Zinoto: Ally's Eliminator

Not many international threats get taken down at locals but Michigan shows Midwestern Smash can get the job done! Recently Pulse Gaming's own Zinoto was able to fight and take down Ally, Canada's best, in both Winners and Grand Finals at SFW #19. Zinoto placed 17th at TBH5 and 25th at Apex 2015 losing to, oddly enough, Ally. We tracked down this Ann Arbor player to get his thoughts on the match, upcoming events, character selection, and more.

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SmashCapps: So first how were those matches against Ally? How were you feeling?

Pulse | Zinoto: To be honest I wasn't feeling nervous. I've been practicing a lot recently (like A LOT) to get prepared for Genesis. I really want to top 8 and I figured this was the best test to see if I would even come close. I kinda just went in with the intention to win. I also have been working with other characters that I was prepared to use if Diddy wasn't working out.

SmashCapps: What other characters out of curiosity?

Pulse | Zinoto: I play Diddy, Metaknight, and Palutena.

SmashCapps: Palutena! Curious choice. Why do you think Meta Knight and Palutena compliment your Diddy?

Pulse | Zinoto: The main MUs that Diddy can really struggle with (that you can frequently see in bracket) are Sheik, Mario Brothers, Rosa, Sonic, and Pikachu.

Metaknight is a nice counter for Rosalina, since her weight and size make it pretty easy to do the death combo really early on her. Also all his moves, except like 2, knock Luma away. Palutena does really well vs Mario Brothers since her walling game is really strong. Also, one of my main practice partners is Yoshi Kirishima and I kind of just picked her up for that reason alone. She's really fun and I think underrated.

Winners Finals: Pulse | Zinoto vs Boreal | Ally​

SmashCapps: So from what you said it seems like you only needed to use Diddy to take down Ally. Seeing as how you said it could be a struggle for Diddy, is Ally starting to slip or did you just figure him out this time?

Pulse | Zinoto: The last time me and Ally played was sometime in the summer, and he beat me pretty solidly. I've been practicing quite a bit since then and I think I just caught him off guard. There's not too many top level Diddy players to get MU practice with and I don't think there are any in Canada. Ally is still the amazing player he's always been and I'm 100% sure he'll be ready next time and the set will be extremely close. It just shows that no one is unbeatable.

SmashCapps: So with this extra practice and Genesis 3 coming up you said your goal was to make top 8, a spot where Ally would likely be there to give you a fight. Looking forward to the potential of that tough rematch?

Pulse | Zinoto: Definitely, he's probably already watched the match over and figured out what he did wrong along with making a game plan for next time, but so have I. Me and Ally are good friends and win or lose we always have fun sets. But, my main goal for genesis is to make a name for myself. When you talk about top Diddy's the first thing everyone says: Zero and MVD (for good reasons too, they have all the results). I plan to have many more sets like the one from this past Thursday with whoever I run into bracket at Genesis, whether that be Ally, Dabuz, ZeRo, etc. My plan is to win.

SmashCapps: Want to share any tips for training to any other potential 'Ally Slayers' out there?

Pulse | Zinoto: Yeah, everyone makes mistakes and no one is unbeatable. Keep practicing and review your gameplay constantly to make the holes in your play as small as possible. Most importantly have fun.

Grand Finals: Pulse | Zinoto vs Boreal | Ally​

SmashCapps: Any other events people might be able to see you at before Genesis 3 in case they want to get a taste of your gameplay?

Pulse | Zinoto: Definitely. Dabuz, Vinnie, MVD, Ally, WIll and myself will all be at Dismantle 2 on January 1-2. It should be streamed by E2C if I'm not mistaken and will showcase a lot of the Midwest's strongest players. Aside from that, Ally will prob be in Michigan for a while and he'll probably be at more of the weeklies with me, which people can watch on GooshiGaming's stream.

SmashCapps: Any last things you want to tell readers?

Pulse | Zinoto: Everyone should come to Genesis 3, find me, and say hi. I'm gonna do my best at Genesis 3 and play for all the underdogs!

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A special thank you to Zinoto for agreeing to this interview. Consider following Zinoto on Twitter to stay updated on his Smash career or his sponsor Pulse Gaming. Excited to see Ally and Zinoto clash again in tournament? Have ideas for a player to interview? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned to Smashboards for more Smash coverage.

 

He was apparently not an "ally"....

 

I've Been practicing to put my debut will be at a event in feb not genesis lol

 

Why don't you interview some Melee players? I like the spotlight that people like Zinoto and DJ Jack are getting but sometimes I can feel some Smash 4 bias in this articles :/

 

never heard of this guy, but he's is probably better than mvd.

 

Midwest doesn't get the credit they deserve since most notable streams have already been established on the west and east coast. Some people get the assumption of "well if you are good why haven't we heard of you?" When traveling far out of state. Hell mistereric was Midwest and was a notable ROB, but no one knew about him much until he won a xanadu

 

Why don't you interview some Melee players? I like the spotlight that people like Zinoto and DJ Jack are getting but sometimes I can feel some Smash 4 bias in this articles :/

Because he just recently had a big moment. I've actually tried to contact some Melee players during similar moments and was sadly told no for an interview or unable to get a response. I do what I can to keep things fair as possible.

