Utilt-great for strings, combos into itself and uair for both characters...however Link's can combo into usmash...Utilt is one possible followup off of Link's dthrow; which Cloud has no guaranteed followups off of any of his throws...Cloud's may come out slightly quicker but Link's covers more area and can make for a good roll punish as well as being a better kill option...Link's is the better of the two because of it's uses both are used for juggling and combo's but Link's has more use for punishes and kills...
Dtilt-effective for punishing rolls and possible tech reads (though Cloud's can tech chase unlike Link's), both can knock opponent upwards and lead into follow ups such as a uair...can be used for edgeguarding, though Link's has a spike; There really isn't any competition that Cloud's is the better of the two since it is one of Cloud's best moves period...Megaman's dtilt was one of the best in the game, Cloud's is Megaman's dtilt on steroids (literally because it can kill at higher percents)
Uair-spammable move great for juggling, insane kill option for both as well as having lasting hitboxes which can punish air dodges, both have disjointed hitboxes which can punish moves like Bowser Bomb; Link's has better vertical coverage, whereas Cloud's is a more horizontal attack; Cloud's is the better of the two because it can combo into itself (which is god-like) and because of Cloud's aerial mobility it covers more space...FF uair is also god-like as well as having very little landing lag...
Dair-Pretty much function the same except Cloud's doesn't bounce...both spike at the tip on the initial downward thrust and have lasting hitboxes...I'm not certain if Cloud's able to follow up with a second hit if it spikes over the ground like Link's (tried testing it with no success, once again it doesn't bounce so it doesn't have that horizontal coverage after the first hit)...Cloud's is still the better of the two since it has A LOT more range in addition to his aerial mobility making it an actual better landing option, also can poke under certain stages for edgeguards more effectively...
Fsmash-Multi-hitting powerful, one of the best kill moves for either character...Cloud is commited to three hits, while Link can use either one or two hits...Link's first hit has a slight tipper effect, but if sourspotted combos into the second hit which is the stronger of the two, with Cloud's all three are guaranteed to follow up into eachother with the last hit being the stronger of the two...because Link is able to use just one hit it makes it a little tricky to punish on sheild since the second hit can punish a grab attempt, while Cloud can't use less than his three hits...the KB on Cloud's is DEVASTATING, while Link (assuming you hit both attacks) is actually also one of the strongest fsmashes as well...this is really tough to decide which is better since Cloud's has more bang for your buck but is very punishable if sheilded, while Link's can be a bit more versatile at times and can be effective for mind-games as well...
Dsmash-both hit on both sides, great for roll punishes and are great kill options for both...Cloud's has a sweeping effect, while Link can situationally do it with help of his boomerang...so Cloud's is more comparable to Toon Link's or Ganondorf's dsmashes...I think Link's comes out a bit quicker though...but Cloud's guarantees two hits if the first hit connects...
Zoning-both characters are effective at zoning out the opponent and creating their own walls, Link has his various items and Cloud has a 7ft long sword...Link's zair (IMO) is his best zoning tool, as it's not a projectile so it's unaffected by reflectors, is fairly safe on sheild, and can follow-up into grabs, fsmash, or into another zair, a great poking tool in general and comes out rather quickly and has no lag on landing, does two hits assuming opponent isn't right next to you, beats most projectiles, IMO best zair in the game (though ZSS's zair is pretty good as well, but I find it harder to hit with hers, Samus's is close but that's literally one of the only good things about her moveset) and of course makes for an effective recovery...Cloud's best zoning tool I'd say is his nair, has a ton of range, initial hit starts behind him and goes a full 360 around his body VERY safe on sheild giving his aerial mobility, I could be wrong but I think it starts on frame 1, if not than it's pretty dam close, effective pokes while RARing or SH LCCing and leads into all sorts of stuff such as utilts and fmashes, like Link's zair it has almost no end lag on landing...while I do love Link's zair as it is one of his best moves, Cloud's nair has overall better coverage all around his body as opposed to straight out in front of him, especially giving his horizontal movemet, it is harder to punish with sheild grabs as a results creates better sheild pressure...
Lousy Recoveries (lol)-both characters have pretty poor recoveries, and can be gimped quite easily...Cloud's regular Climhazzard doesn't snap to the ledge from below which makes him very vulnerable, while Spin attack can snap to the edge but can make for better added pressure...both characters can use their projectiles to aid in their recovery as Link's can distrupt opponents as they attempt to edge guard as well as his bomb's giving him essentially an extra jump...while Blade Beam gives Cloud a slight horizonatal boost...alternatively Cloud's LB give his Climhazzard a huge boost, while Link's Zair is overall a much better option for recovering; both are much harder to punish as well...however LB CH is more situational whereas Link can use his zair any time (as long as he hasn't used it three times already without touching the stage)...Link's recovery is clearly the better of the two, Link's Spin Attack can also beat out a lot of edge guard attempts since it has more horizontal range and catch enemies off guard if used a bit earlier, LB CH is too situational assuming the player was even able to charge at all, even still it uses up his Limit Charge at that moment and is generally not the ideal option for the Cloud player
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