Data "Now it's Shulk Time!" - Shulk Tournament Results

[Plain Yogurt]

http://rvaforge.challonge.com/5h9todp6
Anvil Smash Weekly #42
Plain Yogurt
7th Place tie
3/6/2016
50entrants
No Customs

Awww yeah first top 8 in quite a while, and I DEFINITELY could have won both of the sets I lost (both were last game last hit). Before the tournament I was playing friendlies with my biggest roadblock who's given me TONS of advice for my general play and he was telling me that I try to predict too much and that I should move around and abuse Nair more and by the end of the day Shulk was striking me as a hit and run kind of character. Plus I finally beat said roadblock for the first time ever! ...though I can't help but feel he was a tad off his game. I ended up losing to a /, the latter of which did me in, and a , who I REALLY shouldn't have challenged off stage. Shulk's uair vs. Yoshi fair...didn't work out so well. Next time though!

 

[dhblademaster]

Well, it's been a while, and I'm not planning on going to any tournaments within the next week or so, so I guess I'll post some old results that I was saving for later.

Reset the Bracket #16
dhblademaster
13th Place Tie ,
3/4/2016
44 Players
No Customs

I honestly feel like I could've played much better at this particular tournament. I'm not sure what it was, but I was pretty sleepy going in. (Johns??) In the first round, I played a Melee player who decided to enter Sm4sh because we were allowed to enter both tournaments this time. He said that he was a Ganondorf main, so, as you would expect, I challenged him to a Ganon ditto. And, let me say, that it was fun. Ganon is awesome. In game 3, I remembered that there's no Air dodging in Melee like there is in Sm4sh, and I hadn't tested him yet. So I went off the stage and dunked him twice. The rest wasn't super memorable. I did get the legendary Buster Down Throw -> Down Tilt -> Down Throw -> Forward Tilt combo on the Bowser that I lost too, which is always a plus. Then I beat a Robin, and then I lost in the next round. Oh well.

Basically, the moral of this story, is to always get some sleep before tournaments. Oh, and always bring lunchmeat to the venue, if they allow it. It makes for some interesting conversations.

 

[TrueSapphire]

Fandom Friday Smash Bros Tournament
TrueSapphire
1st place
3/25/16
32 entrants
Customs (No)

This is my first local “win”, except it's still not the same traditional rulesets. Single elimination, 1v1, 3 min, 3 stocks, and Smash Balls only. All stages were allowed, but I chose the legal stages. However, the rules began to change as the tournament progresses.

This time, I used the GC controller they provided, and I adapted within the first few friendlies.
Round 1 – vs | Smashville | [Win]

Easy. I was around 150%, and I still have not lost my stock. I used the Chain Attack to take his first stock!
Round 2 – vs | Smashville | [Win]

Very easy. I was around 25%, and I think I used another Chain Attack to take a stock!

New rulesets: 3 stocks → 2. 3 min → 2 min. Yeah... It's so awkward. The pressure was on!
Round 3 – vs | Duck Hunt | [Win]

Easy. Due to the new time limit, I went to Shield Art to play extra careful. Eventually, I used Buster and Speed Arts. I took both stocks by using Bthrow → Back Slash!
Semi-Finals – vs | Town & City | [Win]

Easy. I used Buster Art and kept hitting my opponent. One time, he fell and roll toward me, which I read that and used Usmash to take a stock. He was shocked because he did not intend to roll like that.

New rulesets: 2 stocks, infinite time, and no items on.
Finals – vs | Final Destination | [Win]

Fun fact! He recognized me in my first local tournament, though he lost to our PR #2 player: Lycan. Before this tournament, I fought his Sheik with the 2 stocks, 6 min in friendlies. I won easily, however...

Very hard. In this match, he actually adapted to me, and I had a hard time hitting him like usual. This is the only fight where I felt really pressured that I can possibly lose. With my Nairs and grabs almost sealed by his solid defense (shielding and rolling), I had to use retreating Fairs and Bairs to even hit him. For the first time, I lost my stock, but I managed to take his stock quickly. In the end, I was over 140%, and he was around 80%. The fight could have went either way! Shield Art does help me a lot! With Jump Art, I sent him across, and as he descended down, I immediately jumped for a Fair as fast as possible, thus winning my first local tournament!

Other Thoughts:

• This tournament was a convention full of comics, toys, music, and gaming. I browsed around, but I was only interested in Smash Bros. The tourney was located in what appears to be a city council with three screen projectors and comfy auditorium chairs!
• I was the first one to play the game in order to adapt to the GC controller. I can do MALLC, B-Reverses, Wavebounces, and MABDs a bit more easily than the 3DS controller. For the record, I only used MALLC in my tourney play.
• Before the tournament, I played 1v1s and FFAs. This whole day, I never lost with my main: Shulk. I played Ike to mix it up, and I had a few losses.
• We had a semi-good crowd size at the start (around 50, but I'm not sure). A few people in the crowd were quite interesting with their energy. The con ended at 4 PM, but the tournament was still going. People started to leave, and by the time I won the tournament at 5 PM, around 20 people were left (and the crowd's energy was little compared to the beginning).
• Like before, my Shulk still appealed to the audience. I'm one of the few players that won before time was up. One person I fought in friendlies bet someone $10 if I won the tourney. Whether he's joking or not, he'll be proud of my good result!
• The grand prize was a 1st place trophy and a $200 gift card! This makes up for my first tourney loss! Also, the Sheik player in Finals got a trophy, too!

Overall, I'm really proud of this day! A few people encouraged me to attend locals with the usual competitive rulesets. Two people talked to me about how Shulk is really rare to encounter in Vegas. There was one Shulk main in December, but it looks like he is a Cloud main.

I'm still waiting for my true first tournament once I get the opportunity. There's always EVO 2016, though!

 

[FOcast]

Come on And Ban #52
FOcast
3/24/16

Singles:
17th place tie
74 Entrants
No Customs

This was a bigger tournament than I thought! I guess our TO pushed the cap quite a bit tonight. =P

It was also a good tournament for me, though it illustrated how sometimes you get lucky with brackets. I lost in round 1 to Charizard player who also took top 17. Flame Breath punishes recoveries that can't snap the ledge pretty hard. I should've found more opportunities to recover high. Also, they like battlefield because of their kill-throw, fly. After that, I had two easy matches in a row - people who I had to explain the legal stage list to, and were definitely surprised to play me.

Round 3 losers I fought a player who I've done a lot of friendlies with. He chose Pikachu against me, which is a matchup I usually don't like. It's been going better lately, though. Well-timed retreating Nairs and Fairs can beat quick attacks quite easily. Once you make them want to snap the ledge, you can go for trumps as well. This game really illustrated MALLC's importance to me - most of my kills throughout the 2-1 set came from Bairs that would have been unsafe without it, and I would've been risking more by going for. This matchup centers around not getting shoved out of position by thunder jolt projectiles (it's slow enough to deal with in one way or another consistently), and keeping composure when you can get Pika to approach.

Round 4 I fought a Robin player who I've seen around but not played. Definitely another projectile-focused matchup, though you really have to watch out for a charged levinsword. I could've kept better track of his spell counts - I did get surprised by a couple books getting discarded with a hitbox, but I took it 2-1.

Round 5 I played a Diddy Kong player that I was worried about. At a previous tournament, he took me apart by waiting out my spacing aerials while holding a banana, then getting quick punishes when I tried to threaten. This time, I played much more carefully around the banana, and did much better. A few tips: Nair and Fair can both destroy bananas, or if they're closer to you, catch them. If you (power?) shield a banana thrown at you, you can immediately jump and Nair forward to catch it and throw out your hitbox. If Diddy did a dash throw near you, you may be able to cross up with this, and get safe from his followups. If you jump directly in front of a banana and immediately press shield, you'll grab it off the ground. With the right timing, you won't airdodge, and can throw it instantly. This is even easier with Speed's reduced jump height. Plus, Speed mode gets amazing slides from glide tossing bananas. I lost this set 0-2, but both games came down to over 100%, last stock, and I pretty much only died to grabs. I needed to do a better job of punishing Monkey Flip when he used it to recover high. I know Jump mode can get up there, but I didn't have the timing.

 

[FOcast]

Come on And Ban #54
FOcast
4/7/16

Singles
13th place tie
81 Entrants
No Customs

Even bigger this week! I actually hope that they start capping this tournament again - it took over two hours for me to get through my first two matches.

Round 1 was against a Lucina I've played several times. I took it 2-0 this time, getting revenge for losing on stream last time. Lesson of the day is that you need to watch out for your intuition to shield on platforms. Shield Breaker can hit them easily, and it's often difficult to punish if your platform is moving.

Round 2 I got destroyed by the Cloud who took 4th place. Not much to say about it, he really took me apart. 0-2 loss.

Round 3 was unfortunately against my most consistent practice partner. Figures we'd meet this early in bracket. He plays Yoshi. Once you learn to play around eggs consistently, this matchup gets a lot better. If you can powershield projectiles, you force them to approach, and Yoshi has very few safe approach options. Watch out if you see them ducking a lot, because Yoshi Bomb can be a great anti-approach option, beating many attack approaches, breaking shields, or hitting you out of jumps. 2-1 win.

Round 4 I played the guy who beat me with Charizard round 1 last time. He chose Link game 1, and I don't really know why, because I think we win that matchup. In Speed mode, run up shield beats pretty much all his projectiles. You can punish boomerang and bow if you get close enough. Bombs, just like with Diddy's bananas, will bounce off and you can catch them with Nairs. A better link might have jumped forward to catch them himself, but our Forward air should beat that if spaced well. He switched to Charizard game two, and I handled it a lot better. If you hug the ledge when recovering and don't reverse your Air Slash, it will beat or trade with Fire Breath. If you trade, make sure to not be holding forward and spamming B, or Back Slash will come out. Play the neutral carefully, and don't get grabbed at high-percent. Up-throw is Charizard's most consistent kill option. Vision beats Flare Blitz easily. 2-0 win.

Round 5 was against the player who recently took 20th place on the NorCal power ranking. I have beat him once before, and he usually plays Falco and Greninja against me. For Falco, watch out for offstage combos - Fair can kill early, and Falco with double jump can always recover. In Speed mode, you can posture that you're threatening the ledge and still run back to cover onstage side-B. If they learn not to do that, side-B is pretty easy to trump if they just go for the ledge. For Greninja, we still have advantages in the Neutral. Keep an eye on what they do after charging Water Shuriken. Obviously you want to shield it, and you can often punish Greninja for trying to approach behind it. With fadeback Fair if they go for an aerial, or with shorthop Bair if they try to dash-grab. Recover especially low and avoid popping above the ledge with the first part of Air Slash, or Hydro Pump can gimp you easily. Fortunately, if they miss this, you can get back up for free, as it'll push them away. 2-1 win.

