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 | ~$14,018.18 |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Aziz Al-Yami |
| Birth date | |
| Location | New York City, New York 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill | Top professional  Professional
|
Hax, also informally known as Hax$ or HAX FUCKING MONEY, 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. He had carpal tunnel but then got surgery in 2016.
History
Origin of the name
Hax used to be into competitive Pokémon, to which he turned to a popular website named Smogon before creating his own. The name actually came from people calling "hax" after a severe or undermining loss. 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 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.
2015: 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 Second 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. 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.
2016: The Third Hiatus
After initially making himself eligible for being voted to participate in Smash Summit 2, Hax had to drop out due to another hand injury. Its recurrence has prompted another indefinite hiatus from Smash until he can fully recover.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. 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 |
| Good Shit German | July 24th-25th, 2010 | 13th | 5th | Scar |
| 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$ |
| 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 2-3, 2016 | 3rd | — | — |
| Collision XIII | April 16th, 2016 | 1st | — | — |
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.
- 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, which is basically 20XX, but replace Fox with Jigglypuff.
- In addition to Super Smash Bros. Melee, Hax also played 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.
- An all-around excellent player, Hax is usually considered unbeatable when the crowd is behind him, similar to Mew2King.
