Smasher:Hax

Hax "Hax$"
Character info
Melee main	Fox
Retired Melee character	Captain Falcon
Smash 4 main	Captain Falcon
Project M mains	Fox, Captain Falcon
Team info
Former sponsor(s)	CLASH Tournaments, VGBootCamp, Even Matchup Gaming
Former crews	S.W.A.T.
Rankings and results info
Most recent ranking	MPGR 2019: 19th
Best historical ranking	SSBMRank 2013: 6th
Winnings	~$14,018.18
Personal and other info
Real name	Aziz Al-Yami
Birth date	May 7, 1994
Location	New York City, New York

Hax$ (pronounced "Hax Money"), informally known as Hax, is a Melee player based in Manhattan. He used to solo main Captain Falcon with the pink costume (commonly known as Captain Fabulous); however, in early 2014, he switched to solo maining Fox, and was widely regarded as the most technical Fox player when he was still active. In April 2016, he went on a indefinite hiatus due to having a calcified FCU tendon, which was left untreated because no surgeon was willing to remove it. During this hiatus, he began working on the B0XX, a controller designed in a similar vein to the Smash Box by Hitbox, after having tested the Smash Box and finding it unsatisfactory. He has also slowly made a return to competitive Melee as of March 2017, having finally been treated for his hand problems. He would attend various Melee events showcasing the potential of the B0XX, and spent a long time balancing it to be as fair to a GameCube controller as possible. By 2019, he was considered to be playing at a level similar to when he played on a GameCube controller.

Hax was formerly ranked 2nd on the New York City Melee Power Rankings and 19th on the 2019 MPGR.

He joined Even Matchup Gaming on January 29th, 2019. He left the team on January 7th, 2021.

As of June 2021, Hax$ has been banned from tournaments due to repeated - allegedly defamatory - remarks made towards Leffen, and Hax's persistent reinforcement of these statements, which were deemed to constitute harassment.

Tournament History

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Origin of the name

Hax used to be into competitive Pokémon. In the context of competitive Pokémon, "hax" is lingo for the uncontrollable RNG involved in battles, such as critical hits, that can sometimes undeservedly turn the tide of a match. The high number of angry players who would call "hax" after severe losses due to this prompted Hax to name himself after this term. When switching to competitive Melee, Hax wanted a fourth character in the space given for tags in-game, and decided to add the dollar sign to it, eventually giving birth to "Hax$" or "Hax Money".

2008-2009: Starting Off

Hax began his Melee career as an up-and-coming Captain Falcon main who quickly rose up 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 (behind SilentSpectre, who was considered the strongest Captain Falcon at the time). In 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 for top 8. At EVO 2013, Hax defeated S2J 2-1 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, Hax dropped 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

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 EVO 2014, the largest Melee tournament at the time, 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 and hiatus

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 then attended the New York regional tournament 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, which Armada won 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 and insomnia, forcing him out of Apex 2015.

2015: Return and second hiatus

Hax made his full return to Smash after recovering from his hand surgery at Super Nebulous 3 in late April 2015. 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.

In July 2015, Hax announced another hiatus. In a blog post, he discussed his insomnia, which worsened whenever he was at a tournament. Hax surmised that his insomnia may be linked to his his perfectionist "20XX" mentality. Hax said he would still practice and attend some major tournaments, such as Apex and EVO, but would not attend as many tournaments until his insomnia was under control. Tafokints made a video detailing Hax's condition, saying that he, as of writing, was in a cast for his prior injury, but had been making progress, and would return in the near future.

2016: Second return and third hiatus

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. His first huge tournament of 2016 was Shots Fired 2, where he placed 3rd, and used the money he got from the tournament to pay for his last surgery. His next big tournament was Pound 2016, where he went on a rampage through pools, making it to Winner's Ro32. There, he defeated smashers such as SFAT 2-1, Nintendude 3-0, and eventually defeated Mango in Winner's semis 3-2, in a nailbiter set where Mango missed a crucial edgeguard, giving Hax his ticket to Winner's finals against Hungrybox, where he was defeated 3-0. Sent to Loser's finals, Hax was pitted in a rematch against Mango, where again, he was defeated 3-0, ending Hax's run at 3rd place.

After initially making himself eligible for being voted to participate in Smash Summit 2, Hax drop out due to another hand injury. Its recurrence prompted another indefinite hiatus from Smash until he could fully recover.

