Pika vs Link

[Electricmouse]

I just recently played a link player at a practice session for a tournament and I had my pika handed to me. First of all his playing style is unlike anything I have ever seen from a link. He doesn't just use his profectiles he is a master with them. Its seems like I can't even get close to him to hit him. He has even managed to get out of pika's dsmash with relative ease. The worst thing I hate about his link is his total lack of lag. I don't know if its withcraft or something else that makes him have almost no lag what so ever. I mean I know that l-canceling reduces lag but that was just ridicules.

The times that I do knock him off the stage he uses his hookshot to return instead of tryingk to grab the edge. I don't play against beam/hookshot characters much and I don't know how to deal with him returning to the state like that.

When he plays he makes a wall of projectiles which I can't seem to get past. When I try to move in on him he anticipates my movements and uses his boomerange to stall me giving him time to deal damage. Then he runs back to start projectile spamming some more.

I honestly dont' know how to fight back against it. I have no air game due to the constant projectiles flying at me and his sword has enough range to keep me from attacking on the ground. I would just appreciate any help from somebody who has playing against a similar projectile happy link. Sorry if this sounds kinda vague but I don't know how to accurately describe the way he plays link.

[Crash]

my brother does that with y link, if this guy plays anything like my brother does, he'll jump over, throw a bomb down, then pointblank boomerang, then shorthop something. its a ***** cause i always forget and i try to sidestep dodge the bomb, but the explosion gets me when im coming out of my sidestep, then i get creamed by the rest of the combo. to get out of this effectively, wavedash over to where he is going to land, then catch him in a downsmash as he lands on the ground and finished throwing his boomerang, he won't be able to hit you with the boomerang at allif you're right under him. if your link likes to use arrows, he'll want to have the higher ground so he doesn't have to charge arrows as long. try to stay high up so he has to charge arrows longer, thus the frequency of arrows will become less. i don't know what to do after that though, my brother is really good with arrows, but he likes to use bombs more.

[jrta]

You just have to practice against that play style. You become better at deciding which projectiles to dodge, which ones to cancle, and which ones to shield. try approaching from different directions too. Pika's jolt is also helpful for stopping some of the projectiles, and can be useful on certain stages for stoping hookshot recoveries. Also, unless he sweet spots the edge, you can fsmash when he pops up.

[Melee Warrioir]

alright i can sorta relate to ya dude. at a tournament i saw an amazing link player; not only did he win his matches, he put on a show for everyone to watch. anyone could see he was toying with his opponent. anyways now to help ya. alright this is where the SHIELD comes in handy a lot. u see his bombs and boomerangs can be blocked with the shield so whenever u know his pattern of raising that defensive barrier, slowly shield, WD forward and shield again. also, if u can get close enough to attack him, do so, if and only if u are doing greater damage. but actually now that i think about it, if u do manage to knock him down(even if he techs) u will have space advanteage meaning that he will be too slow and u can catch up to him before he starts spamming and punish him. also another thing. when he throws bomb u can catch them in the air and also u can do an air dodge and link that into an arial catch... i fu dont know how to do that i think u press z while u are invincible in the arial dodge frames. oh and about the hookshot thing. pikachu is an amazing edgeguarder. u can simple dash-jump off the stage, D-air or Neutral-air him, and send him back flying, then just use ur second jump and Up-B if needed. oh and another thing, his ground attacks VS. your ground attacks, well his is alot better because he can shuffle F-air and if u do get close he may use UP-B. so try attacking him from directly above. well i hoped all this info helped out:chuckle:

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

If the guy is projectile crazy, then prioritize which projectiles to dodge. Also, practice sheild reflection for an extra edge. Usually the bombs are your biggest concern because they leave you vulnerable to additional attacks. Try to grab them if you can (usually done by air-dodging) and send them back at him. It that doesn't help, use an aerial Thunderbolt to counter the bomb or boomerang. Keep the pressure on him and he will fall.

Inspiring confidence,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[Crash]

even though it wouldn't actually help you offensively much, grabbing a bomb could make the other guy nervous, he might start using bombs less cause he thinks you are 1337 with items.

[Rainy Day Toast]

Spam jolt.

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

Originally posted by Rainy Day Toast
Spam jolt.

Not exactly. Spamming causes you to stay in one spot for too long. Also, unless it's air, there's too much lag involve. It's best to stay inside and apply pressure to the Link opponent.

Debating,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[yoshmaster5]

Awdbawl...

DIE.

I don't know what to do to get inside a projectile-spamming Link. All I know is that if he starts going out with boomerang, try to get more range so it dosen't do as much damage or knockback. and the bombs would be a distraction or damage-racker. that's it, so he can get in the finishing hit. but, if anything I say is misleading, i'll edit my post.

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

Staying in close forces the Link player to NOT use the bombs because of self-infliction problems. Boomerang can be countered by sidestepping the initial strike and coming in and back throwing on the recoil. That leaves the arrows. Since arrows take time to use, it leaves him vulnerable. As I said before, keep the pressure on Link and stay close range to him.

Showin' the skills,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[nintendoaddict]

Staying in close forces the Link player to NOT use the bombs because of self-infliction problems. Boomerang can be countered by sidestepping the initial strike and coming in and back throwing on the recoil.

Link's bombs won't hurt him unless he's really, really close. Also, Link has a slight "immunity" to his bombs and they won't do as much damage to himself as he would do to Pichu. This is bad for Pichu because he's too light to be trading hits. Also, getting close to Link is asking him to use the spin attack, a move that can kill Pichu pretty easily.

