37-
Lucas

• Neutral Moves: Aerials, Jab, FTilt, DTilt, Dash Attack, Grab, PK Fire.

• Kill Moves: Smash Attacks, FAir, UAir, FTilt, Dash Attack, PK Fire, PK Freeze.

• Lucas’ NAir a lingering multi-hit aerial. Combined with his high air speed, he can threaten this aerial around the opponent, crossing up or drifting away after hitting shield to be entirely safe. Lucas can then string together followups after landing a NAir.

• Lucas’ FAir is his go-to safe poke and high reward kill move in neutral. It has a lot of power when spaced, and has lots of flexibility due to Lucas’ movement. This is part of the reason why there isn’t much incentive to approach Lucas.

• Lucas’ aerials aren’t entirely disjointed, but they do have more range than Young Link’s NAir and BAir. These can outright lose to Lucas’ FAir.

• ZAir is another of Lucas’ aerial approach tools. Lucas throws out his Rope Snake, which can clank/beat aerials and projectiles on hit. Lucas can chain multiple ZAirs in a row to drag the opponent across the stage and then into a kill confirm. ZAir gives Lucas more flexibility in midrange since he doesn’t have to drift a certain way with FAir, and it has more range than NAir.

• Lucas can dashback quickly and laglessly using ZAir, and can act out of it fast. This is referred to as Snakedashing. Snakedashing is very difficult to challenge. The speed and hitbox further incentivizes staying out of Lucas’ range.

• Lucas has some strong grounded tools as well. His FTilt can knock away opponents to close stocks at high %s. FTilt has a sweetspot when spaced that is safe on shield.

• Lucas can shield pressure with DTilt. Lucas’ DTilt is both fast AND safe. There isn’t an easy punish out of shield, nor an escape option due to how lagless the move is. DTilt is also high-reward on hit.

• Stay outside of Lucas' aerial burst range, as his aerials are difficult to challenge head on. His main angle of approaches are from short hops, and landing with his larger hitboxes. Lucas being a floaty character limits how he can use full hop to land with aerials, since they become more reactable.

• PK Fire is a projectile that Lucas can fire in a straight line. On hit, it launches opponent away with ample killpower. Lucas’ momentum is blasted backwards when using this move.

• PK Fire allows Lucas to throw out a move that covers the mid-long range from afar quickly. It can be tricky to clank due to its speed and high damage. Lucas can condition opponents to shield, jump, or generally commit to an action to avoid PK Fire at midrange, and then either take space or intercept the opponent moving around the threat of PK Fire.

• Lucas can short hop the PK Fire to catch jumps and dashbacks while retreating.

• PSI Magnet briefly stalls Lucas in the air, and has a wind box upon release. Lucas can use it as a movement mix-up in the air to delay falls/landing aerials.

• Lucas can use PSI Magnet to absorb Bombs, but not Fire Arrows or Boomerang.

• Lucas struggles to hit opponents above him, as he lacks a long range option to hit opponents at a full hop height. He can use UAir to hit opponents above him, but the range is small, and his floaty double jump has a slower ascent than most double jumps.

• Getting above Lucas and staying on platforms will noticeably limit how Lucas can threaten attacks. Platform camping is effective against Lucas because of this. Avoid playing at the same horizontal plane as Lucas most of the time.

• Fire Arrow can stuff out Lucas’ approaches on the ground well and at short hop height with B-Reverses. The fast clank of ZAir/lingering clank of NAir forces Young Link to mix up from Fire Arrow to answer these counterplay options sometimes.

• Boomerang can catch Lucas short hopping in from afar, and can contest airspace (which is potent since Lucas is rather floaty). Angle Boomerang downwards to catch Lucas’ short hops as he initiates burst range.

• Lucas can use FSmash to reflect projectiles. It’s not a reflector that will outright deny projectile play, but Lucas can use it to counter close-range approaching Boomerangs and buffered Fire Arrows (which Lucas can convert into an advantage state).

Some Combos & Counterplay:

• Lucas DThrow can lead to a 50/50 situation at low %s for a FAir followup. Mix up between DI in and out.

• Lucas can do loops with his DAir by jumping back and forth over the opponent, locking them with the early hits of DAir. It starts working on Young Link from 51-63%, depending on rage.

• Lucas can string multiple NAirs in a row/followups after, but the move is highly susceptible to SDI. Young Link can end up on either side of the move with SDI. Rule of thumb is to SDI and try to launch in the opposite direction in which Lucas is drifting.

• ZAir can’t be DI-ed during its combo windows due to not tumbling until high %s, but it can be SDI-ed/ASDI-ed up or away.

Boxing (How do I escape this situation?):

• Lucas can catch Young Link’s jumps reliably with FAir and NAir. These moves have more comparable range than Young Link’s aerials, and can’t always be challenged head-on.

• Lucas’ ZAir can set up for combos/edgeguard and ledgetrap scenarios, and it will clank and beat out any projectile that Young Link uses out of the corner.

