[Melee] Falco Data

[Flint]

Falco is currently ranked 2nd in the Melee tier list. Falco has many combo openers and the options to extend them, allowing him to easily chain together highly damaging strings of attacks that are hard to DI out of. Falco's down aerial spike is one of the most feared moves in the game, as it has almost no starting lag, can easily be comboed into, and can score very fast gimps on characters with bad recoveries as well as KO efficiently at rather low percentages. He also possesses very effective edgeguarding options, such as his back air, forward and down smashes, and his aforementioned down air. Falco, however, is not flawless; he suffers from an extremely high falling speed but very low horizontal air speed, making him extremely vulnerable to chaingrabs and combos, especially from characters such as Marth, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff. Additionally, he has one of the worst long-distance recoveries in the game, with both of his recovery options traveling extremely short distances. Regardless of these flaws, Falco's strengths greatly overwhelm his weaknesses and he has amazing matchups, lacking any negative ones.

Moveset:


Total: 17
Hit: 2-3
IASA: 16
Window for Next Jab: 3-31
Next Jab Starts: 6 (or later)​

Total: 20
Hit: 3-4
IASA: 19
Window for Jab 3: 1-20
Jab 3 Starts: 7

Hits: 3-4, 10-11, 17-18, 24-25, 31-32 (6 frames between each kick)
A full cycle: 36 frames​
Neutral Attack: Jab, Straight, Rapid Kick. 4%.
Two quick jabs, which can easily be jab canceled into each other or other moves. The second jab moves Falco forward slightly and is followed by a flurry of fast kicks.



Total: 26
Hit: 5-9​

Total: 26
Hit: 5-9​

Total: 26
Hit: 5-9​
Forward Tilt: Bird Kick. 9%.
A quick kick forward. Fast, and has impressive range for a tilt. Can gimp opponents, though has limited use outside this.



Total: 23
Hit: 5-11
IASA: 23
Shield Stun: 11
Shield Hit Lag: 5​
Up Tilt: Back Kick. 9%.
Flips his leg behind him. Short range, but very fast, and has incredible combo ability, being a great move that can quickly knock opponents into the air and follow up with aerials or a shine.



Total: 29
Hit: 7-9
IASA: 28​
Down Tilt: Bird Sweep. 13%.
Swipes his tail in front of him. Although it has somewhat short range, (shorter behind him than in the front.) it has unusually high damage and knockback for a tilt. It knocks opponents straight upwards. It can KO some characters at as low as 90% if fresh.



Total: 39
Hit: 4-17
IASA: 36​
Dash Attack: Jumping Side Kick. 6% late, 9% clean.
Leaps and sticks his foot out. Damage is 9% if it connects near the start of the attack; damage is 6% otherwise. Sends the opponent upwards.



Total: 39
Hit: 12-21
Charge frame: 7​
Forward Smash: Roundhouse Kick. 14-17% uncharged, 19-23% fully charged.
Flips his body in front and kicks in front of him. Similar to Fox's f-smash, but much stronger, usually KOing at around 90-110%. A good option against an opponent who is trying to get on the ledge, especially if they are above 100% damage.



Total: 43
Hit: 7-15
Head invincible (but not beak): 1-10
Charge frame: 2​
Up Smash: Flip Kick. 14% uncharged, 19% fully charged.
Flips his whole body in a 360° spin from his standing point, feet extended, and lands. It is drastically weaker than Fox's u-smash, but is a better juggler. However, there are usually better options available for knocking opponents into the air (like a u-tilt or shine). It can also hit behind Falco, albeit with significantly lower knockback.



Total: 49
Hit: 6-10
Legs invincible: 1-6
Charge frame: 2
IASA: 46​
Down Smash: Falco Split. 16% uncharged, 21% fully charged.
Does a quick split. High KO power, and with high knockback and semi-spike properties, it is an excellent edgeguarder, though it has rather short range.



Total: 49
Hit: 4-31
IASA: 42
Auto cancel: <3-37>
Landlag: 15
L-Canceled: 7​
Neutral Aerial: Flying Kick. 12% maximum.
A simple sex kick. Has high knockback when it first comes out, and it comes out quickly, good in a short hop.



