I am well aware it's not Beta.
But we have no hint or reference as to when beta releases and how it will change the meta. Plus I have many things I would like to share.
In other words, we don't know when it releases, and I have stuff that I want to share and discuss.
I will not be reapplying for the back room if rejected. Even after Beta's release.

Final attempt.


Name (aka Handle):
FutureMac

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):
Ichigo alone. He has been a character I have been proficient with since the beginning of my introduction to SSF2.

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 every smash title. I also have gotten first in each Smash title in a South Florida local.

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?
As I said previously I attended a local for each smash title at different times. I placed first in each except Smash4, in which I placed 13th out of 96 people.

When did you start playing SSF2?
Version 0.9A
What is your favorite stage in SSF2? Explain.
Tower of Salvation is byfar my favorite stage, mainly because of my play style. (Let me try not to sound idiotic) It is of best comfort to me as a player and as I play Ichigo as a character. The stage is a perfect size, and unlike other favored stages such as Smashville or Dreamland, it exists as a plateau stage, meaning it has walls, so you cannot go directly under it. This prevents many camping tactics, as well as gives tech opportunities to tech and avoid a death from your opponent attempting to take your stock. It is my go-to stage, and if allowed, would also be my counterpick.

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?
MetaKnight, even after all these years, still to me, is at the top. Why? Well:
- His frame data is near perfect, barely any moves remain slow on him.
- 6 jumps, as well as every special having the abililty to help recovery efforts
- Forward smash is an excellent kill option, especially off a read
- His speed is no joke, and only adds to the list of why he is top tier
- His grab, though slightly tricky to land, has excellent follow-ups, and his throws can rack damage.
Only a few reasons of the top of my head as to why he is top tier to me. I can play an online game with him and probably find at least 4 more.

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?
Unlike last time, where I stated Wario had potential, my confidence in him diminished, and his outrageous amount of bad matchups decays him in comparison to the lowest of the low, making him my pick for the lowest on the list. Though he has the potential to kill, his bad matchups overshadow that by far, not even having ONE favorable matchup in the roster. (Unless I'm either wrong, or not updated)

If you could make only one change to SSF2 as it currently is, what would it be and why?
I would only reprogram hitboxes, and patch a few characters. Nothing else concerns me.
What is your view on items in competitive play?
I am not a fan of items in competitive play but I would leave an open mind.

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

Considering that Beta is a new game, I feel that only people who have touched the game already, or just the people who have the magic smash touch, can play beta at a high level from release. People who have been around for years, such as I, Miracle--7, Kyoz etc. These are the veterans of competitive SSF2. I find it funny and ironic as to how I start placing well at the end of 9b's life span, taking me 2 years in the process to consistently place top 8 more than once.

But it's not the fact that I placed, It's the fact that I completed it with Ichigo, a character who's meta is confusing to most, and is usually overlooked in comparison to high tiers. I'm not set to go down in SSF2 history as the best Ichigo player due to changing the meta of one character. However, I would receive praise for excelling at characters whose meta game is unknown, or barely known. This is what Lunary has done, and why he is praised today.

But back from my tangent, I would find it very unlikely that there will be a large number of top level players from the beginning. Which was my intention of attempting to join the Back Room. They would need more members to help see and construct the meta. I of course, took the "Mac" route, and withdrew my application the last time, due to me being insulted by a single back room member, but it is still possible for the other experienced members to join and help. There are very few high level players today, and of those very few, even less of them have intentions of joining the Back Room to help with this meta. They haven't lost me, due to a misunderstanding with the room, I am here having one last attempt of reapplying.

But to end this long essay, I believe that, There will be very few top level players to advance the meta, and the Back Room could use all the help they could get. It would take half a year for the first Beta list to come out.


Additional information (Include in this section anything relevant to your application. This could include links to videos of yourself playing.)





Consider ya boy, I know he's done alot of stuff in the past, but he can contribute alot. Promise I'll be good.

Use the following stagelist for all the questions below:

Neutral:
Battlefield
Final Destination/Nintendo 3DS
Smashville
Pokemon Stadium 3
Yoshi's Story

Counterpick:
Dreamland
Tower of Salvation
Castle Siege
Dracula's Castle
Sky Sanctuary Zone
WarioWare
Mirror Chamber


1. You're playing Ichigo (something something canon reference), and you come up against a Fox player (rare sight I know, but bear with me). How do you think stage striking will go, assuming you go first in a 1-2-1 striking system? Justify each choice by each side.

