I have had Typical TN (middle branch Left side) for 8 years. I’ve had periods of remission 6-12 months in the past, however this flare has been going since Feb 22, so I’ve come to terms this flare is for good. I’ve been on numerous meds and now on 1600mg of Carbamazepine (Tegratol). I’m still in pain but due to the nature of TN I have no idea if it’s working. I would commit to any surgery but as I’m only 32 I’d jump at the opportunity for surgery, mainly MVD, however my FIESTA MRI has shown no compression (stated by the neurologist).
Has anyone in the UK got advice on this? I’ll try anything at this point. Get me on the bed and cut me open haha! I’m sure you’ll all understand

It's now been 7 years since MSR has ended in a mass sprint and with the way the race has developed the past few year, these days it seems nearly impossible for a group larger than 10 riders to make it over the top of the Poggio together.
It's weird, in the past mass sprint editions only one or two 'mediocre' riders would attack on their own on the Cipressa or Poggio, while the rest of the peloton with the sprinters 'casually' rode up the climbs.
Nowadays, this way of racing seems impossible to imagine. How are sprinters supposed to follow, when the big punchy guys like MvdP, WvA, Pogacar, Roglic, Alaphillipe, Mohoric, Stuyven, etc. roll their insane attacks over the top of the Poggio?

Daddy's Den X Supreme March 18th-19th Spokane Valley, WA

"The first 2 day event in EWA’s history is now confirmed with a $2000 Ultimate pot bonus, FGC, and a $4000 Melee pot bonus Take on the best the PNW can offer at Daddy’s Den X Supreme on March 18th-19th, 2023. Will you be one of Daddy’s Champions? 🤔🤔🤔"
Daddy's Den X Supreme is an East Washington super regional with over 350 smashers in attendance! There will also be the Heavyweight Championships bracket, where the winner will win ownership of the heavyweight championship belt, $80, and free entry to the next event!

Brackets

• Ultimate Singles Top 48 Top 8
• Ultimate Doubles Top 16
• Ultimate EWA Heavyweight Championship Top 8
• Melee Singles Top 32 Top 8 Redemption Bracket
• Melee Doubles

Streaming Information

• Ultimate main stream, Sunday finals - VGBootCamp
• Ultimate side stream - SatelliteSmash
• Melee - VGBootCamp2

Event Schedule All Times PDT (UTC-7)

Time Zone Converter, +1h for MDT, +2h for CDT, +3h for EDT, +7h for GMT, +8h for CET, +16h for JST, +18h for AEDT
Saturday, March 18th

• 10:00AM-01:00PM: Melee & Ultimate Doubles Pools
• 01:00PM-03:00PM: Melee/Ultimate/Heavyweight Singles Wave A
• 03:00PM-05:00PM: Melee/Ultimate/Heavyweight Singles Wave B
• 05:00PM-07:00PM: Melee & Ultimate Singles Wave C & D
• 07:00PM: Ultimate Doubles Top 16

Sunday, March 19th

• 10:00AM-01:00PM: Heavyweight Top 8 (Bo5)
• 12:00PM-02:30PM: Melee Singles Top 32 (Bo5)
• 12:00PM-03:30PM: Ultimate Singles Top 48 (Bo5)
• 04:00PM-06:45PM: Melee Singles Top 8 (Bo5)
• 06:45PM: Ultimate Singles Top 8 (Bo5)

Seeding

Ultimate:

1. Ouch!? (Wolf) [British Columbia, Canada]
2. Lui$ (Palutena) [NorCal]
3. PAR Scend (Ness) [Utah]
4. BassMage (Jigglypuff) [Arizona]
5. MVD (Snake) [Nevada] (DQ)
6. AITX Mr. E (Lucina) [New York]
7. Rocke (Pac-Man) [Kansas]
8. LTE Chronos (Snake) [Colorado]

DQs: MVD
Melee:

1. VGBC RB aMSa (Yoshi) [British Columbia, Canada]
2. Nickemwit (Captain Falcon) [NorCal] (DQ)
3. Spark (Sheik) [Arizona]
4. SlyFox Zamu (Fox) [Arkansas]
5. PQ2 CPU0 (Jigglypuff) [Arizona]
6. Squid (Falco) [SoCal, living in Quebec, Canada]
7. Casper (Fox) [SoCal] (DQ)
8. WoC Jello (Falco) [Washington] (DQ)

Early DQs: Soonsay, Mekk, Joey Donuts DQs: Nickemwit, Casper, Jello, Stiv, Luigi Ka-Master, Pilot

