ZeroFox
Smash Lord
Link to original post: [drupal=776]It's been a while...[/drupal]
So, a little backstory:
I've been a Smasher ever since SSB for the Nintendo 64 came out. I bought that game within a couple weeks of its release and was instantly addicted. I never really got competitive with it, and didn't even have any comprehension of tiers or the 'metagame' for it either. Still, I was the best Smasher out of my group of friends, and we held a small tourney once and I won fairly easily, except for the final round of course, where I was up against a friend named Chris. He was good, really good, and I barely beat him. But ever since I fought him in that tourney, we basically decided to train with each other often, progressing our skills even further.
Then when SSBM came out, I got that on the release date. Instantly loved it of course. I decided to get serious with this game though, and some time in 2002 I started getting into the competitive scene. After I had the basics mastered, I soon developed my tech skill and everything else needed to become a successful competitive Smasher. It was a long journey and took hours upon hours of practicing and playing to get much needed experience, but it eventually paid off. I entered many local and regional tournaments, and won a large majority of them. Of course, due to school and other stuff, I had to quit in 2007. But during my 5-year "career" as a competitive Smasher, I faced a ton of amazing opponents. Many of them I could overcome, but there were also some pros whom I just couldn't handle. It was great being able to show off your skills and teach others, but it was also fun being able to learn from the best.
Once SSBB came out, I was a little unsure if I wanted to take it as seriously. On one hand, I figured if I was able to put forth the time and effort to become a competitive Smasher for Melee, I could easily handle whatever Brawl had to throw at me and become good in no time. On the other hand, I still had to deal with college. So I did what I thought was best and resumed competitive Smashing during the summer of 2008. I only entered a few Wi-Fi tournaments, which I won, but they offered very little in terms of challengers. I attended a few mid sized tournaments hosted by people I knew, but again, I won them without much of a challenge.
But just recently, one of my roommates brought over a friend of his, Mark. Mark had been a competitive Smasher since the days of Melee as well, although for a shorter time than I had. He had also been pretty serious with Brawl as well, and had competeted in some tournaments. While I was napping, Mark made very short work of all my roommates (They're all Smashers, but none of them are competitive). Once I woke up however, Mark and I had a few matches.
The first match included both of our #1 mains (Meta Knight vs Meta Knight). At first I was testing him out, since I didn't know what he would play like. I was losing at first, and in fact at one point I had one stock left to his two stocks, but once I understood his playstyle, I applied the pressure and took advantage of his weaknesses and came back to win 4-3.
The next three matches I lost. I used Falco, my most recent main. I'd consider him my 4th best character, after MK, Wolf, and Fox. But I still don't feel comfortable enough with Falco to take him to tourneys. Anyway, my Falco lost to his Meta Knight 3-4 (Although I basically gave up that match by accidentally suiciding my last stock). My Falco lost to his #3 main (Toon Link) also by a score of 3-4. And I lost again, 3-4, against his own Falco. But considering my Falco is relatively new, I did pretty well against him, especially since the matches were so close.
After three defeats with Falco, I used my 3rd best main again his 2nd best (Fox vs Yoshi). Even though the score was 4-3, my Fox won fairly easily.
The final match was just a random character match, which I also won 4-3. But it was full of lulz considering neither of us was proficient with our characters.
In the end, we both had 3 wins a piece, each game ending in a 4-3 decision. I kind of regret not taking out my 2nd main, Wolf, because I'm fairly certain I would have won with him as well. Had I just used Falco twice instead of three times, and used Wolf in his place for one game, the end result might have been 4 games to 2 in my favor. Although if I NEVER used Falco and just stuck to my top 3, I probably would have seen 5 or 6 wins out of the 6 matches. So, part of me does regret using someone I'm not comfortable with, and emerging in a dead tie rather than coming out of that day as the clear winner. Oh well.
Even so, I'm really glad I had a challenge. It's been a while since I've actually felt like I could play my best game and still lose. I haven't felt that way since competitive Melee to be honest. It certainly brings back memories of those days.
But having a match up like that just makes me even more excited to get back into the competitive Smashing scene 100%.