Round 6 I got matched with a Sonic player who I've played many times since starting in the competitive scene. I've started to hate this matchup less, and I'm getting closer each time. Remember that in spin dash, Sonic can never grab you. Shield it, and figure out how to take advantage of the positioning situation afterwards. If Sonic jumps out of spin dash, reverse Air Slash beats a lot of Sonic's options. If they end the spin grounded, you have significant frame advantage, and can use the time to close the gap and take the midrange position. Watch out for homing attacks after spin dash. It's really hard to react to, but if you're watching for it, a simple spotdodge can make it very punishable. 1-2 loss.

This is the biggest weekly tournament that I've been to, and my best tournament placing relative to size ever (fractionally better than 5th/31 at Kin a few weeks ago). Very happy with this result, and excited to push further next week.

 

[TrueSapphire]

Smash It Up 6
TrueSapphire
3rd place
4/7/16
18 entrants
Customs (No)

Finally, my first true competitive tourney! My goal was to get at least 3rd place, which I did! After analyzing the stream, I can do this write up.
Round 2 Kramer | Smashville (W) & Dream Land 64 (W) | [Win 2-0]

Normal difficulty. Since I studied this MU due to her controversy, my performance was good. I lost my first stock in Dream Land, but quickly got back up and won.
Round 3 KMoney | Smashville (W) & Dream Land 64 (W) | [Win 2-0]

Normal difficultly. His Greninja was a bit tougher than I thought, and I think I lost my stock first. After winning against Greninja, his Pac-Man was also easy to defeat.
Round 4 JK | 2 Smashvilles (W & L) & Final Destination (L) | [Loss 1-2]

Very hard difficulty. In order to be "worthy" against his Bayonetta (btw, he was joking), I had to defeat his Falcon, which I easily did. But his true main is where I struggled. Of course, I ended up in her death combos, but I did manage to take a stock out of him! My biggest flaws were approaching with jump (thus getting hit by her dive kicks), failing to DI, and whiffed attacks.

JK's Bayonetta is, without a doubt, the best one I fought. He can also defeat top players in my area, which he might get ranked in the PR based on his past placings. He's also a cool guy!
Losers Round 5 OLMANDAN | Smashville (L), Town & City (W), and Final Destination (W) | [Win 2-1]

From this point on, my loser run was more frightening that I thought. I had moments where I could have lost.

Very hard difficulty. I cringed at what to fight, and to make it worse, it was a good Fox player. I had to spam my Shield Art in the first two games. The last game was oddly easy, but it might be because I adapted to his playstyle. He was also intense with his controller and concentration until I won. Though he was disappointed, I'm sure he's a nice guy. I also heard this was his last tourney before he moves away, and that the venue was like a family to him. Suddenly, I feel bad for taking him out.
Losers Round 6 Terabite | Smashville (W), Final Destination (L), and Duck Hunt (W) | [Win 2-1]

Hard difficulty. This guy saw my friendlies and was very eager to fight my Shulk, so it was nice to be with him! His Pikachu was easy, but his Cloud was difficult. I keep getting hit by his Uairs and Nairs. Also, Shield Art does not work after 150% against Limit Cross Slash. Still, I managed to pull this off in the Duck Hunt stage.
Losers Round 7 Xero | Two Smashvilles (L & W), Battlefield (L), and Final Destination (L) | [Loss 1-3]

Very hard difficulty. I used Smash Art as the anti-Luma strategy, and I got mostly good results! Still, it's really hard to land a hit. I was disappointed that I keep getting hit by his Uairs, which I already knew that I should have land away. I had a few moments where I was surprised I got hit by his Luma. The last fight was very close, but I screwed up by jump approaching.

Other Thoughts

• I played friendlies, including against Xero. But he played his secondaries and I think I lost only three times out of many!
• The person I met in my last casual tourney was also here, so it was great to meet him again! He wished my luck to get 2nd or 1st place.
• I was disappointed that we only got 18 participants instead of around 25. The payout was a bit low, this time.
• Why do people fiddle their control sticks like mad? It's like they're breaking it!
• JK and Xero encouraged me to go another tourney the following day, but I could not make it. They're also pretty cool, especially JK. He and I did friendlies and offered some advice before I left.

Overall, I'm happy with what I got, though a part of me wanted to get 2nd place. Getting 3rd place got me a $3 net loss. I'm also glad I can at least put up a fight against JK and Xero, the top players in Vegas, even if it is just taking a stock or one game.

