Newsletter -- 11/6

MONTHLY/BI-WEEKLY ARCADE LEGACY RANBATS NEWS LETTER
Greetings everyone! This is local beat reporter Moomoo Mumosa, here to give you a recap on the haps at the AL Ranbats. Hard to believe we've been 4 weeks into the season, right? Rising and falling between tiers, close sets, storylines abound -- blink and you'll miss it, and if you did...well, that's why I'm here. Without further ado:
WELCOME TO THE BIG LEAGUES…?
Before S/A/B, we only had a few people make it into the "pro" level, TTB|Captain Awful being the most notable example. But now, we've had a diverse set of talents make it into A bracket: Huckleberry Dog, Halfjack, Dirac, Hoff, Pip, I-19, Cake, Indel, Friendly Fire, Burlap. Two people — Jeff and TTB Captain Awful — have even graduated into S having started from A!
So why the question mark? Well, out of the graduates into S from A — Fumbles, Ragu, TTB|Captain Awful, Snap, Jeff, Team Nick and Ambition — only Jeff has not made it previously (i.e. before S/A/B). Furthermore, only one of the two spots to stay in A has been consistently occupied. Congrats to Burlap for defending his position (and coming very close on 10/29 to making it into S), of course, but this points to the ever-present skill gap between S and A. Will this gap be narrowed soon? Only time will tell…
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL
Kid Buu (Falco), Russy (Ganon/Ice Climbers), Modem (Fox/Falcon), Biff (Captain Falcon), Cablebox (Jigglypuff), and who could forget “Forever Fifth” EC Moo (Falco) himself? These folks have been hanging out around the 5th through 9th range of B bracket for the past four events (with some exceptions here and there). Undoubtedly, these players have been working hard, but what is it that they are missing? Matchups? Edgeguards? Tech skill? Punishes? Neutral game? Adaptation? Or is it mental composure? Struggle bus members, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. The better you get, the better A bracket gets; the better A bracket gets, the more pressure there is; and eventually the pressure moves on upwards.
CINCINNATI SHEIK FOREVER
There has been a Sheik in top two every week. Ambition claimed victory last night; Snap snatched first the week before; and the two weeks with FEAR in town had Ragu at 2nd. More significantly, each Sheik plays differently. Ambition is defensively oriented and highly focused on reactive gameplay. Ragu is a mobile, highly adaptive wall, the most skilled in neutral of the three. Snap is a highly proactive aggressor, the most proficient at edgeguarding. None of them have all showed up in S-tier at once. But if — dare I say, when — that happens…will the top 3 be Sheik? Or shall our space animal, puff ball, and sword man heroes stop them in their tracks?
OODLES OF NOODLES
The first Pasta edition of Cincinnati Smash Revival is upon us this weekend. Cincinnati has long been clamoring for the return of a biweekly series after the untimely temporetirement of master TO “Edward 40LokoHands” PiBs. Fortunately, with the help of a little meat-filled pasta sauce and good ole hand rub lovin, PiBs, Ragu, Suidt and Ambition are putting together what hopes to be a bi-weekly $5 entry event this Saturday at Gameswap, the venue of lore. Featuring PM and Melee singles, Pasta Edition I promises to have 64 unique attendees, with many of them coming from out of town as far as Columbus. Who will be the Spaghetti King? Probably Hanky Panky, but we can dream of greener pastures.
That’s all for this newsletter, folks — suggestions for features and comments are welcome below or in my inbox. Until next time!