So, a little backstory:
I've been a Smasher ever since SSB for the Nintendo 64 came out. I bought that game within a couple weeks of its release and was instantly addicted. I never really got competitive with it, and didn't even have any comprehension of tiers or the 'metagame' for it either. Still, I was the best Smasher out of my group of friends, and we held a small tourney once and I won fairly easily, except for the final round of course, where I was up against a friend named Chris. He was good, really good, and I barely beat him. But ever since I fought him in that tourney, we basically decided to train with each other often, progressing our skills even further.
Then when SSBM came out, I got that on the release date. Instantly loved it of course. I decided to get serious with this game though, and some time in 2002 I started getting into the competitive scene. After I had the basics mastered, I soon developed my tech skill and everything else needed to become a successful competitive Smasher. It was a long journey and took hours upon hours of practicing and playing to get much needed experience, but it eventually paid off. I entered many local and regional tournaments, and won a large majority of them. Of course, due to school and other stuff, I had to quit in 2007. But during my 5-year "career" as a competitive Smasher, I faced a ton of amazing opponents. Many of them I could overcome, but there were also some pros whom I just couldn't handle. It was great being able to show off your skills and teach others, but it was also fun being able to learn from the best.
Once SSBB came out, I was a little unsure if I wanted to take it as seriously. On one hand, I figured if I was able to put forth the time and effort to become a competitive Smasher for Melee, I could easily handle whatever Brawl had to throw at me and become good in no time. On the other hand, I still had to deal with college. So I did what I thought was best and resumed competitive Smashing during the summer of 2008. I only entered a few Wi-Fi tournaments, which I won, but they offered very little in terms of challengers. I attended a few mid sized tournaments hosted by people I knew, but again, I won them without much of a challenge.
But just recently, one of my roommates brought over a friend of his, Mark. Mark had been a competitive Smasher since the days of Melee as well, although for a shorter time than I had. He had also been pretty serious with Brawl as well, and had competeted in some tournaments. While I was napping, Mark made very short work of all my roommates (They're all Smashers, but none of them are competitive). Once I woke up however, Mark and I had a few matches.
The first match included both of our #1 mains (Meta Knight vs Meta Knight). At first I was testing him out, since I didn't know what he would play like. I was losing at first, and in fact at one point I had one stock left to his two stocks, but once I understood his playstyle, I applied the pressure and took advantage of his weaknesses and came back to win 4-3.
The next three matches I lost. I used Falco, my most recent main. I'd consider him my 4th best character, after MK, Wolf, and Fox. But I still don't feel comfortable enough with Falco to take him to tourneys. Anyway, my Falco lost to his Meta Knight 3-4 (Although I basically gave up that match by accidentally suiciding my last stock). My Falco lost to his #3 main (Toon Link) also by a score of 3-4. And I lost again, 3-4, against his own Falco. But considering my Falco is relatively new, I did pretty well against him, especially since the matches were so close.
After three defeats with Falco, I used my 3rd best main again his 2nd best (Fox vs Yoshi). Even though the score was 4-3, my Fox won fairly easily.
The final match was just a random character match, which I also won 4-3. But it was full of lulz considering neither of us was proficient with our characters.
In the end, we both had 3 wins a piece, each game ending in a 4-3 decision. I kind of regret not taking out my 2nd main, Wolf, because I'm fairly certain I would have won with him as well. Had I just used Falco twice instead of three times, and used Wolf in his place for one game, the end result might have been 4 games to 2 in my favor. Although if I NEVER used Falco and just stuck to my top 3, I probably would have seen 5 or 6 wins out of the 6 matches. So, part of me does regret using someone I'm not comfortable with, and emerging in a dead tie rather than coming out of that day as the clear winner. Oh well.
Even so, I'm really glad I had a challenge. It's been a while since I've actually felt like I could play my best game and still lose. I haven't felt that way since competitive Melee to be honest. It certainly brings back memories of those days.
But having a match up like that just makes me even more excited to get back into the competitive Smashing scene 100%.
. i can only do wifi. my friends arent that good, and the only one thast decent plays melee >_>