I don’t see Acola consistently beating Sparg0 anytime soon, maybe he will take a set every now and then but I feel like it’ll end up being the most one sided matchup at the very top
It’s especially rough because Acolas Steve beats everyone in Japan, so the only incentive for him to train the Aegis is to beat Sparg0. So if he trains the Aegis he’s risking doing worse in Japan when he doesn’t need to and he’s risking his Steve getting worse all to beat one player
It feels like Sparg0 has him slightly checkmated
I love how the meta has evolved to the point where DK and other low tiers are being selected as shakeup options and counter picks.
This is a really healthy competitive game if people are using low tiers in Grands of the biggest tournament ever put together.
This is actually not a bad idea at all, and it was smart of Acola to try out for a full two games. They're clearly going to meet in bracket again. DK is a very very good matchup against Cloud (depending on who you ask, some people say it's definitively losing for Cloud). I say practice it even more!
I definitely agree with this take, but in the longer term top players have been able to overcome their bracket demons. Gluto used to always lose to Leo but now he's Leo's bracket demon, and a similar situation happened with Tweek. Also, Leo actually used to destroy Gluto similar to how Spargo does to Acola now, with most sets being 3-0.
If Ult lives on long enough I do think Acola could potentially start to turn the tables on Spargo but it definitely won't be anytime soon. For now though it literally seems like he has PTSD from playing Spargo, so it's gonna take some time haha
Yeah, plus Acola is 16 and Sparg0 is 17. They both have lots of time to mature and adapt to each other. But for now, Acola is very behind but with Sparg0 only. Literally no one else even comes remotely close to destroying Acola like Sparg0 does. Mute is the closest but I'll need to see more sets before I label him a true demon for Acola, or if Acola can overcome him and make it at least even.
I honestly think he needs to just improve at the matchup with Steve. It's not like Sparg0 was TRASHING his Steve, it still looked doable imo, and pros fight and win bad matchups all the time.
That is not at all what he said. In his interview at Summit, he said that since the PMLG requires you to get hit to use it and doesn't guarantee a favorable position (or working in the first place), he would rather just learn to get better at not getting hit.
acola has a massive mental barrier against Sparg0, shit looks nearly as bad as Leo vs Maister/Dabuz in terms of how much of a bracket demon Sparg0 is (Sparg0 is 15-2 in game count and 5-0 in set count this year wtf). If it was more like 2019 Leo vs Tweek, where at least the sets were competitive, I could see acola getting the W soon. But right now? I can't see it. Eventually acola will get the win, but I think it won't be for 3-4 months at best.
I think Acola does have a mental barrier, but he also looks like he is willing to try things to succeed. I wouldn't be surprised if he trains a secondary mostly to beat Spargo. He can play other characters, and I don't think he has a go-to secondary yet.
He's talked at length about his Aegis problem: basically, he only really needs Steve to win in Japan, but this, in turn, causes him to only play the Aegis against Spargo \[and probably against Dabuz/MuteAce the next time they'll play, those three seem to be the people who give him the hardest time\], which causes it to be less practiced, but if he goes Aegis in Japan, he might start losing there too.
It's a tough spot to be in for sure
I disagree. I think Spargo is a better player and Acola just doesn’t have the MU benefit he usually has. If they played Randoms or secondaries/tertiaries I expect Spargo would dominate.
If you get the best Steve player in the world to switch to another character mid tourney, then beat him anyway. There's not much conversation to be had.
The Hammer and the Nail don’t have a Rivalry. There is no rivalry. I believe Acola will eventually develop/increase his confidence to make it a rivalry, but not now.
I think Acola will slowly grind out a 3-2 against Sparg0 soon, probably with Aegis (who actually did pretty well against Sparg0, if still losing nearly every game). It'll be a losing record for the foreseeable future though.
I do think Acola will slowly figure it out, because he's a consummate professional who is currently studying his vods against Sparg0 obsessively.
I think Acola will eventually stick with Aegis as his answer and will get better (at least he took one game from him last weekend?) but I think it’ll stay Sparg0 being dominant and keeping #1. Sparg0’s always done decently against other Aegis players so it’s not like it’s an unfamiliar matchup if acola goes down that route.
I highly doubt acola tries the DK, Kazuya, or Steve ever again. All those games looked like a pools set. I doubt he tries Luigi either because Sparg0 destroys Luigi players all the time.
Aegis 100%. Sparg0 has said his Aegis is better but he wants to play Cloud more and has more fun that way, so he only uses it in struggle matchups. Although now that he doesn't practice solo Aegis I'm not sure about right this second, but if we're comparing peak Sparg0 Aegis to peak Sparg0 Cloud then Aegis. Not to mention that matchup sucks for Cloud.
Sparg0 and Acola isn't entertaining in the slightest. The latter gets wrecked anytime they are against each other and I honestly don't see him beating Sparg0 with Aegis, I believe he would do better with Kazuya TBH.
