Ultimate Insight 3 : Loki

1) You're one of the many new faces that joined competitive Smash in 2019. What was the biggest challenge for you in your first few tournaments? Whether it specifically in game or something external like anxiety?

> The only external challenge I can think of back when I first started attending our FNS weeklies was being bothered to drive to the venue haha. If you work full time and haven't been initiated as part of the scene yet, the last thing you want to do on a Friday evening is drive somewhere to play games when you can just do the same thing at home. Luckily my brother Callum (@CalSsb) pestered me to come play each week and I was quickly hooked. The QLD scene was extremely welcoming and the competitive nature of it all is something I had always been interested in; just getting over that initial barrier of being bothered to show up was all that was required.

From a gameplay perspective my biggest challenge was (and still is) knowing how to watch/analyse one of my own sets or replays in order to figure out how to improve. I used to play League of Legends competitively and was very familiar with analysing past matches in that game and comparing my performance against pros. Without watching someone else's play and seeing how they correctly deal with a scenario that I made a mistake in, i find it difficult to know what I should be doing instead. For Smash, it can be difficult to find vods where the matchup and stage are the same as my sets that I'm trying to analyse. Asking for a set analysis from a top player sometimes helps a bit, but I find it challenging to fully understand and integrate their advice without actually seeing it executed.



2) You're part of the Bust a Move crew who are a group of fast rising players. How has this crew improved you as a player and as a general participant in the scene?

> BaM has definitely helped me improve my gameplay and scene involvement. Sharing my results / matchup exp / advice with a friend group as well as getting their advice on my sets and encouragement during stream matches has been invaluable for both improving and keeping me motivated to improve. Training sessions are also very valuable when they do happen, but it can be difficult to organize with people spread out, schedule clashes etc. Shoutout to Python (@Python_SSBU) for regularly posting stream links and results.



3) You're currently ranked 21st on the QLD40. How high do you think your ceiling is and what needs to happen for you to reach it?

> I believe that I can reach #1 in QLD, and I also believe I can do it with solo Snake. There are still a lot of tricks and tech I haven't picked up/mastered yet with Snake, and I can see that my fundamentals are nowhere near the level of the top 5. If I can just emulate their fundamentals a bit better while also mastering the flashy stuff, I think I have a good shot at reaching their ranks soon. I'm not thinking about rankings beyond QLD or AUS yet, I'm taking things one step at a time - although I will be attending out of state majors here and there when I can.



4) You were the artist behind the latest QLD40 image. If time was not an issue what is the one big Smash related project that you'd love to work on?

> So many things:
- a QLD Smash 2019 montage of all our hypest clips would be a great project to work on. I also have a BaM montage in the works right now 👀
- A plugin for Streameta that can automatically detect when a game has started/ended and also who won at the end of the game and updates the set data accordingly.
- (If money was also not an issue) A really high budget NYE Smash party on the roof of a highrise with catering, waiters, fireworks, production value comparable to the American Summit events, and tuxedos required for entry.



5) What advice would you give to players wanting to break through to the next level?

> Advice for those already in the scene:
- Learn how to turn around grab out of shield quickly
- Look at your characters frame data and hitboxes on ultimateframedata.com. Take note of which aerial move is the fastest. Use this move when you want to escape tumble without blowing your double jump
- Practice the matchups you don't like or are losing to frequently. Try to discover things that make it easier.
- Watch tech tutorial videos and mindset videos (search for poppt1 on youtube)
- Try not to be influenced by tier lists and opinions

General advice for newer players:
- Go to as many events as you can
- Join a crew or make some friends that you can practice with and talk to
- Play against players who are better than you (ideally only slightly better, but much better is still okay, you will improve even if they sandbag).
- Get a training session with one of these players who you are friendly with and get them to teach you how they do things in response to what you're doing
- Learn which stages are good for your character (don't solely rely on peoples opinions, find what works for you) Practice on both the good and bad ones.
- Watch your own sets or replays and compare them to vods of other players who are better than you

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There are very few people that I know that own a website about themselves and Loki is on that very short list. If you're curious about some of the other non Smash related projects Loki has worked on check out his portfolio at https://lachlanmckay.com/portfolio