Other Information

start.gg Daddy's Den X Twitter Liquipedia

First/Previous
“So?” The excitable Drow asked, bouncing on her feet as she awaited the confirmation.
“The crossbow was an excellent choice.” Svaartal admitted. “Thank you, Dextra.”
“I knew it!” She grinned as she wrote something down on her pad. “My darling siblings refused to give it a try, though I guess they are all just stuck in their ways. Not even Soren picked it up, even though I told him he needs something longer range instead of the whip.”
“I couldn’t comment on that.” Svaartal awkwardly replied.
The two of them were alone in Dextra’s armoury, having commandeered one of the unused side chambers for Svaarti to recover and be monitored with the best electrical equipment House Mal’Kar could provide. Svaartal had been introduced to the House Armourer a few days after settling in, and was pleasantly surprised by how bubbly the Drow was, even more so when he learned that she was also a Mal’Kar.
The Secondborn sister was considerably lower on the family totem pole as dictated by the elder Izadora, but the drow was undeniably useful despite her lack of clerical or arcane power, instead being a prodigy with technology and systems that the magically and martially inclined Mal’Kars desperately needed. There were other Mal’Kars around that Svaartal had become at least passingly acquainted with, but he had built a certain rapport with Dextra that he didn’t really have with any of the others.
To that end, if he had to place his trust in any of the drow, it would be her. As well as being able to run and maintain the technology to allow his sister’s spell scars to heal and recover, she was also enthusiastic about her magical and mundane equipment as the House Armourer.
“Oh come on, we both know it, stop trying to be polite.” Dextra snorted. “Soren’s talented but he refuses to try new things, the others just take whatever they want and barely acknowledge me unless they need me for something, at least with you I at least have a peer I can float ideas off.”
“I only have a rudimentary knowledge of the technical arts.” Svaartal reminded her.
“Hey, that’s why we compliment each other!” Dextra smiled.
Svaartal sighed, knowing what Dextra was after. “You don’t need to flirt with me, Armourer. Just tell me what you want. While I don’t mind letting off some steam you may be better suited taking your pick of the suitable house slaves.”
“Oh come on, don’t give me that!” Dextra pouted. “I suppose I could, but I don’t want to ‘take my pick’ out of the slaves, that feels kinda weird for me. But seeing as my sister took a shine to you when you first swore your soul to my family, I figured I’d ask.”
“I never swore my soul.” Svaartal calmly retorted, to which Dextra sighed. “I wasn’t being literal!” Before they were interrupted.
“You should take advantage of the slave stock sister.” Soren purred as he entered the room. “Once you get past their snivelling and mewling you can find their company quite satisfactory, you know. As for ranged attacks my wands will suffice. A shame Izadora forbade me from joining the Twins, I would have loved to face the Outsider to a proper finish. Our brief bout at school was cut dismally quick.”
“I’ll take a crack at him.” Dextra grinned. “I’ve been working on a new mechsuit that I wouldn’t mind taking out into the field.”
“That won’t be necessary. The High Matrons themselves have forbidden it. They’re likely going off of the rumours on the datanet so Izadora feels that can be overridden with time.”
“It’ll give me enough time to work on it at least.” Dextra shrugged. “If you’re able to get me some footage of him.”
“We shall see.” Soren dismissed with a small smile. He turned to look at Svaartal. “Izadora has called a meeting in light of the news of tonight’s attack. You too.” He added to Dextra.
“Really?” The bubbly drow asked in surprise. “What the hell does Chief Queef need from me?”
“Everyone is required, the High Matrons have given orders.” Soren purred back with an assertive tone, not allowing any dissent. “And Kravel wants to examine Devil’s Daughter’s staff as soon as possible.”
*****
“Hey boy, you’re going to be okay.” Jack whispered to Dante as he wrapped the lethargic ‘dog’ in blankets. The others hadn’t been able to get a reaction out of him, so Jack was the one who tried to feed Dante with some thinly sliced sausage that had been precooked and left in the fridge, with some water to go with it. The ‘dog’ only took some of the water and outright refused the sausage, which was very unusual for them. “You’re definitely not feeling great after that, but then again, who is?” He whispered to himself more than the ‘dog’. “I know you used some kind of power. I used my gun for far longer than I should have been able to, especially with the overcharges, and I think you must have helped out whoever you could with your mysterious abilities.”
Dante didn’t respond much beyond nuzzling Jack subconsciously in his sleep. He had set up a bed for Dante on the floor of his room so he could keep an eye on the ‘dog’ during the night if something happened, but also because he didn’t have many possessions and had the space. His condition hadn’t changed during the trip however, and Jack felt he could leave him to rest for a while if Chiyo monitored his condition from afar while he helped out downstairs.
Alora was doing an excellent job of playing host where she could in comforting both Zayle and Vanya, helped where possible by the others. Chiyo was doing her best to make soothing teas and pass them out to everyone while Sephy went through the bags of clothing they had picked up from the Prefect’s Lockup. Vanya was already wrapped up in blankets and was for the most part unresponsive, though indicated with a bare movement of her head that the change of clothes Sephy had picked out for the Chuna would be fine. Zayle had adopted a comically oversized black t-shirt with a strange skull on the front on top of what she was already wearing, looking completely exhausted but still wanting to try and help.
“It’s alright Zayle, just drink the tea and it’ll help you sleep.”
“I don’t need special treatment,” Zayle stubbornly replied. “I’ve got to earn my keep for myself and Rayle!”
“Chill out Zayle!” Nika grunted as she sat up from where she was on the sofa, putting a reassuring hand on Zayle’s shoulder. “You’ve stayed with us before and we’re happy to have you. There’s no pressure on you to do anything!”
“But…”
Your ability to commune with spirits, and Rayle’s affinity with nature will be an excellent fit for our household. Chiyo interrupted diplomatically. However this has been a harrowing night. Let us approach this later with fresher minds.
“Which rooms do you want?” Sephy asked them both as she gathered up bedding for their two friends.”
“Any suitable place Rayle and I can use as a magical lodge, if you will permit this?” Zayle asked Alora, who nodded before noticing Jack’s confused expression. “A room we can use to better focus our spirit walking and rituals.” they smiled as they explained what that meant. “I will sleep anywhere that is suitable, the ground floor would be nice, especially if there are water facilities we can use to keep ourselves moisturised.”
“We can arrange that, it’s no trouble!” Alora smiled. “For now, Sephy can put you up downstairs next to one of the bathrooms.”
“Where would you like to stay, Vanya?” Jack asked, making himself useful.
“I don’t want to be alone.” The Chuna simply stated, cradling her tea.
“You won’t be, we’re all over the house and just a knock away.” Jack stated, trying to put on a warm smile while looking to Alora with a side glance to defer to her if needed. “What about the room we put you in last time you were here?”
Vanya made a slight indication with her head in agreement, before weakly finishing her tea.
“Now the medics gave you a sedative to take before you go to sleep.” Alora reminded her. “If you take it now it’ll start to kick in when your bed gets made.”
“Okay.” Vanya replied quietly, taking the offered drink from Chiyo with said sedative and downing it quickly.
“Alright, let’s go.” Jack touched Vanya on the elbow to get her attention, then quickly realised his error when she recoiled and shuddered away from him before she composed herself. Inwardly cursing himself for his foolishness he led Vanya along the short walk to where he had carried her the night of the Killer Klown’s first attack, quickly making the bed and indicating that it was ready. But Vanya stood at the door, looking unsure about something.
“Will you be alright or do you need anything else?” He asked as gently as he could.
“You can…stay with me if you want.” Vanya whispered, looking to Jack with hopeful eyes as she slowly moved towards him, slowly letting go of the blankets wrapped around her. “I told you I don’t want to be alone, and I haven’t thanked you properly for saving me-”
“No.” Jack held his hand out, gently holding Vanya away. He knew full well that it wouldn’t be morally right or healthy to entertain that line of thought in any way. “You’ve been through a lot and we all need to rest and heal from that. There will be time to possibly consider that, but it’s not now.”
Vanya’s expression changed to one of hurt for just a moment, before she sighed and nodded, completely exhausted, getting among the covers and throwing the blankets over her, not saying anything before her breathing quickly calmed to the same, uniform repetitive pattern of sleep.
Turning off the light and closing the door, Jack quietly made his way back to the living room, noticing that Zayle was also gone to bed. Chiyo caught his eye as he returned and gave him a nod of approval, clearly knowing what had happened.
“So what do we do now?” Jack asked the others as he slumped down on the sofa.
Alora sighed. “Yet more things to add to the list of things to do.” She very uncharacteristically thumped her fist on her knee in frustration.
“Alora, you cool?” Sephy asked cautiously.
“No, I’m not!” She snapped. “Tonight was meant to be the first good night we could all share together without something messing it all up! I thought we had actually caught a fucking break for once!”
She paused and took a deep breath.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be snapping.” The Eladrie took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Yes we all did well in combating the Klowns, but by the gods I wish we didn’t have to.”
“I think all of us agree with that.” Nika added, reaching out with her tail and patting her friend on the shoulder. “There will be other times, Alora, and things definitely could have been worse.”
“Yeah.” Jack agreed. “Jesus, had I not found Vanya and Kizzarith both would be dead, or worse. And thank fuck Clan Bharzum are stepping up to help the victims.”
The Hoduth Clans have a culture of honour, and wouldn’t break their word. Chiyo pointed out. We can trust Clan Bharzum to help our friends, however third parties may take advantage of their weakened state if they sense an opportunity.
“Both that and the general chaos means work for us.” Sephy shrugged. “We might need it depending on how bad the attack was. Hyperinflation is a pain in the ass but it’s happened plenty of times before. And even if we’re not desperate for resources it’s always better to have more for when we have a dry period.”
“I don’t want us risking our necks unnecessarily unless it’s for a damn good reason.” Alora cautioned. “And that’s not the point. We’ve been through so much, and we need a break from it all. That means stepping back and just being normal for a while. You know what I wanted from this party? I wanted Jack to experience some of the good this universe has to offer rather than the shit he’s gone through ever since he left the Temple of Hope!”
“Thanks Alora.” Jack sighed. “It was a good idea, but you know we had no control over what happened. We just got unlucky.”
“I know” Alora replied. “But I still hate it!”
“Contract for the hot tub is already locked in at least, so despite the chaos they should be doing it, though it might be delayed.” Nika shrugged. “An evening in that would do me for some downtime. The only ‘normal’ thing I can think of is our homework for Industrial Vocation we still need to work on, we’ve got time to do it but we focused on the other stuff before the Pallid Pit Run.”
“That was for the spider-bot right?” Jack asked. “I had fun in the class and maybe we can do that soon, but we’ve got other things we’ll need to do first. Vanya’s belongings are apparently secure but Zayle said they and Rayle are in a tentative position at their place, maybe we could do it tomorrow?”
“Possibly, but let’s not commit to that time frame.” Alora yawned, leaning back on the sofa. “We have two more full days of the weekend and nights after school we can use, and I think I would prefer to help those that are hurt with my healing powers than go fetch Zayle’s belongings.”
“Well we don’t all need to go.” Sephy pointed out. “It’s not like the Pallid Pit. We’re literally just getting our friend’s stuff. Don’t forget that Jack and I were able to successfully rob the Prefect’s Lockup, which we’re still profiting from!”
“Sephy might have a point.” Jack reasoned. “At the very least those of us that are up for it can go and take a look. If there’s the window of opportunity to get the stuff and leave that’s great, maybe with a bribe or two to leave us be but if it’s doable we can get it done. Plus Zayle told you something about a vault they want to rob? That could always wait for a better time, but if the opportunity presents itself we could go for it. At the very least we could recon the area, unless you guys know the area?”
