itsameSMB
Smash Journeyman
*WARNING: somewhat lengthy post!
I've notice that many people here usually don'tlike to use items or they are fanatics. The anti-item side seems to believe that they are to random and unbalanced to require any real skill to use, while the pro-item side says that they were put in the game for a reason and require some thought to use properly. Sure, they are spontaneous, but that doesn't mean that it randomly levels the playing field whenever one appears; it just adds to one's strategy ("do I go after the item so that my opponent can get it or should I take the opportunity to wail on my enemy, knowing they are going towards the item and probably aren't focusing on attack me?"). One reason I believe many smash veterans here have such a negative view of items is that the original Super Smash Bros. game had such horrible items, and the few that were good were either very rare, very weak, or hard to use. Then along came Melee, with improved items and a right-of-the-bat item switch. Most people who played Smash a lot before had a negative connotation with items when it was released, yet new players had learned the game with items incorperated into their strategy. Those who disliked items in SSB butt tried them in Melee anyway most likely did not have as much experience with items as those who played SSB and liked the items, which steepened the learning curb for Melee and put them at a disadvantage to SSB item-users and Melee newcomers/item-users. Taking an even larger conjectural step, I'd say that those who disliked items turned off items the majority of their play time, developing their pure smash skills, limiting their experience of the items, ergo they did not integrate them into their strategies. Meanwhile, item users kept the items on, taking longer to develop their pure smash skills, but increasing their item experience and dexterity. Since it takes time to spot, retrieve, use, and dispose of an item, item users theoretically had less actual play time than their non-item-using counterparts. Now I've never been in a serious tourney myself, but I'd image that this is how it usually worked/works: item users, probably used to playing with items on high and playing with selected items, had less to work with and a lower chance of getting an item they were good with, while non-item users focused purely on beating the pulp out of their opponent. Since you have to grab an item before you can use it, you need to get to it first. Unforuntely for the item users, the non-item users pounded them ever step of the way their, since they could attack from any direction while the item seeker could only do directional attacks (which usually end up with a lenghty vulnerability) and R moves on the way there. If they happened to get the item, they usually wound up being very vulnerable to attack and weren't given much of a chance to use their item. If they happened to land an item attack an they vulnerability produced didn't outlast the recomposure time of the opponent, the item user probably ended up thinking "now what?", since even if you cause a lot of damage, you won't instantly get a KO. Remembering they would probably be a bit slower than than non-item users, they would probably need a good setup to land a powerful blow on the non-item user, something that simply doesn't not happen in top-level play. So the item users got thrashed and the non-item users went on to win the tournaments, in a way discouraging item use in competitive play. This lowers the number of item users competeing in typical tournaments, lessening the item experience of non-item users even more until the point where using items in competitive play was like throwing knives at a gunfight. As the non-item users become pros (and this sort of applys to non-pro non-item users, as well), they detest fighting with items because it is an element that they do not use often, and since it is a somewhat extemporaneous element, they believe it is more of a luck thing so it is labeled as "requiring little to no skill to use". Brawl did not help to bridge the gap between the two groups. In fact, it made it worse with the inclusion of the smash ball and golden hammer, easily the two cheapest items in the game, as they are almost guaranteed KO's if use properly, and have very little vulnerability during use. Item users accepted final smashes with open arms, but the non-item users thought that the cheapness of the final smashes and the chore of attacking the smash ball was both unappealing and tedious.
Of course, I'm not saying non-item users can't use items better than a noob (but they probably don't have many plans for one) and I also am not saying that those who use items lack fundmental smash skills (they are just less developed than that of a non-item user). I myself prefer to use items, since variety is the spice of life, and it prevents matches from becoming hopeless for a player or team (which lowers the alertness of the winning side and increases the apathy of the losing team, making the match far less eventful). Still, non-item users do make a good point so I'm interested to hear what you guys have to say. So, what do you folks think?
They're certainly very fun.