Coming Back to Twitch: A Writeup on the Narrative of Nebulous and Its Players

As Nebulous switches off of Hitbox, NYC finally finds its way back into the spotlight. When we were looking at 30-40 viewers on Saturdays, I couldn't help but feel upset at our exposure levels. Week after week, our best were coming and putting on an incredible display of skill. Quietly, our PR showed up with 8 Top 100 players, with 5 on the nomination list. But a lot of the national community overlooked their rise and pivotal moments of their careers. The hype behind a Slox vs Smuckers Grand Finals. The meteoric rises of iBDW and 2saint. The fiery runs of Beerman.



In this post, I'm gonna do my best to paint a picture of the vibe each player gives by grouping them to different titles. Of course, this is all my opinion, but currently, this is how I view the state of Nebulous.

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"National Names": The Moon(#0) Swedish Delight(#1), dizzkidboogie(#2), Slox(#3), DJ Nintendo(#4), Zanguzen(#7)



This is currently what we think of when someone mentions NYC. They are the ones who show up to nationals under our name and give recognition to our region. However, most people don't know how they do locally.



Swedish Delight comes out only once in a while, but when he does, he dominates. He's known for dropping 1 or 2 games in a whole tournament despite having multiple ranked players in attendance. When he is threatened, the last game of the set always seems to end in a 3 or 4 stock. He proves to us why he truly should be viewed on a national lens.



The Moon isn't active in the region anymore not because of lack of love, but to pursue bigger battles out of region. He's traveled nearly every weekend to a new region while putting NYC on his back. Don't mistake his lack of a local rank for no support. When he does come to play here, there is still the mutual love between him and the community.



While dizzboogie is split between Norcal and NYC, he still has heavy support and presence at Nebulous. His inviting personality and knowledge of the game creates a great learning environment at every tournament he attends. With him in region, the negative stigma against Icies have reduced dramatically. In terms of results, he generally has a positive or even record on those outside of Swedish Delight.



Slox has been on a road of personal success, but has spent a lot of his time at Nebulous developing his skill. At almost every tournament he goes to, he challenges common narratives against him, pulling upsets on DJ Nintendo and taking Swedish Delight to the edge multiple times. For me, the most exciting part of Slox's rise has been his competition Captain Smuckers. They continuously go to Game 5, trade sets, and draw crowds of NYC smashers from their friendly setups.



DJ Nintendo is a player with a national name but not a great local recognition. He proves himself to still be one of the most dominant forces of Tristate and normally one of the least "upset" player of the region, losing only to Top 6 players. Those below? Generally struggle to take games. Also, people are unaware of his developing characters. While people may associate him with Bowser, he has been drastically improving his Pikachu and Samus at Nebulous, winning entire events with only those characters.



Zanguzen is the most elusive of the PR. People constantly associate him with NYC excellence, but he is borderline inactive. He comes out to the monthlies, but otherwise is busy at his job. However, he remains a consistent force, and similar to DJ, does not drop sets to those under him.



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"The Unsung Elite": Jflex(#5), Captain Smuckers(#6)



These are the people you saw on MIOM Top 100 and asked "Who are these guys?" They were silently creeping their way into Top 64 and pulling upsets off stream, but that doesn't make them any less impressive. They may lack a social media presence, but are still putting in the work.



Jflex was, in my opinion, one of the most underrated of the Top 100(ranked #95). Attending 4 nationals, he placed 49th or 33rd at all of them. Locally, he is one of the most dominant forces. When he goes to NJ tournaments, he is almost guaranteed 1st place over the likes of Ciz, Zealous, and myself. At Nebulous, he has taken multiple sets off of Slox, Smuckers, and DJ. Even creating a pocket Peach for dizzkidboogie. The only thing he's missing is a big splash on a national stage, but it's almost inevitable at this point.



Captain Smuckers, in my opinion, is the hero of NYC. Not only a crowd favorite nationally, he is known to be cheered for even at small locals. And how can you not? This past year has been incredible for him, with wins over Hax, Swedish Delight, The Moon, and dizzkidboogie. He was also one of the first to consistently beat DJ Nintendo, which was unheard of until he improved. He was able to be ranked #64 despite not being well known out of region. This year I predict he will crack Top 50. At least.



