26-
Mr. Game
& Watch

Jab (-7):
NAir (Frame 7)
(This move is difficult to react to)

Rapid Jab Finisher:
GSA (Frame 9)
DSmash (Frame 20)
FSmash (Frame 26)

FTilt (-18):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

UTilt (-16, -6):
GSA (Frame 9)
(This move is unpunishable from the second hit)

DTilt (-27):
GSA (Frame 9)
DSmash (Frame 20)
FSmash (Frame 26)

Dash Attack (-21):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)

FSmash (-13):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

USmash (-6):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

DSmash (-15):
Grab (Frame 16)

NAir (-4):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

FAir (-3):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, frame advantage assumes landing on the same frame as the bomb)

BAir (-13):
GSA (Frame 9)
(This move can be spaced out)

UAir (--):
--
(This move won't hit you when you're next to G&W)

DAir (-17):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

Chef (-28):
Unpunishable
(Projectile usage, pattern of bacon is unpredictable)

Judge (-30 1, -28 2, -27 3, -25 4, -20 5, -22 6, -20 7, -21 8):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

Judge 9 (-6):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

Fire! (--):
Double Jump UAir with 27 Frames

Oil Panic (--):
Shield Breaker

• Neutral Moves: Aerials, Tilts, Jab, Grab, Fire!, Dash Attack, Oil Panic.

• Kill Moves: FAir, BAir, DAir, Tilts, Smash Attacks, Dash Attack, Jab.

• Kill Confirms: DSmash > FSmash, NAir dragdown > DSmash/DTilt.

• Fire! is one of the fastest out of shield options in the game at Frame 3. This means any aerial that is -3 or lower, G&W can punish, This limits shield pressure against G&W’s shield considerably. The only consistent pressure tools are unstaled perfect landed NAir (-2), ZAir (can outspace), and DTilt (outspaces it).

• G&W’s Fire! can be baited with an empty hop shield once it’s conditioned. From there, Young Link has a 27 frame window to double jump up and hit G&W with UAir.

• G&W’s NAir is much like Palutena’s NAir. It sets up for good damage in juggle situations, and is disjointed above and to the sides. Air-to-air with G&W is skewed into G&W’s favor because of it. It is best not to interact with G&W within that airspace.

• The other disjointed aerial that he can use to catch Young Link is BAir. BAir is a lingering, multi-hit disjointed attack that can kill. G&W’s airspeed and floatiness allow him to burst into Young Link’s range and linger with the attack for a while, covering Young Link at any point in the air or on the ground.

• G&W’s FAir is a bomb that doesn’t have an initial hitbox, but can explode upon contact with the ground or a platform or after 29 frames. G&W can act after Frame 14, meaning there is a 14 frame window where G&W can act before the Bomb explodes at most. This is a projectile approach. This allows for blockstrings on shield (refer to the video by GimR in Resources).

• The Bomb itself disappears even with 1% of damage. Use the lingering hitboxes of NAir/UAir or multi-hit FAir to hit G&W and the bomb. The bomb has no hitbox while falling.

Usage of G&W’s + on Block FAir:

• The setup is +6 to +8 when done properly off of a platform and is unreactable. This exaggerates the pressure that G&W can place on the opponent as corner pressure.

• This can be used to ledgetrap, as it hits ledge, attack, getup, and punishes shield.

• This setup is especially strong when running off of a platform or ledgetrapping, where it’s unreactable.

• G&W can get true Grabs after the FAir on shield due to the frame advantage.

• Pressure from Fire Arrow and Boomerang condition G&W around them. Fire Arrow can cover G&W’s grounded burst options, which will most likely prompt jump, which Boomerang can mitigate. Once G&W has worked around the Boomerang mid-air, that’s where his aerial approaches become more linear and can be whiff punished or reacted to.

• Bomb plays a critical role in the MU, alongside Fire Arrow and Boomerang’s conditioning. Bomb can fill bucket, which removes G&W’s reflector for a short time (since they’ll try and empty the bucket quickly to get the reflector back). Since G&W is rather floaty, Bomb can be used to whiff punish G&W’s landing aerials.

