The Smash Player Highlights and Input Showcase!

[Doc Monocle]

I was inspired to make this thread by the frequent occurrence of players who were (to say the least) upset at the interference of online lag in their ability to play the game to the heights of skill they practiced hard for. In particular the thread "I Need to Vent" by Oz o: gave me a first hand look at how annoyed players can become when they feel shortchanged by circumstances they cannot control.

So this thread is devoted to listing all interested Smash Bros. players, and highlighting their distinctive touches to the competitive scene. What do I mean? It is simple. Each user who posts contributes by telling very briefly about their career in Smash Bros. After that, they detail why they main who, the strategies they opt for when playing, the obstacles they have encountered when pursuing that status of mastery, their accomplishments, their thoughts on how to be a good player, etc.

This is a thread of encouragement, gameplay advice, and, as in the title, showcasing what makes each player special, regardless of how far up the ladder they have come. Comments from a user about a user are welcome, but only if they are of a commending, inquisitive, or helpful nature. Flaming and trolling will not be tolerated, and otherwise, please observe the global rules governing Smashboards.

As an exemplifying (but not constraining) template, I shall start:

My name is Doc Monocle, and I have a very embarassing, not-so-secret fact about my Smash presence: Despite my postings and threads, I have not played a single Smash Bros. game in several years, and I probably am not going to be found playing one for several years. I mained King Dedede in Brawl because of his hammer... It lived up to its promise as a powerful spacing tool. Why is this valuable to me? Because I was a fairly patient player, so I valued an asset that would allow me to slow down and line up hits, while at the same time equipping me with what I needed to go on the offensive and squash an aggressive foe before they could even reach me... ( details about your playstyle, and how your main accommodates that playstyle.)

I have never played online. I was a casual smasher. (...)

Unfortunately, I do not have much to insert in this post that is not boring, like my philosophical belief that in a 'non-maliciously' designed game, there are no bottom-tier characters, or my King Dedede training technique of going into Subspace emissary and clearing his subspace story level as fast as I can without getting too close to hostiles, or my insistence on chaingrabbing as little more than a punishing tool for haughty aggressors, or... Never mind, I have said enough. (Insert details about how you develop your unique gameplay personality, and we all have one.)

Really, anything is acceptable, as long as it is not insulting, pertains to you as a Smash Bros. player, and as long as it puts your career, peculiarities, skills, and/or methods on, well... showcase! Make it shine!

Ben Holt , Internal Frickface , Kokiden , R RetrogamerMax , StrangeKitten , and everyone whose grievances I have not heard in the "I Need to Vent" thread, or in comments, I welcome you to participate in this experimental, 'happy-in-the-gutter' discourse thread!

 

[Janx_uwu]

