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Your greatest achievements probably won't come from the narrow path you've envisioned for your life... at least mine didn't.

It was approaching 8 PM, and Nintendo had just released their Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Invitational replay on the Nintendo Switch's news channel. I noticed the video as I scrolled down my feed, but it didn't leave much of an impression. Yet, a couple of days later, out of sheer boredom, 13-year-old me decided to give it a shot.

The main event consisted of 8 players who would battle it out for a chance to be crowned the champion of the 2018 Invitational. Every last second was a remarkable experience, the grand final was a spectacle! That day, I knew I wanted to get my hands on this game to reach such a level of play.

 

On release, I enjoyed the Ultimate as a casual player, aimlessly grinding in hopes of achieving greatness; when you're as young as I was, blind optimism is your shining light in every situation. As my play time increased, I began to dominate the casual lobbies, so not too long after I began to look elsewhere for improvement, eventually browsing YouTube videos, hoping to get more insight on how to set myself up for success.

 

Eventually, I came across an interview featuring the champion from the 2018 invitational, Zero, discussing his opinion on the current state of the game. A noteworthy point he made was how he thought Sonic, the character I primarily used back then, wasn't as strong of a character as he was in the last game, so to succeed in the future, Zero advised aspiring high-level players to select one among the characters he saw potential in, and the one that caught my eye was Inkling from the Splatoon games.

 

While I loved Inkling from an aesthetic standpoint, it took months to adjust to her moveset due to the fundamental differences from my previous main, but as I continued to watch character breakdowns and practice, I increasingly saw improvement in my playstyle.

6 months later, my dad took me on a road trip to Evo, a massive gaming tournament featuring the most popular fighting games, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, as a trip

to spend alone time with me. We had to cross about 7 states to reach California, where Evo was held. To prepare for the main event, we decided it would be beneficial to stop by a local tournament that was being hosted in New Mexico. Despite being in a smaller setting, this tournament felt high-stakes. I wanted nothing less but to win, and I dominated the majority of the online lobbies, so surely I would be the best in the venue, right?

For the first few opponents, lightwork; was a convincing 2-0 every time, but it was my next opponent who gave me a run for my money. The match started the same as every other: the player chose his character, I won, but for round 2 he selected a different one. "Last ditch attempt?" I thought. This time, the match was close, but I lost. Perhaps I was getting too ahead of myself. The score was 1-1. It was a best of 3, and I had to make it count. I adjusted my gameplan, but, again, it was close, however, I was met with the same outcome…

You can lose only two sets in the singles bracket. Therefore, I had one more left before I was out of the tournament. This next player didn't switch characters, yet won convincingly out of the sheer skill gap between us. I was out at 9th place, dissatisfied, but could see how far I had until reaching ranked player status in this game. Everyone above 9th in this tournament was breathtakingly skilled, but to even possess the ability to hold my own against this level of talent while being so young screamed potential.