Blah, it's a good thing I have nothing to do at work, it took quite awhile to delve into the deep recesses of this thread and find the subtle, gold filled chalice. Well, actually, it happened on the first page but I needed to make it sound somewhat epic.
I'm not sure whether it's even worth posting about the actual topic of this thread anymore, all of the pertinent information has been covered. Midway through I was a little surprised to see so many people refute the natural use of mindgames and strategy, for it seems to me that it would be integral if not down-right necessary for any competitive play. To me, regardless of whether or not one considers WD for instance useless "scooting", if you use or have the opportunity to use a WD even once in a 4 stock and it's beneficial, regardless of whether or not you CHOOSE to use the move (WD used as an example, this applies to pretty much anymove in SSBM) is irrelevant. It's basically a matter of having more... tools I suppose is the term, at your disposal. Thus if during combat, through combat experience, prediction and anticipation, you instinctively 'know' that an opponent will WDB, WDF, WDB, and then WDFS that you could WDB and smash, even if you don' t regularly use WD having that ability present to be used if needed is the key. Whether you use it or not is up to the player. As Bruce Lee often toted, one must flow in combat, but to do that one has to have the technical skills to have the most varied offence and defense mastered so that they come naturally. I think we all agree that (as said in this thread before) that over-thinking in combat is debilitating, but we also know that thinking is natural, it's just the speed of thought and the understanding that changes. A useful analogy would be akin to a driving standard. The mind still has to 'think' about necessary gear changes, decelerating and gear changing etc, but after time the amount of conscious thought that goes into it is less and less, to the point that it is almost subconscious, but there will always be a part of the mind that thinks about it. Lunin had it spot on with his breakdown, most of the debate here has been semantic in nature to me. In other words, the more one thinks about something in an effort to learn more, and become better, the less time during combat it will take for the gamut of thoughts to be run through. When greater understanding is achieved, that understanding becomes an axiom in the mind and no longer has to be thought about in detail, it instead simply has to be realized in combat, meaning that you need to realize that these factors come into play. Once done, because you have already done the extensive 'over-thinking' on the topic, all conclusions reached therein will automatically be factored in to the play style and thus deep thinking during combat is negated.
In referance to the debate about what is 'pro' and whatnot, although I might get flamed for this, I don't believe it matters. I started playing this game on the N64 because it was fun. I became obsessed because it was deep. That's enough for me. Don't get me wrong, of course I want to play on the 'pro' level, to test my mettle against those considered to be the greatest. As a die-hard Smasher, which we all must be to be here, it's exciting to challenge ones abilities against those heralded to be superior, and for good reason of course. If I lose at a pro tournament, I'll go away knowing I learned something and will still end up sitting at home smashing, and just enjoying the game. Not to say people here don't enjoy the game anymore, I just think the argument about what's pro or not doesn't matter. It's just a word after all. I think in the end it boils down to greater exposure, which obviously assists ones abilities, and making less mistakes, to put it simply. I think anyone has potential to be great, but those already filling those positions earned their titles and it's pretentious to call oneself pro without having beaten one, even if it's just at title in the end. Sorry, I suppose it sounds like I'm bashing our current crop of pros, not my intention of course. I'm not sure if that made sense, but alas, it's 5 AM and I'm tired.
I'm not sure if I should comment on this Sora chap. A new post methinks to avoid making this one longer than it already is.
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