Thanks for watching! I have some big projects planned for the end of this year/start of 2025, so make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any of it. …and check out the Patreon: www.patreon.com/turndownforwalt
I almost missed THIS video because it's named so similarly to the last one - thank goodness I realized it was a different video, though, this is great!
Blud apologizing at the end for making shorter content. Bro you gave us an entire 16min video covering an event that happened 4 days ago. You are the GOAT.
Dude, I love how collected jmook is. Despite his slump this past year, he's *clearly* got such a strong mentality. And then winning the tournament, he just nods, turns to Zain for the handshake, casually stands up to take his headset off and only when he turns to the crowd does he riled up. And even then, it's still so reserved. I love him, he's one of my favorite competitors in the modern era along with Moky and Junebug.
This tourney felt like the beginning of a new era. The meat grinder of foxes, high level representatives across mid + high tiers, and real narratives to follow. It feels like a new golden era starting, I feel super fortunate that Walt’s here to document it 😄
JMook just pulled off another Genesis. Ngl he was slumping a little then all of a sudden decides to farm this invitational. Even Zain couldn’t keep up with him and made the Fox Sheik matchup look easy lol.
JMook = "Jame Ook" = Game Ook = Game *monkey sound* = Donkey Kong Junebug DQ = Junebug Doesn't Quit = Donkey Kong Forever Nounsvitational = Nouns tournament = "Things" tournament = Things Thing ('thing' meaning tournament in Old Norse) = Creature creature = Donkey Kong
Hey man, just wanted to thank u for doing this. These videos are awesome and the major reason for having watched many hours of content about a game I haven't ever played. Keep up dude!
That smirk Jmook has at 12:50 reminded me of the Hbox smirk vs Armada in GTX 2017. It's like he saying "I gotcha. Checkmate". I know in melee nothing is over until it's over but when I watched it live and saw that smirk I immediately thought "this is over"
These past two major tournaments have been so insane to watch. Melee is peaking again man. So fun to watch Btw, i really like how this video turned out. I know you said it was less informational but i feel like you focused on the individual storylines and it was more entertaining for me personally
this event was so amazing, i really hope you all know to not sleep on upstate ny anymore!!!! jmook, BING, and agent all upstate rep, plus we also have zanya who wasnt at this event, but has made many many results this year. I also have a huge soft spot in my heart for Agent and BING for playing under my org, Revel, at this event! (I cameo in this video a few times, you can see me lurking in the back taking pictures)
Walt, your content has truly improved and evolved as time goes on. I now can't wait for you to upload new videos since I know they're gonna be a banger. Keep up the awesome work!
as an upstater I'm so proud of NY on the whole, not just for our showout here, but just the community we've been able to harbor, like the hype and the shit talk and all the love overall, it feels like the truest spirit of this game and community
Sad amsa went out like that this year, but as a jmook follower, very happy for him. Great job again, walt, you're one of the big reasons melee continues to receive attention.
Shame June had to drop out because his presence would have likely made a difference in the bracket since it would have been likely meant that Moky would have been knocked out far sooner given the record between Moky vs DK's.
You kept saying that 4 was the magic number to make it to winners' side of bracket, but Soonsay and Aklo made it with 3 wins, and Salt didn't make it with 4. It would even be possible to end up in losers' with 5 wins with a big enough tie at the top. That's the thing about round robin pools - you can't just assume a balanced distribution. I interacted with the video, you're welcome :P
Yeah 4 was broadly speaking since it’s just past the breakeven point, but yes we can’t really use that as a hard cutoff since people are human haha. Thanks for the comment!
I had a feeling that Jmook was gonna do great when he took MOF to game 5 with mostly Zelda, but I thought that the great performance would be like 4th or 5th, and I can gladly say that he destroyed my expectations
LACS was mainly a Rivals event with a Melee side bracket that happened to be fairly top heavy so I don’t think people are counting it as a major at the moment. It’s not listed on the Liquipedia for major tournaments either
14:30 It's still crazy to me that HBox built up nearly 40 major wins essentially through a single 3-year stretch of dominance (Not entirely, obviously, but I think most of it came from 2017-19?) and so far the only person who's even close is also the only person who's been here longer than him in Mango. And the only person who looks like they have any reasonable shot of actually beating HBox to 40 is Zain who's STILL not even halfway there. (Yeah, there's still a chance for Mango, but this feels like the least interested in Melee I've ever seen him since I started watching in 2022 so idk). That aside, it's about damn time JMook won a major again!
