Captain Falcon (SSBB): Difference between revisions

'''Captain Falcon''' ({{ja|キャプテン・ファルコン|Kyaputen Farukon}}, ''Captain Falcon''), commonly known as '''Falcon''' or '''C. Falcon''', appears as an unlockable character in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. He was confirmed on February 22, 2008 on the Smash. DOJO!!

Captain Falcon is ranked 34th on the [[tier list]] in the bottom tier, a huge drop from his 6th position in the current ''Melee'' tier list and by far his worst placement in the series. Captain Falcon has his trademark speed-and-power playstyle, in addition to great mobility, great [[momentum cancelling]] and overall survivability, a versatile [[up aerial]], and one of the best [[jab]]s in the game. However, his combo and KOing power were [[nerf]]ed from ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', with his finishers either being weakened (such as [[forward smash]]), or significantly more difficult to land (such as his [[Knee Smash]]). In addition to this, most of Falcon's attacks have awkward [[hitbox]] placements, making safe [[approach]]es and [[spacing]] quite difficult, especially when considering his lack of [[projectile]]s. The impact of the new ''Brawl'' physics severely harmed Captain Falcon: the universal ability to act out of [[hitstun]] hurts him more than any other character, since his attacks no longer keep opponents in longer periods of hitstun. A less effective [[dashdance]] and an inability to [[moonwalk]] gives him even fewer approaching options. He also has fairly poor [[out of shield]] options due to his short [[grab]]bing reach and possessing either slow and/or poor reaching attacks. In addition, he possesses a linear recovery and a vulnerability to [[chain grab]]s. All of these factors result in him being unable to pressure opponents or escape opposing pressure. As a result, he has terrible [[matchup]]s and terrible overall [[tournament]] results.

Captain Falcon has been heavily nerfed from ''Melee'' to ''Brawl''. The vast changes in the gameplay physics removes many of his options while also significantly inhibiting his mobility, mixup options, and ability to play offensively. Additionally, his overall frame data is worse and his KO power was considerably toned down, since many of his moves have reduced KO power, while his forward aerial was nerfed to be rendered situational, since its sweetspot has a shorter duration, a smaller hitbox and increased hitlag making it much harder to land. Even if he does land it, his opponents have ample time to [[DI]] and [[SDI]] the move. The changes to hitstun and falling speeds, as well as changes to his moves that increased their lag or altered their angle, also harm Captain Falcon's hitstun-heavy combos. On top of this, none of Captain Falcon's major issues from ''Melee'' have been addressed: despite generally better aerial mobility, his recovery has been shortened and weakened even further elsewhere as [[Falcon Dive]] is more reliant on momentum while [[Falcon Kick]] no longer restores his double jump.

*{{change|Captain Falcon is now able to swing the [[Home-Run Bat]] like other characters can. Because of this, he can now properly use a Home-Run Bat for the [[Home-Run Contest]].}}

**{{buff|Knee Smash deals 1% more damage on a clean hit (18% → 19%), making it stronger despite dealing slightly less knockback (24 (base)/100 (growth) → 30/93). Its new sourspot hitboxes enable it [[Wall of pain]] potential.}}

**{{nerf|Knee Smash now requires a [[sweet spot]] (the hitbox on his knee) to land a clean hit. The clean hitbox duration additionally has been lowered (frames 14-16 → 14), now requiring it to land on the very first active frame. It also has a much smaller hitbox size (5.2u → 3u). The late hit deals 3% much like in the PAL version of ''Melee'' with severely reduced knockback, and the initial hitbox behind his knee deals 6% damage with similar properties to NTSC ''Melee'''s late hit. The clean hit additionally has significantly increased freeze frames upon connecting (1x → 1.2x, especially for Captain Falcon due to electric hitlag properties being slightly altered to where both the attacker and the victim suffer the same amount of hitlag as opposed to just the victim taking the extra hitlag), allowing the opponent to DI and SDI the hit to lessen its knockback, which was altered (as aforementioned above). Knee Smash also has more landing lag (19 frames → 22).}}

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:''See also: [[:Category:Captain Falcon professionals (SSBB)]]''

Captain Falcon was initially seen as the worst character in ''Brawl''; right away, players noticed the severe nerfs to Falcon's key traits (such as his Knee Smash, his go-to finisher in ''Melee'', becoming extremely difficult to land), and that he got adversely affected to a severe degree by the physics changes. It was additionally widely believed at the time that Falcon had "terrible [[priority]]" and would thus be unable to win any exchanges with opposing characters. As such, despite Falcon's still very fast movement speed and powerful attacks, players at the time did not believe he could do anything to any competent degree in competitive matches. A year after ''Brawl'''s release, it was realized that Ganondorf and {{SSBB|Link}} were even worse characters than Falcon; as such, on the third tier list, Falcon rose up from last place and has never ranked there since. Players also began recognising some of the significant caveats Falcon had, such as his access to one of the best jabs, his still rather strong effectiveness at punishing, his still great mobility, and his incredible endurance potential while having a capable recovery that does not compromise it. Additionally, with Ally's tremendous success with Falcon in low tier tournaments, it was seen that Falcon had some clear advantages over his low tier brethren. With this, Falcon shot up to 32nd on the fourth tier list, and then consistently hovered around the 33rd-34th spot. However, he was still crippled by his remaining flaws; although his attacks enjoy the same amount of priority as those of any other character, he still suffered from a lack of disjointed range that could not compete with other longer-ranged characters.

[[File:Subspace captainfalcon.PNG|thumb|250px|right|Captain Falcon in the ''[[SSE]]'']]

In Subspace Emissary, Captain Falcon will team up with [[Olimar (SSBB)|Captain Olimar and his Pikmin]]. When Olimar sends his Pikmin to attack a giant [[R.O.B.]], it wakes up the robot, causing it to shake off the Pikmin. Luckily, Captain Falcon drives his F-Zero machine straight towards them, jumps out in mid-motion, and Falcon Punches the ROB, thus destroying it, but upon landing, Olimar's remaining Pikmin (except for the red Pikmin beside Olimar) were killed when he slid into them. Once the two get out of the forest, they find a [[Primid]] transport platform, otherwise known as the Smash Skiff, that is holding the trophied {{SSBB|Donkey Kong}} hostage. The two watch as {{SSBB|Diddy Kong}} falls from {{SSBB|Falco}}'s [[Arwing]], and fires peanuts at the ship. After Diddy Kong revives DK, Captain Falcon grabs Olimar, and jumps off the ledge and onto the ship. Then the four must fight off a horde of Primids. Afterwards, the ship will take them into the secret Subspace HQ, where they will meet up with {{SSBB|Samus}}, {{SSBB|Pikachu}}, and, eventually, a friendly {{SSBB|R.O.B.}}

==In [[Event Matches]]==