This comment can be said about a BUNCH of characters. Including, but (probably) not limited to, Snake, Inkling, and King K. Rool. Makes me think about how Nintendo screwed over most of the Smash Bros characters.
@@TheyCallMeIceIt’s like they can’t make a character design without having them be broken so they just add in the most basic punch/kick form of attacks
As a Link main, I appreciate this video. Another thing people don't realize is there are so many traps that Link needs to set up for him to be successful. He is mentally taxing for both players. When possible, I tend to throw boomerang out, then as a trap, I hope my opponent plays aggressive and runs into an arrow, if at higher percents, stuff like this will knock my opponent into returning boomerang and sets up for any kill option. It takes time to learn all the timing windows and thats what throws people off from playing him. Its obviously very difficult to see a meta for Link when sometimes it feels like you're the only one playing him, in a sea of top tiers that I feel Link does well against. Arrows can be used as a combo starter in certain conditions, but if you make that condition happen consistently, it just becomes a part of the arsenal. Another thing forgotten is bair 1 at least has guaranteed confirms and should not be overlooked. You need to think of it like Falcon's nair 1 which is used in a similar yet sort of budget way. One more thing is Link's ground speed is actually on par with Mario's run speed, if you foxtrot around, making him slightly faster and able to make the proper follow ups. He is a very unorthodox character and absolutely needs the time to invest in his kit. Thats probably what stops him from being in top placings in majors.
If anyone reads replies, I have a few other examples of Link tech that could be helpful to others that play Link, or those that was to try and pick him up.
@@ludgerkres.1437 I’ve been picking him up recently, definitely feels like he is reliant on you setting up a checkmate scenario with projectiles when you don’t have that much in terms of pressuring them into the bad situations to set up the situation
@@act_pink8551 Thats usually the case, sometimes it takes all three projectiles at once to get a kill. If you want some more examples of getting kills sometimes killing with arrow is the best play instead of pulling bomb. Like instead of the traditional boomerang to fair kills, you can go for grab and forward/back throw. You then follow up with an arrow for gimps or kills. Or you can use a weak arrow to bait an airdodge and go off stage to punish it. Another way to achieve this can be use of a bomb infront of the opponent, you shoot the bomb with an arrow or boomerang but very weak, opponents tend to try and parry the incoming boomerang or arrow, but since you were hitting the bomb, this reactivates its hitbox, and potentially mess up their timing. You then detonate the bomb. Another good thing to try, especially if you need a second or two break, just charge your arrow and hold it. This might force your opponent to stop and shield, it then becomes a game of chicken and if you hold and they keep shielding, you win the interaction, even if you hit or miss their shield. Because now their shield is much smaller and easier to poke. One more piece of advice is to learn precise dair autocancel windows. Works really well on stages with platforms. Like, if you are being juggled or standing on top platform of BF, you can weave through the platforms and autocancel dair if the opponent is on the platform. Mid level players will try to punish it, you them surprise them with upsmash. You can even use dair as a combo starter, its really interesting to give it a go and successfully win a disadvantage and start a combo of your own. One more idea I have for this post is if you're shielding, you have a frame 4 option out of it, which is jump, and zdrop bomb, and double jump detonate. If aggressive players don't shield you can get them to back off using this, it can surprise people as well. I have other ideas up my sleeve but I will post more if requested.
Also a Link main here! I heavily rely on boomerangs as well, with so much combo potential off the returning boomerang. Something I have noticed about his arsenal but haven't learned how to take advantage of is the ability to trip opponents with Link's arrow. A low power arrow when it hits a player on the ground has the chance to trip them. I'm usually not in close proximity when it happens, however. I think it might be a great technique to master in order to pin someone in place for a returning boomerang into kill confirm.
I honestly feel like there's a lot of untapped potential with Link. Similar to how Corrin and Byleth were long thought to not be anything above mid tier until Leo came along. I feel like Link just needs that special someone who can use him to his absolute best. Sad to say that we'll probably never see it because everyone and their mother is on the FP2 P2W train.
I agree. Even smash 4 link was considered low tier until T started beating top players with him. Ultimate link has one of the best nairs in the game. Remote bomb is stupid good. It’s good for ledge traps/ guards, pressure and the z drop stuff is broken in the right hands. His sword is just enough range for the frame data to not be that much of an issue. It also does a ton of damage. Link has no issues getting kills either.
Yeah I feel like link could be an upper tier character, maybe even best link, but the ceiling is so high that no one has really tried. I’ve been mailing link for about 6 months and still have trouble bomb recovering.
I think this is absolutely true, however, I think Link at top tier is very complicated, having to learn things like bomb tech and how to use the bomb for your advantage and neutral states (beyond just throwing it and blowing it up.) I think seeing people like T, Stillintor, and IzAw make him look very good, but he is still very slow. I think ultimately the state of the game he is simply, “not worth” learning when he is as complicated as characters like ZSS and Shulk (they have a confusing/difficult gimmick but thats just one thing, kick flip and monado arts) but just isn’t as good as them. I would love to see a top tier Link destroy the scene.
"He just doesn't have the speed to maximize the potential of his otherwise deadly offensive tools" just like that you've just summed up the biggest problem with link throughout the entire series. Poor guy just can't get a break
Can't Nintendo just ya know, up his speed? They've actually made him slower when they buffed his power.... in a game where speed dominates, so they effectively nerfed him. I hated when they gave him the new slow jumping dash attack. It is essentially now more of a finisher for setups only.
@@lonewander6772 I hate it as well, also his new bomb is cool but is even slower gameplay, his boomerang is only fast in 64, this ultimate version of link can't even juggle like melee too
@@Matanumi I encountered more Young Links than Links, because Young Link is really good at zoning. Link is more powerful but he's also kinda predicable.
Toon link can honestly be scary. I used to go to a local weekly and the top toon link in America at the time used to come in and stomp scrubs every few weeks
toon link is considered top tier in the japanese meta. the top australian player is a young link main, and there are several top n.a. players who are young link mains. i am not quite sure what you mean.
The skill ceiling for bomb is almost infinite. However I have seen more links die to trying to be funny with their bomb than I have ever been inconvenienced by it. Truly, the duality of Link.
@@MilkT0astthe only times I've ever killed myself are when attempting a panic recovery or when my right stick decided to read forward instead of downward when I tried to throw and detonate it immediately
Nope. The focus on Link being on bomb is why these tournie Links get nowhere. You need to rarely use bomb like T and focus your game on boomerang and spamming nair.
I spent so long getting okay at doing the nair and fair bomb loops becuase they're based that I realized I only played link as rushdown and had zero patience anymore lol. Definetely limited my own perspective on my options in neutral and advantage by tunneling so much on the coolest option.
I’m glad you brought out the young/toon link point. I always felt young link being in the game doesn’t help link because he’s such a better option with pretty much the same gameplay between them
Their gameplay is very different I'm really not sure what you mean. YL has melee marth syndrome where he can only kill with raw smash attacks while link doesnt have this issue. And their physics alone is also another big reason why they feel super different to play.
@@dhans9662 link gives me combo food vibes kinda, I do love his bomb set ups and gimmicks but to me he can easily get out played a lot by his movements alone
@@MsDestroyer900 I mean they both use nair alot and projectiles into combos are both a thing for them. Obviously they aren’t exactly the same but if you’re gonna play either or I feel like you might as well play YL vs Link
Funny I've never had the problem. I've been as him since the n64 so it's possible I've just adopted my own unique style of switching weapons so fast I don't allow for anyone to really pull the battle. I don't know maybe everyone me sucks? Even online I destroy people with link and ganondorf from time to time.
5:03 What? Decent range? Link's grab is like top 5 in the worst range grabs tier list Edit: checked it out now on Ultimate frame data, he's tied with Fox for the third worst grab range in the game, losing only to Ice climbers and Hero
Link has always been my switch in for when my swordie mains aren't cutting it in a matchup. I've always appreciated his zoning options being used less for damage and more to manipulate your opponent to where you want them so you can get in some heavy hits. He's an all rounder like stated in the vid but that means he can always peck at whichever weakness the opponent has as long as you can evenly match them at their strong areas. He really does well defensively against overly aggressive players unlike a lot of other projectile focused characters.
