SA Nick

@LGC_DonB @LilTrickshot The behind the scenes of JOSHMAN ⤵️ youtu.be/UM9YFG3-lT8

I'm not enjoying TOing anymore. And I think I'm gonna stop soon. Read: docs.google.com/document/d/1EA…

SUPER LONG POST ABOUT CONTROLLERS INCOMING I HAVE NO LIFE IM SORRY I've never really given my thoughts on controller discourse, but I feel very strongly about seeing changes within the ruleset. These are my thoughts as of right now, but with more data and comprehensive research my opinion could be swayed. I want to emphasize that I am not calling anyone a cheater here for abiding by our current ruleset. I think there is a good amount of nuance to the situation. Almost every top player that I've talked to, including boxx users themselves, acknowledge that the boxx is super broken. However, the reality of the current landscape of melee is that boxxes are not pervasive at TOP level melee. There are only three boxx users in the current top 50. There are various reasons why a top level melee player would not want to switch to boxx: the stigma of using it as well as an asterisk on results, a strong likelihood of it getting banned with a major victory, as well as the time investment required to learn it. We all are aware of the fact that it's a superior controller, but the lack of stellar results has kept it in a weird limbo. I firmly believe that if someone like Leffen were to switch to a boxx controller and win a tournament, the discourse that would stem from that victory would lead to more drastic changes. The existence of the boxx has created this weird gray area for the legality of GCC specific mods, including notches and z-jump. At top level melee, things like notches and z-jump have WAY more influence over the current meta than boxxes do (that's not to say that boxxes are not way more broken than these specific mods). Notches have greatly amplified recovery as well as general movement for a few years now. It's hard to praise someone's recovery or wavedashes when they exist. Almost every top level spacie acknowledges that they should be banned, but because the boxx exists it is a necessity. I don't love this argument for a couple of reasons- the relevance that the boxx has in top level melee, which is scarce, in my opinion does not outweigh competitive integrity. Moreover, notches were around well before the release of the boxx. So many top level melee players want notches banned, but to be honest, if most top 100 level melee players agreed to stop using them (which I think is very doable), the issue would be resolved. Z-Jump is another mod that spawned from what the boxx is capable of as well as preserving general hand health. Inevitably, discussion of this mod revolves mostly around Cody, who I have talked to recently. My main issue with Z-Jump is that Cody, who seeks to gain the most by keeping it legal, is the most vocal authority on the subject. His defense stems from people from every level of the community claiming that he's blatantly cheating. I want to make it clear that I believe that he is the best melee player in the world for a reason. We both tried our hardest to get #1 and I genuinely believe his hard work and passion for the game is incredible. I'd never want to retroactively diminish his results. However, I think it is a problem when he argues for the legality of Z-Jump by publicly saying that people overvalue how much he uses it, and that 90% of the time that he can claw over Z-Jump, he claws. I'm a nerd so I checked his inputs from our slippi games, and every instant aerial, laser, JC upsmash included Z-Jump. I don’t think that this omission was malicious on his end, but it does say something about how reliant he is on Z-Jump with his current controller layout. Cody himself told me he probably subconsciously switched over time. The problem is that the defense and research of this mod being legal should not be a solo endeavor, especially one made by a top player using said mod. There is not enough data gathered within tournament environments to prove that Z-jump is a preference and can replace perma clawing. Switching grips for things like instant aerials, or sliding your finger from Y-A (which has its own limitations) for instant nairs can provide the same CONSISTENCY, but not the same FREQUENCY of certain techniques which Z-Jump allows. Like I said before, my opinions are subject to change with more research and data. But I do genuinely think that Z-Jump offers a distinct advantage at top level melee play. That's pretty much everything I've had on my mind about controllers. If you read all of this you're pretty crazy. I've never really complained that much about anything in melee before, but I do find this important enough to talk about. I would like to make a video about all of this in the future, and would be more than happy to collaborate with people who also feel strongly on the subject.