TSM ZeRo
Banned via Administration
Hey everyone! Welcome to ZeRo's Pro Player spotlight, I am here with Espy. Known for being the best Sonic in the USA:
Espy (to the left).
Espy (to the left).
Hey everyone! Welcome to ZeRo's Pro Player spotlight, I am here with Espy. Known for being the best Sonic in the USA.
ZeRo: Espy, how are you doing?
Espy: I'm doing pretty good. How about you?
ZeRo: I'm doing fine, thank you for asking. Now, you have a very good Sonic representation wherever you go. Constantly placing well in Texas, and also placing top 5 at MLG Dallas, beating known players all around the country using characters who supposedly counter your good friend Sonic. How do you manage to win at such a high level of play, with a character, known, for not being that good?
Espy: Well, most players by know are probably aware that one of the aspects to Sonic's game that makes him intimidating is his ground speed. It gives him an edge that allows him to punish a plethora of moves that other characters have a difficult time getting around. It also gives him a ton of control on whatever stage he's on so long as he's at a neutral position.
He's fast enough to abuse people to the extent where you can force a reaction out of players just because of that punishment capability. I'm not entirely sure that I'm saying it properly, but, to give an example, I find that even at high levels, it's extremely difficult to punish, say, a spin charge on pure reaction.
You abuse a player's reaction to your options in that way, and Sonic has a ton of mixups to help give him a plethora of different ways to force a flinch out of your opponent.
It's definitely harder to pull off at higher levels, but no player is always safe from a Sonic mixup until a hit's been landing in some way.
ZeRo: I see. I'm pretty avid in the sonic MU, thanks to my experience with the best Sonic over here, Fast! (You're his inspiration) and I know precisely what you're referring to. It's all about the "he could do this". Sort of flinching, like you put it.
Espy: Exactly. That "he could do this" is pretty intimidating. Even I get that ugly feeling when I play other Sonics.
Zero, X, and Speed have all made me feel like this plenty. It's definitely aggravating. Sonic's really good at ticking people off, from what I've experienced.
Other than abusing the mix ups, it all boils down to how well you space with Sonic, and how strong your follow ups are.
ZeRo: Exactly. Now, you're known for being an MK Slayer. Beating a bunch of known MK's across the country, and even almost beating M2K not too long ago. How do you manage to beat such high level players, using supposedly the best character in Brawl, while using Sonic? Is there a mindset to it? Any secret strategy you want to share with your Sonic fans? Practice schedule?
Espy: First off, I have been able to take down some Meta Knights here and there, but the real honor of being the MK Slayer probably goes to X. He's cut down so many Meta Knights in his history that I don't think any Sonic can follow up on. At MLG Dallas alone, I only had one Meta Knight to deal with. X plowed through five or six, I believe. Fighting Meta Knight with Sonic...it's kinda just a repeat of what I've already said. I guess I would add that the margin of error is crushed into this teeny tiny space. You can easily pressure someone like Donkey Kong or King Dedede, and even characters like Snake and Olimar, but Meta Knight is a bit more difficult to deal with using the same tactics.
The mindset CAN be the same as other characters, but it's probably best to focus on a defense oriented game. Even though he IS Meta Knight, he does have some trouble getting IN on Sonic if he's forced to play offensively. What makes the fight so difficult for Sonic is that once he loses the lead, the Meta Knight has no obligation to approach him, and many of Sonic's offensive options get shut down by a small arsenal of skills on Meta's end, like Mach Tornado, fair, etc. The match doesn't come without perks though. You're faster in the air and on the ground, so you just need to keep running around and making sure you have room to breathe while MK's hunting you down, assuming there's no large gap in the lead. Meta Knight also dies fairly early and has trouble chasing Sonic in the air if Sonic has his double jump; any little advantage counts. Oh, one thing that Gnes actually told me once that still works very well: When you see tornado, just walk away.
Sonic is really good at punishing nado. One small error, one extra tap on that B button, and you got Meta Knight right where you want him.
ZeRo: Very respectable from you to give shoutouts to another Sonic player. And I see, I see. And yes, as an MK player myself, who plays the ditto a lot, walking away from Tornado is a good tactic.
Espy: As far as practice goes, you just gotta immerse yourself in the match up with other strong players. Try everything you can think of: Sonic's moveset is full of sly little set ups.
ZeRo: Would you define Sonic as a "Trap" sort of character? Where the more aware the Sonic player is of the situation he is in, the better he can plan things, and for that, perform better?
