Smasher:Taj
- Not to be confused with Tai, another Marth player from Arizona
| Taj | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Melee mains | Mewtwo, Marth |
| Other Melee character | Young Link, Samus, Fox |
| Project M mains | Mewtwo, Marth |
| Team info | |
| Crew(s) | AZC |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Tony Jackson |
| Birth date | |
| Location | Gilbert, Arizona 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill |  Top professional (semi-active)  Top professional (retired)
|
Taj is an American smasher, internationally famous as one of the, if not, the number one Mewtwo player in the world in Melee, as well as being a notable Marth player, and is the creator of the series of combo videos Shadowclaw. Taj is also a former moderator on SmashBoards, responsible for the Pichu 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 PPMD. In bracket, he defeated DEHF, Hax, MacD and even Mango. He was then defeated by Armada 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 Hungrybox and Mew2King. 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 Young Link. He has also attended The Big House 6 making it into bracket with Mewtwo and getting top 16 in teams with Axe.
He also got 9th in Project M at Apex 2014, the 2nd largest Project M tournament of all time. He was eliminated by Ally 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. Forward 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 V3ctorman.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Champ Combo: NorCal Edition | April 8th, 2006 | 4th | 2nd | Forward |
| MLG Dallas 2006 | May 19th-20th, 2006 | 17th | 9th | Forward |
| MLG Anaheim 2006 | June 23rd-24th, 2006 | 17th | 3rd | Forward |
| Zero Challenge 2 | August 15th-17th, 2006 | 25th | 7th | Forward |
| NorCal Tournament 2 | October 28th, 2006 | 4th | 2nd | Forward |
| Pound 2 | June 16th-17th, 2007 | 7th | 4th | Forward |
| MELEE-FC Diamond | July 12th-14th, 2007 | 5th | 13th | Forward |
| Zero Challenge 3 | July 20th-22nd, 2007 | 17th | 9th | Wobbles |
| Super Champ Combo | September 29th-30th, 2007 | 13th | 5th | Wobbles |
| Mango Juice | March 21st, 2009 | 7th | 2nd | Wobbles |
| GENESIS | July 10th-12th, 2009 | 33rd | 13th | DoH |
| Pound 4 | January 16th-18th, 2010 | 49th | 13th | Axe |
| Apex 2010 | August 6th-8th, 2010 | 17th | 7th | Axe |
| Don't Go Down There Jeff | December 18th-19th, 2010 | 9th | 5th | Axe |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 3rd | 5th | Axe |
| Apex 2013 | January 11th-13th, 2013 | 33rd | 17th | Wobbles |
| EVO 2013 | July 12th-14th, 2013 | 13th | — | — |
| Smash the Target | January 3rd, 2015 | — | 2nd | Forward |
| Apex 2015 | January 30th-February 1st, 2015 | — | 17th | Wobbles |
| MVG Sandstorm | April 18th-19th, 2015 | — | 5th | Wobbles |
| Paragon Los Angeles 2015 | September 5th-6th, 2015 | 49th | — | — |
| Rewired 2015 | November 14th-15th, 2015 | 2nd | 2nd | Tai |
| GENESIS 3 | January 15th-17th, 2016 | — | 25th | Wobbles |
| The Big House 6 | October 7th-9th, 2016 | 33rd | 13th | Axe |
| Rewired 2016 | November 19th-21st, 2016 | 9th | 5th | Tai |
| Battlefield 10: 7 Days to GENESIS | January 14th, 2017 | 3rd | 2nd | Forward |
| SPC 37 | January 17th, 2017 | 1st | — | — |
| GENESIS 4 | January 20th-22nd 2017 | 97th | 65th | Dr.Z |
| Boss Rush: Shroomed | February 11th, 2017 | 4th | — | — |
| Boss Rush: Duck | March 11th, 2017 | 3rd | 3rd | Applesmaush |
| Boss Rush: SFAT | April 1st, 2017 | — | 1st | Medz |
| Runback 2017 | May 20th-21st, 2017 | 9th | 5th | VTS |
| Boss Rush: SmashG0D | July 8th, 2017 | — | 1st | Rishi |
| EVO 2017 | July 14th-16th, 2017 | 65th | — | — |
| Esports Arizona: Talking Stick Resort (February 2018) | February 10th, 2018 | — | 1st | Far! |
Project M
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project AZ | June 1st, 2013 | 1st | — | — |
| Salvation | June 22nd-23rd, 2013 | 1st | — | — |
| Apex 2014 | January 17th-19th, 2014 | 9th | — | — |
Trivia
- Due to his Mewtwo-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 Forward's infamous victory against the previously undefeated El Chocolate Diablo team featured Taj using Fox.
External links
- Twitter account
- SmashBoards profile
- ShadowClaw (Mewtwo combo video) - official thread
Gameplay videos
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
