Help with Young Link Matchup

[FanGoH]

Hi everyone, since Ultimate came out, I started playing a lot of 1v1 with the appropiate ruleset and people.

I consider that my best character right now is Ness (Chrom/Lucas are great choices for me as well), and I've been doing a great job with him, however, one consistent matchup that I can't seem to "naturally" win, is Young Link for various reasons.

I think that Battlefield stages are great for evading a lot of projectiles, I managed to get consistent not punished roll and dodges for the boomerang, but there was a still some things that I noticed were "unfavourable" for me, mainly the speed of his swings, I seemed unable to draw a quicker attack (I don't exactly remember what I haven't tried)

Also I had a very hard time with the edgeguards.

Any tip or discussion about one of these issues is definitely helpful, thus very appreciated

Note: I don't know if it's okay to create this sort of thread here, if not, I am deeply sorry

 

[Specs64z]

If they attempt to use boomerang from a distance and don't follow it, then you can reflect it with fsmash. Worst case the reflected boomerang is canceled by another projectile, best case you get some easy damage. You can also cancel out the hitbox if you attack the boomerang (probably with nair). Otherwise your best bet is to shield, parry, and weave around it with your amazing air acceleration/traction. The arrows are far too fast to reflect without a read, so you can either attack them to cancel the hitbox or practice shielding, parrying, and dodging around them. Bombs can be absorbed to heal you, but be careful throwing out PSI magnet since it can leave you wide open. As for stage counterpicks, if hazardless Lylat Cruise isn't banned where you play then the three low platforms and tilted edges will mess with Y. Links ability to zone. Warioware is also a good counterpick since it's small size makes setting up projectiles very difficult. Above all however, practice makes perfect. The more you fight Y. Link, the easier it is to notice patterns and react accordingly.

I don't know Y. Links frame data, but Ness's nair is probably a safe bet for a reliable, fast attack. It comes out frame 5. Bair is slower, but it's damage and shield pressure are greater than nair's. If you notice him jumping a lot, then PKT chases will ruin his day.

Recovery is always a challenge as Ness, especally against characters with an arsenal as varied as Link's. I recommend using your aerial mobility and air stalls to avoid projectiles so you can save your airdodge for recovery. Y. Link's sword is pretty small, so you could also throw out aerials to challenge his edge guard attempts if you feel like you know what he'll attempt to do.

Y. Link has a very linear recovery, so use the tail of PKT to halt his aerial momentum, attempting to gimp him. PKT can also mess up the timing on bomb recovery and put Y. Link in a very precarious position. Also, Ness's dair is actually functional again so you can get some pretty early kills against Y. Link since his recovery is so linear. If he keeps using hookshot to recover, then PKT can hit him on his way up to ledge and put him in a bad position.

 

[FanGoH]

Thank you for your reply, definitely useful