The Jankiest Character in Melee (is actually competitively viable)

[@turndownforwalt]

Thank you to boot.dev! Click this link sponsr.is/turndownforwalt and use my code TURNDOWNFORWALT to get 25% off your first payment for boot.dev. That’s 25% off your first month or your first year, depending on the subscription you choose.

[@sp00kytha1]

I’m Blake Griffin

[@Izanna3]

learning Python so this will be nice

[@monstermash1571]

Honestly shout out to the insane production. Seriously, anyone who has video edited knows what an insane task it is to produce a high quality 20 minute video, all the green screen cutouts, the research, the footage of the matches, the keyframing, the transitions, humor, the script that needs to be written. Melee has some insanely talented content creators. Thanks for the hard work Walt, it's appreciated! Really wish Aklo beat Zain, but every loss makes victory taste sweeter.

[@turndownforwalt]

I really appreciate this! I actually hit an unreal groove yesterday and banged out practically this entire video in a day LOL but it is definitely a big process! Hope to hear more from you soon!

[@nathanjohnson5304]

@@turndownforwalt On camera stuff is awesome. It's great to have interview footage and the more it cuts down on needing additional b-roll and animations, the faster you can turn this stuff out and add in animations where they matter most, showing frame data, slow-mo plays, etc..

[@RoRo13890]

Big agree

[@MageKirby]

Marth: "You call throwing a bomb around swordsmanship?" Link: "Hey, as long as it works."

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

Nice one

[@ph1lny3]

According to Sirlin's "Play to Win", Marth is showing some redcoat scrub mentality. Even wears the color apparently. Link's read up and is using any means to win. Clearly he'll become a top tier

[@b1ab1b-hexcolor]

Martha: "Also why did you throw the Background at me"

[@MrChessboxing]

I got into melee when me and my younger brother ran set after set of "swordfights" on our Gamecube. He would use Marth and I used Link. Final Destination. Every time. We were like 8 and 11 at the time so I hadn't gotten into the larger melee scene. It was just the two of us picking out the two coolest guys with swords and going at it. Seeing Link actually fighting with the big dogs warms my deeply nostalgic heart.

[@AvengerSpencer]

Now we wait to see how long until Link wins a major

[@zpsvo9847]

Solo link or just or counterpicks?

[@JustArten]

With the huge asterisk of being attached to a Fox main.

[@MaximumBloop]

Who is link bad against?

[@KneeL4D2]

@@MaximumBloop all of the relevant characters except marth and a few others on FD

[@williamomalley6081]

⁠@@MaximumBloop spacies and sheik and falcon and probably yoshi

[@AnImAtEdCaRmInE]

Manifesting a reality where hbox becomes the Cuban Link to overcome his zain problem

[@nahometesfay1112]

After Armada's Yink... How the turntables

[@dylanskrow1669]

The Cuban Link LMAO god tier slippi tag

[@dudesayshi2191]

Why is that so funny specifically cuban bro kek

[@wanko7130]

You know, the funny part about the Hero of Time's tech in this game revolving around bombs is that a lot of the advanced tech in Ocarina of Time also revolves around bombs.

[@ThunderbackOG]

I played in the VERY EARLY days of competitive Melee. And Link was actually used for a solid year or 2. Kid, Kleister, Sixx...

[@onemanjam519]

Now that is super interesting! Melees history is very cool. I remember once on an infernoOmni video, he brought up links down throw up b being in contention to be banmed! Was there similar talks in your region?

