SSBM/Zelda/Introduction

Introduction

Zelda is best described as a defensive wall who carefully spaces their forward and back aerials to wall out the opponent, being more of a call and respond character and not a zoner. These kicks, known as Lightning Kick, are her X-Factor, and are vital to playing her in almost every capacity of her gameplay. By keeping the opponent out at bay with her hitboxes, she wins by punishing mistakes and bad approaches to continually wall the enemy out. Though intended to be played alongside Sheik in battle by design, Zelda does not see much use in competitive play in tandem, or even just with her alone.

However, Zelda is heavily held back by numerous flaws, as she lands 24th on the Tier List, being the last character in the D Tier. One of Zelda's problems lies in her speed. While platforms do help boost her options very significantly, Zelda boasts the dubious distinction of having the slowest dash in the game, as well as having the shortest wavedash. This, combined with her slow jumpsquat, slow air speed, and lack of a good projectile, make her approach awful, which additionally makes her very vulnerable to camping. Zelda also is plagued by one of the slowest grabs in the game, making it very committal should the player decide to go in for one. When the opponent does get past her defense, her tall hitbox drags her down a bit as well, offsetting her shield to leave her vulnerable to pokes. Her combos are perhaps one of her worst problems, as they usually only lead to a neutral reset and consist of usually only 2 hits. This results in Zelda having to win neutral numerous times in a match in order to take a stock, more so than the majority of the cast, and can't capitalize well on her combos.

Zelda does actually have a surprising amount of advantages, however. For one, the aforementioned Lightning Kicks are perhaps some of the best aerials in the game, thanks to a good disjoint and very strong knockback and damage, being good for both defensive play and a combo finisher. She also has a pretty decent amount of get-off-me moves, with her Down Smash being the most notable one due to being the fastest Down Smash in the game. In the event she does get a grab successfully, she also has some good throws to boot, being able to chain throw fast fallers into a kick to finish them off or utilize a kill throw. Her weight is also heavier than it seems, being the same as Sheik's and therefore average.

These attributes combined make Zelda a rather lacking and weak character. However, the lack of matchup knowledge can be your biggest asset and can catch people by surprise, and can test your opponent's patience as you wall them out from you. Learning Zelda may also benefit Sheik players, and can throw the opponent off or even get access to a new tool in some matchups, most notably being against the Ice Climbers. At the end of the day though, Zelda is very poor on her own, individual level, but when mastered, could be a threatening, responsive wall that trumps unprepared players.

Strengths

Weaknesses

Lightning Kick - This move does almost everything for Zelda, being able to secure kills and act as a wall you can space in neutral. Fair and Bair are some of the best aerials in the game as a result. These also can be aerial interrupted at the ledge. Good Get-Off-Me Moves - Thanks to moves like Nayru's Love and Down Smash, Zelda can push back an enemy if they suffocate her or if she needs to cover both sides of her. Decent Throws - Up throw is able to be used to not only combo into a Lightning Kick, but also even chain throw on fast fallers into one. Her other throws can also be used as a kill throw or for a combo. Surprise Factor - Zelda best takes advantage of her opponent when they do not know how to face her, especially when they make a mistake in a bad approach, leading to an explosive kill at times. Sheik - While not a trait that makes herself good, having access to a top tier at a button press gives you a much better fighting chance. Additionally, learning Zelda can even give Sheik players more of an edge in certain situations, whether it's for recovery or certain matchups, and can make you less vulnerable. Even the best of players can accidentally transform!

Platform Reliant - Zelda sports some of the slowest general movement in the game without platforms, and absolutely needs them in order to have a speedy presence on stage. Even with platforms, she is still plagued by a long jumpsquat. This makes Final Destination a very poor choice for her. Multi-Hit Moves - Many of Zelda's moves are multi-hit, most notably being her Nair and Forward Smash. In later versions of the game, this can be DI'd out of, making them unreliable in most scenarios. Terrible Combo Game - Zelda's combos end up being two hits at most, and send her opponent very far away. Because of this, she resets neutral constantly and has to keep winning a lot more exchanges to finally take a stock. Grab - While Zelda has some nice throws to utilize, they are unfortunately all locked behind a frame 12 grab, making it a very committal option and risky to perform. Tall - Zelda's tall hurtbox, while not an uncommon trait, leads to her shield being offset and leaving her vulnerable to pokes. Small Playerbase - Zelda has one of the smallest playerbases in the game, leading to a lack of high level footage as well as misinformation being very common.