Disclaimer: This is a guest contribution by Matthew Lewis and the events/matches discussed have already passed so the information may not be completely up to date.

Daniel "Chudat" Rodriguez is one of greatest Melee players to ever pick up a Gamecube controller. Having placed high in tournaments as far back as 2003, Chu continues to impress the Melee community with his insane consistency and his proficiency with his main: Ice Climbers. At Pound Underground, we got the chance to catch up with Chu on the current status of the competitive Melee scene and his thoughts on future of Smash.

What got you inspired to play Melee in the first place?

Chu: So it's not like someone told me to play the game or somehow I got started with the game. The game came out and I was a huge Nintendo fan. So I decided to play the game because I was a fan of Kirby, Mario, Pikachu, and all of those characters. So in 2001, I’m like "I have to play this game, it's a fighting game with Nintendo characters." That's pretty much how I got into Melee.

When was your first tournament and how did it compare to tournaments now?

Chu: So my very first tournament was a local in Fredericksburg, Virginia and that was in 2002. I'd heard about it on a website called GameFAQs. I was 13-14 at the time and I had to ask my dad if he could drive me because I couldn't drive at the time. So I had my dad drive me all the way to Fredericksburg and I ended up going with some friends. I got first place. I ended up sandbagging just because I already knew I was so good at the game because I was dominating my friends with every character in the game. So I knew going in I had a really good chance of winning. I ended up picking Young Link who I thought was a low tier at the time. So yeah, I ended up winning my first tournament with Young Link.

Who is the hardest character for you to play against?

Chu: The hardest character for me is to play against is Peach, just because float cancel forward air is positive on my shield. If I try to avoid it, if I try to roll, they can read my roll. If I try to spotdodge, they can wait for my spotdodge and punish that. As soon as they get a forward air on my shield, it's pretty much over. Like I take 50 percent. Also if both Climbers get hit, then Nana dies almost immediately. It's really really difficult.

Wow, I didn't know it was that bad?

Chu: It’s really, really bad. Especially against top level players like Armada, He pretty much showed me that the matchup is really tough to win. I've had trouble with Peach since like 2006 even when people weren't even that good yet.

At the top level who is the hardest person for you to play against and who is the easiest?

Chu: The hardest person easily would be Armada. The easiest would probably be Axe or Westballz just because Ice Climbers have a good matchup against both of their characters.

Thoughts on Smash for the Switch. Have you considered playing it competitively?

Chu: I would like to play it competitively if it was actually a different game. I have a strong feeling that it's just going to be a port, Just knowing how Sakurai is. I've been reading some of his interviews. He talks about, when he was making Smash 4, he's like, "Man I really hate making this game, I can't make anybody in the community happy. I just don't want to work on this game anymore. I need a break.” He just keeps complaining. I just have a feeling that Smash for the Switch is just going to be a port with Inklings and like maybe 1-2 more characters, stages, and items. I will have fun with it, but if it's a port and I think it is, I'm not gonna play it competitively. If it's a different game, then yeah, I'll consider playing it competitively.

So if Ice Climbers don't exist in Melee, who is your main?

Chu: Oooooh man that's a tough question. I'd probably pick like some variation of Pikachu, Fox, or Jigglypuff. I'd pick a heavy counterpick war game. Yeah, I'd do that if Ice Climbers didn't exist.

Where do you see yourself currently on the MDVA power rankings?

Chu: My thoughts on the power rankings. I think it's dumb that they put me 6th place on the power rankings back when I was beating Mang0 and Mew2king. So I thought that was funny and I would make fun of the PR guys every time I'd had an opportunity. It's because they didn't take out of state tournaments into consideration for the PR and they heavily base the PR on attendance. It's been like that for a while now. It's such a bad system, but they think it's most objective and fair way to base a certain somebody on power rankings. I don’t know, I think it's dumb.

If you could give a sentence of advice for a beginner, what would it be?

Chu: My advice to a beginner would be to watch a lot of videos. Just do that and you'll eventually get better.

Which twin are you most proud of throughout your whole career?

Chu: My most prideful win would probably be Mew2king. I beat him... I think it was 4 times last year. Because from 2013 to 2017, I could not touch Mew2king. Playing him, I didn't know what to do. He kept picking Peach against me. I used to get so upset, losing to his random Peach. I thought I shouldn't be losing to it. Eventually, I finally figured it out. Armada gave me the tips to beat M2k. So at Summit 5, at Mang0's house, we’re playing. He says, "Yo Chu, you know what would be funny, if you picked Jigglypuff against M2k and you beat him." I told him, "You know what, I'm actually going to do that." So then I started playing a little bit of Jigglypuff on my stream. I practiced with my subs. And then at Dreamhack Austin, that's when I first busted out my Jigglypuff and I destroyed him.

Who's going to win today?

Chu: I think I will be winning today. I've been practicing a lot behind my stream. Zain's obviously been sharpening his skills, he just got back from Summit. So he's been practicing a lot with Mang0, Armada, Leffen, and all of the top players. If I can get it to where I can grab him a couple times and just beat him in neutral a few times, I think I can beat him.

Why do you think you're consistently been the only Ice Climbers main in the top 20.

Chu: The only reason why I'm the only relevant Ice Climbers main is because I try to play the game. I don't just rely on wobbling. Almost all of the other Ice Climbers mains... they all rely on wobbling. If they can’t get it, then they just crumble. I make sure I have a strong Sopo (single Ice Climber). I work on my Sopo a lot. I always make sure I can play the game on a fundamental level and just straight up beat people. If you can get a good read, even with Sopo, then the match is in your favor. A lot of the other Ice Climbers players like to be defensive. They want their opponent to approach them. That's not how I play. I actually approach my opponent and I put them under pressure for them to make mistakes and then I'm able to grab them and kill them. I don't think playing defensive is the way to go. I think offensive and learning to beat people in neutral is the best way.

Goals for 2018?

Chu: My goal for 2018 is definitely to get back to the top 10 level. I want to beat another god. I want to beat Mang0 definitely. I've beaten Mew2king plenty of times.

But you beat Mang0 like 3 times last year?

Chu: I did, but he's been beating me recently with his Falco. I got to beat his Falco now. That's one goal I have. Another goal would be to definitely beat Amada, Plup, and Pewpewu. The only people I've never beaten before in my entire life is Armada and Pewpewu. So, if I were to beat them in the tournament, that would be a huge goal for me to accomplish. Those would be my goals for 2018

We’d like to give our thanks to Chudat for taking time out of his day for this interview. We wish him the best for the rest of 2018.