 

Wow Zinoto that was incredible. The best Ive seen in a while. Also, attack of the monkey!

 

He's beaten him in brawl a bunch. Why is this surprising?

 

Zinoto is a really familar face and is a pretty good diddy. He's was pretty good at brawl and is definitely not an unknown player. You make it seem like Zinoto is a random or just not known about...

 

Zinoto is a really familar face and is a pretty good diddy. He's was pretty good at brawl and is definitely not an unknown player. You make it seem like Zinoto is a random or just not known about...

Did I say anything about zinoto. Kthx

Edit: unless that was directed towards the op

 

This shouldn't be news lol, Poke beat Ally at EXP 2015 nobody blinks an eye :/

 

The title is a piece of ****.

Grats on Zinoto beating me (He did that in Brawl too so no surprise) but ELIMINATOR? I lost count on how many sets I have on him. Calm your stuff

 

Same for Poke, he beat me once, never again even though he can.

 

The Salt is real, my friends

 

Same for Poke, he beat me once, never again even though he can.

Exactly like beating somebody once not = better than them lmao and definitely not grounds for ****ing front page of smashboards loool

 

The title is a piece of ****.

Grats on Zinoto beating me (He did that in Brawl too so no surprise) but ELIMINATOR? I lost count on how many sets I have on him. Calm your stuff

You sound like the one who needs to calm your stuff.

 

A front page article for eliminating Ally at a WEEKLY.
Kind of a joke to be quite honest.

If it was something comparable to Hax vs Zhu prior to Hax's switch to Fox I would understand but this is laughable.

 

This article is irrelevant and a waste of a read. Gratz on beating Ally but I really don't think it's front page worthy or even worth writing an article for... Especially since its A WEEKLY. Unless he does it consistently in tournament it really doesn't matter. I don't come on here often but this kinda makes this site look like a joke.

 

If you say "zinoto ally's eliminator" repeatedly in a monotone way it sounds like a spell.

I have nothing interesring to say sorry.

 

@KingJames of West Michigan pride 2-0'd Zinoto recently in pools, why isn't he featured in an article? Sakurai bias is real here.

 

Exactly like beating somebody once not = better than them lmao and definitely not grounds for ****ing front page of smashboards loool

He beat him in winners fin. and in Grand fin. And if you've watched you could have actually seen how great the sets where.

 

This article is irrelevant and a waste of a read. Gratz on beating Ally but I really don't think it's front page worthy or even worth writing an article for... Especially since its A WEEKLY. Unless he does it consistently in tournament it really doesn't matter. I don't come on here often but this kinda makes this site look like a joke.

Hello sir up that high horse. Please don't come by any more often then.

 

And people sleep on diddy smfh. "Diddy is mid tier" - ZeRo. Diddy is still top 15.

 

This article is irrelevant and a waste of a read. Gratz on beating Ally but I really don't think it's front page worthy or even worth writing an article for... Especially since its A WEEKLY. Unless he does it consistently in tournament it really doesn't matter. I don't come on here often but this kinda makes this site look like a joke.

This site became a joke a long time ago.

 

The title is a piece of ****.

Grats on Zinoto beating me (He did that in Brawl too so no surprise) but ELIMINATOR? I lost count on how many sets I have on him. Calm your stuff

Calm down, Ally.

That title was probably made as such to grab the interest of people.

After all, "Ally's eliminator" sounds a lot catchier than "he won against Ally on a weekly"

 

He's beaten him in brawl a bunch. Why is this surprising?

Unfortunately as our community and many of its top players shove aside Brawl hoping it is forgotten, most new players have no idea of this. When Twitter was blowing up not knowing who this 'Zinoto' was that could take down Ally, an article seemed appropriate.

The title is a piece of ****.

Grats on Zinoto beating me (He did that in Brawl too so no surprise) but ELIMINATOR? I lost count on how many sets I have on him. Calm your stuff

This article is irrelevant and a waste of a read. Gratz on beating Ally but I really don't think it's front page worthy or even worth writing an article for... Especially since its A WEEKLY. Unless he does it consistently in tournament it really doesn't matter. I don't come on here often but this kinda makes this site look like a joke.

Exactly like beating somebody once not = better than them lmao and definitely not grounds for ****ing front page of smashboards loool

Funny, when DJ Jack did the exact same thing with an article literally titled "DJ Jack: The ESAM Eliminator" where were people then? I remember, their region got excited and spread it around, ESAM even retweeted and congratulated DJ Jack on his win, and a cool storyline for Smash 4 was born.