2017-2018: Third return and the B0XX

Hax posted an update video on January 19th, 2017. In the video, he further detailed the complications with his hands and revealed that he had finally met a doctor that would treat most of his hand problems that arose, the incurable thumb joint arthritis that eventually developed on his left hand now prevented him from using a GameCube controller. Hax also discussed his experiences with the Smash Box arcade controller during his hiatus. While Hax had a relatively painless experience using the Smash Box even before the final hand surgery, he proposed several changes, most of which were shot down due to logistical issues with submitting them. Cactuar then approached Hax and told him about two Rutgers University engineering students, Arhum Siddiqi (also known as WatchingTime) and James Taylor, who were working on a Smash Box-based product called the "Icebox" that would work better for Ice Climbers players' desynching techniques. A controller design commissioned and approved by Frycook, Hax decided to contact them and contribute to improving the Icebox for use with Fox, slowly implementing the changes he initially submitted to the Smash Box team, and giving the product a new name: the "B0XX". Hax stated that the B0XX would be customizable, and additionally slated a return to competitive Melee for February 2017, though he would not attend a tournament until a month later at Smash Summit Spring 2017 as a commentator.

After a few months of attending locals on the B0XX, Hax won his first tournament with it, Nebulous Melee 85, in May 2017. Since he began using the B0XX, he has taken sets from ranked players such as Westballz, KJH, Crush, Fiction, Kage, Captain Smuckers, DJ Nintendo, and Qerb. He has also since made update videos defending his thinking on the legality of the B0XX and is still working on getting it legalized in the MIOM recommended tournament ruleset.

2019-2020: Partial resurgence

Hax had a rough start to 2019, placing 17th at GENESIS 6 and only winning some smaller tournaments. The Summer MPGR placed Hax at 25th in the world. Hax's results began to pick up in the summer when he got 9th at Shine 2019, he then went on to place 3rd at Mango's Birthday Bash beating Hungrybox in the process. This led to Hax's being ranked at 19th, 19 places better than in 2018. At the start of 2020, Hax attended GENESIS 7 where he was knocked into losers early by Leffen. He beat SFAT, Westballz, PewPewU and Shroomed for the opportunity to play Leffen again, in which Hax won 3-1. Hax placed 4th at GENESIS 7 after being reverse 3-0'd by Hungrybox. This placement also qualified him for one of the few invite spots to Smash Summit 9, where he placed 7th.

Playing style

Hax was arguably the strongest Captain Falcon player in the world, utilizing much of the same deadly combos as Falcon mains before him, but with a superior playstyle. Unlike other Captain Falcon players, who relied on what Hax saw as mindless aggression, Hax played very conservatively by utilizing camping and clever baits to get openings. This made him the strongest Captain Falcon against more defensive characters (such as Marth and Sheik), and eventually, in the world. He was also the most technical Captain Falcon player, as he had amazing reactions and spacing, and utilized difficult techniques such as the "Hax-dash", an invincible ledge-invincibility refresh that doubles as a visual mixup. As Fox, Hax continues pursuing a perfectionist mindset with fast reactions and extreme technical skill, but has become a lot swingier, notably using a lot of fadeback neutral airs and jittery close-range movement. Hax is known for going for nearly frame-perfect combos and theoretically unbreakable shine pressure, along with reaction tech-chases and a strong ledge-game, often retreating to the ledge to be able to invincibly ledgedash and regain a strong neutral position.

However, this perfectionism has also led to losses in certain matchups. For example, Hax will rush down and approach even defensive characters such as Jigglypuff and attack with drills and shines (the most "optimal" way to pressure), instead of playing more defensively with Blaster when the situation calls for it. This can lead to him overextending, which leaves him susceptible to Jigglypuff's lethal punishes. Additionally, Hax is susceptible to psychological pressure, as shown when Mango defeated him 3-1 with his secondaries at The Big House 4 using mostly hard reads. In addition, Hax's playstyle often is very strong at short-ranges where his execution is extremely consistant, but he is often hesitant to commit to longer range approaches, leading to difficulties vs some more conservative and campy players; an example of this would be Hax's set vs Mike Haze at Smash Summit 5, where Mike shifted to a more dash-dance campy style and reverse 3-0d Hax.

