Help vs Link

[AetherialKnight]

My roommate one-tricks link and has timings, combos, mix-ups, and everything down pat. It's incredibly frustrating to play against him and I'd like to improve but I feel as though I simply end up being either riddled with projectiles or juggled most of the time. I'll often shield or jump over the projectiles, yet end up victim to a well timed dash attack or returning boomerang even it I make it to his character and rinse and repeat the cycle. The projectiles and attacks just seem to come out so fast. I can win the rare occasional match but I'd love to become more consistent. Does anyone have any tips that could help? In terms of my play I'd say my most glaring issue is I can tend to space poorly as the match goes on and if I'm repeatedly launched and continually juggled I tend to get frustrated.

 

[~?~]

Link's projectiles are by far some of the slowest moves in the game, as far as startup goes. Pulling a bomb is slow, blowing it up is slow, the boomerang is telegraphed, the arrow is almost useless in neutral, etc etc etc. Judging by your statement that your friend likes to dash attack behind projectiles, I can tell that he's probably only a mid-level link, which means your frustration should be easily curable.

Hi, I'm called "Who?" and go by the tag ~?~ online, and I'm one of the higher ranked Links as far as GSP goes and almost solo main him at this point.

I'm going to be bluntly honest about your thread here. No one can help you with your Link issue without really understanding your preferred to play characters AND how you perform in both neutral and disadvantage state. I know it sucks to hear this from someone, but you wont get help here. The only way you'll learn the matchup is to play it, and adapt, and discover tech that throws off the opponent's typical neutral strategies. i can of course play friendlies matches with you and teach you how to fight a Link by playing with you, but I'm not a campy Link like your friend here, I'll actually bomb juggle you on the ground with downthrow bomb fast fall first hit backairs until you're at 80+ percent. So don't expect the same stuff you might see from your friend. None the less, I would be glad to help you understand Link at a high level because I'm actually a pretty high level Link main. Just send me a private message if you want the practice.

IMPORTANT EDIT: I just noticed that you main Ike. HUGE tip. Use your neutral air on his boomerang and then approach. The end lag on Ikes Nair is pretty low so it's a very safe disjointed attack to counter the boomerang with.

 

[AetherialKnight]

Link's projectiles are by far some of the slowest moves in the game, as far as startup goes. Pulling a bomb is slow, blowing it up is slow, the boomerang is telegraphed, the arrow is almost useless in neutral, etc etc etc. Judging by your statement that your friend likes to dash attack behind projectiles, I can tell that he's probably only a mid-level link, which means your frustration should be easily curable.

Hi, I'm called "Who?" and go by the tag ~?~ online, and I'm one of the higher ranked Links as far as GSP goes and almost solo main him at this point.

I'm going to be bluntly honest about your thread here. No one can help you with your Link issue without really understanding your preferred to play characters AND how you perform in both neutral and disadvantage state. I know it sucks to hear this from someone, but you wont get help here. The only way you'll learn the matchup is to play it, and adapt, and discover tech that throws off the opponent's typical neutral strategies. i can of course play friendlies matches with you and teach you how to fight a Link by playing with you, but I'm not a campy Link like your friend here, I'll actually bomb juggle you on the ground with downthrow bomb fast fall first hit backairs until you're at 80+ percent. So don't expect the same stuff you might see from your friend. None the less, I would be glad to help you understand Link at a high level because I'm actually a pretty high level Link main. Just send me a private message if you want the practice.

IMPORTANT EDIT: I just noticed that you main Ike. HUGE tip. Use your neutral air on his boomerang and then approach. The end lag on Ikes Nair is pretty low so it's a very safe disjointed attack to counter the boomerang with.

Hey! First thank you for the response, you definitely from what I saw do a lot more different things than my friend! I appreciate the tip! I'll have to start giving that a try. As far as friendlies go I can't play very often between school and work so my practice is pretty limited unfortunately. Stuff like the edit is exactly what I was hoping to find. Thank you! I will try to watch some more of your videos to get a better grasp on what link is capable of.

 

[~?~]

Hey! First thank you for the response, you definitely from what I saw do a lot more different things than my friend! I appreciate the tip! I'll have to start giving that a try. As far as friendlies go I can't play very often between school and work so my practice is pretty limited unfortunately. Stuff like the edit is exactly what I was hoping to find. Thank you! I will try to watch some more of your videos to get a better grasp on what link is capable of.

Yeah I'm actually in the process of my second Link video. I've only been playing for a month now. That was only my first two weeks my Link's growth. I'm actually twice as effective in neutral now than I was at that time, and my edge guards are far more advanced than what the video I provided showcases.

But it's very true that Ikes sword can beat boomerang which is probably Link's best neutral option.

 

[Qualk]

This is from the matchup guide I wrote here:

Link – 40/60 Link’s favor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PwA1_iblcs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAyZbIPjQzs
Link has the edge here in my opinion because his projectiles make it very hard for you to approach and they’re also extremely good at edge-guarding you. Most Links won’t use the arrows that much on stage so in the neutral phase you’ll be dealing with the bombs and boomerangs primarily. As you’ll see Salem do in the video, the bomb can be manipulated with his boomerang, his own attacks, and simply throwing or dropping it, so keeping track of where the bomb is at all times is critical. Approach with caution and try to parry when you can. You can use your N-airs and F-airs to knock the boomerang out of the air. Once you get into melee range you have better range than his melee attacks so use that to your advantage to string together some aerials. If you keep the pressure up he won’t have much time to harass you with his ranged arsenal. When you’re off stage, watch out for arrows, they can easily ruin your recovery attempts. Quick draw high when you can and when you have to Aether try your best to dodge the bomb he’ll inevitably try to drop on you. Edge-guarding him is imperative, you’re much better than he is off stage when he’s on the defensive. Fall off Fairs, fall off counters, and tilting at the ledge are all good options. Don’t bother channeling eruption he’ll just hit you with a boomerang or something. Edge-trapping is also very good for you in this matchup, mix it up with aerials and tilts to keep him off-stage.