[@nektahatz5646]

back in the day they called him a “marth counter” lmao

[@henryreturns1397]

Link back then in old school his “Up-B” was the best edge guard tool and it was pretty effective due to the meta not being so developed and players playing more stale. Other than a “Marth counter pick” , back then the stage pick was also different, we didnt have the “standard” of having those 6-7 stages , so you could cheese on some stages like Rainbow Cruise LMAO Anyways , Link also back then was one of the easiest characters to L-Cancel and it have a small advantage before players catch up skill wise. But yeah , thru the meta Young Link was better at some point because of Armada counter pick to Hbox puff and when other players start playing Young Link they discover more things from him. Now Aklo is pushing the Link mainly as a counter to floaties and Marth on FD or on stages he personally struggle against those characters

[@morrowbound]

Your name checks out

[@jaunnartatez-ukumelee2942]

Sup I’m Kuya, I appreciate the small shoutout : ) It was never a question of viability for me He’s just cool and was a big part of my childhood. I learned melee with Link over 20 years ago and that’s why I stuck with him

[@Errorfile404]

The way you awkwardly stared into the camera after “but hey you know what would go a little bit farther? If you subscribed to the channel!” Made me actually sub, what a dude lmfao

[@OlmiOP]

This one's fun to watch for me. I had just gotten eliminated from my Splatoon bracket literally in the room in front of this one at Riptide, and me and my group were walking around the venue to see cool stuff, and I just get jumpscared by Link being on Winner's finals? I'm not a Melee player but I do kinda follow along with what's going on with it and have a moderate amount of knowledge on the game but I just was not ready for it, I HAD to stay in and watch this live, and my heart sank when I saw the last stock on game 5 :( Was still really insane to watch though! And watching this video gave me a lot more context for things that confused me in the moment :)

[@Josh-wj6fk]

ganonwalt jumpscare

[@Tonedawg181]

good u didnt give away TOO many of our secrets.... sincerely the Link Community. Also not giving hunybear, savestate, tpn, germ, or zlow any mention is truly a crime.

[@rosheafan]

Isn't savestate a pedo or something

[@memele4991]

Real for this

[@thelastotaku4852]

probably cause they never done a damn thing, aint never won anything ever hunybear loses to other links his apm tops at 300 lol - savestate is just a speedrunner who tries to do speedrun set ups in neutral ( i 4 stocked him in a ditto cause he kept bombing himself even when he was stocks behind lol) TPN hates link dittos too, germ doesnt play anymore and neither does zlow so ya...we got stuck with a fox player placing higher with Link than actual 1 tricks LOL sad tbh most people are shit at this game and will always be shit

[@Tonedawg181]

@@thelastotaku4852 ur an angry person huh lol

[@ediot1426]

​@@thelastotaku4852 pissed at nothing AND lame as fuck? Pick a struggle man...

[@CocoMura]

AKLO with commentary cross-up reversal at the end hahaha

[@Telcontar86]

In my Melee years I had a local Link that beat me pretty consistently called Spife, and I also had the opportunity to play against the then top level Link Skler. The matches against Spife, and especially Skler, really helped me learn the MU, to the point that the other low level Links didn't have much of a chance against my Marth, so I have a pretty good idea from memory what Link looks for in the MU. That was all to say, Aklo is _really freaking good_ . Link was already better against Marth than people realized, but Aklo does things that make me question the MU, from a (now) theory-crafting position. Zain might dislike the MU, but Aklo is _really freaking good_ so he makes it look less like a 6-4 in Marth's favor and more like an even MU, maybe even in Link's favor on certain stages

[@g4mm47]

As of today we've had a winners side YL grand final

[@benkesler487]

I remember being very surprised when a Melee player told me Link was a counterpick for Marth 10 years ago

[@Micha-Hil]

Yoshi, DK, and Link all becoming viable, previously thought to be unusable for serious tournament play. And with strange eons, even Bowser may dub.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

Marth is such a weird character. Random struggle mu's with lower tiers.

[@damippler8302]

I've always believed that while the match up is close, what gives marth an advantage is the huge difference in x factor: marth always has dair on the table, which will kill link by 50% if hits, while link does not have something in that ballpark in return. And the slower games link plays makes this a painful difference.