Tournament placings

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner	Earnings
MLG New York Playoffs 2006	October 13th-14th, 2006	49th	—	—
Killa Fleet Biweekly 6/8	June 8th, 2007	5th	4th	Jman
Zenith 2007	September 29th, 2007	2nd	—	—
Pound 3	February 2nd-3rd, 2008	9th	5th	Jman
Smashpocalypse V	March 22nd, 2008	9th	—	—
Smashpocalypse VI	December 13th, 2008	17th	9th	Scar
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
Good Shit German	July 24th-25th, 2010	13th	5th	Scar
The Tunes Monthlies #8	July 30th, 2010	4th	1st	Jman
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
Zenith 2011	May 28th-29th, 2011	9th	3rd	Mew2King
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, 2013	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
Collision 8	January 11th, 2014	1st	—	—
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$
Shots Fired 2	March 5th-6th, 2016	3rd	—	—
Do or DI	March 11th-13th, 2016	3rd	—	—
Super Nebulous 4	March 26th, 2016	3rd	—	—
Pound 2016	April 2nd-3rd, 2016	3rd	—	—
Collision XIII	April 16th, 2016	1st	—	—
Apollo III	March 11th, 2017	9th	—	—
Apollo IV	April 8th, 2017	17th	5th	Just Jason
Nebulous Melee 82	April 15th, 2017	2nd	—	—
Flatiron 2	April 22nd, 2017	13th	33rd (DQ)	Chillin
Nebulous Melee 85	May 20th, 2017	1st	—	—
OMEGA	June 24th-25th, 2017	4th	5th	JFlex
EVO 2017	July 14th-16th, 2017	33rd	—	—
Get On My Level 2017	July 28th-30th, 2017	17th	9th	Crush
Apollo X	October 14th, 2017	33rd (DQ)	1st	Hungrybox
Nebulous Melee 100!	October 21st, 2017	2nd	1st	dizzkidboogie
Smash Summit 5	November 2nd-6th, 2017	13th	7th	Crush
Tipped Off 12	November 11th-12th, 2017	7th	—	—
RISE Melee Regional	November 25th, 2017	2nd	Top 4	Slox
Pat's House 3	December 2nd-3rd, 2017	9th	—	—
Smash Valley: Lucky 7	February 17th, 2018	5th	—	—
Nebulous Melee 115	February 24th, 2018	9th	1st	mayb
Nebulous Melee 116	March 3rd, 2018	1st	1st	mayb
Nebs After Dark 107	March 6th, 2018	1st	—	—
Short Hops	July 21st, 2018	7th	4th	Rhyme
Apollo XIV	July 29th, 2018	5th	—	—
The Big House 8	October 5th-7th, 2018	33rd	—	—
The Script - Episode 1	October 13th-14th, 2018	5th	2nd	La Luna
Super AON 2018	October 20th, 2018	2nd	2nd	mayb
Canada Cup 2018	October 26th-28th, 2018	5th	—	—
The Mang0: Homecoming	November 10th-11th, 2018	17th	9th	Bladewise
DreamHack Atlanta 2018	November 16th-18th, 2018	9th	1st	2Saint
Fireside Open 2018	December 1st, 2018	9th	4th	TheSWOOPER
The Parking Lot - Friday	December 14th, 2018	17th	—	—
Don't Park on the Grass 2018	December 15th-16th, 2018	5th	—	—
NYXL Pop-Up!	December 22nd, 2018	3rd	—	—
Scorpius 2019	January 12th, 2019	1st	—	—
GIGA HOG: Era	January 26th, 2019	2nd	4th	lint
GENESIS 6	February 1st-3rd, 2019	17th	—	—
The Script 2	February 16th-17th, 2019	17th (DQ)	1st	AbsentPage
GIGA HOG 5	February 23rd, 2019	1st	—	—
House of Paign 20	March 2nd, 2019	4th	1st	AbsentPage
The Gang Steals The Script	March 9th, 2019	9th	—	—
NChi Ultra	March 16th-17th, 2019	1st	—	—
CT GamerCon 3	March 23rd-24th, 2019	1st	—	—
Battle of BC 3	March 30th-31st, 2019	4th	4th	moky
The Scarlet Classic V	April 14th, 2019	3rd	—	—
Giga HOG: Reloaded	April 16th-17th, 2019	1st	—	—
Get On My Level 2019	May 17th-19th, 2019	13th	—	—
Major Flavor	May 25th, 2019	1st	1st	Jflex
Concrete Throwdown #2	May 26th, 2019	1st	—	—