I don’t. Chiyo shook her head. And I think that’s historically how Rayle and Zayle preferred it. Their species benefits from a swampy environment and I got the impression that’s what their home had, but they might have been ashamed of it, hence why we’ve never visited.
“I’ve done a little bit of research on the general area before based on comments they’ve made in the past but I’ve always kept it to myself.” Sephy added. “It’s a bit of a slumland to be honest, with shanty towns popping up on the outskirts. It got hit hard by the Klown attack last week, and local reports indicate a breakdown in what previously passed for ‘order’ over there.”
“Perfect opportunity for a takeover.” Nika replied. “It would make sense if Zayle’s Laird is trying to lock the place down and gather as much resources as they can, and also a good time to think about leaving. But also by doing that it means they’re scared and weak. Sephy might be right that there’s an opportunity to be had, and that we don’t all need to go for this one, though I’d prefer it if we do.”
“You and Jack are the most injured out of all of us.” Alora cautioned. “Both of you should stay behind.”
“I should be good for it.” Jack shrugged. “I can take the hits but I don’t have my gauntlet for the time being. If we do this right we won’t be getting into a fight anyway, though we’ll need to clear this all with Zayle. Besides, I’ll need to be there to carry stuff.”
“Only fair I come for the trip too then.” Nika added. “Someone’s got to keep you idiots safe.”
“Rest first.” Alora asserted. “Planning later. However before that there’s something I need to talk to you about now we’re alone together.”
Alora took a deep breath before looking to all of them. “Before the Klown attack something happened during the party between me and Jack, and only a few of you know why.”
“Alora I…” Jack began, having suddenly been reminded of those events, before Alora shut him down.
“Not your fault.” Alora pointed to him with a smile. “The fault lies with my family.”
“How so?” Jack asked with a confused look, shared by everyone else with the exception of Chiyo.
“My family is full of backstabbing shitbags.” Alora continued bluntly. “I am not close to them, and I was sent here when I was only a little girl to settle ancestral lands we haven’t claimed in millenia. I realise now I was not meant to survive, and it’s a miracle this district hadn’t been taken over at the time, but fortunately the Myrial survived.”
Everyone was silent, not even moving to get more drinks. Any self-blame that Jack felt towards himself for what happened evaporated as she told her story.
“Most of you already know how things went from there. I met and befriended Chiyo, then Sephy and Nika in short order and we all turned this place into a home.”
“Still working on it.” Nika grinned.
“I realistically haven’t paid my family any thought in years.” Alora continued. “Never had any contact of any kind, and I’m happy to keep it that way. As far as I am concerned, you four are my true family.”
Sephy slowly and subtly covered her mouth at that, but Jack saw that her eyes betrayed how happy she felt to hear that. He didn’t know how he truly felt about Alora including him as a surrogate family, but he could understand how she felt considering what she had been through.
“When Jack and I shared a moment, an empathic link that my family had placed on me reacted violently, and that is why I reacted the way I did.” Alora stated, looking to the human as she said it. “I knew something had been placed on me by various older relatives but until earlier tonight I thought it expired over time. Part of it may have deteriorated to be honest, but that isn’t good enough.”
Alora looked at everyone in the room to show she was being serious.
“I want the link broken.” The Eladrie stated. “I know it can be done, and I know how it can be done. However before I do it, I need to tell you all that there will likely be long-term hostile repercussions incoming when I do it.”
“Say no more.” Sephy spoke up. “Do it. We’ll take down anyone that comes for you.”
All around the room heads nodded in agreement.
“Thank you.” Alora smiled relieved at them all. “I thought you would be on board but it would be wrong of me to do it without asking. It can wait. However I also feel like we need to have a proper conversation on how this new arrangement between all of us will work.”
She indicated primarily towards Jack, and everyone in the room knew exactly what she meant.
Yes. Chiyo agreed. We are a close group, and I am honoured to call all of you my best of friends. Even after you try to copy my homework Sephy! Whatever happens I do not wish to compromise any of what we share.
“Hah!” Sephy grinned. “Yeah I love all of you too. I don’t mind what happens with it all, as long as we all stick together.
“We all want that.” Nika agreed. “And that’s why this might hopefully end up working out.”
“But why would your family be that bothered about that if they clearly want you out of the way?” Jack asked Alora, confused. “What’s up with your family?”
Alora gave a deep, deep sigh.
“As far as all of you have been aware, my family is one of the high noble families of the Eladrie people. We have a ruling High Council that ostensibly rules our people on a galactic level, made up entirely of members of these noble families that individually command countries, continents, even planets and entire solar systems. The number of seats a family can hold is ever changing, and is far from an even or fair split. In the past, rare individuals have had the strength, will and purity to rule all of us, blessed and marked with potential by the Mother Tree herself in times of great need, though many do not.
Jack took a deep breath in awe of that as he looked to Alora, bracing for what she would say next.
“My name is Princess Alora Glenphyranix, and by the signs of the Mother Tree, I am a claimant to the throne of my people.”
*****
First/Previous
More drow and more revelations...
If you're impatient for the next chapter, why not check out my previous series?
Some pictures have been added to The Galactic High Info Sheet! If you have any fanart or any pictures you think might fit one of the entries, please let us know on the discord!
Don't forget! You all have the ability to leave comments and notes to the entries, which I encourage you to do!
As always I love to see the comments on what you guys think!
Don't forget to join the discussion with us on Discord, and consider checking me out on Youtube if you haven't already! Until next week, it's goodbye for now!

