How I Won Smash Summit 8 

This feels like "inside Zain's brain" but if it was actually serious

This is my first time editing a video like this. I really learned a lot lol. I hope you all enjoy, and thank you very much for watching!

"I absolutely love that mentality, so then I gimped him at 4%"

This is still one of my favorite things that's ever happened to Melee. A player who plays a midtier character, silencing all the people who said he couldn't do it, proving he could win a major tournament. To this day, I still have so much respect for your grind and determination to get the win. Congrats Axe.

lol "are they clean?"

“Uh, are they clean?” LMAO I LOVE WIZZY

That second to last stock at the very end of Grand Finals was the most tense I had ever felt watching any set of Smash. I could not imagine all the synapses firing off in your brain to not only recover from the first set of Grand Finals, but then to reverse the tides. Smash Summit 8 is in the annals of Melee forever. Pikachu! Pikachu! Pikachu! Pikachu! :azaxeHeart:

I watched it live, which is a big deal because I'm on the other side of the world, and watching tournaments means staying up all night. My usual rule for super major tournaments is I keep watching until you're out of it, which usually means most of top 8. And then at Summit you didn't lose, and I kept watching. And I was jumping in my house at like 5:00 am, like a god damn football hooligan celebrating. This video was fun to watch, you're awesome Axe.

Seeing axe cry at the end made me cry, even tho i knew what was gonna happen D:

Leffen lowkey been shading axe for YEARS, just like how he did with Plup early on

That last "I won, ya!" with the voice crack (from your post-tournament stream) makes me tear up every time

Axe, this is so good. Amazing work man!

I remember that I was on a flight back home, so I missed top 5 of this tournament. I check my phone after the flight and my jaw dropped when I saw that you won. My heart still races everytime I think about this event and your win. This video was really well done and I’d be interested to see you do more videos in this style. Take the gold again next time man!

All this time i tought Vman whispered ''You see?'' in your ear! Lmao great video Axe i got emotional remembering that run

We are truly blessed to have Axe in our community. He's so fucking wholesome and genuine and I get teary-eyed every time I see his reaction to winning Summit.

5:03 The “letting him back” mentality here is a whole new level of good sportsmanship. Axe is such a homie

The best moment to see the win of a major tourney of my favorite player was something I wanted to see for such a long time. You're the best Jeff and i'm always gonna be behind your back and your fans. Pika power!

I met you at Genesis & had you sign my Wii, i think you’ll remember, i was the one who accidentally called it a “Gamecube” 😅😂 you’re a kind soul Axe, this video made me proud & my friend *who you also signed his game* loves your playstyle. 🙏🏽

I've watched this the day the video was made and a few times after. I still feel the same emotion every time I watch and tear up a little at the end. We love you Axe.

To me you're the face of the "not being a shitty player" mentality and I love you for that. Well played my dude!

Congrats again, Axe ❤️

Jeff, why you making me cry? I cried when you won, cried when i saw highlights of the tourney after, and now youre making me cry again. I'm so proud of you Jeff, you're so wonderful and deserve every bit of recognition. Love you! Can't wait to come to az and steal your redbull

Made me cry all over again. So proud and happy for you my man. :)

The pop-off on stream was amazing, you've worked so hard to get this win and I'm glad to have been part of the journey! Hopefully when melee returns you'll be able to do it again!

When I was watching live and heard you pop off after winning, I was so happy. I had been watching you for so many years, just waiting for your first major win and finally seeing it got me emotional.

the victory scream into hug was so satisfying to watch, damn that summit felt good

Made me tear up all over again, awesome work on the video, was great to hear a bit of the behind the scenes and your thoughts throughout.

