gallax
Smash Hero
As a fellow pika user i get quite concerned when i hear of any pikas doing well. There aer exceptions such as Anther, Esam, Z, and pikapika. Prime does well but hes in texas where they play too gay for pika. I wanna see more pikas doing better and placing better in tournies. Im always seeing and hearing other pika players asking how do i get better or how is it that i can be like "whichever player"? I've decided to write an article that may help you reach that next level in your game. If you dont agree with what i have to say then im ok with that. Im only trying to help you.
Ima start with something that ive been preaching about the last 2 months:
Crossovers:
Basically a crossover is where you use your aerial momentum to land behind your opponent. Sounds simple, which it is. To crossover you opponent u can airdodge through them, jump high and simply land behind. There are some chars like sheik who have moves that will auto-cross them but unfortunately we pikas do not. All pikas need to learn to cross-over their opponents as much as possible. Watch videos of warios players. They cross over all the time by airdodging through their opponent.
What are the advantages of crossing my opponent over? Well there are many advantages. You can bait an attack while you are airdodging and have a free grab/attack once you land behind the opponent due to your opponent being in cooldown from attacking. You will make it much harder to get grabbed when landing near an opponent(i will go into this more later on). You can confuse your opponents. Some opponents(like snake) have a huge blind spot behind them and will spotdodge 95% of the time if you get behind them which is punishable if you realize this.
But, beware that there are some opponents(like mk or marth) who have tools to beat crossovers. Learn who has the tools and how to punish and you will be much better off.
The nest thing that i see many pikas doing wrong:
T-jolting:
You may ask yourself how can i tjolt wrong? Its easy and a lot of pikas do this without realizing. If you tjolt too close to an opponent you will get punished. If shielded properly the pika will be left open. Our main objective is to never leave yourself open cuz you will get hit.
If you tjolt always DI away from your opponent if you are too close. IF YOU ARE NEAR THE EDGE AND YOU ARE BEING PRESSURED YOU CAN TJOLT AND DI OFF THE STAGE AND GET TO THE LEDGE. The ledge is pikas best friend. It is so hard to punish a pikas who know how to use their qa and uair on the edge. Plus, only a few chars will be able to beat your planking pikachu.
Something that applies to everyone:
You have habits. You can be predictable:
I was at a plateau in my game and was frustrated becuase i didnt know how to get better. I asked people on the boards and they all said the same thing, play more or read your opponents better. The problem is that i didnt know how to read my opponents better. Playing more was useless. But, then i asked one of the best players in florida what he though of my game and how he beats me. He said simply, you are a great player but you get into a predictable gameplay and i can read you will be next or what you will usually do in certain scenarios. Be more random.
If you want to get better be willing to accept that you have habits and can be predictable. Once you accept this start analyzing how you get hit. Why did you get hit? Was it predicatable? What should u have done? Should you remember not to do that again? Things like this will help you to see that you have habits and that you can break them and be a little more random.
Another thing that pikas do:
Try and force an approach
Simply stated a lot of pikas force an approach. There is nothing wrong with sitting back and tjolt. In fact i encourage it. It can help you in the long run cuz then you can force your opponent into doing something in which you are more likely to predict. There are some chars which you cant camp. Thats ok. Dont camp them. But if you can, do it. Dont feel bad either. You want to win right?
Now lets say you want to approach. Dont force it. Most pikas i play will try to land a ff fair me or run up and try to force an error. Most top players will eat you alive if you try this. Land in front of me with any attack and im going to shield it and grab you. Rush me when im on the ground and i will know that you are either going to shield or dacus me. That or run>spotdodge. As a snake player im going to run>pivot grab. That or run into you running which forces a shield from you to stop your momentum which gives me a free grab. So, unless you think you can force an opponent into shielding so you can grab them or spotdodge a grab from them, then dont rush them.
