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Link's Match-ups: Export #12: Ganondorf

#HBC | Red Ryu

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Match-up #12 Ganondorf



Link vs Ganondorf
60:40

I must be seeing things here, *Pinches self* no I'm not Link has an advantageous match-up with Ganondorf, Link with an advantage, whats that?

Link has an advantage on Ganondorf, he may punish hard but it doesn't matter if you play safe. Even if Ganon can powershield our projectiles, we can run circles around him looking for an opening. He can't really shield grab Link unless he spaces badly, since Ganon has very poor grab range. Ganon may kill easier but it's harder for him to land a kill or apply pressure. Spam away and don't let up, you can outspace and outcamp him easily.

Be very careful of using a spot dodge, even if Link is tied for best spot dodge in the game,
Ganon can read this and get a free dair or flame choke. Flame choke can either lead into a tech chase with Flame choke or led into another move like Dair, Dtilt, Fsmash, etc. Flame Choke to Jab is guaranteed on Link.

Like every character Ganon can take advantage of Link's bad recovery, a reverse uair means Link is dead. Although the same applies to Ganon with gimps, Gale guarding and nair gimps are quite possible on Ganondorf.
Important posts:
Anyways Ganondorf right, okay.

Projectiles are always a reliable source to use against Ganondorf. Because of his slow speed and lack of aerial movement Ganondorf doesn't have any options besides power shielding and jabbing a boomerang. There's also the jab cancels that works really good, this time Ganondorf cannot do anything to aviod it. Almost everything you finish the jab cancel with will work successfully. Now Ganondorf too has some decent options to enforce on against. His flame choke has a 100% jab follow-up. Oh and speaking of the jab, it's quick, fast, and has good range. It's also a good spacing tool if Link is getting too close. Ganondorf can seem a lot faster than most people think and that's because of his uair. A uair can be buffed into other aerials or even ground attacks. Then there's the horrible offstage uair which is really good at gimping especially to us. Ganondorf also can Dair spike us or thunder storm as well for a gimp. Still that doesn't mean we can gimp Ganondorf either. Arrows works real nice since it completely stops all of Ganon's momentum and the boomerang can gimp him good.

Ganondorf mains:
It should be 0:100 because Link always ends up beating Ganon (lol), but I'll put it at 45:55, Link's favor. In theory, Link's projectiles should give Ganon a lot of trouble, but it's actually pretty easy to powershield most of what Link launches at you (and believe me, you get a lot of practice with powershielding when you're a Ganon main).

On the ground, Link has a slight advantage over Ganon. Link's fall speed is perfect for Ganon to combo Dairs at 0%, so if you get stomped at 0%, you're probably going to get comboed into at least 53% (as long as the Ganon avoids the Nair). Link's long, disjointed hitbox and jab combos can give Ganon some trouble, but it's not too difficult for Ganon to space around.

Off the stage, Ganon will rock Link pretty hard. I'm not sure how many of you have fought good Ganons, but I know that I personally get excited when I fight a character with bad recovery, because I get to wreck them offstage. A reverse Uair spike (tipman spike) almost definitely means death for Link, and a good Ganon will utilize it well in this matchup. Dair spikes work well too. Links need to be careful about getting hit with Sparta Kicks and Fairs, because those will be very hard to recover from. From what I understand, Link has a few tricks offstage too, though. When I fought Legan, he gimped me a few times with Gale Boomerang and dropping Nair off the stage. I gimped him pretty badly too though >:)

Overall, I think this is a fun matchup for both sides... Link can mess up Ganon pretty bad with projectiles and his dreaded master sword, but Ganon will dominate offstage. 45:55 Link
It's a really whacky matchup. Projectiles are Ganon's most hated. He has no real approach aside from the shad buffered sidestep/demonic step. And that's not an approach so much as it is just him weaving in and out of invincibility frames.

