Who is ACTUALLY the best Melee player?

The climb to the top of Melee in 2023 was the closest race we may have ever seen, so much so that we ended up in virtually a tie. And for the first time in Smash history, the two final candidates agreed to lay it all on the line - a duel for the title of Best in the World.
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📝 WRITTEN BY: Jackie Peanuts ► / jackie_peanuts
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#turndownforwalt #tdfw #Ludwig #Zain #CodySchwab #TheMatch #supersmashbrosmelee #SuperSmashMelee #SSBM

[@Junker101.]

Whatever happens at this event it's obvious to everybody and these competitors that walt's gold 3 mario is the modern standard of melee

[@turndownforwalt]

Finally someone understands good storytelling

[@y00tbruh90]

Plup just showing up in that compilation is such a Plup move tbh

[@turndownforwalt]

World Champ Diff

[@genericcultist9640]

This video is now property of the plup club

[@ricardoludwig4787]

On a regular ranking dispute this would be crazy but this really feels like the best way to do it

[@chrisalthoff3286]

You're right that playing in a weekend long tournament requires endurance, but a first to ten also takes a different type of endurance. I would love to see a tournament that was formatted like a tennis tournament where the participants play fewer opponents but more matches per opponent. First to three sets would make for another interesting look at a different type of endurance as well as different approaches to strategies. Players have more opportunities to learn their opponent, adjust their play style, and then adjust based off the opponent's adjustments again and again. Could be interesting and exciting.

[@turndownforwalt]

This idea rocks

[@mattisandersson9661]

Smash summit wasn't far off.

[@kestrelynn]

Plup, logos(?), kjh and magi are probably the only players with bo100 experience

[@iiiLOBO]

The problem with this is you’re assuming you’d enjoy each match. Until peach puff have to play a best of 3 sets. We love melee because it’s potentially so fast. A set can take 5 minutes or 20. 2/3 sets sounds cool at first but after thinking it out a bit, not so much unless it’s just an every now and then thing.

[@Pyromanian]

I play ultimate, but observe melee from afar, and I didn’t know this was happening! I’m watching this no matter what happens!

[@mrlucius57]

3:35 melee animations are so good bruh, even when looked at from a perspective it wasnt meant to

[@Zapdosion]

better than most anime fr

[@rannynihilius8481]

Great recap on how truly close Cody and Zain are this year. While i still think Cody theoretically edges out Zain with his 2 other wins and better performances at both supermajors i'm still totally okay with the year ending on a unique and fun note with this event. Cody, Zain and the Melee Stats team were all totally fine with this and while it's sorta breaking some basement dwelling nerd's rules for the rankings i'm really hyped for tomorrow when the probably hypest exhibition match in all of Melee history happens.

[@vehemore]

cody edges out zain 😳

[@wonkywombat12]

Yeah I also think that the majors that Cody won were on average a bit more stacked in terms of top players than zain’s (number of entrants isn’t really a number I care about if I’m being real) but like, if Cody is down and zain is down then I think this is just super sick

[@BigSpence225]

This video was so well made. Your channel is the only thing keeping me in the melee loop - thanks for your contribution to the scene.

[@abexuro]

4:30 Mang0's pic is so bad it distracts from the fact the other two are also horrible lmao

[@Nightwalker86]

I was 1 of like

[@Crzypengu]

I need Zain to win #1 five years in a row so Mang0 can fulfill that one promise he made

[@_ben_miller]

i know. i'd pay for it

[@Hack--rz1io]

What's the mang0 promise ?

[@khlfff2]

@@Hack--rz1iothat he’d suck him off

[@Crzypengu]

@@Hack--rz1io basically he would give Zain a BJ if he won 5 years in a row

[@Sky_Firez]

Oh?

[@hmmmmmmmmmm_]

Meanwhile their competition: Rank 3 jmook : actual skin walker Rank 4 leffen: enters tournys once in blue moon and complaints Rank 5 mango : Mango

[@awogbob]

7:27 "the reason the match is going to be hype is because of" cuts to jacklinks logo lol

[@dakat_]

Maybe the number one player in the world was the friends we made along the way...

[@cullenhutchison6528]

So what you're saying is the #1 on SSBMrank should be the one with the most friends. Sure, I'll buy a power-of-friendship argument.

