Video Tennis: Difference between revisions

Line 41:

===RabbitSnore, as Admin and the "First" "Tennis Fuck"===

The spring of 2008 was a prolific time for tennis ~~under~~ Rabbit and TINS' administration. RabbitSnore ~~himself~~ however began to considerably slow in activity around this point, with some of his matches played in this era being with the likes of BMATF, theHappyFungus, GameCubeHero, Christoph and Nuthead. He was now an administrator and "second in command" of a forum ~~that~~ was ever so steadily growing in activity and users of all personality types - often ~~the~~ overwhelm of the rest of the site would get to ~~him~~, resulting in him often retreating to his second Tennis Cafe thread to get away from it all. Multiple regulars of the Café would over time make this thread their only home on the entire site, and the tennis section the only active place that they would visit during their periods of activity.

The spring of 2008 was a prolific time for tennis with Rabbit and TINS now at the seats of administration. Outside of the developing core community, players such as GreatBritishTurd, Temeku/MTB710, TheDarkRises, ShadowWario/FancySanta, zacheatscrackers and DaftPunkYoshi all began to start leaving their marks within tennis during this time. RabbitSnore however began to considerably slow in activity around this point, with some of his matches played in this era being with the likes of BMATF, theHappyFungus, GameCubeHero, Christoph and Nuthead. He was now an administrator and "second in command" of a forum centered around YouTube Poop, which was now in a perpetual upswing of attention and discovery, and YouChew drew in those most avidly interested in this burgeoning medium of early internet creation like a magnet. The forum was ever so steadily growing in activity and users of all personality types - often younger, energetic and chaotic ones. The resulting overwhelm of the rest of the site would often get to Rabbit, resulting in him often retreating to his second Tennis Cafe thread to get away from it all, as it was by now starting to develop a reputation for having a much more toned down, easygoing and relaxed atmosphere. Multiple regulars of the Café would over time make this thread their only home on the entire site, and the tennis section the only active place that they would visit during their periods of activity. This was also the era where the Cafe began to be known and advertised as "YouChew's watering hole."

Rabbit took the initiative to create a separate staff for this subforum in order to take the weight off of him managing the entire section on his own, and thus - the [[tennis staff]] was first formed in May 2008. A matter of months later, RAKninja, the oldest and last chosen of the first generation of staff, would christen them with the informal moniker of the Tennis Fucks, a name that has stuck into the present on occasion. Many of the matches played in this period on the YouChew forums occurred between the members who would be chosen for this staff, including theHappyFungus vs. RabbitSnore, theHappyFungus vs. RAKninja, theHappyFungus vs. Nuthead, [[Crash2991 vs. NS2]], [[Crash2991 vs. RAKninja]], Crash2991 vs. strong414bad, RabbitSnore vs. Nuthead, theHappyFungus vs. NS2, and Nuthead vs. NS2. Out of these, the seeds that made up the foundation of much of the initial in-jokes in the community were first created, and would continue to do so with RAKninja supplying the lions share of enduring moments in tennis.

With these elements coming into play, Rabbit took the initiative to create a separate staff for this subforum in order to take the weight off of him managing the entire section on his own, and thus - the [[tennis staff]] was first formed in May 2008. It was an ultimately minor, utilitarian staff addition in the grand scheme of the rest of the site, but those who became its first members readily established it as something that signified a strong siblinghood - efforts to create greatness and value where others may have easily dismissed it. A matter of months later, RAKninja, the oldest and last chosen of the first generation of staff, would christen them with the informal moniker of the Tennis Fucks, a name that has stuck into the present on occasion. Many of the matches played in this period on the YouChew forums occurred between the members who would be chosen for this staff, including theHappyFungus vs. RabbitSnore, theHappyFungus vs. RAKninja, theHappyFungus vs. Nuthead, [[Crash2991 vs. NS2]], [[Crash2991 vs. RAKninja]], Crash2991 vs. strong414bad, RabbitSnore vs. Nuthead, theHappyFungus vs. NS2, and Nuthead vs. NS2. Out of these, the seeds that made up the foundation of much of the initial in-jokes in the community were first created, and would continue to do so with RAKninja supplying the lions share of enduring moments in tennis across the rest of the year. Through RAK, Crash, NS2 and theHappyFungus, a bedrock of culture in tennis was formed around a collective enjoyment of vintage, classic or otherwise certain selections of contemporary anime, as all of it would feature across these players matches, especially ones played with each other. Rabbit would often inquire about anime recommendations in the Cafe, indicating that he too was developing an interest and appreciation of his own. Between him and NS2, there was also the shared enjoyment of the ''Metal Gear Solid'' series, which would define both of their respective outputs in and out of tennis.

While there were originally six members chosen, making for a total of seven when counting Rabbit, the lineup would continue in a state of flux from its inception onward with the promotion and departure of various members, but generally settled around an early core of {{RAKninja}}, {{Crash2991}} and {{strong414bad}} as those the most faithful to the tennis section in this initial phase. ~~All members~~ of the ~~staff however~~ would ~~join~~ the ~~rest~~ of the ~~community in taking part~~ in ~~what would be subsequently seen as~~ the first ~~true major event for~~ tennis, and ~~the~~ community~~'s inaugural event under the tenure of Rabbit~~ and ~~TINS~~ - ~~The [[Tennis Cup]]~~.

While there were originally six members chosen, making for a total of seven when counting Rabbit, the lineup would continue in a state of flux from its inception onward with the promotion and departure of various members, but generally settled around an early core of {{RAKninja}}, {{Crash2991}} and {{strong414bad}} as those the most faithful to the tennis section in this initial phase. As the Spring became the Summer of 2008, the Cafe and community were augmented by a new influx of regulars that included Emperor Ing, Rillion, WowComics, DrGenericMan, ThaNuke, guysafari, vvaluigi, Moogle, and Aesaun, who would make up the bulk of the non-competitive tennis matches played at this time. Rabbit and Crash in particular readily praised the quality of Moogle vs. theHappyFungus(2008), Moogle's first tennis match, as being one that matched the old classics in greatness. Moogle would introduce Touhou into tennis and its community, and create another defining and long-lasting staple within the present culture.

While the previous Tennis Leagues had been "competition" in a much looser sense, the Tennis Cup was the first elimination-based tournament in tennis, though it was clearly not approached with any grand stakes or ambition, and Ishkibibl even expressed great disappointment when he eventually was revealed to be the events winner following [[Ishkibibl vs. NS2|the final match between him and NS2.]] Despite this, the event was nonetheless the source of multiple matches in all manner of statuses, from complete to incomplete to their present-day fragmentation, that served to be major influences on many sectors of tennis going forward. While only one half of MTB710 vs. Domorato(2008) remains preserved, for example, the frenetic energy of the MTB710's surviving side plus the surviving titles of the other side - including one "MR. CLEAN NUKES THE UNITED STATES"(2008) - have served to amaze subsequent viewers due the intensity contained within the rounds and the speculation upon what the missing rounds must have contained. ophios vs. RAKninja(2008) ended up pioneering almost an entire subgenre of slower, more ambient and mysterious tennis styles that would be later explored in greater depth by GameBop, Luioigi, and RAKninja himself. GameBop themselves only played in one full match in this tournament, their Set 2 match with GreatBritishTurd - fondly remembered for reaching rare heights in both cleverness and the at-the-time rare complexity of the visual effects - but even their unfinished match with strong414bad would later be a cited influence on one player in particular who was just about to enter the tennis community. ''[to be ~~continued~~]''

For GameBop, who was operating largely independently and with low activity at this time, they were focused on making sure that the ongoing Second Chain was staying on track, in lieu of ShadowWario/FancySanta starting it, losing interest, and then disappearing. In order to be able to directly edit and manage the participants roster themselves, they were made the first new addition to the tennis staff in June 2008, which slightly elevated their profile as a player. Emperor Ing, who was quickly becoming known as a "hardcore" defender of Windows Movie Maker, instigated the an all-WMM three-way match with fellow software users NS2 and strong414bad - a match he would give the title of "[[Windows Movie Master]]".

