Pika Q&A/FAQ Thread: Ask a Quick Question, Get a Quick Answer!

[HizoSturm]

can pikachu pivot with thunder?

 

[Stealth Raptor]

he can b reverse it if that is what you mean.

 

[KayLo!]

Really? Frigate is good for Oli? I would assume that the edge would destroy him, although I guess its not to hard to avoid that.

Good Olimars (in particular, ones with good DI and second jump conservation skills) rarely need to recover from below the stage.... and if they do, on Frigate, they just avoid the side with no ledge.

can pikachu pivot with thunder?

Pivot? Or wavebounce?

Anyway, he can do both. Wavebounce thunder will reverse your momentum so that you turn around and end up behind the wall of thunder, but you can also just turn around as you thunder.... the same way you can reverse any other b move.

I'm not sure I understood your question.

 

[HizoSturm]

Good Olimars (in particular, ones with good DI and second jump conservation skills) rarely need to recover from below the stage.... and if they do, on Frigate, they just avoid the side with no ledge.



Pivot? Or wavebounce?

Anyway, he can do both. Wavebounce thunder will reverse your momentum so that you turn around and end up behind the wall of thunder, but you can also just turn around as you thunder.... the same way you can reverse any other b move.

I'm not sure I understood your question.

you answered both, thanks.

 

[TLMSheikant]

Thank u ussi the guide is really long. Hes a very complex character from the looks of it (just what I like) ^_^.

 

[KayLo!]

Hes a very complex character from the looks of it (just what I like) ^_^.

I agree.... Pika's complexity is one of the best things about him.

Love your avatar, btw.

 

[Veng]

I guess Pika is complex, but not nearly as Snake or Diddy to me.

For some reason Pika just comes naturally you could say... hes super easy to put strings and combos together for me and I love his uptilt.

 

[Piman34]

agreed, he is really fluid and still technical enough to require strategy unlike say, mk, but still cute and simple

edit: i had a question about approaching snake, i have trouble getting the initial grab off, and was wondering if there were any good ideas, since his tilts **** me from the ground and from the air, and it racks up dmg quick

 

[KAT0N]

I've been casually playing 'Chu for awhile now and finally decided to Main/1st Alt him. But I'm having trouble with this buffer grab stuff.

Whats the best way to get the grab off? Just tap the hell out of Z?

 

[gallax]

agreed, he is really fluid and still technical enough to require strategy unlike say, mk, but still cute and simple

edit: i had a question about approaching snake, i have trouble getting the initial grab off, and was wondering if there were any good ideas, since his tilts **** me from the ground and from the air, and it racks up dmg quick

you will never be able to beat a snake on the ground first off. second, i find that the best way to get a grab is to bait his ftilt. run in and shield and then spotdodge. snake has a beastly spotdidge himself though so be careful.

 

[King~]

I've been casually playing 'Chu for awhile now and finally decided to Main/1st Alt him. But I'm having trouble with this buffer grab stuff.

Whats the best way to get the grab off? Just tap the hell out of Z?

lol u should have asked me when we were playing melty blood or something.

basically, you wanna hit Z/grab when pika is coming down from the previous downthrow

 

[ADHD]

Is pikachu good in doubles? Does he have any good jab follow ups? And is there an official chaingrab thread, not just the buffered ones?

 

[hdrevolution123]

Is pikachu good in doubles? Does he have any good jab follow ups? And is there an official chaingrab thread, not just the buffered ones?

Do you want to use Pikachu or work with a Pikachu in doubles? And I think ftilt and dtilt are excellent followups from a jab (especially if the jab trips)

 

[KayLo!]

Is pikachu good in doubles?

Yes, but it depends on your partner's character (as is the case with most doubles teams). Obviously, Pika does well with G&W.... but outside of bucket shenanigans, Pika does especially well with characters who have good moves with vertical knockback. Thunder setups are too good.

He also kind of needs a partner who can stock tank, because he's light and tends to get targeted since he's so annoying and.... yellow. I dunno, whenever I play doubles with Pika, people want to kill the rat. Thunder doesn't help make him less of a target, lol.

