25-
Roy

*Note: Similar to Marth, there are different frame advantages between Roy's hilt and tipper, but unlike Marth, Roy will (mostly) have the same punishes, as Roy can't space out his sword range to take full advantage of his disjoint while also having the best frame advantage. Generally, tipper frame advantage is anywhere from 1 to 3 frames less safe. The hilt hitbox will be this color, the blade hitbox will be this color, and the tipper hitbox will be this color.

Jab (-9/-12):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
(Can be spaced out)

FTilt (-13/-16/-17):
GSA (Frame (9)
USmash (Frame 10)
(Can be spaced out)

UTilt (-21/-25):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

DTilt (-3/-7):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, can be spaced out)

Dash Attack (-17/-21):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

FSmash (-27/-29/-32):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

USmash (-29):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

DSmash (-46/-49/-30/-33):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

NAir (-5/-6):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

FAir (-4/-5):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

BAir (-5/-6):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

UAir (-4/-5):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

DAir (-9/-10):
GSA (Frame 9)

Flare Blade (-15 to Shield Break):
Unpunishable
(Same as Marth and Lucina's, doesn't technically break shields without charge, but you're asking for trouble)

Double-Edge Dance Neutral (-26 Hit 1, -29/-30 Hit 2, -34/-35 Hit 3, -45/-46 Hit 4):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

Double-Edge Dance Up (-24/-35 Hit 2, -33/-34 Hit 3, -31/-32 Hit 4):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

Double-Edge Dance Down (-34/-35 Hit 3, -46 Hit 4):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
FSmash (Frame 26)

Blazer(--):
--

Counter:
--

• Neutral Moves: Aerials, Jab, Grab, Tilts.

• Kill Moves: Aerials, FTilt, UTilt, Smash Attacks, Dash Attack.

• Kill Confirms: Jab > BAir/FAir/UAir/Double-Edge Dance, DTilt > Tech Chase FSmash/FTilt/Double-Edge Dance, NAir1 > FSmash/FTilt/UTilt, sour UAir > UAir/USmash/Jab > followup, sour DAir > followup.

• Roy’s attacks have a sour hit when spaced (tipper) and a sweet spot while close (hilt and slight spacing). Either way, Roy is safe on swing in most scenarios. More shield safety up close with stronger damage, and spacing to be out of range with sour hits.

• Roy thrives off of aggression. His burst range gives him the capability to relentlessly check for awareness by throwing out fast and safe ranged attacks that lead to high reward.

• Roy is entirely a sword character. He doesn’t have to be too close to the opponent to rush them down. Even if Roy misses that perfect spacing, he is still rewarded by being safe on shield and now threatening a Grab or a safer DTilt. Young Link is at higher risk by simply being in Roy’s space in the air, floating about because of the sword. Roy no longer has to swing at a time, but a place, simplifying his coverage.

• To add to the punish range Roy has, he has one of the fastest airspeeds in the game. If he jumps with full momentum towards Young Link, he’s covering half the stage. By default, this means that Young Link has to manage a wider range than he does in most MUs.

• Each height has different responses that Young Link can use to cover. Some cover multiple areas (think Young Link short hop rising into fall FAir, Boomerang down & bounce upwards). Roy can use the grounded path to punish Boomerang thrown up, and the air to punish Fire Arrows to cover the ground.

• NAir and BAir are Young Link’s go-to aerials to stuff Roy at short hop height before he swings. FAir is too slow to use against Roy’s greater disjoint in neutral consistently. It still has it's place as a kill move in the MU, but it's use should be more sparse.

• Roy’s Jab is his main pressure tool on the ground. It’s quick out of a dash/walk, and while not entirely safe on shield, is hard to punish due to it's speed. It leads into combos at any %. It's threat and range can push opponents to either hit Roy for moving, or retreating out of it's range (dash/jump away, or shield).

• Roy’s FAir and BAir are horizontal sword slashes that cover the space above (FAir) or below (BAir), as well as his entire body. FAir is more of a combo and chase starter, while BAir is his preferred jump callout due to it's high killpower.

