accel
Smash Rookie
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2015
- Messages
- 3
Wall of text:
I can't fault Nairo for the way he thinks and/or the decisions he has made, but people can't fault others for having issue with it. I'm not even going to pretend to be anywhere near his level of play in this franchise.
That aside, those were obvious throws, sandbags, or whatever else you want to call it in the first set. I see people saying they were strategic to prevent downloading/adaptation, but I find this weak reasoning. Zero Suit Samus (ZSS) is obviously his best and most viable character. Any habits or failure to adapt falls solely on his shoulders, and not on his character. Nairo coming in cold and ZeRo being warmed up is something else I see. It'd probably be a much better idea to warm up on your competitive tournament main. Not only that, but different characters means different matchups. Nairo's picking like he was Infiltration or Momochi. Too bad it didn't work out in his favor. He could've warmed up on a separate station like the Melee players. Not only that, but him watching ZeRo's previous sets is also data collection because he was comfortable waiting for his Grand Finals set. Throwing away matches gave ZeRo momentum and a mental reset he shouldn't have gotten. Poor strategy despite the supposed intent of a possible mind**** and the desire to win (in a "fair" way).
Additionally, ZeRo would never extend this "courtesy" of a free set to anyone else. He wants to win. Nairo didn't have to do what he did. People say ZeRo wasn't at his best. That shouldn't matter. He still entered as a competitor. Even if he was down in the dumps, he still made it to Grand Finals, which is impressive. It definitely was unsportsmanlike in the truest sense of competition and competitive spirit.
Coming from and being a more traditional fighting game player, this issue has arisen before due to top player collusion, sponsored teammates, qualifying spots, pot splitting, or simply not giving a ****. It's a bad look. If you want this game to go the next level and be taken seriously, then you do have to keep spectators (and sponsors) in mind. It equals a bigger community, more competition, better meta, more support/development, more exposure, more events, bigger payouts and more opportunities across the board. That's a win for everyone. That Grand Finals was disappointing. You want this game to thrive as an eSport? Then treat it like an actual sport. Nobody would want to see that crap in any actual physical sport. Otherwise, the community and your competitive game look like a complete joke.
Common retort: "Well, if you don't like it, then git gud and beat them. Then you can do whatever you want or feel is right."
^I don't even want to get into how short-sighted or flawed this is because this post is long enough. I shouldn't have to explain it, honestly. Draw parallels to other spectator sports. What if the World Cup or the Superbowl had the finalists just ******* around until the 4th quarter? Like/believe/accept it or not, Smash is a spectator sport. Tournaments are spectator events. You don't have to please everyone; you just have to play your best. That first set was suspect.
Smash has a lot of potential with how much developer support it gets, Nintendo (and all possible third-party) franchises, the roster/balance updates, the pot bonuses, the community size, etc. It'd be foolish to have a repeat of what happened at TBH5 Sm4sh Grand Finals. Hopefully, more of you will see that.
Just my opinion. No slippery slope intended here.
inb4 grassroots hipster OG. I've heard it all before. Look at the bigger picture.
Edit: formatting
I can't fault Nairo for the way he thinks and/or the decisions he has made, but people can't fault others for having issue with it. I'm not even going to pretend to be anywhere near his level of play in this franchise.
That aside, those were obvious throws, sandbags, or whatever else you want to call it in the first set. I see people saying they were strategic to prevent downloading/adaptation, but I find this weak reasoning. Zero Suit Samus (ZSS) is obviously his best and most viable character. Any habits or failure to adapt falls solely on his shoulders, and not on his character. Nairo coming in cold and ZeRo being warmed up is something else I see. It'd probably be a much better idea to warm up on your competitive tournament main. Not only that, but different characters means different matchups. Nairo's picking like he was Infiltration or Momochi. Too bad it didn't work out in his favor. He could've warmed up on a separate station like the Melee players. Not only that, but him watching ZeRo's previous sets is also data collection because he was comfortable waiting for his Grand Finals set. Throwing away matches gave ZeRo momentum and a mental reset he shouldn't have gotten. Poor strategy despite the supposed intent of a possible mind**** and the desire to win (in a "fair" way).
