How to Beat: Pikachu

Pikachu

Introduction:

Pikachu is a lightweight character with above average fall speed. While he has the ability to camp due to high speed, above-average disadvantaged state, and a great projectile in Thunder Jolt (TJolt), most people play aggressive, largely in part due to ESAM and his playstyle influencing the meta so heavily. They'll often TJolt to cover their approach and condition defensive options and punish hard, as Pikachu can typically take stray hits and convert them into offstage situations for edgeguards, which he excels at, or even kills in the right hands.

Strengths:

1. Next to No Disadvantaged State

Pikachu's above-average speed in all but one department allow him to maneuver on-stage at his whim. High jump height, good fall speed, and great ground speed are all useful, but he does have one caveat. Mediocre airspeed. This is essentially rendered moot, however, as Pikachu's up-b is an incredible tool for air travel, giving him access to any angle, and it having a hitbox allows him to reverse the situation and put his opponent in disadvantage. Realistically, the only way to punish Pikachu is to hard read his up-b angle and where he likes to end up, which can be tricky as he can easily up-b in an infinite amount of ways (hyperbolic). Skull Bash is also a great way for Pika to cover distance while in the air, as the speed at which it travels is faster than most, especially if you commit to an option while he side-b's away. Don't do anything to committal, and Skull Bash is easy to punish if you can predict it, even react to it if you're not in the middle of something.

Summary:

- Read his u-air angles and where he likes to u-air in certain positions
- Either swat him out of up-b if you can read it, or shield to play it safe
- Read Skull Bash or even react if your character is fast enough, then it's easy to punish

2. Nearly Unedgeguardable

Not only does Pikachu have a ton of mixups based on angles of his up-b, he can't even be 2-framed if they angle it correctly, and at other times, he'll only be vulnerable for a single frame during his ledgegrab. Coupled with the fact that he can also refresh invincibility You either have to catch him in the decently quick startup, read the angle, or just focus on ledgetrapping him.

Summary:

- Focus on ledgetrapping or reading him when he wants to up-b and attacking him during the startup- - If Pika recoveries from straight below, 2-framing is more likely/possible at all

3. Small Stature + Pancaking

Pikachu's small stature, short crouch, and unique ability to "Pancake" gives him much more survivability than others of his weight class, and even above. Not only can he crouch and even stand up against rising aerials, his pancaking lets him dodge most grounded moves, made infamous by this photo of Pikachu dodging a Roy jab.

Pancaking applies to all his aerials after landing with them, with f-air and b-air ducking the lowest, and u-air being less noticeable. If they land with a f-air or b-air on shield, you're gonna need a good option that can punish it. Find out what your character can do OOS that can punish it. Some characters like G&W and Lucina are great at this with up-b OOS, but some characters like Greninja and Joker aren't so lucky. Experiment with your character, and don't be afraid to evade and just reset neutral! If you're someone like ZSS who can't really land rising aerials on smaller characters, practice landing mixups to force shield and get grabs, or punish Pika's OOS options.

Summary:

- Try to find what works OOS on pancaking/crouching Pikachu based on your character

- G&W and Lucina do well with up-b OOS

- In general, if you wanna punish whiff'd aerials, use low moves like d-tilts

- For characters like Greninja/Joker/ZSS OOS, either evade out of neutral, or fake an attack to force shield -> grab/call out their OOS option.

4. Combos At Nearly Any %

At early percents, Pikachu will be looking for n-air dragdowns in the form of u-tilt, grab, and stray landing n-airs in neutral. Grabs are usually the main way, and if you're a fastfaller, u-tilt will work for a while. You can SDI behind Pikachu n-air dragdowns, making it harder for him to continue them, but it's still guaranteed. 

In neutral, u-air is a fantastic tool for combo'ing, as it'll lead into DI mixup Thunder kills, such as d-throw -> u-air or reverse u-air to mix up DI -> Thunder, as well as u-air giving access to u-air bridges, but that mainly comes from d-throw. If you're a floaty character like Peach, you can escape u-air bridges, unless there are platforms nearby. In general avoid grab, sitting in shield is an easy way of getting punished, so don't be afraid of resetting to neutral. You can stay on platforms to avoid grab, but make sure to shield u-airs. 