• G&W can use Oil Panic to reflect Fire Arrows and Boomerangs, as well as use aerials to clank them. They have their purpose, but use them for too long and G&W can apply more lasting pressure throughout the match. If he reflects a projectile, G&W can act out it quickly enough to where he won’t get hit by another projectile. If he’s reflecting a Bomb, approach from behind it and use an aerial to punish Oil Panic usage.

Boxing
(How do I escape this situation?):

• G&W can contest Young Link’s jumps out of the corner with BAir and NAir directly, meaning Young Link gets outranged in the air.

• G&W will use the shield pressure of these moves to condition shield in the corner, which lets him set up + on block FAir. If he’s lingering around at full hop height, he’s probably looking for it.

• Chef launches projectiles that deal high amounts of damage and can combo into G&W’s FTilt. NAir can clank with the projectiles.

• G&W’s Tilts are all consistent and fast with decent knockback. They can be used as burst options to call out dashbacks (especially DTilt and FTilt).

• Since interacting with G&W without stage control is risky (disjoints, Fire!, + on block FAir), it’s more consistent to get around G&W with empty movement. Take center stage and then think about offense.

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

• It’s possible to DI/SDi G&W's NAir to end up offstage or in a better juggle position, DI and SDi up and inwards to be launched on the other side of G&W to get to the ledge rather than being juggled, or up and outwards to land further away from G&W.

• G&W’s UAir is his go-to juggling aerial. Although it rarely kills, it bounces the opponent upwards while dealing moderate damage, allowing G&W to connect multiple onto an opponent and juggle them from below. This UAir can’t be beaten out by aerials, so Young Link can only drift away and airdodge through it. Mix up the timing and height of where airdodge is used.

• G&W can directly contest landings with his Tilts and USmash. G&W’s USmash has head invincibility and is -6 on shield uncharged. Landing on top of G&W is extremely risky.

• With his airspeed, G&W can chase opponents landing reliably and consistently, as well as covering their landings with disjointed hitboxes. Mixing up fall timings to avoid G&W’s hitboxes is critical.

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

• G&W can use Oil Panic to reflect projectiles mid-air that are used to swat him away.

• G&W has two main edgeguarding tools, BAir and DAir. BAir is his go-to for directly contesting Young Link in the air, as it outranges Young Link and forces Young Link to go around him. Because G&W is floaty and has high airspeed, he can extend far offstage.

• G&W can use DAir to quickly punish lower recoveries, or 2-frame with the spike hit. DAir launches up and away on the soft hit, meaning that getting hit by a low DAir can give Young Link more resources to recover.

• G&W can also use Fire! to edgeguard, and it will kill off of the sides far out into the side zones. The parachute afterwards allows G&W to float left or right and still use any aerial or an airdodge. G&W uses Fire! or DAir to stage spike or block snapping at the ledge at a certain timing.

• Alternate between going high or low to get around G&W, and use air drift to move away from G&W using BAir, and then using the endlag of BAir to get back to the stage.

Ledge:

• G&W can use Chef to throw out projectiles that hit ledge. These projectiles combo into FTilt/Dash Attack. They can be clanked with NAir, but the arc at which the projectile travels prevents ledge jump if there’s a projectile already covering that space.

• Against Chef, use ledge roll and punish, or ledge jump early and NAir.

• G&W can also set up ledge traps with FAir, which cover all options except ledge jump. Shielding the FAir gives G&W a true blockstring Grab.

• Similar to getting around the corner, empty movement is preferred to get off the ledge and escape the corner. Since G&W can threaten his entire disjointed range while ledgetrapping, Young Link has little chance to challenge G&W up-close from the ledge and win the interaction.

Juggling/Boxing:

• Since G&W can use Fire! out of shield to escape shield pressure, shield pressuring him directly isn’t high-reward. It’s more consistent to keep space and utilize consistent positional pressure to keep G&W in disadvantage. Play outside of his NAir/BAir/Dash Attack Range. He’ll use those as burst options around projectiles.

• Take note of the distances at which G&W will use Oil Panic in relation to Young Link’s position, With a Bomb in hand, it can be baited and then punished. Oil Panic activates on Frame 6, and G&W is stuck in the move for another 37 frames.

