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GhaudePhaede010: Does this man need an introduction? Most likely not. Would any intro do this amazing player justice? Probably not. Am I going to try anyway? Definitely! I am joined today by Super Smash Bros. Brawl best player. The standard, the epitaph, the zenith, the man, the legend, the wonderkin, the benchmark for all of us. If you are not him, you basically dream of beating him every day, every time you fire up this game. He is a multi-time national tournament winner, he has earned more than anyone else playing the game, he has won on multiple continents, been at the top of Melee, is the Ghaude of Brawl. The man's name is synonymous with Metaknight. A man of as much controversy as contribution and earnings. I have on thee other side of this interview, the one and only MEW2KING. HOLY **** MEW2KING!!!! Mew2King, congratulations on winning Genesis 2 singles and doubles. You freaking raped everyone and everything and thank you so much for keeping your word and doing this interview.
　
Mew2King: Thanks =D Glad to do it.
　
GhaudePhaede010: I am going to go straight at the biggest and most talked about subject of Genesis 2 right off top. It seems it would not be a National event without Mew2King having some sort of controversy. At Genesis 2, most of the talk was about if you were deserving of a, "red card" over the fact that you sandbagged a match against Sade in pool play. Now in my opinion, pool play is like the, "regular season" to brackets being the, "playoffs" in competitive gaming. Meaning, once you have secured your spot, you can play how you want to because you have earned the right to relax and enjoy some of the tournament. You are not entitled to play hard so the next player can get through. That job is on each player individually. The backlash was severe though and I wonder how you felt knowing about this and do you regret any of your actions regarding this situation?
　
Mew2King: I don't see the big deal honestly. It's not like I had any malicious intent. I was guaranteed 1st seed at that point no matter what happened. At Clash of Titans 5 Ally went Wolf in pools and got 2nd seed because of it but no one made a big deal of it. I already apologized to Kirinblaze for that anyway.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Since we are on the topic, I know the MLG crap is now a figment of the past and I am not going to try to pry my way into thee inner workings of that situation. What I want to know is in retrospect, is there anything you would have changed about yourself in that situation?
　
Mew2King: Lets not talk about this as it brings bad memories. That was my year's goal and I really needed the money and both got ruined.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Like I said, I am not here to pry anything so we can move on. The Unity Ruleset is one that disappoints me to no end. I am very adamantly against it usage and see it as counterproductive and very elitist in its implementation. How do you feel about this ruleset and if you had the power, what would you adjust and why?
　
Mew2King: Honestly, I don't really care much either way. The ruleset does not affect me too much.
　
GhaudePhaede010: I constantly feel like you are personally upheld to a hypocritical double standard. Because of your persona, people feel like you are too, "robotic" and far too introverted. On thee other hand, if you do something that comes off as, "natural" and even, "normal" you end up being penalized for that as well. Do you feel the double standard and how do you handle those situations?
　
Mew2King: Anything I do gets hated on a lot. I might have my problems and be a weird kid but so what?
　
GhaudePhaede010: Everyone of us has problems and is just a taste weird. Like I said, I feel too many people uphold you to that double standard. It is easier to do that to you than say, step up themselves. Anyway, most people shudder in fear when they find out they will have to play you. I know you are pretty much at the top of the game but is there anyone that you truly feel pressure or nervousness when you know you will have to play them?
　
Mew2King: I don't go into most matches thinking I'll win. I go into them thinking I'll lose so that I don't **** around and I can try my best
　
GhaudePhaede010: But since you win all the time, I find myself cheering against you because I enjoy rooting for thee underdog and you are basically never thee underdog. Does it bother you that people like me never want you to win anything? Do you have anyone that you personally root against for whatever reason?
　
Mew2King: I don't like cheering against people. Oh hell yeah that gets annoying but you have to get used to it. I'm kinda used to it (even though it sucks =/ ).
　
GhaudePhaede010: I understand it sucking and I hope you understand, I do not root for the Yankees for the same reason. Every year the Yankees are involved and it is nice to see other teams, faces, and fans earn it over the top dog. This next question is as much for Melee as it is for Brawl. Is there any player that you have never beaten that you would like to have gotten one last shot at?
　
Mew2King: I guess a rematch with Armada? Maybe some day...
　
GhaudePhaede010: A rematch with Armada would be pretty ****ing amazing. You two should just do a high dollar money match because I think everyone would want to see it. I prefer doubles to singles as most people already know. One of the main reasons is that you can team with other great players and see them for a short period as an ally and not your cut throat nemesis. Everyone I interview wants to team with you because most people agree that you are the best doubles player out there. So my question is, who is the best doubles partner for you and what does it take to get you to partner with someone?
　
Mew2King: If people take me to tournaments or do me favors, I'll team with them. It's easiest to win with Anti or Ally in my experience but I do well with a lot of people.
　
GhaudePhaede010: As far as traveling goes, you have been to some amazing places including Australia, the one place I really want to go for gaming. Where have you been that you would never want to go back to? Where would do you like to revisit? And where would you like to go that you have never been?
　
Mew2King: I'd rather not answer negative things, but I really enjoy going to California. And NJ/NY is good too (and convenient for me). Oh yeah, and I wanna go to Japan.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Semi on this topic: You have seen a lot of cities, states, and even other countries. Where is your absolute favorite spot to eat?
　
Mew2King: Hmmm. I don't know... Chipotle and In N Out are really good, or any good chicken or asian food places are generally really good as well.
　
GhaudePhaede010: I am partial to Del Taco and Jack in the Box. Oh how I miss Jack in the Box. We are all men and mostly all of us love women. So I think we all want to know what kind of women does Mew2King want to b-air, d-smash, and JV 4-stock?
　
Mew2King: Asians! >_>... what the **** I'm not answering this specifically LOL.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Wow so many men love the Asian *****es. I guess Asian *****es dabess... Because you were basically always on the road, there was a period where I thought you did not have a home. When not on the road, what do you do to relax?
　
Mew2King: I really like sleeping. Traveling is also really fun, because it's always a new adventure. I enjoyed doing this because I want to live life to the fullest instead of wasting it, but I believe I'm going to start going to college again soon and settling down more from now on and as time goes on.
　
GhaudePhaede010: In all thee interviews I have done, nobody has ever said they really enjoy sleeping so that is a first. Since starting to play competitive Smash, do you have a rough estimate of how much money you made?
　
Mew2King: 50k at most. But I've had a lot of bad luck and it should have been a lot more. My total right now is about 10k, and a lot of it (vast majority by far) goes to helping my family. I'm not lying at all.
　
GhaudePhaede010: May I please borrow a hundred dollars?
　
Mew2King: No! <_< but I do lend out money to my friends a lot. Except, I found out a lot of them aren't even friends, but people who just took advantage of me and don't intend to pay me back. niceness is my weakness I think.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Aiight, so from now on my goal is not to be the best Smash player out there; rather, to become your friend. Aside from basically ruling the community and raping the competition, what keeps you coming back? Is it all about the money? The celebrity? The whores? Is it something else that I could never understand?
