Smasher:Pierce7d
| Pierce7d | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Brawl main | Marth |
| Team info | |
| Former sponsor(s) | Tempo Storm, CLASH Tournaments |
| Former crews | Zodiac Braves |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Daniel Seraphin |
| Location | Teaneck, North Bergen, New Jersey 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill |  Professional |
Pierce7d, commonly known as Pierce, is a smasher from New Jersey. He is best known as a livestream commentator in many tournaments in the Tristate Area.
Although Pierce played Smash64 from its inception, he entered the competitive scene in 2006, playing Marth and Jigglypuff in Melee. He scored no notable accomplishments in Melee, but became well known once Brawl released due to his work ethic in discovering and understanding the mechanics and data of the game, and rapidly emerging as a contender. In Brawl he helped pioneer Marth's play, and also occasionally played Falco and Meta Knight.
In addition to decent placements, Pierce contributed an large amount of research and data to Smashboards in the early stages of the game. More widely known for his knowledge than his skill, he was a member of the Brawl Backroom for a short period of time as the Community Relations Manager, and served as a referee for MLG during Brawl's time on the 2010 circuit. Pierce is also noted for being a coach of great renown. In 2009 and 2010 he coached a number of players in sets they were not expected to have otherwise won, and it stirred a large controversy and debate, eventually resulting in coaching being banned from tournaments. He stepped down from the competitive scene in 2011 after scoring a Bronze at Brainshock Beta. After this, he remained involved in the Smash Community primarily as a commentator for tournaments.
After a hiatus from Smash from 2014-2016, Pierce reemerged to serve as ZeRo's personal coach. He accompanied ZeRo on during his tournament career through most of 2017, and then signed with Tempo Storm in 2018.
In January 2019, he parted ways from Tempo Storm amid sexual assault allegations by numerous figures in the community.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clash of the Titans IV | February 8, 2009 | 65th | — | — |
| GENESIS | July 10th-12th, 2009 | 65th | 33rd | SamuraiPanda |
| Road To Viridian City 6 | October 25th, 2009 | 17th | — | — |
| KTAR | December 6th, 2009 | 9th | — | — |
| Pound 4 | January 16th-18th, 2010 | 33rd | 25th | Vex Kasrani |
| Road To Viridian City 7 | February 27th, 2010 | 13th | 9th | DEHF |
| KTAR 3 | September 25th, 2010 | 17th | 17th | Spida |
| Road To Viridian City 8 | October 23rd, 2010 | 33rd | 17th | RJ |
| Great Revival | November 20th, 2010 | 17th | — | — |
| PolyBrawl 5 | November 27th, 2010 | 9th | — | — |
| KTAR 4 | January 15th, 2011 | 25th | — | — |
| Pound V | February 19th-21st, 2011 | 25th | 33rd | Mango |
| KTAR 5 | May 21st, 2011 | 65th | 13th | Beach |
| SKTAR | July 14th-15th, 2012 | 49th | — | — |
Controversies
Casting
Although a popular caster who has commentated games for many notable tournaments, including SKTAR and Apex, Pierce's commentary has received criticism in the past. Pierce employs a fast-paced commentary style that switches between play-by-play and analysis on a dime, which has proven to be a polarizing but inarguably experienced method of casting. He often suggests options he personally considers superior, and many players find this irritating and disrespectful to the players. However, many have praised this, saying that it demonstrates extensive knowledge of the game and gives information on how viewers can improve their playstyle. The most offensive instance of this was during Apex 2012 where Pierce degraded many of the players in a pools set. Afterwards, he issued many apologies and stepped down from casting major events until his return at SKTAR 2 in 2013. Since then, his commentary is much refined, and he was accepted into a partnership with Clash Tournaments as a premier caster. More recently, he had casted at 2GG Finals in December of 2017 and at Frostbite 2018, both with positive reviews.
Sexual Harassment Allegations
On January 21st, 2019, Pierce announced that he was parting ways with ZeRo and Tempo Storm. Following the tweet, Westballz responded to the tweet by calling him a "creep", with Pierce questioning why he was coming under major scrutiny from the community. This eventually led to many smashers, including Princess Hyrule and Qavee, to come out and complain about Pierce's questionable actions towards them at CEO 2018, with an anonymous smasher saying that "Pierce's behavior with women was consistently strange throughout the weekend".[1][2][3] While Pierce has been denying that he was harassing them, he did confess these actions, even stating that he should be accountable for his actions.
In response to these allegations, ZeRo had released a statement saying that he was disgusted at Pierce's actions and had not been working with him for some time. He also stated that after he was made aware of the situation, he and Tempo Storm worked behind the scene to drop him.[4]
