Link vs. Zelda Super Smash Bros. Brawl tiers, match-up votes and discussion

Debatably Link's best matchup.

The neutral is in Link's favor. Like Bowser and Ganondorf, Zelda moves rather slowly, which allows Link to actually make solid use of his zoning kit. Like in Toon Link's case, Link's Hylian Shield blocks Din's Fire when Link is on the ground. As Nayru's Love is rather slow as a reflector, Link can bait Zelda with one projectile and punish her with another (or his Clawshot). In simpler terms, Zelda has to approach.

Like Captain Falcon, Zelda's generally poor hitboxes even give her trouble against Link at mid-close range. Most of her moves are poor on shield, and so Link can either punish her or escape dicey situations she might try to put him in (like forward smash spam at close range). While her up smash allows for good damage early on, Link can jump out of it after DIing a few of those and move away to reset the neutral. Meanwhile, Zelda's floaty falling speed and lack of moves that protect her from below allow Link to juggle her for a while with his up smash, up tilt, and bombs. If Zelda air dodges, she's wide open for one of those three. If she tries to retaliate, her dair cannot contest Link's uair; Farore's Wind, on the other hand, is either punishable on shield or forces a neutral reset (as established, not a choice Zelda wants to make).

While Zelda doesn't have too many problems with killing, Link's very strong momentum canceling further adds to her woes. To be fair, Link can struggle with successfully fishing for his own moves in this category, but makes up for it by Zelda having one of the worst overall endurances in Brawl. This goes with recovery as well; Link's bombs can keep Zelda at a distance from the ledge, giving him safety when recovering from below (since Din's Fire is too slow to reach him down there). Since Zelda's dair is predictable, Link has just enough time to nair her out of it. Link's own projectiles make Zelda's recovery more complicated, for arrows and bombs can force air dodges or damage and Gale Boomerang has its windbox. If Zelda recovers low, Link can either use his nair to contest her get-up options or retreat to center stage to reset neutral (where his projectiles can also force Zelda to react). If Zelda recovers high, she's wide open for a lot of Link's moves.

Overall, Zelda is one of two matchups in Brawl where Link wins, thanks to his projectile kit and Master Sword attacks inhibiting Zelda's already frail approach, and his superior damage racking potential. Like with Ganondorf, it's only 6/4 because Zelda does have her down tilt and up smash (which can set Link up for combos of her own), and multiple punish opportunities if Link is careless.

Video of this matchup in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQPFz...