Starkiller2's Application

Name (aka Handle):
Starkiller2.

Link to your McLeodGaming Profile:
forums.mcleodgaming.com/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofileu=19672.
Here's my profile (also Starkiller2).

How old are you?
I am 17 years old.

Do you know anyone currently in the Back Room? How do you know them?
I do not know anyone in the Back Room.

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):
My main character is Fox, but I keep Captain Falcon and Sheik as secondaries.  Fox has a ton of utility in his moveset, most notably with his shine and lasers, but evident in his horizontal and vertical speed.  I love Falcon's grabs, aerials, and general movement, which allows him to combo very effectively.  In regards to Sheik, her (yes I refer to  Sheik as a girl) offstage game is amazing.  This allows me to make plays that are exceptional and can secure kills/gimps.

How much experience do you have with official Smash titles? (SSB64, Melee, Brawl. Include in this answer which characters you play/played.):
I do not have much experience with SSB64, just that I spam Pikachu's down-special.  In Melee, I main Falco and have Fox, Marth, and Jiggs in reserve.  I have a lot of experience with Melee; I am working at becoming a more active member in the competitive community.  In Brawl, I have had experience, but I enjoy Melee's competitive scene more than Brawl's.  In Brawl I play Marth, but recently started using Falco (after I started using Falco in Melee).

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 attended a Brawl tournament.  It was a relatively small tournament located in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, consisting of around 15 people. It was my first competitive tournament, and I placed very poorly, but I did not come in last and 90% of the other successful players were Meta Knights (moral victory).  On July 1st, 2013, I participated in a Melee tournament (Vancouver Overture 19).  There were 27 entrants, and I placed 17th.

When did you start playing SSF2?
I started playing in v0.8, after being referred to by a friend.

What is your favorite stage in SSF2? Explain.
Jungle Hijinx.  The field is spacious, and it has a multi-level nature with the slanted level and platform.  The blast zones are fairly far out as well.  Underneath the edges are walls, which aid in mixing up recoveries.

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?
Ichigo should be placed first on the tier list.  His sword covers an absurd amount of space, and even has hitboxes behind him on most moves so an unwary opponent could easily mess up a dodge roll.  He has no shortage of recovery, he has horizontal recovery in his side special and vertical in his up special.  His up special is unstoppable, so if an Ichigo recovers low he will get back to the stage.  His grabs are decent, he even has a reliable projectile which helps him perform on stage and keep his opponent from recovering.  He is a heavier character with low mobility, but his sword range counters his poor mobility and his weight helps him survive.

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?
In my opinion, Yoshi deserves his bottom spot.  He has no good approach options, his projectile is unreliable and leaves him exposed, and his weight makes him a target for combos.  He has a hard time starting and maintaining combos as well, and when he plays against floatier characters he loses what combo ability he had.  Once he is off the stage, he only has his ridiculous jump to get back.  While that jump is usually enough, at higher percentages attacks can get through the armour his jump gives him.  Then, once his jump is gone, he is an easy target to edgeguard.

If you could make only one change to SSF2 as it currently is, what would it be and why?
I would change the Brawl-like airdodge to the Melee airdodge (complete with wavedash physics).  The current airdodge does have its utility, but the Melee airdodge would provide more options in terms of mobility and recovery.  Characters like Yoshi could really use that, to give them a better recovery.  Overall, the change would be healthy for the competitive community through expanding options and skill.

What is your view on items in competitive play?
Absolutely none, as it is in the main smash games.

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

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 enjoy discussing competitive smash with other people.  Over time I have amassed a considerable amount of knowledge that would be helpful to the growth of the competitive community.  My knowledge and experience will contribute positively to the creation of rulesets and tier lists, as well as providing details to less skilled players so that they can improve.

Cake or pie? (The most important question!)
I do not like pie, so I choose cake.

Additional information (Include in this section anything relevant to your application. This could include links to videos of yourself playing.)
Here is my youtube channel, youtube.com/user/NinjaLobsterStudios.
On the channel there are Melee, Brawl, P:M, and SSF2 videos.

Here's some follow-up questions:

1) Match-up discussion: Describe each match with details of which character will have the advantage and how the match would play out overall.

Sonic vs. Meta Knight on Final Destination

Ness vs. Peach on WarioWare

Fox vs. Ichigo on Smashville


2) In the list of stages below, describe for each whether it is neutral, counter-pick, or banned with hazards being switched off.

Clock Town
Casino Night Zone
Metero Voyage
Gangplank Galleon

Good Luck!

