Zapperrix's Application

Name (aka Handle):
My name is Zapperrix.

Link to your McLeodGaming Profile:
/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=20424 (I'm not allowed to post the full link because I'm a new member).

How old are you?
I am 19 years old.

Do you know anyone currently in the Back Room? How do you know them?
I have seen Press V, Agent Dell, and Terra on the McLeodGaming forums.

Which characters do you play in SSF2? Why do you play these characters? (Note: do not list characters that are not currently in the game):
I Main Lloyd, Bomberman, and Sheik. I use Lloyd because I enjoy his offense and edgeguarding ability, I use Bomberman because I enjoy his N-air and bomb setups, and I use Sheik because she is one of my mains in Melee.

I also play around with Mario, Black Mage, Ichigo, and Zelda. I use Mario because I play him in every game, I use Black Mage because of his unique moveset, I use Ichigo because of his disjointed range and F-throw chaingrab, and I use Zelda because Sheik can transform into her.

How much experience do you have with official Smash titles? (SSB64, Melee, Brawl. Include in this answer which characters you play/played.):
I have played all three official Smash titles. I have played Melee the most, Brawl the second most, and 64 the least. Melee is the only one I currently play competitively (I'm not very good to be honest).

In Melee I main Sheik and Jigglypuff. I also second Marth and Ganondorf. I also play with Mario, Luigi, Dr. Mario, and Zelda.

In Brawl I main Marth and Ike. I also play with Mario and Luigi.

In 64 I main Mario. I also play with Kirby.

Have you ever attended any Smash tournaments? If so, give some details about the tournament (number of participants, which games, etc). How well did you place?
I have been to four Smash tournaments. Two were at my high school for Brawl and two were at my university for Melee. I only participated in two of the tournaments however.

Both Brawl tournaments at my high school had around 20 people and were single elimination. I only participated in one of the Brawl tournaments and I was eliminated first round.

The first Melee tournament had almost 30 people and was double elimination. The second Melee tournament had 12 people and was single elimination. I participated in the single elimination tournament and was eliminated second round.

When did you start playing SSF2?
I started playing SSF2 the week v0.8a came out.

What is your favorite stage in SSF2? Explain.
My favorite stage is Smashville. This is my favorite stage because it has a moving platform that can aid characters by giving them breathing room which can improve their spacing, and it can also aid in recovery. In addition to that the moving platform makes it harder for the opponent to tech chase when they throw you up on the platform.

Who, in your opinion, should be placed first on the SSF2 tier list? Under competitive settings why would this character perform on a higher level than all others?
In my opinion Pikachu should be first on the SSF2 tier list. Pikachu has good dash speed and good air speed, which gives him good mobility overall. He has a great air game with F-air, N-air, and U-air. His ground game is also solid thanks to his mobility, tilts, Quick Attack canceling, and Thunder Jolt which is one of the best projectiles in the game due to its speed, range, and ability to shield stab easily. Pikachu also has a F-throw chaingrab that can zero-to-death the entire cast if ended with U-smash. He also has good kill potential with F-smash, U-smash, sweetspotted U-air, and sweetspotted Thunder which can kill under 60%. He also has a kill setup with U-smash+Thunder which will kill most of the cast at 100% or less. Pikachu's edgeguarding is also good with Thunder, Thuder Jolt, U-air, F-smash, and N-air. His recovery is also great with a combination of Skull Bash and Quick Attack. Pikachu's main weakness is having low weight. Pikachu has good mobility, good spacing, good approach options, good rushdown, good edgeguarding, good recovery, and he has a zero-to-death chaingrab on the entire cast. All of this combines into making Pikachu the best character.

Who, in your opinion, should be placed last on the SSF2 tier list? Under competitive settings why would this character perform on a lower level than all others?
Zelda should be placed last on the tier list for SSF2. She has the worst dash speed in the game and average air speed doesn't make up for her subpar mobility. Zelda is tall, light, and has low falling speed making her extremely susceptible to being KO'ed (which lowers her livability). She also has a poor approach because her best options are F-air and B-air, which gets predictable. Zelda also has poor defensive options once characters get in. Her only out of shield options are Naryu's Love or do an aerial, which gets predictable. Zelda also doesn't have a reliable projectile, which causes her to get out camped by characters that do and it forces her to approach. Zelda has kill potential (B-air, F-air, D-smash, and F-smash all kill under 90%), she has a chaingrab with D-throw that can zero-to-death many characters it ended with B-air or F-air, she has a solid air game (B-air, N-air, F-air), she has decent edgeguarding with her aerials and Din's Fire, and she has good recovery with Farore's Wind (it can also be used as a decent mixup option). Unfortunately Zelda suffers from predictability, a poor approach, a poor ground game, poor mobility, and she is easier to kill than other characters. These crippling flaws make her the worst character.

If you could make only one change to SSF2 as it currently is, what would it be and why?
I would add in Luigi because I want to see the twelve original characters in the game. I also want the character select screen to be symmetrical.

What is your view on items in competitive play?
Items should be banned, because they are too unpredictable. If they were allowed luck would be the biggest factor in a competitive match. Competitive play should test a player's skill, not their ability to get a Pokeball.

Do you have or can you download Skype? You don't need a mic or webcam.
I do not have Skype, but I can download it.

Why do you want to join the Smash Flash Back Room? What will you contribute? Why are you an exceptional applicant? Be as detailed as possible.
I want to join the Back Room because I like to discuss and research competitive Smash. I also have some experience with competitive play so I could make help with making tournament rulesets. I would contribute analysis of characters, tier list and other forms of competitive data. By joining the Back Room I believe that I can help to make the competitive SSF2 community grow.

Cake or pie? (The most important question!)
The cake is a lie, so i'll take pie.

Additional information (Include in this section anything relevant to your application. This could include links to videos of yourself playing.)
I have created a tier list. I decided to use six tiers with each tier having a character cap. There was a 4 character cap for S, A, D, and E tiers, while B and C tiers had a five character cap. The characters were placed from top to bottom in order from best to worst.

S-tier (Top):
Pikachu
Kirby
Ness
Jigglypuff

A-tier (High):
Sora
Bomberman
Sonic
Lloyd

B-tier (Upper):
Fox
Captain Falcon
Ichigo
Sheik
Naruto

C-tier (Middle):
Peach
Tails
Goku
Mario
Meta Knight

D-tier (Low):
Yoshi
Wario
Black Mage
Samus

E-tier (Bottom):
Mega Man
Donkey Kong
Link
Zelda

This tier list is not final because some characters have potential to move up or move down.

I'm thinking you don't need any follow-up questions. I've been watching you're post closely on the MG forum, and you have more than proven you're competitive knowledge and ability to analyze characters. I think you're perfect to be accepted in the Smash Flash Back Room. Great job.

Wow, thanks!

Yay!

When can I start posting in the private forum?

You have to wait for Void or Crabby to be around. They are the one that can give you the "Trial member" statut.
However nobody knows when they are around. I waited for quite a bit myself.

Thanks for the info!