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8:24 I've seen this a number of times and I just can't get over M2K's sheer confusion as to why any Fox would ever voluntarily go to FD against him. I love M2K so much
I believe Cody has a theory about counter picking Marths to FD. Something about winning there early to remove it. But at that time SFAT was experimenting with the FD counterpick
Hypothetically speaking: If Armada was terrible at fighting Sheik rather than being amazing at the matchup, how much do we think that would have changed the history of the character?
I played competitive melee locally back in 2006, and yeah Sheik was top tier, but even back then I remember people talking about how Fox had the most potential. Funny how it all played out.
I had been waiting for a very long time for a solo Sheik main to win a major (and especially a super major). I'm so happy it happened. Sheik really needed that win, and I hope more people pick her up.
Just wanted to say the way you animate the games with the free camera or whatever is so cool I love it. I don’t know if it’s hard or takes a lot of time or whatever but I just want you to know it is really really enjoyable and I appreciate it ❤
2:40 kudos to hbox for staying solo for how long? 16 years? In all this time he could’ve picked up a secondary for fox, but no no, he stayed stubborn and still got the status of being one of the 3 goats of melee. From my spectator perspective it’s seems extremely hard to solo puff, similar to solo sheik, but then again, what do I know, I’m just a spectator.
Hungrybox has tried a secondary fox. It did not go well. Hbox is really good but so far he's only been able to do it with Jiggs, if he could pull it off with another character he would have a secondary at least.
@@NukaColaBear I don't think that it's necessarily that he can't pull it off, he is a generational player. I think it's moreso that he doesn't want to pick up a secondary, be it for pride or whatever other reason.
@@finnpeterson4335 Hungrybox stated multiple times he didn't have the ability to do it with anyone but puff. Not a knock on him, good on him for knowing his own strengths & weaknesses.
13:20 i was so confused by the music bc im just listening on my phone at work, i thought i must’ve gotten a Black Ops 6 ad or something 💀 and i have youtube premium too
One thing I find very interesting about smash, as well as other fighting game communities as a whole, is that most competitive and even casual players all want to play really _really_ aggressively. Almost all of the players want to go in and hit hard and fast while the reaction based playstyles are few and far between. It feels like no one has the discipline to stop pressing buttons and just watch and wait for your opponent to screw up on their own. It also makes sense that no one would find this playstyle viable since theoretically this kind of playstyle won't work at high levels where people make fewer and fewer mistakes. This makes it all the more satisfying and _terrifying_ when a player arises who can play that way and take advantage of everything their opponent does.
Technically, HBox played pretty defensively for a long while, using Puff’s superior aerial mobility to bait people into chasing him and punishing. Floaters fighting each other in general were prone to long games or timeouts. But this also looks like stalling and made people really pissed at the “lame” tactics, especially since Melee has a few techniques that give an unbalanced advantage to the defensive player, like ledge stalling immunity. It is technically possible for someone to get a % lead then stall forever. Anti stall rules didn’t really exist for a long time because most players, as you mentioned, like being aggressive and cool more than floating around and running away. Which did result in people, mainly Leffen, being pretty salty and proposing anti stall rules that were basically targeted against Puff.
Walt, you outdone yourself this time! You have a real talent for documentary making - combined with your passion, it gives me real hope that the smash community will be around for a long time to come. Ive seen documentaries that cost millions that were significantly worse than the incredible work youve been putting out there. Youre an absolute legend.
It's sad that it took so long for people to actually acknowledge what this character can do. Sheik is quite obviously an amazing character but it takes a lot more than what M2K was ever willing to do and he defined Sheik for a long time. Now the meta is finally growing past these people who wouldn't do what was needed.
I don't know why, but I feel like for Melee to prosper it needs to progress into a new era. Not just in the game, the players, the TO's. But the community. It needs to come back together and focus on the game, and in some way I feel like this is a step towards that.
@@jman3l I have a feeling Zain takes BOBC5, he's had two 2nd places in a row there and has been edging a tournament victory ever since Lud's, so this feels like the time for him. But Jmook is also attending Tipped Off, Wavedash, and CEO, so he just needs to win one of those and his #1 for the 1st half is secured.
Ah idk dude.. he is looking sort of unstoppable when he is playing hot. Even when he isn't playing 100% he clutches everything out anyway (SFOP/SFAT sets). When he is 100% he makes everyone look like a fool 😆. Only hbox can beat him right now and even then it's a toss up. Jmook got better at puff/Juan match-up.
@@jman3l we'll see, Cody's beaten him this year, Amsa and Hbox are still bracket demons, and Zain was even in sets with Jmook before this year, so it's not far fetched to say he can take the next one. I do think Jmook wins Tipped Off though, especially since Hbox isn't registered to attend, so his only bracket demon there is Amsa and he'll probably get knocked out by Moky and Cody.