• PK Fire allows Lucas to pressure Young Link from center stage with a projectile that can close stocks/set up for edgeguard scenarios. The speed and power of PK Fire can condition opponents to jump over it, shield it, or use a move to clank with the projectile.

• Lucas conditioning these options can result in the opponent using the counterplay around PK Fire expecting PK Fire to happen, which can be baited (not throwing PK Fire and catching the conditioned option).

• Lucas’ floatiness gives him more airtime to air-to-air opponents on reaction and threaten aerial coverage whilst in the air. This allows him to pressure jumps/aerial approaches for longer periods of time. As a down side, opponents can reclaim ground space more reliably, since Lucas takes longer to land.

• General rule of thumb is that it’s not worth interacting with Lucas’ hitboxes head on. Use empty movement and defensive options to get around Lucas and reclaim stage control.

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

• Lucas can cover platforms with FAir/UAir. FAir is especially threatening, and Lucas can catch landing options on the platform/tech chase with it while below the platform, due to the hitbox’s size.

• Lucas can use PK Fire to cover the platform with a mobile hitbox. The range allows it to sweep the platform while retreating (due to the pushback from the move).

• Lucas is otherwise rather weak at covering platforms. His floaty double jump is slow and doesn’t allow Lucas to quickly cover opponents platform camping (especially since his UAir is lackluster). Platforms are a safe way to camp Lucas. While it’s a positional disadvantage by technicality, Lucas doesn’t have the tools to capitalize off of it well.

• Move around platforms to reposition/reset/catch Lucas out of position. Pull Bomb in the meantime as setup when Lucas is out of range.

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

• Lucas can punish/trap landings from afar with PK Fire. PK Fire can catch Young Link landing with projectiles/ZAir from a safe distance.

• Land away from Lucas. Generally speaking, landing on Lucas is unsafe due to his high combo potential, plus his struggle to anti-air anyway. Landing on him can put Young Link at risk of getting hit by Lucas’ high kill-power USmash, which has invincibility on startup.

• Lucas can contest Young Link landing near him with ZAir/NAir/FAir. FAir and ZAir especially will outrange Young Link’s stubby aerials.

• Land away from Lucas, and reset landings on platforms if possible. Mixing defensive options on and around platforms is generally more consistent against Lucas than being in the corner or at the ledge.

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

• Lucas can spike opponents offstage with either DAir or BAir. BAir can intercept ASA and tether recoveries since the hitbox starts above Lucas, and DAir covers low-angle recoveries well due to its lingering hitbox directly below Lucas.

• Lucas can use PK Thunder from onstage as a means to edgeguard. The multi-hit of PK Thunder knocks Young Link away, and stays active even as it hits Young Link. Conserve double jump if possible, otherwise PK Thunder will instantly kill Young Link. PK Thunder is transcendent. It’s critical to save a jump, since PK Thunder sends opponents out and away.

• PK Thunder can be SDI-ed up and in/down and in to fall out of the move, which then leaves a window where you can use ASA to boost up towards the ledge (which PK Thunder interrupts). PK Thunder can force a stage tech.

• Lucas can use PK Fire to snipe opponents offstage. The range of PK Fire allows Lucas to hit opponents that are drifting away offstage to avoid aerial edgeguards. Young Link can clank PK Fire with NAir, but it is somewhat inconsistent. It’s best to move around it (although Lucas can also take advantage of this conditioning).

• PK Freeze is a fast, transcendent projectile that Lucas can use from onstage. If it hits, it will outright kill Young Link. Airdodge is the only way to avoid PK Freeze, but Lucas can’t frametrap with PK Freeze.

• Lucas’ pressure of PK Fire and FAir can condition opponents to recover much lower, which then allows Lucas to either DAir or set up a down-angled FTilt 2-frame.

Ledge:

• Lucas can use PK Fire from center stage to hit opponents. This isn’t as effective as proper ledgetrapping, but it’s a sleep check that can catch opponents off-guard if they’re not aware at the moment of it.

• PK Freeze can also be used in this way to catch jumps and neutral getups, as well as hit ledge. PK Freeze has more mix in this regard, as Lucas can float it around the ledge, catching a ledge option on a timing mix-up. If Lucas whiffs, the opponent can get off of the ledge, but the reward (instantly taking the stock) is very high.

• Lucas can pressure jumps with high-killpower/lingering hits of aerials. FAir and NAir allows him to cover ledge jumps at different/multiple timings. NAir, combined with Lucas’ air drift, can cover multiple ledge options at once (neutral getup and drift to roll distance, etc).

• Lucas can pressure/hit the ledge with down-angled FTilt and DSmash. If DSmash is used and Young Link snaps the ledge in between the hits, ledge attack/roll can be used to take frame advantage and escape.

• DTilt’s low-endlag and high-speed allows Lucas to cover neutral getups quickly and reliably with it. The move is rather short, though. Lucas can use the animation of DTilt as a bait to then reposition and catch a ledge option used to escape while Lucas is in endlag.

Juggling/Boxing:

• Lucas’ floatiness gives him more variety in how he chooses to land, since he has more air time. This also gives him more time to use aerials and other mix-ups. This also gives Young Link more time to shark and set up juggles against him, though.