Ah two of my mains Byleth and Link I really enjoyed playing both of them because they both can easily punish opponents and have nasty combos they can pull off.
They should given him flurry rush somewhere in his move set. Or something like a jump shot with an arrow or multiples. Or what’s wrong with giving him stasis?? Like mewtwos disable. That could have been in place of boomerang because boomerangs aren’t commonly used weapons in BOTW where as the runes are used throughout the whole game.
@@dhans9662 Also, I'm sure Stasis would have been gimmicky and would have made Link WORSE. The main reason he's working right now is because he has good conversions from his boomerang into stuff like remote bomb, up-smash or F-air, otherwise is a worse Ike.
@@N12015 I wouldnt say he's a worse Ike, Ike is even slower in exchange for somewhat more kill power and a little bit of sword range. Link also has TONS more combo potential than Ike even if you exclude his boomerang.
Very true that uncovering Link's potential is very taxing for the player BUT damn is it fun to play interdemensional mind games on the opponent with the remote bomb. Ive noticed it makes some people forget how to play the game and really thats what its all about at the end of the day.
I feel like link CAN be good but it’s just easier to play a character like Roy where you hit button and get immediate results. Like many characters in ultimate, we may never know his potential.
Link main here. :) I find that Link’s niche over the other Links, and other generalists is absolutely the remote bomb. Watching T play Link is always delightfully thrilling, but it’s commonly vocalized he doesn’t develop his bomb game as much as he could. The remote bomb is incredibly versatile and offensively potent, but the element of it I appreciate is its sustained ability to control space. Not the threat of exploding (although this needs to be respected OC) but rather the bouncing remote bomb has a sustained passive hit box. Link’s trapping game is madness. Your opponent has to be mindful of hitstun WHILE also engaging Link. Bomb hitstun enables so many positive interactions for Link in neutral as the opponent has to play around and active hitbox while also engaging with Link. A bouncing bomb at ledge is often a plan death sentence. Low recoveries, obviously a z drop. High recoveries, throw bomb up. If they respect the bomb, Link gets to punish their air dodge or jump or what have you. As far as Samus being as a negative mu for Link goes, I find it to be more of a neutral. A clank with bomb neutralizes a fully charged shot. Link is one of the few characters without a reflector who can actually disregard the charge shot for the most part, both on the ground (by placing the bomb between Link and Samus) and in the air (by throwing the bomb directly at the charge shot).
The irony that Ncs Artist posted a Link related video (more impotantly, the meme in the video) 3 minutes after this one just adds icicng on the cake for me. It makes this unintentionally funnier. Also, Link (and Young Link) can do the Million Stab in Melee too.
Link absolutely suffers from smash 64’s need for archetypes, now there are so many characters that you can throw in whoever and give them an accurate playstyle to their game, unlike smash 64, where they needed zoners and rush down and a big boy heavy character to make sure everyone had a character to fit their playstyle, so it doesn’t matter that link is a sword fighter first, in smash that comes second, unlike a modern character who gets their playstyle built around their base game and is the top priority
Link has always been more about projectiles than sword fighting. Strong but highly telegraphed/mobility limited sword attacks as finishers, arrows, boomerang, bomb, hookshot, etc. to set it up. In the first game especially you never get up close to an enemy with your sword if you have the option to throw out a sword beam instead, since it's the same damage properties and is safer...and so long as you're not injured, you have the option. "Worthy opponent fights" to Link even in more swordplay focused titles like Ocarina of Time are more about baiting the enemy into opening up, stunning him with some other tool like a Deku nut or hookshot, then hitting hard with a powerful attack during the stun phase. From Wolfos to Stalfos to Lizalfos to literally any of the bosses. A more accurate Link would be more mobile and more projectile/trap focused.
Raiden i agree, Links design was only understandable in melee and 64, brawl shoulda reworked his whole kit and added twilight moves and different character stats but they didn't, instead of smash 4 fixing that issue and reworking link to be like skyward, they just made hd failed brawl link, and the most dissapointing of all, Botw link, from a game that reworked zelda link gameplay, to Be another Hd modded version of smash 4 link, it got more dissapointing after each entry, hero the dlc character is more accurate to botw link, overtime i started to hate ultimate, project M is fine
Finally, a Link video. I used to main him as he's my favorite character, but unfortunately he's not great and I cannot use the bomb to nearly its full potential
Proud to have over 2,000 hours with Link. I don't agree with everything in the video but definitely agree with other parts. Some honourable mentions that i think are worth pointing out - using bomb in neutral to zone out entire areas of the stage. The fear this instills in people is great at forcing a reaction, keeping you on the front foot. That plus the multiple different angles you can send it flying keeps it extra versatile. Uncharged arrows a GREAT for combo extending, disrupting and keeping people occupied whilst you press an assault. Especially mid air. I'm throwing jab in here too. Its speed, combo potential (have to be fast) after second jab and / or distance it throws on the third hit are all great setups for the rest of links moves. Great to follow up with any projectile, any tilt, dash or smash. Especially if you can trigger the reset. Lot of love for Link!
I think it is very disingenuous to state that frame 9 and 10 are "fast" out of shield options. In a game where similar archetypes have amazing oos: Samus has a frame 4 oos option, Simon has a frame 6 and even Villager/Pac Man has frame 6 OOS (with nair), Link as a below average OOS game in terms of speed. Furthermore, a lot of characters have moves that are way safer than -9 on shield, so the usability of these moves out of shield is far less in a competitive setting than your video leads us to believe. At the higher echelons of play, you''ll never see a move that is -9 on shield. The examples you used to punish with Link's oos in the video are so egregiously bad that I'm not sure what the point of them were, if those moves were landed and spaced properly then Link would've had no shot at punishing them. He is actually very weak against shield pressure from rushdown characters because how are you supposed to deal with a Roy mashing a -4 fair on your shield or Fox. Even characters who are less rushdown but can poke safely, like or Palu with a -5 fair or Squirtle with a -6 FTilt. I also feel you missed a key point in that his frame data is incredibly slow across the board and his kill moves are egregiously slow. His "faster" moves like nair (frame 7), bair and jab (also frame 7) aren't even that fast despite their range (Lucina has a comparable jab but is a whole 2 frames faster) don't kill but his slower moves that kill, like FTilt, fair etc. are really slow with only passable range. Frame 16 for FTilt and fair is not going cut it when a lot of other archetypes can just hit him first in an air to air situation.
I’ve played Link for over 20 years. What started as a love for the character became my main throughout the series until Cloud debuted. My problem with him now is that I’m fighting 20 years of muscle memory and cannot get over the lack of tether grab, slow dash attack (although that’s been a staple for a while since melee), and remote bomb. I know the bomb has better utility now, but my brain isn’t in learning mode anymore. Young Link’s moves feel right, but he’s just a very nerfed version of what I’m used to. Sadly, Link is now in my back pocket as an awkward secondary. I can still win, but it’s not the same anymore.
Idk I adopted very quickly and I have been played just as long since the n64. If anything I got a aloooot deadlier. Using bombs to pull people in and even lunch myself, the longer sword allows me to combo like a monster and he's slightly faster now and that's a huuuge buff for me. Idk maybe my brain works in a weird way when i play link. I lunch items and force them in close then I use his long sword to force them in mid them I pummel them items forcing them back to close. I have weakspots with a fast fighters but when I get launched I leave bombs or arrows in my wake so when I come back i got room. That I don't recover so they they think they I got me and I mid air down smash, fun fact at the right Frame it has a one hell of a down spike. They never see it coming as they don't know link can do that lol.
Exactly!!! Hate the dash attack. Hate the remote bomb. He's slower than ever. And now my fifteen years plus of muscle memory is SHOT and I need a new main 😂😢
His grab is better than tether, boomerang is better than a dash attack, and remote bomb kills at high percents. He's the best version of Link in 20 years.
As a link main, I can tell you that there is at least one person who still plays link. Love the versatility of his specials, the movement and setups with the bombs, and his aerials and normals. I’m a huge fan of Jack of all trades characters in fighting games who benefit from having good fundamentals and find success through reading your opponent. Really fun character, been playing him since brawl 😊
Of the three links, Regular is the one I have the hardest time with. He's too slow, the lack of hookshot for tether recovery hurts, and his bomb his too troublesome to mess with beyond the most basic uses. Yink and Tink just make more sense to me, Tink especially. Might actually try maining him
I remember playing link in Melee and just spending hours messing with the boomerang and bomb until I could just combo the mess out of anyone. The Back air in that game was great for ledge guarding and aerial combos. Also the immediate frame of the neutral air was killer for spacing and such
Why I don’t play link: - having mained him in every game, this version simply doesn’t feel like link. Without his signature hookshot and bombs this is really a different character. - His moveset feels so heavy and slow that he just doesn’t have the same appeal as he did in his previous versions. - Having to detonate bombs is cumbersome and while having this type of bomb is unique, it’s just too difficult to master and rely on. - Sometimes your bomb is just stuck on the other side of the stage leaving your resource in the hands of your opponent. He is definitely strong but he is not underrated. I think he is perfectly rated right where he belongs. Not strong, not weak, just mid.
It's kinda been Link's lot in life throughout his Smash career is being a weirdly technical, high skill floor character _that also sucks_ ... Why do they do him like this man!!
Another big change for Link in Ultimate was his lack of a tether grab. Between this and me not being sure how to use the new bomb at first, I had to drop him after 4...first time in the series for me. I miss that grab range 😑
Gotta say as a pit main, pits arrows do a lot to make up for his mobility issues, it just takes a lot of practice. You can chase people down and keep pressing advantage with them if you’re accurate
Nice on explaining why Link is such a terrible zoner. As a Link main I've been explaining this for years. He can get out zoned by almost everyone that has 1 or 2 projectiles. Although with Sword beam he's a pretty good threat. Everyone that complains about Wifi zoner Link. Get better then you can play with the cool Links because you don’t get to high GSP playing as a zoner.
Link's meta has developed around the bomb, and the bomb really just isn't a good neutral tool. It should be used for ledge trapping and edge guarding, not in neutral. High Level players negate bomb in neutral. The patch that changed his down tilt launch angle gave him new combo routes and those are not being utilized.
God, it really sucks how many characters aren't considered good enough to pick up and play due to speed problems. Link, Incineroar, Kirby, and others, aren't able to tap into their potential because they aren't fast enough, and don't have much to compensate for their lack of mobility.
His projectiles are so fucking slow. He got almost no buffs whatsoever over all the patches. Even byleth got a speed buff. I swear he only got five buffs and almost all were buffs given to the whole cast 😢
He’s not a bad character but he feels very bad in many matchup when his lack of speed mobility drags him down People keep saying there’s “potential” but like let’s be realistic he’ll always be an inconsistent character with glaring weaknesses which is why people don’t have patience to play him on top level competitive to unlock the “magic” win potential
The Remote Bomb is such a fantastic tool. This is the most creative version of Link that he's even been in this series. I wish that there was less lag on Link detonating it so he can make follow ups much faster.
this version of link was the most lazy designed, the game hes from, thats a creative link, and then in ult they keep him the same as smash 4 with a few differences, instead of making him accurate to botw
I have a hard time against Pit. They can bounce projectiles back. They’re faster and can combo you repeatedly. They just spam roll to dodge. It’s all speed advantage and basically unhittable
Against someone he can outpace or keep distance against, Link's bomb and other projectiles can make him borderline unstoppable. Against someone who can rush him down or who's too small to be hit by his normals, it's a fucking nightmare. Also, i could've SWORN he had the rapid jab in Melee.
Kaido's fruit is the Fish Fish Fruit - Model Azure Dragon in reference to a japanese fable about a carp climbing a waterfall and becoming a dragon. Gyarados/Magikarp from Pokemon is a similar reference
Great video , however you didn't mention an important factor : he is mentally exhausting to play with the many set up he needs to do + the hard excusion for many of his deadly chains/loops.
"Contrary to the Zelda games where he's seen as being quite nimble" Huh? He couldn't jump at all until Ocarina of Time and in all titles where he can jump it's always just a little hop, and he's never ran particularly fast. Link is consistently strong, tough, and with a set of tools that would rival Batman, but he's never been particularly agile. Smash represents him well in this regard.
New bomb sucks so bad. They should have moved towards making him a mix of old Link with young Link. Better killpower, faster projectiles, and more combo potential would have been so much better than just removing gale boomerang and giving him botw bombs.
i’m a link main and having him in ur back pocket is underrated, can zone out tanky characters as well as use your speed over them and underrated kill power to win, he also is solid against short ranged brawl types as his sword disjoint wins most clashes, i like to think of link as the swiss army knife he can compete with anyone but i treat him like martin and try to avoid letting people get close to the hilt to your sword as this is the no zone and you should not allow people to be in kissing range
Link is just outclassed in everything he does. Link is a complex trapper but so is Young Link who is faster and can get more out of his weapons despite BotW Link's doing more damage. Or if you want to go full 4D Chess just choose Snake who does the entire power angle trapping game a mile better than Link. Boomerang not having some anti-shield property really kills Link's game. If Boomerang forced longer shield stun while not being forced back on block it would be soooo much better for Link to carve his own identity.
You basically covered my problems with playing Link. He has strong tools but not enough to force a gameplan, he has to play around other’s game plans and find openings. This bait and punish playstyle is harder to do on a slow character when there’s characters like shiek ZSS or even Paisy that have better mobility and frame data to micro space. His nair and bair are strong but can be made harder to use with proper counter play and his projectiles have slow start up making it easy to react to. I fell in love with Link’s remote bomb in the beginning and his jack of all trade attribute. however a lot of Link’s tools in various scenarios that I’ve enjoyed people would avoid as they understood the Link MU better. This leads to the normal Plan A gameplan not being effective and his tools for his Plan B without bomb like empty hop grabs being more exploitable and vulnerable as well as more limiting from using his other tools like fair. A lot of the bomb combos require really precise inputs that require good fundamentals to find proper openings unless you fish for the combos but his fundamental playstyle can be frustrating with his tools
exactly, overtime my passion died down and it didn't help that i versed people who were very good in the match up along with analysing the lack of creativity in the kit design, just playing ult link feels bad, i used to love it in the passed
Do you have like a list on potential characters to get their own why nobody/everybody plays? Would be interesting to see what other fighters we would see in future videos
I think Samus is a worthy participant of "Why everyone plays". He covered ZSS so it's worth including a top 10 fighter in terms of usage despite only being a high tier. An example of "Why no one plays" could be Lucina, a swordie everyone says is high/top tier yet is quite unpopular compared to her theoretical power, probably because of bland moveset.
he probably does but for zoners it'll start to get repetitive, they're broken on wifi, they have really safe projectiles for no reason, and they can hold their own in CQC
@@grimsdol4665 And then there's Samus, the half-zoner who is top 10 in popularity and has top level representation, specially in europe due to Quik and Sisqui (The best spanish player; not confuse with best hispanic player who goes to MkLeo and Sisqui is only 4-5th because yes, Spain is a hispanic country as well, and apparently more competitive than Europe overall). Why? Because she has clear and effective goals depending of range and positioning; she is good at outboxing most Zoners/Swordies and outzoning brawlers/Trappers (again, half-zoner), so there's no range you're confortable going against wehre she struggles, just a Zone where you can play better, similar to R.O.B and Snake in that regard, other very popular characters.
I used to be a Link main back in smash 4. I played him purely because Zelda is my favorite video game series, despite his clear shortcomings. I tried maining him in ultimate at first, but i had a tough time wrapping my head around the new bombs and the lack of a hookshot wasn't really all that appealing to me. Plus twilight princess Link just straight up looks better in my opinion. Glad Young Link made it in, definitely wanted to main him, but his shorter range made it difficult for me to play him as well. I've been sort of in main limbo ever since the game came out. I have a rotation of characters I like to play, but can't say I main any of them definitely. Closest would probably be Snake, because Snake is fun to play and I love MGS3 (so glad about that remake btw).
