The Brawl vs. Melee debate rages on.
A lot of the people who were up and coming in Melee have quit to focus on Brawl, and as a result many believe that the Melee scene is suffering. I still enjoy Melee quite a bit, so I hope it doesn't die out. But I don't think it will, especially if people don't give up on it.
I have been to a couple of Brawl tournaments since my last post, and I have been doing pretty well. I actually placed in the money (3rd) at another local tournament. Brawl is a very weird game. There are lot of things in the game that really don't make any kind of practical sense, such as moves with unreasonably priority such as Metaknight's B and forward B moves. You would think that Marth's forward air move could slice him out of those attacks, but they don't. And then there are moves such as Zelda's upsmash, which hits multiple times, and lasts forever, meaning it can't be spot dodged or air dodged, and despite the fact that it hits multiple times, it is very hard to D.I. out of it; it is a disjointed hitbox, which means if you hit Zelda during this move, you'll probably get hit yourself; it hits from every direction (even below Zelda), it can poke through you shield, and not to mention it is very powerful. I don't understand why they would put such a broken move in any game, and there are several moves in the game just as bad. There are a few other gripes I have with Brawl, but overall I do like the game and I do find it to be a good game for competitive play, although many smashers would disagree.
I've been picking Snake a lot, he is considered to be either the best or second best character in the game. Many players consider him an "unfair" character. Originally I stayed away from Snake because of that stigma, but to be honest, one of the first things I believe someone has to do to be good at any competitive event of any kind, is to dispose of honor and any notion of "cheapness", and do whatever it takes (within the rules of the game) to win, and Snake helps me win, so I pick him.
I'm becoming more and more confident in my Melee skills. I got a chance to play some good out of towners in Melee and I wasn't too ashamed of how I did, even though they beat me, I felt like I was providing some sort of a challenge.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Updates
So it's been a while since I've posted on this blog. There's a few reasons for that. Mainly I just didn't feel like it. :-P
So Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out in March, and I like it alot. Since it doesn't requires the technical ability of Melee, I do much better in it than Melee. I've placed in the upper half of every Brawl tournament I've entered thus far, and even took 2nd place in a Tuscaloosa tournament that I ran.
Alot of the people who loved Melee don't like Brawl as much. The main reason for this is the overwhelmingly defensive nature of the game. I think the number one detractor is the huge decrease in the hitstun for almost every move in the game. Due to this, there are almost no "combos" in the game. Every hit you get in this game is pretty much due to you mindgaming your opponent. Which I don't have too much of a problem with, but many melee enthusiasts do not like this aspect.
As such, there has been somewhat of a "melee revival", which has been kicked off in full force at "The Greatest Melee Tournament Since Brawl Came Out" a tourney hosted in GA, that had over 100 entrants. It was the most fun I've had at a tournament. I got to meet a lot of big names in the smash community, including, possibly, the best player in the nation, Mew2King.
I'm getting a lot better at Melee. I actually won some pools matches this time around, and I feel like I'm actually providing a challenge for some of the competitors. There were 8 people in my pool, and I came in 6th. Not enough to make it out, but I'm okay with that.
So I guess for now I'm playing Brawl and Melee competitively. :-)
So Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out in March, and I like it alot. Since it doesn't requires the technical ability of Melee, I do much better in it than Melee. I've placed in the upper half of every Brawl tournament I've entered thus far, and even took 2nd place in a Tuscaloosa tournament that I ran.
Alot of the people who loved Melee don't like Brawl as much. The main reason for this is the overwhelmingly defensive nature of the game. I think the number one detractor is the huge decrease in the hitstun for almost every move in the game. Due to this, there are almost no "combos" in the game. Every hit you get in this game is pretty much due to you mindgaming your opponent. Which I don't have too much of a problem with, but many melee enthusiasts do not like this aspect.
As such, there has been somewhat of a "melee revival", which has been kicked off in full force at "The Greatest Melee Tournament Since Brawl Came Out" a tourney hosted in GA, that had over 100 entrants. It was the most fun I've had at a tournament. I got to meet a lot of big names in the smash community, including, possibly, the best player in the nation, Mew2King.
I'm getting a lot better at Melee. I actually won some pools matches this time around, and I feel like I'm actually providing a challenge for some of the competitors. There were 8 people in my pool, and I came in 6th. Not enough to make it out, but I'm okay with that.
