Meta The Hero of the Wild - Smash Ultimate Link Metagame Thread

[JohnKnight416]

Welcome to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Metagame Thread for Link!

Anyone who mains Link and wants to learn how to play him competitively is welcome on this thread!

This thread will only be posting anything that metagame-related about Link such as Combos, Special Techniques, and Matchups.

JOIN THE LINK DISCORD
Anyone who has a Discord can join our Discord channel where all Link players get together and chat!
Discord is for FREE so if you don't have a Discord then feel free to sign yourself up for one right now!

The click the link here to join our Discord channel:
http://discord.gg/Wynbrkd

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PLEASE NOTE!
As the meta of Smash Ultimate develops, then so will this thread. Keep a lookout for any updates that are made to this thread as the game constantly changes with upcoming patches and balance changes made to the game over time. And at the same time, leading us to discovering new tricks and techniques for the Champion of Hyrule, Link!
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KNOW YOUR SMASH DATA
Want to be up to date with what stats and attributes that your character on Smash Ultimate? Visit Kuroganehammer.com and be updated with in-depth info data on every character in Smash Ultimate!
http://kuroganehammer.com/Ultimate
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Link's Frame Data spreadsheets:

All these spreadsheets were created to the people on the Link Discord channel. Credit goes to them for testing and collecting all of this data for Link on their own separate data sheets

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...GISfj7xrN921lloFn5-EybLm0/edit#gid=1532210559

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10bPf6pzVv0rlUHWlluvC3wF-GDUm_DK54sOs9c9eILw/edit?usp=sharing

 

[SaltySparker]

This is a very situational combo (still true) but under around 40% you can use a boomerang returning to reduce the knockback of a move, so you can do things such as utilt>rang return>utilt on all characters. Timing is more difficult on smaller characters/higher percents


haha first

 

[SaltySparker]

Also, Moray towers is a good stage to practice bomb jump, bc it gives you more time to see the process as well as 2 techable walls on the bottom left

 

[JohnKnight416]

Not

This is a very situational combo (still true) but under around 40% you can use a boomerang returning to reduce the knockback of a move, so you can do things such as utilt>rang return>utilt on all characters. Timing is more difficult on smaller characters/higher percents


haha first

Of course, not all of the combos showcased throughout the video are totally true. As whEo mentioned at the beginning of the video, some of these combos can possibly be avoided if the opponent has good DI.
The main purpose of posting that video was to help players be aware of what Link is capable of in terms of performing combos so that they can learn from it.

Personally, I really like the new combos that Link now has in Ultimate. Thanks to all of the new changes that he received in Ultimate, Link now has more combos that are a lot more efficient compared the combos that the combos that he had in Smash 4. And the fact that he's now much faster in Ultimate means that he much better at pulling off and executing these combos.

 

[JohnKnight416]

If you happen to watch the very end of that Link combo guide video, you'll remember seeing this particular combo

前言ってた高火力コンボ pic.twitter.com/KwcYMvFitu

— スマッシャー (@smasher5914) December 12, 2018

Let me point that out that even though this combo may seem like an infinite at first glance, it actually isn't a true infinite. The reason why is because when performing this combo, you'll eventually hit the edge of the stage when playing on a legal stage during 1v1s or in tournaments which will put a stop to this combo. Of course, one may argue that it can be done on walk-off stages that have no ledges. But such stages are banned in competitive smash and that you tend to die early whenever you're near the blast zone on a walk-off stage and get knocked towards the blast zone, hence why walk-off stages are banned in general in competitive smash.
Another thing to point out is this combo is hard to pull off and mainly works when the opponent is at ~70%. This combo is not possible to pull off at lower percents.

 

[Blade of Evil's Bane]

Welcome to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate metagame thread for Link!

Anyone who mains Link and wants to learn how to play him competitively is welcome on this thread!

This thread will only be posting anything that metagame-related about Link such as Combos, Special Techniques, and Matchups.

JOIN THE LINK DISCORD
Anyone who has a Discord can join our Discord channel where all Link players get together and chat!
The link to our Discord channel is right here: http://discord.gg/Wynbrkd
​

Here's a Link combo video to help you start off on learning how to play Link:

Shout outs to whEo for making this Link combo guide video!

Great thread btw. I'll be dropping by often, i don't have the game yet but i'm doing my homeworks on Link for now.

The combo video is awesome if i find anything else i'll post it here.