Total: 59
Hit: 6-8, 16-18, 24-26, 33-35, 43-45
IASA: 53
Auto cancel: <5-49>
Landlag: 22
L-Canceled: 11​
Forward Aerial: Cyclone Kick. 27% if all hits connect.
Five kicks in front. The move as high duration due to the number of kicks, and it is very difficult to connect all the hits. It also gives Falco quite a short time to react with another jump or recovery.



Total: 39
Hit: 4-19
IASA: 38
Auto cancel: <3-23>
Landlag: 20
L-Canceled: 10​
Back Aerial: Reverse Spin Kick. 9-15%.
Kicks behind him. A sex kick. Good KO power, and great for edgeguarding.



Total: 39
Hit: 8-9, 11-14
IASA: 36
Auto cancel: <7-26>
Landlag: 18
L-Canceled: 9​
Up Aerial: Falco Flip. 15% if both hits connect.
Kicks up and extends his tail afterwards. The move has two hits; the first hit does 6% and the second does 9%. If the opponent is hit by the center of Falco's body, it does all 15% damage, but no knockback.



Total: 49
Hit: 5-24
Auto cancel: <4-30>
Landlag: 18
L-Canceled: 9​
Down Aerial: Air Drill. 9-12%.
Spins around in place at a downwards angle. An extremely strong spike that can set up and follow out of shine combos and KO characters quickly and efficiently. However, it is of extreme risk to use offstage, due to Falco's awful vertical recovery. Regardless, it is an excellent KO move and is among the most feared attacks in the game, with no sourspot and the hitbox lasting all of the move (however, in the PAL version of the game, the second half of the move produces weak horizontal knockback).

Special Moveset:


Total (single shot): 57
Shot comes out: 23
Repeated shots, every: 24 frames​

Total (single shot): 42
Shot comes out: 13
Repeated shots, every: 16 frames
Auto cancels upon landing

Fastfall any time
Laser lasts 99 frames​
Neutral Special: Blaster. 3% per laser.
Falco fires a laser from his Blaster. Not nearly as fast as Fox's, but is more powerful and makes the opponent flinch. For this reason, it is excellent for stopping approaching opponents, and the lag can be canceled if the move is done during a short hop and Falco fastfalls to the ground (referred to as short hop laser. Can also stop opponents when they are offstage. If Falco does a short hop laser close to an opponent, they will be stunned momentarily, allowing Falco to get an easy grab or start an aerial combo with a u-tilt or shine.


Total: 59
Falco starts moving away: 17
Hit: 18-21
Time to press B and stop Falco: 17-20
Cancelling on frames 17-18 gives you the shortest Phantasm distance. Cancelling on frame 19 gives you the second shortest Phantasm distance. Cancelling on frame 20 gives you the third shortest Phantasm distance. Phantasm has 4 different lengths (the three shortens listed above as well as the full distance Phantasm).
Can grab edge as early as 25.

Landlag: 20
Landfallspeciallag: 3​

Total: 59
Falco starts moving away: 17
Hit: 18-21
Time to press B and stop Falco: 17-20
The information for shortens is the same as for the grounded Phantasm.
Can grab edge as early as 25

Landlag: 20
Landfallspeciallag: 3​
Side Special: Falco Phantasm. 7%.
Falco dashes forward, leaving an afterimage behind him. Falco's quickest and safest horizontal recovery move. If it hits an opponent in midair, it is a very weak meteor smash. If B is quickly pressed again just after starting the move, it will be canceled and Falco will not dash forward. This also stops him in midair.



Total: 84
Hit: 43-64
When to Aim: 42

Grabs nearby edges during charge up as early as 16.
Grabs edges during moving part as early as 65 (going straight into wall).
Grabs edges from downward angles.
Grabs edges from either side.

Landlag: 6
Landfallspeciallag: 3​
Up Special: Fire Bird. 8-16%.
Falco charges up in flames and blasts off in a direction, this can be controlled with the Control Stick. Unreliable as an attack due to the charge time. Used for vertical recovery, however it travels a much shorter distance than Fox's Fire Fox. Unlike Fire Fox, it cannot damage opponents during the charge, leaving Falco vulnerable to meteor smashes during the charge - with the right timing, it is even possible to meteor smash Falco when he is moving.



Total: 39 (or more)
Hits: 1
Invincible: 1
Reflects: 4-21 or release+1
Lag Upon Release: 19
It can be jump canceled on the same frames it reflects.

