General Guide: Lucas

Aqui una guia para utilizar a Lucas. La guia fue tomada de Smashboards y todo credito va al creador, Tyr_03

Lucas is the main character of the Japanese game Mother 3. In contrast to his twin brother Claus, he is something of a crybaby and lacks any real courage. After a tragic incident tears his family apart and his hometown undergoes a drastic change for the worse, Lucas grows up, discovers his inner strength, and fights back against the Pigmask Army.

Hopefully, if you're reading this guide, you are considering picking up Lucas as a main or a secondary. There are many reasons to learn Lucas. First let's consider his pros and cons.

Pros
-moderately fast
-good ground game
-difficult to gimp
-not many people have matchup experience against him
-very fun to play

Cons
-a few very bad matchups
-difficult to learn
-subpar aerial game

If all you care about is winning tournaments, you probably shouldn't be using Lucas as your main. He is low tier and will probably remain so throughout the development of the metagame. However, he is very fun to learn and if you're like me, he just fits. Lucas has a few matchups against commonly played characters which make him difficult to use in a competitive environment. However, there are also a good number of matchups that he can handle quite well. He is an underestimated character and you can often use this to your advantage.

You now know the basic pros and cons of using Lucas. Hopefully you still plan on using him. This guide will give you the tools you need to win with Lucas. The rest will rely on your execution and personal abilities. Good luck!

About the Author

My name is Tyr. I main Lucas and make it to as many tournaments as I can. I play in the midwest and currently live in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you have any questions after reading this guide, feel free to PM me on this site.

Notes

yellow = new updates

Special thanks to 3GOD for all frame data.
For full frame data: http://www.smashboards.com/showthrea...ght=frame+data

Lucas character introduction by ParanoidDrone

Note: All kill percentages were calculated on a level 9 computer Mario in training mode from the center of FD. As correct DI is not included, these percentages are not accurate for standard play but are meant as references to show average kill potential compared to other moves.

Look through the table of contents and use Ctrl + F to search for what you're looking for.

Table of Contents

Preface - Lucas

About the Author

Notes

I. Moveset

A. Ground Attacks
1. Jab
2. Forward Smash
3. Down Smash
4. Up Smash
5. Forward Tilt
6. Up Tilt
7. Down Tilt
8. Dash Attack

B. Aerials
1. Neutral Air
2. Forward Air
3. Up Air
4. Down Air
5. Back Air

C. Specials
1. PK Fire
2. PK Thunder (PKT1)
3. PK Thunder (PKT2)
4. Psi Magnet
5. PK Freeze

D. Throws
1. Grab
2. Pummel
3. Down Throw
4. Up Throw
5. Back Throw
6. Forward Throw

II. Movement

A. Statistics and Introduction

B. Ground Movement
1. Dash Dance
2. Foxtrot
3. Shield Cancelled Dash
4. Skid Animation Dash Cancel
5. Sliding
6. Hill Sliding
7. Hill Dashing
8. Buffering

C. Aerial Movement
1. Short Hop
2. Full Hop
3. Fast Fall
4. Magnet Pulling
5. Zap Jumping
6. Thundersliding

D. Platform Movement
1. Platform Drop
2. Fast Fall Platform Landing
3. Perfect Landing

III. Recovery

A. Introduction

B. Living to Higher Percentages
1. Directional Influence
2. Smash Directional Influence
3. Quarter Circle DI
4. Airdodging
5. Down Air Vertical Knockback Reduction
6. Perfect Shielding
7. Teching
8. Wiggling

C. Recovering from Off the Stage
1. PKT2 Recovery
2. Rope Snake Tether
3. Magnet Pulling
4. Zap Jump

D. Anti-Edgeguarding
1. DON’T GET GIMPED
2. PK Fire and Forward Air
3. Zap Jump

E. Anti-Juggling
1. Airdodging
2. Down Air
3. Back Air
4. Magnet Pulling
5. PKT2 Floorblast

F. Summary

IV. Edgeguarding

A. Introduction

B. PKT1 Edgeguarding
1. Looping
2. Stagespiking
3. Ledgewhipping

C. PK Freeze Edgeguarding
1. PK Freeze Forced Airdodge
2. PK Freeze Stagespike
3. Freezespike

D. Aerial Edgeguarding
1. Fair
2. Bair Spiking
3. Dair Spiking

E. PK Fire Edgeguarding
1. PK Fire Forced Airdodge
2. PK Fire Sniping

V. Strategies
A. Introduction
B. The Agressive Lucas
C. The Defensive Lucas
D. The Hybrid Lucas

I. Moveset - Properties and related techniques

A. Ground Attacks

1. Jab
Damage: 3% (hits one or two) 4% (hit three)
Kills: 344%
Hits: frames 2, 10 and 20
Ends: frame 43
Advantage: -22
Priority: High
Properties: First two hits have low knockback, third has decent, knockback always in direction Lucas is facing, hitbox extends behind body

a. Jab Cancel
You cancel your jabs by pressing down on the analog after the first or second hit. This is useful because opponents can DI out of Lucas's three hit jab combo and punish you after you miss with the third hit. To alleviate this when the spacing doesn't work out, you can jab cancel and Ftilt, SHFF Nair, shield or retreat to avoid being punished.

2. Forward Smash
Damage: 15%
Kills: 96%
Hits: frame 14
Ends: frame 46
Advantage: -28
Priority: High
Properties: Reflects projectiles, hitbox extends behind body, disjointed hitbox

a. Pivot Fsmash
Pivoting Fsmashes is really easy to do and can be useful for spacing. At the very end of your foxtrot, dash again in the direction you're facing and immediately Fsmash in either direction. This allows you to use Fsmashes faster than shield cancelling your dash or skidding to a stop.

