Pikachu (SSBU): Difference between revisions

Pikachu's main strengths are its fast frame data and dominant edgeguarding game, with each being considered among the best of the cast. This is mainly due to Pikachu's aerials, each of which can autocancel in a short hop. Its neutral, forward, back, and up aerials are fast, all of them except for up aerial being multihit attacks that can combo into each other and most of Pikachu's other moves, with their extremely low ending lag making them excellent for [[combos]], [[edgeguarding]], and potential [[zero-to-death combo|zero-to-deaths]]. Forward and back aerials in particular are notoriously effective as neutral options due to their animations low-profiling Pikachu's already small hurtbox, which makes them notably hard for most characters to punish [[out of shield]]. Up aerial is a fantastic [[juggling]] option to boot, while neutral aerial notably converts into both up smash and down smash if used while landing, making it Pikachu's most reliable method of confirming KOs at high percentages. Down aerial can meteor smash in its first two active frames and is fast for a move of its category, with its long-lasting hitbox making it an extremely potent edgeguarding option as well. Down aerial also is its only aerial with over 20 frames of ending lag, though it still has relatively low lag compared to other meteor smashes of its kind.

Another notable strength Pikachu has is its ability to escape pressure. It boasts a frame 2 [[air dodge]] and incredibly small hurtbox, which combined with its light weight and fantastic frame data make it among the most difficult characters to combo. The speed and versatility of its up special [[Quick Attack]] makes it trivial to land and escape disadvantage compared to the majority of the cast, while its aforementioned frame data gives it one of the strongest out of shield games through its neutral aerial, back aerial, and up smash. It additionally boasts a phenomenal recovery, with Quick Attack's long distance and multiple angles (there must be a difference of 30 degrees between each jolt's arc, or the second jolt will not come out) making it exceptionally difficult to edgeguard, and its side special [[Skull Bash]] providing additional horizontal distance if necessary despite being risky to use. All in all, Pikachu boasts an incredible disadvantage state that allows him to rapidly and effectively reverse the situation on the opponent if they make a single mistake.   

Pikachu is not without weaknesses, however. All of its normal attacks excluding forward smash have poor range, with most of said attacks being barely disjointed or not at all. Because of its lack of range, Pikachu tends to rely on using Thunder Jolt to help it approach the opponent. It gets KO'd relatively early due to its diminutive weight, and it also bears inconsistent raw KO power itself. Dash attack is powerful but extremely unsafe if whiffed, up throw doesn't KO under 170% without rage, and its forward and up smashes are burdened by several sourspots that make them unwieldly to use. Beyond this, none of its aerials are strong enough to KO reliably while onstage, and its other KO moves (down smash, forward tilt, and back throw) are unfit for KOing until around 150% by the ledge. While Thunder is powerful, it has slow start-up and high ending lag that limits its usage to being a situational combo finisher and edgeguarding option. A notable weakness in Pikachu's otherwise potent neutral is its inability to trade due to many of its aerials being multihits, meaning that if a trade occurs Pikachu will deal about 1% while taking the full damage of the move it trades with, a substantial weakness considering how light the character is.

Overall, Pikachu's strengths outweigh its weaknesses and it is universally considered to be a top-tier character, with many proclaiming it as the single best character in the game.

In the end, Pikachu's entire moveset has seen drastic improvements all-around, it benefits significantly from the new engine, and its limited KOing ability was mostly alleviated, causing its buffs to severely outweigh the nerfs it received. Although Pikachu still suffers from the same weaknesses that plagued it in ''SSB4'', such as short-range, poor endurance, and still limited KOing ability, its improved strengths now more than compensate for its shortcomings, arguably cementing it as the most viable threat between its fellow "fragile speedster" brethren, alongside its clone {{SSBU|Pichu}}. While Pikachu is not as common as some other top- or high-tier characters, it has still received strong results in competitive play, courtesy of players like {{Sm|ESAM}} and {{Sm|Captain L}}. This has led to a very strikingly positive reception of Pikachu, with many top players describing it as a top 5 character in the game, with some going as far as considering it the single best character, although this is debatable as its results are not as strong as other top-tier contenders. Regardless, Pikachu is considered much better than in ''SSB4'', and has fared significantly better overall than in previous games (bar [[Pikachu (SSB)|its appearance]] in ''[[SSB]]'').