Damage: 8%
Hit Lag: 5
Shield Stun: 5​
Down Special: Reflector. 8%.
Falco's Reflector (informally referred to as the Shine) works just like Fox's, reflecting any projectiles that it right back at the opponent who fired them. Unlike Fox's shine, it doesn't send the opponent on a semi-spike trajectory; rather, it knocks them straight upwards. This makes the move very useful for knocking opponents into the air and starting aerial combos, on par with the u-tilt. Can be jump cancelled, to avoid the ending lag, which can lead to double or multi-shines, as well as pillaring combos. This allows Falco to use it repeatedly to wear down shields, continue aerial combos or save a teammate in doubles.

Grabs:


Total: 30
Grab: 7-8​

Total: 40
Grab: 12-13​
Pummel: Knee. 2-3% per pummel. Knees opponent.

Forward Throw: Elbow Bash. 7%. Punches opponent.
Can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding, but other than that, it doesn't have many comboing follow-ups. Can chaingrab floaty characters at low percentages.

Back Throw: Skeet Blaster. 4% (toss), 4% (lasers).
Tosses opponent behind, then fires four quick Blaster shots. Can force opponents offstage for edgeguarding, but other than that, not too useful. It is possible to tech-chase an opponent with this move, depending on their DI.

Up Throw: Star Blaster. 3% (toss), 4% (lasers).
Tosses opponent upward, then fires four very quick Blaster shots. Excellent for setting up an aerial combo (most particularly a u-air), but can be DI'd out of at higher percentages.

Down Throw: Floor Blaster. 4%.
Slams opponent onto the floor, then shoots them four times with his Blaster. If the player can predict the opponent's reaction, a u-tilt is possible. This move can also set up a shine combo. However, the move is relatively easy to tech out of. Like Fox's d-throw, it meteor smashes over the ledge if Falco grabs the opponent at the very edge of the platform.

Floor Attack (Front) 6% Gets up and kicks on both sides.
Floor Attack (Back) 6% Gets up and kicks on both sides.
Edge Attack (Fast) 8% Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out.
Edge Attack (Slow) 8% Slowly gets up and kicks in front.

Dodges:

Air Dodge

Total: 49
Invulnerable: 4-29​

Spot Dodge

Total: 22
Invulnerable: 2-15​

Forward Dodge

Total: 31
Invulnerable: 4-19​

Backward Dodge

Total: 31
Invulnerable: 4-19​

-

Match-Ups:
Fox; ±0 (Even Match).
Falco; Mirror Match.
Sheik; ±0 (Even Match).
Marth; ±0 (Even Match).
Jigglypuff; ±0 (Even Match).
Peach; ±0 (Even Match).
Captain Falcon; +2 (Counter).
Ice Climbers; ±0 (Even Match).
Dr. Mario; +1 (Soft Counter).
Pikachu; +2 (Counter).
Samus; ±0 (Even Match).
Ganon; +1 (Soft Counter).
Luigi; +2 (Counter).
Mario; +1 (Soft Counter).
Yoshi; +3 (Hard Counter).
Young Link; +3 (Hard Counter).
Link; +3 (Hard Counter).
Donkey Kong; +2 (Counter).
Roy; +2 (Counter).
Zelda; +2 (Counter).
Mewtwo; +3 (Hard Counter).
Mr. Game & Watch; +2 (Counter).
Ness; +3 (Hard Counter).
Bowser; +3 (Hard Counter).
Pichu; +3 (Hard Counter).
Kirby; +3 (Hard Counter).


Falco is one of the two characters in the game to have no disadvantageous matchups whatsoever, along with Fox, but has more even matchups than most other top tier characters. Falco has seven even matchups, soft counters three characters, counters seven, and hard counters eight. He has the tools to beat every character, though he is particularly vulnerable to chaingrabs from characters such as Marth and Peach, and is very easy to gimp and edgeguard. These disadvantages give him some trouble against characters who have effective edgeguarding tools, such as Jigglypuff, Marth, and Fox. He tends to do well against characters who do not have the tools to properly respond to his combo openers, such as Captain Falcon, and does very well against characters with a lack of reliable horizontal finishers and/or edgeguarding ability, such as Young Link. Overall, Falco's matchup spread is among the best in the game.

[Administrator]

Sadly Mewtwo doesn't exit in Smash Four D:

[LightRook]

I prefer Fox of Falco really.

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