Link

**Tier**  | **B** (26)

## General

Link is the main protagonist of the famous The Legend of Zelda series. Link holds the Triforce of Courage and with Zelda and Ganon, he completes the Triforce. He lives in the fantasy land Hyrule, and holds the Master Sword, the mighty Blade of Evil's Bane.Link is a playable character in Super Smash Bros Crusade, being in playable in one of the earliest demos in the games development. Link has a few notable changes, like having a new Side Special, Hidden Skills and a brand new Bair.

## Changes from *Brawl* to *Crusade*

* Link's Hero Bow has a smaller hitbox but more damage.
* Link's Side Special (ground) was changed to Sacred Techniques (also known as Hidden Skills).
* Link's Side Special (air) is not the Gale Boomerang but a regular boomerang.
* Link's Boomerang continues to fly until it hits an enemy or Link touches it.
* Spin Attack (ground) now has a delayed second hit towards the end of the move.
* Link's Bomb has a slightly larger blast radius.
* Link's Bomb can now be reflected.
* Link's Final Smash now has to be activated with a short range slash.

*Thanks to Mamading for sending this*

## Attributes

Link has great kill power, improved recovery, air game and a different Grounded Side B (equiped with very powerful kill moves, and boomerang is still usable in the air and doesn't cancel then landing). The Crusade physics suit Link very well, Larger ledge sweetspot helps Link's recovery and Zair significantly, ability to dashdance due to Crusade's low traction and slightly improved hitstun help him to combo.

Link is one of the most balanced characters in the game. He has many long ranged and powerful melee moves, as he uses his sword. Additionally he can pressure his foe from a distance using his bombs, arrows, boomerangs and long ranged grab using the Clawshot. His Hidden Skills move is his quickest move by far, can reflect projectiles and leads to a lot of mix-up possibilities, and with Boomerang still usable, his spacing ability is still great. He can combo really well. However, his throws are weak and his recovery is average when compared to other characters. He is one of the few characters that have a Z-air (tether recovery).

Link's tilts are fast and powerful, and his down tilt is particularly good for getting opponents into the air. It can also meteor smash at the tip of the sword or hitting behind Link. His up tilt is fast and good for juggling, and his forward tilt can easily KO at high percentages. Link's forward smash can become a two hit combo at low percentages, it is also a great KO move, depending from where the sword connects. His down smash is an easy KO move at fairly high percentages, and is Link's quickest smash. However, it is predictable making it easy to watch out at higher percentages, and has some ending lag. Link's up smash KOs easily even at lower percents, and it racks up decent damage. Link's aerial attacks are also good, as both his neutral aerial and grab aerial (zair), combined with a short hop and fast falling, is a great option for approach. Link's back aerial is good for spacing when needed. Link's forward aerial is fairly fast, is a good set-up move and its second hit is powerful, but this KOing move is hard to land, since the first hit only set ups the second hit at very low percentages and the first hit lacks KO power. Link's up and down aerials are some of his best KO moves, having high duration and high knockback, but have high ending and landing lag, however, L-canceling fixes this problem. His aerial attacks are effective, his fast aerial speed, fast falling speed, and decent jumps give Link a decent aerial game. His grab, like all tether grabs, has good range but has some start-up and is laggy if missed. Specials for Link are also good for keeping distance, racking up damage, and great for survival. On the ground, Link can charge his up special. It is a good edge guarding tool, but is predictable. Spin Attack can also deflect projectiles if used in the air. His neutral special is a bow that charges and shoots high-speed projectiles. If activated in the air, just before hitting the ground, an uncharged arrow will shoot instantly, making it a fast attack that will often hit unsuspecting enemies. Link's down special allows him to pull out a bomb and throw it, which can be used for mind games, but his own bombs can be used against him (though this can work for Bomb Recovery in some situations). Link's running speed very fast, being as as fast as Meta Knight and Krystal, and his air speed is also very fast, being one of the fastest air speeds in the game.

Link's critical problem is his vulnerability to combos, especially with the addition of L-Cancelling, although L-Canceling is also greatly in Link's favor in various cases. Link's combo ability is average, although it is surpassed by many characters in the game, notably Captain Falcon and Fox. Link is also really easy edge-guard, especially by other projectile users like Samus & Mewtwo. Link's combo set-ups are very risky, as many have them have been either toned down or removed from the game, like his Dthrow combo set-up and and his Up Tilt chaining.

