Pikachu: Zoning, Spacing, and Killing

I read this thread yesterday and I thought it would be a good idea to do an analysis of pikachu and see how he stands up compared to the rest of the crew. I believe the fox boards are also doing something like this. We can evaluate pikachu on many aspects. Read this before continuing:

http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=199108

Pikachu:

Zoning:

The ratings here go Amazing, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Terrible.

• On the Ground - Pikachu does incredibly well on the ground with his arsenal of quick tilts and powerful smashes. Dtilt comes out almost instantaneously with decent range to it. It has a change of tripping your opponent too, which can lead to QAL. His ftilt has some nice knockback and few startup frames, so its good for sending your opponent away to give pika some breathing room. Ftilt has KO potential at higher percents, which is deadly since the move looks deceptively harmless. Utilt is absolutely amazing. The is mainly used my pika players for comboing and it is very quick. Pikachu's fsmash is very powerful and has nice range to it, but it is more powerful near pika's cheeks. Usmash can also kill easily or it can be combo'd into Thunder. Dsmash can kill too, but your opponent can usually DI out of it to avoid the last hit. Pika's throws (with the exception of bthrow) sets up for chain grabs or deadly combos. QAC is great for mindgames and mobility, since it can lead to Thunder, Aerials, and many other things. Pikaslide (isn't the name adorable?) is also worth a mention. It allows pika to slide backwards while jumping, fsmash, shielding, or basically doing anything. Rating: Above Average.
  
  
  
• In the Air - Pikachu's air game is geared towards comboing, rather than powerful finishers like that of snake. As Mr. E said, Fair is the bread n' butter of pika's aerial game. It has little lag on it and it can lead to many combos. Uair is very quick with little knockback, which is perfect for comboing/juggling. Nair has kill potential at higher percents. Bair is also a nice aerial, but fair is usually better that bair. Dair has nice knockback too. Overall pika has a very versitile air game, though not the best, it is defiantly very good. Rating: Above Average
  
  
  
• Off the Stage - As for recovery, pikachu has one of the best recoveries in the game. Skullbash provides huge horizontal distance, thunder can be used to stall pika's aerial momentum, and quick attack can be user to recover vertially, horizontally, or even diangonally! If pika's nair connects with the opponent, the opponent most likely will not make it back. Rating: Amazing
  

Spacing:

The ratings here go Comfortable, Bearable, Uncomfortable.

• Extremely long distance - At this distance, pikachu can easily outcamp most characters with his tjolt, which probably has the most annoying path of any projectile. He is also a small character than can crouch under most projectiles, so dodging them is a breeze. Pika's Thunder has the 2nd highest vertical range (Snake's fully charged usmash is first), so it can strike opponent way above him who might think they are safe. Perfect for getting star KO's. Pikachu's QAC can close the distance of FD is about 1.5 seconds, so pika is only 2 QAC's away from owning his opponent. Rating: Comfortable
  
  
• Long distance - This is pika's best position. his QAC allows him to strike instantaneously with an aerial or thunder, and then retreat to safety. His tjolt is very nice for forcing your opponent in the air, where you can QAC -> aerial to hit them. Again, he can dodge most projectiles with ease at this distance. He is out of range of almost all the physical attacks, so pika remains safe, while in striking distance. Rating: Comfortable
  
  
• Medium Distance - Pika doesn't excel at this range, since characters with disjointed hitboxs/huge range (marth, DDD, Ike) can hit pikachu without pika returning the favor. Pika does have some nice range on his attacks however, including Headbutt (neutral A), fsmash, ftilt, and dtilt, so he can hold his own at this distance against characters without broken range (snake, anyone?) Rating: Bearable
  
  
• Short Distance - Pika is every effective at this range. His uitlt can set up for combos, his grabs also set up for CG or combos, dsmash is good for clearing an area if you need breathing room. Pika's attacks are fast with decent priority, giving him the edge at close combat. Rating: Comfortable
  

Killing:

The ratings here go Amazing, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Terrible.