My favorite link design is melee, he just looks perfect and the reskins especially black are awesome, i hate smash 4 link, beautiful artwork but the model looks really strange to me, nice in brawl although colourless, ultimate did a horrible job of representing botw link, I only like dark link and even then smash 4 dark link and botw dark link look better
@@IIIISai oh dude, same. Ocarina of Time Adult Link is the best Link design by far, unless you count Fierce Deity. Would've been awesome to see them bring that design back to match Ganondorf, but I suppose young Link will have to do. I remember some people saying the Zelda characters looked kinda off in smash 4, and I can kinda see it. But the twilight princess design far exceeds the botw design any day of the week imo
@@azeplays3563 Oh thats a fair assessment, twilight is more gritty and dark, and yea link is the stud, the chad in that game while botw is more baby faced, and ocarina is more neutral, masculine but not gritty, that's why i like him, also his hairstyle is beautiful, but i agree with u that twilight> botw, botw is nice but looks like links younger self, not young link but he definitely seems younger, his hair and eyes are nice, although his definitely outfit is whatever, but desert voe armour, that outfit looks so clean on botw link, I would put oot and Twilight on S tier, and Botw on A tier, im not a fan of tears of the kingdom link design but its fine, anyways if i were to mod my switch and mod smash link, I would get twilight, he has my fav voice
As a causal player and before watching the video, I'ma say because he's taller than the other Links without really having any advantages, except Remote Bombs those are pretty good.
Being slow is what really hurts link, as a link main myself i'm often found in situations where i get a hit and a follow up would be possible. But due to link's speed i can't get close fast enough to hit my opponents, which is something faster fighters don't have to care about
Is more that he's SLOWER than the other Links without really having any advantages, except maybe remote bombs who are quite telegraphed. Toon Link is a trapper with good physics and average conversions, while Young Link is a trapper with average physics and good conversions; Link on the other hand is a Zoner with bad physics and inconsistent conversions, and I would say the worst Link.
@@N12015 TL isn't all that good either. The fact that his arrows push backwards instead of up makes him completely reliant on just zoning like belmonts. YL is the best link but suffers from Marth syndrome which is his biggest downfall.
😂 Link has ALWAYS been my character, I used to win tournaments with him. I do t understand why no one else uses him, his long range and powerful short range plus sheer reach with the sword, and lastly the hook shot make him the most perfectly balanced character in my opinion.
@@mercury2157 I can't speak for the newest edition on super smash, but for the original and melee that wasn't the case. Maybe in the hands of an inexperience link user, but again I used to win tournaments. I was so op with link I could take on 3 of the best players I knew all at the same time and I would almost never lose a life. Everyone's different tho, and again I'm not sure how his speed and avoid abilities in the current gen or even more importantly the competition how it's changed or the new characters they've added so u may be right.
Too honest. He has nothing to leverage to really control a match, and while his recovery is great for raw distance covered, I can hardly think of a harder "PLEASE spike me!" recovery in the game. Also, specifically, side B has some mechanical issues. It needs to not trigger the attack when it hits a projectile, otherwise we have the mind breaking issue where a move that both has armor and reflects projectiles somehow loses to most projectiles Probably the single best character in the game for getting gud with tho If you beat someone with Pit, that was all you
It would be fun to split this series into a why no one/ why everyone plays at either local or major level. I know there's some characters with massively inverse proportions, one way or the other.
I always play link. I can't tell you how often my brother and I played 6hour or more a sitting. That was the n64, the best one imho melee/brawl the one thing I cant reconsile is how heavy they made link. It's like they gave him drum-brakes, and took away his jump-fly ability. I LOVED to throw a bomb straight up, then through a boomerang diagonal up in the direction of an approaching adversary. As the closed on me, with me backing up the boomerang would hit them from behind and then the bomb would drip on them and I could power slash them out of bounds
They need to make the different Links more unique. Each one comes from a different Zelda game that are all quirky and filled with different items and powers. Toon Link should scream Windwaker whenever you play him, but he comes off as a clunkier Young Link.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
It feels _weird_ for someone with a huge pile of weapons all over him to have _kicks_ be two of his strongest attacks.
This comment can be said about a BUNCH of characters. Including, but (probably) not limited to, Snake, Inkling, and King K. Rool. Makes me think about how Nintendo screwed over most of the Smash Bros characters.
@@TheyCallMeIceIt’s like they can’t make a character design without having them be broken so they just add in the most basic punch/kick form of attacks
But like think about it tho, he carries ALL his weapons at all times; he's like Rock with the weights.
As a Link main, I appreciate this video. Another thing people don't realize is there are so many traps that Link needs to set up for him to be successful. He is mentally taxing for both players.
When possible, I tend to throw boomerang out, then as a trap, I hope my opponent plays aggressive and runs into an arrow, if at higher percents, stuff like this will knock my opponent into returning boomerang and sets up for any kill option. It takes time to learn all the timing windows and thats what throws people off from playing him. Its obviously very difficult to see a meta for Link when sometimes it feels like you're the only one playing him, in a sea of top tiers that I feel Link does well against. Arrows can be used as a combo starter in certain conditions, but if you make that condition happen consistently, it just becomes a part of the arsenal. Another thing forgotten is bair 1 at least has guaranteed confirms and should not be overlooked. You need to think of it like Falcon's nair 1 which is used in a similar yet sort of budget way.
One more thing is Link's ground speed is actually on par with Mario's run speed, if you foxtrot around, making him slightly faster and able to make the proper follow ups. He is a very unorthodox character and absolutely needs the time to invest in his kit. Thats probably what stops him from being in top placings in majors.
If anyone reads replies, I have a few other examples of Link tech that could be helpful to others that play Link, or those that was to try and pick him up.
Such is the life of mid tiers, having to do more to reach similar results as with high tiers.
@@ludgerkres.1437 I’ve been picking him up recently, definitely feels like he is reliant on you setting up a checkmate scenario with projectiles when you don’t have that much in terms of pressuring them into the bad situations to set up the situation
@@act_pink8551 Thats usually the case, sometimes it takes all three projectiles at once to get a kill.
If you want some more examples of getting kills sometimes killing with arrow is the best play instead of pulling bomb. Like instead of the traditional boomerang to fair kills, you can go for grab and forward/back throw. You then follow up with an arrow for gimps or kills. Or you can use a weak arrow to bait an airdodge and go off stage to punish it.
Another way to achieve this can be use of a bomb infront of the opponent, you shoot the bomb with an arrow or boomerang but very weak, opponents tend to try and parry the incoming boomerang or arrow, but since you were hitting the bomb, this reactivates its hitbox, and potentially mess up their timing. You then detonate the bomb.
Another good thing to try, especially if you need a second or two break, just charge your arrow and hold it. This might force your opponent to stop and shield, it then becomes a game of chicken and if you hold and they keep shielding, you win the interaction, even if you hit or miss their shield. Because now their shield is much smaller and easier to poke.
One more piece of advice is to learn precise dair autocancel windows. Works really well on stages with platforms. Like, if you are being juggled or standing on top platform of BF, you can weave through the platforms and autocancel dair if the opponent is on the platform. Mid level players will try to punish it, you them surprise them with upsmash. You can even use dair as a combo starter, its really interesting to give it a go and successfully win a disadvantage and start a combo of your own.
One more idea I have for this post is if you're shielding, you have a frame 4 option out of it, which is jump, and zdrop bomb, and double jump detonate. If aggressive players don't shield you can get them to back off using this, it can surprise people as well.
I have other ideas up my sleeve but I will post more if requested.
Also a Link main here! I heavily rely on boomerangs as well, with so much combo potential off the returning boomerang. Something I have noticed about his arsenal but haven't learned how to take advantage of is the ability to trip opponents with Link's arrow. A low power arrow when it hits a player on the ground has the chance to trip them. I'm usually not in close proximity when it happens, however. I think it might be a great technique to master in order to pin someone in place for a returning boomerang into kill confirm.