[@popanda3652]

Links dair can spike, and his upb on ledge can send marth down and away enough to guarentee a kill. Its not as easy to hit as marths dair, but link does have those options.

[@ClassicBentobox]

Zain doesn’t have a mid tier weakness people just don’t respect mid tier players

[@poleon2003]

Yeah which is funny since they've been told over the years that "You people shouldn't be losing to these characters as those characters are straight up trash and unviable" lol

[@turndownforwalt]

@@ClassicBentobox aMSa’s H2H on Zain would like a word

[@ClassicBentobox]

@@turndownforwalt Alright well all you have to do is ignore his H2H with Aklo, and with aMSa, and with Axe, and… hmmmm….

[@thefinalskarm1754]

its just ancient days seeping through of, my character only or gtfo

[@ghostonline-m4l]

I’m a Yoshi ❤

[@modernkiwi6447]

Are we 20TF now? (TF stands for Triforce)

[@AlanJHPlata]

It'd be better as 20NP because link gets no pussy

[@myboy1672]

the year is 20TF the meta has developed, and now the only viable characters are the 3 sides of the triforce: Link, Zelda (not sheik), and Ganondorf

[@popanda3652]

@@myboy1672 YAAAAS

[@TheiMightyHutch3]

is young link allowable?

[@marvinmetellus7919]

That sneak jab at sf6 infrequent balance changes is both 100% granted and makes me 100% sad

[@dallinhunter7385]

We didn't really play competitive (well, aside from one guy), but me and my friends played a lot of Melee when we were younger. My brother got extremely good at Fox and Falco, so good that we banned him from playing those characters. So he picked up Link and proceeded to unlock all his secrets. We eventually started banning him from playing Link too. His boomerang and bomb usage was insane. In short, my brother was really good at Melee. He probably still is, haven't played Melee with him in years, but he does do matches online still. The one guy who was in the competitive scene would play Jigglypuff every so often, but stopped eventually because the other three players would always pick Roy and destroy him with up-b, then just run the clock down doing taunts, ah man good times.

[@RedXLink]

As an avid lover of puns. 6 : 30 was much appreciated thank you. Awesome video! I'm learning so many cool editing tricks from you. Thank you for the inspiration! Link easily on the come up. That super major win is getting closer and closer in sight

[@legendarysoil1064]

1:50 The remix goes so unbelievably hard

[@trueblueryu5713]

He’s also potentially viable in smash 64. I say potentially because, even though smash 64 Link has potentially the worst recovery in smash bros history (yes, even Little Mac and Ultimate Doc have arguably better recoveries), Link does have a chance due to the prevalence of Kirby and Puff in the meta. Those 2 are common in 64’s meta due to their relative ease of use compared to the other top tiers, and their easy combos, Kirby’s up tilt chain and Puff’s FThrow->Rest. Link’s projectiles can zone them out, and because of their low weight, being able to pop them up to the top blast zone with both his Uair and Dair does give him a fighting chance. He struggles heavily against the other top tiers, but he can stand as a capable secondary for people getting into smash 64

[@KBorg64]

Puff is not common at all. And Kirby is a little bit less common due to pika’s popularity. He is still strong but solo kirby mains aren’t a common occurrence. Though rare, Link, like all 64 low tiers, has some great players for sure but he is not viable unfortunately.

[@KBorg64]

@@TDG386ness is probably one of the best low tiers at this point because his punish game is nuts lol

[@trueblueryu5713]

@@KBorg64 I mean I was at supernova and saw plenty of Puff players in the bracket. She's not as heavily used as Kirby, Pika, or Fox, but she has a place in the meta

[@djdrizzy9139]

Kirby still wins though.

[@jestfullgremblim8002]

​@@djdrizzy9139 rip But what they're saying is that the character is still viable here and there

[@lasagnahog7695]

Seems to me that counter picks are one of the largest ways to raise the skill ceiling left in a 20+ year old game. It can add an entire extra dimension to one's game.

