SSBM/Falco

Introduction

Falco (from the Starfox games) is a character in Super Smash Bros. Melee who is unlocked by beating the 100-Man Melee mode with any character. He can also be unlocked by playing 300 vs. matches. He is considered a clone of Fox. Top Falco players are notorious for their high levels of technical ability, as there are a lot of developed strategies and combos for Falco, particularly with "Shine" techniques, with notable differences from Fox's techniques, which are horizontal in nature whereas Falco's techniques are largely vertical in nature.

Falco's ability to KO on the top and bottom blast lines are almost unparalleled. Falco also has an extremely effective spike as his down air, which allows him to quickly and efficiently KO characters. Falco has amazing matchups, lacking any negative ones (making him, Fox, Pikachu and Meta Knight the only characters with no negative matchups). Falco, however, suffers from an extremely high falling speed and a very low air speed and having one of the worst recoveries in all the game. His high falling speed also makes him extremely vulnerable to chaingrabs, especially from characters such as Marth and Captain Falcon.

"A" Moves Analysis

Ground moves

Normal

• Neutral attack- Two quick jabs, which can easily L-cancel into each other, both doing 4% damage each, and then a series of fast kicks. Each kick does 1% damage. His second jab makes Falco move forward a bit.
• Dash attack- Leaps and sticks out his foot. Damage depends on how late the foe is hit, but the highest is around 9% damage.
• Forward tilt- Quickly kicks his foot out. Pretty fast, impressive range for it's speed. 9% damage.
• Down tilt- Swipes his tail in front of him with somewhat short range. However, it is unusually powerful in both damage and knockback. Because of his speed and power, his down tilt can KO above 100%. 13% damage.
• Up tilt- Flips his leg behind him. Short range, but incredible combo ability, very fast, and a great killer at higher damage. 9% damage.

Smash attacks

• Side smash- Flips his body in front and kicks in front of him. Good knockback, usually killing around 90-110%, and damage racking should not be difficult for experienced, adept Falco players. 14-17% uncharged, 19-23% fully charged.
• Up smash- Flips his whole body in a 360° spin from his standing point, feet extended, and lands. Falco's version is notably weaker than Fox's; although, it is a better juggler. This also hits behind Falco, albeit with significantly lower knockback. 14% uncharged, 19% fully.
• Down smash- Does a quick split. An excellent killer, if not good for setting up edgeguards, or simply spacing. 16% uncharged, 21% fully charged.

Other attacks

• Ledge attack- Throws himself onto the stage with both feet sticking out. 8% damage.
• 100% ledge attack- Slowly gets up and kicks in front. 8% damage.
• Floor attack- Gets up and kicks on his left, then right. 6% damage.

Aerial attacks

• Neutral aerial- Does a simple sex kick. Great knockback when it first comes out, and the move comes out quickly, usually out of a short hop. 12% max.
• Back aerial- Kicks behind him. Sex kick. Good for KO-ing, and a great edgeguarder. 9-15% damage.
• Down aerial- Unlike Fox's down aerial, Falco, who spins around in places at a downwards angle, strongly spikes the foe. Fox's variation is a multi-hitting drill kick. This makes Falco's version much better at edgeguarding and KO-ing in general. However, it also causes Falco to fall faster than usual. 9-12% damage.
• Up aerial- Kicks up and extends his tail afterwards. A two-hit move, first hit does 6%, then 9%, for a total of 15% damage. If the center of Falco's body hits the opponent, then it inflicts the full damage, but with no knockback.
• Forward aerial- Five kicks in front. Due to the number of kicks, this move has a high duration, and it's very unlikely that all hits will connect; Falco players usually have a short time to react with another jump or recovery. A surprising 27% damage if all hits connect.

Grabs & throws

• Pummel- Knees foe. 2-3% per pummel.
• Forward throw- Punches foe forward. Not many comboing follow-ups outside of using it to force opponents off the stage for edgeguarding. Can be used to chaingrab floaty characters at low percentages. 7% damage
• Up throw- Tosses the foe upwards, which causes 3% damage, and fires four very quick shots doing 1% each. Excellent air combo set-up (most particularly up aerial), however, this can be DI'd out of at higher percentages.
• Back throw- Tosses foe behind, for 4% damage, and fires four quick laser shots, dealing 1% each. It is possible to tech-chase an opponent, depending on the opponent's DI. Not most useful throw outside of edge-guard set-ups.
• Down throw- Picks foe up and slams them to the floor, then shoots them four times with his Blaster. Only does 4% damage, though an up-tilt of predicted foe reaction an counter-attack is possible. Not too useful due to it being easy to tech out of.

"B" Moves List

Strategies

Match-ups

Serious Advantage Match-ups

Y.Link, Zelda, Mew2, Yoshi, G&W, Ness, Bowser, Kirby, Pichu

Advantage Match-ups

C.Falcon, Doc, Ganon, Pikachu, Mario, DK, Luigi, Link, Roy

Fair Match-ups

Fox, Marth, Puff, Sheik, Peach, Samus, IC

Disadvantage Match-ups

None

Serious Disadvantage Match-ups

None