• Roy’s NAir covers both sides of him, and can lead to combos. It’s safe when rising from a short hop since there’s a falling hit, and Roy is safe while crossing up. Roy can use the first hit for kill confirms at late %s. SDI can send opponents out the opposite way Roy is drifting, which can be used to get slightly better frame advantage out of disadvantage.

• Roy’s NAir has an 8 frame downtime between the first and second swing. This leaves Roy vulnerable to a NAir should Young Link be late to anti-airing him at a short hop height.

• Although Roy has one of the highest airspeeds in the game, his air acceleration is on the lower half of the cast. This is the opposite of characters like Pikachu, who have lower airspeed, but some of the highest air acceleration out there. When Roy commits to a direction in the air, he cannot change direction. He has low maneuverability in the air.

• While Roy’s aerials are safe, if he does them too high on shield as a timing mix-up, they can be punished. You’ll have to check for positioning, since Roy can just fly over your shield. If he lands in front of you with a high aerial, though, NAir and Grab (to beat spaced shield) are sufficient options out of shield.

• If Roy does a cross-up aerial too high on shield, he can still cross-up with full momentum, moving out of range of NAir. B-Reverse GSA out of shield can reach Roy, since the first hit has enough range to clip his lower body upon landing.

• Fire Arrow is the tool that forces Roy to jump in the MU. Since Roy has insane aerial burst range and a sword, he can punish Young Link quickly for a poor projectile by sheer burst range. This is why it’s critical to beat Roy to the punch in the air at times with frame data.

• Fire Arrow is a lackluster option if Roy plans to jump over, though. If Young Link buffers it at the wrong time, Roy can arc over and swing at Young Link to whiff punish.

• Boomerang then checks Roy’s jumps, but it’s best if it's use is conserved for the right moments. It can cover jump, but only at a certain time. If you know Roy will jump, Boomerang isn’t always the best option, as Roy could jump early and then punish Young Link for using it too late.

• Bomb has situational use in blocking out short hop/full hop space. Upwards throw is particularly useful to contest airspace that Roy uses to approach. The amount of cases where Bomb can be pulled against a fast character like Roy is low, though.

Boxing
(How do I escape this situation?):

• Roy’s high ground speed means that he can chase all opponents quickly on the ground. He can always get in position to pressure further with a Jab, FTilt (high killpower option that can also catch bad DI), and DTilt (forces a ledgetrap or shield pressure).

• The tipper hits of Roy’s blade generally create reset and tech situations rather than instant edgeguarding. Sour FAir/Jab/DTilt/BAir can create these resets. These can be better for Roy if he has a motive on how to capitalize it, but can be taxing in last-hit bracket situations, where Roy is looking for a kill and the opponent gets a second lease on life.

• Roy’s FThrow can set up for tech chases. DI UThrow on FThrow gives Young Link time to act out of tumble or double jump away. While this is still a frame advantage chase for Roy, DI-ing up gives Young Link more options.

• Roy’s BThrow places the opponent closely above behind him. Although Roy can’t true combo off of the throw, it still forces the opponent to choose an option in a disadvantageous situation. Mix up the escape option used, whether it be double jump, landing aerial, or an airdodge.

• Roy’s unspaced DTilt is -3. On hit, it sets up tech chases that can’t be escaped with aerials out of tumble. If you anticipate the DTilt, then it’s theoretically possible to DI up in time, but this is rare. Getting hit by DTilt is essentially a soft ledgetrap, since you can only mix up the option out of the tech chase.

• Roy can feint opponents with positioning well not only because of his speed, but also his disjoint. He can move close to be within the opponents lesser range as a feint, and then drift back with a sword swing to catch the opponent trying to punish him.

• Double-Edge Dance is Roy’s callout option. He can use it to catch dashbacks and roll/neutral getup/getup attack in a tech chase. It has extremely high kill power when the sweet spot connects.

• Double-Edge Dance Up gives Roy juggling potential after the hit. He can follow up by catching the opponent’s immediate landing, or swing directly if the opponent doesn’t choose an option quickly.

• Double-Edge Dance Down deals the highest damage of the 3 variants, but doesn’t outright kill like the neutral version. It does heavy shield damage compared to upwards and neutral.