In terms of competitive tennis, all members of the staff would join the rest of the community in taking part in what would be subsequently seen as the first true major event for tennis, and the community's inaugural event under the tenure of Rabbit and TINS - The [[Tennis Cup]].

While the previous Tennis Leagues had been "competition" in a much looser sense, the Tennis Cup was the first elimination-based tournament in tennis, though it was clearly not approached with any grand stakes or ambition, and Ishkibibl even expressed great disappointment when he eventually was revealed to be the events winner following [[Ishkibibl vs. NS2|the final match between him and NS2.]] Despite this, the event was nonetheless the source of multiple matches in all manner of statuses, from complete to incomplete to their present-day fragmentation, that served to be major influences on many sectors of tennis going forward. While only one half of MTB710 vs. Domorato(2008) remains preserved, for example, the frenetic energy of the MTB710's surviving side plus the surviving titles of the other side - including one "MR. CLEAN NUKES THE UNITED STATES"(2008) - have served to amaze subsequent viewers due the intensity contained within the rounds and the speculation upon what the missing rounds must have contained. ophios vs. RAKninja(2008) ended up pioneering almost an entire subgenre of slower, more ambient and mysterious tennis styles that would be later explored in greater depth by GameBop, Luioigi, and RAKninja himself. GameBop themselves only played in one full match in this tournament, their Set 2 match with GreatBritishTurd - fondly remembered for reaching rare heights in both cleverness and the at-the-time rare complexity of the visual effects - but even their unfinished match with strong414bad would later be a cited influence on one player in particular who was just about to enter the tennis community.

In June 2008, GameBop would start a match with a player who was as of yet a complete unknown to tennis. They had just existed out of their original account MicroProcessor314, and had just established a more YTP-centric account under the name of {{MycroProcessor}}. MycroProcessor vs. GameBop(2008-2009) was played at a pace that was fairly long for its era, but it served to represent the beginning of multiple new elements in tennis at the same time: the debut of one of the medium's most defining, radical and most influential new voices, as Mycro would quickly establish themselves as verbose, articulate and intelligent when it came to all matters of tennis and video remixes and would soon develop a reputation of writing intricate feedback on every tennis match played in the tennis forums; the beginning of a very different school of thought around tennis that focused for the first time on maximizing the potential of editing and stylistic development and the aesethetic sensibilities that were to come with it; the beginning of a long creative friendship between GameBop and MycroProcessor that firmly established a different and contrasting social constituency away from much of the rest of the tennis community. Mycro's fast-paced, densely-edited, high-stimulation tennis style apparent even in their earliest tennis output would serve to have a galvanizing effect upon tennis and its community, and immediately he found himself swamped with match requests from all manner of eager player looking to either see their work get tackled by him in this cutting edge style or to try and see if they could either outdo or subvert this style in their own ways. RAKninja and Mycro, in many ways complete opposites in each other as people, nonetheless established something of a foil dynamic; while both players came from different constituencies, they shared a passion for intricate tennis discussion, as RAKninja had recently opened the first thread in the tennis subforum dedicated entirely to "Tennis Theory", and the two of them would wage discussion and compare contrasting viewpoints in tennis for years to come. A match between them was always teased, as RAK believed there were ways he could tackle Mycro's style that no one else was thinking of, but a match between them would never end up taking place.

