Smasher:Riddles: Difference between revisions

| name = Riddles

'''Riddles''' is a ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'' {{SSBU|Kazuya}} and {{SSBU|Terry}} player from Toronto, Ontario, considered the best player in Canada as well as the best Kazuya and Terry player in the world. He initially played {{SSBU|Richter}} and was considered the best Richter player in the world during the early metagame. His breakout performance was at {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2019}}, where he notably eliminated {{Sm|Dabuz}} en route to a 13th place finish. After dropping Richter and briefly touching {{SSBU|Ken}} and {{SSBU|Joker}}, Riddles picked up Terry and, after solo-maining the character throughout the pandemic, also picked up Kazuya, with whom he won his first major tournament at {{Trn|The Big House 10}}. He is currently ranked 9th on the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v8]], 1st on the [[Southern Ontario Power Rankings#Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Rankings|Southern Ontario Ultimate Power Rankings]], 6th on the [[OrionRank 2022/North America|OrionRank 2022 North America]], and 29th on the [[LumiRank 2024.1]].

In ''[[Smash 4]]'', Riddles was a {{SSB4|Mega Man}} main with a {{SSB4|Ryu}} secondary. He was an honorable mention on the [[Southern Ontario Power Rankings#Super_Smash_Bros._for_Wii_U_Rankings|Southern Ontario Smash 4 Power Rankings]] and has defeated players such as {{Sm|Jw}}, {{Sm|Burst}}, {{Sm|V115}}, and {{Sm|Pokecheese}}.

Riddles joined {{Team|team ZENMA}} on August 15th, 2019, along with many other smashers. Approximately two weeks later, on August 30th, 2019, Riddles, along with many of the other smashers signed by team ZENMA, announced that he was leaving the organization due to controversies with its CEO, {{Sm|false}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Riddlesmk/status/1167534811327729664|title=Riddles leaves team ZENMA.}}</ref>. In February 2020, Riddles was signed by {{Team|Even Matchup Gaming}}<ref> {{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/evenmatchup/status/1231224624731623426?s=21|title=Even Matchup Gaming signs Riddles}}</ref> and left on April 19th, 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Riddlesmk/status/1516502416618922001|title=Riddles leaves EMG}}</ref> On May 25th, 2022, he was signed by {{Team|Team Liquid}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/TeamLiquid/status/1529568947917717504|title=Team Liquid signs Riddles}}</ref>

Riddles is known for his devastating pressure and punish game. He is a huge threat while piloting the fighting game characters, being able to close out stocks in very little time with his impressive advantage state and shield pressure. Riddles is also known for having incredible movement with the fighting game characters, despite their mobility being very poor.

With Terry, Riddles' playstyle is more rushdown-based, utilizing Terry's speed, burst range, and combo game to rack up damage quickly, or even take the entire stock. He mixes up his jab timings so the opponents will have a harder time to SDI out of Terry's bread-and-butter combos, and utilizes Terry's great shield pressure (as opponents expect a special cancel) to condition opponents and bait out a defensive option. His ledgetrapping with Terry is very call-out and pressure-based, such as doing a pre-emptive rising down aerial at ledge followed by a falling neutral aerial to cover multiple options, as well as using the auto-turnaround mechanic to catch rolls. Riddles is able to overcome Terry’s mediocre recovery through smart mixups and conservation of offstage resources. When Terry has "Go", Riddles plays more passively to keep it as long as possible before he gets KO'd and he uses it to extend his lead and build momentum.

With Kazuya, Riddles is very optimized with his combo game, using Kazuya's signature move, Electric Wind God Fist, to start devastating combos, potentially taking his opponent's stock early off of one interaction. Riddles also uses Kazuya's aerials for approaching and landing to create unique combos and edgeguard situations; he also commonly uses up air as a combo breaker due to its four-frame start up. Riddles is well known for using Kazuya's command input throw Gates of Hell to gimp characters with relatively poor recoveries, such as {{SSBU|Pyra}} and {{SSBU|Mythra}}, {{SSBU|Cloud}}, {{SSBU|Roy}}, {{SSBU|Mario}} and more. Riddles additionally uses a Kazuya-specific advanced technique known as "{{Sm|Ferps}} Tech” in order to extend Kazuya’s combos onto platforms, making his combos effective on every stage.