Spoiler: Introductions

My name is Janx. I'm 15, and I got into Smash as a kid when my parents got me a Wii and Brawl. I mained Sonic because I loved those games, as a kid and today. I played a lot of Brawl and eventually, Smash 3DS single player as I had no friends to play it with. When Ultimate got announced was when I really got into the series. I kept up with the pre-release religiously, I was going to the library to kick people's asses at Smash Wii U (it was and still is a really cool library), and I theorized who would get in next.
While my dreams of Shadow in Smash were ruined when a dumb fire cat got announced, the abundant single player content was enough to get me sold on pre-ordering this game. Shortly after it came out, I started watching videos of competitive play. It was fascinating to me, like opening up a closet and finding Narnia on the other side. I unlocked all the characters within two weeks (school was still going on, so it took me a while), and once I decided I wanted to play this game competitively, I made a ruleset and began the search for my main...
which was WAY more difficult than I thought. I started with Sonic, but something about him was just really boring, which I never noticed as an impressionable pre-adolescent. So I moved onto Lucina who I played a lot of in Sm4sh, but she didn't seem all that fun either. I found a home in Inkling for a little bit, but over time I just realized she wasn't the right character for me. Then came K. Rool, who I played the most easily-he's still a second place to my main in terms of play time.
I thought I found my true main in Dedede, but still, something wasn't right. But I continued to play him because I did my best with him and he was really fun.
I was playing Smash with a friend at some point-I think it was a club convention we had-and he picked Bowser as I did Dedede. Somewhere in conversation came up the question "Who's the best in this game?" (I never thought to look at a tier list) and my friend, no hesitation, frame 1, responds "Bowser's the best." I laughed, because even with my bare bones knowledge of Smash, I knew all the heavies were bad. Right?
Well, on the search for my main, I picked Bowser as a joke, saying sarcastically "yep, best character in the game. No doubt." But then, playing against that lvl 9 cpu, something just...clicked. Can't really explain it.
The rest is history. I attended one or two tournaments before hand, but they were a half hour away and I was (and still am) unable to drive myself. But once I found out my main was Bowser, I went more often, at least once a month.
When March of 2020 rolled around, I was consistently going 3-2 and gradually improving. I even made a 30something dude ragequit after drop kicking him, which was easily the high point of my in person career. Things were looking up!...
But you know the story. Covid, quarantine, and now I'm limited to Elite Smash. I told myself I could wait a month or so for everything to open up again, but here we are, almost at March again. I tried Anther's Ladder and it worked for a bit...
Then I joined SmashBoards and got a reply to my Welcome post. Someone named MangoHero. He gave me an invite to a general Smash Discord server called The Battlefield. I accepted his invitation, and got myself acquainted with the other members. I ended up winning my first tournament there!...a PokeBall tournament. But still, I was really happy to have made a good first impression.
Now that it's 2021, I've become good friends with many people in that server. I've improved more than I ever have without the server, I can consistently get 2nd in our weeklies, and my Bowser is at his strongest yet.

Oh, and I'm just now noticing this, but you mentioned "briefly" in regards to our career. So TL;DR, I main Bowser and did decent at tournaments, COVID happened, but thankfully I found a close knit and friendly Discord server where I honed my skills to become the player I am today.

Spoiler: Strats and playstyles

Oh, and strategies and playstyles. Forgot about those.
When I play Bowser, I'm out for blood. Sure, I start the match off with a few safe fairs, but as soon as I get an opening, your stock will be gone before you can say "Your princess is in another castle!" I use a hefty amount of throws, side b's, OOS up b's, and fairs of course. I'll catch you sleeping as you try to land and hit you with an unreactable DJ bair. As soon as you hit my shield, you're in for a world of hurt, no matter which OOS option I use-but half the time its grab, the other time its up b. I play a very reaction based Bowser, only going for hard reads if I'm either very confident, or we're playing friendlies and I'm just having fun. As soon as you're offstage, I'll either runoff fair before you can react to me, or I'll wait at ledge where the true game begins. Fairs and down b's galore. Generally I'll get ~60% from up throw combos and react to you after that to build you up to kill percent, where I'll embrace you lovingly and slam you down.
Oh, and there's one neat trick I only use if I really want to tick someone off. Parry -> taunt true combo. Plus if their attack was laggy enough, you can still punish with a side b or up b. People hate it when I do that, and I relish in that hate. Though like I said, I limit it to only when I really, really want to ruin someone's day. (Thanks to Bowser's Tough Guy, this even works against rapid jabs sometimes!)

Spoiler: My obstacles

Speaking of having your day ruined, let's talk about my obstacles.
First and most obvious-my age. I can't legally drive and even if I could, I wouldn't feel comfortable driving 30 minutes away and no one with me. So I have to rely on my dad or grandma to drive me. But it's asking a lot for someone to spend a few hours of their day bringing you to a tournament they have nothing to do at, especially considering my dad is a really busy guy who's terrible at Smash Bros. Not only the driving thing, but it just feels weird being the only kid in a room full of older teens and adults. I got quite a few stares when I went to in person tournaments, and it really didn't do wonders for my nerves. Of course, once I improved a bit I got some respect, but in some ways it bolstered my awkwardness. I got some people dissing me and my character behind my back, hardly trying to hide it.
Secondly, quarantine. It's really difficult to improve online, even though I've managed to do it. And it's just not the same as in person tournaments-despite how much I hated some of the people there, it was better than sitting in a dark room, seemingly playing by myself. I want that adrenaline rush again.
Third, over time I realized Ultimate isn't the masterpiece that I thought it was upon release, and continued to think until last year. I still think it's a good game, but all those people who criticized it made me rethink my perception of the game-people like S SuperSaska and YouTubers like JebTube. It kind of makes me not want to play it as much anymore. Hence why I haven't the past week or so. I'm getting back in very soon probably, but the very thought that Ultimate is bad makes me feel bad about playing it, dumb and cringey as that sounds its true.
Life is another big obstacle. Now, I'm not trying to say all life stuff is is an impediment to my Smash progress-in fact, I would probably think the opposite-but I get busy these days with online school. Really busy. And I'll have even less time to play Smash once I (hopefully) go back to in-person school. (To be honest I'll be glad when I do, even if I have less time or no time to play Smash, at least I'll have the opportunity to meet people-as I currently have zero IRL friends).
Finally, and most importantly, plateus. I seem to always hit them. Where do I go next? What do I practice? What happens next?

Spoiler: Accomplishments

Accomplishments? I do have some. As it stands, my in-person record is 3-2, which is fine but not very noteworthy. However, my online achievements are something to note.
Firstly, I've won several non-competitive tournaments. Pokeballs, amiibos, and Bowser-dittos-only, namely.
Secondly, I've gotten second fairly consistently in our weeklies.
We have a big Smash Cup three times a year, and at the first one I attended, I got fifth. Not only did I 3-0 the Sonic main who was our best PR player (he is currently my bracket demon-haven't been able to replicate that 3-0 since, unfortunately), but I also was in the same bracket as Fluffy, one of the best online players period, who took first.
I also do really well in crew battles, generally.

Spoiler: How to be a good player

Thoughts on how to be a good player? Well, you need to know what you want from Smash, first of all. Best in the world? Top 8 PGR? Make PGR? Top your local PR? Be the best player in your region? Land a suicide up b on MKLeo? Whatever your overall goal may be, you need to take some time to figure that out. When you do figure that out, plan out the reasonable steps to get there.
After that, I'd recommend finding a practice buddy or a smallish Discord group (You can ask my good friend MangoHero for an invite to The Battlefield-tell him I sent you). Make sure you get consistent practice with that person or group of people.
Take breaks when you need to. Days, weeks, months, whatever. However long you think you need to step away from the game. When you come back, play for an hour or so to get rid of your spaghetti (stupid mistakes-they'll always happen, especially when you're nervous, but friendlies help to get some of them out of your system).
Finally, make sure you have a good balance of life and Smash. This is the most essential step. If you do nothing but play Smash, work, eat, and sleep, then you'll always be angry after losses and always learn the wrong lessons. Find hobbies other than Smash, and be sure to connect with nature, even if only once in a while.

That's all I have to say. Thanks for letting me vent here.

 

[Doc Monocle]