[@dakat_]

@@cullenhutchison6528 you actually should measure the level of friendship 0 to 10 (0 being despised, 5 being neutral, 10 being buds) of every player with each other and relevant members of the overall community, put it up on a spreadsheet, and numerically determine which player has the biggest friendship number. Im not joking.

[@cameronwarttig1732]

1:40, awesome DK main friend popping off between Hbox and Cody, can't wait to show him his cameo

[@DesTr069]

If these motherfuckers bring it all the way to game 19 last stock, I am going to lose it lmao. Can’t wait

[@dudeguy8686]

First introduced to Cody through the reverse popoff vs hbox, and watching him since has been insane. Dude's hungry for that top.

[@MrMattacka]

I got chills listening to that last little bit about the implications of this ft10. Great video Walt. They way you blend numbers, narrative, and energy is captivating.

[@r.i.petika829]

This is gonna be crazy

[@gxhost]

Should link the tournament info in the description so we know where to watch. It's hard to find!

[@sleepyyuwu]

ludwigs youtube channel

[@dorohime7001]

I love how every year in Melee the race for number 1 is fucking crazy.

[@thatoneguy9582]

my stupid ass thought this video was gonna be about chess so my only thought looking at this thumbnail was “damn hikaru nakamura looks different from how i remember”

[@musketg2774]

Ooooh! Where can i see this touney?

[@RyanMcLeanau]

I don’t understand why they wouldn’t do multiple best of 5 sets kind of like tennis. 3 sets (or 5 sets) of bo5 sets would be an epic format

[@SSB_Seal]

Really nice summary, very sharable with the less tuned-in Melee fans! Hope the match is close tomorrow.

[@OwOKrieger]

Settle it in Smash!

[@JayzealiaBanks]

Fun Fact: Only sport that does first to 10 matches regularly is tennis, another 1v1 sport like melee

[@turndownforwalt]

store.beastcoast.gg/collections/tdfw/products/tdfw-ive-been-reading-this-book

[@JayzealiaBanks]

@@turndownforwalt entire book for free online too mentoringgroup.com/books/the-inner-game-of-tennis.pdf

[@kobebryantdomination]

i was hoping for a deep dive on slime vs blur

[@kipitrash9403]

Cody's mental has gotten a lot better this year, but I'm still rooting for Zain on this one

[@RyanMcLeanau]

Also the way surfing does top 5 competition would also be so hype

[@JeramiJoseph]

wow walt, great story telling on this. Nice job :D

[@deepnostalgia6036]

What time is the match tomorrow?

[@Scharfster]

where is this going to be streamed? what time? o:

[@peregrinecovington4138]

This is an insanely hype first for melee. Shame no one's really talking about it

[@hjaltee.t4171]

Probably missed it in the video, but where can i watch this? Itd going to be so fun to watch!

[@ssxakira1097]

Just going over all the fine details that will make a fair argument for the 2 players it all comes down to the as walt said the endurance of a first to 10 both had stellar years however Its going to be a awesome set and can be anyones game still all love to both players

[@kylesegal642]

writing wise super well done

[@morgydee]

Dude the production quality though

[@frederickjohnson8884]

I would think doing best 3 out of 5 of best 3 of 5 sets would be cool. So rather than first to 10 it's the first to win 3 best of 5s. This would mean DSR can still be used, it's closer to playing a real set and could easily be scaled up or down to make the series shorter or longer. I'm not saying this is better than a first to 10, it still has its cons like a player can win more total games but lose the series. An interesting thought experiment more than anything.

[@dariusmartinez4078]

haha cody looks unhinged in the thumbnail y'all didn't have to do him like that

[@asoapshoeinthesea6780]

ok, but where do i watch it? cant find any information about it🥶

[@methconnoisseur3803]

Were is this being streamed and whats schedule

[@SquattingxBear]

Still kind of feels wrong to have this when Cody and Zain could've went to Santa Paws or Arcamelee but chose not to. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but it appears the parties involved decided to do this months ago when there were still LAN events to compete at in 2023.

[@cmac3530]

First of all, neither of those are even Majors, never mind a Supermajor, so they weren't going to tip the scales either way. Evidenced by the fact that Cody not only attended but WON both of those Tournaments and we're literally still in the same spot we were before those tournaments happened.

[@SquattingxBear]

@@cmac3530 Why does it matter what the classification of the event was beforehand? And is there any reason Zain chose not to attend either of them?

