JesiahTEG
Smash Master
Link to original post: [drupal=3420]Forward 2.0- A Smash Journey[/drupal]
As most people know, I'm on a 2 month journey to learn more about Melee and help in my goal to become a top Melee pro.
It's my second day in Arizona, June 13th. Yesterday I arrived at 10::40 AM. Forward sent his friend Manny, or "Goop" to pick me up from the airport. Manny was very welcoming, showed me where an ATM was and also took me to a really good burger place, chuckbox to eat. Manny has been playing since 05 I believe, which I'm very glad for. I usually have heard of most players that have been playing since 05, but I hadn't heard of him, so it was nice to be able to meet someone who's been around for so long.
Arizona is beautiful. It's literally a desert. I mean, I knew it was a desert, but it's weird when you see cacti outside of everyone's home. We went to go pick up Forward for a brawl tourney, so we headed over to his place.
He was waiting outside when we got there. We slapped up, went into his place. His house is really nice. Hardwood floor, 3 bedroom, nice patio. I noticed he was playing Dragon Warrior VII, one of the longest Playstation RPG's of all time. Good taste, I thought to myself. I already pretty much knew Forward was going to be a lot like me. Both very dedicated to Smash, but we can handle ourselves in social situations a lot better than a lot of other Smashers. Also, we're both incredibly good looking, although unfortunately for him I edge him out by a little bit in that category. :-P
We went to the Brawl tournament and I immediately overflooded a toilet. Nice way to start my journey right? I sat down and played some Brawl to warm up for the tourney. Before the tourney began though, Taj showed up, along with TAI. I decided to play some friendlies with TAI.
TAI is surprisingly good. From playing him, I can tell he has an incredible amount of potential, and he's only 16. He's very fortunate to be able to play in a state that's so stacked with good players, and he does play with the good players a lot from what he tells me. It's also very impressive that he can play with these kids so much, and stay motivated. I'll explain in detail later, but getting ***** by a good player, at least for me, really damages one's pride, and sometimes makes it difficult to want to improve. I have a lot of respect for TAI. He's only 16 and he's very dedicated, and again, very good at Melee. He seems like a tier 5 player. I'll also explain my tier system later as well.
I played teams with Taj, Manny and TAI. We all took turns switching teams, and switching characters. These guys are a lot of fun to play with. It's hard for me to talk and play at the same time, but these guys just say the most random **** when they play. It makes the games really lighthearted and a lot more fun, so I want to work on my concentration skills haha.
I took a break to play 2 Brawl tourney matches. I played a luigi player who spammed roll and dodge. My timing in Brawl is a bit off, so I tried to punish it as best as I could. I won the first match, then he took me to Brinstar. At that point I was reminded that Brawl players will take their opponents to the gayest stages possible to decrease the amount of skill it takes to win as much as possible. I was winning by a lot, I was at 0% and my opponent was at like 100, last stock. I did a falling bair, and it like, went through every single little connecting piece of Brinstar, so I fell to my death and messed up my recovery. I lol'd in my head. I took him to Smashville, and won one stock. Then I was like, yeahhhh, this is why I don't play Brawl LOL. I played Forward and had a silly first match, where we both SD'd and he gimped me and it was really weird. We went to FD and he won a close match vs my Snake with MK. I'm pretty sure if I practiced Brawl for 2 weeks to a month I'd be back on top of my game, but I can't stand the mechanics. I was going to play the rest of my matches, but Axe showed up.
I had to play Axe in Melee, so I decided not to play Brawl for the rest of the day LOL. I always do that, I enter Brawl, the play a match and remember why I don't like the game, then I just go play Melee for the rest of the day.
Anyways, I played Axe's Pikachu for about a half hour, with Fox and Marth. It was truly unbelievable. I won't get into extreme details, but a few things really set his Pikachu apart from everyone else's...And not just other people's Pikachu's, but other players in general. First off, Axe figured out some very very creative and EFFECTIVE combos for characters that are generally thought very hard to be comboe'd, Marth specifically. In addition, he knows exactly how to fight against every character. If I try to Nair with Fox, he Dsmashes with Pika. If I try to full jump, he spaces full hop uair. He makes it feel like no matter what attack I choose, he'll just beat it. It's very impressive.
His edgeguarding is also unbelievable. He can get to the ledge from anywhere on the stage using quick attack tricks, and he uses his invincibility so well once he actually grabs the ledge. If you're off the ledge your dead. If you are near the edge camping it, he'll quick attack to the ledge and then then do a really fast waveland from ledge so he's invincible to **** you.
