Breaking Limits: Ori

By: Jonathan Division Palombo

March 27, 2017
 The Michigan Unification Series kicked off Saturday with a bang as
Michigan saw its largest tournament since Rebirth 8, in August. With close to
150 singles entrants and 35 teams in doubles, Zero
Requiem was an overwhelming success. Behind the
scenes was the man who had been through it all. Kalle
Ori Wanagat had delivered once again and in a big
way for the Michigan smash scene. Ori is the essential
cog in what is the well-oiled Michigan Smash machine.
He has proven himself as a well- accomplished T.O. who
is respected both at home, and abroad. I was fortunate
enough to catch Ori toward the end of the tournament,
in order to pick his brain and get some answers on a
few burning questions.

The scene was Frostbite 2017. Zero had just narrowly escaped
tsus grasp in grand finals. After the tournament, as you and the
pulse team walked the venue one last time, what feelings did you
guys have, knowing that this was the last time you guys were
together as Pulse Gaming?

On a light matter, The Aged One and I were thinking, oh god how much debt
are we in. on a more serious note, it was kind of bittersweet. Earlier in the
day, I saw a reddit thread that had listed Ryuga and LOE1 in the top 48 with
Pulse next to their names, and it really tugged on my heart strings that this
was the last event for them under the Pulse banner. Not only that but it
signaled the end of an era for Michigan smash four. It was sad to see it go,
but it was a necessary sacrifice I guess.

Vayseth was moving onto bigger and better things with Most
Valuable Gaming. The Aged One had decided to hang up the
controller and pursue other life goals. What inspired and kept you
from walking away from this game when you so easily could have at
that point in time.

Really the retirement was from being a T.O. In November, Vayseth and The
Aged One got back for Ktar. We crunched the numbers and we realized that
there was no feasible way to make Pulse profitable as an organization and
grow it to become something bigger. After that realization, I was just so
frustrated with everything and I was at that point where I just wanted
Frostbite too be over and Pulse could be over. I wanted to retire from being a
T.O. and become a player because this entire game I have not been a player.
During my brawl days, I was more a player than a T.O

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. so I wanted to go back to that. Roughly around December, I realized that
Michigan was going to be in such a vulnerable state with Pulse dissolving that
I decided that I needed to stick around for an unforeseeable amount of time
to get Michigan back on its feet. After frostbite was over, who knew what was
going to happen to the scene. I really wanted to give back and help grow the
scene that I had cultivated.

What gave you the idea for the Michigan Unification Series and
what is your overall goals with the series?

With the Michigan Unification Series, it was a brainchild of mine I had near
the end of the summer of 2016. It was something that I wanted to be a pulse-
exclusive thing that may have included some other people if we wanted. At
the time, with the decline of the Michigan smash scene that we saw after Big
House, it wasnt something that we could do. The money wasnt there and I
didnt want to throw something that big in such a time of decline, so I put it
on the back burners. As Frostbite approached and Pulse was dissolving, I was
like, you know what? The way Im going to give back is Im going to do the
unification series, and Im going to get every T.O. on board, and I did. I got
every T.O. on board originally, of course most of those in the Michigan scene
know there was the whole Amiiboking debacle. It wasnt so much of an issue
as it was more so Amiiboking just wanting to grow NLG, and I respect that.
Dre knows that he needs to do his own thing for little bit. he fully supports
the series and he has been doing a great job. Dre and I see eye to eye on a

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lot of things so thats great. If we make series two, Amiiboking wants to get
involved and have a spot on the schedule, and I know I can give that to him.
With the Michigan Unification Series, I really just want to promote growth in
Michigan and get people to leave their bubbles. I want people from NHS to
travel to Macomb, and get people from southeast who are southeast die-
hards to visit West Michigan. The real guinea pig tournament was Phantom
Hit. This was to see if for the premier West Michigan monthly, we could get a
mass exodus of east siders to travel, and we did. That was a clear sign that
Michigan was heading in the right direction, and that we could do exactly
what the series is trying to do. That proved that this is something that could
work.

Zero Requiem had the highest turnout in Michigan since

Rebirth eight. Did the turnout for Zero Requiem shock you knowing
that we have struggled with turnout in the recent months since Big
House 6?

Yes, yes it did. When this morning

started, there were 140 entrants
signed up, and we had 3 people
register at the door. I said to
myself, you know what? Im trying
to promote growth and a new era. I
wasnt going to turn them away so I
threw them in a pool. We had
overall about 13 disqualifications
from no shows, but its a register
online and pay at the door thing so
that was fine. Overall at the end of
the day it was 128 entrants on the dot. It was a great turnout and it blew my
expectations out of the water. It makes me really excited for what each stop
can bring forth to the local area. Zero Requiem was everything I wanted it to
be, and the self-sacrifice of Pulse ushering in a new era in for the Michigan
Smash scene, it's all very exciting.

Do you have any ideas or plans in store for the Michigan scene
past the series and with that do you plan on having another game
organization?

For future plans with the series, I dont know what I want to do with series
two yet, but with the first series were doing the top 8 placers getting floated
into final bracket so they avoid pools at the finale. Were also doing the, quote
unquote, biggest loser at the finale, which takes the winners of each stops
amateur bracket and puts them in a seven-player round robin with a cash
prize to find out who the biggest loser is at the circuit finale. To top that were
doing what I think is the most exciting part of the series which is the regional

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crew battle circuit. We have 8 crews from around the state and it is awesome
that all the crews are going to travel to represent their regions and to find out
who has the strongest region. We already had an exciting upset today with
Macomb beating Ann Arbor. We saw both Smash-Field teams overcome the
West Michigan crews. We saw Central Michigan fall to NHS. It is already
starting out at a crazy pace and I am excited to see where it goes. Awesome
singles, doubles, crew battles, and a sweet amateur bracket is everything the
series has to offer.

What are your long-term goals for yourself in the overall Smash 4
scene on a larger scale. Are you trying to move onto bigger things or
are you looking to stay Michigan centric?

Well at the moment, I really dont know what I want to do. I want to do
something bigger but at the same time I want to cultivate Michigan as much
as I can. If something bigger and better does come along and I must leave
the state, I can do that. As many people in the smash community
know, I have lost my job with the graphic design company that I had
been a part of for three years, so now my options as a graphic
designer are open to the Esports world. I can apply for a design
position at S-tier gaming organizations. I also have many ins at
twitch with D1, crimson blur, and others in the Smash scene that
work there, so I can get in there. There are a lot of options for me to achieve
something greater. However, I dont know where Im going yet, I can barely
think of what is going on next week you know? I got to try and take it one
step at a time. If the opportunity presents itself, ill grab it.

Ori continues to strive for more in the Michigan Smash scene as the
circuit rolls onto Tempest, hosted by RipTide Gaming in Grand Rapids, MI.
Thanks to Ori there is a clearer future in Michigan Smash and the scene is
heading toward a path to bigger and better things. Without Pulse gaming
there is no telling where the scene would be and we owe a lot to those
involved, however it is now time for michigan as a whole to take the reigns.

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