[@cmac3530]

@@SquattingxBear Well, as I said Cody won both of those tournaments anyway and it didn't have an affect on the #1 rank decision so that's a pretty clear indicator that the classification matters. If Cody had an extra Major or Supermajor win under his belt we wouldn't be having this conversation.... And if you're trying to say this would be solved if they had met in bracket... C'mon, lets be honest, if you actually think the best player in the world could be decided by a single, random, 3 out 5 bracket set at a random end of the year regional that doesn't even include half of the Top 10 players then you clearly don't understand how the weighting system of tournaments work. As far as Zain's reasoning for not attending, I have no idea, I'm not him but, that is irrelevant anyway. He could've had plans those weekends, it is around the holidays after all.

[@SquattingxBear]

@@cmac3530 I see what you're saying, I concur.

[@danielchristensen3657]

You are very clearly and obviously correct.

[@nintendowarrior11]

It's honestly more like someone being crowned world champion and I hope this becomes a yearly event

[@palatonian9618]

Great video, didint even know this was happening and now I am so hype for it. Also I dont often watch events live, will this just be streamed on Ludwig's twitch? And what time? Google is not helping atm

[@hyjinks1]

Ludwig streams on YT so it'll be on his channel at 12pm PST iirc

[@thegibstor8400]

It’ll be on Ludwig’s YT or mang0s twitch

[@riffz6065]

Cody basically replaced Mango as that guy to keep pushing Zain to new heights. Love both players but Zain is my #1

[@caletdiaz2211]

Fox solo tiene que hacer varias veces el shine (down + B) o el up smash (muy rápido y muy poderoso). Al igual que el midair up attack. Para sacar del escenario a los enemigos. Muy ventajoso. Y aparte el recovery (up+b) es muy bueno comprado con la mayoría de los otros up+b. A Link y a Kirby los degradaron mucho en Melee.

[@methconnoisseur3803]

Y quien te preguntó?

[@jameshalldorsson9695]

What time is this event happening tomorrow? I can't seem to find that information, just that it is happening tomorrow and I kind of need to know at what time so I can put time aside to watch this. Maybe I'm just blind but if someone can let me know that would help a lot thanks.

[@turndownforwalt]

I believe the event starts at 12 pm PT!

[@jameshalldorsson9695]

@@turndownforwalt Thanks Walt, I will definitely be tuning in

[@D.A.-Espada]

"Wildly different" and the three screens he shows show the same 3 players at the top with Zain in the 1 slot lol

[@rachelivy9712]

those were sll predictions for last year or for the summer rankings

[@Shaeffen_]

2:09 I wouldn't consider a ft10 "one single match"

[@turndownforwalt]

You're right it's anywhere from 10 to 19 matches

[@alansmithee920]

And reasons like this is why melee is epic.

[@thomasauer9370]

does anyone know what time this will be live? im in europe

[@inediblemangoes7797]

how does he pump out so many bangers

[@tristanswim]

It seems that Cody has had the upper hand the latter half of this year and I see him taking the reigns. But who knows. Should be some exciting melee either way.

[@cirrious139]

Respect the mighty mouse clip

[@awogbob]

good take on the situation tho. o

[@MrSheng]

That's very much like watching European football. It's not necessarily defined by a final game.

[@Windraesa]

you mean the Euros? or the Champions League? they are both decided by a final game always.

[@dorkmork7349]

such fire videos walt

[@Zesilo]

Melee needed something new with the new generation after the god era. Looking forward to this!

[@angryii5411]

I BASED MY ENTIRE LIFE AROUND THAT

[@haleyjadelovethatname]

need that cody dub

[@Hikaru1468]

So excited for Slime Anders gaming to be crowned the #1 over the Crimson Blur tomorrow.

[@kschacherer92]

Hell yeah

[@LilypadOW]

5:53 cody also got knocked losers at SSC by morsecode who wasnt ranked in the top 50 meaning it is a massive upset

[@NightGhost-qs6yw]

Can’t wait

[@CorbennRDM]

Banger

[@Seltyk]

Zain solved everyone else. Cody solved Zain.

[@wusstunes]

Personally think video games should be illegal but chill video

[@drainstorM11]

Conventional wisdom suggests that this format would favor Zain, but looking at the guys here, I think it's easy to see a world where Zain takes an early lead and Cody takes it back, sweeping him after building up some time. I do think that the favorite is Cody, and I'm rooting for him because I think he deserves number 1, but honestly so does Zain.

