32-
Ike

Jab1 (-15) & Jab2 (-20):
NAir (Frame 7)

Jab3 (-29):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
FSmash (Frame 26)

FTilt (-17):
Grab (Frame 16)
(This move can be spaced out)

UTilt (-17):
Grab (Frame 16)

DTilt (-13):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
(This move can be spaced out)

Dash Attack (-17):
Grab (Frame 16)

FSmash (-36):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
FSmash (Frame 26)

USmash (-34):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
FSmash (Frame 26)

DSmash (-46/-25):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
DSmash (Frame 20)

NAir (-5):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, can be spaced out)

FAir (-9):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)
(This move can be spaced out)

BAir (-6):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, can be spaced)

UAir (-5):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, can be spaced)

DAir (-9):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

Eruption (-38 to --):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
FSmash (Frame 26)
(The fully charged version of the move breaks shields)

Quickdraw (-28 to -22):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
DSmash (Frame 20)

Aether (-29):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
FSmash (Frame 26)

Counter (--):
--

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

• Key Conditioning Moves: NAir, DTilt, Grab, Dash Attack.

• Kill Moves: UAir/FAir/BAir/DAir, Aether, Eruption, Smash Attacks, FTilt, Dash Attack, UTilt.

• Kill Confirms: DTilt > BAir/FAir/UAir, NAir > UAir/Aether.

• Ike’s game plan is to get within range of Young Link where he can space disjointed pressure from his sword onto Young Link, forcing actions or pressure and then punishing him. What makes Ike so unforgivable is that not only does he have great range, he has good reward off of it. He can convert off of a NAir or tomahawk DTilt into a kill below 100% consistently.

• Ike’s NAir is his go to move to condition and control neutral. It’s circular motion allows Ike to perform timing mix-ups by hitting with different parts of the move (the reverse hit has even more combo potential). The entirety of the move when spaced and landed correctly is safe on shield. This can make it difficult to challenge Ike in the air if you are not fast enough, or if Ike does a NAir preemptively.

• Ike will commonly use NAir when dropping off of a platform as well to potentially start a combo.

• Ike can cover the area around him in the air with FAir or UAir, either of which can stuff out Young Link trying to attack him. Trying to interact with Ike in the air unless specifically anti-airing him is an uphill battle, as he can threaten aerials in an entire circle around him.

• Ike can still space pressure on Young Link on the ground with FTilt/DTilt. The shield pushback can make Grabbing out of shield to punish it tricky at times.

• The tradeoff for Ike’s reward and range is his lackluster speed. Ike’s ground speed limits him from afar, as he is a slow character that needs to get in. Ideally, Young Link will want to play the mid-long range and keep Ike out, and use close range to intercept Ike moving in.

• Ike can punish conditioned shielding expecting NAir with tomahawk Grab/DTilt. This creates a simple, yet effective cycle of conditioning that Ike will use throughout the match. He can then throw off timings with fastfall vs no fastfall, double jump, delaying the aerial, reverse hit, etc.

• Fire Arrow is good at keeping Ike out from the ground. Ike doesn’t have the speed to run up and shield Fire Arrows like most characters can. When Ike is too close though, he can punish Young Link for a Fire Arrow with a Dash Attack or jump over NAir.

• Because Ike is a slow character, Boomerang is Young Link’s go to for stuffing Ike out in the air. Boomerang’s trajectory forces two options for Ike usually. Get in front of Young Link with SHs/shielding, or jump over Boomerang. Use SH/FH backwards Boomerang to catch Ike jumping over angled up Boomerang.

• Ike can answer both Fire Arrow and Boomerang with FH landing NAir, or answer Fire Arrow with SH landing NAir. The range of this action is deceptive because of Ike’s slow speed, but when combined with the range of his sword, is much larger than it seems. Intercepting these landing aerials is the focal point of the MU.

• Once a projectile pattern has been established, the Ike player will then change timings on their jumps, SHs, and run shield. Young Link must then be able to intercept Ike within the blindspots.