Additionally, ZeRo would never extend this "courtesy" of a free set to anyone else. He wants to win. Nairo didn't have to do what he did. People say ZeRo wasn't at his best. That shouldn't matter. He still entered as a competitor. Even if he was down in the dumps, he still made it to Grand Finals, which is impressive. It definitely was unsportsmanlike in the truest sense of competition and competitive spirit.
- It kind of invalidates ZeRo's win. There's no telling how the rest of the matches could've went if Nairo went 100% from start to finish. Maybe people don't look at it this way. If I was in ZeRo's situation, I'd personally be pissed. It's like the "bro stock." If I SD, let me be punished for my foolish mistake and sub-optimal play. I'm in Loser's because I was outplayed. Now my tournament win comes into question. Thanks, bro. Unless the win, title and money was all you cared about, this is definitely an issue of sportsmanship and under-performing. ZeRo worked hard through bracket so this "even ground" BS invalidates that hard work. ZeRo's tourney win would've been all the more impressive if he took two full sets from a 100% Nairo.
- It spites the people that Nairo beat on Winner's side. "You sent me to the killer's bracket to just throw away your winner's set (and subsequently only take second place)? Should've thrown away your Winner's bracket to me because I definitely would've used that set a lot better than you did, and you can have that 'fair' set in Loser's Finals anyway like you wanted." Again, a poor excuse.
- It definitely gives him a John if he loses. Even if he says he just lost because Zero was the better player, the fact that a set on the table was thrown away throws doubts everywhere considering how close the Loser's set was. It throws doubts on ZeRo, Nairo, and the outcome in general.
- If Nairo had won the first set anyway, there'd be no talks of "fighting Zero on even ground." He beat him plain and simple. Second set not required. He should have tried his hardest from the start. The excuse(s) given is suspect and seems like backpedaling for a highly criticized performance and illogical decisions.
- Even if Zero was down or depressed, people would probably say tough luck but better luck next time. Yet, he wins while supposedly not in top form potentially because of a free set? Nairo has no excuses and, to be blunt, looks stupid and immature for it. You can say ZeRo's mental state would've invalidated Nairo's wins, but people would've just chalked it up to ZeRo making excuses beforehand (aka RL option selects). "Prove it next time then. Really sorry for what you're going through. But real talk, you're gonna have to hold dat L for now.
- It disrespects the tournament organizers, the sponsors, the other entrants, and the spectators (both stream monsters or attendants). People want to see the highest level of play at the end of the tournament. This is a major with backing - not a local that's going on too late in to the night.
Coming from and being a more traditional fighting game player, this issue has arisen before due to top player collusion, sponsored teammates, qualifying spots, pot splitting, or simply not giving a ****. It's a bad look. If you want this game to go the next level and be taken seriously, then you do have to keep spectators (and sponsors) in mind. It equals a bigger community, more competition, better meta, more support/development, more exposure, more events, bigger payouts and more opportunities across the board. That's a win for everyone. That Grand Finals was disappointing. You want this game to thrive as an eSport? Then treat it like an actual sport. Nobody would want to see that crap in any actual physical sport. Otherwise, the community and your competitive game look like a complete joke.
Common retort: "Well, if you don't like it, then git gud and beat them. Then you can do whatever you want or feel is right."
^I don't even want to get into how short-sighted or flawed this is because this post is long enough. I shouldn't have to explain it, honestly. Draw parallels to other spectator sports. What if the World Cup or the Superbowl had the finalists just ******* around until the 4th quarter? Like/believe/accept it or not, Smash is a spectator sport. Tournaments are spectator events. You don't have to please everyone; you just have to play your best. That first set was suspect.
Smash has a lot of potential with how much developer support it gets, Nintendo (and all possible third-party) franchises, the roster/balance updates, the pot bonuses, the community size, etc. It'd be foolish to have a repeat of what happened at TBH5 Sm4sh Grand Finals. Hopefully, more of you will see that.
Just my opinion. No slippery slope intended here.
inb4 grassroots hipster OG. I've heard it all before. Look at the bigger picture.
Edit: formatting
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