Xyro77
Unity Ruleset Committee Member
http://www.mlgpro.com/content/news/308341/Ready-for-a-Brawl-MLG-Interviews-Nick-Riddle
After Nick Riddle’s incredible performance at MLG Orlando, we took the time to ask him a few questions. Read on to learn the method to the madness of Nick Riddle’s character choice, doubles strategy, and his personal thoughts on being the first Zero Suit Samus to ever take a set off of Ally.
MLG: First off, congratulations on placing so well at both MLG Orlando and MLG Columbus! You play Zero Suit Samus, a particularly odd character selection for such a high level of play. What makes you stick with ZSS rather than switching to a character higher on the tier list?
Nick Riddle: ZSS seems to work for me. I see the game a little differently from other people, and I see the potential frame traps/landing traps ZSS has to offer, and I love them. Also, I've tried to play better characters, but I hate the idea of having to put in as much time as I put into ZSS to get another character tournament-ready. So... much... time...
MLG: Do you think you could perform this well with any other character?
Nick Riddle: Probably not. I cannot take any other character as seriously. Like, when I play MK, I just have fun doing stupid stuff that works.
MLG: Would you consider a secondary? You’ve talked about picking up Pikachu for Falco, but would you use a secondary for other matchups?
Nick Riddle: [I’m] thinking about trying to play Marth, actually. Pikachu is too weird to play. Marth makes a little more sense to me and he helps me more for the Pikachu MU, which I think is a bad one as well.
MLG: Do you expect Zero Suit Samus to work out for you in future events, or do you think a secondary will be required?
Nick Riddle: I think she'll work out for me. It helps that I do not play the top players often. It gives me a chance to tweak a couple things every time I play them, making it harder for them to learn how I play. ZSS is much harder to use when people know your recovery patterns and punishment patterns.
MLG: Many have claimed your impressive record is a result of matchup inexperience versus Zero Suit Samus. Is there any merit to this claim?
Nick Riddle: There might be; I don’t know. Maybe against some people, but it's not like I place poorly in FL either.
MLG: A lot of people have been entertaining the idea of picking up ZSS after your impressive play. Do you encourage this? What kind of advice could you give a player starting out with Zero Suit?
Nick Riddle: Don't. She's stupidly difficult to use. Unless you are thinking about switching your main to her, there is really no reason to. She doesn't have many amazing MUs, especially with the commonly played characters, and you have to re-learn a lot of basic things. But, if you're going to pick her up, learn how to recover first. I always say this on the boards. Recovery, recovery, recovery. Then learn the frame traps in the air, d-smash landing traps, and her basic combos.
MLG: What kind of basic things need to be relearned?
Nick Riddle: Basic things to be relearned? How to get around shields without a grab, how to make the most out of EVERY SINGLE PUNISH, and to give up trying to be too fancy. ZSS looks fancy, but if you try to play like that you will get destroyed.
MLG: You’ve been visiting the Zero Suit Samus forum on Smashboards frequently to help other ZSS mains. You’ve created threads where anyone can ask you a question, get your thoughts on counterpicks, or even find out how to deal with specific moves like Pit’s arrows or Meta Knight’s tornado. What makes you want to help the other ZSS players?
Nick Riddle: The inactivity, mostly. Our boards are pretty dead. Our MU thread is possibly the slowest-moving, and there are no real good, active threads. I mean, come on, our SOCIAL THREAD is barely active. That's just messed up. It's also due to the normal problem on the boards. The best players tend to stop going on as much, since they do not need help. That makes it so the less-experienced or worse players are giving advice to the new players, and that doesn't seem as helpful as a top player doing it instead.
MLG: Quite possibly the biggest upsets of the tournament were beating first Tyrant in Winners Bracket, then Ally in Winners Bracket Semi-Finals. Were you expecting a victory going into these matches?
