| Technicals "XFaZeLiNkX" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Character info | |
| Smash 4 main | Fox |
| Retired Smash 4 character | Toon Link |
| Rankings and results info | |
| Most recent ranking |  Las Vegas Power Rankings April 2018: 8th |
| Best tournament result | 25th / 154 at Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | Brandon Jackson |
| Location | Oklahoma 
|
Technicals is a YouTuber from Las Vegas, Nevada, who initially was a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Fox player, where he was formerly ranked 8th on the Las Vegas Smash 4 Power Rankings. He would later gain notoriety for his series of YouTube videos covering the misconduct allegations within the competitive Smash community from 2020 and onwards. Technicals began uploading YouTube videos in 2015, with a few of his videos focused on creating guides for Toon Link in Smash 4, often referring to himself as "XFaZeLiNkX". He would also upload several gameplay videos of Smash 4 on his side channel, which has since gone inactive.
Overview
One of the first videos of his modern content was one where he criticizes JK's actions after an incident involving an attempted vehicular homicide towards several people including Technicals, Charliedaking, and S2H in November 2017. This was a follow-up from a Twitlonger that Technicals released, which reported the incident and resulted in JK's ban from locals in the Las Vegas scene.[1] At the time of the video's upload, JK was allowed back into the Las Vegas Smash 4 community, following the community backroom unbanning him, believing that he changed, while Technicals argues that he hasn't, citing his unapologetic nature, self-centered belief of being safe with other players, and lack of communication with the victims.
Technicals would eventually branch out into commentary and rant style videos, with many centered around criticizing other smashers or investigating the cases of smashers embroiled in controversy. Technicals would go on to criticize Ally, ESAM, false, and several other players. He would also cover topics such as tamim's accusations of pedophilia in the Smash community. Some of these videos are now unlisted, such as his commentary on Pierce. The first video from Technicals to gain significant traction was a video on ESAM in 2020, which was a follow-up from a previous video he did in 2018 that criticized his content and his beliefs within the community. In this video, he accuses ESAM of hypocrisy for calling out other figures within the community for inappropriate behavior such as racism and sexism, despite ESAM's past behavior being very similar. This video prompted ESAM to make a response video apologizing for his behavior back then, and would later apologize to MJG and FOW for promoting false claims about them as well.
Technicals would gain further notoriety for his series of YouTube videos covering the misconduct allegations within the competitive Smash community in 2020. Several videos involve ZeRo, due to Jisu allegedly spreading misinformation about the allegations against him, and Technicals would later advocate for ZeRo being innocent of several of these accusations, but later took the video down after Jisu threatened to sue him if didn't comply.[2] He later interviewed players such as ANTi regarding the allegations made towards him, and cover controversies surrounding Sky Williams and CaptainZack. He would then advocate for Samsora and Nairo's bans, and make numerous videos criticizing other figureheads in the community, such as VGBootCamp, largely due to circumstances that lead to the cancellation of Smash World Tour 2022. He also began collaborating with fellow Smash YouTuber theFranChise, who also covers controversial Smash topics.
Tournament placings
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 placement | 2v2 placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hero to ZeRo |
November 5th-7th, 2016 | 129th / 1019 | — | — |
| Battle on the Strip | November 12th-20th, 2016 | 61st / 235 | — | — |
| 2GGT: ZeRo Saga | December 16th-18th, 2016 | 97th / 361 | 33rd / 105 | Brosinex |
| EVO 2017 | July 14th-16th, 2017 | 481st / 1508 | — | — |
| 2GGC: SCR Saga | August 19th-20th, 2017 | 129th / 301 | — | — |
| 2GGC: West Side Saga | September 9th, 2017 | 193rd / 300 | — | — |
| Rise 2018 | March 17th-18th, 2018 | 73rd / 150 | 13th / 42 | Brosinex |
| Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas | March 24th-25th, 2018 | 25th / 154 | — | — |
Controversies
Placement on the Global Ban Database
On October 6, 2018, Technicals would upload a video titled Detective Tech - ESAM. This video included a skit where Technicals subscribed to SleepyKokiri's Patreon and pretends to masturbate over it. While this didn't spark much controversy initially, on June 29th, 2020, SleepyKokiri would respond to the skit in a tweet, highlighting how it made her feel "violated".
On July 1st, Dark Wizzy would create a document advocating for the ban of several individuals from the Smash community, which included Technicals on it for the skit. Technicals would respond three days later in his Tech Talks series, where he contested his inclusion by stating that he believed SleepyKokiri knew people had already derived sexual pleasure from her deliberately lewd content, and believed the joke he made within the video had a negligible impact on her wellbeing. He concluded the video by highlighting how minor his offense was, in comparison to other people included on Dark Wizzy's document. Dark Wizzy would later defend his position, causing a divide amongst the community on whether if Technicals's inclusion on the list was warranted or not. Despite the mixed reception from the community at large, Technicals was still included on Cagt's Global Ban Database, and remained on it until its eventual dissolution.[3]. However, Technicals' placement on the GBD was not universally recognized; notably, Technicals was never banned from his local scene in Las Vegas, as he pointed out several times on Twitter in response to frequent claims that he was banned from his locals.[4]
Double Down 2022
Technicals would attend Double Down 2022, a major organized by VGBootCamp, where he brought a sign that said "Ban Nairo", which was barred from being shown on-stream. After Day 2 of Double Down 2022, Technicals was informed via Double Down's official Twitter account that he would not be allowed to enter on Day 3 due to his inclusion on the Global Ban Database. Technicals contested this ban with Cagt, who refused to remove Technicals from the Global Ban Database. On Day 3 of the event, Technicals entered the tournament disguised as a woman, and at Grand Finals of Ultimate Singles, he held up the aforementioned sign to the cameras. Later, Technicals was confronted by GimR and Aposl, which resulted in an argument that Technicals recorded, and Technicals would publicize his perspective of this event on October 31 with his video Exposing the Corruption in the Smash Community.
During Nairo's watch party of Double Down 2022, Nairo exclaimed "Look, it's my biggest fan!" at the sight of Technicals holding up the sign.[5]
External links
Gameplay videos
- BKO | AC vs Tsugi | Technicals - Pools - Battle for Vegas
- Rise 2018 Wave 2 Pools - Stroder (Greninja) vs Technicals (Fox)
- Technicals (Toon Link) vs. Fow (Ness) - Wii U Grand Finals - S4M
- CaiusRed (Shulk) vs. Technicals (Toon Link) - Wii U Winners Round 2 - S4M
- 2GGT: ZeRo Saga - AC + Charliedaking (Red) Vs. Brosinex + Technicals (Blue) Doubles Winners