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"The Rising Stars": iBDW(#10), 2saint(#12)



These are the people who I think will be Top 100 this year so long as they travel to nationals. Both of them have incredible and similar stories. They both have been playing for less than 2 years and started on netplay. Despite this, 2saint has taken sets off of The Moon, DJ, Smuckers, and Slox. While iBDW has taken sets from dizzkidboogie, Smuckers, Adam, and a ton of close sets with KK, Prof, and aMSa. With more exposure and time, these dedicated players are bound to make waves in national brackets.



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"The Old Guard": G$(#9), Fiya(#11), Twebb(#13), Green Ranger(#17), NYJoey (#19)



These are the top players who were top players when Smuckers, Jflex, and I started. They have been solidly taking names before there were even rankings to talk about. And still, they find there way back to modern tournaments and compete with all of the other ranked players. Despite some activity drops here and there, when they show up, they are always in the Top 6 or 8 of every bracket.



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"Long Island Invaders": Kaeon(#14), Animal(#18), 42nd(#20)



There’s always been an imaginary border between the city and Long Island. We generally don’t travel to their tournaments, and the same for ours. However, this past year, the two regions have mutually traveled much more than in the past, and these are the players that made waves. Kaeon won a huge Nebulous, while also taking out a big name practically every time. Animal is a wild card with insane peaks when his aggression is on. Lastly, 42nd is the new Puff player of our region alongside 2saint, taking sets from Smuckers, Jflex, and myself multiple times.



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"The Unpredictable": Beerman(#15), Mayb(#16)



These are, in my opinion, the nuttiest players of the region. They are insanely fast and aggressive players who shut down their opponents with just intimidation. However, this causes their results to fluctuate drastically. We have seen Beerman run through Smuckers and iBDW without dropping a game, while also losing to non-Top 30 players. Similarly, Mayb’s peak shows itself once a month with unbelievable upsets when he has momentum. A lot of people from the outside may not immediately see what they can do, but NYC has seen them at their scariest.



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"The Come Up": Subtle(#21), Young(#30), JoJo(#32), Rog(#36), Wasabi(#44)



Lastly, this might be personal bias, but I predict these players to be the next to crack the Top 20 and having been showing the work for it.



Subtle has already been a ranked player but has taken a small hiatus and moved back to Long Island. However, after his Genesis performance, he’s starting to pick up steam again.



Young is a Marth main from Brooklyn who’s incredible edgeguard game terrifies every member of the cast. While he is generally a busy guy, he has taken a lot of the Top 20 down to Game 3 situations.



JoJo is, in my opinion, the most technical Falcon in Tristate. He has made huge losers runs defeating the likes of G$ and Subtle. The one quirk that slows him down? He’s still in high school.



Rog is an old school Peach player who is trying to reinvent himself and make waves in NYC. With every loss, he constantly reevaluates his mistakes and makes improvements for next time. With his awareness of his gameplay, I have no doubt he will get better.



Wasabi is the biggest feen of NYC. Known for bringing his recording setup to every tournament match, he never ceases to find a way to improve. After every bracket, he is money matching any player he can find. Throughout the week, he using his apartment to host huge fests for NYC. It takes dedication to be great at the game, and I think Wasabi’s is unparalleled.



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To end the write up, I’m going to share the some of the sets you have to see that were unexposed due to Hitbox(again, these can be a little biased/what I remember, but there is so must history). But more importantly, I am so incredibly happy that we get another shot to you guys why we are a great scene. In the words of Prog, “New York City is on the map”.



-Ryobeat



Ryobeat vs dizzkidboogie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ynEEImFbo

Hax vs Smuckers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPk_qkZfIpo

Beerman vs Adam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaaMcXyXyk4

Duck vs DJ Ninendo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxB4ePnKxfc

iBDW vs Kirbykaze: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKqXwsSGjZY

2saint vs Slox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-hlGwXM1t0

Slox vs DJ Nintendo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLSWL5gys_k

Smuckers vs iBDW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIpWKzCitYU

Jflex vs Smashg0d: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VRDKgaDT7o

Smuckers vs Jflex: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSux0wmY-yM

Fiya vs Smashg0d: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBuGnnmzXBo

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