3. Down Smash
Damage: 14-17% each hit
Kills: 93%
Hits: frame 20, 29 and 39
Ends: frame 63
Advantage: -26
Priority: High
Properties: Triple hit, third hitbox extends behind body, trip inducing, disjointed hitbox

a. Extended Hitbox Dsmash
Dsmash's hitbox can be extended if Lucas is moving. This is possible on moving platforms such as on Smashville.

b. Dsmash Cancel
On destructible terrain, using Dsmash to destroy the ground Lucas is standing cancels the move early with no lag.

4. Up Smash
Damage: 14-21%
Kills: 75%
Hits: frame 28
Ends: frame 98
Advantage: -50
Priority: High
Properties: Hitbox extends below Lucas, to his sides and above him, invincibility frames on 1-4.

a. Usmash Cancel
On destructible terrain, using Usmash to destroy the ground Lucas is standing cancels the move early with no lag.

5. Forward Tilt
Damage: 9% (sourspot) 11% (sweetspot)
Kills: 164%
Hits: frame 6
Ends: frame 22
Advantage: -11
Priority: High
Properties: Disjointed hitbox, sourspot on hand, sweetspot on hexagons, angled, IASA when Lucas's hand returns to body, trip inducing, hitbox extends behind and above body, reflectable

a. Ftilt Semi Wall Lock
If you have an opponent up against a wall you can do repeated Ftilts depending on how stale your Ftilt is. If your Ftilt is already stale when you start this at 0% you can rack the opponent up to 80% and above. However, it's rarely as simple as that. You should be able to start an Ftilt lock at anywhere between 0% and 40% but depending on how stale your Ftilt is and the percentage you started at, you may have to end the combo early. I usually try to end it around 70% to be safe. You can end a Ftilt wall lock with a grab or Fsmash.

6. Up Tilt
Damage: 4% (sourspot) 11% (sweetspot)
Kills: 157%
Hits: frame 4, 7
Ends: frame 39
Advantage: -28
Priority: Medium
Properties: Disjointed hitbox on top, sourspot at tip of hexagon, sweetspot anywhere else, hitbox extend in front of and behind body

7. Down Tilt
Damage: 6%
Kills: Never
Hits: frame 3
Ends: frame 13
Advantage: -3
Priority: High
Properties: Trip inducing, significantly increased trip percentage on tipper

a. Dtilt Lock
On an opponent who has missed a tech and is on the ground, Dtilt can be used to keep an opponent on the ground while racking up damage by using Dtilt, stepping forward slightly, and repeating. This can be finished by Fsmashing immediately after the last Dtilt or waiting a moment for the opponent's forced get up and using just about anything else including Usmash.

8. Dash Attack
Damage: 10% (sourspot) 12% (sweetspot)
Kills: 143%
Hits: frame 17
Ends: frame 41
Advantage: -25
Priority: High
Properties: Disjointed hitbox, sweetspot close to Lucas's hand, sourspot on end of hexagons

a. Dash Dance Attack
The main issue with Lucas's dash attack is that it is very slow and predictable. One way around this issue is to use it as a mixup, especially as a false retreat. The simplest use of this is to foxtrot away from an opponent, dash dance and dash attack toward the opponent. The dash attack will cover about the same distance as your foxtrot did which makes it very useful for landing hits. Dash attack can often be followed up with Fair, Dair or Uair.

B. Aerials

1. Neutral Air
Damage: 2-17% (2% each hit and 3% on knockback hit)
Kills: 189%
Hits: frame 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 23, 26
Ends: frame 39
Advantage: 0
Priority: Very Low
Properties: Multiple hits, last hit has knockback, last hit has higher priority and vertical range, autocancel on end shortly after final hit

A. Autocancelled Nair Combos
When Nair is autocancelled it can be used to combo with short hop fast fall Nairs. When SHFF Nair is used on an opponent, one of three things will happen. They can shield or spotdodge it, in which case you should immediately begin another Nair which will almost always shield poke or hit them out of their spotdodge. Once you hit, they may be hit slightly upward but not hit by the knockback hit of Nair allowing you to repeat SHFF Nairs until the knockback hit connects or follow up with a SH Uair. Note that the fast fall on this occurs AFTER the final hit has occured and is relatively low to the ground.

B. Un-Autocancelled Nair Combos
At some percentages, it is possible to combo with Nair without autocancelling it. Because the natural lag of the move is so low, after the non knockback hits of Nair, you can Utilt, Ftilt, jab, Uair or repeat Nairs depending on percentage, character and DI. This is less reliable than autocancelled Nair combos because at some percentages the opponent will be out of hitstun before you are out of lag and can punish you. Also it can be shielded through its entirety unlike autocancelled repeated Nairs.

2. Forward Air
Damage: 10% (sourspot) 12% (sweetspot)
Kills: 152%
Hits: frame 9
Ends: frame 41
Advantage: -9
Priority: Medium
Properties: sourspot on Lucas's foot, sweetspot on hexagon, autocancel on end after kick ends, disjointed hitbox on hexagon, trip inducing

3. Up Air
Damage: 13%
Kills: 152%
Hits: frame 5
Ends: frame 45
Advantage: -8
Priority: High
Properties: autocancels short time after Lucas's head returns, disjointed hitbox on back upper portion

a. Uair Combo
SHFF Uair can be used to combo because of its low knockback. Note that the fast fall occurs AFTER the attack has finished and is relatively low to the ground.

4. Down Air
Damage: 5-20% (5% each hit)
Kills: 370%
Hits: frames 4, 11, 19, 27
Ends: frame 54
Advantage: -9
Priority: High
Properties: trip inducing, autocancels shortly after last hit, hits 1, 2 and 3 hit the opponent slightly upward while hit 4 is a weak spike, disjointed hitbox on hexagons

a. Dair Combo (ground)
Dair can be used to combo when used from a full hop and fast falled. The aim is to hit with atleast hits 3 and 4 which will cause the opponent to be knocked to the ground. At percentages under the mid seventies (average without stale moves) this combos into jabs, Ftilt, Utilt, SHFF Nair, or SHFF Uair. Above the mid seventies, this will knock them on their back and combos into Dtilt (lock) or Fsmash. This is an essential combo for Lucas. This combo is stopped if the opponent techs to the side or DIs to the side.

[indent]

b. Dair Combo (air)
Full hop and fast fall as before but aim to hit with only hit 4. This will cause the opponent to go slightly into the air at percentages above the mid seventies and combos into Dsmash, Usmash, Fsmash, Ftilt, Utilt, Nair, Uair or Fair depending on height. Below the mid seventies it acts exactly as it does above, comboing into jabs, Ftilt, Utilt, SHFF Nair, or SHFF Uair. INDENT]

5. Back Air
Damage: 7% (sourspot) 10% (sweetspot)
Kills: 177%
Hits: frame 15 (earliest)
Ends: frame 39
Advantage: -16
Priority: High
Properties: trip inducing, sourspot on edge of hexagons, sweetspot on tip of Lucas's foot, disjointed hitbox on hexagons

a. Bair Spiking
On the tip of Lucas's foot, Bair is a very powerful spike. This can occur at literally any point in the move as long as it connects at the tip of Lucas's foot. NOT THE HEXAGONS!!! Thank you.

C. Specials

1. PK Fire
Damage: 8% (bolt) 4-5% (burst)
Kills: 289%
Hits: frame 21-38
Ends: frame 53
Priority: Very High
Properties: Absorbable, Reflectable (distance traveled remains constant)

a. Short Hop PK Fire (SHPKF)
To eliminate aerial lag, use PK Fire as close to the ground as possible. This is also necesary for hitting some shorter characters. Simply delay the move after your short hop until you are close to the ground. This allows you to have more time to escape punishment should your PK Fire be dodged or shielded.

b. Standing PK Fire
Standing PK Fire comes out faster than SHPKF because you're not spending the dead time in the air. Every once in a while you can throw this in to catch players offguard when your SHPKF's are getting predictable.

c. B Reversal PK Fire
By B reversing your PK Fires you can do a standing PK Fire backward at any point during your dash animation. This is done by pressing forward B in the direction you are facing and then quickly flicking the analog in the other direction. Useful as a retreating option because it's faster than SHPKF.

d. Platform Runoff PK Fire
Run off of a platform and immediately PK Fire as you are falling. This can make your PK Fires much less predictable. The timing has to be very fast in some cases and will depend on the height of the platform.

e. Platform Fallthrough PK Fire
Press down to fall through a platform and immediately use PK Fire. This does not work on all platforms due to height issues. Works on Yoshi's Island, Halberd, Luigi's Mansion, Frigate Orpheon, Brinstar, Smashville, Lylat, Pirate Ship, Delfino Plaza, and Castle Siege. Useful because you don't have to spend time running to the end of the platform. Must be from standing state.

f. Fast Fall PK Fire (FFPKF)
At the peak of Lucas's immediate double jump height, you can fast fall and PK Fire and you will use it just before landing. Works effectively as a mindgame and a way to travel long distances with protection on the end.

g. Full Hop Lagless PK Fire (FHPKF)
Full hop and immediately initiate PK Fire to fire at the peak of the full hop and gain the ability to jump or airdodge before landing, eliminating all landing lag of PK Fire. It is also possible to magnet pull before landing with this.

h. Zap Jump
Double jump and PK Fire at approximately the same time to get a super jump, shooting PK Fire about 3/4 of the way up. Zap jumping backwards goes a shorter distance and at a slightly slower speed when done backward. Useful for occasional recovery mixups.

i. Wavebounce/B-sticked PK Fire
By setting your C-stick to specials, you can achieve an effect where Lucas uses a PK Fire forward while gaining recoil down and backwards. This can be used as a spacing technique.

j. PK Fire Invincibility Frames Punishment
Two little known facts about PK Fire allow you to use it even against invincible players. First of all, PK Fire explodes even on invincible characters (like when they've just spawned.) This means that if you use it toward the end of their invincibility frames, the bolt will explode on them and the burst will hurt them as they callously neglect to shield. The second property of PK Fire that allows this is that the hitbox lingers on the edge of its range. This allows it to hit spotdodging characters when properly spaced as the bolt will remain in place after their spotdodge has ended. This also works against characters' ledge attacks which will explode and linger long enough to hit them as well as airdodges where the bolt will remain in their position (albeit the spacing is much more difficult.)

2. PK Thunder (PKT1)
Damage: 10% (head) 1% (tail)
Kills: 252%
Hits: frame 20
Renews: every 48 frames
Priority: Medium (front/back head); High (side head); Very High (tail)
Properties: Absorbable, Reflectable

a. PKT1 Edgeguarding
The most common use of PKT1. PKT1 is incapable of sending opponents downward (except through stage spikes.) Efforts should be made to hit with the side of the head which has higher priority than the front and back. Knockback of the side of the head is perpendicular to the movement of the bolt while the front and back are parallel to the movement of the bolt. Most effective pattern is a small loop as the opponent is approaching in order to stop airdodging avoidance. For low and close recoveries, create the same loop behind and below the opponent for stage spikes.

b. PKT1 Shield Skimming
By running PKT1 along the outside of opponent shields, it makes it impossible to perfect shield or destroy the thunder with the shield until its timer runs out. This allows you to safely camp with PKT1 when used effectively. Do to hitbox renewal time, this also allows PKT1 to travel through opponents.

c. PKT1 Offensive Edgestalling
While hanging on the edge, press away and quickly Up B to initiate PK Thunder. Send PKT1 onto the stage and quickly run it into the ground to cancel it. Lucas should regrab the ledge after. This works to prevent pressure on the edge.

d. Ledgewhipping
Useful against opponents waiting on the ledge or ledgecamping. On solid stages, send PKT1 down through the opponent and quickly loop upward and back onto the stage. Some part of PKT1 should be inside them the entire time. On fallthrough stages (ex. Delfino Plaza,) send PKT1 down and through the opponent and quickly loop upward into the stage and back around through the opponent again. Repeat as needed. Also useful as an edgeguard against some characters.

