64-
Inkling

Jab1 (-13) & Jab2 (-16):
NAir (Frame 7)
BAir (Frame 9)
GSA (Frame 9)

Jab3 (-21):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

Rapid Jab Finisher (-38):
FSmash (Frame 26)

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

UTilt (-16):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

DTilt (-13):
NAir (Frame 7)
BAir (Frame 9)
GSA (Frame 9)
(Can be spaced)

Dash Attack (-16):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

FSmash (-24):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)
(Can be spaced out)

USmash (-29):
FSmash (Frame 26)

DSmash (-29/-21):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

NAir (-2):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

FAir (-8):
NAir (Frame 7)

BAir (-2):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

UAir (-3):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

DAir (-5):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

Splattershot (-6):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, projectile usage)

Splat Roller (-12):
NAir (Frame 7)
BAir (Frame 9)
GSA (Frame 9)

Super Jump (-29):
FSmash (Frame 26)

Splat Bomb (--):
Unpunishable
(Projectile usage)

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

• Kill Moves: Bair, DAir, Splat Bomb, Smash Attacks.

• Kill Confirms: Booyah (UThrow > UAir), Roller > Smash Attack.

• Out of Shield Options: BAir, NAir, Grab, USmash.

• Inkling’s dash can low profile everything, except for Boomerang angled downward, but that is risky. Be careful where you put moves.

• DTilt can catch the dash in + dash out, which is strong in Inkling’s kit.

• When shield pressuring in front of Inkling, she lacks strong out of shield options. Behind her, though, she has BAir. Watch for Inkling potentially using a turnaround BEFORE shielding.

• Inkling loses several options when her Ink tank is near empty. When this happens, try to limit her time to refill to next to none, or punish her for doing so.

• Inkling has a “cycle of conditioning” in a way. She uses her aerial pressure to condition shielding, and eventually shielding in reaction to specific positional pressure. When that happens, it becomes incredibly easy for her to find Grabs. This discourages shielding, and opens up more opportunities for aerials.

• This cycle loops back and forth, and she can make the situation more complex with tools like tomahawk Grabs. Inkling has such a good neutral from this because she not only has great options, but she can also condition several options and positions at once.

• Platforms introduce a new element to this cycle. They place you off of the ground, meaning they can be used to alleviate the cycle by avoiding some Grabs. It’s not an invincible strategy, but involving them into neutral is essential.

• Inkling does get a lot more out of Grab combos with platforms, though. In stage selection, some platforms are wanted, but Battlefield may be too much reward for Inkling.

• Inkling relies a lot on Ink as an X-Factor. Keep an eye on her Ink levels, and use more positional pressure when she is lower on Ink.

• Remember not to get blindsided by the close-range Splat Roller.

• Inkling also shares the issue of no safe on block grounded moves.

Boxing

(How do I escape this situation?):

• Although Splat Roller can be used in neutral, it is much stronger in advantage, especially out of a tech chase. With less space to work with, she can bust it out at close range much more reliably. Take Splat Roller into account when she’s close, as it’s reactable otherwise.

• Inkling can create tech situations for Splat Roller with Jab3, BAir at mid %s, NAir at high %s, weak FAir, and FThrow. Uou can jump out of FThrow hitstun in time, though.

• Remember that DI up can help escape tech chase situations.

• Inkling's BAir/Grab condition cycling is even stronger here, because there are lessened options in the corner.

• She can use BAir/FAir to catch jumps/anti-air. Contesting her aerials becomes a hard task, since there is no space to weave in our shorter aerials.

• Inkling’s spaced DTilt can outspace GSA out of shield. It proves troublesome in the corner, since we don’t have the space to escape.

• Projectiles are extremely risky to pull in the corner.

• Boomerang is way too risky, Fire Arrow can be used on a read to escape, and Bomb takes a long time to pull, but is more versatile in the corner than Boomerang.

Landing

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

• Inkling can directly contest Young Link in the air with an aerial; any aerial she chooses loses to DAir.

• Ink that is on the ground via Splat Roller or Splattershot will slow you down when you walk or run in it. Inkling can use this to manipulate your want to jump and where you want to land.

• Inkling can get a lot of Grabs here by catching an immediate shield upon your landing, which she can encourage with aggressive positional/aerial pressure.

Offstage

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

• When going offstage, Inkling can edgeguard with BAir and FAir. Both send horizontally, so DI-ing up and in increases chances of survival, or just in.

• Inkling’s DAir spikes. She’ll use it to punish a low recovery directly by getting directly above you. If she misses, that’s a free ticket back to ledge, since her DAir has 44 frames of endlag.

• Splat Bomb can be used in a multitude of ways to edgeguard. She can toss it downwards to gimp low recoveries, or throw it far out in tandem with an edgeguard.