Espy: Absolutely. And I'm pretty sure this applies to MOST players with any character: You can FEEL when you know that something has a high chance of working. Sonic has a ton of set ups, but a lot of them are only guaranteed if you can read the immediate reaction out of the initial starting point. Back in 2008-09, one of his classic set ups that almost ALWAYS worked was dash attack into a fsmash in the direction you just came from.
Most players, even top players, would air dodge on reaction from the position they were put in, or would try to challenge your fsmash with a move. Because of the distance dash attack carried you, and with how fsmash pulls Sonic's hurtbox back a bit, it was very easy to dodge and punish with the attack all in one sweeping motion.
Plus, it always looked cool. To be honest, that particular set up is probably still good to try here and there. Like all of Sonic's little tricks: use sparingly. You have a ton of options, but if you start repeating a fraction of them, you start getting punished. To add onto the "trap character" idea. One thing I can say for sure about Sonic is that if the opponent almost always reactions with a shield on aerial downB, you almost certainly have the mental advantage.
That move eats shields alive, and you have a handful of options that cover different reactions from the opponent.
You can actually learn a lot about a player's out of shield habits by just slamming into their shield with downB once or twice.
ZeRo: Very interesting opinion. That's the rule of thumb of competitive Smash. Don't overextend whatever you're doing. Sort of, don't push your tactics too far, because there's always a counter. The good ol' '08, just like Peach's D-Air tricks. And I agree with that feeling. Have you ever fought a Game and Watch, and feel, like he has 9 ready to hit you? I've felt that, and the next thing that happens, is that I almost got 9'ed. Also, you're very, very right on the shield part. I often had to analyze myself during tournament matches, "Hey, why do you keep doing this option OSS".
Espy: Everyone does. It feels awful getting smacked by it. And if you know the character's well, you can preemptively punish those options, like slapping MK with an UpB if he tries to nair or upB out of his.
ZeRo: Oh yeah! I hate that spring.
Espy: Speaking of shields. It's difficult to describe but...it's tough to kick shielding as some immediate defensive reaction. When I get pressured into a tough spot too often, I'll instinctively shield and take a ton of pressure, or get grabbed, and it drives me nuts. It's a waste of resources as far as Sonic goes.
ZeRo: And then you're facing Ally, and the next thing that happens is "Game!".
Espy: Yeah.
ZeRo: Good guy Ally destroying that habit.
Espy: With Sonic, you have that ground speed. You can AVOID most moves by running away from them. Keeps your shield nice and healthy, and gives you time to think exactly the same thought as you just said.
ZeRo: I see, I see. Now, you're a very knowledgable player. And you know a lot about the game's inside and out. How did you come to know all of this? Did you have a master, or you learned by yourself?
Espy: I lurked Smashboards since 2005, and joined in 2006, all for Melee obviously. When Brawl came out, I didn't hang around in many places except the Sonic boards, and I was unaware of events in town, so most of my action came from Wi-Fi. I met a good buddy of mine on WiFi named dNES. Classic Sonic main, and he was pretty much my master when it came to learning about Sonic. He'd talk to me about tricks, ideas, and we'd watch a ton of videos from the top Sonics during 08-09. Malcolm, Lucky, and Mr. 3000 come to mind right away. We'd analyze videos, and I'd mimic a bunch of the tactics they used in their games for my own, while trying to spin them around in a way I felt was more comfortable to my playstyle. Practice, videos, discussion, and lastly, I read every single bit of info I could on Smashboards, with the crew I played with on WiFi, and on tutorial videos. Non-Sonic based knowledge slowly just grew on me through watching more videos, fighting other characters in tournaments, and messing around with other characters on my spare time.I have no idea where I'd be without dNES. I owe him a lot for the help.
And of course all the Sonics on SWF.
ZeRo: That's a very interesting story. So your roots came from wifi. I see. Shoutouts to dNES and the Sonic boards for making one of the best Sonic player I've personally seen. Now, why do you use Sonic? Why him, of all the other characters in Brawl?
Espy: Basically, I have a sentimental connection to the character that runs pretty deep. Sonic was my childhood. I grew up a Sega kid myself, so Genesis does what Nintendon't. I grew up playing the games all day, every day (that isn't to say I didn't have other games! I just played Sonic ones all the time), watching all three television shows (SatAM, Underground, and Adventures Of), and of course, getting my hands on any Sonic toys I could. I always valued that type of "follow the wind" mentality that Sonic always had in the SatAM show (he was just a huge goofball in the other two, which I loved as a kid), and his sense of justice was just something I admired above all else. Some kids had Batman, Superman, or some other awesome hero they idolized during their childhood, right? Sonic happened to be mine.