So I guess for now I'm playing Brawl and Melee competitively. :-)
Friday, March 7, 2008
Mentors
Along the way I have adopted I guess what you would call "mentors". I don't mean like they took me under thair wing, but just certain people that affected my growth as a smasher more than everyone else, directly or indirectly.
Firstly would obviously be the person who introduced me to the game in the first place, my friend Patrick. He never got into the competitive scene, but even before I did, he showed me that I had the "competitive gene". I had somewhat of a rival.
The Paty Guys. Theres a dorm here called Paty, and my freshman year, they would play smash bros, every single night until around 5 a.m.. They gave me a lot of practice, and it was during this time that I realized I was good with Marth. (I originally played Ness). It was here that I first got a taste of competition. It was a "scrub" tournament, but it was a tournament nonetheless. I had something play for. I came in, I believe 7th out of around 25, leading me to believe (as most scrubs believe) that I was good at the game.
Ken Hoang. Well I've never met him personally, but I stumbled upon his Wikipedia Entry
one day, and I was amazed. This guy was making thousands of dollars playing the same game I loved. I watched some of videos and was blown away, he and his opponents were moving so fast, it was crazyness.
MLG. The forums, that is. That's where I first learned more about the competitive scene, I learned about wavedashing, L-canceling and the who she-bang. I watched lots of videos, I asked for tips. I got better.
Thief. Organized the first "competitive style" tournament, I ever attended. He was the first "good" person I'd ever seen in person, also the first person to completely destroy me in a battle. and He lived down the street. He showed me that you don't have to be an asian from SoCal to be a great player.
After lots of individual practice, i met:
mslano. Possibly THEE most significant factor in my smash growth was the summer I met mslano. He was another good player that lived close. I got a lot of good practice playing against him, but even better, he drove me up to Hunstville a few times, where I met:
The Huntsville Guys. They provided me with competition on par with the likes of people like Thief (in fact Thief himself showed up a couple times). They destroyed me though, but the practice was good. One hunstville guys helped me even more significantly, that is:
moogle. He offered me lots of advice, and to this day lets me bother him on aim with questions. He's the one that showed me a lot of the things I use today when playing Melee.
Iori. I first met Iori when they visited Huntsville one weekend. He is, to date, the best person I've ever played this game with. He taught me that you have to be patient in this game or you will be killed. He showed me what it truly means to get your ass kicked at a game. He was like Clubber Lang, except smarter. He showed that if you don't know what you're doing, you'll get massacred. I have yet to be Rocky and defeat him, but maybe one day.
munkus & anomaly. gave me some much needed practice in tuscaloosa, where there's hardly anyone to play. I learned that I wanted to play more than just one character during this time.
InTACT, my brother. During christmas break, i played exclusively with my brother pretty much. and while he's not very good...he helped me practice lots of different characters. Also it is almost completely because of my matches with him that I implemented DI and tech chasing into my repertoire.
Torg. a Guy i fought at G4s4, that plays a pretty decent Marth. It doesn't really have much to do with him, but it just so happens that during my matches with him, I finally understood what "Don't Get Hit" meant.
NES_Noob. A guy i seem to play with at every tournament, who continually rapes me. He offers advice every time, and the major advice he's given me is to pay attention to spacing, which is something I'm still working on.
More recently, IH, and Smooth Criminal. No offense to them but these are two guys I played at G4s5 that I lost too, that I shouldn't have. Anyway my matches with them shed light on the fact that I play differently in tourney matches than in friendlies, and its something that I need to work on.
So, with Brawl on the way (comes out tomorrow!), I wonder who will affect me the most in the future?
Firstly would obviously be the person who introduced me to the game in the first place, my friend Patrick. He never got into the competitive scene, but even before I did, he showed me that I had the "competitive gene". I had somewhat of a rival.
The Paty Guys. Theres a dorm here called Paty, and my freshman year, they would play smash bros, every single night until around 5 a.m.. They gave me a lot of practice, and it was during this time that I realized I was good with Marth. (I originally played Ness). It was here that I first got a taste of competition. It was a "scrub" tournament, but it was a tournament nonetheless. I had something play for. I came in, I believe 7th out of around 25, leading me to believe (as most scrubs believe) that I was good at the game.
Ken Hoang. Well I've never met him personally, but I stumbled upon his Wikipedia Entry
one day, and I was amazed. This guy was making thousands of dollars playing the same game I loved. I watched some of videos and was blown away, he and his opponents were moving so fast, it was crazyness.
MLG. The forums, that is. That's where I first learned more about the competitive scene, I learned about wavedashing, L-canceling and the who she-bang. I watched lots of videos, I asked for tips. I got better.
Thief. Organized the first "competitive style" tournament, I ever attended. He was the first "good" person I'd ever seen in person, also the first person to completely destroy me in a battle. and He lived down the street. He showed me that you don't have to be an asian from SoCal to be a great player.
After lots of individual practice, i met:
mslano. Possibly THEE most significant factor in my smash growth was the summer I met mslano. He was another good player that lived close. I got a lot of good practice playing against him, but even better, he drove me up to Hunstville a few times, where I met:
The Huntsville Guys. They provided me with competition on par with the likes of people like Thief (in fact Thief himself showed up a couple times). They destroyed me though, but the practice was good. One hunstville guys helped me even more significantly, that is:
moogle. He offered me lots of advice, and to this day lets me bother him on aim with questions. He's the one that showed me a lot of the things I use today when playing Melee.
Iori. I first met Iori when they visited Huntsville one weekend. He is, to date, the best person I've ever played this game with. He taught me that you have to be patient in this game or you will be killed. He showed me what it truly means to get your ass kicked at a game. He was like Clubber Lang, except smarter. He showed that if you don't know what you're doing, you'll get massacred. I have yet to be Rocky and defeat him, but maybe one day.
munkus & anomaly. gave me some much needed practice in tuscaloosa, where there's hardly anyone to play. I learned that I wanted to play more than just one character during this time.
InTACT, my brother. During christmas break, i played exclusively with my brother pretty much. and while he's not very good...he helped me practice lots of different characters. Also it is almost completely because of my matches with him that I implemented DI and tech chasing into my repertoire.
Torg. a Guy i fought at G4s4, that plays a pretty decent Marth. It doesn't really have much to do with him, but it just so happens that during my matches with him, I finally understood what "Don't Get Hit" meant.
NES_Noob. A guy i seem to play with at every tournament, who continually rapes me. He offers advice every time, and the major advice he's given me is to pay attention to spacing, which is something I'm still working on.
More recently, IH, and Smooth Criminal. No offense to them but these are two guys I played at G4s5 that I lost too, that I shouldn't have. Anyway my matches with them shed light on the fact that I play differently in tourney matches than in friendlies, and its something that I need to work on.
So, with Brawl on the way (comes out tomorrow!), I wonder who will affect me the most in the future?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
G4S5 and the Daniel-Zaman Problem
So Get 4 Stocked 5 was yesterday. It's looking like it'll be the last big melee tournament in the Mid-South. Well I think people will still have Melee tournaments, but Brawl is probably going to take over.
I had probably the easiest pool of them all, and I didn't do well as I know I could have.
This brings me to the daniel-zaman problem. It has nothing to do with him really. daniel-zaman is rated as one of GA's best smashers, and he's better than me, although not by much. I've played friendlies with him at almost every tourney I've attended. At this particular tournament, and at G4s4, I was keeping up with him in friendlies, generally getting him down to one stock, which would lead me to believe that our skill levels aren't THAT far apart. The "problem" is that daniel-zaman always makes it out of pools, and I always fail hard in pools. Which leads me to conclude that I must get nervous or anxious or slow when I play in tournament matches. It's weird though because I can't really tell that I'm playing worse besides the fact that I'm losing. I'll have to work on that.
It's probably time to start focusing on Brawl. and as I predicted, I think my Melee practice will benefit me in that aspect. Plus I have high hopes because I'm starting on an even playing field (for the most part) as everyone else, and not 3 years behind like I did with Melee.
Improvement Thoughts
I'm better than I was, I'm tech chasing and DIing better, and I think I know the next step, and this will translate in to Brawl. I need to learn how to read my opponents. I need to pay attention to what they do, how they do it, and when they do it. What do they do around the edge? What do they do to get up from the edge? What do they do in the air? Things like that.
I had probably the easiest pool of them all, and I didn't do well as I know I could have.