• With Roy’s burst range in mind, he will focus on anticipating Young Link's jumps, should he use them out of the corner. Jump is generally one of Young Link’s better corner options, but since Roy has both speed and disjoint, he can meet Young Link there and kill him for it.

• Getting out of the corner involves whiff punishing or empty movement around Roy with his burst range in mind. It’s more consistent to move around him and take stage control than to swing at him.

• That being said, NAir and BAir can still be used out of the corner to beat Roy’s short hops, but keep in mind that he can bait these options out.

Platform Pressure
(What tools do they have? How can we escape this pressure?):

• Roy’s Jab can set up for platform tech chases at high %s, where he can get an USmash/Double-Edge Dance read on a tech option.

• Roy can cover multiple tech options in one attack with disjoints. FAir, BAir, or UAir all cover portions of the platform at once.

• In some cases, Roy can use Double-Edge Dance as a platform tech chase option to cover roll away, neutral getup, tech in place, and getup attack.

• Be careful with jumping away and off platforms. While this is good to avoid Roy contesting landings and the ground, Roy can meet Young Link in the air quickly. Mix up between dropping through the platforms when Roy covers the air, or jumps to escape from Roy committing to covering the ground.

Landing
(How do they cover it? What are my best options?):

• Roy’s disjointed aerials will beat out Young Link’s NAir used as a landing tool consistently. Having disjointed aerials means Roy doesn’t have to put himself in harm's way for anti-airing, and can threaten his high burst range even above him.

• Roy’s FAir, BAir, and UAir can all anti-air. BAir has the sweetspot covering the front of Roy’s body, so it has a longer-lasting strong hit compared to his UAir.

• Roy can start juggling out of a DThrow at mid %s. Usually the first UAir will be true, but the follow-up aerials are about catching the opponent’s movement and commitments. DThrow is his combo throw at low %s, which he can combo horizontally with NAir as a starter, or vertically with UAir as a starter.

• Fastfall airdodge is a quick escape if Roy doesn’t match the speed and timing that Young Link is falling at. If Roy is rising while Young Link is using fastfall airdodge, Young Link can escape with time to act on the offense. If Roy follows Young Link though, he could frametrap Young Link’s landing with another UAir (Frame 5) or a landing Grab/Jab.

• A landing DAir timed correctly could trade or win against one of Roy’s aerials, but it’s still inconsistent against a sword character.

Offstage
(How Do I Escape This Position And What Do I Look Out For?):

• Roy can use FAir and BAir to edgeguard Young Link attempting to reach the ledge. FAir can cover multiple of Young Link’s recovery mix-ups, since the sword swing starts above Roy. Roy can swing FAir 2-3 times offstage too. Add his speed on top of that, and Roy can threaten edgeguards quickly.

• If Roy exhausts all of Young Link’s recovery options and he is forced to ASA to the ledge, all Roy has to do is dropdown double jump BAir from the ledge. At that point, there is 0 counterplay for Young Link.

• Since Roy will be at max air acceleration jumping off the ledge to edgeguard, it’s unlikely that Young Link can drift out of Roy’s range consistently. Dodging Roy’s FAir offstage means either hitting him first (spacing ASA from below or before Roy FAir) or airdodging through him.

• When recovering below the ledge, be wary of Roy’s DAir hitting through the stage/used as an edgeguard. The sour hit of DAir can still combo into a follow up kill move.

• Getting away with a high recovery is unlikely against Roy, since he can cover space quickly in the air and has a disjoint. Breaking through that wall with an aerial from Young Link won’t work.

• Roy can set up for an edgeguard situation with FThrow to then chase with FAir offstage. DI up and away on this FThrow to gain more recovery mix-ups.

Ledge:

• If Roy is standing directly on or near the ledge, sour Jab will hit the ledge, and it can combo into FSmash.

• Roy can stand directly at the ledge and throw out Jabs to ledgetrap. If a Jab hits, Roy can then convert the Jab into a BAir. Roy can use this to condition ledge options and timings, since Roy can change up the rhythm of his Jabs at the ledge to catch punish options. Young Link can getup shield, ledge jump NAir, or ledge attack to punish Roy for this, but Roy can avoid or punish Young Link for doing all of these.

