tofucake Profile Blog Joined October 2009 Hyrule 17807 Posts Last Edited: 2015-01-30 19:12:48 #1

Before EVO picked up Melee again, Apex made a name for itself as the premier international Smash tournament series, featuring all the Smash games and expanding into Pokemon and other fighters as well. Despite controversy about (former) head organizer Alex Strife, the thankfully-empty threat of a huge snowstorm hitting New Jersey, and even the fire marshals closing the venue, the show will go on, thanks to the hard work of the many Apex staff and volunteers and the timely intervention of Twitch. Apex 2015 is slated to be the largest Melee tournament ever, at 1038 pre-registrants for Melee Singles, though a few notable players (Kage and ESAM) have announced that they can no longer attend due to health and personal issues. It will also be the largest Smash 4 tournament to date, boasting a healthy 837 pre-registrants.



Before this historic tournament, we had the opportunity to talk with some of the players you'll be seeing on stream. We tried to interview players who are well-known for their play, but who viewers and fans don't know quite as well as the most popular players and streamers. Watch out for their performances at Apex; it's going to be a great weekend! Interviews:

SFAT

Slox

Kalamazhu

Plup



Links:

TL Thread

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Interview with Zac "MIOM | SFAT" Cordoni by ]343[



Please introduce yourself and tell us a fun fact about yourself.

My name is Zachary Cordoni. My tag is SFAT and I play on team Melee It On Me. Currently, I'm living in Moss Beach, CA. I've been playing Super Smash Bros Melee competitively since 2006. My tag comes from me originally maining as Jigglypuff. My friends and I would joke about how Jigglypuff was "so fat", so I would wear the SFAT tag a lot. I entered my first tournament as SFAT in 2006 and have been on a mission to get as many people as possible to know the name. Since then though, I have rotated around the cast a few times and in 2008, I decided Fox was the one for me. I just really enjoyed his speed and what I could do with it.



Speaking of Fox, you did really well at Do You Fox With It, placing 3rd; of the top 6 players at that tournament, 5 were Fox mains. Is 20XX here, or was this an anomaly caused by tournament's prophetic name?

Haha, I don't think 20XX is here quite yet. Fox players are still too inconsistent for Foxes to just dominate tournaments. The tournament atmosphere is very different than the ideal place for Foxes to flourish naturally. I think that the players who placed in the top 5 at DYFWI just happen to be more clutch on that day than the players who happen to fall short.



You fell to 20th on the 2014 MIOM rankings, down from 10th in 2013; unfortunately, your great performance at DYFWI happened after the voting. Do you think your new ranking is fair? What's your goal for this year?

I think my place on the ranking in 2014 was more than fair. I under-performed all year at tournaments, APEX, MLG, Evo and The Big House 4. With that said, I plan on turning 2015 into the year of the SFAT, starting by winning APEX.



That would be a great start to 2015!



What other Fox players do you enjoy watching, and why?

I really enjoy watching all Fox players play because I can see and feel the different styles within each one. Some personal favorites of mine include Mango, Lucky, Colbol, Leffen, and Silent Wolf. Each has their own flavor of Fox, [but] the only Fox player that really makes me understand how this character should move around is PewPewU.



Fox's movement is definitely one of the most appealing aspects of playing him! However, playing Fox requires pressing a lot of buttons. Many technical players, especially Fox players, are starting to have hand and wrist problems. Have you had any hand/wrist pain? What do you do to keep your hands in good shape?

Ever since DYFWI, my forearms have had some pain. In fact, I couldn't play for a week after DYFWI because my forearms felt like they were ripping everytime I picked up a controller. After that tournament, I started being more cautious with my hands. I began keeping hands warm, stretching my wrists and forearms, and cutting down my practice to only a couple ours every other day. Now, I'm only getting forearm pains after large tournaments where I've been playing for 3 days straight, 8+ hours a day. My doctor recommended that I take Ibuprofen to reduce the inflammation in my forearms if I know I'm going to play for a long time, so I'm going to give that a try.



Wow, that sounds painful! Good to hear you're making an effort to keep yourself healthy, and I hope you recover as soon as possible!



Now let's talk a bit about doubles. You and Kevin "PewPewU" Toy form one of the most feared 2v2 teams in the world; not only are you both individually very skilled, but your team synergy is amazing. How did you two become such good doubles players, and how do you expect to do at Apex in doubles?

