Q: What drew you in to competitive Smash?
A: I grew up playing Nintendo games and loved everything I was able to get my hands on. The Smash series was my favorite because it combined so many iconic characters, from games I loved, into one fighter. I also have always been very competitive. Naturally, I would play until I was better than all my friends. After winning a school ran Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament in my sophomore year, I started looking online to find other players who could challenge me. This led me to a website known as All Is Brawl, which opened my eyes to the Smash community. Through All is Brawl, I made a lot of friends, got a look into how Smash was played at a competitive level, and got all the practice I could ask for.
Q: How long have you been competing?
A: I went to my first real tournament in November, 2008, at the age of 14 for Super Smash Bros. Brawl. From there I went to tournaments about once every six weeks, until my senior year of high school, when I was able to start going about once every two weeks. I played Brawl throughout its lifespan and switched to Smash 4 immediately on its release at the end of 2014.
Q: What is your greatest achievement in competitive Smash?
A: My greatest singular win is in May this year at 2GGC: Greninja Saga, where I beat ZeRo, the undisputed best in the world. I went on to place 5th of 350 at that event. The biggest tournament I’ve won was Port Priority, also in May of this year. I took 1st of 136 entrants while beating players such as Elegant, Locus, and Konga. However, the result I’m most proud of is making top 16 at 2GGC: Civil War in March of this year. I beat Ned, Shaky, Kome, Wrath, and Earth consecutively to place 13th of 753, at what is considered the most difficult tournament in the game’s history, and I did this during midterm week in college, while still doing well on my exams!
Q: Where do you see the future of SSB esports going?
A: These are really exciting times for Smash as an esport. The scene has grown tremendously in the last few years, moving from tournaments in garages and card shops to prestigious stages like at EVO or in the Esports Arena. Our biggest tournaments are hitting over a thousand entrants, and the number of organizations running well-executed events are at an all-time high. With the infrastructure around the community steadily improving, I can only expect smash esports to continue to grow.
Q: What would you improve in SSB esports if you could?
A: Smash’s achilles heel as an esport has always been the lack of developer support that you see in other games. Nintendo has slowly been warming to the competitive Smash scene and they look like they’re now getting ready to invest themselves further into esports. It seems possible they’ll do something big with the community in the future. Until then, however, my one improvement would be more direct support from Nintendo, particularly in the form of helping with the tournament prize pool.
Q: What made you want to join SetToDestroyX esports?
A: The main thing that set StDx apart was their flexibility with my school schedule. I’ve been taking extra classes in an effort to graduate faster, and I had a difficult time doing well at both school and competition. Now that I have one semester left, I’m planning to focus more on school, once it starts again in the fall. SetToDestroyX is willing to get me to as much as possible over the summer and work with me while I get my degree, which is something I greatly appreciate.
Q: What are your competitive goals with SSB esports?
A: My goal for Smash is to compete as hard as possible over this summer, keep my head down in the fall while I finish my education and then be able to return once again at full force in 2018. From there I’m looking to compete for as long as I’m able to.
Passionate, laid back and competitive are probably the best three words to use to describe this guy. His dedication, focus and determination to succeed in both school and SSB4 competitions is everything SetToDestroyX was looking for and more. Since joining, he has already shown great improvement and is a force to be reckoned with. CEO 2017 is where falln will get a chance to make his mark once again. You know what they say, keep going on to the next one.
Last event: 2GGC: Nairo Saga in Santa Ana, CA. 17th of 485. Victory over Kameme (ranked #11 in the world).
Next event: CEO 2017 in Orlando, FL. Last S tier event of the PGR (panda global ranking) Season
Links and Stuff...
Falln
CattyNoir
