Garde's Link Guide

[HDL]

I find the best place to do this would be close to the ledge, that way if you miss you can fall down fast and grab the ledge, which enables you to protect yourself better. Of course if the opponent gets to ground faster than you and smashes you before you reach the ledge, avoiding that is pretty difficult. Still useful, though.

 

[Eramor]

I accidentally posted this one the wrong thread...

If this is your second time seeing this, I'm sorry.

One of Link's least used moves is his aerial hookshot(as an attack). Don't use this with Y Link much at all.

It doesn't have a lot of damage, but its got speed and reach. Basically its Link's fastest projectile(without charging up your bow).

As a change-up, you can SH, dodge forward, shoot hookshot, FF, where you would normally have done something else. It can really mess with your opponent if they're not used to it (or even if they are, but didn't see it coming). Its got more range than Marth's fsmash! oh dear.

SH, dodge back, hookshot, FF. a fun way to counter dash attacks, etc. The best thing about this is that even if you don't dodge far enough back for the attack to miss you...you're dodging, it doesn't matter!

An extra hit on a combo. If your opponent is getting away from a combo by DI, etc., you can still give them a parting blow with the hookshot almost every time, beause its just too long to escape.

Just basically to harass your opponent into doing something. Link is at his best countering enemy moves. Once, Jigglypuff was flying towards my, so I jump up and use the hookshot. My friend was so confused by it that I got four hits in. 24% damage to my friend, and he was super pissed too. Score!

 

[linkoverlord]

dude...this guide...is so awesome!! ive been looking for something like this!! seriously man, can you make a book out of this? id buy it! thanks alot Garde!

 

[The GERM]

Who's going to TG6? I'll Link ditto anyone for anything or nothing at all. I'm getting good at Link dittos now, only not many people play Link around my area.....And if anyone is planning on going to this AZ tourney and are leaving from or passing by the bay area, please let me know...

Garde: When are you moving up to Norcal? I remember you mentioning that sometime, and where are you moving to? I haven't been on AIM in a while (GERMdbr) but the next time I'm on, I'll hit you up. Hopefully you got rid of that firewall, and you can send me some of your more recent vids, and I'll send you some of mine. Hope you can make it to TG sucka. If you are going, let me know so maybe you can come down and stay with me and Trebor for a while before the tournament for some practice. Dilf out..........

 

[HDL]

Germ who made that signature, it’s slick, man, slick.

 

[Eramor]

(message removed...it was stupid anyways, don't worry about it)

 

[PolyCabeza]

germ...

my link should be able to ditto match you at tg6...

I doubt I'll win though.. but any friendlies would sure be fun... oh yeah... if you're anywhere near SJSU, maybe we could play some... Isai has played with us a couple of times

 

[The GERM]

duuuude, Link dittos are fun.....Yeah, I'll play you at TG6 for fun, it's never about money with me, I'm not in DA, lol. We should definately play sometime though, Isai comes down to play with us every once in a while also, the next time he comes over I'll ask him to let you know and maybe you can come along with some friends for a day or two, before TG6. Who do you mainly play with by the way Polyhead?

 

[PolyCabeza]

actually... as of now, i'm in germany... i live right by San Jose State University though... but yeah... if you're asking about my fellow competition, the only people you probably know that I play with are Isai and Frotaz...

if you're asking about my main characters... sheik, capt. falcon, marth and link... those are my only reliable characters.. if I win with anyone else, its cuz the people I play against suck or I got really lucky....

either way, i'll be back from my vacation like literally the night before tg6 teams starts =/... so looks like we can't link ditto yet...

 

[The GERM]

Garde's guide is back

Dizam, what happened to this thread? I miss this thread (bump). This way, a lot of the new Link players with questions can either read the guide, post any questions, or just read through some of the pages. All the top Link players used to post here and talk about strategies against all characters and what not to do, A very good source. let's try to keep this thing up like an 80 year old man on viagra...........

 

[MookieRah]

Bleh, I would post here, but there are just way too many pages. I would hate to come in here and ask something that has been covered twice already, cause I know I am not gonna read 100 pages to see if you guys went over it already. Also, there are A LOT of things covered in the discussion of this thread that I am pretty sure haven't been added to the guide. If someone could compile it all, update the guide, and restarted this thread it would be nice.

 

[Garde]

MookieRah, that takes time. Be patient...

If you wait, it will come. It hopefully won't take more than a month to complete, but who knows, there is a sickening amount of info in this thread that was not in the original guide...

If you guys don't mind reading through a 40-50 page guide, I'll do it, but I'll try and make everything a lot more brief and concise. I know that I sort of rambled on in the first version of this guide (as I'm doing right now... ), but I'll try and go through and add/change everything that needs changing.

And yes, I'm still alive (if not completely human anymore). Thanks to everyone who's read my guide recently and thanked me for it. I have been taking a leave of absence, and will probably not post back here any time soon, college is starting, guide revision is happening, and other things that take up valuable time. It means a lot to me that so many people have found my guide to be useful. Unfortunately, there is some false information in the guide that on the first page of this thread, I plan on fixing that, though it will not affect most Link players. The information in the original guide is based at a much lower level of play, and has a lot of theory behind it, as I had much less experience when I wrote it. I plan on taking out almost all of my "theories" and stick to the cold hard facts. Wish me luck in completing this guide, and good luck to you all and bettering your Links! :D

 

[Mr.C]

GARDE!, well nice ive read it already before but to tell u again nice nice nice :D
hey where do u live man i want to play a good link there arnt to many these days in tourney play if u know what i mean well im in SA TX if that helps and i am at the level right before pro so im nota noob

 

[Garde]

I'm in California, and I'm moving to San Luis Obispo from San Diego tommorrow.

I may have written a good guide, but I'm actually not that good, and I'm not being humble. I'm serious. I'm an okay Link, but that's as far as I go, I'm not better than that.

 

[Byakko Shockwave]

Well, even if you're not the top Link in the country, this guide is still awesome; thanks for all the tips!

 

[Mr.C]

o i see, well u cant really complain about not being that good because pretty much all the people that play link are the noobs that just start out, or the ones that are dedicated in the characters. But in my book ur still good:D

o and very nice banner

 

[The GERM]

Let's face it, when you first pick up Link, you get owned by everyone. But it's the dedication you put into him that's makes you a great player. If you take your Link to a tournament, and get you a$$ handed to you by a Fox or Falco, don't just say "god man, Fox and Falco own Link, there's no way he'll ever beat them" and then switch to another character the next day. go play as many friendlies with good Fox and Falco players as long as you can, try different things, and find their weeknesses. Or go home and whip up some good strategies or combos that work against fast fallers.

Right now, I'd say my only weekness is a good Sheik, and that's only due to the fact that there's nothing I can do to stop her chaingrab. I just came back from MLG SF and got taken out by 2 Sheiks, Manacloud, and Ipsement (Jeremy) from Washington. I took out another Link, 2 falco's, and 1 Falcon, characters substantially faster and countered against Link, but also characters I have the most strats for. I can proly take out a Sheik who knows how to chaingrab, but It's an uphill battle for me with a Sheik who knows how to chaingrab very well.

My point is, if you want to be a really good Link player, you have be well rounded, you have to make your Link a counter for every character there is, no matter how good. A lot of people seem to lose confidence in him rather quickly and don't find a point in getting better with him if he's just gonna get owned by everyone.

 

[Kubuu]

*Raises hand to speak*
Personally, I think if you are going to use Link, you should use ONLY Link. My reason for using only Link is that he's just my favorite character in the Nintendo universe, but also because the time that I would be using for another character, could be better spend getting more in tune with Link. I don't want to offend anyone at all, but I personally favor sticking to one character all the time, even in tourneys. When you switch characters in tournies, what you're really saying is that you're not smooth enough with your character to be able to take on a certain challenge, thats how I see it anyway. I mean I could switch to a Sheik or Marth to smack around a character that might give Link a hard time, but I wont feel like I would have accomplished anything. There's no wow factor when you take down a Sheik with a another Sheik or a Fox or Marth, no accomplishment. Besides, if I ever swtiched characters, Link and my controller would probably turn their backs to me

On another note, this guide does do it's thing when it comes to serving as a reference for newer players coming up in their Link games, so good stuff Garde. At this point in time, it's probably going to come down to each individual player coming up with their own little tricks and tactics that may not work for anyone else. The way I see it, Link is like the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars. There's no way anyone could copy that ship since Han modified it in so many ways, but you can pimp out your own ship to try and combat or even mimic the Falcon. Think about it

 

[CaliburChamp]

I dont know how some people play as so many different characters at once. I mainly play as Link. I play Samus, Zelda and Sheik as well. But no matter what, I always feel like my Link is better then my other characters. I just have a hard time against Marth and Sheik, Ive learned how to counter the others. THe only characters I play for fun is Mewtwo and Y. Link. I dont really play with alot of characters, Im afraid it might throw me off balance with timing.

 

[VilNess]

Originally posted by Kubuu
*Raises hand to speak*
Personally, I think if you are going to use Link, you should use ONLY Link. My reason for using only Link is that he's just my favorite character in the Nintendo universe, but also because the time that I would be using for another character, could be better spend getting more in tune with Link. I don't want to offend anyone at all, but I personally favor sticking to one character all the time, even in tourneys. When you switch characters in tournies, what you're really saying is that you're not smooth enough with your character to be able to take on a certain challenge, thats how I see it anyway. I mean I could switch to a Sheik or Marth to smack around a character that might give Link a hard time, but I wont feel like I would have accomplished anything. There's no wow factor when you take down a Sheik with a another Sheik or a Fox or Marth, no accomplishment. Besides, if I ever swtiched characters, Link and my controller would probably turn their backs to me

On another note, this guide does do it's thing when it comes to serving as a reference for newer players coming up in their Link games, so good stuff Garde. At this point in time, it's probably going to come down to each individual player coming up with their own little tricks and tactics that may not work for anyone else. The way I see it, Link is like the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars. There's no way anyone could copy that ship since Han modified it in so many ways, but you can pimp out your own ship to try and combat or even mimic the Falcon. Think about it

Good text man!
I especially agree about the go with one character thing. I had to drop Link out because I also realised it´s too much work to get Link and some other char down.
I play Ness as my main and he seems to be the only char I´m comfortable with. Although Link is probably the Hardest character to master, Ness isn´t far behind... Yeah, I should mostly drop other chars out. But it´s good to know what the others are capable of.

 

[Mr.C]

Garde i was wondering if u want to make a new updated guide with me about Link. It will take time and alot of work, what do u say?

 

[Garde]

I'm working on an update for my guide at the moment, and this is sort of a solo thing. I don't really know how we'd collaborate in the first place, and I'm already well under way with the update, so I'm going to have to say no...

 

[Eramor]

about playing with only link

there are a few types of smashers.
1.) the player who only wants to win, and doesn't really enjoy himself if he doesn't. this player will generally pick one or two characters at the top tier that they think own everybody, and just go from there. Usually a Shiek or a Marth or a Fox, just as a general rule.
2.)the player who plays for honor. This player isn't so much out to win as to make and defend a reputation for being highly skilled. Often this is the player who will play with only one character and try to develop strategies to compensate for his weaknesses. He doesn't get pissed off if he loses, but at the same time, it irritates him to no end.
3.) The player who plays for fun. This guy loves to play the game, win or lose, as long as he can have some fun. This is often the player who will tell you that he plays 6 characters and will gladly play you with any one of them. This is also the guy who will do dumb **** just for the **** of it, like a f-throw off the edge with Kirby.
4.)there are others, but these are really the only ones wirth mentioning as serious players.

I'm personally somwheres in between 2&3. I love to come off as skilled, but at the same time, I'm in it to have some fun, even if I lose. I play Link, Marth, and Falco seriously, and I like to think I'm pretty good at them. I like having three main characters because the variety really keeps the game alive for me. Each character has some very different strategy. Actually, I think I've become better with Link (my first character) since I learned to play with other characters. Juggling with Falco is very very similar to juggling with Link if you're trying to juggle people close to the ground. And I learned a bit with Mewtwo and Luigi for fun. I'm not as good with them as with my others, but they're fun as **** to play, and thats really the point of the game, right? I remember the first guy I owned with Mewtwo at a tournament. Before the match he couldn't believe I chose Mewtwo, and afterwards he was in shock at having lost. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling to beat the snot out of someone who underestimated you. I'm sure you Link players know exactly what I'm talking about.

as for who I'm best with, I'll have to go with Marth, though I haven't put half the effort into him that I put into Link. But Link's still my favorite because he's more fun to play with.

