Ness Vs. Link

[Delsiin]

Hey all, first post here. im a ness main, and i do good against most character matchups. but for some reason, i cannnot beat link. i understand that link has alot of lag on his moves. but most links i play against, just tottaly keep me out with arrows and boomerangs. when im in the air, most links will charge the arrow, and when i land , i sheild. i can do this most of the time, but i cannot get in on him. does anyone know any guides or tips i could use?

 

[DeleteThisAcct]

Projectile spam that can't be absorbed gives me a difficult time too but as you get more comfortable using Ness, you'll find that spot dodges and deflecting arrows and boomerang with Ness' bat while advancing are good ways to discourage Link from camping, and force him to fight you on your terms - but it's risky and if you do it wrong, you'll get punished. Speaking of the bat, I've seen a few Links in FG SD cause I deflected their boomerang, which makes for great laughs.

That being said, you best bet is to stick to your aerial game in order to get in Link's face and stay in his face. Don't be intimidated by his bombs, you can absorb them with PSI Magnet (Down B). You can also stall your descent with PSI Magnet for mind games or use PK Thunder to force Link out of his charge. Mindgames go a long way. Smash is as much mental, as it is skill.

Lastly, you're gonna trade blows, don't be afraid to eat a few arrows if it means racking up damage.

 

[Asa]

to fight link you need to avoid most of his projectiles. they can be powershielded fairly easily. Bat is good for arrow and boomerang, psi magnet is good for bombs.

if you read a close-ish arrow you can full hop pkf (if they're throwing rang it's probably gonna be at an upward angle). It's definitely important to keep track of link's throwing patterns (they all have one). Focus on juggling link and edgeguarding for most of your damage. He isn't the best at landing and his recovery is exploitable.

 

[L9999]

Every option against his spam is risky.
Arrows: If he is stupidly charging them, use PK Thunder. If he shots frequently use the shield. Never roll in an arrow spam, they will hit you. Bat can deflect them, but the timing is extremely strict.

Boomerang: You can intercept it with PK Fire, but the timing is a little strict. Otherwise shield. Airdodging or rolling it is NOT an option.

Bomb: Unless the opponent is good with mindgames, Link shouldn't even throw bombs, because you can heal off them with PSI Magnet.

Up close his jabs and side tilt pose problem. Up close you have to be very patient with the shield so you can grab or side tilt afterwards. Be wary of the Nair and grab. NEVER air dodge against Link. I mean NEVER. He will otherwise murder you with an Smash attack. If you are too roll happy Link will wreck you, thanks to the tilts, the jab, and down smash. Never challenge Dair with the shield because it bounces and shield-stabs.

 

[Earthbound360]

I have to actually recommend AGAINST bat reflections in this matchup as everyone seems to be suggesting. It's just not worth it against Link. You can't reflect Link's arrows on reaction; they travel too fast and the bat comes out too slow. You can anticipate it if the Link is being predictable, but good Links wont be. Otherwise, since they can charge arrows perpetually, a good Link will just wait out your bat and let the arrow fly once you drop it. Boomerang reflected just gives Link a gentle breeze, which is pretty worthless, and bombs are better healed off of, and often just fly over Link because of how high they get tossed after being reflected.

Just stick to running and powershielding. Be patient, run in, shield, drop the shield, and keep going.

Once you get in, you've got to stay there. Honestly, Link doesn't have the best mobility options, so you SHOULD be able to stay on him. Just don't let him FG roll away from you all day. Punish his rolls if he's doing them.

Outside of powershielding, SH air dodges and nairs can go through most projectiles. Use in moderation and mix it up though.

The biggest issue we mostly have with Link is his aerial game actually. His nair and zair are so friggin good and relatively lagless that they can be thrown out with little risk. If you block them, don't overcommit to anything and treat it more like an opportunity to get a read on him. Will the Link player attack? Dodge? Anticipate it and try for a punish on the follow up.

And watch out for his grab. He's got a really good grab game now. A spot dodge on his grab is a very easy punish though.

