Name (aka Handle): _ &, or Howard if that's too hard to say

How old are you?: 21

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've been playing Black Mage, Naruto, and Donkey Kong. Definitely been focusing a lot on the 'non canon' side of the roster to see what the guys here have been cooking up, so that's where the first two eventually became a part of my lineup.

I really like Black Mage's kit; I also find it funny that despite him being a mage he's a rushdown brawler with virtually no zoning or ranged tools. Pretty much none of his moves are objectively bad and his setups are proving to be entertaining. I like it when a character can punish and hes really adept at doing that. I'm generally okay with running someone with less potent recovery in exchange for stronger ground game, and id consider Black Mage to fall under that category.

I picked up Donkey Kong because I've been running him a lot in PM lately and it was a comfortable transition. When online rolled out i couldn't really run anything too technical with the input lag i was dealing with, so now I've grown into the DK lifestyle. He's got fun combos and a great grab game, just a really aggressive guy. He's got punish out the wazoo and I'm really digging SFF2's donkey punch setups. (Also, that recovery change is bonkers.)

Naruto's a solid all-around guy, I needed something that could round off my lineup but still fit my personal playstyle preferences. At first i was going to just pick up mario but then I stumbled upon this lil guy. He's fast, easy, and can actually operate in a midrange footsies game. He's got a little area denial, he's got projectiles, and he's got that sweet charge attack. Though he's got a little less KO potential under the hood and lacking in recovery, he got his own charms and I'm taking those trades just to have a counterpick for campier members of the roster.

How much experience do you have with official Smash titles? (SSB64, Melee, Brawl. Include in this answer which characters you play/played.): I've been playing smash since 64 released in 1999 (mind you, i was a very lil' guy back then,) and have been sticking with it since. Started being a bit more serious about smash in 2004 when a local comic store was doing a smash 64 revival tournament and I discovered that sort of thing existed. So about 10 years of competitive smash bros-ing.
64: DK, C. Falcon, Ness
Melee: Marth, Ganon, G&W
Brawl: Diddy, Snake, Mario
Project M: Lucas, Ivy, DK

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'll try to go to at least 1 every month, schedule and money willing. Some not-very-scene-heavy stuff in the mix: high school events, tight-knit community casuals, stuff like that. Went to Pound 2 and 3, a somewhat local guy held a bi-monthly i went out for, and other assorted tourneys. The assorted stuff was about 24-32 players bracket-wise. There were no hyper-local sparring partners I could find so I generally used these as an opportunity to play a gratuitous amount of matches outside of the actual brackets with some actual players, have a good time, etc. Generally I'll win the kinds of tournaments that offer wal-mart gift cards as prizes, top 8 the bi weekly/bi monthly stuff, and I hate to say it but I got bodied at pound. (I got some poor brackets but it would have ended badly either way).

When did you start playing SSF2?: 4 days ago

What is your favorite stage in SSF2? Explain.: I love smashville, it's a wide flat stage with just enough variety from its moving platform to have some situational value: spur-of-the-moment combo extensions, recovery mixups, the sort of stuff a traditional tri-platformed stage can provide without finding its way into the ban list of characters who just hate low platforms.
(as far as stages new to ssf2 go, i enjoy hazardless tower of salvation. all the fun of flat while offering great recovery options for characters without them)

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?: I'd probably sit Goku up there. He's got a great kit, a lot of tools, some really nuts chains, and more than solid recovery options. That whole Kaio-ken thing really does work too. The guy KO's really easily.

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?: Honestly, I think I'm going to have to put Ness down there. His DJC game isn't that valuable when compared to how safe the rest of the rosters airs are by default, boiling it down to incredibly novelty shield pressure and fair approaches. His recovery is really lame and super gimpable. He has some pk fire tricks but that's about it, I'd say anyone with a decently-ranged attack with a disjointed hitbox is practically 70-30 with the poor guy by default. If you like to DJC, just play yoshi.

If you could make only one change to SSF2 as it currently is, what would it be and why?: I would love more jump cancel options in SSF2, in its current state if you're going vertical it's pretty much uair chains, and i'd love to mix up the ground to air game with some more variety in that sense.

What is your view on items in competitive play?:

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

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 see what's going on back there. I'll probably just be contributing to matchup discussions and tweak suggestions for characters that I main/secondary, though. Anything else would probably be out of my jurisdiction/area of expertise. I am not an exceptional applicant unless the other applicants' forms were ascii art sandwiches. I wouldn't know.


