Stuff about Link spammers

Right, so anyway, the summary is that Link spammers give Link a bad name. This one deserves a YT video for it, because I'm also using Donkey Kong, who himself is a Melee Tornado/Mighty Glacier hybrid, you know how the story goes with that hybrid at this point. People say Link spammers are somehow worse than Samus spammers, but I beg to differ. My DK play is not even so sophisticated, especially given that I don't even think to Hand Slap to punish rolls, but this Link spammer wasn't even hard regardless. Even though he does try something other than projectiles, it's pretty much not because he wants to, and his reactions to the pressure I manage to deal are generally bad. Forward Smash when I can shield easily, seriously. I don't think it makes a significant difference anyway, because spamming with Link isn't so powerful regardless.

Let me provide the overview on why Link spam is nowhere near as bogus as Samus spam: none of Link's projectiles can kill until absurdly high percents even with rage, not even the Bomb's bare explosion. Add to it that Link doesn't have his incredible damage bases on his range attacks, when his melee attacks have them for valid enough reason, and Link simply can't attrition with projectiles alone. The game having unconditional flinching doesn't keep Link's opponent from playing smart to maneuver around his projectiles, and while they can still cause problems under good play, they are not without their blind spots. The boomerang is the only one of the 3 projectiles that can manage surface-to-air attack or steady enough air-to-air attack, and is the one that Link's opponent can try to maneuver around if they can. Not only that, the boomerang also has startup issues, giving Link's opponent more time to prep for whatever Link is planning. The bow also requires caution to use, because it has some cooldown issues for a surgical strike to capitalize upon. The bombs are versatile to be sure because there's plenty of tricks they can do and plenty of chaos they can cause, but even they can be punched through reasonably, because they have startup issues like the Boomerang, and if Link is carrying a Bomb, he can't grab or use any melee attack.

This sounds like bias because I actively use Link myself, but I don't pull spam stupidity. I actually bother to do things like space with the Forward Air making use of that thing's cooldown. Having Links like the one I complain about run around representing him is a nuisance. And I play as other characters or this replay wouldn't even exist. I know for a fact that a character like Ness would want to actively fight against Link's projectiles rather than the melee that, approached poorly, would just butcher the poor lad, which for some reason sounds familiar and karmic. I know it isn't karmic, though, but it doesn't change that for him, Link's projectiles are actually MORE plausible in full form to fight than Link's melee is.

There are characters whose users have a right to complain, but they're heavyweights in general and it's not even all of them (SAMUS). Lightweights are also capable of bogus spam, and while that's added reason why the weight gaps should be widened, really, what seals the deal for what could make it necessary is the needed countermeasures. Lightweights demand the opponent bother to either counterspam or do anything that is guaranteed to feel like counterspamming. Let me sum up SSB's general character design as I noticed from Smash 4's handling in particular: characters are basically their own individual games with their own rules that both players have to follow and keep up with. This is a VERY sound concept that keeps the whole thing simplistic and punishes players who dish out what they can't take. The problem lies in the execution with given characters. If a Pikachu or Sonic is being hit by something like Spin Strike, that's the player failing to evade an ANTI-ARMOR ATTACK, let alone when they're a Fragile Speedster who is supposed to be holding less dodgeable attacks. Hold them accountable for that. Don't give them wins by letting them deal so much damage in such a short amount of time through low amounts of effort.

It's not like widening weight gaps would make lightweight VS lightweight matchups stupid either. Those things are supposed to be maneuver wars anyway, let the lightweights' players keep doing them with heightened emphasis on it now that they kill each other faster. Me, if I'm playing as a character like Link, I'd rather see them actually, ya know, DIE when I clean hit them when they're in triple digits, while I live until affinity gets involved and gives the opponent a valid enough sense of anti-armor.