My advice is watch the above matchup videos, these can give you an idea of how very good Ike players fight Link, then you can try to emulate them. Also, try to take Link to a small stage like Battlefield so he has less horizontal room to space his projectiles.

 

[~?~]

This is from the matchup guide I wrote here:

Link – 40/60 Link’s favor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PwA1_iblcs | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAyZbIPjQzs
Link has the edge here in my opinion because his projectiles make it very hard for you to approach and they’re also extremely good at edge-guarding you. Most Links won’t use the arrows that much on stage so in the neutral phase you’ll be dealing with the bombs and boomerangs primarily. As you’ll see Salem do in the video, the bomb can be manipulated with his boomerang, his own attacks, and simply throwing or dropping it, so keeping track of where the bomb is at all times is critical. Approach with caution and try to parry when you can. You can use your N-airs and F-airs to knock the boomerang out of the air. Once you get into melee range you have better range than his melee attacks so use that to your advantage to string together some aerials. If you keep the pressure up he won’t have much time to harass you with his ranged arsenal. When you’re off stage, watch out for arrows, they can easily ruin your recovery attempts. Quick draw high when you can and when you have to Aether try your best to dodge the bomb he’ll inevitably try to drop on you. Edge-guarding him is imperative, you’re much better than he is off stage when he’s on the defensive. Fall off Fairs, fall off counters, and tilting at the ledge are all good options. Don’t bother channeling eruption he’ll just hit you with a boomerang or something. Edge-trapping is also very good for you in this matchup, mix it up with aerials and tilts to keep him off-stage.

My advice is watch the above matchup videos, these can give you an idea of how very good Ike players fight Link, then you can try to emulate them. Also, try to take Link to a small stage like Battlefield so he has less horizontal room to space his projectiles.

Considering that I think Triplats are Links best stages, I wouldn't advise that piece of advice. In fact, a midrange Link is more comfortable in smaller spaces where there is less space to work around boomerang and where I can chase down with NAIR more easily, considering all Ikes do the exact same option almost every single time, weather low level, mid, high or top level, it becomes pretty easy to punish him and maintain a mid range control game on him. He doesn't have mixups, he just has NAIR

 

[Qualk]

Considering that I think Triplats are Links best stages, I wouldn't advise that piece of advice. In fact, a midrange Link is more comfortable in smaller spaces where there is less space to work around boomerang and where I can chase down with NAIR more easily, considering all Ikes do the exact same option almost every single time, weather low level, mid, high or top level, it becomes pretty easy to punish him and maintain a mid range control game on him. He doesn't have mixups, he just has NAIR

Interesting, so maybe something like Pokémon Stadium 2 so Ike still has some platforms to chain Nair combos but a little bigger than battlefield so Link has more difficulty following up on projectiles?

 

[~?~]

Interesting, so maybe something like Pokémon Stadium 2 so Ike still has some platforms to chain Nair combos but a little bigger than battlefield so Link has more difficulty following up on projectiles?

Ike needs a little breathing room to move around freely from the boomerang. Ike is a pretty good matchup for Link in general. It also depends what kind of Link you're playing. You have camp hard Links and you have midrange Links. I'm a midrange. Of course an Ike can shield, but during that disadvantage, Link gets a free bomb. So jumping while moving left or right is often the best option because Ike can land with Nair safely if spaced well. Nair will either hit shield or hit Link, unless there is space for Link to dash back or the Link reads the jump and gets a Nair themselves. It's a complicated situation but 3 of the 5 regulars I play against are Ike mains or duel mains. The most successful strategy they have seemed to use on me is using Nair on my boomerang and closing the gap. It goes from midrange to short range. Battling Link in midrange in general is just a toxic situation to be in. It's his bread and butter zone. So balancing between long and short tends to be what beats my midrange setups. At least when I fight Ikes.

 

[h4 Gambiteer]

Considering that I think Triplats are Links best stages, I wouldn't advise that piece of advice. In fact, a midrange Link is more comfortable in smaller spaces where there is less space to work around boomerang and where I can chase down with NAIR more easily, considering all Ikes do the exact same option almost every single time, weather low level, mid, high or top level, it becomes pretty easy to punish him and maintain a mid range control game on him. He doesn't have mixups, he just has NAIR

I don't agree with this. I think Ike's bigger sword helps him on triplats vs Link. I've been grinding the matchup a bit with one of my friends who's really improving (placed just below ESAM and MVD at a recent tournament) and hey always bans BF against Ikes. The top platform is only good for Ike because of Ike's wider Upair, aether, and QD recovery option.

Kalos is typically one of Link's better stages because the platform allows you to upB kill and get boomerang combos.

That said, when looking at Salem's Link vs MKLeo, they went PS2, PS2, FD (which MKLeo won 3-0). Ryo vs Salem's Link went BF, BF, BF with a 0-3 Loss for Ike. So it might also be down to playstyle preference. (I'm planning to sit down with my Link friend and make something like a 3 part video about the matchup, so you can be looking for that in the future)


But for now, one super quick tip to improve your game is to make sure to keep your back to Link. The fair and front side of nair get beat out by link's hitboxes, while falling reverse nair and bair can beat them. You generally want to stick close to Link so he doesn't have time to get projectiles out. Approach backwards, mixing up falling nairs, bairs, and tomahawks.