Super Smash Bros. Melee is a 2001 crossover fighting video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. It features characters from Nintendo video game franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pokémon, and Donkey Kong among others. The stages and gameplay modes reference or take designs from these franchises as well. Melee includes all playable characters from the first game and also adds characters from additional franchises such as Fire Emblem, of which no games had been released outside Japan at the time, in addition to new stages and gameplay modes. Like other games in the Smash Bros. series, Melee's gameplay system offers an unorthodox approach to the fighting game genre, with a counter that measures damage with increasing percentages, representing the knockback the character will experience, rather than a depleting health bar seen in most fighting games. Melee was first released in Japan in November 2001, in the Americas in December 2001, and in Europe and Australia in May 2002. The game received widespread acclaim from critics, earning praise for its visuals, simple controls, gameplay, and orchestrated soundtrack, as well as several awards and acknowledgments from various publications; it is now considered one of the greatest video games ever made. It achieved strong sales upon its release, becoming the GameCube's best-selling title, with over seven million copies sold by 2008. Considered one of the most competitively viable Smash Bros. games due to its fast-paced and aggressive gameplay, Melee has been featured in many competitive gaming tournaments, boasting a dedicated grassroots fan community which has kept its competitive scene alive well beyond the game's original lifespan. It was followed by Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii in 2008.
To clarify for people that don't seem to be in the know: Zelda has historically been *extremely good* at the ICs match-up. Almost all of her moves seperate them and even though she's slower than Sopo Zelda gets really strong punish opportunities that are much riskier to go for as Shiek. This past year JMook has been working his ass off to practice his Zelda so that he can squeeze all the mileage he can out of her: Nikki was just on fire at this tournament. I genuinely think if Jmook keeps pressing the Zelda meta, you'll start to see the character played the way Sakurai intended. Shiek is obviously way better than her, but there are indeed some scenarios where having a good Zelda can genuinely save your life.
Honestly not a bad showing. Pretty poor discipline vs sopo, stands in stark contrast to the inhuman restraint seen by his sheik. If he cleaned up some of the 0% kicks on Nana into the full sequence, it would go a long way. PS and FD still look heinous and like you can't approach or occupy center stage
Everything nana does is 6 frames after popo. Zelda bair comes out in 4. She cant shield it in some scenarios. For those wondering why anyone would do this.
I feel like it would be better to get popo alone with zelda and then switch to shiek for sopo. Even if sopo has the CG, I feel like it would be much better to fight sopo as shiek, rather than Zelda.
actually a high iq observation. but i think going sheik the whole time would be better. i really cant wrap my head around why he goes zelda. its not a bad MU but sheik is 100x better
@ I think he probably wants to avoid the regrab at low percent into handoffs with shiek. That’s the only reason I can think of. As well as the bair and fair both being positive on shield.
@@bobbykite8705its cause he wants the low effort easy kill. Sheik has to do so much to kill, not only that to recover against ics. Also, way more floaty so she escapes down throw conversions better
@@BocajBeans as a sheik player i can guarantee that playing against ICs is an absolute pain in the ass. Any small mistake leads to a chaingrab, and these chaingrabs will very often lead to a handoff kill. And at the same time, Sheik biggest strength (grab) is basically nullified. Zelda is definitely easier to play against both climbers, at least at human level : you're not always sentenced to death when you get grabbed, you can wall out with bairs and fairs, and you kill Nana way more easily. I definitely agree that Jmook should go back to Sheik once nana is gone though
The only moves sheik has that breaks CC, let alone ASDIDown before 30% is tipper upsmash, chain, and upb poof... it's a slog for sheik with high execution
I always wondered why jmook doesnt pick up fox or samus for ics. He once played fox vs zain in gfs but ive never seen him play it vs an ics. Fox could also help him with the puff mu. Although he is very difficult to secondary
@@Yvs8962 you can’t “just pick up peach” either, Nicki also beat aura, one of the best peach’s in the world, with IC’s this tournament. Even if jmook’s peach got good enough to beat Nicki’s IC’s in a set, we also saw Nicki counterpick Swedish delight with fox (Nicki was formerly top 100 with fox) and destroy his peach (and game and watch lol). With zelda, jmook doesn’t have to worry about being counterpicked with any character because he can always just go sheik. Imo this set was definitely winnable for jmook and I think this is his best bet against IC’s.
@@swiz8916 I mean I dont think its as simple as just picking Peach when an ICs pops up and its an auto-win, Im just saying if he were to pick up a character specifically to give him the best and easiest time in the MU, Peach is that character.
