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Young Link Metagame Thread

Rizen

Smash Legend
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
14,887
Location
Colorado
In an effort to consolidate information here's the metagame thread. For YL's frame data click here. Click here for his hitboxes. I'll get the ball rolling.

Young Link is a very combo oriented character. He zones with projectiles to create openings then rushes in for combos. Combos are true and chains are follow up attacks that are hard to escape. The terms Fair1 or Bair1 refer to connecting the first of 2 hits then landing to cancel the 2nd; these lead to combos. Soft or Late Nair refers to the later part of the attack which has considerably less launch power than the first part. Spin attack is YL's upB.

Because every character's weight and physics are different I'm going to not use specific % values and instead say things like low, middle and high %s; high %s are around the time a character dies. As the % goes up you can connect laggier moves.

Combo starters:
Fair1 combos for a long time into ground attacks. Eventually the opponent will be popped up so low attacks like Dtilt miss but then you can kill with Usmash.
Bair1 has set knockback and always combos into ground attacks. You can turn around and attack or use an upward move like Utilt. The lower you land the hit the better it combos.
Late Nair combos to ground moves until mid %s, depending on the floatiness of the opponent. At mid %s it combos into DA or leads to a tech-chase. If the opponent misses the tech you can jab lock them.
Dtilt combos into Usmash at very low %s then aerials until very high %s. You'll want to run underneath the opponent before jumping at higher %s.
Utilt chains into its self at very low %s then combos into Nair until mid %s.
Ground Spin Attack combos (or at least chains: I've had trouble registering combos in training) to Bair until mid-high %s. It tends to send the opponent slightly behind YL.
Dthrow never combos into ground attacks but does into Nair and later Uair. Stops comboing at high %s so it's not a kill option.
Early boomerang hits combo to Usmash until mid-high %s then aerials until very high %s. You'll want to be close enough that the returning boomerang disappears into YL during the end lag of throwing it. If you're too far YL will catch it and ruin the combo. Run under the opponent to start.
Bombs combo into Usmash until high %s, then aerials. Run under the opponent.
Uncharged fire arrows chain into things like run up>SH Fair or SH another fire arrow if you're far away. I've only gotten them to true combo into jab at low %s from point blank range.

Combo extenders, these attacks can be comboed into from a landing aerial and then comboed out of:
Dtilt, land an aerial like Fair1>Dtilt>SH Nair or the like.
Ground spin attack and Utilt also work but at much more limited %s. I recommend sticking with Dtilt except maybe from Bair1, which is hard to turn around Dtilt from.

Combo enders, these finish combos (duh). Use them at the right %s for the most reward.
Low %s: Jab's YL's fastest ground move for very low %s. Nair and Uair are only 1 frame apart in starting speed, f4 and 5 respectively. Use the best for the positioning.
Middle %s: now you can start using laggier aerials like Dair f13 and Fair f14 for higher damage.
High %s: Fair and Dair are good kill moves that can be interchanged depending on if you want to launch off the side or top. Fair1 combos into Dsmash at around 90-120% but pops up too much after that. Fair1 can combo into Fsmash around 130-140% and Bair1 combos for a wider % range to kill heavyweights but this requires you not be too close or Fsmash2 will wiff. At higher %s use Usmash off landing aerials rather than combo extenders. Around 110%-130% when Dtilt stops comboing into Fair you can Dtilt>Jump UpB in the air for kills.

Even when true combos end keep pressing your advantage state with chains. Things like Soft Nair>land Dtilt>SH Nair>falling sort Nair>DA can wrack up 50%. Nair and DA are quick moves to chase opponents with.

Note: YL's close quarter combat is on the slower side except for Nair so get safe damage and put opponents into disadvantage with Projectiles and Zair.

