[Smash] Interview with Crs.Hungrybox

Pat's House 2 was a good tournament for sure. There was lots of setups so people could play constant friendlies, and I think Pat (Azn_Lep) did a great job of hosting as well. Great venue, I think it belonged to UCSD. A lot of Cali's talent came out, though I would have loved to see Lord there.

Leffen is essentially the bridge at this point, but the moment he beats a top five player again that isn't Armada he's definitely looking to take a place next to the "gods" so to speak. Hell, he might even replace Armada if his performance doesn't keep up like the way it would have a couple years ago. But yeah; there's most certainly a gap. I feel like myself and the other top five share this ability to dissect other opponents with ease. We know exactly how to combat everything they throw at us.

Apart from Leffen, I would say aMSa for sure. Plup and Colbol are from Florida so I'm biased, but I do believe their performance at Apex 2014 speaks for itself. Especially Colbol, who beat aMSa and a ton of other top players. After that, it's just a big melting pot of potential: Nintendude, Chillin, ChuDat, Fly, KK, Hax, The Moon, DJNintendo, and countless others who are trying to make their place among the legends of the game. But I'm very confident I'm going to beat Leffen and Armada if I play them again. I know what to do against their tricks now.

I always mess around with secondaries. I have a shitty Falco which does randomly well every once in a blue moon, and I keep a pocket Ness for a surprise factor. But let's be honest – I don't think I'm going to use any other character against the top players. I understand Puff far too well to even bother using anyone else if its results I'm looking for.

Jiggs can do it. It's bloody difficult, but it makes the victory that much more exciting.

Aggression, Adaptation, and Anonymity. Triple A, man. With emphasis on the last one.

Exactly.

I started getting really good at Melee right when Brawl came out. There was a period of time where I would attend tournaments and get rocked by players like Colbol, Shiz, Chopz (he goes by whiteboywasted now), KeepSpeedN (Shiz's little brother), Phanna, QDVS, and many others. I was simply stunned at the level of talent, but I'm sure I would have felt the same anywhere.

It's hard to say how strong I felt FL was compared to the rest of the world because I didn't know too much outside of FL. Only the big names – I started getting good right when Mango won Pound 3. A couple of months later, I beat M2K in a crew battle. So I knew that was the start of something special.

But Florida today has a super solid selection. Take our top five: Myself, Plup, Colbol, Pork Chops, and then a tossup between BleaGelo and Gahtzu. Pork Chops is this incredibly unique Falco which improved at a pace similar to aMSa, while Blea and Gahtzu have the best Luigi and Falcon in the state respectively.

I think so, but it's hard to say. That's why I'm really excited about these regional crew battles.

Hmmm well he was just a guy who out of nowhere started placing super high at tournaments, but then after I got to know him a bit... and I suppose we got good around the same time.

Puff Samus shouldn't be a strong team, but it is. Darrell/Darc were this close to beating me/M2K, so it speaks for itself.

I got to play Axe for a bit, but all the good players are about an hour away unfortunately. I just want to play anyone who is down. I have a great streaming setup ready to go so I'm hoping I could host a fest here at some point.

Well, I study with a close friend (Jacob) every day and we play smash in between homework, but he's more casual competitive. Other than that, I honestly find myself not playing for a week at a time. I didn't play smash at all between GOML and Pat's House 2. I think I play less than any other top player unfortunately.

It's definitely hard because I have to keep up my level by practicing everything basically the day before a tournament. But even for GOML, I ended up doing well because I happened to play a week or so beforehand.

I'll be streaming for Curse, which gives me more incentive to play. I downloaded Netplay on a good comp so when my USB adapter for Gamecube gets here I hope to play a lot more.

1st all the way. Do the best I can.

And I'm gonna have a birthday party during CEO haha.

Mango. Always will be.

Pork Chops and Lord.

Rollout!

Ban Pokemon Stadium, unban Jungle Japes.

Ice vs. Over ROF2 was insane; any set with aMSa, any set with Shiz against a top player... too many to count.

Yes, especially against spacies.

It's quite the honor. I know Nintendo hand-picked everyone for one reason or another, and the fact that I was finally noted by one of the companies I've cherished since I was three is nothing short of a spectacle. I feel like my hard work and dedication to the community paid off, and I'm going to take advantage of this as much as I can. I'm also really excited to try out all the new characters and explore the physics in Smash 4.

I suppose that I'm indifferent to it. Nintendo was the one who made the call on that, and for whatever reason they weren't included in the 16-man roster. They're both very talented players, and I'm sure they would have pushed the limits of the game even on day 1. I take what I can get, so the fact that my rivals aren't there won't really detract from my experience. I'm sure I'll face them both in future Smash 4 tournaments.

Mew2King for one. He's just known for dissecting any game he plays to its bare numbers and mastering all facets of it. He's also a top contender in every iteration of Smash Bros. so far, so the history doesn't lie. It's just what he was meant to do - live off of Smash Bros. There's of course many people whose skills will transfer over from Melee/Brawl to Smash 4, but a kid named Wizzrobe from Florida is also one of my predictions for being a top player. He's what I consider prodigious and has no problem immersing himself into new titles.

It takes a community to make a game live, and it takes the same community to keep it alive. Melee and Brawl diehards will always exist in some shape or form because those are the games they love. Even if Smash 4 is a greatly enhanced Smash Bros, it's naturally going to have different mechanics and implementations. That's not a bad thing by any means, but you know that there never really will be a game like Melee or Brawl again - they were made to their own unique perfection, and I don't doubt that Smash 4 will follow in its footsteps. And with Nintendo's inclusion of a Gamecube controller adapter, it's clear that they have one thing in mind - an incredible title.

Watch streams and videos, and go to tournaments.

Tech skill, spacing, and calmness under pressure.

Team Curse! Cooler Master and Alienware for the great equipment, and Energems for powering me through GOML. And shoutouts to central Florida, all the bros there. Follow me at @juanthefatty, and watch my stream at http://azubu.tv/hungrybox.

Thanks man!