Kinda Epic Explosive Duel #36 - Link

VietGeek said:

The match-up is more extreme than one would think. While it is true that Link is combo bait and his recovery is 'beyond' subpar, he has tools that seem to have been created to directly try to counter TL's.

Link's spam is quicker and 'stronger,' sacrificing mobility and range. TL's spam is slower, but 'weaker,' with his boomerang having more flexibility, his bombs more range, and his arrows are just slow and go decently far charged or not.

But Link's spam can somewhat counter Toon Link's this way. His Gale Boomerang messes up spacing and generally forces TL to a bad position. The bombs counteract each other, and while we can shoot two arrows with SHDA as we're floatier, it matters not for Link and easily stand there and let his big Hylian Shield block it. While TL may theoretically win the spam war, it won't do much chip damage as usually Link will make it so that your spam will merely hit their spam.

Generally this forces someone to approach [typically Toon Link]. Because all the chip damage in the world will not win a match unless you run the timer out.

If Toon Link approaches, it's instantly his disadvantage [in that situation]. Link's front defense is strong. He has a huge Clawshot, outranging Hookshot, our safest poke move. His fsmash is strong and provides an extra front to his little fortress. His jab combo seems to be slightly slower although that could be Sakurai's animation mindgames. Approaching from above is risky as Link's Umsmash seems to have been created for the sole purpose of making it as hard as possible for TL to approach. Link's Usmash eats Toon Link's dair, but bombs can still get through. Toon Link's best option is to try to approach above or crossover to Link's back.

Link would probably never want to approach [as he virtually has no true approach]. His approach game is aided by his projectiles (bomb sliding for example), but he takes a risk of eating a lot of damage for TL's sword if he messes up [with his already lackluster approach]. His moves don't seem to be all that safe against shield, although I may be wrong. His nair and bair seem to be approach worthy, but overall it seems Link was made to be a tanking character. In this match-up particularly, tanking is probably a good idea unless you like eating somewhere near 40% damage.

So TL has to approach sooner or later. A character flaw of his is that he must commit to be offensive during kill percents. Even if TL somehow manages to spam better, when it comes killing time, he will have to commit to the offensive [with his unsafe & not-that-great kill moves], trudging through Link's tanking.

Given that much information, we would assume Link has a slight advantage as -

1. He controls the pace of the match [if he spams right]
2. He kills faster
3. Yeah he pretty much kills faster
4. Gale Boomerang isn't as bad as everyone thought initially

Compared to TL's -

1. Forced to approach more or less but has an easier time due to high mobility and near-identical projectiles.
2. Once TL finds a way in, Link will likely eat a lot of damage due to his weight class.

But when we add recoveries to the equation, we all know Toon link wins. If TL gets a dsmash in <20%, Link will fly off to a point where recovery is generally not possible unless he buffers a Zair to snap onto the ledge immediately. Still this puts him on the ledge which is a terrible place for Link. Not only that, but due to his recovery flaw, his ledge options are not exactly amazing either. He is extremely pressured when he's trying to make it back on stage. While DI does wonders in this game, it only gets you so far until TL can just shoot one of his projectiles, killing your momentum, and edgehogging for a stock. While Link can do the same to TL, TL naturally has more chances to get back onstage, and he is floaty. He's also in a perfect weight class to projectile plank if he wants to get back onstage that badly.

55:45 Toon Link at best, 60:40 probably at worst.

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Crow! said:

In my experience (which isn't that extensive for this matchup, but still) Tink vs. Link is a battle of extremes. Both characters like to be set up in a particular way, and once someone gets off balance a lot of damage happens before things get under control again.

Toon link's shortness is annoying to Link, but can be dealt with. His midair vs midair game, however, is a royal pain in the backside, which is precisely what Link doesn't like having to handle. As long as Link is set up and grounded, though, Tink's approach is kind of meh, and Link can win the defensive spacing game thanks to his bigger size overall. Also, having a useful kill move is really handy.

I think the matchup is pretty even, but it's not going to look like that if you watch any individual stock; domination one way or the other is the rule of the day, even if the direction is inconsistent from one minute to the next.

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