SSBM/Pichu

Introduction

Melee's original handicap character, Pichu nonetheless miraculously escaped the game's absolute bottom rung and carved a niche for itself in the upper low tier. Pichu is a largely identical clone of Pikachu, with whom they share the basic outlines of their gameplan. Both are relatively linear speedster types perpetually forced forwards, towards the enemy, by their miniscule hitboxes and inability to control space. On almost every count that the two differ, though, Pichu draws the short stick; Pichu is smaller, slower, lighter, and, infamously, has to deal with a miserable self-harm mechanic that causes all Pichu's electric moves to deal chip damage to itself, even on whiff. While the impact of Pichu's self-harm is often probably overexaggerated - most of Pichu's best moves are non-electric - it's an unwelcome cherry atop a sundae of unwelcome ingredients. So is there any hope for this forgettable mouse?

Pichu has a lightning-fast run, with solid (albeit undersized) hitboxes that stay active on top of its body for a good while. Combining these strengths, Pichu's basic gameplan is to sheathe itself in SHFFLed hitboxes (usually nair) and rocket around the stage horizontally, like some kind of little cannonball. After all, if your hitboxes are small - make them move! As fast as possible, ideally. And if you can't dash dance and can't scramble, well, don't get caught in one place. In a game like Melee, this can be a surprisingly versatile strategy. But without the moves to shift gears when the situation calls for it, Pichu's ability to compete rides or dies on the effectiveness of this one, repetitive approach, and very few characters don't have at least one good answer to Pichu's one good question.

Pikachu was once sometimes jokingly referred to as a 'poor man's Fox'. If that's true, Pichu is a without a doubt a poor man's poor man's Fox; it inherits many of Pikachu's bad points, but unfortunately few of its strengths. Both are handicapped by skeletal movepools, with large portions of their respective movelists either purposeless or redundant. Both find themselves heavily biased towards certain corners of the basic RPS triangles underlying many interactions and are therefore forced to find ways to punch through options like shield or dashback with losing responses like overshoots and even longer overshoots. But where Pikachu has enviable raw kill options and an unparalleled ability to convert unexpected situations into dangerous offstage scoops, Pichu's simplified up air rips out the soul of Pikachu's edgeguarding game and consigns Pichu to a sad (and often monotonous) life of slowly racking up dollar store damage off stray hits. Pichu's anemic punish game thus becomes a war of attrition - but one where Pichu dies before literally everyone else and is constantly hurting itself.

Ultimately, Pichu is a functional but meager character with a one-note playstyle largely overshadowed by its far superior clone. With such direct competition, it's no surprise that Pichu sees some of the least tournament play of any character...but, then again, perhaps this makes it perfect for a certain type of player.

Strengths	Weaknesses

"B" Moves List

Strategies

Match-ups

Serious Advantage Match-ups

None

Advantage Match-ups

None

Fair Match-ups

Yoshi

Disadvantage Match-ups

Pikachu, DK, Zelda, Mew2, G&W

Serious Disadvantage Match-ups

Everyone else