　
Mew2King: It used to be about proving myself to be the best. Now that I've reached that (Even though me and Ally are essentially equals depending on who's playing better that day) it's for money. It's also kinda fun. Sometimes it isn't fun at all, but Genesis 2 was extremely fun to me.
　
GhaudePhaede010: I think only you, dmbrandon, and Fatal are openly willing to admit that money is a strong motivation. It is like other players are ashamed to admit they want the money. I think we all want money though. Going into Genesis 2 you did not seem very confident you would place first. Why was that and do you think agreeing to do this interview had anything to do with you performing so well (I like to think of you wanting to do this as a turning point)?
　
Mew2King: I don't go into matches thinking I'll win as I said. I simply try my best to make sure I do. I don't underestimate my opponents or sandbag them. When I lose I was usually either outplayed or just playing bad, but if it's a big tourney I generally don't like to underestimate my opponents.
　
Mew2King: And no, agreeing to the interview had nothing to do with it XD
　
GhaudePhaede010: Man come on now... I know agreeing to this interview had a little something to do with your success. You know in the back of your mind you were thinking, "I cannot let GhaudePhaede010 down. Gotta win for that interview" right? Heading into a big national event like Genesis 2, do you feel any extra hype or is it more of a, "business as usual" approach for you these days?
　
Mew2King: It is a combination of both, really.
　
GhaudePhaede010: You never played Wifi and I have to wonder why... were you part of that elite group that would alienate online players when at in person tournaments?
　
Mew2King: No, I was not. But it's just too laggy that's it.
　
GhaudePhaede010: A player was robbed at gun point after Friday's conclusion. Besides thinking the community is full of **** for reacting the way they did (really community, a guy gets robbed and somehow it is HIS fault? Really? Think...), your sandbagging was somehow more important and news worthy than this. I did not see one blog on the front page and other than a twitter post, I was basically thee only person actively trying to pursue information. While blogs about you sandbagging were reaching huge numbers of replies (which I did voice my opinion on), there was very little about this bit of unfortunateness. Did you hear about this and how does it make you feel to know that you sandbagging was more important to the community than the safety of the players?
　
Mew2King: This Brawl community is incredibly immature I would like to say first off. All most of these kids do is gossip or start and/or spread rumors, whether they are true or just plain made up or simply something they want to believe or doing it for attention. That's the main reason I rarely bother with this website hardly anymore. Stealing money or threatening people is ****ing rude. As someone who is actually owed about 7000 dollars from various tournaments not paying out (Winterfest SNES Pound5 Activegamers and I forget the rest) and being robbed (in 2007 I housed a bunch of people and they stole over 1000 dollars from my room just before FC:Diamond, and many other occasions I have had of similar times being robbed but I'd rather not think about it but in my life it's several thousands easily) I know what it feels like to get robbed (not gunpoint but the robbed part definitely). However, that doesn't mean you should do bad things back to other people, and what most people do is they take the bottled up anger that they have, and because of their sadness they enjoy making others sad or doing greedy things. I even used to be like that at one point but I think the older I get the more clear this becomes. This may sound stupid but one of the reasons I don't really like doing bad things is because, if heaven does exist, you don't go there if you do a lot of bad things . Also, I generally feel a lot of guilt if I were to do bad things (lying, stealing, hurting people, are all things I greatly dislike). I know this isn't part of the question you asked but it's stuff that I wanted to say anyway.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Oh my Jeebus that was totally not an answer I was expecting. But for the most part, you are correct. In my short interviewing career, I have gotten to interview UltimateRazer, Fatal, dmbrandon, ADHD (on my daughters birthday. THANK YOU ADHD), and now you as big names go. You are about as big as they get so who would you like me to interview next and why?
　
Mew2King: I really do not know. Someone you really want to interview is probably better than anyone I could tell you to interview. Hmmm... maybe Ally, Anti or Tyrant though lol.
　
GhaudePhaede010: Mew2King, thank you so much for taking the time out to do this interview. I totally love you, appreciate you, and wish you so much luck and wealth and *****es in the future. Will you please buy me a boat? If you have any shout-outs or e-hate, please feel free to send it out now.
　
Mew2King: thanks =D. And no wtf LOL. I'll buy you a toy boat that squirts water though. And for shout-outs I don't like naming specific people so I won't but the VAST majority of the rumors about me are not true and that is the truth. Reason I don't really use this site much anymore is cuz caring about it is unnecessary stress that I'd rather have ignored or out of my life. For the few that are true I'll just fix them, but the immature smash community making a big deal of everything I do (and HAVEN'T done but they think is true) and hating so much is absolutely unnecessary.
　
GhaudePhaede010: I normally do not add anything to the beginning or end of interviews (with ADHD being thee only exception) but there are a few things I feel I have to say. First of all, I feel like king of the world getting to interview amazing and not so amazing players and legends simply because they are people and I want to know about them as much as anyone else does. Second, I want to give some special shout-outs because this interview right here has earned me the freelancer badge and when I started out, I was not sure I would stay around long enough to get this far so here goes:
　
GhaudePhaede010: I want to shout-out the following people in no specific order: numonezeldafan for being my first interview and helping me develop this style. Vermanubis for basically showing the world that an amazing interview is not solely based on name recognition. dmbrandon and Inui because even when I disagree with either of you, you are both men and you understand what it takes to be real and stay integral. Neither of you sell out and I respect both of you so much for always being yourself even when we do not see eye to eye. Plus, you both raped when I interviewed you. Patg and Kyleisreal because you both take care of me. Always reading, supporting and watching since near the beginning. I would definitely not be near where I am today without you two specifically as fans. Most of the people in free play for keeping my skills sharp since I do not have the time to play like I used to. My wonderful girlfriend for giving me so much to talk about, and helping me out by asking so many important questions. A lot of the stuff I ask, especially the funnier, more eccentric stuff comes from her. My baby's momma for being so drama free and supportive (and telling me to mention this next person). Miles, my editor for putting up wth, looking over, and posting my interviews despite length, or brutal editing processes. He is a gift to me and he does so very much to contribute to this website. I feel ashamed that my baby's mother had to point out that I needed to give you this shout-out, but she is 100% correct in not letting me submit this without giving you the praise, love, and respect due to you. Thank you. My brother for being my brother. Most people have family that will support them no matter what, but not me. My brother is not a nut rider and like dm and Inui, you have to earn his respect and once you have it, the doors open. He gave me absolutely nothing in terms of respect but now he reads as much as anyone. Lastly, everyone else I have interviewed. All of you hold a special place in my heart, even if it did not go well or I did not like thee interview. Every experience is a special one and it has led to me getting big name players, and much love and respect from the community. I will never turn my back on players on that level. I appreciate every one of you. Thank you all.
　
GhaudePhaede010: For Iyolah! For Eternity!