Omega III	June 8th-9th, 2019	2nd	7th	Jflex
Cold Hard Smash 6	June 15th, 2019	2nd	—	—
GIGA HOG: Reunion	June 22nd, 2019	5th	—	—
Spectrum #100	July 8th, 2019	5th	—	—
Paradigm Shift 2019	July 20th-21st, 2019	1st	1st	Michael
GIGA HoG 8	July 27th, 2019	1st	—	—
Concrete Throwdown - Smash Edition 2	July 28th, 2019	1st	—	—
Spectrum #104	August 5th, 2019	1st	—	—
Super Smash Con 2019	August 8th-11th, 2019	65th	—	—
Spectrum Smash #106	August 19th, 2019	1st	—	—
Shine 2019	August 23rd-25th, 2019	9th	5th	moky
Spectrum #108	September 2nd, 2019	2nd	—	—
DreamHack Montreal 2019	September 6th-8th, 2019	—	1st	moky
Mass Madness 29	September 14th, 2019	1st	—	—
The MMOM Memorial	November 9th-10th, 2019	3rd	—	—
Smash Hall: Melee at the Biergarten	November 16th, 2019	1st	—	—
Mango's Birthday Bash	December 7th-8th, 2019	3rd	5th	Swedish Delight
Garden State Smashdown	December 21st, 2019	1st	—	—
Scorpius 2020	January 4th, 2020	4th	—	—
GIGA HoG: Era 2	January 18th, 2020	1st	—	—
Hax's Nightclub S1E4	January 22nd, 2020	1st	—	—
GENESIS 7	January 24th-26th, 2020	4th	—	—
Smash Summit 9	February 13th-16th, 2020	7th	—	—
Gucci Gang: Leap Year Edition	February 29th, 2020	1st	—	—
5 Days of Melee	December 15th-16th, 2020	1st	—	—
Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 3	December 19th-20th, 2020	17th	—	—
Galint Melee Open	January 9th-10th, 2021	3rd	—	—
Frame Perfect Series 4: ONLINE	January 16th, 2021	2nd	—	—
Four Loko Fight Night	March 6th-7th, 2021	65th	—	—
Galint Melee Open: Spring Edition	March 19th-21st, 2021	5th	—	—
MORBIUS POP TOURNAMENT	May 29th, 2022	1st	—	—
Serious Sunday #8	May 30th, 2022	1st	—	—
Serious Sunday #9	June 6th, 2022	1st	—	—
Melee Heaven #14	September 5th, 2022	1st	—	—
The Nightclub S6E1	January 4th, 2023	2nd	—	—
The Nightclub S6E2	January 11th, 2023	1st	—	—
The Nightclub S6E3	January 18th, 2023	2nd	—	—
The Nightclub S6E4	January 25th, 2023	2nd	—	—
The Nightclub S6E5	February 1st, 2023	1st	—	—
The Nightclub S6E7	February 15th, 2023	2nd	—	—
LVL UP EXPO 2023	February 17th-19th, 2023	4th	—	—
The Coinbox #50	February 22nd, 2023	3rd	—	—	$517.50
The Nightclub S6E9	March 1st, 2023	1st	—	—
The Coinbox #52	March 7th, 2023	7th	—	—	$75
The Nightclub S6E10	March 8th, 2023	3rd	—	—
The Nightclub S6E11	March 15th, 2023	2nd	—	—
The Nightclub S6E12	March 22nd, 2023	1st	—	—
Stage Select Final Destination	March 28th, 2023	1st	—	—
The Nightclub S6E13	March 29th, 2023	4th	—	—
The Nightclub S7E1	April 5th, 2023	1st	—	—
Short Hops!	April 8th, 2023	1st	—	—
The Coinbox #58	April 18th, 2023	3rd	—	—	$450
The Come Up 2023	April 22nd, 2023	4th	—	—
The Coinbox #61	May 16th, 2023	3rd	—	—	$900
The Coinbox #63	May 31th, 2023	7th	—	—	$75
Tipped Off 14: Resurgence	June 3rd-4th, 2023	17th / 344	—	—
The Nightclub VIP 2	June 24th, 2023	2nd / 161	—	—
The Coinbox #66	June 27th, 2023	2nd / 344	—	—	$1,000
The Coinbox #68	July 11th, 2023	1st / 296	—	—	$1,200
Smash Factor X	July 28th-30th, 2023	2nd / 137	—	—
The Off-Season 2 Open Bracket	September 23rd-24th, 2023	Top 8 / 255	—	—
The Off-Season 2	September 23rd-24th, 2023	9th / 263	17th / 59	Gahtzu
The Function 3	November 11th, 2023	4th / 259	—	—
DreamHack Atlanta 2023	December 15th-17th, 2023	1st / 130	—	—
S Factor 11	July 13th-14th, 2024	2nd / 172	—	—