As the Summer became the Autumn and Winter of 2008, more regulars still became augmented to the main community, namely in the form of players such as TheChutley, quax94 and Futures Passed. Moogle was the next to be promoted to the tennis staff, and RabbitSnore returned after a few months absence and began matches with both Crash2991 and NS2, the former of whom had now switched back to using [[Windows Movie Maker]] as their primary editing software, but notably with the most minimal editing style possible within it. RAKninja was now taking up the reigns for the next tournament, here in the form of the first [[Doubles Cup 1|Doubles Cup]], the first successful execution of a (modified) form of [[Doubles]] matches in tennis, in which both individual performance and collaboration provided ample merit. Players such as JackTron7000, trepmaws and SergeantBacon found their formal entrance into the community through this event, and other players still either found or began to develop their voice as players. MycroProcessor's initial strong influence upon tennis began to bear a lot fruit over these course of events; GameBop's style began to undergo significant evolution in technique and execution, beginning a "middle period" in which their classic style would become refined and finalized. Mycro themselves began to insert the first references to the pokemon Jolteon into their videos, TheChutley began to make I.M. Meen a central part of the identity of her videos, and trepmaws played his first matches entirely, immediately establishing for himself a unique and different kind of editing intensity that was rooted more in the speed and ferociousness of metal music. Aesaun and AjaxCubed both took on their own spirited derivatives from Mycro's style, with Aesaun doing so the most openly, and they would eventually win the tournament itself through a combination of this and the execution of never before seen visual effects, courtesy of AjaxCubed's use of [[Final Cut Pro]] providing him plugins that no one else in tennis had at the time, aside from GreatBritishTurd. From the Doubles Cup's final match onward, it seemed like a "meta" had been established for tennis for the first time - the quality of a match was now being increasingly defined by the way players edited the previous rounds in terms of utilizing complexity, intensity or visual inventiveness, with the ability to capture/hold attention and entertain in both being seen as paramount. The finalists of this tournament were made up of all the most cutting edge players in this mold by the Spring of 2009: GameBop, MycroProcessor, AjaxCubed and Aesaun. The former would continue to establish their collective influence across tennis, while the latter two would actually disappear from the community fairly quickly after this.

This did not sit too well with multiple of the older figures in tennis. In the first set of the Doubles Cup, Terrorist and Nuthead, one of the earlier teams of pairs, ended up dropping out only 4 rounds into their match with GameBop and MycroProcessor, with Terrorist in particular lamenting that tennis had become less about "being funny" and now being more about "Effects everywhere, Videos flying around, and just [loud distorted audio] with it", which he considered to take the fun out of tennis. While Moogle positioned themselves to recognize how every tennis style had merit and could manifest fun in different ways, others did not entirely disagree with Terrorist, with one of the most prominent voices being Crash2991:

<small>"Several players have made it become competitive and made several others think that it was supposed to be the uptight thing, rather than just playing around with each other's videos and showing them to each other."</small>

Even before this point, a general sentiment had begun to develop, namely between older players such as strong414bad and Rabbit, of weariness around "heavy/intense/destructive" editing, something that began to presage an influx of matches started by or participated in by this constituency that deliberately intended to invoke "classic" tennis stylings. Exchanges within these matches would generally pair down on the use of effects and put a larger focus on the sources used within, allowing their easily exploitable qualities to shine brighter with minimal subversion and have the match more steered by what material was added and the comedic potential across the source mix. [[RabbitSnore vs. Crash2991]](2008) was the first to be intentionally billed as a "classic style" match, but would be followed by similar matches such as [[Emperor Ing vs. theHappyFungus]](2008) and NS2 vs. WowComics(2008). RAKninja in particular would play many matches of this type and score hit after hit of memorable moments from nearly all that he played in this era. Futures Passed vs. RAKninja(2008) saw him bring the "ROBOT BUNNIE BOOBIES" meme to life, [[RAKninja vs. RetroTheRaccoon]](2008) saw him immediately follow up with "Love is Here.", and even in his own Doubles Cup, [[Moogle + RAKninja vs. McMANGOS + WowComics]](2008) saw him create "Guys in Nature." These in-jokes would sweep across the YouChew forums and the entire tennis section, cementing the power of his influence upon the inner community. On the outskirts, ChrisGendo vs. NS2(2008) was taking place, in which NS2 would find for themselves a new kindred spirit in the community, and soon to be another significant voice in tennis.

Going into 2009, the new school of more intricate, technically creative complex editing now indirectly faced the old school of simpler, humor based, aesthetically creative classic editing in a schizm that seemed to compete for attention influence in tennis, with both having ironclad constituency and sway by this point. While many names would stick to one lane, those who were more open minded and embracing of all styles would find themselves treated to what some would consider the peak of tennis' "golden age", but it also showed signs that the ways of the early "Freewheeling" era, in which competition was engaged more playfully and without well defined metas, was becoming superseded.