Additional information (Include in this section anything relevant to your application. This could include links to videos of yourself playing.):
Seriously what's going on back there.

Dissect the Donkey Kong/Black Mage match up. Please give

1. A match up difficulty ratio in either 60/40 format or +1/-1 format.

2. A list of stage strikes/bans/counterpicks for both parties, assuming "Best 2 out of 3" sets and the stage list from the previous version:

3. Anything else you find pertinent.

Dissect the Donkey Kong/Black Mage match up. Please give

1. A match up difficulty ratio in either 60/40 format or +1/-1 format.
In this matchup, both Black Mage and Donkey Kong have a versatile range of tools for disjointing their opponent's game and grant potential for early gimps.

On the side of Donkey Kong (abbv. DK), his highly aggressive playstyle and decent range can overwhelm Black Mage (abbv. BM), who lacks
speed and is limited in his tools for dealing with pressure.
Moves characteristic of this would include SHFF'd nair, bair, or uair, as DK's airspeed and aerial attacks are faster than most.
His grab game would also become a major benefit here, as a light, gimpable character such a black mage could be comboed offstage and edgeguarded with a single grab.
Options characteristic of this would be uthrow setups, dthrow chaingrabs, or simply a cargo walk.
On the ground or in the air, DK has range on his side, allowing him the option to zone BM and control center stage.
Moves characteristic of this would include bair, ftilt, utilt, fsmash, and dspec.
DK's array of edgeguarding tools can allow him to take advantage of a more predictable recovery like BM's. His Spinning Kong boasts great travel distance, allowing him the choice to either punish the location BM is going to appear or to chase him offstage without fear of suicide.

On the side of BM, he is offered solid counter-offensive options due to DK's size and moveset limitations, and has access to his own collection of gimping tools.
BM can get nair chains, uair chains, or even dthrow chaingrabs on a large target like DK very easily, allowing him to wrack up great percentage quickly and focus on sending him offstage.
BM has the disjointed hitbox advantage on many of his moves, allowing him to counter approaches and reads with offensive options of his own. This will become handy in the ground game as well as edgeguarding.
Specifically, BM's dspec, sspec, and nspec gain significant benefit from this. Using an arial dspec in his approach is great as both an offensive tool (as the projectile and explosion are both immediate dangers for DK) and as a mixup (as the change in gravity can throw off DK's attempt at punishing). BM's sspec is eSSPECially amazing here, and will be his primary option for dealing with pressure, reading an approach, and edgeguarding Spinning Kong. And finally, nspec is an incredible option against a rushdown character like DK. With a leve 3 or 4 stored, BM can really make DK think twice about how he will approach, and in this scenario, either DK will be forced to slow the pacing of the game to something more comfortable to BM, or take the risk of getting caught in one of the best setup tools SSF2 has to offer.
(It should also be worth mentioning nspec is good for edgeguarding, especially on Spinning Kong, as a SH'd level 2 or higher will guarantee a sweet spot dair, something DK should not be able to deal with).

So in conclusion, DK has a lot to get through just to get in against BM, but if he succeeds can cause a lot of destruction in a short amount of time.
BM's kit is built to deal with fighters like DK, and with proper control can negate most of DK's favorite options.

BM 70/30 DK

2. A list of stage strikes/bans/counterpicks for both parties, assuming "Best 2 out of 3" sets and the stage list from the previous version:
The basis of the strikes and bans in general here will be:
DK wants shorter stages, larger blastzones, and platforms as he badly needs movement options to mix up his approach in this matchup, while retaining his ability to get in at a moment's notice. Larger blastzones will just widen his ability to recover, as BM's ability is inconsequential.
BM wants flat stages, limited platforms, shorter blast zones, and anything with increased recovery options (such as Randall on yoshi's story or the outside platforms on ToS)

DK: Jungle Hijinx, Castle Siege, FD/3DS, Pokemon Stadium 3, Tower of Salvation
On Win: Central Highway, Yoshi's Island

BM: Wario Ware, Yoshi's Story, Battlefield, Mirror Chamber, Dreamland
On Win: Dracula's Castle, Central Highway

3. Anything else you find pertinent.

BM Fsmash could have been mentioned for edgeguarding, but i felt it really only punishes bad or predictable recovery
I didn't mention many of DK's armor-related options as BM's Nspec and Sspec negate them, using Spinning Kong, Dash attack, or DK Punch to absorb approach options such as meteor will just as likely end in a reversal of fortune for DK.

Also, what's going on back there.