Name (aka Handle):
Masky/MaskofTruth
How old are you?:
19
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):
BomberMan - Great kill power, lack of a need of an approach, mediocre combo game(because I am poor with true combos :p), stage control ranging from FailFish to Absolute, average recovery, reflective properties in Sspec.ial, and most importantly-mind games.

Fox - Very fast dash speed, mind game approach, near incontestable combo game, great AllPurpose tool in Shine(Dspec) ranging from {combo, gimp, spacing, recovery stall, troll}, above average kill power with Uair, Usmash. Several mix-up options, gimping ability in Dtilt, Dspec, and Bair.

Yoshi - Decent kill power ,great combo ability ranging from {Pillar, Nspec->/Uspec/->Nspec, Ftilt, mix-ups of various Aerials} /reverse/DJC approach, EggStall, Platform canceled Sspec-> aerial.

Those are my mains, but I can play decent(and I mean decent) with next to every other character on the current roster.

How much experience do you have with official Smash titles? (SSB64, Melee, Brawl. Include in this answer which characters you play/played.):
Never played SSB64
Never played Melee (not counting 1 fight)
I've played little competitive Brawl, but mostly a years worth of fun-gaming

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?
Never attended a Smash tourny, online, or off.

When did you start playing SSF2?
I was first introduced to SSF2 during 9.A, I believe thats the version when Lloyd used his sword to grab. Been playing ever since.

What is your favorite stage in SSF2? Explain.
I have no favorite legal stage, but of all stages my most preferred would be Clock Town because of the unique large platform center, and small stage croppings. I love to perform fallthrough->Uair when being approached on the large platform. Fox performs well here

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 would be the highest on a tier list of my making, because he has great gimping ability in Dair due to it's huge range and low start-up. Ichigo also has several fast attacks, such as Utilt, that can be spammed in low percents, and mid percents->Uspec-Utilt. He has decent combo ability, and great kill power in his smashes{neglecting Dsmash} and (decent)Nair, Bair, Uair. Great recovery horizontally, decent recovery vertically. An 'okay' projectile that can be used to recover and approach.
Overall Ichigo has the upper hand on most of his opponents because of his huge-as-life sword that he swings around with ease.
On the plus side, Ichigo has a bit of endlag on a few of his attacks that makes him susceptible to fast characters.

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?
Wario is barely arguable to be the worst character in SSF2's current roster because of his lack of speed, range, lack of a projectile, and lots of endlag on nearly all of his attacks- because of all these drawbacks Wario has great difficulty getting in to start his renown combos. Yes, it is still possible to get in to start the combos with relative ease if you work mind games.
Cons aside, Wario's Dspec and Dthrow both have huge KO potential, but are difficult to perform because of the 2min build-up, and a finger's worth of grab range, respectively.
Overall, if Wario's opponent has a sword, projectile or is moderately fast, they have the advantage.

If you could make only one change to SSF2 as it currently is, what would it be and why?
I would make my favorite stage, Clock Town, into a legal stage by widening the Stage croppings, and shortening the center platform, and moving the blast line to correspond with legality for the changed stage dimensions. Or simply lowering the stage bottom to make it more difficult, if not impossible for Multi-jump characters to bypass an edgeguard.

What is your view on items in competitive play?
Items are not tolerable competitively, but I personally would like to see how Food with the lowest spawn setting would change the competition.

Do you have or can you download Skype? You don't need a mic or webcam.
I do have a Skype, still need to do a walk-through to understand 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 SFBR because I love the game and want to explore it fully. its not because I'm nosy >.> I would think myself able to contribute a unique strategy for particular gameplays or characters such as playing Fox slow, and not at the speed of light like SoldierSunday, lol- but not walking slow, just slower paced. My ideas will most likely be less effective, but as a mixup option... It might work.
Due to the BackRoom being so secretive I have little to no idea what goes on in here, nor what skills you are looking for before admitting someone into the ranks. Yes, I do know that you are looking for capable/knowledgeable players to discuss topics, but that is it. So I cannot boast myself to be an exceptional applicant.