I hope this game never dies. I was too young to get in when it first started/didn't own the game, too old when I figured out competitive was a thing and did own the game....... So now, I hope I can keep watching these amazing players, story lines, and created content works for years to come! There is so much more melee to be played!
I wanted to see more mid tier madness at this event, I wanted the little guys to show up and absolutely roll the competition. Instead, I got treated to Jmook locking in and running away with the whole shebang. God damn does 2024 Melee go hard
jmook is easily my favorite player rn bc he may not get results all the time but he's like a unstoppable object in motion that can only be stopped by someone even more unstoppable, but sometimes that person is no one, not even the best god damn player?!?!
🎯 Key points for quick navigation: 00:28 *🎮 This Melee tournament unexpectedly changed the competitive landscape.* 01:05 *🏆 The Invitational featured top-ranked players with an average ranking of around 11, showcasing intense competition.* 02:25 *🎮 Mango struggled, winning only one game in pools, while unexpected players like Agent and Bing caused upsets by defeating amsa.* 03:21 *🏆 Zayn's dominant performance in pools made him a favorite for the tournament.* 05:55 *🎮 AKO and jmo surprised by advancing to the top four, with AKO defeating Cody and AKO securing a spot despite early doubts.* 07:51 *🥇 Moi secured a podium spot with a thrilling game five victory, marking his first major win, amid strong competition from AKO.* Made with HARPA AI
what happened to Mang0? show up drunk and too hung over for the second day? Why even waste a spot in an invitational on this guy if hes just going to show up and throw the tourney?
Mang0 and Melee is a toxic and abusive one. My guess is that Mang0 decided he wanted to go, but when he finally got there, he just lost his mood. Yeah, pretty fucked, but ever since he got healthier, he's been pretty whishywhashy both in stream and competitively. I dont know, I think being healthy is messin with him mentally in an ironic way. Good for him, but man, it's like being a fan of Gohan in Dragon Ball. Mang0, please. I'm depressed as fuck.
@@RoninofCrimsonMaple Dude that's not that deep, he is just enjoying rivals and taking a break for melee. Also for accepting the invitationals it is just that everyone likes getting payed so he accepts I guess.
@trip3107 He was feelin off even before Rivals though. Rivals 2 fully came out after his 0-10 loss to Zain, didn't it? I think he had access to beta though. His last relevant run had him win 3-0 against Zain and Cody, but Cody is just free eats for him and Zain was suffering from Ultimate Poisoning. Healthy Mang0 is a happy sight for me, but he has no serious accolades for me so far.
My girlfriend said you should start a video with some sort of dance number with the music that played in the intro and I just wanted to pass that along
One question I have for the entire storyline of this year; where the fuck is Magi? She's absolutely due for a major win soon, she's got the years and the sauce, yet I feel like I haven't seen her in a top 8 for the entirety of this year. Hope she makes a big comeback in 2025.
Sadly aMSa def underperformed and wasn’t playing at his best, mango has been playing rivals so much he suffers from chronic rivals hands, but it’s nice to see other players that don’t get that much credit make some waves at nounsvitational
This was an insane tournament, can melee stop reinventing itself every week so I can keep up hahaha When was the last time that a sheik won a major like this? It's been a while hasn't it?
I've been wondering for a long time why the modern competitive landscape of Melee just isn't doing it for me, and that lineup that you showed of the players toward the beginning made a lightbulb go off, these dudes are BORING. You take Zain and JMook and Cody and Moky and put them all side by side, these are all just like GTA 5 NPCs, this looks like the top 8 lineup for a Fortnite tournament. What happened to the top players being weird nerds with big personalities? I remember between 2014 and 2019 there were TONS of anime fan art of big tournaments, the gods, and other top players, because they all made great cartoon characters. I really think these 20 year old "esports athletes" optimizing the fun out of the game by sitting alone in their room on Slippi is depriving Melee of everything that made it different and interesting. The way they play matches that profile too, it's regular, it's optimal, it's fucking boring dude. I miss when a Ganondorf, a Pikachu, a Yoshi, and a Luigi could have upsets all in the same year, instead of a few Donkey Kong players cracking top 8 being news for a year.
