]343[ Profile Blog Joined May 2008 United States 10320 Posts Last Edited: 2016-01-13 20:15:28 #1

Genesis 3 (Liquipedia link) , the third and long-awaited installment of DBR's famed tournament series, is fast approaching. teamliquid.net will be interviewing a number of top players before and during the event. We begin with an interview of one of the Midwest's finest players, James " Duck " Ma.



Please introduce yourself.

My name is James Ma and my tag is Duck. I play purple Samus and I've been playing competitively since 2009. I'm from Michigan, and a fun fact I guess is that the first combo video I ever watched was King's , and I originally wanted to be a Jigglypuff main because I thought rests were really cool. It was pretty short lived though... I played her at one tournament and got trounced. Samus just fit better for me and she was more fun.



So you didn't have that kind of trouble with Samus, even early on?

I definitely did, but figuring out the solutions was way more fun as Samus.



Well, sticking with Samus has proven to be a good choice for you so far. You finished 2015 with breakout performances at EVO 2015 (13th), The Big House 5 (9th) and especially at Dreamhack Winter (5th). You've been one of the best Samus players for a few years now, but what "clicked" for you so that you could finally make the push to the elite level?





As of right now, the only practice that I get consistently is Fox from



Being able to reactively do punishes on a lot of characters has been a pretty big deal [as well]. Hmm, I wouldn't say anything just clicked for me; I haven't had like a sudden realization about something in a long time. I think the biggest things are discovering a lot of new Samus tech and optimizing my punish game, as well as finally getting enough experience in different matchups to compete at a high level. Since I'm from Michigan it's really hard to get matchup practice.As of right now, the only practice that I get consistently is Fox from KJH . I'm still good against Peach but Kzhu (Kalamazhu) isn't here anymore, and Prince Abu just recently moved back from school in Chicago.Being able to reactively do punishes on a lot of characters has been a pretty big deal [as well].



Reaction punishes have been a big theme for many characters this year. How can you and other top Samus players continue to optimize the character? How close is Samus to being fully developed?

Honestly, I think we're all still pretty bad at doing reaction punishes. I personally still miss sometimes and throw out guesses or coverage. I think a really big thing right now for me is looking at different setups where I can use charge shot to do full coverage. I also think edgeguarding could be pushed in a really big way against a lot of characters.



I don't think Samus is close to being fully optimized at all. Me and Hugo still make tons of mistakes and bad decisions in neutral and punishing.



The MIOM panelists ranked you 22nd for 2015 , up from 38th last year; HugS made a similar jump, from 37th to 20th. How do you feel about your placement this year?

I think my placement is fair; I personally put myself at 26. My first half of the year wasn't that great and I did really really poorly at Super Smash Con



Is Samus on the way up? Are there other Samus players who might reach top level?





As far as Samus players on the way up, unfortunately I think Samus is about where she should be as far as a tier list is concerned. She could be anywhere from the 9th best to 11th best character.As far as Samus players on the way up, unfortunately Darrell hasn't been as active this year but ESAM has been entering more Melee tournaments. He's probably the one to watch right now.



You've historically struggled with Luigi and Captain Falcon, but you scored impressive wins over Eddy Mexico at EVO (video) and Wizzrobe at Dreamhack Winter. How do you go about working on your bad matchups?





Plup warmed me up for Wizzy too, actually. Honestly, I just watch videos of HugS playing the matchups, and then I take things from him. I don't get to play the matchups except at nationals with the exception of Juggleguy sometimes at locals, so working on matchups is just a bunch of theory in my head. And then I hope I get to warm up at the tournament with somebody before my match; Plup warmed me up for Eddy and is a big reason I won.Plup warmed me up for Wizzy too, actually.



With his Luigi and Falcon?

Yeah. He was actually beating me with his Luigi at EVO, hahaha.



What do you think about teams? Who do you enjoy teaming with?





Samus always has to play a support role so it's hard for her to carry a team, but she has tons of ways to setup, end, and continue combos. I like teams. I think Samus's best teammate is Sheik. I've enjoyed teaming with KJH's Fox, Prince Abu's Puff, and Moose 's Falco.Samus always has to play a support role so it's hard for her to carry a team, but she has tons of ways to setup, end, and continue combos.



The Midwest hasn't traditionally been known as a super strong region, which means it's hard for you to practice certain matchups, as you've mentioned. But recently, you, KJH, Prince Abu, and Kzhu—all friends from Michigan—have all become very high-level players. How did you all meet?

