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[Discussion] Link's Backup

A_Phoenix_Down

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Every player needs a backup character or two to help mix things up as well as keep things fresh for yourself. It can also be good for Characters that provide a bad matchup against certain opponents.

So the question is, who would be good Backup Characters (Secondaries) for Link mains? Personally, I was thinking heavyweight characters like Bowser or Ike.
 
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KingTeo

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My seond for link is Little Mac. Two wildly different playstyles there 422
 

Zelkam

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Not really sure who would be "best" but my three main characters since melee have been Link, Luigi, and Fox
 

MagmarFire

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I'm trying to learn Robin and Shulk as my secondaries. ...Sadly, though, Robin is quite similar to Link in regards to having to zone (although the mechanics are pretty dang different), so Shulk may be better for that.

But hey.
 

LEGOfan12

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Every player needs a backup character or two to help mix things up as well as keep things fresh for yourself. It can also be good for Characters that provide a bad matchup against certain opponents.

So the question is, who would be good Backup Characters (Secondaries) for Link mains? Personally, I was thinking heavyweight characters like Bowser or Ike.
I use Dark Pit as secondary for Link.
 

Ryu_Ken

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Mega Man. He can punish pretty darn good and is highly mobile.
 

rd1023

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Most Links I know have a semi-competent marth as well (including myself). For smash 4 I'm thinking Shiek or ZSS. For PM I mained link but I also played Sonic and Zelda.
 

Mocha

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All my back-ups and alternate characters so far are all... 'low-tier' lol

If you're looking for a good back-up competitively, it'd probably be best to wait for the Wii U version of Smash to be out, and see how the cast does for awhile. Then question yourself if you want an 'over-all top tier back-up' as opposed to someone who's just there to cover Link's bad match-ups.

If you simply want a character who has a totally different playstyle than Link, he/she may not even be competitive, but if you're just in it for fun, go for it.
 

Jade_Rock55

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I find Link+Shulk good.One has projectiles while the other has sword reach and versatility.
 

DavemanCozy

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Link is actually one of my secondaries.

I main Fox. I pick Link to counter Little Mac because:
  • Link can keep him away
  • Better range to deal with Mac
  • Easier offstage gimping
It might just be me, but Fox vs Little Mac is something I can't do. I second'd Link in Melee, and I'm very happy with how he turned out here. Maybe not a top 10 in the eventual tier list that will form, but definitely a strong character that can match the cast.
 

A_Phoenix_Down

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Most Links I know have a semi-competent marth as well (including myself). For smash 4 I'm thinking Shiek or ZSS. For PM I mained link but I also played Sonic and Zelda.
True, I'm fairly good with Marth myself, maybe not as good as the big guys up there but I can hold my own. Plus I mained him for a while in Brawl before moving to Ike.
Link is actually one of my secondaries.

I main Fox. I pick Link to counter Little Mac because:
  • Link can keep him away
  • Better range to deal with Mac
  • Easier offstage gimping
It might just be me, but Fox vs Little Mac is something I can't do. I second'd Link in Melee, and I'm very happy with how he turned out here. Maybe not a top 10 in the eventual tier list that will form, but definitely a strong character that can match the cast.
It makes me excited to see living proof that Link is gonna shoot up in the ranks. I'm expecting at least a 20-25 placement. I mean it's not the greatest but I never cared about placement unless they were so bad that they were useless (Ganon). I mained Link in most of the games because he's my favorite Nintendo character. That's why I use Charizard as my secondary. Favorite Pokemon ever so it's a win/win for me in this Smash.
 

DavemanCozy

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I find Link + Fox is working well for me so far. I went to a tournament yesterday, there was a single-elimination (oof, I know) side-event bracket and placed 7th overall.

The first game I played was against a Robin player, and I got bodied. I switched to Fox and won the set. Even with his set of good projectiles and range, I find Link has a hard time getting past Robin's own projectile game, and he can't really camp him back. One Arcfire gets rid of any arrows, boomerang, and bombs you throw at him, basically creates a wall between him and Link. As soon as I switched to Fox though, the better mobility certainly helped me out.

I also faced a Marth main. What an infuriating matchup this can be for Fox, I got countered and gimped all over the place, lost game 1. I switched to Link in game 2 though, and I took game 2 and 3 with two stocks left. This match is definitely feels more fair for sure now, both characters are even in terms of neutral attack range (i.e., they have nearly equal range in sword length).

I ended up losing to LP Truilliam's Greninja in the end with both Link (game 1) and Fox (game 2), finished at 7th place. It was single elimination though, but nonetheless good practice for both of my characters.
 
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LumpyGravy

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When I think of secondaries, I don't just think of other characters that you find fun or enjoy using almost as much as your main, but characters that have positive match-ups against a number of characters that your main has trouble with. I want to get involved competitively soon, and while I find Pacman to be leagues of fun (almost as fun as Link), I wouldn't consider him my secondary because I'm not really sure how well he does against Link's counters.

For the most part, I think Elessar is right to say (as he did in another thread) that the metagame isn't really developed enough for us to be able to speak with clarity on his match-ups, and therefore a true reliable secondary for Link probably isn't deducible yet.

However, I think that for everyone but especially for those who main characters not considered to be in the upper crust of the cast in terms of viability, learning to play all the best or most commonly used characters is a good step - which for now looks like Rosalina, Sheik, Diddy Kong, Greninja, Little Mac, Ness, Lucario, maybe Zero Suit Samus. Even if we don't really find these characters fun to play, many of them are looking to have a large number of positive match-ups, and Link doesn't do positively against many of them, so maybe the best place to look for counters against individual characters within that layer is in that layer itself.

Those are my thoughts.
 

Zane the pure

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I secondary Marth, and have since melee. I got all of my Marth tech from melee vids of Ken, and brawl vids of (MR.) Ramin.
I'll play pretty much any of the animesque characters, and I just happen to have a fairly nice affinity for all their playstyles. Outside of that I usually pick up the characters my casual friends play so I can help them develop.
 
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