@@augustinius6586 A bad match-up is a bad match-up, sadly. While MUs aren't as domineering in Melee as in other games, if you lose a MU hard you probably lose it pretty hard. Examples being Jigglypuff/Marth, Samus/Peach, Link/Shiek, etc. They aren't too common in this game, but Zelda absolutely is one of those matchups where the better Icies player could still feasibly lose to a worse Zelda just because she's really good versus them.
I’m sure Jmook knew that Nicki would prepare, he wasn’t exactly hiding the fact that he would go Zelda and both of them knew they were likely to meet each other in bracket at this tournament
@@heartnet40those are strange examples, no? Isn't puff/marth pretty even? Peach/samus isnt the worst for Samus even if peach wins. Although I don't know the matchup, I believe you that sheik is bad for link but then she's horrendous for all mid and low tiers so that isn't in any way unique to link. Sheik is a far worse matchup for Samus than peach.
Also Zelda/ICS is not a really bad match-up. Sure Zelda does surprisingly well , but I'm not convinced she beats them. Slight win at best, but I think it's probably win. Zelda can be annoying for certain characters, cause a single hit neutral win can net quite a lot for her, but ultimately her neutral isn't good enough to carry her through @@heartnet40
The crazy thing is you might think "why not pick up a secondary for icies instead of playing *zelda*, but Nicki has a fox that's good enough to beat a secondary peach/puff
I wonder if it would be worth it for Jmook to pick up a secondary Falcon (or Fox) for these types of matchups that are super unfavorable for Sheik (such as this one). If he's going to be switching anyways, I think it would be worth it to play a character that suits his more tech-chase-y style. Thoughts?* *Disclaimer: I am not a top Smash player and don't want to pretend I am more knowledgeable or skilled than one. Do not take my inquiry seriously. I am merely a terrible Samus main who trolls on Slippi Unranked.
@@patoa3481 I mean… he went 2-3 against an ICs that beat Cody and Zain, who didn’t have bad matchups or need to switch off their solo characters. I don’t think it’s as crazy as people are making it out to be, but I’m also just a spectator so idk.
@parkourboio1062 leffens shiek probably only practiced for/against marth, maybe even just zain, plus it was fd. I think ics win on fd but if the shiek is really good and patient it's a winning mu on platform stages
You ever consider they do it because it's the actual best strategy Sheik has against Icies? This was the best solo sheik in the world trying to win the third most stacked event of the entire year (3rd behind tipped off and genesis only because Plup dropped), it's not like he was spamming fair and bair just to be degenerate, like as some kind of claim that Icies just spams grab. He was legitimately trying to win. And that's what he had to resort to, to try to win. I swear to god some icies players are just obscenely hypocritical lol.
@@zacharymacaroni7649 wanted to see if it was interesting, but I just watched bair dsmash spam vs “it’s totally not wobbling its handoffs bro”, absolutely awful
Jmook being the only one to go game 5 while using Zelda between him, Cody, and Zain is kinda funny in an ironic way
Super Smash Brothers Melee for the Nintendo Gamecube
Indeed!
and how
I agree completely!
And that's how we like it
Super Smash Bros. Melee is a 2001 crossover fighting video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. It is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series. It features characters from Nintendo video game franchises such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Star Fox, Pokémon, and Donkey Kong among others. The stages and gameplay modes reference or take designs from these franchises as well.
Melee includes all playable characters from the first game and also adds characters from additional franchises such as Fire Emblem, of which no games had been released outside Japan at the time, in addition to new stages and gameplay modes. Like other games in the Smash Bros. series, Melee's gameplay system offers an unorthodox approach to the fighting game genre, with a counter that measures damage with increasing percentages, representing the knockback the character will experience, rather than a depleting health bar seen in most fighting games.
Melee was first released in Japan in November 2001, in the Americas in December 2001, and in Europe and Australia in May 2002. The game received widespread acclaim from critics, earning praise for its visuals, simple controls, gameplay, and orchestrated soundtrack, as well as several awards and acknowledgments from various publications; it is now considered one of the greatest video games ever made. It achieved strong sales upon its release, becoming the GameCube's best-selling title, with over seven million copies sold by 2008. Considered one of the most competitively viable Smash Bros. games due to its fast-paced and aggressive gameplay, Melee has been featured in many competitive gaming tournaments, boasting a dedicated grassroots fan community which has kept its competitive scene alive well beyond the game's original lifespan. It was followed by Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii in 2008.
