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Pichu (SSBU): Difference between revisions
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==In [[competitive play]]== | ==In [[competitive play]]== | ||
===Most historically significant players=== | ===Most historically significant players=== | ||
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''See also: [[:Category:Pichu players (SSBU)]]'' | ''See also: [[:Category:Pichu players (SSBU)]]'' | ||
*{{Sm|Blacktwins|Canada}} - One of the best Pichu players in | *{{Sm|Blacktwins|Canada}} - One of the best Pichu players in North America after Pichu's nerf, although he often played other characters alongside Pichu such as {{SSBU|Roy}} and {{SSBU|Mario}}. During ths time, he most notably placing 2nd at {{Trn|Rising Stars at EGLX 2019}} defeating {{Sm|ESAM}} and 9th at {{Trn|Shine 2019}} defeating {{Sm|Goblin}}. Although he eventually picked up {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}}, he remains one of the few players from the early metagame who still played Pichu, placing 25th at {{Trn|Get On My Level 2023}} with primarily Pichu and defeating {{Sm|Riddles}} with Pichu at {{Trn|Gourmet Bash 3}}. | ||
*{{Sm|NaetorU|France}} - The best Pichu player in the world since 2023, first known for placing 7th at {{Trn|COLOSSEL 2022}} defeating {{Sm|Bloom4Eva}}. He has some of the best Pichu performances since the early metagame, including placing 13th at {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2023}} defeating {{Sm|MkLeo}}, 17th at {{Trn|Tera}} defeating {{Sm|Cosmos}}, 25th at {{Trn|Double Down 2022}} defeating {{Sm|Lea}}, and 33rd at {{Trn|GENESIS 9}} defeating {{Sm|Kola}}. He was ranked 89th on the [[UltRank 2022]], the only solo-Pichu player ranked globally in the post-online metagame. | |||
*{{Sm|NaetorU|France}} - | *{{Sm|NAKAT|USA}} - One of the best Pichu players in North America during the first half of 2019, ranking 26th on the [[Spring 2019 PGRU]]. His best run to date was at {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 5}}, where he defeated {{Sm|Nairo}}, {{Sm|Mr.E}}, and {{Sm|Rivers}} to place 7th; he also notably placed 9th at {{Trn|Smash Factor 8}} and 13th at {{Trn|Umebura SP 3}}. He became less active in the fall and played a mix of Pichu and {{SSBU|Sora}} in the post-online metagame before going inactive in 2022. | ||
*{{Sm|NAKAT|USA}} - One of the best Pichu players in the | *{{Sm|Nietono|Japan}} - One of the best Pichu players in the early metagame, ranking as high as 27th on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]]. He is the only Pichu player to win a major, doing so at {{Trn|Umebura SP 3}}, and has also placed 7th at both {{Trn|Umebura SP 6}} and {{Trn|Umebura SP 7}}. He continued to main Pichu in the post-online metagame, notably placing 3rd at {{Trn|Maesuma TOP 8}}, but slowly began playing other characters until he dropped Pichu entirely by 2023. | ||
*{{Sm|Nietono|Japan}} - | *{{Sm|RFang|USA}} - One of the best Pichu players in the world after Pichu's nerf, ranking 45th on the [[Fall 2019 PGRU]] and placing 3rd at {{Trn|2GG: Grand Tour - South Carolina}} defeating {{Sm|Kola}}, 4th at {{Trn|Tri-state Showdown: Fall 2019}} defeating {{Sm|Nairo}}, and 7th at {{Trn|The Big House 9}} defeating {{Sm|Light|p=Connecticut}} and {{Sm|WaDi}}. He stopped competing during the online metagame and has only made a few offline appearances since. | ||
*{{Sm|RFang|USA}} - One of the best Pichu players in the | *{{Sm|VoiD|USA}} - Pichu's primary representative in the early metagame. He is the only Pichu player ever ranked in the top 10, ranking 9th on the [[Spring 2019 PGRU]] thanks to runs such as 2nd at {{Trn|GENESIS 6}} and 5th at both {{Trn|MomoCon 2019}} and {{Trn|Smash 'N' Splash 5}}. Following Pichu's nerfs, he began playing other characters instead and dropped the character in favor of {{SSBU|Sheik}} right before the pandemic. | ||
*{{Sm| | |||
===Tier placement and history=== | |||
In contrast to its ''Melee'' counterpart, where it is considered one of the worst characters in the game, Pichu was commonly viewed as one of, if not, the best characters in the game in the early metagame. This is due to its small size and powerful KO moves, which included back air, {{b|Thunder|Pokémon}}, and its infamous forward tilt. These strengths made Pichu one of the most popular characters in the first few months of the competitive scene, ranking 7th for representation between January and June 2019, and Pichu saw a plethora of results from players such as {{Sm|NAKAT}}, {{Sm|Nietono}}, and {{Sm|VoiD}}, all of whom were ultimately ranked top 50 on the [[Spring 2019 PGRU]]. | |||
However, update {{SSBU|3.1.0}} increased Pichu's size and nerfed the power of its forward tilt, while increasing the amount of recoil damage on nearly all of its electric attacks. The nerfs were enough to stagnate Pichu's playerbase, as many of its best players either began playing other characters (VoiD) or stopped attending events (NAKAT). Although this period still saw several Pichu results from Nietono and {{Sm|RFang}}, Pichu's playerbase began shrinking as other players began began considering Pichu as inferior to {{SSBU|Pikachu}}. In spite of some of the nerfs being reverted in update {{SSBU|11.0.0}}, this decline continued through the online and post-online metagames, which saw RFang become inactive and Nietono drop the character, and although this period also saw the rise of {{Sm|NaetorU}}, Pichu remained scarce in top competitive play. As such, Pichu saw one of the harshest declines in ''Ultimate'', with the community reassessing it to be a mid-tier at best. This was reflected in the first tier list, where Pichu was ranked 55th as an upper-mid tier character; although it moved up to 53rd on the second tier list, its overall score was lower than in the first tier list. | |||
Despite this severe drop in perception, Pichu is unanimously considered to be significantly more viable than its ''Melee'' iteration. | |||
=={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: Lightweight Fracas== | =={{SSBU|Classic Mode}}: Lightweight Fracas== | ||