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QAC - A Guide

plasmid

Smash Apprentice
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May 18, 2008
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Hawaii
QAC - A Guide
It has recently come to my attention that there's not really a decent guide on how to QAC around, so I've decided to take it upon myself to write one. Disclaimer: If this guide is crap, so be it. If not, then I'll add some pictures in a couple days.

Getting Started
First of all what is QAC. Quick Attack Cancel. It's been said many ways QAC, QuACk etc. But when it comes down to it, it's taking all the lag off of the end of a Quick Attack. Simple as that.

How?
It's surprisingly simple actually. Here's some steps.

1. Do a Quick Attack that ends with Pikachu touching the ground.

2. Before the QA (Quick Attack) actually ends, press Jump.

If you did this correctly Pikachu should have done a second jump (the one done in the air) instead of having QA landing lag.

You can also cancel it into D-Air (note: it will be only the hitting the ground part of D-Air), or any B-Move (even another QA or QAC).

Applications
I fear that this part of the guide will most likely be incomplete, but I will try by best to update it regularly. That is of course if this guide isn't totally worthless.

QAC is quite versatile once you get the hang of it, which is what makes it such a wonderful addition to Pikachu's arsenal. Here are a few of my personal uses for it, as well as possibly a couple others.

1. QAC -> Jump: This is my usual form of QAC. I usually go from there to a F-air if my opponent isn't at kill percent, or N-air if they are. This is also useful for camping, just QAC -> Jump then Thunderjolt in their direction, rinse and repeat. It's a little hard to pull off, but will really frustrate your opponent. Also you can do this into another QAC to play mindgames with your opponent.

2. QAC -> QAC: This is a fast way to move across the stage, and will likely confuse your opponent the first time if they haven't seen it before. Useful for getting underneath a recently upward flown opponent to Thunder them, fleeing your opponent, getting somewhere quickly, or Quick Attack Lock (which last time I checked still exists).

3. QAC -> Thunder: This becomes useful when you've knocked your opponent into the air, and they've DI'd to the left or right far enough that you can't Thunder them. You can then use it to quickly get under them and Thunder. Depending on whether they saw it coming and were able to predict your QAC (which is unlikely unless you're playing someone who fights Pikachu a lot), then you will probably hit them if you spacing is right. The hardest part on this one is the spacing. NOTE: You can go further or shorter distances by tilting the control stick either between Side and Down-Side, or Between Down-Side and Down. If that didn't make sense to you PM me and I'll add some pictures.

Thats it on applications for now but I'll add more later.

Other Stuff

DQA (Double QA): This is when you do QA and the second part in the same direction. Simple instructions.

1. Use QA to the Left or Right.

2. Then with the second part, point the stick in the Side-Down direction, and cancel it with a jump, B-move, etc.

QAL (Quick Attack Lock): I haven't seen this mentioned in a while but then again I don't really pay much attention so I'll put it here anyway. This is done whenever your opponent misses a tech (they fall flat on their face from the air), you can repeatedly QAC -> QAC combo them until you screw up (and trust me you will eventually). This is hard to pull off, but a little easier if you footstool them into the prat fall. Steps.

1. Opponent prat falls either from missing a tech or you footstooling them.

2. Repeatedly QAC -> QAC through them.

3. Eventually screw up or choose to end the lock.

So Thats about it
Yah I don't really have much else to say for now, I'm tired of writing this. If you have any questions PM me and I'll try to clarify the guide. If there's anything else you feel should be mentioned PM me and I'll add it when I'm feeling bored again. Also I'll add pictures when I'm bored again. Which could be very soon.

I wrote this because I was bored and there was an apparent lack of one, so I hope it helps any new Pika's out.

Blue Party Hat Forever.
 

Miles.

Smash Champion
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Veng

Smash Ace
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Olympia, Washington
Good, this is more in depth then the Pyskology one or what ever.