Thanks for replying, I'll answer the questions to the best of my ability.

1)  Sonic vs MK on Final Destination.  Sonic, being a high speed character, will enjoy the space he gets on Final Destination.  Sonic has a speed advantage over MK, but he lacks priority in his moves because MK has disjointed hitboxes.  MK loses platform tricks, but Sonic also loses a lot of mobility options because of no platforms, meaning he has to bait out MK's attacks head on.  The problem with this strategy is that MK doesn't have a lot of lag on his moves, so Sonic will have to outmaneuver MK using high ground speed.  However, MK will be spending most of his time in the air using his aerials.  This is where the match up becomes very difficult for Sonic, as none of his aerials can beat MK's.  Since Sonic has some weight, he is susceptible to MK's combos (including uair strings into nair/upspecial).  MK can even carry Sonic offstage using dair (and fair/bair at low percentages), where Sonic is forced to use his sidespecial to recover.  Sonic has good horizontal recovery, good vertical recovery, but lacks diagonal recovery.  His sidespecial can even be outprioritized by MK's aerials if timed well.  In my opinion, clearly in MK's favour (Sonic doesn't gain enough from the empty stage).

Ness vs Peach on WarioWare.  Ness would normally own Peach with his projectiles, but this stage messes with this aspect greatly.
The platforms will often cancel his specials, and Peach's turnip game remains strong.  Sure, Ness still has grounded PK-Fire, but this would be predictable.  The ledge has a wall to help recovery, but this helps Ness more than Peach.  They both gain from the platforms for recovery.  Peach moves better along the platforms, and with floating her hitboxes easily connect from one platform to the other.   When Peach is offstage recovering, Ness can safely harass and can even be able to get a gimp using his upspecial.  This is contrast to Peach, who has a hard time edge guarding Ness due to his weird recovery.  On other stages, the MU is for sure in Ness' favour, but the numerous platforms and relative size of WarioWare swings the MU closer to Peach, making the MU about even.

Fox vs Ichigo on Smashville.  In my opinion, Ichigo is probably Fox's hardest MU ever.  Ichigo lacks Fox's speed, but has a lot of range to make up for it.  Although he is susceptible to shine spiking, his recovery is nigh unstoppable.  Fox can punish Ichigo's speed, and since Ichigo is a target for combos Fox can win against Ichigo.  Ichigo has chain grabs on Fox (but so does basically every other character), and these can lead to easy death for Fox.  Ichigo's projectile beats Fox's, but because of the startup lag, unless Fox is otherwise preoccupied he can reflect it back.  When Fox is offstage, on Smashville he is all but dead.  The edge is hard to sweetspot, and has no wall to ride up to mix up recoveries.  Both characters gain the moving platform, and Ichigo uses it better for edgeguarding than Fox can.  The stage is smaller than most, so Ichigo's sword covers more of the stage, he can use the platform for combos, and Fox has less room to work with (as he needs to be able to move).  Overall, on this stage, the MU stays in Ichigo's favour.

2) Clock Town:  Undeniably banned.  This stage like Battlefield, but with only the platforms.  The lack of actual stage would allow campy playstyles to easily dominate and give certain characters (high range characters) huge advantages.  It would be too easy for a player to suicide, which could cost the match.

Casino Night Zone:  I will go with banned as well.  This stage is good (an argument could be made that it is counterpick) BUT the stage has small walls that can be abused for infinites.  The stage also (sometimes) causes lag issues when more players are onscreen (partly due to the computer's resources though).

Meteo Voyage:  This stage has a wall that can be abused for infinites as well. Banned.

Gangplank Galleon:  Sadly, this map has the same fault:  It has a wall for infinites. Banned.

I don't know how I feel about you're match-up analysis. They feels well-explained, but I don't know for sure if I agree with the advantages. Sonic speed would be far too great for MK to deal it. He would get overwhelm and he has to deal with his low KO potential while Sonic has no problem killing MK himself. Ness vs. Peach sounds like a reasonably explanation. That is a pretty undeveloped/researched match-up. Fox vs. Ichigo: The stage's size is quite decent. Both characters have very similar mobility, but Fox has better juggles and follow-up while also having an easier ability to gimp-kill Ichigo. Ichigo has better overall range, but laggy attacks and a much weaker recovery. Both have good offense playstyles, but it's sort of tough to say hows better all-around. This could be more even.

And I strongly disagree with Ichigo being Top-tier. Sonic, Pikachu, Kirby, Jigglypuff, all have more powerfull tactics and abilities over him. They could easily good above him on the tier. Ichigo is probably somewhere in A-tier though.

