2009 Melee Combo Video Awards ~ Step 3: The Final Vote

[Kouryuu]

Whens the deadline for this anyway?

 

[Strong Badam]

what the **** @ bribing people
what the ****

 

[XSilvenX]

Combo diversity and originality:
1.Axe Effect
2.IKM2
3.Mind Reader (super lame title by the way)

Production value:
1.Axe Effect
2.IKM2
3.Mind Reader (crappy title..)

Music:
1.Axe Effect
2.Mind Reader
3.IKM2


Explanation for diversity:

All in all I felt that IKM2 and The Axe Effect were the two most unique in terms of the combos. Mind Reader seemed like it was the typical Falcon stuff that people have been doing since '07. Nothing new really... The falcon kick stuff was awesome, not to mention I feel like Scar takes a lot more risks and goes a little crazier when it comes to getting that kill. Axe Effect surprised me the most and kept the combos a lot different from eachother. Sure the edgeguarding got a bit repetitive but the initiation and follow throughs were all unique. No typical thunder combos here that's for sure.

Explanation for production value:

Clearly the editing goes to Axe Effect. Combos were loosely synced to the video in all three videos but when faced with so much footage you only get a few chances to match the video to the music and Axe did a decent job at that. As for the other two, there was pretty much no sync. Graphically, Axe looked the best with the scrolling window intro. I felt like Scar's vid was pretty lazy but at least it had a funny intro showing some type of effort..Darkrain..? Well it was just music on top of Falcon ****. Nothing special whatsoever.

Explanation for music:

Axe's video went the underground route and chose songs that aren't mainstream. Always a good choice. Were all tired of combo videos with overused generic boring stuff that would be in any video. I felt like the songs were all thrilling, no distraction via lyrics (not that its always a bad thing...) and they were all new to me. Scar's music choices were pretty good but it just felt likethe editor put in random songs that he liked. Didn't fit any sort of theme whatsoever, it was a bit random to be honest, not to mention all of those songs were a bit too recognizable which imo takes away from the "new" factor in the video. Mind Reader wasn't as bad although the last song was really awkward imo. The Duke Nukem song was pretty much in the same boat as IKM2 but at least it wasn't diluted with lyrics that had absolutely nothing to do with the video content.

I voted for Axe Effect simply because it entertained me the most and kept surprising me over and over. IKM2 was just as awesome but c'mon its Falcon...there are like 324783384 billion Falcon combo videos out there and although it did show a lot of unique "once in a lifetime" situations it all still felt like stuff I've already seen before, with slight variations mind you... Darkrain's vid was straight up boring..not knocking him as a player but..some people are so good that they're absurdly boring to watch if you know what I mean. Sure, he's definitely effective but brings pretty much nothing new to the 3 million other Falcon combo vids on Youtube.

I typed all this from my phone so there's bound to be typos and I don't care to fix them soooo sorry in advance.

 

[XSilvenX]

Oh and wow @ people bribing. I guess that's why Hax IM'd me...well I'm glad I aesthetically judged, voted and analyzed as a fellow video editor...anyone who knows how hard it is to make a "GOOD" combo video would understand that it isn't all about the player and who's in the video. When all things are considered you guys know which one should win. If that bribe video wins *cough* then I've lost a lot of faith in this community. Vote considering EVERYTHING and not just "wow that combo was awesome" but the editing and music is trash. You guys forgot you were voting for the whole video and not just the players in them..

 

[GSUB]

Lol at non-mainstream music ALWAYS being a good choice. "Too recognizable" ??? Whattt??? It's a combo video, not the music taste of an angsty teen trying to be elitist about their music.

And watch IKMII again; there is A LOT of synching to the music there.
And flashy visuals does not = good editing.

This made me laugh the most,

...and although it did show a lot of unique "once in a lifetime" situations...

Just kidding, this made me lol even harder,

Vote considering EVERYTHING and not just "wow that combo was awesome" but the editing and music is trash. You guys forgot you were voting for the whole video and not just the players in them..