• Lucas can land with some of his aerials (fast fall NAir/BAir/DAir). These hitboxes are rather short and inconsistent, though.

• Lucas can mix up his landings by instantly moving backwards with PK Fire. This is rather committal, and Lucas can be hit for using this.

• PSI Magnet can be used to mix up Lucas’ fall timings. PSI Magnet has a windbox that pulls inwards upon release.

• Trap Lucas’ air drift with projectiles, and force Lucas around them/within the area contained. From there, pressure Lucas from directly below with UAir/catch his landings.

• Stay outside of Lucas’ range in corner pressure most of the time. Lucas has high reward on many hits, but struggles to escape the corner due to poor mobility.

• Out of the corner, Lucas can burst forward with DTilt, ZAir, NAir, FAir, and PK Fire. PK Fire can catch Young Link committing to projectiles in corner pressure.

• Moving to the corner and then instantly dashing back (dash dancing) can bait out a corner option from Lucas, which could then be punished (floaty jump/endlag of an attack).

• Because Lucas’ movement is limited, corner pressure is most consistent when denying Lucas’ reversal attempts out of disadvantage.

Offstage:

• Lucas has multiple tools to recover with, in addition to his high air maneuverability and low fall speed (lots of different drift and timing mix-ups available).

• Lucas’ PK Thunder leaves him vulnerable while he’s casting and circling the move. Aim a NAir or FAir while Lucas is casting the move. It can’t be bodyblocked like Ness, since the move is multi-hit.

• PK Fire can be used while Lucas is facing away from the stage to push himself backwards, and closer to the stage as a recovery option. Likewise, it can be used facing the ledge to give Lucas space to get out of range of edgeguards. PK Fire forces stage techs on hit below the ledge.

• Lucas also has a tether, which he can use to snap to the ledge (as well as reel-in timing mix-ups, swing mix-ups, etc). This is rather hard to catch since it’s so quick. NAir can catch it since it’s a lingering hitbox.

• Bomb and Boomerang can be used to cut off Lucas’ recovery angles offstage, limiting his mix-up potential and lining up an easier edgeguard. This can work well as Lucas is floaty (more air time when returning to the ledge).

• Watch out for BAir offstage, which Lucas can use to reversal opponents attempting to edgeguard him.

• Lucas can use NAir, ZAir, or FAir from a double jump off of the ledge.

• Lucas’ floatiness gives him more mix-up potential in how he chooses to land from a ledge jump. It also gives Young Link more time to react with an UAir and can catch the escape option used after the air drift mix-up, however.

• Stay away from the ledge directly most of the time, as it’ll minimize the potential Lucas has to reversal Young Link.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Hits

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits

Most Reliable Move: DSmash

Animation Info: N/A

Note: FTilt/DTilt reach the farthest.

• FD DTilt > ASA %s: 113, 104

• FD FThrow @ Ledge %s: 171, 154

• FD Milkshake %s: 103-150, 92-125

• Lucas Kill Throws: FThrow, BThrow, UThrow

• Lucas UThrow kills Young Link at 140% on FD and 114% with max rage.

• Battlefield:
  Good. This stage’s triplat layout allows Young Link to disengage and circle camp Lucas, as well as avoid most of PK Fire’s pressure. Lucas can still track Young Link offstage with edgeguards, and Lucas can use the top platform as a means to push Young Link to the ledge.

• Small Battlefield:
  Indifferent. This stage still mostly allows Young Link to circle camp and disengage from Lucas, but the loss of the top platform limits the extent and time which Young Link can circle camp.

• Final Destination:
  Terrible. The flat stage layout prevents opponents from circle camping Lucas, as well as there being no platforms to help land with. Lucas can rely on the stage forcing opponents into his advantage state’s range.

• Smashville:
  Bad. This stage’s center platform does give Young Link some ways to get around Lucas’ pressure in neutral, but going to the platform is also more limiting, and feels like a harsher disadvantage. Not only that, but there isn’t much space to work with.

• Town & City:
  Terrible. Similar reasoning as FD. The flat layout of forces Young Link to deal with Lucas’ neutral at it's best. The wide side areas make it easier for Lucas to set up edgeguards, as well.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Indifferent. Likely the most polarizing stage, as while Young Link has platforms to work with, Lucas has a bevy of ways to answer Young Link on them. Fire Arrows and PK Fire also cover extra distance.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Good. Similar reasoning as SBF, but this stage offers more space to camp Lucas, and an easier time recovering to the ledge.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Bad. Similar reasoning as T&C/FD.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Great. Same reasoning as BF, plus Young Link has more resources to get to the ledge and get off of it.

• Hollow Bastion:
  Indifferent. This stage’s larger platform and stage width don’t punish Young Link as much as SV for using the platform to circle camp Lucas, and Young Link has more space to camp him out.

• Young Link vs Lucas Matchup VoD Playlist: YL vs Lucas Matches

• Lucascord Resources: Sunflower Field (Your number 1 spot for all things Lucas) (SSBU)