I honestly feel like there's a lot of untapped potential with Link. Similar to how Corrin and Byleth were long thought to not be anything above mid tier until Leo came along. I feel like Link just needs that special someone who can use him to his absolute best.
Sad to say that we'll probably never see it because everyone and their mother is on the FP2 P2W train.
I agree. Even smash 4 link was considered low tier until T started beating top players with him. Ultimate link has one of the best nairs in the game. Remote bomb is stupid good. It’s good for ledge traps/ guards, pressure and the z drop stuff is broken in the right hands. His sword is just enough range for the frame data to not be that much of an issue. It also does a ton of damage. Link has no issues getting kills either.
nah corrin is still mid
Sillintor's Link does things my brain can't even begin to comprehend.
Yeah I feel like link could be an upper tier character, maybe even best link, but the ceiling is so high that no one has really tried. I’ve been mailing link for about 6 months and still have trouble bomb recovering.
I think this is absolutely true, however, I think Link at top tier is very complicated, having to learn things like bomb tech and how to use the bomb for your advantage and neutral states (beyond just throwing it and blowing it up.) I think seeing people like T, Stillintor, and IzAw make him look very good, but he is still very slow. I think ultimately the state of the game he is simply, “not worth” learning when he is as complicated as characters like ZSS and Shulk (they have a confusing/difficult gimmick but thats just one thing, kick flip and monado arts) but just isn’t as good as them. I would love to see a top tier Link destroy the scene.
"He just doesn't have the speed to maximize the potential of his otherwise deadly offensive tools" just like that you've just summed up the biggest problem with link throughout the entire series. Poor guy just can't get a break
As a Link main since the 64, I feel this.
Can't Nintendo just ya know, up his speed? They've actually made him slower when they buffed his power.... in a game where speed dominates, so they effectively nerfed him. I hated when they gave him the new slow jumping dash attack. It is essentially now more of a finisher for setups only.
if link was fast, he can follow up after back air at high percent and do up air bruh, WHY IS HE SO SLOW 😂
@@lonewander6772 I hate it as well, also his new bomb is cool but is even slower gameplay, his boomerang is only fast in 64, this ultimate version of link can't even juggle like melee too
@@lonewander6772 his dash attack is so painfully bad it causes me pain when i mis-input and use it
Why No One/Everyone Plays: Toon Link and Young Link
Don't SOME people play young link?
@@Matanumi I encountered more Young Links than Links, because Young Link is really good at zoning. Link is more powerful but he's also kinda predicable.
I love toon link and Young Link. Adult link never hit right for me in ultimate
Toon link can honestly be scary. I used to go to a local weekly and the top toon link in America at the time used to come in and stomp scrubs every few weeks
toon link is considered top tier in the japanese meta.
the top australian player is a young link main, and there are several top n.a. players who are young link mains.
i am not quite sure what you mean.
The skill ceiling for bomb is almost infinite.
However I have seen more links die to trying to be funny with their bomb than I have ever been inconvenienced by it.
Truly, the duality of Link.
Yeah. The bomb potential is ludicrous.
But every link i fight ends up killong themselves more than not.
@@MilkT0astthe only times I've ever killed myself are when attempting a panic recovery or when my right stick decided to read forward instead of downward when I tried to throw and detonate it immediately
Nope. The focus on Link being on bomb is why these tournie Links get nowhere. You need to rarely use bomb like T and focus your game on boomerang and spamming nair.
I spent so long getting okay at doing the nair and fair bomb loops becuase they're based that I realized I only played link as rushdown and had zero patience anymore lol. Definetely limited my own perspective on my options in neutral and advantage by tunneling so much on the coolest option.
I’m glad you brought out the young/toon link point. I always felt young link being in the game doesn’t help link because he’s such a better option with pretty much the same gameplay between them
Their gameplay is very different I'm really not sure what you mean. YL has melee marth syndrome where he can only kill with raw smash attacks while link doesnt have this issue. And their physics alone is also another big reason why they feel super different to play.
@@MsDestroyer900 I havent played this game yet whats the diffference between young link and toon link gameplay wise?
Link will always be better imo, YL may be faster and better at zoning but Link has all of the combo potential, kill power, and handsomeness
@@dhans9662 link gives me combo food vibes kinda, I do love his bomb set ups and gimmicks but to me he can easily get out played a lot by his movements alone
@@MsDestroyer900 I mean they both use nair alot and projectiles into combos are both a thing for them. Obviously they aren’t exactly the same but if you’re gonna play either or I feel like you might as well play YL vs Link
I have 1,000 hours with link. This is very accurate. Link cannot control the pace of a game. It makes some matchups unbearable. Great video.
Jesus lmao
Same
After brawl and up, links moveset wasn't cared for, it was only cared for in 64, and melee
Funny I've never had the problem. I've been as him since the n64 so it's possible I've just adopted my own unique style of switching weapons so fast I don't allow for anyone to really pull the battle. I don't know maybe everyone me sucks? Even online I destroy people with link and ganondorf from time to time.
@@IIIISai The reason Link is slow is because we have Toon Link for the faster option. While Link trades speed for power.
5:03 What? Decent range? Link's grab is like top 5 in the worst range grabs tier list
Edit: checked it out now on Ultimate frame data, he's tied with Fox for the third worst grab range in the game, losing only to Ice climbers and Hero
Vars is known for really dumb shit like this sometimes
Links grab works just fine, it's easy to consistently get grabs.
@@dhans9662LMAOO Link’s grab is trash
I dont understand why Vars did not cover Links grab being bad, and add to that how slow he is, it is one of his biggest weaknesses…
@@JuanCarlos-vq1cj Its only bad to you because it doesnt go across half the stage this time. At least now there isnt 40 frames of endlag.
Link has always been my switch in for when my swordie mains aren't cutting it in a matchup. I've always appreciated his zoning options being used less for damage and more to manipulate your opponent to where you want them so you can get in some heavy hits. He's an all rounder like stated in the vid but that means he can always peck at whichever weakness the opponent has as long as you can evenly match them at their strong areas. He really does well defensively against overly aggressive players unlike a lot of other projectile focused characters.
Ah two of my mains Byleth and Link I really enjoyed playing both of them because they both can easily punish opponents and have nasty combos they can pull off.
Everytime a Smash titles comes up there is aways some hype on Link. "Maybe this time Link shall be good?". But everytime he is either bad or average.
Meanwhile zelda mains just pray she isn't ass again
@@gameboyn64 Lol Casual Zelda with Smash Meter go BURRRRR
They should given him flurry rush somewhere in his move set. Or something like a jump shot with an arrow or multiples. Or what’s wrong with giving him stasis?? Like mewtwos disable. That could have been in place of boomerang because boomerangs aren’t commonly used weapons in BOTW where as the runes are used throughout the whole game.
Because Link is one of the original 12 characters so his redesign had to be almost completely identical
@@dhans9662 Also, I'm sure Stasis would have been gimmicky and would have made Link WORSE. The main reason he's working right now is because he has good conversions from his boomerang into stuff like remote bomb, up-smash or F-air, otherwise is a worse Ike.
@@N12015 I wouldnt say he's a worse Ike, Ike is even slower in exchange for somewhat more kill power and a little bit of sword range. Link also has TONS more combo potential than Ike even if you exclude his boomerang.
So fucking based
What they should done is parries should slow time for a bit just enough to make punishing easier like it does in botw
Very true that uncovering Link's potential is very taxing for the player BUT damn is it fun to play interdemensional mind games on the opponent with the remote bomb. Ive noticed it makes some people forget how to play the game and really thats what its all about at the end of the day.
I agree got the game 1 month ago and his one of my top 5 characters I use in battle. Then again I learned his move set, and know the in and outs.
I feel like link CAN be good but it’s just easier to play a character like Roy where you hit button and get immediate results. Like many characters in ultimate, we may never know his potential.
Yeah...That's pretty much any mid tier fighter.
@@mr.kennedyt7351 nah there’s no potential nowadays, the character is a shitty low tier tbh 💀
Link main here. :)
I find that Link’s niche over the other Links, and other generalists is absolutely the remote bomb. Watching T play Link is always delightfully thrilling, but it’s commonly vocalized he doesn’t develop his bomb game as much as he could.
