oh ****. uh...hold on
@
Cassius.
1. What about Bowser do you like the most about? What makes him stand out from the rest of the cast?
2. What are some quotes of his (from any game he's been in) that you find most memorable?
3. What quality in customs turn you off from them?
1. What I like most about Bowser is a 6 year old reason, really. In Brawl, he was a pretty bad character, but still had unique theories and concepts. He had an invincible OoS option, a command grab that was pretty much the core of his gameplan (
AND GRAB ARMOR EXISTED), and he actually got guaranteed punishes off of grab releases on 38 characters. That attracted me a lot, and made me want to improve my Brawl Bowser game entirely.
Anyway, the first few sentences are what I liked the most about Bowser, but of course this is a different game. As for what I like about Bowser in Smash 4...not much, honestly. He doesn't have anything that I'm really accustomed to using, but it's safe to say that I have tried my best to adapt to the Bowser change and am sticking with him, of course. I've been playing Bowser for 6, damn near 7 years now. I am a Bowser player. The one thing that's keeping me with him, aside from the fact that I am pretty much him at this point, is that he hits very hard, and you can put legitimate fear into people, whereas in Brawl there was just the fact that no one really knew what I was doing. It was all gimmicks.
I have a background in fighting games (I am good at these, as well), but the characters I tend to play are very reliant on setplay (Zero/Doom/Dante in Marvel, Seth in Ultra, etc.)...that's not to say that I play top tiers, or even play vortex chars in every game, but having the ability to execute a gameplan and play "the perfect game" appeals to me. Bowser is a character that exudes confidence, and it shows in this game. I am used to turning a game, or a complete set in my favor off of one stray hit, or one simple mistake. I am a player that relies on metacognition, and can notice players' bad habits, thought processes, etc I am also introspective, and can see when I am doing things wrong and fix it. So being able to really get a hit, and get the bang for my buck is appealing to me as well. I only have to hit someone three times, get combo'd for a bit to get rage, and suddenly they're scared? AND all I have to do is grab them once with Side-B to kill them? Not bad, right?
As for what makes him stand out...come on now. He's Bowser. That should stand out enough to you. He's no longer a character that's absolute trash. You have the ability to proudly remove the "absolute" from the phrase!
2. Mostly BiS quotes, but aside from the memorable "SHOWTIME" and paging the King of Awesome
edit: I found a page with the quotes, so here:
- "I'm lightning in a bottle! I'm an earthquake in a can!" (SMRPG)
- The day, my genius and brawn
Are lost on these fools." (SMRPG AKA Best Haiku of all time)
- "Bwah ha ha! Will I marry Peach? Are you kidding me? The answer's YESSSSSSSS!" (Super Paper Mario)
- "GWAHAHA! Great dark hurricane! Seriously, perfect backdrop for an awesome final battle! You really sweat the details! Listen up! You're saying the kingdom will vanish? NOT TODAY! THIS KINGDOM IS ALL MINE! SO YOU VANISH! (BiS)
- "Give it to me straight. Princess Peach is gone? Hello? That is MY thing! Only I get to kidnap her! TREASON!" (DT)
3. I'm really not in the mood to talk about customs, but all I will say is that custom Bowser in itself doesn't fit my style. I have no problem getting a good Dash Slash hit and comboing into an aerial to kill you; I know how the move works, and how to properly use it--that's the hallmark of a seasoned Bowser/player in general. Dash Slash does a lot for Bowser that a lot of players probably don't even realize. That's not the issue. I get a lot of my kills off of the command grab, and I'm used to sharking through platforms with it. Why would I give that up? Watching a lot of videos of Bowsers using Dash Slash, and custom sets with mid-level tournament players is honestly disgusting. Have you taken a look at them? It's almost as if people actually don't know how to play Smash anymore. You hand people a game-breaking or neutral-breaking move, and expect that it will win them games. Customs aren't a substitute for skill; players still have to play neutral and earn the hit. If you are a bad player, customs won't change that. You'll just be a bad player with customs on.
And because of the great divide, a lot of players don't take the game seriously and aim to prove the point that customs blow, and will actually just pick cyclone kong or sapling villager just for the ****s (I am one of them). That doesn't do anything to help the customs meta advance, because there are a bunch of characters that haven't been explored yet.
I also hate this game lol, so just seeing customs jank makes it even worse to me.
It also has to do with the media. I feel as though the pull for customs was the result of the anticipated onset of early Smash 4 hate and the desire to save a game that honestly wasn't even on the verge of dying. it was only 3 months old at the end of Apex, going on 4. ESports is a gift and a curse to gaming, especially for games that aren't on the forefront of it, like Smash. A lot of changes that go on for this game are just due to the viewers being put before the players.