Hello all,
As we all in this fandom know, the Red Line is supposed to be the communist faction based off of Soviet-era Russia. However, my mind slips on the fact of if we've ever seen/heard of a secret police agency within the games (I have yet to read the books). I remember hearing that Reich has the Gestapo (the fascist equivalent), but never heard mention of that of the Red Line.
Now, I'm assuming they do. Question is, is it based on the NKVD or the later KGB? Considering that they are described as "neo-Stalinist", I would assume the NKVD considering that Stalin heavily favored their use in internal security (and political executions ofc). The NKVD was reorganized into the MVD in 1946, and the KGB was organized in 1954.
What are your all's thoughts on this?

Watch now

Winners

Liquid` Riddles (Kazuya, Terry) vs FC l Sonix (Sonic) WF l Skyjay (Incineroar) vs Lima (Bayonetta)

Losers

TSM l Tweek (Diddy Kong, Sephiroth, Cloud) [Lima] vs FaZe l Sparg0 (Cloud, Pyra/Mythra, Byleth) [Skyjay] LG l Maister (Mr. Game & Watch) [Skyjay] vs Shory's l ShinyMark (Pikachu) [Lima]

Top 16 Bracket

9th

Moist l Light (Fox) [Quandale Dinglelingleton, Tweek] wG l ApolloKage (Snake) [Sonix, Sparg0] SSG l Zomba (R.O.B., Lucina) [Sonix, Maister] T1 l MkLeo (Pyra/Mythra, Joker, Byleth) [Riddles, ShinyMark]

13th

MBS l Syrup (Steve) [Riddles, Light] AITX l Quandale Dinglelingleton (Steve) [Zomba, ApolloKage] MVD (Snake) [Tweek, Maister] LVD l Ling (Peach) [Lima, ShinyMark]

17th

GO l Flow (Roy) [Beast, Syrup] Ikan (Ryu) [MkLeo, Light] 26R l Cosmos (Pyra/Mythra) [Syrup, ApolloKage] PHNM l Peabnut (Mega Man) [MPg, Quandale Dinglelingleton] KC l Kurama (Mario, Donkey Kong) [Lima, Maister] MKBigBoss (R.O.B.) [Sparg0, MVD] SBU l Quidd (Pokémon Trainer) [Sweshi, Ling] Peanut (Little Mac) [Tweek, ShinyMark]

25th

NVR l PkChris (Ness) [BeastModePaul, Flow] Mazer l Colorondo8 (Inkling) [Cosmos, Light] Moist l Goblin (Roy) [Riddles, Cosmos] AITX l Jakal (Wolf) [Ikan, Peabnut] MOB l Bobo (Snake) [Ling, Kurama] GodIMissHer (Mega Man) [Peanut, MVD] Yoda Cage (Bowser Jr.) [MKBigBoss, Quidd] PvE l SHADIC (Corrin) [MKBigBoss, ShinyMark]

33rd

GO l BacoN (Dr. Mario) [ApolloKage, PkChris] NVR l MPg (Mega Man) [Sonix, Flow] Jake (Steve) [Zomba, Colorondo8] Puppeh (Pokémon Trainer) [Syrup, Light] Anathema (R.O.B.) [Ikan, Goblin] ESAM (Pikachu, Mii Brawler) [Quandale Dinglelingleton, Cosmos] WPC l fawn (Duck Hunt) [Sonix, Jakal] SYN l ram (Snake) [MkLeo, Peabnut] AndrewT (Zero Suit Samus, Ness) [Sinji, Bobo] GIANTS l Sisqui (Dark Samus, Samus) [GodIMissHer, Kurama] Mystic l SoulArts (Shulk) [Ling, GodIMissHer] Moist l SALTONE (Roy, Cloud) [Bobo, MVD] AITX l Dark Wizzy (Mario) [Maister, Yoda Cage] Liquid` Dabuz (Rosalina & Luma, Olimar, Min Min) [Skyjay, Quidd] Justin23 l Justin23 (Yoshi) [Dark Wizzy, SHADIC] AKV l AndresFn (Ken) [Sparg0, ShinyMark]

49th

NBG l Pelca (Snake) [Jake, PkChris] TCS l Dany (Wolf) [ram, Flow] SX l Aryeh (Snake, Ness) [BacoN, Colorondo8] Synergy (Robin) [Petayaa, Puppeh] UTA l Beastly (Diddy Kong) [Spritzy, Anathema] NS l BeastModePaul (Hero) [Jakal, ESAM] Council PPTH l Greg House (R.O.B.) [Goblin, fawn] SHAH l ZD (Fox, Wolf, Ridley) [Riddles, DQ vs Peabnut] djb l Sweshi (Bowser Jr.) [Peanut, AndrewT] AITX l Gen (Palutena) [AndresFn, Sisqui] Applebee's l Dovidio (Bayonetta) [Maister, SoulArts] AITX l Mr. E (Lucina) [Skyjay, SALTONE] Jules (Steve, Min Min) [Tweek, Yoda Cage] DA EMP l Sinji (Pac-Man) [SHADIC, Quidd] WPC l Vivi (Hero, Lucario) [Kurama, Justin23] thanks ( HENRY LUMA (R.O.B.) [Maister, ShinyMark]

65th-193rd places

I started getting the pain described in my illustration on Nov 4, 2022. I was fine before that. The only other symptom (possibly unrelated) prior to this was a slight toothache on the same side which has since gone away.
The day before the pain started, I asked my partner to massage my neck since I get huge muscle knots, but we joked that he was going too hard, so he stopped because we got worried.
The week before the pain started, I was working long hours hunched over my desk. A day or two before the symptoms began, I decided to wear a posture corrector for an entire day in the hopes it would help my back.
I think my pain started due to some sort of injury because of the intense/sudden onset of pain. I hoped it might heal, but it's been 4 months and the pain is now constant.
Currently the doctors think it's trigeminal neuralgia or possibly TMJ. I don't have any of the classic triggers for TMJ or trigeminal neuralgia, like chewing/talking/touching my face. I only have postural and positional triggers, which my doctors haven't been able to explain.
I would get the MVD surgery for TN in a heartbeat if I knew it would work for me, but I'm so suspicious of this actually being something else, even though the trigeminal nerve is obviously affected somehow. I haven't seen anything about postural triggers in the literature on TN.
Other symptoms not mentioned in my illustration:
Brief tinnitus on affected side with certain head positions (only lasts a few seconds, occurs about once every 3 days)
Can hear my heartbeat in the ear on the affected side while wearing earplugs, but it goes away immediately if I put my head in a neutral position (with the chin not too low or too high).
Sometimes (rarely) I also get nerve pain on the side of my tongue, on the affected side.
The worst pain I felt (10/10 in all shaded areas for at least 15 seconds) was about 1 month into the facial pain, when I accidentally rested my chin/jaw in my hand on the affected side and pushed upwards.

Just in time for Collision 2023, here's the next installment of the ECBW project.