Back in college I played competitively in Brawl and Melee. In Melee almost everybody was just using Fox including myself and I see that not much has changed since then. I remember one time a bowser user came to a tournament, but he got destroyed so fast I felt awkward for him.
There is nothing I love more than challenging meta’s. It’s the coolest thing to watch happen because a meta comes into existence because a new thing turns out to be good and kicks away the old thing. But as the new thing becomes old and people rely on it too much you see just how easily they can fall apart when opponents take their meta into account and break it. It’s like watching WWE where one of the fighters dodges all of the punches he’s scripted to take and the other guy just goes “dude wtf you’re not doing the thing?!?”
Standing ovation for your ad….. I’ll repeat that, as it’s never been said before in the history of the English language. Here’s a standing ovation for your Ad! It 2:10 was awesome. Wow, those words feel weird, even typing it it out is strange….. anyway, cool vid lol
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8:24 I've seen this a number of times and I just can't get over M2K's sheer confusion as to why any Fox would ever voluntarily go to FD against him. I love M2K so much
He counterpicked the King to his own castle
I believe Cody has a theory about counter picking Marths to FD. Something about winning there early to remove it.
But at that time SFAT was experimenting with the FD counterpick
It's to soak up a loss earlier in the set so the Marth doesn't use it later to swing the set over basically.
@@YURTZYN42this makes no sense tho. You just give up a favorable map for no reason. If u manage to win on fd... The Marth can pick it again.
There's a clip simular to this where Amsa pulls out a secondary Falco against Hbox's jiggly puff. Hbox's reaction is priceless.
TURN UP FOR WALT
Seriously, this is phenomenal work. Thank you for putting this together
❤
Loving watching your come-up man!
Bro you're changing the course of melee history. Keep doing what you love, it's inspiring 🙏
Amsah won ESA2 with solo shiek as a major right ?
It’s the guy! He did the thing!
Mooook
The biggest takeaway I'm getting from this video is that Hbox deserves to be on the Melee tier as his own character.
if hbox didn't play, jigglypuff wouldn't be top tier.
@@mups4016 Same thing with Amsa Yoshi
I mean... He is practically 😅 not kuch of a difference
It's true. If Jigglypuff was judged by the second best performer, they would be mid tier at best.
Hbox is on the melee tier list as his own character. Jigglepoof. Same for Amsa and Dinosaur lad.
The part about how your main in a fighting game is more than just a collection of matchup charts and frame data was really great
So they aren't just functions after all lol
Hypothetically speaking: If Armada was terrible at fighting Sheik rather than being amazing at the matchup, how much do we think that would have changed the history of the character?
dude imagine ....
Unfortunately, armada had two brothers who just so happened to be very good sheik players.
@@devoncampbell3607 *brudders
@@blakerey4790 💀
@@blakerey4790 I concede that "brudders" is the proper title.
I can imagine hbox laughing his ass off at the cut to his pop off faint during the start of the explanation of him being the sheik slayer.
I played competitive melee locally back in 2006, and yeah Sheik was top tier, but even back then I remember people talking about how Fox had the most potential. Funny how it all played out.
Weird seeing you comment on a melee video
whats swing at the king doin here
Gotta be honest, I love the tournamente recaps and previsions to death, but it was because of video essays like this that I subbed to Walt's channel
13:05 brb, this montage got me so hype I had to rewatch the Jmook G8 run
dude same LOL, it was so good
I had been waiting for a very long time for a solo Sheik main to win a major (and especially a super major). I'm so happy it happened. Sheik really needed that win, and I hope more people pick her up.
We have 2 swedish sheik mains to blame for this. Armada's brothers were both sheik mains which made him cracked at the matchup
Amazing work. Thank you Walt and Jackie Peanuts for telling this particular story so beautifully ❤
Dude the EDITING. And the MUSIC. And the WRITING. This is it, Walt, wow, that was absolutely fantastic
everyone knew when they saw jmook's sudden breakout in 2022 that if a player could win a supermajor with solo sheik, it'd be him :)
Just wanted to say the way you animate the games with the free camera or whatever is so cool I love it. I don’t know if it’s hard or takes a lot of time or whatever but I just want you to know it is really really enjoyable and I appreciate it ❤
That “Outside” Remix for the Genesis 8 run was fucking fantastic. I’d love it as a solo video.
Love the bigger documentary content. I'm sure this takes a lot more time and effort to make, but I greatly appreciate it.
The intro edit with you on Pokemon Stadium while Jmook did his combo was so sweet
8:59 "all with solo sheik" zelda clip
wow, jiggly got 41 major wins and its like 1% mango, 99% hungry box.
