Bar Lucci Presents: The Speakasy & Riptide 2024
September 9, 2024
Summary of my time at the Speakeasy & Riptide 2024
Bar Lucci Presents: The Speakeasy
I was really excited going into this weekend. I am consciously dedicating time to grinding melee at the moment, so I was looking forward to playing a ton of different strong players.
After picking up Rodney and Polish and making the drive to Kent after work, we got there just before bracket started. I played one of the many kneemaster12s. They were a Jigglypuff who played on the cubstraption controller, left half GameCube controller and right half box. I opted to go Fox and won the set 2-0.
Next I played against Enderdxg who is a Pittsburgh Dr. Mario player. He moved to Pittsburgh from Utah around a year ago and has been a wonderful addition to the Pittsburgh scene. We go back and forth in our sets, and this one ended with me winning 2-1. I played Sheik the entire set. He hit me with 6 fairs right off the bat in game 1, which set the pace of the set LOL.
Khryke unfortunately wasn't able to make it and had to DQ, so I played against ShotoNC, a Columbus Sheik player. I went Fox for the first 2 games before switching to Sheik for game 3. I barely won game 1 and lost game 2. At the time of writing, I'm not very comfortable in the Sheik ditto at all, so I tried my best to avoid it. I ended up winning 2-1 with a solid win on Yoshi's game 3.
In winners quarters I had to play TheRealThing. He had just recently been ranked 48th in the world on the SSBMRank Summer 2024. I haven't really had the chance to play him in bracket despite attending some of the same events, so I was looking forward to the set. Falco is one of the characters I feel most solid against. I won game 1 last stock in Yoshi's. I was anticipating the switch to Fox, but he stayed Falco and went to Pokémon Stadium. I was in the lead for most the game, but the momentum started to shift in his favor. We were both high percent trading hits for a while on the last stock before I clutched it out, winning the set 2-0.
Next I was facing Holiday in winners semis. It was time for me to face the Sheik ditto. Holiday is a fast Sheik player originally from NEOH but now is in Columbus. I managed to take a game, but lost 1-3. I felt like I was on my back foot and consistently lost in quick scrambles.
Lastly, in losers bracket, I played against Balloon Day, a Columbus box Fox. This set really highlighted how I struggle to protect my space and not let Fox run all over me. I really need to work on setting up my space, while still being able to approach and effectively threaten. I lost the set 0-3, but I feel like I learned a variety of things I need to work on.
My run ended at 5th out of 80 entrants.
Riptide
I got to Riptide on Friday, but I didn't play until Saturday. I played a variety of people before bracket in friendlies. I was in pool J209, so I played at 4:00 PM ET on Saturday. My first set was vs. Ashes, an Iowa Falco player. Unfortunately, she was having controller issues right before the set, so she went secondaries. I won 3-0 playing Sheik the whole time.
Next up was RanD, a Luigi player from Minnesota. Thankfully, I recently had played 3 sets against Abate's Luigi, so I went in feeling comfortable in the matchup. We had a good back and forth set where I ended up winning 3-0.
I had to play Lowercase hero next. He is a Fox player from Wisconsin, who is ranked 87th in the world on the SSBMRank 2023.. We had a close game 1 on Dreamland. I failed a gamewinning edgeguard, which allowed him to make a comeback. Game 2 was relatively close, but game 3 was a blowout in his favor.
To make it to round 2 pools, I had to play Cantus, and Falco and Fox player from Kentucky. He opted for Fox for games 1 and 2, and then Falco for game 3. I was able to compose myself after losing my last set and play solid enough to win 3-0, despite some close games.
I had a brief break until my next set in round 2 pools. I was in pool K201 and played at 6 PM ET, and I played against Blessé and NEOH Pikachu player. I had reviewed my bracket a few days ago and knew we were likely going to play, so I spent some time thining about the matchup and how to play it. He had beaten me last time we played at a WV event, but I managed to win 3-2. My adjustments definitely helped, but I still gave up a few things, mainly getting caught by back throw set ups.
Lastly, I played mgmg, an Ontario Fox and Falcon player. He went up 2-0 in the set, but I won a strong game 3 on Battlefield. He took me to Pokémon Stadium, and I made a handful of dumb decisions regarding positiong with the transformations that threw the momentum back to him. I ended up losing 1-3.
I ended up placing 65th out of 601 entrants. Overall, I think I played okay, and I know what to work on for my gameplay. I intend to improve my execuation a great deal and study the Sheik ditto and Sheik vs. Fox. There's a lot of information for me to process in those matchups, but I feel confident in my next steps. Both of these events were also excellent practice for me regarding handling overstimulation and managing my energy. With my recent shift of focus towards competition, I felt like I did a great job with both of these things. I'm feeling movitated and inspired to continue chasing high level melee.
It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces and meet new ones. I'm endlessly thankful for the wonderful people I have met in the melee community. I hesitate to list names, because I know I will inevibtably forget someone on accident. So much love to everyone.
