🍵Matcha Cup: Junebug (Donkey Kong) vs Aklo (Fox / Link) | SSBM Melee Grand Finals

In partnership with Nouns Esports, Matcha.xyz presents the 🍵Matcha Cup - East Coast!
Streamed 9/12/2024
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Bracket: www.start.gg/t...

[@barbarictearemedy]

Cody: Very cerebral, very interesting Pluppers: Yeah I like when big monkey goes for the grab

[@heyitsmort7744]

They’re actually a killer duo “You have to carry him first” “Oh dk actually has tech?”

[@BlueCats27]

Wouldn't have it any other way

[@-lasagna]

Better on mute

[@farmingsim9813]

If only DK had a really fucking big gun

[@j0rd13]

Sakurai…. hear our prayers….

[@sweetbizil]

have to collect enough banana's and then hit up the right guy for that...

[@dhaxiskhadhammer]

He could fire it in spurts

[@PjackM92]

Sounds like it might hurt if he were to shoot cha ​@@dhaxiskhadhammer

[@lasagnahog7695]

And a jetpack for recovery.

[@MorphBall1]

"I feel like I COULD spread this misinformation. Aahh being a commentator is pretty powerful. I get the appeal." LOL

[@yolobuttrill]

This commentary is now property of the plup club

[@lasagnahog7695]

Fox up throws into kill: Aww you're sweet! DK up throws into kill: Hello, HR!

[@nahor88]

I think the uthrow - uair is more escapable for DK than vice versa. Fox falls like a bag of bricks.

[@Dlord1PlayStation]

That's the narrative of fox vs any character that could combo him.

[@DubYuhGChoppa]

These guys rooting for Fox over DK is just a little bit hilarious

[@AgentOrange502]

probably because theyre competitors and not scrubby spectators that value spectacle over integrity

[@prod.chrizzy]

@@AgentOrange502Wow what a daring 25 year old game player you are how brave

[@AgentOrange502]

@@prod.chrizzy this is the type of comment somebody posts when they have no rebuttal yet, they feel the need to 1-up the idea they disagree with

[@prod.chrizzy]

@@AgentOrange502 Lmao this is the type of comment someone makes when they can't detect sarcasm and are a delusional individual. I just think you sound like a geek so i'm making fun of you. I don't play shitlee

[@prod.chrizzy]

@@AgentOrange502 Instead of complaining about the meta why don't you get better? Usually you only complain when you can't figure something out. Is a low tier character really that polarizing against you? When you've had 25 years to develop a degenerate meta for your main character?

[@gianlucatartaro1335]

Cody trying and failing to hide his hatred for DK throughout the entire set is the best part of this lmao

[@pocketofspaghett2701]

that match with bing really had lasting effects on him, I guess

[@JustLikeYou.]

@@pocketofspaghett2701that set with bing might be the biggest lose of his career ever lol

[@byronbroughten]

These two are the best casting duo. Super knowledgeable, funny, not trying too hard. I love it.

[@j27blaze]

dk and a link in grands, bro wtf is this game 😭

[@nahor88]

It's what Sakurai wants, it just took us over 20 years to get there. 😂

[@B463L]

Bowser will win a major in the year 2079

[@natespurgat6245]

@@B463Lthere was a copypasta I saw somewhere in reference to 20xx that was like “the year is 204x. The only true test of skill is Bowser vs Pichu on Poke Floats in a coin battle” or something like that

[@carlosm7067]

@@B463Lmelee bowser is underrated

[@markmurphy9121]

​@carlosm7067 I had a buddy who competed in college tourneys and some nationals and he would run bowser for the college tournaments and run house on everybody somehow lmao

[@jordanmackinnon8099]

"Cody I think you're full of shit" Hahaha this two-high-level-player commentary is gold

[@sleepi8454]

I think saying that "DK is easy" just doesnt make sense in this context. If he was so easy, then we would have seen him A LOT earlier in the meta. Like, I get the sentiment (not as technical, understandable gameplan), but given the amount of tools that he has and how exploitable he is, I think its very impressive that Junebug and Akir have made him work so well in this day and age.

