Princess of Destiny - Three Expert Opinions On Smash 4 Zelda

Unfortunately for Zelda fans the Princess of Hyrule has not often found herself in a strong place within Smash. Ranked 19th in the most recent Melee tier list here on Smashboards and ranked second to last in the most recent list from Brawl, Zelda has not exactly been overwhelming in previous mainstream Smash titles. So how does she fare in Smash 4? We brought in three Zelda experts to weigh in on the character.

• Zylach: Ranked 7th in Wisconsin using Zelda almost exclusively in Smash 4. Top ten placements in Madison and Milwaukee tournaments with 1st place in The Construct 27.
• MaXy: Best Zelda in Ireland having notable wins over Skarfelt. Taken 1st in doubles with Zelda at Breaking Boundaries.
• |ven|: Zelda main since Brawl having beat Z, RichBrown, Vato_Break and more. Currently ranked 5th in the Las Vegas Smash 4 power rankings using only Zelda.

So how do these three experts feel about Zelda in Smash 4? Let's dig in and find out!

Advantages​

When it comes to what makes Zelda great in Smash 4 the experts brought up some good points.. "Her punish game is really good if you know how to space." MaXy told us. "Her combo game is actually rather decent & can definitely be pushed much harder." Zylach also agreed on her combo strength. "Her combo game is actually fairly good in this iteration of Smash." he said. She can get upwards of 30% on an opponent from a dthrow - nair - lightning kick from 0%. One of her standard combos, dtilt - jab - dash attack is a guaranteed 23% at mid percents provided the Zelda player sweetspots the dash attack."

"Zelda has many kill options." |ven| said and it seems Zylach was also inclined to agree. "Her biggest strength is her kill potential." said Zylach. "With rage, she can kill some characters with an elevator combo at 30%. Her dair offstage is one of the most lethal meteor smashes in the game and even the sourspot can kill certain characters meaning she can get kills when the opponent is at 0%. A ledge trump to bair can kill someone at 30% and is guaranteed on a few characters."

Zylach also mentioned the strengths of her recovery. "Farore's Wind covers a very long distance and she's intangible for the majority of the move. It also carries her momentum so using it right after a second jump means she can recover from just about anywhere meaning in order to kill her you need to send her to the blast zone."

Disadvantages​

Zelda is not without her flaws however. "I think she is a great character," |ven| told us. "But she just has 1 or 2 problems that really bring her down. Those problems being landing lag and ending lag. With such a light character like Zelda, the fact that any move she does leaves her open for more than 3 seconds really is a problem."

Zylach also agreed that speed is one of her biggest issues. "She has poor frame data: Her fastest move is dtilt at frame 5. She has poor movement: she is bottom ten in the game for run speed and Farore's Wind has too much lag on it to be a useful movement option unless it's ledge cancelled." Even MaXy mentioned her "mediocre speed and frame data".

Unfortunately these aren't the only weaknesses she has. Besides "lacking neutral game in a game that's very neutral heavy" as MaXy put it Zylach had a lot more to add in. "A thing that comes to mind is the fact that proper DI by her opponent can ruin a lot of her combos and kill options. Properly DI'ing dthrow makes it very difficult for Zelda to follow up on it and that's her main combo throw. Properly DI'ing Farore's Wind ribbon when she goes for her elevator combo can get the opponent out of the lethal reappear hitbox."

Relevant Matchups​

Among the most commonly seen 'top tiers' at events all of the experts agreed that in an ironic twist Sheik was her worst matchup. "Needles give Zelda a rough time because they cover her landings so well & make it hard for Zelda to get in due to the knockback." MaXy explained. "She's also difficult to edgeguard and to punish due to her recovery and frame data respectively." Fortunately this doesn't mean the matchups is hopeless in his opinion either. "She is combo food if she slips. Her throw shenanigans at kill percents don't work too well against Zelda from my experience."

|ven| mentioned Pikachu as a potential problem alongside Sheik "I feel like her worst match ups in the top tiers are Sheik and Pikachu. Both are very speed based characters and Zelda sadly lacks in speed so it's hard to keep up with them."

