Could ZeRo potentially ruin Sm4sh's competitive scene?

[Wintropy]

I really don't like stagnation, so that's why I don't like ZeRo being at the top. It's not so much that he's stagnating the meta, but a sort of struggle is nonexistent. At least in Melee, there was no definitive god above the others, and that made matches between them interesting to watch. Of how they play off of each other, what decisions do they make, e.t.c. Heck, even seeing someone take on a god is exciting. People always joke that ZeRo always wins, but it's true! Watching a match, while interesting, does become boring if you know the outcome. So in that way, he could ruin the scene in some slight way. People will stop trying to push themselves since ZeRo has a clear advantage having played Brawl for years and it's his full time job. So we'll have ZeRo, and everyone else.

Also doesn't help ZeRo that he coincidentally picked the best character, bringing him even more anti-hype.

Tournaments still get big turnouts. Top players still do their best to win.

People won't stop because ZeRo keeps winning. People will play on because everybody who enters a top-level tourney wants to win, it just so happens in the current state of the game that, to win, you have to beat ZeRo.

 

[neohopeSTF]

Tournaments aren't ZeRo sweeping the entire thing with no loses like evo, people are starting to take games from him.

 

[MistressRemilia]

k Vinnie won vs ZeRo at PAX
Edit: nvm lost 3-1 Grand Finals S2, won 3-2 Grand Finals S1

 

[Pegasus Knight]

The only thing he's ruining is Mii Fighter freedom, as he speaks out against it. I am less than fond of him for that reason alone.

As for his constant winning? No, that's not a problem. People need to step up their games and present him with viable competition so he can't just get away with fooling around because he's that much better than most folks.

 

[Rashyboy05]

Besides ZeRo's complaining things about "broken" stuff like Luigi and Mii Fighters. I don't think ZeRo's ruining the meta. Think of it like Ken's reign on Melee or M2K's reign on Brawl(I heard it was only for a year tho). In both events, people were very interested as to when will the king fall and who will defeat the king. In many matches against ZeRo, when ESAM was so close to taking a set from ZeRo, almost everyone was excited. Similarly, a lot of people were hyped when Vinnie took a set from ZeRo.

 

[Xyrohip]

So before this starts, don't get me wrong, in no way do I have anything against ZeRo.

Problem is, he is just too good. It is almost guaranteed that he will win every tournament he enters. That being said, since he has plot armor and looks to never lose, will the Sm4sh scene grow when there is always one winner? In Melee there are a ton of great players who beat each other all the time where it is impossible to predict who will be the grand champion, but in Sm4sh it's like there is one god who smites anyone who attempts to challenge him without mercy. Melee is like Greek mythology where there are a ton of gods fighting each other, while Sm4sh is like the bible where it is a sole God punishing everyone.

Ken was a dominant force in the melee competitive scene for several years. Smash 4 isn't even a year old yet.

 

[Harlow]

Yeah, I've been worrying about this for a while. Eventually big sponsors might just lose interest in the game because ZeRo wins too much. Not hating on the guy, he seems cool. Sports with no drama end up losing viewers though.

 

[Guildmarm]

So before this starts, don't get me wrong, in no way do I have anything against ZeRo.

Problem is, he is just too good. It is almost guaranteed that he will win every tournament he enters.

They've already started to nerf all his characters lmao

 

[Wintropy]

Yeah, I've been worrying about this for a while. Eventually big sponsors might just lose interest in the game because ZeRo wins too much. Not hating on the guy, he seems cool. Sports with no drama end up losing viewers though.

To be fair, most of the drama currently comes from the question of who's gonna beat ZeRo.

If anything, it's an impetus on people to get better - everybody wants to be the hero who takes down the final boss, after all!

 

[ConsummateK]

No? People love rooting for an underdog. People have been close to beating him (most notably Vinnie took a set). ZeRo is great for the scene. I'd like to see more competitiveness but I don't think as it stands there is really any negative impact to his dominance. If anything it's a positive, he's like the Yankees of Smash4, people will show up just to watch him lose.

 

[Tek-ton]

The way I see it, Sm4sh is still so young and it changes so rapidly that people are currently in the process of getting it down to a science.
I imagine there will be plenty of people to surpass ZeRo in the future; it will just take time.

 

[S_B]

ZeRo being the guy to beat only builds hype.

People watch tournaments with ZeRo in them for no other reason to see if he'll be defeated. It adds am extra level of excitement to the whole thing that wouldn't otherwise be there.

 

[R.O.BB^]

Hes the ken of ssb4. he is demolishing now but like ken, he will still play but will be overruled

 

[RayNoire]

It's actually the opposite.