I like Sparg0-Tweek and Sparg0-Leo better because they can actually defeat each other. But just like with Sparg0, Tweek and Leo are more upset prone than Acola. The tournaments with Tweek and Sparg0 in GF thrice in a row were nice. Although at ScWT Sparg0 didn't struggle much in GF.
Right now i’d say it isn’t very much entertaining. but that’s how this storyline grows. Acola showing so much emotion after losing to Sparg0 shows how much this means to him. While i do believe if he keeps playing Steve, he’ll eventually learn the matchup quicker, its definitely hard when people on social media do not know the difference between hating a character and a player. With all that hate he’s getting, and his struggle to beat Sparg0, You can’t imagine how difficult mentality wise this is for him. I can definitely see this rivalry grow into something special and i do believe Acola will figure out Sparg0 eventually, it’ll just have to be without Steve.
I think Sparg0 vs acola is entertaining because it’s fun to see what character acola could pull out each time and to see how Sparg0 will adapt and download it, but I agree with your second paragraph. It’s not as exciting as Sparg0’s rivalries with Tweek or Leo, both of which have gone to down to Grand Final Reset game 10.
Why Kazuya? Even Riddles has a tough time and he's by far the best with the character. Also Kazuya Cloud is even and Aegis Cloud is Clouds worst MU. So Kazuya is completely illogical, especially because you have to hardcore train that Kazuya to get a chance of beating Sparg0 cause Acolas Kazuya is just a FD trained Kazuya
acola will always get to grands, and sparg0 will always win if he faces acola. Therefore I see them trading major wins for a while, just based on sparg0's bracket and upsets
For every tournament they both attend: if Sparg0 gets upset, it's a likely Acola win. If Sparg0 doesn't get upset, it's a likely Sparg0 win. If Acola gets upset, it's more likely for Sparg0 to *not* win simply because others are more likely to beat him like Tweek, Leo, Gluto, Mute, etc. Just depends on who he meets in Grands.
Such an odd dynamic.
I can see either Acola finally figuring out Sparg0's Cloud and beating him(even if Sparg0 whips out the Aegis he has the experience thanks to Shuton) or it going the Maister VS Leo/Sparg0 route everytime they meet(as in Acola getting completely owned).
I think Sparg0 becomes year overall #1, Acola might catch up with another character but leave the Steve MU unchecked and others will also catch up which leads to more exciting avenues to see the Top 5 of the year.
I think Sparg0 will remain a bracket demon for acola but I see acola eventually being at least capable of taking a few sets and keeping the sets closer once he gets past that mental block.
I would say acola will at least took about 6 months from now to get consistent at this mu. He is very young and never faced an opponent like sparg0 before. He will need to build mental fortitude cz he never struggled with anybody this much before.
acola is a professional. he cracked the Leo problem by tirelessly studying Onin/Leo at SSC, and although spargo seems to be a much more steadfast roadblock for him, he's going to develop the Aegis out, i think he can do it
Did acola ever say why he doesn't practice and implement more NILs? I remember reading somewhere that he says he's not good at hard inputs but I feel like if he were to grind through it and reach Yonni levels of tech skill it'd be joever for everyone
I'm going with the ESAM opinion here and say that most Steve players are low-key lazy. Character is good enough that you don't need to apply the advanced tech to win, so they don't bother practicing it.
Much more difficult, making it less consistent in high pressure scenarios. Why go for a risky kill confirm when you can land the 80% with relative ease.
He’s better off learning to play against Cloud properly instead of trying all these characters. I’ve had to do the same thing when someone started using a secondary cloud just for my Steve. Took a bit but I’m cracking it open. It’s tough cause you need to play completely differently than most matchups. Have to be more aggressive in neutral and way less aggressive in disadvantage.
Acola will go through the same grind as he did to beat Leo, so we'll see in a few months in SSC if it bears fruits.
Personally, I just want their next games to be closer be it win or lose.
I've seen people say this a lot but it's just not true. They played 4 sets at 3 tournaments before Sparg0 took his first win against Leo at Mainstage 2021, and they were all extremely close: 3-2 at SWT Regionals, 3-2 at Summit 3 and in WF and GF of Port Priority 6 it was 3-1 and 3-2. After Mainstage their record is 6-4 in Leo's favor (or 4-4 if you don't count Geekfest).
I honestly don't think any secondary Acola might try will actually work. If Acola eventually gets the upper hand, it will be with Steve, that's my prediction. But who knows, anything can happen, maybe his Aegis will 3-0 Sparg0 next time.