Instead of ganon and luigi making upsets this year you have DK, Icies, Link and Samus. Yoshi and Pikachu are doing fine except they aren't really upsets anymore because we're used to aMSa and Axe doing well. The grind is different than it used to be but we now see characters do well in matchups they were written off in, Like M2K not playing Marth against Hbox. Personalities, well that is kinda just the luck of the draw and subjective if those players don't do anything for you but finding their play boring is surprising to me. We got some absolute swag monsters in Zain, and Moky right now (others too if you dig deeper, Magi, Salt, Soonsay and Mango when he is trying). There is definitely a shift away from playing the player and mind-games towards more thought out strategies that will beat characters instead of players. Good players who had less other top players to play against like Armada, Leffen and aMSa always did that because they new that just playing to beat the players of their home countries would stunt them in the long run.
I completely agree with this take, but another issue is there's just no beef. There's pseudo-beef, like Zain vs. Cody, but old Melee made it feel like there were stakes to wins and losses between players, and huge stories leading up to each matchup they had. I think the current players are good people, generally, but you're right. It's just kind of milquetoast. I like the upsets - character upsets, specifically, like DK - but it's hard to connect with any of these players' "stories."
Thanks for watching! I have some big projects planned for the end of this year/start of 2025, so make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any of it.
…and check out the Patreon: www.patreon.com/turndownforwalt
MORE PEAK WALT CONTENT
I almost missed THIS video because it's named so similarly to the last one - thank goodness I realized it was a different video, though, this is great!
When jmook said "it's mooking time" and proceeded to Mook on everyone was the coolest
🗿
@@turndownforwalt this is what you get when you ask for interaction 🤣
it’s mooking time
it’s mooking time
repent to God
Walt, we really don't deserve the quality coverage you give us. It's insane you've got this up the same week
Thank you so much! I will try to rest a bit LOL
Thought you said wait haha
@@turndownforwalthbox the moment he sees a mistake
@definitelydoctorproctor lmao nice one
repent to God
Before even finishing, favorite moment by far was the Moky Aklo set. Just raw emotion from the crowd and Mokys pop off
Beautiful moment
I just wish he yelled "whatch where you're goin, I'm smashin here"
@@0000-r2b or said like "that's how you fucking moke and doke you bitches!"
@@0000-r2b I just wish he yelled "I'm moking, I'm doking!"
Plup vs Bekvin random dittos was fuckin amazing tho
Blud apologizing at the end for making shorter content.
Bro you gave us an entire 16min video covering an event that happened 4 days ago. You are the GOAT.
Dude, I love how collected jmook is. Despite his slump this past year, he's *clearly* got such a strong mentality. And then winning the tournament, he just nods, turns to Zain for the handshake, casually stands up to take his headset off and only when he turns to the crowd does he riled up. And even then, it's still so reserved. I love him, he's one of my favorite competitors in the modern era along with Moky and Junebug.
It's nice to see M2K's Secondary beat M2K's Main every once in a while.
repent to God
This tourney felt like the beginning of a new era. The meat grinder of foxes, high level representatives across mid + high tiers, and real narratives to follow. It feels like a new golden era starting, I feel super fortunate that Walt’s here to document it 😄
Real
repent to God
@@Baggerz182 are you ok
Sheen, this is the 7th week in a row you've shown the melee tournament that changed everything in class
Moky letting the crowd know was my favorite part
JMook just pulled off another Genesis. Ngl he was slumping a little then all of a sudden decides to farm this invitational. Even Zain couldn’t keep up with him and made the Fox Sheik matchup look easy lol.
He's the most inconsistent player of all time 😂
@@jrodd13that’s a major over exaggeration, bro has been a top player for like 2 years and his first year was incredibly consistent
repent to God
15:24 nah this shot actually goes crazy
Photographer reporting in, glad you like it 😎
I love that you show when the second to last stock is taken as an introduction to the last stock. It adds a lot, like knowing who's got the momentum
Nah bro it's not over til Bowser is VIABLE!!
Just wait till 2027 baby ;p
Well he's certainly not the worst character in the game anymore, so there's that
dont forget kirby 🙏
Absolutely deserved win by Jmook. When he's feeling himself he's unstoppable.
Sad to see Junebug dq love seeing more high lvl kong
Bruh the tournament JUST happened and you already put up a video… the Walt family must be having a holly jolly Christmas this year
I work hard for the fans
Man, Melee has been changed forever like 5 times this year alone, crazy
Actually tho, thanks for such rad content 🤘🏼
Crazy you didn't mention the random ditto's that Plup and Bekvin ran. Easily the most fun I've had watching melee since the big house 10
JMook = "Jame Ook" = Game Ook = Game *monkey sound* = Donkey Kong
Junebug DQ = Junebug Doesn't Quit = Donkey Kong Forever
Nounsvitational = Nouns tournament = "Things" tournament = Things Thing ('thing' meaning tournament in Old Norse) = Creature creature = Donkey Kong
The intro montage of the tournament was so hype, it did a great job of capturing the event!
