aMSa may legitimately be the best Melee player in the world

Coming in at 87 entrants, including just six members of 2022’s SSBM Rank, LVL UP EXPO 2023 will go down as one of the smallest tournaments we have ever covered here on the JV5. However, what the event lacked in numbers, it more than made up for with a plethora of incredible performances from players all across the competitive Melee spectrum. From Southern Florida, to Utah, and everywhere in between, the appropriately titled LVL UP EXPO saw more than a few of Melee’s best take their game to the next level on the big stage. Without skipping a beat, let’s take a closer look at the five players who leveled up the most at LVL UP EXPO 2023 in this week’s JV5.
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📝 Written by Hank Strandberg ► / hankstrandberg
✂️ Edited by CDK ► / connor__1989
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#TheJV5 #LVLUPEXPO #aMSa #KoDoRiN #SSBM #turndownforwalt #tdfw #SuperSmashBrosMelee #SuperSmashMelee

[@codenamec.a.t2480]

Absolutely love showing off a smaller tournament instead of just the insanely big supermajors! Really feels like you’re showing off the underdogs of the scene like this.

[@tupactheory3739]

In the future we will have no supermajors 😮 walt knew walt is already adapting

[@tka6781]

aMSa got me into Melee. I used to just play 64, but back in 2014 I saw him at EVO slinging eggs from the ledge and zip-zopping around platforms and had to go do that myself.

[@yimwee2401]

Yea he makes yoshi look like the smoothest character in the game and its awesome.

[@Stupidiusity]

Lmao Axe got me into Melee in the same fashion with Pikachu. Long time 64 warrior here hahaha!

[@brada5581]

@@Stupidiusity why not both? 64 is dope

[@Stupidiusity]

@@brada5581 indeed my friend

[@Astar72439]

Amsa has an advantage of being both INSANELY CRACKED and since he plays a way less popular character, a lot of high level players don’t know the matchup until you get into the top 10/20

[@AL-lh2ht]

Plus is the only character with a true parry mechanic that only yoshi has.

[@Astar72439]

@@AL-lh2ht that’s part of people not knowing the matchup. Yoshi gets a lot of weird things that only he can punish because of armor/the parry. He can even parry grabs, which makes his worst matchup against sheik much more bearable

[@surfingraichu7594]

I mean, he’s been a serious threat for about 10 years now, there’s really no excuse for people not preparing to face him. Same as you should prepare for the Pika matchup unless you wanna get destroyed by Axe.

[@Astar72439]

@@surfingraichu7594 most players physically CANT prepare for amsa. There is literally no one except amsa himself that plays yoshi at that level. It’s kinda like the old Hbox conundrum where no one had puff experience because he was basically the only competent puff player for a long time

[@surfingraichu7594]

@@Astar72439 study the hell out of his vods (there’s plenty to choose from), play against the Yoshi’s you have available and solo grind scenarios. People would rather just play the matchups they are comfortable in and think are fun and then complain later if they lose. aMSa also streams and post videos/shorts that everyone can look at to get more insight into his playstyle, habits & mentality, check them out, they’re awesome👍

[@bignerd1323]

Major traditional sports orgs wish they had someone as talented as TDFW covering their events. Everything about these JV5s is ridiculously high quality. I can't help but be surprised every time I click on one of these.

[@grubbinvgm]

"coinbox founder hungrybox" LMAO

[@Astar72439]

I think Kodorin is gonna put everything together this year also

[@AL-lh2ht]

one of the hardest grinders for sure. He is due to be top ten player.

[@patoa3481]

​@@AL-lh2ht suprised he wasn't ranked top 10 for 2022. His consistency with top 8's has been really good

[@shorthopdoublelasers4168]

@@patoa3481 Shoulda been either him or lloD for 10. I'm not sure why Axe got 10th considering he didn't really do much aside from beating Zain once.

[@patoa3481]

@@shorthopdoublelasers4168 Axe had higher peaks in the second half of the year while Kodorin remained the same but still

[@hiimemily]

I've been cheering for aMSa for nearly a decade, and even with all his incredible showings from years past, I always thought that number one spot would stay out of reach unless he switched characters. What a fool I was!

[@ravssb]

I like your profile. Trans Rights!

[@caw555]

Amazing to see him succeed so well last year. Such a brilliant player

[@kizzagaming6523]

Love the way you present these videos mate, appreciate your work

[@qcmarcqc]

Hax$ vs asma was a really nice set, great to see hax$ playing that good and he seems to enjoy melee the right way

[@Pslamist]

Solid video as always, but with all the talent present, I was surprised to not see an honorable mention section like normal. Either way, cheers, thank you good sir, and we'll always be ready for the next one.

[@haydens4449]

i miss the old jv5 intro i need that bbb shout out

[@WanderFilledWorldofMelee]

Beautiful educational content Wish you the best brother

[@125conman]

I WAS IN VEGAS FOR WORK AND NO IDEA THIS WAS HAPPENING. NOOO

[@B3nchwarm3r708]

Another Banger, Walt! Keep up the Amazing work!