[@legacytag]

0:16 Wait but...The red Walt wasn't...Link...

[@Deadgye]

The secret to beating Marth was to play the character with the longer grab that's equally as quick. We should have known.

[@plasticbudgie]

I remember back in 2004 downloading videos and then thanks to KZbin in 2005 watching Aniki Link player who didnt wave dash, the guy that got me into competative smash. GERM was technically brilliant with Link. Ah shit you mention Aniki in the video! Awesome!!

[@ph1lny3]

9:06 Walt implicitly endorsing his sponsor, showing he's learned a data structure.

[@kennythekid130]

Loved the video. Its crazy how much it feels like your already great editing improved over the past year. Can't wait to see the next one

[@sofielundsskolan]

this is so weird. I'm not even a middling player, only ever having had cpus and friends worse than me at the game to play with, and I stopped literal decades ago. but even back then I always called Link my Marth-killer, but I figured that was just a me thing. and sure, it might have been, but even if it's just a coincidence that it actually works at a high level nowadays, that coincidence feels pretty bizarre lol

[@Stevenator546]

Been watching for awhile but first time commenting. Just wanted to say that your videos are always incredible, informative, and the editing is a constant inspiration for someone newer to the process. Thanks for all you do Walt!

[@heyitsmort7744]

The replay camera editing is so dope!!

[@patrickholt8782]

I like seeing melee link because oot link is literally me.

[@bluyu]

Link has tools at many ranges, and while most of them aren't broken, the fact that he has decent moves in most situations is a pretty good advantage when it comes to fighting a character that excels specifically in the mid range.

[@Rumcake256]

What an amazing video. I have a newfound respect for Link and the people who play him

[@newchallengers9420]

Walt has one bag under his eye for every green screen transition

[@eizzah8323]

Now I kinda want a Young Link to succeed too

[@artca9508]

He and Mario a bit too stubby.

[@RyumaXtheXKing]

I though young was supposed to be better?

[@gscarr23]

We had those couple times with Armada using YL for Hbox at least

[@donaldjgumpofficial5754]

Young Link does well against Jigglypuff.

[@blackout4655]

We got snake in melee before gta6

[@dim3tapp]

Nice to see a Link video but I don't know if merely being close to 50-50 against a single high tier is considered viable. He's so much worse vs. any other high tier except Peach that any competent player who has a an actual pocket Fox etc. would just wipe the floor with Link instead.

[@btf_flotsam478]

As a counterpick, that can at least justify his use in tournaments. M2K's Fox mostly saw use against Jigglypuff and is still somewhat discussed today, and we have to mention that time Hbox pulled out Ness just to counter Armada's Young Link (which, in turn, was countering his Jigglypuff). I don't know if it makes a viable main, but we could conceivably see someone counterpick Link in top 8 of a major, which would be hype as Frick.

[@moobs]

sheik obliterates link as well as you'd expect from the mid tier destroyer

[@dim3tapp]

@@moobs Any high tier besides Peach and Marth walks all over Link.

[@moobs]

@@dim3tapp link can at least combo spacies, sheik kills link in 2 neutral wins and is incredibly easy to do

[@Thierce]

@@btf_flotsam478 there's no reason for anyone to counterpick Link against Marth when Sheik exists though

[@popanda3652]

You kind of corrected yourself, but to further clarify: tier list are not representations of how good a charactor is objectivly. Its a representation of a certain groups opinion of said character. Thats why americas and japans tier list can differ so much despite haveing the same version of the game. Its also affected by rulesets. Ice climbers would be top tier if wobbling wasnt predominatly banned. In a similar way DK, link, and yoshi have gained representation in competative and gained respect from the people who make tier list. I think WAY to many people think meta and tier list are objective assesments of whats good and bad. They are almost always subjective. It takes a TON of research and data to make a objective tierlist, and as far as i know, only a few have been made in regards to games. None for ssb yet. There is one for doom enemies, and its quite interesting to read.

