Link Doubles Tips

[Pug]

I'm entering a doubles tournament next weekend and I have very little experience playing 2v2s.

I'd love some advice! Also insight into what characters pair well with Link would be awesome.

 

[Player -0]

My experience -
- Keep one of your opponents out with your mid range game while still being able to help your partner. Punish bad recoveries with semispike Spin.
- You should be getting kills/getting people offstage with your strong Nair/Dair/Fair/Up-Air/F-Smash/D-Smash/Spin2Win/Arrows.
- Try to help your partner out if they're being edgeguarded. If you approach they'll have to (do this safely though, knock your enemy away then approach cautiously so you don't both get edgeguarded):
* Abort the edgeguard to confront you
* Take the ledge which puts them in a bad spot since your partner can then go high or can slip over them onto the stage
* Awkwardly stand there and not notice you until you've Faired their face off
- If you're both on the ledge you should let your partner take priority over you. If there's a problem Zair to a decent length and stall to let your partner grab the ledge and let them try to get on. Before your time to stall runs out cancel the Zair, Airdodge up/Away and Zair again. I only suggest stalling 2 times so you still have one more Zair in case you get knocked off the ledge again. Once two times are up just go for the stage.
- When edgeguarding one person when both of you are there let one person confront them at the ledge or right next to it while you stand back and punish/send them back off when they get over them.
- You should probably be tanking stocks so be cautious

There's probably a bunch more. Try to play a bunch of friendlies and get a feel for it. Remember not to zone out and get obsessed in a 1v1, help your partner out and play as a team.

 

[ITALIAN N1NJA]

From my experience, I seem to have a solid team pair up with Sheik. Also I noticed Ness and Lucas seem to be good team mates for Link. Ness and Lucas are good because they're small so you won't have to worry as much about them with projectiles. Sheik has a great combo game paired up with Link if you space correctly. Also Link and Sheik have quick projectiles that are perfect for a quick stun if they see their partner in trouble. It takes 1 arrow or 1 needle to stun the enemy sandbagging your teammate which creates a perfect opening for your partner to regain control! Also, be patient and diligent. ESPECIALLY when it comes to 2v1(your team being the 2). This is where team work is crucial. Don't be overly aggressive. You could end up hitting your team mate which is obviously terrible. Also, be careful with the spin attack. It's a very useful tool, but use it wisely when on a team. You could accidentally semi-spike your team mate.

You have to get a feel for your partners' playstyle in order to work with them well. Once that is developed, focus on team work. You can single out the opponents 1v1, but if your team mate is struggling, make sure to give them a hand. Especially when it comes to recovery. You have an amazing recovery. Your partner should take priority. Not to mention you have a tether as well.

Most of the tips you can read on are pretty basic. It's experience you need my friend. That will give you the edge. You must hone your skills as a doubles player. You'll see improvement in singles from playing doubles due to it forcing you to be patient and know when to use what move in a plethora of new situations that you wouldn't encounter in singles play.

 

[Pug]

Very helpful and thoughtful responses, thank you both! My partner has a good Sheik, hopefully we can get some people together for a bit of practice before Saturday.

 

[ITALIAN N1NJA]

Good luck. One thing I forgot to mention. If you lose all of your stocks and your partner has two, usually you should take one. If your team mate is already at kill percent I wouldn't bother. What I am saying though, is that if your team mate has two stocks and your out(provided he is at low percent) I would take a stock. You'll have a much higher chance of success fighting as a team than If it is one of you fighting two(unless the opposing team has bad synergy).

 

[Player -0]

Even if your teammate is at high percents I would advise taking the stock. He should just play a lot more defensively. If he's in the process of dying don't bother though unless it's a bad comeback character, in which case you might be able to do better.

 

[Pug]

I'll be careful with that, I hate that feeling when I take their second to last stock and then they immediately lose their last one. I'll report back here on if I won any games at all and what I learn from the experience if it's not something addressed here already.

 

[Player -0]

If your partner is camping the edge then you should probably take the stock. If they're offstage and already horizontal or longer to the stage then you probably shouldn't unless they're a bad comeback character.

 

[Pug]

Oh man I'm so pumped. We made it to the grand finals and it was so close, the first set of five both teams got 2 games so the bracket was reset, it happened again in the second set and last game it was down to me and one guy on their team, both 1 stock, I was offstage with 172% percent, I used two bomb jumps to recover but couldn't get out of tumble in time and got star KOed.

We did so much better than I thought we would. My partner played Fox mostly, and was amazing -- Fox is a fantastic team character. He was sniping kills with his up-smash all over the place.

Something I need to watch out for is my bow -- I use it to edge-guard whenever the opponent is high enough, but unless I'm on the edge myself it's too dangerous because if my partner gets in the way I can't cancel it. Unless there is a way to cancel it and I'm just an idiot.