who are 5 melee players you look up to or enjoy watching and what aspects of their game do you enjoy the most
1. Hungrybox- This dude's an inspiration to me because he uses a mediocre character (comparatively to marth/fox/falco) and faces extreme hate from the community but remains unfaltering no matter what. I admire that winning is pretty much everything to him. I started melee when hungrybox was the #5 player in the world and was almost considered a "tier below" the other Gods. To watch him climb regardless of hatred in the community to eventually be the #1 player (first half of 2016) was admirable to me and he's my favorite player!
As for gameplay, Hungrybox's combo game is underrated-- particularly his ability to extend through "tech chasing" which often consists of reads. The way it seems almost every player in the world has trouble landing kill moves on Hbox is nuts to me. His fantastic spacing shows when he avoids almost all kill moves (and gets great whiff punishes). That's why foxes imo are more intent on using lasers a bunch on him these days.
2. Axe- Axe is a player whose consistency is unmatched at his level. When you think of players near axe you think of guys like Sfat, Westballz, or Chudat. While these players all use characters who are considered better than pikachu (though tbf I think icies suck), none of them have results as consistent as axe's results. Axe is also
by far the closest non-god to beating armada, even including Plup. Of the players axe has had trouble beating (hbox/armada/plup), he's been able to take them each to game 5. Axe has even taken a set off hbox in the past. I feel like people don't acknowledge axe's potential to become a top 3 player because they believe pikachu is too restricting. Personally, I love watching a lesser-used character, but I really don't think pikachu is that bad. I don't think any of pikachu's MUs are unwinnable. In contrast, Samus and Ice climbers have multiple MUs that I consider unwinnable, despite the fact that both Samus and Icies are considered superior to pikachu. Pikachu has the tools to win, and Axe is an amazing player, so I think he can get even better!
My favorite part of axe's gameplay is the edge guards he brings to the table. Axe has such a unique edgeguarding style that's both calculated while also still being aggressive and flashy. I really enjoy watching him edge guard.
3. The Moon- Moon has been a player who has been just outside of the cusp of greatness for a few years. Now, I feel as if he's shattered that barrier. He's amazing and has leveled up extremely in the past year and a half. It's sick for me to watch someone actively level up. I can see the difference watching moon now vs a year ago. He improves at such a rapid rate I think it's awesome.
It's no secret that I hate marth. A lot. But moon is always thinking when he's playing, often going for things that I don't see other marth players go for. Moon doesn't play lazy, something I find that most marths do, even M2k tbh.
4. Plup- It's good to be a plup fan. He's another player who rapidly improves incessantly. I think plup is the best sheik and the best samus in melee, and honestly I don't see much competition for either. It's very clear that plup is by far the best samus, but I also believe that his sheik is pretty much unmatched. He has m2k beat in almost every match up, except maybe the ditto. Plup doesn't drop sets to axe, any captain falcons, any samus players, or almost any character below sheik tbh. I think it's very possible that plup could one day be the best player in the world.
His gameplay imo is best described as "weird". it's centered on really strong movement and an unmatched shield drop game. No player in the world bases their gameplay off shield drops the way that plup does. Overall he's pretty much "great" in all categories tbh: edgeguarding, punish game, shield pressure, neutral, etc. I just think his shield drop centric game is sick. He'd be higher on the list if I didn't hate the "plup club" memes so much lool.
5. Amsa- Yoshi's fun af to watch and Amsa's adorable. That's pretty much most of why I like him LOL. Though I think yoshi's a pretty overrated character, Amsa seems to make it work. Honestly I don't think he can improve with solo yoshi, though i'm excited to see him perform in more tournaments soon!
My favorite part of his gameplay is tech skill. Maybe weird, but I like seeing all the yoshi-specific tech. Double jump cancels, edge stalling with eggs, double jump superarmor, and perrying are all really interesting for me to see. I just enjoy seeing a character with a lot of unique qualities.