Other moves analysis (%s based off training mode):
Jab 2.4-12ish %: YL's fastest ground attack at f6 and low risk, low reward. If you wiff, simply don't continue into the rapid jab. Don't rapid jab too long or good opponents can DI out. Dtilt's the better option unless you need a fast GTFO attack.
FTilt 14.4%: slow but hits below the stage and kills at high %s. Basically a lower risk and reward Fsmash.
Dtilt 12%: amazing low commitment poke and combo move, see above.
Utilt 9.6%: meh. Basically a low commitment but weak Usmash.
Dash Attack 13.2%: a quick side kill move at high %s. Use it to chase airdodge landings.
Fsmash 21.6% (both hits): YL's strongest kill move but it's slow and punishable. Activate Fsmash2 quickly or the opponent can escape.
Dsmash 16%, 14.7%: quick and both hits launch at low horizontal angles. Great for putting characters with poor recoveries in bad positions.
Usmash 16.8%: extremely laggy if you wiff. It's best use is as a combo finisher for big damage or out of shield vs SH happy opponents.

Nair 12% early, 6% late: fast combo breaker, high% kill move with the early hit and combo starter with the late hit.
Fair 7.2% 1st hit, 16.8% both: slow but good walling and kills.
Bair 6% 1st hit, 14.4% both: fast but weak, best used as a combo starter.
Dair 21.6% early, 18% late: the earliest hit kills earliest then the attack gets weaker as time goes on. It lasts a long time, bounces if not fast falled, and trades well.
Uair 18% early, 14.4% late: quick juggle tool but won't kill until very high %s. It can hit grounded opponents as you land.
Zair 4.8%: A low damage attack with no combo potential. It's transcendent and won't be stopped by hitboxes so use it to create space between you and the opponent as you land. Near grab-able ledge it acts as a tether recovery.

Grab: the only ground move that slides. It has better reach than YL's sword but is laggy.
Dthrow: best combo throw. Use unless the opponent's at high %s.
Fthrow: kills off the side at very high %s.
Bthrow: same as Fthrow.
Uthrow: kills off the top at very high %s. It can combo at lower %s but Dthrow has a larger range.
(All throws deal 7.2%)

Fire arrows 4.8% uncharged, 14.4% charged: uncharged they're very spammable. Use these often to zone.
Boomerang 15.8% close, 10% far, 2.4% returning: slow start but hits hard at first then comes back for a returning hit. Good for combos and controlling space.
Bombs 10.8-11.8% (depending on throw type): Zdrop to plant them, throw them up for traps, great pressure when held, renews upB offstage, throw one down to help you land, combos for a long time, breaks chains if you're holding one. These are extremely versatile and great in disadvantage. It's often safe to pull one after being launched past mid %s. They will be knocked out of the way by other projectiles or caught with attacks so be careful; they won't shield you.
Spin Attack 16% ground, 14.4% air: in the air it has really good horizontal drift for recoveries.
 
Last edited:

Pop0615

Smash Rookie
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
8
Young link has no attacks the send an opponent downwards so his main form of killing is sideways and upwards.

if a hit with a fire arrow lands and you have a bomb in your hand (which you almost always should) you can throw the bomb to keep the opponent in hitsun a little longer while you rush in to complete the combo.

Fire arrow > Bomb > Dair \ Fair \ Uair are all fairly decent kill combos that work well at high percents because the arrows and bombs have an almost fixed knockback.
 

Rizen

Smash Legend
Joined
May 7, 2009
Messages
14,887
Location
Colorado
I did some testing. Despite being "fire" arrows, they can't be absorbed by PSI Magnets. Soft bomb throws will bounce off PSI Magnet without healing Ness but smash throws blow up and heal him. G&W's bucket always reflects all 3 of YL's projectiles; the only way it will absorb bombs is if one explodes near him while he's bucketing. This makes spamming in the G&W MU much safer than if he would always absorb bombs like in SSB4.
 

DavemanCozy

Smash Photographer
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May 16, 2013
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London, ON
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CavemanCossy
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Young link has no attacks the send an opponent downwards so his main form of killing is sideways and upwards.
a bit off-topic, but I'm a bit sad they took out his d-air and d-tilt spike spots from Melee. That fire spike would've been really cool to have in this game.
 
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