ROB OFFICIALL MATCHUP DISCUSSION: Pikachu (rediscuss)

Continuing our trend of 2x matchups per week (this will be the last 2x/week for awhilel), we're gonna do some Pikachu rediscussion. That being said....

I would like to have a bit more "order" to the discussions from now on (as it makes it easier on me whenever I try to compile them into synopses). Please post in the following "format" (or at least a reasonable facsimile of)



ROB's Advantages:

ROB's Disadvantages:

Opponent's Advantages:

Opponent's Disadvantages:

What ROB should try to do:

How to do it:

How opponent can stop it:

What Opponent should be trying to do:

How they'll do it:

How ROB can stop it:

Counterpicks (what ROB should pick)
Bans (what ROB should ban 1 via stage strike, 1 via personal ban)
Preferred Neutral (what ROB wants)

Ratio:

This may look lengthy, but- it shouldnt be that hard as the +/- for each character is just more or less a list.

Best friend mains pikachu and has arguably the best in FL (No offense ESAM)

ROB's Advantages: All of your moves out range pika's . Fair beats every arial he has. F-tilt beats every move he has. You out camp him with laser and gyro. Your D-smash comes out quicker than his, and has more range. You can reflect his thunder with side-b

ROB's Disadvantages: RoB is big. Big means easy to combo. Expect alot of u-tilt ->u-air strings. Big hit box also means that easy target for his Nair(only Aerial kill move) and his Thunder.

Opponent's Advantages: Lagless projectiles when used in the air. Quick attack cancels can be used to throw you off your game. Best ledge game other than pits.

Opponent's Disadvantages: No kill power. Very gimpable. Little priority on all his aerials

What ROB should try to do:
Camp. Make the pikachu approach you. This is out of pikachu's comfort zone. He will likely approach with either a) Fair to whittle away at a shield into a d-smash or b) QAC into a down air. Just shield it and DI UP out of the dsmash. It will prevent the brunt of the damage and will also stop u from being sent strait up in the air into a thunder. (Spot dodge Dsmash also works because your dsmash comes out faster than his :D)
How to do it: Short hop laser/Gyro. Dont stop moving. Stay off the ground and away from jolts. Punish approaches with Spotdodge dsmash. Put pikachu in the air and just WoP with fairs. VS ROB A pikachu in the air is a dead pikachu.

How opponent can stop it:
Ledge game. He will camp on that ledge and plank like no ones business. Don't under estimate it. Just shoot gyros off the ledge or z-drop them and grab the ledge when hes hit.
What Opponent should be trying to do: Cccccccombo U-tilt -> U-air at low precents can be strung for lots of dmg. Off stage thunders are effective so be wary.


How ROB can stop it: Keep your distance. When you see pika come off stage and thunder, stall your up b with dair and wait for the thunder to pass and just get to the stage before he can do it again.

Counterpicks (what ROB should pick) Mansion if its legal. Pikachu's worse stage imo. All the platforms destroy his kill moves. Frigate if you feel more comfortable is also good.
Bans (what ROB should ban 1 via stage strike, 1 via personal ban) Strike Battle field. The platforms hurt you sooo much. And Ban norfair. Norfair= No fair. So many ledges...= A happy planking pikachu
Preferred Neutral (what ROB wants) FD Smashville Lylat

Ratio: 60-40 maybe 65-35 Robs favor

I honestly haven't played against a rob offline in forever, so my info may be outdated, but it's nice to hear something from the opponents side

ROB's Advantages: Fair is annoying as hell, can't really string into anything though since we are light. F-tilt is good, but you have to make sure you angle it down since we (i think) can duck under it. Gyro's stop Thunder Jolts, so they make our camping game less effective. However, i think pikachu is one of the few people who can somewhat edgeguard ROB. We can pressure you off the stage with T-jolts, and if you go directly for the level we can thunder you and make you waste your gas if you back off. ROB is one of like...7 characters in the game who pikachu cannot CG, forward or buffered down.

ROB's Disadvantages: Your kill moves are going to be relatively difficult to land due to pikachu's size and maneuverability. Nair is an obvious choice, but pikachu is fast enough so we can punish it before it comes out or can just QAC to safety. Also, edgeguarding for you will be more difficult than it will be for pika to edgeguard you.

Opponent's Advantages: Pikachu is overall faster, and he has many many tricksies. What ROBs have to get used to is QAC, or Quick Attack Cancel. If you are good against it, it won't be very effective, but it can **** you if you don't know how to cope. Pikachu's fair will most likely poke your shield since you are big, and it can start into comboes


Opponent's Disadvantages: Our range<ROB's range. It is difficult for pikachu to get in without the aid of a Thunder Jolt against ROB, and you guys can just send a gyro out and get rid of it anyway.

What ROB should try to do:In this MU, make the pikachu approach, the defender always has the better position. If you are losing, you can approach better with gyro's and lasers, so that edge is definitely ROBs. If he gets to close, D-smash him away and start camping again.

How to do it: You are ROB, you know how to camp

How opponent can stop it: Be all in your face and predict the D-smashes (i guess)

What Opponent should be trying to do: Not get outcamped, be in your face, and combo you.

How they'll do it: Fairs, QAC into Uair, SH Dair (autocancels)

How ROB can stop it: Play smart, don't get hasty. You have to be patient.

Counterpicks (what ROB should pick) I don't know ROBs good/bad levels

Bans (what ROB should ban 1 via stage strike, 1 via personal ban) I don't know ROBs good/bad levels

Preferred Neutral (what ROB wants) I don't know ROBs good/bad levels

Ratio:

ROB's Advantages:
Good aerial game, faster projectiles, outranges pikachu in ground and air.

