TheCrimsonBlur
Smash Master
By now, most of you have seen the Zenith teams videos on MeleeAtlNorth. If you haven't, I recommend you do.
So what made Kage/Axe so successful? Obviously they are amazing players in their own right, but watching the matches, I think there is more to it than that. They didn't just beat teams. They demolished all the top teams. Even teams which arguably have more overall individual talent.
So I look at their characters. I don't think what happened at Zenith was a fluke; Ganon and Pika are legitimately great teams partners. They cover each others weaknesses perfectly. Ganon lives to absurd %s because Pikachu can save him very well, and is quick enough to protect Ganon from edgeguards. Pikachu is so fast and hard to hit, that opponents just run into Ganon's zone chasing him. Its really hard to zone out a Pikachu (what you would do in singles) if there is a Ganon on screen.
The killing potential of the team is one of the best in the game. Pika's usmash and Ganon's well, everything kill at super low %s. Edgeguards are super quick. Pika covers the edge and Ganon hits them when they land on the stage. Ganon and Pika's uairs lead to 1-2 hit gimps/edgeguards.
They combo off each other beautifully. Pika's uair puts opponents in bad positions above him, and thats Ganon uair territory. All of Ganon's hits send people really far, but Pika is fast enough to follow up, usually with a tailspike.
They are also dominant on a variety of stages. Pick Dreamland and Ganon's living to 200 every stock (Pikachu isn't easy to kill either because of that recovery; usually up to 150ish). Having to work in 350 damage per stock on them is really hard, especially with how well Pikachu can save Ganon from **** and how Ganon can just clean the field with fairs. Yoshi's is suicide because Ganon can kill people at like 60 lol. On FD it is really hard to escape Ganon's range, so you are left with Stadium or Battlefield (and they will probably ban Stadium) which are pretty neutral stages.
No team really counterpicks them well. Puffs get blown up because of the raw power of the team, spacies die way too quick/get gimped, and Sheik grab shenanigans don't work that well because its teams.
Overall, its a fantastic team. I'd go so far as to say its one of the best in the game. I know Axe and Kage aren't teaming for Genesis, but I'd be really interested to see how they'd do if they did. Frankly, with the way they dominated Zenith, I wouldn't be surprised if they could win the whole thing....
So what made Kage/Axe so successful? Obviously they are amazing players in their own right, but watching the matches, I think there is more to it than that. They didn't just beat teams. They demolished all the top teams. Even teams which arguably have more overall individual talent.
So I look at their characters. I don't think what happened at Zenith was a fluke; Ganon and Pika are legitimately great teams partners. They cover each others weaknesses perfectly. Ganon lives to absurd %s because Pikachu can save him very well, and is quick enough to protect Ganon from edgeguards. Pikachu is so fast and hard to hit, that opponents just run into Ganon's zone chasing him. Its really hard to zone out a Pikachu (what you would do in singles) if there is a Ganon on screen.
The killing potential of the team is one of the best in the game. Pika's usmash and Ganon's well, everything kill at super low %s. Edgeguards are super quick. Pika covers the edge and Ganon hits them when they land on the stage. Ganon and Pika's uairs lead to 1-2 hit gimps/edgeguards.
They combo off each other beautifully. Pika's uair puts opponents in bad positions above him, and thats Ganon uair territory. All of Ganon's hits send people really far, but Pika is fast enough to follow up, usually with a tailspike.
They are also dominant on a variety of stages. Pick Dreamland and Ganon's living to 200 every stock (Pikachu isn't easy to kill either because of that recovery; usually up to 150ish). Having to work in 350 damage per stock on them is really hard, especially with how well Pikachu can save Ganon from **** and how Ganon can just clean the field with fairs. Yoshi's is suicide because Ganon can kill people at like 60 lol. On FD it is really hard to escape Ganon's range, so you are left with Stadium or Battlefield (and they will probably ban Stadium) which are pretty neutral stages.
No team really counterpicks them well. Puffs get blown up because of the raw power of the team, spacies die way too quick/get gimped, and Sheik grab shenanigans don't work that well because its teams.
Overall, its a fantastic team. I'd go so far as to say its one of the best in the game. I know Axe and Kage aren't teaming for Genesis, but I'd be really interested to see how they'd do if they did. Frankly, with the way they dominated Zenith, I wouldn't be surprised if they could win the whole thing....
