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Link Matchup

gallax

Smash Hero
Joined
Apr 2, 2008
Messages
5,641
Location
Orlando(UCF), Fl
Link



General Discussion

Soon to Come

Pika's Advantages

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Pika's Disadvantages

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Strategy for Winning

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Helpful Video's

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Overall Matchup

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Kirkon

Smash Cadet
Joined
May 20, 2009
Messages
26
i havent fought many good Links' but its probably 60-40 Pikachu(mostly because of Link's abysmal recovery). Since i dont know much, i'll wait for other expert pikachus(KayLo!, Stealth Raptor, etc.) to leave their input
 

[FBC] ESAM

Smash Legend
Joined
Feb 17, 2008
Messages
12,197
Location
Pika?
I never played a good link...but it's still link and theorycrafting basically works in this Matchup.

Things to watch out for:

Zair. Links longest range attack that can put a lot of pressure on you. It has 2 separate hitboxes (the chain, and then the claw comes out) and can do a total of 10%. This move doesn't deteriorate, nor does it refresh any other moves.

Kill potential. Link has several good kill moves: U-smash, D-smash, F-smash, Fair, Up-b, Dair, and F-tilt. D-smash and Up-b are teh fastest, so watch out for them the most. F-smash moves link a decent amount on the ground, so it has VERY deceiving range. Dair is the most powerful i think, and it will kill you around 100% on FD.

DACUS. Most people know this about all the characters that have one, and it is a Dash Attack Cancelled Up-Smash. Witht he momentum that the dash attack initially gives link, he can dash about half way across Final Destination with a fairly strong attack! At high %s, watch out for this because it may turn into an ill-timed death for pikachu.

Up-b OOS. Although this attack was nerfed from melee (what wasn't?) it is still very strong and a very good OOS option. At around 100%, make sure you do not attack Link's shield with a laggy attack (you should never do that, but at low %s people tend to care less). Make sure you DI this Up and Towards the stage (assuming you are being knocked off) and to momentum cancel to survive this.

Advantages:

CG. Link is fairly difficult to grab, but when you do, it is amazing. YOu can CG link to around 40~50% and then get him off the ledge, which is the best place for link to me (when fighting against him)

Recovery. Pikachu has one of the best recoveries, and link definitely has the worst. He can grapple to the ledge, but if he can't do that, he is basically dead. His up-b barely moves any horizontal distance, and has a semi-falco effect (he can't really move once it hits the peak of the vertical distance for a short period of time). And also, link's horizontal air movement is pretty trash to begin with...

Thunder. Since Link has pretty bad horizontal movement in the air, it helps us land U-tilt/U-smash to thunder. It won't hit as much as against someone like DDD or Bowser, but it will still hit a decent amount.
 

Kenrawr

Smash Master
Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
3,941
Location
Woodbridge, VA
Forte's secondary is Link and he plays that way more than his MK. Silly Stealth =D

60:40ish imo. I'll also give input in a bit. Busy atm =[
 

~automatic

Smash Legend
Joined
Jun 4, 2009
Messages
11,498
Location
Arcata, CA
NNID
automaticdude
The hero of time falls short in smash once again.

Jagger plays a good Link he's given my Kirby trouble (playing while high jonhs) but not my Pika. I have also played Ardes and El Rey before at a tournaments. CG to the edge-release -thunder jolt edgeguard should do the trick most of the time. Playing fast and spamming Tjolts should do the trick with little effort.

My veredict
60-40 but part of me wants to push it to 65-35 in our advantage.

I believe I have (maybe) a vid of my Pika Vs jagger's link. Expect craptacular video/audio quality!
 

Nicholas1024

Smash Lord
Joined
Mar 14, 2009
Messages
1,075
I've never played link either, but in theory, I'd try to use B-throw to get them off the stage, and use F-air/N-air/Thunder to keep him from recovering.
 

KayLo!

Smarter than your average wabbit.
Joined
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Messages
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3DS FC
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I've never played link either, but in theory, I'd try to use B-throw to get them off the stage, and use F-air/N-air/Thunder to keep him from recovering.
Tjolt works really well at gimping Link if he has to recover low to the stage. It has good knockback for a projectile, so if you catch him with one or two, chances are he'll be too far out to do anything but fall to his death.

This shouldn't be happening often, though, since most good Links have incredibly good DI as a necessity. x.x
 

Pika_Cam

Smash Ace
Joined
Dec 22, 2008
Messages
593
Location
Auburn, AL
I should probably point out that a good Link can definitely out camp Pikachu. I faced a great Link in tournament at Battlefield and lost because I couldn't get near him. My advice would be to not get into a camping war with him because you will have a lot of damage before you know it. I'll just run through Link's moveset. I actually picked him up recently for fun and was surprised by how good he can be.


Jab: Link has a three-hit jab that he can cancel just like Ike can. It is one of his fastest moves and will be used often to get you away from him.