When Kevin and I started playing this game (back in 6th grade), we had more people that wanted to play than setups available, so naturally, teams was the only option most of the time. Kevin and I would team a lot and we just naturally had a connection since we would spend a lot of time with each other outside of Smash. As the years went on, we just played more and more teams, gradually picking up specific "team combos" that would work against certain characters. Also, I like to think that growing up in NorCal was a big factor in fostering our teams spirit because teams has always been a big part of NorCal with teams such as "SilentSpectre+Tang" and "Falcomist+Phil". As for how we're going to do at APEX, we're done placing top 3 at nationals in teams. We're taking home the gold this time.



After your performance teaming with Shroomed at Paragon, winning seems very doable! On the other hand, PewPewU plays Marth, who's usually not considered a top teams character. How is the Fox/Marth team? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

Marth is definitely a weaker character in teams than he is in singles. He falls short in the aspect of getting kills and he's normally very easy to overwhelm; however, he excels at getting grabs and if the Marth is skilled enough, he can easily be an incredible force on the ledge. This is what Kevin (PewPewU) does a fantastic job of, putting on unbelievable amounts pressure on the ledge by threatening with those gimps. Also, since I'm Fox, I'm in the front line most of the time, and Marth, or rather Kevin, is very good at picking up pieces that get tossed his way. He is able to convert those pieces into kills or setups for kills (i.e. grabs).



Name one player you really want to beat.

Only one player? I want to defeat them all, but if I had to choose one, I would say Leffen is who I want to defeat the most in tournament.



Which player had the greatest influence on your play style?

PewPewU and Shroomed [Dajun "Shroomed McDaniel] for sure. Kevin's methodical patience and DaJuan's incredible ability to overwhelm a player have really rubbed off on me. Although, Mango and Lucky are also big influences in terms of punish game.



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

Hmm, you know, I'd like to say the NorCal trifecta is going to make the biggest splash, but I don't think it would really be that big of a splash if we won. The biggest splash is going to come from a person nobody else is watching, and I think that player is going to be Slox from New England.



Who's going to win the Norcal vs Florida crew battle?

NorCal. No doubt. Florida has really great players, but they're just going to be a warm up for us for bracket.



You're usually wearing headphones when you appear on stream. What music do you listen to while playing?

I listen to all sorts of music. I've listened to Beethoven, Armstrong, Swift, and so many others. It's not really about what kind of music I listen to. It's more about how the music helps me reach that zone every competitive player has experienced, the zone where all you are focusing on is the match at hand and everything else is white noise.



Rock, paper, or scissors?

Woah, I can't reveal my ultimate strategy!



Any last shoutouts?

Shoutouts to team Melee It On Me for always being behind me, along with all my friends and family members. Huge shoutout to NorCal for being the best region in the world and for raising me. But most of all, shoutouts to my best friend BobbySiege for being my mental coach at all the tournaments I've ever competed in. Letting me call him whenever I needed it, whether it was to ask for a game plan or just to vent about a loss. Love you Bobby.



Follow SFAT at @MIOM_SFAT!







Interview with Anthony "Slox" Detres by ]343[



Please introduce yourself.

My name is Anthony but my tag is Slox. I live in Connecticut and I've been playing since 2009. In my group of friends, I'm known to change characters very often but I've been preparing my Fox mostly for Apex.



You've improved massively in the last few years, going from a relatively unknown player to #62 on the MIOM Top 100 list. To what do you attribute your improvement?

There are a lot of factors I can attribute my improvement to and a lot I'm probably not even aware of. I would say playing the game a ridiculous amount was one of the biggest factors. These last two years I was playing the game roughly ~30/hrs a week, nearly every week. Some other things would be a constant evaluation of my mindset, traveling to tournaments whenever possible, and setting goals constantly.



New England has a huge contingent of players going to Apex this year. Though many of them are newer players, many of them have been improving very quickly; hopefully they can follow in your footsteps! Who are a few up-and-coming New England players to watch out for this year?

As a competitor, I'm stoked to see the newer players improving so rapidly. In my opinion the players to watch right now are DOOM (UCONN / Peach), Klaps (UMB / Falcon), and Bolt (Falco). Although Bolt isn't as new to the game, his thirst to improve rivals all the newcomers. All three of the players have taken games or sets off of New England's top players and have shown consistent improvement these last few months.



If you include inactive players, who are the top 5 in New England right now?

Wow, this is really tough. It might take me a little longer than I expected.



[5 minutes later]

1. Slox

2. Zoso

3. Darc

4. th0rn

5. KDJ



Cort doesn't make the list but I know he could rival any of the listed players if he chose to compete again. Our Top 10 list is equally impressive. The gap between the Top 5 and Top 10 is very slim, boasting other ranked players such as Swiftbass and Lord HDL.