3. PK Thunder (PKT2)
Damage: 10% (initial/final) 3% (mid)
Kills: 132%
Priority: High (perpendicular) Very High (angled)
Properties: Trip inducing, Grass terrain causes shorter distance

a. PKT2 Mindgames
Due to the slow and predictable nature of PKT2 as an attack, any means by which a Lucas player can make the move connect will be considered a "mindgame." This can range from the use of the environment to taking the PKT1 completely offscreen first to simply sending yourseld headlong into the opponent (if it works.) This section will include a few techniques which are less predictable and tend to work more often but by no means contains all possible options.

i. Thundersliding
Run toward the edge of any stage or platform and just before running of the edge, press Up B. The effect achieved should cause Lucas to glide through the air into his own PKT1, allowing faster PKT2. On some stages this can be used to edge cancel PKT2, allowing you to initiate a move directly after for surprise attacks. This is easiest to due from the top level platform of Battlefield to the first level platform.

ii. Floorblasting
A very simple way to put your opponent on the defensive and mixup your PKT2. Simply initiate PKT1 and hit Lucas straight downward into the ground. PKT2 has no hitbox for this (unless you did it in the air) but it allows Lucas to do a get up attack or flexkick afterward which can catch many offguard. After using several floorblasts, you can catch opponents offguard by hitting yourself toward them with PKT1 moving downward. The trajectory of PKT2 is based off of where Lucas is hit, not the direction PKT1 is travelling.

b. PKT2 Lag Cancel
PKT2 has less lag if it ends just above the stage or a platform. This will be useful in recovery mostly but can also be used to more safely use PKT2 as an attack in some instances. For example, using PKT2 across the first level platforms of Battlefield will always lag cancel.

c. PKT2 Recovery
See section on Recovery

4. Psi Magnet
Damage: 9%
Kills: 145% (sweetspot), 150% (sourspot)
Hits: frame 17 (absorbs as early as 10)
Ends: frame 35
Advantage: -18
Priority: High
Properties: Sweetspot on edge of hitbox, Sourspot in center of hitbox, Absorbs energy based projectiles and some other moves, IASA frames as Lucas's hand returns to side.

a. Magnet Pulling
By using the momentum from PK Fire and using the psi magnet Lucas can travel large horizontal distances very quickly. Magnet pulling can be B-reversed by flicking the analog in the direction of PK Fire's original momentum after pressing down B to get pulled in the opposite direction.

b. Psi Magnet Ledgestall
While hanging on the edge, press away, jump and press down B to regrab the ledge with the magnet. This is useful when opponents are using some projectiles while you're hanging on the edge.

c. Psi Magnet Cancel
Immediately after absorbing a move, Lucas can cancel the magnet by rolling, jumping, Usmashing or PK Thunder.

5. PK Freeze
Damage: 10-19%
Kills: 147%
Hits: frame 51
Ends: frame 81
Priority: Low
Properties: Freeze effect

a. PK Freeze Forced Airdodge
PK Freeze can be used to edgeguard by forcing an airdodge and following up with an aerial.

b. PK Freeze Camping
You can camp with PK Freeze by keeping it close, releasing as an opponent approaches, and jabbing immediately after releasing. You can rack up a lot of easy damage against some character this way.

c. PK Freeze Ledgespike
When an opponent is waiting on a ledge, you can use PK Freeze to stagespike if they're out of invincibility frames. This can be used to prevent ledgecamping and catch some unexpecting players offguard for a free stock.

d. Double Freeze and Freeze Spike
At low percentages, you can time a second PK Freeze to freeze an opponent immediately after they break out. This is a good way to rack up damage but only works if they're frozen low enough and cannot be continued because of stale moves. At low to mid percentages, opponents frozen offstage can be immediately Bair spiked as they break out for easy kills. Again this will depend on your prediction of their break out and they have to be low enough that you can properly place yourself.

D. Throws

1. Grab
Priority: Very high

Standing grab: frame 13, ends frame 69
Dash grab: frame 16, ends frame 79
Pivot grab: frame 15, ends frame 49

a. Pivot Grab
By running in one direction and grabbing in the opposite, you can greatly reduce the awful lag on Lucas's grab. For instantaneous pivot grabs, run in one direction, press Z and c-stick in the opposite direction at once.


2. Pummel
Damage: 3%
Rate: 9% damage per second (HIGHEST OF ANY CHARACTER!!)

a. Pummel Rhythm
Pummeling an opponent while you have grabbed them is great for racking up damage. If you press attack in rhythm rather than as fast as you can, you can get more hits in before they can break out.

b. Grab Release
Lucas has a few uses for grab releases but they are risky and character specific. However, ground grab releases can be used in teams with Lucas to infinite opponents in a 2 v 1 situation. Also ground grab releases can be useful against some opponents if you grab them very close to the edge. It forces them to recover very close to the stage where they may be more vulnerable to edgeugard. To force a ground release, simply pummel in the correct rhythm until they are released from the grab. If they get a jump break, you're not pummeling correctly.

