, I am by no means a master of Falco. I consider myself to be an intermediate player at best, and what you'll find in this guide is almost entirely the theorycrafting and lab experiments of that player mingled with a dash of what I've actually been able to apply in both friendly and tournament settings. Please feel free to correct any mistakes, be skeptical of my arguments, and share your thoughts.
Secondly, the techniques and applications that I present below are by their very nature experimental and risky. You are playing Falco and you are likely going to lose stocks trying to figure out how to use this effectively, so please don't forget that.
Thirdly, all frame data used in this guide comes directly from the Falco Hitboxes and Frame Data thread for Melee Falco, which can be found here: http://smashboards.com/threads/falco-hitboxes-and-frame-data.300397/
, and nothing has been or could have been calculated without this data. The only thing I could imagine that would cause discrepancy between the data there and what happens in P:M is the one frame physics delay present in both Brawl and P:M, but I have literal zero understanding of that phenomenon so I can't really say anything on the matter other than citing my sources.
So now, without further ado.
II. What is the RAR?
When a character dashes forwards, there is a certain number of frames during which they can input the opposite direction in order to begin a new dash animation in that direction (dash dancing). When the initial dash input is held beyond this point, turning around requires the character to perform their turnaround (skid) animation.
Jumping during this animation will maintain the momentum from running while causing the character to turn around, essentially jumping forwards while facing backwards. This is useful for grabbing the ledge, using a backwards facing hitbox, etc. Here's one of the few P:M demonstrations that I was able to find:
http://youtu.be/pwk3VgZDuEs
Keep in mind that the fourth input (the second ->) is to maintain your momentum through the use of your aerial mobility, and get the most distance of out your RARs.
III. Yeah, yeah, get to the good stuff.
Sorry, but we have to trudge through a little bit more minutia before we can get to application, just so nobody gets lost. At least, this is about Falco specifically. To understand what makes the RAR useful in some situations and bad in others, we have to talk about Falco's three best aerials- dair, nair, and bair. Let's refer to some frame data:
Dat cloaca hitbox tho (Remember that IASA is the "First actionable frame" so for all intents and purposes it's when the animation "ends").Neutral Air
Total: 49
Hit: 4-31
IASA: 42
Auto cancel: <3 37>
Landlag: 15
L-Canceled: 7
Down Air
Total: 49
Hit: 5-24
Auto cancel: <4 30>
Landlag: 18
Lcanceled: 9
Back Air
Total: 39
Hit: 4-19
IASA: 38
Auto cancel: <3 23>
Landlag: 20
Lcanceled: 10
I could get really into the numbers here to explain why each attack is good for different things, but I'll try to keep it short with some generalized statements:
-On stage, when L-cancelling is in the mix, the differences in the three attacks in terms of their speed and safety (i.e. how "committal" they are, and how fast you can perform another action after performing them) is almost negligible, but these differences become more and more significant when 1) Shields get involved and 2) approaching frame perfection, which is actually easier than it sounds. Bair is the worst for pressuring shields and continuing combos, but carries the benefit of being able to most reliably put your opponent in an edgeguard situation or even kill at high percents all by itself.
-Off stage, where L-cancelling is impossible, bair is 10 frames faster than dair, with a safer hitbox, and while only 4 frames faster than nair, is considerably better at both gimping and killing outright due to it's higher knockback, provided that you can actually ensure that your foot makes contact with their face.
-This means that offstage, bair is, on paper, the safest and most effective edgeguarding tool that Falco has. In Melee, Falco's ability to use it was essentially restricted to the space around the ledge itself, but in Project M- finally, the point of it all, Falco can RAR to put bair where he has never been able to put bairs before, opening up his offstage game, and still have a second jump, airdodge, and phantasm or firebird to get back on stage.
IV. Application: Edgeguarding and gimping
Here's a rundown of three possible scenarios and applications, presented in the beautiful glory of my MSpaint skills:
*Not to scale.
The red line is my favorite, so I'll explain it first. The inputs go like this:
Run to ledge -> Turn -> Short hop -> immediately hold stick away from stage for maximum momentum -> short hop again -> keep holding that stick -> bair
In this case, your bair will land over a Phantasm's length away from the ledge, and it will be impossible for you to recover. This is essentially a horizontal bombsoldier, and while I have only used it successfully against CPU's, but I can see it having application against characters with recoveries like Mario, Marth, and Samus, or anyone with horrible DI.
The green line represents the safest use of Falco's RAR, which is a double full hop interception. Every now and then, the floaters, gliders, teleporters, and what have yous of PM will think that they can simply go over you, having the hubris to forget that you are a GODDAMN BIRD. When you soar into the sky to deliver a swift kick to the face, they will soil themselves with shame and realize that neither land nor sea nor sky are safe from your wrath, as you casually make your way back to the stage.
The yellow line, however, is where things get somewhat ambiguous. This is the zone where you're trying to punish tether recoveries- if you believe such a thing is possible. I, myself, have hope.
This zone is too far away from the stage to make spiking the enemy a viable option, but close enough that with a RAR -> bair -> double jump -> firebird you might be able to make it back. Maybe. I know it's possible, but I'm not sure that I'm a bad enough dude to figure out exactly how to make it back consistently. There's also the fact that if you don't block the tether, you literally just set yourself up to be ledgehogged.
V. To Be Continued
This is all I have time to write at the moment, and I'm sorry that the first version of it is so completely ****ty. Some things in this version of my so called guide have been recalled from memory, so I certainly won't get offended if anyone corrects me on anything. My access to a lab is restricted by time and distance at the moment so I haven't been able to double check a few things. I've managed to set up a twitch account, learn how to use OBS, and order a mayflash adapter all in the last 24 hours or so, so hopefully next week sometime I'll be able to provide visual references if not make a video guide.
Here's a list of sections I'd like to add in the near future:
- An in depth explanation of why RARing on stage is pretty much balls most of the time
- Stage Specific information
- Matchup specific applications.
And maybe more stuff. Thanks for reading.
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