The Z Swung This Game. You'll Never Guess How.

This is a bonus video delivered as promised after ‪@mackmeller‬ reached 3,000 subscribers last week!
In the decisive final round at the prestigious Niagara Falls tournament, Mack Meller and Max Panitch played a game for the ages, with crazy swings back and forth. Not all clinching games can be dramatic nail-biters, but this one certainly was!
For more Scrabble content from me, follow my Twitch channel:
/ wanderer15
I also have a weekly show on the official Scrabble Twitch channel:
/ scrabble
Play Scrabble at playscrabble.com!

[@wanderer15]

Hey everyone! I agree with all the comments about the Mack vs Max audio similarity potentially making this one tough to follow. I record a lot of audio piecemeal and I didn't realize it until listening to the finished product. Normally I'd re-record that audio, but I had my livestream to prepare for this weekend and wanted to follow through on my promise of a bonus Mack video this week. Sorry about that! Lesson learned.

[@ryankirby383]

While I agree you should ensure this doesn’t happen in the future for accessibility, I personally didn’t have much of an issue telling them apart, especially in the flow of the video, so don’t beat yourself up too much. Great content as always!

[@TIMEDISORT]

@@ryankirby383I also didn’t have a hard time, and my name is Mac 😂

[@AlexDings]

Sue sells seashells by the seashore, and Max mocks Mack's moves.

[@joeljude9180]

Also those were the players names. I don't understand what could have been done differently (anyway I didn't have issues understanding)

[@mackmeller]

Thanks so much Will, and thanks as well to everyone who subscribed from the last video, really appreciate all of your support! Another awesome video as always (definitely not biased)

[@anonvideo738]

Could you make a video of a good game you and Will Anderson played?

[@threeme2189]

You should make a video about a game you and Will played. Be sure to plug his relatively unknown channel and help a smaller KZbinr out 😉

[@dentonyoung4314]

To have the final key play be a ridiculous word like TZADDIK that only Scrabble experts would know is how a game between two top experts *should* end up.

[@galoomba5559]

Most scrabble players know that word because its alternate spelling of TZADDIQ is one of the few Q-no-U words

[@jellomochas]

@@galoomba5559 several scrabble players use NWL which does not contain TZADDIQ# and this game was played with NWL, which should make Mack's find more impressive

[@jmarvins]

or you know about this word because 1) you are jewish or otherwise involved and interested in judaism and/or 2) a fan of John Zorn (no shot i think to play it there though LMAO)

[@Halinn]

when you said "two forfeit losses due to travel issues", I immediately imagined traveling like in basketball

[@wanderer15]

You can't move your pivot foot when you play a bingo or the ref has to blow the whistle

[@xwddydfy_3]

​@@wanderer15 I believe he was going to challenge but forgot to stop the clock! This is a game ending blunder as this allows the opponent to call the referee for travel issues, securing the game.

[@Test-iv4pm]

Mack, Max, and of course 3 is "Matt" 🙏

[@danielzitnik4247]

Thanks for the content! Two video ideas for you: 1. What is the worst tile drawing luck that someone had over the course of an entire game? 2. While word meanings don't matter in Scrabble, what are some of the most ominous, stylish, or funny words played given the circumstances?

[@AndrewKay]

The game ending in "EFFS SAKE" has to be up there for (2).

[@HaapsaluYT]

That is a crazy graph

[@Robert-yn6ov]

Love the videos, an idea for the future if you have 2 similar sounding names, you could always just refer to them by their surnames to avoid confusion.

[@wanderer15]

Definitely - my mistake on this one & lesson learned (and thank you)

[@coolcoconuts4453]

Love these game replay videos man, so awesome how you go through them step by step and break them down

[@tomrejor4842]

I just want to say, you are doing a great job making interesting and digestible scrabble content. I'm someone that has 0 ties to scrabble, I'm not sure I ever played it and tbh don't know if I ever will, I have no reason to be interested in it, heck I'm not even a native English speaker and at least half the words shown in the videos I have no reasons to even have heard of in my entire life and are completely meaningless to me. Yet despite all that, I've followed with interest your videos, found them interesting to follow and now am more informed than I ever thought I would be on the game of scrabble, which up until recently was just about showing off word knowledge to me, when in fact it's very strategic. All that to say, keep it up for as long as you are interested in making content on whatever is of interest to you, you are doing a great job at making it interesting and entertaining, whether you only keep to scrabble or ever want to branch off to any other potential interest you might have, I'll most likely stick around to watch what you have to offer for atnleast a good while !