This is actually the most surreal set of them all
To clarify for people that don't seem to be in the know: Zelda has historically been *extremely good* at the ICs match-up.
Almost all of her moves seperate them and even though she's slower than Sopo Zelda gets really strong punish opportunities that are much riskier to go for as Shiek. This past year JMook has been working his ass off to practice his Zelda so that he can squeeze all the mileage he can out of her: Nikki was just on fire at this tournament.
I genuinely think if Jmook keeps pressing the Zelda meta, you'll start to see the character played the way Sakurai intended. Shiek is obviously way better than her, but there are indeed some scenarios where having a good Zelda can genuinely save your life.
this was the comment i was looking for thank you
zelda sucks rofl
i also srolled down specifically to find a comment like this, thx broski
excellent comment
Sheik wins the ICs MU lol...
Is this the greatest year for low and mid tiers in Melee history?
Yes.
5:22 NASTY movement to bait the dash attack
Zelda ice climbers in 2024, melee is sick!
Oh he's really doing this
Honestly not a bad showing. Pretty poor discipline vs sopo, stands in stark contrast to the inhuman restraint seen by his sheik.
If he cleaned up some of the 0% kicks on Nana into the full sequence, it would go a long way.
PS and FD still look heinous and like you can't approach or occupy center stage
Everything nana does is 6 frames after popo. Zelda bair comes out in 4. She cant shield it in some scenarios.
For those wondering why anyone would do this.
bair comes out frame 5+ her 6 frame jumpsquat= frame 11>nana's 6
A Zelda did better against Nicki then Zain.
I feel like it would be better to get popo alone with zelda and then switch to shiek for sopo. Even if sopo has the CG, I feel like it would be much better to fight sopo as shiek, rather than Zelda.
actually a high iq observation. but i think going sheik the whole time would be better. i really cant wrap my head around why he goes zelda. its not a bad MU but sheik is 100x better
@ I think he probably wants to avoid the regrab at low percent into handoffs with shiek. That’s the only reason I can think of. As well as the bair and fair both being positive on shield.
@@bobbykite8705its cause he wants the low effort easy kill. Sheik has to do so much to kill, not only that to recover against ics. Also, way more floaty so she escapes down throw conversions better
@@BocajBeans as a sheik player i can guarantee that playing against ICs is an absolute pain in the ass. Any small mistake leads to a chaingrab, and these chaingrabs will very often lead to a handoff kill. And at the same time, Sheik biggest strength (grab) is basically nullified.
Zelda is definitely easier to play against both climbers, at least at human level : you're not always sentenced to death when you get grabbed, you can wall out with bairs and fairs, and you kill Nana way more easily.
I definitely agree that Jmook should go back to Sheik once nana is gone though
The only moves sheik has that breaks CC, let alone ASDIDown before 30% is tipper upsmash, chain, and upb poof... it's a slog for sheik with high execution
6:07 ledge coverage to secure the grab was so legit
Super sick stuff!
Top level Zelda gameplay… in 2024. This game is limitless.
I love the stock from Nicki at 1:56. Great use of reverse bair and great spacing to dodge getup attack and punish.
Yay zorlda play. Good effort, jmook.
Lol. In game 1, 90% of Zelda's moves were either a side air or down smash, and it worked
JMook’s Zelda > Zain’s Marth?
I always wondered why jmook doesnt pick up fox or samus for ics. He once played fox vs zain in gfs but ive never seen him play it vs an ics. Fox could also help him with the puff mu. Although he is very difficult to secondary
I cant see a secondary Fox doing that well against Nicki considering how badly he beats a lot of the Fox mains. Should just pick up a Peach.
@@Yvs8962 you can’t “just pick up peach” either, Nicki also beat aura, one of the best peach’s in the world, with IC’s this tournament. Even if jmook’s peach got good enough to beat Nicki’s IC’s in a set, we also saw Nicki counterpick Swedish delight with fox (Nicki was formerly top 100 with fox) and destroy his peach (and game and watch lol). With zelda, jmook doesn’t have to worry about being counterpicked with any character because he can always just go sheik. Imo this set was definitely winnable for jmook and I think this is his best bet against IC’s.
Nicki beat Cody, hard to bet on having a pocket Fox better than Cody's even if it's just trained for one matchup
@@swiz8916 I mean I dont think its as simple as just picking Peach when an ICs pops up and its an auto-win, Im just saying if he were to pick up a character specifically to give him the best and easiest time in the MU, Peach is that character.
jmook didnt know that nicki actually knew about the zelda and was prepared. but it was still super close considering that
@@augustinius6586 A bad match-up is a bad match-up, sadly.