 

[JohnKnight416]

Great thread btw. I'll be dropping by often, i don't have the game yet but i'm doing my homeworks on Link for now.

The combo video is awesome if i find anything else i'll post it here.

Same here. I don't have Switch yet so I don't have the game, but I can still continue to do some research on Smash Ultimate in the meantime before I get myself a Switch and actually start playing the game.
Plus, I also know some friends on mine who do own a Switch along with Smash Ultimate game so I can gain some experience on Smash Ultimate for a bit whenever we get together to play Ultimate sometimes.

 

[Lord Renning]

I too, shoulder advancing the competitive meta of games I don't own.

 

[JohnKnight416]

I just found this sick clean Link combo and big brain edge guard with Link's Remote Bomb on Twitter.

Here is another combo for today
No projectiles involved at all

Link got so fast holy 😂#smash #link #twitch pic.twitter.com/AvJHfYzyiS

— Sillintor (@sillintor) December 13, 2018

A clip from today's stream (which is still ongoing ;) )
Link's new bombs are something else#twitch #ssbu #smash #link pic.twitter.com/LXa4UFcuD0

— Sillintor (@sillintor) December 13, 2018

Speaking of Link's Remote Bombs, I also found some dribbling setups that you can do with the Remote Bombs as Link which could come in handy for edge guarding.

One of the more practical uses of these bomb dribbling setups is using them to give you different bomb trajectories to edge guard with.#SSBU_Link pic.twitter.com/Ls17QzZTt6

— Ernest Landrito (@ernestcodes) December 14, 2018

 

[SaltySparker]

I just found this sick clean Link combo and big brain edge guard with Link's Remote Bomb on Twitter.

Here is another combo for today
No projectiles involved at all

Link got so fast holy 😂#smash #link #twitch pic.twitter.com/AvJHfYzyiS

— Sillintor (@sillintor) December 13, 2018

A clip from today's stream (which is still ongoing ;) )
Link's new bombs are something else#twitch #ssbu #smash #link pic.twitter.com/LXa4UFcuD0

— Sillintor (@sillintor) December 13, 2018

Speaking of Link's Remote Bombs, I also found some dribbling setups that you can do with the Remote Bombs as Link which could come in handy for edge guarding.

One of the more practical uses of these bomb dribbling setups is using them to give you different bomb trajectories to edge guard with.#SSBU_Link pic.twitter.com/Ls17QzZTt6

— Ernest Landrito (@ernestcodes) December 14, 2018

lol taken right from the discord #clips.

 

[JohnKnight416]

THE OFFICIAL v1.2.0 PATCH IS OUT!

Link is one of the characters mentioned in this patch that has undergone some 'adjustments'. Me and a couple of friends on The Link Discord channel are currently testing Link to see whether these 'adjustments' are been Nerfs or Buffs that have been made to Link.

Here's the link to the official v1.2.0 patch thread:
https://smashboards.com/threads/v1-2-0-patch-notes.465465/

 

[JohnKnight416]

lol taken right from the discord #clips.

I mean not everyone has Discord. It would be a shame leave those who don't have access to discord channel to be left hanging in the dark about what Link is capable of.

 

[Blade of Evil's Bane]

THE OFFICIAL v1.2.0 PATCH IS OUT!

Link is one of the characters mentioned in this patch that has undergone some 'adjustments'. Me and a couple of friends on The Link Discord channel are currently testing Link to see whether these 'adjustments' are been Nerfs or Buffs that have been made to Link.

Here's the link to the official v1.2.0 patch thread:
https://smashboards.com/threads/v1-2-0-patch-notes.465465/

Can't wait to read what you guys find out about the patch. There's probably some dataminers working on it at this very moment too.

The patch notes are incredibly vague and i wonder why, i mean one way or an other, the details of those 'adjustements' will be known and made public...

 

[JohnKnight416]

Can't wait to read what you guys find out about the patch. There's probably some dataminers working on it at this very moment too.

The patch notes are incredibly vague and i wonder why, i mean one way or an other, the details of those 'adjustements' will be known and made public...

Well at least they let us know which characters they are going to adjust which is the step in the right direction for informing us about what changes have been made. I just hope they will be a bit more informative when they release the next patch for Ultimate.

As for what we discovered so far while testing Link, he seems have only receive some bug fixes as far as we know such as the removal of the invisible bomb glitch. Of course we're not certain that was the only change that he received from this patch and that we're currently doing some further testing on him atm.