2. The Ichigo-Fox MU is a particularly interesting one. Give your take on it, taking into account neutral game, combo game, recovery and edgeguarding, etc. Be detailed and analytical. Conclude your analysis with a matchup ratio (such as 65-35 if Ichigo wins handily, or 45-55 if Fox barely takes it).

3. The SSF2 meta is unique in the Smash franchise for having merged stages in its competitive ruleset (I might have forgotten something, though). In the past, the BR has considered many mergers: Jungle Hijinx with Castle Siege, Tower of Salvation with Final Destination and Nintendo 3DS, even Yoshi's Story with Battlefield. Why, if at all, should the BR use stage mergers? What purpose do they serve? With this more abstract view of merging, should we merge Jungle Hijinx and Castle Siege (instead of having both or removing one, as we have)? Why? I'm not interested as much in the specific JH/CS example as I am in what you consider to be the rationale and criteria for stage mergers.

Questions that make your brain work. Nice.

For those who don't feel like reading:
1. Scroll to see strikes
2. Ichigo Fox: 4-6 Fox
3. Stage Merging only if necessary to the stages.



Deciding the stages I would strike for Ichigo is nothing but second nature to me, considering how many Fox's I usually encounter in tournament. The stage striking as going for 1-2-1 would follow to me going first, so FD is an absolute ban. As a matter of fact, any flat stage might not be beneficial to Ichigo, it's possible to outmaneuver Ichigo due to Fox's speed. Stages that contain platforms would have a positive effect in the matchup for Ichigo. It is better for Ichigo to be below Fox, due to Fox not being able to handle Ichigo when above him. Ichigo has a sword. Obviously. Which means he has a disjoint. Fox's aerials have no disjoint. Proving Ichigo can completely trump him when it comes to being below him. It's also easier to poke him off stage leading to either a spike or an edgeguard. Fox is a fast faller, which means he can be chaingrabbed and gimped easier. It's fairly easy to deal with Fox on platforms, but near impossible on flat stages, due to Fox's speed and coverage options. Sure, Ichigo has range, but his horrid frame data doesn't allow him to keep up with Fox, and you're stuck attempting to snipe him, which usually fails, and ends up in punishes, and even in most occasions, the game. (I speak from personal experience) TCS you know from yesterday :^)

Now, Fox's is the tricky part. I don't play Fox, only have played against him. But from what I said before, Fox would benefit from having a flat stage, and stuffing Ichigo with aerials. A platformed stage would tip the odds in Ichigo's favor, because being below Fox is the best position. So. If I were a Fox player, playing a solo Ichigo (a super rare sight late into 9b's lifespan) my mind would go towards getting a stage as flat as possible. So in that turn, taking the 2 of us into turn, the striking would be predicted as:

Strike 1: Mac
Final Destination/3DS

Strike 2: Fox player
#1 Yoshi's Story
#2 Battlefield

Strike 1: Mac
Smashville

Play on: Pokemon Stadium 3


PS3 is the perfect neutral to start against Fox. The short horizontal blastzones prove easier for Ichigo to kill Fox. But lets not get extra happy for Ichigo, because the same applies to Fox, especially his back air being able to kill so early. Another advantage to Ichigo would be that, due to PS3's janky ledges and stage edge, Fox can lose a complete stock, but Ichigo cannot. Why? Ichigo's recovery has more control than that of Fox's. The diagonal angle of Fox's recovery against the PS3 edge, can result in him being "PS3'd". If you aren't aware of that term, It is similar to Smash 4's Lylat stage, with the term "Lylated" in which the stage destroys most chances of recovery.

Now we move on to the matchup (My favorite part)

Arguably, to many people this match-up is super bad for Ichigo. But considering all of Fox's flaws as well, there is a certain cap we can reach. We can take all aspects and compare the two.

Ichigo/Fox in my opinion is 6-4 in Fox's favor.
Each category can fit, and he isn't 100 times better than Ichigo in that category, BUT is actually only slightly better in some, and worse in others, yet the most important ones, make the skill gap wider upon comparison. '

-Neutral Game: Both have a tendency to have to n-air in order to get a combo started. It's potentially n-air city until one player gets the hit they need. Both seem to be equal, but with Fox's being a bit faster, he can get the first hit faster. I'm not saying that I'm basing the neutral off of their n-airs, but it certainly is a factor that can shift the neutral in either direction, or twist the advantages.

