Once again, for maybe the 3rd or 4th week in a row… PROGRESS ISN’T LINEAR… That being said, I’m seeing the improvements. This week was a weird one, with some great wins and some really weird underperformance. I also had a grind session. 2 in fact. I’m feeling good about how I played, but oh boy one of these tourneys got me down.
CSU was my first tournament of the week. Coming off the last Namki’s I was feeling good about another Fort Collins tournament. It was decently stacked and I was seeded to get 7th.
My first match was against someone named Markiplier. I believe he played Sephiroth. I won 2-0 and I can’t remember much about the set. It went very well though.
Oh boy. The last time I went to CSU I had to fight Giden (my training partner who plays Captian Falcon) round 2 and that was true for this week as well. I lost rather badly last time and I was super upset about it. Going into it this week I was feeling really good. I won game 1 and it was decently close. Game 2 was insane. I was on my second stock and Giden was on his last. I went down to trade nair with the start of his up b. Classic gimp and it worked… but he spammed up b, caught Palutena before she could teleport back to the ledge, killed me, and then was able to make it back to stage. That tilted the hell out of me because he was literally dead but he found the one option to survive. He then went on to win the game… OOF. Like what the heck. Luckily, I played well and won game 3 but what kind of shit that was. I won the run back in the end, I honestly played really well, and that should have been 2-0 but it ended up being 2-1. Giden is really good and clutch, but if I’m playing really good and pressuring the hell out of him, I can run over him. I just need to avoid getting cheesed like that. If I had just air dodged to my death after trading, I could have won… BY KILLING MYSELF, I WOULD HAVE WON!!! Smash brothers…
Guess who Ol’ Yoyo had to fight next. Everyone’s favorite weekly character, ACID. This was embarrassing. Last Namki’s I did really good against Acid, losing last stock last hit. This wasn’t really even close. Felt like more of the same. I don’t know why it was much worse, but it was bad. I know what I need to do. I need to pressure him more and avoid his dash attacks. I can get a win soon… I know it. I lost 2-0 this time.
Freshly in losers, I had to play PicklesPlz. I’m blanking on who he played. I won 2-0 according to the bracket, so let’s go me.
Abstract(Robin) was next. Robin and I have fought 4 times in the last 4 weeks I believe. The week before was the first time I took a set since the pandemic and going into this set, I knew Robin would be ready for me and would probably just stay Inkling the whole match. Game 1, I lose. I got rollered a ton and died really early. Game 2, I didn’t allow myself to get rollered anymore. I also was playing a great advantage state, catching all of Robin’s landings. I won the game leading to game 3. Game 3 was really close on our first stocks. Eventually, I started to pull away with the lead. I started to play off of Robin’s fear, getting a bunch of grabs and calling out rolls with dash attacks. I was honestly untouchable on our last stocks. I believe I had 23% and ended the game with a 2 frame down air on an inkling up b to the ledge. I won 2-1, getting my second set against Robin since the pandemic. Every set against Robin is an endurance test, and I think I’m starting to figure it out more. I can bait out defensive options and then take my advantage super far.
My next match was against someone else I’ve fought a ton recently, Puppy. Puppy’s Kirby is so hard for me to beat. He’s really good with aggression and Palutena has truly only one option to realistically combat a low profiling Kirby. Down tilt. I figure if I get a hit, like against Robin’s Inkling, I need to take it as far as I can and then camp. This worked decently well, but I lost game 1. Game 2 I started finding way more kills. I started reading his defensive options more and started getting a bunch of smash attack kills. I won game 2 pretty solid. Game 3 was rough, he was starting to get really early kills and I was behind for the whole match. I brought it down to a really close game on our last stocks, but he found the kill before me and won the set 2-1. I really need to play super careful against Kirby. Once I get a hit, I can take it far, but Kirby can do the same. I think I’ll approach really carefully, get the hit, take it far, and then camp with the lead. Not time out, but camp. Punish his approaches and not approach.
Out at 5th. Beat my seed but I did lose to the exact same players I lost to at the last Namki’s house. I also beat Robin who I beat last Namki’s house. Really, it was the same tourney, I just traded out my win on Pibb for Giden. It wasn’t a bad tourney at all, but I want to beat Puppy and Acid soon. This is my block. I’ll beat it. I know I will.
