Items and randomness along with very good character balance are the things that make Smash Brothers so great. I consider myself very good at using Samus but i know there are certain stages i am far less likely to win than others, just because they don't play to my characters strengths and this is why it's such a great multiplayer game. Saying it should be played this way or that way and without these caveates strips away the complexity that makes the game what it is.

 ok, thats not official matches of pure skill.  both us and japan are 4 stock, 9 minutes, no items (except peach's stuff), best of 3, winner of game chooses character first, first characters are chosen before battle.

in us loser chooses stage of the 6 normal stages and the rest of the counter picks stages. first match is random from the legal 6 (kirby 64, fd, fountain of dreams, dk64, battlefield, pokemon stadium).

in japan it used to be only final destination, now they threw in kirby 64 (not sure how its regulated).

these are matches of pure skill.  nothing else.  items can completely change the tide.  a few matches have been decided because peach pulled out a bo-bomb.  i have no problem with people playing with items, but its not purely based on skill in those cases (high poke balls or bo-bombs on fd is extremely fun).  we enjoy a few item matches once in a while, but mostly its just having fun without them.

 there isnt one way it should be played.  there is a thing called faking ur opponent.  it throws them off because u didn't play by the books.  the best players are the best at faking out the opponent with all characters.

 and don't even mention balance.  the balance is so ridulous.  there is no reason y a mewto should ever beat a fox player if they are both evenly skilled.  the balance is horrible. 

btw, samus is a strong mid tier character.  8th best.  a counter pick to her is cpt. falcon. the only other characters with advantages over her are falco, marth, and sheik but thats only a slight advantage.  she is even with fox.  has a slight advantage over peach, doc, luigi, pikachu, zelda (not sheik zelda), and ness.  has a good advantage over ice climbers, mario, link, dk, young link, yoshi, game and watch, and mewto.  she destroys roy, bowser, pichu, and kirby.

If you believe this you never played with all items and don't have 3 friends to play with you.

I kick asses in that game, but when all the items are in the game, and everybody is playibg on their own, those "tech moves" are just a pain in the ass.

If you are not with 3 other friends to play with you an with all items, you just have seen the most fun that the game can offer.

It's awsome to make fun about how your friend was beaten in a ridiculous way.

I'm going to have to echo WoW here I'm afraid...

"If you believe this, you've never met a 'pro'."

Just watch some videos on Youtube or whatever, they aren't considered pro's because they play a specific style, it's because they are actually that good.  They don't play without items on a plain map because that's all they can do.  They do it because it eliminates any random factor that could make the fight an unclear way of showing who has outskilled who.  And yes, I have Melee, and have played many overnight FFA/2v2, 99 stock matches before you give me the same line. 

Edit: Oh and FYI, different people have fun in different ways.

I've played 1v3, all items set to Very High, and won matches.  3 of my best friends got to the point where they were swearing/screaming at television in anger and we eventually decided not to play SSB against each other to preserve our friendships.

And while I do love playing with multiple people, don't get me wrong, it does kind of suck for me after a while because it just means everyone goes after me whether teams are on or off.   That's actually one of the reasons I'm glad SSBB will have anonymous online brawling.  People playing won't start out a match all deciding to go after the same player because her skills are better than theirs.

You do realize that is one of the factors the make SSB so attractive, don't you?

Mario Kart uses that formula as well.  In Mario Kart then fum is also winning by messing with your opponents.

A red/blue sheel or a lightning can always make people laugh during a Mario Kart race.

Just as SSB, Mk can be played with no items, but........ come on!!

The millions of people who buy it, are not caring about those competitions.

The conception of the game is very diferrent of a Soul Calibu, KoF, SF. 

People who turn off the items are taking that game too seriously.

And you won all the matches? Could not die even once during a match? I love when my friends get pist and all  of them just go after me.

I loved when they used to do that in Star Fox 64 too.

Again PSaiki, read my last sentence again. Different people find different things fun! The random factor attracts YOU the most, not the whole population of the world, please understand this. Some people find fighting their favourite characters against others, while some find the clash of different series the most enticing.

And every competitive game has a casual and more serious following. Don't try and enforce your standards on to those that want to play it more competitively. They are finding out who is the best skilled with their character, are you saying that with random items and stage hazards they could do that more accurately?

The percentange of people not buying Smash to play more seriously, just DON'T HAVE TO. Competitive players do not force their rules onto you, as you should not onto them. Seriously this argument has happened to many times on SmashBoards, it's a shame it's found its way here.

The problem is serious Smash players DO try to force their way onto other Smash players...they say their way's the best, and they get SERIOUSLY pissed about changes in Brawl and whatnot.

Nobody should take a game that seriously.