Smasher:Westballz
| Westballz | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Falco |
| Other Melee characters | Fox, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong |
| Project M mains | Falco, Fox |
| Other Project M character | Captain Falcon |
| Team info | |
| Crew(s) | Tempo Storm |
| Former crews | Team OXY |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  2015 SSBMRank: 8th |
| Winnings | ~$17,471.78 |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Weston Dennis |
| Location | Burbank, California 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill | Top professional  Top professional
|
Westballz is a professional Falco player with strong Fox and Captain Falcon secondaries from Burbank, California. He is currently ranked 2nd and 7th on the SoCal Melee and Project M Power Rankings, respectively, and 8th on the 2015 SSBMRank. Westballz notably caused an upset at MLG Anaheim 2014, where he defeated Mango 3-0 in pool play, and defeated him again 3-1 in losers' quarters at MVG Sandstorm, where he also defeated Hungrybox in losers' semis 3-2. Additionally, he beat Leffen 3-1 at Dreamhack Winter 2015. He is seen as one of the best Falco players in the world, and considers PPMD to be his rival.
On July 2nd, 2015, Westballz was picked up by Tempo Storm alongside Axe.
Westballz accepted a $1,000 money match from Leffen on November 15th, 2015, which will take place at a later, unspecified date.
Biography
Origin of the name
Westballz created his gamertag while watching his brother play Halo, and and based it off his brother's gamertag "Nickelnutz", replacing "Nickel" with "West" and "nutz" with "ballz".
Playing style
Westballz is often seen as the most technical Falco player in the world in both Melee and Project M. He has a very aggressive, high-risk/high-reward playstyle in most matchups, and is recognized for his powerful punish game that arguably exceeds that of even Mango and PPMD. Westballz has stated that his success against top-caliber players stems from his ability to condition opponents and mix-up his approaches. He will often utilize a certain set of approaches in friendlies to condition players while learning their playstyle, then when he plays those same opponents in tournament, he will completely switch his playstyle, keeping his opponents adapting while controlling the match. He is also known for his flashy secondaries, most notably his Captain Falcon, which he used to land a Sacred Combo on ZeldaFreak at Kings of Cali 3.
However, while Westballz has more wins against players like Mango and Leffen under his belt than most others of his caliber, he is infamous for losing sets to players far below his skill level (leading to popularization of the phrase "Westballz can defeat anyone, but anyone can defeat Westballz"). For example, after gaining a 3-stock lead on KJH in Grand Finals at Rubicon 2, he spent the rest of the match trying to "style" on KJH with unsafe attacks, allowing KJH to mount a 4-stock comeback. He also lost to Jake13, a mid-level Falco, at Low Tier City 2 after sandbagging and losing with Donkey Kong in game 1. He also occasionally becomes overwhelmed by pressure, making untimely self-destructs that lead to his defeat, such as in Loser's Semis at Pat's House 2 against Fly Amanita's lone Ice Climber in a last stock, last hit situation. Intending to input a back aerial, he accidentally inputted an unsafe down aerial that spiked the Climber onto the stage while he self-destructed, ending his run.