• Victory must come from a major (defined by Liquipedia). Sorry if you beat a top player at a local or whatever. (JAPAN 24 was recently demoted, so I'll probably go back and edit any entries once the whole roster is covered)
  
• Every won game of the set must be by that character. So for example Proto's win on Riddles at Summit 5 is ineligible as he won a game with Lucina and two with Min Min, but his win on Sparg0 is fine since he lost the only game he went Lucina.
  
• Set must be a BO5 (exceptions may be made for honorable mentions, sometimes out of necessity). Unfortunately, Japan suffers the most from this as even some of their majors had BO3 grands.
  
• Honorable mentions aren't necessarily the next best options, moreso used to highlight other matches and players though exceptions may apply.
  
• Lists like these are subjective and primarily serves as a smorgasbord of matches for the entire roster showcasing their peaks. If you feel like I missed a set or know of one that deserves a spot, let me know in the comments (constructively)!
  

Here you can see the previous posts here for the 64 fighters, Melee fighters, and Brawl fighters.

Villager VILLAGER - JAVI ON EARTH vs. Kola, Let's Make Moves Miami - Top 64

The Let's Make Moves series has not been kind to Kola. He has lost to a Donkey Kong, Lucas, and now a Villager at these events. Unfortunately without accompanying video there's not much else to say. JAVI ON EARTH is one of the best Villagers in NA and this Kola win is certainly his magnum opus. JAVI would ride that momentum to a 17th place finish at LMMM, which was only one set away from his career best: a 13th at CEO 2021. It doesn't seem like he has attended much since then however (at least in terms of majors), so future installments look like they will once again rely on the world warrior kept for any new wins.
Honorable Mention: kept vs. Puppeh, Super Smash Con 2019 - Top 32 - kept stays calm after going down 0-2 and reverse sweeps Puppeh's PT at SSC. The final sequence is a thing of beauty.
Honorable Mention: kept vs. tk3, Kagaribi#5 - Top 64 - Despite my best interests to be lazy, I'll separate Villager from Isabelle and thus it'll be a tk3 win instead of a Tarik one.
Honorable Mention: kept vs. Abadango, Umebura SP5 - Top 24 - Unfazed against the defending Umebura champion, kept sends Aba to losers in a BO3.

Megaman MEGA MAN - Kameme vs. Raito, Umebura Japan Major 2019 - Winners Finals

Kameme is the most prominent Mega Man in the game but has since switched to Sora as his character of choice, while the next generation of mains haven't quite reached Kameme's heights. He, like other top Japanese players, also has pockets for days especially in the early meta. Since his UJM grands win was with a mixed bag of characters we'll go with the next set which was winners finals against Raito. Mega Man vs. Duck Hunt is one of the character matchups of all time, with projectiles upon projectiles flying all over the place. In the end, Kameme's projectiles and aerial attacks proved superior and claimed victory, putting Kameme in grand finals of the largest Japanese major (and 3rd largest overall) at the time.
Honorable Mention: Kameme vs. MkLeo, EVO 2019 - Top 32 - One of the most notable sets in Ultimate history simply cannot be ignored.
Honorable Mention: Repo vs. acola, Seibugeki #12 - Top 12 - Another BO3, but another Mega Man slaying a giant, Repo directly contributed to acola's first and only time ever missing top 8.
Honorable Mention: Peabnut vs. Cosmos, Collision 2022 - Top 48 - NA Mega Man Peabnut has a string of 17ths, but the one at Collision featured a win on Cosmos.

WiiFitTrainer WII FIT TRAINER - varun vs. LeoN, Crown 2 - Top 12

Wii Fit is such an interesting character. Deep Breathing goes crazy, and the soccer ball is right up there with Link's bomb as one of the most flexible and creative projectiles out there. Despite that, her representation remains scarce, especially at top level. varun however cares not for such trivialities and beat LeoN 3-0 at Crown 2 to secure his spot in top 8. Outside of WaDi juggling her in his arsenal of characters, I don't think any other WFT has made top 8 at a major. With Bowser as his opponent, varun had a field day with combos and edgeguards galore. Additionally, Deep Breathing smash attacks were the perfect punish for when LeoN got greedy and missed with a laggy attack.
Honorable Mention: Injelly vs. Masashi, MaesumaTOP#6 - Top 32 - Injelly nearly made top 8 at MaesaumTOP#6, and this was his last win before getting knocked out by Proto and Shuton.
Honorable Mention: John Numbers vs. Peabnut, Collision 2022 - Top 128 - I don't know how, but John Numbers was the first player that popped into my head for WFT players. Here's one of his wins from his run at Collision, finishing 17th (a career best).
Honorable Mention: varun vs. yonni, Mainstage 2021 - Top 64 - Wii Fit vs. Minecraft. Soccer ball vs. minecart. Deep Breathing vs. Diamond tools.

Rosalina ROSALINA - Dabuz vs. Tea, Crown 2 - Winners Finals

The King of New York has carried a storied career in Smash Ultimate so far, with many deep bracket run sets to select from. In the end, I'm going to go with his performance at Crown 2. Dabuz breezed through his opponents, dropping zero games before meeting Tea in winners finals, where the Japanese Pac Man sensation went up a clean 2-0. Then Dabuz clawed his way back into the set thanks to some of his signature traits: mental toughness and patience. He stood firm, completed the comeback, and the Rosa pioneer found himself in grands. Dabuz has taken many a set off many a top player, but reverse sweeping one of Japan's finest in Tea this late in bracket has to be up there.
Honorable Mention: Dabuz vs. Glutonny, Smash Factor 9 - Winners Semis - Deja vu as Dabuz pulls off another reverse sweep against another world class talent in Gluto at SF9.
Honorable Mention: Dabuz vs. ProtoBanham, Smash World Tour 2021 - Losers Eighths - New York vs. Japan at SWT, where Rosalina and Luma defeated Lucina and Min Min.
Honorable Mention: Dabuz vs. acola, Summit 5 - Pools - Who is Dabuz? For dablind, it is dalight. For dahungry, it is dabread. For the...you get the idea.

