Super Smash Bros. #1

The first official Super Smash Bros. post.
Welcome and thank you.
I hope I stay motivated enough and I hope later to gain help from other people to keep this idea fresh. Through this I hope to unite our Super Smash group and put us on the same page, I hope to expand and bring other people into our network, I hope to teach some skills to our prospect players and raise our overall level of play, and I hope to keep information flowing. I just want to use this as a big update board.

Here is list of everyone that is recognized in our Smash Bros. network:
Min Lee (Min)
Jon Franklin (Jon)
Richard Lee (Dick)
Andy Dawson (Daws)
Mitch Hauschildt (Bnny)
Peter Leisen (Pete)
Dean Kong (Den)
Andy Christenson (Andy)
Nick Almberg (Nick)
Eric Olson (Red)
Vince Gandsey (Ving)
David Weum (Dav)

History
Now for a history lesson. The history of Super Smash Bros. from my perspective (I think it would be cool if others shared their story). Super Smash Bros. started for me when I saw the commercial for the original game on the N64. The commercial where you see all the Nintendo mascots running through the field and then they beat each other up. I thought the game looked amazing and I thought the concept was so cool. No one has ever gathered all the major heroes together in one game to find out who is the greatest video game hero of them all. If we could collect all the heroes across all the platforms, we all know Solid Snake would come out on top, and this will be proven once Super Smash Bros. Brawl comes out. After I saw the commercial, I knew I was going to get it. And when it came out, I did just that and I've been hooked on the series ever since. My friend Justin from across the street back in Minneapolis would come over and we would smash out a few good hours. But I first started growing as a player only when Ayabe, Sye and I started playing. We would sleep over at Ayabe's house and play Super Smash all night and mix in some Mario Party. Those Mario Party blisters were awful. We would end each night with a 100 life battle on the Pokémon stage. My character of choice was Samus and I remember Ayabe using Donkey Kong. The game lasted us a long time, and even when the games magic had run dry, we would return to it once in a while. Then I moved to Plymouth. The game wasn't touched for a little while but it was revived when we started hanging out in Andy's basement. A new group of fighters that consisted of Andy, Richard, Dean, Jon, Natalie and Melissa. After a while, it became obvious that Andy and I were the top two fighters and everyone wanted to see who was the best. So one night we had a one on one battle to put all doubt to rest. Andy was his usual Fox and I used my trusted Samus. The battle was fierce and it went back and forth but in the end I won by fraction. The fight was on Brimstar, I believe thats what it's called, the Samus level with the rising lava. We both had one life left and we reaching 100%. We were on the top platform and I had a Bob-omb and I threw it down but Andy jumped to use his up kick attack with Fox and we both got caught in the explosion. When the dust cleared, I was the victor. Ever since, Andy has been cursed when it comes to explosion battles and I have obtained given some sort of explosion immunity. The game died off but with the release of the Game cube and Super Smash Bros. Mêlée, Super Smash was back in our lives. Dean was the only one with a Gamecube at the time and he only had two controllers so we took turns playing. It was still amazing. After I saved up some money, I went out to Best Buy and I got my own Gamecube and copy of Super Smash Bros. Mêlée. I only had two controllers so we had to take turns again. I believe at this time Dean had moved away. Mitch bought me an Orange Cube controller for my birthday which is still put to good use, and will continue to be since Brawl is expected to use the Cube controllers. However, the game still didn't catch on with everyone. It would be played on and off. Later, Jon and I went through a stretch where we played everyday for about two hours. This is where I built most of my skill. Everyday after school, we would meet, play some basketball in the cul-de-sac then go to my place and play Mêlée with Dick. This lasted for while but slowly this routine faded. After this era, Mêlée was played here and there when we got bored. Jon and I talked about going back to our old routine but it never fully happened, but slowly Super Smash was making a comeback. Now it more alive and more competitive with more people. The game is being played to its fullest again. This rebirth should carry us right into the Brawl era, which is going to be amazing, no doubt about it. The original Super Smash wasn't a launch game, but Mêlée was. It might have been two years in between those two games, but it has been around four years and still no Super Smash upgrade. Brawl will bring a breath of fresh air for all. I hope my luck continues and I hope can remain one of the elite players in our network. I am looking forward to starting clean and building a new fighting style. Throughout my Mêlée history I have created my own fighting style, and it was My fighting style that influenced many of the other fighters. I enjoy creating my own methods. This is also true with Halo2. I bought the game when it was released and created my own fighting style since day one. My style leaked into Jon's style and molded Ben Lee's whole game. It makes me proud when I see them do well in Halo because it feels like I am a part of the winnings. The same story goes for DDR. I had nothing to model my style from, so I taught myself. It was brand new to everyone and being the first to lead the way is something I am very proud of. I didn't even realize everyone was following my footsteps until one day Tony Seeman told me that its nice having something to base lessons off of. Only after that did I realize I pave a lot paths for others. I am very much looking forward to Brawl, but I will continue to perfect my Mêlée game. I need to be ready for the day I get beat down hard my a stronger opponent.