 

[Rocketjay8]

Well at least they let us know which characters they are going to adjust which is the step in the right direction for informing us about what changes have been made. I just hope they will be a bit more informative when they release the next patch for Ultimate.

As for what we discovered so far while testing Link, he seems have only receive some bug fixes as far as we know such as the removal of the invisible bomb glitch. Of course we're not certain that was the only change that he received from this patch and that we're currently doing some further testing on him atm.

But why don't they give us the full details? Like Splatoon and Arms.

 

[JohnKnight416]

But why don't they give us the full details? Like Splatoon and Arms.

I honestly don't know why. It would've been nice if they gave us the full details on this Smash Ultimate patch, but I guess Nintendo prefers to hand out patch notes to us smash players the same way as a teacher hands out a homework project to a student.

 

[JohnKnight416]

The Beefy Smash Doods has just released their video on Teching in Smash Ultimate.

Teching in Smash Ultimate is quite different compared to Smash 4.

 

[Nifubias]

Has anyone tried using boomerang to dribble? I made a really dumb setup that's essentially boomerang a bomb behind the enemy > detonate > upsmash. Detonate > upsmash is true but it only works at lower percents though, so I was wondering if someone came up with something actually useful.

 

[SaltySparker]

Has anyone tried using boomerang to dribble? I made a really dumb setup that's essentially boomerang a bomb behind the enemy > detonate > upsmash. Detonate > upsmash is true but it only works at lower percents though, so I was wondering if someone came up with something actually useful.

IZAC nair the bomb to get up on higher platforms for zoning purposes.

Leaves them only with the bottom lane route so you can boomerang them or arrow them

 

[Nifubias]

I can see how IZAC'ing can get more angles low but I'm having some trouble visualizing how it gets the bomb upwards. By the way, for people new to Link or who need a refresher, here's the smash 4 glossary. Note that jump canceling is pretty much obsolete now that dash canceling exists, and tether-related tech is pretty much gone too, because you know, Link can't tether ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[SaltySparker]

I can see how IZAC'ing can get more angles low but I'm having some trouble visualizing how it gets the bomb upwards. By the way, for people new to Link or who need a refresher, here's the smash 4 glossary. Note that jump canceling is pretty much obsolete now that dash canceling exists, and tether-related tech is pretty much gone too, because you know, Link can't tether ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Whenever I IZAC nair I get the bomb to bounce high

 

[Nifubias]

Whenever I IZAC nair I get the bomb to bounce high

Are you down-throwing the bomb? That makes more sense than if you're z-dropping.

 

[SaltySparker]

Are you down-throwing the bomb? That makes more sense than if you're z-dropping.

I get it both down throwing and with Z drops

 

[Tri Knight]

Has anyone tested or seen how safe is ground attacks are against shields with/without proper spacing?

 

[Siledh]

If you happen to watch the very end of that Link combo guide video, you'll remember seeing this particular combo

前言ってた高火力コンボ pic.twitter.com/KwcYMvFitu

— スマッシャー (@smasher5914) December 12, 2018

Let me point that out that even though this combo may seem like an infinite at first glance, it actually isn't a true infinite. The reason why is because when performing this combo, you'll eventually hit the edge of the stage when playing on a legal stage during 1v1s or in tournaments which will put a stop to this combo. Of course, one may argue that it can be done on walk-off stages that have no ledges. But such stages are banned in competitive smash and that you tend to die early whenever you're near the blast zone on a walk-off stage and get knocked towards the blast zone, hence why walk-off stages are banned in general in competitive smash.
Another thing to point out is this combo is hard to pull off and mainly works when the opponent is at ~70%. This combo is not possible to pull off at lower percents.

Stupid question, but what exactly are you doing? Down B to Z Drop with Short Hop Fair?

 

[Stryker95]

Stupid question, but what exactly are you doing? Down B to Z Drop with Short Hop Fair?

Yes, it's just repeatedly SH Z-drop FF FAir.

 

[JohnKnight416]

Here's a google spread sheet on Link's Frame Data on the current version (v1.2.0) of Smash Ultimate:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...GISfj7xrN921lloFn5-EybLm0/edit#gid=1532210559

I found some twitter messages on some Link combos that were posted around when the game first launched which I thought I should show to you guys cuz these combos make Link look really strong!

pic.twitter.com/CvJTx5xliI

— Plump (@PlumpSSB) November 30, 2018

This combo right here can also potentially act as a ledge trap set up cuz if the opponent were to do a normal get up and shield the Remote Bomb that Link Z-dropped, Link can then push them with a grab, throw them off-stage to put them in disadvantage, and then use the Remote Bomb that's right besides him to Edgeguard them.