[@MrXxblackopsxX]

dude thats a sick ass sponser! first time i've ever gone back on a skipped ad lol but this is a really sick sponsor though, congrats on that partnership :))

[@hctaz]

Wait, are people only just now realizing that Link has a good or at least a better matchup against Marth than Fox does? I thought we all knew that for a while now. I remember people watching whatshisname losing to that Link player and the commentary was all, "Yeah, this is one of Link's only good matchups against any of the top tiers." Or maybe they said, "best" or "least bad" but I dunno. I've mained Marth and always felt like Link wasn't an easy matchup specifically, but nobody ever put the time into the character aside from PM players who came over to Melee and decided that they didn't want to swap mains which is... not a lot of people to be fair, but it was enough people in my scene that I realized the character was actually decent back in 2015.

[@user-86291]

The on camera stuff is great I think the passion shines through and you have good presence

[@mrluigi641]

Among competitive fighting games, I never realized how big of a raging boner the melee community has for the word “viable”.

[@FlanagansBALB]

I can’t believe no one’s mentioned the awesome thumbnail reference. Great pull.

[@M0ist_Ka1amari]

This is the year for mid/low tiers to get some love, hoping this’ll extend for the future of melee

[@devinanderson6716]

The pausing leaving the game at the start was so well done. I know it might've been simple, but it was clever. Do you think Link's frame rate issue on his attacks will hold him back drastically? Or will a more disciplined game style correct that? Also in that grand finals. Watching it back, I know it was probably nerves, but Aklo approaching Zain that early after spawn I think is what did him in.

[@Ethanimale]

Always astounded by your creativity with your editing, but this intro might just be your best work

[@mattmckeon3898]

i havent played melee in over a decade but i still love these videos so much

[@shiina4826]

really outdid urself with this intro

[@RoRo13890]

Hilarious thumbnail, awesome editing, great pacing W Walt

[@Blesx35]

I've been maining Young Link for a couple months now. I think he's so much fun and im so happy to see the link representation from Aklo

[@paladinslash4721]

First there was the Donkey Kong renaissance, now it’s time for the Link renaissance.

[@yetispaghetti5754]

If a dude can beat HBox with Bowser, anything can be viable

[@A_K1ra_x]

The fact that someone mentioned Aniki, takes me back. How long it’s been, wow

[@sandycoin]

this more on camera style commentary was goated would love to see more of this style !!!

[@smashdriven1640]

That’s mad impressive what Aklo can do with Link. Nobody else has a shot of taking down Zain with that character.

[@notasquiremario3299]

LINK TOO! THE RECENT MELEE DLC IS INSANE!

[@edsoncharlotin8755]

lol watching AKLO as a kid play link to doing it at a top 8 level is really heartwarming

[@carthagegaming5545]

What's the song remix around 1:30?

[@b1ab1b-hexcolor]

6:18 Im pretty sure a Ocarina of Time Documentary probably said that sentence atleast once

[@raminajjar9353]

WALT WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE THO

[@jackvogel701]

Common Walt W post. Been wondering what makes this counter pick good so was hyped to see this vid come up. Aklo also seems like a cool dude love that

[@poleon2003]

Lol someone in the Marthcord literally said "You Marth's shouldn't be losing to DK and Link those characters are straight up trash and unviable" well I can imagine them eating their words now

[@DtrJr]

walt u a legend my man keep bussin these vids out cus we feastin out here

[@MrMooooole]

I prefer the more baggy-eyed, slightly sleep deprived looking Walt - bit more rough around the edges. I like the more self-deprecating humour as well, but I do also get this feeling that you actually know what you're doing so maybe Walt knows best.

[@16-bitpixel74]

I'm loving all the Rivals of Aether music usage in the recent videos, specially this one with Clairen's banger of a theme, excited for RoA2!!!!!!!

