Falco (SSB4): Difference between revisions

'''Falco''' ({{ja|ファルコ|Faruko}}, ''Falco'') returns as a playable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]''. Falco was officially confirmed on October 3rd, 2014, alongside {{SSB4|Ness}} and {{SSB4|Wario}}, coinciding with the North American and European release of {{for3ds}}. As in ''[[Melee]]'' and ''[[Brawl]]'',  {{s|wikipedia|Hisao Egawa}} reprises his role in the Japanese version with his re-recorded voice clips of the game. Mark Lund, his voice actor from ''Star Fox 64 3D'', now voices him in the English version, replacing Dex Manley from ''Brawl''.

Falco ranks 46th out of 54 on the [[tier list]], an extreme drop from ''Brawl'' where he was ranked 7th out of 38, and an enormous drop from his ''Melee'' position where he was ranked 4th out of 26, making this his worst placement in the series by far. The majority of Falco's moves have high speed and very favourable angles, granting him a strong combo game and [[juggling]] capabilities. These are further aided by his good grab game and strong jumps, with the latter remaining the highest in the game. His moves that lack speed or reach are also packed with power, giving his moves surprisingly high KO power; for example, his back aerial can reliably KO below 130%. He also boasts an effective grab game and out of shield game, with all of his throws possessing great utility and/or KO power, while the speed of his moves allows him to easily punish opponents out of shield.

However, Falco's [[neutral game]] has been drastically weakened, with several of the moves that made him a threat at all ranges being nerfed: his two staple moves, {{b|Blaster|Falco}} and down aerial, now being much slower, and both are also incapable of [[autocancelling]] in a [[short hop]], eliminating Falco's ability to safely [[approach]]; changes to his back aerial by lowering its duration and reach also make it less effective at [[spacing]]. These weakened tools amplify the issue of Falco's low horizontal mobility, making it very difficult to keep up with opponents or force an approach. Finally, even though Falco benefits from the changes to [[hitstun cancelling]] as they make down throw much better for combos, it can no longer lead into the [[Gatling Combo]] or rack up damage on its own. In fact, the changes to game mechanics have hindered Falco overall, as the removal of [[DACUS]], the Gatling Combo, and [[chain grab]]bing hurt his damage racking capabilities overall, while the introduction of rage makes him more susceptible to KOs, due to his light weight. His recovery, despite being long distanced and buffed overall, is still slow, predictable, and easily intercepted, making Falco vulnerable to [[gimp]]s.

Owing to his flaws, especially compared to his ''Brawl'' incarnation, Falco has held poor tournament representation and results in competitive play. Although [[updates]] to the game have attempted to buff a number of his negative attributes, he still has struggled to make an impact at tournaments at the national level.

Falco is a [[Weight|light]] character with polarized movement. He has the strongest [[jump]]ing ability, a fast [[walking speed]], fast [[falling speed]] and high [[air acceleration]], but a rather slow [[dashing speed]], below average [[air speed]] and very high [[gravity]]. These stats give Falco slow horizontal movement, but proficient vertical movement. They also give him good vertical endurance for a lightweight.

Falco's greatest strength is the speed of his moveset. His neutral attack and forward tilt are both exceedingly quick, while up tilt and down tilt can be used to combo into other attacks or even KO at high percentages. His smash attacks are all powerful and have decent reach as well. Down smash is also a [[semi-spike]], making it very good at [[edgeguarding]]. His aerial moves are also powerful in their own way. Neutral aerial deals decently high knockback and is very quick, making it an excellent option for disrupting an opponent's moves and a great combo extender/finisher. Forward aerial is powerful and can easily KO offstage, and can be used for [[gimp]]ing by fast-falling during the move then [[footstool jump]]ing over the opponent, in a similar manner to fellow fighter {{SSB4|Fox}}. It also has a strong landing hitbox with disjointed range. Up aerial sends opponents vertically and is a great move for comboing and KOing off the top, thanks to Falco's high jumps. Back aerial is Falco's strongest aerial, as well as his second fastest, making it a great choice in many scenarios. Lastly, down aerial, while significantly nerfed from ''[[Brawl]]'', can still be useful for KOing offstage, as it is a [[meteor smash]]. All of these moves grant Falco a versatile combo game.