Additional information (Include in this section anything relevant to your application. This could include links to videos of yourself playing.)
Illustrating the Ichigo vs Wario MU - https://www.dropbox.com/s/etnhrpihe99w9 ... sfrec?dl=0 I am the Wario

Offline
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rtzpdbbmzaerv ... sfrec?dl=0

Online
Replays
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z4ap3mptaufd9 ... sfrec?dl=0 I am the BomberMan
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4cey6qsx4phn4 ... sfrec?dl=0 I am the cyan Yoshi
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mc4c731leudun ... sfrec?dl=0 I am the Fox
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d118nw5hie9v4 ... sfrec?dl=0 I am the cyan Yoshi

Videos
https://www.dropbox.com/s/rs40v1r5ows1x ... o.avi?dl=0 I am the cyan Yoshi
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ibx8m8f3xtbr ... g.avi?dl=0 I am the Fox

All questions are using this stagelist:
STARTER
-Final Destination/Nintendo 3DS
-Battlefield
-Smashville
-Yoshi's Story
-Pokemon Stadium III

COUNTERPICK
-Tower of Salvation
-Dreamland
-Sky Sanctuary
-Castle Siege
-Dracula's Castle
-Jungle Hijinx
-Wario Ware


1. You are playing as Fox against Bomberman. Using a 1-2-1 system of striking, what stage do you think will be played on in the first game? Be detailed in your response and explain the motives behind each strike.

2. Analyze the Fox-Bomberman matchup and give a matchup ratio (e.g., 35-65 if Fox was worse, 65-35 if the reverse is true). Be detailed: analyze the neutral game, punish game, stage control, offstage game, etc.

3. You lose the first match in the example in question 1. Your opponent will not switch characters, and you won't either. Assuming that you can play on any legal stage, which one would you choose? Be detailed in your response: you don't need to go stage-by-stage, but give good reasoning for why you would pick your stage above the others.

1)
As Fox, I would prefer a large stage with no platforms. The larger stage will allow me to perform more extensive ground combos, and give me room to breath if BBM starts a nest egg. Platforms would normally be a good thing for Fox, but for the BomberMan MU platforms hurt. A bomb atop a platform will cut Fox's air supply and a little of his ground approach since bombs have surprisingly good range.
With that in mind, I would scratch
-Battlefield
I've performed atrocities on this stage with BBM's 5 Pbombs before >:3 the only safe place would be the topmost platform which I would keep poking with Uair.
Then BBM would scratch
-Yoshi's Story and -Final Destination/Nintendo 3DS because YS is big and gives me room to breath from his bombs and FD,DS would be struck by my opponent because both are decently large, and DS's rectangular stage makes grinding the side to perfect sweet-spot ledge during UpB impossible.
I then would strike
-Smashville because of the moving platform. If I get too focused on BBM instead of one of his Pbombs on the platform, he can knock me off at nearly any point in time.
This leaves us to fight on -Pokemon Stadium III
which although may be small, and gives me a slight disadvantage by the low platforms

2)
Neutral
-If BomberMan manages a bomb wisely then the neutral will be in is favor. Fox cannot get close enough to BBM with a bomb at mid distance between the two, unless Fox jumps high. But BBM can cover the high jump with SH Nair which outprioritizes Fox's Nair and can lead to(with bad Fox DI) Dtilt->Grab->Uthrow/Dthrow chain. Or Dtilt-> Fair at mid/high %s to start edgeguarding.
-If Fox can get to BBM before he plants a bomb then its combo time. Don't allow him room to breath or make bombs, if BBM can make a bomb then the mind games begin and I will be forced to attack with fear which will allow mistakes. Pretty much the plan here is to combo to 110% and Usmash or Uair. If I manage to get him offstage thats good too.
Edgeguard
-Bomberman's main goal is to grab Fox and throw him offstage and into the blast line for the kill. Edguarding is not the priority, but if it comes us, Fair and Bair will keep Fox away. If Fox tries to recover low, a bomb would be enough to stall him for another Fair- Dsmash works well too.
-Same as BBM, Fox is not hoping for the risky edgeguard, but if it happens, jumping off and Bair into the stage may work, but, risky. The safest, and probably the best way to edgeguard BBM would be to wait for the Usmash if he is recovering high, or fall off the stage, jump/Uair and recover.
Punish Game
-Its hard for BBM to punish Fox because of nearly all of Fox's moves are fast, have little endlag(if SH'd) or are too mobile. The best way would be to out-prioritize an attack, use a bomb, or bait a smash, perfect shield it, and go for grabs.
-Fox can jump in as BBM is charging a bomb, whiffing a smash, or if Fox baits a particular attack with high endlag. Then combo to kill percentage and finish him.
Stage Control
This match will be mostly momentum based so whoever gains control first will most likely have it for a while.
-BBM will gain control with his 5 mini bombs sprawled out in front of him in a line, while camping the edge hoping Fox will SD or be hit by the bomb line.
-Fox will be playing the usual rush tactic and trying to avoid any bombs that may have been planted.
Offstage
Neither of the 2 combatants want to go offstage because they both have predictable recoveries, also; see edgeguard

Given all these attributes I'd say 50/50, or 45/55 for BomberMan's favor.