I just don't know for sure. It lacks some experience of how some character play. It could go either way, but possible lean more towards a deny. I wish this place was active enough to for someone else to add their input about this application.

Kinda disappointed to hear that.  I guess my problem is that everyone I play against uses Ichigo, and I use Fox, so they just abuse sword range and stuff.  As a matter of fact, I played for a couple hours today as Ichigo and decided he wasn't as good as I thought he was.  Still good tho.  

Thanks for agreeing with Ness vs Peach, I had to rack my brain on that one.  And I take it the stage analysis was acceptable?  I understand that MU experience is the major topic.

Edit: So do you or anyone else have any questions I could redeem myself with  

Even though I'm not technically a member yet. I guess I could ask you some questions.

1. Analyze the Following MUs
i. Fox vs. Captain Falcon on Battle Field.
ii. Donkey Kong vs. Ichigo on Castle Siege (hazards off).
iii. Pikachu vs. Sheik on Smashville.

2. Determine the viability of the Stage.
i. Lunar Core.
ii. Galaxy Tours.
iii. Sky Sanctuary Zone.

3. What tier do you feel Ness should be placed in (you must use the tiers; S, A, B, C, D, or E).

Like Zapperrix i'm still not a member yet.

1)Match-up discussion:

a)Samus vs Kirby on dreamland

b)Meta Knight vs Link on dracula's castle

c)Naruto vs Lloyd on yoshi's story

2)Your using Sheik and you lost to Meta Knight.What stage would you counterpick and why?

Thanks for responding so quickly, here goes something!

1) i)Fox vs Captain Falcon on Battlefield. This MU compares two characters with high mobility on a decent sized stage (on the smaller end) with platforms. I feel that CF likes platforms in general, but Fox benefits from them more in this MU. Most characters will fly away from CF, but Fox doesn't as much, so Fox will be less fazed by platform combos. The major thing is that CF loses a lot of combo ability off of his grabs. His upthrow and dthrow both put Fox onto the lower platforms at the lowest percentages, so he cannot chain throw or follow up the way he would like to. Fox has no wall to ride up to the ledge, but CF's upspecial can use the weird edges to sweetspot. CF would be looking for grabs as always, but he has to combo differently because of the platforms. Fox will be running around using the platforms for mobility, because the center of the stage is bad for him (CF's grabs work there), and so that CF doesn't catch him with a grab on the platform. Both have good ability to edgeguard the other, so the match must be won onstage more than offstage. Overall, good stage for Fox in the MU, probably even for each character.

ii)DK vs Ichigo on Castle Siege. This stage is pretty small, and has levels to it. Ichigo's sword covers a lot of the stage, but so does DK's arms. DK actually outranges some of Ichigo's moves, so he can outspace Ichigo. DK will be trying to bait out Ichigo's moves, and because Ichigo is a big combo target he can get grabs and juggles. DK also suffers from this, plus has a pretty bad recovery to boot. If DK gets offstage, he should die. Ichigo has an easier time recovering (assuming he isn't too far) because of the nature of his upspecial, and that DK's offstage edgeguarding is risky but rewarding. The multilevel nature of the stage helps Ichigo combo, but allows DK to avoid Ichigo's projectile. It's hard to say who truly benefits, but I feel that it is Ichigo.

iii)Pikachu vs Sheik on Smashville. Champions of gimping fighting it out! When I play as Sheik, I always have problems against Pika (even against CPU). The platform is moving, so sometimes it won't mess with Pika's thunder and thunderbolt. Sheik's upspecial for recovery isn't long like Pika's, so she has a harder time against Pika's gimping ability, whereas Pika can more easily recover if he survives the initial hits. Pika even has thunderbolt to stuff recoveries and help when recovering high, so Pika definitely wins the offstage game (normally). Onstage Sheik probably uses the platform better, but it won't always be there. Meanwhile, Pika doesn't lose too much when the platform is there, but reaps big rewards when the platform isn't there. If Sheik breaks rule #1 (Don't get above the 'chu), she will eat a lot of damage, and can even set up for death. Sheik does have needles to set up edgeguards, it can make Pika panic and could cause him to lose a stock. Overall, this stage benefits Pika more than Sheik I would say.