• Killing Power - Pika excels at racking up damage and has nice finishers, but landing the finishers at kill percents takes some work. Occasionally, you can trick someone into a sweetspotted thunder and kill them at 60%, but that is rare in high level play. If pika does land a kill move at 100%, the opponent usually dies.Rating: Average
  
  
• Gimping Potential -

  Muhznit said:

  Gimping Potential: Quadruple Thunder says hi to those with crappy recoveries. Wavebounced Thunder says "HI, I'M AN ELECTRIC FENCE KTHNXDIE". Thundershock says hi to anyone trying to go under the stage. Too bad reflectors and absorbers screw them over, though. D: Above Average.

  Click to expand...

  Pika's nair is deadly off stage, which will kill your opponent most often if it connects. Pika's slow fall speed and god-like recovery allow him to venture far in pursuit of his enemies. Thunder and Tjolt can be a pain to characters without multiple jumps. Rating: Above Average
  
  

I have my own thoughts on pikachu through my own playing experience, but I would like to hear what other pika players/"pros" say about him. I will summerize what everyone says after everyone gets a chance to post their thoughts. I don't know how to do that multiple quote thing in one post, so a summery will have to do. Discuss!

EDIT: I am done summerizing pikachu. I score pika 31 out of a possible 37. Mr E gave pika 29 out of 37, and Muhznit score pika 29/37. I guess pika's average score is 30. =P Not Bad!
EDIT 2: I'll update the summery as I get more user inputs, so the rating is not final.

=]

Here's what my PokeDex says about Pokemon #25:

Pikachu:

* On the Ground - Pikachu has quick tilts in his arsenal. His d-tilt comes out almost instantly and has some great range to it. It's a great spacing tool, while Pikachu's f-tilt is another. The f-tilt has more KO potential than d-tilt and comes out very quickly as well to catch opponent's off-guard in combat. The u-tilt is another quick tilt that has some serious combo potential and decent priority and KO potential. T-jolt is great for annoying the opponent and sometimes setting up grabs. Pikachu's smashes can seriously lay the smackdown on opponent's who make one false step, while Thunder has some serious KO potential and is so unstoppable that the opponent must wait it out.
Rating: Above Average

* In the Air - Pikachu can juggle most opponents very well in the air. The Fair is his bread n' butter in aerial combat and can lead to great combos. The Uair has good priority and also great juggling potential. Nair is a powerhouse punisher at higher %'s. The opponent can also be mindgamed into an aerial thunder, which can kill at moderate %'s.
Rating: Above Average

* Off the Stage - Due to Pikachu's incredible recovery and slow fall, Pikachu is a beast off-stage. Once the opponent is off-stage, Pikachu's Nair has a good chance, when it successfully connects, to either prevent an opponent from returning or utterly destroy them. Thunder also makes it very difficult for the opponent to return when used right. The problem is, these off-stage strategies can be seen coming and the opponent may learn how to avoid it shortly.
Rating: Above Average


* Extremely long distance -Fortunately, Pikachu is a small target and quite agile so dodging long-range projectiles is not a problem. But Pikachu has only two options at this kind of distance. Either spam thunderjolt or approach. Pikachu can outcamp many characters- especially the ones without reflectors. This may bait the opponent to come to him. Or, Pikachu can approach with thunderjolts, QAC or even aerials. Most opponents won't be able to react easily to the approaches.
Rating: Bearable

* Long distance - Again, Pikachu can dodge projectiles well from here due to his small size and agile nature. From this distance, t-jolts can still be used as a camping tool but a better strategy would be to approach it. Better yet, approaching with a perfect QAC can cover a long distance over to the opponent and chain into unforeseen attacks.
Rating: Comfortable

* Medium Distance - Pikachu shines at this distance because he can set up aerial/grab combos easily with mindgames and t-jolts. QAC becomes less effective here but can still be used for spacing, as can the tilts. Pikachu is quite able to space himself with Fairs and t-jolts and even land a heavy-hitting thunder after spacing himself a bit.
Rating: Comfortable

* Short Distance - At point blank range, Pikachu's combo ability takes the limelight. Grabs are very quick and effective and tilts are excellent spacing tools. QAC and t-jolts cannot be used effectively here, which in reality is not a big downside. However, fast attacks can work well to keep Pikachu at bay from this short distance.
Rating: Bearable