• Roy can still air-to-air ledge jumps and jumps out of the corner with his disjoint. FAir and BAir serve this purpose well for Roy. Since BAir starts below him, it can also be used to catch ledge rolls and neutral getup.

• Roy can punish opponents for hanging on the ledge too long with ledge trump BAir. This is Roy’s highest reward option for punishing ledge hang that’s also consistent.

• While mixing up ledge timings and options to escape the ledge, mix up whether you punish Roy for using Jab at ledge or not. Sometimes the better punish is to take stage control.

Juggling/Boxing:

Roy’s Out of Shield Game:

• Roy’s go-to out of shield option is his Up Special, Blazer. Although it’s Frame 9, it gains super armor on Frames 4-10. Because of this super armor, Young Link can’t follow up shield pressure with another attack to beat Roy’s out of shield option. Young Link has to shield or spotdodge.

• Roy can land on a platform after the Blazer to reduce endlag. It has a small punish window, so it might be worth taking falling UAir shield damage and resetting the platform pressure situation.

• At extreme %s, Blazer will kill, netting Roy a high-reward option out of shield for opponents mashing on his shield.

• Roy’s other out of shield options are UAir, Grab and NAir. NAir’s high active frames beat out spotdodge, which the rest of his out of shield options lose to (outside of hard reads).

• For a hard punish, Roy can use jump Double-Edge Dance out of shield. Roy can use this to pressure a retreat if he anticipates it.

• Roy can still threaten and control space by the nature of being a sword character. He can contest some range with disjointed attacks, giving him some breathing room.

• Be careful of overextending air drift when using aerials. It can give Roy the chance to jump out of the corner and quickly flip the situation. In general, overextending in corner pressure is not worth the risk most of the time on a fundamental level, but making this mistake is more costly against Roy.

• Young Link’s aerials give him the capability to call out Roy’s jumps out of the corner, particularly short hop BAir/NAir and full hop NAir/UAir. While Young Link can anti-air Roy and box him out, it’s best to be punctual with these anti-airs. Again, lingering in the air against Roy leaves Young Link vulnerable to Roy swinging aerials, which Young Link can’t contest.

• Roy has a lot of grounded burst range too, so run up DTilt/FTilt/Jab/Grab are all still options for him. He might use these in a pinch if you pressure him too close in the corner.

• The amount of space you give Roy in corner pressure should change throughout the set. While sometimes you’ll need to back off to handle his jumps, depending on how they escape, move closer to catch their escape early. Keep Roy’s sword range in mind.

• Full hop NAir/UAir are important, because if Young Link anticipates the jump in correctly, Young Link can react to Roy’s positioning, and then strike with NAir/UAir.

• Roy doesn’t have a consistent aerial to cover space below him. He can use DAir to hit Young Link below him, but it’s tricky to time. He can still use NAir/FAir/BAir to swat Young Link away. It’s good to threaten UAirs below Roy, but this can be difficult to line up since he moves so fast.

• Roy can use the first hit of Double-Edge Dance or a B-Reverse Flare Blade to reverse his momentum, but he is vulnerable while performing these movement mix-ups.

• Roy can fly far in a single direction quickly. Because of this, Young Link can’t be lax with projectile usage in corner pressure or landing. Should Roy rush the air as an escape, pulling a projectile means Young Link automatically loses advantage in most cases.

• Aerials and positional pressure alongside the conditioning from projectiles can contain Roy approaching in the air. Give yourself enough time to intercept that approach. Playing the game too fast to cover Roy dismisses headspace for safety.

• The downside of this for Roy is that drifting in one direction is a commitment. He doesn’t have much freedom to drift back due to his low air acceleration, unless he double jumps back, which gives maximum air acceleration in the opposite direction.

• Roy lacks an aerial that’s generous for autocancel landing. At most, he can only autocancel on frame 1-2 of a few aerials. It’s realistic that a Roy misses this autocancel window in a tense situation in a bracket situation, which could be punished.

Offstage:

• Roy can use FAir/BAir to swat Young Link away for trying to edgeguard him. Don’t go too far out when edgeguarding Roy. It’s ideal to have quick access to stage for ledgetrapping.