This brings me to the daniel-zaman problem. It has nothing to do with him really. daniel-zaman is rated as one of GA's best smashers, and he's better than me, although not by much. I've played friendlies with him at almost every tourney I've attended. At this particular tournament, and at G4s4, I was keeping up with him in friendlies, generally getting him down to one stock, which would lead me to believe that our skill levels aren't THAT far apart. The "problem" is that daniel-zaman always makes it out of pools, and I always fail hard in pools. Which leads me to conclude that I must get nervous or anxious or slow when I play in tournament matches. It's weird though because I can't really tell that I'm playing worse besides the fact that I'm losing. I'll have to work on that.
It's probably time to start focusing on Brawl. and as I predicted, I think my Melee practice will benefit me in that aspect. Plus I have high hopes because I'm starting on an even playing field (for the most part) as everyone else, and not 3 years behind like I did with Melee.
Improvement Thoughts
I'm better than I was, I'm tech chasing and DIing better, and I think I know the next step, and this will translate in to Brawl. I need to learn how to read my opponents. I need to pay attention to what they do, how they do it, and when they do it. What do they do around the edge? What do they do to get up from the edge? What do they do in the air? Things like that.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Mah Bro
Well my brother is the only person I can play much with during the break. He's decent but not much of a challenge. But its cool, I am really getting used to tech-chasing and DIing during my practices with him. I'm trying to teach him what I know, but i think its just going to take him a lot of mere playing to get used to everything. He originally played Sheik, then switched to Zelda, but now he's favoring Ganon. Haha, another Ganon in the South. I wonder why the South loves Ganon so much.
Anyway, I think I'm as close to being an actual competent player as I've ever been. I think once I get used to DIing and tech chasing, I will actually be a decent player. Then I will have to find the next key step to getting to the next level.
I plan on going to Pound 3 in Baltimore, which will presumably be the last really big Melee tournament (its like a week or two before Brawl is released), so that means I have about 2 months to practice, and perhaps I can beat some guys in my pools at Pound, something I still have yet to do lulz. I'm sure they will still have melee tournaments after Brawl is released, at least during the beginning. If not, they will probably have them at the big tournaments. And my practice in Melee will almost certainly help in Brawl. I'm sure tech chasing is still in the game, and just general fighting strategies. I can't wait.
Anyway, I think I'm as close to being an actual competent player as I've ever been. I think once I get used to DIing and tech chasing, I will actually be a decent player. Then I will have to find the next key step to getting to the next level.
I plan on going to Pound 3 in Baltimore, which will presumably be the last really big Melee tournament (its like a week or two before Brawl is released), so that means I have about 2 months to practice, and perhaps I can beat some guys in my pools at Pound, something I still have yet to do lulz. I'm sure they will still have melee tournaments after Brawl is released, at least during the beginning. If not, they will probably have them at the big tournaments. And my practice in Melee will almost certainly help in Brawl. I'm sure tech chasing is still in the game, and just general fighting strategies. I can't wait.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Smash Fest and DP
I played with munkus and anomaly the other day, and i feel like i'm getting a lot better. I'm way more confident with my Captain Falcon. I've been practicing with him the most out of every character i think. i've been practicing my sheik as well.
I think I mentioned DP in my last post. I played him first round of reflex's tournament..any way he put vids up of our set.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLzpDk8NC4Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6nhvteueyI
he raped me of course, pretty badly.
i'm actually not too ashamed of how I played with roy. Yoshi's Story isn't one of my best roy stages, and i did have a few button slips, but i did alright. I think I need to use neutral-airs more. I noticed that in this match roy's shffld n-airs were effective at pre-empting aerial attacks.
i played pretty shitty with Falcon though. I just was making all the wrong choices. I kept going for knees when I should have just went for up-airs.
but I think the biggest lesson I learned from watching these videos is that I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO FUCKING D.I.
I have a bad habit of D.I. ing toward the opponent, which basically leads to endless combos, as you can see. I need to work on that. I can't work on it too tought with anomaly and munkus because I dont think they've picked up on it as well as higher level players, but we'll see.
I think I mentioned DP in my last post. I played him first round of reflex's tournament..any way he put vids up of our set.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLzpDk8NC4Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6nhvteueyI
he raped me of course, pretty badly.
i'm actually not too ashamed of how I played with roy. Yoshi's Story isn't one of my best roy stages, and i did have a few button slips, but i did alright. I think I need to use neutral-airs more. I noticed that in this match roy's shffld n-airs were effective at pre-empting aerial attacks.
i played pretty shitty with Falcon though. I just was making all the wrong choices. I kept going for knees when I should have just went for up-airs.
but I think the biggest lesson I learned from watching these videos is that I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO FUCKING D.I.
