My 100 Favourite Halo 3 Montages (Part II)

It feels a tiny bit weird putting this one on here because I’m pretty sure I used to talk mad shit whenever Tommy Kost wandered into snipers for playing like a doubles kid. Clearly, he’s not just a doubles kid. He’s got impressive gameplay and actually seems like a pretty chill individual. I don’t necessarily like the song he used for this montage, but I do like the vibe he goes with and even though he isn’t really an editor, I think he has good sensibilities. The gameplay is what makes this astounding, though. It always makes me feel really terrible at this game when I see that every single MLG kid has astounding level 50 gameplay. I love how they start off with a few nasty doubles to serve as an appetizer. The clips in this thing just showcase good fundamental MLG gameplay but with skill and confidence to go with it. There are really too many good clips to list a handful, but I will say I love the Jaro at the end because it’s such a scrappy clip. I can’t imagine staying alive and continuing to hit BR shots in that situation. Also, the little interlude is a nice touch and the song picked for the “leftovers” part is perfect. It’s so triumphant sounding and amplifies the clips that “weren’t good enough” but are secretly still better than anything I can get.

The one thing in this montage that really bugs me is Ruxs’ webdings text and the boring text on “Bring It”. Other than that, this is my favourite edit of his. Aside from picking a song that just fits H3 gameplay, Ruxs has some surprisingly good angles, excellent flow and a couple nice transitions, not to mention the very cool, very simple couple of angles that follow the intro text that set up as an effective intro. Of course the editing is meant to let the gameplay stand out and it sure does. It’s largely an MLG montage with a few snipers and slayer clips that are all, I believe, level 50. That makes the clips even more impressive. A couple favourites are the Pit snipers over exterm (which I’m certain is a really old clip that I’m glad to see in this), the Narrows Jaro exterm (mostly because the actual exterm shot is so cute with his little crouch before he gets it) and the montage ending no scope exterm (the fact he doesn’t zoom in after his shot makes this clips so much more beautiful). But my favourite part of the entire thing is the little two clips segment were Ruxs uses the music so perfectly with the Construct exterm into the Heretic Jaro. The falling body angle is so well done with the tune and then to move into such a merciless clip right after it is so perfect. I even love that he cut it to make you think maybe, just maybe Tetra hit that 2 for 1 tast.

If there’s one thing I can be sure of with Halo 3 montages, it’s that thestrangestick’s editing will always make me smile. There’s this thing with Halo montages where for some reason some people get all angry about social clips, the use of one-months and the low quality of the opposition. These people seem to think they’re superior or smart for “catching” this, but it’s not like most montagers hide their methods of getting clips. The reality is that it isn’t actually easy to get social clips (at least to community standards), but that doesn’t stop idiots from bitching. Hell, it happened on a Fatrat video just a little bit ago. That’s relevant because the intro is just a fuck you to those people. It’s genius, showing the creation of a one month and then hopping into some social. On top of that, the part of the intro with the question marks over the clearly awful kids just cracks me up every time. I love the editing in this above everything. The songs are upbeat and fun and it matches the gameplay. stick uses some really simple techniques with incredible results, like the angry face after the missed sticky, the part where he shows to cross map sticks in an interlude and flashes back and forth between them and of course his nod to Sor3, you cunts. Witty’s gameplay is really good and there’s a mix of different gametypes which is always nice. It’s probably not doing him justice, but that’s about all I have to say about the gameplay.

There are few, if any editors as technically brilliant as Muggsy and the thing that pisses me off about it is that he’s also got disgusting gameplay so basically he’s got his cake and he’s eating it, too. A lot of the time you find editing to hippity hop it’s done shitty, but Muggsy does it often (see: Naded’s scrapped montage) and does it well. The vibe he has on this montage with the Lupe Fiasco song is so good I almost think I like the song. His syncing is on point, molding the gameplay to the music seamlessly without disrupting flow and popping in cute little effects like the 3 v 3 graphic or the sneaky little double kill popping up on High Ground. A lot of the gameplay has been seen to death (a few of the clips were in Communitage 3, also on my list), but most of the ones that I haven’t seen too many times are still jaw dropping. The exterm with the 2 for 1 on Guardian snipes, the Blackout stick to quick scope double, the Narrows ricochet snipe to triple, the goose Jaro on High Ground… there are just so many standout clips. The only thing that bothers me is that Fiesta clip on Guardian where he picks up snipe first try. I know for a fact if I tried that I’d pick up a plasma pistol every time.