[@alex8480]

Been craving some new Melee content lately!

[@YUXKE]

Good showing from prof, south Florida represent!

[@MuhibTheGoat]

20 eggs eggs is slowly becoming a reality

[@TheEvilmonkey25]

What a time to be alive, unironically.

[@Zinksk8er]

Walt, this is some quality coverage good sir

[@omarpokemon2000]

Clipped me losing and mispronounced my state :(

[@TheAvenger1171]

😂

[@leaffinite2001]

Nice job man

[@SheeshFr]

Yooo I just met Casper and Nut at Sweet Spot 7! They were both very homie like.

[@BenChaverin]

God tier content, thanks so much for keeping the community alive

[@Shmicah1235]

aMSa just looks so happy! Love that

[@henryreturns1397]

And the thing is that Amsa could have become the best sooner have he have better luck or better timing : - He actually started playing Melee around 2011-2012 and travel to the US for the first time around 2013-2014 - Due to work and him living in Japan , he could only travel 3-4 times per year and he have to miss a lot of big tournaments - Also he WAS NOT A FULL TIME MELEE PLAYER, AMSA WORKS FULL TIME AND DOES MELEE ON HIS FREE TIME - During the COVID era he could not even participate nor play Slippi due to him working for Nintendo too (He help on Ultimate development with other Japanese players) - Amsa on 2016-2018 try to push more Melee into Japan but ultimately fail due to lack of popularity and for Japan is “outdated and old”. Also EVO Japan not having it waa a huge blow for Amsa. - And then suddenly , he can finally be at NA working in Canada Vancouver full time and doing more melee. And thus due to been closer to the US , he can now travel to a lot more tournaments, practice more with other players , and more importantly, doing what he most loved , playing Melee :)

[@shorthopdoublelasers4168]

Henry Returns with the hyphens

[@The_Jazziest_Coffee]

yep, all true stuff

[@wavvy94]

god I love the little sparkly sound effects lmao

[@RoronoraZoro666]

Logos proudly showcasing his feat of taking a game off a sober Zain will never not bring a smile to my face.

[@stephanstanzione]

I LOVE YOU WALT - YOU ARE SINGLE-HANDEDLY KEEPING MELEE CONTENT ALIVE - YOUR VIDEOS ARE TOP NOTCH AHHHH

[@opapamellow3941]

So happy to hear you namedrop Wevans from N-FL. I played against him and saw him at weeklies in Tally and he was the best part of the community, that entire community was amazing.. Rest of North Florida is so crusty 😂

[@deejay4139]

Great vid as always Walt

[@RileyScott]

good video walt, liked this one

[@camronholman]

2023 and this was worth watching.

[@RidingLines]

"Studying the Blade" really got me.

[@lames_jahey9734]

Love seeing Amsa dominating

[@gEEKLEEKs]

The kh sound effects make this video even better

[@mattdotzeb]

Nice video Walter

[@kavinbala8885]

1:15 don't go easy on em next time you got this

[@thejaredwilcurt9336]

Shout out to aMSa and Kodorin for keeping melee wholesome

[@DubYuhGChoppa]

He really is amazing

[@AbyssalArchive]

Getting introduced to these unranked players is always welcomed. Hope they can break T100 this year!

[@PotatoSoupThe64th]

It's scary how quickly the Yoshi mains seem to be rising

[@_Majunior]

"Top 10 Royalty" is so hard

[@riverman7710]

is that a new opening for the jv5?

[@TylerHyperFace]

Hax coming back stole the show for me ❤ "Welcome back Hax"

[@coopers714]

Yuh good content

[@james4470]

I love you turndownforwalt

[@brawnstein]

What is the music at the beginning of the vid?

[@robertohuevo6571]

5:53 Sonic Youth in the background???

[@treywinters3387]

Hey Walt, what songs do you use in your videos?

[@nathanclarke7162]

I had to do some clever detective work to skip to the yoshi section 😎 unfortunately I'm quite shrewd

[@jscottyson]

People from NV would appreciate the state’s pronunciation to be as if it were spelt with two d’s. Nev-add-uh****

[@internnot7100]

My character tier list : Fox Yoshi (thanks amsah, your the goat & at least n°2 in the world) Marth C. Falcon (Only yoshi counter) Falco/Sheik Puff IC's/Peach/Pikachu DK/Link/Marios/Luigi/Samus G&w/Ganon/Y-Link/Mewtwo The Rest.

[@HEADRUSH444]

why didnt you cover hax

[@nahometesfay1112]

Probably because he didn't want to talk about the ban. This is Hax's first tournament outside of New York since the ban so he'd have to bring it up and it's still a sensitive issue

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@nahometesfay1112 The main sensitive part is Hax is not allowed to talk about the ban. So basically everyone should just not brig it up.

[@Pslamist]

Hax stonks go up.

