Approaching Link

[Beef Tank]

I always seem to have trouble getting in close to Link. He always keeps me at bay with his projectiles. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

A good zoning Link is always hard to approach, no matter the character, but running -> Shield is always a good thing. Also, the boomerang has noticeable ending lag, so try to downB if close enough.

 

[Take 5]

A good zoning Link is always hard to approach, no matter the character, but running -> Shield is always a good thing. Also, the boomerang has noticeable ending lag, so try to downB if close enough.

Seconded. Try to powershield his projectiles when possible. Also look for patterns (e.g. if you notice he shoots arrows after throwing boomerang, you are pretty much guaranteed to land a down B if you start it right after he throws the boomerang).

 

[extremechiton]

You might also be able to zair through the boomerang, and if the zair connects with link, you can get a free dash attack

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Just fought a Link in FG and it seems you can chain dash attack and running up smash. It can really rack up the damage while also bring Link in the air, allowing you to juggle with up smashes each time the Link does a Dair (I'm not joking).

 

[Kesno]

With Link you have to realize two things. His jab combo HAS to be respected and he has a tether grab just like you so you can't space him out and grab him. FG Links can get impatient, so a mind game you can do is stand close to him (I'd say about 3 character lengths away) and wait for him to be impatient. FG links will dash attack or dash grab. If you can avoid both you have yourself a punish game. Also FG Links want you away from them remember that, so they will try and get rid of you or run away so watch for the rolls. The best thing I can tell you is that once you get in stay in. Find out what they do to get rid of you and watch out for it just really space them out at that point and punish their over commitments since that's what most FG Links do. Oh yeah one more thing if you see a Link roll away from you be careful with your dash grab a back roll can completely dodge her grab (which is literally Hitler). Have fun learning an annoying but sometimes fun MU.

 

[Retro X]

Personally I used run up shield to approach, but sometimes I get hit anyway, is there end lag on my dash or am I not shielding fast enough?

Also if Link throws the boomerang from too close you can usually grab him.

 

[The Stoopid Unikorn]

Personally I used run up shield to approach, but sometimes I get hit anyway, is there end lag on my dash or am I not shielding fast enough?

Do you press sheild while of after dashing?

If you sheild while dashing, it's only bad timing.
If you sheild after dashing, why are you doing that?

 

[Duzzzyy]

Read his patterns and abuse your downB accordingly, learning the frames and when you can get a guaranteed bury or flipkick adds a lot of pressure on whiffed projectiles or predictable patterns like arrow after boomerang. If you can land some punish early on they'll more often than not hesitate to use the projectiles OR use them more often in panic, unless they know how to mix up properly with things like bombs.

 

[Retro X]

Do you press sheild while of after dashing?

If you sheild while dashing, it's only bad timing.

I press shield while dashing and still get hit as if there's end lag to the dash. Good to know it's just the timing, the wifi lag might be a factor when it comes to perfect shielding stuff.

 

[extremechiton]

Just as a precaution, when using down b to bury, if link is firing an arrow, you will most likely bounce off of him as in a footstool.
And causing no harm to link. At times if your not sure you will get the burry, its a good idea to throw out the kick.
Otherwise, if you dont get the bury, link will be able to punish your end lag.

 

[David Viran]

I press shield while dashing and still get hit as if there's end lag to the dash. Good to know it's just the timing, the wifi lag might be a factor when it comes to perfect shielding stuff.

Is it during the first part of the dash because you can't cancel your initial dash with sheild.

 

[Retro X]

Is it during the first part of the dash because you can't cancel your initial dash with sheild.

I am aware that there is some start up to the initial dash, if that's what's messing me up I guess I'll just have to start my dashes from farther away. I don't recall if it was like this in Brawl as well.