Nick Riddle: I played Tyrant in a money match at MLG Orlando, and I beat him, so I was half-expecting to beat him. I got scared when he won the first match, but when he took me to Rainbow Cruise I knew I had it. I play there all the time. Against Ally... not so much. The last time I played him, he 4-1ed me in a $50 match at Winterfest, so I was really scared of him. I just played calmly that set and somehow came out on top. He wrecked me in losers afterwards, but I am still happy I took a set.
MLG: Beating Ally is something few players have ever done. How did you feel after taking that set?
Nick Riddle: I'll say what I said before: I'm kinda the best in the world, I don't know. It felt amazing, and I still haven't fully realized what I did. Being the first ZSS to beat him also feels amazing.
MLG: Do you feel Ally’s performance for this first set was indicative of matchup inexperience, or something else?
Nick Riddle: I do not know how much matchup experience he has, but I do not feel that was it. I was reading him the first set, and he was making a few wrong choices. The second set he wasn't really playing the matchup all that better, he was just reading me better. I believe that at the higher levels of Brawl, it's more about reading the person than the character, unless there are really obvious things to punish.
MLG: The games in Losers Finals were much different than your first meeting; what happened to give Ally this ability to suddenly read you so well? Is there anything you could have done differently?
Nick Riddle: I expected him to fall for the same stuff, which he didn't. Also, no johns, but I did cool down for a couple of hours before playing M2K, and then Ally, which might have been a part of it. I just started playing less safe, and impatient, and I honestly got scared of him. ^^, Come on, everybody has to get nervous when playing for top two at MLG, especially against a big name like Ally.
MLG: MLG Events have a lot more hype than grassroots regionals, especially with the crowd cheering behind you. Do you think the atmosphere gets to you?
Nick Riddle: Well, the cheers were mostly for me after some point, so it didn't freak me out too much. Also, I basically zoned everybody but Seibrik and Brianna, my girlfriend, out. Now, if there were like 40-50 people cheering against me in a close match, it might lose the match for me.
MLG: In Game 1 against Mew2King in Winners Finals you brought him down to his last stock on Smashville; he was just one hit away from you being up 1–0 in the set! That’s impressive on its own, but then Mew2King increased the gap as the set went on, each of his wins being more convincing than the last. What happened?
Nick Riddle: I freaked out and totally lost it. After getting so close, my mindset changed in a really stupid way. I started being approaching, and being aggressive... in Brawl... you should already see the problem.
MLG: Talking with Mew2King after the tournament, he said his adaptation was “I just ran up and shielded.” Zero Suit Samus players have long been frustrated with her poor grab and weak options versus shields. Is there anything you can do to circumvent this weakness?
Nick Riddle: MK is the hardest person to get around shields with. ZSS has some spacing moves versus shields, and some decent pressure, but MK gets around it with his down-tilt and forward-tilt. I basically have to try to wait as long as I can and hope for a shield-stab, which happens surprisingly often in Brawl.
MLG: Is there anything you feel you can do to take down Mew2King in future sets?
Nick Riddle: Practice against him. I knew he adapted quickly, so my strategy was to not play him, and hopefully beat him due to [his] inexperience [with me]. After seeing how amazingly well that worked out, I know now that I just have to play him in friendlies at the next event. Even if everybody calls him a robot, he has to have SOME habits, and I will make sure to find and exploit them.
MLG: Your brother, ESAM, has had a pretty good run at MLG too. Which of you is the better Smash player?
Nick Riddle: I can’t answer who is better — we each excel in different parts. He gets better reads, but has worse habits. I punish better, but get stuck in bad mindsets. Also, I think Pikachu is a little better than ZSS, so it's hard to say. We're probably about the same.
MLG: Do you train with ESAM often?
Nick Riddle: I used to. Now it gets a little frustrating. I hate playing characters that can CG me, and Pikachu's is silly. ZSS also misses Pikachu with certain moves, making punishing him annoying. We usually play a day before a tournament, or if he wants to try out a second character.
MLG: Why don’t you team with ESAM for 2v2?