[@traycarrot]

Reminds me of Overwatch when teams were running two non-utility snipers as their only DPS. Healers were minimal and tanks had zero defense, only mobility. Meta was effectively "Do the snipers get miracle picks before the team fight begins? Yes - We win. No - We lose." You'd watch entire sets where teams would high roll these 1-shot kill strategies and refuse to swap. Same is true of DK. You sacrifice nearly everything to high roll this linear, fucked up punish game. If you land a grab four times, you win. If you can't, you lose. Doesn't mean it's lame or easy, just means it can be pretty polarizing.

[@Supertaldo916]

Fox player be like: He doesn’t have 300 options that work and win in each interactions, so he must be lame.

[@plastickkerorolm4889]

Dk is easy because his gameplan is streamlined and it has to be respected. Similar to wolf in ult. Is not that wolf doesn't have options, it's just that his gameplan is super straight forward AND it has to simply be respected. Dk is looking for a grab, but his grab is also really good. Dk wants to bair. His hair is also really good. Since it's so basic and good, he's "easy". Doesn't mean he doesn't have to play the game. Infact it just means that the character is mostly held back by your own fundamentals.

[@plastickkerorolm4889]

Look at all starter classes in games. You can beat the game with them. But they're purposely designed to have steady learning curves with fair reward. That's what makes them easy vs cheap. I guess if you want a better word. They aren't so much easy as they are "straight forward"

[@alexhooijschuur5131]

Yeah it's absolutely copium. Yes DK has a streamlined punish game, but so do all the Top Tiers at this point if you follow the flow chart. You can argue who's punish games are harder to input, but DK has to work twice as hard to get to the point where he can punish than say, Fox. Junebug is so good because he manages to be able to make DK decent in neutral, despite the massive hit box, lack of projectiles and a poor shield. Calling DK easy because he has a good punish game essentially glosses over all the work DKs have to put in to actually stay in the game until they get the punish. It's the same way people complained about Peach and Puff.

[@petrie911]

Giant punch puts you in special fall and loses its charge when you get hit out of up B for sone reason. The jank is real.

[@heyitsmort7744]

4:04 lasers into death is hysterical

[@spoookyspencer]

Plup and Cody are acting like DK is the favorite vs Fox lol

[@natespurgat6245]

DK is always the crowd favorite. Junebug vs Mang0 at supernova showed that much

[@heyitsmort7744]

The giant punch death was TRAGIC. Love that Plup was lying about giant punch going away but it really DOES put you into special fall

[@bryenlipford965]

"lying"? You obviously don't understand how jokes and humor work. They laughed right after he said that and then he said it wasn't true.

[@Chizypuff]

​@@bryenlipford965you took "lying" as malicious when I don't think it was said with that intent

[@bryenlipford965]

@@Chizypuff I'm not sure where you can point to that indicates he wasn't actually calling Plup a liar

[@austinrobinson8130]

@@bryenlipford965it’s called social cues. They’re pretty tough for smash fans though

[@bryenlipford965]

@@austinrobinson8130 you right though

[@wilber1616]

Plus/Cody commentary is the 20XX future I’m waiting for

[@tragicboi]

plus best player

[@verbage432]

I know junebug is playing a mid-tier but we don't gotta infantilize the guy y'all.

[@trueblueryu5713]

Game 2 is going to appear on clip channels for a long time.

[@sinfinite7516]

Great set, and love seeing top players on commentary haha 😂

[@TheFallGrind]

Link and Yink are such bad match ups for DK because it’s just Falco but you get way freer edge guards and they range him out constantly. Also that one comment about DK aerial up b is funny because the first hit of both grounded and aerial up b are significantly stronger hits than the rest of the move. Aerial up b is weaker than grounded but it can still edge guard very effectively

[@TheFallGrind]

Link is a bit of a better match up for DK because he’s slower and has the same combo weight as Falcon but I still think he wins

[@Hope4NewDay1]

I love Melee people discovering all the crazy DK stuff while PM players have been suffering from this shit since 2010 loooool

[@1CHRIS2ZZZZZZ]

Aklo and junebug’s consistency of being in tournys is making me a fan of these guys. Also I like this commentary

[@PringePie]

Not a fan of the disrespect of Junebug. Hes been in the scene longer than Cody has. He works hard, bro

[@00ooo000o]

dk lame

[@Vazcov1609]

​@@00ooo000o You rather see Fox for the 1000th time?

