Smasher:Rickety
| Rickety | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Sheik |
| Other Melee character | Marth |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Rickety Ram |
| Location | San Diego, California 
|
Rickety was an American smasher, from San Diego, California. Generally regarded as one of the friendlier players in the Smash world, he was known for his many attempts of making new players feel welcome in the larger Smash community. A Marth player during his his initial run with the game, Rickety's main character since his formal tournament debut has been Sheik in both singles and doubles.
Biography
Rickety first began smashing competitively in 2002, when he began hosting a series of informal tournaments at school. This string of monthly, after-class tournaments came to be known as the King of the High School series, and served as the foundational starting point of his competitive Smash career. Inspired by videos of the Punch Crew and the matches between Ken and Azen, Rickety's interest in the game quickly grew and, by 2003, hoped to one day become an active member of the larger community. San Diego, however, which at that time lacked any meaningful scene, led a disheartened Rickety to instead take up Capcom Vs SNK 2 instead.
In 2005, fueled by the MELEE-FC3 regional crew battle videos[1], Rickety returned to the Smash community when he attended his first formal tournament at another high school. Out of the more than eighty entrants, Rickety placed fifth with Marth. That December, Rickety met renowned Peach player Edrees to welcome Australian player CAOTIC to the community on his first night in America. The three vowed to create a strong San Diego scene in the year to come.
In February of 2006, CAOTIC began hosting the San Diego Triweeklies, a series of tournaments at UCSD that continue to this day. This new, robust scene led to a strong crop of regular competitors, and eventually culminated with the SoCal Road Trip, a nine day drive from San Diego to Canada. Throughout the trip, they were housed by various Smashers along the coast, including Hyugaricdeau, t0mmy and t1mmy, and the SKYPAL house, eventually capping off with a crew battle between the regions [2]. It was during these formative first tournaments that Rickety first met Ken, who, declaring his play-style to be unsuited for Marth, rechristened Rickety as a Sheik player. This switch came just in time for OC2, a highly anticipated tournament that featured players from around the world, including Japan and the East Coast.
As 2006 drew to a close, Rickety's close ties with several of the new players led to the creation of the Team Harmony crew. Although now disbanded, the team still keeps in contact with one another and occasionally reunites to play visiting crews, most recently versus a team of four French smashers Rickety housed the weekend before Genesis.
2007 would see Rickety and Azn_Lep take over hosting duties and continue the triweeklies, which began to average between fifty and sixty participants per tournament. The active, bustling scene in turn led to many smash-fests and competing tournaments across San Diego, and saw the city's larger integration with the rest of the southern California scene. It was also during this time that Rickety became close friends with Ken, ManaCloud, and the rest of the Socal Elite 4, going so far as to become a staff member for that summer's OC3, another highly anticipated tournament in a summer full of large, exciting tournaments around the country.
In the weeks after OC3, Rickety befriended Chu Dat, PC Chris, and milktea while he housed them in the run-up to Evo West. Together, along with local San Diego friend WayChu, they formed the Team Kirra crew.
After a brief break with the game, Rickety returned to practicing with Ken and the rest of his inner circle for the MLG-sponsored Super Champ Combo. This became the tournament where Rickety surprised many in the community when he defeated Azen in his pool. Rickety, moved with emotion, began to tear up, and embraced his Smash hero. Rickety would later credit Ken for playing a crucial role in helping him train for his match with Azen. Perhaps fittingly, it was immediately after this victory that Rickety would meet fellow smasher and future boyfriend, Typh, the very same night.
Although Rickety would finish 2007 strongly, attending many tournaments and placing consistently enough to be included on the last iteration of the SoCal Power Rankings before the release of Brawl, he recognized that Super Champ Combo represented the last major tournament that he would ever attend as a serious competitor, and settled into a new role as a spectator, preferring to socialize and catch up with friends in the community over competing in the bracket in earnest. Rickety himself has stated that he never plans to formally retire from Smash, as he always enjoys himself at tournaments whether or not he actually plays at all. "I'll continue to enjoy the company of all the wonderful people I've met in this community," he says, "long after I have touched my last controller."
Trivia
- Briefly entertained a return to competition during the release of Brawl as a Marth main, but instead decided that he would have more fun watching Typh play, instead.
- Once thought to be bulimic, Rickety is happy to report that his love of food is much too great for something like that.
