SSBM/Pikachu/Introduction

Introduction

Pikachu is an electrifying character, in your face and moving at lightning speed. They're quick as a bolt, in the air or on the ground. With a strong kit, boasting quick startup, strong combo finishers, and one of the best recoveries in the game, they're a rat to remember. Where Pikachu struggles is their worse than average whiff punish, and subpar forward facing aerial disjoint. It's often hard for the electric mouse to outright beat an opponent spacing hitboxes around them.

Where Pikachu excels is their low profile, quick burst movement, strong frame data, and stellar defense. If you can't out prioritize an attack, Pikachu asks, why not go around? When playing within their opponent's blind spots and defensive gaps, you'll see how clever this Pokémon can be. If they're not applying pressure running around or flying across the stage, Pikachu can fall back on their disjointed tail to stuff opponents, setup combos, and secure big openings. Once an opening lands, Pikachu's powerful upsmash and decisive semispike uAir gimp spell disaster for their opponents at any percent.

If you wanna be a master, or a number one melee Pikachu main, you're gonna need to be crafty, quick, and resourceful. But more than that, Pikachu's great if you just wanna shock your opponent.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Low to the ground and hard to hit - Pikachu's deceptive hurtbox manipulation, shifty ECB, and quick movement all lend to a character which can be hard to consistently pin down for taller characters or characters with higher than average aerials. Edgeguards and gimps - With a disjointed semispike and a recovery that lets Pikachu go far offstage to secure a kill, gimps and edgeguards are a constant threat for anyone in reach of this rat. Resilient offstage - Quick attack is one of, if not the best recovery move in a vacuum. Although some characters might have overall recoveries on par with Pikachu's, their upB quick attack has an incredible amount of utility, and is at times impossible to cover consistently. Faster than the average mouse - Pikachu's short startup on aerials, low endlag on tilts, and better than average grounded and aerial movement allow them to maneuver in dangerous ways, especially when their opponent doesn't expect it. Versatile tail - Pikachu's uAir is easily a top tier move. It autocancels early, is able to catch opponents out of the air, create DI mixups, combo, edgeguard, space in neutral, approach, and is incredibly quick out of shield, slower than only a handful of options.

Stubby little arms - Pikachu's grab and nair, two essential pieces of their kit, are very underwhelming in terms of disjoint. To get through an opponent's defense often times a bait, specific timing callout, or very well spaced hitbox is required. Don't get grabbed - Due to Pikachu's lackluster forward facing disjoint, Pikachu often has to actively approach instead of walling out their opponent. Even minor miscalculations on an aerial can lead to whiff punishes, crouch cancel counters, or shield grabs from their opponent. The impetus is on Pikachu to place aerials at tricky timings and hard to cover positions. Weaker than average hits - Besides upsmash, many of Pikachu's essential combo moves have lower than average damage output, making them more susceptible to counter attacks and less rewarded for landing combos. Worse than average shield - Despite having two frame 6 get off me tools, Pikachu can sometimes struggle when shielding. At resting position their tail is open to hits in the back, this only grows worse as their shield depletes. Shield tilting helps, but leaves Pikachu more susceptible to getting poked if they misread an opponent's move choice.