Back in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Captain Falcon wasn’t anything too special — in fact, he was almost entirely outclassed by Ganondorf, whose power and tournament viability were far greater. That’s not the case anymore, though! Captain Falcon is the king of close combat and moving hitboxes, which grants him a great deal of potential in a competitive setting. If you’d like to read more about Captain Falcon’s metagame history, check out his corresponding wiki page. Otherwise, let’s jump right into today’s training!
Spirits
Looking to train your Captain Falcon amiibo with a Spirit team? We can help you with that! If you’re just starting out and haven’t trained many FPs yet, you should know that it’s best to equip yours with its full Spirit team before you start training it. Long story short, Spirits alter FP training data — and if you want to learn more, you can check out our full Spirits guide. In the meantime, pick one of the builds below, give it to your FP while its level is low, and boom — you’re ready to roll.
- Banned bonuses: Captain Falcon is sort of an all-around fighter, so Super Armor, Great Autoheal, and Armor Knight all work well with him. When running Armor Knight, use Move Speed ↑ or Physical Attack ↑ to occupy the third slot.
- Tournament-legal bonuses: A setup including Physical Attack ↑, Foot Attack ↑, and Air Defense ↑ is ridiculously strong on Captain Falcon — so strong, in fact, that some competitive trainers say he moves up a rank on our tier list in a Spirits metagame. Trade-Off Ability ↑ could potentially replace one of the bonus effects on this set, though there’s a certain degree of risk involved.
- Raid Boss bonuses: Each build listed above works great on a Raid Boss, too! Air Defense ↑, in particular, makes Figure Players especially difficult for human players to KO. You could just use Super Armor or Great Autoheal on your Raid Boss, but these aren’t very fun to fight against — you might have trouble getting your friends to challenge your amiibo in this case.
When giving your FP a Spirit team, what’s most important are the bonus effects — generally speaking, its specific stat spread doesn’t matter too much. If you’d like a base recommendation to go by anyway, you could try a balanced build (2100 / 2100) or more heavily invest into attack power (2500 / 1700). Make sure your FP’s Spirit type is Neutral before you begin its training routine — that way it won’t lose Spirit-type matchups later on.
Competitive Training
As usual, we’ve prepared a brief bullet-point list of each and every move a tournament-ready Captain Falcon should have in its arsenal. If you’ve trained lots of Figure Players before, you’re welcome to skip the individual explanations we’ve written up below. If you’re ready to go, then let’s break it down!
- Three-hit jab, grab, and some down tilt up close
- Down smash and a little bit of forward smash to KO, and then up smash to catch landings
- Heavy emphasis on Raptor Boost at a distance; combo it into an up air, neutral air, back air, or forward air
- A little bit of Falcon Kick and dash attack at a distance
- Neutral air to secure a safe landing
If you’re new to amiibo training, welcome! Let’s quickly go over some basic training concepts before we explain each of Captain Falcon’s optimal moves. First, you’ll want to keep running to an absolute minimum. This actually ups your FP’s defensive game; you’ll notice it becomes more likely to block or dodge incoming attacks rather than run right into them. It’s important to teach your Captain Falcon amiibo to perfect shield incoming attacks; you’ll want to do this every so often while also purposefully getting hit by the moves you want it to use every so often. When you’re ready to start training, scan your Captain Falcon amiibo and choose to play as Captain Falcon yourself.
At close range, Captain Falcon has several options. His three-hit jab (not the rapid one) deals respectable damage while potentially dropping the opponent’s guard, while his down tilt launches enemies at a tough horizontal angle. When grabbing your FP, don’t worry too much about the kind of throw you use; by the time it reaches Level 50, it’ll have all its throw combos hard-coded anyway. Down smash and forward smash are Captain Falcon’s strongest kill moves, though you’ll want to use the latter sparingly — the attack leaves him vulnerable for a moment if it happens to miss its target. When your FP is directly above you, walk towards its landing spot and strike with an uncharged up smash!
Raptor Boost is an excellent combo tool, and it can combo into just about any of Captain Falcon’s aerial moves. Up air, neutral air, and back air should be your preferred follow-ups, but it’s also a good idea to go for a forward air every once in a while. As a side note, any time you use up air, try to follow up with a neutral air immediately afterward. From a distance, Falcon Kick and dash attack are solid approach options too. When using dash attack, start running for a moment, input the attack, and then go right back to walking. If done correctly, you’ll be able to use dash attack without teaching your amiibo to run around all over the place. Lastly, you can use neutral air shortly before landing. Earlier, we mentioned that it’s best to remain grounded during training — indeed, you’ll only want to use a landing neutral air if your FP launches you upward.
We went quite in-depth on Captain Falcon’s optimal moves, but we’ve only scratched the surface of basic amiibo training concepts! It would be impossible to fully explain them all in every single one of our character guides, so we recommend checking out the general training guide if you want to learn more. Alternatively, you can just join our Discord server for specialized help instead! Special thanks to fammydamammy for contributing Captain Falcon’s training information.
Raid Boss Training
Compared to competitive training, Raid Boss training is much more… accessible. You don’t have to worry about limiting your run time or aerial time! There’s no real “correct” way to train a Raid Boss, so think of this section as our recommendations moreso than a definitive how-to. Here’s a list of all the moves we recommend for a Raid Boss Captain Falcon:
- Captain Falcon’s grabs are rather versatile. His down throw can combo into a forward air, two up airs, a reversed back air, or a grounded Raptor Boost — and by the time your FP hits Level 50, it’ll learn these combos all on its own. Use lots of grabs during training, and focus on down throws when you do.
- Forward tilt and three-hit jabs are great, too! The former can be angled, and the AI will eventually adjust its usage of the move based on its opponent’s vertical position.
- Up smash has a crazy set of hitboxes and serves as an excellent aerial punish. Feel free to add in some up airs to juggle your FP once it’s airborne! Each of Captain Falcon’s aerial moves is viable for on-stage combat; if you choose to use them off-stage, however, do so very carefully. Human players generally have an easy time gimping FPs at early percentages, and you don’t want that happening here! Neutral air is your main landing move, by the way.
- From a distance, approach with a mix of Raptor Boost and Falcon Kick. Both deal respectable damage, and the former can combo into any of Captain Falcon’s aerial moves!
Forward smash and down smash are okay too, but aren’t nearly as important on a Raid Boss as they are on a tournament-ready FP. Your Captain Falcon’s damage output will already be much higher than its opponent’s thanks to its Spirit team, so it’s better to focus on quick attacks rather than heavy-hitting ones. Side note: avoid Falcon Punch and Falcon Dive (except for recovery). Each of these special moves has a chance of leaving your FP vulnerable!
Wrap-Up
Captain Falcon is a versatile FP — he’s capable of performing well in tournaments and as a Raid Boss! If you have any questions that weren’t answered here, feel free to join our Discord server and ask. If you want to learn how to enter one of those high-stakes amiibo tournaments, check out our full guide. Until next time — happy training!
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