Take their set at The Big House 4, in which Mango defeated Hax with Captain Falcon and Marth. Now in top eight, Hax had to play his rival Mango, who at this point had a reputation for beating Hax with any character he wanted. Their rematch at Pound 2016 isn’t just notable for displaying some of the highest level Fox-Ice Climbers play ever seen – it’s one of the greatest and most ruthless revenge sets ever recorded. Remember that two years prior at Civil War VI, Nintendude eliminated Hax from the tournament, with the New York Fox main even trying a desperate Captain Falcon counterpick to defeat him. You might be wondering how this could even be considered an upset, given how thoroughly Hax destroyed Nintendude in this set. He then won a convincing game three on Pokemon Stadium to make it to winners quarters, where he faced Nintendude. However, Hax adapted, three stocking him on Yoshi’s Story in their next game, once again looking like the 2014 star that everyone knew and loved. Initially, SFAT looked just a step ahead of Hax, grabbing an early lead and maintaining it throughout all of game one. During Hax’s time away from the game, SFAT had emerged again as a rising player knocking on the door of the Melee “gods.” This set between them wasn’t just a Fox ditto – it was a clash between two different styles of Fox players, with one whose stock was rising and the other who looked like he was on his way out of Melee. Keep in mind that earlier in 2016, SFAT had top eight performances at GENESIS 3 and PAX Arena. ChuDat also had quite a bit of experience against Fox, having Chillindude as a training partner for nearly a decade, along with players like Milkman and Redd in-region to play against. With Pound 2016 coming up, Hax had his biggest challenge yet.Īfter making it through his round one pools and defeating DoH to start round two, Hax had to play ChuDat, who not only had home field advantage, playing in Virginia, but also boasted impressive wins over the last year and a half, even finishing seventh at EVO 2015. Forget asking if Hax could return to his previous level of play – at this point, it was unclear if Hax could become the best in New York City again. The New York Fox main had a series of up-and-down performances over the next month, dropping sets to players like The Moon, DJ Nintendo and Swedish Delight (but also beating Westballz). Along with placing a ho-hum fourth at Super Nebulous 3, Hax finished only 13th at Press Start (partially due to playing a DQ’d Mango in losers), second at GOML 2015 and 17th at EVO 2015, not entering a major tournament for the second half of the year.īy the time Hax returned, he still needed time to adjust to the shifting metagame. While Hax was still a talented player, 2015 was certainly a down year for his perfectionist standards. Though Hax claims to this day that the latter came as a result of a “freak accident” from when he attempted to backwards waveshine a Jigglypuff after WHOBO (in the middle of 2014), keep in mind that Hax was considered one of the game’s fastest, most reactive and technical players. This was both due to his insomnia, as well as hand problems that sidelined him. On January 1, 2015, Hax announced that he was taking an indefinite hiatus from playing Melee. In one of his last notable performances of 2014, Hax battled Armada in thrilling winners and grand finals sets at Justice 4, even three-stocking him in a game. He had won his first major tournament in Do You Fox With It, also winning sets over Mango, Mew2King and Leffen during the year. 8 at the end-of-the-year SSBMRank), Hax achieved significant progress. I'd rather start fresh + eventually be #1 than get 5/7/9th foreverĭespite a few struggles with transitioning to a new character (including dropping down to No. 1.Īpex was a huge learning experience for my Fox. After announcing his switch to Fox, many people thought it was only a matter of time before Hax became the world No. Although many argue over exactly how good he was, Hax was voted as the No. Before analyzing his run at Pound 2016, let’s do a quick recap of Hax’s practically Shakespearean career.Įarly in the post-Brawl days, Hax was known as the young, up-and-coming Captain Falcon main, who was also thought of as just a tier below Melee’s best players. Melee player and one of the most enigmatic figures within the smash community. How often is it that you’ve had your favorite hobby taken away from you? Chances are the answer is not that much, unless you’re Hax, New York City’s most recognizable Super Smash Bros.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |