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!

 

Zelda - Princess of Destiny

spoiler alert her destiny is to be forever banished to the basement

that's where we put her after BAN•ZELDA exists

 

She sucks okay

ROFL

 

i know right isnt she cute

Adorable

 

As long she has a great recovery, amazing kill potential, reliable kill setups and a way to deal with rushdown characters, she's already better than Falco.

She's about as good as Samus honestly, which is even more ironic.

 

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

This doesn't make him less or more artisan. Tripping had purpose for what Sakurai wanted Brawl to be. Having the opponent trip created a new stimulus to respond to, which makes sense in a reactionary game. Although I personally thought tripping was a poor mechanic, I understand why it was implemented.

I honestly like Rage. Like tripping it changes the environment of the battle, but at the player's own control. It encourages different, creative ways to play at high percent sand against opponents at high percent. While this is my opinion alone, I think it was a positive inclusion and contributes to the game Sm4sh is suppose to be.

 

As long she has a great recovery, amazing kill potential, reliable kill setups and a way to deal with rushdown characters, she's already better than Falco.

She's about as good as Samus honestly, which is even more ironic.

What's her answer to rushdown characters? I thought that was one of her weaknesses.

 

https://youtu.be/8MNWNCxdIvs

why can't she do this in default cricricri

 

BJN39 I still get dthrow-nair-Lkicks a lot on characters like Ike, Lucario, and all heavyweights at 0%. The article made it sound like a true combo when it's a string.

 

As long she has a great recovery, amazing kill potential, reliable kill setups and a way to deal with rushdown characters, she's already better than Falco.

She's about as good as Samus honestly, which is even more ironic.

What are her kill setups?

 

What are her kill setups?

Landing Nair to usmash, dsmash, and elevator. Dtilt to lightning kick or uair. Dthrow to uair. Bthrow can kill around 120 depending on stage position and rage. The back hit of utilt can true combo into FW reappear but it's rare to land the back hit of utilt.

 

Really glad to see Zelda getting some attention. Making points on her pros and cons as well as encouraging other Zelda mains to continue. Whether she is a good character or not, it's nice to see some encouragement and advice to continue working with her.

 

As long she has a great recovery, amazing kill potential, reliable kill setups and a way to deal with rushdown characters, she's already better than Falco.

She's about as good as Samus honestly, which is even more ironic.

... but Falco has a solid recovery, fine kill potential, acceptable kill setups, and neither are particularly great at dealing with rushdown (as far as I know)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCG8YqfzsoM&t=5m15s [Larry did not use Falco in games 1 or 2, hence the timestamp].

Falco has significantly better combo potential, leaving him able to get people to KO percents more reliably, and his uthrow leaves people in a Sheik dthrow-like situation at KO percents, while his fair is amazing at killing people offstage.

In any case, neither of them are Jigglypuff, so that's something at least.

 

"Zelda is viable"

 

Paving the way to 20SassSass, one article at a time.

 

This doesn't make him less or more artisan. Tripping had purpose for what Sakurai wanted Brawl to be. Having the opponent trip created a new stimulus to respond to, which makes sense in a reactionary game. Although I personally thought tripping was a poor mechanic, I understand why it was implemented.

I honestly like Rage. Like tripping it changes the environment of the battle, but at the player's own control. It encourages different, creative ways to play at high percent sand against opponents at high percent. While this is my opinion alone, I think it was a positive inclusion and contributes to the game Sm4sh is suppose to be.

Rage is ok. But tripping is downright stupid and is a dumb idea. No matter what he wanted Brawl to be, tripping is still a bad mechanic that should have never been implemented. Also, I dont think artisan is an adjective lol.

 

Zelda can be kind of viable if she isn't against a top tier which is 98% of competitive Smash.

 

As I have said in the past, having a character that is this bad 3 GAMES IN A ROW is completely unacceptable. As a Zelda fan, I'm sick of it. To think that she has actually been getting buffed throughout the patches and is still bad is just the nail in her coffin.

The design team either has a vendetta against her for whatever reason or they are simply incompetent enough to think she is well designed. I swear they think Din's Fire and her Lightning Kicks are borderline broken when in fact they are horrible, and they probably think Farore's Wind's strengths somehow compensate for the rest of her godawful attributes. Hell, even her custom moves suck so she can't even be improved in that respect.

The game has been out for a year now and my optimism is gone. She is definitely a bottom 5 character, possibly the worst in the game, and is unviable. She needs MAJOR buffs across the board.

 

Zelda can be kind of viable if she isn't against a top tier which is 98% of competitive Smash.

Sounds about right

 

Hey @SmasFromThePast, I do feel for you a bit at how frusterating it can be. But there is always the possibility that her strengths in 2v2 (which I've always heard she seriously shines in) as well as her better ability in FFA that are what holds her back from 1v1 buffs. As much as it stinks for us 1v1 players, there's other game modes to consider.

 

Zelda was better in doubles in Brawl than Smash 4 primarily due to the changes in Din's Fire.

 

Zelda's one of the best characters in Melee though... Just press Down B or hold A when the match is starting .

 

Lord N you are actually the worst person in the world right now REPENT ************

 

You guys say Zelda needs to be improved and I'm just sitting here struggling against Zelda players online in comparison to other characters. It's real when I have to "ragepick" my main. Guess I'm forever bad at Smash, then. LiteralGrill Since you wrote an article on a seemingly underrated character, how about Mii Sword Fighter next if it's not out of the question?

 

... but Falco has a solid recovery, fine kill potential, acceptable kill setups, and neither are particularly great at dealing with rushdown (as far as I know)?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCG8YqfzsoM&t=5m15s [Larry did not use Falco in games 1 or 2, hence the timestamp].

Falco has significantly better combo potential, leaving him able to get people to KO percents more reliably, and his uthrow leaves people in a Sheik dthrow-like situation at KO percents, while his fair is amazing at killing people offstage.

In any case, neither of them are Jigglypuff, so that's something at least.

Falco has a damage racking game and working kill moves. He's also extremely slow and is ridiculously laggy when he doesn't do a whole lot of damage. He has no kill set-ups to speak of. Fair is good, but easily predicatable and has loads of endlag. His recovery is easily interceptable.

Falco is objectively the worst character in the game since his strengths are almost nothing in comparison to his weaknesses. He is the closest thing to a bad character the cast holds.

 

Zelda is sick yo

 

I find Zelda enjoyable to play shes always been a very lackluster character, however taking advantage of her strengths and Glass Cannon potential BOOM you just took 40% on a string after a whiff.. gives her hope, but her abysmal approach options and inability to exert pressure worth respecting because she's so laggy, will always hamper her viability.

 

To be honest, I really don't believe in Tier lists. To me, it's not the 'character,' it's 'how' you play the character.

One of the unique things about Smash is the vast variety of play styles and skill. Everyone, even in dittos, plays a different style, but it's up to YOU to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your character, and develop ways to work around your character's weaknesses through practical knowledge of the character, your opponent's character, and how THEY play. Zelda is definitely no exception to this rule.

I love playing as Zelda every now and then, since to me, she's one of the more fun characters to play as. Well, I hope with what I said would shed some light on the situation.

 

I enjoy playing as Zelda, but unfortunately, those weaknesses are glaring. Being such a light and floaty character with a tall frame doesn't really help you survive very well, and while her damage racking game has slightly improved, in the end, the majority of her moveset is just moves packed with power, making combos difficult to pull off without a grab or a d-tilt.

To be honest, I really don't believe in Tier lists. To me, it's not the 'character,' it's 'how' you play the character.

One of the unique things about Smash is the vast variety of play styles and skill. Everyone, even in dittos, plays a different style, but it's up to YOU to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your character, and develop ways to work around your character's weaknesses through practical knowledge of the character, your opponent's character, and how THEY play. Zelda is definitely no exception to this rule.

I love playing as Zelda every now and then, since to me, she's one of the more fun characters to play as. Well, I hope with what I said would shed some light on the situation.