To me, the whole customs movement was far too early, and probably should have been a side event. But we'll see how EVO goes. I'm just not a fan, and I haven't been.
What is your favorite breakfast cereal?
How do you feel about the changes to Bowser's core moves? Notably Jab, Fortress, and Klaw.
Favorite breakfast cereal is Cinnamon Toast Crunch. That's the cliche answer, but if I eat it too much I get sick of it and have to balance it with Fruity Pebbles. (Apple Cinnamon Cheerios are actually ridiculous).
I think the changes to his core moves are absolute ****. I'm sure you're aware of that lol
I still think Jab is pretty good for what it's worth. It's just in a game where 5 frames or lower is the standard, which makes it seem like it sucks. I'm very glad that it leaves opponents high enough for frame traps.
I'm not sure if anyone will really understand how beautiful Bowser would be if his up-B OoS was still invincible and we were able to reach the ledge with it while onstage. I hate having to wait my turn in this game. If you hit my shield, I'm blowing you up--that's it. It hits multiple times, so it's good to cover options with now, which I suppose is important since rolls are ridiculous in this game. The fortress boost is great.
I don't even know why I complain about Up-B anyway, I don't use it that much for it to deserve so much disdain for me. However...
I hate Klaw. It's only saving graces is that it kills, and a lot of players are bad at this game, so they shield or do something stupid when they're scared, so I Klaw them anyway. But I hate it. hatehatehatehatehatehateit.
1) What do you see as a weakness in your current style and what are you trying to do to resolve it?
2) What's the next big tech you're trying to learn?
3) What is your weakest matchup and how do you think you will try to approach it in the future?
4) How do you feel about jab 1 frame traps? Are there some follow up options you prefer to others? Are there any reads you use when choosing which what kind of follow up you'll try to use?
5) I know that you don't use fortress as much as a lot of other bowsers. What are some situations where you feel like you need to fortress and some situations where you've found adequate replacements for it.
6) Are you planning on going to evo and if not, what about beating ZeRo in grand finals do you find unappealing?
1. A big weakness of mine in this game especially is that I tend to respect my opponents too much until I see something glaring that I can take advantage of. Because I'm not playing a top tier character or a character with superb frame data, I don't really have anything that I can abuse and get away with for free. If my opponent isn't scared or is covering up their habits with something, it's hard for me to force my way in and get into their head.
2. As far as tech goes, there's nothing that I've seen that's worth learning. I actually have really good execution (like anime-game standards), and can do pretty much all of the tech that's on the forefront of the game (except for Frame Cancelling...but come on.) Part of the problem too is that a lot of momentum-based technology in this game doesn't really apply to Bowser (perfect pivoting doesn't send him anywhere, and you have no business being directly in someone's face anyway as Bowser. There's a specific zone you need to be in that allows you to punish anything they do but not put yourself at risk.). Save Dash Slash gimmicks, nothing really applies to him. He has no combos, he has no grace. I do need to get more consistent at ledge trumping though. I can do it when it counts, but it irritates me when I flub it because I'm missing chances to end stocks early, and I'm forcing myself to play neutral for a lot longer than I need to.
3. My weakest match ups are probably ones that I'm not too familiar with; it's extremely easy to get janked out (Mii Brawler). Against characters that I vehemently despise (Yoshi, Rosalina, Olimar), I'm actually not that bad, it's just my personal distaste that gets in the way. For MUs concerning metagame-relevant characters...uhhhh, I guess I'm bad against Sonic and Luigi?...moreso Luigi I guess. Luigi's extremely common now, and Sonic always has been, but the reward that Luigi gets from a grab is substantially higher than almost every character in this game. The match up requires too much meticulous decision making in order to not get killed from some random thing. In the future, if I do happen to perform really badly against them, I'll just play Sheik. Against Luigi, I would probably just ditto them or play Sheik lol. Luigi dittos are completely cancerous, and it doesn't take that much to have a proficient top-5 character in this game as long as you have a really good understanding of neutral.
4. Jab 1 frame traps are great, but you have to be aware of what you're doing or what followups you're attempting to go for. If you haven't been using them the whole game or are not accustomed to using them, I wouldn't use them at that point. A lot of players get too overzealous mid-game and try something and get killed for it, when they could just just used jab2 and kept doing what worked for them.