* Killing Power - All in all, Pikachu excels in racking up damage but to land the finishing blow takes some work. To do this, the opponent must be mindgamed heavily or make false steps for Pikachu to sweep in with a Nair, smash attack, or perhaps an early Thunder kill. Pikachu CAN, however, kill many opponents below 100% if not right smack dab in the middle of the stage. Not too shabby.
Rating: Average

* Gimping Potential - Pikachu's off-stage prowess ties into this. With Pikachu's slow fall and far-reaching thunder, Pikachu's opponents are hard-pressed to make it back to the stage in one piece. Pikachu's aerials can gimp too, such as Nair and Bair, but Thunder is by far his best gimping tool and one of the best gimping tools in the game. The downside is, these methods of gimping may become predictable in short order to an experienced opponent.
Rating: Above Average

Using this rating scale, Pikachu gets a 29 out of a possible 37. I guess that's why many say Pikachu is high tier.
Pikach is a great force to be reckoned with and can either mindgame the opponent to oblivion or devastate itself with its predictability. The difference comes down to experience to know how to fight with Pikachu's strengths.

• On the Ground: Quick Attack Cancel REALLY speeds up Pika's game and gets your opponent defensive and uneasy. All of his throws (except Back throws) set up for combos or chain throws, and the Pikaslide is 20,000 volts of rapetricity. It'd be amazing if it weren't for those blasted sword/weapon users. Above Average.
• In the Air: Pikachu's Aerials aren't the best in the game, but nor are they the worst. He has a nice kill move in Nair. It's similar to Meta Knight's in the sense that it hits all around and has decent knock back. Fair and Uair help with combos, Bair helps in breaking them. And with the correct timing, there's no lag on any of them. Above average.
• Off the Stage: He can go completely under the waiting room stage if you do things right. If he's high above, you can shoot a thundershock, QAC in front of it and go nuts. Amazing.

• Extremely long distance: Vertical Counts, too right? Because Pikachu has the 2nd highest vertical range in the game, thanks to Thunder. It's rivaled only by Snake's fully-charged Up-Smash. Not to mention that QAC (Probably 2nd coolest AT, rivaled by Meta's IDC) makes NOTHING of long distances, really. It makes Pikachu around Sonic's Speed. Comfortable.
• Long distance: Thundershock's a pretty **** awesome projectile. It has a sweet range and the ever-so sweet ability to cling to walls. Full-hopping a thundershock is like having a guided projectile that doesn't leave you open. Using it out of a Quick Attack Cancel makes it all the sweeter. Comfortable.
• Medium Distance: Pika's main options are F-Smash, D-Tilt, and.... headbutt? That's right, Pikachu's AAA has a longer range than F-Tilt. (Don't believe me? Set C-Stick to attack instead of smashes, then use grazing hits on the waiting room sandbag to see which one has bigger range.) Just be wary of those **** swordsmen. Bearable.
• Short Distance: Once again, **** those swordsmen. U-Tilt and the combos it can link into come into play here, shortly followed by D-Smash->QAC'd Thunder. Skull Bash out of nowhere is always fun if no one sees it coming. Crouching helps Pikachu avoid a lot of usually painful attacks. I crawled under a Bowser's F-Smash with it. :D Don't forget the throws! I say Bearable.

The ratings here go Amazing, Above Average, Average, Below Average, Terrible.

• Killing Power: Not much to say here. Thunder is tricky to nail if your opponent's used to it. It's better for Star KOs, but that often requires the help of an U-Throw, U-Smash, or D-Smash. F-Smash is awesome, but just the SLIGHTEST bit laggy. Make sure you hit with the front part of U-Smash only. YOU CANNOT COMBO INTO THE BACK, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY. Average.
• Gimping Potential: Quadruple Thunder says hi to those with crappy recoveries. Wavebounced Thunder says "HI, I'M AN ELECTRIC FENCE KTHNXDIE". Thundershock says hi to anyone trying to go under the stage. Too bad reflectors and absorbers screw them over, though. D: Above Average.

Thanks Mr. E and Muhznit for contributing your thoughts! I finished a summery and submitted it to the main thread. You can check there later to see how all the characters stack up to each other outside of the tier list.