3)
If given the choice of any legal stage I would chose Wario Ware because as Fox, I can Full up Uair, or Fair to reach the top platforms from the stage, or DashCanceledUsmash to poke the lower platforms.
I would pick this stage because my recovery would be easier(I can use diagonals without fear), and it would limit BBM's recovery somewhat by requiring him to perfectly sweetspot the ledge or be gimped by me.
-I would be at a disadvantage if BBM got his bombs going.
-BBM would be disadvantaged because I can get to him so easily.
And I particularly don't do combos well so size doesn't matter to me

Same stagelist as before.

1. You are playing Yoshi against a Fox. No one will switch characters. Where do you think you will strike?
2. You lose the first game on Smashville. Where do you want to go, assuming no bans?
3. Analyze the matchup. Who wins? By how much? If you were in this position, would you consider a character switch?

Thanks for your help with the questions: I know it's kinda a pain to write all the stuff about the matchups and whatnot, but it does help us out. Be detailed!

1)
If going by the 1-2-1 list again, I would first get rid of any platform stages, especially if they are low, and large.

Battlefield low platforms

my opponent would probably strike... Much to my demise
Final Destination/Nintendo 3DS because Fox loves platforms and Pokemon Stadium3 because its smaller of the 3 remaining.

I would strike Yoshi's Story because the walls of the stage would benefit Fox's recovery.

This leaves us to play on Smashville which does have a platform, and is decently large, but has a lip on the ledge that prevents Fox from recovering diagonally, unless he sweetspots the ledge. (wow, just realized that you said that we were going to play on Smashville anyways)

2)

If there were no bans I would without a doubt go for Nintendo 3DS because it is small and has no platforms

3)
I encourage you to reread my responses to 1, and 2 after reading this selection.
For this question, Smashville will be the assumed stage
General
-Yoshi wants a small stage to limit the amount of safety of Fox's combo game, and no platforms so that he can Ftilt Fox to ~70% if the fox does't DI properly, and if the Fox does DI properly, dash SHFFFair->Ftilt or Dsmash. Yoshi's goal this fight is to rack up 80-100% on Fox and Dsmash for the kill.
If the Fox is overly aggressive and is decently predictable with his approaches, SHNspec will solve all your problems. EggThrow to bait an approach. Do not charge unless you have momentum.
-Fox will want to rack up 114% then Usmash for a guaranteed kill. Gimping is also another great option for Fox to employ because of how easy it is to steal Yoshi's jumps. Shine gimping, and ledge hogging, and simply grabbing Yoshi at the ledge before he lands are all great ways to finish off Yoshi.

Neutral
-Yoshi will be trying to stay his distance until Fox approaches, then either SHNspec, or /reverse/full hop DJC Nair- Followup as needed. Ftilt is going to be Yoshi's intimidation attack this fight because it will naturally chain Fox up to 70% if Fox doesn't DI out. OOS Usmash will be useful this fight too since Fox will see the shield as an opening to run in and grab, or apply shield pressure.
-Fox will be trying to Dash-Shine->FullHop-Dair approach Yoshi midgame, or late game in this MU. Camping lasers may work at first but soon the Yoshi will duck them all. Typical Fox stuff from here leading to an edgeguard or 114% for the kill.

Punish Game
-Yoshi may find an opening in Fox's barrage of Shine, SHDair before Fox goes for the grab. If found Yoshi can Usmash OOS to start his own combo or simply get Fox off. As mentioned above if Fox is predictable in his approach SHNspec will cover Yoshi.
-Fox can squeeze in after a multitude of Yoshi's attacks, so punishment won't be too hard to come by, unless Yoshi is spacing or baiting.
Stage Control
I, the Yoshi, will be giving Fox as much space as possible but trying to stay 1 DK length away from the ledge- unless I get momentum, then there's no telling.

Offstage
-Yoshi will be spending a quarter of the game offstage beside the ledge performing EggStall to make the Fox more anxious to get in later which will lead to me Nspec'ing his approach
-Fox will try to avoid going offstage unless the kill is likely

Thank you for applying, but your application has been denied. Feel free to apply after the next update has been released.

Do you jave any questions (you were denied twice after all)?

Yeah, what was the deciding factor of my denial?