LiteralGrill
Smokin' Hot~
As previously covered on Smashboards, Battle Arena Melbourne 7 (A.K.A. BAM7) is one of Australia's largest International Smash tournaments hosted each year. One of the coolest parts about BAM7 is how the community raises funds to pay for international talent to come and play each year. This year's guests include Armada, Leffen, Lucky, Mango and WIFE.
With this kind of massive talent coming, one has to wonder: does Australia stand a chance? In the comments from the article on BAM7's first trailer, many players did not know who the real Australian threats were and who to watch out for. Well the most recent trailer for BAM7 mentions one of them you need to look out for: Skeletom.
Skeletom is Australia's premier Captain Falcon, so there is a lot of hype behind him and he is a crowd favorite. Some of his combos are true moments of brilliance. When you let Skeletom get on you it's easy to feel like there is nothing you can do about Captain Falcon tech chases. However, there are other fantastic Melee players in the land down under as well!
Dekar: This man has met some of these guests before, placing 3rd behind Lucky and Armada at Shadowloo Showdown 5. A Marth main who is known for his disrespectful play and masterful control over the art of dominance, by playing with the opponents fear Dekar is able to make many a potentially formidable foe look like a huge fumbler.
S.D.: Probably Dekar's biggest rival, S.D. is usually the winner of the Victorian's monthly tournaments while Dekar wins the majors. That is until the recent Buttonsmash tournament in QLD in which he finally took home the gold. He plays a technical fox and if you let him get control of the stage and the momentum, it can seem like he is unstoppable.
Smoking Puppy: An excellent Fox player from Queensland, Smoking Puppy is S.D.'s protege having played together for a while when they both lived nowhere near an active scene a few years ago. He is beginning to get a reputation as one of the most technical players in the country and recently overtook Syke to claim the #1 spot on the Queensland power rankings.
Syke: A member of the "old guard" of Melee, he uses his years of experience to show what can really be done with Marth, and was the reigning champ of QLD for many years.
SA Nick: This man is a prodigy. Having only played the game for 10 months, he is improving so insanely quickly that it has everyone turning heads. He plays as Marth and hails from South Australia, a region that has never been considered strong before. He placed 4th at the most recent Buttonsmash managing to take down many of Australia's best. With a crazy disciplined and thorough approach to studying the game, it's easy to say SA Nick is not done improving.
Redact: Another member of Australia's "old guard", his Falco is something to be reckoned with. His style is extremely combo intensive: once he lands one hit you can expect him to take it as far as humanly possible.
Splice: Originally a top Brawl player, you can see this come out in his careful and measured gameplay with Falco. A rival of Skeletom, the two had a tied set count in 2014. He placed fifth at Shadoloo Showdown 5 only behind the best Australia has to offer. He also has a secret love of Mr. Game and Watch, who knows if he'll bring it out in a major set.
ZXV: One of the top players in Australia, ZXV mains Sheik with Marth as a secondary. ZXV has won the only major he has attended in the last year against Dekar in the grand finals. Having not traveled often to majors, this could be a huge chance to see how strong he really is.
Jamwa: A man you must fear, Jamwa is a Ness main from Victoria. He nearly took out S.D. very recently and has come incredibly close to beating a lot of the top players in Australia. He may have just what it takes to beat the international guests.
The threats don't stop there however! If any of these guests take the stages for Smash for Wii U they also have some serious talent to face.
Villyness: Also know simply as V she is one of the best Villager players in the world and one of only two players to take a game off of Zero in Smash 4 Worldwide, the worlds largest online tournament to date for Smash. Her Ness is a force to be reckoned with as well: if you don't take her seriously she'll make sure you regret it.
Nikes: A Yoshi main and the other player from Oceania to make the top cut in Smash 4 Worldwide, Nikes is definitely a player you need to watch out for.
Tibs: With his Diddy Kong he has managed to win over half a dozen tournaments and shown major dominance in the Australian Smash 4 scene. Many think he may be the best Smash 4 player in all of Australia.
ViVa: Consistently placing in the top 3 of tournaments and even taking of of the monthly events in the area, ViVa shows Australia what Mario is made of in Smash 4.
Earl: Having recently won Shadowloo Showdown 6 with his Little Mac, Earl really can pack a punch in tournaments. He's done consistently well in his region with a character many in the states have already written off: those international players had better learn the matchup!
Waveguider: Having placed high in several tournaments with his Wii Fit Trainer of all characters. He supplements an aggressive advantageous state with intricate ledge-play and an unparalleled off-stage game. He is currently undefeated in tournament sets as Wii Fit Trainer, will it continue through BAM7?
Hopefully this spotlight helped players learn who the big names are in Australian Smash and got Smashers excited for BAM7! If you want to learn more about the Australian Smash scene, be sure to also check out the Australia Regional Forum on Smashboards. If you want to see some of these players in action, try tuning into MelbourneMelee, Kaizmo, SydneySmash, or PerthSmash on Twitch. For any players in Oceania who want to become more connected as well it is worth visiting the Oceanic Netplay Thread on Smashboards as well. So Smashboards, which one of these players will be the one to take out the international guests and win BAM7?
