Pre-tournament
What do you do to warm up for the tournament?(practice tech skill, train with your friends, practice your secondaries)
Practice with my friends, try to figure out which matchups to go with.
Anything different from normal routine?
I like to sleep a lot, and feel really clean.
I try to make myself feel as calm as possible, with sleeping and ambient music.
If so, how early do you start training?(smashfest before, day before, week before)
Start training? I never stop.
Do you view matches of opponents that will be at the tournament?(study them?)
Nah.
What's your mindset going to the tournament?(I'm going to win/I hope I place well/I hope I don't have to fight xxxxx)
I hope I place well. I hope I make good choices on counterpicks.
Pre-match
The TO announces you have a match on TV 3 with a smasher you have never heard of, what's your game plan? What do you assume about the player, if anything?(Are you thinking about what character you will use, sizing your opponent up, underestimating him, overestimating him?)
Ummmm, I don't usually make a judgement about someone before playing. I try to ask them who their main is, just so I know who to go.
What about a match with a smasher who you know/heard of, but are fairly confident of beating?(what are some specific thoughts to describe your mental state; "K I'm going to win this one, wonder who I have next" "I usually beat this guy in friendlies, I should win" etc. etc.)
I'm always nervous, no matter how many times I've beaten them. But it's a healthy amount of nervous, just enough to get me playing at my best.
What about a match with a smasher who you know/heard of, but have classified him as better than you?("****, gonna lose this one." "I still have a chance, always have a chance" etc. etc.)
I don't usually talk myself down, I just try my best.
Pre-match 1
You both plug into the cube, pick your characters, and move to the stage selection screen to pick your bans, how do you decide what to ban?("well if he's falco, I'll ban FD", "I really hate BF so I always ban it", etc. etc.)
I always ban battlefield, but with stage-strike coming into play, I'll have to rethink.
Is your mindset still the same? Are you nervous? Where is your head at when you press start and it selects a stage?
Still nervous, but focused.
Match 1
Game starts, announcer says GO, what position do you take?(offensive, defensive, if you have projectiles do you get them out there, be general if you want cause I know it might depend on the characters you're playing, are you trying to be fancy or playing conservative?)
Usually rather defensive. I noticed that I usually go for grabs right at the beginning of a match.
What are you looking for, if anything, in your opponents playstyle?(is he rolling predictably, teching predictably, is he playing really offensive, shielding too much?)
I watch for rolling habits, and recovery habits, but not much else.
Are you looking for how your opponent is punishing you?(is he predicting your rolls, your spotdodges, your techs? Do you change up your playstyle to keep the lead, or do you get more aggressive, do you go for more fancy ****?)
Not unless I'm getting punished often.
You are ahead, got a stock or two up, how are you feeling?(confident, staying humble, trying to keep focus)
Trying to keep focus, I tend to lose my edge a little when I'm ahead.
You fall behind, not too far, but you're behind, do you change your style?(start playing more defensive/offensive, stop going for fancy edgeguards or cut out some new techniques you have been trying?)
Usually more defensive, waiting for the gimping opportunity.
Games over, based on what happened (win or lose), what are you thinking about?("yes! I won, I got this, he's not very good", "crap, I lost, I don't think I can beat him" and everything in between.)
"Phew. Do it again."
Match 2
Based on how the last match went, what are you thinking about going into match 2? ("I noticed he was rolling/reading my rolls so let me adjust for that", "I need to gimp/not get gimped this time", "Hope I get lucky/hope he gets unlucky", etc. etc, anything that's going through your head)
I just think, "What do I need to change to do better?"
Do you change characters?(specific situations, or do you always change characters? do you pick characters to counter playstyles?)
I change characters based on their character usually.
If you are in the position to counterpick, what do you base it off of? ("I noticed he was playing like this, I thought this stage would counter that", "I'm really comfortable on this stage, so I chose it")
Their character, and mine.
Match 2 starts, depending on how the last match went how are you playing?("I won last time so I'm kinda ******* around this time", "I loss last time so I'm playing a lot more careful this time", "I already know I'm gonna win/lose so I'm not really focused")
I try to play better, whether I won or lost.
Depending on how the match is going, you're winning/losing, how's your mindset?("When I'm losing I kinda give up since I'm already a match behind.", "If I'm winning I get excited and lose focus")
I lose focus when I'm winning. I get nervous when I'm losing. Pretty standard.
Match 3(if)
Last match, you've played your preferred characters, your preferred stage, how are you feeling?("I'm pretty confident I can win, I'll focus to be sure", "I got lucky 1 match, don't think I can win now", "I've figured out his playstyle and he doesn't seem to be switching it up, I got this", "Juss happy to have taken a game off him")
Nervous, trying to focus. Usually confident though. If I won before, I can do it again.
Post-set
Depending on if you won or loss, what are you feeling?(did you surprise yourself? did your opponent surprise you? are you happy/mad? reviewing your mistakes?)
Awesome if I won, and still pretty good if I lost (assuming it was someone decent). If I lose to someone I shouldn't have, I'm mostly disappointed, never mad.
Misc. Questions
What character(s) do you use in tournament matches, and when (fox when I'm serious, falcon when I'm not)?
Fox if I can waveshine, marth if I can't.
Are you constantly adapting new techniques, or just trying to perfect the basics?
At this point, adapting.
Does your playstyle vary from friendlies to tournament? Do you play 'better' in one versus the other?
I play much better in tourney.
What are some things you think a lot of people overlook, when it comes to winning?
Mood, among many other outside influences (including hunger, drunkeness, other people, past matches), has a huge effect on people. That's why I like sleeping and music, it takes those out of the equation and makes everything a little simpler.
What would you say the main aspect of your playstyle is? Tech skill/mindgames/reading?
This is a hard question for me. I'm gonna say combos, I love my combos
Who was/is the most influential smasher to you?
M2K, I just want him to be the best again.
Whats up with your name, why did you choose it?
Uhhhh, even I can't really answer this, lol. I had a lot of mints at one time.
What is your personal favorite technique to use in a match?(technical or psychological, either one
)
Gimps