I can’t think of any montage that has a collection of songs that I dislike more, yet I can safely say I’ve gone on a few tears of watching this montage religiously. Trippin sets the tone with the epic, oh so serious intro. It’s fairly well done and sets the stage. The first few clips on Warriors aren’t particularly mind-blowing, so it does take a little bit to get into. Trippin does solid work on the first song, which is much more in tune with old school montages. His syncing is solid and he uses angles in his syncing very nicely. The second song is by far the worst song, but it’s also probably the best part of the montage. Trippin turns the editing up a notch with some neat transitions (watch for the transition into Zicknex’s clip on the pit), interesting syncing (the strafe on Snowbound) and some deadly angles (Spacey’s over exterm on Guardian). The last song is a far cry from the other two as it’s fairly straightforward on the editing and focuses on the melancholic aspect. It’s done pretty solidly, but pales in comparison to part 2. The community gameplay is actually a bit hit and miss. There are a few clips that are honestly just kind of bad. There are, of course, a handful of nasty ones, including an all no scope 2 for 1 tac, some dirty MLG exterms and lots of clips from known names like DareDontCare, Detox and Hypotonic.

One thing is clear, Stain3s is a man after my own heart. This bitch really just use Pelican? Respect. I remember first watching this montage thinking about expectations. You see so many social montages with outstanding gameplay and it can be hard to stand out. But Stain3s dropping down to hit that overkill on Epitaph and then continuing the clip had me knowing this was some real shit. THEN THERE’S THE TASTROPHE RIGHT AFTER IT. He’s definitely one of those guys who hits clips and each shot it seems like he’s just completely devastated the kid he sniped. Part of that could be the simple style of the montage with the post rock and everything. I really love his playstyle. His sniping is so confident and he strikes like a fucking cobra when he hits shit. My heart breaks everytime I see that Epitaph clip where he doesn’t get the second 2 for 1. :’(

Another TranQ montage. It’s like I’m a fanboy or some shit. The vibe of this montage with the Memro track really makes it for me. It’s kind of an interesting song because it’s upbeat but has a kind of serious tone which leaves the gameplay kind of the in middle. It allows the montage to feature fun clips right alongside the more insane ones. The best part of TranQ’s editing here is mostly pacing the clips, keeping the energy flowing without taking away from Spawn’s gameplay. He does a couple of edits where he’s jumping back and forth with the song that I don’t like so much, but it really is a minor complaint. His syncing on the Octagon clip and with the ghost triple are so well done. The gameplay itself is, of course, nuts. Few montagers have such a beautiful style as Spawn and his ability to hit clips in any playlist always wows me. The High Ground Jaro, the first Pit trocity and the MLG Guardian exterm are all highlights, but the trio of no scope overs on Last Resort, Valhalla and Pit that are back-to-back-to-back are absolutely jaw-dropping and obviously the ghost triple is one of the best clips of all time, in my non respected opinion. And it features TranQ’s signature of using the Spartan screaming in painful agony to perfection.

One of the earliest montages I can remember being into, Dualtality is iconic for a reason. So many editing techniques that Fragtality used in this are still alive and well today, including the epic atmosphere, angle laden intro. The editing is very much in tune with what comes to mind when you think of old school – some sort of nu metal sounding band with fast paced editing and simple edits designed for syncing purposes. The flow of the first song is really strong, but it’s really the second song that makes this montage. Damn you Fragtality for tugging at the heart strings. It’s definitely one of those songs that intends to show the game as one of the best looking games while trying to elicit youtube comments about the good old days and shit. This whole montage is well done, but it’s goosebump town after about 6:30 when the kids choir starts singing and Fragtality lays the editing on much thicker (while still being really well done). Nobody to this date except maybe Atiemark has pulled of the bullet flying through the air effect better than Dualtality and the part with the Spartan’s visor reflecting the rocket is just so damn sad looking. The gameplay isn’t special by today’s lofty standards, but damn do I remember being impressed by it back in the day when anything with a pro in it was considered a magical clip.

