54-
Palutena

Jab1 (-12):
NAir (Frame 7)
GSA (Frame 9)

Rapid Jab Finisher (-32):
FSmash (Frame 26)

FTilt (-28):
FSmash (Frame 26)

UTilt (-27):
FSmash (Frame 26)

DTilt (-17):
Grab (Frame 16)
(Can be spaced out)

Dash Attack (-21):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

FSmash (-34):
FSmash (Frame 26)
(Windbox might prevent a proper punish)

USmash (-34):
FSmash (Frame 26)
(Unpunishable from a platform)

DSmash (-41):
FSmash (Frame 26)
(Windbox might prevent a proper punish)

NAir (-9):
NAir (Frame 7)
(Can drift away to avoid a punish)

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

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

UAir (-11):
GSA (Frame 9)
USmash (Frame 10)

DAir (-7):
NAir (Frame 7)

Autoreticle (-24):
Unpunishable
(Projectile usage)

Explosive Flame (-2):
Unpunishable
(Safe on shield, projectile usage)

Warp (--):
--

Counter/Reflect Barrier (--):
--

• Neutral Moves: Aerials, Grab, Dash Attack, Tilts.

• Kill Moves: BAir, Smash Attacks, UAir, Explosive Flame.

• Kill Confirms: DThrow > BAir (DI Out), fast fall NAir > UTilt, fast fall UAir > Grab > BThrow.

• Palutena’s aerials will always beat out Young Link’s aerials. Because of this, there’s little reason to go for them outside of ending combos and abusing NAir's frame data when she lands.

• The only real way to beat out her aerials is ZAir, and it can be a great tool in this MU to push her away walling with aerials and gain some positional advantage.

• Since she wants to use aerials landing most of the time, as Palutena has decent endlag unless she lands, you can stuff her out with NAir and FAir, too.

• With long range being volatile, and losing the short range game, a lot of the MU will revolve around whiff punishing/punishing out of shield.

• You want to mostly use Fire Arrows slightly outside her short hop aerial range, as they help you setup those whiff punish scenarios, but be outside of the threat range of a reactive Explosive Flame.

• You have to maintain this distance if you want to use projectiles, and respect her burst options when she closes the range successfully, stopping projectile use and working towards reestablishing this range.

• Stay grounded. Since Young Link can’t win hitbox wars in this MU, you’ll have to fall back to whiff punishing. Take a mental note of what moves they use, when and where.

• Palutena can control the space around platforms very effectively, and standing on a platform (BF, PS2) is totally comfortable for her. It’s usually better not to play that game, sp stay away from the platform, and try to call her out getting up there (up throw Boomerang or short hop Fire Arrow).

• Be careful of overextending anything. Recovery, punish, rushdown, etc. as Palutena's BAir will deliver a swift punish.

• Autoreticle loses to a timed forward roll.

Boxing

(How do I escape this situation?):

• Any escape option you choose can be stuffed by BAir, so mix-up timings AND options. She can either rise or land with it, but not both, so pick your window to get past her.

• DI out of NAir loops to avoid the UAir finishers. She’ll finish with FAir instead, which is less damage, but you’ll likely be put off stage.

• Palutena can also use FTilt to roll read out of a tech chase.

Platform Pressure

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

• Her platform pressure is amazing, mainly UAir’s meaty hitbox, but also NAir, BAir, and even Explosive Flame has quite good coverage over and under platforms.

• You can’t win the aerial exchange, so just look for a timing window to reset neutral by escaping the platform.

Landing

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

• Palutena’s UAir is an extremely strong kill move that beats out every attack Young Link has, including Bomb. DAir can beat it after startup though, but not reliably. Don’t get too predictable with it or they’ll just punish DAir.

• They can also use BAir to beat out an attack on landing.

• Mix-up between NAir, DAir, airdodge, directional airdodge, double jump, and mixing drifts.

• Normal airdodge with momentum is better at avoiding Explosive Flame than the slow directional airdodges.

Offstage

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

• Watch out for Explosive Flame offstage, which could make for an easy stock, don’t recover high often, or at all.