Still they all felt that various top tier matchups could be handled. Both Zylach and MaXy mentioned the Luigi matchup as a one of her better matchups. "It's not a positive matchup in the slightest for her" Zylach was sure to make clear. "But Luigi's fairly low movement speed and friction allows Zelda to keep him out a little easier. She doesn't have to worry about getting projectile camped quite so hard and Luigi doesn't have a reflector to nullify her only spacing option, phantom. That said, though, Luigi juggles her forever and can be difficult to punish because of his superior frame data."

MaXy also mentioned Ness as a potentially decent matchup. "Out-footsie him on the ground, avoid staying in the air at low percents, and be wary of PKT2 when edgeguarding." he suggested.

Is Zelda Viable?​

All three of them had varying levels of optimism and skepticism on her viability on the national level. "I don't think Zelda is viable at a national level unless the player is ridiculously skilled and completely invested in the character." Zylach confessed. "One of the reasons for this is because her matchups with the high tiers, who are the most popular choices at the national level, are her worst matchups for the most part so she has to deal with uphill struggles almost every single game at a national tournament."

MaXy had a slightly more optimistic look at the future with the potential for patches but still expressed doubts. "We would need to see after all the patches have been done and a few years down the road. Though if Sheik remains as dominant and as popular as she is now it's gonna be a rough time. She can definitely win against any character in the game though including Sheik."

|ven| has a much more positive outlook. "I think Zelda is VERY viable on a national level." |ven| told us. "She's not a character that you can pick up and naturally be good with her. You need to put a lot of time and effort into her in order to make her viable. Most people in my opinion think she's not viable because they're not willing to put in the effort and time that she needs. Also because the people who DO use her aren't optimistic about her. I'm going to Genesis 3 this January and I'm hoping to change some people's opinions on her."

Advice For Zelda Mains?​

Zylach suggests that patience is key "Zelda's approach options are mediocre while her out-of-shield options are some of the best in the game. Play defensively, learn your opponent's patterns, strengths, and weaknesses. Exploit their weaknesses every opportunity you get because at a high skill level you won't get that many opportunities."

Zylach along with MaXy both agreed that a proper knowledge of spacing and fundamentals would be vital to success with the character. "Lucien does a fantastic explanation of spacing here." MaXy mentioned. "JuiceBox_FGC did a video on footsies where you'll see how the two ideas of spacing and neutral are very much related to one another."

|ven| shared his own thoughts. "Be ready to commit a lot of time and effort into this character. Don't expect to do well with her overnight. Don't let the other Zelda mains bring you down for bashing on their own character. Mind your own business, you do you, and show them that she is a viable character. Same goes for everyone else that gives you crap for maining a perceived to be low tier. You're going to want to drop her and pick up someone else many times, but if you get over those thoughts, you will come out with great success."

---​

A special thanks to |ven|, MaXy, and Zylach for their help with this article. With so much valuable Zelda information not everything was able to fit within a single article. To learn more about Zelda and see the full interviews with these three players be sure to check out the Zelda forums here on Smashboards by following this link.

Agree or disagree with these Zelda experts? Sound off in the comments below and stay tuned to Smashboards for future expert analysis on characters from all Smash titles!

 

I really hope to see more Zelda in the future. She so irrelevant in the meta that there is literally no talk about her, so good job bringing at least some attention to her.

 

Zeldawful is a bottom 10 character, but no one plays against it so she can cheese games or even sets with a couple of 50% rage fuelled KOs.

 

Aw yes Sass queen on the front page

 

this is what will happen to zelda at genesis

 

I would like to see more Zelda play. She has a good jab and up tilt for strings/combos

 

She sucks okay

 

Poor girl.

 

closest thing to a joke character in smash

 

To be honest a lot of that article came across as grasping at straws to say she's a "great" character.

Every character has some cool stuff in this game, and Zelda is no exception. But it's not very encouraging when you say "Luigi is one of her better match ups, though it's not a positive match up for her in the slightest". That sounds like you're saying the match up is still like............80:20 (I'm not saying that's what the actual MU ratio is or even that I would ideally use a ratio system, but that's what that comment made the MU sound like), or something like that. If that's one of her "better match ups", that doesn't say a whole lot in her favour.

Zelda has some cool things going on, but other characters have way, way cooler stuff and more cool stuff overall, that takes them way further. I don't discourage anyone from playing the characters they like but this article did come across as looking for any excuse to call Zelda a good or viable character, when she flat out isn't, at this point in time anyway. If someone is taking games with Zelda, they just have good fundamentals, but the character inherently limits their own potential anyway due to how slow she is (meaning they can't really practice timing and reaction skills quite as much). So unless you were a devout fan of Zelda as a character from her own game series or simply liked her playstyle THAT much, I don't see why anyone would solely play Zelda at a competitive level. But more power to ya if you do.

 

Knowing how artisan Masahiro Sakurai is, I don't think it is coincidental that Zelda requires dicipline and knowing your opponents very well in order to play her to her fullest potential. I feel like it was at least partially intentional. Afterall, Princess Zelda benefits from the Triforce of Wisdom in The Legend of Zelda series. This makes her calculating, intellectual, and defensive. It's interesting how it appears these traits seem to be incorperated into Smash Bros.

I believe Zelda, when pushed to her fullest potential, can be quite competant, and I look forward to see how she developes in Smash 4's meta game. I think she may surprise us. Although I do think she'd benefit from reduced landing lag and end lag in updates. With her slow dashing speed and light weight, she really can't afford to be slow with her attacks.

 

• MaXy: Best Zelda in Ireland having notable wins over Skarfelt. Taken 1st in doubles with Zelda at Breaking Boundaries.

...maxy pls

good stuff sis <3

 

This article makes Zelda's outlook look not-so-bad. It is though.

Lmao this article kept a part where ven calls us all the bad guys. He's in denial.

This is a pretty good article though! I like the though of people who know that they were talking about being involved.

Though I cry that "Dthrow > NAir > LK" got mentioned in the article when it is 100% NOT guaranteed. @Zylach sis!

 

There's a strong lack of BAN*ZELDA here.

 

Every character has some cool stuff in this game, and Zelda is no exception. But it's not very encouraging when you say "Luigi is one of her better match ups, though it's not a positive match up for her in the slightest". That sounds like you're saying the match up is still like............80:20 (I'm not saying that's what the actual MU ratio is or even that I would ideally use a ratio system, but that's what that comment made the MU sound like), or something like that. If that's one of her "better match ups", that doesn't say a whole lot in her favour.

From Alex's Puff Stuff:

"d) Melee is not binary. Puff does not beat Marth. Marth does not beat Puff. Sheik doesn’t beat Falcon. Fox doesn’t beat Peach. Why the **** are you, who has no high-level experience in any of these MUs, reducing something as hugely complex as a matchup to 1 and 0? Or 70 and 30, for that matter? Do you know, or are you just perpetuating nonsense? Even if a matchup is undeniably difficult, mindlessly repeating hearsay is harmful, actively encourages Brucing, and ******* access to actual, mechanical, and in all probability solvable issues."

Or in your case, you haven't went to an offline tourney yet sooooooooooooooooooooo

 

This article makes Zelda's outlook look not-so-bad. It is though.

To be honest a lot of that article came across as grasping at straws to say she's a "great" character.

Yeah there are some positives mentioned, but I think the negatives were also made pretty clear:

Spoiler: Zelda Negatives

Disadvantages​

Zelda is not without her flaws however. "I think she is a great character," |ven| told us. "But she just has 1 or 2 problems that really bring her down. Those problems being landing lag and ending lag. With such a light character like Zelda, the fact that any move she does leaves her open for more than 3 seconds really is a problem."

Zylach also agreed that speed is one of her biggest issues. "She has poor frame data: Her fastest move is dtilt at frame 5. She has poor movement: she is bottom ten in the game for run speed and Farore's Wind has too much lag on it to be a useful movement option unless it's ledge cancelled." Even MaXy mentioned her "mediocre speed and frame data".

Unfortunately these aren't the only weaknesses she has. Besides "lacking neutral game in a game that's very neutral heavy" as MaXy put it Zylach had a lot more to add in. "A thing that comes to mind is the fact that proper DI by her opponent can ruin a lot of her combos and kill options. Properly DI'ing dthrow makes it very difficult for Zelda to follow up on it and that's her main combo throw. Properly DI'ing Farore's Wind ribbon when she goes for her elevator combo can get the opponent out of the lethal reappear hitbox.["/quote]

"I feel like her worst match ups in the top tiers are Sheik and Pikachu. Both are very speed based characters and Zelda sadly lacks in speed so it's hard to keep up with them."

"It's not a positive matchup in the slightest for her" Zylach was sure to make clear. "But Luigi's fairly low movement speed and friction allows Zelda to keep him out a little easier.

Luigi juggles her forever and can be difficult to punish because of his superior frame data."

MaXy also mentioned Ness as a potentially decent matchup.

"I don't think Zelda is viable at a national level unless the player is ridiculously skilled and completely invested in the character." Zylach confessed. "One of the reasons for this is because her matchups with the high tiers, who are the most popular choices at the national level, are her worst matchups for the most part so she has to deal with uphill struggles almost every single game at a national tournament."

Though if Sheik remains as dominant and as popular as she is now it's gonna be a rough time.

"Zelda's approach options are mediocre

Exploit their weaknesses every opportunity you get because at a high skill level you won't get that many opportunities."

Now I'd totally like feedback if the article really doesn't feel balanced on positives and negatives but I honestly thought both were fairly mentioned. Thoughts?

Also worth noting evmaxy54 's comment is included with the full interviews linked with the article (which I linked for good reason people commenting, even more and better info is in there. Just can't fit everything into one readable post).

 

From Alex's Puff Stuff:

"d) Melee is not binary. Puff does not beat Marth. Marth does not beat Puff. Sheik doesn’t beat Falcon. Fox doesn’t beat Peach. Why the **** are you, who has no high-level experience in any of these MUs, reducing something as hugely complex as a matchup to 1 and 0? Or 70 and 30, for that matter? Do you know, or are you just perpetuating nonsense? Even if a matchup is undeniably difficult, mindlessly repeating hearsay is harmful, actively encourages Brucing, and ******* access to actual, mechanical, and in all probability solvable issues."

Or in your case, you haven't went to an offline tourney yet sooooooooooooooooooooo

It seems you didn't read my post thoroughly:

That sounds like you're saying the match up is still like............80:20 (I'm not saying that's what the actual MU ratio is or even that I would ideally use a ratio system, but that's what that comment made the MU sound like)

I don't like MUs being reduced to numbers either, I was just doing it here since I was speaking hypothetically anyway. I normally just use facts when discussing MUs, and then say who has the advantage based on that.

My point is that the article proposes that Zelda is a "great" character, yet every time we hear even a slight positive about her, it's immediately overshadowed by an even bigger negative in the article itself, such as that example with the Luigi MU saying "it's one of her better MUs", yet immediately following up with "it's not positive for her in the slightest" (which, to be frank, kinda sounds like the statement is contradicting itself at that point). If the article is trying to propose that Zelda is a great character, it didn't do a good job of it, and merely reminded us of how bad she is, with unnecessary buzz phrases like "OH BUT SHE'S STILL GREAT" being thrown in for the sake of it, almost as if in fear not to upset those who play the character (which is redundant as most people who play the character do so knowing she isn't very viable and probably have other characters they play anyway). At that point, calling her "great" is just flat out lying and beating around the bush. It would be more correct to say "Zelda is not a very viable character but a lot of people think she has nothing going for her, but she actually does have some things going for her that some talented players have demonstrated".

One doesn't need tournament experience to realise this flaw in the article, just basic reading comprehension.

 

Yeah there are some positives mentioned, but I think the negatives were also made pretty clear:


Now I'd totally like feedback if the article really doesn't feel balanced on positives and negatives but I honestly thought both were fairly mentioned. Thoughts?

Also worth noting evmaxy54 's comment is included with the full interviews linked with the article (which I linked for good reason people commenting, even more and better info is in there. Just can't fit everything into one readable post).

Oh yeah, the article definitely has a balance of positive and negative.

I just don't want it to get...misrepresented, shall we say where people will think she's balanced as a result of the notes.

Still restating that this is probably one of the best Zelda articles currently out there. Some articles in the past have no idea what they're talking about. I think actual Zelda rep changed that.

 

Zelda is great because her top tier sass makes her opponent break down crying.

 

Zelda is pretty awful to be honest. The only reason I ever play her is to cheese opponents with the elevator combo. I consider her a secondary, but I would never use her in a tournament game. So many characters do her job better. Villager is a good example. Moves that kill super early, tool for keeping space, etc. Plus he has the added bonus of less lag on most moves, better combos, and an actual neutral game.

 

I'm going to be honest, I think Zelda is a very flawed character (although funnily enough, I consider her to be the best she's ever been in a Smash game so far), but I think it's counterproductive to call her the absolute worst, at least in this stage of the game.

Every character has good things going for them in this game (I can name a really good tournament viable trait about every character in this game, including Zelda), so it's hard to really rank the bottom half of the cast right now due to relative scarcity in the competitive scene and unexplored potential. The added pessimism of the users themselves on this site doesn't help things either.

We simply need more time and more players dedicated to making the character work with results backing them up. It took a while for Dr. Mario to make a strong appearance after a year of people writing him off entirely.

 

I <3 Zelda, she was my main in brawl and first main in sm4sh, but I prefer the "this character is trash, why do I even play her" school of thought than this "she's definitely national tourney viable" garbage.

She's bad, definitely bottom 5. But that's what makes her cool af.

 

It seems you didn't read my post thoroughly:



I don't like MUs being reduced to numbers either, I was just doing it here since I was speaking hypothetically anyway. I normally just use facts when discussing MUs, and then say who has the advantage based on that.

My point is that the article proposes that Zelda is a "great" character, yet every time we hear even a slight positive about her, it's immediately overshadowed by an even bigger negative in the article itself, such as that example with the Luigi MU saying "it's one of her better MUs", yet immediately following up with "it's not positive for her in the slightest". If the article is trying to propose that Zelda is a great character, it didn't do a good job of it, and merely reminded us of how bad she is, with unnecessary buzz phrases like "OH BUT SHE'S STILL GREAT" being thrown in for the sake of it, almost as if in fear not to upset those who play the character (which is redundant as most people who play the character do so knowing she isn't very viable and probably have other characters they play anyway). At that point, calling her "great" is just flat out lying and beating around the bush. It would be more correct to say "Zelda is not a very viable character but a lot of people think she has nothing going for her, but she actually does have some things going for her that some talented players have demonstrated".

One doesn't need tournament experience to realise this flaw in the article, just basic reading comprehension.

Fair enough, my b

The only one who is calling Zelda "great" is Ven, who is p well known for being a hell of a lot more optimistic about Zelda than the rest of us. I don't think Zelda is particularly good myself, but there becomes a point where all this negativity isn't getting anything done to push her meta & breeds this notion of Brucing. There hasn't been any big push for her at all except ZeRo's vid which was a p decent introduction into the discussion. There are things that need to be fleshed out like her combo game which is better than it's given credit for & which can be expanded via exploiting platforms for example

Regarding Luigi, the disagreement can be down to different ways like how we approach the MU for example, which is something that we would have to discuss about sometime.

 

I <3 Zelda, she was my main in brawl and first main in sm4sh, but I prefer the "this character is trash, why do I even play her" school of thought than this "she's definitely national tourney viable" garbage.

She's bad, definitely bottom 5. But that's what makes her cool af.

Or you can have a more optimistic attitude about it while also being realistic. You realize that Zelda isn't nationally viable, and nobody is saying she is, but you can also put unnecessary pessimism aside and push the character as much as you can. That attitude will only hold both you and the character back.

For example, I see crap about Mewtwo all the time, but I ignore negative thoughts and I push him all the time to make the character work for me. Every day I get better at him and find interesting new strategies with him all the time.

Nobody can succeed if they don't push past the initial phase.

 

As a Zelda main, the uphill struggle certainly exists, but her combo game and kill potential just makes her so damn fun.

Plus she's a magical bae who does JoJo poses.

 

I love my Zelda. I've always played her in every Smash she's in. I actually regret not using her in Brawl tournaments because I was FIERCE with her. She has some skills, but she needs a lot more in Smash 4. My biggest wish is for her throws to kill. They seem powerful, but they're really not.

 

Or you can have a more optimistic attitude about it while also being realistic. You realize that Zelda isn't nationally viable, and nobody is saying she is, but you can also put unnecessary pessimism aside and push the character as much as you can. That attitude will only hold both you and the character back.

Literally from the article we're posting on:
|ven| has a much more positive outlook. "I think Zelda is VERY viable on a national level."

I'd like to be proven wrong. Ven's gonna try to do that at G3. But playing with zelda is a constant uphill battle. She has a good punish game, she can kill early, but getting there is super difficult with predictable zoning tools, poor(ish) mobility, unsafe approaches, etc. It's okay to acknowledge that she's low tier, but like the sentiment in my last post, her flaws make it feel that much better when you do win with zelda.

 

Zelda would be alright if her Side-B wasn't always the worst move in the game.

Seriously Din's Fire is horrible and a the one thing that can easily hold Zelda back. Especially considering if she used it in the air and pretty much has her free falling.

PK Fire and Arc Fire doesn't leave you freefalling after use so why should Din's fire. And have some lagless moves as well.

Other than that, she's the best she's been in a while where at one point she was the second worst character in the game

 

I think Zelda is terrible, worst character in the game, but I like the spirit. If you think a character you like isn't represented well, then the best thing to do is pick up a controller and show everyone what you're made of.

 

ChikoLad I see three separate players giving their own opinions on the character showing a balance of her positives and negatives with one player being more positive than others. The article itself in no way is just a piece to say she's good, it's taking three opinions from separate experts and balancing them and allowing players to decide what they want from it. I'm glad to have a balance of positive and negative as it makes for a fairer analysis. It's not like Zelda lacks any positive qualities among her negatives and only highlighting her negatives would be bad biased reporting as well.

 

As a Zelda main, the uphill struggle certainly exists, but her combo game and kill potential just makes her so damn fun.

Plus she's a magical bae who does JoJo poses.

For real, if someone plays Zelda (myself included) or any other character enough to be that good with them, the struggles and disadvantages are acknowledged but definitely not enough to kill the interest in playing the character. Odds are they could care less about tiers lists as well (myself also included).

Those are the true mains.

There's always going to be someone out there who will be able to religiously give you the smackdown with multiple "low tiers."

 

As a Zelda main, the uphill struggle certainly exists, but her combo game and kill potential just makes her so damn fun.

Plus she's a magical bae who does JoJo poses.

you sir, are now my main home fry

 

Even though she apparently is bottom tier, don't sleep on her. I did this mistake and got rekt. Thought now that I know what she can do, I don't struggle as much as I used before.

 

@|ven| We are playing at Genesis (ಠ ᴥಠ)

 

ChikoLad I see three separate players giving their own opinions on the character showing a balance of her positives and negatives with one player being more positive than others. The article itself in no way is just a piece to say she's good, it's taking three opinions from separate experts and balancing them and allowing players to decide what they want from it. I'm glad to have a balance of positive and negative as it makes for a fairer analysis. It's not like Zelda lacks any positive qualities among her negatives and only highlighting her negatives would be bad biased reporting as well.