2:40 kudos to hbox for staying solo for how long? 16 years? In all this time he could’ve picked up a secondary for fox, but no no, he stayed stubborn and still got the status of being one of the 3 goats of melee. From my spectator perspective it’s seems extremely hard to solo puff, similar to solo sheik, but then again, what do I know, I’m just a spectator.
Hungrybox has tried a secondary fox. It did not go well.
Hbox is really good but so far he's only been able to do it with Jiggs, if he could pull it off with another character he would have a secondary at least.
@@NukaColaBear I don't think that it's necessarily that he can't pull it off, he is a generational player. I think it's moreso that he doesn't want to pick up a secondary, be it for pride or whatever other reason.
@@finnpeterson4335 Hungrybox stated multiple times he didn't have the ability to do it with anyone but puff. Not a knock on him, good on him for knowing his own strengths & weaknesses.
13:20 i was so confused by the music bc im just listening on my phone at work, i thought i must’ve gotten a Black Ops 6 ad or something 💀 and i have youtube premium too
Production values off the charts! I'd love to see more stuff like this!
I'll always remember the Amsah vs EK reverse 4 stock. One of the moments that made me want to play Sheik.
Apparently that was also a major, which Amsah won.
One thing I find very interesting about smash, as well as other fighting game communities as a whole, is that most competitive and even casual players all want to play really _really_ aggressively. Almost all of the players want to go in and hit hard and fast while the reaction based playstyles are few and far between. It feels like no one has the discipline to stop pressing buttons and just watch and wait for your opponent to screw up on their own.
It also makes sense that no one would find this playstyle viable since theoretically this kind of playstyle won't work at high levels where people make fewer and fewer mistakes. This makes it all the more satisfying and _terrifying_ when a player arises who can play that way and take advantage of everything their opponent does.
Technically, HBox played pretty defensively for a long while, using Puff’s superior aerial mobility to bait people into chasing him and punishing. Floaters fighting each other in general were prone to long games or timeouts. But this also looks like stalling and made people really pissed at the “lame” tactics, especially since Melee has a few techniques that give an unbalanced advantage to the defensive player, like ledge stalling immunity. It is technically possible for someone to get a % lead then stall forever. Anti stall rules didn’t really exist for a long time because most players, as you mentioned, like being aggressive and cool more than floating around and running away. Which did result in people, mainly Leffen, being pretty salty and proposing anti stall rules that were basically targeted against Puff.
LOVE the edits and structure of these. It's also insane that Hbox is such a force to manage the meta the way he did! 🔥 Melee is dope ❤
I love the fact you have your own merch, but I love the Zoolander references even more. Much love king.
I am honestly so happy that you make documentaries for literally the greatest esport that has ever existed. Thanks, Walt :)
3:26 Yoooo where are my fellow Artemis Fowl fans at?
I never expected to hear Walt out of all people mention this goated series but I'm here for it.
Walt, you outdone yourself this time! You have a real talent for documentary making - combined with your passion, it gives me real hope that the smash community will be around for a long time to come. Ive seen documentaries that cost millions that were significantly worse than the incredible work youve been putting out there. Youre an absolute legend.
Sheik would be nothing without Zelda's down b
Lol
So what I'm hearing...
is that every single character specialist has a backup fox for hungrybox and hungrybox alone.
Odd username but you would be correct
Yeah Hbox got that big heavy. GOATed imo
Amsa doesn't, does Axe?
@aetherius6221 iirc amsa has played falco against hbox before. Not sure about axe tho
@@noinfo1018 pretty sure Axe has a Marth secondary for some like 80/20 MU
ARTEMIS FOWL MENTIONED!
Wild to hear that reference from someone in the melee scene, damn lol
Another turndownforwalt masterpiece. Excellent video-- I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish!
That ad read was amazing
Super pumped for content like this!
Amazing video, the melee community is as strong as ever and you love to see it
The Artemis Fowl reference awakened a core memory in me
It's sad that it took so long for people to actually acknowledge what this character can do. Sheik is quite obviously an amazing character but it takes a lot more than what M2K was ever willing to do and he defined Sheik for a long time. Now the meta is finally growing past these people who wouldn't do what was needed.
you the man. I love your stuff, Walt. never stop doing your thing.
I don't know why, but I feel like for Melee to prosper it needs to progress into a new era. Not just in the game, the players, the TO's. But the community. It needs to come back together and focus on the game, and in some way I feel like this is a step towards that.
23:38
"He quit Starbucks for this!"
your content is so unbelievably high quality
The editing is so good thanks for the great watch!
i love the custom camera angles on the in-game reenactments
this is absurdly well made, bravo
Thank you for this incredible video Walt!
I've missed these deep dives into specific moments in melee history and why they're significant
Now the question is: can Jmook become the first solo Shiek to get #1 on the rankings?