==The first matches==

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 ===RabbitSnore, as Admin and the "First" "Tennis Fuck"===
-The spring of 2008 was a prolific time for tennis under Rabbit and TINS' administration. RabbitSnore himself however began to considerably slow in activity around this point, with some of his matches played in this era being with the likes of BMATF, theHappyFungus, GameCubeHero, Christoph and Nuthead. He was now an administrator and "second in command" of a forum that was ever so steadily growing in activity and users of all personality types - often the overwhelm of the rest of the site would get to him, resulting in him often retreating to his second Tennis Cafe thread to get away from it all. Multiple regulars of the Café would over time make this thread their only home on the entire site, and the tennis section the only active place that they would visit during their periods of activity.
+The spring of 2008 was a prolific time for tennis with Rabbit and TINS now at the seats of administration. Outside of the developing core community, players such as GreatBritishTurd, Temeku/MTB710, TheDarkRises, ShadowWario/FancySanta, zacheatscrackers and DaftPunkYoshi all began to start leaving their marks within tennis during this time. RabbitSnore however began to considerably slow in activity around this point, with some of his matches played in this era being with the likes of BMATF, theHappyFungus, GameCubeHero, Christoph and Nuthead. He was now an administrator and "second in command" of a forum centered around YouTube Poop, which was now in a perpetual upswing of attention and discovery, and YouChew drew in those most avidly interested in this burgeoning medium of early internet creation like a magnet. The forum was ever so steadily growing in activity and users of all personality types - often younger, energetic and chaotic ones. The resulting overwhelm of the rest of the site would often get to Rabbit, resulting in him often retreating to his second Tennis Cafe thread to get away from it all, as it was by now starting to develop a reputation for having a much more toned down, easygoing and relaxed atmosphere. Multiple regulars of the Café would over time make this thread their only home on the entire site, and the tennis section the only active place that they would visit during their periods of activity. This was also the era where the Cafe began to be known and advertised as "YouChew's watering hole."
-Rabbit took the initiative to create a separate staff for this subforum in order to take the weight off of him managing the entire section on his own, and thus - the [[tennis staff]] was first formed in May 2008. A matter of months later, RAKninja, the oldest and last chosen of the first generation of staff, would christen them with the informal moniker of the Tennis Fucks, a name that has stuck into the present on occasion. Many of the matches played in this period on the YouChew forums occurred between the members who would be chosen for this staff, including theHappyFungus vs. RabbitSnore, theHappyFungus vs. RAKninja, theHappyFungus vs. Nuthead, [[Crash2991 vs. NS2]], [[Crash2991 vs. RAKninja]], Crash2991 vs. strong414bad, RabbitSnore vs. Nuthead, theHappyFungus vs. NS2, and Nuthead vs. NS2. Out of these, the seeds that made up the foundation of much of the initial in-jokes in the community were first created, and would continue to do so with RAKninja supplying the lions share of enduring moments in tennis.
+With these elements coming into play, Rabbit took the initiative to create a separate staff for this subforum in order to take the weight off of him managing the entire section on his own, and thus - the [[tennis staff]] was first formed in May 2008. It was an ultimately minor, utilitarian staff addition in the grand scheme of the rest of the site, but those who became its first members readily established it as something that signified a strong siblinghood - efforts to create greatness and value where others may have easily dismissed it. A matter of months later, RAKninja, the oldest and last chosen of the first generation of staff, would christen them with the informal moniker of the Tennis Fucks, a name that has stuck into the present on occasion. Many of the matches played in this period on the YouChew forums occurred between the members who would be chosen for this staff, including theHappyFungus vs. RabbitSnore, theHappyFungus vs. RAKninja, theHappyFungus vs. Nuthead, [[Crash2991 vs. NS2]], [[Crash2991 vs. RAKninja]], Crash2991 vs. strong414bad, RabbitSnore vs. Nuthead, theHappyFungus vs. NS2, and Nuthead vs. NS2. Out of these, the seeds that made up the foundation of much of the initial in-jokes in the community were first created, and would continue to do so with RAKninja supplying the lions share of enduring moments in tennis across the rest of the year. Through RAK, Crash, NS2 and theHappyFungus, a bedrock of culture in tennis was formed around a collective enjoyment of vintage, classic or otherwise certain selections of contemporary anime, as all of it would feature across these players matches, especially ones played with each other. Rabbit would often inquire about anime recommendations in the Cafe, indicating that he too was developing an interest and appreciation of his own. Between him and NS2, there was also the shared enjoyment of the ''Metal Gear Solid'' series, which would define both of their respective outputs in and out of tennis.