Dash attack: There's nothing too special about Link's dash attack. It has average knockback and average speed. You should be able to shield grab it, but I doubt it's slow enough to punish with much else.


Aerials:

Fair: A slow but fairly powerful attack. Most Links won't use this move much due to its lag. Unless you are careless, you shouldn't get hit by this move.

Dair: One of Link's killing moves. Though it may seem obvious that it's coming, it can actually sneak up on you if you are too concentrated on juggling. It also can poke through your shield so the best thing to do is to get completely out of its way.

Bair: This move has the second least startup lag of any of Link's aerials. If the first and second kick hit you, you will go backwards. If only the second kick hits you, you will go diagonal. Don't be surprised if Link uses this as a pseudo wall of pain in battle. Links also find reverse aerial rushing especially important to their game, so watch out.

Uair: This move can't kill you as well as dair, but it still can kill you all the same. It has a lot of lag, so be sure to punish Link for missing it.

Nair: This is Link's sex kick. It is his fastest aerial, and he will use it to try and break out of Pika's awesome aerial combos.


Smashes:

Fsmash: It's a two hit move, though you can usually avoid getting hit by both by shielding or DI-ing. It is one of Link's better kill moves. He can just hit with the first part and kill you. If you want to stay on the safe side, you can just tjolt Link when he does this. Personally, I would use the opportunity to set up a combo with FF fair.

Usmash: It's one of Link's best juggling moves. It is multi-hit, so make sure you land away from it. Don't try to outprioritize it with dair because you will get punished. Usmash can kill you, but it is usually not used for that. If Link uses his dacus when you are on the ground, then just shield the usmash and punish him with a grab combo.

Dsmash: A slow killing move. It hits both sides. Take advantage of the huge lag on this to punish him. Most of the time, this move will not hit you unless you are careless.


Tilts:

Dtilt: This move can spike you on the ledge, but it is very slow and you are very fast. It's more likely that Link will try to edge guard you with projectiles than dtilt.

Ftilt: If you are approaching from the ground, Link may punish your aggression with this slow but high priority spacing move. It's one of Link's many gtfo moves and can kill Pikachu at high percents.

Utilt: Good for juggling just like usmash. It has a wide range and won't hit you very far, which means it will be strung together with Link's few other comboing moves.


Specials:

Neutral B: Arrows are a relatively safe move for Link because of their speed, but you can punish them if you are close and approach him from above.

Down B: Link's bomb is good if he is camping you, but you can pressure him to use it early if you "approach." Just pretend to approach and shield and he will get rid of that bomb very fast. He will try to use it to control the stage and just plain spam. Don't get hit with bombs at high percents, or you could die.

Forward B: Gale boomerang can be fun in my opinion. Link will use it to get you away from him so he can camp some more. He will also use it to try and edgeguard you (it's not very effective). Be careful with this, but I like to ride on his boomerang and do an aerial at him. Just don't get smashed.

Up B: Ahh, this is Link's terrible recovery. It has high priority, but it doesn't get Link very far. Use a wall of thunder when Link is recovering or tjolt him and he will not get back. Link may try to use this on the ground. It is slow on the ground and can be shielded. The cool down lag is also very slow, so you should get a free hit.


Grabs:

Link's grab is terrible anyway, but here's what he can do if he does manage to grab you. Don't hesitate to punish him if he does miss his grab.

Fthrow: Not a very good throw for Link. He will kick you forward and it will give about 7%. He probably won't use this because it's hard to combo from.

Dthrow: Link will slam you on the ground and it will send you almost directly upwards. He will then try to combo you into an utilt or possibly a bair.

Bthrow: Throws you directly backwards. Links will use this often for spacing.

Uthrow: This throws you directly upwards. It's not very useful for Link unless he throws a bomb up first and throws you into it.

Zair: This is Link's longest non-projectile attack. He'll use it to approach and possibly combo because the knockback is so little and it comes out fast. The chain also serves as a tether, which has OK range that sets Link up to be edgehogged if he misses.


Pikachu's Chaingrab: Pikachu can chaingrab Link to about 40% with the forward throw and about 55% with the down throw. Even though dthrow does more, it is more beneficial to use fthrow and get Link off the stage where he will have trouble recovering.

SUMMARY:

60:40 for Pikachu

Pikachu has the advantage here because of his chaingrab and overall speed. Link can still win this matchup if he can out camp Pikachu, but he is dead if he gets knocked off the stage. Pikachu's should not be too aggressive in this match unless they want to get punished with strong but slow moves. This matchup is good for Pikachu, just be careful.
 

Koala

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
50
Does Link's shield, when he is standing still, stop Tjolt? I know that it could be punished because he would have to stand still, but that would definately not help in the camping aspect. That would put Link up even further there. The reason I ask is because I know Toon Link's shield does reflect the Tjolt and some lasers from the space animals.
 

KayLo!