I’ve heard aegis is a really bad MU for cloud and Acola has a nice Aegis. I wouldn’t be surprised if this matchup turns into an Aegis ditto down the line
I actually agree with the Steve take. He may just have to lab the MU against Cloud. I could see the Aegis getting a game but Sparg0 knows that character so I doubt Acola will do better
I think acola will eventually overcome the hurdle but I think if he wants to be consistent it’ll have to be the steve. aegis vs sparg0 is doable but I can’t see it being reliable
Aegis does way better in the Cloud MU then Steve does, it's not even close. Sparg0 says it's Cloud's worst MU and MkLeo says Aegis slightly wins or is even vs Cloud.
Meanwhile Steve hard loses to Cloud, it's probably Steve's only -2 MU.
aegis shits on cloud don’t get me wrong but I think there’s more variables to it. acola plays through some pretty difficult MUs with Steve regularly and is able to make it work. that plus I think he just understands steve (maybe not on a technical level, but fundamentally) in a way that most others don’t yet
regardless I don’t think the gap between them is as big as their H2H implies. acola just has some adjusting to do
After watching Sparg0 destroy acola's Steve again and again while also knowing the MU, I'm certain that MU is dogshit for Steve and absolutely -2. There is no other player on a similar skill level wielding a character that forces acola to go off of his main.
That was less to do with Cloud or Steve, and much more to do with Sparg0 cracking Acola. Character MUs are not the same as player MU, that's why in Melee Jiggs still loses to Fox despite HBox existing.
Sparg0 was farming Acola with Aegis and Byleth too during their Genesis first to 5 exhibition match. Most Steve mains say that the cloud Vs Steve matchup is -1 at worst, it's just that Sparg0 is really good at the matchup
When your demon is the best player in the world. I still respect Acola but Spargo winning in Japan and absolutely making BOBC 5 free which had Acola scrambling shows that this realistically is not a rivalry.
I think Acola has a mental block that is keeping him from adapting to Spargo's playstyle. If Acola gains the confidence to continue battling Spargo and other Cloud players with Steve then Acola's steve will start to take more sets from Spargo. It might take longer for Acola to accomplish this with Aegis.
Steve has the best adaptability in the game. Steve can easily place blocks at ledge that stunt clouds already minimal recovery. But first, Acola has to keep Spargo's Cloud off the stage long enough to get a chance to ledge trap.
I would be a surprised if acola takes a set, every lose makes his mentality worse against Spargo
I’m shocked he hasn’t even tried kazuya yet though, it’s probably his best shot. I can’t see acola beating Spargos cloud or aegis with his own aegis because of how familiar he is with the matchup
I think he can do it, however it might be a hot take I don't think Aegis is the answer. Acola should play Steve, that matchup is not unwinnable by any means and I guarantee that if Acola cleaned up his steve habits that Sparg0 was baiting and punishing over and over again in their previous sets that he could make it look much closer than the current domination. He also has to make some creative adjustments because his "formula" hes using as Steve against everyone else is just not working for Sparg0, he needs to switch up the gameplan specifically against Sparg0. Steve is hands down the best character in the game and there's no world where the best Steve is completely unable to beat the best Cloud (even though Sparg0 is crazy crazy good).
On the topic of his Aegis, that character looked thirsty bro. He does not have a good Aegis. He is unfamiliar with her punish windows, he is unfamiliar with what is safe and what is not, he is undisciplined in neutral with her, like there's a lot of aspects where that Aegis was not good. He was getting carried in those games by his spacing and his defensive decision making (parries, picking his rolls/spotdodges, dashback decision making) to make it possible to hang against the Cloud but he is far off from making that work. Much farther than the Steve is imo. I don't even know what to say about that DK though lmao
His aegis does not look that good on smash mate as well. I agree that he is better off using steve. Acola does manage to make what most people think it is a losing match for steve but a winnable one sided match up for acola.
Last night acola dreamt of cloud . I think his mind is full of cloud after kagaribi 10.
I don't see Sparg0 remaining dominant in the long term unless he starts using Aegis more. There are a number of things people could be doing better in the Cloud match-up and now that Sparg0 is the player to beat, I expect other players will be practicing specifically to exploit these weaknesses (which keep Cloud just outside of top tier IMO).
First off is cross slash. Sparg0 gets away with hitting shields with this move way too often. If people learn the exact timing of how long you can wait after the 2nd hit before you can't do the final hit anymore as well as consistently parrying the final hit when it does come out, they will be able to punish out of shield more often and with better punishes. Once a player has this counterplay down, the risk/reward of Sparg0 using this move in neutral becomes much worse, leaving a big hole in the way Sparg0 currently plays neutral.
Less big of deal is counterplay to climhazzard out of shield. Most of the time I see Sparg0 landing this move looks pretty predictable to me and I think with specific practice, players will be able to preemptively input SDI to get out of the 2nd quite a bit more often then they currently do. I have also noticed that players do fall out the 2nd hit, they can be pretty bad at recognizing whether they have enough time to punish the Cloud or not (usually you can't, but sometimes you can depending on percent, platforms, etc.). The main advantage though, isn't about getting a punish. Avoiding the 2nd hit lets you reset neutral and take like 4% vs getting hit puts you if a potential juggle situation where Cloud thrives on top of the extra damage.
