02-
Donkey Kong

Jab1 (-14) & Jab2 (-24):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

FTilt (-19):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

UTilt (-23):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

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

Dash Attack (-14):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

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

USmash (-22):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)
Grab (Frame 16)

DSmash (-33):
FSmash (Frame 26)

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

FAir (-11):
GSA (Frame 9)

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

UAir (-10):
GSA (Frame 9)

DAir (-8):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

Giant Punch (-33 to -21 Uncharged, -4 Charged):
GSA (Frame 9)
Grab (Frame 16)
DSmash (Frame 20)
(The fully charged version of this move is safe on shield, and deals heavy shield damage)

Headbutt (-32):
FSmash (Frame 26)
(This move deals heavy shield damage)

Spinning Kong (-37):
FSmash (Frame 26)

Hand Slap (-15):
NAir (Frame 7)
(Repeated use of this move deals heavy shield damage)

Aerial Hand Slap (-4):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield)

• Neutral Moves: Tilts, Jab, Aerials, Hand Slap, Giant Punch, Grab, Dash Attack.

• Kill Moves: Smash Attacks, FTilt, UTilt, Aerial Hand Slap, Grounded Spinning Kong, Giant Punch, Aerials.

• Kill Confirms: Aerial Hand Slap > USmash/UAir/Giant Punch, Headbutt Bury > FSmash, Grounded Hand Slap > BAir/UAir.

• Moves with Super Armor: Charged Giant Punch, Headbutt, Grounded Spinning Kong.

• Donkey Kong can charge Giant Punch to force an approach from the opponent, since doing so is building up a win condition. Giant Punch when fully charged has high killpower, hurtbox shifting backwards during the startup, and is -3 on shield, making it low-risk. Fire Arrow allows Young Link to answer Donkey Kong for charging Giant Punch from afar.

• This doesn’t mean Donkey Kong can’t charge Giant Punch at all. He can platform camp while charging Giant Punch, and lobbing Fire Arrows from across the stage makes them reactable. Hitting Fire Arrow while Donkey Kong is charging Giant Punch will remove all charge from Giant Punch. Use both positional pressure and Fire Arrow to dissuade Giant Punch charges.

• With manual reverses, Donkey Kong can use Giant Punch’s charge to initiate a turnaround in the air.

• Donkey Kong’s grounded Spinning Kong is a high-risk and high-reward kill move. He can use it to punish Young Link in endlag, or projectile startup up close. If he lands it, he can take Young Link’s stock quite early. Be wary of this at close range.

• Donkey Kong’s walk speed is the 10th fastest in the game, which allows him to shield projectiles with less risk, and is a safer option to approach Young Link with. If Donkey Kong relies on dash shielding, then he won’t be able to shield until frame 16 of his dash, which is more committal than shield walking.

• Donkey Kong’s dash is committal because of his hurtbox size and long dash, meaning he often shoots himself too far, combined with poor frame data up close. This means that dashing too close can be an overextension for him.

• Use shield pressure and Normals to threaten Donkey Kong up close when he moves in, baiting him expecting a projectile to be thrown.

• Donkey Kong’s BAir is one of his most versatile moves in his kit. It has range, combo potential, killpower, and low endlag. It’s one of his go-to tools for applying safe pressure. Donkey Kong has to land with BAir for it to be safe on shield.

• When Donkey Kong’s BAir is spaced well, it can outrange Bomb. Keep the interaction in mind when holding a Bomb.

• Donkey Kong can use Dash Attack can be used up close as a burst option once he's closed the distance, though its main purpose is whiff punishing. Dash Attack is one of Donkey Kong’s faster options to cover ground, so he can use it to catch Young Link in endlag. Dash Attack can clank with Fire Arrow, and be punished in clank endlag.

• Donkey Kong’s high reward combos and setups mostly start from Grab in neutral. He can condition shielding with aerials and implied threats up close. Be wary of how Donkey Kong is conditioning your shield usage. He can also condition shield to break it with Hand Slap or Headbutt.

