* * *
Notsuchabadguy: Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself and about your history with Smash?
Waymas: Sure! I’m a twenty-seven year old systems engineer (I’m getting up there in years) and a competitive Smash player on the side. I’ve been playing since I was about four years old with Smash 64, but I never tried going to tournaments until Melee came around, and even then I wasn’t a huge Melee guy. It was hard to get into, you know? We didn’t have things like YouTube back then and sites like Smashboards were just starting to become a thing: You only learned about new tech via word of mouth, and if you wanted to know when tournaments were happening, you had to go to conventions and hope you found a poster or pamphlet talking about them.
So yeah, my Melee experience wasn’t so great. I would go to tournaments with a group of friends, get whooped, leave, repeat. That was, until tournaments just sort of… stopped happening. There was a dry spell, from about 2005 to 2008, where we had little to nothing going on. And then Brawl was released, and a small group of friends I knew organized this competition which drew about fifty participants to it. At the time, that was an amazing turnout. I got about… eight or seventh place, I don’t quite remember. It wasn’t fantastic, but as a beginner, it was all the motivation I needed.
I started putting in my hours, going to more tournaments--around this time was when my friend Ness (not as in, the character, that’s just the alias he goes by) told me about “Smash-Mex”, a series of tournaments taking place every six months across various cities in México.
The next one that was happening (Smash-Mex Seven, I think?) was taking place in a city not too far away from where I lived, so me and some friends decided to go. That was my first time meeting some of the top players from around the country: Flama, Addy, Chota, amongst others. Seeing the competition, I didn’t think I would win, but… well, lo and behold, I somehow managed to take first place. That sort of solidified the game as being something “serious” for me. I started traveling to tournaments, meeting most of the members of the community, taking quite a few wins and really getting acquainted with the scene. We’ve moved on from Brawl since, and we’re pretty much just getting started with Smash 4, but...what can I say? The future looks bright.
Notsuchabadguy: What about Smash would you say drew you in so much that you’ve stuck around with it over the years?
Waymas: I’ve always been a huge fan of 2D fighters. As a kid, I remember going to the arcades and spending hours playing SF and KoF. It’s true that Smash’s a completely different beast from any other fighting game out there, but the fundamentals are still there, at least enough to allow me to use the same type of defensive strategies I enjoy and am known for.
Waymas: I’m sure a lot of people do it because of the money, the fame, the prestige, but all I really want is to prove I’m the best. Of course, pots are a great incentive and a reward for all of the effort we put in, but the real main motivator for me to keep playing is to face off against more and better players and to continue improving every step along the way.
Notsuchabadguy: We don’t see a lot of top players besides you using Wario. What drew you to him?
Waymas: That’s actually pretty easy; he’s just really good at messing with people. I enjoy making the audience laugh and getting under my opponent's skin, two things which he does really well. I used to play Samus in Smash 64, and I added Captain Falcon to my roster when I started playing Melee, but neither of them really felt as powerful in Brawl, so I decided to try out Wario and it was a match made in heaven.
Besides, the character in general is really funny: I’ve liked him a lot ever since I first saw him in the first Wario Land games and in Mario Kart, so of course I was drawn to him when he was made into a playable character for Brawl. He’s been nerfed during his transition to Smash 4, and he doesn’t have nearly as much killing power as he did before, but I doubt I’m ever going to drop him. I feel like he’s a part of my character now, and even if he’s not as strong as he was before, I know I’m far from reaching my max potential with him.
From left to right: Terro, Mathias and Waymas hanging out at a weekly tournament.
Notsuchabadguy: Your playstyle is considered somewhat controversial in the community. There are those who love the way in which you toy with your opponents and try to frustrate them until you get the Waft, but there are also those who think camping shouldn’t exist in Smash 4. How do you feel about people’s opinion of you?
Waymas: I feel like I’ve had to move away from camping a lot, and that’s mostly because of certain matchups and how the meta has developed over the life of the game. When I started with Smash 4, I was extremely campy because I was used to Brawl, which greatly rewarded defensive play -- unless you played ICs and could get consistent grabs, in which case you were godlike, but that’s besides the point.