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	—	—

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
G.I.M.P.E.D. 1	February 22nd, 2009	25th	9th	Basic Sausage

Controversies

Evidence.zip 2

On June 4th, 2021, Hax posted a YouTube video and accompanying PDF file titled "Evidence.zip 2", claiming in a tweet that it would "decide the fate of the entire Smash community." The video, named as a sequel to the archive file that was used to advocate a ban for Leffen back in 2013, alleges that Leffen has mentally abused several people in his quest to become the best player, having been leery about him ever since his first interactions with him on SmashBoards in 2011. He urged the community to reconsider whom they were following and alleged several claims, or "charges", against Leffen:

• Leffen has for several years attempted to systematically take control of the community by constantly pointing out others' flaws and downplaying his own to perpetually attempt to garner sympathy.
• Leffen has never been explicit about the truth of the archive or his initial forgiveness plea, citing incendiary comments he made after the archive was first posted and right before his initial plea, and that the initial plea was a dishonest apology.
• Leffen would deliberately attempt to organize events that coincided with other people's events and urged his followers to ignore them or castigated other events for poor time management.
• Leffen propagated misinformation about the game's mechanics and the B0XX, and banned anyone that disagreed with him.
• Leffen had gone through obsessive lengths to discredit the B0XX and its legitimacy as a competitive controller, posting a stream of what Hax$ calls "anti-B0XX propaganda" to his YouTube and twitter accounts.
• Leffen galvanized a "smear campaign" against Hungrybox amidst their longstanding feud, ultimately culminating in someone throwing a crab at Hungrybox at Pound 2019.
• Leffen immediately attempted to garner support from the newly formed Super Smash Bros. Ultimate community by painting Salem in a bad light, showing a hefty critique of his controversial "years of research" video.
• Leffen completely distorted an account of an altercation he had with another Smasher into a story of abuse and prejudice to further paint himself in a sympathetic light.
• Leffen used the fallout following the wave of harassment allegations back in July of 2020 to usurp the follower base of players that had been accused to present himself as a leader and safety net for people that had been mistreated by top players.

The video drew massive derision and backlash from the community, with many in particular condemning Hax's choice to analogize Leffen to political figures such as Adolf Hitler and accuse him of trying to establish a "totalitarian regime". Nevertheless, there are also many who claim that Hax's video has merit, if not tainted in overly dramatic language and comparisons, and point to the community's history in being overly forgiving of its best players as reason to not entirely dismiss Hax's accusations. Leffen himself posted that he was unsure of his next course of action and would be speaking to a lawyer. Hax would eventually private the video, which has since been reuploaded by multiple smaller channels.

In response to the video, on June 9th, Beyond the Smash banned Hax from attending Smash Summit 11 in any capacity, citing safety concerns and believing the video promoted harassment and threats.

On June 11th, 2021, Hax published a revised version of the video, which in contrast was an hour shorter and consisted solely of Hax talking in front of the camera. Hax would speak on the subject through Twitter, posting an apology for the presentation of "Evidence.zip 2" and continuing to post comments about the "situation" of the Smash scene. The revised video would also be privated later on.

iBDW conflict

On June 21st, 2021, iBDW accused Hax for downplaying and making fun of iBDW's story of being sexually assaulted by his own mother. iBDW also tweeted that he attempted to retrieve evidence to support his claims from Facebook messages, but that Hax had deleted the relevant messages. Hax responded in a series of now-deleted Tweets, accusing iBDW for faking the story in order to gain Hax's sympathy as well as taking his comment out-of-context.

Due to both the iBDW and Leffen controversies, on June 21st, Tiramisu announced that Hax was banned from the Melee Online Discord server.

