Welcome to the pilot episode of the Level Up Lounge! In this episode, host Starfish sits down with close friend, controller speedrunner, and community builder Mr. Straw Hat 420.

Hailing from Georgia, Straw Hat breaks down his transition from casual childhood gaming to dominating global speedrun leaderboards in Resident Evil and Call of Duty. We dive deep into the gritty details of running a speedrunning organization, the high skill ceilings of classic titles, and the accidental origin behind some of the community’s most iconic live-split catchphrases.

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TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Introduction & Welcome to Level Up Lounge 05:00 - Gaming Origins: From Sonic to Resident Evil 15:00 - Founding Rezi Runs & Vice City Runs 30:00 - The Brutal Mechanics of GTA: Vice City 45:00 - The Backstory of "Let's Grab a Gold Quick" 1:00:00 - Advice for Aspiring Speedrunners 1:12:00 - Global Leaderboard Stats & Wrap-up

FEATURED LEADERBOARD STATS MENTIONED:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Zombies (Liberty Falls): 1st Place Global (Build % Main Quest) at 22m 54s; 2nd Place Global (Round 50 Speedrun) at 1h 30m 48s.
• Resident Evil Code: Veronica X: 2nd Place HD Door Skip (1h 03m 52s) & 2nd Place S-Rank Glitchless (1h 08m 48s).
• Resident Evil 2 (PC Leon Hard): 4th Place Global Cutscene Skip at 23m 11s.

Watch Strawhatxx420 Live at https://www.twitch.tv/strawhatxx420