by MIOM|Tafokints

King Koopa Reigns!

Very quickly, people discovered that Bowser was powerful in free for alls. The first three rounds were free-for-alls in which the player with the highest point total moves on. As a result, KOs were highly valued. Bowser’s down+B, the Bowser-Bomb, could KO opponents easily at the 80-100% range. Given the chaotic nature of FFAs, it was very simple to catch un-suspecting opponents with the Bowser-Bomb. In addition, Bowser’s forward smash and aerials KO’d people very quickly. Bowser’s heavy weight also proved to be a valuable asset as he was living until 150-180%.

Several players were not used to the unorthodox control scheme, so as a result, the more “finesse” characters were much more difficult to adjust to. Many people throughout the tournament missed inputs, which would lead them open to attacks such as strong forward-smashes.

Switching to Singles!

As the field trimmed to the final 16, the tournament format switched to 1v1s with no items. Bowser was once again a strong pick, given his ability to punish mistakes severely. Players only had a few matches under their belt with the 3DS and were still making many errors.

In the 1v1 portion, we also saw high mobility characters such as Toon Link, Sheik, and Luigi. Many thought Sheik with her speed, amazing tilts, and needles could counter Bowser, by forcing him to chase her around the stage. However, the Bowser players such as Damian and DEHF, showed stronger fundamentals by cornering these run-away characters and punishing predictable rolls and jumps.

The Grand Champion

As the field cleared to the final two, it was two Bowsers who were left standing, duking it out on Battlefield, spurning 201X King Koopa related jokes. Damian, coming from Winner’s Bracket, showed that he was no slouch with great fundamental play. However, Brawl and Melee veteran, Larry “DEHF” Holland, proved too much for Damian, coming back from loser’s to take win two sets without dropping a match. DEHF maintained center stage, making it difficult for Damian to recover from the air and the corner. One of the highlight moments included DEHF breaking a shield and then punishing with a Bowser-Bomb KO.

As the tournament victor, Larry won himself a much-coveted red Smash 4 robe, similar to the blue ones that were given to the participants at e3.

Future Thoughts

At this tournament, Bowser was the shining star, but will it continue? Undoubtedly, Bowser has many things going for him, including strong kill power, better mobility from previous games, great aerials, and passable tilts. In the initial stages, Bowser will still remain strong as people try to get accustomed to the control scheme. As people become more comfortable with the game, Bowser will probably take a minor hit in value. I don’t think he’s low tier anymore, but it’s also too early to give him a “S” tier status that many on the internet are prematurely giving Bowser.