Spoiler: Introductions

My name is Janx. I'm 15, and I got into Smash as a kid when my parents got me a Wii and Brawl. I mained Sonic because I loved those games, as a kid and today. I played a lot of Brawl and eventually, Smash 3DS single player as I had no friends to play it with. When Ultimate got announced was when I really got into the series. I kept up with the pre-release religiously, I was going to the library to kick people's asses at Smash Wii U (it was and still is a really cool library), and I theorized who would get in next.
While my dreams of Shadow in Smash were ruined when a dumb fire cat got announced, the abundant single player content was enough to get me sold on pre-ordering this game. Shortly after it came out, I started watching videos of competitive play. It was fascinating to me, like opening up a closet and finding Narnia on the other side. I unlocked all the characters within two weeks (school was still going on, so it took me a while), and once I decided I wanted to play this game competitively, I made a ruleset and began the search for my main...
which was WAY more difficult than I thought. I started with Sonic, but something about him was just really boring, which I never noticed as an impressionable pre-adolescent. So I moved onto Lucina who I played a lot of in Sm4sh, but she didn't seem all that fun either. I found a home in Inkling for a little bit, but over time I just realized she wasn't the right character for me. Then came K. Rool, who I played the most easily-he's still a second place to my main in terms of play time.
I thought I found my true main in Dedede, but still, something wasn't right. But I continued to play him because I did my best with him and he was really fun.
I was playing Smash with a friend at some point-I think it was a club convention we had-and he picked Bowser as I did Dedede. Somewhere in conversation came up the question "Who's the best in this game?" (I never thought to look at a tier list) and my friend, no hesitation, frame 1, responds "Bowser's the best." I laughed, because even with my bare bones knowledge of Smash, I knew all the heavies were bad. Right?
Well, on the search for my main, I picked Bowser as a joke, saying sarcastically "yep, best character in the game. No doubt." But then, playing against that lvl 9 cpu, something just...clicked. Can't really explain it.
The rest is history. I attended one or two tournaments before hand, but they were a half hour away and I was (and still am) unable to drive myself. But once I found out my main was Bowser, I went more often, at least once a month.
When March of 2020 rolled around, I was consistently going 3-2 and gradually improving. I even made a 30something dude ragequit after drop kicking him, which was easily the high point of my in person career. Things were looking up!...
But you know the story. Covid, quarantine, and now I'm limited to Elite Smash. I told myself I could wait a month or so for everything to open up again, but here we are, almost at March again. I tried Anther's Ladder and it worked for a bit...
Then I joined SmashBoards and got a reply to my Welcome post. Someone named MangoHero. He gave me an invite to a general Smash Discord server called The Battlefield. I accepted his invitation, and got myself acquainted with the other members. I ended up winning my first tournament there!...a PokeBall tournament. But still, I was really happy to have made a good first impression.
Now that it's 2021, I've become good friends with many people in that server. I've improved more than I ever have without the server, I can consistently get 2nd in our weeklies, and my Bowser is at his strongest yet.

Oh, and I'm just now noticing this, but you mentioned "briefly" in regards to our career. So TL;DR, I main Bowser and did decent at tournaments, COVID happened, but thankfully I found a close knit and friendly Discord server where I honed my skills to become the player I am today.

Spoiler: Strats and playstyles

Oh, and strategies and playstyles. Forgot about those.
When I play Bowser, I'm out for blood. Sure, I start the match off with a few safe fairs, but as soon as I get an opening, your stock will be gone before you can say "Your princess is in another castle!" I use a hefty amount of throws, side b's, OOS up b's, and fairs of course. I'll catch you sleeping as you try to land and hit you with an unreactable DJ bair. As soon as you hit my shield, you're in for a world of hurt, no matter which OOS option I use-but half the time its grab, the other time its up b. I play a very reaction based Bowser, only going for hard reads if I'm either very confident, or we're playing friendlies and I'm just having fun. As soon as you're offstage, I'll either runoff fair before you can react to me, or I'll wait at ledge where the true game begins. Fairs and down b's galore. Generally I'll get ~60% from up throw combos and react to you after that to build you up to kill percent, where I'll embrace you lovingly and slam you down.
Oh, and there's one neat trick I only use if I really want to tick someone off. Parry -> taunt true combo. Plus if their attack was laggy enough, you can still punish with a side b or up b. People hate it when I do that, and I relish in that hate. Though like I said, I limit it to only when I really, really want to ruin someone's day. (Thanks to Bowser's Tough Guy, this even works against rapid jabs sometimes!)