• Donkey Kong can BAir twice in one short hop. However, the first rising BAir is punishable on shield with GSA, NAir, and USmash.

• When zoning Donkey Kong, you can’t play too far from him. Trying to zone from across the stage makes projectiles reactable. Zoning from half stage-width is preferable.

• Fire Arrows are crucial in denying Donkey Kong’s charging of Giant Punch and catching his approaches. Fire Arrows will condition burst options/shield walking/dashing up close, if not jump. Note which option they choose to beat Fire Arrow.

• Boomerang can cover Donkey Kong’s jump ins, but he can change the timing of his jump to go over the Boomerang. Cover this “diagonal angle” with UAir, or another aerial when anticipated/baited.

• Young Link wants to wall Donkey Kong outside of his burst range, and whiff punish with fast frame data up close. The reason this is consistent vs Donkey Kong is due to a few factors:

• 1.) His large hurtbox. This makes it more difficult for Donkey Kong to maneuver around projectiles in the air, and increases reward for Young Link on hit.

• 2.) His poor frame data and out of shield game. Up close, although Donkey Kong gains more reward, he doesn't have the frame data on ground moves to back it up, with his tilts being unsafe, slow, and negative on hit at low %s. He wants to play a patient neutral and move around what Young Link covers. Shield walking for Donkey Kong is really good at this due to his having the 10th fastest walk speed in the game.

• Always keep track of how Donkey Kong avoids projectiles and closes the distance. Once information on how Donkey Kong avoids the projectiles has been shown, Young Link can bait the response with movement that suggests projectile usage (dashback, jump back, etc).

When DK jumps over projectiles, Young Link can:

• 1.) Adjust Boomerang to cover higher jump heights.

• 2.) Preemptively full hop Fire Arrow.

• 3.) Challenge Donkey Kong horizontally in the air with NAir/BAir/ZAir.

• 4.) Use UAir to intercept Donkey Kong from below.

• 5.) Feint an aerial with an empty jump to bait out resources.

When Donkey Kong shield dashes through projectiles, Ypung Link can:

• 1.) Bait a shield dash with projectile suggestive movement, and then Grab Donkey Kong.

• 2.) Shield Pressure Donkey Kong with DTilt, Jab, and Aerials.

• 3.) Pressure with a Bomb (assuming it’s already in hand).

• 4.) Run up to Donkey Kong and bait an option out of shield.

• Donkey Kong’s out of shield game is poor vs Young Link, due to aerial Spinning Kong not hitting Young Link standing on the ground, and his other quick options having blindspots. Additionally, Donkey Kong doesn’t have fast frame data up close vs Young Link, giving him ample ground to push Donkey Kong away up close with moves like Jab, BAir, NAir, ZAir, Dash Attack, etc.

• Because of this, it’s imperative for Donkey Kong to know when to wait for Young Link’s follow up option, then punish that instead.

Boxing

(How do I escape this situation?):

• Donkey Kong’s DTilt has a 40% bonus trip chance on hit. This can set up for combos, but only if the DTilt trips. If the DTilt doesn’t trip, Young Link can initiate pressure on Donkey Kong. This is because his DTilt is negative on hit. DTilt becomes 0 on hit vs Young Link at 42% with no rage, and 33% with max rage.

• At very low %s, holding shield will let Young Link automatically tech Donkey Kong’s Cargo DThrow. DI up will negate the tech chase/jab lock setup. If you DI up, you can autocancel with DAir (Young Link’s biggest autocancel startup window), then instantly get back into fighting Donkey Kong at close range.

• Be wary of Donkey Kog using grounded Spinning Kong when cornered. He can use it more reliably with stage control, since Young Link has less room to run away. Donkey Kong can use grounded Spinning Kong to punish poor projectile use in the corner.

• Donkey Kong can corner pressure Young Link with frequent pokes from moves such as BAir, NAir, and FTilt.