Nick Riddle: Our playstyles clash too hard. We have tried it in both Melee and Brawl, and we get in the way. Before, we both used projectiles, which didn't help. Now, we both run at you and try to combo. You would be surprised how much damage teammates can give each other during a match.
MLG: Your partner for MLG Columbus, Shaky, is a Ness main. This is a very odd doubles pairing, especially considering how well you did; it’s become the standard to have a Meta Knight on your team but you challenged that at MLG Columbus. What brought about this doubles pairing?
Nick Riddle: I used to team with Galeon, a Lucas player. Our gimmick was healing, and we placed 2nd in other FL tournaments. Then, one tournament, Galeon couldn't go, so I decided to try to team with Shaky. We didn't win, but we beat the team that Galeon and I have never beaten before. I was torn between who to pick, and I eventually picked Shaky. I love the idea of healing my partner, since I still hit him. Many people have talked to me about the ZSS/GW gimmick, but I think that is a terrible team to be quite honest. I'd much rather give my partner 2-3 extra stocks, than hope this bucket hits, and doesn't hit me.
MLG: MLG Raleigh is coming up in August. How do you think you’ll place there?
Nick Riddle: Hopefully I'll place well. I think more people from Snakeee's region are going, so it might be harder. He does say I'm a 2008 version of him, so people might "know their way around my gimmicks." I just hope I place well with them there, to prove that I'm more than just a gimmick.
MLG: Are there any players in particular you're worried about facing in Raleigh?
Nick Riddle: M2K and Ally again. DEHF for sure. ADHD if he comes. You know, the top players. I don't know enough about NC's smash scene, so I do not know how good their players are.
MLG: You’re an impressive player in the spotlight now, so a lot of players are going to be gunning for you. I have no other questions, so good luck at MLG Raleigh! If you have any shoutouts you’d like to make, feel free.
Nick Riddle: I wanna thank Shaky, for being the best teams partner ever. I wanna thank ESAM for being ESAM, and showing me how not to spot-dodge. My girlfriend, Brianna, for always cheering for me, and being AMAZING! Also, people are gunning for me? Get at me.
After Nick Riddle’s incredible performance at MLG Orlando, we took the time to ask him a few questions. Read on to learn the method to the madness of Nick Riddle’s character choice, doubles strategy, and his personal thoughts on being the first Zero Suit Samus to ever take a set off of Ally.
MLG: First off, congratulations on placing so well at both MLG Orlando and MLG Columbus! You play Zero Suit Samus, a particularly odd character selection for such a high level of play. What makes you stick with ZSS rather than switching to a character higher on the tier list?
Nick Riddle: ZSS seems to work for me. I see the game a little differently from other people, and I see the potential frame traps/landing traps ZSS has to offer, and I love them. Also, I've tried to play better characters, but I hate the idea of having to put in as much time as I put into ZSS to get another character tournament-ready. So... much... time...
MLG: Do you think you could perform this well with any other character?
Nick Riddle: Probably not. I cannot take any other character as seriously. Like, when I play MK, I just have fun doing stupid stuff that works.
MLG: Would you consider a secondary? You’ve talked about picking up Pikachu for Falco, but would you use a secondary for other matchups?
Nick Riddle: [I’m] thinking about trying to play Marth, actually. Pikachu is too weird to play. Marth makes a little more sense to me and he helps me more for the Pikachu MU, which I think is a bad one as well.
MLG: Do you expect Zero Suit Samus to work out for you in future events, or do you think a secondary will be required?
Nick Riddle: I think she'll work out for me. It helps that I do not play the top players often. It gives me a chance to tweak a couple things every time I play them, making it harder for them to learn how I play. ZSS is much harder to use when people know your recovery patterns and punishment patterns.
MLG: Many have claimed your impressive record is a result of matchup inexperience versus Zero Suit Samus. Is there any merit to this claim?
Nick Riddle: There might be; I don’t know. Maybe against some people, but it's not like I place poorly in FL either.