3. Down Throw
Damage: 7%
Kills: 144%

[indent]

a. Dthrow Combos
Because Dthrow has so little lag after it, there are several ways you can do additional damage to opponents directly afterward. The simplest of these is to Utilt immediately after, which works at low percentages depending on character and deals 15% total damage. This can be avoided if the opponent DI's all the way to the side. Another option is to FH Uair immediately after throwing. This is ALWAYS avoidable if the opponent airdodges immediately but sometimes it will work dealing 20% total damage. A final option is to FH or double jump Nair followed by Uair if necesary immediately after throwing. This works to higher percentages than the others and does up to 20% total damage. DI reading is necesary as well as knowledge of double jump height and knockback rate of Dthrow.INDENT]

4. Up Throw
Damage: 10%
Kills: 151%
Note: Up throw sucks.

5. Back Throw
Damage: 10%
Kills: 176%
Note: Great for setting up edgeguarding. Best for dealing damage above Dthrow to Utilt range.

[indent]6. Forward Throw
Damage: 10%
Kills: 190%
Note: Awful trajectory.


II. Movement

A. Statistics and Introduction
Fall Speed: Ranked 11th fastest faller (information courtesy of MrSilver)
Aerial Horizontal Movement: Ranked 8th fastest (information courtesy of 3GOD)
Dash Speed: Ranked 16th fastest
Jump: frame 6
Spotdoge: frame 2-20 invincible, total 25
Roll: frame 4-19 invincible, total 31
Airdodge: frame 4-29 invincible, total 48

Now that that's out of the way, an important part of becoming a good Lucas player (or with any other character for that matter) is knowing how to most efficiently get around the stage. Many people consider Lucas to generally be a slow character. They are sorely mistaken. He is well above average in speed in all categories. As you see from the information above, Lucas has above average aerial vertical movement, well above average aerial horizontal movement, and about the middle ground movement. The combination of these three is in many ways more useful than being the top in any one. This section will outline both aggressive and defensive movement techniques which can greatly aid Lucas.

B. Ground Movement

1. Dash Dance
Flick the analog back and forth to dash in alternating directions very quickly in place. Although it is nowhere near as useful as it was in Melee, dash dancing can be occasionally useful for throwing off opponents.

2. Foxtrot
Foxtrotting is done by simply dashing forward and then letting the analog return to neutral. This will send Lucas to a set distance away and then can be repeated in either direction with proper rhythm. Foxtrotting moves the same speed as regular dashing. This is useful for spacing and allows you to keep more options than simply dashing does. It also opens up opportunities for Pivot Fsmashes as well as dash dance dash attacks.

3. Shield Cancelled Dash
While dashing, at any point past your foxtrot range you can shield to stop your dash animation while preserving some forward momentum. This can be EXTREMELY useful for approaching some characters as you can perfect shield their attacks and end up close enough to them to Ftilt, SH Nair, grab, etc. It also is useful for general spacing.

4. Skid Animation Dash Cancel
While dashing, at any point past your foxtrot range, you can cancel a dash by letting the analog return to neutral. This causes Lucas to skid forward before stopping and allowing you to use any move.

5. Sliding
Lucas has naturally slippery feet like some other characters. Whenever you land on the ground, if you're holding a direction, Lucas will slide slightly in that direction even while doing some attacks. This can be very useful for spacing.

6. Hill Sliding
Another basic mechanic of the game but very useful for Lucas. On any kind of downward incline, landing on it will cause Lucas to slide a substantial distance. This allows you to do sliding ftilts, jabs, Dsmashes etc. Extremely useful.

7. Hill Dashing
On steep inclines, Lucas can jump into hills and slide up them. Because of the way Lucas's double jump works, you can double jump into some inclines as well for increased distance. Works notably well on Corneria and Green Hill Zone. Sliding Dsmashes are awesome.

8. Buffering
*POSSIBLY THE MOST IMPORTANT MOVEMENT TECHNIQUE*
In Brawl, you can input commands during lag time so that they are initiated at the earliest possible frame. This means that you can start dashes immediately upon landing, or jump, or anything really assuming you're not in excessive lag from some aerial or something. You MUST know how to do this consistently to use Lucas at his optimum speed. It's simple. Use it.

C. Aerial Movement

1. Short Hop (SH)
Very simple but necesary. Just press the jump button lightly. Lucas has a great short hop because it is very low to the ground.

2. Full Hop (FH)
Okay mostly just for the technicality of knowing what "FH" stands for...press the jump button noob, lol. No, but seriously full hops are underrated. It's necesary for Dair combos and can be very effectively used with PK Fire and spacing things. Don't think you have to only short hop.

3. Fast Fall
After the peak of your jump or anytime that you're in the air and falling toward the ground, press down to fall faster. Besides being useful for combos, fast falling is essential for cutting down on unnecesary empty air time. One of the benefits of Lucas being a moderately fast faller is that after aerials he can land quickly and follow up. Don't forget to fast fall after running off platforms too.

4. Magnet Pulling
Press down B after using the momentum from PK Fire for a speedy horizontal movement using the psi magnet. It's not extremely useful for movement because of the lag of putting down the psi magnet but it's very useful for recovery and sometimes you can mess around with an opponent with it.

5. Zap Jumping
Double jump and PK Fire at about the same time for a very high jump and PK Fire. Mostly useful for recovery. Again the lag on the end of it makes it difficult to use for regular movement.

6. Thundersliding
Press up B at the last moment before running off any ledge for faster PKT2 in a diagonally downward direction. You can use this to get down off platforms pretty safely. It's also useful for mindgames by edgecancelling your PKT2 among other things.

