Honesty, I miss the era where pichu was considered one of the best characters in the game. Probably the most fun I had with smash ultimate and watching the scene
It's a shame how bad Pichu got gutted. As someone who had a big attachment to Pichu as a little kid playing Melee, I was happy to see he was actually good very early on in Ultimate's life, and then this happens.
But I don’t get why pichu fans have to drop him if u where a real pichu enthusiast you’d know ur supposed to be playing with one of the lightest & hardest to use characters that should prove your skill doesn’t matter how gutted he was he’s always meant to be bottom of the barrel so u can prove how good of a player u are to get wins with such a trash character. Might be funny to laugh at characters getting rocked by pichu but it’s not as funny unless the character has some serious set backs
Pichu's mobility overall isn't still very good, but the funny thing is that Pichu's aerial mobility is actually much better than Pikachu's. And you might say that him being a fast faller might be a detriment, but that mostly goes for him being offstage. If anything, it helps him transition from the air to ground when he's mashing short-hop aerials with his non-electrical moves. And consider the fact that Pichu has more autocancelling opportunities as far as his frame data goes.
I honestly didn't expect someone with such little subscribers to have Albino level edits but here we are. But I'm here to correct a thing from this video, as I used to main Pichu myself. 1. Loops are actually true, the old traditional ones aren't unless you're doing it on a character with a f4 airdodge or no disadvantage options. However there is use for Utilt, Slingshot IDJ delayed bair which actually makes the loops true from Pichu himself to Bowser. Although I still somewhat struggle to do it consitently. And I do heavily agree with what you said about the nerfs, they should've never nerfed Pichu in the first place, people SAY he was really broken in 1.0.0 but it was just a huge anti-Pichu circlejerk that would later be accepted as "Fact". 2018 December was the same era where mfs would literally say they couldn't ledge trap Chrom because his up b could suck you in and spike you, and it didn't help that Nintendo was going from Smash 4 to Ultimate so they decided to give Pichu by far the MOST Smash 4 nerfs I've ever seen in this game period.
I don't see how idj or slingshot would make loops true. The issue with loops that make them not true is the fact that back air is very easy to sdi out of. If you have a video link of that version of loops that you say are true I would love to see but I have my doubts on if it is actually true.
@@Sh1v3rIZAE Pichu main here with minor local results. Pichu was absolutely busted on launch. The nerfs were overkill, but Pichu was seriously better than Pikachu.
I'd say "upper mid" is a pretty accurate placement in a game where many of its burgeoning cast of combatants fall somewhere in "mid". Yeah, he doesn't get away with the kinds of things the top tiers do, but most characters in the game don't. His damage is still high when not comparing him to Kazuya or Steve who get combos for free, and his mobility and frame data are still good compared to the more sluggish characters also sharing the mid tier with him.
His frame data is decent and I still consider his damage average, however, considering all his massive weaknesses, I would say he is not upper mid-tier. But like I said in the video, feel free to disagree! :)
I really liked the editing of this, but what really got me invested was the SpongeBob references, and of course Wario yelling every time he’s on screen. Thanks for making my day with this video!
Hey! I usually don't comment but just wanted to say that the editing in this video is excellent. You clearly put a lot of work into it and it shows. Looking forward to more content down the line :)
Man as a Pichu main, I miss early Ultimate where he was considered one of the best characters, but regardless, I will always love the character, I really could care less what people think. I always had fun playing as this character and I even made my own Pichu oc cause of Smash, like I’m just careless lol.
as someone getting back into smash after two years this is a great video for getting updated on pichus tier ranking, also i love your editing style it’s great
Pre-patch Pichu was straight up better than Pikachu, but the nerfs made it worse. The minimal recoil damage and strong forward tilt carried it, as well as being the smallest character prior to the hurtbox increase.
Pichu never should've been nerfed at all. In an early meta where defensive play was less common and punishes were extremely unoptimized, of course a glass cannon is gonna be strong. The "glass" aspect isn't being abused! For all his flaws, Pichu deserved his extreme strength. Even if he had never been nerfed, I firmly believe he still would've dropped to mid-tier over time. Here's hoping he gets another chance in the next game (I know he probably won't though)
I think another thing that contributed to Pichu's inflated perception at the beginning of the game is that at the time, the advantage state of many characters were not nearly as optimized and players still didn't have the best idea of how Ultimate should be played. To put in perspective: Pichu was strong in the time era where people thought Game & Watch was low tier, and both Samus and Sonic were lower mid-tier at best. As the advantage state of other characters got better (or buffed from game updates), Pichu's own seemingly strong advantage state that got optimized fairly early on in the game become less and less impressive, while making it easier to abuse Pichu's glass-like attributes. Another thing to note is that Pichu's fall from the tier list wasn't immediate: it was gradual overtime, and quarantine was when the big dropoff of results truly happened. Pichu results was falling off even before the nerfs, which is why while the nerfs hurt, it wasn't as detrimental to Pichu's downfall as a lot of players think imo. I feel that the nerfs was timed at around the time players started to truly recognize the shortcomings of the character and the upsides of others, same with Olimar.