Taj's Mewtwo was also even more impressive IRL than in videos, which is hard to believe, I know. His use of Dtilt is the most impressive thing about his Mewtwo. I tried everything to beat it, and when I couldn't I brought it up in convo. I said, "If I can just beat your Dtilt I'd be doing so much better." He said, "You are beating it, I'm just adapting." So I started thinking, because I was unsure of what he said...But then it all made sense.
I started paying closer attention to the situation. When he came in and Dtilted, I would DD grab it, and it would work. But, the next time I tried to, he would WD in, and if I DD'd away, he'd WD again extra far and hit me with it anyways. So, it made it seem like I couldn't beat it, since I kept getting hit by it. But really, I wasn't noticing how much attention Taj was paying to the game.
It was truly unbelievable, to see someone adapt so incredibly fast to a situation. So fast, that it tricked me into thinking that nothing I was doing was working. It was working, but not for long. If I tried to jump over and Fair, he would WD backwards and grab me. Then I had a huge realization about Melee, and Melee pros: They pay attention to every situation, and they know how to beat EVERYTHING.
It's hard for me to outsmart a player when I don't know how to beat certain situations. In order to even get on their level, Axe and Taj, I need to first figure out how to beat everything they have. Even with that knowledge though, that information...Only at that point will I be able to begin to compete. Because then from there, it becomes a game of educated Rock, Paper, Scissors. I can only try to outsmart them once I have the proper knowledge to do so.
I also had the most demotivating Melee experience of my life, playing Axe's Falco. I lost for about 2 hours straight, or it least it felt that long. His Falco is unbelievable. You don't have room to breathe, every opening I have I have to maximize to the absolute fullest. His laser control is insane. His Falco combos me harder than any other Falco I've played. It felt like no matter what I did, he would just beat it, but then I refreshed myself and reminded myself that those were my emotions talking. So I just stayed focused, and just thought of strategies.
What was odd about the experience was not only was I very demotivated, but watching his expertise at the game, I was very inspired. It was a surreal experience to say the least.
I'll post more later, but I'm about to play with Forward for the first time. Wish me luck, smashers.
-JesiahTEG
As most people know, I'm on a 2 month journey to learn more about Melee and help in my goal to become a top Melee pro.
It's my second day in Arizona, June 13th. Yesterday I arrived at 10::40 AM. Forward sent his friend Manny, or "Goop" to pick me up from the airport. Manny was very welcoming, showed me where an ATM was and also took me to a really good burger place, chuckbox to eat. Manny has been playing since 05 I believe, which I'm very glad for. I usually have heard of most players that have been playing since 05, but I hadn't heard of him, so it was nice to be able to meet someone who's been around for so long.
Arizona is beautiful. It's literally a desert. I mean, I knew it was a desert, but it's weird when you see cacti outside of everyone's home. We went to go pick up Forward for a brawl tourney, so we headed over to his place.
He was waiting outside when we got there. We slapped up, went into his place. His house is really nice. Hardwood floor, 3 bedroom, nice patio. I noticed he was playing Dragon Warrior VII, one of the longest Playstation RPG's of all time. Good taste, I thought to myself. I already pretty much knew Forward was going to be a lot like me. Both very dedicated to Smash, but we can handle ourselves in social situations a lot better than a lot of other Smashers. Also, we're both incredibly good looking, although unfortunately for him I edge him out by a little bit in that category. :-P
We went to the Brawl tournament and I immediately overflooded a toilet. Nice way to start my journey right? I sat down and played some Brawl to warm up for the tourney. Before the tourney began though, Taj showed up, along with TAI. I decided to play some friendlies with TAI.
TAI is surprisingly good. From playing him, I can tell he has an incredible amount of potential, and he's only 16. He's very fortunate to be able to play in a state that's so stacked with good players, and he does play with the good players a lot from what he tells me. It's also very impressive that he can play with these kids so much, and stay motivated. I'll explain in detail later, but getting ***** by a good player, at least for me, really damages one's pride, and sometimes makes it difficult to want to improve. I have a lot of respect for TAI. He's only 16 and he's very dedicated, and again, very good at Melee. He seems like a tier 5 player. I'll also explain my tier system later as well.