-While there were originally six members chosen, making for a total of seven when counting Rabbit, the lineup would continue in a state of flux from its inception onward with the promotion and departure of various members, but generally settled around an early core of {{RAKninja}}, {{Crash2991}} and {{strong414bad}} as those the most faithful to the tennis section in this initial phase. All members of the staff however would join the rest of the community in taking part in what would be subsequently seen as the first true major event for tennis, and the community's inaugural event under the tenure of Rabbit and TINS - The [[Tennis Cup]].
+While there were originally six members chosen, making for a total of seven when counting Rabbit, the lineup would continue in a state of flux from its inception onward with the promotion and departure of various members, but generally settled around an early core of {{RAKninja}}, {{Crash2991}} and {{strong414bad}} as those the most faithful to the tennis section in this initial phase. As the Spring became the Summer of 2008, the Cafe and community were augmented by a new influx of regulars that included Emperor Ing, Rillion, WowComics, DrGenericMan, ThaNuke, guysafari, vvaluigi, Moogle, and Aesaun, who would make up the bulk of the non-competitive tennis matches played at this time. Rabbit and Crash in particular readily praised the quality of Moogle vs. theHappyFungus(2008), Moogle's first tennis match, as being one that matched the old classics in greatness. Moogle would introduce Touhou into tennis and its community, and create another defining and long-lasting staple within the present culture.
-While the previous Tennis Leagues had been "competition" in a much looser sense, the Tennis Cup was the first elimination-based tournament in tennis, though it was clearly not approached with any grand stakes or ambition, and Ishkibibl even expressed great disappointment when he eventually was revealed to be the events winner following [[Ishkibibl vs. NS2|the final match between him and NS2.]] Despite this, the event was nonetheless the source of multiple matches in all manner of statuses, from complete to incomplete to their present-day fragmentation, that served to be major influences on many sectors of tennis going forward. While only one half of MTB710 vs. Domorato(2008) remains preserved, for example, the frenetic energy of the MTB710's surviving side plus the surviving titles of the other side - including one "MR. CLEAN NUKES THE UNITED STATES"(2008) - have served to amaze subsequent viewers due the intensity contained within the rounds and the speculation upon what the missing rounds must have contained. ophios vs. RAKninja(2008) ended up pioneering almost an entire subgenre of slower, more ambient and mysterious tennis styles that would be later explored in greater depth by GameBop, Luioigi, and RAKninja himself. GameBop themselves only played in one full match in this tournament, their Set 2 match with GreatBritishTurd - fondly remembered for reaching rare heights in both cleverness and the at-the-time rare complexity of the visual effects - but even their unfinished match with strong414bad would later be a cited influence on one player in particular who was just about to enter the tennis community. ''[to be continued]''
+For GameBop, who was operating largely independently and with low activity at this time, they were focused on making sure that the ongoing Second Chain was staying on track, in lieu of ShadowWario/FancySanta starting it, losing interest, and then disappearing. In order to be able to directly edit and manage the participants roster themselves, they were made the first new addition to the tennis staff in June 2008, which slightly elevated their profile as a player. Emperor Ing, who was quickly becoming known as a "hardcore" defender of Windows Movie Maker, instigated the an all-WMM three-way match with fellow software users NS2 and strong414bad - a match he would give the title of "[[Windows Movie Master]]".
+In terms of competitive tennis, all members of the staff would join the rest of the community in taking part in what would be subsequently seen as the first true major event for tennis, and the community's inaugural event under the tenure of Rabbit and TINS - The [[Tennis Cup]].
