Smashboards Username: Tafokints
Region: Pac West, Norcal
Primary Character(s): Sheik
Secondary Character(s):
REQUIRED
1. Q. How long have you been playing competitive melee?
A. Roughly since 2007. I attended a handful of tournaments in 2004-2006, but started getting more involved in 2007 with the UCLA Revival Series
2. Q. How often do you attend tournaments? How familiar are you with your local scene? Your regional scene? The national/international scene?
A. I attend tournaments roughly 1-2 times per month. I help run many local tournaments for Norcal and am also a panelist for the norcal rankings. I frequently play in local smash fests with top players. For the regional scene, I talk with Socal and Washington regularly and updated on the scene. For the national scene, I have went to Apex 2012, P5, P4, Genesis and have a good gauge on who’s on top of the metagame
3. Q. How would you classify yourself as a player relative to the current metagame? (beginner, average, high level, pro, etc.)
A.I would classify myself as high level (currently #7 in norcal rankings). I have had solid performances over the past couple of years and have typically done well at regionals
4. Q. Do you think the other individuals in your region would support you being a member of the MBR? Why?
A.Yes, I am very communicative and informative in decision making and discussions. To name a few, I believe Hyuga, Scar, PockyD, HMW would support me as a MBR
5. Q. Do you consider yourself a discussion leader? Why?
A.Yes, I take initiative in getting things done and will coordinate to see things taken care of. Additionally, I try to make sure that most people get a chance at voicing their own opinion and get a fair say before I make policy changes
6. Q. Are you an active Tournament Organizer? If Yes, what are some recent tournaments you have hosted? If No, what are some ways you feel you contribute to your local scene despite not being a TO?
A. I am an active TO. I have run many of the “Campbell” tournaments for the past year that typically have 15-30 players.
7. Q. Do you feel that the current tier list is accurate? Why?
A.I feel that SSBM, despite being ~10 years old, has much more to be discovered. It is correct to a degree, but I have put less weight on the tier list over recent years. People aren’t going to be familiar with every matchup, so we’ll have surprises from time to time (Axe’s Pikachu, Hbox’s ness, etc…), so this will inevitably skew tournament results.
8. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended stage list is fair? Why?
A.It’s reasonable and balanced. Most players haven’t complained over the ruleset in the past year. It accommodates to almost all the characters fairly. Usually when a person loses a set, it won’t be because of something fluky of the stage conditions (cars, klap-traps, etc…)
9. Q. Do you feel that the current MBR recommended rule set is fair? Why?
A.I think it’s fair. I would hope that more tournaments would adopt a BO5 if there are no time constraints. It was done at NW Manifest and ultimately led to less variance. It’s been done in Europe for a while and I hope it popularizes here in the US
10. Q. What is more important to you: Tech Skill or Strategy? Why?
A. For me, I value strategy because I’ve always loved the “mind games” aspect of competitive gaming. If I were going to train a new player, I’d recommend Tech Skill because there is a high minimum threshold of tech skill that is required to be competitive in melee. Fortunately, I came early into Melee and gradually learned many techniques. However, I’ve been able to lean back on out-witting my opponents for a long time, and, as a result, my tech skill is terrible
11. Q. What is more important to you: Maximizing Punishments (Combos) or Initiating Punishments (First Hits)? Why?
A. Initiating punishments will always have a higher precedence for me. Combos and follow-ups can be learned through repetition and practice. Initiating punishments is honestly a lost art in melee. Mainly, people have adopted a “safe” mindset in which people are looking to protect themselves as opposed to actively looking for openings. If you can’t initiate a punishment consistently, then you will inevitably reach a ceiling against players who aren’t making mistakes.
12. Q. Does SSBM have a limited lifespan as a competitive community due to its age or any other factor? Why or why not?
A. Melee will always have a timeless legacy factor similar to 3rd strike and SSF2T in the traditional fighting game community. I’m not sure how active it will be with SSB4 down the line. However, Melee has survived through Brawl, so I think it still has a few more years down the line
13. Q. What do you think could be done to expand our community?
A.The live streams are a great asset to bringing in outsiders. However, there is very little community follow up and it’s hard for a new player to improve unless he/she has a really strong drive to play and improve. Other communities have online play or arcades to regularly establish a player base for newer players. Melee does not have that luxury and I think we need to encourage the already-existing community to invite newer tournament players to smashfests and other events that are going on.
14. Q. What do you think the MBR could do to stimulate the community?
A. Weekly pod-casts. Interesting and consistent blog posts that people can read would help. Teamliquid, GSL, have interviews with top players and blog posts discussing strategy that are very interesting to me even though I don’t even play that much. If we could get a blog-style site going up that summarizes weekly results around the US, insight from top players, and strategy articles, it will generate much more players
15. Q. How do you think the MBR would benefit from your input?
A. I’m not afraid to share my opinions and I have been active in the community for over 5 years and lurking for another 4 since the early MLG days. I put much thought into giving feedback and also how to improve the community. Many will simply complain about short-comings of a community, but I also aim to figure out solutions
OPTIONAL
1. Please provide up to 5 examples of contributions you have made to the melee community. Links to exceptional, informative posts are highly valued here.
1. Link:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=129276
i. Description:Sheik F-smash
2. Link:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=14378436#post14378436
i. Description: General Sheik Advice
3. Link: :
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=14382929#post14382929
i. Description:Mid-range approaches with Sheik vs Fox
2. List up to three players you feel demonstrate good discussion ability or have outstanding contributions to the community and explain why you think they are a good example.
1. Player: KirbyKaze
i. Reason: Very informative and thoughtful posts on specific aspects of sheik
2. Player: S2J
i. Reason: Although vulgar, he’s been a constant beacon for many falcon players. I admire his dedication to the Falcon boards
3. Have you read Sirlin's theories regarding "Play to Win"? Do you agree or disagree? Why? How do you think these theories affect and apply to the Melee community?
1. Answer: I think it’s great and defines much of competitive gaming. For me, it’s helped me greatly in the sense of getting rid of “scrub mindsets” such as simply calling things “cheap” instead of looking for ways to get past my opponent’s schemes.
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