While Pikachu does fare slightly better since the launch of ''Ultimate'', the changes it received were very minor overall, and as a result the general opinion of Pikachu being a very powerful and top tier character in the competitive scene has remained the same since day one.

|dashdesc=A battering ram. The early hitbox deals solid damage and good knockback, allowing it to KO middleweights around 135% on Final Destination. It also has fairly low startup lag (frame 6), and the early hitbox lasts deceptively long. Additionally, it is decently safe on shield due to having a high shieldstun multiplier, although it can still be punished by quick out of shield options. However, the late hitbox has no KO potential at any reasonable percent, and the high ending lag prevents either hit from comboing.

|nairdesc=Poses while charging itself with electricity, shocking nearby opponents. It hits 4 times, with the final hit having weak knockback. It is one of Pikachu's most versatile tools; being useful for breaking out of combos due to its very fast startup (frame 3), and a generously low amount of ending lag (17 frames). It's notorious for its ability to be fastfalled to drag the opponent down and extend combos, and being a very quick out of shield option at frame 6. It can be fastfalled to combo into all of its tilts, grab, and both up and down smash due to its low ending lag. Like all of Pikachu's other aerials, it can [[autocancel]] in a [[short hop]].

|nsdesc=Shoots a ball of electricity. A very useful projectile, as it deals good damage and moves quickly, helping Pikachu to control the neutral game. When it hits the stage or a platform, it sticks to it, looping across it until its lifespan is over or it hits the bottom of a [[soft platform]]. This allows Pikachu to run alongside it to approach, to cover many grounded options, and to help it get out of the corner.

Opinions of Pikachu were very strong since prior to the game's release. Its overall favorable adjustments, especially its new and potent neutral aerial, as well as an emphasis on smaller characters in the early meta, influenced many players to rank it as a top-tier character.

Unlike many other characters, however, these opinions remained relatively the same following the release of the game and throughout the game's competitive lifespan. Pikachu was small and could pancake (crouch under) a lot of moves, had an extremely strong recovery, and had good zoning options as well as some of the best [[zero-to-death combo|zero-to-death combos]] in the game. Its strong matchups across the vast majority of the cast also enabled it to have a robust place in the metagame, and its ability to still do well against potentially unfavorable matchups such as {{SSBU|Mr. Game & Watch}} or {{SSBU|Ness}} led many to consider Pikachu as one of the best characters in the game. This outlook only grew following nerfs to the early metagame's best characters such as {{SSBU|Pichu}}, {{SSBU|Wolf}}, {{SSBU|Olimar}}, and {{SSBU|Peach}} and {{SSBU|Daisy}}.

Despite this perception, Pikachu noticeably lacked the results other contenders for best in the game had. Pikachu's early metagame results were largely spearheaded by only one player - {{Sm|ESAM}} - who despite seeing high highs were often brought down by mediocre results. Even after the online metagame, ESAM's consistency continued to be rather wobbly, as he saw a career-defining victory over {{Sm|MkLeo}} at {{Trn|Glitch 8.5 - Konami Code}} but largely underperformed most of his other majors. Around this time, other notable Pikachu players such as {{Sm|H4DS}}, {{Sm|Neeroz}}, and {{Sm|ShinyMark}} began making their mark on the metagame, with ShinyMark especially having a breakout tournament at {{Trn|Smash Factor 9}}. These results, however, were often countered with the players' inconsistency or a lack of out-of-region results. As it stands, many players still consider Pikachu to be a top 3 character alongside {{SSBU|Joker}} and {{SSBU|Pyra}} & {{SSBU|Mythra}}, however many others such as {{Sm|Dabuz}} have argued that the character is overrated due to having mediocre representation compared to other top tiers.