Seki_
Smash Cadet
Neither has particularly advanced tech that would help them in this MU. I know Link's USmash definitely shuts down Zelda's 45-Death combo, but other than that not sure of anything
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Feel free to put in your input anyways! I don't think JigglyZelda will mind. G&W didn't get a whole lot of discussion anyways.Aw man, I totally didn't notice and missed the G&W discussion. I had some input for that one :'D
I wish Wisconsin had local tournaments close to where I live.........This MU is really annoying but not really overly difficult as long as Zelda is observant and patient. Link may be able to out-camp us but his laggy projectiles mean we get free FWs. Plus Nayru's Love is more than useful here. Reflecting his bombs throws off his zoning game and reflecting his boomerang resets to neutral which is mostly just fun to do more than anything. I think I have, only once, gimped Link's recovery by reflecting a boomerang he threw to cover himself. It was glorious. One of my biggest problems facing Links is that they outrange us hardcore. Getting in for grabs or dtilts is really difficult when he's got such a powerful jab (not to mention the almighty jab cancel into jab) and utilt for covering his head from our dairs. Moreover, if we do get in and start strings, he can interrupt them with his nair.
What we've got going for us is our ability to kill him before he kills us though we have to work a lot harder for those kills than he does since he has guaranteed setups into his smashes unlike us. However, our offstage game works relatively well against him. Getting Link with a dair offstage is tricky though since his up-B is quite safe and he has the option to hookshot to the ledge as well. I usually prefer going for a bair-->stage spike on him.
This MU is very tricky but Link has several laggy moves that we can punish and that's what Zelda likes. Hit him when he uses his ftilt, dsmash, fsmash, and even utilt and dtilt. Also never miss an opportunity to punish his whiffed grabs since you have all the time in the world to do so. I haven't faced Links in a tournament setting but seeing Izaw's art of Link, I'm certain that Link has a lot of tricks up his sleeve that make him a terrifying opponent to face but not one that we can't handle. Having a reflector makes Link look a lot less scary. The only thing I truly fear about him is his range. I'll say:
50:50
(P.S: I know I say this a lot but this MU is a lot easier with customs)
Zelda's customs are still being experimented with. We have a thread dedicated to her customs that you'll probably wanna check out. Personally, I use default Nayru's and FW (Though I've been experimenting with using Farore's Squall that you mentioned because of its frame 1 windbox for combo breaking). I switch Din's fire with Din's blaze, the one you mentioned, because of its zoning properties and because I can act a moment before the explosion allowing me to use it as more of a setup rather than just a terrible projectile. It's really good for keeping opponents from getting back to the ledge safely as well. I also use phantom breaker not for breaking shields but for the fact that it travels quite a distance even when its not charged at all which gives Zelda a mid-range projectile (Which I think is the most useful custom for Zelda in MU's like Link since we are outspaced without this custom). Zelda typically relies on outspacing opponents but doesn't have the longest spacing in the game which means she doesn't have great tools against those that outspace her other than just being smart.I wish Wisconsin had local tournaments close to where I live.........
Btw now that you mention customs, which combination would you generally recommend?
I don't have friends soooooo.........
I just play against CPU and I think the customs that are good are....(can't remembernames exactly)
Neutral B that turns opponents around.
UpB that has a wind hit boxes and travels a slightly larger distance it seems.
DownB the one that I find hard to decide, but I use the one that deals the most shield damage, though because of that, obviously people wouldn't shield...... So maybe I should go for the more powerful one?
Last but not least
Side B that takes time before it fully explodes, perfect for characters with slower recoveries.
Zelda is slow and predictable enough that link can get the setup, and if he misses a hard read Zelda's punishes usually won't killMost of his kill need hard read or set up
The Neutral B that I mentioned I used reflects projectiles and turns people around, wouldn't that generally be helpful for edge guarding and several other uses? Or am I missing something?Zelda's customs are still being experimented with. We have a thread dedicated to her customs that you'll probably wanna check out. Personally, I use default Nayru's and FW (Though I've been experimenting with using Farore's Squall that you mentioned because of its frame 1 windbox for combo breaking). I switch Din's fire with Din's blaze, the one you mentioned, because of its zoning properties and because I can act a moment before the explosion allowing me to use it as more of a setup rather than just a terrible projectile. It's really good for keeping opponents from getting back to the ledge safely as well. I also use phantom breaker not for breaking shields but for the fact that it travels quite a distance even when its not charged at all which gives Zelda a mid-range projectile (Which I think is the most useful custom for Zelda in MU's like Link since we are outspaced without this custom). Zelda typically relies on outspacing opponents but doesn't have the longest spacing in the game which means she doesn't have great tools against those that outspace her other than just being smart.