We met through Smash of course! We went to a bunch of the same tournaments and started playing outside of tournaments. Prince Abu and Kzhu actually both live like 5 minutes from my house. Prince Abu is in my subdivision, and KJH was always willing to drive here and play Smash. I met Prince Abu and Kzhu way before meeting KJH. They started a little after I did.



Who was the best when you first met?

I was the best player in Michigan by the time I met KJH, and when Kzhu and Prince Abu started seriously going to tournaments instead of every once in a while, I was still the best. I would occasionally drop sets to Moose and Shady , but I won mostly everything.



How did you all improve to the level you're at today?





I can't really say why we've all improved to this point, but it probably has to do with us hating losing to each other, so we've pushed each other to become better. I personally improved a lot during college. I was roommates with Moose and we played a lot. I traveled out with Juggleguy to a bunch of out of state tournaments. Juggleguy also started taking over as the head TO of Michigan and got people to come into Michigan like M2K , Canada, and Illinois.I can't really say why we've all improved to this point, but it probably has to do with us hating losing to each other, so we've pushed each other to become better.





Why does Yeah, groups of friends hating to lose to each other seems to be a common source of top players!Why does Toph sometimes refer to you guys as "The Three Stooges of Melee"? There are four of you; which one of you is not a stooge?





Kzhu and Prince Abu are both really opinionated about certain things, like believing Samus beats Peach and Puff, or that Samus beats Fox and Falco. Recently since Kzhu moved away, the 3 stooges have included KJH. If you've ever seen his Twitter (E/N: Well, I completely disagree with me being part of the stooges. I feel like I get lumped in with Prince Abu and Kzhu a lot because of the way they act. But the original 3 were me, Kzhu and Prince Abu, and it's because we went to a lot of tournaments together and just acted pretty silly.Kzhu and Prince Abu are both really opinionated about certain things, like believing Samus beats Peach and Puff, or that Samus beats Fox and Falco. Recently since Kzhu moved away, the 3 stooges have included KJH. If you've ever seen his Twitter (E/N: @spotdodge_shine ), he has an unnatural hate for Falco.



Do all their opinions involve Samus being really good and their own character being bad?

Haha yeah. If you've ever heard Prince Abu talk about Puff he says Puff is 5th from the bottom. Beyond that Prince Abu and Kzhu are both just really silly people. If you've watched Kzhu on the Toph and Scar Show , it's pretty funny.



Yeah, that was a funny episode, especially with the other three of you in chat.



What are your goals for Genesis 3?

I definitely want to make top 8 again. Beyond me, I also want the rest of Michigan to do well :D If all 4 of us get top 16, that would be amazing, and it's definitely possible.



Name one player you really want to beat.

As for players, I want to be the first Samus to beat S2J . Also, taking a set off a god would be awesome.



Which player had the greatest influence on your play style?





I took a lot of things from HugS and Probably Moose. Since we played together a lot, he basically shaped the way I played. He plays a very camp heavy Falco.I took a lot of things from HugS and Wes back in the day, but I couldn't really copy the way that they play. It didn't fit for me.



What distinguishes your style from theirs?

I throw out a lot more moves, and a big part of my neutral game is going for hard reads. I'm more likely to land dsmashes or dtilts and convert off big moves. The downside is, of course, that I get hit a lot.



I guess people have jokingly called you "high risk, high reward"!



Which player other than yourself is going to make the biggest splash at Genesis 3?

Hopefully one of the Michigan boys. Kzhu is finally back to being a Peach main, and the other two have been improving really fast.



Which up-and-coming player from your region should we look out for in 2016?

Definitely Yoyo. He's an up and coming Luigi player. He recently beat Mr. F and he has some game wins on [top 100] ranked players.



What do you do outside of Smash?

I'm an engineer at TRW right now. And I play other video games casually; right now I'm playing Destiny with a group of friends.



Any plans to make money from streaming?

Well I'm trying it out right now for fun, and it's been a blast so far. I don't really plan on making money off it or anything.



Any last shoutouts?

Shoutouts to the Michigan boys, Hugo, Plup, and Kirbykaze



Follow Duck on Twitter at @ssbDuck and on Twitch at ssbDuck!





Interviewer: ]343[

Graphics: KnivesCiao

Photo: SleepyK

Editor: ]343[



]343[ Writer