“I was easily the most underestimated player not just in the Midwest but out of anyone” — Interview with Sothe The Balcony Follow Aug 18, 2017 · 4 min read

With less than a month until Balcy’s Palace, the Team Balcony Vegas Regional/Project M Extravaganza, we are beginning to churn out even more content. Over the next few weeks, we are gonna be giving you all a glimpse into the minds of the top talent that is coming in hot for this event.

To kick us off, we are starting with Evan “Sothe” Cunningham, arguably one of the best players from the Midwest region! Known for his aggressive playstyle and insane solar beam finishes, Sothe is widely considered the best Ivysaur in PM. He gives us some insight on his Smash backstory, the state of Project M in the Midwest, and his goals for competing at Balcy’s Palace.

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How long have you been playing PM?

I’ve been playing pm since probably the summer of 2014. My first tournament was “bloodbath and beyond” in Waterloo Iowa, which is about an hour and a half out from my hometown. That was still just 3.02 though

What’s dope about the your local scene?

What about the Midwest as a whole?

What local scene? Kidding, I like the locals because there’s always me Vs Ellis in grands, and that always at least makes for decent pm. Unfortunately I can’t style on him with Pit, but playing Ivysaur is fine. The Midwest scene at large is dope because it has me in it. Actually, it’s because even though it’s small, the players who travel REALLY travel. This pretty much ensures a lot of passion for the game at our regional tournaments.

Do you think people underestimate the top players from the Midwest?

People underestimate some and overestimate others. I’d say I was easily the most underestimated player not just in the Midwest but out of anyone (you’ll see). Otherwise, players that I really respect are Anther for being amazing and Bobby Frizz for sticking it through with Fox despite the challenges of the meta. Everyone could definitely put in a lot more work in the lab and in refining match-ups, since we aren’t exactly gonna find amazing players to practice with for every character.

What was your favorite event you’ve traveled out to?

I guess my favorite event though has to be my first real breakout performance back in November of 2015. Kings of the North IV has to be my favorite tournament because of the sheer meaningfulness of being able to be 3–0'd in winners by Professor Pro, only to make it right back to slug it out in a hype 10 game grand finals set (which is definitely worth a watch and full of hype and fun moments). That feeling of pulling through and winning the tournament against all odds against someone considered to be top 5 is something I’ve yet to match at any event. And the best part? Me and Zeal (my friend and ride there lol) were debating about whether it was worth it to drive through what was literally a blizzard, and we said “yeah, fuck it, let’s go.” Best decision of my life, I’ll tell you that.

Who would you like to beat that is travelling out to Balcy’s Palace?

I’m aiming for 1st, it doesn’t matter who I beat along the way, but I’d like to fix that 0–5 record on Sosa this year. And no, it’s not that bad, that was all on the same weekend, so I’d say I have a shot. Also, beating the hentai overlord wouldn’t be too bad either.

Shout out to any one Midwest homie?

It’s gotta be Spicy. He drives me to every out of state event, taught me how to play doubles, and still carries me in teams more often than not. If you look up homie in a dictionary, there’s no definition because it’s not a real word, BUT if it were you would find “yo spicy is the homie” in the part where they use it in a sentence.

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Balcy’s Palace is the Team Balcony hosted Project M regional going down September 9th and 10th in Vegas! Venue prices rise August 27th, so head over to the event page and make it happen.

Feel free to email teambalconysmash@gmail.com for any questions or if you need assistance in getting a ride to the event or hosing.

Stay tuned for more hype ass articles featuring the top talent their stories in the days to come.