Melee is unique from other eSports in many ways, but notably the rich history behind the competitive scene. Since the game’s release in 2001, the metagame of competitive Smash has shifted, transformed, and evolved year after year. In the lifetime of Melee, countless players have plugged in and endless storylines and rivalries remain woven within the code. Throughout this ever-changing meta, Drephen is one of the few constants.

The red-haired Sheik from Ohio is the result of over a decade of competition, yet his playstyle is remarkably peculiar compared to other top 100 players. Drephen holds a unique and incredibly valuable perspective on the metagame of Melee, remaining one of the few players in the world who have watched the game grow since release day. I was fortunate enough to interview the FC 1 attendee; not one for fame, Drew ‘Drephen’ Scoles reluctantly shared a slice of his understanding of competitive Melee.

Throughout your time competing, what were some eras which you saw the most change in the way people played? What do you think accounted for these changes?

Drephen: A major change I saw in the smash community was after the release of "The Smash Brothers" documentary. Before then, players had to rely on coming up with their own original strategies about Melee. Distance barriers and the lack of popularity made passing information go at a very slow pace. Trying to find the optimal punish or the best strategies at the time was a lot harder.

Ever since the documentary, popularity for Melee has grown exponentially as well as the passing of information. Now, a lot of players can watch big names like Armada and Mang0 to copy their moves, and build upon it. And with the increase of players, the skill gap for Melee grew as well.

With the advent of netplay, do you think it is still important for players to attend local and regional tournaments to improve?

Drephen: Absolutely. No matter how much online practice you get, there is no substitute for competing in the tournament setting. Learning how to compete and how you deal with yourself in a competitive setting is a skill within itself.

Not only that, but I believe face-to-face interaction to be a really great learning tool you can't experience online. Also, pretty much all smashers are cool so you will probably have some fun as well.

Over time we have seen an increase in the usage of Fox, why do you think this is? Do you think we will ever reach a point in the metagame where Fox is the only viable character?

Drephen: I don't think so. Human error always has to be taken into consideration, and Fox has been beaten down from the #1 spot many times before. People play Fox because either they generally like the character or they find out that he statistically wins more so they enjoy him that way.

You once referred to yourself as “a virus in the machine”, what do you mean by this?

Drephen: Melee consists of general rhythms, timings, and impulses. A strategy I like to use is to try and go against all those things. Recognizing that my opponent has some sort of movement or situation that they feel comfortable with and trying to disrupt it. Basically, Mugen from Samurai Champloo.

When you encounter a new problem or strategy to overcome, how do you go about solving it?

Drephen: First I think of the situation I am in dealing with, risk/reward, and all that. I then come up with an idea and stubbornly use it until it works or until they catch on. Next, I move onto another idea and keep the 1st one in the back of my head for conditioning purposes. Then I have the choice to go to idea #3 or #1 when #2 stops working. And if #3 works, then I have the choice to do #1, #2, or #3. Yomi Layers, or something - but Melee goes at an extremely fast pace so most of this has to be done within a window of a few seconds.

Having competed for longer than some players have even been alive, what is it about Melee which keeps you interested after all these years?

Drephen: The art of self-expression and self-improvement. It has been a little weird finding out that you can express yourself through a Nintendo game, but it is absolutely the truth. I find myself having certain qualities that come out when I play that I would never see in myself outside of the game. Courageousness, resilience, determination, all projected through my character.

Drephen: To watch my gameplay grow and evolve throughout all these years really has been the greatest thing to come out of my Melee career. And the unknown potential and evolution of my gameplay is what has kept my hands on the edge of my Gamecube controller.

Drephen remains a highly active member of the tournament scene, and his goals for 2018 are to make top 32 at a Major and catch up with the meta as much as possible. The next tournaments he will be attending are Full Bloom 4 in March and Fight Pitt 8 in April. This concludes my interview with the Melee legend.

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