Not sure why ya'll wanna bring intense salt here. People ask for Smash 4 storylines, I try to deliver. It stinks but people don't remember Brawl and Zinoto since a huge portion of them never seen Brawl. There was a huge chunk of people that had no idea who Zinoto was on social media and were surprised Ally lost at a Michigan event. Here's an opportunity to gracefully take a loss and let people know Michigan does have talent when people tend to not watch the region but instead....

I will fire a shot of my own though I generally hate to do so in comments. ESAM and Florida's general reaction shows me why they have such a high caliber of players and why ESAM is considered such an amazing role model for the community. Makes me wonder why Canada is noticed less, maybe because their most well known player is a bit hostile.

 

Not every day is full of Smash news. Not every day has some huge upset at a major or hype new DLC announced. Little filler like this gives us insight into the various Smash scenes and all the different players out there. We've got an active community, so wouldn't it be nice to learn about it?

 

Why don't you interview some Melee players? I like the spotlight that people like Zinoto and DJ Jack are getting but sometimes I can feel some Smash 4 bias in this articles :/

As if Melee needs more representation...

 

As if Melee needs more representation...

Smashboards loves ALL Smash games. They all deserve representation when possible

 

As if Melee needs more representation...

As a game it's debatable but it sure needs more representation through storylines like this, I mean just look at what happened yesterday, Wobbles defeated the recently sponsored Sfat and Westballz twice in an exciting Grand Finals (I'm sure you didn't know) or what about the time H-Box got double eliminated by Plup on their Florida monthly? These storylines need the spotlight as much as DJ Jack beating ESAM and it's a dam shame you can't notice that.

 

Guys, chill. Ally likes to troll and trigger people online. Don't take his criticism so gravely lol.

Also lol criticizing SmashCapps for being smash 4 biased? These are volunteer writers who aren't getting paid. They write what they want. If you want more melee content, blame Smashboards for a lack of Melee journalists who want to cover storylines.

 

As a game it's debatable but it sure needs more representation through storylines like this, I mean just look at what happened yesterday, Wobbles defeated the recently sponsored Sfat and Westballz twice in an exciting Grand Finals (I'm sure you didn't know) or what about the time H-Box got double eliminated by Plup on their Florida monthly? These storylines need the spotlight as much as DJ Jack beating ESAM and it's a dam shame you can't notice that.

I agree about melee deserving stuff too. I love melee a lot... but I gotta say... Is it really that incredible for Wobbles to beat Sfat and Westballz?(Just because He's been somewhat inactive and is kind of a veteran doesn't take his skill away) I see it even less with Plup and Hbox since Plup is imo not too far away in skill level from the Gods. I agree with you don't get me wrong, it is just that the instances you mentioned as example don't really wow me much.

 

I agree about melee deserving stuff too. I love melee a lot... but I gotta say... Is it really that incredible for Wobbles to beat Sfat and Westballz?(Just because He's been somewhat inactive and is kind of a veteran doesn't take his skill away) I see it even less with Plup and Hbox since Plup is imo not too far away in skill level from the Gods. I agree with you don't get me wrong, it is just that the instances you mentioned as example don't really wow me much.

Remember than when Plup first beat H-Box, Plup wasn't even considered top 10 material and he rarely got top 8 at nationals. As for Wobbles beating Sfat and Westballz, you gotta admit it's a hell of an upset to defeat 2 top 15 players at their prime when you haven't been active for more than a year (I know he defeated M2K and Axe but both of them are known to have an ICs weakness).

 

As a game it's debatable but it sure needs more representation through storylines like this, I mean just look at what happened yesterday, Wobbles defeated the recently sponsored Sfat and Westballz twice in an exciting Grand Finals (I'm sure you didn't know) or what about the time H-Box got double eliminated by Plup on their Florida monthly? These storylines need the spotlight as much as DJ Jack beating ESAM and it's a dam shame you can't notice that.

I also regret not being on top of things to have written on Plup and Hungrybox... I'm only just now getting into just happening kinds of news and the lack of responses some people give when asking to be interviewed makes it tough but I promise I'm going to keep trying and doing better and better!

 

The interview was good though. I'll let it go lol.

 

The interview was good though. I'll let it go lol.

Good sport!

 

SSB4 is more interesting than Melee newswise anyway at the moment. It's the newer game so the storylines are a lot more fun to hear about. I only follow SSB4 competitively after all and a lot of people can say the same although I am not undermining Melee's considerably large fanbase either. I thought this was a good piece and I've been enjoying these articles. I hadn't watched the matches before this article went up, but I'm glad that I ended up seeing it afterward!

 

Hoo-Hah nation rises again!

Also I think this is good proof that Diddy is better than Mario. Hell, I even think Diddy is still better than Pikachu. Definitely still viable candidate for Top 5.

Am also considering picking up now.

 

Hoo-Hah nation rises again!

Also I think this is good proof that Diddy is better than Mario. Hell, I even think Diddy is still better than Pikachu. Definitely still viable candidate for Top 5.

Am also considering picking up now.

lol at "Diddy being better than Mario". You should pick up MK, though. He's ****ing great.