Following the accusation and ban, as well as the evidence.zip 2 controversy, Hax posted a TwitLonger on June 23rd, in which he apologized on how he handled both controversies and claimed to "exonerate" himself from iBDW's claims. However, he refused to backtrack on any of the accusations made to both Leffen and iBDW. In particular, he reiterated how iBDW falsified many parts of his story in order to salvage their decaying friendship, and after that failed, iBDW went on to make several defamatory statements on Hax to try and ruin his reputation. Hax concluded the TwitLonger by once again apologizing for his behavior within the last few months and stating that he was willing to ban himself for 3 months due to how he initially handled iBDW's accusations. Hax then posted a second TwitLonger a few hours later, in which he further responded to iBDW's rebuttal, paragraph by paragraph. Hax concluded this TwitLonger by asking iBDW to both contact him in private and dismiss his claims against him, lest he take legal action against him.

Within an hour of posting the second TwitLonger, Hax deleted his tweets that linked to both of the TwitLongers he had posted that day. He then tweeted that he would take a hiatus, saying he didn't find it possible to continue discussing the controversies. In the tweet, he also apologized to the community and reiterated his request for iBDW to contact him. The next day, iBDW revealed in a Twitter thread that the two indeed talked in private and were now mostly on the same page, noting that Hax is "clearly not cool with sexual assault/incest." Hax also returned to Twitter to post about the conversation, apologizing to iBDW, whom he called "a good man," and the community while also limiting his guilt to certain comments he made in his own Discord server.

Ban from events

In June 2021, on the same day as iBDW's final announcement, several TOs from many US states signed a document that banned Hax from their tournaments, and his name was added to the Global Ban Database. The ban was made using the previous SSB Code of Conduct Panel's 2.2.1 (Level 2) and 2.2.3 (Level 3) offences and was deemed indefinite.

The ban reasoning can be summarised as follows:

1. The accusations were deemed baseless, particularly comparing Leffen's presence as a totalitarian regime, the belief that Leffen solely called out ZeRo for personal gain, and saying that Leffen would prefer ZeRo was dead following his suicide attempt.
2. The calls to deplatform Leffen constituted incitement for harassment, and his fanbase response shows that this incitement has teeth to it.
3. Hax$'s refusal to recant the statements and double down, only deeming the flaws as "tactical errors", show a lack of remorse for his actions and that these were fully intentional, not simply mistakes.

Under the rationale of the accusations being baseless, considering the 4 hours of content and the 136-page document, these remarks were deemed extremely severe and constituted an indefinite ban from events.

Notable events banning Hax$ include GENESIS, Shine, Phoenix Blue, Riptide, The Big House, and DreamHack. Outside of several US states, Hax$ is also banned from Austrian, British, Finnish, and Portuguese events, as well as Melee Online events.

As of January 2024, Hax$ has been unbanned from some events, but not all, prompting continued ban appeals.

Evidence.zip 3 & ban appeal

On August 14th, 2021, Hax released another revision to his video called Evidence.zip 3. In the video, he accuses Leffen of creating social engineering campaigns against multiple players, such as Hungrybox and Hax himself. The video also reiterates multiple allegations from "evidence.zip 2", such as character profiles from the original "evidence.zip" and alleged harassment levied towards Hax himself. Hax alleges that Leffen deleted 6 years worth of tweets in response to his evidence.zip 2 video, as well as being lawyer-bluffed. Hax also criticises his global ban from the scene, saying that his accusations had evidence and were not libelous or defamatory as his ban statement claimed, as well as claiming that his ban was hypocritical when doing nothing in regards to Leffen.

Building on some accusations from "evidence.zip 2", Hax points out Leffen's sudden tonal shift towards Hungrybox in 2017 and accuses him of social engineering against Hungrybox to usurp his followerbase. Hax discusses where he tried to talk Leffen out of this at Smash Summit 5, but failed to do so. Hax accuses Leffen of blackmailing Hungrybox during 2017, where he continually talked about "terrible things" Hungrybox was doing but never releasing them; Hax claims that this prompted Hungrybox to stay silent. Hax also claims that the then newly introduced Snowy was used by Leffen in his now-deleted "One of many reasons to dislike hbox" video to create "Hungrybox story" memes, which eventually culminated into Hungrybox being harassed in a Walmart store in April 2018. Hax also argues that Leffen later decided Snowy was of no use to him and began to openly slander him.