What are your goals for Apex 2015? Sounds like a reasonable list, though apparently the panelists for the MIOM rank aren't quite up-to-date yetWhat are your goals for Apex 2015?

when ideally I would be closer to The Moon (#30).



My goals at Apex, to keep it short, are first in singles and top 5 in doubles with my teams partner and friend, $mike. Haha. The MIOM rankings are based on a chosen panel of ~30 players/commentators from across the world and despite my recent performances in New England and Tristate, it's hard to follow every local considering just how much Melee has continued to grow all around the world. I can't blame people for ranking me next to Tafokintswhen ideally I would be closer to The Moon (#30).My goals at Apex, to keep it short, are first in singles and top 5 in doubles with my teams partner and friend, $mike.



Speaking of Tafokints, how do you think you'll do in your money match against him?

To be completely honest, I'm very confident going into the money match. If my recent results against my regions' Sheik players suggest anything, it's that I'm more than ready. However, I never take an opponent lightly and I know he's been practicing non-stop in the best region in the world. Knowing that has given me all the more reason to stay in the lab and study up.



That's a good attitude to have!



You mentioned you were planning on going mainly Fox at Apex, but you seem to play a lot of Captain Falcon as well; when do you decide to use one character over another?

Usually at the character select screen!

Otherwise, I try to make my choices based on the other player or matchup. I'm a very emotional player. I guess I could just chalk it up to intuition.



What other Fox and Falcon players do you enjoy watching, and why?

I really enjoy watching most of the high level Fox players such as Hax, Lucky, SFAT, and Silent Wolf. They all bring something different to the table and I learn something new every time I watch them.



S2J is my favorite player and easily my favorite Falcon. He's probably the reason I still play the character now. He does things that I never knew were possible, in high stakes tournament sets, on a very consistent basis. I don't think there's another Falcon player who's nearly as fun to watch.



I think many fans agree with you about S2J!



Lately, many technical Fox players, such as Hax and Fiction, are starting to have hand and wrist problems. Have you had any hand/wrist pain? What do you do to keep your hands in good shape?





Lately, I try to take breaks during smashfests and not play too much during tournaments. There are plenty of helpful things you can do during both, such as taking notes in between matches and stretching.



There are some great resources out there about stretching. Here's MIOM's article on the subject: I've actually had recurring wrist pains for a while now. I've been putting off addressing the problem because Apex has been right around the corner. With this in mind, I've been an advocate to my local scene about stretching and taking care of your wrists.Lately, I try to take breaks during smashfests and not play too much during tournaments. There are plenty of helpful things you can do during both, such as taking notes in between matches and stretching.There are some great resources out there about stretching. Here's MIOM's article on the subject: Beware of 20XX: Proper Stretching and Breaks



I'm glad you're actively working on taking care of your wrists, and I hope you recover soon!



Now for some shorter questions. What's your favorite matchup?

To play: Falcon vs Marth. To watch: Fox vs Falco.



Name one player you really want to beat.

Hax. I've gotten really close to beating him plenty of times and I think the next time we play will be it.



Which player had the greatest influence on your play style?

Mang0. Although I didn't understand his decision making early on, the way he approached the game looked way more fun than the normal "East Coast" style which I wanted to stray away from.



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

The Moon. We have a friendly rivalry and he's going into Apex 2015 with some great wins under his belt.



What pre-tournament or pre-game rituals do you have?

Meditation. It's something I haven't been doing lately but when I do it has a big impact on my focus. [That], and staying hydrated at tournaments.



Rock, paper, or scissors?

Paper, the anti-meta.



Any last shoutouts?





A special shoutout to Bolt for getting me deep into this ridiculous game and playing an unhealthy amount of Melee with me. He's the Lucky to my Mang0. I'd love to give a shoutout to my not so small sub-region: SoCut (Southern Connecticut). Every single one of these guys are hungry to get better and they have played a huge part in my improvement.A special shoutout to Bolt for getting me deep into this ridiculous game and playing an unhealthy amount of Melee with me. He's the Lucky to my Mang0.



Follow Slox at @Slox_!







Interview with Kyle "Kalamazhu" Zhu by Kyuukyuu



For all the uninitiated TLers, let's start with an introduction of yourself.

My name is Kyle and my tag is Kalamazhu, but people call me Kzhu. I main Peach and I've been playing competitively for about five years. I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and go to school at the University of Michigan. I'll also be going to Apex.



So you started around 09 then, and made your first regional power ranking in 2011. Now you've rocketed to the MIOM Top 40. How much would you say you've improved since then, and how has the Michigan community gotten better?

