NOTE: If you saw the old Johns note about me missing the deadline, pretend it didn't happen. I thought it was Tuesday, not Monday when I first submitted this. I even sent a PM to M3D about it. >_>
NOTE 2: The edit that was done today was me just ADHD-ley making sure my grammar, spelling, and paragraph chunks were good. I had no paragraph breaks beforehand, and I wanted to make it easier to read on you guys.
1. Smashboards name/ common tournament aliases
Natch
2. How long have you been attending tournaments through Smashboards?
I haven't used Smashboards to find tournaments per se, but Smashboards got me interested in being a competitive gamer. So, indirectly, I have been going to tournaments since the 28th of September. Only been to two so far, though I would've gone much sooner had there been tournaments closer to my area.
Since I went to College, I've had more access to tournaments in my area, and show a very big interest in them. It should be noted I have been interested in competitive gaming since Melee in 2005/2006, but I hadn't gone to any tournies due to my young age(15/16).
Despite not posting here for a long while, I had been lurking through the years, slowly gaining knowledge. Most of what I post contributes to a discussion is some way-I often correct innacuricies or give some advice/knowledge to the person. I like analysis, and basically hyperfocus on Brawl when I get into it, and that's where I shine.
3. About what rank/place do you usually finish at the tournaments you attend?
To be fair, I've only been to two thus far, so tourney jitters played a big part in my poor performance. But I guess no johns. Thus, last place in both. They were both full of Palm Dale guys, so the competition was above average for sure. However, I do plan to be very active in the tourney scene and make my name. I feel I am already on my way, but I still have a ways to go.
4. Have you ever hosted a REAL LIFE Smash event (Melee or Brawl, Online tournaments do NOT count)? If so, please list the tournaments and the number of players in attendance.
I haven't hosted a tournament.
5. What characters do you use for Brawl tournaments? On which characters do you consider yourself an expert?
For the two that I've been to, Pokemon Trainer and Lucas. I dropped PT after my most recent tourney, and have since picked up Pit, who I plan to use as a secondary next time around. If I had been going to Tournaments previously, I would've been been using Pikachu and Kirby as well.
Pikachu, Lucas, Kirby, and Pokemon Trainer have been used a minimum of 4 months each by me. In order of how well I know the characters, it goes Lucas, Pokemon Trainer, Kirby, and Pikachu. Lucas and Pokemon Trainer especially, since those are the ones I've used most recently.
My technical knowledge of those two characters is very high. Like, obsessively high. However, Lucas has a huge gap between him and PT. For Lucas, I have flat-out memorized everything related to grabs and throws(kill percents, grab attack rate, range, lag, etc), know the percents of the rest of their kills moves, and counting normal attacks, I've learned the properties of nearly all of them(range, sweet spot, sour spot, general priority, start lag, end lag, what it chains into and what chains into it, potential "mindgames", capacity for it to be a brickwall/trap, etc.), and more.
This may sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but I really do know this about Lucas. I am blatently obsessive(not boardline obsessive) about the technical side of Brawl, and seek to learn more about it every day. Regrettably, my ability to read opponents is what holds me back from being a better player, though that is being worked on currently.
6. What area/region/community are you from? Examples: East Coast, West Coast, Texas, NYC, DC area, South Florida, Toronto, Northern Europe, etc...
West Coast, Southern Califronia. Around L.A. to be sepcific.
7. How do you participate within and improve your community?
I go to tournaments whenever possible, I share my knowledge of Brawl whenever I can, and like to discuss it often. As far as induvidual achievements go, I have shed light on the fact that you can also Hyrdoplane Fsmashes and Dsmashes as Squirtle(they were already in the AT thread, but not under the "Hyrdoplaning" section, despite being identicaly in function). They were not known to the extent that many people credited me with discovering the technique itself. I have delved into the details of Buffering Pokemon Change into other moves-no breakthoughs came from the testing, sadly.
I have written "Articles" so to speak, about the positioning of Pokemon Trainer and Lucas in the tier list, why they're there, and how they can possibly improve their respective positions. It should be noted that at the 2nd tournament I went to, someone mentioned that they remembered reading that on Smashboards. I believe it was Typh-a well known and very competitve PT in the Palmdale area.
These are some specific examples I can name off the top of my head, though I should note I am constantly testing the "Utility" moves of my mains to see if their are any tricks one can pull off with them. It usually results in something of an "Oh, I didn't know that. That could easily catch someone off guard once or twice". But every once in a while, I find something half-decent that can actually be used with some consistantly. It may be things already known about the character, but I keep experimenting regardless in hopes of finding something big.
Just today I found a way to aim PK Thunder-grounded-that looks like you'll be launched one way, but you go another. It involves aiming PK Thunder at a 45* downward angle so it just passes your over and behind you. It basically skims the back of his head. It can be done with a vertical PK Thunder as well, but that does not hold the same surprise factor.