If watching Sor3’s editing doesn’t give you a hard on, then I don’t respect you. Sor3 always has such unique, inventive and artsy ideas and he always delivers with them. The first song is such an interesting piece to edit but Sor3 manages to sync it effortlessly, both with the shots and in between shots (note the double kill on the Construct clip). Other effects like the scribbles floating across the screen on the no scope or the apocalyptic background showing up on the Narrows clips are also incredibly well done. The Daft Punk song is where he really stands out, though. The flowery patterns that pop up behind the Spartans, the frame around the sniper scope, the flashing squares in the intro… everything about this edit is wonderful. Eamonn’s gameplay is also excellent. The very first clip sets the tone and there are a few standout clips like the Pit no scope over and the final Jaro on Valhalla that’s just so destructive. And to consider this came out in 2009… damn, son.

The vibe of this thing, man. I’m not a big fan of the song, but Seraphic’s flow with the up tempo hip hop is immaculate. Again, the editing is very simple yet effective. It’s a really clean looking montage and he focuses on things like good angles and interesting effects (like the one on Heretic) that don’t really impact the gameplay. The second song is a complete departure from the vibe of the first one (what with the Dave Chapelle quotes jumping into this super sad sounding song). At first it’s kind of a put off, but as the piano kicks in, Seraphic seems to get going and he nails the edit through the end and lets the whole thing get emotional. I love little things like his cut before the one Narrows exterm where he shows himself picking up the sniper. Completely unnecessary, but I still love it whatever reason. Seraphic’s gameplay is nuts, by the way. There are a handful clips that just blow me away. On Narrows when he snipes the kid and instantly throws the sticky to get the exterm… then gets the spawner for the double exterm – that shit is insane. His sticky clips are something to behold, especially the two killtac sticks in the last song, one on Narrows and one on the Pit. Then there’s the spinning exterm on Narrows, a fucking team rockets Jaro and then the last clip on Narrows. Of course it always helps having the variety of clips that he has, too.

I know, I bring dishonour to my family having this so low. I get that Kampy is one of the kings of Halo 3 montages and I can’t deny his gameplay is absolutely breathtaking. That being said, I’m not a huge fan of this style of montage. A lot of old school montages don’t stand up for me. I guess I’ve become to accustomed to HD capturing or something. The gameplay is, of course, fantastic and that’s why I still watch Apex. Even by today’s standards, Kampy hits some unholy shit in this montage. Other than Dutchy, I can’t think of any other player who impresses as much with his ability to hit high multis under pressure. He seems so calm and confident hitting a tastrophe whereas I sometimes start panicking on the triple kill. To list off a couple of clips wouldn’t do this montage justice because basically every clip is wonderful.

The first few clips in this are like… okay. But then you get to the Narrows clip and you’re like “well this old, so that’s a pretty cool overkill” but Dutchy does that thing where he keeps going when you think he’s gonna stop. Overall, a montage from 2008 isn’t going to blow you away gameplay wise when Dutchy has come out with so much insane gameplay, but it’s still impressive. The thing that makes this montage so great is the vibe of it. Zane’s editing is pretty subtle, but he nails so good syncing points on a song that shouldn’t be so easy to sync. His simple effects, like the bullet splitting the screen on Valhalla or just the part with the Spartan in the middle slowly taking over the whole screen, are really effective. Obviously the best part about this outside of it’s flow is Phurion’s commentary which makes me giggle every time.

