AeroLink_the_SoulMaster
Let's rock, baby!
2 Dec 2015
1. What are your biggest achievements with Palutena? Why should folks consider you a 'Palutena Expert'?
My biggest achievements with Palutena are winning multiple tournaments, mostly during the customs era.
I've won multiple Shockwave tournaments, which is a weekly tournament series in my region, as well as two regionals, one of them recent during October of this year (2015), which allowed customs from Miis and Palutena. I have set wins over players such as LarryLurr, Shaky, MJG, and of course the top players in my region. I have probably put the most time into Palutena, even playing her since the Japanese 3DS release in early September of 2014. I've played her all throughout since then, developing strategies and learning her setups, especially during the customs period. With the success that I've had, I suppose that is enough for people to label me as a "Palutena Expert."
2. What interested you in playing Palutena?
What interested me in playing Palutena was when I saw her reveal trailer. When I saw the moves that were showcased for the character, especially her customs (although I did not know at the time), I was instantly interested. She looked so fun and like a great character. The reveal trailer even got me interested in playing Kid Icarus: Uprising. After I finished that game, it further increased my interest in Palutena.
3. What are Palutena's biggest weaknesses? (Customs Off)
Palutena's biggest weakness is her frame data. She has quite a bit of startup and cooldown on a lot of her moves. Also, she can struggle to kill and approach a very defensive and reactive opponent.
4. What are Palutena's biggest strengths? (Customs Off)
Palutena's biggest strength (without customs), is her defensive ability and her general ground speed. She has great aerials to combat her opponents and when she has the lead, she can utilize her speed and strong aerial game to deny approach attempts. She also has a versatile recovery with her ability to teleport to safety, especially on a stage with platforms.
5. What are her worst and best matchups among the 'top tiers'? (Customs Off)
Without customs, some of Palutena's best matchups with the top tiers, in my opinion, are Mario and Rosalina.
Some of her worst top tier matchups are Sheik, Fox, Sonic, Diddy Kong, and ZeroSuit Samus.
6. Is Palutena viable on a national level? (Customs Off)
Without customs, Palutena is not viable on a national level. She has a plethora of bad matchups to overcome, and the stamina required may be too much to win solo all the way.
7. How much more viable does Palutena become if she has her customs available?
If her customs are available, Palutena's viability increases significantly. In fact, in my opinion, she becomes a top tier character. The versatility she gets for any match-up, plus added speed, mobility, and KO reliability from her customs is enough to mitigate her frame data flaws. In fact, it is the reason I believe she has such lag on her moves; she was designed with her customs in mind, and if she had better frame data, she would be over the top for the metagame of Smash 4.
8. In your opinion, should Palutena have access to her customs in some way in tournaments?
This is a bit tricky for me. As a Palutena player, of course I would want access to her other specials.
That being said, the way I see it, if Miis are allowed to have access to their customs, it should be the same for Palutena. The fact that you have to turn Custom Fighters on for Palutena and not the Miis, is just semantics. All of the Miis' and Palutena's special moves come already unlocked at the start. I believe Palutena is viable on a national level with her customs, and I would be so willing to prove it if I was allowed to do so. Honestly, I believe every character should have access to all of their specials, and not just Palutena and the Miis, but that's another issue altogether. Palutena was designed around her customs. So in my opinion, the answer is yes; Palutena should have access to her customs in tournaments.
9. Advice for anyone interested in Palutena?
My advice for anyone interested in Palutena: It's the easiest to play when you really enjoy her as a character, whether by playstyle, or her character design as a whole. She's not a top pick at all to win tournaments, so if you are interested in her anyway, you can learn a lot by watching videos of players such as IceNinja, TLTC, Prince Ramin, Punishment Divine, and myself (AeroLink). There other players like Trevonte, Ryo, and Mew2King, who have also used Palutena (default and/or customs). Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, Kinuski is another Palutena player to watch for videos. Big D is another player you can watch who has used Palutena. I don't know of any Palutena players from Japan, but I'm sure videos of them can be found.
1. What are your biggest achievements with Palutena? Why should folks consider you a 'Palutena Expert'?
My biggest achievements with Palutena are winning multiple tournaments, mostly during the customs era.
I've won multiple Shockwave tournaments, which is a weekly tournament series in my region, as well as two regionals, one of them recent during October of this year (2015), which allowed customs from Miis and Palutena. I have set wins over players such as LarryLurr, Shaky, MJG, and of course the top players in my region. I have probably put the most time into Palutena, even playing her since the Japanese 3DS release in early September of 2014. I've played her all throughout since then, developing strategies and learning her setups, especially during the customs period. With the success that I've had, I suppose that is enough for people to label me as a "Palutena Expert."
2. What interested you in playing Palutena?
What interested me in playing Palutena was when I saw her reveal trailer. When I saw the moves that were showcased for the character, especially her customs (although I did not know at the time), I was instantly interested. She looked so fun and like a great character. The reveal trailer even got me interested in playing Kid Icarus: Uprising. After I finished that game, it further increased my interest in Palutena.
3. What are Palutena's biggest weaknesses? (Customs Off)
Palutena's biggest weakness is her frame data. She has quite a bit of startup and cooldown on a lot of her moves. Also, she can struggle to kill and approach a very defensive and reactive opponent.
4. What are Palutena's biggest strengths? (Customs Off)
Palutena's biggest strength (without customs), is her defensive ability and her general ground speed. She has great aerials to combat her opponents and when she has the lead, she can utilize her speed and strong aerial game to deny approach attempts. She also has a versatile recovery with her ability to teleport to safety, especially on a stage with platforms.
5. What are her worst and best matchups among the 'top tiers'? (Customs Off)
Without customs, some of Palutena's best matchups with the top tiers, in my opinion, are Mario and Rosalina.
Some of her worst top tier matchups are Sheik, Fox, Sonic, Diddy Kong, and ZeroSuit Samus.
6. Is Palutena viable on a national level? (Customs Off)
Without customs, Palutena is not viable on a national level. She has a plethora of bad matchups to overcome, and the stamina required may be too much to win solo all the way.
7. How much more viable does Palutena become if she has her customs available?
If her customs are available, Palutena's viability increases significantly. In fact, in my opinion, she becomes a top tier character. The versatility she gets for any match-up, plus added speed, mobility, and KO reliability from her customs is enough to mitigate her frame data flaws. In fact, it is the reason I believe she has such lag on her moves; she was designed with her customs in mind, and if she had better frame data, she would be over the top for the metagame of Smash 4.
8. In your opinion, should Palutena have access to her customs in some way in tournaments?
This is a bit tricky for me. As a Palutena player, of course I would want access to her other specials.
That being said, the way I see it, if Miis are allowed to have access to their customs, it should be the same for Palutena. The fact that you have to turn Custom Fighters on for Palutena and not the Miis, is just semantics. All of the Miis' and Palutena's special moves come already unlocked at the start. I believe Palutena is viable on a national level with her customs, and I would be so willing to prove it if I was allowed to do so. Honestly, I believe every character should have access to all of their specials, and not just Palutena and the Miis, but that's another issue altogether. Palutena was designed around her customs. So in my opinion, the answer is yes; Palutena should have access to her customs in tournaments.
9. Advice for anyone interested in Palutena?
My advice for anyone interested in Palutena: It's the easiest to play when you really enjoy her as a character, whether by playstyle, or her character design as a whole. She's not a top pick at all to win tournaments, so if you are interested in her anyway, you can learn a lot by watching videos of players such as IceNinja, TLTC, Prince Ramin, Punishment Divine, and myself (AeroLink). There other players like Trevonte, Ryo, and Mew2King, who have also used Palutena (default and/or customs). Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, Kinuski is another Palutena player to watch for videos. Big D is another player you can watch who has used Palutena. I don't know of any Palutena players from Japan, but I'm sure videos of them can be found.