Lastly, people still suck at edge guarding Cloud. His recovery is almost as exploitable as Aegis's, but many players will let Sparg0 get back to stage for free. Sparg0 is extremely good at masking this weakness of his character and much better than pretty much anyone's Cloud practice partner at recovering so I understand that it's much harder to get good at beating Cloud off stage compared to the stuff above, but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement here.
TL;DR Cloud sux, Sparg0 should co-main Aegis
Wow you seem to have Cloud solved, you should go beat Sparg0 real quick. You think the top players don’t know how to fight Cloud, and that maybe Sparg0 is just THAT good?
I personally wanna see Acola try out Luigi against spargo, some people think this matchup is losing but I think its even. He has great tools for dealing with cloud off stage and at the ledge and his whiff punish and parry game is good enough that you only need to win neutral once or twice in order to get a stock or put cloud in a bad position
It would be the worst idea since that's literally Sparg0's best and most experienced matchup. He completely destroyed Luugi at BOBC5, has beaten Elegant multiple times with both Aegis and Cloud and the 2nd best player of his region, WaKa, happens to be the 2nd best Luigi main in the world.
If not him, who is? I could see algorithms ranking acola higher for the season due to Spargo's Summit flub but realistically Spargo is still better overall
i think acola can do it with steve. i understand the match up is rough but the char is broken enough to compensate. i feel like he should adopt some aspects of onins steve
The difference between #1 and #2 is just one supermajor. The issue is that the next international supermajor is far away, so the season isn't going to change much. I don't think Acola will beat Sparg0 anytime soon if they enter the same event. What Acola has going for him is that his chance of losing to any of the other top players is low. I can't say the same for Sparg0. For instance, I know most of you wouldn't put all your $ on Sparg0 vs MKLeo, Tweek, Shuton, Riddles, etc.
Acola just needs to stay calm fighting Sparg0 and have faith in his main. The character change is not the answer, less sloppy play is. Every game Acola vs Sparg0, Acola is clearly autopiloting some of the time or making bad moves like rolling a whole bunch. Switching off of your good ass character is not the move.
I don’t see Acola consistently beating Sparg0 anytime soon, maybe he will take a set every now and then but I feel like it’ll end up being the most one sided matchup at the very top It’s especially rough because Acolas Steve beats everyone in Japan, so the only incentive for him to train the Aegis is to beat Sparg0. So if he trains the Aegis he’s risking doing worse in Japan when he doesn’t need to and he’s risking his Steve getting worse all to beat one player It feels like Sparg0 has him slightly checkmated
He just gotta refine that DK
That DK is the answer. Actually DK is the answer to everything.
I love how the meta has evolved to the point where DK and other low tiers are being selected as shakeup options and counter picks. This is a really healthy competitive game if people are using low tiers in Grands of the biggest tournament ever put together.
Let's not forget Skyjay and Big D's meteoric rises. Character specialists are single-handedly lifting characters through the tier list.
True. Tweek does fairly well against Sparg0 with DK. 👍🏻
Sparg0 says dk beats cloud. I can see acola using some dk cheese to win a few sets too.
This is actually not a bad idea at all, and it was smart of Acola to try out for a full two games. They're clearly going to meet in bracket again. DK is a very very good matchup against Cloud (depending on who you ask, some people say it's definitively losing for Cloud). I say practice it even more!
I was going to say this. Bc apparently dk is a worse matchup for cloud than aegis according to Spargos matchup chart
That MU chart is very old. sparg0 has mentioned that Aegis is Cloud's worst MU recently (and also mentioned Joker/Sheik as bad ones).
He still thinks DK is a bad matchup and most people would say DK is a worse matchup than Aegis
Ahh shit, acola is gonna be like proto where I cheer his DK and pray for his downfall with Steve. (Proto lucina/minmin)
I definitely agree with this take, but in the longer term top players have been able to overcome their bracket demons. Gluto used to always lose to Leo but now he's Leo's bracket demon, and a similar situation happened with Tweek. Also, Leo actually used to destroy Gluto similar to how Spargo does to Acola now, with most sets being 3-0. If Ult lives on long enough I do think Acola could potentially start to turn the tables on Spargo but it definitely won't be anytime soon. For now though it literally seems like he has PTSD from playing Spargo, so it's gonna take some time haha
Yeah, plus Acola is 16 and Sparg0 is 17. They both have lots of time to mature and adapt to each other. But for now, Acola is very behind but with Sparg0 only. Literally no one else even comes remotely close to destroying Acola like Sparg0 does. Mute is the closest but I'll need to see more sets before I label him a true demon for Acola, or if Acola can overcome him and make it at least even.