 

[Masonomace]

Updating all the tournaments I've been to:

CoMoMo 11: The Phantom Hitbox
Wii U Singles (Images cus no challonge) Results and Bracket
Mace
5th place tie
February 6-7, 2016
26 entrants
Customs: Off

Wii U Doubles (Images cus no challonge) Bracket
Very Freezer + Mace
1st place played by Very Freezer +
February 6-7, 2016
6 teams
Customs: Off

Wii U Quads (Images cus no challonge) Bracket
The Black Plague
1st place
February 6-7, 2016
3 teams
Customs: Off

Note: Quads are really lame. But Shulk can play really lame so it's whatever. Jump & Shield art literally going to be your stalling meta for stock tanking goodness. I find Triples to be fun though. Trips are doable, but Quads are gross.
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
The Sweet Spot
Wii U Singles
ReynTime
5th place tie
February 13, 2016
30 entrants
Customs: Off

Note: Wasn't very large, but considering the region, it was kinda stacked. Fun regardless!

Wii U Doubles
Freezer + Mace
1st place played by Very Freezer & played by me
February 13, 2016
10 teams
Customs: Off

Note: Freezer & I destroyed Doubles. We were definitely on-point this tournament.
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Heartbreaker's Smash Tournament
Wii U Singles
\ReynTime
2nd place & ? Can't remember if I used Yoshi this day for Grands
February 14, 2016
17 entrants
Customs: Off

Wii U Doubles Standings and Final
BACK SCRATCH
1st place+ played by GioBoi
February 14, 2016
7 teams Round Robin, Two highest winning teams duke it out for 1st place
Customs: Off
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
GameKatz Bi-Weekly SSB4 Tournament
Wii U Singles Standings and Final
←/ReynTime
5th place tie
February 28, 2016
19 entrants Round Robin of 3 groups. 2 players out of each group advance out to the Final stage.
Customs: Off

Wii U Doubles
Limits are meant to be felt
1st place + played by A-a-ron
February 28, 2016
8 teams
Customs: Off

Note: Pre-patch Cloud with Finishing Touch is so silly. I would Smash art Uthrow them into FT killing a lightweight at ~20%. . .just because Cloud had Rage, I had some Rage with Smash art launching them up that high, & the fact that they might have been a lightweight. Oh my lord. . Even then, I had Speed art pivot grabs into a FT setup, or Buster art Dthrow into a standing FT.
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
KansasCity Onslaught
Wii U Singles
TTO | \ReynTime
9th place tie
March 5, 2016
53 entrants
Customs: Off

Was fun. Got to meet Nebraska players as well as some who are PR'd at this event. I felt like I did poorly as well as flubbing moments looking like a buster, but it happens. It's been a month now since this event happening & me just now typing it up here, but I can say that I learned a lot, & was joyed to see the competition get fierce. Ggs to everyone I played & Thanks for Playing. Ggs to everyone who came out & played to the max, & Thanks to the TOs & staff for Hosting~
═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
DI OR DIE: Macho Madness 2
Wii U Singles
Pool A
Pool B
Pool C <- I'm here
Pool D
Wii U Top 16
TTO | \ReynTime
3rd place
April 16, 2016
46 entrants
Customs: Off

Was fun. A good amount of PR'd players from Nebraska came to this monthly & it was a blast seeing them along with familiar faces I've seen before when I entered a previous tournament called Kansas City Onslaught. I had heard of Skillager before this tournament, but never got to play him until doing so in Losers Semifinals. He's PR'd #1 in NE & the set was hype, & I hope we play again sometime. Just in general, this tournament despite not being huge, was stacked as far as our region goes. Ggs to everyone I played & Thanks for Playing. Ggs to everyone who came out & played to the max, & Thanks to the TOs for Hosting~

 

[TrueSapphire]

LVL UP EXPO 2016 (Wave B | Bracket B3)
TrueSapphire
17th place tie (Top 24)
5/14/16
172 entrants
Customs (No)

Without a doubt one of my notable stacked tournament of all time! It had $5000 pot bonus and top players like Nairo, Larry Lurr, Scatt, VoiD, Tyrant, FOW, Xzax, and more! It also had VGBootCamp stream, and commentators like D1 and TKbreezy! Since this is a big and national tournament, we begin in pools. Note that I got FOW in my pool.
R2 Spoopy | Smashville (W) & Dream Land 64 (W) | [Win 2-0]

Very easy difficulty. We first had problems someone with a Wii Pro controller connecting as the third player. Spoopy and I were annoyed by this, but it took a while to fix this. As for the set, it felt like I was fighting someone who was rather new to this game.
QF Vash | Town & City (L) & Duck Hunt (L) | [Loss 0-2]

Very hard difficulty. It's been a while since we last fought in February, and we now have a proper battle. I heard that Vash has improved a lot since our last fight, and it was true. I got caught in his setups like Dtilt, KO Punch, and Dsmash at the ledge. And like last time, Vash knows how to recover back very quickly. I was feeling normal because I thought I would win this, but I failed to adapt. Had I defeated Vash here, I would have been on stream fighting SS.
LR3 Berto | Smashville (L), Duck Hunt (W), & Town & City (W) | [Win 2-1]

Hard difficulty. Berto was a bit tougher than I thought, but I do remembered winning very easily on Duck Hunt with only taking 33%. The final fight was actually close, and I thought I was going to lose. But I used my Shield Art play to stall and secure the win.
LR4 Technicals | | [Win 2-1]

Normal difficulty. Unfortunately, I forgot the stages I played. I do remember SD'ing on the first game by using Back Slash, but after that, I was able to win.
LQF GimR | (W) & Final Destination (W) | [Win 2-0]

Normal-Easy difficulty. To my surprise, it's GimR from VGBootCamp! Prior to this, I don't know much about his main. I actually thought he was a main. During the set, I had a decent fight in game one. But in game two, I won with two stocks intact. It almost seemed like GimR did not know the Shulk MU. After that , I did my research, and I read that he's one of the notable Mr. Game & Watch players, and that he almost won against FOW's in this tourney. Then again, Shulk does win the MU against Game & Watch.

