choknater
Smash Obsessed
Hey, what's up Artwork Emporium! I haven't posted anything here in forever, it's probably been more than a couple years. But now that I've just finished a new little artwork for my crew, I feel like showing you guys a little history of the artworks I've done for Team Pauk before.
the artworks and their stories:
#1) 2004 TG6
I created a crew here in Modesto, CA just before the dawning of TG6. I was the only one in the bunch who took the game seriously, but we were all pretty decent as casual players. We got our butts rocked at TG6, playing popular pros like MattDeezie, Oro, Pedro, Rob$ and Justin. We got to see (but not play) Ken, Azen, Isai, Captain Jack, Wes, ChuDat and many more for the first time. This tournament was what got me started in the smash community. As sort of an "old school norcal," I and my crew were virtually unknown, except for me... only because I had a lot of posts on the boards. I would hear, "Oh, you're choknater?! You have a lot of posts, haha." And it was true, I guess.
The original crew in fall 2004: MassChaos, choknater, FoX_KiLLz, and benz0
Just some fun info: Fox used to be my main, but Jason (Fox_KiLLz) wanted to have Fox put in the banner. Thus I put Jigglypuff, my secondary, in the banner. Ever since, I have changed my mains many times, with fox as a strong secondary. From then on, I never had my own character displayed as Fox in any other Pauk artwork I made.
#2) Two Years Later
brand new crew: choknater, Fade, Mick, Peachy, Park5150
In the course of nearly two years, I gained tournament experience on my own throughout NorCal. San Jose, Tracy, Fresno, Modesto, you name it. I even, by sheer luck, had the privelge to attend an NYC Gauntlet where I met DA Dav3, Wes, and others. It wasn't until after all these tournaments that the Modesto community began to expand. We started playing smash during lunch at school, and I gathered a few of the best into a crew of 5, a step up from before. The roster had completely changed; the original crew all quit except for me.
#3) Post FTA: A new member
upgraded crew: choknater, Fade, Mick, Kero (formerly Peachy), Park5150, HomeMadeWaffles
A store/arcade in Modesto called The Gaming Edge began to hold tournaments very frequently, and we met another crew from Stockton, CA called FTA (Foot to ***.) It was the first time I met unnamed smashers who were my equals (or perhaps my superiors) in skill. Nevertheless, their crew as a whole was far better than ours. Both of our crews were fairly unknown throughout NorCal, since everyone had never been to a NorCal biweekly in San Jose more than once. After continuous tournaments in Modesto, some with San Jose visitors, we began to grow in popularity. Though still looked down upon as valley players, we knew where we stood. That was all that mattered.
I changed my main to Ice Climbers just so I could beat FTA's Fox, KillaForCash. And thankfully, I did. These matches were a turning point for me, because I discovered what I was really capable of. They are up on YouTube, just search for choknater.
We also added a new Doc player with incredible potential, known for his ridiculously defensive and strangely clever style.
#4) Growth 2006-2007
large crew from left to right: Kero, Palafrak the Valiant, Mick, choknater, HomeMadeWaffles, Park, Edy, HATE/Slim
Fade quit smash after NCT2 for reasons untold. (Psh, it's because he got 3-stocked in a friendly Marth ditto with the GERM.) I switched my main to Falcon for a little while.
All the while, the community away from tournaments and back at school continued to grow. People followed in our footsteps by bringing their gamecubes to school at lunch to several different classrooms with teachers nice enough to let us use their TV's. With over 25 smashers now parading around the school grounds, I picked off a few of the best to enter my crew. These were my crew's strongest days, with 8 members and sheer domination of Modesto High School. By then, I already had the best Ice Climbers in NorCal. With a friendly rivalry in FTA and available drivers to go to San Jose biweeklies, we got stronger and stronger.
I switched from banners to pencil drawings, because it was more awesome. Inspired by banners from DBR's Hella and GERM.
(It's a bit large, I don't wanna stretch the page.)
#5) Team Pauk Today
I've recently graduated high school and the Modesto smash community still rides strong. However, HomeMadeWaffles broke away from Team Pauk and pursues his own goals. He is now the second best player in Modesto and currently the most tournament active. I consider him my equal, but he admits I am just barely better. Park, Edy, and new Marth player named Lunchbox separated from Team Pauk to create their own crew, made in good humor to rival our own.
So in retrospect, Team Pauk has basically built a community of over 30 smashers in the Stanislaus county from scratch over three years. I only hope that Park, Kero, and HMW, as seniors back at MHS, can continue to build and build until the release of brawl. I also hope that they don't get Gamecubes and Wiis banned from the campus, LOL.
We recently added the brother of Palafrak, code named Willy Loman, a character from the play Death of a Salesman. He uses Green Hat Pikachu in hopes that the hat would represent a senior male citizen in desperate need for fulfilling his dreams when time is running out.
The new one isn't a banner, but a poster in the making. This is only a sharpie sketch, and I will make a full-sized poster based on this. Finished today:
choknater - Ice Climbers
"Nana is the best female character in the game."
Mick - Ninja Peach
"At least I use skill instead of down smashes."
Kero - Gay Peach
"Ohhhh!!... Dude, you're sooo good~..."
Palafrak the Valiant - Mr. Game & Watch
"Sit down. Breakfast is served."
Willy Loman - Pikachu
"O!, the desperation of balding men..."
