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What happens when 2 players forget theyre in hand warmers mode?

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 10:29 AM PST

submitted by /u/TheSkilledRoy
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Look what you've done. By Daniel Bernal.

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 04:47 PM PST

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SSB4 copy signed by Xander Mobus

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 07:43 AM PST

submitted by /u/Spixican
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Super Smash Brother Wii U Bayonetta% by THUNDER in 0:43

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 05:49 PM PST

submitted by /u/Pokecheese
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Hbox enjoying a good book

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 04:42 PM PST

submitted by /u/Mewtwo3
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The Greatest Smash 4 glitch of all time

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 05:28 PM PST

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A Look at Smash 4's Viability (Mega-Post)

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 06:10 PM PST

Introduction

Hello everyone, I'm Pyro-is-Magic, and although I may not be a PGR data collector such as PG_Juddy or an important article writer such as /u/BarnardsLoop, I am a very avid Smash 4 viewer, especially on the Japan scene where you can almost always find me on the Shi-G stream.

With the current talk about Bayonetta recently, a lot of people were discussing the topic of Smash 4 being a dead game, where the meta has been solved and that the eventual end was going to be Bayo mains flooding every tournament. These conversations reminded me of when I first starting playing competitive Smash a month before Apex 2015, when similar conversations were sprung up about pre-patch Diddy killing the game, and that Apex Top 8 was just going to be bunch of Diddy Kongs spamming Hoo Hah. A lot of these concerns were silenced when Top 8 eventually played out, and to everyone's surprise a Duck Hunt and a Pac Man were there, and the only two Diddy Kongs in top 8 were Zero and M2K, two of the best Diddy Kongs at the time. Since then, Smash 4 has only grown more outward, and for a time, in 2016-2017, you couldn't predict which characters would make top 8 at a major.

This is not that time however. Probably the most concerning data point of Barnard's Bayonetta post the other day was the steep decline in results by non top ten characters, on the regional and national levels. Smash 4 has persisted for so long because of its metagame diversity, which stands in stark contrast to Brawl, which saw Meta Knight consuming almost every spot of Top 8. Smash 4's diverse cast has worked to decentralize its metagame, preventing any character from reaching that level of oversaturation, but seeing this decline is heartbreaking as it is showing signs of the games longevity, where weaker characters are slowly fading away.

Before all hope is lost however, I wanted to take a look back at 2017, to see how far these "Other" characters have been taken, to portray how diverse Smash 4 was at its peak, since we are most likely going to see a slow decline of diversity from here. I have made this post today to conceptualize how the diversity of Smash 4's metagame has changed in 2017 (with some 2016 and 2018), and what predictions can be made moving forward. I'm not focusing this piece on the top tiers in Smash 4, instead this will focus on the rest of the cast, as BarnardsLoop put it in his Bayonetta post, the "Others", non top ten characters in Smash 4. Just as Barnard has done with his post, this is NOT an opinion piece, every character has been categorized based on tournament results with the main focus on PGR tournaments and rankings. I will share some thoughts on some of these characters, but please understand the following list is made purely out of results.

The Data Compilation

The following list was built holistically, finding evidence for a character that has shown their ability to compete at high levels. There will be a write up for each category below. There are rules to follow within this list, the first is that characters within the same category are considered of similar relevance in the metagame, which means their order is unimportant. Secondly, from top to bottom, the categories are listed in descending order on their relevance to the metagame. In essence, they are different tiers. Characters can fall into multiple categories, and if so they will be placed in the highest category they fall in. In terms of methodology, this list focuses on the highest achievements for a character made by their best main, instead of building a portfolio of wins by a collection of their mains, to prevent bias for characters with more representatives.

The Tier List

Data

Analysis

Top Ten

Funny enough, the research for this post began before Barnard's post, and in both of our investigations we came across the same top ten characters. They are not the main focus here, the importance is all the characters below them, which will be referred to as "Unique Characters" in this post and data, and how they have succeeded in today's metagame.

Top 8 S Tier

As what could be considered the high tier of Smash 4, characters in this category have not reached the consistency of success as the Top 10 but have greatly outperformed the characters below them. Top 8 at an S Tier is a coveted spot, as it most likely means a bracket run that involved upsets over numerous top 20 players. Any character that can reach this position has proven they are capable of beating multiple characters in the Top 10 at the highest level.

Won a PGR Event

A bit of a downgrade from Top 8 at an S Tier, characters in this category have proven their ability to perform well against the cast, but not have reached the coveted spot of a Top 8 at an S Tier. Funny enough, this tier would be a pretty good definition of the Japan tier, where all of these characters (except Pikachu) are here because of a top level Japanese player. There is not a very large gap between this tier and the one above it, as there is a very strong correlation between being able to Top 8 an S Tier and winning a PGR event. These two tiers combined could describe Smash 4's high tier, as there is a lot of overlap between these tiers. Since many of these characters best representatives are Japanese players, most of them could potentially reach a Top 8 at an S Tier eventually if given enough opportunities.