• Focus on safe movement out of the corner and low risk. Projectiles are risky from the corner against Donkey Kong.

• Timing mix-ups are crucial against Donkey Kong, since a fair amount of his corner pressure stuffs out multiple options, forcing Young Link to jump a lot.

• Additionally, using safe pressure on shield can lead to knocking Donkey Kong away, giving center stage control, though it’s often less risky to get to center stage without attacking.

Platform Pressure

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

• Donkey Kong can reliably pressure with BAir, NAir, UAir, and Giant Punch. He can threaten shield usage on platforms to avoid these aforementioned options with Headbutt.

• Young Link can react to a jump Headbutt, and escape by jumping away and/or hitting him (Headbutt has a gap in armor before the hit comes out).

• Donkey Kong can use USmash on a hard read to close stocks at earlier %s as a medium-risk high-reward option.

• Be careful when using airdodges to land on platforms. Donkey Kong can anticipate this, and get a Grab to reset the situation.

• Jumping away from platforms can be risky, due to Donkey Kong being able to chase jumps from platforms.

• Mix up platform escape options and timing (waiting a while, jumping off, dropping through), etc. When dropping through the platform and if Donkey Kong is nearby, setting up a shield situation can pressure him.

Landing

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

• When Donkey Kong sets up a juggle situation with Cargo UThrow below a platform, avoid airdodging instantly. This will give Donkey Kong a stronger setup by fastfalling onto the platform and regrabbing on reaction.

• Donkey Kong’s UAir beats out Young Link’s DAir consistently.

• Several of Donkey Kong’s anti-air tools have some form of priority and intangibility (UAir and USmash), making it difficult to directly contest. This means landing away from Donkey Kong is often safer.

• Donkey Kong can use grounded Spinning Kong to hard punish projectile landings away from him. Additionally, he can trap defensive options such as shield with grab. This can be countered by fastfalling and reacting to the grounded up-b with shield.

• Donkey Kong can use Dash Attack to catch aggressive aerial landings.

• Using ZAir to land can be rather beneficial, since Donkey Kong’s hurtbox is large, making it easy to hit him with ZAir.

• Take note of what options Donkey Kong is threatening to cover, and adjust landing drift/timing accordingly.

Offstage

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

• Fire Arrow can be used to limit Donkey Kong’s charging of Giant Punch onstage while recovering.

• If Donkey Kong uses Cargo BThrow offstage and Young Link techs the stage spike, Young Link can footstool Donkey Kong afterwards, gimping him.

• Instead of Cargo BThrow, Donkey Kong can use Cargo DThrow offstage, which also stage spikes but removes the risk of footstool reversal, and allows Donkey Kong to catch the tech with BAir/UAir/Aerial Spinning Kong.

• Donkey Kong can edgeguard Young Link offstage with BAir (or BAir out of a reverse charge cancel)/NAir. React to Donkey Kong going offstage, and adjust drift accordingly.

• Donkey Kong can spike recoveries close to/above the ledge with FAir, DAir, and Aerial Hand Slap.

• Donkey Kong often conditions low recoveries by threatening the space above ledge with BAir. Drift out to avoid Donkey Kong’s Aerials, while conserving double jump to make it back to the ledge.

• Donkey Kong can catch tether to the ledge with NAir.

Ledge:

• Donkey Kong can hit Young Link at ledge with Dash Attack, FSmash, DTilt, DAir, FTilt, and Aerial Hand Slap.

• Donkey Kong’s range allows him to control a large amount of space from around the ledge. BAir and NAir notably cover a lot of space quickly.

• Donkey Kong’s grounded Hand Slap is excellent at covering both neutral getup and ledge roll, both preemptively and on reaction.

• Donkey Kong wants to condition what option he is not currently covering. (Ex: Aerial Hand Slap conditions timed neutral getup, short hop BAir can condition roll or jump). Mixing up timings from ledge will make it slightly more difficult for Donkey Kong to punish the opponent, due to the lack of a strong lingering option.