ZeRo: I see. Then it's logical that you play Sonic. But you, being a Sega fan, why moved out to Nintendo? Seeing that your roots come from Melee.
Espy: I'm not the biggest Nintendo fan on the Earth because of my Sega roots, but I love the hell out of Pokemon, which was pretty much the only franchise I cared about from good 'ol Ninty. So like every other fanboy, I spazzed when I saw Pikachu fighting Mario, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong in the Smash64 commercial. I never owned the system, but I definitely played the game here and there with relatives. I didn't own a Gamecube either, but I had friends who let me try out Melee. I didn't own a Gamecube/Melee and 64/Smash until 2006 as is, so I was pretty late on the bandwagon, but there was just something so alluring about tossing people off levels and see them screaming into the background Team Rocket style. Smash is my second favorite gaming franchise right behind Sonic now just because of how much I enjoy the series, competitive or not.
ZeRo: I see. Who did you mained back then?
Espy: Well, when I was a kid, I played Pikachu in 64 and Melee. Then someone back in 64 showed me what happens when you Rest with Jigglypuff near someone (I thought it healed you somehow because of how it worked in Pokemon games). I fell in love with that sound effect. Then in Melee, people caught on FIRE. I HAD to play that character at all costs. Then Brawl is announced, and with Sonic starting to appear on Ninty consoles, my mind's just constantly screaming "Sonic's gonna be in this game. Sonic's GONNA be in this game!" October 10th, 2006. I don't think I've ever smiled as hard as I did that day.
ZeRo: Awesome. Your Sonic love is truly something to be proud of. Happiness is always a good thing. Now, what made you to start playing competitively? The jump of playing with friends, and playing at MLG is quite big!
Espy: Have you ever seen that video of Captain Jack's Donkey Kong vs. that Fox on Youtube?
ZeRo: I still remember flipping at the Cyber Coffee when I just got into the tournament scene about how good this guy was. And with DK!
Espy: Final Destination. DK grabs Fox and juggles him to death. The rest of the match is just awesome. Wavedashing, L-Canceling, etc. That video fascinated me because nothing in the manual said much about it all.
And I tried canceling the moves fast too, but I didn't know how. I think one of the comments linked to Smashboards, and with a quick browse, I found myself face to face with the Advanced How to Play SSBM video series.
ZeRo: Awesome! Shoutouts to Captain Jack for being the man! Right?
Espy: Definitely. I wouldn't exist as I am now without that influence. I got into it, learned all the techs in the video, taught my friends the techs, and then using Smashboards, started visiting local tournaments.
ZeRo: Did you talked to him at Apex? I took a picture to him, and spoke with him a bit. He was a great person.
Espy: Unfortunately I didn't, but I can tell you that seeing the man that dragged me into this crazy world gave me chills. I wish I could thank him for being so beast.
ZeRo: Now, to wrap this interview up. What would you tell to up and coming Sonic players that want to succeed at the competitive scene?
Espy: If I can sum up everything I've ever told myself about Sonic in Brawl and whatnot, I'd do it in two words: Be Crazy.
Don't make it easy for them to read your mind in the middle of a set. Try out insane set ups and experiment! See what works and what doesn't. You'd be surprised by what a little bit of guts can do to your gameplay.
ZeRo: Awesome. And I definitely agree with you there. Any shoutouts?
Espy: Shoutouts to KID, Speed, Kinzer, Kuraudo, Tesh, and all of the other Sonics for being cool through the last four years. Shouts to San Antonio, and the state of Texas for being so damn fun to hang around with. Shouts to X for being an unstoppable monster with Sonic, the SWF bronies for being hilarious, and Slush and Zajice for being some of the best friends I've ever had. Oh, and one for you for giving me this opportunity, Zero!
ZeRo: Awesome, awesome. Now, where could your fans contact you? Any chances of you giving private lessons?
Espy: I chit chat here and there with Sonics all the time, so that wouldn't be any problem for me. I'm here on AIM (gengar200298), or Skype (puffball64) most of the time, so hit me up there if you guys wanna talk s'more. If all else fails, just send me a message on Smashboards.com and I'll get back to you as fast as I can.
ZeRo: Awesome. Thanks for your time Espy, see ya at Apex!
Espy: My pleasure. Cya later.
Espy reccomended me this set. He told me that this set displays a very solid gameplay from both parties, and that he's proud of his performance here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC5j34A0EsU
He specifically is proud of his trick around 4:14. By Espy himself, "You'll see it when it happens".