Special Cases

As a variation off of the previous category, these were characters that have also won a PGR event in 2017, but under different conditions then the rest of the high tier, which I will explain in detail.

*Pit/Dark Pit: Looping these characters together, Earth was able to win Karisuma 13 (PGR v3 C Tier) playing predominantly Pit over the course of the tournament. However, Earth had won Grand Finals using Corrin as a counter pick to Ranai's Villager. I do not want to nitpick here, but if a character is not good enough to win the hardest match of the tournament, there should be less stock put into that character's viability. Combined with worse performances by Earth towards the end of 2017, a failure to rank in PGR v4 as well as a drop in Japan's Power Rankings, it seems unworthy for Pit to claim a high tier spot.

*Game and Watch: Surprisingly, Game and Watch has won two different PGR event wins in 2017, one by Regi at (C Tier PGR v3) ConComics 2017 and the other by Extra at (C Tier PGR v3) Battle Arena Melbourne. Considering Regi's 13th place at Nairo Saga as well as Maister's 13th at Genesis 5, there is evidence of Game and Watch belonging in the high tier of characters. In all of 2017, there were only 3 PGR tournaments they had no current or former PGR players in attendance, and these were two of them. The last one of these three was won by-

*Wario: Gluttony at (PGR v4 B Tier) Albion 2. Although Gluttony did not face a single PGR player in this tournament, he did blow through the best players in Europe, and he still has his wins over Anti and Kameme in 2016 that do support the claim of Wario being a high tier.

*Samus: Due to a strange amount of upsets, Esam was able to win (C Tier PGR v3) Combo Breaker going solo Samus and did not face a single PGR opponent. This Samus was able to claim a victory over Ally at Civil War in the same season, but it is difficult to evaluate the viability of Samus with such sparse usage from one of her best representatives, as Esam is the only Samus "main" to have won a PGR event.

Analysis Lower Half

From this point on, it becomes much harder to evaluate characters without a tournament victory or S-Tier Top 8 to their name. This is where the holistic evaluation begins. Some of these characters are possibly better than the category they are placed in, however they lack the results to move higher.

PGR Representative in 2017

Unable to fit the above criteria, Ness sneaks in due to FOW's miraculous (PGR v3 Rank 50) by garnering great results in the last months of the season. Since FOW achieved this rank with his solo main, it implies that Ness could have achieved results to place him into high tier if FOW was more active during the season.

PGR Representative in 2016 (Post 1.1.7)

This tier is given far less stock than any category above it, for the reason that this meta was when Bayonetta, currently the unanimous best character, was at her weakest. Dath (PGR v2 Rank 32) has not been able to come close to his 2016 performances and Taheita (PGR v2 Rank 49) remains a very inactive player, questioning the viability of these two characters as we now move on to 2018. It's not all bad for Lucas though, as Taiheita was still able to get a 2nd place finish at (C Tier PGR v4) Karisuma 14 with a win over Ranai. Ness, Lucas and Robin together form a gray area in the tier list, where they are in a transitioning phase, whether it will be an upward or downward trend will become more evident in 2018.

Secondary used in PGR Event Win

Let me be clear on this tier, these characters were used as successful counterpicks that took a set by the winner of a PGR event/Top 8 an S-Tier. The reason why this category is below PGR Reps in 2016, while arguably some of these characters are better than the ones above, is because these characters are given an unfair advantage in evaluation because they were used as counterpicks. The evidence is skewed because these characters saw success when used in favorable matchups, rather than being used as solo mains for an entire season. Robin and Lucas saw success against a diverse playing field while these characters saw success when winning matchups they were suspected to win.

Outliers

For the characters in this category, these five stood out the most and look to make an advancement in 2018. I will be going over them individually.

*Shulk- Although Shulk is in the secondary list because of Shuton's win over Ryuga at FE Saga which helped him make Top 8, I want to elaborate on Shulk here. Kome has been making great strides in Japan. In the current Japan Power Ranking he sits in their top 25, and recently has improved his set record over Komorikiri to 3-0. Kome barely missed qualifying for Tokaigi 2018, but his performances with Shulk recently would put him on a PGR worthy level.

*Greninja- Stroder achieved a (PGR v4 Rank 51) honorable mention using the frog, with a win over Nario as his highlight. Greninja has been a character to win regionals, such as Salem's win at Tipped Off 12, but the frog did not win a PGR event in 2017. It is very likely that a Greninja will have his breakout soon, as many of his top level mains have remained consistent with their results, but only time will tell.