• Keep awareness high when shielding in the corner. Donkey Kong wants to condition shield because that gives him an opening to Cargo Throw, which gimps Young Link. Incorporate spotdodges and early out of shield attacks to avoid Grabs, or opt for defensive movement instead of defaulting to shield.

Juggling/Boxing:

• When corner pressuring Donkey Kong, stay outside of his burst range with BAir. Doing so will give Young Link more time to anticipate shield dash/walk and dash-ins with Jab/DTilt/Grab/BAir/etc. Donkey Kong can use BAir as a safe aggressive option out of the corner, meaning within the range of BAir, he can also threaten options such as Grab.

• Be wary of Donkey Kong using his super armor options to beat out Young Link using untrue extensions or predictable attacks.

• Donkey Kong can alter his momentum in the air with Aerial Hand Slap, and turn around mid-air with Reverse Charge Cancel.

• When Donkey Kong is drifting towards center stage aggressively (assuming Young Link has stage control), Young Link can line up an UAir, which will beat out all of Donkey Kong’s options from below. Catch his drift to cover an airdodge as well.

• If Donkey Kong doesn’t drift in when landing and instead goes to the corner, hold center stage control and play patiently. Use projectiles accordingly, and note how and when Donkey Kong is getting around them. Then, either bait those options, or change positions so that said option is no longer preferable.

• When anti-airing Donkey Kong’s jumps out of the corner or from platforms, use NAir to catch jumps horizontally, and UAir to catch jumps vertically. Follow his drift to catch the airdodge with UAir.

• Use empty full hops to bait and punish fast fall airdodges when threatening UAir.

Offstage:

• Donkey Kong’s Spinning Kong has great horizontal distance, but poor vertical displacement. The large hitboxes make it difficult to contest with moves like NAir.

• NAir isn’t consistent at edgeguarding Donkey Kong due to the low reward on hit (hitting Donkey Kong away horizontally likely won’t gimp him) and it doesn’t cleanly beat out Aerial Spinning Kong.

• When Donkey Kong is forced to use Spinning Kong in a linear path, time a Bomb toss down from above to convert into a FAir. Aerial Spinning Kong doesn’t have any hurtbox on his hands, and the arms are intangible, meaning a hitbox from above like Bomb or DAir is preferable.

• Use Fire Arrow or Boomerang to threaten or follow up with confirms if Donkey Kong tries to land onstage. This will condition him to recover at a lower angle, which is more linear.

• When Donkey Kong hits Aerial Spinning Kong while recovering to ledge, he can force a 50/50 of hitting the entire move to force a tech, or ending the move early and punishing with DAir, forcing a quick recovery. This 50/50 is beat out with an option select. Input ASA + Shield at the same time. Refer to the clip in Resources.

• Donkey Kong can turn around in the air with Reverse Charge Cancel Giant Punch. This will give him access to BAir, which helps protect him from edgeguards. However, if he does this, he has to cancel the charge with a jump or air dodge in a position where it may not be ideal for him to burn a resource.

• To avoid burning said resources, Donkey Kong can instead turn around with Headbutt. This is typically only possible if Young Link launches him from across the stage, otherwise it’s usually laggy enough that Young Link can punish Donkey Kong.

• Donkey Kong gains Aerial Spinning Kong, NAir, Aerial Hand Slap/Headbutt, and notably Reverse Charge Cancel BAir, which Donkey Kong can use to pressure shielding when at ledge.

• Donkey Kong can also use Charged Giant Punch off of the ledge to create a safe on shield pressure situation.

• Donkey Kong can snap to the ledge at any time during Headbutt’s animation (starting on Frame 1).

• Since Donkey Kong can be difficult to pressure at ledge due to only DSmash hitting consistently, treat ledgetrapping like corner pressure, and use the advantage of stage control to wall him out and push him offstage.