With that, I made it out of pools and reached Top 32! The sets from now on were Bo5.
LR1 Vash | | [Win 3-2]

Hard difficulty. I was supposed to fight someone called Diablo, but I got my rematch against Vash! Whenever he won a game, I was starting to get nervous and lose hope, but I followed my own playstyle and managed to win against him! Shield Art, Nair cross-ups, and spaced Bairs were my key tools to defeat Vash. This victory boosted my reputation in my smash community as Vash is ranked 9th on our PR list.
LR2 Calculus | Smashville (L), Final Destination (L), & Duck Hunt (L) | [Loss 0-3]

Intense difficulty. So I tried to use only Jump and Shield Art, but Calculus was a really patient player. After losing game 1, I started to revert back to my own playstyle, but even that was not enough. I kept on getting comboed up to the ceiling! I remembered on Duck Hunt that I meteor smashed Calculus Side B recovery, so I can take a stock out of him. However, this was a solid win for him, and this ended my run. Since this was Bayonetta, I should have stayed to my Jump and Shield Art plan and play REALLY lame to even stand a chance.

Other Thoughts:

• This tourney was part of a cosplay/video game/anime/technology convention, but I had little interest in them because my sole focus was playing as much as possible before going home.
• My realistic goal was to get out of pools, which I did!
• I played many friendlies. Overall, I won most matches, but I fought in all range of difficulties. Those I won against thought of the following things:
  • "How do I deal with Shulk's range?!"
  • "I don't know what to do!"
  • "I never fought Shulk before!"
  • "Shulk can do that?!"
  • "What?! That [Bair] can hit like that?!"
  • "But you make Shulk's frame data so fast!"
  • "He picked Lylat Cruise on purpose just so he can [Jump Art] Fair me to death!"
  • "Have this pizza. You deserve it."
• With my Shulk play, I somehow became famous in my smash community. Like always, they encouraged me to go to more tournaments. Two people had said this:
  • "So you're the legendary Shulk player."
  • "He's that famous Shulk player."
• My only regret was not able to play against the top players like Nairo or FOW. We were either busy or taking a break.

Overall, I do not regret coming here! It was really fun, and I get to meet some familiar faces in person like the people in the last tournament I went. For now, I'm taking a break, but I will definitely come back for EVO!

 

[GetShulked]

Great stuff! Thanks for the write-up

 

[soupysquazzil]

It is nice to know that you had a great time, and learned a lot.
Keep going master!

 

[Aarrow]

Smash Fight Club 45! 2v2 + 1v1 Feat. Austin's best and THE SMASH PIT

3rd Place
Aarrow
83 entrants
5/22/16
Customs:Off
Houston,TX


Big win for me. Didn't get to meet any of the Austin players in bracket, but still made a good impression (I hope)

My first round: SU| Lilnest, Aarrow
I only chose Ryu because I wasn't in the mood for dealing with the Shulk/Fox MU to start the tournament. Nothing much to say- Shoryuken out of shield and up-tilt cheese. 2-0


Round 3 Winners: SU| BC (Houston #9), Aarrow


Yes, I actually played 4 intense games against him. The first game was a time-out and we were both at exactly 83% so we decided not to count it.
Game 2 (1?) was a runback on Smashville - His spacing with Cloud is amazing and he has better pressure in neutral than what I'm used to from the character. I mainly beat him offstage and used up tilts to discourage him from stealing stage control.
Game 3(i guess...) was also Smashville against his villager. I figured his ledge game towards the end but threw away my lead while getting over zealous around the platform. Also a time out : percents were 5ish and 10 ish last stock , BC wins
Game 4
BC recognizes my control over the villager matchup and decides to take me on as Cloud on my counter pick - feels he won "by luck" - his words, not mine (and felt Ness would be even harder [he was right]). I win on duck hunt; he attempted to limit camp when I held on to stocks in Shield art, but I just Jump art/Shield art camped his limits
I win 2-1


Round 4 winners: Nicole, Aarrow
A fortunately good matchup for me against a notably strong player. Definitely the hardest Peach I've played thus far though. She manages to drop stocks more efficiently than other Peach players, and still has the technical skill required for good shield pressure. Nothing specific to mention, though.
I win 2-0


Round 5 winners: Tony Sherbert, Aarrow
I had played him earlier that week, and also learned that Smash art has interesting properties on Luma and some of her (few) combos. He knew most of my tricks at Ledge pressure and did an impressive job of adjusting from our previous set that week. I realized he now chose to hang to the ledge/ mix me up by landing on stage but I was prepared to adapt. Learned that ledge trumping would be a valuable tool to lvl up my already intimidating ledge game. My first match on stream that day.
I win 2-0

Round 6 winners: UD| DeluxeMenu, Aarrow
Somewhat of a surprise, played him because he had just taken a set over The Wall (, Yeah, that one). Also a surprisingly difficult MU, the player is really consistent at forcing grabs but I immediately enforce stage control and take full advantage of his recovery. At this point I was already satisfied with my win over BC and Nicole and was ready to lose but I manage to take the set 2-0