SmashCapps loves highlighting some international Smash scenes. If you know of a scene that could use recognition, follow him on Twitter and let him know!
With this kind of massive talent coming, one has to wonder: does Australia stand a chance? In the comments from the article on BAM7's first trailer, many players did not know who the real Australian threats were and who to watch out for. Well the most recent trailer for BAM7 mentions one of them you need to look out for: Skeletom.
Skeletom is Australia's premier Captain Falcon, so there is a lot of hype behind him and he is a crowd favorite. Some of his combos are true moments of brilliance. When you let Skeletom get on you it's easy to feel like there is nothing you can do about Captain Falcon tech chases. However, there are other fantastic Melee players in the land down under as well!
Dekar: This man has met some of these guests before, placing 3rd behind Lucky and Armada at Shadowloo Showdown 5. A Marth main who is known for his disrespectful play and masterful control over the art of dominance, by playing with the opponents fear Dekar is able to make many a potentially formidable foe look like a huge fumbler.
S.D.: Probably Dekar's biggest rival, S.D. is usually the winner of the Victorian's monthly tournaments while Dekar wins the majors. That is until the recent Buttonsmash tournament in QLD in which he finally took home the gold. He plays a technical fox and if you let him get control of the stage and the momentum, it can seem like he is unstoppable.
Smoking Puppy: An excellent Fox player from Queensland, Smoking Puppy is S.D.'s protege having played together for a while when they both lived nowhere near an active scene a few years ago. He is beginning to get a reputation as one of the most technical players in the country and recently overtook Syke to claim the #1 spot on the Queensland power rankings.
Syke: A member of the "old guard" of Melee, he uses his years of experience to show what can really be done with Marth, and was the reigning champ of QLD for many years.
SA Nick: This man is a prodigy. Having only played the game for 10 months, he is improving so insanely quickly that it has everyone turning heads. He plays as Marth and hails from South Australia, a region that has never been considered strong before. He placed 4th at the most recent Buttonsmash managing to take down many of Australia's best. With a crazy disciplined and thorough approach to studying the game, it's easy to say SA Nick is not done improving.
Redact: Another member of Australia's "old guard", his Falco is something to be reckoned with. His style is extremely combo intensive: once he lands one hit you can expect him to take it as far as humanly possible.
Splice: Originally a top Brawl player, you can see this come out in his careful and measured gameplay with Falco. A rival of Skeletom, the two had a tied set count in 2014. He placed fifth at Shadoloo Showdown 5 only behind the best Australia has to offer. He also has a secret love of Mr. Game and Watch, who knows if he'll bring it out in a major set.
ZXV: One of the top players in Australia, ZXV mains Sheik with Marth as a secondary. ZXV has won the only major he has attended in the last year against Dekar in the grand finals. Having not traveled often to majors, this could be a huge chance to see how strong he really is.
Jamwa: A man you must fear, Jamwa is a Ness main from Victoria. He nearly took out S.D. very recently and has come incredibly close to beating a lot of the top players in Australia. He may have just what it takes to beat the international guests.
The threats don't stop there however! If any of these guests take the stages for Smash for Wii U they also have some serious talent to face.
Villyness: Also know simply as V she is one of the best Villager players in the world and one of only two players to take a game off of Zero in Smash 4 Worldwide, the worlds largest online tournament to date for Smash. Her Ness is a force to be reckoned with as well: if you don't take her seriously she'll make sure you regret it.
Nikes: A Yoshi main and the other player from Oceania to make the top cut in Smash 4 Worldwide, Nikes is definitely a player you need to watch out for.
Tibs: With his Diddy Kong he has managed to win over half a dozen tournaments and shown major dominance in the Australian Smash 4 scene. Many think he may be the best Smash 4 player in all of Australia.
ViVa: Consistently placing in the top 3 of tournaments and even taking of of the monthly events in the area, ViVa shows Australia what Mario is made of in Smash 4.
Earl: Having recently won Shadowloo Showdown 6 with his Little Mac, Earl really can pack a punch in tournaments. He's done consistently well in his region with a character many in the states have already written off: those international players had better learn the matchup!
Waveguider: Having placed high in several tournaments with his Wii Fit Trainer of all characters. He supplements an aggressive advantageous state with intricate ledge-play and an unparalleled off-stage game. He is currently undefeated in tournament sets as Wii Fit Trainer, will it continue through BAM7?
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Hopefully this spotlight helped players learn who the big names are in Australian Smash and got Smashers excited for BAM7! If you want to learn more about the Australian Smash scene, be sure to also check out the Australia Regional Forum on Smashboards. If you want to see some of these players in action, try tuning into MelbourneMelee, Kaizmo, SydneySmash, or PerthSmash on Twitch. For any players in Oceania who want to become more connected as well it is worth visiting the Oceanic Netplay Thread on Smashboards as well. So Smashboards, which one of these players will be the one to take out the international guests and win BAM7?
SmashCapps loves highlighting some international Smash scenes. If you know of a scene that could use recognition, follow him on Twitter and let him know!
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