• Ike can swat away Young Link in the air with his range, but Young Link can stuff out Ike preemptively with an aerial. Young Link can do this from directly below with UAir, or air-to-air with NAir/BAir/FAir, which of these, NAir inputted while rising can be used on reaction if a FH is anticipated. Intercepting Ike within Young Link’s blindspots is key to force him out of there and force an adjustment around it.

• SH/FH FAir can be more consistent than NAir at catching Ike in the air, since NAir is less disjointed and can get swatted away by Ike’s NAir.

• Between aerials and movement, Ike can punish Young Link for using Boomerang repeatedly when attempting to answer Ike in the blind spot. Reposition instead to react with a NAir/UAir on Ike’s approach to mix up Ike and throw off Ike’s FH timing.

• If Young Link can get a Bomb in hand, he can more easily threaten Ike in the blindspots with a Bomb toss, and much more easily find a conversion in last hit situations.

• Once Ike has been conditioned to jump over Boomerang/Fire Arrow, focus on intercepting Ike more directly rather than using more projectiles. This will throw off Ike’s approach timings around anticipating projectiles, and allow for Young Link to catch Ike with normals such as Jab, Pivot Grab (especially effective for catching aggressive landing NAirs), FAir, and BAir.

• Jab and DTilt are vital for catching Ike’s ground movement. They’re most effective at calling out Ike’s dashbacks.

• Bomb is more effective once Fire Arrow and Boomerang are temporarily off the table. Bomb can be used for whiff punishing Ike’s attacks, or catching his drift in the air more reliably. Projectiles are more on and off against Ike in this manner. You can’t use them all the time, but when you can, you can condition his movement, and then forgo them to intercept Ike and call out his approaches.

• When Ike manages to close the distance and is on the ground near Young Link, projectiles are much more of a risk, and shouldn’t be used in most scenarios so close to Ike.

• Repositioning right under Ike can cause more of a predicament for them as opposed to being on the ground diagonal to Ike. This is because Ike wants some diagonal spacing to land with a spaced NAir on shield. By anticipating a jump and getting under Ike, this forces him into an awkward situation where although he can land with NAir anyway, it can be countered with an UAir.

• Quickdraw can be used at midrange as a burst option. It’s most commonly used as a fast mix-up. It can set up for platform tech chases and strong hit advantage situations, since Ike can act for a split moment after landing the move (slight hit advantage). Ike can catch an immediate airdodge with an Aether to trade stocks offstage.

• Be wary of Ike’s Dash Attack when using projectiles on the ground. Ike’s Dash Attack has a surprising amount of range, allowing it to cleave through a Fire Arrow or Boomerang and explode Young Link.

• Because Ike has lackluster speed but good range with his sword in mind, if anticipated, his landing aerials can reliably be whiff punished. This is facilitated during the part of neutral where Young Link is using more Bombs/Aerials/movement to intercept and stuff out Ike in neutral. Bomb is especially good at whiff punishing Ike, since Young Link won’t have to move back in to land a punish on Ike.

• Ike lacks a consistent and quick option to get opponents off of him that are within his sword’s range (close up). For this purpose, Ike can shield, use defensive movement, Jab, Grab, DTilt (Frame 7) or Aether super armor (Frame 5). Young Link can play both the long range and close quarters combat ranges effectively against Ike, though refrain from outright mashing on Ike’s shield consistently, as Aether Super Armor will deny it. This does mean that Jab is safe on Ike’s shield, meaning that Young Link can use it as an overshoot option to catch Ike’s ground movement.

Last Hit vs Ike:

• Because both characters have very defined ranges and gameplans in the MU, often times Young Link will struggle to kill Ike, and vice versa. This creates one of the most unique stalemate situations in all of Young Link’s MUs.