Winners Finals: KJ(Houston #6), Aarrow
I wasn't ready. His Cloud is very unique an his download speed trumped mine. At this point I had created habits from my previous sets (recoveries etc. that my other opponents had let me get away with) and KJ exploited them accordingly. I was okay with the loss since I was already guaranteed 3rd, but I wish I'd had the opportunity to play him fresh for a better first impression
I lose 3-0

Losers Finals: UD| DeluxeMenu, Aarrow
Kind of a throw away set, Deluxe eventually takes the entire tournament and the whole Ryu match was just spaghetti. He adapted to my U-throw setups somewhat as well as my cheesy ledge-guard options. Yeah, I could've played much better but I still had some data (and money) to take home. Fun set to end the day and my first ever 3+winners run in such a big tournament.
3-0

 

[TrueSapphire]

EVO 2016 (Pool C514)
TrueSapphire
Drowned in R1 pool (Top 2 advances | 3rd place)
5/15/16
2662 entrants
Customs (No)

Last year, I mentioned on the Shulk social chat that I would join this year's EVO, and I did!
R1 Macrossfx05 | Smashville ( W) & Smashville (W) | [W 2-0]

Very easy difficulty. Not much to say except it felt like fighting a beginner player. But even though I won, he did not seem to be salty.
R2 SRL PX | Town & City ( W) & Smashville ( W) | [W 2-0]

Easy-normal difficulty. I had a good start against his Peach. His Corrin was a bit challenging, but not much.
SF Sunset | Smashville ( W) & Battlefield (W) | [W 2-0]

Easy difficulty. Speed and Buster Art helped me a lot in this fight while using defensive aerials. He did took one stock out of me, but I emerged victorious.
WF Karna | Smashville ( L) & Final Destination (L) | [L 0-2]

Intense difficulty. Karna is the biggest threat in my pool, and he proved it. Despite playing defensively, my defense was not enough against his aggressive playstyle. I managed to take a stock, but I felt overwhelmed while running out of options.
LF Jasunnn | Smashville ( W), Final Destination ( L), & Duck Hunt (L) | [L 1-2]

Hard difficulty. I was a bit surprised he had a Diddy, but I played my ground game and attacked when necessary, so it ended up with a good win for me. However, his Rosalina was more challenging than I thought, getting a solid victory on game 2. At the last game on Duck Hunt, we were so close that the game could have went either way. But Rosalina Usmashed my landing, ending my run.

Other Thoughts:

• My realistic goal was to get out of pools again...but I failed in the end. Due to this, I felt a wave of disappointment to myself.
• I managed to play some challenging and notable players:
  • JK’s and [Loss 0-2]. The one who defeated Kamemushi at a Vegas local [3-0]. He was one of the first players to play in the morning. But I could not take a stock of his post Bayonetta, and he had one remaining stock on his Sheik. He at least gave me one advice about sticking to the same (effective) strategy whenever I lose a stock instead of changing tactics.
  • Salem’s [One game - Loss]. So there was a line to challenge him. It was my turn, but I ended up getting bodied. I think he had two stocks left with less than 50%. According to what I heard, he had a long winning streak.
  • Sai’s [Loss 1-2]. Once again, Diddy Kongs are a pain to fight. He got a few stylish kills such as throwing the banana to the ledge to Fair in order to stage spike me. The other was throwing the banana against the ledge roll, which forced me offstage and thus allowing him to meteor smash me. However, I did win one game with Jump Art Nair > Fair > Fair with rage, which surprised him.
  • Momo’s [Win 2-1]. To my surprise, this was actually a good Shulk player. He did some things that surprised me, even landing a meteor smash to win one game (to 3DS Shulk players, you know how hard it is to Dair me). He also knows Monado Purge, which at this point is not really surprising. What is surprising was that he landed a Purge against me. To win the set, I remained patient and punished his laggy mistakes to win the set.
  • Tremendo Dude’s [Win 3-1]. We only played four games before I had to leave. His criticisms to me were snapping to the ledge with the second Air Slash and holding forward a bit too much. Other than that, he said I’m a solid player (though I think otherwise).
• Dude and I met for the second time on Saturday morning. When we had to get off the setup for the tournament, we met ZeRo. We both mentioned the Shulk Discord group and had a brief chat.
• On Saturday, there was a Japanese person holding the Japanese flag to support his Japanese players. He was outspoken and passionate to support them (ex: “RANAI! RANAI!”). It was quite interesting, and everyone around had a good laugh.
• I'm not sure people know this, but after Ranai sent Nairo to losers, Nairo walked away and threw his controller to the floor. I was actually a bit close to Nario, which shocked me. Nairo sat on the floor and hugged his knees, so I think he was on the verge of crying. However, ZeRo managed to counsel and comfort him.

Due to my abrupt end in my pool (and fighting some strong players in friendlies), I feel like my current aggressive playstyle against tough players is not working out. I feel like I've run up against a wall with no progress. My defense game and my grounded game are weak. My reactions are too slow, despite that fact I could have gain the advantage or even win. Finding my opponent’s options failed me because I hestiated, especially against Jasunnn's . And with trying to adapt to a GCC / Wii U version, I started to doubt if my control scheme is right for me because I did make some misinput errors more so than other tourneys. I felt like I disappointed to those who expected me to get out of R1 pool.