LittleMac LITTLE MAC - Peanut vs. Zenyou, Genesis 9 - Top 96

Remember at Rise 'N Grind when Peanut almost beat MkLeo? If he had sealed the deal that would've assuredly been the selection here, even if it was a BO3. Unfortunately for him that didn't come to pass and so we move to other pastures. At Genesis 9, Peanut and Little Mac faced Zenyou and his variety of high tier characters. Mario? Three stocked. Pyra and Mythra? Punched to oblivion. Cloud? Okay admittedly he struggled a bit and dropped a game there but it's goddamn Little Mac vs. a sword character, what did you expect. And at the end of game four, a down tilt into forward title secured the set. If Peanut ever makes a major top 8, put him in the hall of fame immediately.
Honorable Mention: Peanut vs. Chunky, MomoCon 2022 - Top 64 - At MomoCon, Peanut took down Chunky, not to be confused with ChunkyKong, who was also at this event.
Honorable Mention: Tarakotori vs. Lunamado, Umebura SP4 - Top 16 - Did you know that a Little Mac made a top 16 in Ultimate's first year? Even if it's still in BO3 waters that's mighty impressive/
Honorable Mention: Peanut vs. xX_YuiToaster>:3_Xx, Let's Make Big Moves 2023 - Top 96 - I'm sorry, but if I had to lay eyes on this username then all of you have to, too.

Greninja GRENINJA - Lea vs. Shuton, Kagaribi#7 - Top 32

Greninja has been part of the "theorycraft" club since Ultimate's release alongside characters such as Sheik and Shulk. Unlike those two however, Greninja benefits from having some of the best results of the three because of Lea. Thanks to a bevy of top 8 placements since 2019, Lea's performances with the Water Pokemon have collected a variety of wins and placements. With a top 16 berth on the line at Kagaribi#7, Lea had to face Shuton and promptly dismantled the top three player in the nation. The Aegis struggled, even getting two stocked in the process. The desperation switch to Olimar also yielded Shuton no favors so with a swift and decisive 3-0, Lea sent Shuton tumbling to losers. Alongside another Shuton win and a Dabuz win (both collected at Kongo Saga), these are the holy trinity of top 10 Greninja wins.
Honorable Mention: Stroder vs. Maister, Glitch 8 - Top 32 - Stroder went off at Glitch 8, taking out names like Maister and Cosmos before finishing the event at 5th.
Honorable Mention: Lea vs. ProtoBanham, Kagaribi#6 - Top 96 - Stroder went off at Glitch 8, taking out names like Maister and Cosmos before finishing the event at 5th.
Honorable Mention: Lea vs. VoiD, Frostbite 2019 - Top 48 - A Pokemon battle between Greninja and Pichu. Luckily for Lea, type advantage isn't real in Ultimate.

MiiBrawler MII BRAWLER - Bloom4Eva vs. Shuton, L'Odyssee - Losers Eighths

As a bona fide Mii fighter hater, it brings me no joy to research and write regarding these characters. They're not real. Anywho, Mii Brawler was the least annoying of the three to collect data for. Bloom4Eva's pocket Mii Brawler has been seeing more usage, and officially got put on the map at L'Odyssee. With Bayonetta handling pools and Mr. R, the Brawler came out with the pyrotechnics to fight Shuton. Instead of Bayo combos it was Brawler neutral as across three straight games it never really felt like Shuton was in control. Bloom landed up+B after up+B and just like that he sent the Aegis / Olimar main home. Bloom's Brawler made one of the most consistent players in the scene look a little foolish by set's end, and earned himself yet another top player win.
Honorable Mention: Bloom4Eva vs. NaetorU, Vienna Challengers Arena 2022 - Top 64 - One of the earliest sightings of the Bloom Brawler, he used it to reverse sweep NaetorU at his breakout VCA run.
Honorable Mention: LeeT vs. Kyu, The Big House 9 - Top 128 - LeeT got 65th at The Big House 9 and uh yeah that's really all I have for this one. Expect maybe an ESAM Brawler win to fill this in the future.
Honorable Mention: Rizeasu vs. Tea, MaesumaTOP#4 - Winners Finals - This was before the MaesumaTOP series became major staples, but Rizeasu was one of the earliest Brawler adopters. Well, before he realized he wanted to main half the cast.

MiiSwordfighter MII SWORDFIGHTER - Myollnir vs. Leon, Temple: Hermes Edition - Top 24

From one European Mii user to another, Myollnir will take the throne as the most notable Mii Swordfighter that I could find. It helps when you have a 9th place finish at a supermajor in Temple. The most notable of his wins was against fellow Frenchman Leon. Which custom moves did Myollnir opt to use? How did he handle neutral against Lucina? These are questions we'll never know the answers to as it wasn't streamed, but what we do know was that the set was a barnburner, going to full five games. Myollnir would pickup this win and another on Neeroz before exiting the event at 9th. His only losses at Temple were to Kome (bigger sword) and Glutonny (best in Europe). Not bad for a Swordfighter, not bad at all.
Honorable Mention: Myollnir vs. Oryon, Temple: Hermes Edition - Top 64 - Another notable name on Myollnir's Temple path of destruction was Wolf main Oryon.
Honorable Mention: Shissho vs. Sriks, Kagaribi#9 - Top 64 - The lone non-Myollnir to represent MSF, Shissho decided to use the character against Aussie invader Sriks at Kaga#9 and it worked.
Honorable Mention: Myollnir vs. Neeroz, Temple: Hermes Edition - Top 16 - Was gonna try and find a set for a player named "Anonymous Moniker" for novelty, but settled for yet another Myollnir Temple win.

