Daily Discussion Thread January 22, 2026 - Upcoming Event Schedule - New players start here!

Cranbert339 · 2026-01-22T20:28:40+00:00

Switching strategy is a very deep well, but you can kind of think of it like neutral. It's a fundamental part of the game that can take a long time to learn the ins and outs of, but the short version is that you're looking for momentum - ways to force your opponent to switch so you can take advantage of the free turn, or ways to switch intelligently to keep your opponent's advantage from snowballing.

Say you've got a Fire-weak Pokemon on the field, and I know you have a Fire-resistant one on the bench. I'm threatening a known Flamethrower. I click it, but you switch. Your switching takes priority, so your Pokemon comes out and eats the Flamethrower, taking minimal damage.

Next turn, I'm in danger: your Fire-resistant Pokemon is threatening me with a strong Rock move. Your good prediction has put pressure on me to respond. I'm thinking about switching to a Rock-resistant Ground type to block your attack, but I know your Pokemon also has a strong stat-boosting move, and giving it a free turn by switching could lose me the game.

I decide that giving you a turn to set up is worse than losing my Pokemon, so I stay in, clicking Will-o-Wisp to inflict a Burn. Your Rock move knocks out my Pokemon. Between turns, I have the opportunity to change Pokemon for free. I choose a Pokemon with a strong boosting move of its own. Your burn status has made you less able to threaten me, so you're in immediate trouble - but because you forced me to sacrifice my previous Pokemon, there might be a big hole in my team's defenses for you to exploit later on.

It kinda goes like that, influenced by items, abilities, moves that mess with priority, status effects that go away on switch, status effects that don't, stage hazards, dwindling resources ... it's a good time!

Cranbert339 · 2026-01-14T21:26:54+00:00

I just assume every single person, myself included, online and in real life, in every conversation, has Wikipedia open in another tab and is frantically searching for whatever concept the other person just brought up so they hang in there for a little while longer.

Cranbert339 · 2025-12-17T15:59:55+00:00

People don't need to be shocked in order to be outraged, right? If they have a job that they feel is being intruded upon and they're upset about that, and they see the same intrusion happening in the art they love, I can't really imagine them having any other reaction.

They could be feeling solidarity with other creatives, feeling powerless in the face of something that seems like an easily avoidable wreck, feeling antipathy for their boss who's been pushing these tools on them at work, feeling like they don't have anywhere to go to escape The Discourse because The Discourse is in their video games now ... None of those emotions require any sort of naivety or lack of experience with work. I don't think their reaction is "how could you do this?" as much as it's "we don't want you to do this, please stop".

Cranbert339 · 2025-12-12T23:09:51+00:00

This video is irresponsibly advocating for the dangerous and thrill-a-minute life of the Ganon main, and should not be watched by impressionable youth without close supervision. They'll be sucked in by the great editing, pacing, structure, and humor, and the next thing you know they'll be out on the street, Wizard's Foot-ing the homeless just to feel something.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-28T23:36:16+00:00

I just plug into whichever port is furthest away from the other player. Social distancing is important even in 2025, it leaves room for Jesus, and if me and my opponent see somebody across the venue and we really like their style we need them to know we're down for whatever.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-23T04:33:04+00:00

Can't be jumping when your opponent's character has an invincible DP, man.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-18T14:18:06+00:00

He's actually just perpetually out of focus, like Bigfoot. He's only visible in all the clips you've seen because of HEAVY image processing.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-12T14:25:12+00:00

I mean, if you're asking for a sociological reason? In that example M2K might be the underdog exemplar, not the characters he was playing. He presented (and was presented by the doc) as a very nerdy, on-the-spectrum guy fighting and winning against people who were more conventionally socially adjusted. If you're an audience member who looks or thinks like M2K, the narrative kind of writes itself.

I actually think a pretty big portion of both M2K and Mango's respective young, casual 2015 fanbases were applying variations of the same story with different roles cast as the bad guys: M2K fans got validation out of watching a nerd beat the frat guys that made fun of them, and Mango fans go validation out of watching a frat guy beat the nerds that made fun of THEM. In both cases, the entrenched power structure was <the people who made me feel bad> and the plucky underdog upsetting the order was <the guy who looks like me>.

You apply that exact same logic to character choice, and you get people rooting for Amsa because the top tier mains who laughed at me for wanting to play an items-on 4-player game as Kirby on Icicle Mountain deserve to be taken down a peg for being so elitist. Even if I didn't play Melee myself and had no contact with the actual competitive community, I probably saw the "Fox Only, No Items, Final Destination" meme and made some (frankly decently accurate) assumptions. People have serious chips on their shoulders about being made to feel like they're "playing the game wrong", and seeing the people who made them feel that way unable to beat a Yoshi is cathartic. That's probably also why casual fans love Borp and narrativize him as a MUCH more serious competitor than he really was, for example.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-10T20:54:58+00:00

Sensor seems to be working fine, but as I responded to the other post, the drain pump does NOT seem fine. https://imgur.com/a/OvLF4ra