Ganon can catch the bombs [using shad it's very easy], and has a MUCH better glidetoss. He's a lot stronger than link, but link is very heavy himself and is hard to kill off the top.

Link's and Ganon's recovery is garbage, but Ganon has TONS of gimping options off the stage. More than Link, but Links are easier--just shoot an arrow and Ganon usually just loses momentum and dies.

Watch out for the reverse uair gimp. Watch out for the gerudo pimp slap. Watch out for thunderstomping, etc.

Link can be stomp chased--I've done it quite a few times, and he can be stomp chased from the gerudo as well with prediction. This matchup is not easy for either side I think, but it's probably easier for link because of all the disjointed attacks he has an the projectiles--zair is also not as good as one might think against Ganon. His wizkick drives a train through it and could hit you. At high percents this means significant knockback and maybe off the stage--so be careful when spacing with zairs.

Overall, I'd say it is in link's favor just by virtue of his projectiles and his disjointed attacks. But, it's probably no worse than 70-30.

Also! Watch out for your tornado--it comes back [duh], but it may be bringing a flying utilt with it. I sometimes use people's boomerangs to give my attacks range and surprise--especially my utilt. So if you see a Ganon charging on and the boomerang is coming back, beware of the mindgames that Ganon HAS to rely on to win. There is no way he can go toe to toe and just flat out defeat Link. I've beaten good links before with ganon, but it isn't consistent.
Stages:

For stages I'm guessing Final Destination for a counterpick since you're going to be able to camp easier.
Well 5 months later I start doing exports again, so I'll try and do one every 2-3 days now until I'm caught up.
 

Rizen

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^Ganon's got the babes so he doesn't care about MUs lol.
As bad as Ganon is, Link isn't great either. Get careless and he will deliver serious hurt. Link isn't mobile enough to quickly escape or run past Ganon either. Be careful and play it safe. Zair can stops all of Ganon's attacks if spaced right. Ganon's priority in things like Dash attack eat projectiles. Jabs are another quick defense but Ganon can smash past them if spaced wrong. Unless you know Ganon isn't going to forwardB I suggest not to rely on shielding. Get forwardBed on stage and ganon gets a free jab (maybe a free tilt too?) guaranteed or can teck chase for wicked combos. Speaking of forwardB, beware air interceptions offstage because Ganon can suicide drop and win if you're both on the last stock or kill Link and him to instantly even the damage. Edge hogging's effective if you don't allow vulnerability.
If Link's off stage, Ganon's high priority Uair is lethal. Throw a bomb, airdodge or Zair, because it out prioritizes or out ranges everything else.
Link does have slightly better mobility than Ganon, FD's a good starter, big stages like Picto or RC are great CPs for moving camps.
Small stages 55-45 Link, large stages 60-40 Link.
 

Huggles828

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Sorry if I'm bumping this unnecessarily but I had a few questions.
His wizkick drives a train through [zair] and could hit you.
I was like 99% certain zair beats Wizkick? Zair will go straight through a Wizkick, right?
Speaking of forwardB, beware air interceptions offstage because Ganon can suicide drop and win if you're both on the last stock or kill Link and him to instantly even the damage.
I thought the BBR changed the rules so that you're supposed to follow the victory screen at the end in determining who wins? So in that case, wouldn't Link win/get an "overtime" one-stock match if Ganon flamechokes us depending on controller port? Of course, this would all be dependent on each particular tournament's rules.
 

Rizen

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Sorry if I'm bumping this unnecessarily but I had a few questions.
I was like 99% certain zair beats Wizkick? Zair will go straight through a Wizkick, right?
I thought the BBR changed the rules so that you're supposed to follow the victory screen at the end in determining who wins? So in that case, wouldn't Link win/get an "overtime" one-stock match if Ganon flamechokes us depending on controller port? Of course, this would all be dependent on each particular tournament's rules.
Zair beats everything, including Wizkick. It must have been too high or spaced too close, Wizkick has good range.