Movies, books, music, tv shows… everything has genres and montages do, too. This one is under the genre “Best Man”. A lot of the time, montages that follow the Best Man method aren’t done well, but Savagr has no problem. His editing on this is too fucking clean. The intro isn’t even an intro, it’s beautiful editing of beautiful gameplay to beautiful music with a simple title that comes in perfectly. The tone that sets is perfect and the rest of the montage follows suit. It’s editing like this that really lets gameplay shine while giving it an extra push. I would have never guessed from the few times I’d run into Trunks in snipers that he was sitting on this level of gameplay. There are a few snipers clips, though I don’t think 50 high. The rest of the gameplay is all high level MLG and it’s on some known names. What business does he have clipping named like Naded, NYSea and LJSpace? It’s not just names, though. Just in the intro he has two overs where he has no business out BRing the kids. He’s got a couple of nice insta-splode clips, too. Not to mention a Construct exterm that starts with sniping a kid up lift, an Onslaught double exterm and… well, there really aren’t too many clips in this montage that aren’t ridiculous.

That intro, though. I think one of the most telling things about Sandman is that his intro clips, most of which are reduced down to just one kill, are better than most people’s best. The intro is magnificent. Right from the purple smoke, through the uniquely synced back to back exterm and right through with the aforementioned clips, SIllyGoose nails it. But it’s not just the intro. His editing in the first song is phenomenal. Simple angles, simple syncing but also nice touches like the Spartan entering the screen on Last Resort and the sound of the reload on the same clip. Sandman’s gameplay is obviously outstanding and he’s a jack of all trades with dirty clips in just about any gametype you could ask for. He’s very Dutchy like in his clips, I find. Whereas some players have a lot of animation to their clips, watching Sandman get clips you get the feeling that he doesn’t panic because robots don’t know such emotion. His cold, steel heart knows no fear. This seems to be a bit of a theme, but I’m not too into the second song. I just feel the editing is too hectic and gameplay, while still excellent, doesn’t breathe as well as the first song. I was gonna list off some of my favourite clips, but in the first song there is an MLG Pit exterm with a double body shot. That’s the only clip I don’t like and it’s easier to list just the one.

First off, why did it take so long for someone to use the Bond intro idea? I kind of wanted to have Most Dope’s Decode montage on here because I like the editing and I greatly prefer the song choice, but this is why it’s hard to define why you like a montage more than another one. On their own, I’d kind of hate these songs and Most Dope isn’t known for his editing. Yet the atmosphere of this montage gets me for some reason. Again, it’s simple editing, but the montage has such a great feel to it. A lot of the syncing is syncing to the edit, though, particularly in the second song, he hits some really solid syncing points. His use of slowing down clips for emphasis is also excellent (for example, right after the no scope triple on NO Pasaran on Narrows). I think the reason I put this here instead of Decode is mostly because I felt that enough of the important clips were in both montages plus this one has excellent gameplay from Ian Feltz and Allstar. Allstar might actually be the star of this one. His no-scope triples are absolutely insane. Of course Most Dope’s gameplay is sexy and Ian Feltz brings it, too, and it gives the montage a little extra push seeing lots of clips on known names in the MLG community.

The editing on this one is apparently incomplete, but that’s okay because the editing doesn’t matter. If anything, it slightly hinders the gameplay in the first song. I’m not exactly a fan of Billy Talent, but I think the song used for this was perfect a high paced MLG montage. The second song is almost a polar opposite, but it somehow fits and gives the montage a different aspect. Of course the reason this is so high is the gameplay. Coming out in 2010, this shit blew me away the first time I saw it and many of the clips still do. I think there was controversy over stolen clips and that shit straight up kills me, having had my clips stolen before. That being said, I don’t think I’ve seen any of the controversial clips elsewhere and the reality is that they are disturbingly good clips. Some of my favourites include Outlawz’ open purple triple, Vorlin’s wall glitch killtac on Pit, Gary’s no scope exterms on Pit and Construct, Mawnstar’s Pit triple and no scope exterm and Laine’s last bullet Guardian exterm. Really, most of the clips in the second song are just phenomenal, though I get a little angry every time I see that rando Sandtrap clip.

I should probably have more montages on here like this, but I don’t. I also want to throw out that I really enjoyed the last few montages he put out (5, 6 and :O, I think). This one largely gets in over those ones for nostalgia’s sake.  I thoroughly enjoy Salaya’s play style. You really feel like he just goes into matchmaking with the purest intentions of fucking around every time and trying to learn new ways to exploit the opposition. I also like the simplicity of a lot of his clips. Running around the sword ramp on Construct is such a stupid move to work as much as it does (I know I’ve tried it a few times to success). Of course, on the flip side he has genuinely insane shit like the jump from green to S1 on Guardian (where he somehow restrains from backsmacking the kid jumping under him). His really lose vibe with the editing also fits nicely, though he puts in nice little touches like the Mario Party gag and the sad face/happy face exterm. Just wonderful.