Inui: Tonight I am honored to have the likely best Brawl Samus in the world and one of the best hosts in the Smash community, Xyro, here for an interview.  He is the host of what I think is the most successful tournament series in Smash history, if not more than that.  His HOBO series attracts national level competition consistently and normally has high turn-outs.  He is also the main host of the WHOBO series, which are basically "world" HOBOs since he intends them to be nationals.  The third installment of the WHOBO series is next month and will hopefully be the biggest one yet.

Xyro: WHAHAHAHAHAHAH! Yea man, thanks for taking the time to interview me! I've never had an "Inui interview" before so I'm sure this will be pretty tasty!

Inui: I'd like to ask you about your HOBO series, which you're most known for.  What does HOBO stand for, how many have you hosted, and why have you decided to keep this series running for so long, even after you got married?

Xyro: HOBO stands for Houston's Official Brawl Ordeal. Kinda dumb, but I needed something kinda unique/funny and I think it's worked out pretty good thus far. As of now I have done 30 HOBOs and 3 WHOBOs(as of March 2011). I decided to keep the series going because I realized it's the MAIN reason why my state is so freaking amazing. The last reasons why I keep on going with the HOBO series are because I LOVE running tournaments and the fact that it brings our entire state together. It's kinda like a massive "Smash family" reunion every month.  Oh, and to comment on you talking about me being married and how it will affect my events....it's causing me some issues. I got married this past September and at first I thought it wasn't gonna mess with my HOBOs and Smash stuff but once I got the news that my wife is gonna bust out a mini Xyro(she's supposed to have the kid in July)....all things changed that instant. Being married and having a kid on the way means I gotta grow up and do it pretty quick so I'm like 99% sure this WHOBO will be my last(spoilers!!).  I may still try to hold events but I'm not sure how I can manage a wife/kid/work/school/trolling the Houston thread and running events at the same time.

Inui:  Yeah, I've been to a few of them and both WHOBOs so far and they were pretty amazing.  I hope you can continue to host even with your family to take care of.  Next month, you'll be hosting that third WHOBO you just mentioned.  *Pound* 5 is occurring this month and then we have other big tournaments right after WHOBO 3.  You've got some stiff competition for attendance since not everyone can afford going to everything.  What sets WHOBO 3 apart from the other big tournaments going on in the first half of the year?  Why should people choose WHOBO 3 if they had to choose between all of the big events this winter and spring?

Xyro:  Yea this year is gonna have some killer events(Pound/Genesis/WHOBO/etc.) but what I think sets WHOBO 3 apart from the rest is really two major things. First of all, it's a national tournament that has LOW TIERS(1vs1/2vs2) as a side event. Most other major events do retarded stuff like Gay-, Gay+, BalancedGay or whatever other dumb hacks out there and I dont like those at all so I make it a goal of mine to be different and bring a REAL side event to the table. The second way that WHOBO 3 sets itself apart from the pack is that it's beng held at an anime convention(Anime Matsuri). Yes, it's kinda expensive, but you get a TON of things to do besides Smash: Cosplay, contests, anime showings, art, hot girls(or guys), imported cars, LARPing, Texas Showdown Tournament(SSF4/MvC3/BlazBlu/etc.), and of course the rave at midnite(Firday and Saturday only).  All of this makes WHOBO 3 a unique experience for ANY smasher. Oh and if you are SUPER lucky(or is it UNLUCKY, rofl) you may get to see the legendary WHOBO BEAST!  Here's the link to the AiB page for the event: http://allisbrawl.com/ttournament.aspx?id=10692

Inui: Haha, I've heard a bit about this "WHOBO Beast" and would like you to explain what exactly it is...

Xyro: Oh god NOOOOOO. Please don't make me tell you about that disgustingly deformed MONSTER that haunts the halls of WHOBO!!! Before I continue, I want to make SURE that if ANYBODY is gonna click the links below, you do it by your own CHOICE and I am not responsible for the night terrors you will have from this horrendous animal.  This is the first sighting of the WHOBO beast, it was at WHOBO 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOkGF0gwAfY#t=0m29s  It seems that her need to feed returned because I saw the beast at WHOBO 2 the very next year: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyUA-iedpJg#t=1m22s  Based off of the encounters with the WHOBO beast, it seems that she will never stop feeding and that must mean that she will return for WHOBO 3. It kinda makes me happy but at the same time it makes me scared. You know, at any given moment she could pick me up, do some nasty things to me, eat me and all I could do is pray that my death is fast.

Inui:  LOL I think I remember seeing her before...  WHOBO 3 sounds exciting, just like the others.  You're going to host both low tier singles and doubles, and it's no secret that you also main a low tier and have a really good shot at placing high in those since you're widely considered the best Samus.  Why do you main Samus instead of good characters and how well do you think you'll perform in the low tier events this time around?