At mid-high percents, he can d-throw -> d-air if they don't DI or DI out, or mix it up with d-throw -> u-air -> Thunder if you DI the d-throw in. He can further mix it up if you DI in and then DI the u-air out, since he can just RAR the u-air and mix up your DI even further. As usual, avoid grabs with attacks/spotdodges/aerial combat, u-air will now start killing if he combos it into a Thunder, and at higher percents, u-throw -> Thunder becomes a DI dependent kill confirm (And then d-throw is a DI mixup + even higher percents). Not a lot of players can consistently land it on all DI's, but it's good to know anyway.

 B-air is a great OOS option and combo tool. A single b-air usually translates into multiple b-airs, which can't be SDI'd out of, and then lead into either a straight up kill or edgeguard situation, which Pikachu excels at. On shield, be careful of crossing up, as u-air or b-air OOS leads into considerable combos, while landing in front leads to grabs. If you cross up, shield when you're behind Pikachu, and in front, spotdodge, roll away, or jump while drifting away, anyway you can avoid grab, and make sure to mix it up.

Summary:

Early %: N-air dragdowns via grab, u-tilt, and stray n-air. Attacks generally beat grab, don't sit in shield. Shield -> u-tilt, but watch out for grab mixups. Stray n-air can be challenged by higher range attacks. You can SDI behind N-air to make the combo harder, but not impossible.

Early - Mid %: U-air can lead into more u-airs, Thunder, or if he hits you with weak u-air, it can lead to un-DI-able u-air bridges, that can set up kills, if not kills, edgeguards. Some floaty characters like Peach fall out of u-air bridges, but not with platform stages. Avoid grab with attacks, spotdodges, rolls, etc. Mix it up, u-air bridges work around 30-40% depending on character. If you stay in the air too much though, they can just shark you with u-air and go from there, so stay mobile, and shield on platforms.

Mid - High%: D-throw -> d-air works on no DI and DI out, but if you DI in, he can u-air -> Thunder. If you somehow react/predict the u-air and DI it correctly, he can further mix you up with RAR u-air -> Thunder. U-air in general will work into Thunder, and eventually at higher percents, u-throw -> Thunder becomes a DI dependent kill confirm. (With d-throw -> Thunder as a mixup and works at higher %)

- Avoid grab and mix up defensive options like attacking, spotdodging, jumping, rolling, at pretty much every percent

- Shield on platforms to prevent u-air sharks

- SDI and DI properly as usual

- Pikachu's B-air OOS is a great way to set up edgeguards, so seldom cross him up

- Floaty characters or characters with strong combo breaking potential, such as Snake with his frame 1 Grenades,  or G&W with his floaty nature + combo breaking up-b.

5.  TJolt Approaches

Pikachu is able to spam TJolt to cover his approaches. This can force options such as shield, letting him grab, force you into the air, letting him grab, and etc. Countering this depends on Pika's location. If he's close to the TJolt, you can hit the TJolt and Pika at the same time, depending on your character, and you can even fake it, jumping over the TJolt and making him want to shield, stopping the approach. If he's further away, you have some leeway. Some characters can quickly hit the TJolt and reset, such as Peach float cancel b-air. The best way to counteract this though is to find what he wants. If you shield his TJolt, he will 100% be gunning for grabs, so try to attack OOS/spotdodge/avoid the grab as you see fit. If you jump, get ready to airdodge, jump away further to maybe a platform, or jump to the platform and shield, etc. Knowing what the Pikachu wants you to do will help you prepare.

Summary:

- Know what he wants

- eg. 1: If you repeatedly shield his TJolt, he's gonna start gunning for TJolt -> grab, so be ready to attack or evade

- eg. 2: If you repeatedly jump to platforms, get ready for him to start u-airing, so shield on platforms.

- Some characters can also hit Pikachu and the TJolt, but if you fake an attack, you can dodge the TJolt and make him wanna shield, dropping the approach altogether.