MLG: A lot of people have been entertaining the idea of picking up ZSS after your impressive play. Do you encourage this? What kind of advice could you give a player starting out with Zero Suit?
Nick Riddle: Don't. She's stupidly difficult to use. Unless you are thinking about switching your main to her, there is really no reason to. She doesn't have many amazing MUs, especially with the commonly played characters, and you have to re-learn a lot of basic things. But, if you're going to pick her up, learn how to recover first. I always say this on the boards. Recovery, recovery, recovery. Then learn the frame traps in the air, d-smash landing traps, and her basic combos.
MLG: What kind of basic things need to be relearned?
Nick Riddle: Basic things to be relearned? How to get around shields without a grab, how to make the most out of EVERY SINGLE PUNISH, and to give up trying to be too fancy. ZSS looks fancy, but if you try to play like that you will get destroyed.
MLG: You’ve been visiting the Zero Suit Samus forum on Smashboards frequently to help other ZSS mains. You’ve created threads where anyone can ask you a question, get your thoughts on counterpicks, or even find out how to deal with specific moves like Pit’s arrows or Meta Knight’s tornado. What makes you want to help the other ZSS players?
Nick Riddle: The inactivity, mostly. Our boards are pretty dead. Our MU thread is possibly the slowest-moving, and there are no real good, active threads. I mean, come on, our SOCIAL THREAD is barely active. That's just messed up. It's also due to the normal problem on the boards. The best players tend to stop going on as much, since they do not need help. That makes it so the less-experienced or worse players are giving advice to the new players, and that doesn't seem as helpful as a top player doing it instead.
MLG: Quite possibly the biggest upsets of the tournament were beating first Tyrant in Winners Bracket, then Ally in Winners Bracket Semi-Finals. Were you expecting a victory going into these matches?
Nick Riddle: I played Tyrant in a money match at MLG Orlando, and I beat him, so I was half-expecting to beat him. I got scared when he won the first match, but when he took me to Rainbow Cruise I knew I had it. I play there all the time. Against Ally... not so much. The last time I played him, he 4-1ed me in a $50 match at Winterfest, so I was really scared of him. I just played calmly that set and somehow came out on top. He wrecked me in losers afterwards, but I am still happy I took a set.
MLG: Beating Ally is something few players have ever done. How did you feel after taking that set?
Nick Riddle: I'll say what I said before: I'm kinda the best in the world, I don't know. It felt amazing, and I still haven't fully realized what I did. Being the first ZSS to beat him also feels amazing.
MLG: Do you feel Ally’s performance for this first set was indicative of matchup inexperience, or something else?
Nick Riddle: I do not know how much matchup experience he has, but I do not feel that was it. I was reading him the first set, and he was making a few wrong choices. The second set he wasn't really playing the matchup all that better, he was just reading me better. I believe that at the higher levels of Brawl, it's more about reading the person than the character, unless there are really obvious things to punish.
MLG: The games in Losers Finals were much different than your first meeting; what happened to give Ally this ability to suddenly read you so well? Is there anything you could have done differently?
Nick Riddle: I expected him to fall for the same stuff, which he didn't. Also, no johns, but I did cool down for a couple of hours before playing M2K, and then Ally, which might have been a part of it. I just started playing less safe, and impatient, and I honestly got scared of him. ^^, Come on, everybody has to get nervous when playing for top two at MLG, especially against a big name like Ally.
MLG: MLG Events have a lot more hype than grassroots regionals, especially with the crowd cheering behind you. Do you think the atmosphere gets to you?
Nick Riddle: Well, the cheers were mostly for me after some point, so it didn't freak me out too much. Also, I basically zoned everybody but Seibrik and Brianna, my girlfriend, out. Now, if there were like 40-50 people cheering against me in a close match, it might lose the match for me.
MLG: In Game 1 against Mew2King in Winners Finals you brought him down to his last stock on Smashville; he was just one hit away from you being up 1–0 in the set! That’s impressive on its own, but then Mew2King increased the gap as the set went on, each of his wins being more convincing than the last. What happened?