Another advantage Falco possesses is his grab game. His [[pummel]] is quick and decently damaging, making it great at racking up damage. The forward throw is decently strong and can set up a dash attack or an edge guard. Back throw is great for giving Falco some breathing space, since the first hit is a semi-spike, and when combined with the laser's hit, the throw can even KO at high percentages. Up throw sends opponents straight up, and can be used to combo into any aerial or even KO at very high percents. Finally, down throw can combo into dash attack and any aerial at low percentages, or [[tech-chase]] if the opponent is past combo percentages, like in ''Brawl''. Coupled with his fast [[roll]]s and [[sidestep]], with the former being long-distanced, as well as his aforementioned combo abilities, Falco has an impressive [[out of shield]] game.

His special moveset also provides some interesting options. {{b|Blaster|Falco}} is Falco's main [[projectile]] and, while extremely unsafe at close range, is an invaluable move for [[pressuring]], [[gimp]]ing recoveries (especially those of {{SSB4|Ganondorf}}, {{SSB4|Little Mac}} and {{SSB4|Cloud}}) and halting or even outright preventing [[approach]]es. {{b|Reflector|Falco}} is, as its name implies, a move capable of [[reflection]], allowing Falco to actively combat [[camping]]. It also carries a damaging hitbox that has a high chance of [[tripping]] opponents, even at percentages over 400%, allowing for potential tech-chases. [[Falco Phantasm]] involves Falco quickly dashing sideways, making it great for horizontal [[recovery]]. The aerial version also meteor smashes aerial opponents and has little landing lag, making it useful for gimping recoveries and repositioning, respectively. Lastly, [[Fire Bird]], his primary recovery move, grants him respectable distance in any direction chosen. It also allows Falco to slide across the air, letting him mix up his positioning, and has damaging hitboxes throughout (dealing 31% of all hits connect), making up for its low speed.

However, Falco has numerous weaknesses. His most prominent flaws are his [[neutral game]] and recovery. Regarding his neutral game, Falco's horizontal mobility is fairly slow, which limits his movement across the stage. This gives him significant trouble approaching and pressuring opponents, since Blaster, his most reliable tool at doing so, can no longer autocancel. In addition, while Falco's moves are overall very quick startup-wise, many of them are slow endlag-wise, making misused moves heavily susceptible to [[punishment]]. When combined with his overall poor reach on his melee attacks and the fact that most of his moves' sweetspots are close to his body, Falco has a below average neutral game, making him have trouble at KOing despite his overall high power. As for his recovery, while his high jumps, Falco Phantasm, [[wall jump]] and FireBird all give him a very long-distanced recovery, it is extremely predictable due to how linear it is. These four options are also very ineffective on their own, making his recovery fairly easy to gimp. Outside of low percentages, Falco's combo-oriented moves are prone to being [[DI]]ed, making it harder for him to rack up damage effectively, which is further exacerbated by the removal of [[chain grab]]bing, [[DACUS]] and the Gatling Combo. Despite being light, Falco is susceptible to combos, due to his fast falling speed and lack of escape options. His survivability is below average at best, mainly because of Falco's low weight, high gravity, and predictable recovery.

Falco benefits a decent amount from custom moves. Burst Blaster has less range, but is much faster, forcing bad approaches from the opponent much more easily. Falco Phase cannot hit opponents and does not grant any momentum, like in ''[[Melee]]'', but Falco cannot be hurt either, and the move is also faster. Distant Fire Bird is slower and has no charging hitbox, like in ''Melee'', but it moves further and has more momentum, considerably improving his recovery. Reflector Void destroys most projectiles instead of reflecting them, but deals more damage on contact, and is the optimal choice against certain characters like {{SSB4|Villager}} or if the opponent lacks projectiles. The other variations of his custom moves are either very situational, or do not have many advantages over the default.