Hey man, just wanted to thank u for doing this. These videos are awesome and the major reason for having watched many hours of content about a game I haven't ever played. Keep up dude!
For real though you could see how locked in he was. There were so many times his plays looked perfect
That smirk Jmook has at 12:50 reminded me of the Hbox smirk vs Armada in GTX 2017. It's like he saying "I gotcha. Checkmate". I know in melee nothing is over until it's over but when I watched it live and saw that smirk I immediately thought "this is over"
It felt like jmook knew he was gonna win all throughout the tournament
These past two major tournaments have been so insane to watch. Melee is peaking again man. So fun to watch
Btw, i really like how this video turned out. I know you said it was less informational but i feel like you focused on the individual storylines and it was more entertaining for me personally
Seeing Jmook smile when Zain whiffed that grab is incredible
At 13:03, I appreciate how Zain changes the fist bump to handshake. Simple sportsmanship
actually made me shed a tear at the end that was super cute
This type of content is what melee needs. It’s an incredibly hype and unique game that deserves the fire, passion, and dedication
this event was so amazing, i really hope you all know to not sleep on upstate ny anymore!!!! jmook, BING, and agent all upstate rep, plus we also have zanya who wasnt at this event, but has made many many results this year. I also have a huge soft spot in my heart for Agent and BING for playing under my org, Revel, at this event! (I cameo in this video a few times, you can see me lurking in the back taking pictures)
Junebug got 5 stocked by an illness
I love that Walt is consistently using humming the baseline
Turndownforwalt, more like good content creator lmao gottem
Oooooooh ended his fucking career
This was such a fun tournament to watch live, the energy from the crowd was intense
One of the few grands i’ve been able to watch this year, it was hype seeing Jmook going for it.
Walt, your content has truly improved and evolved as time goes on. I now can't wait for you to upload new videos since I know they're gonna be a banger. Keep up the awesome work!
really love these uploads walt. thanks for what you do for the community homie. wishing you the best.
This is the best way to find out about one of the NY boys taking a dub, i'm literally mooking and crying rn Thank You Very Much Turndownfor Walter
Thank you, Melee Daddy :) You do so much for us! We love you. Can't wait for your "Bowser won a supermajor" video in 2027 ;)
this mans editing is unreal HOLY
dayummmmmm that intro is fire. you must have put at least 8 hours into that
God this game is so poetic. The story keeps writing itself. Was so refreshing to see a Jmook dub. Excited for 2025. Long live Melee
as an upstater I'm so proud of NY on the whole, not just for our showout here, but just the community we've been able to harbor, like the hype and the shit talk and all the love overall, it feels like the truest spirit of this game and community
Shit talk is unironically a great thing for competitive sports of any kind.
Sad amsa went out like that this year, but as a jmook follower, very happy for him. Great job again, walt, you're one of the big reasons melee continues to receive attention.
I've been noticing the improvement since your 1st video. I'm glad that you're doing well!
Moky popoff was an all-timer
Fun tourney, lots of variety. Bekvin/plup going randos gave us mewtwo, ness, link etc. we had icies dk roy, melee is cool
i dont watch smash anymore i just enjoy your content, i did NOT realize these were uploaded the same week of the event. god damn dude ur insane
Plup club represent 🐎
Commenting for the engagement! Imma Rivals of Aether fan so I barely know what's goin on with Melee but your vids are SUPER interesting and engaging!
2:25 unfortunately, that's The Mang0.
Shame June had to drop out because his presence would have likely made a difference in the bracket since it would have been likely meant that Moky would have been knocked out far sooner given the record between Moky vs DK's.
I’ve missed your tournament reviews, thank you for this. Fwiw, these reviews are why I’m on your patreon
Glad you’re enjoying the content! It means a lot, thanks for supporting me!
9:39 slight addendum that Jmook did make top 8 at LMMM in october, but your point still stands
What a madman to get this all together. Great work, and unbelievable work considering you didn't sleep for the past 14 nights. 🙃
When Zain is in winners he's basically unstoppable. When in losers he is almost the opposite.
You kept saying that 4 was the magic number to make it to winners' side of bracket, but Soonsay and Aklo made it with 3 wins, and Salt didn't make it with 4. It would even be possible to end up in losers' with 5 wins with a big enough tie at the top. That's the thing about round robin pools - you can't just assume a balanced distribution.