• ZAir can be used to poke at G&W in the corner and air-to-air against NAir/BAir, but the small size of the hitbox can make it inconsistent at times. It’s best used lower to the ground and/or in air-to-air situations.

• G&W commonly lands with DAir, which autocancels he is high enough. It’s unsafe on block, so it can be punished heavily out of shield. However, this conditions shield and being below G&W, which he can punish by instead drifting away with landing NAir or setting up unblockable FAir. G&W’s DAir outranges Young Link’s UAir.

• G&W can autocancel his DAir at high altitudes.

• G&W can land with Oil Panic to reflect Boomerang/projectiles.

Offstage:

• Because G&W can use aerials and airdodges after Fire!, he can recover high by starting with it, drifting onto the stage and then attempting to land. G&W can turn offstage disadvantage into juggling disadvantage.

• Using BAir, G&W can hit away opponents trying to edgeguard him with a disjointed hitbox.

• G&W can use DAir to mix up his recovery by opting for a lower recovery rather than a high one.

• It’s more consistent to ledgetrap G&W. Fire!’s intangibility makes it difficult to edgeguard him directly, and it can stage spike as a reversal. Use projectiles to tack on extra damage.

• G&W can use aerials and can airdodge after Fire!. He might have to directional airdodge to the ledge in order to make it back, which can be caught with a Bomb or DTilt at the ledge.

• G&W can use dropdown Fire!, NAir, UAir, or FAir from the ledge. When G&W uses Fire! here, he turns the ledgetrap disadvantage into a juggling disadvantage.

• G&W doesn’t have tremendous range despite having a range advantage, so it’s still comfortable for Young Link to ledgetrap closer to the ledge.

• G&W’s animations at the ledge can make his ledge options ambiguous when executed. There’s one frame during his ledge getup and ledge roll where G&W’s mouth is open. This can be used as a visual indicator, as it happens on the first frame of the option. This can’t be seen on PS2.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits

Most Reliable Move: All

Animation Info: N/A

Note: Normal, FTilt reaches farthest.

• FD DTilt ASA %s: 98, 89

• FD FThrow Ledge %s: 148, 139

• FD Milkshake %s: 88-123, 78-95

• G&W Kill Throws: DThrow at around 190%

• G&W’s Landing DAir landing lag animation can low-profile Fire Arrow.

• Battlefield:
  Terrible. The triplats allow G&W to further extend his juggling game, which will force Young Link to the ledge more often, extending the amount of time he’s in disadvantage. G&W can shark with UAir or NAir from under the platforms to safely extend his advantage with high reward and low risk.

• Small Battlefield:
  Indifferent. The center airspace freed up by the lack of a top platform gives Young Link more space to land, but still doesn’t provide as much space as other stages.

• Final Destination:
  Good. This stage removes the platforms, which allow G&W to extend juggling and avoid some projectile pressure. Young Link can use projectiles to limit the airspace in which G&W can pressure with aerials to make the whiff punish process more linear.

• Smashville:
  Bad. Although this stage allows for some close quarters interactions with G&W, it isn’t as consistent as other stage picks in the MU due to the small stage length and large platform that G&W can use to extend juggles.

• Town & City:
  Indifferent. This stage has good space to camp out G&W and whiff punish, and the platforms can help with getting off of the ledge, but the high platforms give G&W a safe place to reset Fire!, and the larger side zone to blast zone width gives G&W much more space to edgeguard Young Link.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Bad. The lack of airspace to move around G&W allows him to land BAir more easily and lock Young Link in shield, or use the platform layout to repeatedly juggle Young Link and force him onto the ledge.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Good. This stage provides good space to camp G&W and stay outside of his effective range. It’s not as difficult to recover back to stage here as it is on T&C or FD. The ledge on PS2 hides the mouth-opening animation, though that can be used to see G&W’s ledge roll and getup.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Great. Not only does this stage give a lot of space and no center platforms to camp G&W and whiff punish him reliably, but the platforms on the sides also help with his recovery.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Terrible. Same reasons as BF.

• Young Link vs G&W VOD MU Playlist: YL vs Mr. Game and Watch (GnW) Matches

• (@GimR’s Lab on YouTube) MR. GAME AND WATCH'S UNBLOCKABLE

• Information on G&W's Ledge Animation: Remzi's Tweet