D. Platform Movement

1. Platform Drop
While standing on a platform, press down to drop through it. You can dash, skid and immediately platform drop during your skid animation as well. You can Uair immediately with this to hit opponents on a platform with you.

2. Fast Fall Platform Landing
A major issue many people have with Lucas is getting around to platforms. Platforms can be extremely useful for Lucas, so finding the optimal way to land on them is important. For most platforms, the best way to do this is full hop Nair and fast fall. Nair autocancels at the peak of Lucas's jump. You can then immediately fast fall to land on the platform. For reasons unknown to me, this will never cause you to fall through the platform like you normally would fast falling. It's possible to do this without the Nair, but it's much more difficult and there's no real reason to. This will get you onto most platforms quickly and safely.

3. Perfect Landing
Some platforms on some stages just happen to be at just the right height for Lucas to land on with a full hop. This is very convenient. It allows you to buffer directly from a full hop Nair into any move. Mess around with it. It's great. Some stages it's possible on are Smashville, Luigi's Mansion, and Brinstar.

III. Recovery

A. Introduction
Despite what many will say, Lucas has a good recovery game. With proper DI and intelligent recovery techniques, Lucas can survive to very high percentages. He also is surprisingly good at avoiding being gimped or edgeguarded due to his many options while recovering. This section will generally cover all techniques for recovering as well as surviving to higher percentages.

B. Living to Higher Percentages

1. Directional Influence
Knowing how to DI correctly is absolutely necesary for playing any character in Brawl. To DI properly, as you are being hit, you should use the analog stick to aim yourself for the highest corners of the map. The blastzones are furthest away at these points. DIing parallel to the direction you are hit does nothing.

2. Smash Direction Influence
Smash DI is also amazingly useful and something you MUST integrate into your play. Smash DI is when you input directions in the analog or c-stick at the moment you are hit by an attack. This allows you to escape the knockback hits of some multihit attacks. For example, you can smash DI behind Diddy Kong in the first hit of his Fsmash to avoid the second hit. You can also smash DI downward out of Zelda's Usmash to avoid being hit with the knockback of it. There are TONS of multihit moves like these that you can escape. Experiment. Learn how to use smash DI and you will survive to incredibly high percentages against some characters.

3. Quarter Circle DI

This one's tough. During hitstun you can actually input 3 directions of SDI to decrease how far you are sent as much as possible. To do this you're going to rotate the analog stick in a quarter circle in the opposite direction that you're getting hit. For example, if you're getting hit straight upward, you would quarter circle DI diagonally down left, down and diagonally down right or the reverse. It's very difficult but can save you a few percentage if you get to where you can do it, especially on predictable moves.

4. Airdodging
When being hit to the side off of a stage, you should immediately airdodge and jump to live to higher percentages. Using Nair or Fair instead of an airdodge will have the same effect.

5. Fast Falled Aerial Knockback Reduction
Fastfall any aerial as soon as possible after getting hit upward to live to higher percentage. Dair is simplest since doing it with c-stick will automatically fast fall, assuming you aren't holding down on the analog. This is VERY helpful. Don't forget to do this when hit diagonally upward as well.

6. Perfect Shielding
Press the shield button at the same time as you're getting hit to immediately shield and put your shield down with little lag. This must be done within the first 3 frames of getting hit. This gives you the easiest opportunity to counter attack and is great for taking care of projectiles.

7. Teching
Press the shield button just as you're hit against a solid surface during knockback to stop all momentum. This can keep you alive to ridiculous percents in some places. With proper DI you can tech would be kill moves upward on stages with walls of any kind. Seriously, learn it.

8. Wiggling
Not as emphasized in Brawl because of lack of combos but it can still help you live longer. Flick the analog back and forth quickly during knockback to decrease hitstun. This can help you recover slightly sooner by allowing you to jump, airdodge or Dair sooner.

C. Recovering from Off the Stage

1. PKT2 Recovery
Recovering with PKT2 is surprisingly complex. I will do my best to outline what I have found to work best as well as cover some general properties of the move.

a. Wallhugging
PKT2 will ride along any surface if you hit it at an angle of approximately 70 degrees or less. This will allow you to recover from low and close to the stage when you need to. It simply takes practice to learn the proper angle from varying positions.

b. Right Stage Gimping
Both sides of every stage are not the same. For some unexplainable reason, the right side of every stage is designed to screw up PKT2 recovery. Wallhugging is not possible on the right side of stages...well kind of. You cannot approach from the right and wallhug with PKT2. Instead you will crash into the wall and bounce to your death. This means that while recovering from the right side of the stage, you must be far more exact in your aim for the ledge.

c. Blastzones
Not a huge issue but every once in a while it'll get in your way. On the edges of every stage just before where you would go off the screen into the damaging "hoop," there is a blastzone. Blastzones are areas with increased gravitational force downward on your character. For Lucas's recovery, this means you will have to adjust your angle of PKT2 to make it back to the stage to a higher angle.

d. PKT2 Lag Cancel
As stated earlier, you can eliminate much of the lag from PKT2 if the move ends just slightly above the stage where you're landing. This is extremely important for recovering when the opponent is edgehogging.

e. When to Use PKT2 to Recover
PKT2 should be used to recover in only two situations. The first is if an opponent is already approaching to edgeguard you and you need to get back to the stage quickly. You may even get some hits on them with this. Obviously, don't try this if they're already on top of you. If they are, airdodge and try from another angle. The other situation is if you are below and away from the stage, with no jumps or if they are edgehogging. YOU SHOULD NOT BE USING PKT2 TO RECOVER ABOVE THE STAGE UNLESS THE OPPONENT IS COMPLETELY IGNORING OPPORTUNITIES TO EDGEGUARD AND YOU PLAN ON AIMING FOR THE LEDGE, NOT THE STAGE. Always aim slightly below the edge to sweetspot.

f. Where to Aim if They are Edgehogging
I've seen far too many Lucas gimps from edgehogging. This should almost never happen. All you need to do if an opponent is edgehogging is aim just slightly above the edge and onto the stage. When done correctly, your hitbox will cross them, forcing them to move if they are out of invincibility frames. Depending on your starting position, you will either land on the stage (preferably lag cancelling) or finishing the move above the stage from which point you can direct yourself back onto the edge (since you just forced them to move from it.) This takes lots of practice but will guarantee that you won't be edgehogged to death. On the left side of stages, you can also wall hug along the edge that they're holding onto and fall back onto the ledge when they move.