I have a bad habit of D.I. ing toward the opponent, which basically leads to endless combos, as you can see. I need to work on that. I can't work on it too tought with anomaly and munkus because I dont think they've picked up on it as well as higher level players, but we'll see.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Reflex's Mega Fun Smash Challenge
Reflex held a tournament this weekend, and I rode up there with rob, moogle, coach, and duchock. The day before the tournament a bunch of people stayed over Prac's house just like they did for G4S4. I got to play a lot of matches with chad, iori, spaceballs, and coach. It was fun, and I think i played about as good as I can. In the tournament, There were no pools, so you kind of had to be good if you wanted to play more than two matches. I had to fight DP, a really good Mario player and then, JMOAN another player from the mid-south power rankings. I also teamed with Rob, and that was fun even though we got quickly dismantled, first by Laijin and Renegade, then by Bloshi and JMOAN. We have never played on teams before, plus we're neither really good at teams to begin with, but those guys are just good. Laijin has gotten pretty good over the past couple of years. Moogle was eliminated by reflex and then JMOAN, and I think those are matches he could have won. It seems like moogle is always one of the top ten players at least, at each tournament, but his results rarely indicate that. Coach and Moogle got fourth in teams out of 18 teams though, so that's cool. They were really close to getting third, just barely losing to XIF and Marty, a double Peach team. I hope they keep teaming, both moogle and coach are getting better, they'll be a money team in no time i think.
Anyway, I'm really learning to tech chase a lot more. With Roy I can tech chase with forward-b and grabs, I need to learn how to do it with other characters. I have to make it a habit just like teching. That shouldn't be too hard. I think once tech-chasing becomes second-nature, I will move to a higher echelon of play. A lot of times I lose simply because I'm given no room to even move because of good tech chasing.
I can notice myself getting better though, and I'm very happy with that
playing against Laijin and especially JMOAN, I've learned that Roy's just not good against sheik. Those needles really fuck him up, plus sheik can combo Roy really easily. I played fox against JMOANS sheik and got him down to 2 stock, and considering my lame fox, i think that's pretty good.
This tournament had free food. that was aweseome.
Improvement Thoughts
One thing that i've got to do is practice better control over my character. I think I'll have to move faster and mess up less if I want to be successful. I play a patient game, but that doesn't mean stop moving. When I play slow, it just makes it easier for the opposition to predict me. I've been playing some falcon and fox recently, and i play a lot better with them when I play really fast. you have to be REALLY fast to play falcon effectively.
Also I just have to be more graceful in my movements. I need to incorporate more wavelanding on ledges and I need to be able to pull off whatever move i need to do at that time.
Also, I'm going to study every character matchup and learn things like how fast they tech roll, how long before they recoever in the air, etc.
My Sheik is terrible, i need to study that.
Anyway, I'm really learning to tech chase a lot more. With Roy I can tech chase with forward-b and grabs, I need to learn how to do it with other characters. I have to make it a habit just like teching. That shouldn't be too hard. I think once tech-chasing becomes second-nature, I will move to a higher echelon of play. A lot of times I lose simply because I'm given no room to even move because of good tech chasing.
I can notice myself getting better though, and I'm very happy with that
playing against Laijin and especially JMOAN, I've learned that Roy's just not good against sheik. Those needles really fuck him up, plus sheik can combo Roy really easily. I played fox against JMOANS sheik and got him down to 2 stock, and considering my lame fox, i think that's pretty good.
This tournament had free food. that was aweseome.
Improvement Thoughts
One thing that i've got to do is practice better control over my character. I think I'll have to move faster and mess up less if I want to be successful. I play a patient game, but that doesn't mean stop moving. When I play slow, it just makes it easier for the opposition to predict me. I've been playing some falcon and fox recently, and i play a lot better with them when I play really fast. you have to be REALLY fast to play falcon effectively.
Also I just have to be more graceful in my movements. I need to incorporate more wavelanding on ledges and I need to be able to pull off whatever move i need to do at that time.
Also, I'm going to study every character matchup and learn things like how fast they tech roll, how long before they recoever in the air, etc.
My Sheik is terrible, i need to study that.
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