There are several games across the Super Smash Bros. franchise. And of course there are more fighters. Characters tend to change with each new release, for better or worse, but very few characters have been consistently viable throughout every Smash they’ve been involved in. One of the characters that is agreed to be the best consistent character is Pikachu, the Pokémon mascot.
Pikachu has always had great gadgets in every Smash game. And now, in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! Ultimate, he is a strong contender for the best character ever. This makes it difficult for many to see the character on screen, but fighting her doesn’t have to be a complete chore. Find out his strengths and weaknesses by reading ahead and knowing what you can do to bring him down.
Pikachu strengths
Pikachu’s best strength is his aerial game. He has many tools that allow him to apply a lot of pressure in the air. A major contributor to this is that both of his antennas are low on startup and endlag, which allows him to press buttons constantly and perform combos in a multitude of situations. Its multi-hit nature (with the exception of Up-Air) plays into this and Help him win in guard scenarios because of their activity. His sharp abilities are exemplified by him being an angled projectile B-neutral that moves along surfaces. He also has two mutations in DAir and Down-B, the latter being great for catching high recoveries.
he is too Very hard to hit. His pain chest is already smaller than most actors. He becomes difficult to hit at times due to his “pancake” ability, which refers to flattening a chest that hurts so much that attacks that hit most characters will miss. His general speed and mobility play a role in this as well, With his dashing speed and very high jumps. This is also why his enthusiasm is so difficult. Recovering to the stage is very easy, thanks to the flexibility he can get back in, with his B-side being great for horizontal recovery. Up-B allows it to move quickly in two directions, making recovery options more diverse. These tools are also the reason His unfavorable condition is very remarkable Because he has a variety of ways to maneuver himself out of troubling situations.
Pikachu’s weaknesses
Pikachu has some weaknesses, and it’s hard to consider its main ones. his first lack of scope. While his Forward Smash is an active, disintegrating attack, the rest of his combos are minimal in range, either disintegrating very little or not disintegrating at all. Neutral-B makes up for this, but he makes his approach one note at times because he needs to rely on it to cover himself safely. An opponent who can get around this can make Pikachu work even harder to get in.
Another weakness is his inability to kill – Pikachu has to rely on guards with wide combos to take arrows. However, his moveset is quite good due to the multi-hit characteristics and lack of launch power it possesses. So, when someone ends up living their guards, Pikachu will struggle to kill on stage With his customs and throws. His smash attacks work well, some being fast, along with dash attacks, but all of them are either extremely unsafe or incompatible with their hitboxes. This isn’t a problem on its own, but it does make survival a little difficult for Pikachu ever since He himself is easily killed for being too light.
Strategy and Counterplay
You will have to deal with his wide combos and multi-hit attacks when fighting Pikachu. DI/SDI will be your best friend in this match. Of course, you can’t use this on every group, especially one in which it will drag you down. But it will be especially useful for escaping low to medium percent combos and confirming some kills, such as Up-Throw into Down-B. Make sure you don’t always use the same DI on a kill confirmation because Pikachu can still find the arrow if it predicts it.
You’ll want to make it difficult for Pikachu to hit neutral. A big part of this involves dealing with neutral-b. This mostly depends on the character, as some have tools more suited to them than others. Anyway, you’ll like it Shuffle your answers so he doesn’t take advantage of how you respond. A solid choice among all the characters is to completely protect him and go from there. Regardless, be sure Stay mobile, don’t play too defensive, and don’t be afraid to challenge him. The multi-hit nature of Pikachu’s moves means that almost any one-hit attack will leave him doing more damage than you in the trade scenario.
Continuing on the theme of Pikachu combos, you’ll most likely find yourself being taken off stage with them, especially at the lower percentages. While this is a dangerous situation, using your resources will most likely get you killed here. Make sure to save your resources until the combo ends. If you use it too early and Pikachu catches up to you in his group, you’ll have a much more difficult time getting back to the stage.
Good/bad matches
Pikachu wins over the vast majority of characters. The characters he particularly wins over are the ones who can’t handle his pressure very well. This includes both the characters it can collect and characters that generally have slower frame data. For the previous criteria, Avoid using characters like Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, King Dedede, Incineroar, and Ganondorf. For the latter criteria, Beleth, Simon, Hero, Robin, and Bayonetta are not great choices against him.
Since he wins over the vast majority of the cast, there are very few, if any, elements he loses. These characters are simply the ones that can manipulate his Neutral-B, usually by absorbing it. However, thinking about it or using other means to avoid it also works. Because of this Mr. Game & Watch, Ness, Olimar, Peach and Mario are good against him.