ZeRo is proving that the game's skill ceiling is higher than people thought at first. To some, he's legitimizing the game.

 

[pianoasis]

It's looking just like Mew2king in Brawl. ZeRo is going to exploit the game's flaws to no end. Eventually a newcomer might show up and take the crown (like Salem vs. M2K) but then the meta will fall right back into ZeRo's hands and people will realize how futile it is to try and bring new things to the meta. And then Nintendo will nerf Sheik...

 

[FallenHero]

It's looking just like Mew2king in Brawl. ZeRo is going to exploit the game's flaws to no end. Eventually a newcomer might show up and take the crown (like Salem vs. M2K) but then the meta will fall right back into ZeRo's hands and people will realize how futile it is to try and bring new things to the meta. And then Nintendo will nerf Sheik...

I have no idea what you mean by ZeRo is exploiting the game's flaws. Using any advanced tech that was not intended to be in the game is exploiting the game's flaws, but Melee players don't not get any **** for that. You seem to think nerfing Sheik means ZeRo will stop dominating in all the tournaments he goes to. When Diddy got nerfed he didn't stop winning, so it won't happen just because Sheik gets nerfed.

 

[pianoasis]

I have no idea what you mean by ZeRo is exploiting the game's flaws. Using any advanced tech that was not intended to be in the game is exploiting the game's flaws, but Melee players don't not get any **** for that. You seem to think nerfing Sheik means ZeRo will stop dominating in all the tournaments he goes to. When Diddy got nerfed he didn't stop winning, so it won't happen just because Sheik gets nerfed.

Look, we all know ZeRo is illuminati lizardblood. He is using his juju magick to win every tournament but also he is very disrespectful to other, less polished players. Watch him at tourneys. He gets up to play and tap tap taps away at his cell phone just to disrespect his competition and put them on tilt. I despise tactics like that and I can't wait to see him get destroyed in Grand Finals.

 

[FallenHero]

Look, we all know ZeRo is illuminati lizardblood. He is using his juju magick to win every tournament but also he is very disrespectful to other, less polished players. Watch him at tourneys. He gets up to play and tap tap taps away at his cell phone just to disrespect his competition and put them on tilt. I despise tactics like that and I can't wait to see him get destroyed in Grand Finals.

Maybe he just feels like checking his phone quickly before a match? I don't see how he is being disrespectful to less polished players.

 

[Morbi]

Look, we all know ZeRo is illuminati lizardblood. He is using his juju magick to win every tournament but also he is very disrespectful to other, less polished players. Watch him at tourneys. He gets up to play and tap tap taps away at his cell phone just to disrespect his competition and put them on tilt. I despise tactics like that and I can't wait to see him get destroyed in Grand Finals.

I love how the assumption is that Zero will get destroyed in Grand Finals. No one believes anyone will eliminate him any earlier than that. He is THAT good.

 

[A10theHero]

The only way ZeRo can ruin Smash 4's scene is by spreading misinformation. He's one of the reasons why Mewtwo is underrated in our meta. But other that, he's a pretty good guy and him consistently winning isn't a bad thing--it's actually a pretty good motivator in my opinion.

 

[FallenHero]

The only way ZeRo can ruin Smash 4's scene is by spreading misinformation. He's one of the reasons why Mewtwo is underrated in our meta. But other that, he's a pretty good guy and him consistently winning isn't a bad thing--it's actually a pretty good motivator in my opinion.

I disagree with this, because even if he spread misinformation the only people who would be agreeing with him are ones who have no idea about the game. I don't think Mewtwo is underrated, at least not that much. Mewtwo is just a bad character thanks to his weight and large hurtbox. He is like the opposite of what Donkey Kong is right now.

 

[A10theHero]

I disagree with this, because even if he spread misinformation the only people who would be agreeing with him are ones who have no idea about the game. I don't think Mewtwo is underrated, at least not that much. Mewtwo is just a bad character thanks to his weight and large hurtbox. He is like the opposite of what Donkey Kong is right now.

Well, because ZeRo is the top player, he is in a place of authority, and humans in general usually obey such people. In addition, if some things are not that well-known in the community, what top players say is usually taken as the answer.
As for what you said about Mewtwo, I encourage you to visit the Mewtwo boards. There's a reason why he's mid tier in Japan.

 

[|RK|]

The only way ZeRo can ruin Smash 4's scene is by spreading misinformation. He's one of the reasons why Mewtwo is underrated in our meta. But other that, he's a pretty good guy and him consistently winning isn't a bad thing--it's actually a pretty good motivator in my opinion.