[@j-dizzle2946]

Melee fans when they experience light banter

[@lotgxj9215]

Lol

[@g4mm47]

I think its fair to say they probably have a friendly relationship and are ribbing him as such. They shat on literally everybody if you go and watch junebugs complete run through the bracket

[@gianlucatartaro1335]

Wow, I actually just opened Slippi to confirm, and IT’S TRUE. DK goes into free fall after punching! Why is he SO BAD, and how does Junebug make him look SO GOOD???

[@Supertaldo916]

It’s clearly because he is lame and easy to play…

[@picklebrine7611]

@@Supertaldo916 if he was easy to play it wouldn’t have taken 20 years for DK to get this for

[@Ghoats]

hes bad until he gets 90% off a grab

[@Chizypuff]

​@@picklebrine7611I mean there are way more low tier foxes and falcons than high tier. With less than 100 dk players it's not that unlikely we wouldn't see one do this well until now. Characters aren't incapable just cause you don't see them

[@nahor88]

@@picklebrine7611 He's not easy to play; Junebug makes it seem so. He released his match-up chart recently and had DK winning clean over Link. Bruh is in denial over his results against Aklo... that MU is EVEN.

[@g0reshow]

these comments are something else man

[@bryenlipford965]

The butthurt is real

[@g0reshow]

that's definitely part of it considering that the commentators are just having a bit of friendly banter - like, these dudes are all friends lmao - but it's made worse by the fact that people are getting mad at plup and cody for quoting what junebug has said about DK. june literally said all this stuff multiple times in videos n streams n shit but apparently this is the first time people are hearing it from someone who isn't a dk player. Tanget, but I guess it's an unforgivable sin to say that mid- and low-tiers need to adopt one-dimensional playstyles in order to compete at the highest level - and just so we're clear, I'm saying that as an oh-so quirky low tier main (Link, YL, Mario), not as some meta purist strawman. It's not even like a one-dimensional playstyle is inherently a bad or uninteresting thing - refining and perfecting laser-focused gameplans can be some of the most interesting things to discuss and watch (Like, look at Slug. Hell, look at June here) - it's just an unfortunate byproduct of not having as many good/versatile tools as other, better characters. It's not a subjective criticism, it's an objective fact! If you wanna play to win, you gotta play in the way that works!

[@benjaminbravo9884]

​@@g0reshowok but why is the banter so one sided, if this is just some friendly teasing why is only directed at June.

[@g0reshow]

did you miss like half of the set when they were dogging on aklo for not edgeguarding at all bro

[@benjaminbravo9884]

​@@g0reshow your putting words in plup and Cody mouths, they quite literally spent the whole set going big monkey grabs big money kill, completely dismissing June without giving any in depth analysis. Also grab is an universal mechanic that almost every character uses as a combo starter/confirm heck fox and sheik also have a game plan heavily based on grabs. And while yes DK s combo game is way easier than other characters it still has layers and only in FD gets extremely linear which is also the case for Marth, and I've Never seen anyone complain about Marth 0 to death fox in FD

[@RaFaReAcH]

Bruh these guys cannot tolerate the existence of non-top tiers fr 💀

[@traycarrot]

They seemed to enjoy Link. Lots of cool stuff happening with DK but ultimately he's a pretty straightforward grappler cc-grabbing for 10 up airs or confirming kills from 90-150%. Shit's just not really interesting.

[@lasagnahog7695]

@@traycarrot I disagree. Skilled gameplay is always interesting.

[@MilkHS]

@@lasagnahog7695 There have been entire chapters of melee history that disprove this.

[@theblitzman9062]

Most condescending crybaby ass commentary i’ve ever heard. Acting like they could play DK with 100% efficiency always.

[@Thomas-nz4si]

@@traycarrot There's an intensity in the anticipation of DK getting a grab, similar to how there's an intensity when hbox is playing, and back when wobbling was legal. With IC's and Puff we're usually rooting against them, but since DK is a bad character it's fucking hype when he gets that grab. You can also tell that June is working his ass off trying to get an opening. The uphill battle is so exciting. Maybe people figure out the matchup, or maybe June somehow finds a way to adapt. Or June could just get better, because looking at Quang's DK it's clear that there is a lot more June needs to work on in terms of combos/punish.