• Ike can still keep jumping over Boomerang, because at such percentages of 150% onwards, Boomerang thrown upwards will no longer confirm, and Fire Arrow confirms will be difficult to land (even grounded Fire Arrow > FH Fire Arrow)!

• This is where Ike’s Dash Attack becomes most potent. Because Young Link will be retreating with projectiles frequently due to last hit’s short sight and stress, Ike can catch this with a Dash Attack.

• Bomb becomes more valuable in last hit situations vs Ike, since Ike will likely move more carefully around kill moves and Fire Arrow. With a Bomb in hand, Young Link can more reliably whiff punish and cover the aerial blindspots Ike moves into. Pull Bomb on a read where you won’t think Ike will approach or when Ike will back off within that moment.

• Usually, by the time Ike has reached these %s, Boomerang and Fire Arrow have already been utilized enough to limit Ike’s movement. Refer to the strategy above of forgoing consistent projectile pressure for using movement and normal based pressure to intercept Ike.

Parrying Ike NAir/Aerials:

• If Ike’s NAir is parried, Young Link can punish it much heavier with options like GSA and DTilt out of parry. Since Ike relies on NAir so much, especially from a FH, parrying it is a viable consideration.

• To counter parrying, Ike will intentionally land aerials higher on shield/throw off the timing with a double jump or no fastfall. This will make the NAir less safe on shield, which means by not parrying and simply shielding, that NAir can be punished out of shield.

• And so the cycle of conditioning is as follows: Ike lands aerials low for safety > punished with parry > Ike lands aerials higher on shield to beat out parry > hold shield to punish poorly spaced aerial on shield > Ike lands aerials low for safety.

• Tip for parrying: Try to parry the character, not the move. Parrying is a 5 frame window, so time it for when Ike is about to land on the ground (focus on the character model). Focusing on catching an entire move can unnecessarily tighten up your movement.

Ike’s Grab Game:

• Ike can use BThrow to set up an untrue Aether offstage as a followup. This isn’t true at all, but can be used to read a wait out of hitstun and trade stocks to further a lead.

• Ike can true combo into aerials out of DThrow until around mid to late %s. However, Ike’s will commonly go for delayed aerials instead of the rising true ones to find further followups and punishes on air dodges.

• Past DThrow combo window %s, Ike can combo UThrow > FAir or UAir. Ike has enough time to react to the DI during the combo, and usually opts for FAir on DI out and UAir on DI in. When sent above Ike, it can be treated like a landing situation with Ike given a head start. Being sent offstage rather than to the top blast zone by UAir is more favorable.

Boxing

(How do I escape this situation?):

• Because Ike can threaten both landing aerials and grounded options from the corner in such a situation, both Fire Arrow and Boomerang are extremely risky. There isn’t much space to whiff punish Ike’s landing aerials either.

• Ike can convert falling NAir into double jump DAir offstage for an early stock or reverse NAir > Aether stock trade, both of which are true combos. Be wary of landing NAir when trapped in the corner.

• Ike can also space pressure on the ground with FTilt, which outranges all of Young Link’s out of shield options except for Grab, which Ike can spotdodge in time if anticipated. Jumping out of FTilt is risky as well, due to Ike’s potential to catch a jump out with FAir.

• FAir allows Ike to cover significant vertical space starting from the top of the swing, which lets it catch jump-ins and aerials proficiently. Ike’s FAir is only safe when spaced.

• Focus on empty movement/whiff punishing to escape the corner against Ike. The spacing Ike sets is perfect for landing NAirs from FHs, which is the same range where Fire Arrow and Boomerang can be hindrances.

Platform Pressure

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

• Ike’s UTilt hits platforms from below.

• Ike’s NAir can hit platforms even when below it, and the move also sets up for platform extensions from below when an opponent is hit on the ground. Ike can cover the entire platform as well with UAir, which doesn’t set up for confirms, but outright kills.

• FAir/BAir allow Ike to land from a FH with platform pressure, especially with BAir, since Ike can catch dashes/jumps away with BAir to catch bad DI.