That leaves the arrows. Since arrows take time to use, it leaves him vulnerable. As I said before, keep the pressure on Link and stay close range to him.

A good Link shouldn't be using arrows often. Also, you shouldn't be staying really close to Link. You have to hit and run. Run in, do an attack or combo, and run away. Staying close to him will get you killed.

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

Actually, this thread is discussing PIKAchu vs. Link. And yes, it IS possible to dodge the Spin Blade; simply press down and Pikachu will dodge the attack with no damage. Thus, the thoery holds.

Proud of this discussion,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[nintendoaddict]

Whoops, after posting in a few Pichu topics I sorta assumed that this was also about Pichu. Sorry.

simply press down and Pikachu will dodge the attack with no damage

I'm pretty sure that even Kirby can't duck under a spin attack.

[Electricmouse]

it IS possible to dodge the Spin Blade

Ok, I know I said I was gonna ignor Awdbawl but this takes the cake. Pressing down will not dodge the attack it will still hit pika right in the face but it will CC which is a worse idea. I swear after reading that a little piece of me died.

[Rainy Day Toast]

Ignore Awdbawl, and spam jolt, because he's an idiot.

spin attack can be shielded, and the remainder of the attack won't touch you. it only hits once, and the blocked it counts as that one hit. shield, and rush in for whatever while link is sitll spinning.

that is, with link. don't try it on y. link. unless you like being stupid. but as long as you were doing that you might as well try awdbawl's suicide method of sidestepping it

[pictish freak]

Yeah, as RDT says, spam jolt. At the very least, it deflects boomerangs and sets off bombs. It can clear the path for Pika to get in.

And yeah, spin attack isn't even a huge threat, especially if it's spammed. If you shield it at the start, you've pretty much got a free up smash..

Being much faster than Link certainly helps, as once you get in, it's not so easy for link to get back to mid range for a few projectile set ups.

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

Actually, by shielding and taking out the Spin Attack, you can charge up for the Skull Bash for considerate damage.

With that said,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[pictish freak]

If you shielded the start up, skull bash might do ok damage but the problem is:

Up smash is much more likely to kill, since you can't charge skull bash THAT long.

Up smash allows the chance for a follow up. Skullbash has too much lag afterwards to realistically flow to another attack.

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

Originally posted by pictish freak
If you shielded the start up, skull bash might do ok damage but the problem is:

Up smash is much more likely to kill, since you can't charge skull bash THAT long.

Up smash allows the chance for a follow up. Skullbash has too much lag afterwards to realistically flow to another attack.

How's Up-Smash-A good for a follow-up? Is this at lower percentages?

In need of understanding,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

P.S. 300 posts, and still going on strong! :)

[pictish freak]

Yup.

At high damage Up smash is better for the kill, and at low damage up smash might lead into something, whereas skull bash never will.

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

However, you can use Skull Bash against him now as opposed to other characters. Plus, I was thinking that as soon as the shield takes the initial hit, switch over to Skull Bash. You should at lest have a second or two to charge up and rack up some decent damage. But I also see the possibility of using Up-Smash instead. Still, won't that leave you more vulnerable in the case of a fast-fall?

Learning something new,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[alexfilcher]

my best friend was a god with link in the 64 version i could only beat him like half the time but the switch over to melee messed him up bad

not made him bad

and he used his boom like crazy

but i could always kill him
as i am beting so could any pika master
pika is 2 small hared to hit
i dont understand why the bombs where even a problem
go around them

or if you want to act bold use your quick attack to blow them up along the way


and in the long run pika is 2 fast for link to handly

[pictish freak]

Pikachu recovers from up smash much faster than Link will from the stun, awdbawl. Skullbash can be charged a little.. but it'll still have more lag than the up smash and stuff.

So yeah, you can use skull bash if you're right by the edge and the ceiling is too high for an up smash kill, but generally... stick to the smash ^^

[MR. P.A. Awdbawl]

Originally posted by pictish freak
Pikachu recovers from up smash much faster than Link will from the stun, awdbawl. Skullbash can be charged a little.. but it'll still have more lag than the up smash and stuff.

So yeah, you can use skull bash if you're right by the edge and the ceiling is too high for an up smash kill, but generally... stick to the smash ^^

Maybe it's me, but I think you are confusing the charge time with PICHU's skull compared to PIKA's skull. Remember, Pichu's skull takes 6 seconds to reach full charge. Pika only takes 3 seconds. Plus, if you dodge the initial startup of the Spin Attack, you have approx. 2 seconds, thus, you have plenty of power to take out Link.

Clearing up a possible mistake,

MR. P.A. Awdbawl

[Neophos]

Awbawl, Pikas u smasgh is the astrongest in the game, it can KO at really low %.

Pichus SB takes around 3 sec to charge IIRC. or 4. Pikas around 2.
The u smash is stronger at that point of charging time.

so use that ^_^

[stilettotrap]

Awdbawl, you can't "dodge" Spin Attack. You can block it or simply stay out of its range, but even if you do, you have nowhere near two seconds to charge Skull Bash. Link's Spin Attack does not last a full two seconds. You'll hardly have any time to charge it at all, and it does less than ten damage uncharged. Dashing or jumping into a stronger attack is much more efficient than Skull Bash ever will be.