Nick Riddle: I freaked out and totally lost it. After getting so close, my mindset changed in a really stupid way. I started being approaching, and being aggressive... in Brawl... you should already see the problem.
MLG: Talking with Mew2King after the tournament, he said his adaptation was “I just ran up and shielded.” Zero Suit Samus players have long been frustrated with her poor grab and weak options versus shields. Is there anything you can do to circumvent this weakness?
Nick Riddle: MK is the hardest person to get around shields with. ZSS has some spacing moves versus shields, and some decent pressure, but MK gets around it with his down-tilt and forward-tilt. I basically have to try to wait as long as I can and hope for a shield-stab, which happens surprisingly often in Brawl.
MLG: Is there anything you feel you can do to take down Mew2King in future sets?
Nick Riddle: Practice against him. I knew he adapted quickly, so my strategy was to not play him, and hopefully beat him due to [his] inexperience [with me]. After seeing how amazingly well that worked out, I know now that I just have to play him in friendlies at the next event. Even if everybody calls him a robot, he has to have SOME habits, and I will make sure to find and exploit them.
MLG: Your brother, ESAM, has had a pretty good run at MLG too. Which of you is the better Smash player?
Nick Riddle: I can’t answer who is better — we each excel in different parts. He gets better reads, but has worse habits. I punish better, but get stuck in bad mindsets. Also, I think Pikachu is a little better than ZSS, so it's hard to say. We're probably about the same.
MLG: Do you train with ESAM often?
Nick Riddle: I used to. Now it gets a little frustrating. I hate playing characters that can CG me, and Pikachu's is silly. ZSS also misses Pikachu with certain moves, making punishing him annoying. We usually play a day before a tournament, or if he wants to try out a second character.
MLG: Why don’t you team with ESAM for 2v2?
Nick Riddle: Our playstyles clash too hard. We have tried it in both Melee and Brawl, and we get in the way. Before, we both used projectiles, which didn't help. Now, we both run at you and try to combo. You would be surprised how much damage teammates can give each other during a match.
MLG: Your partner for MLG Columbus, Shaky, is a Ness main. This is a very odd doubles pairing, especially considering how well you did; it’s become the standard to have a Meta Knight on your team but you challenged that at MLG Columbus. What brought about this doubles pairing?
Nick Riddle: I used to team with Galeon, a Lucas player. Our gimmick was healing, and we placed 2nd in other FL tournaments. Then, one tournament, Galeon couldn't go, so I decided to try to team with Shaky. We didn't win, but we beat the team that Galeon and I have never beaten before. I was torn between who to pick, and I eventually picked Shaky. I love the idea of healing my partner, since I still hit him. Many people have talked to me about the ZSS/GW gimmick, but I think that is a terrible team to be quite honest. I'd much rather give my partner 2-3 extra stocks, than hope this bucket hits, and doesn't hit me.
MLG: MLG Raleigh is coming up in August. How do you think you’ll place there?
Nick Riddle: Hopefully I'll place well. I think more people from Snakeee's region are going, so it might be harder. He does say I'm a 2008 version of him, so people might "know their way around my gimmicks." I just hope I place well with them there, to prove that I'm more than just a gimmick.
MLG: Are there any players in particular you're worried about facing in Raleigh?
Nick Riddle: M2K and Ally again. DEHF for sure. ADHD if he comes. You know, the top players. I don't know enough about NC's smash scene, so I do not know how good their players are.
MLG: You’re an impressive player in the spotlight now, so a lot of players are going to be gunning for you. I have no other questions, so good luck at MLG Raleigh! If you have any shoutouts you’d like to make, feel free.
Nick Riddle: I wanna thank Shaky, for being the best teams partner ever. I wanna thank ESAM for being ESAM, and showing me how not to spot-dodge. My girlfriend, Brianna, for always cheering for me, and being AMAZING! Also, people are gunning for me? Get at me.