[@unovi8141]

His performance wasn't really anything exceptional here

[@TylerHyperFace]

Controversy aside, Hax's SPEED displayed was incredible this tournament, but was getting caught doing some tournament winners and other questionable inputs. That said, my heart is behind this man coming back and cannot wait to see his rise to top-talent again ❤

[@juniors8745]

he has to be, cause for a person to play that well with a character like yoshi is because has to be the best

[@klerleb]

.. is that a list of holocaust victims at 0:38? what the hell lol

[@djhanger3035]

You sound like the guy who does the pokemon videos how good was it actually

[@GhettoMuffinMan]

you are a treasure

[@pinktheboykissertherian]

aMSa

[@KingKhungus]

forsenLevel

[@adamroe8540]

I love the AMsa hype as much as the next guy, but he doesn’t have that championship winning longevity like the top tier players do to call him the best. He’s cemented his god status no question, but he’s still not putting up the same amount of trophies for as long.

[@haniii3]

hax is attending shit again? lets go

[@Fattyb00batty]

Kingdom hearts is your second favorite game right?

[@Prof_GizMo]

Love the content and love how you mentioned our top player at 3:15 But it’s Nevada! Not ne “vah” da A like apple ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@Parthian6]

It's Nev-ah-da if you really want to be faithful to the Spanish origin of the name. The way you and most others pronounce it isn't "wrong", but neither is the other way.

[@leaffinite2001]

​@Aram M yeah but ppl from there say nevada like apple

[@ConradSly]

of course he's the best, he won a major with Yoshi.

[@bradyw6603]

SFAT is NorCal dont get it twisted WALT

[@getthefonyourdot]

Did you just call sfat socal?

[@Vuietnam]

pog

[@rat4992]

Amsa is melee

[@125conman]

I guess Hax is unbanned now?

[@Pslamist]

He's free! Finally.

[@TylerHyperFace]

Rightfully so 🙏🏻

[@shlennym3971]

As someone from Nevada, we cringe really hard when people pronounce it Ne-vah-da 😖

[@peashooter6628]

Gonna be that person, but Jmook has a better case for #1 in the World rn, no? He won Genesis 9, while Amsa got 9th, which is pretty underwhelming for Amsa

[@shorthopdoublelasers4168]

Jmook needs to figure Hbox out first before becoming #1

[@DirePlot]

@@shorthopdoublelasers4168 Jmook has won 2 majors already, and it's only March. Zain was ranked #1 last year with 4 major wins, and Jmook is already 2 wins away from that.

[@peashooter6628]

@Cameron to be fair Zain also won genesis and pound back to back last year

[@peashooter6628]

@@shorthopdoublelasers4168 this is like saying Zain needs to figure out Cody and Jmook before becoming #1 or Amsa needs to figure out Cody and Plup before becoming #1, everyone usually has 1-2 players they struggle with, but that doesn't determine #1 on the rankings

[@DirePlot]

@@peashooter6628 Exactly, and he got #1 that year. Currently, Jmook has a great head start to being #1 for this year.

[@Glavanovibes]

why did it take 7 minutes for you to talk about what is in the title? lame baiting.

[@Silverado-pq6xe]

Algo comment

[@Xxblade17]

Wassup

[@MrJoosebawkz]

Read this to save yourself 10min: Amsa won a small-medium sized tournament but a few pretty good players. That's it. Nothing to do with Amsa being the best player in the world The other 8 minutes of the video is about a few random players doing ok in the same tournament.

[@mangosensation9895]

I hate hugo as a commentator.

[@BrandonCroy]

First!

[@whitesoxMLB]

You're better than clickbait titles. Regretful downvote from me.

[@JavierPwns]

Pronouns in twitter bio = lol

[@stephenschuster3555]

Youve covered summit before and that is smaller than this by entrant count

[@chullupa]

Amsa is not very good he just is a gimick

[@AL-lh2ht]

nice troll

[@queuedjar4578]

Okay you win 2 majors with Yoshi real quick.

[@veffiesdda965]

@@AL-lh2ht These people just want attention, don't give it to em.

[@asdfasdf969]

Trolls are heroes. They drive engagement on videos by opening conversations; they represent under-represented counterarguments, which results in more robust conclusions. And --- and this is important --- they are like clowns. They are willing to be laughed at. Intentionally inviting it, with a bright red nose and a painted smile. Which takes TREMENDOUS courage. Clowns make our lives happier by painting a target on their backs, with a "kick me" sign over it, and turning around. So we tear them down, raising another statue in their place. Just another martyr. Another joker. Another hero who died in vain. Why? I don't know. But have you ever wondered why America, the culture that has --- if I may anthropomorphize --- done more than any other to instantiate the voice of democracy within itself. . .the voice of the court jester of old. . . Why so many shootings? There ought to be clowns. They are important, and valued; integral, even. If you see a troll, troll back. Lighten up. Stand with our heroes, lest they become martyrs. They only want to help. EVERYONE is only trying to help. That's the beautiful, deadly thing.

[@Sambroke]

Crazy how melee is supposed to be so hard but top 30 ultimate players can casually pick it up and take games off your best player

[@yeah2646]

wizzrobe took a whole set off tweek, leffen took a set off salem, armada and leffen have taken games from leo

[@DirePlot]

Amsa isn't Melee's best player.