Hax once again accused Leffen of manipulating the #MeToo movement, pointing out that the victim testimony given in his video on the allegations in the Smash community on July 2nd contradicted C's statement in the original evidence.zip, which pinned Leffen himself as the abuser. He also accused Leffen of misrepresenting and even contradicting many claims in his videos on the topic, as well as making insincere tweets to "gain clout". Hax further criticised Leffen for circulating the rumour about Mew2King masturbating on a Smash player, which was proven to be false after Mew2King addressed the allegations. Earlier in the video but relevant to this topic, Hax built upon Technicals' video on Sky Williams and also accused Leffen of conspiring with Jisu, whom he claimed was manipulative when they were dating, to defame ZeRo with baseless allegations, before verifiable accusations against him had emerged. He restated Technicals' claims that Leffen's allegations of ZeRo sharing pornographic images with other Smashers were moot, for not only were they of age, but they also testified that they were looking at normal images of anime girls instead of porn. Hax also pointed out that, prior to Jisu's allegations against ZeRo, Jisu contacted Leffen, and made her tweet statement only minutes after Leffen tweeted that he would log out of Twitter to gather his thoughts. Hax claimed that this was strategic and part of the conspiracy, accusing Leffen of drawing attention to the allegations for personal gain and trying to become the most popular Smasher on Twitter by forcing ZeRo into retirement, allegedly in a similar manner to the way Leffen treated Hungrybox. Hax also believes that Leffen's wish to expel Technicals from the community in response to their challenges to the allegations is an attempt to further manipulate the situation.

Hax criticised Leffen for his response to Samox's Metagame documentary, claiming he lied about his old controversies and pressured Samox to "censor" victim testimonies and other information regarding them. Hax also expressed concern about the revised version of the documentary, particularly regarding the narrative about the original evidence.zip and the portrayal of Leffen as a "hero", as well as how Leffen now had a theme song deriding the evidence.zip archive. He alleged that this set a precedent for top players to lie and control the narrative, and argued that Samox had not only become one of Leffen's "victims" by giving into Leffen's manipulations, but broke his "integrity" as a purveyor of facts by underrepresenting the accusations in evidence.zip.

Hax's final accusations targeted Leffen's social media behavior, particularly the alleged dishonesty of his profile bio's and him blocking anyone attempting to discuss the allegations on either Twitter or his Twitch stream. He restated a claim from evidence.zip 2 that this behavior exhibited a degree of narcissism and psychopathy indicative of the dark triad, something he believes those who testified in evidence.zip were worried would eventually "erode" the Smash scene. Hax also condemned Leffen for allegedly letting this behavior rub off on people like Jisu, who went silent on social media for several days after Technicals' video on Sky Williams and never offered a proper response to it, whilst blocking anyone that attempted to discuss it. Hax concluded the video by admitting that accusing Leffen of creating a "regime" is extreme, but alleged that there was no better way to describe Leffen's actions.

The video was criticised primarily for the same reasons as "evidence.zip 2", with onlookers expressing skepticism for a myriad of Hax's claims. Many argued that Hax's videos were indeed defamatory, with them believing that the claims and motives are out of character or even extreme. Others have criticised Hax for repeatedly using the original evidence.zip, believing that Leffen has changed and the antiquated nature of the document makes it questionable to cite. Finally, the video was criticised for comparing Leffen to Donald Trump as an allegory to paint the former as "totalitarian". Nevertheless, some in the community have chosen to side with Hax, particularly those who watched Technicals' video on Sky Williams and agreed that there is precedent for Leffen manipulating situations for his own benefit, as well as agreeing that Hax's ban was unjustified and hypocritical.

Continued ban appeals & apologies

On August 29th 2021, Hax released another video contesting his ban from the scene, which directly addresses a document by Mikey outlining the reasons for his ban. He criticized the statement for saying there was no evidence to back his allegations and for being overly generous to Leffen overall, and argues that the very logic used to justify his ban could be used to justify banning Leffen for his interactions with Hungrybox alone.

On September 24th 2021, Hax released a video where he apologised for his conduct throughout his conflict with Leffen, claiming it to come from an argument over the revision of the Metagame Documentary that he took too far. This also came with an apology tweet on Twitter.

On July 25th 2022, Hax issued a public apology to Leffen, Jisu, and others affected by his conduct resulting from evidence.zip 2. In the video, he revealed that he was suffering from alcoholism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a bout of psychosis. He also apologised for his comments on the #MeToo movement, citing his black and white thinking as a contributing factor. He revealed that since these events, he had been sober for 9 months and has been working on his personal issues.