Here’s the bracket: https://smash.gg/tournament/tuesday-tourney-csu-3/event/ultimate-singles/brackets/1009191/1591050/
Games Ahoy. Oof. So as some background because it plays into what I think I may need to take notes from, I went over to Chronos’s house before the tourney. I wasn’t planning on going to Games Ahoy after, but ESF got canceled, I learned about it beforehand and so I went to GamesAhoy that day to hit my two tournament minimum. As a reminder, Chronos is the best player in Colorado at the moment. I was doing amazing. We play best of 5’s, and I usually don’t take any. I think I took 1 last time we did this. This time, I actually don’t know how many I got. Chronos will play a ton of different characters against me, and they are all hard to beat. I took a few sets with my Palu and I also took a bunch with my Bayonetta. I was playing really well. We finished with his main, Snake, versus my Palutena. While I didn’t take a game, I was still playing really well. Almost every game was last stock and a bunch were also last hit. So going into Games Ahoy, I was feeling good. I played some friendlies before the tourney and didn’t lose a single game against anyone. So then. Bracket starts…
First was a Seph. I was playing hot and won 2-0. I got the final kill by reflecting a full-charged side b, grabbing him, and letting the orbs end him. It was funny.
Next was Speedy. Speedy hadn’t been playing like he use to before the pandemic. Before the pandemic, he was one of the best Jokers in the area. In the first game, I was doing alright, but then something changed. My hands, which usually run really warm became cold. I started to think “I’m really hungry” and it was downhill from there. It was still close but he got game 1. Game 2, was similar and he got the win. I lost 0-2. I was mad, but it happens. I was wondering what happened. I was playing so good and suddenly it just stopped. I did recognize that I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so I went and got some Pizza from the place across the street.
So next was RoboCop. Robo is a really good Chrom and he’s been doing really good against me in friendlies. I was feeling better going into game 1. I lost game 1 rather close. I was getting outboxed, and that’s normal for fighting a Chrom. I felt like I still wasn’t playing on my normal level, but it is what it is. I contemplated going Steve. I thought maybe because I’m playing slower, Steve could be a better choice, but I decided to stick with Palutena. I ended up losing game 2 as well. I lost 0-2 and was out at 9th.
So right after I was mad, but I was wondering what happened and I thought about it a lot. I definitely did need to eat in between the grind session and the tourney. I’ve noticed that playing smash does use up a lot of energy in my body. I will sweat during the tourney, especially if I’m trying really hard. So yeah, food, but also I wonder if I got burnt out. I played so much high-level smash that day. I wonder if I just burnt myself out. Hungry and having played hours of Smash, I can see why this happened. I’m still upset about it, but I know I’m still improving.
Here’s the bracket: https://smash.gg/tournament/foco-weekly-wednesday-199/event/ultimate-singles/brackets/1009925/1591955
So my second grind session was with Miloquinn. Milo came over to my place and we streamed our practice. Milo is a really good Peach and before the pandemic, Milo was ranked right above me in the Nothern Colorado rankings. Milo was 3rd and I was 4th. We had some damn good games. Milo had the advantage, but I got some good moments and clips. I won a few here and there and especially with my Pit and Steve. I’m glad to keep those characters fresh. Steve and Pit can really help against certain matchups and I think it’s important to have them ready. We ended the session with a best of 5. I lost 1-3 but the 1 I did take was a 3 stock. I played really solid.
Here’s the link to the stream VOD: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1171191241
So while it wasn’t a consistent week in tournament, I was playing really well. I think I am leveling up. I’m starting to really understand the game better, and I have a really defined game plan with my Palutena now. Next week I’m probably sticking to Fort Collins. I’ll probably end up going to the same tournaments as this week. Thanks for reading, and I hope you’re doing good. Come follow me on Twitch if you want. I’ve been streaming Nick All-Star Brawl and Smash as well as shooters. Twitch.tv/ICYoyo . Hope to see you at one of them.
Bernard Lamar Rice 