Regardless of the outcome, I already decided that I’m retiring my 3DS competitive hobby because I have to focus on my life’s issues. The next time I’ll play SSB4 seriously is when I get a Wii U or the rumored NX version. However, I’ll still update my notes in general (Shulk, MUs, how to improve, etc) occasionally so that I can quickly be reborn in the future.

EVO 2016 for Smash 4 was fine, but even I am not the only one (like ZeRo) who thought of some issues (long schedule, less setups, Wii U not working, sitting on the floor, etc). Nevertheless, congratulations to Dude, Nicko, and Soronie for making out of their pool!

 

[ABloodyCanadian]

I have a few to list off now that I've been going to tournaments in recent days...

Name of Tournament: VSB Underdogs 3
ABloodyCanadian
5th Place
05/07/16
40 Entrants
Customs (No)

Name of Tournament: Trophy Rush 5
ABloodyCanadian
5th Place
06/04/16
16 Entrants
Customs (No)

Name of Tournament: UBC Weekly 18
ABloodyCanadian
9th Place
06/17/16
23 Entrants
Customs (No)

Name of Tournament: UBC Weekly 20
ABloodyCanadian
4th Place
07/09/16
13 Entrants
Customs (No)

I had one more tournament I could post, though I don't have a link to the bracket (Done on Paper), nor do I have a recollection of the amount of entrants.

 

[kenniky]

Game Underground Weekly 8/2/16
kenniky
33rd Place
8/2/16
76 entrants
Customs: No

first tournament in almost a year, lol, managed to actually go 2-2. Don't have much to say other than that, hopefully I can go more and get rekt less

 

[Aarrow]

So I've been doing pretty well at bigger Houston weeklies but what I really want to talk about is CCC. Here are the weeklies if you're interested:

Smash Fight Club 49 http://smashunited.challonge.com/SFC49
Aarrow
4th place
6/19/16
35 entrants
No Customs
==========================================================================
Smash Fight Club 50 http://smashunited.challonge.com/SFC50
Aarrow
5th place
6/25/16
90 entrants
No Customs
Notable Wins: Hisoka (Mbohne , a previous top PR player and wi-fiend from what I hear)
============================================================================
Smash Fight Club 54 http://smashunited.challonge.com/SFC54
Aarrow
5th place
7/24/16
71 entrants
No Customs
Notable Wins: Felix Faction (Not necessarily a top player, but a personal victory- a bracket demon for me and the guy who eliminated me at my first ever Sm4sh tournament)
==============================================================================

Now for the fun part....
Clutch City Clash
Aarrow
DQ'd at 33rd
August 6,7
241 entrants
No Customs


First of all, I should explain the DQ: I made it out of pools in loser's side but had some priorities to take care of the morning of top 48, so I showed up too late for my match. CCC was awesome and I can't thank everyone enough for coming out. If you haven't seen 3 stock you should definitely check out the VODs when they come out (it's more than likely not how you think- watch Captain Zack vs Ally at the very least, and if you're curious about it feel free to hmu and ask me - Houston has always done 3 stock. We've learned how to destroy stocks in an entertaining way that keeps 3 stocks still fun to watch [Just watch The Wall or Trela], and not only were the games fun, but EVERYTHING ran smoothly time-wise at the event).

Pools R1: NiZ , Smashville, Final Destination
Apparently a top player from the Beaumont area; he definitely knew his stuff. I had actually heard some other players at the venue talking about another Shulk player they were having trouble against and this was the guy. He was making wise choices as far as the Arts he chose and the moves he decided to use, but he responded poorly to my pressure and wasn't able to extend any advantage against me for long. I win 2-0; wish we had the chance to play more friendlies afterwards.

R2: VULCHA,. Smashville, Final Destination
Some people think that campy characters are stronger or more irritating in 3 stock, but I'd like to say that they are VERY wrong. Nonetheless, I don' t like campy plays styles so buried his Lenny and hit his Duck Hunt with the swift 3 stock. [2-0] Though, for whatever reason smash.gg has 2-1 for both of my 2 sets
R3: King Lucy IV (Houston #9), Smashville only
Definitely a hidden boss for anyone outside of Houston, Lucy tends to show up at random but continually proves that he can confidently take sets off of pretty much anyone on our PR. Interestingly enough I ran into Muse() earlier that day and got a bunch of MU practice with him. It's kind of funny- I had no idea what Muse looked like and thought I was sitting down to play friendlies with a complete random.This is probably a good time to mention that Bonren, another Shulk from Houston also made top 48 but was eliminated by Muse (He wasn't able to take more than one or two game off of me in friendlies, but I think I gave him a bit too much MU experience, especially since I told him he should pick BattleField in the MU and then proceeded to help him practice the MU on FD.......). In my set vs Lucy I took full advantage of edge-guarding and used Shield Art to hold on to stocks like usual. Lucy's projectile play is honestly better than Muse in my experience, but he had A LOT more trouble killing me than Muse did. I win 2-0

