TSM ZeRo
Banned via Administration
Hello everyone! Welcome to ZeRo's 3rd Pro Player spotlight. I am here with Trela, from Texas, Houston, who is known for being the best and flashiest Lucario in North America:
(Treka at SKTAR).
(Treka at SKTAR).
ZeRo: Trela, how are you doing today?
Trela: Been doing great, ZeRo, thank you for asking. I'm back at my parent's house at the moment hanging out with everyone again, including my aunt and cousin who came down from North Carolina. It's been fun so far.
ZeRo: That is great to hear! Trela I must start with congratulating you for your very strong performance at the past SKTAR. Winning doubles is no easy feat. Tell us, how did it felt to win, and also doing it with Mew2King, previous world champion?
Trela: The feeling of finally getting the chance to prove myself to the world is.......almost indescribable. For once in my entire Brawl career, I felt like it was just me doing this and no one else. Of course, other than Mew2King, that is lol. I still remember watching him and Azen play back at HOBO 11, which was my first tournament. I just remember saying to myself, "One day, I'm going to be as good as them, and maybe one day, I will get the chance to team with one of them." I've tried to team with Mew2King since after Pound V, but he always happened to already have a partner for practically every other tournament out there, and it was a MIRACLE for him to choose me after my performance at Apex 2012 (I got 33rd in Singles and 49th in Doubles with Sync, an Olimar main here in TX).
ZeRo: I know that feeling quite well as well. It certainly is the best feeling to finally accomplish your dreams, isn't it?
Trela: Well, not exactly ALL of them just yet. There's still much more to do, and the clock is ticking.
ZeRo: What other dreams are you still chasing?
Trela: Heh, to become the best player in the world, of course! The road is certainly a long one, yes, but after every other tournament I attend, it gets smaller for me. As each day passes, I feel like I am closer than I was ever before to reaching this goal, and it won't be too long before I do....
ZeRo: Excellent motivation right here. Truly something to be proud of. Speaking about your roots, how did you started to play competitively?
Trela: My adventure started with my older brother and one of his friends. We would play Melee almost non-stop every single day after school and just about all day during the summers. He was a Young Link main, I was a Mewtwo main and his friend was a Marth main. I was able to beat his friend's Marth, but when it came to my brother's Young Link, I could never do it. I got on the computer one day and started browsing the internet for something that would help me get better at this game. It was there that I found the Advanced How To Play SSBM series and matches between the top players during that time (Ken/Isai/Chu/PC Chris/Azen/Mew2King/KDJ). I started to beat my brother with Fox/Marth/Falcon because of all of these videos, but for some reason, I was never able to do it with Mewtwo, at least consistently, that is haha. It didn't take long after that for Brawl to come out, and after we got it, well, it was as if nothing had changed. Except that I went Lucario now over Mewtwo. I also played a TON of Wi-Fi after my brother and his friend stopped playing with me. I think I've played Wi-Fi on about five or six different Forums.
ZeRo: Awesome story. I can easily tell from this, that you're a very dedicated and passionate person when it comes to Smash. But why do you have all these attributes for Smash? Why is it so special to you?
Trela: I never really understood why I held Smash so close to me. Maybe it was because its games would always bring me and my older brother closer together. We always had our differences as we were growing up, but it was whenever we were playing a Smash Bros. game that we stopped fighting and turned our competitiveness towards the TV screen. Of course, being my old brother, he would always taunt me after we had finished playing, or.......you know what? Maybe THAT'S what it was. Maybe it was because my brother was better at everything other than video games until he started playing Smash with me. The one game I truly cared about the most, and he was better at it than me. I had convinced myself that he was now better at basically EVERYTHING than me, and I wasn't going to allow him to take the one thing I had left over him. The feeling of being better than someone that had bullied me for as long as I can remember, and the feeling of actually being good at something compared to everyone else around me.......it was a feeling that I will never forget.
ZeRo: So, in the very bottom of yourself lies a very competitive nature. That is very interesting know!
Why did you chose Lucario, from all the characters in Smash, to be your main in this adventure?
Trela: Pokemon has always been my favorite series of games to play. I always loved how it wasn't just about people this time, but about these creatures. Creatures with something much more to them that made them special in everyone else's eyes, something that I felt like I was able to make a connection with and a relation with. I was always known by others to be this little weirdo (I was really short compared to everyone else) and this nerd that didn't really have that many friends in school or outside of school. But in Pokemon, despite these creatures being so different compared to everyone else, the people still considered them to be equals, or friends, something that I found to be very admirable. I think that's what made me so attached to characters like Mewtwo and Lucario. I felt like I was just able to relate to them in a way. Like I really was the character. And I'll admit, I've had thoughts before on changing him as my main and using someone else (and I have before multiple times), but whenever I hear from someone that they admire me for staying Lucario, or that they really enjoy watching me play, or that they want to pick up Lucario, too, and be as good as me someday with him.......I can't give up on him. This character defines who I am, and we've already been through so much together. It's also things like this interview that make me even more confident in my character. And in myself.
ZeRo: Wow! That's a very sentimental story. It looks like you really appreciate the sentimental side of things. Why would that be?
Trela: Just the way I am, I guess.
ZeRo: I see. Now tell us, how are your preparations going on for Whobo this weekend?