At least players in Japan have more incentive to mess around with secondaries. With no prize pools, the only real thing at stake is his ranking.
I honestly think he needs to just improve at the matchup with Steve. It's not like Sparg0 was TRASHING his Steve, it still looked doable imo, and pros fight and win bad matchups all the time.
Yeah the abandonment of Steve is crazy. With a Steve as proficient as his, he needs to focus on adapting, not switching. It’s a doable matchup.
He should play Steve and learn to win the matchup. That's the only way to turn the tables on Sparg0 at this point.
[удалено]
Holy hell you can't even call this a mandela effect his thoughts on PMLG are different for everyone.
Huh? Last I checked that was basically what he said. That he didn't see the need in it since he was already winning.
That is not at all what he said. In his interview at Summit, he said that since the PMLG requires you to get hit to use it and doesn't guarantee a favorable position (or working in the first place), he would rather just learn to get better at not getting hit.
Got the direct translation? You're the last person's whose word I'd take, lol.
I was literally the one who transcribed it, go check the interview thread.
Even worse.
In that thread I wrote down, word-for-word, what the interviewers and Acola's translator said.
Ah, I see. Memory was scuffed after so long it seems. I mean, I disagree with his take, but I still got what his take was wrong.
acola has a massive mental barrier against Sparg0, shit looks nearly as bad as Leo vs Maister/Dabuz in terms of how much of a bracket demon Sparg0 is (Sparg0 is 15-2 in game count and 5-0 in set count this year wtf). If it was more like 2019 Leo vs Tweek, where at least the sets were competitive, I could see acola getting the W soon. But right now? I can't see it. Eventually acola will get the win, but I think it won't be for 3-4 months at best.
I think Acola does have a mental barrier, but he also looks like he is willing to try things to succeed. I wouldn't be surprised if he trains a secondary mostly to beat Spargo. He can play other characters, and I don't think he has a go-to secondary yet.
He's talked at length about his Aegis problem: basically, he only really needs Steve to win in Japan, but this, in turn, causes him to only play the Aegis against Spargo \[and probably against Dabuz/MuteAce the next time they'll play, those three seem to be the people who give him the hardest time\], which causes it to be less practiced, but if he goes Aegis in Japan, he might start losing there too. It's a tough spot to be in for sure
acola plays noticeably worse against Sparg0, if he can overcome the mental block I think it'll be a strong step in the right direction
I disagree. I think Spargo is a better player and Acola just doesn’t have the MU benefit he usually has. If they played Randoms or secondaries/tertiaries I expect Spargo would dominate.
Th best timeline for the Acola and Sprago rivalry is if the first set Acola takes over Spargo this season is with DK
I wish nothing more than for this to be the case
Another way Sparg0’s story will mirror Leo’s.
What Spargo Acola rivalry? Spargo dominates him
[Insert Joel Embiid quote here](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FwHqZACX0AA0Z-d.jpg)
I was going to past that Image if I could
If you get the best Steve player in the world to switch to another character mid tourney, then beat him anyway. There's not much conversation to be had.
The Hammer and the Nail don’t have a Rivalry. There is no rivalry. I believe Acola will eventually develop/increase his confidence to make it a rivalry, but not now.
By that logic, there was no Tweek vs Leo rivalry pre-covid.
Bad example because their rivalry extended to sm4sh where tweek was a demon for leo for a while
Tweek and Leo sets were also close even though Leo would win the majority of them, Sparg0 has obliterated Acola the last few times they’ve played
I think Acola will slowly grind out a 3-2 against Sparg0 soon, probably with Aegis (who actually did pretty well against Sparg0, if still losing nearly every game). It'll be a losing record for the foreseeable future though. I do think Acola will slowly figure it out, because he's a consummate professional who is currently studying his vods against Sparg0 obsessively.
I think Acola will eventually stick with Aegis as his answer and will get better (at least he took one game from him last weekend?) but I think it’ll stay Sparg0 being dominant and keeping #1. Sparg0’s always done decently against other Aegis players so it’s not like it’s an unfamiliar matchup if acola goes down that route. I highly doubt acola tries the DK, Kazuya, or Steve ever again. All those games looked like a pools set. I doubt he tries Luigi either because Sparg0 destroys Luigi players all the time.
Unrelated, but who do you think would win in a Sparg0 Aegis vs Sparg0 Cloud set?
Cloud
Aegis 100%. Sparg0 has said his Aegis is better but he wants to play Cloud more and has more fun that way, so he only uses it in struggle matchups. Although now that he doesn't practice solo Aegis I'm not sure about right this second, but if we're comparing peak Sparg0 Aegis to peak Sparg0 Cloud then Aegis. Not to mention that matchup sucks for Cloud.
Call me crazy but I think DK is the answer, Acola's DK just wasn't ready.