Also i didnt read it all so make sure you know you can A) Quick Attack ( UP B ) down into the ground then jump real quick ( its easier to up b > down on the joy stick > tap jump twice ( the first one usually doesnt connect because your still in the QAC animation... that way you dont have to time when to jump ) then do an aerial, or another QAC or you can B) quick attack into the ground and instead of jumping using thunder ( you can do others too but this is most usefull )....

also do it horizontally.... i remember when I first learned QAC the guide in the sticky wasnt real helpfull....
 

Peregrinus Falconidae

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Jul 14, 2008
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338
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Hey, the Psychology one is meant for advanced mindgaming tactics, not basic Pika knowledge, I can't help you there Veng :(
Anyway, it is a great guide, very useful for the new Pika users here, maybe now they will have the foundations to move on to advanced QAC techniques or even the mindgames in my guide. A great initiative, and you could add ESAM's QAL video and a video on QAC tactics, both are in the videos section of my guide up top, feel free to post them here.
 

Muhznit

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I'd like to point out the guide Tagxy made a while back. Apparently the topic age cut-off bumped his topic out of the view of anyone who doesn't use the search engine. I'm not sure about others, but it's broken for me. I had to find this thing via google.
 

Veng

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Oh yea pregrinus it definitely is, but thats why im glad Mr E showed me the chat then Stealth and ESAm and all those people helped me out. That was a while ago though.
 

K 2

Smash Lord
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Tennessee
This guide should get rid of all the "how do I QAC" threads that appear so often. Thank you.
 

neji32

Smash Lord
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Jun 21, 2007
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you know what you should add now, when you can attack people out of QAC or combos with QAC


like

QAC>Dsmash>QAC>thunder

but thats just an example, they dont have to be true combos, true combos are gay

or you could explain times when QAC on the opponent would be useful, just add more to this
 

plasmid

Smash Apprentice
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May 18, 2008
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I plan on adding more to it. Starting with some pictures first, mainly of the directions to hit on the control stick in order to pull it off. Combo's is a good idea, but I'll have to look into them more, as I honestly don't know any, as I don't tend to try to combo with QAC very often, maybe I should. Also I'll add some vids, don't expect any big update for at least a couple days though, I'm busy for most of the weekdays.
 

Anther

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Hay! I have some input that I'd like to add about quick attack, and things that I feel are EXTREMELY crucial to using it well. This has already been posted in a couple other threads, but I think it should also be posted in here, some more tidbits for the competitive pikas ;].

-
Everytime you jump out of a quick attack, you have to get it into your mind that the next time you land that you're going to have a ridiculous amount of punish lag. No one ever really mentions it, and it really matters in important matches. Waaay back in the day I used to get punished all the time because after QAC'ing, I'd try to land with an airdodge into a dsmash or whatever, but get punished because you can't move afterwards. I never noticed it until someone mentioned up-b residual lag to me.

Basically just think of it as a flag that you have to turn off after using Quick attack. Because of this, if I quick attack cancel and notice that I'm not going to be able to attack them without doing something horrendously predictable, I'll quick attack away and land without jumping out of it. Landing that way gets rid of the flag, and is really fast too. I prefer normal landing quick attacks because of that quirk too.

Also, I think when you recover to the ledge, if you use the second part of quick attack, the flag gets turned on. Only way to turn it off is landing on the stage without using thunder or neutral b. Quick attack -> thunder turns it on, so you have to jump and land to get back to normal after doing it, or just quick attack away..... whatever you wanna do XD. Landing any aerials will get rid of it and such, and... that's it for that blurp XD.
 

Pikabunz

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Hay! I have some input that I'd like to add about quick attack, and things that I feel are EXTREMELY crucial to using it well. This has already been posted in a couple other threads, but I think it should also be posted in here, some more tidbits for the competitive pikas ;].

-
Everytime you jump out of a quick attack, you have to get it into your mind that the next time you land that you're going to have a ridiculous amount of punish lag. No one ever really mentions it, and it really matters in important matches. Waaay back in the day I used to get punished all the time because after QAC'ing, I'd try to land with an airdodge into a dsmash or whatever, but get punished because you can't move afterwards. I never noticed it until someone mentioned up-b residual lag to me.