Xyro:  I main Samus because I really want to prove to people that low tiers CAN be good if played correctly and played by a player who is also good. The problem is....this is BRAWL so there is a limit to how good she and I can be. In low tier teams I'm teaming with the legendary Gnes and he will use Mario. I'm pretty sure we can get top 3 in LT teams if we play our cards right. As for LT singles, I'm not too sure where I will place. Ally(Falcon), Poltergust(Yoshi), Noid(Samus), Espy(Lucas/Zelda), Lee Martin(Mario/others) and many other amazing low tier players will be there so it's gonna be hard to tell the placings. I also think that you(Ganondorf/Mario) and YOSH(Yoshi) will do extremely well in both events as well.

Inui:  Thanks for the vote of confidence.  I'm sure you'll do well and I'll be rooting for you.  I'd like to ask you a two-part advice question that could help some people out.  Do you have any tips for aspiring hosts to help them host successful events, and do you have any advice for low tier mains on how to overcome their disadvantages?

Xyro: The few tips I have(they are basic but they go a long way) as a TO to fellow TOs is to treat your tournament like it's the last event you will ever run and do whatever it takes(within reason) to make your players happy. Make sure ALL areas/cities/regions around you know about  your event. Pull out ALL the stops: livestream/twitter updates/facebook event pages/huge amounts of set-ups/multiple events(add LT or MT or Melee). House and transport people from OOS or OOC. MAKE SURE you stay active in your tournament thread and answer the question that appear. Oh, and DO NOT be afraid to ask other TOs or friends to help. Like I said before, all of this is pretty basic but if you do what I say you will have an AWESOME tournament and people WILL return. As for giving advice to fellow low tier mains: play to learn. Ask yourself every fight, "Why did i get hit by that? How can I avoid it or lessen the chances of me being in that situation?" Also, learn how to powershield better because you will see instant results once you get that down. No matter what though, don't give up  because you CAN get better and you CAN win!

Inui:  That's some pretty good advice.  I'd like to end this with a somewhat controversial topic you've always been heavily involved in, and that is the idea of banning Meta Knight.  MK surely has saturated the results for a while, but the argument is that he's merely being overused but isn't broken at all, and the repeated losses of top MKs to top mains of other characters backs this up.  It seems like he is indeed overused but it looks very unlikely that an actual ban will ever happen, or at least one backed by the BBR or the Brawl community overall.  What's your current opinion on MK?

Xyro: ROFL I knew this would come up at some point. I still think he needs to be banned. At the end of the day, he's impossible to counterpick by character(his WORST match-ups are EVEN) or by stage(no stage puts him at a real disadvantage). I feel that if a Smash game has a character that can't be CPed in anyway then he needs to go. I also feel than when a scene has to make rules that limit a character just to keep him in the game he needs to go. Think about it; PLANKING is an issue not because of GaW/Pit(because it's proven by frame data that a lot of characters can stop these two characters from doing it) but because of MK and Scrooging is not an issue because of Pit or CHARIZARD(lolololol) but it's because of MK. LOL though I can go on for decades, I'll stop here.

Inui: Well, you know I'm staunchly anti-ban, so we'll have to agree to disagree since we're both also pretty stubborn, lol.  Do you have any shoutouts for some people before we wrap this up?

Xyro: Yea I do. I wanna give a shoutout to YOU because you really didn't have to interview me but you chose to. It really means a lot to me so THANK YOU. I also wanna give a shoutout to any and all low tier mains out there for sticking it out and representing low tiers no matter what. And finally I wanna give a shoutout to everybody in Houston, TX (Gnes/Razer/Trela/Smoom/Illmatic/Jerm/P4/etc.) because even though we argue A LOT, they are all really cool guys and they make Houston the fun/exciting place it is today.

Inui: I definitely enjoy the Texas scene and look forward to going there again.  Thanks for the time, since this interview did take a quite a bit of time since we both had a lot to say.  Good luck with WHOBO 3, your own matches, and your life with your new family.  It's not common to have married Smashers with kids and everything in the community.  Set a good example for the youngsters!

Xyro: LOL Thank you for that! I hope all goes well with WHOBO 3 too and it better or else I'm gonna look like a fool

Inui: You'll be fine.  =]

Inui:  Good evening, Trevor.  It's nice of you to make some time for an interview, and hopefully this will help get that offline player coverage you and others wanted.  You're a top player from NJ and have been ranked 2nd there for a while right behind ADHD and you're an MLG pro.  You're very well known around here, so you don't need too much of an introduction.

Atomsk: Hello there Lucas :) . Thank you for taking time to do this.

Inui: So, you recently went all the way to Cincinnati from New Jersey for a Brawl tournament.  That tournament was School is in Session 3, an unusually large and hyped up Midwest tournament.  What made you want to travel that far?

Atomsk: Well, Elliot (Ally) was spending a week at my house since traveling back to Canada to come back to America cost lots of money, and there happened to be a tournament close by that said week. During the tournament, Elliot asked if he could spend the week again and suggested the idea of us (him and I) going to Ohio for Siis3. I was happy to house him again and more than willing to go + my parents love him.

Inui: It does seem like you two have a pretty solid friendship.  What was it like to be with the player widely considered #2 to Mew2King?  Did you get in any really good training and learn a lot?  Would you say it helped you win the tournament?

Atomsk: It was basically like being with an apathetic version of myself. Elliot mostly responds with "I don't care" to everything really so it was quite the challenge at first to do actually be active. Surprisingly, I believe in total we only played brawl like MAYBE 8-10 hours in total over the course of 2 weeks (not including the tournaments). Our time was mostly spent watching a wide collection of horror movies that I have and watching him play Dark Cloud 1. When it came to the "training" as you stated. I basically just focused on why I was losing when we were playing and kept trying to fix my habits. I learned like one or two new things, but nothing major. I feel in playing with him so much, I kinda got a better idea on how to fight/handle snake the character with MK over Dedede since I mostly played MK/Falco/ICs while Elliot and I played.  I ALSO LEARNED HOW TO PLAY SNAKE BETTER.  AS YOU SAW FROM GETTING THE **** IN TEAMS YA *****, AND IN SINGLES.

