Smasher:Hax

Hax "Hax$"
Character info
Melee main	Fox
Other Melee character	Captain Falcon
Smash 4 main	Captain Falcon
Project M mains	Fox, Captain Falcon
Team info
Former crews	CLASH Tournaments, VGBootCamp
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking	2015 SSBMRank: 19th
Winnings	~$9,564.03
Personal and other info
Real name	Aziz Al-Yami
Birth date	May 7, 1994
Location	New York City, New York
Miscellaneous info
Skill	Top professional Professional

Hax, also informally known as Hax$ or Crybaby, is a Melee player based in Manhattan. He used to solo main Captain Falcon with the pink palette swap (commonly known as Captain Fabulous), and was known for his perfectionist mindset, highly technical combos, and unique playing style. He played a conservative style with clever baits, which made him arguably the strongest Captain Falcon in the world. However, in early 2014, he switched to solo maining Fox, and continues his Melee career as a very technical Fox player. Hax was formerly ranked 1st on the NYC Metropolitan Area Melee Power Rankings, and is currently ranked 19th on the 2015 SSBMRank.

History

2008-2009: Starting Off

Hax began his Melee career as an up-and-coming Captain Falcon main who quickly rose the ranks in his region. At his first major tournament, Pound 3, he placed 9th; he lost to Mew2King in the first round of winners' bracket, then ran through losers' bracket and defeated LoZR, Silent Wolf, and Colbol in losers', then was eliminated by Azen. A year later, at Revival of Melee, Hax once again showed fantastic prowess with his Captain Falcon; he lost to Eggm in winners', but went on another mini-run through losers' bracket, taking out thumbswayup, HBK, and RaynEX. He then lost to Jman 0-2, with both games going down to the last stock, finishing at 13th in singles overall.

Hax's next major was Apex 2009, which was also his biggest breakthrough in the Melee scene to that day. At that tournament, he defeated ChuDat in winners' bracket before losing to Jman, but went on another run through losers', this time taking out big names such as Anther, Scar, and Kage before losing to ChuDat in a rematch, placing 4th overall. At GENESIS, he teamed with Hungrybox, where they were defeated by Armada and Aniolas in the winners' bracket. They rose through the losers' bracket, but only reached 13th place. He reached 7th place in Melee singles, besting many of the most talented players from North America and Europe.

2010-2011

Hax then reached 13th place at Pound 4, the second highest placed Captain Falcon at the tournament (with the highest placed being SilentSpectre, who was considered the strongest Captain Falcon at the time). In Pound 4 doubles, he teamed with Darc and was rather successful, placing 4th. At Apex 2010, Hax once again lost in the first round of winners', this time to I.B from Canada. He then eliminated WarriorKnight, th0rn, Silent Wolf, and finally, ChuDat in a rematch from Apex 2009, before being stopped by Zhu's Falco, placing 9th overall in singles.

After a comparatively low placement of 13th at Revival of Melee 3 and a handful of tournaments where he failed to break the top 8, Hax once again placed within the top 8 at Pound V. There, he continued his trend of losing very early in winners' bracket, this time to Zhu. He then tore through losers' bracket, defeating tect, MacD, Kels, Amsah, and VaNz, before meeting and being defeated by Axe in losers' quarters, finishing 5th overall. He also placed 3rd in teams, teaming with Hungrybox. Hax then placed 9th at GENESIS 2, where he sent HomeMadeWaffles to losers' and eliminated Fuzzyness and Fly Amanita, but was defeated by Taj in winners' and PPMD (then known as Dr. PeePee) in losers'.

2012: Best Falcon in the world

Hax placed in top 8 at Apex 2012. Although he lost to Zhu 1-2 early in winners' bracket, he eliminated SFAT 2-1 and MacD 2-1 in losers' bracket before losing to Javi 0-2 in losers' top 8. He continued to perform extremely well in tournaments later that year, with a 5th place finish at Zenith 2012 and Revival of Melee 5 and a 6th place finish at MELEE-FC10R Legacy. At the latter tournament, he made it into the final round-robin bracket, where he defeated Kels 3-1 and Darkrain 3-2, with the latter match solidifying his position as the best solo main Captain Falcon in the world. However, he lost to everyone else in the bracket, placing 6th overall.

