I find when I'm Facing a Ganon that Din's Fire is my go to. It's easy to catch him in (especially on flat stages like FD) and staying close enough allows for easy grab and combo. We're aware that Bowser, Ganon and other heavy characters can OHKO us, so we don't stay near. Evasion is a Zelda main's bread. Combos are her butter.
You did state a lot of things a lot of us do. When I panic, I'll teledash somewhere else, but I've seen (and done) the Nayru's Panic Button
Ok. This is the Arty Vortex: short hop fast fall nair into a ground move such as a f-tilt, d-tilt, or jab.
When you short hop and fast fall a nair (and you do it right), you land as if you hadn't used an aerial attack at all (4 frames of landing lag). This can be used to create a near constant wall of hit boxes in front of you. You short hop, nair, fast fall, land, and use f-tilt/d-tilt/jab.
It can catch you opponent off guard because they weren't expecting you to be able to act that fast out of your nair.
NGuz95 explains it better than I do:
Another thing about Zelda's neutral-B: A lot of Zelda's use it as a sort of panic button. When they feel pressured, they just tap the B button and all there problems "go away". Bait it out of them, and punish them for thinking that they could get you away from them that easily.
This is something I didn't, and wouldn't expect. Use it if your opponent hasn't faced a Ganon.
Another thing that I find is how overconfident Zeldas are offstage. Because our recovery is amazing, we will chase you offstage, and a lot of our game will be about putting you in the air, and knocking you past the edge. With you on the edge, we are cool as a clam, because it's where we shine. Some of us even stay on stage and wait for you to come back on. Watch to see how closely your opponent attempts to punish you, how they do it, and how comfortable they are offstage. That'll let you know how comfortable they are with Zelda, or if they're just impressed with her improvement, and can spam up smash.
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ShadowGanon
seems to know a lot about Zelda. It's impressive. Most people when facing a Zelda expect her to be all Aggro, or incredibly defensive. We are all fisherman, letting some get away as long as we can bait the big fish to bite. Then when you're off your game, we net you and bring you aboard the boat of pain.
However, any Zelda worth their salt has a good shield/roll game. That's what baits you into going aggro, which causes the punish.
Fighting Zelda is like chess. You may have a queen, but just as much damage can be done with Zelda's Rook and Knight, and if you're too busy taking out the pawns, you'll find yourself in a heap of trouble.
However, I wouldn't worry @
Prince Longstrok
, the best Zeldas I know are incredibly humble, well versed in matchups, but still very aware that you are not battling the character, but the person. Any Zelda that can just claim to JV4 you without watching you play extensively is overconfident, and will be predictable very quickly.
I know the only character I can 3 stock is a predictable Squirtle. But that's only because I spent a lot of time practicing against a Squirtle, and even then, I get just as nervous facing a Squirtle as I do anyone else.