+While the previous Tennis Leagues had been "competition" in a much looser sense, the Tennis Cup was the first elimination-based tournament in tennis, though it was clearly not approached with any grand stakes or ambition, and Ishkibibl even expressed great disappointment when he eventually was revealed to be the events winner following [[Ishkibibl vs. NS2|the final match between him and NS2.]] Despite this, the event was nonetheless the source of multiple matches in all manner of statuses, from complete to incomplete to their present-day fragmentation, that served to be major influences on many sectors of tennis going forward. While only one half of MTB710 vs. Domorato(2008) remains preserved, for example, the frenetic energy of the MTB710's surviving side plus the surviving titles of the other side - including one "MR. CLEAN NUKES THE UNITED STATES"(2008) - have served to amaze subsequent viewers due the intensity contained within the rounds and the speculation upon what the missing rounds must have contained. ophios vs. RAKninja(2008) ended up pioneering almost an entire subgenre of slower, more ambient and mysterious tennis styles that would be later explored in greater depth by GameBop, Luioigi, and RAKninja himself. GameBop themselves only played in one full match in this tournament, their Set 2 match with GreatBritishTurd - fondly remembered for reaching rare heights in both cleverness and the at-the-time rare complexity of the visual effects - but even their unfinished match with strong414bad would later be a cited influence on one player in particular who was just about to enter the tennis community.
+In June 2008, GameBop would start a match with a player who was as of yet a complete unknown to tennis. They had just existed out of their original account MicroProcessor314, and had just established a more YTP-centric account under the name of {{MycroProcessor}}. MycroProcessor vs. GameBop(2008-2009) was played at a pace that was fairly long for its era, but it served to represent the beginning of multiple new elements in tennis at the same time: the debut of one of the medium's most defining, radical and most influential new voices, as Mycro would quickly establish themselves as verbose, articulate and intelligent when it came to all matters of tennis and video remixes and would soon develop a reputation of writing intricate feedback on every tennis match played in the tennis forums; the beginning of a very different school of thought around tennis that focused for the first time on maximizing the potential of editing and stylistic development and the aesethetic sensibilities that were to come with it; the beginning of a long creative friendship between GameBop and MycroProcessor that firmly established a different and contrasting social constituency away from much of the rest of the tennis community. Mycro's fast-paced, densely-edited, high-stimulation tennis style apparent even in their earliest tennis output would serve to have a galvanizing effect upon tennis and its community, and immediately he found himself swamped with match requests from all manner of eager player looking to either see their work get tackled by him in this cutting edge style or to try and see if they could either outdo or subvert this style in their own ways. RAKninja and Mycro, in many ways complete opposites in each other as people, nonetheless established something of a foil dynamic; while both players came from different constituencies, they shared a passion for intricate tennis discussion, as RAKninja had recently opened the first thread in the tennis subforum dedicated entirely to "Tennis Theory", and the two of them would wage discussion and compare contrasting viewpoints in tennis for years to come. A match between them was always teased, as RAK believed there were ways he could tackle Mycro's style that no one else was thinking of, but a match between them would never end up taking place.
+As the Summer became the Autumn and Winter of 2008, more regulars still became augmented to the main community, namely in the form of players such as TheChutley, quax94 and Futures Passed. Moogle was the next to be promoted to the tennis staff, and RabbitSnore returned after a few months absence and began matches with both Crash2991 and NS2, the former of whom had now switched back to using [[Windows Movie Maker]] as their primary editing software, but notably with the most minimal editing style possible within it. RAKninja was now taking up the reigns for the next tournament, here in the form of the first [[Doubles Cup 1|Doubles Cup]], the first successful execution of a (modified) form of [[Doubles]] matches in tennis, in which both individual performance and collaboration provided ample merit. Players such as JackTron7000, trepmaws and SergeantBacon found their formal entrance into the community through this event, and other players still either found or began to develop their voice as players. MycroProcessor's initial strong influence upon tennis began to bear a lot fruit over these course of events; GameBop's style began to undergo significant evolution in