• Threaten getup timings by moving to the ledge, and punish immediate getup with a retreating Boomerang or Bomb Toss.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits (only on head rise)

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits (only on head rise)

Most Reliable Move: DSmash

Animation Info: The hand over ledge is not Donkey Kong’s hurtbox.

Note: Stand closer to the ledge, aim for the head rise.

Bomb Toss when spaced hits/rolls off the ledge and hits Donkey Kong hanging at the ledge.

• FD DTilt > ASA @ Ledge Kill %s: 134, 122

• FD FThrow @ Ledge %s: 207, 185

• FD Milkshake %s: 126-172, 113-145

• Donkey Kong Kill Throws: BThrow, Cargo FThrow, Cargo BThrow

• Donkey Kong’s BThrow with optimal DI kills YL at around 205% center stage, and at 146% at the ledge.

• Donkey Kong’s FTilt sends into tumble early, at around 19% with no rage, and at starting%s with max rage.

• Donkey Kong’s airdodge is Frame 4, which is slower than most of the cast.

• Donkey Kong’s short hop Aerial Spinning (Frame 7 out of shield) does not hit Young Link standing on the ground. This means that Donkey Kong can’t use it as an out of shield option vs Young Link.

• “If you're swinging at Donkey Kong and notice that your attack got armored, SDI towards + above him. This lets you DI to survive Giant Punch, begin mashing for Headbutt, and DI gSK.” - @Gurpwnder#1952 in #anti-dk-tech in DKcord.

• Knowing how to mash out of bury effectively is critical against Donkey Kong’s Headbutt. Refer to the video in the Resources Section for further guidance.

• When above the pDKO% window, DI Cargo UThrow to make the UAir followup impossible.

• Due to the angle and positioning, past the kill windows, survival DI does not help due to the angling of UAir, and giving Donkey Kong a larger % window to land the UAir.

• Donkey Kong’s pDKO kill confirm window (platform ding dong) on PS2 on Young Link is from 64-73%.

• Battlefield:
  Terrible. This stage’s layout amplifies Donkey Kong’s platform pressure and air chasing capabilities. The platform layout forces Young Link to the ledge more often, which can be exploited by Donkey Kong.

• Final Destination:
  Good. Without platforms, Donkey Kong loses some of his strength in his combo game. Frequently answer Donkey Kong’s grounded approaches here, as without platforms, they’ll be much more common. Force Donkey Kong up in the air, so that he has to burn his double jump.

• Smashville:
  Indifferent. Although the stage length is small, the center platform can close off options for either player at times. This stage tends to skew advantage for both characters in the MU. Out of the stages listed as “indifferent”, this stage is likely the least appealing choice.

• Town & City:
  Great. Similar reasoning as PS2. Aim to launch Donkey Kong horizontally here to kill Donkey Kong earlier.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Good. The slants benefit Young Link’s zoning game by increasing the strength of Fire Arrows. Donkey Kong’s diagonal jump-ins are more linear as well, but getting off of the ledge and out of the corner can be difficult when Donkey Kong can control a lot of space here in advantage.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Great. This stage helps Donkey Kong get his kill confirms off of Grab, but everything else about the stage in the MU makes it difficult for Donkey Kong in neutral. The layout makes Young Link’s zoning much stronger, and getting back to the ledge is made easier.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Indifferent. The walls and side platforms give Young Link more options out of disadvantage. Despite this, the large blast zones exaggerate Donkey Kong’s survivability in the MU, which can make stock exchanges more volatile. Although Young Link can catch jump-ins easier, shield walking is still potent in the MU.

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

• Young Link vs Donkey Kong Matchup VOD Playlist: YL vs Donkey Kong (DK) Matches

• Donkey Kong Aerial Spinning Kong > DAir Reversal: Carl Special

• Donkey Kong BThrow Kill %s on FD by Plague Von Karma: Donkey Kong BThrow Kill%s on Final Destination

• (DKCord Resources) ftilt tumble %s

• (@Meta of Smash on YouTube) [How to Mash] Art of Mashing - Fastest Technique Possible In Smash Ultimate