Maverick

Maverick at Mason Versus Remzi in 2017

**Maverick** (real name: Mario) is a Smash player, Shulk main, and former  GMU Smash T.O..

He is currently ranked 7th on the  BMS PR (Fall 2019).

## Tag Origins

*mav·er·ick /ˈmav(ə)rik/*

*noun*

*1. an unorthodox or independent-minded person.*

Many people speculate that Mario selected "Maverick" as his tag because of Megaman (Maverick Hunters) or because of the 1986 movie, Top Gun, featuring Tom Cruise playing fighter pilot, Lt. Pete Mitchell, whose call sign was "Maverick".

The reason Mario chose "Maverick" was because his boss at the time once described him as a maverick due to his willingness to bend or completely get around unnecessary rules or red tape to get things done. (Of course, he would only bend or get around rules that wouldn't get him totally fired. Just the ones that slowed down getting things finished or made things inefficient... of which there were many.)

## Smash Game History

Maverick's main console while growing up was the Sony PlayStation. He has owned every iteration of the console and did not own a Nintendo 64 or Gamecube. As such, his only experience with Super Smash Bros 64 and Melee was whenever he went to a friend's house and they played those games.

It wasn't until he owned a Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl was released that Maverick was able to own his own Smash Bros. title. He frequently played against his younger brother and would use Ike as his main character.

After a few years, other games would draw Maverick's attention and he would rarely play Smash. When a new Smash Bros. game for the Wii U was announced in 2014, his interest piqued again. Upon learning of the competitive side of Smash, he would begin practicing and looking into how to enter the Smash 4 competitive scene.

Maverick has since kept up with the game and the Smash Bros. community .

## Attending Tournaments

Maverick attended his first tournament on November 11th, 2015. Until that point, he focused on practicing online through Smash 4's "For Glory" mode.

His first tournament was a new, unnamed local hosted by The Island Games in Chantilly, VA. The venue would only host a few events before deciding to stop offering the local due to low turnout.

Two days later, on November 13th, 2015, Maverick attended his first George Mason University event, Reset The Bracket. He would gradually start attending every week, especially when the event was renamed to Bring More Setups.

Over the years, he attended a couple other events including The Cave in Fairfax, VA, as well as Mondays at The Mott during the brief time they ran events.

In February 2020, Maverick pledged to start attending more locals as a way to increase involvement in the community, as well as pledging to attend his first major tournament. The Cave in Fairfax, VA, Xanadu in Laurel, MD, and Tech Time in Woodbridge, VA were available options alongside Bring More Setups. To commit himself to these pledges, he preregistered to attend Pound 2020, which was going to be held in April at the Xanadu venue. Unfortunately, on March 13th, the governor of Virginia ordered a statewide shutdown of non-essential businesses as well as initiating quarantine orders due to the outbreak of the Corona Virus. All Smash event venues, including Bring More Setups, closed down and Pound 2020 was cancelled and changed into an online format.

As of 2021, Bring More Setups is the only local Maverick has consistently attended.

## Character History

**Super Smash Bros. Brawl**

**Main Character:** Ike

Maverick mained Ike in Brawl because he had a hard hitting sword, had a cool looking Side B, he made an explosion with Neutral B, and Great Aether was cool. That's pretty much it.

**Super Smash Bros. for Wii U**

**Main Character:** Shulk

Before Smash 4 was released, Maverick was most drawn to the new character, Shulk because of what he saw in the character reveal trailer. As Shulk was shown for the first time in the trailer, the Gaur Plain theme from Xenoblade Chronicles played. Maverick had never played the game before, but the style of the song reminded him of similar music from JRPGs on the PlayStation 2, which he liked when he was younger. As the trailer continued, the different attributes Shulk displayed through use of the Monado Arts hooked Maverick more, as he was always a fan of versatile characters.

Maverick would go on to solo main Shulk throughout the entirety of Smash 4.