Overall, like {{SSB4|Kirby}} and {{SSB4|Luigi}}, Falco runs hot and cold. Despite having excellent combo potential and KO power, his slow ground mobility, poor range and significantly nerfed neutral game make it very difficult to put his newfound abilities to use. Mainly due to his poor neutral game, Falco's weaknesses outweigh his strengths, resulting in poor tournament representation and similar results, with very few dedicated mains such as {{Sm|AC}} and {{Sm|Keitaro}}.

Falco has received a mix of buffs and nerfs in the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Smash 4''. Even though the former is technically of greater quantity than the latter, he is considered to be significantly nerfed overall, due to his neutral game being drastically weakened and the nerfs he received are far more severe than the buffs he received.

Falco's power has been improved significantly, removing his main weakness from ''Brawl''. His down tilt has regained its lost power from ''Melee'' and his smash attacks are stronger. His forward aerial is stronger and unaffected by [[SDI]], his up aerial has consistent power and more vertical knockback, and his back aerial while having a shorter duration and less range around him has much more power, to the point of being the eighth strongest overall in the game while also being the fastest in the game. In addition, his grab game has seen some improvements, with up throw having comboing abilities, and back throw now having KO power. His recovery has also been noticeably buffed. While Falco Phantasm can no longer be shortened and its hitbox was noticed nerfed, it no longer puts Falco in [[helpless]] state, allowing Fire Bird to be used immediately after, with the latter also granting more distance than before. Due to being slow, both moves also benefit a lot from the removal of [[edge-hogging]].

However, the nerfs Falco received created new weaknesses that were harsh enough to severely cripple his neutral game. The removal of DACUS (and subsequently the Gatling Combo) prevents his newly buffed up smash from being used as an approach option or a combo finisher. The removal of chain grabbing is a double-edged sword for Falco. While he is no longer adversely affected by it, his ability to easily rack up large amounts of damage with his down throw is no longer present. His down throw was also directly nerfed as it deals less damage and has higher knockback, hindering its combo potential. Down aerial, a staple in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'', has been drastically slowed down having immensely increased startup lag and no longer [[auto-cancelling]] in a short hop. These changes hinder down aerial so much to the point where it is now useless outside of [[edgeguarding]] and even then, down aerial has reduced knockback. Falco Phantasm has increased startup lag, travels more slowly and its hitbox no longer lasts for its entire duration moving forwards greatly hindering its use on stage and it can no longer be shortened hindering its mixup potential. Finally, his Blaster, formerly one of the most reliable tools for approaching and pressuring, is slower and incapable of autocancelling. These changes make Falco much less of a threat in the neutral game, as it is now considerably harder for him to put his high power to good use.

Overall, most of Falco's buffs are not highly beneficial while the nerfs he received practically removed some of his previous best tools. The general changes to the mechanics also did not help him as much as some other characters while taking away a few of his key traits. Due to these nerfs, Falco is considered to be one of the characters to have been nerfed the most in the transition from ''Brawl'' to ''Smash 4''. His harmful changes have resulted in many players having poor opinions about him and he has seen far less success in tournaments.

*{{change|Due to the aesthetic used in ''Smash 4'', Falco's attire is sleeker, and his overall colour scheme is more vibrant.}}

*{{buff|Falco [[dash]]es faster (1.432 → 1.472) although it is lower relative to the cast, going from the 18th slowest out of 39 characters to the 16th slowest out of 58.}}

*{{buff|Falco's [[air speed]] is higher (0.893 → 0.93) although it is lower relative to the cast, going from the 16th slowest out of 39 characters to the 14th slowest out of 58.}}

*{{change|The removal of [[chain grab]]bing both helps and hinders Falco. It significantly improves his endurance, however, it also removes his ability to chain grab, removing his most reliable way to rack up damage in the previous game.}}

*{{nerf|Rolls have a shorter duration (frames 4-19 → 4-16).}}

*{{nerf|Air dodge has a shorter duration (frames 4-29 → 2-26).}}

*{{nerf|[[Spot dodge]] has a shorter duration (frames 2-20 → 2-16) and more ending lag (FAF 23 → 26), no longer being one of the fastest spot dodges in the game.}}

**{{nerf|Lasers have a drastically shorter duration (98 frames → 33). When combined with their slower travel speed, this drastically reduces the distance lasers travel, with them now only covering around 3/4ths of {{SSB4|Final Destination}}.}}

**{{nerf|Falco can no longer reuse Falco Phantasm if he is aerial [[grab release]]d out of it.}}

Falco has been buffed via game updates. In update [[1.0.4]], his Blaster's firing rate was increased, which slightly improved his neutral game. Update [[1.0.8]] buffed Falco's punishing game by making his neutral aerial more versatile, as well as increasing the speed of his up and forward aerials. The same update also slightly improved his aerial mobility by increasing his air speed and acceleration. Update [[1.1.4]] increased his down smash's knockback, while improving his up smash by decreasing its start-up, increasing its knockback, and granting intangibility to its first hit. Lastly, the new shield mechanics also aid some of Falco's moves without harming others. These changes gave Falco more offensive options and improved both his KOing and his previously nerfed damage racking abilities, making him better than he was in the game's initial release. However, since none of them have improved his below average neutral game, Falco still remains at a disadvantage compared to most of the cast.

|bairdesc=A back kick. It is notorious for being one of the fastest and strongest back aerials in the game; the clean hit comes out at frame 4 and possesses incredibly high knockback scaling that even exceeds moves such as {{SSB4|Ness}}'s back throw. When including its ability to autocancel from a [[short hop fast fall]], it is a powerful KOing option and combo breaker, capable of KOing at 130% from the center of {{SSB4|Final Destination}}. However, its other qualities have been heavily toned down since ''Brawl'', with its range and duration being considerably shorter.

|dairdesc=Briefly pulls his legs upward before performing a downward corkscrew stomp. A decently strong [[meteor smash]] on aerial opponents; as a carryover from ''Melee'', it is one of the few meteor smashes that sends opponents diagonally downwards. Due to the clean hit's 2× [[hitlag]] multiplier, it benefits significantly from [[frame cancelling]], though this is very situational. The late hit can also lock opponents. However, the move has high startup lag and landing lag, so it is mostly used for reads.

|grabdesc=An average grab.

|fthrowdesc=Launches the opponent forward with a cross.

|bthrowdesc=Throws the opponent backwards and then shoots them once with his [[Blaster]]. Can KO at around 150% near the edge if the opponent is hit by the laser.

|uthrowdesc=Throws the opponent upwards and then shoots them once with his Blaster. A reliable combo starter until high percentages thanks to Falco's high jumps. It can combo into any aerial (except down aerial) and, with a proper read, lead into a KO with up aerial. The throw itself can KO at high percentages if performed on stages with platforms, although opponents can DI away from it at said percent range.

|nsdefdesc=Unlike Fox's variant, the shots come out much slower, travel slower, aren’t as long, and don’t go as far, but they flinch opponents and don’t decay in power as they travel. The Blaster fires slightly faster in the air, although this speed increase is negligible. Due to the lasers' low fixed knockback, they can [[lock]] opponents at any percent.

|nsc1desc=The Blaster's laser slows down as it travels and explodes right before it stops. It pushes opponents while traveling, but does not deal damage until the laser explodes. Also visually alters the lasers fired from throws. Similar to Zero Suit Samus’ [[paralyzer|Electromagnetic Net]].

|nsc2desc=Acts similarly to Fox's Blaster in that it fires faster, but has lower power, length, range, and loses its ability to make the opponent flinch. Additionally, it still fires slower than Fox's, though its ending lag is significantly lower. Doesn’t fire quicker in mid-air.

|ssdefdesc=Dashes forward at a blinding speed, leaving behind afterimages. Unlike Fox Illusion, Falco Phantasm will launch airborne opponents [[meteor smash|straight downward]] on contact, and it has 2 less startup frames. On grounded opponents, it sends them upwards with favorable force to combo into a back aerial.