Gonna try to break this one down one part at a time. FatRat’s part is a really good tone setter. As this is a Hyena tribute, FatRat is the one who most emulates that style in this montage. For the most part, I’m not a big fan of players trying to take on another players trademarks, but FatRat has always seemed really open and honest about wanting to get clips in the style of those who he looks up to, so I don’t really have a problem with it here. That very first clip is oh so nasty and there are a lot of beauties in his part, with the Last Resort and Snowbound tacs standing out alongside the Narrows R2 overkill. As for vibe, his song choice is excellent and very much fits in with the theme. I like Mantis’ part even though I kinda can’t take it seriously as it is the Guile theme. His part is the most Hyena like from a presentation standpoint, what with the Bushido armor and shit (the tints when he changes armor is a nice touch). Mantis is a king of 2 for 1s (or 3 for 1s even) and has a few really good clips in here, too. YBLOC’s part is probably my favourite. First off, he used Agalloch. He also used Agalloch perfectly. I was actually pleasantly surprised by how good his gameplay is in his part and the syncing with Our Fortress Is Burning is wonderful. He also hits a handful of clips that I’m sure made Hyena proud (the Guardian triple and the very first clip stand out to me). His gameplay might not be quite as flashy as the four other legends around him on this montage, but his presentation is immaculate. I like Ishii’s part, but I don’t have a lot to say about it. On its own, it’s good. I like the song choice and I like Staines’ editing to it, but it just sticks with me the least out of the 5 parts. Dutchy’s part is a bit hit and miss for me. His gameplay is probably the least Hyena-like of the bunch, though a few clips do fit (the two Construct clips, the Pit triple and the bubble shield clip for example). His gameplay is obviously still impressive, but he’s more controlled and calm as opposed to looking like he’s trying to sneak up on a fly with a swatter. I love Stobs’ edit on his part, though. The Pit angle on S2 leading into the 3 sticky clips is so well done and the two “technique” parts are wonderful. Wtf with that ending tho.

http://i.imgur.com/O2LFptr.gifv (sorry, issues with making a .gif for this one)

My girl, Twitchy. There are a few things at play here. For one, as I’ve probably made abundantly clear, I’m a sucker for seeing my fellow Snipes kids get recognition. I’m also a major fan of Snipers kids getting good editing because even though it’s a playlist where you get a sniper rifle the entire game, it’s hard to get clips at 50 high. Twitchy’s clips are wonderful. That trocity on High Ground against a kid that eats some of the most shots in the world is really impressive. Most of his clips in this are dirty like the Snowbound trocity and the first Pit clip. The editing in this is also phenomenal. Dream (Somniare) has a great eye for editing. The intro is simple, but absolutely wonderful, playing on the soft piano keys and setting things up nicely. To edit so masterfully to a hip hop song is something usually reserved for Muggsy. At times he does kind of take a bit away from the clips (the High Ground one mostly), but overall this is a very good montage from both Snitch and Dream. For the record, he fucked up on the trocity on the last clip.

I understand people who judge montages purely on the gameplay. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people so this montage is way back here. Alongside Snip3down, Neighbor and Hysteria were amongst the flashiest H3 pros out there and the gameplay shows. A lot of these clips are well known for some people (if you remember back to the days of the MLG gameroom), but they still wow me to this day. The clips these two hit are so incredibly clean (connection helps, but still, being that good helps even more) and especially the last run of 5 or so clips is outstanding. There really aren’t any bad clips and I love the opening of the two players clipping one another. I really like the feel of the Muse song and while I don’t like the second song much, it really does fit that type of old school vibe. All this wonderful gameplay and this pretty good editing, yet this montage is down at 61 because I don’t fucking care in the slightest bit about professional gamers’ personal lives.