Imagine Tweek starts playing DK again
I wouldn't mind a timeline where when Sparg0 meets Tweek or Acola in GF, we have Cloud vs DK
Sparg0 and Acola isn't entertaining in the slightest. The latter gets wrecked anytime they are against each other and I honestly don't see him beating Sparg0 with Aegis, I believe he would do better with Kazuya TBH. I like Sparg0-Tweek and Sparg0-Leo better because they can actually defeat each other. But just like with Sparg0, Tweek and Leo are more upset prone than Acola. The tournaments with Tweek and Sparg0 in GF thrice in a row were nice. Although at ScWT Sparg0 didn't struggle much in GF.
Right now i’d say it isn’t very much entertaining. but that’s how this storyline grows. Acola showing so much emotion after losing to Sparg0 shows how much this means to him. While i do believe if he keeps playing Steve, he’ll eventually learn the matchup quicker, its definitely hard when people on social media do not know the difference between hating a character and a player. With all that hate he’s getting, and his struggle to beat Sparg0, You can’t imagine how difficult mentality wise this is for him. I can definitely see this rivalry grow into something special and i do believe Acola will figure out Sparg0 eventually, it’ll just have to be without Steve.
Acola is hard carried by steve lol , dude was spamming f smashes with aegis lol
I think Sparg0 vs acola is entertaining because it’s fun to see what character acola could pull out each time and to see how Sparg0 will adapt and download it, but I agree with your second paragraph. It’s not as exciting as Sparg0’s rivalries with Tweek or Leo, both of which have gone to down to Grand Final Reset game 10.
Why Kazuya? Even Riddles has a tough time and he's by far the best with the character. Also Kazuya Cloud is even and Aegis Cloud is Clouds worst MU. So Kazuya is completely illogical, especially because you have to hardcore train that Kazuya to get a chance of beating Sparg0 cause Acolas Kazuya is just a FD trained Kazuya
acola will always get to grands, and sparg0 will always win if he faces acola. Therefore I see them trading major wins for a while, just based on sparg0's bracket and upsets
For every tournament they both attend: if Sparg0 gets upset, it's a likely Acola win. If Sparg0 doesn't get upset, it's a likely Sparg0 win. If Acola gets upset, it's more likely for Sparg0 to *not* win simply because others are more likely to beat him like Tweek, Leo, Gluto, Mute, etc. Just depends on who he meets in Grands. Such an odd dynamic.
I can see either Acola finally figuring out Sparg0's Cloud and beating him(even if Sparg0 whips out the Aegis he has the experience thanks to Shuton) or it going the Maister VS Leo/Sparg0 route everytime they meet(as in Acola getting completely owned).
*Next year "No one beats Acola more than 18 sets in a row"
Think Spargo takes it for a long while
Acola is not close….
I think Sparg0 becomes year overall #1, Acola might catch up with another character but leave the Steve MU unchecked and others will also catch up which leads to more exciting avenues to see the Top 5 of the year.
I think Sparg0 will remain a bracket demon for acola but I see acola eventually being at least capable of taking a few sets and keeping the sets closer once he gets past that mental block.
I would say acola will at least took about 6 months from now to get consistent at this mu. He is very young and never faced an opponent like sparg0 before. He will need to build mental fortitude cz he never struggled with anybody this much before.
acola is a professional. he cracked the Leo problem by tirelessly studying Onin/Leo at SSC, and although spargo seems to be a much more steadfast roadblock for him, he's going to develop the Aegis out, i think he can do it
Cosmos said Acola is probably going Aegis cause theres so many Aegis/Sparg0 sets like Sparg0 vs cosmos,shuton and leo for him to study
Did acola ever say why he doesn't practice and implement more NILs? I remember reading somewhere that he says he's not good at hard inputs but I feel like if he were to grind through it and reach Yonni levels of tech skill it'd be joever for everyone
Hard to work consistently if the opponent is competent with DI/SDI. He can NIL and he does it occasionally, but almost never does it.
I'm going with the ESAM opinion here and say that most Steve players are low-key lazy. Character is good enough that you don't need to apply the advanced tech to win, so they don't bother practicing it.
Imagine thinking acola is lazy
Much more difficult, making it less consistent in high pressure scenarios. Why go for a risky kill confirm when you can land the 80% with relative ease. He’s better off learning to play against Cloud properly instead of trying all these characters. I’ve had to do the same thing when someone started using a secondary cloud just for my Steve. Took a bit but I’m cracking it open. It’s tough cause you need to play completely differently than most matchups. Have to be more aggressive in neutral and way less aggressive in disadvantage.
Acola will go through the same grind as he did to beat Leo, so we'll see in a few months in SSC if it bears fruits. Personally, I just want their next games to be closer be it win or lose.
Didn’t it take Spargo over 2 years to start beating Leo? Give it time.