Not really. You guys attribute way too much power to ZeRo. He's not the reason customs were banned - when people cared about them, he discussed them in his videos properly. And most everyone thinks Mewtwo is bad, not even close to just ZeRo.

 

[A10theHero]

Not really. You guys attribute way too much power to ZeRo. He's not the reason customs were banned - when people cared about them, he discussed them in his videos properly.

I never said that ZeRo was the reason customs were banned, lol. Where'd that come from?

And most everyone thinks Mewtwo is bad, not even close to just ZeRo.

That's true, and there's where the problem lies. Mewtwo is better than most people think but it's hard to spread this information when top players like ZeRo rate him worse than he really is.

 

[|RK|]

I never said that ZeRo was the reason customs were banned, lol. Where'd that come from?

That's true, and there's where the problem lies. Mewtwo is better than most people think but it's hard to spread this information when top players like ZeRo rate him worse than he really is.

Sorry, I didn't mean you. I was sort of bringing together the things people have blamed him for.

And okay - but if we can't see Mewtwo's potential OR its potential in practice, it's really hard to put it as even mid tier.

 

[A10theHero]

Sorry, I didn't mean you. I was sort of bringing together the things people have blamed him for.

Oh, okay. No need to apologize.

And okay - but if we can't see Mewtwo's potential OR its potential in practice, it's really hard to put it as even mid tier.

Yeah, that's the situation now--the damage has been done so Mewtwo is bottom tier here (and should be since tiers are based on results and not many people in the US will play or even consider him now). What the Mewtwo boards needs to do now is raise awareness and show people why Mewtwo is not bottom tier, but that's a different topic for a different time--my point basically was that ZeRo contributed to the spread of this misinformation and the escalation of this problem.

 

[Browny]

Sorry, I didn't mean you. I was sort of bringing together the things people have blamed him for.

And okay - but if we can't see Mewtwo's potential OR its potential in practice, it's really hard to put it as even mid tier.

As I've probably said like 5 times in this forum

Look at Japan, Mewtwo is mid tier there and top players like Abadango use him as a secondary and Nietono uses him on his twitch along with some other pros giving him exposure in top 8 matches.

When you see these pros decimating people they come up with as Mewtwo, its hard to believe the current USA-based opinion. I am extremely confident the reason for this is because they actually play as Mewtwo, and dont blindly believe what zero/m2k said about him and of course, it doesnt help at all when people believe his uthrow is weak and nerfed thanks to zero. Mewtwos uthrow without rage, is stronger than charizards uthrow when landing on a platform with rage.

Its truly amazing how many people still dont know this, they just saw zeros video saying mewtwos uthrow isnt that good, when it is only slightly behind ness bthrow as the strongest throw in the game, then there is a huge gap until Lucas takes the #3 spot.

 

[Kugelhagelfisch]

Some people act like he's the John Cena of Smash.
Cena was written to be undefeatable and made wrestling boring for many. Zero is legit the best right now and proves it constantly.
Smash isn't a team sport either where one team with massive monetary advantages can stay on top for pretty much ever by buying the best players, play the biggest paying cups and repeat that every season.

Zero himself has to work to stay on top and all it takes is one person to end his reign. He's just one guy and doesn't have super powers.
I don't think people are too much discouraged, especially because most aren't even remotely good enough to even get to play against him. Worry about places 100 to 2 before you worry about place 1.

 

[Steelballray]

Zero, for being the current best player, is pretty.. Stupid. Times and times again he gets super salty and spreads misinformations that hinder the meta and such. Back to when I used to play Lucario him crying on Twitter got all of my friends complaining about him being OP or whatever. Effectively stopping them from actually trying to learn the matchup. I know only a scrub would listen to what he says in his videos but.. It's not like we have a shortage of those. Also from his attitude on twitter especially against Dabuz its obvious how much of an immature kid he really is. I really can't wait for Nairo or any other player with an actual decent personality to get better than him and beat him once and for all.

 

[phantom man]

If anyone is going to beat ZeRo it's going to be Vinnie, or at least I want it to be. Or ESAM.

 

[Fatmanonice]

The scenes of most competitive games are typically dominated by a handful of players and a handful of characters. It's really nothing new and having one player have 2 or 3 years of dominance is actually fairly common. Honestly, with patches and more characters on the way, this game is still changing and, if anything, I think the future of it is pretty optimistic, especially when you see the sheer variety of characters in tournaments and the percentage of the cast that's actually ranking in them.

 

[Macchiato]

I think it's the scarf. Just take his scarf, ez.

 

[Gnarkill Evan]

How do we know that his dominance is not drawing new and potential players to the game? It is rather incredible that one player can rule the game like ZeRo does