The week before Frostbite, we were excited to sponsor Smash N Chill, run by Kevandre “AmiiboKing” Thompson. During the tournament, we were able to sit down and talk to a few of the players. Zach “Yoderlaheehoo” Yoder was one of those players. While he plays on the Concordia University Smash team, this was Zach’s first tournament in the scene, and we were excited to sit down with him and get his thoughts!

Smash N Chill was your first tournament in the local scene, what brought you out for it?
I grew up playing Smash and I was a little competitive in Melee, but I kind of dropped off when I got involved with high school sports. I picked it back up with Ultimate. It actually kind of started when I saw a YouTube video of Elegant playing Luigi. It was very very fun to watch him play and it kind of got me back into Smash.

What first got you into gaming?
Playing the Sega Genesis with my dad. We played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist.

That was a good game.
That was a great game. It started with that, then it was Super Mario Sunshine, then Melee came out. Then I started playing Smash 64 and Brawl. It definitely all started with the Ninja Turtles though.

What was it about Smash that drew you in?
Oh man, I was young. I think my introduction to Smash was at my grandmother’s house. She had a Nintendo 64 and Smash Brothers. It was different than all the other games and I thought “wow, this is awesome”. After that, I got Smash Brothers Melee. Then I got Brawl. Then I got Smash 4, but that’s when I kind of dropped off. I didn’t think I would pick it back up but here I am.

Pretty cool that your grandma had a console.
Yeah, she bought it for when the grandkids came over.

That’s awesome. Who do you main?
Luigi. Elegant is my inspiration, and Luigi was my main in Melee too. I think he’s a top tier character. Elegant sure makes Luigi look like a top tier character. He’s very combo eccentric, which is the way I like to play. I grew up with the Mario Brothers too, so it makes it that much cooler for me.

Do you have siblings?
A have a sister. She’s younger.

Ahh, that goes against my theory. I have this idea that younger siblings like Luigi more than Mario because he’s like them. He’s the younger brother of the Marios.
Nah, I just like his style.

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