[@julliferjosephtuba2202]

to be fair, more than half of all the playable words in scrabble aren't even English words in origin.

[@edriancontridas3.14]

at first i was like "why would he wish for a K somewhere" but when I looked again at his tiles, man recognized that thanks to me reading the Wikipedia article for list of words with q not followed by a u a long time ago

[@vladzorila5770]

There's no Q in TZADDIK though

[@Bonifratz]

@@vladzorila5770 It still appears in the article though under the alternative spelling "tsaddiq": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_containing_Q_not_followed_by_U

[@edriancontridas3.14]

​@@vladzorila5770tzaddik is one of its variant spelling (tzaddiq)

[@vladzorila5770]

@@edriancontridas3.14 Gotchaaa, thanks :)

[@MeanBeanComedy]

I don't know what I'm becoming, but I was on the edge of my seat this entire video. It was intense!!

[@miskee11]

guys let's get Mack to 40k subs!

[@roxiwisse7995]

So was that image at the start a flex about beating Nigel? I cant say anyone would blame you for flexing that! 🤣

[@AlexDings]

Search "Alchemist Cup Scrabble Championship 5/45" to watch that game. It's the most lopsided loss I've ever seen Nigel take, and some of the most uneven luck (which doesn't make it less of a flex, but you can't beat Nigel by 200 points _without_ extremely uneven luck)

[@wanderer15]

Yes, I’ve been insanely fortunate in my games with him overall, winning 6 out of 8.

[@jamiebruner8463]

0:05 YEAH BUDDY THAT'S MY GOAT WILL "MISTER" ANDERSON

[@johnstevenson3628]

Great video as always, this one keeps you right on the edge of your seat for who will take the victory. While I naturally would have preferred using the last names of the participants due to the confusion, it’s something you’ve already addressed and apologized for. This basic apology, while simplistic, represents your great character since sadly not many people will do that. I appreciated the great quality of the video and it’s entertainment value, fantastic job all around. Keep up the amazing work!

[@majkgmajkg2613]

Dude, first of all the possible issues with audio - forget it xD. Everything was clean and easy to understand. Secondly - God, I love your uploads. I'm always putting your videos at the end of my "watch later" list so that it will be special treat for special occasions. Can't tell you enough of how exciting your vidoes are! I'm trying to spread the knowledge about your channel in Poland - hope more people will see you! :)

[@LRXC1]

Crazy dtuff

[@thegodofpez]

Thanks for keeping Scrabble alive, Sir Anderson! 🤟

[@darkshoxx]

4:40, the skew towards consonants can't be that big, there's even an "E" among them 😆

[@JustKillam]

Ahahaha I can't wait to play "waur" and get challenged by my family members 😂

[@jkqxz2000]

Hi, Will. I have a video idea: "The 4 Intangibles [of Scrabble]". It would discuss the top four intangible attributes you think most top experts have. I imagine that one would be "even-keeled-ness". Perhaps the one that no one except Nigel has is "Winning doesn't matter" (or "The Play's the Thing," to quote Shakespeare...)

[@wanderer15]

Really nice idea! I’ll have to think about what I think those top 4 things actually are.

[@Mage_Nichlas_]

I never knew Ilex was an actual word. It almost makes Ilex Forest sound less cool, but Johto stays winning.

[@noraakaplan3374]

wow what a Tzaddik

[@zwishking6032]

this audio could have one of those "rap rhyme analysis" videos. we got Mack, Max, maximize, rack, etc.

[@Kevin.Dunphy]

The thumbnail graph feels off. Where is the back and forth swing? 90% WR-> 25% -> 87%; that swing isn’t reflected in the graphic!