Trela: I wouldn't say I feel confident, but I wouldn't say I feel nervous. I just feel.......ready. I'm ready to play against all of the other top players that will be showing up to this tournament (ESAM/Ally/Razer/Gnes to name a few), and I'm also really looking forward to the Mid+Low Tier side events. I'm going back to Pokemon Trainer again after playing Fox for a while and wonder how I'm gonna do with him. As for my Apex teammate? I haven't found one just yet, but Mew2King has shown interest in the Anubis strategy once again, so hopefully we're going to get the chance to take on the likes of the Japanese this time. Oh, and I'm teaming with Ally for regular Doubles this weekend. That's also something that I REALLY look forward to.
ZeRo: Very cool stuff to hear. The Anubis strategy is an awesome tactic to employ. For those reading that don't know it, could you explain it to them?
Trela: So Lucario's aura works depending on what your percent is and how many stocks you have compared to your opponent, right? Well, for some reason, this actually goes for EVERYONE on the screen, INCLUDING your teammate. If your teammate has three stocks while you only have one, depending on your percentage and your opponents stocks, you could hit the max power of aura for Lucario at just 0%! It's almost as if Lucario's aura actually reads your teammate as your opponent, thus giving him what you all see as the Anubis strategy!
ZeRo: That is incredible! How do you feel about Lucario in a doubles tournament setting?
Trela: As long as you're with a character that can stock tank really well and a player that's willing to do so, you'll do just fine. Lucario can't really do too much in Doubles without some kind of aura going, ya know?
ZeRo: I see. Do you feel he is stronger in doubles,, than singles due to the aura plus teammate factor?
Trela: Yes, I believe he is a MUCH stronger character in Doubles than he is in Singles because of that. There's just very little your opponents can do when they've gotta deal with THAT much aura and his teammate who still has ahold of all of their stocks lol.
From my personal experience, teams that can heal with Ness/Lucas or bucket with G&W are the best ways to counter Anubis. When me and Mew2King fought ESAM and Mekos, well, it felt like we were fighting ourselves in a way lol. I've never actually fought a G&W team with Anubis, but I do know that something that can KO me or my partner in only one hit is as deadly as a counter can get.
ZeRo: A well played team composition is always scary. Speaking about that, what is your opinion about double MK teams? Should it be legal, or banned?
Trela: From what I've seen, double MK is definitely the best team out there at the moment. I mean, I don't have that much experience in fighting them together, but it looks like you HAVE to have another MK on your team JUST so you can keep up with them, which is pretty much over-centralizing the doubles metagame. I guess that's kind of the reason why I believe me and Mew2King have a shot at winning Apex. I dunno, we'll just have to wait and see what happens this time. I'm not really proficient at debates, especially when it comes to MK.
ZeRo: It's all good. I simply wanted to know your opinion about it. Speaking about Apex, how are you preparing for that tournament? Next year's Apex is gonna be even bigger than this year's!
Trela: I'm learning MUs that I've always had a problem with personally or just didn't know much about thanks to tournaments like SKTAR. I'm going to try and attend a big tournament or two around my region before Apex in order to get that last bit of practice in, but other than that, I only have just WHOBO on my list.
ZeRo: Always trying to get that last bit of practice! That's great. If you would have to give advice to any up and coming Lucarios, wanting to succeed in the tournament scene, just like how you do, what would your advice be?
Trela: To be patient. It's hard to make it to the top with a character that has a pretty high learning curve like Lucario, not to mention his match-ups can get a little tedious at times. Oh, and never, ever, EVER give up during a match! You're playing Lucario, after all. ANYTHING is possible with his aura.
ZeRo: Great advice. Any chance of you giving private lessons to your fans, and/or aspiring Lucario players?
Trela: Private lessons? I mean, I generally help out anyone that asks for my help by answering any questions that they have and sometimes even showing them some cool tricks that I do in certain situations. I've also helped out some players at tournaments by actually showing them how to do the tricks I do in Training Mode or just give them some critiquing after I play them in a couple of matches. If they're looking to play WiFi with me, though, then they've come to the wrong place haha. I stopped playing that long ago.
ZeRo: Where can your fans contact you?
Trela: Anyone is happy to contact me through my facebook (Alberto Miliziano), AIM (PokemonTrela) or Skype (pokemon_trela). I'm almost always logged onto AIM and usually on facebook, too, but I rarely use Skype. If anyone wants to talk, I recommend you use my AIM above all else.
ZeRo: Awesome stuff. Ok, Trela, this was an awesome interview to conduct! I'm honored that I was able to interview you, but sadly, we gotta finish this up here. To wrap this up, any shoutouts?
Trela: I would like to give shoutouts to all of the Brawl players in TX, namely those from Houston, for making me into the player that I am today. Couldn't have made it this far without all of you. I also want to give shoutouts to the Lucario mains that inspired me to keep on moving forward back when they were still around, and they would be Azen, Lee Martin, Ksizzle, Junebug and Zucco. Oh, and shoutouts to everyone in the Lucario boards. You're the reason why this interview was even done in the first place. And thank you SO much for giving me the chance to do this interview, ZeRo! I enjoyed doing every bit of it!
I asked Trela for a set that would highlight his skills, and he linked me to this video, with the following comment "I love this set because I don't ever lose the lead".
Click HERE to watch the set!