Pools Winner's Finals: DMG Captain Zack, Smashville 4 Lyfe
This set was on stream, and I'll probably link the VOD here once it's uploaded. I find it kind of funny that a lot of people didn't know who Captain Zack was, he's taken sets off of ESAM (with his Peach I believe??) and some other notable players, and can now say he's beaten Fatality and M2K, and then 3 stocked Ally all at the same tournament.
He adjusted extremely quickly to my tendency to jump (as all Shulks do), and I didn't catch on to this much until game 2. I flubbed A LOT of my punishes, but a lot of it was me being unfamiliar with Bayo's (honestly enormous) hitboxes and a few execution errors in Jump Art. I was able to successfully test a few of my theories though- Uthrow>Fair allowed me to safely test if he was Jumping,AirDodging, or WitchTiming after the Uthrow, but because I'm lame I only landed the read once or twice. And rotating Arts is effective during WitchTime, also both Shield and Smash Art can ruin certain combos. Dealing with her edge-guarding was reaaaaaallly wierd for me, I was scared of jank stage spikes when I got close and at he very end of the set I underestimated the reach/strength of her neutral B. There were a lot of moments (which decided my stock) where I was thinking " I heard this guy likes to use Witch Time but he wouldn't REALLY use it here,right?". I was wrong. And if you watch Zack's set against Mew2King you can tell the same thought was running through M2K's head as well.Eventually Samsora exposes him for his Witch Time spamming, but our set was close, so if I had made that read just once or twice more I definitely could've taken the set. I lose 2-0


I played a lot of friendlies, but while I don't feel like talking through all of the people I played, I need to say that Trevonte is by far THE COOLEST guy I met at that tournament. He played a bunch of matches with me, and it was super interesting, mostly because he knew the Shulk MU well (I'd assume he plays Soronie quite often) and I learned A BUNCH about how to deal with Sheik. Our area's only high level Sheik is Karna (who doesn't show up too often) so it was definitely a learning experience. Not only does he play a fast character, but this man PLAYS FAST. Super fun to meet him, as well as a bunch of others. CCC was hype in every aspect, (Melee was lit) and while I'm sure I would've placed even higher had I shown up on time, I'm just looking forward to the next one.

 

[WindHero]

Been a while since I posted any results here, lol...

Season 2: episode 1 (august)
Wind Hero (the TO messed up and put a space in the name.....)
4th place
8/29/16
7 entrants
No Customs

So, I finally broke into top 4! Sure, not a lot of people showed up, but most of those who did were our best players. 4 of them were PR'd, in fact. So, the breakdown...

R1: Ash (3-0)
Pretty good ZSS, but he tended toward some unsafe stuff. Most notably, he would use DAir dangerously close to the ledge, and he got burnt bad game 3. He had one outright SD doing it, and the second stock was taken when he tried using it to cover his landing while I stood waiting at the ledge. I shielded it, so he got pushed back and missed the ledge... Clean victories on my end, I solidly kept him spaced out and outplayed.

R2: Nublet (1-3)
This guy is near the top of our PR, and he shows it. He has a very safe playstyle, avoids commitment, baits effectively, and has a decent punish game. Oddly enough, his true main is Marth, but he only uses Marth when things get tight and he is determined to win. So he started with Capt, beat my Shulk in a close game, and I sent out Cloud. I actually did surprisingly well, and beat his Falcon with a well placed LCS on his ledge get up. Then Marth came out.(!) He edged out my Cloud, so I opted for Shulk since I had a lot of MU experience. Long and the short of it, I tried, but couldn't seal the deal.

R3: AquaClouds (3-0)
I hate coming up against friends in bracket... I feel bad if I beat them, especially if we meet in Loser's. But, last time I went easy, I actually got beat, so I played for keeps. He understood... So, first game was a clean 2 stock, I just played circles around his Marth with mobility arts. Second game he went for ZSS, but usually if his Marth can't make it, his ZSS certainly won't. :/ JV2, sorry buddy...
Game 3, I should feel really bad. Really. He switched back to Marth. Basically, I 0-deathed his first stock with my Shulk, ending with a DAir spike. He tried to make a comeback, but before he even took my first stock, I landed a Monado Purge for the finish.

R4 (Loser's Semis): Nin (0-3)
Aaaaaghhhhh... Power Suit, my bane. A very weird MU to deal with, I honestly fear Charge Shot more than Limit Break. Neither my Shulk nor my Robin could win. I tried a pocket Link for the heck of it, but that didn't go too well. This guy has come a long way, I was there when he first showed up, and I made him afraid of Robin. Since then he made it onto the PR, and though I still made him work, he deserved the win. He went on to get second!

Fun tourney, I was quite satisfied with the results.

 

[BelieveInParappa]

1st place
10/16/16
The Construct 62
32 entrants


I main Bowser Jr. and went to one of the Wisconsin weeklies (The Construct). It's typically the biggest weekly tournament in WI.

I made it to Grand Finals without dropping a set, but in Grand Finals, Jr. wasn't working out and I was down 0-2. My opponent was Fons, a Mario player who's #3 on our PR and the guy who popularized a certain early kill combo that Mario has. I 3-0'd him in winner's finals but he was playing a lot better in GFs.

After game 2 went pretty badly, I went to my secondary Shulk and got the reverse 3-0. Usually when I enter doubles with Shulk, I get top 3 since he's godlike in that mode, but I was surprised to do that well in grand finals with him.