[@ryanmorgan633]

I love all the editing, these videos are great

[@EvilMan301]

your videos rock man. one of the few channels i smash watch whenever new post. keep it up

[@madelinethemad8604]

THANK YOU!! as a long time link enjoyer, my whole life in fact even if I'm not really good lol, I'm very glad to see link get that recognition he deserves. He's the GOAT

[@hamsnadwich6767]

Top tier thumbnail

[@harry_mair]

How will this affect Venezuela's economy?

[@Josukegaming]

Incredibly well made video, also your hair is dope Walt

[@settler3093]

So glad that Link's finally getting some attention tbh

[@Legendary_Honey]

I've been playing for 2 years, and I had no idea about the Marth crouch power shield tech. That's super useful.

[@YacubCubby13579ZR]

Roy and Samus have the same property, too

[@sandwichthesandwich5883]

the irl edits are already fucking gold.

[@Gooooobert]

that intro was incredible

[@James-ek3mb]

Aklo is so sick. Thanks for showcasing his talent and sharing some neat stuff about link 😎

[@mouseman6265]

lost my voice in the crowd at riptide screaming my heart out at the zain aklo set

[@fastenysb]

insane editing as always

[@StepBaum]

Great video, a lot of fun to watch!

[@EMan-jj1ef]

Aklo did a compliment cancel at the very end there.

[@Blu_Jay23]

Question bout Link's Bomb jump; why does he need to throw it and hit it go to do another Up-b? Can't he just pull one out, hold onto it, up-b, bomb goes off in his arms and he gets knocked out of the free fall animation that occurs after up-b and just do another up-b again?

[@alphachadus]

to my understanding, the explosion would simply be too slow if he just pulled bomb. If hes holding bomb, he could totally have it det in his hands for a bomb jump but he cant just pull it right then and there for that to work. Hence, hes gotta detonate it himself w/ unstaled up b

[@GhillieGuide]

You can't say it didn't have any balance patches after the Wobble ban in 2019

[@jonaswilliams9755]

My friend in college used Link while he and I were cooking our college players. As a Marth main he was my worst matchup. Not only did he know how to do a lot of tech as Link, his up b can be brutal. It kills early and the sour spot sends Marth at a terrible angle if Marth overshoots the ledge while recovering.

[@sdw-hv5ko]

Absolutely insane intro. I loved it

[@WindlessZephyr]

what a good video. ya knocked it outta the park yet again, walt :D also, when dk link grands at a major

[@NeutralOfficial]

Doing calf raises to this video just to feel something

[@ThePortjumper]

yo this editing is off the hizzle fo shizzle, Walt.

[@Mordd08]

I can’t wait for the young link content in the future, it’ll be far away, but as of now there are cracked young links in the discord. I’m sure they will be noticed

[@YauDerAllerEchte]

Will you do a video about Game & Watch in the future as well? While there is no recent reason for that, noone plays him, but I was convinced for years that specifically these 3 Mid Tiers, DK, Link, G&W are actually much more viable, only needs some genius to show the world

[@RyumaXtheXKing]

Glock in my Toyota has had some success with him recently.

[@YauDerAllerEchte]

@@RyumaXtheXKing Really that's nice to hear

[@glennmorren2892]

N0ne en ibdw/cody's G&W are amazing tho but thats just unranked stuff ofc on slippi

[@dankachilles9356]

1:46 "Ewww" 1:51 "Ewww Brother!" 1:58 "What's that?!" Edit: Got Link Pocket against top tier sword boi before GTAVI

[@이승범-g4k]

As a link main, this was so fun to watch

[@nigelgreer3479]

Someone will win a tournament with Mario and when that happens I’ll die happy

[@sabado12x]

These videos aré so amazing AND melee Is great thanks to content creators like you

[@robertseptim3579]

I thought that was Murdoc from the Gorillaz in that thumbnail at first glance 😆