Inui: Yeah, you did beat my *** with Snake... I suck against that character.  Anyways, to get back to Ally for a moment before we continue, you ended your massive losing streak to him at that tournament.  You lost what, about 20 times in a row in tournament and money match sets to him until that day?  I doubt anyone expected it.  Ally won doubles and dominated his pool, so everyone thought he was playing well.  How did you finally beat him?

Atomsk: I pretty much just used what I had learned from the friendlies (aka handling Snake better) to win. I hadn't really taken notice of Elliot's habits while we played friendlies, but I noticed them more in the singles set, which I used to punish games 1 and 3. Game 2 he straight dominated me in Mk dittos(LIKE EVERYONE DOES) I believe it was last stock mid 30%. I counter picked BF for game 3 in an attempt to either A) have him stay MK so I could go ICs, or B) go Snake again and I could attempt again to go MK and try to win the set.

Inui: And as we know, he went back to Snake and you pulled off the win.  Then, in winners finals, you fought Zucco, which was another big surprise to everyone.  He got through Judge and Hylian to get to you and then put up a decent fight.  You two have played a lot, and you won as usual.  The one person there you were terrified to play was Lain, and he almost got to you.  How do you think things would have went if Zucco didn't stop Lain's rampage in the losers bracket?

Atomsk: In all honesty, I do not feel I am as bad vs ICs anymore as I made it out to be at the tournament. It's just my history vs that character that scared me. I believe if I had lost the first set, I would have been lame and abused the no ledge grab limit rule. Sorry Lain.  :(

Inui: I was actually sort of pumped to watch you play against him and expected him to take out Zucco.  He dropped a lot of chaingrabs, costing him that set.  Oh well.  You and Zucco, a normally pretty good team, ended up getting only 5th in teams despite everyone, including myself, expecting a clean top three finish.  What went wrong in doubles for you that day?

Atomsk: In my opinion, it was all my fault really. Zucco played amazingly well the whole day. I just played like a moron.

Inui: Nicole, a female Peach player, teamed with Coney, a top Dedede from MD/VA.  They beat your team and then ended up getting 3rd.  Did you underestimate her?  What are your thoughts on her exceptional performance in doubles?  She certainly impressed me.

Atomsk: I had visited Missouri not too long ago to visit Saffy. I had known about her skill already so saying I underestimated her would be ignorant. She preformed as well as I believed she would in teams.

Inui: I see.  Best female player in your opinion?

Atomsk: Nicole is by far the best female player, in my opinion.

Inui: Agreed.  From what I saw in teams, you were far too aggressive for some reason, which is usually the only thing that makes you lose doubles sets you otherwise would have won.  Hopefully you work on that and grow as a player.  How was your experience in the Midwest in terms of the event staff and the people?  Today, a girl player that has placed well a few times, was the main host, and Hilt helped out a lot.  How did the Midwest players and hosts treat their guests from Atlantic North and did you have fun with the people?  I sure did, and I thank Smash64 for housing us.

Atomsk: The event went very smoothly except for pools, but pools always takes far too long and that's why I hate them. I didn't really talk to any of the Midwest players that I hadn't already been acquainted with so I cannot say much. Hilt and Today both seemed extremely nice, and TKBro is always awesome to be around. Indeed, Smash64 da bess.

Inui: I feel silly asking this since we took my car and I drove most of the time, but how was the car ride?  Sometimes the journey itself can be fun.

Atomsk: While I stayed in Missouri the first time, Future, Nicole, Cook, MetalMusicMan and I went to a tournament in Iowa...which happaned to be like 6-8 hours away. This didn't bother me at all. On the way back we got lost making it even longer, so long car rides don't bother me at all anymore.   I had my iPod and Baby Zucco, Elliot, Allied the potmonster, and of course...you...

Inui: You love me so much!  =]  Would you take another long trip like that to the Midwest again?

Atomsk: Yes, I would.  

Inui: I hope you keep it up and do well in the events to come.  KTAR 3, a big NJ regional, is a few days away.  How do you feel about it considering the hype around you after SiiS3?  

Atomsk: I feel like there shouldn't be hype around me. I did well like the first time in forever XD....I will do my best though. If that happens to not be 1st or 2nd place then that means I still have work to do :3.

Inui: All right man, good luck.  Thanks for taking time out of your busy life of AiB wifi to get interviewed about that video game.

Atomsk: My busy life of watching TV.  Wifi is booty.

Inui: Haha, all right.  See you this weekend.

Atomsk: See ya.  Oh, and shoutouts to Allied! Stay free, stick to Farmville, WHICH I'M HIGHER LEVEL THEN YOU IN, YEA WHAT *****.

mikeHAZE: After writing up the last Tournament Analysis article, I quickly realized that I couldn't do this alone, so I had to bring someone with me!  Please welcome our East Coast Representative, AlliieD.
 
 
AlliieeD: Hey, what's up all?  This is Allied from New York and  I'll be reporting to you about the hottest tournaments this side of the US.
 
We're a little late this week, please forgive us; we'll be back to a normal schedule on the next article.
 
This past weekend, East Coast Brawl attended Super DSO 2, a tournament being run by ChiboSempai who is a well known host as well as a great player in the Smash community.  
 
The tournament ran Singles and Doubles for both Brawl and Brawl+.
 
Brawl Singles:
 
1: Atomsk
2: Squall
3: Ninjalink
4: Inui
5: Malcolm
5: ChiboSempai
7: MintyFlesh
7: Izumi
 
Brawl Singles had some pretty interesting results.  Atomsk placed first, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but the battle to first place is something to be talked about.
 
As you see, Squall got second place.  If you're unfamiliar with Squall then let me enlighten you.
 
Squall is considered PA's best player (I don't know if it's official yet).  Last weekend was disappointing for him: he placed 17th at Asylum, losing to Deltacod, who is New Jersey's best Yoshi. Squall was kinda depressed at DSO, questioning even entering the tournament, but with some support from Vex Kesrani and I he decided to enter. 
 
Squall had an INSANELY tough bracket.  He showed us that he's a force to reckoned with. In winners bracket, he took out players like Nasty, Will - who is considered the best Donkey Kong, Ninjalink, Inui, and then finally in Winners' Finals he took out Atomsk.
 