• Ike can hard punish landings onto platforms with USmash. Like Ganondorf’s USmash, this covers entire platforms with high killpower and shield break potential. Unlike Ganondorf’s USmash though, it can’t catch jumps off the platform as easily and has more lag, meaning that Young Link can escape if it’s shielded.

• Between NAir, BAir, UAir, and USmash, Ike’s sword swings can cover entire platforms at once. With correct timing, Ike can cover any option, meaning that he has dominant strategies for platform pressure. Mix up timing on tech/options that require a different timing to hit/use DAir autocancel landing out of hitstun to immediately buffer shield to block the attack.

• Ike wants Young Link to shield on platforms, so that he can drain his shield and poke from below. Use other defensive options such as jump, dash off, airdodge, and platform drop at differing timings to escape, and use shield sparingly.

Landing

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

• Be wary of Ike’s Dash Attack when trying to land with projectiles. Like in neutral, the range of Ike’s Dash Attack allows it to cleave through a Fire Arrow or Boomerang and explode Young Link. It can also be used to catch fastfall landing air dodges.

• Ike can use UAir to cover the space above him, which prevents Young Link from landing aggressively with DAir.

• Ike will position himself at a range where his sword will hit Young Link, but where Young Link can’t hit Ike. This is usually diagonally down and away, which allows Ike to use NAir or UAir to hit Young Link. In this position, Ike is looking for Young Link to airdodge. Ike can punish the airdodge with a delayed aerial (UAir, BAir, reverse hit NAir) or a grounded option.

• When hit, assess the situation and the immediate threat that Ike poses before attempting to land.

• Do not double jump out of hitstun immediately when sent above by Ike’s NAir/UAir. Although there’s good reason to use it to escape the follow-up, Ike can now react and catch your landing. Save the jump for if Ike jumps up, as if Young Link is sent especially high, Ike jumping up to hit him will become reactable.

Offstage

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

• Ike’s FAir is his dominant strategy for edgeguarding Young Link offstage. Like Marth/Lucina’s FAir, it’s a vertical sword swing that starts from above. The range of it allows Ike to cover Young Link attempting several recovery options at a specific timing. He can use it to cover ASA, instant tether reel from multiple angles, and airdodge to the ledge. Ike can hit Young Link offstage while using FAir onstage due to its range, mainly to catch him about to grab the ledge or below it.

• Ike’s Eruption can be used as an edgeguard by charging it at the ledge. This will put out a hitbox in front of Ike that can be used to 2-frame or edgeguard with the flaming pillars that shoot past the ledge. Eruption when fully charged has Super Armor. Boomerang or Fire Arrow can be used to hit Ike out of his Eruption Charge.

• Ike can catch low recoveries by using Aether offstage and drifting back onstage. Ike might not drag opponents up with the first hit, but can still kill opponents with the final hit (the sword slam onstage).

• Ike can use DAir to spike opponents with a 2-frame/directly below the ledge from onstage. Between FAir and DAir, Ike can cover the area below the ledge completely, but not all at once.

Ledge:

• Ike can pressure Young Link hanging at the ledge with FTilt/DTilt, NAir/FAir/UAir, and Aether’s final hit/Eruption.

• All of Ike’s Smash attacks can hit ledge. Of these, USmash and FSmash are reactable.

• Ike often ledgetraps at his sword’s max range, catching jumps with FAir/BAir/UAir, and pressuring neutral getup/roll with DTilt and FTilt, standing at roll distance and waiting for an option.

• The range on Ike’s sword allows him to cover several motions of air drift off the ledge with ledge jump. Ike can’t be challenged directly when he’s pressuring from that roll distance, meaning Young Link has to first get onstage to reset the situation into corner pressure, and then escape the corner, rather than trying to escape Ike all at once.