Either way, as this guy pointed out, it's really your decision on who you should main and how you play the character. Sure, there will be smashers that can overwhelm you, but don't let that change you decision. If you choose Zelda, you will have to really work around those weaknesses and try your best.




...I'm about to cause a riot, aren't I?

 

its a huge shame how the developers cant seem design Zelda properly. this is the THIRD smash bros game shes been in and shes still a mediocre character. I mean is it really that hard guys??

while I do think she is probably a bit better than we think (mainly because of nairo), Zelda is just not a well designed character and shes always been like that. I really hope I'm wrong with this, but honestly I don't think the patches can save Zelda, unless the devs put in the extra work and give her a HUGE buff.

I also feel this way with Samus, but that's another story.

 

I play Zelda for fun most of the time. It's quite rare that I use her seriously. However, I feel bad for Zelda because she really isn't good in this game despite being the second to last on the tier list in Brawl.

Honestly she really needed some buffs in this game, and she might receive some in the future, but seriously did she really need extra end lag on her foward airs, which can be hard to hit at times? Not only that, but did her projectile (Din's Fire) needed to be nerfed as well? It's already kinda bad as it is. Her up special is a good kill move that combos into itself, but it's really predictable after a few uses.

Actually, when I think about it I think Zelda needs to be buffed up more than any character at this point, but that's just my opinion.

 

Falco has a damage racking game and working kill moves. He's also extremely slow and is ridiculously laggy when he doesn't do a whole lot of damage. He has no kill set-ups to speak of. Fair is good, but easily predicatable and has loads of endlag. His recovery is easily interceptable.

Falco is objectively the worst character in the game since his strengths are almost nothing in comparison to his weaknesses. He is the closest thing to a bad character the cast holds.

Well, first things first, the only "objectively" wrong here is your statement "Falco is objectively the worst character in the game". The rankings of characters are inherently subjective and opinionated, and your assertion otherwise is inaccurate and laughable.

But Falco, laggy? Have you met his dtilt, nair, bair, or grab? Did you watch any of the video I linked above? Falco has amazing jumping prowess and two combo throws [dthrow at very low percents can combo or set up awkward situations for the opponent while uthrow combos into uair], and he can combo off dtilt into a variety of moves [and dtilt will also kill on its own, and it's a very safe move]. Similarly, bair is quite versatile and itself kills [hitting frame 4 and having rather low landing lag].

As for the claim that Falco is slow, he has probably the best vertical acceleration in the game when he jumps and high falling speed, making him exceptionally quick vertically, while his walk speed is number 10, meaning that his tilts [of which ftilt is passable and utilt/dtilt are good] can be used in neutral more than someone who might be slower [and his short hop and fall speed means he can tomahawk into them rather effectively]. His run is not much faster, but being about 41st still means over 10 characters are slower than him.

Fair being predictable doesn't mean it's easy to avoid [ledge situations can make it rather awkward, and linear recoveries struggle a great deal with it... Rosalina certainly hates being offstage and recovering against Falco, while the move can effortlessly intercept Fox, Luigi, Captain Falcon, oftentimes even Villager if they're going low], and there is also the risk of dair offstage to make airdodging an option that's hardly safe... and Falco's bthrow has the BKB to force edge situations like this even at low percents.

The worst character in the game... have you heard of Jigglypuff? The character has poor range and no real answers to simply shielding [her ability to weave around shield is usually insufficient to avoid a punish, and pound has an obscene amount of endlag], and she is even slower than Falco both running and falling, so it's a lot harder for her to land a grab to stop shielding that most of the cast. In addition to all of that, ledge mechanics make it easier than ever to get back against Jigglypuff, and she has no setups into rest, leaving her to fish for an easily shielded back air or attempt to fair train people [which doesn't work on anyone with good DI expect perhaps Ganondorf because his recovery really is that bad].

You may disagree, but I am of the opinion that Jigglypuff is much, much worse than Falco, and looking at any number of tier lists, whether you agree with them or not, will tell you that Falco may not be great, but he's certainly far from the worst character in the game. Jigglypuff and Zelda, on the other hand? Not so much.

 

Well, first things first, the only "objectively" wrong here is your statement "Falco is objectively the worst character in the game". The rankings of characters are inherently subjective and opinionated, and your assertion otherwise is inaccurate and laughable.

But Falco, laggy? Have you met his dtilt, nair, bair, or grab? Did you watch any of the video I linked above? Falco has amazing jumping prowess and two combo throws [dthrow at very low percents can combo or set up awkward situations for the opponent while uthrow combos into uair], and he can combo off dtilt into a variety of moves [and dtilt will also kill on its own, and it's a very safe move]. Similarly, bair is quite versatile and itself kills [hitting frame 4 and having rather low landing lag].

As for the claim that Falco is slow, he has probably the best vertical acceleration in the game when he jumps and high falling speed, making him exceptionally quick vertically, while his walk speed is number 10, meaning that his tilts [of which ftilt is passable and utilt/dtilt are good] can be used in neutral more than someone who might be slower [and his short hop and fall speed means he can tomahawk into them rather effectively]. His run is not much faster, but being about 41st still means over 10 characters are slower than him.

Fair being predictable doesn't mean it's easy to avoid [ledge situations can make it rather awkward, and linear recoveries struggle a great deal with it... Rosalina certainly hates being offstage and recovering against Falco, while the move can effortlessly intercept Fox, Luigi, Captain Falcon, oftentimes even Villager if they're going low], and there is also the risk of dair offstage to make airdodging an option that's hardly safe... and Falco's bthrow has the BKB to force edge situations like this even at low percents.

The worst character in the game... have you heard of Jigglypuff? The character has poor range and no real answers to simply shielding [her ability to weave around shield is usually insufficient to avoid a punish, and pound has an obscene amount of endlag], and she is even slower than Falco both running and falling, so it's a lot harder for her to land a grab to stop shielding that most of the cast. In addition to all of that, ledge mechanics make it easier than ever to get back against Jigglypuff, and she has no setups into rest, leaving her to fish for an easily shielded back air or attempt to fair train people [which doesn't work on anyone with good DI expect perhaps Ganondorf because his recovery really is that bad].

You may disagree, but I am of the opinion that Jigglypuff is much, much worse than Falco, and looking at any number of tier lists, whether you agree with them or not, will tell you that Falco may not be great, but he's certainly far from the worst character in the game. Jigglypuff and Zelda, on the other hand? Not so much.

Jigglypuff can shine a lot better than Falco, you've just gotta wait for the right player (when Serynder first showed up he was doing crazy ****, like forcing an airdodge with up throw up air and resting).

She has the tools needed to succeed; good frame data in her jab, tilts, solid smashes and a strong aerial game combined with the greatest airspeed and floatiness (fearless balloon pirates will take every opportunity to rip up recoveries.) She has above-average damage output and some kill setups, but they're very awkward which is why I emphasise "waiting for the right player". Everyone slept on Peach and then EOE's like "no please don't" and now she's candidate for A/top tier.

Her mobility is heads and shoulders above characters like Falco, and since she has a combo breaker and a zone breaker in nair/Pound; she's hardly combo food. I feel that she's lacking because of the ridiculous amount of lag her aerials have, as well as being really easy to kill, but her strengths are on the level of or just about help her stride over her weaknesses. Falco is slow combo food with a mediocre recovery, meh frame data, moves that make no sense and a situationally/near useless projectile. While his aerials are actually quite good, only his bair and up air autocancel. His jump height might be amazing, but his airspeed is just terrible.
By and large, he is just a much worse fox.

 

You guys say Zelda needs to be improved and I'm just sitting here struggling against Zelda players online in comparison to other characters. It's real when I have to "ragepick" my main. Guess I'm forever bad at Smash then

Yes

To be honest, I really don't believe in Tier lists. To me, it's not the 'character,' it's 'how' you play the character.