6. Edgeguarding Game

Pikachu's D-air was already a fantastic edgeguarding tool in previous games, but now that it has been given a spiking hitbox, Pikachu is in contention for the best edgeguarding game in Ultimate. He can convert stray hits, especially b-air, into offstage setups at crazy early percents with multiple b-airs, and then use b-air/f-air to edgeguard and send them to low angles, use d-air for spiking and even using the later hitbox to send them horizontally, and of course, Thunder. Thunder not only allows Pikachu to go low and then cover high recoveries, he can use it to catch jumps with not only the spiking hitbox, but with the secondary shockwave for airdodge reads. It can also be confirmed into via u-air. Recovering vs. Pikachu is a daunting task, and mostly is character based and your ability to mix up your recovery, as he can seemingly cover every option. Don't be afraid to challenge b-air with your stronger and more high range aerials, and don't think you're safe if you're near the ledge and he's below you if you manage to evade him, as he can still Thunderspike, so preserve your airdodge and make sure to DI towards the stage and possibly be ready to tech.

Summary: 

-Mostly character dependent, and it's highly suggested to not play certain characters because of edgeguarding.

- If Pikachu lands a b-air onstage, he can convert it into an edgeguard and kill extremely easily vs. people like Ganondorf

- Mix up high vs. low recovery, make sure to preserve your airdodge when above the stage in case he Thunders you

Weaknesses:

1. Weight

Pikachu's weight is incredibly low, sharing the position with Olimar and Kirby as the 68th lightest characters in the game. Utilize and practice kill confirms vs. optimal DI to ensure Pikachu's stocks are erased as quickly as possible, to avoid any further % or stocks taken of your own. This lack of weight is also a half strength, as he isn't too fastfally, means he can escape early combos, so it's good to have those on lock.

Summary:

- Perfect combos and kill confirms against optimal DI/SDI

2. Range

Pika does have decent range, it's just that there are a few characters that can both match his frame data and outrange him. These include Ness, Lucas, Mario, G&W, and Yoshi. 

In short, Pika is good. Really fuckin' good. Both of his major weaknesses aren't even that bad, as weight is a double-edged-sword. If you're heavy, you live longer but get combo'd harder, and if you're light, you die earlier but don't get combo'd hard, and Pika's range is honestly pretty fine, it's just that there are characters with disjoints/better range but also the frame data to match Pika's.

Playing Against Pikachu in Neutral:

Though Pikachu can be played campy, it's more common to see an aggressive rushdown Pikachu, almost playing a similar style to Melee Falco, where he controls the stage and conditions defensive options with a quick effective projectile. In neutral, he'll TJolt approach and go for either a grab if you shield/spotdodge/roll, which he can follow you/read you, and u-tilt/n-air dragdown if you jump out. Knowing what he wants and preparing and mixing it up is key to avoid TJolts. If you shield, a lot, he'll go in for grabs, so attack OOS. If you spotdodge/roll, do it every once in a while, very sparingly. If you're jumping, try to get to a platform and shield quickly. A few characters can deal with TJolt well however. You can attack or reflect/absorb the TJolt, and in some cases hit both TJolt and Pika. Young Link for example can quickly z-air TJolt and stay safe, Peach can potentially f-air both TJolt and Pika, while also faking the f-air with Float and punishing shield/his OOS option, and Ness, G&W, and Mario can Magnet/Bucket/Cape. Find out what works with your character, but if you do the same thing over and over, you'll just get punished over and over.

Summary:

- Know what he's looking for based on your own defensive option and try to predict

- If you've been shielding a lot, he'll probably go for grab, so attack/spotdodge/jump away
- If you've been jumping out a lot, try to get to a platform and shield, etc.
- Depending on character, you can absorb/reflect TJolt quickly, you can safely hit the TJolt and make it disappear, or you can attack both Pika and TJolt, or at least threaten to hit Pika, forcing a shield.

Punishing Pikachu

Pikachu has a really solid OOS game in the form of b-air and n-air, but there is a single exception. When approaching forward, if you're able to space in front of him, his fastest defensive option, n-air, won't be able to reach you, allowing you to shield or swat him in the air in time. F-air is frame 11, meaning it'd take 14 frames for him to just f-air in place, plus a few to reach you if you space it, so the only characters that can really challenge him on shield are ones with long range and low landing lag attacks. It also helps if the move hits hard, such as Ness b-air, which is -5 on shield, pushes Pika back far enough to avoid grab, and is fast enough to let him avoid f-air OOS. 

