I had the opportunity to chat with Austin "Azusa" Demmon about his experience with Super Smash Brothers Melee, and learned a couple of things about him that I didn't know. He's previously been ranked in the SSBMRank Top 100 for four years with this coming year, and has been a notably high ranked player in NorCal, a heavily stacked region. He placed 33rd at Genesis 5 and sadly informed me that to the best of his knowledge that Genesis 5 would be the last tournament he would be competing in.

Azusa has always had an incredibly strong Peach, with an amazing neutral game and powerful punishes. I'll definitely miss getting to see his matches, but I wish him the best with his next steps in life.

For anyone who might not know you, who is Azusa? Where are you from and what characters do you play?

Azusa: I’m a high-level Super Smash Brothers Melee player from NorCal. I’ve been ranked in the esteemed top 100 players in the world for four years now, and I’ve recently been ranked number 59 this past year. I play Princess Peach with the white dress (very important detail) and I secondary Falco.

How long have you been playing Melee? What made you want to keep playing it?

Azusa: I have been playing melee for 7 years. I kept playing Melee because Melee has a magical quality to it. It's hard to explain magic, but when you feel it, it changes your whole outlook on life. Truly a magical game.

How do you feel about your local scene? What do you feel like the pros and cons were of playing in Norcal?

Azusa: I love Norcal, simple. The pros are definitely the people and the talent. I've made friends here that I will remember and cherish well into my years after I've finished playing the game with such talented, hard working individuals. Connecting with people who have so much in common with you is an amazing feeling. I did wish more of Norcal's top talent came out to locals. Admittedly, I was fairly close to the top of the talent pool in Norcal, so there were only a few people who could beat me, but they did show up as often to locals as I did. I won a lot of money and, for a couple of years, I won almost every local tournament I went to, but I never felt like the victor because I knew I wasn't the best, and I VERY rarely got a chance to challenge the true Norcal legends.

How do you feel like this attributed to your personal growth?

Azusa: Melee attributed to my personal growth in a very significant way. Before melee, I was coasting through life and really didn't have any desire to succeed at anything. I had zero passion. When I started playing SSBM, it completely changed. I wanted to be the best so badly. I spent every second I could playing the game, I played more often than anyone in my friend group. When my friends were done playing I went to go find more people to play. I loved it. I really felt like I could be someone. I have taken that confidence in my incredible work ethic and am currently applying to my career. While I have drastically slowed down as a competitor, I am forever indebted to Melee for revealing strengths that I didn't know I had.

That's an incredibly heartwarming origin story! Next, how do you feel about your performances in 2017, and going into 2018, what are you changing about yourself/your gameplay in order to improve?

Azusa: I’m retired. (Perhaps I should have told you this before I answered all these questions.) I haven’t announced it yet, because I was afraid I would pull a Kirbykaze where I officially announce my retirement, and after long heartfelt goodbyes, I show up to the next few nationals.

I’m not ecstatic about my 2017 performance. I performed well under my standards towards the tail end because the new kids are fire and also because I got a new job that I’m really trying to take seriously, which is cutting down my practice time a lot.

Unless I magically break the prophecy about how Melee players never stop playing Melee (which at this rate, looks like I will), Genesis 5 will have been my last tournament as a serious competitor. The fifth installation of my favorite tournament series of all time is a beautiful way to go out if I do say so myself.

What do you think some of your greatest hurdles were? What was your process for overcoming them and do you think they're common problems for most players?

Azusa: Many players have asked me for advice over the years, and I always tell them my process for overcoming hurdles: don’t get hit.After they roll their eyes at my unhelpful advice, I explain further. Truly think about why you got hit. Think about what you were expecting. Why did you make the decision you made? What decision your opponent was going to make? One of my greatest hurdles was discipline. I lacked the discipline to sit down and study my videos for a decent amount of time. My mind would race and my thoughts and ideas got jumbled. It was very hard to focus, and I never really found a good answer to that question. I played an enormous amount to make up for it, more than any of my friends, even though playing more isn’t an adequate replacement for studying when it’s time to study.

What is your studying process like? How did you improve the flaws in your game that you noticed about yourself? Do you think there was ever a general theme to your mistakes that other players might be having?

Azusa: Nothing magical. I would try to notice why what I did didn’t work, think about what I could do instead, and keep working hard until I finally broke the habit. There’s no replacement for hard work.

Very respectful! You already mentioned you're from Norcal, but what do you think players could stand to gain from playing at locals in order to find more success on a national level?

Azusa: When you go to a local, something is on the line. It gets you used to performing while nervous, which is very helpful for when you're at a national and your performance matters most.

What do you think are some of the most important things for aspiring peach players to work on that they might not be aware of?

Azusa: Combo game. Get creative. More creative. When you have control, keep control. Watch yourself and videos, watch yourself while you play, think of everything. There are more options than meets the eye, always assume that something you haven’t thought about during your punish game