After only 4 years of playing, LSD had become South Carolina’s greatest Melee player. Yet there was one thing that he was sorely lacking: strong out-of-region results. Despite being number one in his region, LSD was only 16 years old and still in high school; this means he could never travel that much to out-of-state tournaments. Whenever he could find the time to travel, he would place solidly at majors such as CEO: Dreamland 2017 and Smash and Splash 4 in 2018, achieving 33rd and 65th respectively.
LSD shows off his Marth and a few of his secondaries in his combo video, Sweet Dreams.
When I asked him if he had any advice for new players, LSD said, “I think people don’t utilize the practice materials that are available. They don’t practice efficiently and just mindlessly play instead of focusing on what actually needs to be improved upon. Melee is a game that will expose your lack of dedication; it reflects your strengths and weaknesses. I also think people tend to put their egos into their play too much; they need to study their mental interactions with the game. You gotta humble yourself sometimes.”
At this point in his career, the lack of a top 100 win of his own was what kept LSD humble. Even though he had phenomenal local success in both the Carolinas, other top players from his region had top 100 wins. During my interview with him, LSD lamented that it was during this time he felt like his growth as a player was slow, and that he felt "talentless" in comparison to the top 100 players he wanted to defeat. He felt a deep disappointment, and was contemplating retirement from Melee as a result.
That was until the Coronavirus pandemic happened.
For LSD, however, 2020 would prove to be one of the most important years in his whole career. After South Carolina’s local tournaments were halted, he began to grind online tournaments. He would see great success in the beginning; he didn’t place lower than 2nd in the first five tournaments he entered. Though these placements were good, LSD would need a tournament win over established names in order to put himself on the map, and in August of that same year, he would do just that.
From June 2020 through the end of the year, LSD recorded a remarkable 35-35 (50%) record against the Melee Top 100.
When I asked him what he attributed to his stellar 2020, LSD said, “Good work ethics, good study habits, discipline, work on individual situations, grind tech chase, practice ledge stalls a bunch, and I adopted a healthier attitude towards the game. I also try to give myself more tangible real life rewards for practicing tech, like if I perform a certain number of techniques without failing, I get to take a bubble bath."
LSD would also begin to gain traction as a streamer, with some of his tournament streams reaching over 100 viewers. LSD was on the fast track to a seemingly hot first half of 2021, but he would go on to announce he would be taking a hiatus from Melee to focus more on himself, and his other hobbies such as painting and writing.
When I asked him about a potential return to competition, LSD said, “Late June, early July. I want to enter Rollback Rumble: The Big One.” LSD added that his goals for the return of offline play are, “I want to play in a way that I can be proud of; I want to dedicate myself more to creating beautiful Melee; and I want to continue my journey of self development.”
With the recent announcement of Riptide, Smash’s first offline major since Genesis 7, LSD will soon have the chance to show that the skills and accomplishments he achieved online can transfer back to in-person competition.