2013: Turn to the Dark Side (20XX)

Hax placed in top 8 at Apex 2013, defeating Javi 2-1 in a rematch in winners' bracket, as well as Kage 2-0, before losing to Dr. PeePee 0-2. In losers' bracket, he eliminated Axe 2-0, but then lost to Mango 0-2 in losers' top 8. At EVO 2013, Hax defeated S2J 2-0 in the winners' quarters pool to make it into the semifinals pool. He lost to Dr. PeePee 1-2 in winners' bracket, and then to Ice 0-2 in losers' bracket, placing 9th overall.

At this point in his Melee career, Hax popularized the "20XX" joke, depicting a post-apocalyptic world where everyone played Fox to TAS levels of perfection. He also began claiming that Captain Falcon, as a character, was not strong enough to make him become the top Melee player in the community. Although many doubted that he would switch to Fox at first, he did so regardless, dropping Captain Falcon entirely after The Big House 3, much to the disappointment of many Captain Falcon fans. It seemed for a while that Hax would take his Fox to the top level at his next major after winning No Johns Monthly, defeating VaNz and The Moon in a dominating fashion.

2014: Rise of Fox in a summer of Smash

However, Hax underperformed in Melee singles at Apex 2014, placing 17th. He lost to s0ft in winners' finals of the first round of pools, and made it to losers' quarters in the second round of pools before losing to Ice 1-2. However, he managed to win Melee doubles with Mew2King. They lost to Mango and Lucky 2-3 in winners' semis, but once in losers' bracket, they managed to defeat Shroomed and S2J 2-0, Armada and Ice 3-2, and Hungrybox and Plup 3-1 to make it to grand finals against Mango and Lucky. They won the first and second sets 3-2 and 3-1, respectively.

Hax upset Mango 3-1 in winners' finals at WHOBO MLG, including two Fox ditto victories, but then lost two consecutive 0-3 sets in grand finals to his Falco. At SKTAR 3, Hax defeated players such as ZoSo and Nintendude in winners' bracket before losing to Armada 0-2. In losers' bracket, he eliminated ChuDat 2-0 and Zhu 2-0 before being eliminated by Mew2King 0-2 in losers' quarters, placing 5th overall. Due to Hax's strong placements at WHOBO MLG and SKTAR 3, he qualified for the MLG Anaheim 2014 championship bracket.

In his pool at MLG Anaheim 2014, Hax defeated Leffen 3-2, Colbol 3-1, s0ft 3-0, and Remen 3-0, but lost to PPMD 1-3, Mew2King 1-3, and Axe 1-3. He was seeded in losers' bracket in the championship bracket, where he eliminated S2J 3-2 and PewPewU 3-2 before being eliminated by Leffen 2-3, finishing off at 7th place.

At the largest Melee tournament at the time, EVO 2014, he placed 13th out of a massive number of 970 entrants. In the winners' quarters pool, he unexpectedly lost early to Zanguzen. However, he managed to sweep the losers' quarters pool, eliminating Lovage, Reason, DEHF, Hyprid, and Nintendude, before losing to Plup 0-2 in top 16, ending his run.

At Zenith 2014, Hax placed 2nd in Melee singles, defeating Fly Amanita 2-0 and Wizzrobe 3-1 in winners' bracket, making it to winners' finals against Mew2King. He won the first two games, including a win against Mew2King's Marth on Final Destination, though ended up losing the set 2-3. In losers' finals, he defeated Zhu 3-2. Hax then won the first set of grand finals against Mew2King 3-1, with another win on Final Destination, although he still lost the second set 0-3. Hax also won Melee doubles with Mew2King, defeating Axe and ZeRo in both winners' finals and grand finals.

2014: Post summer of Smash

Hax attended The Big House 4, the 4th largest Melee tournament of all time. In pools, he had a close set with Vro, where Hax won the set 2-1. In top 16, Hax faced off against Mango's Captain Falcon and Marth, losing 1-3, sending him to losers bracket. He then had a close set with Kalamazhu in losers, taking it 3-2 and advancing into top 8. After defeating Kels 3-0, he faced Armada in losers top 8, taking the first game convincingly, but ultimately ended up losing 1-3, placing 5th. In doubles, he teamed with fellow Fox main Leffen. They beat HugS and Lucky 2-0 and DJ Nintendo and The Moon 2-0 as well, before losing to Hungrybox and Plup 2-3. In losers, they defeated SFAT and Axe, and VaNz and MacD, both 3-1. In losers finals, they had a rematch with Hungrybox and Plup, but lost once again, this time 1-3, netting them 3rd.