**Super Smash Bros. Ultimate**

**Main Character:**  Shulk

**Secondary Character:**  Pyra/Mythra

Shulk's mechanics in Smash Ultimate were improved compared to his Smash 4 iteration which many considered enough to move him from a mid tier to high tier character. The improvements along with some functional changes motivated Maverick to continue playing as Shulk hoping to start performing better at events.

In February 2021, Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 were announced as part of Fighters Pass 2. Maverick had tried to play other DLC characters including Joker, Hero, and Sephiroth, but none of the characters seemed to click. Upon trying out the Aegis, however, Maverick felt comfortable using them and their abilities. Pyra had a familiar "slowness" that Maverick had grown accustomed to with Shulk. Mythra added the quick and precise style Maverick wished Shulk had. Learning how to use them efficiently and combining the two styles was something Maverick looked forward to mastering.

In the few months since Pyra & Mythra's release, they are the only other character Maverick has consistently picked alongside Shulk. Maybe it's a Xenoblade thing.

## Role as GMU Smash TO

Maverick was *officially* made a GMU Smash TO in Spring 2019. However, he was actively assisting and TOing since around Fall 2017.

Maverick mainly learned by observing the more experienced TOs run brackets. He considers File as a role model TO because File was dedicated to providing a fun environment and running a smooth event.

For the Smash 4 and Ultimate side of the events, Maverick would generally be the one yelling and welcoming everyone to the event and providing any updates. He'd work with the other TOs to run bracket and stream efficiently.

Because of reasons, Maverick was not able to attend GMU as a student. And with GMU Smash becoming an official school program, being a student was a requirement for all leadership positions. As such, Maverick is no longer an "official" TO, but he has continued to assist as a TO would.

## Keeper of the Power Rankings

Since Fall 2016, Maverick has been keeping records for the Smash 4 & Ultimate Power Ranking. The original keeper of the PR, Kerthorok, was getting busier with his graduation approaching as well as outside commitments. Maverick offered to take over the role of keeping track of player stats, which Kerthorok gratefully accepted.

Maverick inherited the **"Kerth Formula"**, a mathematical equation created by Kerthorok who was a GMU Math major. He learned how to utilize it in excel and began keeping track of player statistics such as placements, attendance, and significant wins and losses.

Maverick would be a constant member of the PR panels that were created to decide a final ranking for the semester. Using the data provided by the PR excel sheets and input from other members of the PR panel, a final ranking was created.

**Power Ranking Reveal Videos and Thumbnails**

Maverick has created power ranking reveal videos for three semesters: Fall 2018, Spring 2019, and Fall 2019. He once again took the inspiration from File, who had created a couple PR reveal videos in the past.

On a more weekly basis, Maverick also created the thumbnails for the VODs of BMS matches shown on stream. That took a lot of time, so he's thankful GMU Smash will have more experienced creators doing that from now on.

## Player Achievements at BMS

* Highest BMS placement in Smash 4: 2nd
* Highest BMS placement in Ultimate: 3rd
* Highest rank on BMS PR for Smash 4: 4th - Fall 2016, Fall 2017
* Highest rank on BMS PR for Smash Ultimate: 7th - Fall 2019
* Has the third most appearances on the BMS Power Rankings
* Voted "Zero to Hero" (Most Improved) in Smash 4 by BMS community in Fall 2017
* Even though he only attends BMS, several other players who go to other weeklies consider Maverick to be the best Shulk in MDVA [out of like 3 total]
* Is 1-0 over Jeb in Mustard Matches [Didn't happen at BMS, but still something that happened and felt like it deserved to be mentioned]

## Trivia

* Maverick is unfortunately a bit of a wifi warrior because he never goes to other locals
* He's self conscious about his commentating skills or lack thereof which is why he never does it
* He is probably the oldest player who has attended BMS (Born 1990)
* Maverick's first attempt at TOing was at his first local, The Island Games. Since he was new to competitive smash, he had no idea what seeding was. So he seeded players based on when they arrived to the venue! [Yeah you can laugh. I still do!]
* He made the official pages on this wiki. Luma made the wiki.

1. ↑ google.com