While MUs aren't as domineering in Melee as in other games, if you lose a MU hard you probably lose it pretty hard.
Examples being Jigglypuff/Marth, Samus/Peach, Link/Shiek, etc.
They aren't too common in this game, but Zelda absolutely is one of those matchups where the better Icies player could still feasibly lose to a worse Zelda just because she's really good versus them.
I’m sure Jmook knew that Nicki would prepare, he wasn’t exactly hiding the fact that he would go Zelda and both of them knew they were likely to meet each other in bracket at this tournament
@@heartnet40 feel like puff marth is a weird example to go with
@@heartnet40those are strange examples, no? Isn't puff/marth pretty even? Peach/samus isnt the worst for Samus even if peach wins. Although I don't know the matchup, I believe you that sheik is bad for link but then she's horrendous for all mid and low tiers so that isn't in any way unique to link. Sheik is a far worse matchup for Samus than peach.
Also Zelda/ICS is not a really bad match-up. Sure Zelda does surprisingly well , but I'm not convinced she beats them. Slight win at best, but I think it's probably win. Zelda can be annoying for certain characters, cause a single hit neutral win can net quite a lot for her, but ultimately her neutral isn't good enough to carry her through @@heartnet40
The crazy thing is you might think "why not pick up a secondary for icies instead of playing *zelda*, but Nicki has a fox that's good enough to beat a secondary peach/puff
he also beat 2 peaches at this tournament so it might not even be a better choice lmao. Zelda is a lot easier to play than peach after all
What the hell did I just watch?
I wonder if it would be worth it for Jmook to pick up a secondary Falcon (or Fox) for these types of matchups that are super unfavorable for Sheik (such as this one). If he's going to be switching anyways, I think it would be worth it to play a character that suits his more tech-chase-y style. Thoughts?*
*Disclaimer: I am not a top Smash player and don't want to pretend I am more knowledgeable or skilled than one. Do not take my inquiry seriously. I am merely a terrible Samus main who trolls on Slippi Unranked.
Zelda is so fkn hype.
I wonder if Jmook will do another full drift in fair / bair
this is the most odd solution to iceys ive seen
What the fuck am I watching how did Melee get here 😂
4:20 double up air with both IC but spaced apart
why not go sheik against sopo?
Dude Zelda's down smash is so funny
Isn’t it just better to go sheik against Sopo?
I wonder if jmook's zelda could beat weed lesbian's zelda
sheik vs sopo is the play
jmook missed so many easy edgeguards against sopo
whar
jpoop
Was he drunk?
Nah, Sheik ICs just sucks to play. Even SoPo has chaingrabs on you and half the time you can’t grab back.
@@nousernameinputed I know the matchup is ass but going Zelda over Sheik is crazy
@@patoa3481 I mean… he went 2-3 against an ICs that beat Cody and Zain, who didn’t have bad matchups or need to switch off their solo characters. I don’t think it’s as crazy as people are making it out to be, but I’m also just a spectator so idk.
Icies are so good against Sheik that even Zain beat Leffen with them, and his icies is traaaash
@parkourboio1062 leffens shiek probably only practiced for/against marth, maybe even just zain, plus it was fd. I think ics win on fd but if the shiek is really good and patient it's a winning mu on platform stages
I play ICs, I hate it when sheik players switch to zelda and spam fair/bair 🙄 nice to see nicki getting the w
Dont worry, everyone hates fighting ics too
You ever consider they do it because it's the actual best strategy Sheik has against Icies? This was the best solo sheik in the world trying to win the third most stacked event of the entire year (3rd behind tipped off and genesis only because Plup dropped), it's not like he was spamming fair and bair just to be degenerate, like as some kind of claim that Icies just spams grab. He was legitimately trying to win. And that's what he had to resort to, to try to win.
I swear to god some icies players are just obscenely hypocritical lol.
Hahaha right.
the best strategy shiek players have is switching to a different character. Whether that be Zelda or a whole other character entirely.
Ice climbers officially corny again
Melee really would be a better game without ice climbers and zelda
and yet here you are commenting on an ICs vs zelda set
@@orendamusic7577 RUclips would be a better site without you or your mediocre opinions
What the hell has Zelda ever done to you, she shows up once a year LMAO
@@zacharymacaroni7649 wanted to see if it was interesting, but I just watched bair dsmash spam vs “it’s totally not wobbling its handoffs bro”, absolutely awful
@@orendamusic7577just don’t get grabbed it’s that simple :3