Thanks so much for the comment! I totally agree-defensive play, which Pichu has a difficult time against, was also under-developed so thats another factor that led to Pichu's inflated perception.
The nerfs made it so Pichu *kept* falling. Instead of an Inkling or Lucina where as the game stabilised they stayed great - just not top 3 - Pichu continued to plummet. Likely would have stopped if not for the nerfs.
I miss early ultimate Pichu. I played this character and wolf at the beginning of ultimate. It makes me really sad what they did to my old main. (Well one of them. Wolf is still great) Now I use wario. I still give this character a try every now and then
Yeah RU-vid recommended brought me here. This editing is way too damn good for you to have any less then at least 50k subscribers, and this dude is in the triple digits. I wish I could invest into this channel like a stock cuz man’s obviously funna make it.
Aside from all this what makes it worse is that all of his bad mus are super popular picks. Like you cant go anywhere and not have to fight a gnw, samus, snake or pac-man
The editing was great and the information was captivating. Some of those 2 frame examples were tragic I underestimated how awful Pichus 2 frame animation is.
Great editing dude! As a regular Pichu player, I'll say if his up b had I frames and less end lag, he would be a lot lot more viable. He's fun and hella cheesy, but not a good character at all.
I remember seeing a list of the lightest characters in smash ultimate and I got so shocked when i found out pichu was the lightest character and mewtwo and squirtle are also some of the lightest characters.
Pichu was my top in Melee, so I was happy as hell that he returned in Ultimate. I really can't disagree with your assessment of him, buuuut... I keep favoring him as my top just by virtue of my enjoyment playing the underdog! ...undermouse? I just wish they didn't change his duck animation. There's no bigger taunt in a fight than to fall asleep during it, and I drove people mad with it in Melee lol. I don't think I'm half bad with him despite being somewhere between casual and competitive. I can at least hold my own against better players. I'll likely never get into tournament-level play, though, since I just don't have the skill to play at that level nor the reaction time, but I will always enjoy casual play and helping friends who do join tournaments on the regular to practice.
As a Pichu main, you don’t really need to even press the b button all that much. His air attacks are pretty broken and greatly aid him in his combo game. Along with that, he can use side b or fair offstage for a free stock if a side smash or side tilt don’t work.
I still main pichu even after the nerfs. That little rodent is still absolutely broken if ur skilled enough, but we still naturally struggle against things that are just out of our control. Pichu has insanely high skill ceiling and can be absolutely lethal when you reach it. Pichu isn’t a bad character by any means, I still see a glimpse of pre patch whenever I play him.
Pichu's air drift is like Fine Its jump arc just looks messed up and NES-game-y because it has really high gravity relative to how much it can swerve left and right
@Spenkr Yeah, among the fastest Ultimate's air physics make fastfallers look funny a lot of the time I love seeing Mii Brawler's knockback smoke trail, that dude flies then swerves at a 90 degree angle while still in hitstun
Pichu may have been gutted, but she's come back from far worse when nobody believed she would ever come back. She'll 100% be the best character next game.
great video! entertaining and informative been a pichu main since the game came out (pika main in smash 4, really dislike how pika plays in ultimate) and probably due to my autism he's basically the only character i can play with any sort of competence no matter how much i play others, he fits perfectly with how i play, so it's sad to see how he's fallen over time. i still believe that the only nerf he deserved was f tilt, and that he was never the best character, or even top 3. we just sucked at defense in early 2019 and over time he would've naturally fallen out of the meta. i can also 100% agree that pichu relies on cheese to win
I meant Pichu can't autocancel forward air and back-air which are his forward pokes from a short hop because he falls too fast. But the other aerials he can-sorry about the confusion!