Basically just think of it as a flag that you have to turn off after using Quick attack. Because of this, if I quick attack cancel and notice that I'm not going to be able to attack them without doing something horrendously predictable, I'll quick attack away and land without jumping out of it. Landing that way gets rid of the flag, and is really fast too. I prefer normal landing quick attacks because of that quirk too.

Also, I think when you recover to the ledge, if you use the second part of quick attack, the flag gets turned on. Only way to turn it off is landing on the stage without using thunder or neutral b. Quick attack -> thunder turns it on, so you have to jump and land to get back to normal after doing it, or just quick attack away..... whatever you wanna do XD. Landing any aerials will get rid of it and such, and... that's it for that blurp XD.
Wow! I never knew about this and I use QAC a lot. I'm always getting punished after an airdodge to the ground and I don't know why. I can't believe I never noticed it. This happens to some other characters too after using their recovery moves, Ganondorf seems to have it the worst. Knowing this is going to improve my game so much more.

I tested this out a bit and found out a few things. Pikachu gets the landing lag if he uses the first QA at its max distance to grab the edge. If you have the landing lag on and you use a ff aerial, it will make the landing lag on your aerial slightly longer, only slightly. So it isn't always a good idea to QAC>jump>ff fair unless you know it's going to hit.
 

neji32

Smash Lord
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Jun 21, 2007
Messages
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Louisville, Kentucky
Hay! I have some input that I'd like to add about quick attack, and things that I feel are EXTREMELY crucial to using it well. This has already been posted in a couple other threads, but I think it should also be posted in here, some more tidbits for the competitive pikas ;].

-
Everytime you jump out of a quick attack, you have to get it into your mind that the next time you land that you're going to have a ridiculous amount of punish lag. No one ever really mentions it, and it really matters in important matches. Waaay back in the day I used to get punished all the time because after QAC'ing, I'd try to land with an airdodge into a dsmash or whatever, but get punished because you can't move afterwards. I never noticed it until someone mentioned up-b residual lag to me.

Basically just think of it as a flag that you have to turn off after using Quick attack. Because of this, if I quick attack cancel and notice that I'm not going to be able to attack them without doing something horrendously predictable, I'll quick attack away and land without jumping out of it. Landing that way gets rid of the flag, and is really fast too. I prefer normal landing quick attacks because of that quirk too.

Also, I think when you recover to the ledge, if you use the second part of quick attack, the flag gets turned on. Only way to turn it off is landing on the stage without using thunder or neutral b. Quick attack -> thunder turns it on, so you have to jump and land to get back to normal after doing it, or just quick attack away..... whatever you wanna do XD. Landing any aerials will get rid of it and such, and... that's it for that blurp XD.
ive never noticed that either

btw anther can you try something for me?

QAC(through the character so your right behind them)> rising Uair>Uair>QAC(diagnal down)Thunder

I just keep thinking of the combo but im not sure if it will work
 

Muhznit

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ive never noticed that either

btw anther can you try something for me?

QAC(through the character so your right behind them)> rising Uair>Uair>QAC(diagnal down)Thunder

I just keep thinking of the combo but im not sure if it will work
I can tell you now, it'll be difficult to pull off because of the delay in Thunder getting to Pikachu. If you're going to come up with a Thunder combo, it's best to come up with something that launches them high up-the higher they are, the quicker they can be hit by Thunder.
 

JPOBS

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amazing. glad you did it.

ok, im not great at qacin but i had a premonition the other day.

is it possible to QAC -> thunderjolt -> Qac -> thunderjolt -> watever?

my thinking is that at the start of a match u could qac to nuetral B to put pressure on your opponent and then within the same jump before hitting the ground qac again into another nuetral B. i think it'd be a good way to approach depending on how your opponent reacts. of course i havent even tried it yet i ju wanted to see what u thought of this theory/if its possiblr
 

M15t3R E

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JPOBS- this works: Full jump -> t-jolt -> QAC -> t-jolt. It's only possible to QAC once after a full jump with t-jolt.
I do it sometimes in battle.