The great thing about Pika in doubles is that he can be almost anywhere on the stage in a very short amount of time with QAC. If your partner is getting double-teamed, gimped, or about to SD, Pika can quickly get to them for the rescue.

Does he have any good jab follow ups?

Unless you're jab locking someone, the only true follow-ups you'll get with jab are if the opponent trips.... in which case you can ftilt, dtilt, or possibly fsmash.

Jabbing is mostly for locking, interrupting attacks, edgeguarding (very situational/gimmicky), forcing a trip, or just annoying the hell out of your opponent.

And is there an official chaingrab thread, not just the buffered ones?

There's no official CG thread, but they're all listed in the Generating A Win guide: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=225527

Ctrl + F search for "GRBG" and it'll take you straight to the advanced grabbing section.

 

[BMX]

I want to team with a Pikachu player in the future who goes by Raoul...wait K-9.

What specific teammates would satisfy Pikachu's weaknesses?

 

[xxmoosexx]

Im intermediate with my pikachu, im now trying to use the cg pika has. But im having trouble with it, i have no one to practice against would a computer DI out or just well not DI?

And what exactly would make the grab buffered and when, and how long do i have to buffer. Also im starting out practice on falco so just use the dthrow x 13 as what i am speaking of.

What is the best way to buffer this grab, is it shield grab or Z grab?


plz help

 

[KuroKitt10]

Im intermediate with my pikachu, im now trying to use the cg pika has. But im having trouble with it, i have no one to practice against would a computer DI out or just well not DI?

And what exactly would make the grab buffered and when, and how long do i have to buffer. Also im starting out practice on falco so just use the dthrow x 13 as what i am speaking of.

What is the best way to buffer this grab, is it shield grab or Z grab?


plz help

Buffering is a mechanic in brawl where you can actually input a move a fraction of a second before you are technically allowed to preform the move, and as soon as you can use that move, the game will execute it. This means that you remove all possible human lag from the equation. This is important for these chain grabs because a lot of them can be DIed out of if there is a frame or two of lag between grabs. If you want to know more about Buffering, there's a nice thread that covers it in great length. You can see that here: http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=167109

I'm not quite sure how well the AI will try to DI or use the required tactics to get out of a chain grab, but I would personally just assume that the computer wont play as well as player will. What I would suggest, is instead of practicing on Falco, try one of the easier chain grabs on Snake, and have a friend hammer his neutral b grenades. Snakes grenades only take ONE frame to pull out, so if you mess up the chain grab AT ALL, you'll see a grenade pop out, and you'll know you did it wrong.

Me personally, I use Shield Grab for my chains, but this is actually much harder to do than Z grabbing; this is because if you mess up and shield a fraction of a second before the grab, you'll be off a few frames, and mess up the grab. I use shield grabs because that button combination just feels more natural to me - though either one will work just fine. Just be aware that shield grabbing has a bit of a risk factor to it. I might almost suggest just using Z grabbing to practice for now.

I hope this helps. If you have anymore questions, just ask =)

Mew!

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

Computers won't DI and jump out of it. They may DI, but they will never jump out of it fast enough, so you will do it longer than you normally would be able to.

 

[KuroKitt10]

Quick question: When you QAC into an aerial, do you need to jump after the QAC and before the aerieal, or can you simply input the aerial after the QAC? I've been jumping into the aerials, but a lot of videos I've been watching of good pikas (a lot of you guys here!) seem to be getting them off faster than I can. I wasn't sure if this was just me being slow, or if there was a faster method.

I don't have a Wii to test it right now, is why I ask.

Meow.

 

[KayLo!]

Quick question: When you QAC into an aerial, do you need to jump after the QAC and before the aerieal, or can you simply input the aerial after the QAC? I've been jumping into the aerials, but a lot of videos I've been watching of good pikas (a lot of you guys here!) seem to be getting them off faster than I can. I wasn't sure if this was just me being slow, or if there was a faster method.