The remote bomb is incredibly versatile and offensively potent, but the element of it I appreciate is its sustained ability to control space. Not the threat of exploding (although this needs to be respected OC) but rather the bouncing remote bomb has a sustained passive hit box. Link’s trapping game is madness. Your opponent has to be mindful of hitstun WHILE also engaging Link. Bomb hitstun enables so many positive interactions for Link in neutral as the opponent has to play around and active hitbox while also engaging with Link. A bouncing bomb at ledge is often a plan death sentence. Low recoveries, obviously a z drop. High recoveries, throw bomb up. If they respect the bomb, Link gets to punish their air dodge or jump or what have you.
As far as Samus being as a negative mu for Link goes, I find it to be more of a neutral. A clank with bomb neutralizes a fully charged shot. Link is one of the few characters without a reflector who can actually disregard the charge shot for the most part, both on the ground (by placing the bomb between Link and Samus) and in the air (by throwing the bomb directly at the charge shot).
And he also has the hylian shield! (For samus and projectiles in general)
Dude I found your channel a few weeks ago and was looking for this video in ur catalog. Sick! Now I watch.
And the boomerang wave bounce thing catches people off guard all the time
The irony that Ncs Artist posted a Link related video (more impotantly, the meme in the video) 3 minutes after this one just adds icicng on the cake for me. It makes this unintentionally funnier.
Also, Link (and Young Link) can do the Million Stab in Melee too.
Link absolutely suffers from smash 64’s need for archetypes, now there are so many characters that you can throw in whoever and give them an accurate playstyle to their game, unlike smash 64, where they needed zoners and rush down and a big boy heavy character to make sure everyone had a character to fit their playstyle, so it doesn’t matter that link is a sword fighter first, in smash that comes second, unlike a modern character who gets their playstyle built around their base game and is the top priority
Link has always been more about projectiles than sword fighting. Strong but highly telegraphed/mobility limited sword attacks as finishers, arrows, boomerang, bomb, hookshot, etc. to set it up. In the first game especially you never get up close to an enemy with your sword if you have the option to throw out a sword beam instead, since it's the same damage properties and is safer...and so long as you're not injured, you have the option.
"Worthy opponent fights" to Link even in more swordplay focused titles like Ocarina of Time are more about baiting the enemy into opening up, stunning him with some other tool like a Deku nut or hookshot, then hitting hard with a powerful attack during the stun phase. From Wolfos to Stalfos to Lizalfos to literally any of the bosses.
A more accurate Link would be more mobile and more projectile/trap focused.
@@RoninCatholic So the other two Links.
Raiden i agree, Links design was only understandable in melee and 64, brawl shoulda reworked his whole kit and added twilight moves and different character stats but they didn't, instead of smash 4 fixing that issue and reworking link to be like skyward, they just made hd failed brawl link, and the most dissapointing of all, Botw link, from a game that reworked zelda link gameplay, to Be another Hd modded version of smash 4 link, it got more dissapointing after each entry, hero the dlc character is more accurate to botw link, overtime i started to hate ultimate, project M is fine
Link was really good in the first smash
@@vincenthammons-kd9du yup
can't believe i went from a link main to a byleth main, two characters that have the same problem of "can only really approach with neutral air"
The next smash better have the ability to create a tank out of zonai parts
Smash is over
Thing I really hate is that you can't detonate your bomb if your opponent is holding it. Makes absolutely no sense
This channel is the only one I know of with actually novel and comprehensive analysis.
Finally, a Link video. I used to main him as he's my favorite character, but unfortunately he's not great and I cannot use the bomb to nearly its full potential
Should've gave him a buff to have Mythras foresight, it'll represent flurry rush. And parrying projectiles reflects them
That sounds like a good idea
Mechanics like foresight and Bayo's bats are cancer
Proud to have over 2,000 hours with Link. I don't agree with everything in the video but definitely agree with other parts. Some honourable mentions that i think are worth pointing out - using bomb in neutral to zone out entire areas of the stage. The fear this instills in people is great at forcing a reaction, keeping you on the front foot. That plus the multiple different angles you can send it flying keeps it extra versatile.
Uncharged arrows a GREAT for combo extending, disrupting and keeping people occupied whilst you press an assault. Especially mid air.
I'm throwing jab in here too. Its speed, combo potential (have to be fast) after second jab and / or distance it throws on the third hit are all great setups for the rest of links moves. Great to follow up with any projectile, any tilt, dash or smash. Especially if you can trigger the reset.
Lot of love for Link!
1:03 I had no idea he can do that now!
I think it is very disingenuous to state that frame 9 and 10 are "fast" out of shield options. In a game where similar archetypes have amazing oos: Samus has a frame 4 oos option, Simon has a frame 6 and even Villager/Pac Man has frame 6 OOS (with nair), Link as a below average OOS game in terms of speed.
Furthermore, a lot of characters have moves that are way safer than -9 on shield, so the usability of these moves out of shield is far less in a competitive setting than your video leads us to believe. At the higher echelons of play, you''ll never see a move that is -9 on shield. The examples you used to punish with Link's oos in the video are so egregiously bad that I'm not sure what the point of them were, if those moves were landed and spaced properly then Link would've had no shot at punishing them. He is actually very weak against shield pressure from rushdown characters because how are you supposed to deal with a Roy mashing a -4 fair on your shield or Fox. Even characters who are less rushdown but can poke safely, like or Palu with a -5 fair or Squirtle with a -6 FTilt.
I also feel you missed a key point in that his frame data is incredibly slow across the board and his kill moves are egregiously slow. His "faster" moves like nair (frame 7), bair and jab (also frame 7) aren't even that fast despite their range (Lucina has a comparable jab but is a whole 2 frames faster) don't kill but his slower moves that kill, like FTilt, fair etc. are really slow with only passable range. Frame 16 for FTilt and fair is not going cut it when a lot of other archetypes can just hit him first in an air to air situation.
Bowser has 2 great frame 6 options.
One that doesn't care where you are, it probably hits you, and one that just kills you if you're at like 80-100%
That's not what disingenuous means
I feel that Vars did not go deep enough in this video. He missed a lot of key things that make Link so hard in a competitive setting.
Yeah his OoS isn't great. I've tried punishing real high tiers with either up smash or up B and both have their own problems.
@@HeroC14 And is quite sluggish, so he NEEDS a good OoS to keep up.
I’ve played Link for over 20 years. What started as a love for the character became my main throughout the series until Cloud debuted. My problem with him now is that I’m fighting 20 years of muscle memory and cannot get over the lack of tether grab, slow dash attack (although that’s been a staple for a while since melee), and remote bomb. I know the bomb has better utility now, but my brain isn’t in learning mode anymore. Young Link’s moves feel right, but he’s just a very nerfed version of what I’m used to. Sadly, Link is now in my back pocket as an awkward secondary. I can still win, but it’s not the same anymore.
agreed, this is why slippi melee is better than ultimate
@@IIIISaii dont know if that “makes it better than Ultimate” but I understand having a preference!
Idk I adopted very quickly and I have been played just as long since the n64. If anything I got a aloooot deadlier. Using bombs to pull people in and even lunch myself, the longer sword allows me to combo like a monster and he's slightly faster now and that's a huuuge buff for me. Idk maybe my brain works in a weird way when i play link.
I lunch items and force them in close then I use his long sword to force them in mid them I pummel them items forcing them back to close. I have weakspots with a fast fighters but when I get launched I leave bombs or arrows in my wake so when I come back i got room.
That I don't recover so they they think they I got me and I mid air down smash, fun fact at the right Frame it has a one hell of a down spike. They never see it coming as they don't know link can do that lol.
Exactly!!! Hate the dash attack. Hate the remote bomb. He's slower than ever. And now my fifteen years plus of muscle memory is SHOT and I need a new main 😂😢
His grab is better than tether, boomerang is better than a dash attack, and remote bomb kills at high percents. He's the best version of Link in 20 years.
