Editing Young Link (SSBM)

**{{nerf|Forward tilt has a shorter duration (frames 16-19 → 11-13) and deals less damage (13%/14%/15%) → 10%/11%/12%). The faster swing speed also reduces the move's range above Young Link.}}

**{{nerf|Up tilt deals less damage (9% → 8%).}}

**{{change|Dash attack only has two hitboxes which deal different damage (9%/11%/12% → 10%/11%).}}

**{{nerf|Young Link's sword swing is lower to the ground, reducing its vertical range.}}

**{{nerf|Forward smash's first hit has set knockback in order to chain into the second more reliably, however the second hit of the string can be avoided with the use of DI. It also has a shorter duration (frames 15-18 → 15-17) and both hits deal less damage (13%/14% → 10% (hit 1), 18%/20% → 9%/11%/12% (hit 2)).}}

**{{nerf|Up smash deals less damage (14% → 11%).}}

**{{change|Down smash sends opponents sideways instead of upwards, giving it better overall KO ability at the cost of lesser combo potential.}}

**{{nerf|Down smash lacks the stronger sweetspots which deal 16%/17%.}}

**{{buff|Neutral aerial is stronger than Link's, and deals the same damage throughout (11%/9%/8% → 12%).}}

**{{nerf|Neutral aerial is not active in its hitboxes through the duration of the move, unlike Link's.}}

**{{nerf|Forward aerial has less damage and knockback than Link's version.}}

**{{buff|The hitboxes are active even between swings, and can hit behind Young Link}}

**{{buff|Back aerial is easier to connect than Link's.}}

**{{buff|Fire Bow's arrows deal more hitstun than Link's arrows, increasing his combo ability and making the move safer on hit up close. It also has slightly faster startup than Link's Bow.}}

**{{nerf|Fire Bow's arrows travel less distance due to character height, reduced total charge duration, and disappearing 5 frames earlier.}}

**{{change|Fire Bow's arrows have reversed damage roles. It deals more than Bow's arrows uncharged, but less damage fully charged.}}

**{{buff|Young Link's boomerang is stronger than Link's on hit.}}

**{{buff|Boomerang can be angled better to hit close opponents or deflect backwards off the ground.}}

**{{buff|Spin Attack lands multiple hits instead of one, allowing it to trap opponents within its hitboxes, and the late hitboxes inflict more damage.}}

**{{nerf|The late hitboxes do not [[semi-spike]] and even if all hits connect, it is still weaker than Link's clean Spin Attack in damage. Also, it is not a viable KO move unlike Link's.}}

**{{buff|Young Link's bombs have four hitboxes as opposed to Link's two, increasing their hitstun and combo ability.}}

|grabdesc=Uses his hookshot to grab at foes from afar. It's the third longest grab in the game, behind {{SSBM|Link}}.

|desc-1=Kicks the toes of his boots on the ground, as if knocking off dirt.

|desc-2=Looks around himself.

{{Crowd

|char=Young Link

|game=Melee

|desc-us=Young-Link!

|desc-jp=Young-Link!

|pitch-us=Male

|pitch-jp=Male}}

Link's perceived superiority continued well into and after the MLG era; however, it was around this time that players began to notice Young Link's potential against [[floaty]] characters. His playerbase recognized that he was one of the best {{SSBM|Peach}} answers in the game, due to his ability to defeat defensive Peaches with his speed and projectiles. Even so, high-level players greatly underestimated how significant this advantage was, particularly because they also thought that adult Link was not too far behind in the Peach matchup. This is reflected in the 2010 matchup chart, where both Young Link and Link share a -1 matchup against Peach. They surmised that this seemingly small advantage that Young Link had over Link was not enough to justify placing him higher than Link on the tier list. This still allowed him to rise to just one spot short of Link on the tenth tier list, among other considerations such as Young Link faring slightly better against {{SSBM|Sheik}}.

It would not be until the next year where all preconceived notions of Young Link would be called into serious question, as {{Sm|Armada}} shocked the world by unveiling his Young Link at several supermajors such as {{Trn|Pound V}}, {{Trn|GENESIS 2}}, and most infamously {{Trn|Apex 2012}}. At these events, he defeated {{Sm|Hungrybox}}'s {{SSBM|Jigglypuff}} decisively in three out of their four encounters, with his only loss being a narrow 2-3. He demonstrated that Young Link was one of the best answers to not only Peach, but other floaties such as Jigglypuff as well, due to his superior movement that allowed for a devastating hit-and-run strategy that adult Link would not be able to replicate. The two would meet again at {{Trn|Apex 2013}}, where Hungrybox attempted to avoid the matchup entirely by playing {{SSBM|Ness}} for two games, before being forced to switch back after losing those games. The fact that Young Link had the potential to be so oppressive to floaties, that world-class players like Hungrybox would go to such lengths to avoid playing the matchup, finally convinced ''Melee'' Back Room panelists that Young Link was a superior meta-call to Link. Reflecting this, he moved above Link for the first time in the eleventh tier list.

Over time, Hungrybox adapted back to Armada's Young Link play, with the latter not enjoying the character enough to push the matchup any further. Nonetheless, Armada and many other top players still acknowledge that Young Link has real, top-level potential against Jigglypuff and other floaties, a sentiment that has since been widely accepted. Modern opinions of Link have plateaued as well, with many players arguing that his sluggish ground movement has finally caught up to him in a more optimized metagame, and that many of his advantages in the past came from abusing player error with his more immediate power. The majority of players consider Young Link's movement and incredible prowess against floaties to overwhelm Link's harder hitting disjoints in those matchups.

However, in more recent times, players such as {{Sm|Mew2King}} and {{Sm|Armada}} now consider Link to be slightly better overall due to Young Link's greater struggle against non-floaty characters. Players such as {{Sm|Sixx}} and {{Sm|Aklo}} have also showcased tournament results as solo Link in more recent years that remain to be matched by his younger counterpart. He is thus viewed as a fringe yet viable secondary, with {{Sm|Axe}} being considered the best among them. While Young Link is expected to remain in the mid-low tiers due to his arguable lack of solo viability, he holds a very respected niche in top-level ''Melee'' that is still recognized in modern competitive play.

===Ending images===

In addition to the normal trophy about Young Link as a character, there are two trophies about him as a fighter that are unlocked by completing the [[Adventure Mode|Adventure]] and [[All-Star]] modes on any difficulty with Young Link.