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 12th on the tier list, a significant leap from his 25th place position last demo. As a swordsman, he 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 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 decent 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.

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 that can outspeed him, outrange him or outprioritize or reflect his projectiles, as his own mobility is poor. Link can be left vulnerable if forced to approach, as many of his best options are significant commitments. Nevertheless, Link’s arsenal of powerful tools is more than enough to compensate for his notable weaknesses, securing him his spot in the A tier of SSF2 v0.9b.

Ground attacks

 * Standard attack 1: Swipes his sword across his body. 4%
 * Standard attack 2: Slashes outward. 3%
 * Standard attack 3: Stabs forward. 5%
 * Down tilt: Swipes sword across ground. It meteor smashes with average power. It covers a great range from behind Link to the tip of the sword. The tip of the sword is a spike. 10%
 * Down smash: Swipes sword from front to back very quickly; it is like his down tilt but with more force, and it aims behind him, too. 14% on the first slash, 17% on the second slash when uncharged. 20% on the first slash, 24% on the second slash when fully charged. His second slash is stronger in terms of KO power.
 * Side tilt: An overhead swipe while moving forward. Good KO move. 13%
 * Forward smash: Swings sword forward, if attack button is pressed again, he swings again but with more force. Both hits can be used to rack up damage quickly at very low percents. 10% on the first hit and 14% on the second hit when uncharged, and 14% on the first hit and 20% on the second hit when fully charged.
 * Up tilt: Swings sword over his head in an arc. 9%
 * Up smash: Swings sword in an arc over his head three times. The first two slashes suck the opponent downwards to setup for the last hit. 4% on first hit, 3% on second hit, 3% on third hit when uncharged adding up to 10%. 4% on first hit, 3% on second hit, 5% on third hit when fully charged adding up to 12%.
 * Dash attack: Swings sword from head to toe while moving forward. Identical to his forward tilt. Good combo starter. 10%

Aerial attacks

 * Neutral aerial: Does a flying jump-kick. 11% sweet spot, 6% sour spot.
 * Forward aerial: Swings his sword twice while spinning 360 degrees. Like his backward aerial, the first hit traps the opponent and sets up for the second hit. Good for combos. 11% on the first hit, 12% on the second.
 * Back aerial: Kicks backward twice. Like his forward aerial, the first hit traps the opponent and sets up for the second hit. Also good for combos. 4% on the first hit, 8% on the second.
 * Up aerial: Thrusts his sword upward. Not very powerful but it is a great damage racker to due to fast start-up. 15%
 * Down aerial: Points and holds sword downwards with long duration. After connecting this with an opponent, Link bounces or "pogos" off the opponent. Powerful KO move. 19% if hit right when the sword comes out. 17% first hit after sweetspot, 8% second hit.

Grabs and throws

 * Grab: Link fires his Clawshot, possessing one of the longest grabs in the game so far. Link can use his Clawshot to grab ledges from a short distance away. If used in air, it is used as an attack which deals 7% damage to the opponent. If it is used near a ledge, it grabs the ledge with it and climbs onto it.
 * Pummel: Link hits with the hilt of his sword.  1% per hit.
 * Forward throw: Link kicks his opponent forward. 9%
 * Back throw: Link kicks his opponent behind him. 9%
 * Up throw: Link throws his opponent into the air and slashes them. 7%
 * Down throw: Throws the opponent down and then elbows them. Can chain grab big characters and fast fallers. 6%

Other

 * Ledge attack: Link gets back onto the stage slashes. 8%
 * 100% ledge attack: Link gets back onto the stage thrusts his sword forward. 10%
 * Floor attack: Slashes both sides of him. 5%

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. The buffs outweigh the nerfs he received and makes him a more effective character.

Notable Players

 * Kylos
 * 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.

Trivia

 * Link along with 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.