Even though the last stock is muted from the commentators, I can still hear them saying “That was the SNEAKIEST up air!” in my head

bruh imma de honest. I'm not too much into melee (i like watching some "best moments compilations" here and there) and i didnt even know u before watching this. But after seeing all this character development trough the vid made me a new fan. Congrats on your win m8, well deserved

You and wizzy were so close to each other that whole tournament, I’m so glad you won and made this video. Really cool to hear you talk about your own play as well I’d love to watch more videos like these in the future

I couldn’t believe it when you said this was 1 year ago, it feels so much more recent. Somebody keeps chopping onions around me when you go downstairs after the win, crazy moment.

Good music choice for set 2

I loved this so much

Heeey all that time spent video editing really paid off. This is awesome!

The best timeline

15:46 dude in the white t shirt in the back had to walk away to hold back the tears pretty heart warming.

You're so tight dog, thanks for continuously putting AZ on the map like a boss.

There wasn't one dry eye in the community that whole day. I still tear up every time I see this. My favorite moment of melee of all time

Imaging bragging to everyone about how the only reason you lost last time yall played was because you were rusty and then getting beat again the next day. Leffin is a joke

Where do you find (pro) gaming content with 3.1K likes and 15 dislikes? Only with the man Axe that I've ever seen! Uou were already one of my fave players just from watching but you're one sweet dude thanks for sharing this with us!

I literally cried when I watched this live T_T

Smash Summit 8 will go down in history as one of the best majors to date, or at least I think it should. Watching all the amazing competitors, and then seeing Axe vs Wizz in the finals was so hype, because it was so unprecedented to see these two on so on their game. Axe's epic victory, over a decade of climbing slowly to the top, all came to that amazing grab chain and then ledge grab. This shit can be so god damn hype sometimes.

Loved this video, Axe. I'd love to see more content from you like this, even from events at which you didn't perform as well as you would've liked to. It's really fascinating to have a lense into the mind of melee pros in this way.

I love you axe, you inspire me to push a new meta and to never stop giving it my all, whether its in the lab or on the main stage.

why can this children's party game bring me to tears, shits crazy

I can't believe it's been a year already. You're my #1 melee player, Axe, and I wish you the best. I can't wait for more success stories. Stay awesome!

My favorite moment in all of smash for sure. Love you axe! ❤

Congratulations, this victory really made me cry, it was beautiful.

watching this tournament win got me to pick up the game competitively. i used to play pika (now a sheik main lol) and it was crazy motivating to see you win. big

Leffen from JohnsTown

Axe is a legend

Dude!! Haven't watched yet but SO hyped you made this type of video!! 👌👌👌🔥

Congrats. I love this style of content that gives even more character behind each set and moment.

Idk how you held it together, as soon as V man hugged you I started crying )':

So happy for Axe. Couldn’t help but get emotional watching all this again and hearing Axe’s insight. This was an awesome moment for an awesome person in an awesome game. Thank you Axe. Thank you Melee :’)

I enjoyed this, and the audio mixing is sublime

Favorite smash tournament ever. Congrats once again Axe!

This grandfinals was absolutely insane the day it happened. Such a fuckin delight to see you succeed even tho i dont like pikachu. Such a great story 13 years and you never quit the game. Thats fuckin determination right there

I loved your narration putting each big match you were up against in context. really made a story out of it. I hope you make more videos with your lovely Voice

Great video, Axe! I love hearing the process behind your mentality.

What a beautiful sense of friendship and community when you came downstairs. I love to see it. Melee never dies.

This is quality, ive been watching all this melee stuff and found your channel, very cool, i like pika too, and your mindset, +subscriber road to 20k

The smash community loves you Axe. Easily most likable smasher ever. Literally inspiring to watch you play.

Axe please make more content like this. I would love analysis vids from you man. Regardless congrats again on your win. It’s amazing to think a Pikachu took a summit. This is really a game with no limits!

That hug. Top ten anime moments of all time

When I saw you win this event I could'nt help myself but shed a tear by seeing you all emotional.. You've worked real hard for this to happen!! Congrats even tho it's been a year already!