• It inherently limits where you go, so you’ll have to maneuver around it. Take account into where Inkling will put herself after throwing the Splat Bomb. This option won’t be available with no Ink.

• Inkling may simply opt to recover Ink while you’re recovering, too.

Ledge:

• Inkling can 2-frame/hit ledge with DTilt and DSmash.

• BAir as a move can be a whole ledgetrap, as it can safely beat all options.

• Using Splat Bomb, Inkling can set a “timer” on the ledge, forcing you to get up while being farther away from the ledge (covering roll distance). This Splat Bomb can cover multiple options based on its immediate position and ending position (point of explosion).

• At its best, her ledge trapping is a combination of these tools, positional mix-ups to threaten different option coverages, Grabs, and harder read moves, such as Smash Attacks.

• One way around Splat Bomb is to get off of ledge while she’s using the move. The move has a long startup, its FAF is anywhere from 48-66, but usually around 50-52 for the “slightly charged” ledgetrap variants.

• Other than that, it comes down to the standard mindgames. Do note that double jump ZAir can beat BAir as a mix-up option.

Juggling/Boxing:

• Inkling can use B-Reverse/Wavebounce Splattershot to mix up aerial momentum, as well as Splat Roller in general to change her landing position.

• Splat Roller is extremely committal and reactable as a landing tool. Inkling can jump cancel out of it for extra airtime, however.

• She’s more likely to escape if you get too close and risk too much of her sheer speed. Conserve options, and minimize risk when juggling.

• She relies more on her faster speeds to get down, which means commit less when covering the air, and rely more on positioning and low-risk UAirs.

• Don’t give Inkling the time to recover Ink when you have stage control, or the risk-free scenario. Use positional pressure to keep the Inkling lower on Ink.

• Her out of shield game is subpar from the front.

Offstage:

• Inkling is extremely hard to edgeguard. She’s slippery, and Super Jump is fast. Opt for ledgetrapping most of the time.

• This means 2-framing has more relevance, so Bombs can be pulled for that.

• Splat Roller gives Inkling horizontal momentum, but lowers the point at which she uses Super Jump. At extreme percents, and in this situation, full hop dropdown DAir from ledge CAN kill, but only on this linear angle.

• Splat Roller doesn’t give horizontal momentum if Inkling is out of Ink.

• Inkling can use Splat Roller and FAir from a double jump off of ledge.

• She’ll still be slippery on the ground and in the air, so holding ledge is better rather than being aggressive at the ledge. Have some space so that you can outspace her options, such as her roll and ledge jump FAir.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits

Most Reliable Move: All

Animation Info: The closer you get, increasingly aim for the head rise.

Note: Normal, FTilt reaches farthest.

• FD DTilt ASA %s: 113, 103

• FD FThrow Ledge %s: 176, 154

• FD Milkshake %s: 99-143, 89-119

• Inkling Kill Throws: BThrow, DThrow

• Inkling can NAir twice in one short hop.

• Sometimes, you will still get buried even if you trade Splat Roller with a move like NAir. Make sure to use disjoints and projectiles against Splat Roller.

• Splat Bomb hit detection is Frame 1, but the hit is Frame 2. This can cause you to be sent in the opposite direction sometimes.

• Splat Roller lays down Ink that slows the opponent when they walk in it.

• Don’t challenge Splat Roller with Boomerang, it will lose 95% of the time.

• Battlefield:
  Bad. Although platforms prove a useful tool in the MU, this stage is too rewarding for Inkling. She can extend advantage so much with the platforms, and edgeguard really well with the large zones.

• Final Destination:
  Terrible. Inkling may lose a lot of combo potential, but the core issues in neutral are accentuated here. With no platforms, Inkling can fully abuse her Grab and BAir conditioning.

• Smashville:
  Indifferent. The platform helps both, and overall the layout isn’t bad. A lack of space can make her always close by staying in constant midrange, though.

• Town & City:
  Indifferent. Make use of the platforms when they’re around, and the space available when they’re not. The core issues of worse stages appear when the platforms are gone and you’re in disadvantage, so playing safer here is more significant than on other stages.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Great. The layout of the platforms is really nice for fighting Inkling. Fire Arrows become better, and overall it is easier to weave around her.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Great. The space is amazing for Young Link, and the platforms are well-placed to help in neutral. Definitely a great game 1 pick.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Good. The layout is great. This stage's platforms can help in disadvantage, though the zones are annoying. This does hurt Inkling, too, as Splat Bomb can end up on the platform.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Bad. Triplat issues, though not as bad as BF. Additionally, the zones are small, so edgeguarding is less of a concern.

• Space vs Supahsemmie: Yggdrasil | Space (Inkling) vs Supahsemmie (Young Link) | Winners Semis