This match up is one that Diddy can easily lose if he doesn't stay focused. Ok,
-Ground Game Against Each Other-
Diddy definitely has the advantage here. His bananas play a really vital role in the MU, however, it's not always a good idea to toss them straight in front of you like normal. Toon Link is really quick and is likely never to stay on the ground, so I find it helpful to avoid his projectile shenanigans and then punish the cool down time on one of them and rack up some good damage. Also, I throw a lot of them in the air to shut down a lot of his aerial mobility. Another thing you can do is glide toss backwards throwing the banana at the ground to bait them to land on it. You have to really learn to be versatile in the air or shut him down so that you can use your aerials to lay down some hurt.
-Air Game Against Each Other-
Toon Link plays like a game of pinball, he's constantly bouncing all over the place shooting projectiles, rarely staying on the ground for too long. You have to weave through all of his projectiles (which are better than our linear banana game) and even then he can put a pretty decent fight with his sword. Once you hit him
keep on the pressure. Toon Link is terrible if you get under him, so i usually juggle him with uairs once i get momentum. Since TL is almost always in the air, your aerials (primarily your fair, air, and uair) will be pretty stale so use the dsmash for the kill. Toon Link is fairly light so a fresh one will kill pretty early. TL can string together a good number of hits at low percentages so be careful how you approach him and keep moving so you don't get caught by too many projectile combos.
-Moves To Avoid And How To Avoid Them-
USMASH!!!! I swear that move has the stupidest killing potential of any usmash in the game. It comes out quick and can kill mega early. Once you get to 120+ watch for it. Also his fair (if not staled) has some pretty good killing potential as well. His can string like 5 bairs from 0% so watch for those too.
-Diddy's Moves To Utilize In The Matchup-
Your fair and bair is going to be your saving grace in this MU (aside from bananas). They're quick and can knock TL out of the air before a lot of his moves can touch you. Toon Link's attacks may be disjointed, but he lacks some range so abuse this and space the heck out of him. Throws completely rob him of his momentum, but they can be hard to get since he's constantly throwing crap at you. utilt does a pretty good job of killing of the top as well, and since he's usually in the air I'll catch him with it now and again.
-Personal Strategies To Help With The Matchup-
You are going to have a medley of projectiles at you. How you handle these projectiles will determine how well you do in the MU. If you go rushing in, 9 times out of 10 you will get owned and quick. You can't out camp him so you must find that perfect opening and just take complete control. I usually full hop throw bananas, glide toss them upward, or anything to keep TL on his toes and out of the air. Once you're on him stay on him. Try to get hit by as few of those bair strings as possible (it'll take you from 30% to 70% really easily). Since TL's grab isn't too good, you can abuse you're shield a bit more, but don't overdo it or else you'll end up feeling like you're playing a laser-spamming, melee
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-Stage Discussion For Starters, Counterpicks, And Bans
Since TL loves to use projectiles, they have a lot of the same stage preferences as we do, but I like to start off on Smashville. I used to think Final Destination was slightly in our favor, but I got owned by a TL there and am starting to think otherwise. BF is ok, but I seem to have a lot more trouble there than anywhere else. If I had to choose a stage selection preference it'd be:
1.
2.
3.
4.
s1:
5. :yoshisb:
You'll be amazed at how even this match-up is on just about every stage, since both characters have similar preferences. However, I recommend staying away from stages like RC or YI if the Toon Link is insanely good (RC because TL can get around a lot easier than you can and YI because it has a slightly lower ceiling).
Diddy can definitely do a number on TL, but if the TL keeps his mix-ups solid than he can just as easily return the favor.
Either even or +1
(More like +0.5 lol). I'd lean more to the even side.