Stacked bracket if you ask me.  
 
In the losers' bracket, Atomsk took out Ninjalink for second place.  Ninjalink, who got 3rd, had an impressing killing spree in losers' bracket after being knocked out by Squall early on in the tournament.  In losers' he defeated Xzax, Mintyflesh, Inui, and Malcolm before losing to Atomsk. 
 
Ninjalink definitely showed off his amazing Diddy Kong once again in the tournament, as well as his surprise guest: Pikachu.
 
Surprising results, and a very fun tournament. As far as tournament hosting, let's give shout outs to Chibo! He did a very good job. And special shout outs to Alex Strife for making a guest hosting appearance. 
  
  
  
mikeHAZE: Yo guys, this is mikeHAZE and I'll be bringing you the scoop on what happened on West Coast's regional tournament this past weekend - TourneyPlay #5.
 
This was the fifth tournament being run by GCguy (Chris), owner of Gameclucks - a gamestore residing in Washington.  GCguy has been known for hosting some well run, well hyped tournaments, so it was good to see him out in Southern California running a regional outside of his comfort zone.
 
The two day tournament saw a plethora of different games: Brawl, Melee, Halo 3, Super Street Fighter 4, Call of Duty: MW2, and TVC.
 
Brawl had 79 entrants for singles, which included players from all over the West Coast, as well as a special Midwest guest - Mew2King.
 
Singles Results:
 
1: Mew2King
2: Tyrant
3: mikeHAZE
4: DSF
5: Darklink
5: DEHF
7: Rich Brown
7: Warpstatus
 
The first question you may ask yourself: Who is Darklink?  Well first, he doesn't main Link.  Darklink is a Meta Knight player, who is also considered the best player in Arizona.  In the winners' bracket, he defeated Tyrant, Erow, and was then sent to losers' bracket by mikeHAZE in Winners' Semifinals.
 
Warpstatus and Rich Brown did really well as you can see.  They actually played each other first match of Pro Bracket, with Rich Brown taking the win in a close 2-1 set.  Rich also took out Zex before being sent to losers bracket by Mew2King.
 
Warpstatus had a good run considering his loss vs. Rich in the first bracket match.  In losers bracket he took out Brent, Tearbear, FOW, and CPU before losing an intense, last match set vs. DEHF.
 
DEHF took a early loss in the winners' bracket after losing to mikeHAZE 2-1, and was later taken out by DSF when they met in losers'.
 
In winners' finals, mikeHAZE played Mew2King.  Unfortunately (yes, I'm biased) Mike lost to Mew2King 3-1. 
 
In the losers' bracket Mike faced Tyrant, who made quite a comeback in losers' bracket despite his early defeat.  After his loss vs. Darklink, he defeated: Typh, Oki, Fiction, Rich Brown, Darklink, DSF (who forfeited), then finally faced and defeated mikeHAZE in Losers' Finals 3-1.  Tyrant met Mew2King in grand finals where he lost 3-0.
 
Mew2King dominates once again.  With MLG coming up pretty soon everyone is wondering if he will be able to stay static with his wins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uMe2Yc3K7E


So we got this interesting film called “A Smasher's Weekend” by Christopher Hill. Its intent is to document a weekend at a large tournament. The tournament they are going to is called R3, which stands for Revival, Redemption, Rape. It’s a large West Coast event that Chris, DJ, Mike, and Roy are practicing for the night before. I saw that they were practicing doubles in the film, so they know what’s good! Anyways, they wake up early at 9am and get ready to go. They appear pretty tired. Then again, what Smashers aren’t tired when they wake up for a tournament? Most of us are used to waking up later and practice a lot before a tournament only to stay up late in the process. However, we persevere, and play well anyways, hopefully.



Continue reading SmashScene: A Smasher's Weekend!!!

Inui: So, I've got ADHD here, who's known as the best Diddy Kong in the world at this point after dethroning a few other contenders like NinjaLink and Gnes by scoring bigger wins and just outperforming everyone besides Ally, Mew2King, Dojo, and Tyrant in tournaments these days. I remember when you first entered the scene and I watched you improve faster than anyone else. How did you improve so quickly? How does being at the top of your character's metagame feel?


Continue reading Talkin With ADHD!

Let me explain the whole point of an article about doubles first.  Some of you may not like doubles, some of you may be horrible at it and so you don’t care, and some of you might just think I suck so you don’t care what I have to say.  Well, this article can easily change all of that.  If you already love doubles, then you’ll enjoy reading this for sure.  If you doubt my credentials when it comes to doubles, just go take a peek at my medal case.  You’ll see tons of doubles medals dating back to the release of Brawl and even many national and regional medals for doubles, including lots of first place medals.  My normal partner is Atomsk, so a lot of what I will explain will be based on my experiences with him.  I have also teamed with dmbrandon, ChuDat, ksizzle, Bum, Ether, teh_spamerer, and Mew2King, all with great success.


Continue reading Talkin' doubles With Inui!

A lot is riding on the results of Genesis. Players will be flocking from all over to prove their might.
Among these players stand the best of the best, the pros. M2K, Ally, Tyrant, FICTION, NinjaLink, Typh, and many others will be attending. There will be so much talent all in one place. Anything can happen!
Will M2K once again rise above all others? Will Ally knock him down?
Today I bring you an interview with three top players. Two come from the East and one from West!