According to you, this should be the best Combo Video EVER:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1G2VdOVq6o

****ty/no combos, but AMAZING editng.

And no one said anything about voting "for the players in them." It's about the combos, not the player.

 

[XSilvenX]

Lol at non-mainstream music ALWAYS being a good choice. "Too recognizable" ??? Whattt??? It's a combo video, not the music taste of an angsty teen trying to be elitist about their music.

And watch IKMII again; there is A LOT of synching to them music there.
And flashy visuals does not = good editing.

This made me laugh the most,

Hey you forgot the part that identifies it as my opinion..to each his own buddy. My standards are not the same as yours in terms of what makes a combo video entertaining. I'm sorry if that bothers you. Your explanations may just as well make me laugh too, its all subjective man. I was just explaining my reasoning. Don't agree? Well that's what makes us human right..?

Edit - and for the record the actual combos themselves were HEAVILY considered in my decision. The only part that was flashy was the intro really so it isn't all the fancy editing for me... *sigh* there's no winning though, as it is a matter of opinion. Something you can't get over apparently :/

 

[GSUB]

When you say something is ALWAYS good. That's not stating your opinion.
That is claiming it as fact. I respect your opinion; but the way you just laid out everything; was laughable to me.

 

[XSilvenX]

When you say something is ALWAYS good. That's not stating your opinion.
That is claiming it as fact. I respect your opinion; but the way you just laid out everything; was laughable to me.

As it is a "review" I imagine everything stated would be regarded as an opinion. That's usually the mindset I engage when I read movie and game reviews..dunno about you. Not sure why id state a subjective matter as factual but if your english comprehension interprets it as so, then fine...

 

[GSUB]

I imagine everything stated would be regarded as an opinion.

You'd be surprised by some people actually... Lol.

Not sure why id state a subjective matter as factual

Me either; but that didn't stop you.
Say what you mean. Don't get lazy with your words.
Stating subjective things as something definite is something that I think is really wrong with our society. :/

 

[Hax]

with all due respect the axe effect wasn't really a combo video; half the "combos" were consecutive hits. i feel like editing and special effects should not take priority over the combos themselves and considering only half the "combos" are actually combos i disagree with choosing it over the other 2 combo videos. also aside from some highlights like the up-b gimp on jiggs it didn't excite me like the other 2

mind reader was amazing and as people said, it easily had the best synchronization with its music. it flowed amazingly well, but as i said music and effects cannot take priority over combos.

when it comes down to combos, ikm2 HANDS DOWN wins. the intro is **** too, i suppose the credits are clearly made on windows movie maker or some other cheap program and the editing may be poor but i do believe if scar made it more technologically appealing this would have been a blowout

edit: Silven i'm starting to wonder if you actually watched all 3 combo videos, or if you just skimmed them. darkrain's had probably the best music choice/synchronization out of any combo video in history. its music actually enlightened me about music's ability to take something to the next level; it was amazing and that's gone pretty much undisputed. regardless here is my point: if these are to be called "combo videos" and not "entertainment videos" or "movies," scar is the winner.

 

[DZLE]

I went for I Killed Mufasa II because I enjoyed watching it the most.

Who cares about Editing, who cares about production or music, who cares about bribes or fans or whatever.
I'm not a long time Melee player so I don't even really know who these people are.

I watched each video, and IMHO IKM2 was the best. I was smiling throughout the whole thing and going "holy ****" throughout the whole thing.

Oh and who cares if it was staged or recreated? It still takes a huge amount of skill to do it i'd think. Also, arent combo videos supposed to be Videos that are fun to watch, and a show of flair and creativity? Not some Tourney Match Highlight Video... right?

Like I said, I don't know who any of you are, but TY Scar for making my week. Can't get that vid out of my head.

(MY OPINION: IKM2, then Axe Effect, then Mind Reader.)

 

[Life After Death]

mindreader all the way

 

[LLDL]

I killed mufasa 1 was better... too bad its not 09.

