• Welcome to Smashboards, the world's largest Super Smash Brothers community! Over 250,000 Smash Bros. fans from around the world have come to discuss these great games in over 19 million posts!

    You are currently viewing our boards as a visitor. Click here to sign up right now and start on your path in the Smash community!

Is Link a legit character in doubles?

JediLink

Smash Ace
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Messages
778
Location
QLD, Australia
At most tournaments I go to, doubles isn't really taken seriously. Often it's just a side event with no entrance fee or prize pool. And that gave me the idea - this'd be a great opportunity to practice my Link! And then it occurred to me - that might actually not be such a crazy idea! Could it be that doubles is an opportunity for Link to shine? Compared to Marth, for example, he has better GTFO options, lingering hitboxes, projectiles to support a faraway teammate, an even longer reaching grab, better recovery, and he doesn't have to worry about spacing tippers (which is much harder with two opponents).

What do you guys think? I doubt he'd be as good as Fox or Puff, but that's not really what I need. Mainly playing for fun here.
 

Thor

Smash Champion
Joined
Sep 26, 2013
Messages
2,009
Location
UIUC [school year]. MN [summer]
If it's mainly for fun, feel free to go ham with Kirby or Pichu or whatever. It's not like you have anything to lose since there's not a fee to play or a prize to win.

I main Falco now, but I used to play Link before I knew how mediocre he was, and so I still use him occasionally (mainly if I seem to be missing uthrow DI against Jiggs, or if I am playing someone my Falco just can't beat - it's a long shot but sometimes works) and he feels stronger a character in teams compared to singles, because fsmash has startup frames that are somewhat hard to read, so to speak, and up+b is also a strong on-stage KO move. He can also potentially start a [team] combo with utilt (can throw someone up for an ally [or yourself] to smack around). His grab is laggy though, and his recovery is still gimpable if the opponent knows how to play against Link. While you can definitely use him, feel free to go back to your main if things aren't working great - it's not like Link becomes top tier in doubles, he's just a little less outclassed and teammates can help with some chaingrabbing issues he has (Sheik...).
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 30, 2008
Messages
776
Location
sweden
Nah, Links speed severely hinders him in doubles, he neither can dish out damage quick if the team mate holds opponent, take a pass nor support effectively. What he can do somewhat well is stock tank, block one person from helping his team mate and save your own team mate in recovery situations.
 

SAUS

Smash Ace
Joined
Aug 20, 2008
Messages
866
Location
Ottawa
I find he is only good if there are spacies on the opposing team. Otherwise he has trouble killing people quickly, so your teammate might be getting combod/killed too quickly for you to keep up. He's definitely a good stock tank, and his up-b can be a nice panic button when your opponents are at higher damage, but he just kills people very slowly.
 

DavemanCozy

Smash Photographer
Joined
May 16, 2013
Messages
1,716
Location
London, ON
NNID
CavemanCossy
3DS FC
0216-1810-7681
Link is okay in doubles, he has his niches. His combination of a good projectile game, lasting & multiple hitboxes, slow speed, high weight and moderate falling-speed make him a decent static wall and stock-tank.

He can't really go in the fray without getting sandwiched and combo'd to death, and he's not fast enough to travel accross the stage to help a teammate. It's better to just create a wall with his high-priority, lasting hitboxes and multiple hit moves. You can prevent opponents from getting past you to help a team-mate and keep them separated. With his projectiles, as long as your own team-mate plays around and you watch out for him/her, you can use Link's bombs and 'rang to limit approaches, control space, gimp recovering opponents and possibly extend combos. When you're creating a wall, use his lasting/multiple hitboxes like N-air, D-air, and U-air. You can also use his grounded Up-B to catch unsuspecting opponents and as a nice panic option. Nice thing about doubles is that he has an easier time landing hits on unsuspecting foes due to the chaotic nature of the matches, so you don't have to read opponents as much.
 

Bravo_10

Smash Apprentice
Joined
Oct 2, 2013
Messages
111
Location
Atlanta, GA
I've had decent results from Link/Puff before. Having a teammate to watch your back makes Up-B a little bit safer, much like resting with Jiggs. Plus you can also wake her up from rest pretty easily with boomerang or a bomb if you happen to be holding one. Also landing an Up-B on a Falco or Fox is really strong because the puffball can convert really hard on an offstage spacey.

However, the fact that Link gets comboed really hard detracts from his viability. He's like a crappier Captain Falcon when it comes to stock tanking, as the advantage of his better recovery is mitigated by simply not being able to avoid the blast zones for as long.
 
Top Bottom