Pika's Average is 30, but from only... what, three user's inputs? Not to mention all three of them favor Pikachu greatly? I know I sure do. HE'S THOR IN A PLUSH TOY!

We need not only Anther's views (Since he's the best pika, he may be a bit more accurate) but others as well, especially those that DON'T main Pikachu yet know his potential.

I'll update the info as more people give their inputs. I'll give this thread a few more days so people have a chance to put info on it. I understand this is a lot to type and it takes a long time.

Anther, Rollerking, ESAM, Bear, all you big name pika's out there, Post your thoughts! If you don't want to write about all the aspects, you can just comment on certain parts (zoning, spacing, killing) for now and add more when you have time.

First off, i noticed that you said you can QAL when you trip. You can't.


Zoning: I agree basically. Another think for medium range that is really good is D-tilt sliding. It has a deceptive hitbox so people uncomfortable in that position may charge, you can D-tilt to either hit them, or then you can slide back and hit them with whatever move you want. D-tilt sliding really doesn't get the recognition it deserves. I know, i don't use it that often, but it is so practical if you learn how to use it well. It can make your opponents miss so many times when approaching from the air or on the ground. It is harder to do this against people with disjointed hitboxes, so you have to be MUCH more careful against those opponents, even though im usually reckless offline just because i don't like camping unless i really have to.

Also, Killing potential imo is greater than average. List of kill moves are, in order of strength: Sweetspot thunder, Sweetspot F-smash, thunder, U-smash, Nair, D-smash, Dair, F-tilt. (I think, i don't have a list in front of me) Thats A LOT of kill moves at his disposal. Nair, F-tilt, and U-smash are really quick. U-throw to thunder is an unrealistic form of killing that will scarcely work. F-tilt can kill at the edge around 130%, Sweetspot thunder, if it sends the opponent at the right trajectory, can kill at around 40-50%. F-smash can kill at 70, and if you don't sweetspot you can follow up with a thunder, even though it won't happen that often. Nair off the level will kill probably around like 70-90%. This isn't really gimping since it isn't like...pseudo-spiking them with your tail, which is still possible to people with sub-par recoveries, so that can really help if you are aggressive with your edgeguarding, and you don't want to smack them back up with a nair.

Also, it may help on the medium range. Is a FH thunderjolt going above the opponent. This forces them to shield, and then you can fair them and start the comboes (if it shield stabs). Also, for mindgames, you can FH a T-jolt, land behind them, and either turn and grab, or D-smash. It works really well against people offline or online.

For gimping, what i can usually do when i have the opponent in a grab basically off the edge is keep grab attacking until they fall off. Then, since 99% of people will jump, you can hold jab, which will eliminate their jump. Or you could D-tilt to knock them away. I do it to my brother's zamus and bowser, and i do it to snakes quite frequently. Or, you can F-throw them off of the level and then full hop a thunder jolt, which makes the opponent fall down for the most part, or it just knocks them farther. THe strange path of the jolt makes it REALLY hard for the opponent to maneuver. As i said above, nairing of the cliff isn't nairing unless you sourspot it off the level and gimp their jump, but that isn't really practical...

Overall pretty good, but i hope some of the other pikas can add, or see if my information is sufficient.

Not saying I hat Pikachu because he was my main in all the games until I started using Zero Suit Samus, but he has like two spaming moves that people can use which like ppl actually do to win. I was online and some guy kept using up b and down b. He made his taunt that i was a Spammer like wtf.

Pikachu Rocks though!

jiggz kirbz said:

Not saying I hat Pikachu because he was my main in all the games until I started using Zero Suit Samus, but he has like two spaming moves that people can use which like ppl actually do to win. I was online and some guy kept using up b and down b. He made his taunt that i was a Spammer like wtf.

Pikachu Rocks though!

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1. Take time to type. This is a forum, not a chatroom.
2. Up B? A spammer move? You're kidding, right?

lolz...he gets owned by quick attack and its broken damage and knockback. If you lose to a pikachu that only uses QA and Thunder...you suck...terribly....

Please don't post crap like this on this thread or any other serious thread. You post has NOTHING to do with ANYTHING at ALL.

He probably meant T-jolt...

This thread wins.

5ive, WHERE IS THE TUTORIAL. If you need me to do anything just tell me.