As a link main, I can tell you that there is at least one person who still plays link. Love the versatility of his specials, the movement and setups with the bombs, and his aerials and normals. I’m a huge fan of Jack of all trades characters in fighting games who benefit from having good fundamentals and find success through reading your opponent. Really fun character, been playing him since brawl 😊
I completely agree, tho i absolutely terrible when playing link
Same, I can play well with several characters but Link is and always will likely be my primary go-to. Been that way since Smash 64 (yes, Im old kids!)
Fellow link main here
When I first seen they were doing BotW Link for Ultimate, I expected his grab to be Magnesis. I was sad it wasn't.
Link is fun, but too technical to learn at a high level
He really isn‘t that technical at all most of his stuff that‘s technical is pretty useless at high level
Why no one plays Yoshi...except for that one guy who makes Yoshi seem OP
My doubles partner is a Link main and we've been at the top of our local since release.
Of the three links, Regular is the one I have the hardest time with. He's too slow, the lack of hookshot for tether recovery hurts, and his bomb his too troublesome to mess with beyond the most basic uses. Yink and Tink just make more sense to me, Tink especially. Might actually try maining him
skill issue
I remember playing link in Melee and just spending hours messing with the boomerang and bomb until I could just combo the mess out of anyone. The Back air in that game was great for ledge guarding and aerial combos. Also the immediate frame of the neutral air was killer for spacing and such
My man Sillin still amazing with Link!
Why I don’t play link:
- having mained him in every game, this version simply doesn’t feel like link. Without his signature hookshot and bombs this is really a different character.
- His moveset feels so heavy and slow that he just doesn’t have the same appeal as he did in his previous versions.
- Having to detonate bombs is cumbersome and while having this type of bomb is unique, it’s just too difficult to master and rely on.
- Sometimes your bomb is just stuck on the other side of the stage leaving your resource in the hands of your opponent.
He is definitely strong but he is not underrated. I think he is perfectly rated right where he belongs. Not strong, not weak, just mid.
no hook shot. weird potion bombs. and they ruined his final smash with a gay bow and arrow
U should do a why people would pick one character over the other like ryu/ken or marth)lucina
It's kinda been Link's lot in life throughout his Smash career is being a weirdly technical, high skill floor character _that also sucks_ ... Why do they do him like this man!!
💀
This is a weird way to find out I don’t exist
Another big change for Link in Ultimate was his lack of a tether grab. Between this and me not being sure how to use the new bomb at first, I had to drop him after 4...first time in the series for me. I miss that grab range 😑
I mean if you like having lots of end lag then cool
Remote bomb recovery is fun as hell, it is worth learning it!
@@dhans9662it is useful once you have conditioned your opponent to shield, that is why samus grab is so good too
Doesnt help that Link has a bottom 5 standing and dashing grab range…
@@dhans9662 eh...I don't mind it🤷♂️
I knew it was coming, but still sad to see my main in here lmao
It's true, i too get sad to see my boy link not being used that much, aside from the few goats using him at tournaments
“He doesn’t have the speed to maximize the potential of his offensive tools” whose fault is that? The developers
This hurts 😢
Great video however!
Have been waiting for the Link video!
As a Link main, I highly suggest using the boomerang to aim your bombs.
YESSSSSS!!!!! Why no one plays: My main
Gotta say as a pit main, pits arrows do a lot to make up for his mobility issues, it just takes a lot of practice. You can chase people down and keep pressing advantage with them if you’re accurate
Nice on explaining why Link is such a terrible zoner. As a Link main I've been explaining this for years. He can get out zoned by almost everyone that has 1 or 2 projectiles. Although with Sword beam he's a pretty good threat.
Everyone that complains about Wifi zoner Link. Get better then you can play with the cool Links because you don’t get to high GSP playing as a zoner.
"why no one plays link" but over 60% of my matches in elite are boomerang spamming links.....
is it anecdotal? sure, but i'ma run with it
i can FEEL the day you tear into my beloved icies approaching
YEAH BOI I was waiting for this!
Link's meta has developed around the bomb, and the bomb really just isn't a good neutral tool. It should be used for ledge trapping and edge guarding, not in neutral. High Level players negate bomb in neutral. The patch that changed his down tilt launch angle gave him new combo routes and those are not being utilized.
Skill issue. It's an active threat in neutral you just don't have what it takes
Can you do “Why No One plays Banjo Kazooie”?
Being able to shoot two eras at once is the spicy details all games need nice
God, it really sucks how many characters aren't considered good enough to pick up and play due to speed problems.
Link, Incineroar, Kirby, and others, aren't able to tap into their potential because they aren't fast enough, and don't have much to compensate for their lack of mobility.
His projectiles are so fucking slow. He got almost no buffs whatsoever over all the patches. Even byleth got a speed buff. I swear he only got five buffs and almost all were buffs given to the whole cast 😢
He’s not a bad character but he feels very bad in many matchup when his lack of speed mobility drags him down
People keep saying there’s “potential” but like let’s be realistic he’ll always be an inconsistent character with glaring weaknesses which is why people don’t have patience to play him on top level competitive to unlock the “magic” win potential
The Remote Bomb is such a fantastic tool. This is the most creative version of Link that he's even been in this series. I wish that there was less lag on Link detonating it so he can make follow ups much faster.
this version of link was the most lazy designed, the game hes from, thats a creative link, and then in ult they keep him the same as smash 4 with a few differences, instead of making him accurate to botw
I have a hard time against Pit. They can bounce projectiles back. They’re faster and can combo you repeatedly. They just spam roll to dodge. It’s all speed advantage and basically unhittable
Just recently started playing B&K, hoping for a video of both his flaws and great points. Thank you
It hurts when it's your main and you know all they need is a byleth kinda moment
Against someone he can outpace or keep distance against, Link's bomb and other projectiles can make him borderline unstoppable. Against someone who can rush him down or who's too small to be hit by his normals, it's a fucking nightmare. Also, i could've SWORN he had the rapid jab in Melee.
If detonating remote bomb had as little recovery as snake's C4 that would be incredible
Kaido's fruit is the Fish Fish Fruit - Model Azure Dragon in reference to a japanese fable about a carp climbing a waterfall and becoming a dragon. Gyarados/Magikarp from Pokemon is a similar reference
With the amount of Links I see on WiFi, there’s no way
We’re talking abt tournaments not wifi
Great video , however you didn't mention an important factor : he is mentally exhausting to play with the many set up he needs to do + the hard excusion for many of his deadly chains/loops.
I use link in ultimate. I like the shenanigans you can pull with the bomb
It kind of sucks that you have to channel your inner peach main to get the most out of link.
As a Link main, I can 100% confirm how truthful each word here was. Thanks
"Contrary to the Zelda games where he's seen as being quite nimble"
Huh? He couldn't jump at all until Ocarina of Time and in all titles where he can jump it's always just a little hop, and he's never ran particularly fast.
Link is consistently strong, tough, and with a set of tools that would rival Batman, but he's never been particularly agile. Smash represents him well in this regard.
Everyone is playing Link in Tears of the Kingdom though...
I’d love a video on Meta Knight.
Sewing needle over proper sword sheik issues loss of transdental praority
In my case it's because every time I hover over him I still get second-hand shame from the Brawl days
He has no moves for neutral. His advantage/disadvantage is strong but if you can't win neutral then you just kinda lose the whole game.
It's really sad how the Legend of Zelda cast in Smash got the shorter end of the stick.
Lemme save you the time: he's too much effort in a game where characters can 0-death you for no effort
New bomb sucks so bad. They should have moved towards making him a mix of old Link with young Link. Better killpower, faster projectiles, and more combo potential would have been so much better than just removing gale boomerang and giving him botw bombs.
So what's the final verdict should Link be mained or should he be dropped altogether?
i’m a link main and having him in ur back pocket is underrated, can zone out tanky characters as well as use your speed over them and underrated kill power to win, he also is solid against short ranged brawl types as his sword disjoint wins most clashes, i like to think of link as the swiss army knife he can compete with anyone but i treat him like martin and try to avoid letting people get close to the hilt to your sword as this is the no zone and you should not allow people to be in kissing range
I will never give up on my bomb boomerang 1-2 combos
Why no one plays: Banjo-Kazooie
Link is just outclassed in everything he does. Link is a complex trapper but so is Young Link who is faster and can get more out of his weapons despite BotW Link's doing more damage. Or if you want to go full 4D Chess just choose Snake who does the entire power angle trapping game a mile better than Link. Boomerang not having some anti-shield property really kills Link's game. If Boomerang forced longer shield stun while not being forced back on block it would be soooo much better for Link to carve his own identity.