On 28th October 2023, Hax$ released a ban appeal and apology video on his YouTube channel, apologising to Leffen, tournament organisers, and more. He also discussed the progress he made in the 2 years since his ban.

Hax$ would release another ban appeal on 21st January 2024, wherein he also leaked the testimonies from the original 2013 Evidence.zip. The ban appeal was later unlisted and archived on a separate channel. A week later, Hax$ would release a video titled "The Truth", which continued to link the leaked Evidence.zip testimonies. This resulted in Hax being re-banned from the NYC Melee Community, as a result of a clause in the ban contract that prevented public statements.

On 7th March 2024, Hax$ released another apology video where he sincerely apologises to Leffen and deemed his past behaviour "self-destructive" and discusses his previous relapses and decision-making, believing that none of what he did was honourable and was arguably an orchestrated harassment campaign. Mew2King notably comments requesting an unban of Hax$ on the basis of his own harassers not being banned at all, and in June 2024, went on to make a video on the matter. Additionally, outside commentary from YouTubers such as SimpleFlips was produced that same month.

On 30th May 2024, DarkGenex released a statement regarding Hax's ban, detailing, among other things, a bipolar disorder diagnosis, hospitalisation, and suicide attempts, coming from his failed ban appeals. Additionally, DarkGenex recounted private handlings of Hax's ban, where Hax is shown to have harassed multiple TOs, including going to a post-venue bar to try and appeal his ban.

On 30th July, 2024, Hax$ released a ban appeal video, specifically regarding his re-ban in January 2024. He brought up an issue with getting private responses from TOs regarding how long his indefinite ban would be, due to ambiguity between the 2 year ban and indefinite clause. Due to an inability to get responses, he argued that his public ban appeals were justified, and that a 6 month ban would have been more justified, or at least due process. Given these factors, Hax deems the ban as "cruel" and that, in spite of his own faults, there were mistakes on both sides. Following criticisms from Radar, he released a follow-up video clarifying points raised.

Trivia

Hax$ holding the joke B0XX design.

• Hax popularized the "20XX" meme in the Melee community. 20XX is an allusion to the introduction of Mega Man, that announced that "The year is 20XX". 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 can perfectly capitalise on every situation, matches are determined by a rock-paper-scissors match for port priority. The joke is often referenced in Fox mirror matches and 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 are 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.

  • When interviewed at Super Nebulous 4, Hax mentioned that both the 20XX meme and his usage of Fox were partially attributable to Mango and PPMD.
  • Similar to the 20XX meme, Hax also coined the term 666XX, about Hungrybox's American dominance in early 2016 with Jigglypuff.
  • Since his switch to Fox, Hax commonly expresses his dislike for Captain Falcon as an inferior character in Melee, to the point where he claims the optimal strategy for using Captain Falcon is to "L R A Start Fox"-- or quitting out of the match to select Fox on the character select screen. Hax even created a B0XX with only those buttons available on the "Falcon Design".
• Hax is known for starting a copypasta within the Smash community. After he lost to Mango at The Big House 4, where Mango was using Captain Falcon and Marth instead of his mains Fox and Falco, Hax tweeted about Mango's "disrespectful" gameplay, accusing Mango of being "a straight up jerk" and "so BM [bad-mannered]" because he picked "joke characters" in a serious tournament match. The exaggerated language in this tweet has since led to its parroting on reddit and other online communities.
  • Almost two years later at Pound 2016, after Mango played Marth against Hax again and lost, Hax tweeted the same message as a humorous nod to the original post.
• In addition to Super Smash Bros. Melee, Hax has played a variety of games competitively:
  • Hax placed 2nd in the 12 and under Nationals for the 2006 Pokemon Journey Across America Tournament.
  • Hax used to attend tournaments for the Pokémon Trading Card Game. He notably made it to the quarterfinals of the 2008 World Championships Senior Division, after finishing the Swiss rounds in 1st place.
  • In the game League of Legends, Hax was one of the best Twisted Fate players in North America, attaining the Challenger rank (the highest in the game) two seasons in a row.
• Hax was the first player to reach 3000 elo on the Slippi Leaderboards, achieving an elo of 3000.7 on March 3rd, 2023.

External links

• Twitter account
• SmashBoards public profile