Post by GGFan on Jan 2, 2013 22:59:52 GMT -5
As I've been compiling my overall tournament record in every forum I was a member of, I've been in a reflective mood lately. I had the chance to think about my many encounters against THE Alternative's most active members, and have decided to rank them accordingly. I'll try to be as in-depth as I can, even though nobody gives a shit.
~SamG: Elite
The interesting thing about my relationship with SamG is that I was able to witness first-hand his growth as a player. I still vaguely remember those early games against him when he started playing in November 2005, particularly the 6-0. He was very green, but he wanted to improve and so I took him under my wing. We must have played each other over 100 times throughout 2006, with some of those games taking place in tournaments, such as the MOTY candidate in the type-clause tournament. SamG gradually improved and quickly became THE Alternative's best player besides myself. Eventually, he became so good that he could beat anybody in multiple games without making a mistake, which is about as good as you can get. The last time we played in a tournament was in the 2008 RBY League; there was such a stark difference between the SamG who got 6-0d and the SamG who beat me in that match.
~Slayer: Pretty good
Slayer is a good example of a player who never really got the credit he deserved. Because he spent most of his tenure in the Pokemon community at THE Alternative, he was never really that noticed. As somebody who has a winning record against Hipmonlee in 40-something games and beat ViL's faggot Bind team, I can say with conviction that Slayer would have been successful had he ever went somewhere else. He was a very solid player who had mastered the basics and could execute advanced techniques, but I feel that, sometimes, he was not as clever as he could have been. He was a very conservative player--which is much better than playing aggressively and losing before the game started--but became too predictable because of that. Nonetheless, Slayer was one of the better RBYers with whom I've had to opportunity to play on multiple occasions.
~Kampfer: Pretty good
Kampfer came on the scene during THE Alternative's zenith (fall 2006-spring 2007) and immediately made an impact by reaching the finals of, I believe, four tournaments in a row. Like Slayer, Kampfer was good enough to beat anybody, but there was something from his game that prevented him from becoming a top player. Despite a chink in his armor, however, Kampfer was somebody who almost always gave me a run for my money, most notably in the finals of the '07 RBY League, in which he came back from a zero-games-to-three deficit to tie the series.
~Yellow: Average
Yellow stood out from the get-go by reaching the finals in his first tournament appearance, in which he lost a close game to ViL. From there, he established himself as a solid player throughout his tenure here; however, I would not go past "solid" when describing Yellow. He wasn't bad at all, but he didn't elevate his game enough after getting a fine grasp on the rudimentary aspects of RBY.
~Billtog: Poor
I like Billtog, but I think even he would admit that he was never very good. He was one of THE Alternative's most reliable members, but far from one of its best. Billtog could assemble good teams, but rarely did anything conducive to his success besides choosing whatever move would deal SE damage. The only times I lost to him were because I was brutally haxed, and even then I still probably had a chance to win.
~SamG: Elite
The interesting thing about my relationship with SamG is that I was able to witness first-hand his growth as a player. I still vaguely remember those early games against him when he started playing in November 2005, particularly the 6-0. He was very green, but he wanted to improve and so I took him under my wing. We must have played each other over 100 times throughout 2006, with some of those games taking place in tournaments, such as the MOTY candidate in the type-clause tournament. SamG gradually improved and quickly became THE Alternative's best player besides myself. Eventually, he became so good that he could beat anybody in multiple games without making a mistake, which is about as good as you can get. The last time we played in a tournament was in the 2008 RBY League; there was such a stark difference between the SamG who got 6-0d and the SamG who beat me in that match.
~Slayer: Pretty good
Slayer is a good example of a player who never really got the credit he deserved. Because he spent most of his tenure in the Pokemon community at THE Alternative, he was never really that noticed. As somebody who has a winning record against Hipmonlee in 40-something games and beat ViL's faggot Bind team, I can say with conviction that Slayer would have been successful had he ever went somewhere else. He was a very solid player who had mastered the basics and could execute advanced techniques, but I feel that, sometimes, he was not as clever as he could have been. He was a very conservative player--which is much better than playing aggressively and losing before the game started--but became too predictable because of that. Nonetheless, Slayer was one of the better RBYers with whom I've had to opportunity to play on multiple occasions.
~Kampfer: Pretty good
Kampfer came on the scene during THE Alternative's zenith (fall 2006-spring 2007) and immediately made an impact by reaching the finals of, I believe, four tournaments in a row. Like Slayer, Kampfer was good enough to beat anybody, but there was something from his game that prevented him from becoming a top player. Despite a chink in his armor, however, Kampfer was somebody who almost always gave me a run for my money, most notably in the finals of the '07 RBY League, in which he came back from a zero-games-to-three deficit to tie the series.
~Yellow: Average
Yellow stood out from the get-go by reaching the finals in his first tournament appearance, in which he lost a close game to ViL. From there, he established himself as a solid player throughout his tenure here; however, I would not go past "solid" when describing Yellow. He wasn't bad at all, but he didn't elevate his game enough after getting a fine grasp on the rudimentary aspects of RBY.
~Billtog: Poor
I like Billtog, but I think even he would admit that he was never very good. He was one of THE Alternative's most reliable members, but far from one of its best. Billtog could assemble good teams, but rarely did anything conducive to his success besides choosing whatever move would deal SE damage. The only times I lost to him were because I was brutally haxed, and even then I still probably had a chance to win.