Hax attended the New York regional tournament series Justice 4. In winners finals, he faced Armada, where he lost 1-3. After beating Zhu 3-0 in losers finals, he faced Armada once again in grand finals. This time, Armada ended up taking it 3-2 in a much closer set. He also teamed with Armada in doubles, getting 1st without dropping a set.

On January 1, 2015, Hax announced that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from Smash as a result of a hand injury. Due to this injury as well as insomnia, he had to drop out of singles at Apex 2015.

2015: The Return

Hax made his full return to Smash after recovering from his hand surgery at Super Nebulous 3. He lost to Nintendude in winners semis 2-3, getting sent to losers. After beating Wizzrobe 3-1, he lost to Lucky in losers semis 2-3, placing 4th.

The Second Hiatus

Hax has announced another indefinite hiatus. He has been suffering from insomnia, and he has stated that it gets worse whenever he is at a national or a tournament in general. He says that it may have to do with his "20XX" mentality of perfection. He says that he will still be practicing, and going to tournaments such as Apex and EVO, but will not attended as many tournaments until his insomnia is under control. Tafokints made a video detailing Hax's condition, saying that he, as of writing this, is in a cast for his prior injury, but has been making progress, and will be making a return in the near future.

2016: The 2nd Return

Hax has made a return at NYC Nebulous Prime Locals. He has defeated DJ Nintendo at these events, placing first in the ones he has attended. However, he has said in interview that he is not ready to return in full force just yet. He is housing players for Super Nebulous 4, but it is not known if he will enter.

Notable tournament placings

Melee

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Pound 3	February 2nd-3rd, 2008	9th	5th	Jman
Revival of Melee	March 7th-8th, 2009	13th	13th	Pakman
Apex 2009	May 9th-10th, 2009	4th	—	—
GENESIS	July 10th-12th, 2009	8th	13th	Hungrybox
S.N.E.S.	August 21st-23rd, 2009	2nd	3rd	Scar
The Tunes Monthlies # 4	November 14th, 2009	7th	2nd	Alukard
Revival of Melee 2	November 21st-22nd, 2009	7th	5th	Linguini
The Tunes Monthlies # 5	December 27th, 2009	4th	3rd	Lovage
Pound 4	January 16th-18th, 2010	13th	4th	Darc
Apex 2010	August 6th-8th, 2010	9th	4th	Hungrybox
Revival of Melee 3	November 20th-21st, 2010	13th	2nd	Hungrybox
Pound V	February 19th-21st, 2011	5th	3rd	Hungrybox
GENESIS 2	July 15th-17th, 2011	9th	2nd	Hungrybox
Revival of Melee 4	November 19th-20th, 2011	5th	3rd	Jman
Apex 2012	January 6th-8th, 2012	7th	5th	Jman
Zenith 2012	May 26th-27th, 2012	5th	3rd	Hungrybox
MELEE-FC10R Legacy	August 12th-14th, 2012	6th	5th	The Moon
Revival of Melee 5	November 17th-18th, 2012	5th	2nd	Scar
Apex 2013	January 11th-13th, 2013	7th	9th	Westballz
Smashacre Rising	April 6th, 2013	2nd	1st	Mew2King
Zenith 2013	June 1st-2nd, 2012	6th	1st	Mew2King
EVO 2013	July 12th-14th, 2013	9th	5th	Jman
The Big House 3	October 12th-13th, 2013	5th	3rd	Dr. PeePee
Sudden Death 14	October 19th, 2013	1st	—	—
No Johns 1/4	January 4th, 2014	1st	1st	Alukard
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	17th	1st	Mew2King
Smash Mode Sundays # 2	February 16th, 2014	2nd	1st	Mew2King
Smash Mode Sundays # 3	February 23rd, 2014	1st	—	—
Stony Brook Biweeklies #9	March 1st, 2014	1st	2nd	G$
Smash Mode Sundays # 4	March 2nd, 2014	1st	—	—
Revival of Melee 7	March 8th-9th, 2014	5th	1st	Mew2King
The Next Episode	March 22nd-23rd, 2014	7th	2nd	SFAT
Smash Mode Sundays 3/30	March 30th, 2014	1st	—	—
Civil War VI	April 12th-13th, 2014	3rd	—	—
Bar Wars: The Region Strikes Back	April 26th, 2014	9th	2nd	ChuDat
WHOBO MLG	May 3rd-4th, 2014	2nd	1st	Mango
Justice 3	May 24th, 2014	1st	—	—
SKTAR 3	May 31st-June 1st, 2014	5th	5th	Westballz
Nebulous Saturday Melee 2	June 14th, 2014	1st	3rd	Slox
MLG Anaheim 2014	June 20th-22nd, 2014	7th	5th	Leffen
CEO 2014	June 27th-29th, 2014	—	5th	Colbol
EVO 2014	July 11th-13th, 2014	13th	2nd	Mew2King
Zenith 2014	August 2nd-3rd, 2014	2nd	1st	Mew2King
Nebulous 9	August 9th, 2014	1st	—	—
Nebulous 10	August 16th, 2014	1st	—	—
Mass Madness CE	August 23rd, 2014	1st	1st	ZeRo
GUTS 3	September 19th-21st, 2014	1st	1st	Mafia
The Big House 4	October 4th-5th, 2014	5th	3rd	Leffen
Justice 4	October 11th, 2014	2nd	1st	Armada
SmashLeague: New York	October 25th, 2014	1st	—	—
Do You Fox Wit It?	November 15th-16th, 2014	1st	1st	Mew2King
KTAR XI	November 22nd, 2014	2nd (Split)	1st	Mew2King
Super Nebulous	November 29th, 2014	1st	2nd	DoH
Super Nebulous 2	January 24th, 2015	2nd	—	—
Apex 2015	January 30th-February 1st, 2015	33rd (DQ)	—	—
Super Nebulous 3	April 25th-26th, 2015	4th	2nd	Wizzrobe
Press Start	May 9th-10th, 2015	13th	—	—
Assault 3 – No Game No Waifu – Evolution	May 16th-17th, 2015	1st	1st	Victra
Get On My Level 2015	May 30th-31st, 2015	2nd	1st	Hungrybox
EVO 2015	July 17th-19th, 2015	17th	—	—
KTAR XVII	February 13th, 2016	1st	1st	G$

Project M

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Sudden Death 14	October 19th, 2013	1st	—	—
Civil War VI	April 12th-13th, 2014	9th	—	—
Bar Wars: The Region Strikes Back	April 26th, 2014	5th	—	—
Zenith 2014	August 2nd-3rd, 2014	—	7th	Wizzrobe
KTAR XI	November 22nd, 2014	7th	—	—

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
KTAR XI	November 22nd, 2014	25th	—	—

Trivia

• Hax has also popularized a "20XX" meme in the Smash community. 20XX is an allusion to the intro of Mega Man, that announced that "The year is 20XX". As aforementioned, 20XX describes a futuristic, potentially post-apocalyptic setting, where the metagame and technical skill of players have reached a point where they can no longer continue to improve. Accordingly, only Fox is viable, and as players are able to perfectly capitalise on every situation, matches are determined by a rock-paper-scissors match for port priority. The joke is often referenced on Fox mirror matches, as well as particularly impressive displays of tech skill by players. An example of this occurred at Apex 2014, when during Melee doubles there was a match during grand finals where all four players were playing Fox. The commentator, Prog, said "Are you aware of the year..." before his partner, D1, interrupts with "20XX. Here we go!". Toph had previously elaborated on the joke at The Big House 3:

Hax's thing is like, "The year is 20XX. Everyone plays Fox." And there's this whole post-apocalyptic universe that is built off of Fox being the only viable character left. Humanity has reached its pinnacle. The peasants are living in poverty. And there's these monasteries where these Fox monks just levitate and TAS Fox with one controller in one hand, and win a tournament with the other. And the tournament metagame has gotten to this point where everything is played out to theoretical perfection, so they Rock-Paper-Scissors for port priority, and that's the set. And everyone gets really excited about the port priority RPS, so RPS's metagame has really evolved to where it's really just like RPS tournaments are now. And then we have warriors like Kevin Toy and Europhoria desperately trying to prevent the apocalypse, the Fox Apocalypse, from happening with their Marths.

• In addition to Super Smash Bros. Melee, Hax also plays the Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) competitively, with his highest placement being in the quarterfinals of the 2008 World Championships Senior Division.
• In the game League of Legends, Hax ranks first as the champion Twisted Fate in North America and is in the highest server tier in the game, Challenger.

External links

• SmashBoards public profile