General / Neutral

Expected value (EV) should be in every part of your play
- For example: if you’re approaching Falco in the corner and hit him with shine the EV is low as they’ll grab ledge whereas landing a drill or grab in the same spot has a high EV because
Separate your options around if Falco will be in the air (jumping) or the ground (dash)
- Examples:
  - If the Falco plays around only aerials and lasers, then you can dashdance grab or call it out with upsmash and shine
  - If the Falco plays around a lot of laser into dashdance, you can overshoot upsmash to punish the dashdance
Use fullhops to mix up the timings of your grounded options
- “You’re telling me if he jumps and I upsmash or shine he’s dead and if I fullhop 70% of the time I can get away if I guess wrong, but if I guess right he dies? That’s pretty obnoxious to deal with.”
Use platforms to stalemate
- Don’t feel bad as Falco uses laser to stalemate you
When up close, don’t worry about the threat of laser
Instead of thinking about what the Falco can do to you, think about what you can hit Falco with
Platforms can be used to attack from, more often than that they are used to get to a better neutral spot than where you were before
- Think of them as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card
Running powershield is insane against Falco
- Dashing powershield creates a stalemate

Punish

Fox’s big combo openers are:
- Shine
- Grab
- Drill
- Upsmash
- At KD%: Nair
  - Play for these options
Hitting Falco when he’s landing from a jump is a strong way to get big openers
- Upsmash and shine (from center stage) are good for calling out jumps
- When grounded, drill and grab are stronger

SDI Falco’s dair down or away
- SDI down is very good when you’re closer to the ground
- SDI out is easier when higher up

Non-Matchup Stuff