Sick
of course the DI is horrible but it definitely kills at 65-70% pic.twitter.com/wVISIVtzat

— Plump (@PlumpSSB) November 30, 2018

This combo seems work at around mid percents and can possible kill light weighted characters at the ledge on FD the same way as it killed Fox. However, I don't know if the same can be said for heavier characters and we'll need to test to see if this is a true combo or not as DI can possibly factor in on whether or not you're able to land the last hit of the Aerial Spin Attack to get the kill.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

 

[Siledh]

Yes, it's just repeatedly SH Z-drop FF FAir.

How do you pull off the SH consistently? I am having real problems with that at the moment?

 

[Stryker95]

How do you pull off the SH consistently? I am having real problems with that at the moment?

Press the jump button very quickly. It takes practice. There aren’t really any tricks to it.

 

[Tri Knight]

Its definitely harder on a Pro controller if you're using that. Took me a while to get the hang of it. Just keep trying. You'll get the thumb speed down eventually.

 

[JohnKnight416]

Its definitely harder on a Pro controller if you're using that. Took me a while to get the hang of it. Just keep trying. You'll get the thumb speed down eventually.

Yeah. It was like that for me when I tried to SH with my Friends Pro controller for his Switch.

In the meantime, here are some more Link combos that I found on Twitter that are worth testing out.

There was a problem fetching the tweet

There was a problem fetching the tweet

If done successfully, these combos can both do at least 40% at low percents.

EDIT: Stryker95 Tested these two combos and stated that the first one isn't really true but the second one is.

 

[Siledh]

Another How to Play Link from ZeRo.

 

[JohnKnight416]

Here's a new Smash Technique that's worth experimenting on for Link

 

[Siledh]

I imagine the bomb could work partially like Luma for the grab attack.

Might be of some interest to people.

 

[SaltySparker]

How do you pull off the SH consistently? I am having real problems with that at the moment?

Its actually better visualizing (at least for me) as letting go of the jump button quickly. If you press it quickly without letting go, it either messes up timing or gives full hop

 

[Iridium]

A nice guide I found on bomb setups and such. Definitely good for explaining how to launch them a certain way.

 

[Tri Knight]

A nice guide I found on bomb setups and such. Definitely good for explaining how to launch them a certain way.

This vid taught me a couple miscellaneous things. Setting stick fo Tilt is so much better than smash attacks. Made a huge difference for me.

 

[Iridium]

Stryker95 Can you test this out to see if any variation of it is true?

#SSBU_LINK Cool training mode combo pic.twitter.com/4vdI2I9Oz9

— Sans Seraph (@Seraph_Sans) December 19, 2018

And here is a neat recovery trick, involving using the Boomerang to turn Link around in order to make it easier for the Remote Bomb to send him toward the stage.

Also...

I've seen this for a while, but yeah. Sword Beam damage really does stack onto normal f-smash damage.

Also, is this note for f-smash from SmashWiki true?

• 
  The sword itself also deals 7% more damage when Link has not taken any damage.

 

[Stryker95]

Stryker95 Can you test this out to see if any variation of it is true?

This is true on K. Rool starting at that percent. Doesn't work so well on smaller characters due to the bomb timing when falling down. The tricky part also tends to be managing to kick the bomb with the opponent on the BAir 2. This is one of those cool combos that, due to its complexity, is difficult to consistently do in actual play, so I won't dedicate time to test on various characters at various percents until I run out of other more practical things to test.

I've seen this for a while, but yeah. Sword Beam damage really does stack onto normal f-smash damage.

Also, is this note for f-smash from SmashWiki true?

• 
  The sword itself also deals 7% more damage when Link has not taken any damage.

No, that's not true. They probably just found the sweetspot and mistakenly thought the sword did more damage.

 

[JohnKnight416]

Here's this Ledge Trump setup for Link that seems like a good way for Link to kill the opponent when they're hanging at the ledge or a good way to get them offstage and setup for an edgeguard.

I could say that this is a new Link tech, and reliable@TheLinkDiscord pic.twitter.com/cjnrAoO35e

— TEW l LinkEa (@LinkEa4) December 24, 2018

Izaw just uploaded a Link combo video today guys!