|ssc1desc=Quicker, and Falco is intangible for the duration of the move, but it cannot hit opponents either. It does not give Falco any momentum.

|ssc2desc=The dash's range is shorter, but it hits much harder at the beginning of the move.

|usdefdesc=Cloaks himself in flames and before firing himself in any direction, depending on what direction is held. The launch attack hits multiple times. It also travels a shorter distance than Fox's [[Fire Fox]]. The first launch hit can knock opponents away from the rest of the hits.

|usc1desc=Instantly fires himself in any direction, but at the cost of a shortened distance.

|usc2desc=The charging time is longer, but Falco travels further. The initial part of the attack launches opponents, while the rest of the attack hits opponents multiple times, dealing weak knockback and having a 1.5× [[SDI]] multiplier.

|dsdefdesc=Activates his Reflector and kicks it away from him, reflecting any projectiles and hitting opponents it comes in contact with. It then returns to him as if magnetized. The move can be used as a poking tool that can lock or [[trip]] low damaged opponents to start combos.

|dsc2desc=The Reflector deals more damage and destroys [[absorb]]able projectiles instead of reflecting them. Non-absorbable projectiles are still reflected, but deal less damage due to its lowered reflection multiplier. Its angle and knockback are almost identical to his Reflector in ''[[Falco (SSBM)/Down special|Melee]]''. The Reflector Void is colored purple.

|fsdesc=Calls in a Landmaster. Like Fox's Landmaster, Falco's version can shoot laser blasts and damage opponents while maneuvering around. Unlike Fox's however, it has better aerial mobility at the cost of weaker blasts.

|desc-side=Poses by standing on one foot with his wing raised before saying "Get some!" ({{ja|かかってきな。|Kakatte ki na.}}, ''Come bring it.'')

|desc-down=Spins once and crosses one wing before saying "Hands off my prey!" ({{ja|俺の獲物に手を出すな！|Ore no emono ni te wo dasu na!}}, ''Get your hands off my prey!'')

|desc-2=Moves his wing in front of his face.

|victory-desc=A flourished remix directly from ''Brawl'' based on the theme that would play at the title screen in ''{{s|lylatwiki|Star Fox 64}}''.

|desc-1=Jumps high into the air and then performs a crouching pose upon descending to the ground.

*{{Sm|AC|USA}} - Although more known for his {{SSB4|Meta Knight}}, he also has a prominent Falco secondary, most notably using Falco to win the arcadian {{Trn|2GG: Breakthrough}} and defeat {{Sm|6WX}} at {{Trn|2GGC: Midwest Mayhem Saga}}, ultimately placing 7th.

Falco has been regarded rather poorly ever since ''Smash 4''{{'}}s release. Smashers immediately noticed the severe nerfs to his [[Blaster]], which was an essential component of Falco's playstyle in his previous iterations and a driving force behind his top-tier performances in ''Melee'' and ''Brawl.'' The nerfs to his down aerial, another signature move of his, further contributed to his weak status, as well as his grounded mobility being somewhat slower than in ''Brawl''. As time went on Falco continued to see little representation and lacked notable results at a national level, leading many to believe that his nerfs were too severe for him to be even a mid-tier, while the buffs he received in updates failed to address his ineffective [[neutral game]]. Meanwhile, various characters who were at some point considered comparatively sub-par, notably {{SSB4|Meta Knight}}, {{SSB4|Marth}}, and {{SSB4|Mewtwo}}, received buffs that raised their position in the metagame, worsening Falco's position relative to the cast. All these issues led to Falco slowly declining on tier lists, from 38th on the first [[tier list]] to 49th on the second tier list, and then 50th on the third tier list.

*Due to being placed 46th on the current tier list, Falco's tier placement marks the first time a ''Star Fox'' character is in the low tiers.

*This is the final game in the series where Falco keeps his [[spot dodge]] animation from ''Melee'' and is voiced by Hisao Egawa in gameplay in the Japanese version.