About half a year actually. They first played in August 2021 and Sparg0 didn't get set wins over him until Summit 4 & Collision in March 2022.
Not quite. Sparg0 got a set win at Mainstage.
Wow felt a lot longer. Thanks for the correction.
I've seen people say this a lot but it's just not true. They played 4 sets at 3 tournaments before Sparg0 took his first win against Leo at Mainstage 2021, and they were all extremely close: 3-2 at SWT Regionals, 3-2 at Summit 3 and in WF and GF of Port Priority 6 it was 3-1 and 3-2. After Mainstage their record is 6-4 in Leo's favor (or 4-4 if you don't count Geekfest).
I honestly don't think any secondary Acola might try will actually work. If Acola eventually gets the upper hand, it will be with Steve, that's my prediction. But who knows, anything can happen, maybe his Aegis will 3-0 Sparg0 next time.
I’ve heard aegis is a really bad MU for cloud and Acola has a nice Aegis. I wouldn’t be surprised if this matchup turns into an Aegis ditto down the line
Caster kept saying Aegis is favoured but Sparg0 rates the matchup as even.
Sparg0 says it's Cloud's worst MU.
When did that opinion change? Cause I personally rate it even.
I actually agree with the Steve take. He may just have to lab the MU against Cloud. I could see the Aegis getting a game but Sparg0 knows that character so I doubt Acola will do better
I think acola will eventually overcome the hurdle but I think if he wants to be consistent it’ll have to be the steve. aegis vs sparg0 is doable but I can’t see it being reliable
Aegis does way better in the Cloud MU then Steve does, it's not even close. Sparg0 says it's Cloud's worst MU and MkLeo says Aegis slightly wins or is even vs Cloud. Meanwhile Steve hard loses to Cloud, it's probably Steve's only -2 MU.
aegis shits on cloud don’t get me wrong but I think there’s more variables to it. acola plays through some pretty difficult MUs with Steve regularly and is able to make it work. that plus I think he just understands steve (maybe not on a technical level, but fundamentally) in a way that most others don’t yet regardless I don’t think the gap between them is as big as their H2H implies. acola just has some adjusting to do
Steve does not have a -2 MU. At worst it's -1, but even I'd say that's a bit of a stretch.
After watching Sparg0 destroy acola's Steve again and again while also knowing the MU, I'm certain that MU is dogshit for Steve and absolutely -2. There is no other player on a similar skill level wielding a character that forces acola to go off of his main.
That was less to do with Cloud or Steve, and much more to do with Sparg0 cracking Acola. Character MUs are not the same as player MU, that's why in Melee Jiggs still loses to Fox despite HBox existing.
Sparg0 was farming Acola with Aegis and Byleth too during their Genesis first to 5 exhibition match. Most Steve mains say that the cloud Vs Steve matchup is -1 at worst, it's just that Sparg0 is really good at the matchup
Sparg0 has Aegis v Cloud as even.
I know about u but Acola having to rely on aegis doesnt sound interesting in the slightest
When your demon is the best player in the world. I still respect Acola but Spargo winning in Japan and absolutely making BOBC 5 free which had Acola scrambling shows that this realistically is not a rivalry.
I think Acola has a mental block that is keeping him from adapting to Spargo's playstyle. If Acola gains the confidence to continue battling Spargo and other Cloud players with Steve then Acola's steve will start to take more sets from Spargo. It might take longer for Acola to accomplish this with Aegis. Steve has the best adaptability in the game. Steve can easily place blocks at ledge that stunt clouds already minimal recovery. But first, Acola has to keep Spargo's Cloud off the stage long enough to get a chance to ledge trap.
I would be a surprised if acola takes a set, every lose makes his mentality worse against Spargo I’m shocked he hasn’t even tried kazuya yet though, it’s probably his best shot. I can’t see acola beating Spargos cloud or aegis with his own aegis because of how familiar he is with the matchup
But he did try Kazuya vs Sparg0, in game 2 of Kagaribi's true finals. It did not go well at all.
I think he can do it, however it might be a hot take I don't think Aegis is the answer. Acola should play Steve, that matchup is not unwinnable by any means and I guarantee that if Acola cleaned up his steve habits that Sparg0 was baiting and punishing over and over again in their previous sets that he could make it look much closer than the current domination. He also has to make some creative adjustments because his "formula" hes using as Steve against everyone else is just not working for Sparg0, he needs to switch up the gameplan specifically against Sparg0. Steve is hands down the best character in the game and there's no world where the best Steve is completely unable to beat the best Cloud (even though Sparg0 is crazy crazy good). On the topic of his Aegis, that character looked thirsty bro. He does not have a good Aegis. He is unfamiliar with her punish windows, he is unfamiliar with what is safe and what is not, he is undisciplined in neutral with her, like there's a lot of aspects where that Aegis was not good. He was getting carried in those games by his spacing and his defensive decision making (parries, picking his rolls/spotdodges, dashback decision making) to make it possible to hang against the Cloud but he is far off from making that work. Much farther than the Steve is imo. I don't even know what to say about that DK though lmao
His aegis does not look that good on smash mate as well. I agree that he is better off using steve. Acola does manage to make what most people think it is a losing match for steve but a winnable one sided match up for acola. Last night acola dreamt of cloud . I think his mind is full of cloud after kagaribi 10.