 

[CT Chia]

Just over a day left! It's a heated battle between Axe and Scar, or can the Darkrain fanboys step it up?

 

[Xzax Kasrani]

Scars got this!

 

[BlackKnight23]

Showing Axe some love I watched that kid become a monster

GOOOOO AXE!!!! AZ FOREVER!!!!

 

[Jack of Blades!]

After watching all three again, my vote went to Scar. I just enjoyed watching it the most. much <3 to Darkrain and Axe though :]

 

[thechunkylover]

IKM for flashy combos. Also Earth, Wind , and Fire.

 

[tdk_Samurai]

lol as if this contest was fair at all to begin with. it's a bunch of people from axe's coast voting for axe, east coast voting for scar, and south voting for darkrain. west coast is the biggest, so axe was winning. it's a popularity contest rather than a legitimate "best combo video" contest

man, I can't even begin to describe the amount of respect I, and (through reading countless posts) the community have lost for you in the past few weeks. Trying to justify bribing people is lower than bribing itself.

It is quite asinine to assume that everyone has been voting based on popularity, even more so to assume they voted based on popularity and region. If region were the case btw, darkrain would have won a long time ago having both south and midwest voting for him, I know coasts are bigger than south and midwest, but I'm sure they aren't bigger than south and midwest combined.

personally I voted for the axe effect (I'm not west coast). Awesome all around, great game play, energizing music, hands down the best editing of the three.

People are complaining that axe's combos aren't good enough, and that they are hit and run. People should take into consideration that there have been so many people inovating and advancing falcon's play since the beginning of melee. The number of people actually furthering pika's metagame throughout melee can probably be counted on one hand, axe being one of them. And falcon is just easier all around to combo people with. And someone was complaing about the puff clip, well how often do you see a puff clip in any combo? I think Axe and Vman were trying to bring the community something new and fresh, like the axe effect.

/rant

 

[Hax]

man, I can't even begin to describe the amount of respect I, and (through reading countless posts) the community have lost for you in the past few weeks. Trying to justify bribing people is lower than bribing itself.

other than you considering the bribery wrong, what else have i done lol? i try my best to contribute to a near-dead community. i make the only active topics in the falcon boards, i make pretty much the only active topic in the MBR but i'm not allowed to discuss that, etc.

It is quite asinine to assume that everyone has been voting based on popularity, even more so to assume they voted based on popularity and region. If region were the case btw, darkrain would have won a long time ago having both south and midwest voting for him, I know coasts are bigger than south and midwest, but I'm sure they aren't bigger than south and midwest combined.

lol well the moment i brought it up that this was a popularity contest, Tai and Twin 1 conceded. case in point; west coast (at least) has been voting for the axe effect based merely off coast. do you know why it took me till 2 days before the end of the competition to make the threads? because it was yesterday that i saw a post made by a west coaster that read along the lines of "i liked scar's combo video better, but axe is my boy so my vote goes to him." best combo video contest my ***

personally I voted for the axe effect (I'm not west coast). Awesome all around, great game play, energizing music, hands down the best editing of the three.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA @ last 2 points. i didn't know music and editing made actual combos better

People are complaining that axe's combos aren't good enough, and that they are hit and run. People should take into consideration that there have been so many people inovating and advancing falcon's play since the beginning of melee. The number of people actually furthering pika's metagame throughout melee can probably be counted on one hand, axe being one of them. And falcon is just easier all around to combo people with. And someone was complaing about the puff clip, well how often do you see a puff clip in any combo? I think Axe and Vman were trying to bring the community something new and fresh, like the axe effect.

thats amazing and i personally agree that axe is a better player than scar.. but we're not trying to award anyone for their discoveries/metagame development, this is a best combo video contest. falcon being easier than pikachu to combo with; depends on character. on fastfallers, pikachu has ridiculous auto-combos whereas falcon has to techchase. on floaties yes falcon can dthrow nair nair nair uaiarjienwajktnfrl;janglperafgkreq;t knee but this all doesn't matter because we're not evaluating skill level we're evaluating how entertaining the combos alone were. and imo the axe effect loses because the opening "combo" says it all; it is literally hit and run nair and B special and then ~20 seconds later an usmash.