I interacted with the video, you're welcome :P
Yeah 4 was broadly speaking since it’s just past the breakeven point, but yes we can’t really use that as a hard cutoff since people are human haha. Thanks for the comment!
LETS GO JMOOK. As a shiek main myself always happy to see him get the win.
I can't be the only one who was betting on jmook after seeing how crisp his gameplay was against cody right?
God your storytelling is so good
RATIO
Hey Esam!
My friend is encouraging to play in tournaments recently, ive never been in a tourney 🙂↕️ been playing for 10 years and as a ganon main im scared 😂
I had a feeling that Jmook was gonna do great when he took MOF to game 5 with mostly Zelda, but I thought that the great performance would be like 4th or 5th, and I can gladly say that he destroyed my expectations
Again, I ask - does LACS Rivals not count as a major? It was a seriously stacked invitational and aMSa won it
LACS was mainly a Rivals event with a Melee side bracket that happened to be fairly top heavy so I don’t think people are counting it as a major at the moment. It’s not listed on the Liquipedia for major tournaments either
Got it - thank you!
14:30 It's still crazy to me that HBox built up nearly 40 major wins essentially through a single 3-year stretch of dominance (Not entirely, obviously, but I think most of it came from 2017-19?) and so far the only person who's even close is also the only person who's been here longer than him in Mango. And the only person who looks like they have any reasonable shot of actually beating HBox to 40 is Zain who's STILL not even halfway there. (Yeah, there's still a chance for Mango, but this feels like the least interested in Melee I've ever seen him since I started watching in 2022 so idk).
That aside, it's about damn time JMook won a major again!
I hope this game never dies. I was too young to get in when it first started/didn't own the game, too old when I figured out competitive was a thing and did own the game.......
So now, I hope I can keep watching these amazing players, story lines, and created content works for years to come!
There is so much more melee to be played!
Of course it won't die. It will have its upside and downs just like any other games but the game has been going on for over 20 years.
Never too old to get into the game brother. being part of your local scene is way more fun than just watching the top players do their thing
Who made Sheik so THICC in the thumbnail? lol
Reject Giant Punch. Embrace Donkey Punch.
Ludwig needs to host a top 4 first to 10 tournament id pay to see it
Melee can't keep changing everything every week, I can't keep up...
is what I would say without these videos. Thanks
I wanted to see more mid tier madness at this event, I wanted the little guys to show up and absolutely roll the competition.
Instead, I got treated to Jmook locking in and running away with the whole shebang.
God damn does 2024 Melee go hard
The day Moky beats Zain, regardless of his placement at the tourney, he will popoff harder than his major win lmao
jmook is easily my favorite player rn bc he may not get results all the time but he's like a unstoppable object in motion that can only be stopped by someone even more unstoppable, but sometimes that person is no one, not even the best god damn player?!?!
🎯 Key points for quick navigation:
00:28 *🎮 This Melee tournament unexpectedly changed the competitive landscape.*
01:05 *🏆 The Invitational featured top-ranked players with an average ranking of around 11, showcasing intense competition.*
02:25 *🎮 Mango struggled, winning only one game in pools, while unexpected players like Agent and Bing caused upsets by defeating amsa.*
03:21 *🏆 Zayn's dominant performance in pools made him a favorite for the tournament.*
05:55 *🎮 AKO and jmo surprised by advancing to the top four, with AKO defeating Cody and AKO securing a spot despite early doubts.*
07:51 *🥇 Moi secured a podium spot with a thrilling game five victory, marking his first major win, amid strong competition from AKO.*
Made with HARPA AI
this editing is unreal🔥
what happened to Mang0? show up drunk and too hung over for the second day? Why even waste a spot in an invitational on this guy if hes just going to show up and throw the tourney?
He stopped playing melee to play some rivals 2 but they keep inviting him lol
@trip3107 doesn't mean he has to show up....
Mang0 and Melee is a toxic and abusive one.
My guess is that Mang0 decided he wanted to go, but when he finally got there, he just lost his mood.
Yeah, pretty fucked, but ever since he got healthier, he's been pretty whishywhashy both in stream and competitively.
I dont know, I think being healthy is messin with him mentally in an ironic way.
Good for him, but man, it's like being a fan of Gohan in Dragon Ball.
Mang0, please. I'm depressed as fuck.
@@RoninofCrimsonMaple Dude that's not that deep, he is just enjoying rivals and taking a break for melee. Also for accepting the invitationals it is just that everyone likes getting payed so he accepts I guess.