2. Rope Snake Tether
Lucas's snake tether is AMAZING. Using it allows you to attack during your invincibility frames unlike normally landing on the edge. It's also a very safe way to recover from below and close to the stage.

a. Know Your Tether
First of all, spend time discovering exactly how long Lucas's tether is. Go onto Corneria and practice on the fin ledge to see its maximum reach so that you always know. Realize that you are vulnerable with the tether until Lucas's hands touch the edge. Know that you can only re-tether 3 times before touching solid ground.

b. Countering Edgehogging
If they edgehog you while you're getting ready to tether you have a very simple option to force them off. Simply direct yourself as close to the edge as possible, don't tether but instead use PK Thunder right next to the ledge (basically on top of them) and wrap it around yourself at whatever speed necesary to run out their invincibility frames and hit yourself directly into the ledge. This forces them to get off the ledge and onto the stage. Any attack they do will cancel your thunder, miss you, and allow Lucas to grab the ledge.

3. Magnet Pulling
Magnet pulling is great for recovering high above the stage. Anytime you find yourself in this position, you should PK Fire away from the stage and magnet pull toward it. If your opponent begins to predict your magnet pull by waiting where he thinks you will end up, simply PK Fire and then airdodge to the ground. Or simply airdodge to the ground for that matter without doing it at all. Magnet pulling will force your opponent to back off from the edge if he wants to edgeguard you. This will open up your options tremendously if you mix things up.

4. Zap Jump
Zap jumping is a handy way to avoid being edgeguarded. If you find yourself being chased low and way from the stage (probably by Metaknight,) zap jumping is a great option to get you away from them and give you options to make it back to the stage.

D. Anti-Edgeguarding

1. DON'T GET GIMPED
For the love of God, if you see the opponent using a projectile that easily gimps your PK Thunder (such as FLUDD, Samus's homing missiles, Watergun, PKT1 etc.) or an attack that absorbs or reflects it (Psi magnet, bucket, reflector etc.) DELAY YOUR PK THUNDER. Just let yourself drop a bit before using it. PKT2 has insane distance, you don't have to use it right away. Look at your other options before using it and make sure you NEVER GET GIMPED. There's no reason for it if you're smart.

2. PK Fire and Forward Air
Against edgeguarding characters don't be afraid to throw out a PK Fire or a Fair to keep them away. You'd be suprised how often you can hit people with this. You'll have no trouble recovering even if it means you have to fall a bit further before PKT2.

3. Zap Jumping
As mentioned, zap jumping is a great way to get away from would be edgeguarders in a tight spot.

E. Anti-Juggling

1. Airdodging
Airdodging can get you out of being hit by about 50% of juggling options. Don't underestimate its usefulness. Don't airdodge right next to the ground.

2. Down Air
Lucas's Dair has great priority and is disjointed. Use it to keep MANY enemy attacks at bay. Know where you will autocancel Dair while falling. I suggest avoiding fast falling Dairs by tilting the analog downward before initiating it. This makes it much easier to control and simpler to autocancel on the end. Know which enemy attacks will hit through it and don't try it on them.

3. Back Air
Lucas's Bair also has great priority and is disjointed. If an opponent has an upward attack that will hit through your Dair, this can sometimes be an alternate option. Learn the true size of its hitbox first.

4. Magnet Pulling
Sometimes, falling on an opponent is just a bad idea. If you're playing a character with a good juggling game, just magnet pull yourself to one of the edges and recover from there.

5. PKT2 Floorblast
PKT2 has good priority. If you're worried about being juggled, stay just above their range and PKT2 yourself straight downward into the ground. Most opponents will be afraid to deal with PKT2 and back off, or else will expect you to slide and get punished by your flex kicks when you get up. Just don't overuse this because opponents will learn to wait and punish your vulnerability while you're lying down.

F. Summary
If you're knocked upward, DI right or left and Dair as soon as possible. Use the above mentioned techniques to find your way to the ground. If you're knocked off the stage, DI upwards, airdodge and jump immediately to live longer. If you are below and able to get close to the stage, use the snake tether. If you are below and away from the stage, use PKT2. If you are above the stage, magnet pull. Mix up your recovery. Don't be afraid to use every technique in your arsenal intelligently to get back with your stock intact. Master PKT2. Master the snake tether. Master magnet pulling. Know your enemy and how he will try to edgeguard you.

IV. Edgeguarding

A. Introduction
Lucas is an outstanding edgeguarder. He has numerous extremely viable options to edgeguard with which can be used against most of the cast in one manner or another. In many ways this makes up for his difficulty in landing powerful hits. NEVER WASTE AN OPPORTUNITY TO EDGEGUARD.

B. PKT1 Edgeguarding
I tend toward using PKT1 to edgeguard opponents who are recovering from low and away from the stage.

1. Looping
In order to keep opponents from airdodging, you should loop PKT1 as it is approaching an opponent. This also prevents unpredicted knockback trajectories due to properties of PKT1.