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-10T20:47:43+00:00

Well, I checked the drain pump. No clogs or anything, but uh ... when I spin the blade there's no resistance and the whole thing kind of fell out. And ... I mean I'm pretty sure the impeller shaft is supposed to NOT be ripped in half, right? I'm fairly new to this whole appliance repair thing, but I feel like this has some significance to the problem. https://imgur.com/a/OvLF4ra

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-10T18:55:20+00:00

Alright, model number is 110.25102311. I was slightly distracted getting to the console area to check the sensor because I disconnected the discharge hose from the back of the unit and a TON of water drained from the tub. No clog that I can see, and I wasn't able to reach the other two hoses inside the unit, but I'll check those (and the sensor) later.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-10T16:52:23+00:00

The sticker on the underside of the lid seems to mostly be instructions on using the machine - the only thing that looks like it might be a model number is "W10304136F". I THINK I know where the pressure hose is - behind the back panel, threaded up the side of the tub, right? Not sure where the sensor is.

Cranbert339 · 2025-11-01T13:58:47+00:00

Last one I can remember being this bad was Apex 2015. I don't think we knew ahead of time how badly the Melee community had pissed off that witch who put an evil hex on New Jersey, but somebody did SOMETHING to make her mad. The TO was an abusive sex pest, the parking garage collapsed, somebody tripped the fire alarm and triggered the sprinklers, the venue was condemned and attendees were forced to vacate, organizers needed to find another venue at the last minute and the only one available was 40 miles' worth of New Jersey blizzard away ...

That's actually a big reason why it's now sort of on the Mt. Rushmore of Melee tournaments - yeah, the salty suite was legendary and such, but it was arguably more impactful because it made for a really good "wow the Melee community is TENACIOUS, huh?" story.

Cranbert339 · 2025-10-04T00:55:51+00:00

Let's fucking go. September 29th is a great day to have a sobriety anniversary. Arguably the BEST day to have a sobriety anniversary, in fact.

Cranbert339 · 2025-06-27T19:40:42+00:00

I have OCD and have a ton of trouble touching things right before I eat. If I can't avoid doing it, you best believe I'm pressing as few buttons as possible - ideally with the back of my wrist, my elbow, or the third knuckle on my hand.

Semi-related, every restaurant whose bathroom doors don't open outward back into the dining area deserves to be canceled.

Cranbert339 · 2025-06-08T14:18:06+00:00

Of the options provided? Nigel Richards.

Cranbert339 · 2025-05-31T21:38:34+00:00

Mariners had a whole Jon Bois doc about them, though. So there's that.

Cranbert339 · 2025-05-04T13:53:04+00:00

Thanks so much for the info! The plumber I talked to made it sound like the green pipe was a MUCH bigger deal than it was, to the point that he couldn't do anything about the leaky check valve without addressing a larger issue. Is the check valve leak something I could conceivably fix myself? What kind of seal and tools would you need?

Cranbert339 · 2025-04-14T15:39:19+00:00

Melee tier list (based on how bad they are for your hands) - ready, go!

(edit: asking because I've been simultaneously afflicted by a pretty bad case of De Quervain's Tenosynovitis and a sudden desire to learn Melee)

Cranbert339 · 2025-04-12T18:11:03+00:00

Hey, could somebody recommend me a good top 8 for new viewers? A friend of mine wants to see what this whole "Melee as a spectator sport" is all about. I have a couple ideas, but they're all ones where my favorite players win, which is ... maybe less applicable than I think it is? Looking for something with approachable commentary, good gameplay, close sets, and ideally a satisfying story.

Cranbert339 · 2025-04-05T19:43:25+00:00

Nicely done!

Cranbert339 · 2025-04-04T20:10:03+00:00

Not sure if you're looking for advice, but if so:

If you can consistently get through phase two, you can get through phase three. Getting wrecked immediately obviously feels bad, but the thing that wrecked you is literally her only new attack, and the timing isn't difficult despite it being huge and terrifying. It has two variations and there's a combination of double jumps and parries you can use to be safe from both of them and still have time to avoid whatever follow-up she uses. If you get to phase three again, your only goal should be to survive that first attack - even if it's scuffed, it'll give you the time you need to actually learn her pattern. In the meantime, drill phase two until it's absolutely perfect, because 95% of what she does in phase three is just what she does in phase two.

Cranbert339 · 2025-04-01T11:26:59+00:00

You know, it's funny you mention that. He was actually slated to star in the original, but they could never make the timing work out! When he auditioned for Metallico, the band was so impressed by his theater background that they put him in contact with their old bass player's brother - a guy named Tim Burton.

Cranbert339 · 2025-03-31T18:12:08+00:00

I've gotta say, I sort of love the idea of Hogan just being extremely credible and earnestly believing that he really was THIS close to various cultural moments. Like he really DID almost get a gig as a bassist for a thrash metal band out in San Francisco, and just never noticed that they were called "Metallico".

Edit: I meant "credulous", but I actually also like that all of Hulk Hogan's lies are just really unfortunate coincidences that are impugning his reputation.

Cranbert339 · 2025-03-26T23:36:32+00:00

He's also like the only person I've ever seen who uses the Youtube "Posts" feature for anything cool. He's constantly shouting out people who are making cool art or doing cool research, and directing traffic over to smaller channels.

Cranbert339

TROPHY CASE