Smarter than your average wabbit.
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
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Philadelphia, PA
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Does Link's shield, when he is standing still, stop Tjolt? I know that it could be punished because he would have to stand still, but that would definately not help in the camping aspect. That would put Link up even further there. The reason I ask is because I know Toon Link's shield does reflect the Tjolt and some lasers from the space animals.
It depends how you space them. Obviously aerial tjolts will hit him in the head, but even from the ground, they can hit him in the knees/feet/whatever. Most of the time, though, his shield will stop them if he's standing still.
 

The Phazon Assassin

Smash Champion
Joined
Nov 23, 2008
Messages
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Here.
A Link player wouldn't let the Hylian Shield block a Thunderjolt, I don't think so anyway. First he has to determine where it's gonna hit, high or low, than he has to stand/crouch accordingly. Also, there's little to no pushback, so if you're approaching, you may have an opportunity to attack. It's much easier to just shield regularly.

But, I mean, that's just me.
 

Koala

Smash Cadet
Joined
Jun 11, 2009
Messages
50
Yeah that does make sense. So probably the best bet against Link is to be more aggressive since he has the upper hand in the projectie game, making sure not to get too much damage from Link's projectiles because I would bet that Link can kill pika pretty early so that could prove very problematic.
 

SilverSpark

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Apr 15, 2007
Messages
282
Location
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Link can kill pika very very early :( Most of his sword attacks have good range so avoid them as best as you can. His projectiles are also pretty annoying but I think we're nimble enough to avoid most of them. Many links like to cancel their A-attack into other moves: grab, Up-B, d-smash, d-tilt, etc. so watch out for that and shield/dodge if you can. Sometimes, D-air can be predictable, but it's a real killer for pika. Try to bait it if you can and punish him for it afterwards. Combo him and get him offstage asap then gimp him.
 

Synthe

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Sep 25, 2008
Messages
200
Location
Merrillville IN
Does Link's shield, when he is standing still, stop Tjolt? I know that it could be punished because he would have to stand still, but that would definately not help in the camping aspect. That would put Link up even further there. The reason I ask is because I know Toon Link's shield does reflect the Tjolt and some lasers from the space animals.
yup...gives him a lil push though
 

Terios the Hedgehog

Smash Hero
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Messages
6,452
Location
Shenandoah, PA
Mari 3 stocked my Pika. 90-10 Link's favor. T_T

lol


Alright. I'd agree with 6:4 Pika.

While Pika does have the CG it's hard to actually grab a good Link. They'll constantly be jumping and firing projectiles and zairing. The most important thing to note is that this 1. stops you flat out approaching and 2. limits the effectiveness of jolt spam to force approaches. It's all about bait and punish in this matchup. If you do get close you have to deal with the sword and we all know that Pika's range isn't the best. Luckily if you get in you can REALLY hurt Link with utilts uairs and nairs. Your jolt is great out of that cause you can apply some pressure if you're too high to QAC back to the ground to chase. This will prevent Link from setting up his wall of splosions or at least limit it making it easier to get in and do some damage. Link's recovery is also pretty straightforward so thunder works pretty well.


Link's good at hurting you if he gets the chance though. If you misspace a grab he can boomerang you and launch an arrow. If you don't jump out/tech that's a free Fsmash for him as the arrow leaves you in a jablock state. I believe it's also possible to do an ACTUAL jablock from this but most of my Link exp. comes from Mari and she tends to go for the Fsmash. You can also do a dair from that state and that knocks Pika out CRAZY early if you don't momentum cancel properly.


My pika is garbz though so take what I say with a grain of salt. =P
 

blairz08

Smash Rookie
Joined
Apr 30, 2009
Messages
20
thats a hard match up i would say pikachu as a chance of winning but so does link because of long range but i dont know depends on the players whos playing, any ones game here!
 

*Mari*

Banned via Administration
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
28
Lol terios, i got lucky there hehe.Hmmm I main link and second pika, I fought tons of pikas with link and it's obvious pika has the advantage. I just grab pika, zair alot, boomerang, and when pika tries to recover with skull bash I dair him offstage 0.0 just cg link, avooooiidd rollong near him and staying close for too long, and ALOT of aerials and it's an easy win XD *cries* why must link suck....
 

KayLo!

Smarter than your average wabbit.
Joined
Dec 9, 2008
Messages
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Mari, don't act like your Link doesn't kick ***! I've heard the stories.... Mari and her amazing Link skills.

Too bad every time we try to play, wifi says no. :(
 

Terios the Hedgehog

Smash Hero
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Messages
6,452
Location
Shenandoah, PA
Yeah. Once I had the matchup figured out better it became much easier but it still didn't seem dominatingly in Pika's favor. I stand by my 6:4. Link has a CHANCE. At 65:35 I think you're talking Sonic vs. GaW and at 7:3 I think you're talking DDD vs. Link if you want a rough guide to my ratios.
 
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