[@smokedem]

holy shit game 2

[@57mac01]

I like how the title says "ssbm melee grand finals" I wonder what the m is for

[@paulcochran7007]

SEO baby 😎

[@notlucas6859]

monke

[@guacamole5172]

atm machine

[@spookysquirtle]

@@guacamole5172chai tea

[@DubYuhGChoppa]

"I hate how DK can get one grab and win here" says the Sheik main...

[@SS4xShinobi]

Unless ur Jmook, and even then like 40% of time, sheik is not killing off a grab at zero :P

[@wettuna1769]

Junebug says he's better with Dk because the punish game is waaay easier than sheiks lol

[@MorphBall1]

@@wettuna1769 4:45

[@nahor88]

Plup is a Samus main, he just plays Sheik.

[@AgentOrange502]

the irony is lost on you. junebug used to play sheik. and his punish game has NEVER been as good as it is now

[@uradog24689]

I'm here for the Plup and Cody commentary.

[@ziwuri]

it's funny to watch top players root for the fox vs a mid tier that randomly started fucking them up

[@BlanBlan19901990]

Is this the first time a dk has faced off against a link in gfs?

[@NaJk93]

Cody and Plup are an amazing commentating duo. Good shit to Aklo and Junebug. Who thought that Link just DK's DK. What a match up.

[@OpalBeats]

27:50 that sequence from Aklo was nasty

[@cartercartercartercar]

it’s just hard to stuff link if the player knows what they’re doing. i think the boomerang and bombs combined can be way more oppressive than falco’s laser. esp if you’re big monkey

[@Chizypuff]

I mean, knowing how bad the yl vs Falco matchup is I disagree, but it is nice to have projectiles vs dk for sure

[@SheeshFr]

Punched too close to the edge... sounds a bit like Icarus.

[@seanweber4252]

Plup literally said "he punched too close to the sun" xd

[@SheeshFr]

@@seanweber4252 ooooo this must have been where my thought came from lol

[@LeVraiTB]

i love this duo of commentating

[@honeyy0011]

Bruh everyone wants a dk win, i really wanna see aklo link taking a major tornament someday

[@LiquidPr1d3]

15:23 I MADE THE SAME NOISE AS CODY LMAO

[@WhereLol-qw1tg]

Cody looking fashionable with that sweatshirt and those glasses

[@rapidretrovenue563]

Aklo's Fox is very... strange vs DK. Aklo has the technical prowess and strategy know-how to deal with DK, but his natural playstyle works against him, as he tends to back off and give real-estate to DK in situations where he should be pressing him. Its like Aklo has to work against his own muscle memory to beat DK because if he starts doing his Aklo thing, the DK gets a free charge punch then proceeds to punish Aklo's Fox even harder than he already does.

[@Eiji475]

Aklo is attunded to the low tier shenanigans and isnt havin any of it

[@moddedpan4252]

im glad Aklo reps link sometimes, he's probably my favorite bad character in the game

[@blakelowrey9620]

Imagine how sick it would be if they gave DK a barrel through projectile

[@user-uo9yb2qx8z]

plup is actually cool and fucking with cody for being a fucking nerd about everything.

[@ethermouse]

Meleenis sick

[@gzloYGO]

the wavebomb was so nasty and cool

[@j0elyb3an]

a lot of people say midtiers are overpowered or easy to win and i just dont get the sentiment because fox and falco have been ruling over this game for 20 years

[@TAKEYOURCREATINE]

I love Melee

[@evanroberts4317]

Call me crazy, but I think it’s a pretty normal reaction for two top level Fox players to go, “Oh great, another character that just kills me with grab and up moves.” DI and CC are among Melee’s most unique qualities in the fighting game space, and I don’t think Melee lasts this long without leaning into its interesting take on defensive options. There’s a new slew of defensive options that are unexplored in this match-up here, for sure, but even from a cursory glance, it’s obvious that there’s much less defensive counterplay available to characters when they’re just getting hit with the same combo moves over and over. Y’all can root for the new shiny thing if you want though, I’m not gonna say DK getting 3rd at a major isn’t pretty hype.

[@Str8jameson118]

Cody/Plup is a fire commentary duo

[@Elephant1936]

what happened to cody's knee?