for the record my "bribery" got scar 9 more votes according to the amount of people who left their names in my thread. 5 or 6 of these people i don't even know and they themselves probably know they'll never see me/get their money. some people who read the thread went and voted for axe! the thread is locked now, but stop acting like it skewed the competition that much. it gained scar about +7 votes considering 2 people went and voted for axe. if someone of a higher power i.e. Chibo wants to deem what i did immoral then fine you can take off 9 votes from scar; we'd still be winning lol.

 

[Moooose]

real talk
best combo video of 09 was "how i learned to stop worrying and love the knee"

 

[crismas]

Wellllllllll ._. I voted for Axe Effect cause it was a nice change to see a Pika combo vid and I liked the editing/combos.

Woo...

 

[tdk_Samurai]

HAX
lol well the moment i brought it up that this was a popularity contest, Tai and Twin 1 conceded. case in point; west coast (at least) has been voting for the axe effect based merely off coast. do you know why it took me till 2 days before the end of the competition to make the threads? because it was yesterday that i saw a post made by a west coaster that read along the lines of "i liked scar's combo video better, but axe is my boy so my vote goes to him." best combo video contest my ***

No disrespect to tai or twin 1, I see some intellegent posts by tai, and I don't really know much about twin 1. But them believing in something doesn't make it fact, I have seen a few west coasters vote for scars vid.

HAX
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA @ last 2 points. i didn't know music and editing made actual combos better

Noone is saying music and editing make combos better combos, but they do however make a combo video more enjoyable to watch. I don't think many people would say I'm dishonorable for putting thought about music and editing into my vote for a combo video. However, I feel alot of people would say its dishonorable to vote to earn money, even if its only one dollar.

HAX
thats amazing and i personally agree that axe is a better player than scar.. but we're not trying to award anyone for their discoveries/metagame development, this is a best combo video contest. falcon being easier than pikachu to combo with; depends on character. on fastfallers, pikachu has ridiculous auto-combos whereas falcon has to techchase. on floaties yes falcon can dthrow nair nair nair uaiarjienwajktnfrl;janglperafgkreq;t knee but this all doesn't matter because we're not evaluating skill level we're evaluating how entertaining the combos alone were.

Are we?
Original post
It has all come down to this, tell your friends, grab some popcorn, dim the lights and marvel in the glory of these three videos. There can only be one winner. Judge videos based on the video editing and presentation, entertainment value, and how ****** awesome these combos are!
Not saying whatever the OP says is what you should live your life by, but I'm not the only one who thinks that presentation is important.

 

[tw1n]

No disrespect to tai or twin 1, I see some intellegent posts by tai, and I don't really know much about twin 1. But them believing in something doesn't make it fact, I have seen a few west coasters vote for scars vid.

None taken. But actually more of the SouthWest voted for either darkrain or scar. Forward and his brother already posted here saying who they voted for (not Axe...) as well as in the New Mdexico thread people posted saying they voted for one of the Falcons.

 

[tdk_Samurai]

real talk
best combo video of 09 was "how i learned to stop worrying and love the knee"

It was pretty good, but I really watch it when I'm counting my money

None taken. But actually more of the SouthWest voted for either darkrain or scar. Forward and his brother already posted here saying who they voted for (not Axe...) as well as in the New Mdexico thread people posted saying they voted for one of the Falcons.

good :-)

and to go more of what twin just said, if you look and the 2nd to last page(I think I'm running 20 posts per page?) there is only one person(who says who they voted for) who votes for someone in their region.

 

[victra♥]

real talk
best combo video of 09 was "how i learned to stop worrying and love the knee"

True. I'm not gonna like, this is my favorite combo video. Play count on my ipod must be in the triple digits.

It was pretty good, but I really watch it when I'm counting my money

The most appropriate reply to a post that I have ever seen in my life.

