When folks take into consideration Tremendous Smash Bros. Melee, one mantra involves thoughts: “No objects, Fox solely, Last Vacation spot.” It’s been memed everywhere in the web, symbolizing the dauntingly unbalanced nature of Melee’s character roster. If somebody have been to interrupt the mould and convey the lower-tier characters into the limelight, one would assume it’d take half a decade or so to make it to the highest. For Arjun “Junebug” Rao, although, it took lower than a yr.
After repeatedly astounding performances with Donkey Kong, Junebug’s outcomes have been lately acknowledged by the Melee panelists who decide the nationwide rankings. On Aug. 7, Junebug was ranked 45th in the world for the summer 2023 period. For the primary time in Melee’s 22-year-long aggressive lifespan, a Donkey Kong was globally represented in a prime 50 rating.
All through Melee’s lifespan, Donkey Kong has hovered across the decrease mid-tier. As of 2021—when the most recent community tier list was posted on PGStats—DK ranked sixteenth out of a roster of 26. Melee is a sport wherein each high-tier character has both impeccable motion or can throw out assaults faster than their opponent. Sadly for the large ape, he does neither, as a substitute floating by way of the air and presenting himself as nothing greater than an enormous hurtbox, simply ready to be slashed by Marth’s blade or peppered with Falco’s lasers.
DK’s one saving grace, which has all the time been recognized about, was his highly effective combo sport. As you may count on from a large gorilla, as soon as DK will get his arms on you, you’ll be able to kiss your life goodbye. His ahead throw—colloquially titled the “Cargo Throw” by the Smash Bros. group—permits him to hold his opponent round earlier than tossing them in any path the participant chooses. With this, DK can elevate up his opponent, soar as much as a platform, then toss them up into the air. As soon as his opponent is within the air, DK can juggle them with repeated aerial assaults that maintain them within the air till he finishes the job with a charged-up winding punch.
Usually, a robust combo sport can solely get you to this point. In any case, what level is there in killing off of 1 seize for those who’re too massive and sluggish to land the primary blow? However Junebug isn’t any atypical Smasher; earlier than making an attempt out DK, he was a high-level Sheik participant in Melee and arguably the most effective Diddy Kong in Undertaking M (a mod of Tremendous Smash Bros. Brawl that performs extra like Melee).
Whereas he largely stepped again from competing in 2019, Junebug has maintained a presence by way of his YouTube channel, the place he does in-depth analyses of the mid-and-low tiers on the Melee roster and the way they have been mounted in Undertaking M. To do correct analysis for these movies, Junebug would put apart a couple of months to be taught the ins and outs of those characters and compete with them in tournaments for a short time to assemble footage towards high-level expertise. Earlier than DK, Junebug positioned within the prime 16 with Dr. Mario in March 2022 at Double Down, a serious Smash Bros. occasion with 368 entrants, before DQing in hilarious fashion to attend a magic show.
After his success with Dr. Mario, Junebug got everything he needed to complete that video, so he turned to his subsequent undertaking. The primary notable occasion that Junebug’s DK attended was M Collection No. 8 on Jan. 28, 2023. M Collection No. 8 was a month-to-month event in Baltimore, Maryland that additionally held a five-vs-five occasion for regional crew battles. Junebug’s area, Richmond, Virginia, dominated the crews occasion, with Junebug himself taking out half of the opponent’s workforce singlehandedly within the grand finals. In Melee singles, Junebug went on a exceptional run, beating former and present prime 100 gamers like Khryke, mvlvchi, Polish, and JOJI. Ultimately, Junebug positioned second, dropping solely to Kevin Maples, who presently holds the No. 1 spot within the Maryland-Virginia energy rating.
Ultimately, M Collection No. 8 and Junebug’s astounding run confirmed simply how educated he was as a participant—and simply how a lot potential DK needed to supply. A month and a half later, Junebug attended Collision—a serious occasion with 494 attendants, together with a number of prime 10 gamers on the earth—and positioned seventeenth. Inside only a few months of competing with DK, Junebug received among the greatest outcomes that the character has ever seen—and back-to-back, no much less.
Every part got here collectively for Junebug at his subsequent three occasions. It’s Not You It’s Melee had two month-to-month occasions on March 26 and April 23, adopted carefully after by Xanadu Legends, the five hundredth version of considered one of Melee’s longest-standing event sequence. Junebug’s DK positioned first in any respect three of those occasions with out dropping a single set at any of them, beating former and present prime 100 gamers on the earth and most of Maryland and Virginia’s greatest gamers. Ultimately, Junebug had demonstrated sheer mastery of the character.
On July 11, Junebug finally posted his Donkey Kong video on YouTube. “I’m right here to inform you the sky is the restrict with Donkey Kong,” Junebug mentioned. Whereas a lot of the Melee group chalked the Kong up as nothing greater than an enormous punching bag who was too linear in his approaches to get a combo began towards a quick opponent, Junebug summarized him otherwise: “a heavy grappler character that may zone you out, scrap with invincible and disjointed choices, and straight-up kill you with a single seize.”
For anybody trying to catch extra high-level DK play, you gained’t have to attend lengthy. Tremendous Smash Con, one of many greatest Smash Bros. tournaments of the yr, can have a five-vs-five crew battle on Saturday, Aug. 12, pitting among the greatest Melee Donkey Kong mains towards Ganondorfs. Yasin “Mekk” Mekki, the captain of the Ganondorf workforce, put this occasion into movement to facilitate a pleasant rivalry between mid-tier lovers. Equally to Junebug, Mekk has solely been competing severely with Ganondorf for the final yr in an try to offer the King of Darkness extra high-level illustration. Junebug will probably be main the Kong workforce, alongside different expertise akin to Dashish DK Moe and Undertaking M powerhouse Nogh.
Regardless of Melee being joked about as a damaged mess of a sport with only some viable characters, increasingly mid-tiers are pushing that boundary and displaying off the great thing about perseverance. “The Donkey Kong Renaissance,” as folks prefer to name it, is only one of many current anomalies within the Melee aggressive scene. Many followers are on the sting of their seats questioning which character will pop off subsequent and simply how far Junebug can push the DK meta.
Concerning the creator