Juggling/Boxing

• Be careful when pressing additional attacks for shield pressure. Although Ike doesn’t have fast out of shield options, he can armor through shield pressure with Aether. Aether has Frame 5 super armor. This forces a sort of RPS on Ike’s shield at kill %s (shield to avoid aether, spotdodge/roll to avoid Grab, instant attack to beat Grab; spotdodge also beats Aether if delayed).

• Because of the Frame 5 super armor, Ike can use Aether out of hitstun to reversal Young Link for attacking with a follow-up that isn’t necessarily true.

• Since Young Link can set the spacing of corner pressure with stage control, space around or inside Ike’s sword range. Ike’s sword still allows him to control some space within disadvantage, but by staying outside of this range, Young Link can avoid Ike’s sword swings, but this also gives Ike more breathing room to move out of the corner.

• Close the distance and pressure Ike’s shield/whiff punish him to force close quarters combat inside Ike’s sword range. Although this is riskier, this applies direct pressure to Ike, which can force certain panic defensive options, and can mix up Ike expecting breathing room from opponents respecting his sword range.

• Be very careful of intercepting Ike in the air when he’s in the corner. Often, he’ll catch Young Link in the air trying to anti-air him due to the range of NAir/BAir, which on hit instantly creates an advantageous situation for Ike. These options can be baited by doing a SH in and then fast falling to punish.

• If Young Link wants to place pressure on Ike in corner pressure, this situation where Ike is fairly close to Young Link can occur. Ike can now catch projectiles on startup here, or punish them by jumping over and landing with an aerial.

• This is too close for Young Link to effectively pressure Ike with projectiles. Even going into the air too late is risky, as Ike can then turn disadvantage into advantage directly (NAir/BAir have high reward for Ike out of disadvantage). In this position, Young Link can transition into shield pressure with Aerials/Tilts/Jab/Grab/ZAir, or bait and punish Ike jumping and landing with an Aerial/other option.

• Young Link can find opportunities to pull Bomb by capitalizing off of Ike waiting in the corner.

• This situation is like the 2nd focal point of the neutral section, where Young Link has to transition off of projectiles into movement and Aerial/Bomb based pressure. By giving Ike space, Young Link can use Fire Arrows and Boomerang, which allows him to condition Ike’s movement out of the corner at the cost of giving Ike breathing room. This sets up for Young Link pushing corner pressure and forcing defensive options out of Ike while playing around his high air-to-air reward with the information gathered from Fire Arrow and Boomerang.

• If Young Link Grabs Ike in the corner, FThrow isn’t favorable due to how high it sends Ike without much reward, since it puts Ike at a great position to Quickdraw. Instead, consider trying DThrow to shark for a followup NAir/FAir/other attack to catch landing.

• When Ike crosses up Young Link/drops off of a platform, be wary of a platform drop BAir used to reversal Young Link.

Offstage:

• There is a 6 Frame window where Ike is rising during Aether where he has no Super Armor and no hitbox out. This is where he is most vulnerable during his recovery. Ike can be hit with DAir (won’t kill, but deals good damage and is easy to land), Bomb throw down (specific to land, but out of range of the attack and can follow up), tether Grab (sends Ike up which is not as preferable, but safe option), DSmash (high reward, requires timing), or NAir offstage to send Ike sideways to gimp.

• However, Ike attempts to use Aether as little as possible when recovering due to this vulnerability. From below the ledge, Ike can airdodge upwards as a “triple jump” to grab the ledge. This leaves roughly 3 Frames of vulnerability where Ike can get hit before grabbing the ledge (5 with 2-frame). Time DTilt to hit this window.

• Ike’s main recovery tool is Quickdraw. Charging it in the air allows Ike to burst forward, either towards the ledge or quickly onstage. Ike will commonly double jump above the ledge offstage and then Quickdraw. This forces a 50/50 where Ike can recover onstage or to the ledge. With good timing, Ike will land with Quickdraw near laglessly (if released around FH height), allowing him to swat away opponents near him.