Atomsk-Don't get grabbed!
Zolga: To start things off, who are you?
Atomsk: I'm Atomsk. I'm mostly known for my King DeDeDe but I'm trying to play the Ice Climbers more because I find them more fun.
Atomsk: I still have a very good King DeDeDe though. People tell me I look like I'm thinking really hard when I play him.
Zolga: You put on your serious face; Brawl is serious business remember?
Atomsk: I guess you could say that.
Zolga: Now to a topic that we all are interested in. How do you feel about the huge amount of Brawl talent that will be attending Genesis?
Atomsk: I think it will be an interesting experience.
Even when I was just starting out, I always wanted to meet out of state players. Just to meet new people. I loved to see the difference in playstyles.
Zolga: Thats good, do you feel you made a good impression?
Atomsk:Yeah, I'm glad that most people have liked me so far.
Zolga: Spread the love Atomsk.
How do you feel the international players will do?
Atomsk: For Brawl?
Zolga: Both Melee and Brawl please.
Atomsk: I believe that the ones playing Melee will do well, but I'd expect America to out place most of them.
Japan scares me though.
Zolga: Do you think our talent will be too much for them?
Atomsk: Whenever you go into enemy territory its natural to feel overwhelmed. As long as you keep calm and play smart you will do just fine.**
Zolga: What do you think about the low tier mains?
Atomsk: To be honest I know I'll get hate for this.
Low tiers are nothing but gimmicks in this game.
Few low tier characters have potential.
Zolga: You know I main a low tier *ANGER*
Zelda/Shiek kicks butt.
Atomsk: Good, I think that they are underrated.
Zolga: Most low tier mains moan and whine about how high tiers are cheap. Personally I like the challenge.
Atomsk: Most of them are scrubs. To be honest in this game being challenged by characters like Meta Knight, Diddy Kong, Wario, and the Ice Climbers are actually really fun.
Zolga: I love playing Meta Knights actually.
Atomsk: Me too, NJ has so many scrub Meta Knights.
Zolga: I feel that to beat high tiers you just need to learn the matchup.
Atomsk: Yeah, if you don't feel like putting in the effort to learn matchups you shouldn't call anything cheap.
Zolga: My fellow low tier mains will hate me for this, Go learn a high tier! Stop crying and moaning!
Atomsk: That'd honestly be a good thing.
Zolga: What do you think about the Melee talent?
Atomsk: I think there will be a good amount of it.
I want to see M2K beat Mango for once.
I gotta believe in my East Coast buddy.
Zolga: East Coast for the win!
Zolga: Which region do you think brings the most to the tournament?
Atomsk: In Brawl, I think EC is bringing a lot of talent.
In Melee WC is bringing the skill.
Zolga: Who do you think will triumph in Brawl Singles?
Atomsk: M2K or Ally to be honest.
I hope I do well though.
Zolga: A couple more then we are done.
What do you prefer Brawl or Melee?
Atomsk: I like both equally, I'll play Brawl more only because I am better at it.
Zolga: What do you think are the chances of some unknown player rising to the top?
Atomsk: For Brawl it's possible. Often WiFi players do good in tournaments.
Zolga: Last one.
Will Genesis even finish?
Atomsk: Hell no.
Zolga: Any shoutouts?
Atomsk: I love you Mike Haze! Eggz and his "ADD"!
I'm looking forward to meeting FICTION.
Zolga: Thank you for taking time to be interviewed.

Jem-Fear the Tornado!
Zolga: Let's get this started! Who are you?
Jem: I'm Jem, a MetaKnight main from Washington.
Zolga: A MetaKnight main? How original!
Jem: PLAY TO WIN! No, I'm kidding he is just fun.
Zolga: How do you feel about the boatload of talent that is going to be at Genesis?
Jem: I think it will be really exciting. Every character has a few really good representatives. Even the low tiers, I have a feeling that a lot of the top tier players will be caught off guard. It's cool that even Australians are coming.
Zolga: What about our players?
Jem: I'm very excited for Ally/M2K/DSF/Tyrant/DEHF/Fiction and all the other pro talent to be at one tournament to see who's the best.
Zolga: How do you think the international players will adapt to our style?
Jem: I personally haven't kept up with the out of country talent. I know Japan is really good, but I'm not sure if Australia is any good. I guess we will find out. I feel that our talent will be too much for them though.
Zolga: What do you think about the low tier mains?
Jem: I think because most low tier mains study the high tier matchups, they can cause some upsets.
Zolga: I'm a low tier main myself, but even I don't think they have much of a chance agianst the high tiers.
Jem: M2K, Ally, DSF, and Tyrant are too good.
Zolga: At the top of the crop we have your very own main, MetaKnight. How do you feel the non-Meta players will do?
Jem: Everyone studies the matchup so it's hard to win even as a MetaKnight main like myself
Zolga: I just feel if you learn the matchup you have a shot at winning; don't whine about how they are so cheap
Jem: Yeah that's pretty much how I feel too. A lot of people just want tournaments to be easier. I still don't see Metaknight getting banned though even if he wins. Sure some of us play this at or near a pro-level, but there's never been a character ban in Smash before. Everyone knows Smash is considered a party game forced competitive, so I don't see it happening, its still fun.
Zolga: What do you think about the Melee talent?
Jem: I think that the Melee talent is incredible.
I personally don't see anyone beating Mango though. I am rooting for some underdogs, particularly from Washington. I hope Silent Wolf and Eggz do well. I see M2K maybe taking a set in finals if Mango sandbags, but not the final set.
Zolga: Which region do you think brings the most skill to the tournament?
Jem: California, hands down. California has the best melee player in the world, and arguably the best brawl players(s) in the world. I think most the regions showing up to Genesis are strong, considering all that's on the line. We're about to show you that Washington is a strong region too.
Zolga: Gotta represent your region.
Jem: I love Washington!
Zolga: Do you think M2K will rape singles?
Jem: I've been talking with M2K lately. I think it's fifty-fifty on if he'll win. Ally proved it's possible to beat M2K, even when he's trying. I know DSF has been practicing hard to reach the top again. I'm going to go ahead and say that I do think M2K will win singles. Though I think a few can give him a good run for his money.
Zolga: A few more questions.
Do you prefer Brawl or Melee?
Jem: I prefer Brawl but I think Melee is the better game.
I'm pretty good at Melee too and I do think it is more fun.
Zolga: I like that attitude; I feel both bring different things to the table.
Jem: Absolutely. It's too bad the communities hate each other.
I'm a big fan of both.
Zolga: I suck at Melee but I still think it's fun.
Last one.
Zolga: Do you think Genesis will even finish?
Jem: I predict it will finish at 4 AM in the morning.
Better reschedule those Sunday morning flights.
Jem: I'm confident in Sidefx and D.B.R. to do a good job.
Zolga: Thanks for taking time to talk with me. Do you have any shoutouts?
Jem: Shoutouts to Eggz, Washington, my SoCal friends, and everyone who's rooting for me! Thanks a bunch and everyone COME TO GENESIS. And come to TOURNEYPLAY in October! Tyrant/M2K/DSF are coming! You'll have fun in Washington!