[@RidingLines]

Top tier supremacy reigns

[@LightKnight_Age_Of]

Super entertaining

[@Aio-Project]

low tiers in high level melee >

[@bigtoblerone8446]

Aklo's Link is so hype

[@33naehu]

this is my new favorite commentary duo i cant lie

[@FlatHeadScrewDriver-d6g]

dk is really fun to watch but playing against him is worse than marth. dont blame schwab and plup for the bias

[@MarinaGraziani-w1q]

Spoiler block

[@TylerClibbon]

waveshine upair much easier with z jump of course

[@RespectedSpice]

these guys are so diss towards these players lol

[@Supertaldo916]

Ah the old spacie propaganda, never fails to deliver.

[@chase_like_the_bank]

The two biggest dk haters in the game

[@oceanwaves83]

This is the best commentary I've heard in a while.

[@SvenHeidemann-uo2yl]

It's 57 to 43 for link

[@LordFartamor]

🥺 pluuuup

[@sinfinite7516]

This character variety looking like smash ultimate 😂

[@thegeeeeeeeeee]

Cody + Plup commentary is so epic. These guys are such genuine people and their passion for the game is contagious. Such good feels 💙

[@Vazcov1609]

They sucked this game though.

[@tedheinrich]

June Won game 2, but didn't get credit for it What happened???

[@tg-sj2nu]

no. fox had a star KO, so june actually died first from falling

[@MrAnimescrazy]

Damn aklo with the 6-1.

[@Avinkwep]

Want some milk

[@andrewskylakos3585]

The sequence at 1:35 😎 would have been cool of it killed

[@inediblemangoes7797]

ahhhh

[@the_epic_gamr_boi]

I thought cody was plup

[@entitiessoul]

Cody, don't use the Lord's name in vain

[@user-Aaron-]

🙄🙄🙄

[@PringePie]

Based

[@Supertaldo916]

@@PringePie on nothing

[@PringePie]

@@Supertaldo916 Christ is Lord 🙏

[@ayrtonpavot3096]

IBDW is really annoying, I wish we only had plup on commentaries

[@CodySchwab]

hey man I'd love to know what you think is so annoying instead of blanket comments If there's something genuine there I could certainly change it :)

[@Toque92]

​​​@@CodySchwab you were great. You shared the air really well and your contributions were insightful. Some people are just mean idk

[@danielt1792]

@@CodySchwabhe’s prob just got some bias against you, keep doin ur thing man

[@tiporosso]

@@CodySchwab Hi Cody, what's your take on color-blind glasses supposedly being kind of a scam? Did those actually worked for you?

[@Eliil3]

@@CodySchwab he's just yappin lol. I wouldn't worry about it. To answer your question though, I wish there was more technical insight from you as one of the best players. This was more "chillin with the homies and watching smash" vibes. Other people may feel different than me though. To be clear I don't want only technical stuff just more of a mix.

[@timarschmalz1229]

Dk is gay

[@ClassicBentobox]

Aklo out here playing the least interesting Fox on earth keep it up bro that’s how you beat low tiers 💯💯

[@gomezfreshh9897]

I know bro has the most boring Fox ever, he plays so lame

[@rachelivy9712]

I hate when foxes don't just hold forward, how dare they? I want game fast.

[@traycarrot]

mid tiers when top tiers don't run into their gimmick:

[@ClassicBentobox]

@@rachelivy9712 I’d much rather see them hold back. Back air In fact. I’d like to see them do nothing but bair from ledge for the rest of my life.

[@HideInYellow]

me when i dont look at the screen:

[@ivoryspixels5821]

... Do people not realize they're just cheering for their teammate? Commentators AND Aklo are all Nouns reps; they'd probably do the same against aMSa or Axe with their mid-tiers, it's really not a fox/high tier thing. Didn't-watch-beyond-game-1 type behavior fr.

[@___sum875]

Junebug is also sponsored by nouns lmao

[@codetaku]

If Cody wanted to cheer for Aklo because of Nouns over lil nouns, fine, but Plup is even in the same side of the org (lil nouns) as Junebug is. "Didn't-know-anything-about-anything type behavior fr."

[@sinfinite7516]

Both are Nouns…

[@fronhank]

Lol