And, on a side note, Wisconsin is a terrible place to be a competitive smasher. It's a deadzone for tourneys besides college campus' (There's a smash club here at Madison that holds bi-weeklies thankfully) and Milwaukee. I'm gonna be looking at going to Chicago tourneys when I graduate in a few months.
Sounds like you're using Nayru's rejection which does reflect projectiles. The reason I don't use that one is because it does slightly less damage than default Nayru's and also has a much less range to it. It is a useful edgeguarding tool, I agree, though not in every MU. Some people have claimed that the turnaround on characters gives Zelda a good opportunity for grabs which I've found to be iffy because characters can just simply roll away or spotdodge immediately after being turned around, especially faster characters like Sheik. A good example is Link actually because I both have their uses against him. While they are both projectiles, the added range on Love can allow us to hit Link even when he's spacing relatively well though, if he's trying to hit you through Nayru's Love, it'll usually end in a trade where you take a bunch of damage and he takes 1%. Rejection might be more useful in this MU especially because of Link's average recovery which can be gimped (again, if he decides against using hookshot) and turning him around in the middle of something like his fsmash or jab combo can net Zelda big punishes on him.The Neutral B that I mentioned I used reflects projectiles and turns people around, wouldn't that generally be helpful for edge guarding and several other uses? Or am I missing something?
Actually Idk if it actually does reflect projectiles, I thought it was implied in some way.
I'm pretty sure his passive shield does stop Din's Fire, as long as it explodes in front of him. However, it is true that if Din's explodes on his body or behind him, it can get past the shield. Though Din's Fire is so bad, it doesn't really matter because we're rarely ever going to hit it to begin with. However -- Link's recovery still isn't great, so Din's Fire can be used for some off-stage KOs. It's usually better to try to D-air or go for a LK off-stage, but depending on our position and his Din's can be somewhat useful -- don't rule it out completely!Zelda definitely gets some MU advantage from not many people knowing what she does. I also feel like Link gets a bit of a disadvantage by his passive shield not stopping Din's Fire. That said there's not a ton of really skilled Links to test this MU with(?) I think a smart Link who knows what can and can't be punished definitely has a leg up on Zelda, but with how little experience most people have against Zelda MUs this could be fairly close. Refining my guesstimate to 45-55 for Link
Sorry, there's absolutely no way this is 65:35 in Zelda's favor.Lol i believe it's in Zelda advantage.
Most of his kill need hard read or set up because of the small but not ignorable start up lag. But with Zelda tool most set up can't be used. And hard read is a dangerous thing we can take advantage of.
So if Zelda doesn't screw she's fine.
Also while he can kill early, he will need to trade at his disadvantage to rack up damages puting himself in a bad position. And his recovery is bad so a gimp is possible. We can juggle too, as our up air is disjointed.
I say 65 35 in zelda's favor
We're going in to order of the roster selectionWhen can we talk about another character?
I vote Fox.
Agreed, he can't really approach, his projectiles give us a free FW if we're fast enough, it's not like his Kill-moves are the most reliable.We're going in to order of the roster selection
Ok so I played a good link. It's hard to approach but once we get near him there's nothing he can do. He'll go for dsmash, grab, or jab. I say it's 60:40 Zelda
lol nuuu, don't give then this.We can also discuss any complaints about Zelda this week lol
Don't forget that all of our kill moves are laggy and punishable as well. But unlike Dedede who has the weight to survive, Zelda is so light and floaty that making a mistake will often be worse for us.
Kills
Zelda wins because it's easier for her to land hers. Her Elevator is very important because all his moves are laggy and can be punished. Lightning kicks also kill him early. Yes DeDeDe has more kill power but all of his kill moves are predictable and very laggy. His best option is Dthrow to uair which is DIable. Fsmash is the slowest thing ever. Dsmash is decent. Usmash is slow. This is one of the match ups where Zelda will be living a long time.
I actually think Dedede edgeguards us better to be honest. His super armor means that we can't really gimp him with our down-air, which takes away a lot of Zelda's off-stage game.Recovering
We win because FW is hard to edgeguard. It's unedgeguardable practically. DeDeDes recovery's super armor is gone when he's near the ledge so dtilt works. Here is when we can take advantage of him.
I'm not gonna give a score now cause I'm not sure where exactly this match-up falls, but I know that it isn't 60:40 Zelda.Default Score
60-40 Zelda
Actually all his kill moves aren't safe at all. They're as punishable as ours. Also we can easily DI out of his dthrow. He'll be going for many dsmashes at kill percent which is his most reliable kill move. A shield is all we need before we elevator.Don't forget that all of our kill moves are laggy and punishable as well. But unlike Dedede who has the weight to survive, Zelda is so light and floaty that making a mistake will often be worse for us.
Also, his moves aren't that punishable if spaced well. They're definitely safer than ours on shield. If we shield his smashes or he whiffs at max range, it's unlikely we'll be landing elevators. If he tries a down smash at point-blank range, however, we can easily get an elevator.
His up-air lasts a while so it can catch us after an air dodge, and Zelda has trouble landing on stage from the air. He can also kill us with his forward and back airs if we're near the ledge.
We have better kill options, but his are generally safer than ours and he is a lot heavier than us. It kind of even outs.
I actually think Dedede edgeguards us better to be honest. His super armor means that we can't really gimp him with our down-air, which takes a way a lot of Zelda's off-stage game.
While Dedede can't really stop us from getting to the ledge, he has better options preventing us from safely getting up from it. If he times his gordo right, we can't get up from the ledge without getting hit by it, and if we try to stay on the ledge to avoid it, we can lose our invincibility and get hit anyway. His down-smash is great at hitting us if we attempt to roll up from the ledge; the gordo can block us from jumping up; and if we try to get up normally and shield the gordo, he can grab us.
It can be really frustrating getting back on stage against Dedede's who have good control over the gordo.
I'm not gonna give a score now cause I'm not sure where exactly this match-up falls, but I know that it isn't 60:40 Zelda.
Could Squall perhaps mess up his recovery, since as good as it is it needs to be controlled precisely?I agree that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages with new FW. I say now and I will always say that Zelda has the best recovery in the game. I just hate when it derps out like that because it seems like a handicap to Zelda having such a good recovery that sometimes you'll just lose a stock because the mechanics are wonky.
I've actually been facing some really good Pikachus lately and have had a lot of trouble against them. The really good thing about this MU for us is that Pikachu does have some trouble killing. Fsmash, usmash, and thunder are his only real tools for killing people at reasonable percents whereas half of our arsenal can kill him at the same percents he'll be killing us and, let's face it, we'll not be getting a lot of early kills on Pika because we can't punish him. I get so many kills with dair spikes and this is impossible against Pika since his recovery is so amazing. Furthermore, he has no landing lag on fair or uair so count those out. All of his tilts are super fast and so is his usmash so getting those punishes we so desperately need for kills just won't happen consistently. I've tried spacing him out with fsmash but he can punish the endlag on it really quickly with a dashing usmash. Dtilt is the only thing we have that is a reliable spacing tool against him that actually hits him because jab, ftilt, and grab can miss often only because he is short.
Zelda does fair decently against him in the air though since uair and nair are disjointed whereas Pika has maybe fair to combat this. Just don't let him get under you because he can uair us for days. Nayru's is really helpful here because Pika sticks his hurtbox out on so many of his safe moves. The Pika I face often has called Nayru's a combo breaker on several occasions. He's gotten into the habit of baiting it though which is the one true weakness of Nayru's. Don't forget that it reflects thunder as well though we can't get it off in time to reflect it off of an uthrow. ALWAYS DI UTHROW. Nayru's will only work to reflect thunder after an uthrow from maybe 0-50%. After that, there's too much hitstun.
I guess, as always, look to bait airdodges. This is where Zelda shines. If Pika airdodges to the ground, he can say goodbye to his stock as we elevator/fair/bair/fsmash/dair-->uair/dtilt-->anything his little red cheeks off.
tl'dr: This is one of those MU's that Zelda has to be remarkably patient with because Pikachu can't make as many mistakes as other characters (lagless moves are the worst). I have yet to find a reliable strat against Pikachu other than being smart and precise.
Wait, if I am correct, you said before that the wind hitbox for Farores squall comes out on frame 1? So basically when your being combed it's good for pushing opponents, but you will still get hit. If that's how it works it definatly seems cool, it just kinda loses itsI agree that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages with new FW. I say now and I will always say that Zelda has the best recovery in the game. I just hate when it derps out like that because it seems like a handicap to Zelda having such a good recovery that sometimes you'll just lose a stock because the mechanics are wonky.