2019: “Uh, are they clean?” Yes. 2020: “Uh, are they clean?” You now have Corona Virus.

Hungrybox's commentary during grands was sooo weird (12:27, for example)

Watching you tear up is so pure, cant wait to see you win your next one

I love seeing this kind of content from you!

Your mindset is so inspiring axe! Influences to me to keep trying and improve even when I get bodied/sandbagged. Wish me luck on my future locals! - Fan From BC Canada :)

The moment you won was edited perfectly

It always felt so fitting that it came down to you and Wizzy in grands. You were both spotlight players right underneath hbox for the year, and it came down to be a pretty even fight.

Dude those final clips always make me tear up a bit. You're sick axe!

Such a cool ass video. I didn't get to see the run live back then, as I wasn't into melee yet but I've heard the tales of the legendary Axe Summit 8 run. Moved me to tears, congratulations and who gl with future tourneys :)

Yo this format is tight, would love to see more of it.

teared up when i watched it live, teared up watching it again

tbh I sometimes still wake up in disbelief saying "Axe won Summit"

i come back to this every month or so. congrats axe

Listening to axe going through his games, really reminds me of a poker player talking about his hands

Best attitude in professional Melee, imo Love watching Axe play!

You deserved the win

We Love You Axe!

I come back to this Gem time to time. You have no idea how happy I was seeing you win this.

good video. melee mustwatch 4 shur!!

I introduced my girlfriend Evi to Melee and she loves to watch you and mang0. You're her inspiration, she decided on Pika as her main because of your insane skill and genuine personality. We were both incredibly happy when you won Summit 8 and it made me so happy to see her get so excited about Melee after only a short time of knowing the game in the same way I do after all these years. Brings a tear to my eye. Thank you

I recently started playing Pikachu and found it fit my playstyle. And then I found out about you. You are wholesome af man. Definitely someone to look up to in my case.

axe has such a sweet voice. also thanks this was a really cool video

really appreciated the slow-mos, incredible breakdown from a professional speaking unto beginner skill-level, tbh. that's skillful. I noticed you deliver each set for your run in the fashion of a beginning, middle and end for your impression of the players-- i feel that you as the player /editor was really selective, while maintaining the storytelling which is really hard to contain in only a 16 minute video. this is one of my favorite videos from you i'm glad if the hard work paid off. to expand, I'm sure that you as a player is really excited to talk about the ins and outs of the sets that occurred gameplay-wise, which i'm impressed that you decided to not include too much of the analysis and focus on last-stock crucial moments or interesting things. and you don't lose sight of delivering those here. I have not checked out more of your channel to see if you do analysis(which can take up a lot more time), but i appreciate the effort and thought put into this kind of video. lastly, it's a shame they did not broadcast the audio of you popping off like they sometimes do with summit production quality. Though it is nice you included your stream celebration too-- which also has screaming, LOL. overall-- hat's off!

This was the best thing ever. Thanks for being so inspirational Axe.

honestly watching you play any of your characters is so fun. whether its your pikachu, falco, or young link, you are the embodiment of Melee

I never heard of you, don't know too much about melee, nor have any skills playing it, but this was REAL man. Awesome story. Congrats!

14:53 I love this

Love the passion. Keep up the melee.

The part about the excitement interfering with your gameplay is so relatable

I love that you mention something that every player is the best at. Spread the love!

This is such a great genuine video of your perspective and mentality. An iconic moment for pikachu and melee congrats once again Axe this was an amazing run :)

It was an awesome day, I was so happy for you! I hope you can achieve more great things in your life

Love you axe, big inspiration to me.

Dude I almost shed a tear watching this, I’m so happy for Axe. The sportsmanship, the humility, his raw emotions, he just seems like a wonderful person. I wish I had a guy like that as my friend/brother, salute to u Axe ! Wishing u many more victories and wish u have a happy life, u deserve it man 💯💚🐐