 

[Uffe]

I agree with most of what EB360 said. Don't bother batting arrows because Link can and will charge them, waiting for you to release your f-smash and then hitting you. When Link uses his arrows, he's got a bit of ending lag behind it, so keep that in mind. Also keep in mind that when his boomerang has already been thrown, he's unable to use it until it returns, so take advantage of that. His bombs, I would say are the biggest threat out of his B specials. The reason I say this is because when you blow up, he has a few options to follow up afterwards. You can try to absorb his bombs, but if Link gets wise, he'll fire an arrow before throwing a bomb at you, and if you're already in your PSI Magnet, then you take more damage than you should have.

Link is strong close up, but his projectile keeps him safe and when you put him in a situation where he's forced to fight close and he's relying heavily on projectile, then you're going to make him uncomfortable. I'm not a fan of campy characters to be honest. I have an issue with them and the best way for you to figure them out is to soak in as much learning experience as you can possible. There are probably good players who can tell you how to deal with campers, but until then, you're better off learning. And it sucks, because when you go up against a camper, it makes you predictable. At least that's how I feel.

 

[pk_melee]

Jump, hover with PK Thunder to avoid the arrow, and hit Link with the thunder ball. Circle his head and then come in with it from behind to try to trick him into a shield drop. He'll shield it half the time, but you won't be getting hit with arrows and it will discourage the arrow spam.

 

[CooperHaydenn]

As a link main, I can't offer solutions as to what you can do (trying to secondary ness but I'm not amazing). However! I can tell you my tactics as a link when fighting a ness:

First of all, I'm never going to throw a bomb unless I'm confident it's going to hit you and you are not going to psi magnet it up. So this usually comes in the form of edge guarding off stage, or down on the edge as you climb back on. If the link you fight is bomb heavy then get psi magneting.

Arrows I'm goig to charge until you get just within your own strike range if you are aproaching from the air, as I don't want to be punished, people bait me out of my arrow all the time

Which leads to my boomerang. I use it to make space, knock up for airials, and to pull you into my sword. (Also edge guarding and stoping people from edge guarding). Regardless I'm probably gonna huck it as soon as you land to get you out of my grill, or I'm going to jab you. Regardless again, you should spot dodge this. I say that because if you blocking will bring it right back to my hand. The end lag on the boomerang has gotten me punished before.

Finally, link is fairly easily gimped off stage, so time your **** well, and don't damage me if I'm close to the edge, I will get another up b so you may actually save me.

That's basically all I can legitimize. I play mostly off gut, and I'm not amazing. But this may help a bit.

Ps, play link against a good ness and find out what makes you frustrated, then do those things.

Edit: I only Outlined my distance game here, and forgot to mention Zair; it seems very Obnoxious to other players.

 

[Meccs]

I would also recommend against bothering with the bat in this matchup against arrows. If the Link is good, it won't work.

Maybe quicker magnet means magnet stalling will be handy now to mix it up with approaches? Havent played a Link in a while.

 

[Luco]

Sometimes bat is cute and sneaky at the beginning of the match against a Link that doesn't expect it. After that, never use it to reflect projectiles. Personally, I suck at this MU, like, hard. At my last Australian tournament I almost got 2nd seed versing a Link player, on the first match I used Bowser Jr and lost convincingly, and on the second one it was down to last stock high percents and I was lucky with the grab. I don't know, it's like you go in and shield all the projectiles and then it comes down to a guessing game of getting past Link's sword or grabs, and his grab was buffed to the point where it's actually quite scary. He's beatable though, you just have to accept you're going to be eating a lot of chip damage and it makes you feel really sloppy. This is one of Ness' messier match-ups.

 

[pk_melee]

Playing friends in real life, I find Link spam much harder to avoid on Battlefield than the Omega stages in For Glory.

The platforms prevent me from doing the hover > PK Thunder annoyance that's my normal move on FG to avoid the projectiles. If I jump up on the platforms to avoid the arrows I get hit by Link's sword.

 

[Asa]

Just shield(powershield pls)
Avoid jab and grab
Be wary of dash atk