Link (Super Smash Flash 2)

Link is a playable character in Super Smash Flash 2. His sprites are unique to SSF2 and based on his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. His moveset is taken directly from Super Smash Bros. Brawl with some minor changes, such as the addition of Bomb Arrows. His voice clips used are from Brawl.

Link currently ranks 16th on the tier list of B tier, a small drop from his 12th place position of A tier last tier list. Link possesses long-ranged disjointed hitboxes, a highly flexible and effective zoning game, a strong combo game, and a large variety of powerful finishers. He has high survivability due to his above-average weight, falling speed, and guard-breaking recovery. Link also possesses a very good edgeguarding game, due to his projectiles and his down tilt, which can meteor smash.

However, his high falling speed and weight also make him vulnerable to combos and chain grabs, nullifying his survivability somewhat. Adding to this problem, his recovery is limited if he loses his midair jump, making it very difficult to return to the stage against an experienced player. His slow movement and attacking speed makes it difficult for him to play offensively, allowing faster characters to quickly overwhelm him if they get too close. His projectile game is weakened overall due to the more lenient power shielding mechanics allowing any character to instantly reflect his arrows and boomerangs back at him before he has time to react.

Nevertheless, Link’s arsenal of powerful tools is enough to compensate for his notable weaknesses, securing him his spot in the B tier of SSF2 v0.9b.

Link has a small but dedicated playerbase and some representation in online tournaments, achieving an overall mild success.

Attributes
As a swordsman, Link holds the advantage of long-reaching, disjointed hitboxes filling out the majority of his moveset, albeit at the cost of longer than average startup and ending animations. Three of Link’s four special moves are projectiles, providing him with one of the strongest zoning games among the cast. His Hylian Shield also plays an important role in his control of space, granting him the unique ability to block certain projectiles while standing or crouching without having to use the standard shield. Link has many powerful finishing moves, both on the ground and in the air. These include the first hit of his down smash, the second hit of his forward smash, his down aerial, his up aerial, the second hit of his forward air, his back throw, charged Bomb Arrows and the initial hitbox of grounded Spin Attack. In addition to these, Link’s down tilt is also a powerful spike at the tip of the sword and a strong meteor smash along the rest of the blade, allowing him to net situational KOs against recovering opponents. Link’s mid-heavy weight and high falling speed allow him to survive many powerful hits, both horizontally and vertically. Complimenting his survivability is his aerial Spin Attack, which shields him with wide hitboxes that can discourage edgeguarding attempts and causes only minimal landing lag should he chose to land on stage. He also has the option of snapping to the ledge with his hookshot Zair, providing additional recovery mixup options. Link is also a strong edge guarder which is hard to break.

Despite the myriad of advantages they provide, Link’s physics are not purely beneficial. His combination of weight and falling speed makes him the ideal target for long, damaging combos and chain grabs, somewhat negating the advantages brought on by his survivability. His long range comes at the aforementioned expense of leaving large openings after mistimed attacks, and should he be caught off-stage without his midair jump, he is left with few recourses. Link also suffers against characters who posses better mobility, out range him or out prioritize or reflect his projectiles, as his ground mobility is poor. Link can be left vulnerable if forced to approach, as many of his best options are significant commitments.

Misc.

 * Entrance: Appears in a whirlwind and unsheathes his sword.
 * Taunts:
 * Standard: Performs battle stance from Super Smash Bros..
 * Side:Same as Standard.
 * Down: A fairy flies around Link.
 * Fanfare: Remix of Victory fanfare from Super Smash Bros Brawl.
 * Wins: Happily raises the Master Sword.
 * Loses: Sadly claps to the winner.

Changes from v0.9a
Link has gone through a mix of buffs and nerfs. He has been nerfed in that his attacks are weaker. However, he has received buffs in that his attacks are faster, Link himself is faster, his projectiles are more useful and he has a significantly better recovery. Link also benefits from the lower hitstun this demo which makes him less susceptible to chain grabs and zero-to-death combos while the increase in the speed of his attacks allows him to still combo decently. The buffs outweigh the nerfs he received and makes him a more effective character.

Notable Players

 * Aegis
 * Trickmew

Tier placement history
The tier lists for demo v0.6; Link was seen as a top tier character with being 1st of A tier on the first list and being 2nd of B tier on the second list. On the lists for v0.7; Link stayed 5th of B for both lists which made him a solid high tier character for that demo. However, on demo v0.8b; Link dropped down to 18th of D tier where he was seen a low tier character. In demo v0.9a; Link dropped to 25th of K tier where he is now seen as a bottom tier character. With each new demo; Link's tier position kept dropping and made him look like a horrible character(which is similar for his tier positions in any fighting game that he has appeared in). However, this was changed in demo v0.9b where Link rises to 12th place of A tier where he is seen as a high tier character again. Although due to the metagame changing for demo v0.9b, Link wasn't seen as effective as he was earlier and dropped to 16th of B tier where he is now seen as a mid tier character.

Trivia

 * Link, along with, and , are the only characters so far to wear their default costumes in team battle when they are on the green team.
 * SSF2 spriter Steven Borgers said he is proud of the work he did on Link and.