2) i) Lunar Core (Banned): This stage is a very big stage. I feel that the stage is so big that certain characters can abuse the size and camp very well, especially against low mobility characters. Therefore, the matches would be unfair and biased. This wouldn't be a case of not wanting to approach (by the not campy player), but a case of not being able to approach. Entire matches could be won by obtaining a stock lead and running for as long as possible.

ii) Galaxy Tours (Banned): This stage has the same problem. It is very easy for characters to camp out an opponent by using the high platforms and general size of the stage.

iii) Sky Sanctuary Zone (Counterpick): I feel that this stage has undergone changes for the better. This stage has walkoffs, but only for a moment. Pokemon Stadium in Melee has transformations that had walls (Fox could infinite) but because they were only temporary, the stage was allowed as a counterpick. A similar for Castle Siege in Brawl: one transformation has a walkoff, but this is okay because the transformation was temporary (although, that state was removed in Project Melee). So, after the falling blocks are gone the stage becomes a slightly different Battlefield.

3) Ness should be in A-tier. He does have double jump canceling (but only immediately), but his recovery can be easily stopped if he does not have his double jump. His projectile game is amazing, and he can absorb energy based projectiles as well. Many of his attacks have disjointed-ness (ha!), so he always has range. He certainly does not lack kill power with fsmash, bthrow, bair, dair, even uair. He can juggle using uair as well as wall out with fair. Some believe in him being S-tier, but I think he should be at the top of the A-tier instead because of his recovery issues.

Okay, this ones for you champetero!

1) a) Samus vs Kirby on Dreamland. This stage has platforms that help out Kirby so he can juggle large characters (like Samus) easier. Kirby can also use the platforms and his multiple jumps to avoid Samus' projectile game. Kirby's feet give him a decent amount of range, and he can easily get Samus offstage. On this stage, Samus lives forever. Her recovery is slow, does not have much vertical, but with bomb jumping she easily recovers if really high. If under pressure, Samus can upspecial OoS to get Kirby off. She probably won't go for grabs, since Kirby will probably be too high to grab and the grab is really bad on whiff. Samus just has to really throw out projectiles and bait aerials in order to kill Kirby. He is pretty light, so the size of Dreamland helps his survive but Samus has strong horizontal KO options as well. This stage favours Kirby because of his platform game, and the platforms help defeat Samus projectile game.

b) MK vs Link on Dracula's Castle. The constantly moving platforms means that MK has to stay on his toes to maneuver and use the platforms to his advantage. Link has a strong projectile game, but the platforms allow MK (who has multiple jumps I might add) to avoid the bombs/arrows/boomerangs. Link has less speed than MK, and this is where MK really overpowers Link. Link has a slight sword range advantage, but his speed reduces its effectiveness. On Drac's Castle, the platforms help Link out with combos (MK can use them, but sometimes they hinder him). I feel that the stage benefits MK more than Link, although MK does lose some combo ability here.

c) Naruto vs Lloyd on Yoshi's Story. Yoshi's Story is a small stage, so the fact that Lloyd has trouble killing is mitigated here. Lloyd can rack up damage quickly if he gets a hit, and he can use the platforms for juggles on this stage. When recovering, his recovery is pretty bad, but he does have Randall the cloud to help him out. This said, Naruto has a better time overall. He has speed on his side, and even though Lloyd has a sword many of Lloyd's attacks have low priority, causing Naruto to get hits in. Naruto can rack up damage quickly using the platforms to aid juggles, and has no problem trying to kill Lloyd. Naruto has the same difficulties recovering, but can also use Randall. Naruto's projectile beats Lloyd's, and allows quick damage and can really screw Lloyd when edgeguarding.

2) Well, I'd pick either Battlefield or Yoshi's Story (Battlefield if I was feeling cramped by MK). Both stages offer similar features: platforms and relative small size. I'd probably prefer Yoshi's Story on most occasions, because MK can be killed horizontally more easily (fair, bair, dsmash). Both stages have the platforms that Sheik can use better than MK can, plus she has needles. The platforms can be used to needle camp and needle edgeguard. Battlefield's platforms are into the stage more, allowing for better needle edgeguards, but on Yoshi's edgeguards aren't as necessary or prolonged. I'm only arguing for two stages because they are so similar, but the differences depend on the MK.

1. In the Fox vs. Falcon MU on Battle Field is in Fox's favor. Falcon can zero-to-death Fox on stages with no platforms because of his U-throw and D-throw chaingrabs, and even if Fox attempts to DI, Falcon can simply read it. On Battle Field this is not the case. Your analysis was well done, except for the fact that you didn't mention Fox's ability to pressure Falcon more easily with tools like his Shine; however many would say that the ratio is 55-45(Fox/Falcon) or 50-50 for the MU overall. Fox has an edge on Battle Field though.  