I played teams with Taj, Manny and TAI. We all took turns switching teams, and switching characters. These guys are a lot of fun to play with. It's hard for me to talk and play at the same time, but these guys just say the most random **** when they play. It makes the games really lighthearted and a lot more fun, so I want to work on my concentration skills haha.
I took a break to play 2 Brawl tourney matches. I played a luigi player who spammed roll and dodge. My timing in Brawl is a bit off, so I tried to punish it as best as I could. I won the first match, then he took me to Brinstar. At that point I was reminded that Brawl players will take their opponents to the gayest stages possible to decrease the amount of skill it takes to win as much as possible. I was winning by a lot, I was at 0% and my opponent was at like 100, last stock. I did a falling bair, and it like, went through every single little connecting piece of Brinstar, so I fell to my death and messed up my recovery. I lol'd in my head. I took him to Smashville, and won one stock. Then I was like, yeahhhh, this is why I don't play Brawl LOL. I played Forward and had a silly first match, where we both SD'd and he gimped me and it was really weird. We went to FD and he won a close match vs my Snake with MK. I'm pretty sure if I practiced Brawl for 2 weeks to a month I'd be back on top of my game, but I can't stand the mechanics. I was going to play the rest of my matches, but Axe showed up.
I had to play Axe in Melee, so I decided not to play Brawl for the rest of the day LOL. I always do that, I enter Brawl, the play a match and remember why I don't like the game, then I just go play Melee for the rest of the day.
Anyways, I played Axe's Pikachu for about a half hour, with Fox and Marth. It was truly unbelievable. I won't get into extreme details, but a few things really set his Pikachu apart from everyone else's...And not just other people's Pikachu's, but other players in general. First off, Axe figured out some very very creative and EFFECTIVE combos for characters that are generally thought very hard to be comboe'd, Marth specifically. In addition, he knows exactly how to fight against every character. If I try to Nair with Fox, he Dsmashes with Pika. If I try to full jump, he spaces full hop uair. He makes it feel like no matter what attack I choose, he'll just beat it. It's very impressive.
His edgeguarding is also unbelievable. He can get to the ledge from anywhere on the stage using quick attack tricks, and he uses his invincibility so well once he actually grabs the ledge. If you're off the ledge your dead. If you are near the edge camping it, he'll quick attack to the ledge and then then do a really fast waveland from ledge so he's invincible to **** you.
Taj's Mewtwo was also even more impressive IRL than in videos, which is hard to believe, I know. His use of Dtilt is the most impressive thing about his Mewtwo. I tried everything to beat it, and when I couldn't I brought it up in convo. I said, "If I can just beat your Dtilt I'd be doing so much better." He said, "You are beating it, I'm just adapting." So I started thinking, because I was unsure of what he said...But then it all made sense.
I started paying closer attention to the situation. When he came in and Dtilted, I would DD grab it, and it would work. But, the next time I tried to, he would WD in, and if I DD'd away, he'd WD again extra far and hit me with it anyways. So, it made it seem like I couldn't beat it, since I kept getting hit by it. But really, I wasn't noticing how much attention Taj was paying to the game.
It was truly unbelievable, to see someone adapt so incredibly fast to a situation. So fast, that it tricked me into thinking that nothing I was doing was working. It was working, but not for long. If I tried to jump over and Fair, he would WD backwards and grab me. Then I had a huge realization about Melee, and Melee pros: They pay attention to every situation, and they know how to beat EVERYTHING.
It's hard for me to outsmart a player when I don't know how to beat certain situations. In order to even get on their level, Axe and Taj, I need to first figure out how to beat everything they have. Even with that knowledge though, that information...Only at that point will I be able to begin to compete. Because then from there, it becomes a game of educated Rock, Paper, Scissors. I can only try to outsmart them once I have the proper knowledge to do so.
I also had the most demotivating Melee experience of my life, playing Axe's Falco. I lost for about 2 hours straight, or it least it felt that long. His Falco is unbelievable. You don't have room to breathe, every opening I have I have to maximize to the absolute fullest. His laser control is insane. His Falco combos me harder than any other Falco I've played. It felt like no matter what I did, he would just beat it, but then I refreshed myself and reminded myself that those were my emotions talking. So I just stayed focused, and just thought of strategies.
What was odd about the experience was not only was I very demotivated, but watching his expertise at the game, I was very inspired. It was a surreal experience to say the least.
I'll post more later, but I'm about to play with Forward for the first time. Wish me luck, smashers.
-JesiahTEG