I hope you enjoyed my story, visit my outdated dA page at http://bloteshame.deviantart.com , which is soon to be filled with new art as I step into the college life!
the artworks and their stories:
#1) 2004 TG6
I created a crew here in Modesto, CA just before the dawning of TG6. I was the only one in the bunch who took the game seriously, but we were all pretty decent as casual players. We got our butts rocked at TG6, playing popular pros like MattDeezie, Oro, Pedro, Rob$ and Justin. We got to see (but not play) Ken, Azen, Isai, Captain Jack, Wes, ChuDat and many more for the first time. This tournament was what got me started in the smash community. As sort of an "old school norcal," I and my crew were virtually unknown, except for me... only because I had a lot of posts on the boards. I would hear, "Oh, you're choknater?! You have a lot of posts, haha." And it was true, I guess.
The original crew in fall 2004: MassChaos, choknater, FoX_KiLLz, and benz0
Just some fun info: Fox used to be my main, but Jason (Fox_KiLLz) wanted to have Fox put in the banner. Thus I put Jigglypuff, my secondary, in the banner. Ever since, I have changed my mains many times, with fox as a strong secondary. From then on, I never had my own character displayed as Fox in any other Pauk artwork I made.
#2) Two Years Later
brand new crew: choknater, Fade, Mick, Peachy, Park5150
In the course of nearly two years, I gained tournament experience on my own throughout NorCal. San Jose, Tracy, Fresno, Modesto, you name it. I even, by sheer luck, had the privelge to attend an NYC Gauntlet where I met DA Dav3, Wes, and others. It wasn't until after all these tournaments that the Modesto community began to expand. We started playing smash during lunch at school, and I gathered a few of the best into a crew of 5, a step up from before. The roster had completely changed; the original crew all quit except for me.
#3) Post FTA: A new member
upgraded crew: choknater, Fade, Mick, Kero (formerly Peachy), Park5150, HomeMadeWaffles
A store/arcade in Modesto called The Gaming Edge began to hold tournaments very frequently, and we met another crew from Stockton, CA called FTA (Foot to ***.) It was the first time I met unnamed smashers who were my equals (or perhaps my superiors) in skill. Nevertheless, their crew as a whole was far better than ours. Both of our crews were fairly unknown throughout NorCal, since everyone had never been to a NorCal biweekly in San Jose more than once. After continuous tournaments in Modesto, some with San Jose visitors, we began to grow in popularity. Though still looked down upon as valley players, we knew where we stood. That was all that mattered.
I changed my main to Ice Climbers just so I could beat FTA's Fox, KillaForCash. And thankfully, I did. These matches were a turning point for me, because I discovered what I was really capable of. They are up on YouTube, just search for choknater.
We also added a new Doc player with incredible potential, known for his ridiculously defensive and strangely clever style.
#4) Growth 2006-2007
large crew from left to right: Kero, Palafrak the Valiant, Mick, choknater, HomeMadeWaffles, Park, Edy, HATE/Slim
Fade quit smash after NCT2 for reasons untold. (Psh, it's because he got 3-stocked in a friendly Marth ditto with the GERM.) I switched my main to Falcon for a little while.
All the while, the community away from tournaments and back at school continued to grow. People followed in our footsteps by bringing their gamecubes to school at lunch to several different classrooms with teachers nice enough to let us use their TV's. With over 25 smashers now parading around the school grounds, I picked off a few of the best to enter my crew. These were my crew's strongest days, with 8 members and sheer domination of Modesto High School. By then, I already had the best Ice Climbers in NorCal. With a friendly rivalry in FTA and available drivers to go to San Jose biweeklies, we got stronger and stronger.
I switched from banners to pencil drawings, because it was more awesome. Inspired by banners from DBR's Hella and GERM.
(It's a bit large, I don't wanna stretch the page.)
#5) Team Pauk Today
I've recently graduated high school and the Modesto smash community still rides strong. However, HomeMadeWaffles broke away from Team Pauk and pursues his own goals. He is now the second best player in Modesto and currently the most tournament active. I consider him my equal, but he admits I am just barely better. Park, Edy, and new Marth player named Lunchbox separated from Team Pauk to create their own crew, made in good humor to rival our own.
So in retrospect, Team Pauk has basically built a community of over 30 smashers in the Stanislaus county from scratch over three years. I only hope that Park, Kero, and HMW, as seniors back at MHS, can continue to build and build until the release of brawl. I also hope that they don't get Gamecubes and Wiis banned from the campus, LOL.
We recently added the brother of Palafrak, code named Willy Loman, a character from the play Death of a Salesman. He uses Green Hat Pikachu in hopes that the hat would represent a senior male citizen in desperate need for fulfilling his dreams when time is running out.
The new one isn't a banner, but a poster in the making. This is only a sharpie sketch, and I will make a full-sized poster based on this. Finished today:
choknater - Ice Climbers
"Nana is the best female character in the game."
Mick - Ninja Peach
"At least I use skill instead of down smashes."
Kero - Gay Peach
"Ohhhh!!... Dude, you're sooo good~..."
Palafrak the Valiant - Mr. Game & Watch
"Sit down. Breakfast is served."
Willy Loman - Pikachu
"O!, the desperation of balding men..."
I hope you enjoyed my story, visit my outdated dA page at http://bloteshame.deviantart.com , which is soon to be filled with new art as I step into the college life!