• Condition Roy to go low at a diagonal angle. This forces Roy to play a mix-up game with his Blazer timings. Boomerang can be used to cover the midstage, and BAir for the mid to high altitude. Hitting BAir2 will force Roy to recover low at an angle where Young Link can follow up. Be aware that Roy can DAir spike Young Link for attempting a high BAir.

• Roy’s main mix-up with recovery is the timing and angle of Blazer. Roy aims to space the hitbox horizontal to Young Link to outrange his NAir/BAir. Hitting those aerials above Roy will gimp him. Roy has to angle Blazer higher to make it back from a lower angle, so the Roy player usually attempts to avoid this, and drifts back to take advantage of the range.

• Try to time a strong NAir against Blazer. This has further range and can clip Roy’s arm/shoulder more reliably.

• Roy can use FAir, NAir, UAir, Double-Edge Dance, and Flare Blade from double jump on the ledge.

• Roy can still burst off of the ledge from a ledge jump due to his high airspeed. Standing at the roll distance covers Roy burst options and ledge roll.

• If Young Link fails the edgeguard attempt on Blazer, he loses the opportunity to ledgetrap, which is a notable risk/reward for trying to edgeguard.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits

Most Reliable Move: All

Animation Info: Aim for the head rise if using an attack close to the ledge.

Note: Normal Difficulty, FTilt reaches farthest.

• FD DTilt > ASA %s: 112, 99

• FD FThrow %s at ledge: 176, 151

• FD Milkshake %s: 104-154, 93-128

• Roy Kill Throws: UThrow

Chrom Differences:

• Like Marth, Roy has a sweetspot on most of his attacks, at the hilt (the hitboxes closest to Roy), while his tipper is weak. Chrom does not have this sweetspot, but to compensate, his hitboxes are all the same, giving him more workable range than Roy, but having overall less power than Roy's hilt.

• Battlefield:
  Bad. This stage gives Roy multiple ways around projectiles and solidify his advantage by blocking out landing aerials in disadvantage. Young Link can use the platforms to mix up how he escapes disadvantage, but he’s forced to go there so often on Battlefield. This stage will likely be Roy's counterpick, so you should still prepare to fight Roy here.

• Small Battlefield:
  Indifferent. The layout benefits both characters. Young Link can’t zone for long periods at a time, but Young Link can still engage Roy on his terms and win.

• Final Destination:
  Good. Roy has to play Young Link's game to get in against him without platforms. Roy has nowhere to land at full hop height, if he wants to mix up his approach timing in the air, he has to double jump. This stage simplifies what Roy can do from a full hop.

• Smashville:
  Terrible. Roy’s burst range is practically the entire stage here. Young Link can’t threaten or establish control as well on such a small stage, and Roy’s short hop pressure will naturally cover the platform, which further limits Young Link's options in onstage disadvantage.

• Town & City:
  Terrible. If you don’t ban this stage against Roy, he can now kill early consistently off of the sides, and gains advantage and disadvantage options through the platforms. Roy can use Blazer to safely land on the platforms to mix up his recovery as well. Young Link does get space here, but it’s inconsequential to the benefit Roy gets here.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Indifferent. The slants give Young Link better corner pressure abilities, and the platforms exert more control for whoever controls the grounded and short hop space better. Disadvantage here is volatile though, since Roy can cover the platform and ledge without risk with high/reward. The low side blast zones further this issue.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Great. This stage gives Young Link enough space to disengage from Roy, and Young Link can hide under platforms to avoid full hop landing aerials.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Great. This stage not only provides space to camp out and intercept Roy, but walls and platforms to help with disadvantage. The walls also remove Roy’s mix-up of hugging the wall of the stage to recover.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Terrible. This stage has low side blast zones and a compact layout. Young Link has little room to escape in disadvantage, and his jumps are more susceptible/fragile out of disadvantage.

• Hollow Bastion:
  Great. With more space on the sides, the difference between here and SV is noticeable. Young Link isn’t immediately suffocated in disadvantage, and Young Link can benefit from the platform now that he has space to use Fire Arrow. The center platform blocks full hop landing aerials, easing up the coverage Young Link needs to keep Roy out.

• Young Link vs Roy & Chrom VoD Playlist: YL vs Chroy