Notable tournament placings
Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 Placement | 2v2 Placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 49th | 7th | Baka4moe |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 25th | 17th | StriCNYN3 |
| The Big House 2 | October 6th-7th, 2012 | 9th | 13th | Scar |
| Kings of Cali | November 10th, 2012 | 7th | 9th | Scar |
| Apex 2013 | January 11th-13th, 2013 | 33rd | 9th | Hax |
| Kings of Cali 2 | April 13th-14th, 2013 | 7th | 3rd | MacD |
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 17th | — | — |
| Kings of Cali 3 | December 14th-15th, 2013 | 5th | 9th | HomeMadeWaffles |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 33rd | 17th | Aisengobay |
| SoCal Regionals 2014 | February 28th-March 2nd, 2014 | 1st | 5th | DEHF |
| The Next Episode | March 22nd-23rd, 2014 | 2nd | 5th | S2J |
| Pat's House 2 | May 24th-25th, 2014 | 4th | 7th | ZeRo |
| SKTAR 3 | May 31st-June 1st, 2014 | 5th | 5th | Hax |
| SSS Lock-In | June 14th-15th, 2014 | 13th | — | — |
| MLG Anaheim 2014 | June 20th-22nd, 2014 | 9th | — | — |
| Kings of Cali 4 | July 5th-6th, 2014 | 7th | 5th | ZeRo |
| EVO 2014 | July 11th-13th, 2014 | 13th | 17th | DoH |
| Mayhem | August 9th, 2014 | 3rd | 2nd | Hungrybox |
| Low Tier City 2 | August 16th-17th, 2014 | 2nd | 1st | Wobbles |
| Mayhem | September 6th, 2014 | 2nd | 4th | Jace |
| The Big House 4 | October 4th-5th, 2014 | 7th | 9th | Darkrain |
| Do You Fox Wit It? | November 15th-16th, 2014 | 17th | 7th | Connor |
| Super Smash Sundays 29 | December 7th, 2014 | 1st | 2nd | Reno |
| Super Smash Sundays 30 | December 21st, 2014 | 2nd | 3rd | DEHF |
| Smash the Target | January 3rd, 2015 | 2nd | — | — |
| Paragon Orlando 2015 | January 17th-18th, 2015 | 4th | 7th | Axe |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | 33rd | 17th | DEHF |
| Aftershock | March 28th-29th, 2015 | 4th | 2nd | Gahtzu |
| I'm Not Yelling! | April 11th-12th, 2015 | 5th | 7th | Sung |
| MVG Sandstorm | April 18th-19th, 2015 | 2nd | 7th | Gahtzu |
| Mayhem May 2015 | May 2nd, 2015 | 2nd | 2nd | Sung |
| Press Start | May 9th-10th, 2015 | 17th | 9th | Sung |
| Mayhem June 2015 | June 6th, 2015 | 1st | 1st | MacD |
| CEO 2015 | June 26th-28th, 2015 | 4th | 4th | MacD |
| FC Smash 15XR: Return | July 4th-5th, 2015 | 5th | 2nd | MacD |
| WTFox | July 10th-11th, 2015 | 5th | 3rd | Wizzrobe |
| EVO 2015 | July 17th-19th, 2015 | 13th | 49th | MacD |
| Super Smash Con | August 6th-9th, 2015 | 4th | — | — |
| PAX Prime 2015 | August 28th-30th, 2015 | 3rd | 3rd | Nintendude |
| Paragon Los Angeles 2015 | September 5th-6th, 2015 | 4th | — | — |
| Rubicon 2 | September 12th, 2015 | 1st | 2nd | Vro |
| DreamHack London 2015 | September 19th-20th, 2015 | 2nd | — | — |
| Helix | September 26th-27th, 2015 | 2nd | 2nd | Overtriforce |
| The Big House 5 | October 2nd-4th, 2015 | 5th | 9th | Axe |
| Smash Summit | November 7th-8th, 2015 | 9th | 7th | Zhu |
| Eclipse | November 14th-15th, 2015 | 49th | 7th | NamiNami |
| Kickstart 4 | November 22nd, 2015 | 4th | 1st | Plup |
| DreamHack Winter 2015 | November 26th-29th, 2015 | 4th | 17th | Baxon |
| Forte 3 | December 19th-20th, 2015 | 2nd | — | — |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | 17th | 17th | Gahtzu |
| Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 1/20 | January 20th, 2016 | 2nd | — | — |
Project M
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 Placement | 2v2 Placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Smash Sundays 2-16-2014 | February 16th, 2014 | 4th | — | — |
| Low Tier City 2 | August 16th-17th, 2014 | 17th | 9th | iPunchKidsz |
| The Big House 4 | October 4th-5th, 2014 | 17th | — | — |
| Paragon Orlando 2015 | January 17th-18th, 2015 | 4th | — | — |
| MVG Sandstorm | April 18th-19th, 2015 | Top 3 | 3rd | iPunchKidsz |
| Paragon Los Angeles 2015 | September 5th-6th, 2015 | 25th | 17th | iPunchKidsz |
| Smash @ Xanadu Wednesdays 1/20 | January 20th, 2016 | 3rd | — | — |
Trivia
- He is known for wearing a hoodie for most of his tournament matches.