Camping worked for a while in Smash 4, it got me good results, but it’s been seriously nerfed from Brawl and it’s becoming harder and harder to pull off. I don’t know if you’ve seen that blog post Wobbles did recently, talking about how people can improve their competitive play? In it he mentions how with ICs it’s important to be good at grabbing if you want to get kills, but by solely focusing on getting better at that you’re neglecting all of the other aspects of your play, and if you get someone who’s really good at avoiding being grabbed there’s not going to be a lot you can do against them. And because of that you can’t just rely on “the one thing” you’re great at, you have to try and be good at everything.
So let’s say I pick Wario against a Toon Link. I can’t just camp a Toon Link, because Toon Link is just going to camp me harder. Or a Sheik, who can beat my camping with her needles. Or Bowser, who you can camp, but if you misspace a bit or go too agro, he’s going to massacre you with his grabs. So I’ve had to work a lot on the other aspects of my game besides defense, and I’ve tried to have a solid foundation in all of them.
That said, I don’t think people should criticize defensive playstyles: There are some characters you just can’t go agro against if you don’t want to get bopped. It’s like ChrisG, the MvC3 player; everyone was always very critical of how he played Morrigan, but the truth was Morrigan didn’t do a lot of damage, and if you hit her with a special or managed to get a good combo going on her, you could take her out super fast.
Waymas: Man, I think everyone’s goal right now is just to beat Leo. Not even just him, but Serge, Hyuga, Javi, Wonf -- to raise the bar for competition around here. I’m focused on recovering as a player, and either getting back my title of “best player in México” or at least making sure I’m up to par with the top players, and of course making sure I can put up a serious fight once we start attending tournaments in the US.
Notsuchabadguy: Any plans for the future?
Waymas: As a player? Work hard, bring my a-game, become as good as I can possibly be. But in general, I’m more focused on helping our scene grow and improving some of our more lackluster aspects, especially in the infrastructure. We need more content, we need comprehensive VOD libraries, we need bigger and better events, and we need more people to hear about us and our players.
As we become more well-known, it’ll be easier for us to get past certain hurdles. I think mentioning this game in our community is something like blasphemy, but just look at League of Legends: Of course, Riot had a bit part in making it as big as it is, but it’d be insulting to act like the community that has been supporting it independently to an insane degree didn’t have anything to do with how big it’s become. I feel like that’s what we’re missing over here. We have everything we need, we just need to make that last push to really get things going.
Notsuchabadguy: How do you feel about the competition in our country?
Waymas: Huh... that’s a hard one.
Notsuchabadguy: You don’t have to worry about being humble or anything, just tell us how you really feel.
Waymas: No, I mean, I really do feel like I’m not nearly as good as I’d like to be. I go into Smashboards and the Wario Discord rooms a lot, and I recently had the pleasure of meeting Nasubi, a Japanese Wario player who’s been really pushing the meta as of late. Him and some of the other Wario mains I’ve met have been teaching me a lot of new stuff, strategies and tech. Everyone seems to have something they can contribute, even if they’re not notable players with huge tournaments wins. It makes me realize I still have a lot to learn.
Notsuchabadguy: What about our level of play, when compared to the rest of the scene?
Waymas: That’s… been a point of contention for our community. Unfortunately, a lot of us haven’t been able to go head-to-head with players from other countries, like the US and Japan. We’ve had good showings, like Japan vs. México in G3’s crew battles (especially Regi’s performance) or most of Hyuga’s performances at foreign tournaments, Leo’s matches with Vinny and Mr. R * -- I think we’ve got the level, we just gotta get out there and prove it.
Waymas: Well, for anyone who’s thought about getting into competitive Smash but maybe they’re too nervous to do it: Coming to tournaments isn’t just about playing, it’s also about the community. I’ve met a lot of my best friends through the game, people who have stuck around with me for years. It’s not about winning, it’s about learning, meeting new people and having fun.
From left to right: Waymas, Reny, Wonf and Reira during the “Road to EVO” tournament by Gamers Retro.
* * *
* Worth noting: This interview was recorded prior to GOML 2016.
We would like to thank Waymas for his time and patience while conducting this interview. Those who wish to keep up with him can subscribe to his YouTube channel, or follow Chosen Squad on Facebook.
We’d also like to thank Gamers Retro for getting us in touch with Waymas. This interview wouldn’t have been possible without their help.
Last edited by a moderator:
