برچسب: should

  • You should have watched the Combo Contest at Supernova 2025

    You should have watched the Combo Contest at Supernova 2025


    combo contest

    Image Credit: VGBootcamp

    Supernova 2025 is one of the largest Super Smash Bros. events of the year and pros from all over the world are flying to Virginia to compete in stacked Melee and Ultimate tournaments. But if that’s what you came to watch, you’re missing the point.

    The best thing to watch all weekend at Supernova is the Combo Contest.

    What is the Combo Contest?

    The Combo Contest is a Smash 64 event in which players compete to create the longest and most complex combos. It’s not a 1v1. Instead, players use Smash’s practice mode to set up various items and character placements in attempt to pull off some wild combos.

    If they don’t hit the opponent or the opponent doesn’t land exactly right, the combo could be dropped. This means the combos require insane accuracy, timing, strategy, and planning. Players are given a few times to try and make the combo work but it’s obviously more impressive if the combo works on the first or second try.

    There are a panel of judges, consisting of other Smash players, that will rate the combo a 1 through 10. Players are eliminated from a round if they score the lowest, leaving the top competitors to show off multiple combos to keep progressing.

    The first-ever Combo Contest was held at Super Smash Con (the former name of Supernova) in 2016. Since then, many big names have emerged in this niche scene, including Prince, Taco, and Huntsman. They’ve become known for their over-the-top creative and high-tech strategies but also their dedication.

    The Combo Contest is barely watched compared to games like Melee and Ultimate. It’s on a Thursday when some fans haven’t even arrived yet. The prize money isn’t anything to brag about and there’s only one tourney a year anyway. This is all about the love of the game, grinding all year to come up with these crazy combos that only a few people will see. But that’s what makes the Combo Contest so great — it’s solely for love of a game that came out in 1999.

    Huntsman Uses High IQ Strats and Feet to Secure the Win

    combo contest huntsman
    Image Credit: Supernova / @RELLFGC

    When I went to Supernova in 2023, I was disappointed that Prince hadn’t returned. Often considered the best-of-the-best at combos, the Japanese N64 player had once signed my shirt at a past Supernova event, which, if anything, made the shirt even less valuable. But to me — priceless.

    But I forgot all about Prince when Huntsman took out his grippers on stage and started using his toes to control a second character for a crazy combo the stream unfortunately didn’t catch. The past few years, players have been trying to make the combos more complex with gimmicks, but this was just next-world entertainment.

    This year, Huntsman walked onto the stage and immediately took off his socks. But what made this even wilder? Huntsman was controlling three characters — one controller in his left hand, one in his right, and one on the ground with his toes. Would he pull it off?

    Smash 64 Combo Contest - Supernova 2025 22-22 screenshot
    Image Credit: VGBootcamp

    The combo was so complex that the commentators couldn’t comprehend what Huntsman was even trying to accomplish. Why was Donkey Kong made invincible with a star? What was Samus going to do? In the end he almost accomplished what would have been one of the craziest combos ever attempted, but it didn’t quite land. (If you want to see it completed, check this video out.)

    Luckily, Huntsman had one more chance to show off yet another combo and this one is now considered one of the best combos ever to be done. Once again, Huntsman took out the toes to have a 3v1. He used Yoshi, Samus, and Falco — and some well-placed items — to land a complex 13-hit combo on Link. It’s wild to think he was able to use one hand to throw two well-timed and well-aimed eggs along with everything else he pulled off perfectly.

    Huntsman’s final combo was just as clean and complex, landing things that even the commentators couldn’t understand. The reaction times and extremely high IQ strats were just mind blowing to common folk like me. Otherworldly execution. It was a no-brainer that Huntsman took the title once again.

    Honestly, it gives me chills to think of these guys grinding to perfect these insane combos throughout the year, perfecting a craft that almost nobody knows is even happening. This is what the FGC lives for. If you didn’t watch this year, you really should. These are the unsung heroes of the Smash community, keeping a game from the 90s alive and doing it just for the love of Smash.

    This is the culture of Smash — and you’re not watching. But you should be.


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  • bidding – When should you bid in bridge over a 1NT double pass action?

    bidding – When should you bid in bridge over a 1NT double pass action?


    So the general setup is as follows. Left hand opponent opens the bidding with 1 NT (strong, balanced, 15-17 HCP), partner doubles (for penalty, promising 16+ HCP), right hand opponent passes. Which kind of hands should make any non pass bid now?

    Note that at least 31 HCP are already accounted for, so own hands is guaranteed to be fairly low in HCP and partner didn’t provide any information about shape or suit preferences.

    Background, I recently played a hand on bridgebase where I did the doubling and my robot partner bid 2 hearts. I was fairly clueless what I should expect from partner there.



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  • What should I lead against this slam? [closed]


    My hand is K8643 4 AQ862 64. As West, I deal and pass. With E-W silent, N-S bid:

     N  S
    2D  2NT
    3D  6H
    

    What should I lead?



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  • Should the core Battlestar Galactica game adopt the revised Cylon Resurrection Ship?


    In Battlestar Galactica, revealed Cylon players can use the Resurrection Ship location to pass their unrevealed loyalty cards to another player at the table. This can be necessary when one player has drawn multiple “You Are A Cylon” cards or can be used to sow confusion by giving “You Are Not A Cylon” cards away.

    In the Pegasus expansion, the Resurrection Ship location no longer passes loyalty cards. Instead, when a Cylon player reveals himself, he always passes his unrevealed cards to another player as part of the reveal process.

    It’s not clear which situation happened during Pegasus development:

    1. The passing was made part of the reveal process in order to address an imbalance, and the Resurrection Ship location was changed in response to this
    2. The Resurrection Ship location was changed for other reasons, and the passing was moved to the reveal process in response to this.

    Having just played a game where I happened to be dealt both “You Are A Cylon” cards, I’m starting to think that the base game should use the Pegasus card-passing rules.

    The process of revealing is purposely built so that the Cylon player doesn’t get to do any “Cylon actions” until the round after he reveals – for one thing, this prevents a player from revealing and immediately playing his Super Crisis card.

    A Cylon dealt both Cylon cards, however, ends up having to wait 2 full rounds to get all the stuff he needs to do done:

    1. He needs to pass the other Cylon card
    2. He needs to play his Super Crisis

    Now, he won’t always NEED to play the Super Crisis, but in most cases that will probably be true, particularly since there has been only one Cylon player sabotaging things to this point. Whichever order the Cylon chooses, it’s not great for him. If he passes loyalty cards first, it probably looks pretty suspicious that he didn’t play the Super Crisis, but prioritized card-passing more. The humans are likely to assume the card recipient is now also a Cylon. On the other hand, if he plays the Super Crisis first, there is one more human available to help against it for a round until the card is finally passed.

    This two-turn latency to get all his ducks in a row seems like a harsh penalty, especially on top of the minor penalty that he’s been the sole Cylon to this point. Automatically passing as part of the reveal gets things back to the more “normal” setup – 2 Cylons, and a 1 turn delay before Super Crisis can be played. It also makes the passing of the loyalty cards something that is not inherently suspicious, since it always happens.

    If this had come about in Pegasus through just a rule change listed in the instructions, it would be a no-brainer to apply it to the core game. But since it involves changes to the board that are affected by other Pegasus-specific stuff, it’s not clear how applicable this should be.

    Since I haven’t played Pegasus, it made me wonder: is there a reason why it would be bad to apply this rule change to the core game?



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  • Why you should Tabletop Simulator — The Treehouse

    Why you should Tabletop Simulator — The Treehouse



    How about as a social experience?

    Here we come to a few ways TTS differs from a real table experience. The lack of visible social cues can, if you’re not already a close-knit group, lead to people talking over one another, as you have no way of telling when someone’s about to speak.

    You’ll also need a separate piece of software to talk to your fellow gamers. I highly recommend Discord as it’s straightforward to use and is available on PC, Android & iOS. If you already use Skype, Messenger or something else then you can also continue to use that. 

    I’ve used TTS to socialise. I’ve met new friends and used it to connect with old ones. Whilst TTS will never replace a “real” tabletop experience, it’s something different, not less. I think I’ll end up continuing to use it after all this is over as a way to play games from my own home with players I can’t normally get together with. It’s honestly better than I ever expected. 

    Who would you recommend it for?

    Really, almost anyone who is comfortable using a computer or is happy to learn. it’s quick and easy to learn if you have any level of competency using a PC and a breeze for anyone who would call themselves a “gamer”. I found my way around it in a few minutes and the community is always willing to offer any help or assistance you might need. 

    Find out more about Tabletop Simulator here.

    If you’ve enjoyed this content, you can show your appreciation with a small contribution here, which would be a big help to The Treehouse in this time of limited cash flow.



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