ROB's Disadvantages:
Slower ground game and recovery. ROB is a combo magnet for pikachu.

Opponent's Advantages:
Faster than ROB, Thunder can ruin ROB's aerial game, quicker recovery.

Opponent's Disadvantages:
Pikachu is overall outranged by ROB. Pikachu's projectile is slower than ROB's

What ROB should try to do:
Play defensive, keep the game in the air, don't get to high up or pikachu will thunder you out of the sky. ROB has two projectiles, one of which (The spinney top.) can be canceled with pikachu's projectile. Try to use the top in the air to catch pikachu off guard. Use ROB's range to your advantage. Camp whenever possible.

How opponent can stop it:
Being unpredictable, dodging, out camping you.

What Opponent should be trying to do:
Rushing you, faking you out, all mindgames. Also camping and trying to combo you.

How they'll do it:
Walking into running, jumping up and air dodging everything, thundershocking.

How ROB can stop it:
Stay defensive. Don't loose patients, this may be a long match.

Counterpicks (what ROB should pick)
I'm not sure about which stages ROB is good or bad at.

Bans (what ROB should ban 1 via stage strike, 1 via personal ban)
I'm not sure about which stages ROB is good or bad at.

Preferred Neutral (what ROB wants)
I'm not sure about which stages ROB is good or bad at.

Ratio:
65:35

ROB's Advantages:
-Pikachu's grabs wont do much in this match up
-Gyro stops Pika's thunder jolt
-Ftilt out ranges pikachu, and I think it eats the thunder jolts
-WoP off stage


ROB's Disadvantages:
-Little opponent making it harder to hit
-Much slower than Pikachu
-May have difficulty avoiding the tunder jolts due to his size and manuverability
-Blindspot gets owned by thunder

Opponent's Advantages:
-Quicker game
-Bair is a good damaging move
-Good projectiles that can slow ROB's game down
-QAC (Quick Attack Cancle) can make it difficult to read pikachu and set up opportunities for him
-Difficult target

Opponent's Disadvantages:
-Offstage game is poor
-Can be WoPed and gimped
-ROB's Ftilt can really bother Pikachu
-Difficult time approaching


What ROB should try to do:
-Be catious when camping
-Incorporate more Ftilt into your game
-Get Pikachu off stage and keep him off it as long as possible
-Avoid being in the air with Pikachu
-Take little damage as possible


How to do it:
-Know your range
-Dont go overboard with the lasers and gyros
-Keep an eye out for thunder jolts and approaches
-Fairs & Projectiles will do you well off stage
-Look for opportunities to grab when possible
-Fastfall, you don't wanna be floating around
-DI out of Dsmash and other moves that will rack up damage, ACCUSTOM yourself to DI-ing


How opponent can stop it:
-You know what projectiles are comming at you and more or less where they'll be
-QAC will make it difficult for ROB to succed in doing what he wants with Pikachu


What Opponent should be trying to do:
-Getting ROB in the air
-Avoiding the gyro, not shielding it, because we wont be able to bring it out again if its out.
Meaning your thunder jolts have a better chance of hitting us, and thats one less thing to avoid
-Either shielding, or avoiding the lasers
-QAC
-Racking up damage with Bairs and setting up with Smash


Counterpicks: Jungle Japes, Pokemon Stadium 1
Bans: Final Destination
Preferred Neutral: Lylat or BF

Ratio: Not sure

bump bc I want some more input

Here's my analysis. I haven't had much personal experience, but this is the best analysis I can give.

ROB's Advantages:
You can camp. Your ground game has better range than pikachu's ground game. Your F-air works well on Pika. You also have one of the best B up recoveries in the game.

ROB's Disadvantages:
Big, heavy, easy to combo. You also are vulnerable from below and behind when in the air.

Opponent's Advantages:
Quicker, elusive, thunder. This means that Rob should never be above pikachu. Never. Recovery is extremely difficult to gimp.

Opponent's Disadvantages:
Pikachu is lighter, and so gets KO'd easier. Also, if you can space well enough to avoid F-smash and U-smash, pikachu might have a hard time killing you.

What ROB should try to do:
You need to camp, space well, and shut down pikachu's approach.

How to do it:
Use your laser and gyro to camp pikachu. Use F-air to beat out arial approaches, use your tilts and jabs to beat out ground approaches. If you can continually beat out pikachu's approaches, the game is yours. When in the air, keep pikachu above or in front of you. Else, you're a perfect target for one of pikachu's quick arials. Also, watch out for thunder. Don't recover high, or it WILL kill you. U-throw/U-tilt/U-smash to thunder is an excellent kill combo for pikachu.


How opponent can stop it:
Thunder jolting while approaching can disrupt your strategy. The air-dodge can also help. Basically, by being as unpredictable as possible, pikachu can confuse and defeat you. Sometimes the pikachu may even throw in a QAC to disrupt.

What Opponent should be trying to do:
Approach and combo. If they send you into the air, you are in danger.

How they'll do it:
I like to F-air to a shield grab. Once I've used the U-throw, I begin to combo, using U-air to juggle, and the others for mixups. Also, when approaching, I'd throw in jolts, air-dodges, different airials liberally. When unpredictable, pikachu has the edge.

How ROB can stop it:
I find N-air usually breaks my combos the best. However, if its predicted, you might be receiving an N-air from Pikachu.

Counterpicks (what ROB should pick)
I don't really know, but I think Luigi's mansion and Final destination would be the best.

Bans (what ROB should ban 1 via stage strike, 1 via personal ban)
Ban corneria. The stage layout would wreck the laser, pikachu's jolts work really well here, and the place begs for U-tilt to thunder KO's. Ban it.

As for the neutrals, I don't really know.

Preferred Neutral (what ROB wants)
No idea.