2. You are correct about the DK vs. Ichigo MU; however you never mentioned Ichigo's F-throw chaingrab or how DK's poor mobility will make it harder for him to get it.

3. Your are missing two key points about Pikachu. His projectile, which is one of the best in the game; and his F-throw infinite that works on the entire cast. While you are correct about the outcome you were missing two key points on why the MU is in Pikachu's favor.

4. Lunar Core may be a large stage, however the blast lines aren't that far away from the stage. I can understand why you said it should be banned; however from what I gathered, most would call it a counter pick, and I'd have to agree.

5. You are correct about Galaxy Tours.

6. You make a decent argument for Sky Sanctuary Zone; however the fall off blocks will only remain gone for about 15-17 seconds, and while they are there the fall off block remove the purpose of recovery and they allow characters to get back on stage more easily. Castle Siege in Brawl and Pokemon Stadium in Melee had multiple transformations, so the bad ones, wouldn't have as much of an impact on the match. I feel that 17 seconds isn't enough time to remedy the falling blocks. I'd say the stage is banned.

7. You got most of the things about Ness right, however you didn't mention his jab lock and his chaingrab with D-throw.

Like Zalo said, you have competitive knowledge, however you lack experience when it comes certain characters. This leads me to believe that you didn't explore some of the characters enough. I feel that your application is good, but you do lack knowledge about some of the cast. For example, you said that Yoshi is the worst character. Yoshi may be low-tier, however his projectile is a useful anti-air and its good on stages with platforms like Battle Field; he also has good air speed and decent ground mobility so his approach isn't terrible. Also, his S-spec currently beats all projectiles and he can extend his recovery with U-spec (his double jump also has some super-armor frames, but his recovery still isn't that good; at least he has more than one option). Honestly, Link and Zelda are better candidates for being the worst character. You claim that Ichigo should be #1; however Jigglypuff, Pikachu, Ness, and Kirby are better candidates for that position. Also, when it comes to recovery Ichigo's S-spec usually fails him due to his falling speed, so it isn't that great of an option.

I'd say that you have potential to contribute greatly. I vote accept as a trial.

Thanks for the overall positive review of my post! I'm disappointed that I forgot Pika's infinite: Fthrow->mash grab->fthrow...
Thanks for the heads up on Ichigo's fthrow, I've heard about it but never have seen it in action (same goes for the Ness' stuff).
A while ago I started trying to "unlock" characters. That's where I discovered Fox's shine techniques, and Falcon's stuff. At the moment, I'm in the process of figuring out Peach.
P.S. We need Falco.

Your welcome! However, Zalo is the one that makes the final decision. You should also go on the MG forums to discuss SSF2. That will help you gain more knowledge (especially the character section).

1)Match-up

a)This feels well explained but not sure if kirby would have the advantage because kirby lacks a projectile so he has to approach samus while he can just use his down b which has no hurtboxes to avoid any of his hits and since the bomb explodes on contact so kirby will have a hard time hitting her and samus can just time out the match and kirby can't do much but if kirby gets her offstage he can edgeguard her easily so i say the match-up is in samus favor.

b)I agree with you on this one.

c)Lloyd's up and down smash can kill at 110% and lloyd has disjointed hitboxes and his attacks are fast and he can combo better than naruto and edgeguard better and he has a CG on him but naruto  has a better zoning game and can control the platforms better.It's a close match but i say it's in lloyd's favor.

2)Not sure if yoshi's story is the best stage to counterpick because MK can die earlier but kill earlier plus he can take advantage of sheik's bad recovery and edgeguard her for an early kill and he can use platforms better to combo and MK's air game is faster and he has a CG on sheik and if sheik tries to DI to the platforms he can just punish it with a U-air and start a combo which could lead to a star KO at the top of the stage with his nado so i don't this this would be a good stage to counterpick.

Overall your applications is good but you lack knowledge on certain aspects of the game for example ichigo is good but not S-tier material and yoshi isn't that good but not the worst character in the game but you still have good knowledge so i say Yes.

Thanks champetero! You do bring up valid points, I will improve at analyzing character MU's.

Non-Members are NOT permitted to post in other applicants threads under ANY circumstance. Please stop posting questions/responses/discussions.

How do I know what the final word is regarding my application? If there are any more questions (from official members, I see Perfect Hell) I would be happy to answer them, but otherwise it seems weird that I have not received any form of confirmation (either good or bad).