technique and execution, beginning a "middle period" in which their classic style would become refined and finalized. Mycro themselves began to insert the first references to the pokemon Jolteon into their videos, TheChutley began to make I.M. Meen a central part of the identity of her videos, and trepmaws played his first matches entirely, immediately establishing for himself a unique and different kind of editing intensity that was rooted more in the speed and ferociousness of metal music. Aesaun and AjaxCubed both took on their own spirited derivatives from Mycro's style, with Aesaun doing so the most openly, and they would eventually win the tournament itself through a combination of this and the execution of never before seen visual effects, courtesy of AjaxCubed's use of [[Final Cut Pro]] providing him plugins that no one else in tennis had at the time, aside from GreatBritishTurd. From the Doubles Cup's final match onward, it seemed like a "meta" had been established for tennis for the first time - the quality of a match was now being increasingly defined by the way players edited the previous rounds in terms of utilizing complexity, intensity or visual inventiveness, with the ability to capture/hold attention and entertain in both being seen as paramount. The finalists of this tournament were made up of all the most cutting edge players in this mold by the Spring of 2009: GameBop, MycroProcessor, AjaxCubed and Aesaun. The former would continue to establish their collective influence across tennis, while the latter two would actually disappear from the community fairly quickly after this.
+This did not sit too well with multiple of the older figures in tennis. In the first set of the Doubles Cup, Terrorist and Nuthead, one of the earlier teams of pairs, ended up dropping out only 4 rounds into their match with GameBop and MycroProcessor, with Terrorist in particular lamenting that tennis had become less about "being funny" and now being more about "Effects everywhere, Videos flying around, and just [loud distorted audio] with it", which he considered to take the fun out of tennis. While Moogle positioned themselves to recognize how every tennis style had merit and could manifest fun in different ways, others did not entirely disagree with Terrorist, with one of the most prominent voices being Crash2991:
+<small>"Several players have made it become competitive and made several others think that it was supposed to be the uptight thing, rather than just playing around with each other's videos and showing them to each other."</small>
+Even before this point, a general sentiment had begun to develop, namely between older players such as strong414bad and Rabbit, of weariness around "heavy/intense/destructive" editing, something that began to presage an influx of matches started by or participated in by this constituency that deliberately intended to invoke "classic" tennis stylings. Exchanges within these matches would generally pair down on the use of effects and put a larger focus on the sources used within, allowing their easily exploitable qualities to shine brighter with minimal subversion and have the match more steered by what material was added and the comedic potential across the source mix. [[RabbitSnore vs. Crash2991]](2008) was the first to be intentionally billed as a "classic style" match, but would be followed by similar matches such as [[Emperor Ing vs. theHappyFungus]](2008) and NS2 vs. WowComics(2008). RAKninja in particular would play many matches of this type and score hit after hit of memorable moments from nearly all that he played in this era. Futures Passed vs. RAKninja(2008) saw him bring the "ROBOT BUNNIE BOOBIES" meme to life, [[RAKninja vs. RetroTheRaccoon]](2008) saw him immediately follow up with "Love is Here.", and even in his own Doubles Cup, [[Moogle + RAKninja vs. McMANGOS + WowComics]](2008) saw him create "Guys in Nature." These in-jokes would sweep across the YouChew forums and the entire tennis section, cementing the power of his influence upon the inner community. On the outskirts, ChrisGendo vs. NS2(2008) was taking place, in which NS2 would find for themselves a new kindred spirit in the community, and soon to be another significant voice in tennis.
+Going into 2009, the new school of more intricate, technically creative complex editing now indirectly faced the old school of simpler, humor based, aesthetically creative classic editing in a schizm that seemed to compete for attention influence in tennis, with both having ironclad constituency and sway by this point. While many names would stick to one lane, those who were more open minded and embracing of all styles would find themselves treated to what some would consider the peak of tennis' "golden age", but it also showed signs that the ways of the early "Freewheeling" era, in which competition was engaged more playfully and without well defined metas, was  becoming superseded.
 ==The first matches==