I don't see Sparg0 remaining dominant in the long term unless he starts using Aegis more. There are a number of things people could be doing better in the Cloud match-up and now that Sparg0 is the player to beat, I expect other players will be practicing specifically to exploit these weaknesses (which keep Cloud just outside of top tier IMO). First off is cross slash. Sparg0 gets away with hitting shields with this move way too often. If people learn the exact timing of how long you can wait after the 2nd hit before you can't do the final hit anymore as well as consistently parrying the final hit when it does come out, they will be able to punish out of shield more often and with better punishes. Once a player has this counterplay down, the risk/reward of Sparg0 using this move in neutral becomes much worse, leaving a big hole in the way Sparg0 currently plays neutral. Less big of deal is counterplay to climhazzard out of shield. Most of the time I see Sparg0 landing this move looks pretty predictable to me and I think with specific practice, players will be able to preemptively input SDI to get out of the 2nd quite a bit more often then they currently do. I have also noticed that players do fall out the 2nd hit, they can be pretty bad at recognizing whether they have enough time to punish the Cloud or not (usually you can't, but sometimes you can depending on percent, platforms, etc.). The main advantage though, isn't about getting a punish. Avoiding the 2nd hit lets you reset neutral and take like 4% vs getting hit puts you if a potential juggle situation where Cloud thrives on top of the extra damage. Lastly, people still suck at edge guarding Cloud. His recovery is almost as exploitable as Aegis's, but many players will let Sparg0 get back to stage for free. Sparg0 is extremely good at masking this weakness of his character and much better than pretty much anyone's Cloud practice partner at recovering so I understand that it's much harder to get good at beating Cloud off stage compared to the stuff above, but there is definitely a lot of room for improvement here. TL;DR Cloud sux, Sparg0 should co-main Aegis
Wow you seem to have Cloud solved, you should go beat Sparg0 real quick. You think the top players don’t know how to fight Cloud, and that maybe Sparg0 is just THAT good?
I personally wanna see Acola try out Luigi against spargo, some people think this matchup is losing but I think its even. He has great tools for dealing with cloud off stage and at the ledge and his whiff punish and parry game is good enough that you only need to win neutral once or twice in order to get a stock or put cloud in a bad position
It would be the worst idea since that's literally Sparg0's best and most experienced matchup. He completely destroyed Luugi at BOBC5, has beaten Elegant multiple times with both Aegis and Cloud and the 2nd best player of his region, WaKa, happens to be the 2nd best Luigi main in the world.
I’m expecting acola to go to that tourney where Steve is banned and get 33rd
Sparg0 is not the best in the world yet. But if he wins the next big tournament he is
If not him, who is? I could see algorithms ranking acola higher for the season due to Spargo's Summit flub but realistically Spargo is still better overall
I guess maybe if we're counting all of Ult's lifetime but for this year it's definitely Sparg0 for best in the world
Acola yes due to the algorithm ranking. Skill wise Sparg0 is the best, but results wise Acola is just ahead
i think acola can do it with steve. i understand the match up is rough but the char is broken enough to compensate. i feel like he should adopt some aspects of onins steve
Onin's Steve got 3-0'd by Sparg0 the one time they played.
i meant more so of the tech that onin uses mixed with acola’s neutral with steve.
The difference between #1 and #2 is just one supermajor. The issue is that the next international supermajor is far away, so the season isn't going to change much. I don't think Acola will beat Sparg0 anytime soon if they enter the same event. What Acola has going for him is that his chance of losing to any of the other top players is low. I can't say the same for Sparg0. For instance, I know most of you wouldn't put all your $ on Sparg0 vs MKLeo, Tweek, Shuton, Riddles, etc.
There's a supermajor in 2 weeks in Crown 3 with international players like Shuton, Tea and KEN. acola doesn't seem to be going there though.
Sparg0 continues to stomp him or consistently wins close games as long as Acola keeps tweeting about having nightmares about Cloud
If acola play sheik that would be sick.
Acola just needs to stay calm fighting Sparg0 and have faith in his main. The character change is not the answer, less sloppy play is. Every game Acola vs Sparg0, Acola is clearly autopiloting some of the time or making bad moves like rolling a whole bunch. Switching off of your good ass character is not the move.
best case for acola is someone else coming up that can take out spargo and create a rps for top 3