Consider your position on the stage. When a simple Jab 2 can just get them out of your face or push them to the corner, why risk going for a grab and losing that positional advantage? You're going to get a grab. The Jab series to me is just a really good way to walk your opponent into a really uncomfortable situation which you are bound to get more damage from if you stay on top of your game.
As far as followups, I only go for Klaw, (pivot) grab, or Bowser bomb really. Otherwise I just shoo them away with Jab 2. For followups based on specific reads, I don't really go for those unless there's something that is very telling about the player's style or decision making. Sometimes 2 stocks isn't enough time to really get a good handle on how your opponent plays and reacts to situations, so you have to pay attention to everything and be aware. Especially since we are Bowser players--good hits don't come for free.
5. The reason I don't use fortress a lot just stems from Brawl. In a lot of situations, Bowser could actually be punished for punishing something with an Up-B OoS, or actually lose positional advantage trying to avoid being punished. Since Smash 4 has more hitstun, you can afford to use it more, but the issue is that we can't escape to the ledge if our Up-B call is incorrect or is blocked. Depending on the player/character you're playing against, that can result in a huge momentum shift.
As an aside, you have to be honest with yourself. If you know you're the kind of player who tends to get scared under pressure or you tend to do dumb **** (You airdodge a lot, roll to escape certain things, have trouble landing or getting back onstage), is it really worth it for you to try and go for an Up-B? What happens if you're wrong? You'll be giving your opponent all of the momentum in the world and multiple chances to **** on you. There's nothing wrong with just waiting for another opportunity. Sometimes that is even scarier; if you notice your opponent does something really bad, but let it go, you can prompt your opponent to do the same thing (since you didn't punish it) in another situation where the punish will be easier/more optimal. Trust me, a lot of Smash 4 players don't really think about what they're doing. That is, of course, what separates your average Smash 4 player from the top level. You can get away with auto-piloting in this game fairly easily depending on who you're playing.
So, for some situations where it's okay to Up-B:
Ledge situations: if you're not firm on your punishes or can't react to a ledge jump/roll/getup attack with DTilt or an aerial, or you don't want to guess, you can just Up-B. It'll cover most options, including the regular getup. If you're wrong, just steer away. It's awfully lazy, but it does work most of the time.
If you see someone roll past you, but aren't reflexively ready to punish it on the dot, you can Up-B. Same with a spotdodge. If you want to call out someone's spotdodge, where you know they whiffed a move and subsequently spotdodge, go ahead.
If someone hits your shield with something that's obviously unsafe, but you're not really sure if you can punish it with anything heavy, Up-B. Are you noticing a trend in these points?
To me, using Up-B is kind of an "ehhh, I'm not entirely sure of what's going to happen, but I need to throw something out there, so here!" type of response. Bowser's punish game is pretty ridiculous, especially against people who tend to do dumb things. So if you have the proper read, punish accordingly and get the damage you deserve. Don't settle for just 10-11% w/a risk of losing everything. Be on the ball. Don't guess. Punish.
Of course, this applies to mid-game. Early-game at lower percents on the first stock, you can probably get away with a random Up-B, but it's imperative that you get your act together so you can get the best hits you can.
As far as replacements go, pivot grabbing is your friend, and once you come to terms with the fact that you don't have to hit everything you see that your opponent does wrong (history, and situations do repeat themselves), you will see windows to use more suitable moves.
6. I'm not going to EVO primarily because I'm not 21 yet (December 9th), and going to Vegas only to play video games doesn't appeal to me, and customs. I always talk about being a part of something great, but I'm just going to sit this one out. The experience wouldn't be complete for me. I am seriously considering going next year, and if not I am probably going to fly out to the west coast and be a road warrior or something.
I also have no money. So yeah.
How do you feel about Bowser still not having his epic SMG/BiS voice but Bowser Jr and co. having their's?
You think they will ever give us Klaw back to form or do you think Magicant screwed us?
Should Tough Guy be buffed?
Lastly what is your favorite way to KO an opponent?
Bowser not having an actual voice and some weird crap in this game again is just really lazy on the devs part, and actually irritates me. It's in line with the fact that Bowser actually doesn't have a jump animation (his jump animations were fine in the previous games, mind you).
I'm not sure if they'll give us Klaw back, but giving us more control is a start and a reasonable compromise. They need to give us a consistent and definitive way to know whether Bowser is always going to win or not, or if it'll always be sudden death. Again, lazy.
Tough guy doesn't need to be buffed.
My favorite way to KO an opponent is with Side-B. Second favorite is a powershield -> Bowser Bomb punish.