You have to jump. The only aerial that will come out without a jump beforehand is dair, and even then, it's only the ground shock wave's hitbox. Every other aerial will cancel, and you'll just get QAC's landing lag.

You've probably been seeing people do rising aerials.... basically, inputting the aerial as they jump so that it comes out as Pikachu is rising from the "ground" (well, technically the air since the jump from QAC is a double jump). It's how, for example, QAC > nair works so well.

 

[KuroKitt10]

You have to jump. The only aerial that will come out without a jump beforehand is dair, and even then, it's only the ground shock wave's hitbox. Every other aerial will cancel, and you'll just get QAC's landing lag.

You've probably been seeing people do rising aerials.... basically, inputting the aerial as they jump so that it comes out as Pikachu is rising from the "ground" (well, technically the air since the jump from QAC is a double jump). It's how, for example, QAC > nair works so well.

Ah, I see. So it is as I suspected. I'm sure I read this in your guide somewhere, it's sounds really familiar. It looks like I'll just have to practice a little bit more with Quick Attack then. So basically I'm gonna wanna up-b>input two directions>hit y>hit a IMMEDIATLY after y, and as long as I do this fast enough, I should get a nair fairly fast?

Mew.

 

[KayLo!]

So basically I'm gonna wanna up-b>input two directions>hit y>hit a IMMEDIATLY after y, and as long as I do this fast enough, I should get a nair fairly fast?

Yup!

Personally, I set L to jump for QAC (although now I use it for a variety of stuff). That way I can just hit L + A directly out of Quick Attack, but that's because I have slow fingers.... I can do X > A pretty fast, but it's just a lot easier for me the way I have it now. You might want to try it if you're having trouble.

Granted, I also took the springs out of my controller. Otherwise L sometimes doesn't register in time.

 

[KuroKitt10]

Yup!

Personally, I set L to jump for QAC (although now I use it for a variety of stuff). That way I can just hit L + A directly out of Quick Attack, but that's because I have slow fingers.... I can do X > A pretty fast, but it's just a lot easier for me the way I have it now. You might want to try it if you're having trouble.

Granted, I also took the springs out of my controller. Otherwise L sometimes doesn't register in time.

I'll give this a shot. I have a new controller coming in the mail, and I plan to take it apart and spray paint the outside. So that would be a fine time to get rid of the springs. Thanks for the advice =)

Mew.

 

[Piman34]

do you mew cuz youre a kit?

 

[KuroKitt10]

do you mew cuz youre a kit?

Indeed I do =3

Meow!

 

[Piman34]

haha awesome :D

 

[Van Jones]

Dang, I have a question.

I'm am hungry. Should I eat a sammich or some pizza?

Real question: Currently (and on a personal/individual level), what are your most hated match ups? I'm really just curious.

 

[Stealth Raptor]

sammich from jasons deli. nuff said

real answer

which ones i hate..... marth, peach, rob, maybe some G&W

while i dislike mk as a char, i dont hate the matchup (in fact i like it. its fun lol)

 

[KayLo!]

Dang, I have a question.

I'm am hungry. Should I eat a sammich or some pizza?

Real question: Currently (and on a personal/individual level), what are your most hated match ups? I'm really just curious.

Pizza. But get something interesting on it, not just cheese. Sammiches = cold & boring; pizza = hot and delicious.

Most hated matchups: Diddy, Jigglypuff, Sonic, MK (used to be fun, now it's just boring), Olimar, ICs, sorta Kirby.

And because I feel like it....

Favorite matchups: Marth, Snake, DK, Ness, Falcon, Ganon, Yoshi, Luigi

Matchups I suck at for no reason: Diddy, ROB, Ness, Jigglypuff, Sonic

 

[King~]

no anwser for first question(ramen noodles!!!???)