 

[Skrlx]

Wellllllllll ._. I voted for Axe Effect cause it was a nice change to see a Pika combo vid and I liked the editing/combos.

Woo...

Really? I found it a bit boring.

P.S. I voted for I killed Mufasa II

P.S.S. I'm from the west coast

 

[Hax]

No disrespect to tai or twin 1, I see some intellegent posts by tai, and I don't really know much about twin 1. But them believing in something doesn't make it fact, I have seen a few west coasters vote for scars vid.

well they're both well respected among their community and for them to admit that this is a popularity contest is a clear indicator that something has been going on. axe was in 3rd place when this started, then in 3 hours he jumped up 20 votes into first place. you mean to tell me that no convincing/discussion over AIM has gone on among west coast? because tai/twin1 as well as my statistics pretty much prove that something went down.

Noone is saying music and editing make combos better combos, but they do however make a combo video more enjoyable to watch. I don't think many people would say I'm dishonorable for putting thought about music and editing into my vote for a combo video. However, I feel alot of people would say its dishonorable to vote to earn money, even if its only one dollar.

as i said only 9 people actually voted because of the money incentive, with only 3 or 4 of them actually knowing me in real life. i never said it was dishonorable to put good music in a combo video, i said that if you are to call it a "combo" video and not an "entertainment video" then you are to judge it based on its combos. sadly i've seen SOO many posters voting for axe effect because they acknowledge its technological prowess; that is just wrong. if we were voting on editing and special effects, then why isn't the metaknight "combo video" (it was linked a few pages back) winning any competitions?

Are we? [evaluating how entertaining the combos were rather than skill]

yes we are, because if we weren't then one of lovage's or silent wolf's tech skill videos would be one of the nominees.

It has all come down to this, tell your friends, grab some popcorn, dim the lights and marvel in the glory of these three videos. There can only be one winner. Judge videos based on the video editing and presentation, entertainment value, and how ****** awesome these combos are!

well then the OP's view of who should win is flawed; otherwise there would have to be numerous other videos nominated because they had good editing, music choice, etc. i've given pretty clear examples of this (metaknight combo vid, tech skill vid etc)

fdsafjueiowj;foie

 

[crismas]

Really? I found it a bit boring.

P.S. I voted for I killed Mufasa II

P.S.S. I'm from the west coast

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion

 

[adumbrodeus]

Imma gonna let you finish hax, but Scar's combo video had some of the best use of music of all time.


No seriously, it fit perfectly, maybe they're a bit overused but he made them work so well.

 

[ShootingStars]

scar's used music that has been used endlessly... boring
while axe's was very innovative imo

 

[victra♥]

to give credit, that was song was pretty good back when IKM2 was released. Before that song was painfully overplayed.

but even then, every time I hear that song, I think of IKM2.

 

[CT Chia]

o wow axe took the lead back!

 

[Sasha]

Every time I watch IKM2, I'm thoroughly entertained. Mind Reader got boring after watching it once or twice. Axe Effect is the best edited, and still entertaining.... but IKM2 is better.

GO SCAR.

 

[forward]

Mind Reader seemed like it was the typical Falcon stuff that people have been doing since '07. Nothing new really... The falcon kick stuff was awesome, not to mention I feel like Scar takes a lot more risks and goes a little crazier when it comes to getting that kill.

That's why I didn't like Scar's vid. What you call "risks" and going "a little crazy" I call stupid and doesn't work against competent players. I liked Darkrain's because the combos were efficient, smooth, and had that quality of skill that only experience brings.

Darkrain combos = skill
Scar combos = luck/random

Obviously this is not for 100% of the combos it's just an in general sort of thing.

 

[Talwind]

...

Personally I found Axe's vid to be amazing imo. Combos, tech chasing/reading, sexy edgeguards and some tech skill showcase. Thats pretty much a standard Melee combo video I've come to see over the years. Its not always about the combos only. I think people have become too spoiled on the 0 to death Falcon combos, to realize that.

and imo the axe effect loses because the opening "combo" says it all; it is literally hit and run nair and B special and then ~20 seconds later an usmash.