@trip3107 He was feelin off even before Rivals though.
Rivals 2 fully came out after his 0-10 loss to Zain, didn't it? I think he had access to beta though.
His last relevant run had him win 3-0 against Zain and Cody, but Cody is just free eats for him and Zain was suffering from Ultimate Poisoning.
Healthy Mang0 is a happy sight for me, but he has no serious accolades for me so far.
Jmook looked to have a clear mind. A lot of poise.
shoutout to walt and the team behind these
This is the greatest era
My girlfriend said you should start a video with some sort of dance number with the music that played in the intro and I just wanted to pass that along
Jmook is the King. I love his pop-offs too
One question I have for the entire storyline of this year; where the fuck is Magi? She's absolutely due for a major win soon, she's got the years and the sauce, yet I feel like I haven't seen her in a top 8 for the entirety of this year. Hope she makes a big comeback in 2025.
She made some top 8s at collision and smash con, she just doesn’t attend as much stuff because she’s not sponsored
@@Pikachu_on_percs someone sponsor this woman asap
woo magi
He doesn’t have what it takes to hang in the big leagues anymore.
was an crazy event and cool to chat 🤞 w coverage
I think your videos are incredible. But somehow you find a way to improve! Amazing work guy
Sadly aMSa def underperformed and wasn’t playing at his best, mango has been playing rivals so much he suffers from chronic rivals hands, but it’s nice to see other players that don’t get that much credit make some waves at nounsvitational
Thank you Walt, you never disappoint!
Jmook’s sheik got me feeling some type of way
An absolutely amazing documentary 💛
DESERVED JGOD
Didn’t amsa win eggdog or lacs rivals I forgot which did that not count as a major
This was an insane tournament, can melee stop reinventing itself every week so I can keep up hahaha
When was the last time that a sheik won a major like this? It's been a while hasn't it?
I come back to melee for celebrating Jmook's wins, hope to see yall soon!
So this is what happens in Mango's absence? 😂
Crazy meat riding in the comment section but dope vid for ppl who don't have time to watch the entire tournament but want to remain informed 💪
Jmook had a two year slump. Glad to see him back at top (even tho I hate sheik lol)
i didnt know who won, saw jmook did in the comments, and was still surprised watching the video 😂
I've been wondering for a long time why the modern competitive landscape of Melee just isn't doing it for me, and that lineup that you showed of the players toward the beginning made a lightbulb go off, these dudes are BORING. You take Zain and JMook and Cody and Moky and put them all side by side, these are all just like GTA 5 NPCs, this looks like the top 8 lineup for a Fortnite tournament. What happened to the top players being weird nerds with big personalities? I remember between 2014 and 2019 there were TONS of anime fan art of big tournaments, the gods, and other top players, because they all made great cartoon characters. I really think these 20 year old "esports athletes" optimizing the fun out of the game by sitting alone in their room on Slippi is depriving Melee of everything that made it different and interesting. The way they play matches that profile too, it's regular, it's optimal, it's fucking boring dude. I miss when a Ganondorf, a Pikachu, a Yoshi, and a Luigi could have upsets all in the same year, instead of a few Donkey Kong players cracking top 8 being news for a year.
Instead of ganon and luigi making upsets this year you have DK, Icies, Link and Samus. Yoshi and Pikachu are doing fine except they aren't really upsets anymore because we're used to aMSa and Axe doing well. The grind is different than it used to be but we now see characters do well in matchups they were written off in, Like M2K not playing Marth against Hbox. Personalities, well that is kinda just the luck of the draw and subjective if those players don't do anything for you but finding their play boring is surprising to me. We got some absolute swag monsters in Zain, and Moky right now (others too if you dig deeper, Magi, Salt, Soonsay and Mango when he is trying). There is definitely a shift away from playing the player and mind-games towards more thought out strategies that will beat characters instead of players. Good players who had less other top players to play against like Armada, Leffen and aMSa always did that because they new that just playing to beat the players of their home countries would stunt them in the long run.
I completely agree with this take, but another issue is there's just no beef. There's pseudo-beef, like Zain vs. Cody, but old Melee made it feel like there were stakes to wins and losses between players, and huge stories leading up to each matchup they had. I think the current players are good people, generally, but you're right. It's just kind of milquetoast. I like the upsets - character upsets, specifically, like DK - but it's hard to connect with any of these players' "stories."
Melee is so sick man
thank you for your content walt
Sick vid. Can't believe how awesome this was.