I've actually been facing some really good Pikachus lately and have had a lot of trouble against them. The really good thing about this MU for us is that Pikachu does have some trouble killing. Fsmash, usmash, and thunder are his only real tools for killing people at reasonable percents whereas half of our arsenal can kill him at the same percents he'll be killing us and, let's face it, we'll not be getting a lot of early kills on Pika because we can't punish him. I get so many kills with dair spikes and this is impossible against Pika since his recovery is so amazing. Furthermore, he has no landing lag on fair or uair so count those out. All of his tilts are super fast and so is his usmash so getting those punishes we so desperately need for kills just won't happen consistently. I've tried spacing him out with fsmash but he can punish the endlag on it really quickly with a dashing usmash. Dtilt is the only thing we have that is a reliable spacing tool against him that actually hits him because jab, ftilt, and grab can miss often only because he is short.
Zelda does fair decently against him in the air though since uair and nair are disjointed whereas Pika has maybe fair to combat this. Just don't let him get under you because he can uair us for days. Nayru's is really helpful here because Pika sticks his hurtbox out on so many of his safe moves. The Pika I face often has called Nayru's a combo breaker on several occasions. He's gotten into the habit of baiting it though which is the one true weakness of Nayru's. Don't forget that it reflects thunder as well though we can't get it off in time to reflect it off of an uthrow. ALWAYS DI UTHROW. Nayru's will only work to reflect thunder after an uthrow from maybe 0-50%. After that, there's too much hitstun.
I guess, as always, look to bait airdodges. This is where Zelda shines. If Pika airdodges to the ground, he can say goodbye to his stock as we elevator/fair/bair/fsmash/dair-->uair/dtilt-->anything his little red cheeks off.
tl'dr: This is one of those MU's that Zelda has to be remarkably patient with because Pikachu can't make as many mistakes as other characters (lagless moves are the worst). I have yet to find a reliable strat against Pikachu other than being smart and precise.
Squall could be a better choice in this MU since Pika is very combo-heavy and naturally wants to rush us down as soon as he can get in meaning the combo breaking potential of squall helps us defensively. Offensively, you would still have to know where he's going with quick attack in order to use Squall to push him around and mess up his recovery so I don't think it's that useful in that regard. I'm not even that concerned about heavy skull bash because we have to be so close to him in order to die at low percents which requires the hardest of reads on his part or a massive mistake on ours. He should be afraid to pick HSB against a Zelda seeing as, if he misses, we can punish him no matter how far he goes with FW. If we pick squall, we might be able to Squallator him during that endlag though I haven't tested this. Thunder wave is problematic but doesn't have the range of default thunder jolt so that's one thing customs Pikachu loses. No matter what we do though, Pikachu is a bad MU for us and will always be annoying to face.Could Squall perhaps mess up his recovery, since as good as it is it needs to be controlled precisely?
On the other hand with customs, he gets Heavy Skull Bash which can help his KOing problems,
and Thunder Wave can set up some things with paralysis (but it's half as strong with half the range).
So it's basically a toss-up between Wind for punishing whiffed Bashes (Heavy is even more punishable
than default) and poor Thunder Jolt/Wave usage, or Squall for juggle breaking and making Pika miss
his Quick Attack recoveries. No matter what though, you'll probably want Din's Blaze and Phantom Strike
to discourage Pika from being reckless.
When I talked about Squall making Pikachu miss the edge, I didn't really mean gimping, just miss the snapSquall could be a better choice in this MU since Pika is very combo-heavy and naturally wants to rush us down as soon as he can get in meaning the combo breaking potential of squall helps us defensively. Offensively, you would still have to know where he's going with quick attack in order to use Squall to push him around and mess up his recovery so I don't think it's that useful in that regard. I'm not even that concerned about heavy skull bash because we have to be so close to him in order to die at low percents which requires the hardest of reads on his part or a massive mistake on ours. He should be afraid to pick HSB against a Zelda seeing as, if he misses, we can punish him no matter how far he goes with FW. If we pick squall, we might be able to Squallator him during that endlag though I haven't tested this. Thunder wave is problematic but doesn't have the range of default thunder jolt so that's one thing customs Pikachu loses. No matter what we do though, Pikachu is a bad MU for us and will always be annoying to face.
However, isn't Pikachu notorious for having some difficulty landing his kill moves? Fsmash has end lag, usmash has end lag, as does Thunder. I'm thinking we could use FW to punish these, but maybe we'd need to play actual matches against a good Pika to see whether Wind or Squall is betterYou probably won't get an elevator off due to him having super low lag on his moves so squall is the go-to move
Yes but his aerial move landings has a hitbox. Fsmash is safe, Usmash... I'm not sure. Thunder, a good pikachu won't use it recklessly.However, isn't Pikachu notorious for having some difficulty landing his kill moves? Fsmash has end lag, usmash has end lag, as does Thunder. I'm thinking we could use FW to punish these, but maybe we'd need to play actual matches against a good Pika to see whether Wind or Squall is better