• Mix-up angles frequently, Palutena can NAir near and below ledge to take stocks.

• Respect Counter as well.

• Airdodge can get around Autoreticle. Watch out for it though, as it will block a recovery if you don’t have a jump.

• Try to cover the near the ledge with a projectile to give you some room to recovery.

Ledge:

• Also watch out for Explosive Flame at ledge. It’s possible to time a getup to avoid it.

• Palutena will be looking for BAirs and Grabs.

• Palutena can use DTilt to 2-frame. DI out on this to avoid a FAir/ BAir followup. DTilt can cover either neutral getup and getup attack OR ledge hand and neutral getup, so you need to react appropriately.

• Her USmash catches hasty jumps and 2-frames as well.

• Mix-up ledge timings, and just hope you choose the right option.

• Her FTilt can be used to cover double jump, roll, getup, getup attack. It has two hits and pressures a shield release. You’ll be sent at a bad angle, or lose the stock.

• Don’t get comfortable with hanging onto ledge. Palutena can easily ledge trump BAir.

• Her BThrow kills fairly early, so she’ll look for roll back behind neutral getup or attack getup and Grab.

Juggling/Boxing:

• Palutena’s main weakness is her lack of out of shield options, so aim to push her in those situations.

• Hold a safe advantage instead of pushing Palutena offstage. It’s really risky to challenge her moves up close.

• She can also just Warp past you if you commit to pushing her in the corner, especially with ledge cancel opportunities. Better to just keep stage and prevent that.

• Be mindful with projectiles, she can reset to neutral with a reflect barrier. It does have a lot of startup, so she has to anticipate your projectile. Mix up your timings if you’re being reflected.

• Her landing aerials are really strong, and she’ll be using them a lot to try and escape disadvantage. Parry them and get a DTilt punish, or Dash Attack if she has good drift away from you.

Offstage:

• Time a NAir/double jump NAir to catch Warp trying to grab ledge.

• The other option is to hit Palutena before she uses Warp/during startup.

• It’s possible to 2-frame teleports with NAir, DAir or Bombs.

• Throwing Boomerang at a downwards angle in, conjunction with a NAir, makes it easier to hit Palutena during Warp.

• Palutena can NAir/FAir/Warp from ledge.

• Play safer in ledgetrapping, standing at roll distance while covering options. You wouldn’t want a reversal to happen, given Palutena’s invincible BAir.

• Refer to the Palutena ledgetrap grid in resources.

Ledge Info:

XLR8’s Spreadsheet Young Link Ledge Info:

DTilt: Doesn’t hit

DSmash: Hits

FTilt: Hits

Most Reliable Move: FTilt

Animation Info: N/A

Note: FTilt reaches farthest.

• FD DTilt > ASA %s: 108, 98

• FD FThrow Ledge %s: 170, 149

• Milkshake %s: 100-139, 89-115

• Palutena Kill Throws: BThrow

• Battlefield:
  Terrible. Same reasons as SV, but she also gains a lot more with her combo game. She has more space to edgeguard here, too.

• Final Destination:
  Great. A lack of platforms means Palutena can’t extend her pressure as much. We have enough space, just like PS2. A high ceiling helps vs her attacks.

• Smashville:
  Bad. The large platform and small stage size allows Palutena to extend her pressuring tools.

• Town & City:
  Good. Ample space to address Palutena, and favorable zones. Watch out for her use of the platforms, though.

• Lylat Cruise:
  Indifferent. A mix of benefits and issues present in other stages. Palutena gets BAir through platforms, but the benefits of slants, platform setups, etc.

• Pokémon Stadium 2:
  Indifferent. Palutena and Young Link both gain about an even number of things here. The space should help contest her pressure. Indifferent, but not awful.

• Kalos Pokémon League:
  Indifferent. FD, but the zones are a double-edged sword, and the platforms help her, too. It’s not awful, just mediocre FD.

• Yoshi’s Story:
  Bad. Slightly easier BF, with the perks of slants.

• Hivesteel’s Young Link vs Palutena VOD Playlist: Palutena vs Young Link

• Palutena Ledgetrapping Grid: Palu Ledge Trapping