[@wanderer15]

Good eye. I took it from a football game :) sorry if that feels like a betrayal!

[@AOOA926]

6:58 it is pronounced “tza-deek”

[@Joe1729]

not if you're Ashkenazi

[@vitex198]

Hey Will, have you thought about finishing Better Know a Letter at some point? I really wanna see you talk about the letters you haven’t done yet (ABDNPRSTY). If you want a recommendation for the next episode, I’d like to see the Y covered first, since I think it’s pretty underrated. Thanks!

[@lamMeTV]

I would just go for the last names in this case

[@chrishooks6565]

Can't fault your commentary Will.👍

[@davidtydeman1434]

Impressive wood knowledge

[@benckukolker7737]

his name being "Mack Meller" can not be real

[@thatonefrenchguy937]

"The Z" from the title made me think of something else (only french people will understand)

[@lucahermann3040]

1:39 I didn't know names of Star Trek species are in the Scrabble dictionary.

[@irakyl]

You know Will you are kind of like the Nigel Richards of Scrabble

[@wanderer15]

I'm the irakyl of KZbin commenting/algorithm support! Thank you!

[@ValkyRiver]

1:01 I thought he was going to exchange N going an A draw for BOBETAH (BOBETAH is not valid - it was a phony played by Josh Sokol)

[@13580863]

YYYYEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@blackmambadhfhtugjgjgu5390]

How would you go about trying to increase your vocabulary as quickly as possible while also learning the meaning and definition of the word? I know that in scrabble knowing the word defintion is not needed but besides learning the words for scrabble im also trying to increase it for a univeristy entrance exam!

[@wanderer15]

Good question. Study programs like Zyzzyva do show the definitions of each word. You could get set up with anagram quizzes on there, but only mark your answers correct when you can both anagram the word and recall its definition. (I have an older video about Zyzzyva on my channel called “How to Win at Scrabble: Learning Words”)

[@davidtydeman1434]

Love your content- Request for next time you get two similar first names you could instead use surnames/family names for easier comprehension by your audience

[@wgolyoko]

Where can I find the world rankings ?

[@wanderer15]

www.wespa.org/aardvark/html/rankings/full_rankings.html

[@user-be9qm4es6v]

anoestra

[@pikatchoum3988]

Hey ! Could i get a link or a name ? i'm looking for the site/app where you made a computer simulation 4:00 thanks !

[@wanderer15]

That's Quackle, which can be found here: people.csail.mit.edu/jasonkb/quackle/ (To use it, you'll have to go into Settings and set up the traditional Scrabble board with bonus squares)

[@pikatchoum3988]

@@wanderer15 Thank you !! :)

[@Winsane]

squeg

[@EltWilder]

Letters.

[@lucahermann3040]

0:12 UWU

[@xvonder3513]

Lol i thought i was clicking on the uk stream

[@tanhuodongmoe4400]

I play scrabble and it's not that easy when you start

[@wanderer15]

It gets easier! I've been considering going back to more educational videos at some point...maybe that will help?

[@anthroposeun]

Love your content but sorry, couldn’t finish this due to Mack and Max similarity. Suggest using surnames next time.

[@wanderer15]

I hear you, no judgment. Explained more in my pinned comment but lesson learned for next time

[@AOOA926]

Why does that graph have two 100s

[@nomorehandles]

It's a graph of win chance for either player, bottom being max, top being mack

[@1.4142]

Mack's rack or Max rack

[@msolec2000]

And the third place's name is Matt

[@wanderer15]

Yeah, I hoped it wouldn't be that confusing, but I probably should've re-recorded. Lesson learned.

[@1.4142]

@@wanderer15 I understood it the first time round. Just found it amusing.

[@socksygen]

Hamburger

[@mnm1273]

You could have just used family names for one or both of them. I doubt they'd mind given the context and viewers would thank you for it. Otherwise, nice video as always.

[@wanderer15]

Agreed - lesson learned. Thanks!

[@Chizzle69420]

Why don't you just use their last names/full names? It's a pretty standard way of doing things

[@wanderer15]

For sure. More in my pinned comment...Lesson learned for next time!

[@wall-nut1663]

First Comment