In terms of comboing, Pika has a frame 3 n-air, which is pretty good for combo breaking and will confirm into other moves of his own. He's also got a frame 2 airdodge, the fastest a character's can be. Pikachu is light, really light, though while he does have decently fast fall speed, he gets sent pretty far, which kills a lot of Ultimate combos at mid percents. Aside from getting your combos and kill confirms down perfectly, accounting for DI and SDI, there's not much you can really do that's specific to Pikachu. Of course you can read airdodges and n-air, but that really applies to every character.

Juggling Pikachu? Forget about it, his up-b lets him escape disadvantage to the point where outside of an incredibly hard read, he has no disadvantaged state. You can potentially fake an attack and quickly land and try to read his up-b landing, but that's it.

Same goes for edgeguarding. With the vast amount of mixups he can do, your best bet will be to hit him during the startup of up-b, which is frame 15. Good, but not too crazy, and can be reacted to if you're fast enough, but not by the average person, and you'll already have to be offstage. Read his up-b angles. 2-framing is also tough, as he can hit specific angles to not be able to get 2-framed, but in some cases he'll miss it. This however is not very reliable, as he may hit the 1-frame window where he gets 1 extra invincibility frames instead of 2, Aside from human error, not much you can do. Ledgetrapping is overall your best bet at killing him offstage. Outside of basic stuff, he can up-b from the ledge to reset invincibility, so if you think he'll do that, you can catch it mid-air, as it's not invincible fully. Up-b from the ledge can also be shielded, so make note of that.

Summary:

- Don't get close to his shield or even cross him up, as n-air and b-air OOS are insanely good
- Instead, hit the front with a long ranged and safe move, if you can, as f-air is slow and n-air/grab don't have the range should you push him back
- Perfect combos and kill confirms against Pikachu, as you probably won't be able to edgeguard him without a hard read on his up-b angles, and he can avoid being 2-framed entirely.
- Ledgetrapping is your best bet, make sure to shield his up-b from the ledge or straight up punish it.

Recommended Matchups

1. Ness

Ness is a known counter-pick of Pikachu, even in the Smash 4 days. Some of Pikachu's biggest strengths are his combo game, Pancaking, and TJolt approaching, while his biggest weakness is inarguably his range. Ness is light and floaty, making him tough to combo, he's short, meaning he's not only able to grab OOS Pikachu while pancaking, he can n-air OOS, and TJolting gets severely hampered by Magnet, which will absorb TJolt, put out a hitbox, and has low enough endlag to let him hit Pikachu if Pika isn't close enough to be hit by Magnet. Another part of Magnet is that Ness can stall his momentum for a while and stay in the air long enough to find an opening to land, as Pika finds a lot of his kills through u-air -> Thunder sharking.

In the neutral, Magnet will take care of TJolt, and if you hold Magnet, you can hit Pika and interrupt his approach a bit. You can also quickly turn off Magnet and then SH n-air, or even use Magnet in the air, giving you access to n-air without needing to jump, making it 3 frames faster. U-air is especially good at catching Pika if he tries to TJolt and then jump over you to land with n-air or d-air. N-air OOS and grab are both able to catch Pikachu if he pancakes ontop of you, and your f-air and u-air outrange all of Pika's aerials, making your air-to-air combat much better than his.

When you're getting b-air'd, try not to lose your double jump, as he will eventually take you offstage, and a Ness without a double jump is leagues worse than a majority of the characters in his tier. If you're getting juggled, stall with Magnet to find an opening to land. Pika can edgeguard you, but if he misses, he can lose his stock very very early, due to PK Thunder 2 and Pikachu's lightweight status. Pikachu's main ways of edgeguarding Ness are TJolt snipes and Skull Bash, so don't up-b too early. Sometimes double jump + airdodging works fine. If you read a TJolt, you can quickly Magnet to both stall momentum and heal. Watch out for d-air and f-tilt when airdodging to the ledge. Ledgetrapping rules generally apply, but note that your f-air has a ton of active frames meaning you can cover the ledge, as Pikachu does still have a hitbox while flying, and you may be able to catch him out. Ness has a very strong aerial game, so don't be afraid of going offstage, as you can challenge his aerials hard, but definitely know what you're doing first. You can use d-smash (u-smash too, but d-smash is just strictly better, since u-smash sends upwards if you launch it/hold it too long, which they can tech) to keep your Yo-yo offstage and catch low recoveries before Pikachu even grabs the ledge.

Summary:

- SH Magnet TJolt, challenge/wall out his aerials with your own
- N-air and grab OOS work even on pancaking Pika
- Preserve your double jump-don't try to use it to combo break
- Cover the ledge with f-air, and don't be afraid to go offstage but know what you're doing first.
- Magnet while in disadvantage can stall your momentum.
- PK Thunder 2 is hugely committal for recovering, stick to double jump and airdodge mixups, with Magnet to stall momentum and to challenge his aerials with your own if he edgeguards with them

Good Ness Players:

Gackt: The highest ranked Ness player in the world, known for his strong PK Thunder mindgames and mixups. He's got wins over pretty much everyone in Japan, but also people like Cosmos and VoiD.

BestNess: Top Ness player with wins over Marss, Light, VoiD, and more!

Awestin: A top Ness player, most notable for his numerous bouts with Lima and MVD at the Shockwave tournament series, and notably has a win over ESAM.




2. G&W

G&W in attributes, is a lot similar to Ness. A fellow Pika counter since Smash 4, G&W has good range in most of his moves such as b-air, n-air, u-air, and all his smash attacks (which have such little endlag, they're essentially tilts), he's floaty and light, making it hard for Pika to truly combo him, it's insanely hard to juggle him due to his invincible up-b and Key, his d-air, which can challenge Pika u-air hard. He also neutralizes pancaking by being able to grab him or up-b OOS, which can easily cover the crossup. G&W  is also alongside Ness as being the few characters to actually benefit when neutralizing TJolt, as G&W has access to Bucket, giving him another way to kill Pikachu, meaning he doesn't have to edgeguard him, which he can still do well due to his disjoints, good recovery, and phenomenal ledgetrapping. G&W is also able to pressure Pikachu in disadvantage with u-air, and then being able to still be grounded to catch his up-b.

In the neutral, Bucket can easily catch TJolts, and if Pika tries to punish, G&W is actually intangible while successfully absorbing. Otherwise, b-air walls are great for hitting Pikachu in a reckless approach. If he manages to get in, you can up-b OOS, hitting a Pancaking Pikachu in front or even behind you. You can also grab. To anti-air, you can u-air or even u-smash. Pikachu's biggest threat to G&W in neutral is d-tilt, as it's actually very safe against G&W when spaced, however you can challenge this and outrange it with d-smash.

When recovering, he'll mostly try to d-air from afar, as if he's close, he may end up getting up-b'd and possibly have to tech on the stage side. However, landing d-air spike can be hard, so most Pikas may opt for f-tilt 2-framing, which isn't too reliable. On the other side, G&W can b-air to either cover the ledge or to even go offstage and edgeguard, while also being a ledgetrapping god in general. Juggling Pikachu is usually impossible for most characters. G&W however is able to pressure Pikachu with u-air, while still being near the ground to punish up-b, especially with Key. On the other hand, he's able to escape Pika pretty well with Key and up-b.

Summary:

- Bucket absorbs TJolt, and gives him invincibility upon success, neutralizing Pika approaches.
- B-air can also wall out Pika need be.
- If he lands on you, up-b OOS will hit him anywhere, even while Pancaking, and you can even grab. - If you wanna punish him landing on you recklessly, u-smash is a great anti-air.
- D-smash if he d-tilts, as it outranges.
- B-air to cover the ledge and even offstage edgeguard
- U-air to pressure him in disadvantage, and use Key to punish and combine it with up-b to escape disadvantage.

Best G&W Players:

Maister: The G&W main and #6 in the world. Has a ton of sets you can watch online and streams pretty regularly!