*Roy- As a stroke of good luck, Roy has found a main in top level player Komorikiri, claiming a victory over Captain Zack at the 2GG Championship. Komorikiri has not won a PGR event using Roy predominantly or as a secondary, yet.

*Pac Man- If Sinji continues travelling and improving his string of top player upsets, he may eventually find himself at Top 8 of a S Tier in 2018. The results may be quiet by an upward trend is a good sign.

*Wii Fit Trainer- Although Wii Fit's best main in John Numbers doesn't travel often outside of New York Regionals, his 2nd place finish at Combo Breaker with victories over MVD, Zinoto and Ned is telling of a character that can keep improving.

Only a PGR Win in 2017-2018

If you main someone here, this sucks. A win vs a PGR player means this character was able to trick up a top player, hopefully two, and cause a big upset at a major, but usually get blown out immediately afterwards. With some bracket luck these characters can influence a tournament with upsets, but it is astronomically unlikely for them to win a PGR event or Top 8 an S Tier, because they failed to do it in 2017.

Rizeasu

Why is this here? This is what happens when a true Random Main exists. Rizeasu was able to qualify for Tokaigi 2018 by beating 9B and Kuro with Zelda, with Kuro hot off of wins over Shuton and Raito. Rizeasu then proceeded to play Dr. Mario in Tokaigi, giving MkLeo a scare and keeping it close with him. In an analogous situation to Komorikiri and Roy, these characters benefit greatly from their top level main. It is a similar situation to MKLeo's swordsmen quartet, where Marth and Meta Knight have far worse results without him, except Rize just replaced the quartet with the random button.

The Bottom

Not all characters are going to shine, as this is the deepest darkest hole you can be in. The characters here have had almost no meta impact in 2017, not defeating a PGR player (non PGR events not counted) nor being used as a successful co-main by a top player. If a character is here, it can be said that their meta game is dead, with only Bowser Jr. having a chance to escape.

Final Thoughts

I wish there was a cleaner way to define the high tiers in smash 4. Past lists pointing out results would use character frequency in Top 32s, 16s and 8s. However there is a problem here with how often the top mains of a unique character show up to a tournament. Esam made more top 32 appearances at S Tiers then fellow PGR player Shuton in 2017, but Shuton was able to make Top 8 at an S Tier where Esam could not. This list does value peaks > frequency, but as stated, characters able to claim similar successes are considered of similar relevance, not favoring one over the other.

Has DLC killed character diversity in Smash 4? DLC has definitely hurt the diversity, but it has not killed it, as still half the cast has been able to make waves in 2017. All the characters in the outlier category have shown results that suggest an ability to benefit from focal points in the top tiers. Greninja to counter ZSS, Shulk to counter Cloud, Pac-Man and Wii Fit as a counter to Diddy Kong, and maybe even Roy to counter Bayo. Smash 4 is still doing well amongst its mid and high tiers. The top and bottom has mostly been figured out, (Bayo might kick Mario out of Top 10 though), and the bulk of the cast can still pull incredible results at PGR events, even with their minority representation.

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Yung John makes BOOTEKING look like booty

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 02:30 PM PST

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Nack's commentary at the final Xanadu is something

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 08:16 PM PST

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What are some very common myths/misconceptions people have about Project M that are wrong?

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 03:24 PM PST

submitted by /u/OniCornwalis
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Smash History's Top 100 Melee Players of All-Time: #61-70

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 09:58 AM PST

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Best Neutral Option: Wakeup YEAHUZZZ

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 06:23 PM PST

submitted by /u/Epicallytossed
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How the Term "Hand Warmer" was Coined

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 05:16 PM PST

submitted by /u/FirePuff12
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Please don't ask pro players to take pictures with your toaster oven in the bathroom

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 10:00 AM PST

Just a general reminder to keep boundaries in mind at a Smash tournament. https://twitter.com/tweekssb/status/967540613985030146 https://twitter.com/xyrniq/status/967544336123604992

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New Anti-Marth Edgeguarding Tech

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 01:52 PM PST

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Xanadu's Ending Video

Posted: 24 Feb 2018 09:56 PM PST

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Which characters are most prevalent in each region?

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 10:21 AM PST

Title, which regions have an unusual or excessive number of talented players of a character, especially ones that people might not have known/realized?

One well known example would be Pikachus in Florida, being the home of ESAM, Rideae, and Tachyon.

I also just realized Canada has an exceptional number of talented Ryu players, nearly one in every significant sub-region; Locus in BC, Ragna in the Prairies, THUNDER in Ontario, and Venom in Quebec.

submitted by /u/tenebrousGenius
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Greasy f*cking dies immediately

Posted: 25 Feb 2018 01:48 PM PST