Are you talking about the one in black and white on the falcon? If anything, I think it was just a showcase of pikachu's sheild pressure. It was kinda like watching a falco that had the aerial speed to move in and out of an opponent's shield.

Just my two cents anyway..

Edit: Also at this point, I'd think it'd be best to just call this thing off. Regardless of who wins, everyone's gonna feel that the votes were tainted and skewed in someway so it truly wont be a legit win.

 

[Kite91]

These videos are amazing none the less, all three make me wanna play more and get better. I killed Mufasa had great music and showed not to mess with scar and dont underestimate him.

The Axe Effect made me wanna play pikachu more than i did now. He makes that mouse look top tier and shows that it doesnt matter the character its how you play it.

Mind Reader just blew my mind it had music it had combos it had CF. An amazing video had it playing while i played melee for music and to get inspiration.

My vote though is going to The Axe Effect. Great job to the others though and Good **** Axe

 

[tdk_Samurai]

hax
well they're both well respected among their community and for them to admit that this is a popularity contest is a clear indicator that something has been going on. axe was in 3rd place when this started, then in 3 hours he jumped up 20 votes into first place. you mean to tell me that no convincing/discussion over AIM has gone on among west coast? because tai/twin1 as well as my statistics pretty much prove that something went down.

as I said earlier, no disrespect to either of them, but because two people say something doesn't make it true, (unless its M2K saying it, and its a stat on frames or something of the like) Getting 20 votes in 3 hours isn't proof of something going down, I will admit that if that is truly an outlier and the average is like one vote an hour, then yea its kinda wierd, but I highly doubt axe would have anything/want anything to with it.


Hax
as i said only 9 people actually voted because of the money incentive, with only 3 or 4 of them actually knowing me in real life. i never said it was dishonorable to put good music in a combo video, i said that if you are to call it a "combo" video and not an "entertainment video" then you are to judge it based on its combos. sadly i've seen SOO many posters voting for axe effect because they acknowledge its technological prowess; that is just wrong. if we were voting on editing and special effects, then why isn't the metaknight "combo video" (it was linked a few pages back) winning any competitions?

First of all, if scar wins by <9 votes, how would you/scar/axe/vman feel?

And your reading me all wrong man, I never said you said it was dishonorable to put music in a video, but you did imply that it was like sinful or something to judge based on music or editing.
And the MK vid isn't in here because this is a melee competition, I'm pretty sure brawl has its own video discussion.(although I don't go to the brawl side, so I could be wrong, sorry if so)

Hax
Are we? [evaluating how entertaining the combos were rather than skill]
yes we are, because if we weren't then one of lovage's or silent wolf's tech skill videos would be one of the nominees.

Like I said the OP says we are allowed to vote based on presentation, if you don't like that perhaps you could start another competition, but I feel alot of people agree with me that voting based on presentation isn't such a bad thing.


Hax
well then the OP's view of who should win is flawed; otherwise there would have to be numerous other videos nominated because they had good editing, music choice, etc. i've given pretty clear examples of this (metaknight combo vid, tech skill vid etc)

well, whos to say who is right and who is wrong? If someone posted a MK vid, they would probably get flamed for putting a MK combo vid in a MELEE combo vid contest. And I was searching in step one to see the rules, all it really said was make a combo vid, and tech skill vids aren't combo vids, but I do enjoy watching them none the less. And criteria to qualify as a combo video by definition isn't necessarily the same as criteria that you should use to judge a combo video.

 

[pockyD]

is there something at stake here? what's worth arguing about?

i don't think anyone will ever be able to convince someone to change their mind concerning which video is better

 

[adumbrodeus]

Screw it, I'm changing my vote to "How I stopped Worrying and learned to love the Knee", just because the entire vid is a doctor Strangelove reference. (yes, I am aware that it's not there, write-in)



SS = coolest falcon atm, at least until my EC fanboyism sets back in.