3. Mario

Mario is a character who pretty much has no huge flaws, aside from range, but if he's able to outmaneuver or outrange a character, he can very much win matchups. Against Pikachu, his main tools will be b-air and Cape. B-air outranges everything on Pikachu's arsenal, has long range and is -2 on shield, making it safe for most options Pika has if spaced correctly. B-air can also be used to deal with TJolt and kill Pikachu at higher percents, while also being good for comboing, since Mario can combo nearly the whole cast regardless of weight or even fall speed. A concern Mario may have and that may make this an even matchup is Pika's parry -> f-tilt your b-air. However, this requires them to react and drop shield, which is impossible on a 6 frame move. They can predict it though, which is why you can empty land with your back towards them and u-smash as a mixup.

In the neutral, both the late and early n-air can beat out TJolt, meaning you can use it as an approach option vs. Pika using TJolt and staying close. You can also Cape TJolt to use it as a taste of their own medicine. On Pika's shield, up-b, n-air, and grab OOS all work due to similar heights, and Mario's b-air is a good walling attack that is safe on shield. U-smash also works as an anti-air, while your own Fireballs are great for covering approaches of your own.

Mario has a decent disadvantage against a lot of characters, not typically swordies like Shulk but still solid with n-air, Cape stalling, and b-reverse Fireball to shift momentum. You can quickly Cape just before you clash with a Pika u-air, and then quickly fastfall n-air. Mario doesn't really have the tools to chase Pika in the air, so stay grounded and maybe feint an attack and quickly land to punish. You can also hard read Thunder in both disadvantaged state and while getting edgeguarded with Cape to have Thunder hit Pika instead. Speaking of Cape while edgeguarding, though the hitbox is small, if you hit Pikachu with Cape, it can get you an f-smash, FLUDD, or f-air spike. FLUDD can also make Quick Attack recoveries harder, as they push Pikachu back should you be able to hit him with it. Dash attack is great at 2-framing, although Pikachu can evade that possibly, unless he's recovering from straight below.

Summary: 

- N-air in neutral beats out TJolt, you can also Cape.
- B-air outranges Pikachu, use it to wall, beat TJolt, poke shield when spaced right, and kill off ledgetrapping
- He can parry your b-air, mix it up with empty land -> U-smash if he does (he has to drop shield)
- Cape TJolt or Fireball to cover your own approach
- U-smash anti-air, since it has invincibility
- Cape stall, b-reverse Fireball to shift momentum
- Can Cape Thunder while above Pikachu (unreactable, you have to read it)
- FLUDD Quick Attack
- Dash Attack 2-frame

Best Mario Players!:

Dark Wizzy: Highest ranked Mario in the world, highest ranked Twitter game. Wins over Tweek, Light, Dabuz, ESAM, and Cosmos

ANTi: Top tier US Mario with placings like 2nd at Dreamhack Dallas 2019 and 5th at GENESIS: BLACK

Prodigy: A literal Prodigy and one of the best Marios in the world. Wins over MKLeo, Myran, Nicko, Cosmos, and Dark Wizzy

Stage Select:

Pikachu does well on every stage in the game, but sometimes, especially in certain matchups, he can favor certain stages over others. Battlefield can be tricky, as the platforms mess up early combos and  don't allow him to Thunder past platforms, and platforms also give his opponents an escape vs. TJolt. Every other stage, Pikachu can do very good on most, it's just triplats that seem to give Pikachu trouble. PS2 can also be tricky, but is a lot better for Pikachu. PS2 however is very good for Mario in the matchup. FD and Kalos are easily his best stages. The open space gives him access to so many combos, as pretty much the opposites of Battlefield. No platforms means less escape vs. TJolt, Thunder will pretty much always work, and no platforms to mess up your combos.

Summary:

FD and Kalos > PS2 (Mario) > Triplats. Most other stages are personal preference.

Full Summary:

- Floaty characters can escape his combos hard

- Use low angle moves for dealing with pancaking, or just pick a short character

- Reflect/absorb TJolt

- Don't cross him up on shield unless you wanna eat 30 back airs

- If you space moves on shield in front of him, f-air is frame 11, while n-air can't reach

- Find out what he wants when he's TJolt approaching

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Changelog: 

June. 02/2020 - Added Skull Bash notes in Disadvantaged State and Ness matchup