Dash pivot cancel
A dash pivot cancel is an advanced technique in Brawl, discovered by prominent Smashboards member and "Show Me Your News" co-host SamuraiPanda, that allows a character to immediately end their dash pivot animation, canceling into a sort of slide in the new direction. It can be performed near the end of the pivot animation of a dash by pressing the Control Stick in the original direction of the character's dash. Depending on how hard the control stick is pressed, this can have two different effects. If the stick is smashed in the original direction, the character will initiate a new dash in the original direction, whereas if the stick is only lightly tilted, the character will simply turn to face their original direction while sliding a very small distance backwards. It is this version of the cancel that is useful competitively, as some characters have lower traction on their dash pivots, giving them a better sliding distance to work with. Skilled players can use this time frame to deliver moving jabs, tilts, and smashes in either direction, with either the purpose of attacking an advancing opponent while retreating or counter-advancing upon an opponent who believed the player was retreating, but now finds them advancing.
The best way to perform Smash Attacks during these maneuvers is to use the C-stick, in combination with the A button should the player wish to charge (requiring the index finger to come off the Z button for a slightly awkward angle). This prevents the cancel slide from being potentially altered with an accidental directional input.
Squirtle's dash pivot cancel
Squirtle's unique dash pivot physics (see shellshifting) create a phenomenal effect when the technique is performed by lightly tilting the stick. Squirtle will turn back to face the direction he was originally dashing towards, but will slide a long distance in the other direction. Squirtle will slide the farthest if the dash pivot is canceled closest to its finish, much like a Pump Slide will slide further if initiated near the end of the pivot. Like other characters, he is capable of performing any regular standing attack during the slide, making this move obscenely useful for delivering a down or forward smash well across the stage, negating their start-up times as a factor while allowing them to charge. For some reason, his forward smash moves the fastest when the move is performed perfectly.