GnW and snake with pikachu, oh and fata$$(havent learned how to kill the king offline yet :/)

everyone else its a fun time

 

[Klemm]

I've been getting into a habit of fighting this one guy online, and today we did four quick matches. I won three out of four, but the one I lost, I got creamed, to phrase that more appropriately. He was MK. Surprise. I picked Pikachu and I found him incredibly frustrating. This guy doesn't have any actual skill or tactic with MK, he just spams the stereotypical MK spams (whorenado, glide, D-smash) and also the side special (which is it just me, or does that have unpenetrable priority?). Needless to say I'm not the most skilled Pika, but it's a project I'm working on because I think he's awesome. A work-in-progress, one might say.

What's worse is how much he gloats and how he does AT LEAST one taunt each time he killed me. With each time he'd whorenado, I could feel my patience escaping me, which meant bad news for my poor Pikachu, as I got reckless and fell victim of his spams easier.

So, I'm wondering what are some techniques I could use with Pikachu to counter this mad MK spammer? Specifically, which moves outprioritze his neutral special and side special. I'm familiar with some of his AT's like QAC but usually when I begin to lose to someone like this I just forget all tactical play.

Anyway, thanks in advance.

 

[gallax]

my most hated matchups: MK(mk sucks ***), Falco

love: gaw, DK

eat: fluffernutter

^^^^^^^^ Read my matchup thread.

Shield his nado and angle it up. You can also fsmash/dsmash it. more to come.

 

[KayLo!]

There's a video somewhere of a Pika (Anther, maybe? I don't remember.... someone played it in the chat a long time ago) fighting a nado-spamming MK and not getting ***** by it. I remember it because we were averaging how often he tornado'd..... it was something like once every 7 seconds.

I'll see if I can find it. If my internet cooperates.

 

[Pika_Cam]

What should be the overall strategy in a Pikachu ditto?

 

[Stealth Raptor]

learn to psheild the jolts. then it is all about countering what they do. unless you have a pro mindgamer like anther this strat wins for me against most pikas.

 

[KayLo!]

What should be the overall strategy in a Pikachu ditto?

Pika dittos consist of three moves:

1. Fsmash
2. Tjolt
3. Grab spam

Seriously, though, there's no strategy.... you can't outspace them, and you each know what the other person can do, so in the end it's just playing smart, mindgaming the other Pika into your attacks, and punishing whenever you see an opening.

Most Pika dittos tend to go like this:

Tjolt as you approach each other.... space fairs or Pikastorming.... someone eventually gets shieldgrabbed and combo'd.... then the other person gets grabbed + combo'd, or they get fsmashed upon landing.... more tjolt spam.... etc. etc.... someone gets naired/fsmashed/thundered to death.

Repeat.

 

[Stealth Raptor]

Pika dittos consist of three moves:

1. Fsmash
2. Tjolt
3. Grab spam

Seriously, though, there's no strategy.... you can't outspace them, and you each know what the other person can do, so in the end it's just playing smart, mindgaming the other Pika into your attacks, and punishing whenever you see an opening.

Most Pika dittos tend to go like this:

Tjolt as you approach each other.... space fairs or Pikastorming.... someone eventually gets shieldgrabbed and combo'd.... then the other person gets grabbed + combo'd, or they get fsmashed upon landing.... more tjolt spam.... etc. etc.... someone gets naired/fsmashed/thundered to death.

Repeat.

best description of a pika ditto. except not always will there be constant tjolts, but it sums up everything lol.

 

[[FBC] ESAM]

You forgot fair u-tilt combos Kaylo.

 

[gallax]

you forget all the thundering that goes on.

 

[KayLo!]

You forgot fair u-tilt combos Kaylo.

you forget all the thundering that goes on.

Okay, obviously the general things that work in any other matchup work in Pika dittos.

However.

Most Pika dittos are made of a lot of grabbing since.... you know the fair is coming, lol. Because you play Pika, and you know what his combo setups are.

As for thunder, there are a lot of thunder attempts, but I rarely get hit by thunder in Pika dittos unless a) I get super mindgamed or utilted into it, or b) I'm playing against Stealth, and even then I think I do a good job of avoiding it unless I'm really off my game.

Come on, you play the rat. You know when it's coming!