Link Character Guide for Smash Ultimate

Character overview

Link is a mid-range sword and projectile character who wins by forcing awkward approaches, then cashing out with disjointed punishes.

Difficulty level

Intermediate

Playstyle identity

Control space with boomerang and bomb, then switch into sword pressure once you have cornered the opponent.

Strengths

• Strong sword range for ledge and anti-air coverage
• Bomb gives flexible confirms and ledge traps
• Kills reliably off hard reads and corner pressure

Weaknesses

• Can be rushed down if projectile rhythm is predictable
• Landing can get linear when double jump is spent
• Slow startup on some normals gets whiff punished

Best beginner gameplan

• Open with safe boomerang placements to test jump habits
• Use nair and fair at mid-range rather than raw smash attacks
• When ahead, hold center and force recoveries into bomb pressure

Neutral strategy

• Alternate grounded boomerang and empty movement so your tempo is not obvious
• Respect burst range of fast rushdown characters before throwing projectile
• Use retreating aerials to check overshoots

Advantage state

• At ledge, combine bomb threat with sword swing timing
• Juggle with up air but stay under drift lanes
• Cash out with corner traps instead of deep overextensions

Disadvantage state

• Mix fast-fall timing to avoid anti-air autopilot
• Do not panic up-B from high above stage
• Drift to platform when corner pressure is too dense

Recovery tips

• Vary tether and up-B timing so edgeguards cannot pre-swing
• Save double jump until opponent commits offstage
• Use bomb pull only when you have enough space

Common beginner mistakes

• Spamming projectiles from one rhythm
• Fishing up smash in neutral
• Recovering high with the same timing each stock

Key moves

• Nair: core neutral wall and combo starter
• Boomerang: conditioning and approach denial
• Remote Bomb: traps, confirms, and ledge pressure
• Up air: juggle finisher and anti-air

Out of shield options

• Nair out of shield for close pressure
• Up-B out of shield when opponents overcommit
• Grab out of shield against shield-heavy offense

Basic combos

• Nair into dash attack or tilt at low percent
• Boomerang hit into aerial follow-up in mid-range scrambles
• Bomb pop into sword aerial near ledge

Kill confirms

• Bomb trap into forward smash at ledge reads
• Raw back air or fair in corner whiff punishes
• Up-B punish out of shield at kill percent

Matchup considerations

• Versus zoners, use shield walks before projectile trades
• Versus rushdown, reduce bomb pulls in neutral
• Versus heavies, abuse juggle and ledgetrap cycles

Practical gameplay advice

• Play to spacing and trap value, not scramble speed
• Track opponent jump habits before hard commitments
• If pressure fails, reset center and rebuild projectile tempo

Training priorities

• Boomerang into movement follow-up reps
• Bomb ledgetrap timing drills
• Recovery mixup reps from low and high angles

Related guides

• How to space safely
• How to improve shield pressure
• How to keep advantage
• Best training mode drills