Trouble with Link Matchup

[SaMiChi]

Ive played a few Link players who I just can't even touch because of His projectiles. If I manage to get past them, his close range attacks hit hard and wide.

I know mid range is a sweet spot for Lucas but even then, Links projectiles are still hard to go up against.

Any tips would be great. bEsides all of the rush characters, Links been giving me trouble. Thoughts?

 

[Shrug]

Boomerang:
Zair is pretty good at neutralizing boomerang. He's going to be in more lag from boomerang than you will be from zair. Plus, you can jump forward with zair and gain more stage control.

If you like being cheesy, you can reflect his boomerang with fsmash. It can give you stage control, catch Link off-guard, and even push him off the stage in some situations.

Arrows:
I've found the most success from just jumping over it. If you're far away, you can just react to him shooting the arrow.

If you're closer, you can jump while he's charging and go in to punish him. He has to let go of the arrow and wait for the arrow shooting animation before he can do anything, so you basically get a free opening.

Bombs:
You can absorb the explosions with PSI Magnet. Catching the bombs and then using them to heal yourself turns bombs into a liability for Link, and in most cases, he'll probably throw much fewer bombs after you demonstrate your ability to eat them.


Link's close-range attacks require smart use of your shield. He wants to catch you in the air with up tilt and up smash, so I would recommend staying grounded when you're close to him. This allows you to shield these moves, giving you an opportunity to beat him up. It all comes down to how well you can use your shield.

I don't have a whole lot of experience in the matchup, but this is what I have picked up from the few games I have played and videos I have seen of the matchup. Speaking of which, this video should be helpful for illustrating some of what I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftheDBNwJHU

 

[SpandexBullets]

Link is slow and you can combo him to filth. Just use more zair, pk fire and magnet.

 

[MrWhYYZ]

Also good to know, Link's fastest move is his jab which is 7 frames and OoS is 8 frames which is his JCUp-B. If you can get link in his shield you can bully the living daylight out of him because pretty much anything he does gets stuffs by your superior framedata. For example, Sweetspot Fair into D-tilt, U-air into D-tilt or even Z-air into Jab can't be stopped by anything link does that isn't blocking.

And never just Magnet the bombs. Always catch them because you can pressure Link with his own bombs. If he does something unsafe in the neutral you can JCGT into anything you want or if he doesn't, just magnet when it explodes giving you some health.
Being able to negate all of Link's Bomb pressure is the key to victory because besides Bombs his projectile game is mediocre(Boomerang) or at least very linear and easy to perfect shield. (arrows)

 

[lui3k]

dude as much as i hate it there are a few match ups such as the one w link where you have to play supper defensive and its an slow and methodical process.
with link my gameplan is as follows

perfect shield his quick shot arrows

fsmash the charged arrows and tornados back at him ( this will make the link player reluctant to spam this)

catch as many of his bombs as possible and heal with down B (you can catch them and hold downB till they explode) once you healed up a few times this will also deter the spaming of bombs

poke him with zair and pk fires till you see an opening then just do lucas things, he is pretty heavy and a fast faller so grabs are super valuable in this match up not to mention edge guarding, i usually spam Dair off stage in hopes of an early kill.

hope this helps