Dakpo on DreamHack, Smash community: “Everyone is just really awesome”

Las Vegas-based Super Smash Bros. player Dakota “Dakpo” Goode took second place at DreamHack Anaheim’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate singles tournament. 

Playing with his main, Diddy Kong, Dakpo worked his way through the loser’s bracket to face his duos partner, Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland. While he did get 3-0’d by his opponent, Dakpo couldn’t help but be happy to attend DreamHack. Plus, he told WIN.gg, the flight was only $50. 

WIN.gg: How did it feel to come in second today? 

Dakpo: Going into today was really interesting. There was a real wild card in the bracket today, Jason “ANTi” Bates. He’s one of the best players in the world from Smash 4, but he’s been on and off in Ultimate and hasn’t competed much. But he showed up to this tournament. Guess he likes DreamHack or something. 

I was worried about playing him but ended up getting past that. I played my doubles partner in the grand finals. It was a really good tournament. 

ANTi played a lot of Mario and some Snake against you. How are those matchups? 

On paper, they’re pretty bad for Diddy Kong. But it’s one of those things where I know it’s a tough matchup so I put a lot of time into refining them. I can guarantee he’s never played a Diddy Kong like me. 

What do you do it differently? 

I’m a pretty big frame data geek. I’m very privy to when something is safe or not. I take every punishment to the max percentage I can. 

I noticed that, and it was definitely exciting to watch. You also used Diddy’s banana a lot. 

I use the banana every time I can. 

What did you like about DreamHack this weekend? 

The reason I came is because I love that it’s more than just Smash. There’s indie game stuff, card games, Magic tournaments, raffles, so many people, cosplay contests…It’s an awesome convention and I happen to be a Smash player, too. And they have really awesome Smash touraments.

What did you like about DreamHack’s Smash tournament?

I like that they have a big prize pool and a lot of top talent shows up. I don’t have to play many rounds to get good opponents. 

Who were some of the top players you faced today? 

Larry Lurr, one of the best players in SoCal. And one of the best players of all time. 

How was it playing him in the grand finals?

He’s really incredible. He’s such a good player. I feel like he’s just a better version of me. It’s awesome to see but really hard to play against. We both want the same thing and he’s better at getting those things. He showed me this weekend how amazing he is at keeping me at the ledge. I love him. He’s a really sweet guy.

He three stocked me, though. 

What got you interested in playing Diddy Kong?

In the previous game, Smash 4, I had mentality issues. I kept on blaming my characters when I lost. I decided to stop that and pick the character the best player in the world was winning every tourney with. There was absolutely no way I could blame my character.

When Ultimate came out, I had fixed all my mentality issues. People said Diddy is way worse in this game and dropped him. But I felt he was still pretty good. 

I heard that as well. But I think Ultimate is a game where any character can be good if you practice with them enough. 

And that’s what i did. 

How often do you play?

I usually make it a goal to go to at least one tournament a week. 

What do you love about Ultimate? 

I really, really love that Smash is a way to express myself creatively. It’s a really cool outlet. When I play, everyone knows that this is what I want to do when I play. 

It’s your style. 

Yes, exactly. The other thing is the community is so awesome and loving. 

People love to say that the Smash community is toxic. But you have first-hand experience with them. Do you agree? 

I think any online community an be toxic, especially on platforms like Reddit. But when you talk to people in person and they’re showing up at real tournaments, everyone is just really awesome.