[@MyNameIsNyx]

i love zain, mxm for life and all, but damn i wish its finally cody time.

[@trueblueryu5713]

4:21 Dang, now I wish I would’ve entered the Melee bracket at smash con just to throw off that statistic.

[@cullenhutchison6528]

Someone else would have just DQed. Only 1's can exist between the #1's.

[@KamakaziKamikaze]

Obviously the best player will have to be whomever wins with the lowest tier character

[@MelodyGoad]

Can't wait for Zain to reverse 10-0 Cody lol

[@achanner2004]

Marth

[@innominated1576]

Zain becames q crack

[@starchild6646]

The thing is Zain had tougher opponents he faced in their primes that's the edge for me. That doesn't take away anything from Cody. Beating Prime Mango the one who did it all is just it.

[@Qril]

Whichever player has the harder climb, is not relevant for who is the current best.

[@ryanleninfan1337]

How the hell does that matter? Were talking about this years rankings do u know how time works?

[@starchild6646]

The way and path how number 1s are made makes the difference in all era's and sports. You can't say Ive beaten Mike Tyson so I can beat all of his opponents. It's also about who you've have fought too learn and grow from.@@Qril

[@zvd2889]

sick video

[@tracystallworth1239]

Sounds like Cody accomplished a bit more

[@TitusMelee]

i think in bo5 rn i'd say cody but first to 10 gotta say 10-6 for zain

[@twelvevoltage]

I find something about the shots of filler gameplay you choose so enamoring. It's always from an angle that makes you look at the game differently, literally. Reminds me of a smaller scale out of bounds kind of thing.

[@twelvevoltage]

After finishing wow this one really gave me the feels

[@alexandre526]

Give it to aMSa ffs

[@avery7939]

Overall Ken but by now probably PP, i dont care if he dont "compete" or not

[@noahkelly8907]

IMO, it is a dumb way to decide who is #1, but since we don't have any more big tournaments, someonething had to happen. On the other hand, I am super hype for it becuase more melee is always good so I don't really have a problem with it.

[@s-zz]

I don't know much about Melee, but I'd go with Cody.

[@SoppyBiscuit]

It’s Cody

[@Hamza-qs7ez]

i thought ibdw left for lawschool what the

[@kestrelynn]

I think you got things backwards, afterall, 'he quit law school for this!'

[@Hamza-qs7ez]

yeah he is better suited to melee@@kestrelynn

[@x9x9x9x9x9]

I think Cody wins this and is number 1. But I really want Zain to win. I'm not a big fan of Cody and his fox, but cody has worked incredibly hard and proven that he is deserving of the number 1 spot if he wins.

[@krizpyclips9270]

IBDW got this!! 💪💪

[@rayandouah1827]

Wait who won idk

[@MFsyrup]

So does the whole event start at 12PST? Or is that when the main match starts? Ludwig has not been clear on Twitter.

[@MFsyrup]

I don’t want to miss the undercard matches

[@ryanleninfan1337]

12pst is when the stream starts, melee players aint waking up before that

[@user-nm9yd4wq4s]

i believe in FREE AGENT | Cody "z-jump" Schwab

[@adraino7345]

Lebron vs 🇯🇴

[@lakessbm]

I don't agree with this because Cody already proved he has overall better results. That shows he beats everyone else the most. Head to Head doesn't prove who beats everyone the best

[@billwoods7578]

Much bigger Zain fan than Cody but this is incredibly silly tbh and should have almost no influence on the rankings imo. Cody deserves the #1 player this year.

[@awestrich2172]

BobbyBigBallz was snubbed from #1, free my bird 🙏

[@_ben_miller]

honestly, i think zain is the better player. cody supposedly has the most modded controller among the top players.

[@user-og4lf6co2y]

Honesty I dont like being a fan or so, but im rooting so bad for Zain, at this point ill root for everybody against cody

[@WISHMKRMortem]

Only one player can be #1. Do NOT look at the final main Brawl ranking

[@momo_11o9]

ehh just give it to plup #plorbclorb

[@tsudough]

I just feel like at this point, mango's done it all

[@A62119]

Mango is the lebron of melee

[@simanolastname2399]

​@@A62119LeFraud no real rings LeMickey