This also brings up another good point which i want to touch base on. WHICH IS LANDING IN FRONT OF YOUR OPPONENT. No matter if you fair or airdodge into the ground in front of them you will get grabbed by EVERY CHARACTER. You are open. This ties back into the crossovers. Stop landing in front of your opponent unless you are reading and you believe that doing so is strategically needed.
Post Edit: If you are out of jumps and know that you are going to land in front of your opponent and getting grabbed there may be a way for you to get out of this situation. If possible, DI towards them and try to get above them to footstool. If you can footstool you can get out and qa away to safety. The same applies to any char you use. You can always foostool a standing opponent and mix them up.
Every Character has 2-4 frames of vulnerability when they land on the ground
I dont really have to explain this since its simple to understand. Many pikas need to watch their opponents and read and try to predict where they are going to land to get under them and dsmash or grab or fsmash or dtilt them or shield their attack>grab. Keep them off the ground.
A great example of a read is that sometimes at low-mid percents i dthrow> predict them airdodging into the ground in front/behind of me>dsmash. Free damage on a character where an usmash/uair/utilt/nair wouldnt have worked b/c they airdodged then landed near me!!!
Predicting Spotdodges
Just becuase you can play fast it doesnt mean you always have to. There are some characters which have an fantastic spotdodges and will be able to do so even if you dont think its possible and it gets annoying. Well, learn to predict the spotdodge. Wait for it and get that grab. If you cant time it that well yet dsmash them!!!! Often times when you get behind someone they will spotodge. Be patient when you get behind them and wait for it. DDD's love to do this to you when they roll behind you. (if this happens to you be sure to not spotdodge. instead gtfo asap. roll away or run!)
A common situation that occurs quite often is when you try to grab your opponent then they spotdodge your grab then you spotdodge their attempt at a grabbing you and the cycle continues. You need to learn to NOT spotdodge after trying to get grabbed. Wait for them to spotdodge and then grab them. They have a minimum of 2 frames of vulnerablilty after spotdoding. This is only one example though.
If you want to play fast and/or play against a really good grabber or play against someone who is really smart, BUT you know they are going to spotdodge sh dair(the one where it auto-cancels and u land with no lag). You will punish their spotdodge everytime!!!
Thats it for now. I may have a little more to add later.
Ima start with something that ive been preaching about the last 2 months:
Crossovers:
Basically a crossover is where you use your aerial momentum to land behind your opponent. Sounds simple, which it is. To crossover you opponent u can airdodge through them, jump high and simply land behind. There are some chars like sheik who have moves that will auto-cross them but unfortunately we pikas do not. All pikas need to learn to cross-over their opponents as much as possible. Watch videos of warios players. They cross over all the time by airdodging through their opponent.
What are the advantages of crossing my opponent over? Well there are many advantages. You can bait an attack while you are airdodging and have a free grab/attack once you land behind the opponent due to your opponent being in cooldown from attacking. You will make it much harder to get grabbed when landing near an opponent(i will go into this more later on). You can confuse your opponents. Some opponents(like snake) have a huge blind spot behind them and will spotdodge 95% of the time if you get behind them which is punishable if you realize this.
But, beware that there are some opponents(like mk or marth) who have tools to beat crossovers. Learn who has the tools and how to punish and you will be much better off.
The nest thing that i see many pikas doing wrong:
T-jolting:
You may ask yourself how can i tjolt wrong? Its easy and a lot of pikas do this without realizing. If you tjolt too close to an opponent you will get punished. If shielded properly the pika will be left open. Our main objective is to never leave yourself open cuz you will get hit.
If you tjolt always DI away from your opponent if you are too close. IF YOU ARE NEAR THE EDGE AND YOU ARE BEING PRESSURED YOU CAN TJOLT AND DI OFF THE STAGE AND GET TO THE LEDGE. The ledge is pikas best friend. It is so hard to punish a pikas who know how to use their qa and uair on the edge. Plus, only a few chars will be able to beat your planking pikachu.
Something that applies to everyone:
You have habits. You can be predictable:
I was at a plateau in my game and was frustrated becuase i didnt know how to get better. I asked people on the boards and they all said the same thing, play more or read your opponents better. The problem is that i didnt know how to read my opponents better. Playing more was useless. But, then i asked one of the best players in florida what he though of my game and how he beats me. He said simply, you are a great player but you get into a predictable gameplay and i can read you will be next or what you will usually do in certain scenarios. Be more random.
If you want to get better be willing to accept that you have habits and can be predictable. Once you accept this start analyzing how you get hit. Why did you get hit? Was it predicatable? What should u have done? Should you remember not to do that again? Things like this will help you to see that you have habits and that you can break them and be a little more random.
Another thing that pikas do:
Try and force an approach
Simply stated a lot of pikas force an approach. There is nothing wrong with sitting back and tjolt. In fact i encourage it. It can help you in the long run cuz then you can force your opponent into doing something in which you are more likely to predict. There are some chars which you cant camp. Thats ok. Dont camp them. But if you can, do it. Dont feel bad either. You want to win right?
Now lets say you want to approach. Dont force it. Most pikas i play will try to land a ff fair me or run up and try to force an error. Most top players will eat you alive if you try this. Land in front of me with any attack and im going to shield it and grab you. Rush me when im on the ground and i will know that you are either going to shield or dacus me. That or run>spotdodge. As a snake player im going to run>pivot grab. That or run into you running which forces a shield from you to stop your momentum which gives me a free grab. So, unless you think you can force an opponent into shielding so you can grab them or spotdodge a grab from them, then dont rush them.
This also brings up another good point which i want to touch base on. WHICH IS LANDING IN FRONT OF YOUR OPPONENT. No matter if you fair or airdodge into the ground in front of them you will get grabbed by EVERY CHARACTER. You are open. This ties back into the crossovers. Stop landing in front of your opponent unless you are reading and you believe that doing so is strategically needed.
Post Edit: If you are out of jumps and know that you are going to land in front of your opponent and getting grabbed there may be a way for you to get out of this situation. If possible, DI towards them and try to get above them to footstool. If you can footstool you can get out and qa away to safety. The same applies to any char you use. You can always foostool a standing opponent and mix them up.
Every Character has 2-4 frames of vulnerability when they land on the ground
I dont really have to explain this since its simple to understand. Many pikas need to watch their opponents and read and try to predict where they are going to land to get under them and dsmash or grab or fsmash or dtilt them or shield their attack>grab. Keep them off the ground.
A great example of a read is that sometimes at low-mid percents i dthrow> predict them airdodging into the ground in front/behind of me>dsmash. Free damage on a character where an usmash/uair/utilt/nair wouldnt have worked b/c they airdodged then landed near me!!!
Predicting Spotdodges
Just becuase you can play fast it doesnt mean you always have to. There are some characters which have an fantastic spotdodges and will be able to do so even if you dont think its possible and it gets annoying. Well, learn to predict the spotdodge. Wait for it and get that grab. If you cant time it that well yet dsmash them!!!! Often times when you get behind someone they will spotodge. Be patient when you get behind them and wait for it. DDD's love to do this to you when they roll behind you. (if this happens to you be sure to not spotdodge. instead gtfo asap. roll away or run!)
A common situation that occurs quite often is when you try to grab your opponent then they spotdodge your grab then you spotdodge their attempt at a grabbing you and the cycle continues. You need to learn to NOT spotdodge after trying to get grabbed. Wait for them to spotdodge and then grab them. They have a minimum of 2 frames of vulnerablilty after spotdoding. This is only one example though.
If you want to play fast and/or play against a really good grabber or play against someone who is really smart, BUT you know they are going to spotdodge sh dair(the one where it auto-cancels and u land with no lag). You will punish their spotdodge everytime!!!
Thats it for now. I may have a little more to add later.
![[FBC] ESAM](/data/avatars/l/92/92614.jpg?1365783210){kind=avatar}