One of the unique things about Smash is the vast variety of play styles and skill. Everyone, even in dittos, plays a different style, but it's up to YOU to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your character, and develop ways to work around your character's weaknesses through practical knowledge of the character, your opponent's character, and how THEY play. Zelda is definitely no exception to this rule.

I love playing as Zelda every now and then, since to me, she's one of the more fun characters to play as. Well, I hope with what I said would shed some light on the situation.

It's 2015 & people still "don't believe" in tier lists WTF LMAO

#SKILLEDROYCANBEATANYFOX

 

I can't help but read the title like 'Princess........ of Dessstiny'.

 

Jigglypuff can shine a lot better than Falco, you've just gotta wait for the right player (when Serynder first showed up he was doing crazy ****, like forcing an airdodge with up throw up air and resting).

She has the tools needed to succeed; good frame data in her jab, tilts, solid smashes and a strong aerial game combined with the greatest airspeed and floatiness (fearless balloon pirates will take every opportunity to rip up recoveries.) She has above-average damage output and some kill setups, but they're very awkward which is why I emphasise "waiting for the right player". Everyone slept on Peach and then EOE's like "no please don't" and now she's candidate for A/top tier.

Her mobility is heads and shoulders above characters like Falco, and since she has a combo breaker and a zone breaker in nair/Pound; she's hardly combo food. I feel that she's lacking because of the ridiculous amount of lag her aerials have, as well as being really easy to kill, but her strengths are on the level of or just about help her stride over her weaknesses. Falco is slow combo food with a mediocre recovery, meh frame data, moves that make no sense and a situationally/near useless projectile. While his aerials are actually quite good, only his bair and up air autocancel. His jump height might be amazing, but his airspeed is just terrible.
By and large, he is just a much worse fox.

Jigglypuff barely has the tools to be even decent. Good aerial game is all she has. She dies at 70%, generally bad ground game, terrible grab game, no good options on shield.

What kill setups does she have? Atleast Falco uthrow -> uair. Where's this laggy aerials stuff coming from though? Jigglypuff has some the lowest landing and aerial lag in the game, being even better than Sheik's. Nair and Pound are not very good combo or zone breaking moves due to their startup.

Falco may not have Jigglypuff's recovery, but his frame data is still fantastic, he has actually good smashes and throws, a real kill setup, a way to deal with projectiles while also having one himself, two spikes, and an option on shield. While he still has issues, such as fairly low survivability and is still combo food, his pros outweigh his cons, unlike Jigglypuff.

 

closest thing to a joke character in smash

not everybody can be like Sheik. Don't hate

 

This is done quite well.

Zelda might not be that great, but I've seen fighters who are much worse than her. While she'll never be able to compete with the top ranked fighters, Zelda can still be viable against the lowered ranked fighters.

Basically, the things that save Zelda from being downright awful are as follows:

• A reflecting move.
• A projectile that can't be used against her.
• A long-ranged recovery that can also deal damage.
• Attacks can be quite powerful if they connect properly.
• Air speed is slightly above average.

Ganondorf is basically jealous of Zelda, as even though he has the brute strength to wipe out lightweights easily, he's heavily hindered by so many major weaknesses (one of which includes a normally poor recovery).

 

• Attacks can be quite powerful if they connect properly.

What's even better is now these moves can be relied on to connect properly, assuming you were talking about her multi-hit smashes, I mean. All of her multi-hits are very reliable as of 1.1.0, instead of the embarrassments known as pre-1.0.6 Fsmash and pre-1.0.8 Usmash.

 

Its a shame she is lacking in the important areas that can make a character great. With i few buffs, and a cut in some frames, i think she can be a strong character.

 

Rage is ok. But tripping is downright stupid and is a dumb idea. No matter what he wanted Brawl to be, tripping is still a bad mechanic that should have never been implemented. Also, I dont think artisan is an adjective lol.

No, I agree. I personally didn't like tripping, but I understand why it was implimented, and for the majority of Brawl's audience it wasn't even noticed. I'm glad random tripping was removed in Smash 4.

But artisan can be used as both a noun or adjective.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/artisan