8. What do you expect to add to the SBR?
I expect to contribute to a reletively expansive pool of knowledge. I read up on the latest things going on, new ATs, discussions, the like. I take in all this, and then I pretty much can repeat it on command. I also expect to add a new perspective of the metagame, being a newew member. Additonally, since I'm very capable of being the devil's advocate, I'll hopfully be able to get some discussions going. I am also a huge analyst, and soak up information like a sponge, and actively seek such information. Also, if there's any new discovery that pops up, I'll probably be doing testing to shed more light on the situation.
9. What issues do you think are important for the SBR to address with the community right now and in the future?
The ever obvious "Should MK be Banned?" topic. I won't really take a side here, but the heart of the problem lies in the fact that no set criteria for banning exists. Akuma was banned in Street Fighter because he was completly broken and designed to be as such. But MK is not broken to that extent, and not designed to be as "broken" as he is now.
The reason why this debate will never really get anywhere is that each party does not agree with what constitutes a ban, and so they're arguments never get anywhere-they are debating two different topics. Recently, people have been arguing over what constitutes a ban/agreed on that, but it often strays away from that onto the finer details that-ultimately-do not matter.
There are other, more trivial issues, such as Brawl being competitive or not, theories that the game becomes balanced with an intelligent execution of "Items On". To delve deeper into the MK issue, is weather or not MK should be banned in doubles. No one has really looked into that. There is also an "If MK is banned, how would the tier list change?" topic that is becoming a bit more popular.
For the future, I am very interested in the mods/hacks of Brawl. No, Tripping, Wavedashing(!), soon L-Canceling. This is very novel, and may or may not become the competitive standard. Realistically, it probably won't, but it is definately an interesting venue to be explored. I have already seen a topic on the Lucas boards showing Lucas' wavedash(which has like, 3/4 Luigi range but more speed and much less skidding.)
10. Please link to some of your posts that the SBR might find interesting or that demonstrate your ability to contribute positively to discussions.
I took a break to do more lurking from May-August, but I never stopped checking this site. I am listing topics that show my abilities on both a macro and micro scale. I can easily churn much more expansive and detailed versions of anything you see below. Technical data compilation, analysis, and compilation are my specialties. Some of these posts also illustrate my character knowledge, for example.
In each post, I explain what the purpose of it is. It may not cover much, but my very long "articles" show that I can take any of the skills shown here and apply them on a very very large scale.
April:
A. I give percent listings for Lucas' TRUE combo of Dthrow->Utilt. I had a complete percent list of all characters, but I lost it. This topic shows testing and data compilation.
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=4389211#post4389211
August:
B. The Squirtle Hyrdoplane thing I mentioned earlier. This was considered a discovery since the actual AT this supposedly is was very obscure, and poorly worded on how to execute it. This showcases my ability to test and compile data, as well as analysis of how to execute:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=188407
September:
C. My analysis of Lucas and PT's Tier placements and how to improve them. This shows my knowledge of those characters, the metagame they reside in, and general analysis of moves:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=5273075#post5273075
October:
D. I inform the PT community of some interesting stats and information, and give them an easy to read compilation of the stats relating to PT only. This shows my ability to compile data into an easy to read format, and analysis of said data:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=198232
E. My results on trying to Buffer the Down+B. This is, again, testing, compilation of data, and possible uses of exectution:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=198276
F. I talk about Lucas' recovery game This shows technical knowledge of my character:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=5566831#post5566831
G. In regards to that new "Zoning, Spacing, Killing" I give a preliminary analysis of Lucas prior to discussion. I have changed my opinion on some ratings, since I realized I was a bit biased. This shows a heavy amount of technical knowledge and analysis, as well as some metagame knowledge-how he "stacks up" due to being given a scale to rate him by:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=5599945#post5599945
H. I talk about counters to Ledge Camping. I am wrong on some counts, but I feel it is fairly accurate. This shows general character knowledge:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=5610025#post5610025
I. A poster makes incorrect statements with no proof behind them regarding Lucas, in a questionable tone. I respond with some sarcasm at the beginning, but quickly move on to the meat of the argument. Show cases debating skills and character knowledge:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?p=5606892#post5606892
I. Here, I talk more about Lucas on Zoning, Spacing, etc stuff. This time, I'm helping out a player who doesn't quite understand what's going on. This is more analysis, and also some people skills:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=200031
EDIT BONUS QUESTION!:
The Hulk. He's big, he green, he kicks ***. He has that whole "get mad and stronger thing". Oh yeah, and he has smash attacks.
) for me. I'm knowledgable in the ways of Lucas and I'm starting to learn Sonic more and more.