Spoiler: My obstacles

Speaking of having your day ruined, let's talk about my obstacles.
First and most obvious-my age. I can't legally drive and even if I could, I wouldn't feel comfortable driving 30 minutes away and no one with me. So I have to rely on my dad or grandma to drive me. But it's asking a lot for someone to spend a few hours of their day bringing you to a tournament they have nothing to do at, especially considering my dad is a really busy guy who's terrible at Smash Bros. Not only the driving thing, but it just feels weird being the only kid in a room full of older teens and adults. I got quite a few stares when I went to in person tournaments, and it really didn't do wonders for my nerves. Of course, once I improved a bit I got some respect, but in some ways it bolstered my awkwardness. I got some people dissing me and my character behind my back, hardly trying to hide it.
Secondly, quarantine. It's really difficult to improve online, even though I've managed to do it. And it's just not the same as in person tournaments-despite how much I hated some of the people there, it was better than sitting in a dark room, seemingly playing by myself. I want that adrenaline rush again.
Third, over time I realized Ultimate isn't the masterpiece that I thought it was upon release, and continued to think until last year. I still think it's a good game, but all those people who criticized it made me rethink my perception of the game-people like S SuperSaska and YouTubers like JebTube. It kind of makes me not want to play it as much anymore. Hence why I haven't the past week or so. I'm getting back in very soon probably, but the very thought that Ultimate is bad makes me feel bad about playing it, dumb and cringey as that sounds its true.
Life is another big obstacle. Now, I'm not trying to say all life stuff is is an impediment to my Smash progress-in fact, I would probably think the opposite-but I get busy these days with online school. Really busy. And I'll have even less time to play Smash once I (hopefully) go back to in-person school. (To be honest I'll be glad when I do, even if I have less time or no time to play Smash, at least I'll have the opportunity to meet people-as I currently have zero IRL friends).
Finally, and most importantly, plateus. I seem to always hit them. Where do I go next? What do I practice? What happens next?

Spoiler: Accomplishments

Accomplishments? I do have some. As it stands, my in-person record is 3-2, which is fine but not very noteworthy. However, my online achievements are something to note.
Firstly, I've won several non-competitive tournaments. Pokeballs, amiibos, and Bowser-dittos-only, namely.
Secondly, I've gotten second fairly consistently in our weeklies.
We have a big Smash Cup three times a year, and at the first one I attended, I got fifth. Not only did I 3-0 the Sonic main who was our best PR player (he is currently my bracket demon-haven't been able to replicate that 3-0 since, unfortunately), but I also was in the same bracket as Fluffy, one of the best online players period, who took first.
I also do really well in crew battles, generally.

Spoiler: How to be a good player

Thoughts on how to be a good player? Well, you need to know what you want from Smash, first of all. Best in the world? Top 8 PGR? Make PGR? Top your local PR? Be the best player in your region? Land a suicide up b on MKLeo? Whatever your overall goal may be, you need to take some time to figure that out. When you do figure that out, plan out the reasonable steps to get there.
After that, I'd recommend finding a practice buddy or a smallish Discord group (You can ask my good friend MangoHero for an invite to The Battlefield-tell him I sent you). Make sure you get consistent practice with that person or group of people.
Take breaks when you need to. Days, weeks, months, whatever. However long you think you need to step away from the game. When you come back, play for an hour or so to get rid of your spaghetti (stupid mistakes-they'll always happen, especially when you're nervous, but friendlies help to get some of them out of your system).
Finally, make sure you have a good balance of life and Smash. This is the most essential step. If you do nothing but play Smash, work, eat, and sleep, then you'll always be angry after losses and always learn the wrong lessons. Find hobbies other than Smash, and be sure to connect with nature, even if only once in a while.

That's all I have to say. Thanks for letting me vent here.

You sound like a very skilled Bowser player. I found he had some very appealing charms myself, but I never excelled with him as much as I thought I would. I have great respect for anyone who would take a super heavy charracter into the competitve scene in a game that may be slightly biased toward mobility. What surprised me when I saw your mains was... well, unsurprisingly that it was not Sonic at the head of the pack! Anyway, thank you for sharing.