Wow, yeah. So when I joined the community I actually started off placing not too terribly because I played a bunch before I got into tournaments. My friends and I would just play smash at school every day, and we knew about the competitive scene then so we weren't too terrible. But of course the scene was much smaller and much weaker than it is now... players like Dope, Mikey Lenetia, and Shady dominated the scene. One of my good friends I played with back at school was Prince Abu, who is a very good Puff main now.



So, I quickly climbed the ranks in Michigan, and have been one of Michigan's top players for awhile now; since then, our whole scene has gotten significantly better. Juggleguy helped keep the Michigan community alive by hosting frequent tournaments in Michigan and even nationals like The Big House series.



Did you always main Peach?

No, I started off playing Falco and then switched to Ice Climbers, but I quickly switched to Peach when I discovered I was doing much better with her. Probably because I liked to spam down smash. But I've been maining Peach for about five years now.



You came into the spotlight relatively recently on a national scale with your performance at The Big House 4, placing 9th in a field of almost 600. Alongside guys like Kels (7th), did you ever feel like your region was being unfairly slept on before?

Haha, I actually don't feel that way at all. There is a noticeable difference between the Midwest and the West Coast, I think, but I do think we have some hidden bosses that can make huge upsets against Top 30 players. For example, California has like 10-15 players better than all the Midwest players. As for other regions, I actually think we'd beat Canada, and can beat some regions of the East Coast, if we exclude Florida. It's unfortunate for us because we have been weak for pretty long and we have to work that much harder to catch up to other regions, but I think we're getting there fast.



Who would you say are the Top 5 players in the Midwest?

Duck, Kels, Dart, me, and Frootloop. There are a ton of players here that can compete with us, though.



Many would consider you part of the cluster of Peach mains such as MacD, VanZ, Bladewise, Excel Zero, etc. who are vying for that spot just under Armada. Who do you think will be the first to reach that level, or break away from the group?

I don't think any of us will catch up to his level. Armada is way too good. But... I think I will be the closest.



What other Peach players do you enjoy watching? You're known for taking literal notes on Armada; is there anyone else you feel plays differently enough from you that you have a lot you could learn from?

I'm going to be honest, Armada is the only Peach I watch to improve myself. I've seen Bladewise and Excel Zero do some interesting things, though.



Armada has said that Peach vs. Jigglypuff is an "impossible" matchup. What do you think about that? Have you ever considered picking up a secondary?

Yup. I've been using Fox for Puff for a long time, about as long as Armada has been using Young Link. However, against Puffs that I think I can beat with Peach, I just use Peach because that matchup has less variance in it, if that makes any sense. I've used Fox before for matchups like Marth, Sheik, and Falcon before but I think those days are over. But, yes, Peach vs. Puff is terrible. Worst matchup out of the Top 7 characters IMO.



Wait, who's the 7th best character, Falcon or ICs?

Falcon. I think Peach vs. ICs is a worse matchup, haha.



. What are your goals for Apex? Are you aiming to repeat your TBH4 performance? Okay, so not as bad as your own broken matchup. What are your goals for Apex? Are you aiming to repeat your TBH4 performance?

That might be too ambitious. My goal is to make bracket, which would be Top 32? I'm not too sure.



Who's an out of region player you really want to beat, and who's a local player you hate losing to?

I would love to beat Hax. I feel like I had him at TBH4 and would like a rematch. As for locals, I've been losing to KJH recently (a very solid technical Fox) and I would like to beat him again.



What other region do you think would be the most evenly matched in a 5v5 crew battle with the Midwest?

Canada. Maybe like, the northern half of East Coast. Europe maayybeee.



Who, besides yourself, will be making the biggest splash at Apex?

I think Laudandus is a very solid player. He'll do better than expected. PewPewU will do very very well, and KJH of course, depending on the kind of day he's having. Oh, and I really hope PC Chris does well, he was my favourite back in the day.



Let's say the Top 8 is the Big Six plus two others. Who do you think those will be, without looking at any brackets?

Hmm, that's rough. I would say Lucky, and PewPewU or Plup.



Do you have any pre-game or pre-tournament rituals?

Actually, yes. I'm very superstitious. I try to eat healthily all day, drink lots of water of course. I always empty out my pockets before I play, and ask for a handwarmer.



Any last shoutouts?

Shoutouts to the boys from Michigan going to Apex, we are going to kill it this weekend. And to Armada of course because I will be rooting for him!



Follow Kalamazhu at @MW_Buster!







Interview with Justin "Plup" McGrath by ]343[



Please introduce yourself and tell us a fun fact about yourself.

Hi, I'm Justin McGrath AKA Plup. I'm from Orlando, FL, and I have played Melee and mained Samus for about 7 years now. I guess a fun fact would be that I get super mad when I lose, even though people always tell me I look so happy when I play.