Link is ranked 26th in the tier list in the highest position of the B tier (High/Mid tier).

## In competitive play

### Pros:.

* Great range in many of his attacks.
* Great kill power.
* Has many strong multihitting moves, allowing easy damage rack-ups.
* Great camping game.
* Has a reflector.
* Heavyweight.
* Amazing ground game.
* Almost entire moveset can kill.
* Strong combo game because of the Z-air.
* Above Average recovery for a heavyweight
* Has one of the best edge-guarding tools in the game
* Actually has a way of escaping combos
* Very good spacing game, improved even more due to his buffed speed
* Has an easier time approaching due to addition of L-Canceling

### Cons:

* Recovery can be easily edge-guarded.
* Heavily relies on Bomb Recovery for vertical height, which can easily be disrupted or can backfire.
* Slow attack speed.
* Bombs require straight preciscion to use effectively.
* Slow mobility.
* Fast falling speed plus his relatively large hurtbox make him one of the easiest characters to combo
* Air game is below average
* Has a poor grab game

## Link's Normal Moves

**Jab**

* Swings his sword 2 times and does a forward stab. - 3%,3%,4%. The last hit, the stab, has good range.

**Forward Tilt**

* Swings sword from head to toe. This move causes considerable knockback in a horizontal direction and moves Link forward slightly. It's good for spacing, though a bit slow on startup. 12%

**Up Tilt**

* Swings his sword over him in an arc with good range. A surpsingly fast and effective spacing move. 10-9%.

**Down Tilt**

* Swings sword across ground. This attack has Link's only spike, which will hit only if the tip of Link's sword hits. 12%.

**N-air**

* Sex Kick.- Does a side kick in air. It comes out in just 5 frames and stays active for a long time, making it a great approach move from the air. 8-5%

**F-air**

* Swing his sword twice while spinning 360 degrees for up to two hits and 21% damage. This move is a bit slow, but it deals a lot of damage and knockback. L-canceling after just the first hit connects allows Link to follow up with another move, such as Up Tilt, Up Smash, or Jab.

**B-air**

* Swings his sword behind him. 11% damage. Fairly quick, with an upwards angle making it good as an air-to-air.

**U-air**

* Thrusts his sword upwards like in Zelda II. It has a high-priorirty hitbox and stays active for a long time. Can Star K.O. at high percentages and is great for juggling. 13-10% damage.

**D-air**

* Thrusts his sword downward like in Zelda II. This is one of the most powerful vertical launchers in the game. Link can bounce on enemies multiple times using this move. 20-17% with first hit, damage decreases afterward. The move does maximum damage when fast-falling.

**Side Smash**

* Swings his sword forward then, if attack button pressed again, does a another swing, but with more force. 15% on first hit, 18% on second hit. It is quite fast for a Smash Attack while also posessing good range and above-average knockback.

**Up Smash**

* Swings his sword 3 times over his head. Has fast startup, good range, and medium knockback. Up to 16%. This move is good for dealing good damage and starting juggles and even for KOs.

**Down Smash**

* Slashes sword from from front to back along the ground, like DTilt. 14% in front, 17% in back. This is a fast and reliable attack with solid knockback, but if guarded from the front, it's quite easy to punish.

**Forward Throw**

* A forward kick that pushes enemies away at about a 35 degree angle. It's not bad, but Down Throw deals more damage and knockback, making it better near the edge. This move may be better for setting up a zoning game, however, due to its shorter recovery time. 7%

**Back Throw**

* A backward kick that's very similar to Forward Throw. 7%

**Up Throw**

* Throws his opponent up a short distance and slashes them upwards. It deals decent knockback and damage, but it's not effective at combos. 10%

**Down Throw**

* Throws his opponent at the ground and does a downwards stab. It deals a fairly high amount of knockback at 100%+. 10%

**Dash Attack**

* Rolls and then stabs in front of him with good knockback. This attack travels a fair distance and gives Link invincibility during the first half of the rolling animation. This enables Link to pass through some projectiles. 11%.

**Ledge attack**

* Does a half roll and then overhead slash. 8%.

## Link's Special Moves

 Neutral Special
 Side Special
Skills/Boomerang
 Up Special
 Down Special
 Final Smash

## Notable Appearances

* The Legend of Zelda (1986)
* The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
* The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)