You basically covered my problems with playing Link. He has strong tools but not enough to force a gameplan, he has to play around other’s game plans and find openings. This bait and punish playstyle is harder to do on a slow character when there’s characters like shiek ZSS or even Paisy that have better mobility and frame data to micro space. His nair and bair are strong but can be made harder to use with proper counter play and his projectiles have slow start up making it easy to react to. I fell in love with Link’s remote bomb in the beginning and his jack of all trade attribute. however a lot of Link’s tools in various scenarios that I’ve enjoyed people would avoid as they understood the Link MU better. This leads to the normal Plan A gameplan not being effective and his tools for his Plan B without bomb like empty hop grabs being more exploitable and vulnerable as well as more limiting from using his other tools like fair. A lot of the bomb combos require really precise inputs that require good fundamentals to find proper openings unless you fish for the combos but his fundamental playstyle can be frustrating with his tools
You summed it up even better. I just wish remote recovery was more talked about.
exactly, overtime my passion died down and it didn't help that i versed people who were very good in the match up along with analysing the lack of creativity in the kit design, just playing ult link feels bad, i used to love it in the passed
Do you have like a list on potential characters to get their own why nobody/everybody plays? Would be interesting to see what other fighters we would see in future videos
I think Samus is a worthy participant of "Why everyone plays". He covered ZSS so it's worth including a top 10 fighter in terms of usage despite only being a high tier. An example of "Why no one plays" could be Lucina, a swordie everyone says is high/top tier yet is quite unpopular compared to her theoretical power, probably because of bland moveset.
he probably does but for zoners it'll start to get repetitive, they're broken on wifi, they have really safe projectiles for no reason, and they can hold their own in CQC
@@grimsdol4665 And then there's Samus, the half-zoner who is top 10 in popularity and has top level representation, specially in europe due to Quik and Sisqui (The best spanish player; not confuse with best hispanic player who goes to MkLeo and Sisqui is only 4-5th because yes, Spain is a hispanic country as well, and apparently more competitive than Europe overall).
Why? Because she has clear and effective goals depending of range and positioning; she is good at outboxing most Zoners/Swordies and outzoning brawlers/Trappers (again, half-zoner), so there's no range you're confortable going against wehre she struggles, just a Zone where you can play better, similar to R.O.B and Snake in that regard, other very popular characters.
I used to be a Link main back in smash 4. I played him purely because Zelda is my favorite video game series, despite his clear shortcomings. I tried maining him in ultimate at first, but i had a tough time wrapping my head around the new bombs and the lack of a hookshot wasn't really all that appealing to me. Plus twilight princess Link just straight up looks better in my opinion. Glad Young Link made it in, definitely wanted to main him, but his shorter range made it difficult for me to play him as well. I've been sort of in main limbo ever since the game came out. I have a rotation of characters I like to play, but can't say I main any of them definitely. Closest would probably be Snake, because Snake is fun to play and I love MGS3 (so glad about that remake btw).
My favorite link design is melee, he just looks perfect and the reskins especially black are awesome, i hate smash 4 link, beautiful artwork but the model looks really strange to me, nice in brawl although colourless, ultimate did a horrible job of representing botw link, I only like dark link and even then smash 4 dark link and botw dark link look better
@@IIIISai oh dude, same. Ocarina of Time Adult Link is the best Link design by far, unless you count Fierce Deity. Would've been awesome to see them bring that design back to match Ganondorf, but I suppose young Link will have to do. I remember some people saying the Zelda characters looked kinda off in smash 4, and I can kinda see it. But the twilight princess design far exceeds the botw design any day of the week imo
@@azeplays3563 Oh thats a fair assessment, twilight is more gritty and dark, and yea link is the stud, the chad in that game while botw is more baby faced, and ocarina is more neutral, masculine but not gritty, that's why i like him, also his hairstyle is beautiful, but i agree with u that twilight> botw, botw is nice but looks like links younger self, not young link but he definitely seems younger, his hair and eyes are nice, although his definitely outfit is whatever, but desert voe armour, that outfit looks so clean on botw link, I would put oot and Twilight on S tier, and Botw on A tier, im not a fan of tears of the kingdom link design but its fine, anyways if i were to mod my switch and mod smash link, I would get twilight, he has my fav voice
@@IIIISai yeah, the voice is one of the better ones. Its funny because ocarina Link's voice is in ultimate, but its Hero's second outfit
4:46 luigi: am I a joke to you?
I went against a link that threw EVERYTHING at me, and I mean everything. He combo his bombs arrows and boomerang
As a causal player and before watching the video, I'ma say because he's taller than the other Links without really having any advantages, except Remote Bombs those are pretty good.
Being slow is what really hurts link, as a link main myself i'm often found in situations where i get a hit and a follow up would be possible. But due to link's speed i can't get close fast enough to hit my opponents, which is something faster fighters don't have to care about
Is more that he's SLOWER than the other Links without really having any advantages, except maybe remote bombs who are quite telegraphed. Toon Link is a trapper with good physics and average conversions, while Young Link is a trapper with average physics and good conversions; Link on the other hand is a Zoner with bad physics and inconsistent conversions, and I would say the worst Link.
@@N12015 TL isn't all that good either. The fact that his arrows push backwards instead of up makes him completely reliant on just zoning like belmonts. YL is the best link but suffers from Marth syndrome which is his biggest downfall.
link's rapid jab is in melee too
😂 Link has ALWAYS been my character, I used to win tournaments with him. I do t understand why no one else uses him, his long range and powerful short range plus sheer reach with the sword, and lastly the hook shot make him the most perfectly balanced character in my opinion.
He simply can't go blow-by-blow with characters with the ability to rush him down or evade his projectiles consistently
@@mercury2157 I can't speak for the newest edition on super smash, but for the original and melee that wasn't the case. Maybe in the hands of an inexperience link user, but again I used to win tournaments. I was so op with link I could take on 3 of the best players I knew all at the same time and I would almost never lose a life. Everyone's different tho, and again I'm not sure how his speed and avoid abilities in the current gen or even more importantly the competition how it's changed or the new characters they've added so u may be right.
I'm enjoying this "Why no one plays"
Why no one plays Pit/Dark Pit. I'm waiting, Vars. I love this series.
Too honest.
He has nothing to leverage to really control a match, and while his recovery is great for raw distance covered, I can hardly think of a harder "PLEASE spike me!" recovery in the game.
Also, specifically, side B has some mechanical issues. It needs to not trigger the attack when it hits a projectile, otherwise we have the mind breaking issue where a move that both has armor and reflects projectiles somehow loses to most projectiles
Probably the single best character in the game for getting gud with tho
If you beat someone with Pit, that was all you
He’s a tough character especially learning his bomb combos
I feel like a big reason why people just stopped using him is because his air neutral is so predictable that everyone just sets up to take him out
you forgot about me i play him
It would be fun to split this series into a why no one/ why everyone plays at either local or major level. I know there's some characters with massively inverse proportions, one way or the other.
Strange I know a lot of link mains I thought it was common
I always play link. I can't tell you how often my brother and I played 6hour or more a sitting. That was the n64, the best one imho melee/brawl the one thing I cant reconsile is how heavy they made link. It's like they gave him drum-brakes, and took away his jump-fly ability. I LOVED to throw a bomb straight up, then through a boomerang diagonal up in the direction of an approaching adversary. As the closed on me, with me backing up the boomerang would hit them from behind and then the bomb would drip on them and I could power slash them out of bounds
I've mained Link since 64 came out
They need to make the different Links more unique. Each one comes from a different Zelda game that are all quirky and filled with different items and powers. Toon Link should scream Windwaker whenever you play him, but he comes off as a clunkier Young Link.