Also, I don't b-stick with Pikachu. I heard thunder can be used in an interesting way with b-sticking. I'll try it out.
 

M15t3R E

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After tinkering with it for a while, I can tell you b-sticking (a.k.a. wavebouncing) with Pika's thunder looks cool.
But it's not any more or less useful than performing Pikachu's standard "wall of thunder" technique. So, I'm not gonna incorporate wavebouncing into my gameplay.
 

Muhznit

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C-Stick only for me. I would actually have it set to tilts, but it sometimes makes Pikachu jump for some odd reason when I spam D-Tilt. Nintendo should've really over-tested the custom controls.
 

SilverSpark

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-taken from the brawl at section-

QAC Infinite Jump (a.k.a. Quick Attack Flash)
How to Perform: Do a QAC. Can be chained infinitely, like Bowser and Sonic's infinite Jumps.
Effect: Pikachu can do as many double-jumps, aerials, and Quick Attacks as he wants. He can do any aerial except b-air and continue the chain. Another application with mindgame potential is breaking the Jump early with another QAC. If done close enough to the ground, it'll look like several forward Quick Attacks, but faster.
OP: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=151405
 

Roller

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Just follow the grime...
also, is B-sticking the ideal way to play pikachu?
No.

Pika is not a character who should be played with a B-stick, C-stick is just a much better button configuration for pikachu. Makes running Usmashes possible, Makes doing bairs forward or Fairs backwords much easier too and that is integral to pikachu.
 

AquaTech

We hit the potjack
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YES! I finally got this to work! I have really slow fingers too, I'll tell you how I finally made it work.

Turn tap jump ON. Go to training mode. Final Destination. Slow it down to 1/2 or 2/3 speed. Short hop, QA at a sharp angle towards the ground. As Pikachu is sliding into the ground from that QA, tap up. This will CANCEL the quick attack lag and lift him off the ground. Right when he goes into the air, push UpB again, then angle it back towards the ground again at a sharp angle.

I know that sounds simple but no one ever said it like that before. One of my biggest mistakes is that I'll accidentally use sideB (headbutt) a lot. But you just have to discipline it and get used to pushing B and STRAIGHT UP on the control stick, quickly following that with a sharp angle towards the ground.

Nothing groundbreaking here, just a different way of saying it. By the way, I have no idea how anyone could do this with tap jump off.
 

plasmid

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I actually find it a lot easier with tap jump off.

btw I'm gonna update this soon with all the stuff said, I've just been caught up in making a flash game.
 

neji32

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What do you guys do when you QAC. I couldnt explain to you what i do cause i just relized i have no ideal what im doing when im QACing. Whenever i QAC i just tell my self i want to go Up>Diagnal left
Left>Left>Left>right ect.
but when ever i think about what i need to be pressing i mess up. Its weird

oh and this guide still needs more work, i have tons of vids that show great applications for QAC, i need someone to upload them for me
 

Kyari

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Slippi.gg
KYRI#103
QAC is also a great thing to use to mix up Pikachu's ledgecamp/annoyance game, a lot of times I'll run to the edge and fulljump turning around into neutral B, and then QAC into my opponent as they shield the projectile, QAC back the other direction through them again, and then jump out of the stage into another neutral B, either into another QAC or into landing at the ledge and starting Pikachu's great ledge tactics to try to rack on damage.

Also, if you hit them with QAC, a good thing to do generally is to do 2 rising uair's out of it, although you can sometimes jump into dair too. QAC is amazing ^^.
 

[FBC] ESAM

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waveboucing is possible without b-sticking...i can't exactly explain how do do it, but you can wavebounce while having it on c, z, or t-stick. I personally have my c-stick for tilts because you can dair without fastfalling. I also have TJ on because it makes QAC easier for me.
 
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