08 Pikachu

First appearance :
Pokemon Red and Blue (1996 - Gameboy)

Pikachu is a vigorous and aggressive character who will leave no rest for his opponent if he has an opening. He can rely on his small size and his excellent combo game to make larger opponents live a real hell. Usually ranked among the best Smash characters, Pikachu remains a safe bet.

Characteristics

 

Strengths

  • Hard to hit
  • Fast
  • Great aerial game
  • Good recovery
 

Weaknesses

  • Lightweight
  • Struggles to kill
  • Lacks range

Matchups

Favourable

  • icône de rob
  • icône de ganondorf
  • icône de king-k-rool
Combo food
  • icône de heros
  • icône de simon
  • icône de byleth
Doesn't have time
  • icône de fox
  • icône de donkey-kong
  • icône de link
Most of the roster

Unfavourable

  • icône de ness
  • icône de mr-game-and-watch
Sends back or absorbs  

Stages

Favourable

  • Great stage to camp if needed
  • Walls for Neutral B

Unfavourable

  • Leaves too much space
  • An inconvenient central platform
 

Skills

Pro Tips

Best moves

  • UP B

    It’s an excellent way to get back on stage because you can move in two different directions which allows you to greatly mix-up your recovery making you almost invulnerable. What’s more, this move allows you to very quickly get close to a campy opponent, or, on the contrary, to get out of a difficult situation.

  • NEUTRAL AIR

    This move is extremely interesting. It comes out very quickly, puts pressure on the opponent’s shield, is a good option out of shield and can hit multiple times. Moreover, it is the basis of Pikachu's combos as one can execute combos such as Nair Strings or Nair Loop.

  • NEUTRAL B

    It's Pikachu's best projectile. This move is a very good zoning tool and returns a lot of projectiles. Its interesting diagonal trajectory and its ability to follow the stage can apply pressure on your opponent; allowing an approach by forcing the opponent to choose a defensive option, shield or jump, which you will only have to punish!

  • FORWARD AIR

    It’s a very good option to kill your opponent. This move is disjointed, has interesting range and lasts long, which allows it to cover a lot of options when the opponent is at the edge of the stage.

  • DOWN THROW

    Can start a lot of combos, like Nair Loop or even followed by a Thunder. A tool you have to master in order to have a good combo game, wreaking havoc against heavyweights.

    • Contextual Options

    Quick Moves

    Safe on Shield

    OOS Options

    Jab

    Neutral Air

    Back Air

    Down Tilt

    Neutral Air

    Forward Air

    Neutral Air

    Up Air, Back Air

    Up Smash

     

    Before leaving

    Last tips

    An iron tail in a velvet glove

    Pikachu is a character who gives a real feeling of power, which makes it possible to globally overestimate the character. So, avoid some risky options and especially don’t try to go at all cost off-stage. The Neutral B is also not useful in disadvantage due to this move’s lag, making it quite easily punishable. Be especially careful when your opponent is at kill percent not to rush and mash a Dash Attack or a Forward Smash, also, be careful because you can't punish everything if the opponent hits your shield.

    Quick counter attack

    Pikachu has a very good recovery, which allows him to get back from quite a few places by choosing interesting angles. However, this attack is not totally safe either, so don't forget to choose your angles to get back to the stage and mix-up this recovery as much as possible because against someone who is used to fighting Pikachu, it can quickly hurt. You can also use Side B, but sparingly because it's a very punishable option.

    Get out of your thunder wave

    Another issue when playing Pikachu is that quite a lot of moves and combos or play styles can work, since the character has many assets. So it can happen that you zone out and take some bad habits. One of the most striking examples is the spotdodge that many Pikachu do after a move because they do not know whether their action was safe or not. Don't panic and reflect on how you play so you don't get heavily punished.

    In a nutshell

    Pikachu allows you to embody a vigorous, quick and powerful character that is always quite well ranked in the tier lists. Indeed, he has many assets and is quite complete, with his good recovery, projectiles and combos, allowing him to easily seize the stage and to not have any big weakness. In addition to this, he gives the impression to the player who controls him that he has a great freedom of movement and can quickly move anywhere, which will easily annoy your opponent, who will find it very difficult to control your movements, pushing them to do the one fatal mistake.

    Going furhter

    For more informations and to progress faster

    Thanking ...

    Enki / FRNK / Reiko / Tjuskar