Inui- Master of Doubles
Zolga: Let's get going! Who are you?
Inui: Inui (Lucas DeLorenzo), I main Meta Knight, Snake, and Ike.
Those are the characters I use in tournaments.
Zolga: I heard you prefer doubles to singles; Why is that?
Inui: I find doubles to be a lot more fun, so I'm more motivated. I think it takes a lot of actual skill instead of just abusing top tier characters and camping the whole time. I like teamwork and having a lot of things happening at once.
Zolga: Who would you say has been your best partner?
Inui: Mew2King and Atomsk by far. I almost always team with Atomsk. We have opposite play styles and know the other's style so well. It works out. I can play any role and team with anyone good and be pretty successful, though. I've been with ksizzle, ChuDat, teh_spamerer, Bum, to name a few.
Zolga: What are you excited for at Genesis?
Inui: Brawl doubles and regional crews. I'm the captain for Atlantic North, so there's a lot of pressure on me to lead my team to victory. I'm worried that if we lose, West Coast will think they're better even though we're using a lot of B team players and are deprived of many powerhouses while they won't be. In Brawl doubles, I need to make cash because I'll be far in the hole if I don't make my money back.
Zolga: What do you expect from Brawl Singles?
Inui: No idea, really...I'm going to actually try this time, even if it means camping and being all boring. I'm hoping Atomsk, NinjaLink, Mew2King, ADHD, and the other powerhouses from my region do well. I'm especially hoping they stop the Meta Knights from taking all of the top spots. I expect Mew2King to win and for Ally to place extremely well, but everything else is up for grabs between the top players.
Zolga: What about Melee Singles?
Inui: I really hope Mew2King finally beats Mango, but he probably won't because he plays way too much Brawl.  Mew2King needs to realize that his 2007 skill won't beat Mango. So, I'm expecting Mango to win and for Mew2King to take second. After that, I don't have any idea. I want to see Kage win because I love Ganondorf and admire the way Kage plays and his sportsmanship.
Zolga: What do you think of all the international players coming to Genesis?
Inui: I'm really excited about that!  I want to see how they stack up against us. I got into the SBR not too long ago and got to know and interact with some of the best minds in Europe and Australia. I'm looking forward to meeting them.  Their metagames are different, so I want to see how they play.
Zolga: Do you think that any international players will place well?
Inui: I don't really expect it, to be honest. They might, and I'm not saying they're bad, but I just believe that the skill level here is higher. Their lack of high level Meta Knight experience may hinder there ability to place.
Zolga: Speaking of Meta Knight, how do feel about his potential ban?
Inui: I'm extremely anti-ban. I'm even working hard on the anti-ban team in the SBR right now. Because I see him lose so frequently to other characters here, I don't believe he should be banned. I'm hoping that our Meta Knight slayers take out all of the Meta Knights at Genesis to prove it. Go Atomsk, ADHD, NEO, Pierce, Vex, Malcolm, and NinjaLink!
Zolga: Meta Knight slayers, the community will love that.
You don't expect any Ganondorf's to be winning?
Inui: Um...he's the worst character by far. All of his moves are slower than reaction time, meaning he can't ever win against anyone with a brain. It's really sad since he's my favourite character ever. At least he's usable in Melee.
Zolga: Which region do you feel brings more to the tournament?
Inui: West Coast because it's their home region. They will have all of their powerhouses there and have a big advantage.  Mew2King also said their top players are a bit better than ours. I'm excited to see what happens. I hope Atlantic North brings a strong anti-Meta Knight metagame to their attention and wins.
Zolga: What do you think are the chances of some unknown placing well?
Inui: It's almost impossible. The established top players are too good and too numerous
Zolga: Do you even think Genesis will finish?
Inui: Yeah. The hosts seem to really know what they're doing, and I'll gladly help them if they need it.
Zolga: Which game do you prefer?; Melee or Brawl.
Inui: I have more fun playing Melee, but Brawl has more people and more money right now.
Zolga: What do you think of people calling Brawl a party game?
Inui: It is. Just like Melee and 64. They're all party games than we limited and created rules for in order to make them competitive by our own definition of competitive.
Zolga: That was a very well thought out answer. I expected you to go into "rage mode".
Inui: I try to be logical.
Zolga: Well we are done here, do you have any shoutouts?
Inui: Well... I've already shouted out my Atlantic North homies, no? I'm looking forward to meeting people like Praxis, Fiction, SK92, and other West Coast pros. I'm super excited for this weekend.  SHOUTOUT TO THE WHOLE COMMUNITY!  LET'S MAKE THIS THE BEST TOURNAMENT EVER!

**Very Good Advice
Special thanks to UmbreonMonarchy for proofreading this.

Inui: I know the Brawl vs. Melee debate is probably old by now, but I personally haven't seen much intelligence on either side.  It's often just whining about something with regards to one of the games.  You're a top player in both Melee and Brawl at this point and you play both competitively fairly often, so you should be able to offer some of the best insight into this debate so far.  You bash Brawl often, but it seems you attend one Brawl tournament for every time you insult Brawl.  This brings me to my first question.  You say Brawl isn't that fun and that every other fighting game is better, yet you are active in the tournament scene for Brawl.  Why do you attend Brawl tournaments so frequently?
 
teh_spamerer: I attend Brawl tournaments so frequently because I always win money in them and I like some of the people in the community.  At 90+% of the Brawl tournaments I have gone to I spent the entire tournament playing friendlies on a Melee setup and my Brawl tournament matches.
 
Inui: When Brawl first came out, you defended the game when known Melee players bashed it from the start.  I remember that you actually switched sides pretty quickly and began bashing Brawl.  What made you change your mind?


Continue reading Inui interviews teh_spamerer on Brawl vs. Melee

A few weeks ago, many of you submitted articles and writings in order to prove you had what it takes to become an AiB Content Team member. After hours of examining MANY excellent submissions, we are proud to announce the new AiB Content Team members! (NOTE: These are the new additions to the content team, not a new content team!)
Please give a warm AiB welcome to the new team members!

Continue reading to find out who they are!

Continue reading Announcing: The New AiB Content Team Members!