The tourney rules vary. The ones I've been to ignore sudden death and give the victory to Ganon. Or Bowser (ForwardB), Kirby and DDD (swallowcide).
 

Ryos4

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The only really dangerous thing about Ganon is his ability to tech chase. I've heard from a good ganon that he likes it when people roll around, as Ganon is really good at dealing with rolls.

Side B will most likely be his mainly used set up. If hes too lazy to tech chase you out of it, he can usually jab or dtilt someone straight out of a ground Side B. If he chooses to tech chase, he has many options. He can go into more Side B both air and ground that can cover all of your options of getting up. Dair if you roll back or attack to stand up. Charged Fsmash if he predicts a roll behind him. So basically in theory the safest thing to do is to roll away from him. But of course its always more important to keep him guessing what your going to do.

His Dair>Dair combo should almost never happen regardless of your percent. At the very most you should get hit by 2 in a row. But with good DI and air dodge timing you should be able to avoid any follow up Dair after the first one.

Ganon can edge guard like a pro against Link if you let him. He can just hang on the ledge and release into Uair, and there is pretty much nothing Link can do against it but hope to counter with Spin attack or for Ganon to miss him. Same could be said for recovering high. Best bet is to just spam the crap out of him as you recover with bombs and rang. Hopefully making him back up or eat a few projectiles.

Also cant forget his Dair as an edge guard. It will probably kill Link at any percent if hes hit from stage height or lower.

As for his wizard foot. It kills pretty early from the air. So as long as you dont try to follow him into the air from below you should be fine. For those to tend to juggle people with Utilts should be wary that Ganon can and will wizard foot you as a counter. Grounded wizard foot isnt too dangerous in itself. The priority and speed make it kinda dangerous for Link, but I've been able to beat it with a grab. Though near the edge of the stage Ganon can combo a wizard foot straight into a Dair at low%s and you will die. And if he really feels like it he can Wizard foot into wizard foot to spike you as well. Its slightly harder to dodge and is more suicidal for Ganon.

Well thats my thoughts on Ganon.
 

A2ZOMG

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Ganon's techchase game on Link isn't particularly special...usually it's more practical for him to simply Flame Choke -> Jab to get Link offstage (something to keep in mind when you are DIing or choosing a roll getup option), unless he can of course predict your roll and then later do the Flame Choke Jab combo in a position close to the ledge.

And it's true that Ganon loves people who roll. Specifically his approach hinges on scaring you into rolling, since he has rangey options that are good for punishing rolls.
 

Rizen

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As with any tech chase, Ganon has less guessing if he gets you by an edge. ForwardB tech chasing can be chained with more forwardBs. A good Ganon will do a lot of damage if they land a ForwardB.
 

Huggles828

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I don't have a particularly great Ganon... and all it takes is knowing your opponent and pretending you're the one on the floor, and you can rack up some nasty damage out of a single Flame choke. If they stand up or attack, you can shield and thunderstomp them. If they just stand you can choke again, stomp, fsmash, ftilt, etc... if they roll behind you you can choke again or charge a fsmash. If they roll back you can WizKick or run forward and choke again. Choking is also a great momentum swinger since the battle stops while you get a techchase. Like I said, Ganon is probably my third or fourth best character and I can usually get at least 40 damage, and often more, if I'm paying attention.
 

Ryos4

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Well in my experience chain choking isnt all that great. It doesn't do all that much damage physically, but it can basically get into their opponents head.
 

A2ZOMG

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Flame Choke -> D-air is the other reason to choke with Ganon, and that's best for building damage (it's always safe to Flame Choke -> retreat D-air no matter how your opponent gets up). Otherwise generally speaking it's more practical for Ganon to do Flame Choke -> Jab in this matchup, since Ganon's edgeguards are generally speaking very rewarding and effective.

Actually Flame Choke -> F-smash is legit on a read, but I find Link somewhat difficult to Flame Choke -> Fsmash consistently due to his getup attack.
 
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