I’ve been saying the character is low tier for years now. He has by FAR the worst fast fall in the game. Only a 31% increase when the standard is 60% (joker and link have a 90% increase). He can hardly play neutral in the air since he has no range and his multi hits lose trades. He has no back air trains like pika. Bair is very unsafe on block (unlike pika) and has no landing box for mixups (unlike pika again). His edge guarding is much worse with how fast he falls and his bad drift meaning you have much less time and option coverage off stage. Like you said, lighting loops SUCK and lose to sdi. He has to work so much harder than any normal mid/high tier, and has so much less leniency for mistakes. He’s a glass cannon, but with about half the cannon of these dlc fighters. His ground game is decent especially with his speed, boost grab and t jolt, but if it wasn’t for those things I’d put him as one of the worst in the game.
pichu with idj combos and short platform extensions can get 70% or even death ranging on the di, and up throw thunder confirms are true, just frame tight, but if you watch a nietono or naetoru vod they still kand it pretty conistsently. same with other thunder confirms just, depends on the ones ur talking about but raw up air thunder isnt true yea.
the up throw thunder segment is def misinformation tho, after labbing with training mod i can get it on bayo who has a frame 1 airdodge and is holding in, if the character is at 150+ the combo works pretty well even against frame 1 escape options, meaning theres an extra frame or two of leniency on frame 3 airdodgers, so its def something that can be consistent on the majority of the cast. i will say though if you try to land it at 120-140 with shorthop rar thunder its basically frame perfect to get it to work on frame 2 airdodgers let alone frame 1 escape options, but even then, still viable against the average character. lol
I mentioned this in a few other comments but what I meant to say is that he cannot auto-cancel his forward and back air from a short- hop, which are move that are crucial moves for his offense.
I just think that’s how pichu was always meant to be one of the hardest characters to get wins with his combo game is nuts but yah he’s supposed to be super light weight n hurt himself to prove if u can get wins u got skill. It’s just yah lotta folk won’t give u the props unless it’s in melee they are a character imma try in both games to get better at just to cheese on some folk
i can't believe i just came across this video. THIS is what I've been telling everyone the whole time. ill always love this little mid tier tho still main him to this day
This just goes to show how not playtesting changes can ruin a character. That 2 frame trick you showed nearly every character doing seems a little bit unfair to get hit by over and over to an extent where I'd consider it a game design problem. I never play ultimate, but with my knowledge of pvp games I can tell that a weakness that large would make a character unplayable for anyone not an expert. I will say while I do agree with your stance 100% with your excellent research be careful on using argumentative titles. If you aren't cautious you could upset someone on accident before they click on the video.
Thanks for the comment :) Like I said, feel free to disagree! I've been playing against a Pichu expert for the games lifespan and this is the conclusion I came to.
I like to think that when Nintendo didn't want Pichu to be this Strong, It's like they was trying make things feel accurate. For example, Pichu is mostly the worst pokemon to use in most battles compared to his poor stats. It feels weird that even the weakest pokemon deserves this much potential. It feels inaccurate that Pichu is this much of beast when he's not a decent fighter in the original pokemon games, But at least Pichu is still fun to play within Mid Tier. Then again, This hurts to see a little creature suffer once more.
Hey thanks for commenting! It sucks that Pichu has a lot of his canonical weaknesses-Mewtwo is actually pretty heavy in the Pokemon games but is considered light-weight in smash so at least Pichu isn't EVEN worse than he is in his own game.
@@Spenkr Also I had this in my mind too, Isn't like Pichu a literally Baby? You can't really expect a Baby to win a match when someone is twice or three times their size or when they don't know about their surroundings and abilities.When it comes to Baby Pokemon, Some of them are not as good in many battles. It takes time to train Baby Pokemon into a form that makes them feel more suitable. Pichu is still practicing with his electricity which explains why he hurts himself due to recoils. This could also explain why Pichu has such poor stats, Because of new born or when being captured at the start of something.
To be honest, in general, I prefer Pikachu, but in Ultimate, I prefer Pichu, even though he was destroyed after time, I love Pichu, and I will always think he's strong, but he's not as strong as he used to be, I hated it. , I wish that time of everyone hailing Pichu as a God would come back
I'm not exactly sure he is widely considered top 5, but before the game was released and in the early meta he was considered the best in the game or top 2.
"This character was considered bad until 1 person was good with them, then everyone agreed they were good" So tiers are absolute bullshit and inconsistent, as all it takes is 1 person to be bad/good for an entire community to flip their opinion on any character.
Another example is Mkleo with Joker or Byleth-opinions can be formed easily based on results, but I argue that even when Pichu had good results he still had major flaws as a character.
Tiers usually focus on what multiple players could get with a character based on their strengths and weaknesses compared to the rest of the cast (although Smash Ultimate is considered the most balanced game, so most to all the characters are somewhat viable). Little Mac's always been considered low tier due to his poor aerial abilities, despite Peanut placing decently well in some tournaments.
