Interview with #DIGSmash Lucky on Ultimate Progress

It's not easy being a high-level player. Staying at the top and battling off upcomers and veterans of the game is not an easy task. It's even more difficult when you also play another game while maintaining your prowess in your main game. Joey "Lucky" Aldama has been juggling both Melee and Ultimate and improving. Lucky provides some input on how he improved and how aspiring players should change their perspective when analysing at the highest level.

You’ve shown a preference to Melee over Ultimate but we’re seen more play from you recently on Twitch. You started as a K Rool main when the game first came out. People have changed mains since then. Are you still maining the same character?

Lucky: No, I’m definitely playing a whole lot more of Yoshi, at the moment. I would say he’s probably my main right now.

What made you want to change your character?

Lucky: Honestly, it had a lot to do with the negativity that K Rool attracted earlier on. In the first couple of weeks of the game being released, I think a lot of people were getting used to moving around and just controlling their character. Projectiles were really strong in the game, in the first few weeks. K Rool has two. Mixed with people learning the movement, and the online input delay, people are running into projectiles all the time so K Rool got a lot of hate right off the bat. I wanted to play a different character so that I could reassure myself that I could play with another character and that it wasn’t just K Rool carrying me.

How has your view of Ultimate changed since the game came out? What factors changed your mind?

Lucky: I think it was becoming more comfortable with the mechanics. In general, when I first played the game, it felt pretty smooth and cool. Although, the more I played it, even though it was getting used to an entirely different engine to Melee, it became more fluid to me. I liked it a lot more than I did in the initial week or two. Even today, I think the game is so much better than I ever thought it would have been in the first week or so.

Have you felt progress in Ultimate since playing online and locally? Which do you feel is more beneficial to you?

Lucky: 100% LAN. I like the game a lot, I like playing the game a lot and I think it’s a game you can improve on when you grind and practice. The difference between LAN and online is almost ridiculous. It’s almost borderline sad. If I’m going to practise the game and I want to improve, it’s 100% going to be LAN practice.

What aspects of your gameplay do you look to improve? What are your personal strengths and weaknesses in your gameplay?

Lucky: I'd say it’s always looking to improve on movement. Even though this game has less movement options than Melee, you can still be very specific on how you move your character; those are always the main things I want to improve on. I don't think my movement is anywhere near as nice some of the top players in the game, so I think that’s always something I’ll look to improve on.


How do you look to improve on these? What can you do in practise to improve?

Lucky: I think at the end of the day, repetition is usually key. It’s building muscle memory, it’s getting used to putting yourself in certain situations or positions where you can apply that muscle memory. Whether it be with movement or combos, I would look at specific scenarios where I would want to move a certain way and I would practice that movement scenario over and over again. Maybe for five minutes a day, fifteen minutes a day, or a session. Whatever it would be, I would practice it over and over. Movement is the objective for me, so I couldn’t say there’s one specific thing I want to practice. For example though, you could say I might want to practice moving frame one out of an aerial and making sure I can buffer the movement out of that aerial every time with no problems. Stuff like that I might want to do for fifteen minutes a day.

Do you think this differs depending on character?

Lucky: Yeah, I would think it does depend on the character. Obviously to an extent, every character benefits from the same set of things, like punish game and movement. Some characters you’re going to want to put a bigger emphasis on punish game when they're combos are more DI dependent; maybe have a buddy DI randomly for you so you can see if you can react to the DI and whether you follow up on the combo or not. Some characters are going to have more specific movement tricks that you’ll want to focus on a lot more than others.

We’ve recently had Ultimate Summit; the largest viewership Ultimate has seen since it’s release. Do you enjoy watching the game and what do you learn from it, if so?

Lucky: I would say I enjoy watching the top players play. I think with any game, it’s interesting to see how the top players tackle matchups or the decisions they make from point A to point B. It’s always fun thing to pay attention to when you watch the top of the top. It was a really cool tournament; having top Smash 4 players and top Melee players in attendance. With that, you got to see different sides of the same coin. You got to see people from different games approach this game and how they combo, edgeguard, how they play neutral, and so on. For me, that tournament was fun to watch because you got to see a lot of ideas get implemented. To see if they worked or didn’t work, it was a great learning experience for new players, myself included. It’s a very interactive game, when you look at Smash Bros. as a series. Ultimate is no exception. There’s always something you can take from a set, pay attention and you’ll learn something.

Which players at the Ultimate Summit did you enjoy watching the most and why? Was it for educational reasons or purely entertainment?

Lucky: Definitely all of the Melee players. Obviously, I have a little bit of a bias, coming from a Melee background. It was really fun to watch them take on the Smash 4 players and try their best. They have an advantage as Ultimate is a lot more similar to Smash 4, but it was fun to see them do their best and try and take some wins here and there.

If you could change anything in the next Ultimate patch, what would it be?

Lucky: I’ve been saying the same three things since the game was released and I still feel the same way. I think if you could dash and shield immediately, being able to shield out of your dash animation instead of afterwards, would be the first. The second would be removing the limitations on dash dancing so it feels a little more smooth, and finally, wavedashing. Those three things would change the movement so much that it would feel a lot more natural for a Melee player coming into the game and it wouldn't change it enough that it wouldn’t feel like Ultimate. It would just be a lot more fluid of a transition for Melee players to jump into Smash Ultimate, really combining the two scenes and letting Melee players transition easier and not make them feel like they're playing an entirely different game.

Many players worldwide don't have access to the online play or locals nearby. If you could give any advice to those trying to increase their skill level in Ultimate without online play available and local play, what advice would you give?

Lucky: It would probably be similar advice I give to people trying to get better at Melee. I always say, "The internet is your friend." There are vods, there are threads online talking about combos, neutral and matchups and so on. You have to be willing to try and learn it and look around for that information. Even if it’s watching vods, you can watch a vod of MKLeo and see him destroy someone. You can say, “Wow, that’s cool, he did this cool combo here and there.” But if you really want to get good, you got to learn how to pay attention to what he’s doing, when he’s doing it, and why he’s doing it. Say he gets a combo and it starts at 0-10%. He does a grab and does a specific combo; it’s probably because it works at that specific percent. You need to go home and try and do it yourself at that percent. Then try and add another few percent and see if it still works, then add more and more and see how long that specific combo will work. Stuff like that. See when they go for specific kill setups. Pay attention to when people do things and at what percent, pay attention to stage position as it’s all very important.

It’s really helpful when you start looking at that stuff, instead of just saying, “Oh, MKLeo is a combo monster and he’s great at neutral.” When you try to understand why he’s a combo monster and why he’s great at neutral, that’s when you start really improving. I think that's the best way for people to practice. Pay attention to these pros, they know what they’re doing. Just don’t look at them and say, “Oh, that’s really cool, I wish I could do that.” Try and break down why they’re doing it and why it’s working and you'll get better in general. Even then, with the threads, forums and Facebook groups, you can go out and ask questions and still watch these vods. Don’t just look at the player you’re watching like they’re in a movie and don’t tell yourself that you can’t do it yourself. You can! You just have to pay attention.

If you want to follow Lucky's adventures and Ultimate career, you can follow him on Twitch and Twitter!