• Young Link would have to hard commit to cover this Quickdraw, either with NAir or air dodging on the hitbox to force freefall.

• Preemptive Boomerang can be used to cover space in which Ike would Quickdraw. This can help answer the 50/50 or rising Quickdraw when placed before Ike starts charging the attack.

• Ike gains more recovery mix-ups with Quickdraw if he’s sent upwards offstage. Aim to send Ike offstage at a low angle by opting for DSmash out of FAir1 dragdowns instead of a DTilt. NAir and FTilt can also send Ike at relatively lower angles offstage.

• Be wary of Ike holding down on his recovery to make the hitbox of Aether go through the ledge.

• Ike can use his range to swat away Young Link standing near the ledge. He can use UAir while below the ledge, Aether above the ledge, or FAir/Quickdraw from a double jump off of the ledge.

• Ike can repeatedly Aether off of the ledge/from the corner back to the ledge. This allows Ike to swat opponents getting too close to the ledge, even if they move in to punish Aether.

• Use dash-ins at ledge to bait Ike off of the ledge (threatening DSmash/DTilt) and shield at ledge to avoid getting hit. In most scenarios, ledgetrapping outside of Ike’s sword range from the ledge with projectiles is preferable.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits, Very Specific

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits, specific

Most Reliable Move: DSmash

Animation Info: It’s easier to hit Ike during his rising animation while hanging at the ledge.

• FD DTilt > ASA %s: 121, 111

• FD FThrow @ Ledge %s: 189. 160

• FD Milkshake %s: 112-162, 99-134

• Ike Kill Throws: DThrow

• Ike’s DThrow will start to kill around 185-195% with good DI, and 160-170% with max rage.

• Quickdraw can’t be cancelled once Ike has started charging the move. Quickdraw can autocancel, allowing Ike to use an attack immediately after landing.

• Battlefield:
  Terrible. Ike gains a lot here, between the large zones to catch Young Link offstage, and the platforms allowing for continuous platform pressure, extensions, and juggling capabilities. It can be difficult to intercept Ike’s jump-ins here.

• Small Battlefield:
  Indifferent. This stage doesn’t offer as much space as PS2, but is still preferable to BF due to the different platform layout.

• Final Destination:
  Good. Although this stage doesn’t offer as much space as T&C or Kalos, the lack of platforms means that Ike no longer can stand on them to get around grounded projectiles, meaning that he’s forced to shield, Dash Attack/Quickdraw, or jump. This makes his jumps slightly more linear.

• Smashville:
  Indifferent. This stage is polarizing in the MU, since either player can have a lack of space at a given time, which can make each player’s game plan more difficult to execute. While the platform helps extend combos and Ike can camp the platform at Young Link’s diagonal blindspot, it also prevents Ike from starting landing NAir from higher up.

• Town & City:
  Great. This stage offers a generous amount of space to wall out and whiff punish Ike, and the high ceiling allows Young Link to live longer comparably, since he will usually kill off of the side blast zones.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Terrible. With little space in-between platforms, Ike’s jump ins are difficult to catch, and Young Link is forced to forego projectiles a lot of the time due to the small space.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Great. This stage offers a significant amount of space, which allows Young Link to retreat and engage Ike comfortably, alongside being able to reliably intercept Ike’s jump-ins.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Good. Like FD, the flat stage layout forces Ike into slightly more linear counterplay around projectiles, but the platforms on the side also help Young Link get off of the ledge much more easily as well. Ike can live very long on Kalos though, so last hit situations are more common on Kalos.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Bad. Although triplats aren’t good vs Ike, the center airspace gives Young Link more room to whiff punish Ike and intercept Ike’s approaches as opposed to Lylat or BF, whereas Ike has more freedom with landing aerials.

• Young Link vs Ike MU VOD Playlist: YL vs Ike Matches

• (IkeCord Resources) Playlist of Ike Guides: Ike Guides

• (IkeCord Resources) DThrow Kill %s: Dthrow Kill %s