Smasher:Taj


 * Not to be confused with, another Marth player from Arizona

Taj is an American smasher, internationally famous as the best player in the world in Melee, as well as being a notable  player. He is also the creator of the series of combo videos Shadowclaw. Taj is also a former moderator on SmashBoards, responsible for the and Mewtwo Character Specific Forums. He was formerly ranked 2nd on the Arizona Melee Power Rankings.

Some of Taj's most famous tournament placings are his runs through Apex 2010 and GENESIS 2. In Apex 2010, he reached 17th place by going solo Mewtwo, the highest placing of any Mewtwo main at a major tournament so far. In GENESIS 2 pools, he defeated various players including. In bracket, he defeated, , , and. He was then defeated by in winners finals and then eliminated by Mango in a losers finals rematch, rounding up to an astonishing 3rd place, out-placing other top players such as  and. He used Marth for the tournament. He's in a semi-retired state since 2014. He has recently entered Paragon Los Angeles 2015, getting top 64 using only. He has also attended The Big House 6 making it into bracket with Mewtwo and getting top 16 in teams with.

He also got 9th in Project M at Apex 2014, the 2nd largest Project M tournament of all time. He was eliminated by 1-2 in a last-hit situation.

Shadowclaw - A Mewtwo Combo Video
Although well-known locally, Taj's biggest impact on the global smash scene was his release of the Mewtwo combo video Shadowclaw.

The video illustrated professional Mewtwo play at a level not previously seen in wide distribution. Despite a few quiet claims to the contrary (and surprisingly little tangible evidence), he was almost ubiquitously considered the best Mewtwo player in the world for a long time, to the point where Taj is sometimes credited as being the sole reason for Mewtwo's later rise out of the bottom position on the later revisions of Melee's tier list. later created a thread at SmashBoards called Taj is the best Mewtwo, which has since become a hub for question-and-answer sessions for Mewtwo enthusiasts.

Shadowclaw later received three sequels, though none have eclipsed the popularity or infamy of the first incarnation. The fourth video, Shadowclaw 4, was edited by former Mewtwo main.

Trivia

 * Due to his -related fame, Taj was sometimes used as a figurehead amongst anti-tier players; despite this, Taj is pro-tier, claiming that some matchups, especially in critical tournament matches, require the use of higher tiered characters to win.
 * In particular, Taj and 's infamous victory against the previously undefeated El Chocolate Diablo team featured Taj using.
 * Taj would defeat Mang0 at and, making Taj the only player outside of the Five Gods to defeat Mang0 twice at a GENESIS event.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

 * ShadowClaw (Mewtwo combo video)
 * Taj (Fox) & Forward (Falco) vs. Isai (Captain Falcon) & Ken (Marth) - Taj & Forward's famous victory over Ken & Isai at Champ Combo: NorCal Edition