If he takes BoBC5 I think its pretty much a wrap for #1 in 2023 for him.
@@jman3l I have a feeling Zain takes BOBC5, he's had two 2nd places in a row there and has been edging a tournament victory ever since Lud's, so this feels like the time for him. But Jmook is also attending Tipped Off, Wavedash, and CEO, so he just needs to win one of those and his #1 for the 1st half is secured.
Ah idk dude.. he is looking sort of unstoppable when he is playing hot. Even when he isn't playing 100% he clutches everything out anyway (SFOP/SFAT sets). When he is 100% he makes everyone look like a fool 😆. Only hbox can beat him right now and even then it's a toss up. Jmook got better at puff/Juan match-up.
@@jman3l we'll see, Cody's beaten him this year, Amsa and Hbox are still bracket demons, and Zain was even in sets with Jmook before this year, so it's not far fetched to say he can take the next one. I do think Jmook wins Tipped Off though, especially since Hbox isn't registered to attend, so his only bracket demon there is Amsa and he'll probably get knocked out by Moky and Cody.
This man just casually dropped the greatest Melee montage of all time at 13:05
" And armadas Fox/Preach 3-0. All with solo sheik"
*Clearly Shows Plup winning with Zelda*
another banger, Walt
Great video, your production quality only continues to reach new heights
that montage around the 14 minute mark is like the hardest thing ive ever seen
Borp can be summed up like this
Borp: using shrunken’s 1 by1
Commentators: he’s just standing there… MENACINGLY!
13:09 Aiden and Nick
amazingly done as always walt
Sheik: Melee's best benchwarmer
Your Ad game is starting to rival Internet Comment Etiquette's. Top tier marketing
Production on this is insane - awesome video
insane production on this
Technically speaking, you can't "solo main" Sheik since she can transform into Zelda.
I can't believe you didn't play the *gasp* he WAVEDASHED clip when bringing up Borp lol
This was great, the in game camera movements had me particularly impressed !
Back in college I played competitively in Brawl and Melee. In Melee almost everybody was just using Fox including myself and I see that not much has changed since then. I remember one time a bowser user came to a tournament, but he got destroyed so fast I felt awkward for him.
Jmook is so fun to watch.
i can hear the words of Leffen already: "Hbox is killing Sheik"!
6:14 HAS ME SCREAMING
Walt your G8 montage was so insanely sick
absolutely dope video walt bro keep up the amazing work
These videos are so well put together always a highlight. Thank you Walt.
Has to be the funniest merch drop i've ever seen, the zoolander reference was simply amazing
this editing style and bits is just amazing :) you are doing great and keep it up :D
Walt you're the second GOAT only after JMOOK
@9:00 "all with solo sheik"
Zelda killing Peach in the background: *am i joke?*
Absolutely loved the sponsor segment, Walt would make a great model
Walt this is such a great video. Shoutouts for the sick content
Hbox screams had me crying 😂😂😂
This is one of the only sponsorships I watched through because it was genuinely entertaining!
There is nothing I love more than challenging meta’s. It’s the coolest thing to watch happen because a meta comes into existence because a new thing turns out to be good and kicks away the old thing. But as the new thing becomes old and people rely on it too much you see just how easily they can fall apart when opponents take their meta into account and break it. It’s like watching WWE where one of the fighters dodges all of the punches he’s scripted to take and the other guy just goes “dude wtf you’re not doing the thing?!?”
I subscribed because you carried a dog at the end. Love melee
i didnt think worst and top tier could be in the same sentence
Well if there's multiple top tiers someone has to be the worst right?
2:18 in and just gotta say thats the best ad read I've seen
Standing ovation for your ad…..
I’ll repeat that, as it’s never been said before in the history of the English language. Here’s a standing ovation for your Ad!
It 2:10 was awesome. Wow, those words feel weird, even typing it it out is strange….. anyway, cool vid lol
great video, great editing. especially love the little jmook genesis frag video in there lol
That Jmook montage was hard af!
S tier content. Your work is so GOATED
Honestly i think you should have also mentioned the absolute terror that armada was against sheik
3:25 Artemis fowl caught me WAY off guard
Me: Time to hit the books and study for my final.
Walt: Hold my beer.
I like the term you coined. Lockdown era
That montage actually made shiek look cool for a minute lol
Another banger. Loved the G9 edit
Been watching for a while and enjoyed all your content; this video was excellent. You have one more subscriber.
I have a feeling that those 41 Jigglypuff wins were all just Hbox
From best character in the beginning of the game to some people debating she isn't even top 5
The Zoolander skit had me fucking rolling, thank you
Plup didn't beat Armada with solo Sheik. He also used Zelda 😂
yeah 9:00 that's clearly zelda....
This is one of the best t-shirt ads I've ever seen