2. Stagespiking
Stagespiking rocks. Just hit them with PKT1 in a manner that knocks them against the stage and to their death. Most people have trouble teching these.

3. Ledgewhipping
Useful against opponents waiting on the ledge or ledgecamping. On solid stages, send PKT1 down through the opponent and quickly loop upward and back onto the stage. Some part of PKT1 should be inside them the entire time. On fallthrough stages (ex. Delfino Plaza,) send PKT1 down and through the opponent and quickly loop upward into the stage and back around through the opponent again. Repeat as needed.

C. PK Freeze Edgeguarding
I tend toward using PK Freeze to edgeguard only when an opponent is recovering at slightly above stage level and has good edgeguarding defenses.

1. PK Freeze Forced Airdodge
PK Freeze the opponent as they are nearing the stage. They will airdodge it. Since PK Freeze has so little lag you should have time to then hit them with a Fair or Bair.

2. PK Freeze Stagespike
When an opponent is waiting on a ledge, you can use PK Freeze to stagespike if they're out of invincibility frames. This can be used to prevent ledgecamping and catch some unexpecting players offguard for a free stock.

3. Freezespike
If you hit with PK Freeze when you're edgeguarding at low or medium percentages, you can jump out above the opponent and time a Bair spike to hit them as they pop out. Epic.

D. Aerial Edgeguarding
I tend to use aerials to edgeguard when the opponent is above the stage but not too high and doesn't have good edgeguarding defense.

1. Fair
Yeah actually Fair is a great edgeguarding tool especially if you were just Nair comboing them off or are already close. Double jump Fair comes out fast and can catch people offguard.

2. Bair Spiking
On the tip of Lucas's foot, Bair is a very powerful spike. This can occur at literally any point in the move as long as it connects at the tip of Lucas's foot. NOT THE HEXAGONS!!! Thank you.

a. The Bair Trap
Absolutely amazing. You must try this. You know how annoying it is when you accidently get the sourspot of Bair on an opponent and don't spike them? Well, it's a problem that's easily solved. Immediately after sourspotting Bair, double jump Dair. This is difficult to escape for many characters and results in them getting Dair spiked. From this you can do what you need to do to finish them. I usually go for another Bair if they meteor cancel it. It also works if they airdodge the Bair. Amazing, I know. Use it.

3. Dair Spiking
The fourth hit of Dair spikes. Usually you'll get this by double jumping a Dair but you can catch people offguard if you time it so that you just hit with the fourth hit while falling on them. Remember it's a weak spike.

E. PK Fire Edgeguarding
I tend to use PK Fire to edgeguard when an opponent is low and close to the stage or if they have easily predicted recoveries with high priority.

1. PK Fire Forced Airdodge
When your opponent is recovering onto the stage from about the height of a full hop PK Fire, you can use it to force them into an airdodge and follow up with a double jump Fair.

2. PK Fire Sniping
Okay not really a technique. It's just spacing your PK Fire so that the opponent jumps into it. Pretty difficult but there's not much more epic than hitting Metaknight with three PK Fires edgeguarding and still make it back to the stage. Don't underestimate PK Fire for edgeguarding.

V. Strategies

A. Introduction
There is no one "right" way to play Lucas or any other character for that matter. Develop your own playstyle. This entire section will be relatively vague on purpose. You should take these ideas, try them for yourself and find what works for you. You will be most succesful if you're playing in a way that is comfortable. That said, I cannot stress the importance of trying new things. Friendlies are great for trying out new strategies. Play a game playing only defensively. Play a game playing only offensively. Play a game trying to only KO by edgeguarding. Mess around with moves you notice you rarely use to see when you can use them and how. DON'T LET YOUR GAME GET STALE. There's a lot you can do. You just have to try it out and see if it's worth doing.

B. The Offensive Lucas
The offensive Lucas is a combo maniac. Lucas is a fast character. An offensive Lucas has a strong pressure game that never lets up. Nair combos, jabs, Ftilts, grabs, Uair juggling, Dair combos and various forms of edgeguarding should dominate this form of play. Lucas doesn't have very many effective approaches so make sure you're mixing up the ones that you do have if you're trying to play offensively. The offensive Lucas can wreck people who have little experience against the little guy.

C. The Defensive Lucas
Lucas is very fit for playing defensively. He has a great punishment game because his ground moves are so good. He has a great jab and Ftilt for this. His smashes although slow can even be used to punish some failed approaches. The defensive Lucas player is not afraid to camp. If you have a problem with camping you'd best get over it if you're playing Brawl. Camping works. PKT1, PK Fire and PK Freeze can all be used to camp over pretty good distances. Few characters have a better projectile game than Lucas. Never be afraid to force the opponent to come to you. Lucas also has a ton of options from the ledge. Planking is great. Sure it doesn't look good, but it's an outstanding way to rack up damage against some opponents. When it comes to your aerial game, a defensive Lucas player will focus more on well spaced full hop Dairs than on low priority Nairs. The defensive Lucas waits for an opening and strikes with a hard hitting smash attack. The defensive Lucas is great against overly aggressive opponents.

D. The Hybrid Lucas
Be both defensive and offensive as the match allows. Many times it is useful to begin matches defensively to get a feel for your opponent. Once you feel more confident and know what will work you can go for a more offensive approach. The hybrid approach to playing Lucas is in my opinion the best way to go against your most experienced opponents. It allows for the full use of Lucas's arsenal and requires accurate reading of your opponent to be effective. But that doesn't mean it's the only way you should try to use Lucas. Some opponents simply don't know how to handle a purely aggressive Lucas while others have no defense against Lucas's camping game. Use what works for each individual match.