I never said Zelda has no redeeming qualities (if you've been reading my posts here, you will have seen that I've noted that she has, multiple times), but the article does feel conflicted in what it's trying to convey, making me question the point of it - is she a secretly great character that's misunderstood and under-utilised, or is she a subpar character with a few, surprising tricks up her sleeve (meaning you shouldn't sleep on her even if she isn't the biggest threat to most characters)? I would easily say the latter is the case and most people seem to be in agreement on that, but the article itself seems conflicted on what it's trying to convey. I can't tell whether or not it's trying to re-enforce my opinion, or argue against it. Maybe it's doing both, but I don't know what the point in that would be.

I honestly think the article would have been better off just focusing on the strengths of the character as analysed by experts on the subject. People are well aware of her weaknesses, maybe even too much so, hence, the common misconception that she has no strengths. Focusing on her strengths would make people focus on this new take on the character, rather than the already common idea that she has nothing going for her.

That's probably what you were actually going for but then I question why that point about the Luigi MU especially, was even included. Saying "it's one of her better MUs but it's still nowhere near a good MU", just validates the opinion people have that she has no strengths going for her, if one of her notably good MUs isn't even in her favour to begin with.

I know most of this isn't your words, but articles like this DO exist to still convey the authour's views or to make some kind of point, and in this case, I really don't know what the point is. I just fear this article will do more harm than good for the perception of the character.

 

I know most of this isn't your words, but articles like this DO exist to still convey the authour's views or to make some kind of point, and in this case, I really don't know what the point is. I just fear this article will do more harm than good for the perception of the character.

The point was fair analysis. I could have easily found tons of people to hype up Zelda, only talk about how good she is, show tons of clips or highlight reels but that would be dishonest about her as a character. Plus people would see through that VERY quickly. I prefer honest reporting even if it does mean folks don't think highly of Zelda because in the end they get real facts. Isn't that more important?

 

The point was fair analysis. I could have easily found tons of people to hype up Zelda, only talk about how good she is, show tons of clips or highlight reels but that would be dishonest about her as a character. Plus people would see through that VERY quickly. I prefer honest reporting even if it does mean folks don't think highly of Zelda because in the end they get real facts. Isn't that more important?

I edited my previous post to add "Focusing on her strengths according to experts of the character" since I forgot to include that, but I'm not saying that you should have said "she's a great character, top tier, 10/10". Just that the article should have focused on her strengths while still acknowledging they aren't on the level of other characters, which I think is fair.

The article comes across as a back and forth of two polar opposite opinions with no real stance on the matter and seemingly lacks a real point as a result (and all articles are supposed to have a defined point to convey), and like how you could have just got any old users from the Zelda boards to hype her up, if someone wants to see a back and forth between "Zelda is great" and "Zelda is not great", it's as simple as visiting an r/smashbros thread or a 4chan Smash Bros General Thread.

I'm not trying to be a douche here, just a bit of criticism.

 

Knowing how artisan Masahiro Sakurai is, I don't think it is coincidental that Zelda requires dicipline and knowing your opponents very well in order to play her to her fullest potential. I feel like it was at least partially intentional. Afterall, Princess Zelda benefits from the Triforce of Wisdom in The Legend of Zelda series. This makes her calculating, intellectual, and defensive. It's interesting how it appears these traits seem to be incorperated into Smash Bros.

I believe Zelda, when pushed to her fullest potential, can be quite competant, and I look forward to see how she developes in Smash 4's meta game. I think she may surprise us. Although I do think she'd benefit from reduced landing lag and end lag in updates. With her slow dashing speed and light weight, she really can't afford to be slow with her attacks.

I believed this but then I remembered Sakurai is the genius who came up with tripping and rage. So.....ROFL

 

i know right isnt she cute

 

I love Zelda and I'll always represent. Its sad she dropped so low on the tier list.