 

[Red Dragon]

You don't have to use Link and only Link to be a good Link player. I personally like variety, i play a hardcore Falco, Pikachu, and Link. Using different characters may take some time getting used to when you're switching the characters in tournaments, cuz you immediately have to switch styles, but it does let you learn different traits. Link is a character with plenty of tactics, he's a trick character, he rely's on his projectiles to give him an advantage, with high priority in his attacks but very low speed, you have to use a move at the right time, he pays for his mistakes dearly, and mind games come into play most of the time. I play Link not only because he is my favorite nintendo character, but because suprisingly, playing with him improves my overall game with other characters.

 

[Zanguzen]

Anyway, sorry if the following was already adressed in the previous 39 pages of this thread.

I notice when I'm holding a bomb, charge up to my opponent, and drop it, the bomb will hit the opponent but not explode (since as someone said, bombs hit twice). Anyway, I use this against the CPU a lot- I'll charge up, bomb drop-grab, bomb drop-grab, and then chuck the bomb and move into a combo. I'm just wondering, is this a feasible tactic against human players, or do they do something different that will disallow me to drop the bomb, grab it, and throw it at them for a combo? Thanks.

 

[Undrdog]

sounds cool, but I'm think'n a human would just avoid the whole thing. if im understanding right you have to get pretty close to do this. I would think that your opponent would easily get out of this. though I havent tried to against a human, and if I understand right, then I've done it to computers. just remember computers have this thing about DIing towards your attacks.

 

[maximuspita]

Garde you wrote the best Link guide ever, for that I thank you. It helped me discover what works in a real match against all sorts of characters. Im willing to help for the revision, so pm me if you need any help.

On choosing one character only I have to disagree slightly because sometimes only after I play with a character is it when a can get a good understanding of the char's physics. Though it is true time that you play with other characters is time you dont play with link, a new character can give you knew experiences and ideas that you might not get playing link alone; that is unless you're enlightened in the arts of hylian pwnage.

 

[MookieRah]

Heh, I don't see anything wrong with having more characters than just Link as long as you aren't selling out to top tier. If I ever use a character other than Link, it is characters who are of a lower tier than Link himself.

 

[~PyRo~]

Great guide, you definately know your stuff.

All I could recommend would be to add in Link's Bomb Jump, and Bomb-Teching. Incorporating those into your guide would make it one of the most thorough guides to any character I have ever seen.

 

[Garde]

Patience... Patience... Trust me, I'm not going to skip out on those. I use Bomb Recovery so much it's ridiculous and can do it about 95% of the time. Everything that I know will go into the next version, I'm just swamped with school at the moment.

Heh, speaking of MLG SF... Gosh, has it been that long on this one page? The next MLG SF is coming up, and if things work out, I'll be there with Neal. Germ, you might remember him. He was in your round robin group at TG6 and used IC, I believe.

 

[crumsie]

Wow Garde, excellent guide. It covered everything I wanted to know about link

 

[Silver Sytos]

This is sweet! :D Better than the Gamefaqs ones anyway, by far!

 

[rockman2k1]

Wow, good guide (even though i'm about 2 years late), much more helpful then the guys that I know that always just say, blah blah blah, etc. etc. etc. heh

Hopefully i'll be able to take this to whereever I play and hopefully don't get owned as badly as I used to.

 

[Larsixo]

Sorry for bumping this thread, but I must applaud Garde for his wonderful guide, and I can't wait for his second one to come out .

 

[--->TODD<---]

Amazing, what a great guide that was to read. Very informal and helpful. I've already learned a few new moves just from reading this.

 

[SS4Ricky]

Also, while I know many people might frown on this, I've been using the "throw your bomb in the air and spin attack into it" recovery. I don't see too many Link users perform this move, and I think that it should see the light of day more often, as it really extends Link's recovery by great lengths. On Final Destination, I can return from a "magnified" distance that even the hook shot can't make. Very very useful, and I would urge people to try it.

lol, page 2 of this topic, 2 years ago. I dare not read into this topic any further and find anymore hidden treasures.

 

[Smash_gal_of_Hyrule]

Link has always been my favourite character in the game. I have even invented a signature move for him.

First you grab an oppenent and press B+up on the analog stick.
Second you jump at just the right time and press A+up
Third you wait untill the person comes down and press B+up at just the right time.

If done correctly it should get you a KO

*Note* wait until your oppenent has 30% damange or more.

 

[RedLink555]

Really helpful, thankyou

 

[RedLink555]

i have another combo which i use a lot

grab, throw down, spin attack

 

[Larsixo]

Every Link user knows/uses that one.