The oldest players on record are Jon, Richard and Myself, but the oldest Mêlée players are from Dean's GameCube era. When we first started keeping track of stats, Dick, Jon and I signed up together. I believe it was then Mitch and Dawson who joined. Then it was probably Peter and shortly after Dean and Andy. Recently Nick, Red and Vince have enlisted. The latest addition was Dave just a week ago.

In each post I want to have three reoccurring columns. One about little traditions and unwritten rules our network played by. Most of these old practices no longer apply since they were purged by the younger fighters. The second reoccurring column is where I want to write out some cool tips that people might not know about. In the last section I want to post recent updates, I have a few I need to list today. I will keep the first two sections fairly short this time because I didn't expect the blog to be this long.

Tradition
This is an important one and it has been brought up a couple of times this past month. The idea of character claim. Some might think it is a stupid idea, and it kind of is, but it's about respect and loyalty. I also think playing with one character makes you a better fighter. All of the best fighters I fought, played with one character. Our Mêlée elite group that consists of Jon, Dean and Myself all have characters claimed. I was asked by a couple of members if I could give them a character recently, and it just doesn't work like that. You have to earn your character. You just have to keep using the same character and respect the game and the rest will take care of its self. You don't have to be good to claim a character, but if you show that you are loyal to one character and that you are a virtuous fighter, you should be allowed to pick a character without others getting in the way. This idea of character claim a lot of history, but a part of it is so there aren't any doubles playing at the same time. Some people complained in the past about losing track of which fighter belonged to who. So it helps people keep track, but there are many other traditions and elements involved. After you have played with one person for a while, Dean, Jon, Dawson and I will vote to see if the fighter is worthy of a character claim. I am thinking the group that decides will consist of Jon, Dean and Myself from now on since Dawson isn't around and I don't consider him an elite fighter. I think we had him around since we needed another voter in the past but with the emergence of Dean his services are no longer needed. So basically, play with one character, show that you are a respectable fighter, and things should work out by them self. Sometimes a battle between two people is needed to decide who gets a character because it wouldn't make sense to give the character to a less skilled fighter. Only one of these have happened and I don't see many of the happening since many people quit on their characters. I hope this clears it up a little.
Here is a short list of characters that can't be used:
Dr. Mario (Min)
Zelda/Sheik (Jon)
Roy (Daws)
Jigglypuff (Den)
The next longest running steak is Vince with Samus.

Tips
I think I am going to state only one tip so I can end this post soon. Here is one that I thought everyone knew, but recently figured out only a small portion knew.
The invisibility pick up is useful not because you become invisible, but because when you have it on, you can't receive damage. People usually ignore the pickup because you obviously aren't invisible, and why would you want to be completely invisible. Some people say when you pick it up, you are invincible, but don't think that. If you have a high percentage, you can still be knocked out of a level with it on. If you grab it when you are at 0%, you will stay at 0% for as long as it lasts. So don't think this pickup is useless, because if you think about the trade off, it could equal a life. If you inflict 50% while you have it and avoid 50%, thats a net worth of 100%. Seems worth it to me.

Recent News
Finish this post off with some news.
1) Dean has earned the rights to Jigglypuff. This news might be a month or two old now, but it is major and I felt I should list it.

2) Dean entered the ranks of an Elite fighter. That makes three of us now. This is also old news, but important news.

3) Nick and Mitch lost their progression for character claims. Mitch switched his character recently and Nick experimented with others. Experimenting doesn't hurt you as much, but it definitely slows your claim down.

4) Dr. Mario the character has clocked in the maximum amount of minutes that can be recorded. Thought this was kind of cool.

5) David Weum has joined our network.

Can't wait to play some Mêlée this weekend!
The End