Your first national was Apex 2012, where you placed 33rd in singles. Since then, you've become a player who consistently places top 16 or better at nationals. To what do you credit your improvement?

I'd like to think I improved because I'm never content with my placement. Even at Paragon I think I should have gotten at least 4th place.



Your Apex placements have improved a lot since 2012; what are your goals for Apex 2015?

I got 13th last Apex so this time I'd like to get at least top 8. More specifically I'd like to beat players like Fiction or S2J, or anyone around that level.



You play Samus, who's not really a common character at top levels; she is, however, thought to have a pretty good matchup against the many spacies who crowd the top. What do you think about the Samus vs Fox matchup, and about how salty Chillin and Leffen are about losing to Samus players? Who are the best Fox vs Samus players, and what do they do better than Chillin/Leffen?

I think the matchup is ok right now, but it's up to Foxes to get better vs Samus. I don't think any Foxes have studied Samus or how her moves work. They just get 0 to deathed off of down airs and down smashes so they think it's a bad matchup.



I don't want to give away specifics for the Fox side of the matchup... But one thing that Foxes like Colbol or Mango do vs Samus is kind of disrespect her moves and treat her like a mid tier, as opposed to playing very careful and campy like other Foxes.



So you say Fox players don't understand Samus, but I doubt even Samus players know everything about Samus either. What Samus techs are still underexplored? Do SHFFMCs [shorthop fastfall missile cancels], bomb pressure, extender, or SWDs [super wavedashes] have the potential to be viable?

All of those except SWD (which is impossible to be consistent with IMO) are viable but I personally haven't messed around with them enough to try them in tournament.



SHFFMC is VERY good but requires a really weird movement with the control stick to do. Extender is strictly better than normal grab but you have to remember to activate it at the right times. Obviously it's DEVASTATING to try and grab someone and just have it go through them because you forgot you had extender on. Bomb pressure is neat, and I've been messing around with it lately, but it's not a reliable form of shield pressure. It definitely has uses though.



You've been playing a lot of Fox and Sheik recently; do you have any plans to pull them out at Apex, or are they mostly for fun?

Yeah, I'd love to be able to break out a godlike Fox or Sheik if I feel like my Samus is playing bad. They started out as "just for fun" characters but they're definitely getting to that tournament level I think.



You usually team with Hungrybox at nationals, but he decided to team with Mew2king this time. How often do you team with Colbol, and how do you think Samus/Fox compares to Samus/Puff as a team composition?

I only teamed with Colbol once before but I think we have good synergy. Also, we probably won't be doing Samus/Fox because I think that combo is pretty bad. I'll be playing Sheik or Fox with him most likely.







How is Samus in teams in general? Many people seem to complain that she's unable to help her partner out because she's too slow, but you and Hungrybox seems to make it work. Darn, I wanted to see more teams SamusHow is Samus in teams in general? Many people seem to complain that she's unable to help her partner out because she's too slow, but you and Hungrybox seems to make it work.

Hungrybox and I have really good synergy because we've been teaming since 2012, but in general I'd agree Samus is a pretty bad teams character.



What are your goals for Apex doubles?

Goal is winning. But realistically we probably won't do as well as when I was teaming with Hbox because we almost never play teams [together].



Which player had the greatest influence on your play style?

When I first started playing, I'd say Phanna. He has way more swag than all the other Samus players combined. More recently I think I've looked up to Armada and Hbox. They just have inspirational mindsets IMO.



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

Wizzy, 100%.



He's projected to be facing PPMD in R1 of bracket though!

In my honest and "unbiased" opinion I think Wizzy can win. He doesn't seem to choke and also has one of the most intimidating styles to play against.



Why do you often wear silly hats to tournaments? Which one is your favorite?

I don't really have a reason behind wearing silly hats; I guess it's just become tradition at this point, lol. My favorite is definitely the Spongebob hat, though.



Who's going to win the Florida vs Norcal crew battle?\

Oh please. Even if I wasn't a part of the crew battle I think Florida would win.



You've played quite a bit of SC2; have you been on teamliquid.net in the past?

Yeah, I used to go on that site all the time to watch streams.



Rock, paper, or scissors?

Hm, good question. I'll go with rock... but sometimes paper and scissors too.



Any last shoutouts?

I've never done shoutouts before! Shoutouts to people who play Melee and stuff like that I guess.



Follow Plup at @pluplue!







Interviewers:

Graphics: Shiroiusagi

Editor:]343[ ]343[ and Kyuukyuu]343[

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