-Combo Game: Ichigo's combo game pales in comparison to Fox's. Ichigo has a rough time attempting to get combos started, and it's even harder to kill with them. His frame data on his smash attacks is abysmal, having to deal with both startup and end-lag before the hit-box seems to release. He also relies on reads most of the time, which can help and hurt the player. It helps by getting them to be able to read their opponents well in the future, but to have to continually do that can take a toll on the player. Fox's combo game is arguably one of the best in the game. He has little startup and almost no end-lag on all of his moves. Almost to the point of ridiculousness. And to add on to that, they are very powerful, having the potential to kill Ichigo (or anyone for that matter) at >90+. Aerials such as his n-air, b-air, and u-air, have a large amount of power with little or no end-lag to back it up, making it a staple for kill-moves and finishers.

-Recovery/Edge-guarding: Yet another category they are near even in. Instead of me rating their recoveries, I'm going to rate it as if they were recovering against each other. I hope that's OK.
Ichigo Recovering on Fox: Ichigo's recovery, though it does not cover much, is actually very safe in terms of standing next to the ledge. Ichigo's recovery is similar to a wall, yet above him. Anyone attempting to edge-guard him has to think in order to do so effectively. But to Fox this is different. If avoided correctly upon Ichigo's arrival to the stage, he can drop a b-air to Ichigo offstage, which forces an early reaction from the Ichigo player for a tech, and results in death if he doesn't react in time, or doesn't react at all. Many characters have a problem edge-guarding Ichigo. Unfortunately for Ichigo, Fox isn't one of them. His side-b is similar to Fox, but if to be read correctly, he can be punished easily. If the Ichigo player heads for ledge a simple ledge-hog will become a kill. If the Ichigo is within the stage's reach, and tries for a side-b recovery above the stage, if the Fox is nearby, he can shield the side-b and shield grab him into a number of options, of which most Fox's go for up-throw, u-air.
Fox recovering on Ichigo: Fox's recovery is one that is very easy to exploit if the player is experienced. He still has hurt-boxes upon recovery, allowing disjoints to easily spike or stop him from recovering. Ichigo can have no problem edge-guarding a Fox. His disjoints would allow him to to that with ease. Fox is at a disadvantage in the air, due to Ichigo's blade being able to reach him to a certain extent. His side-b, same as Ichigo's, is very easy to read, but because He can act out of it faster upon reaching the ground or grabbing ledge, it becomes a slightly better side-b recovery than Ichigo's.

Mac, by the way you describe the two, it looks like this MU is 5.5-4.5 instead of 6-4. Why is it 6-4?
The main reason is Fox's sheer speed and kill power. Ichigo can keep up, but not enough for the match-up to be 5.5-4.5
That is why the gap is larger.

Stage merging

Stage merging, a pretty cool topic to me. The example Code gave me, with JH merging with CS was actually a stage merge that made sense to me upon reading. I actually played Code yesterday, and the reasoning for that to me opened. I had recently lost the last game and was looking for a stage where I could nail him. I thought CS would be a good one, so I chose it. I ended up winning by 2 stocks. One of those stock included me d-throwing him in to the little slant in the middle of the stage. As I did it, he began to endlessly spin in an animation and was stuck. Not knowing if he was able to escape, (and not wanting him of having a chance of doing so) I quickly f-smashed him for a kill. What that slant did was give me an unknown lucky advantage. It seems as if that little slant is infamous for performing that glitch. So another stage that can perform the same, which of course is JH. (Tested it to be sure). It's not stage merging in general, but those specific 2 stages being merged would make sense. If merged, it would eliminate having the glitch all together. Not sure if people would 100% agree with me on that, but it seems that this would make more sense.
Merging other stages would have to be a decision decided by the sets of stages with considerable amount of bad design or exploitables, and must be similar, just as JH/CS. If JH/CS were to be merged, I would have no problem with that. But for others to be merged, more examination of the stages would have to be imminent.

Stats:
Took 2 days to write
spent 9 hours in total studying before writing
2 rough drafts before final post

lel

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Nice. Thanks.

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