This is what happens.
1. Game comes out (lulz)
2. A few characters are discovered to be advantageous to use in a competitive environment.
3. Because this is a competitive community, and we play to win, we focus our attention on these primary "win" characters that have been discovered. After all why choose a character that MAY win when you can choose a character you KNOW is winning right now?
4. Attentions on these characters (I'll say...snake and MK) becomes disproportionate to the attention on other characters who appeared to be less suitable for competitive play. Naturally because more effort is put into these characters their techniques and overall metagame is developed quicker. Also naturally because more people focus their attention on these characters they probably use them to...which means since more people use Snake then say Yoshi,that more Snake mains enter tournaments. And because Snake mains are using a more developed character (snake duh), Snakes win more tournaments than anyone else, not only because their character is being developed quickly, but because many people play him… thus increasing the chances of a snake winning a tournament.
Here is why at this stage in the game you can ignore the current trend and set out to win with an underused/never used character.
1. No match up is ever impossible. Being Counterpicked sucks but you can learn how to deal with your counterpick in order to win the match. When someone who is counterpicked knows what to do against the person that is counterpicking them, they have a much higher chance of surviving the match up. The thing though is that this method of “no match up is impossible” is much harder to get used to then the much more conventional method- “Why do it the hard way and get counterpicked when you can just counterpick right back?” And as harsh as this sounds because counterpicking is easier and more productive in the long run (you learn more than one character), people choose method 2 over method 1
2. In the business world, an entrepreneur is a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, esp. a business,usually with considerable initiative and risk.
Be the entrepreneur. Rather than choose a character just because he is winning, try someone different. Pick up Yoshi/Samus/Jigglypuff/Peach/Captain Falcon/Ganondorf/etc. Because the metagame is so new and because all the attention is being placed on the overused characters right now, this is YOUR time to be the inventor. Swallow your pride, pick up a new character, and learn them. Don’t be afraid if you get your butt kicked by the Overused characters for sometime. Remember-they have had much more attention and support than your character. But eventually you will begin to see the results and the fruits of your labor, and as a matter of fact, you’ll begin to reap the advantages and rewards of using an underused character. By the way, some of our most successful smashers have been entrepreneurs. Taj/Bum/Chu Dat/Mango anyone? M2/DK/ICs/Puff wtf ftw? This is YOUR time to learn a new character. Get out there and do it while the community is still young, and get those props you deserve for quite possibly altering our metagame. .