MiiGunner MII GUNNER - Capitancito vs. MVD, LVL UP EXPO 2023 - Top 64

Huh, all the main Mii fighter representation landed on international talent. You love to see it. Hailing from the Dominican Republic, Capitancito causes headaches for opponents and casters alike (looking at you EE). Going up against MVD at LVL UP EXPO, you'd think this wasn't Smash but instead a modern warfare game with the explosions and projectiles rocking the screen 24/7. Finding himself down 1-2 but not out, Capitancito rallied with a precise up tilt to close game four and then decimated MVD with a two stock performance in game five to close out the set. Like Myollnir in the previous entry, he was just one set win away from making a top 8 debut which would've been a first for both player and character.
Honorable Mention: Capitancito vs. Kreeg, LVL UP EXPO 2023 - Top 16 - Capitancito came oh so close to a top 8 appearance at LVL UP EXPO, which simply would have been bonkers.
Honorable Mention: Deon vs. Yetey, Syndicate 2019 - Top 48 - At this point, looking up Mii Fighter data gave me nausea. But uh hey here's some EU representation.
Honorable Mention: M.M.Leo vs. Larry Lurr, Mainstage 2022 - Pools - Larry Lurr might have beaten MkLeo, but what does he got against M.M.Leo? Not a win, that's what.

Palutena PALUTENA - Nairo vs. MkLeo, Mainstage 2019 - Grand Finals

For the first half of Mainstage finals, it seemed the script was set for yet another dominating MkLeo run. Nairo had the benefit of being on winner's side of grands but that didn't matter as Leo forced a quick reset in 3-0 fashion. Joker and Arsene was too much for the best Palutena in the world to handle. Then, with the deciding set tied at 1-1, Nairo flipped a switch, grabbed a lead, and never looked back. Palutena's mobility did wonders in evading dangerous situations against Arsene, while that same mobility threatened Leo's recoveries and secured kills. Nairo became the 3rd player in history to defeat Leo's Joker in grands, joining the forums of the elite in Marss and Samsora. A couple of Palutenas have climbed the rankings since, but none have been able to bring another title home for the goddess.
Honorable Mention: Nairo vs. Tweek, Shine 2019 - Losers Eighths - When it doubt, pick a Leo win or a Tweek win. Here is one such example, with Nairo reverse 3-0'ing Tweek's Wario at Shine.
Honorable Mention: Abadango vs. Yoshidora, Kagaribi#8 - Top 12 - Aba's magical Kaga#8 run had a couple notable Palu wins, including this one on rising star Yoshidora.
Honorable Mention: Lui$ vs. Onin, Rise 'N Grind - Top 32 - Had to give some love to Lui$, who was the first to topple Onin after his rise to power following GOML and SSC.

Pacman PAC-MAN - Tea vs. Glutonny, Temple: Hermes Edition - Grand Finals

One of the most beloved players in the scene, Japan's Tea runs a legendary Pac Man unlike any other. While at time of writing he has collected six trophies to his name, it'd be almost disrespectful to not choose the Temple meeting against Glutonny. This grand final became the first of three extremely electric sets between the two titans, and the base character matchup was a final breath of fresh air before majors became overrun with DLC fighters (though Tea did use a pinch of Kazuya at Temple). Anyway, Tea does some insane shit with Pac Man to Gluto, and then Gluto does some insane shit back to Tea. But in the end, bell beats garlic and Tea won his 3rd major - a most impressive feat indeed.
Honorable Mention: Tea vs. Atelier, Kagaribi#3 - Grand Finals - Tea's first major win since Thunder Smash 3 was a doozy of a set between him and Atelier, including a flourish of a finish.
Honorable Mention: Tea vs. Dabuz, Crown 2 - Grand Finals - After getting reverse 3-0'd in winners, Tea said he'll do Dabuz one better and reverse 6-0's him to steal Crown 2.
Honorable Mention: Tea vs. Tweek, Mainstage 2021 - Losers Quarters - Tea's racked up a variety of top NA wins like Marss, Samsora, and Light over the years but we'll use the last spot for his Mainstage dub on Tweek.

Lucina LUCINA - ProtoBanham vs. Kola, Summit 5 - Winners Finals

Even though ProtoBanham is a prolific dual main, there are still plenty of examples where he stays with one character the whole way through. Case in point: his Lucina usage against Kola at Summit 5. At first though it looked like a mistake as he fell into a 0-2 hole, reminiscent of their first meeting at SWT where Kola's aggression overwhelmed Proto. However as the set went on, Proto adapted and as noted by the couch, effectively iced Kola out in-game with his flowing movement and punishing shield breaks. In the end the Falchion prevailed over the Binding Blade, and a reverse sweep sent ProtoBanham and Lucina into grand finals of the most competitive Ultimate Summit to date.
Honorable Mention: ProtoBanham vs. zackray, Kagaribi#4 - Top 12 - While their clash in grands featured Min Min as the star, you can't forget this classic that occurred just before top 8.
Honorable Mention: ProtoBanham vs. Yoshidora, Kagaribi#4 - Winners Semis - As expected, Proto did plenty of character switching during his first major win at Kagaribi#4, but it was all Lucina for his bout against the explosive rising star Yoshidora.
Honorable Mention: MkLeo vs. VoiD, Genesis 6 - Grand Finals - Of course, we couldn't wrap things up here without the original Lucina win: Leo over VoiD at G6. The king of Genesis (and Ultimate) got started on this faithful day.

Robin ROBIN - Jul vs. Fsharp, Shine 2019 - Top 64

Robin is one of the most interesting Fire Emblem characters designed for Smash. He's also the worst of them all, by far. As such, the life of a low tier features many an unsung hero. Much respect to both these players and anyone who recognizes them. Honestly his section is really just the original Pit section from Brawl's entries but without the "zackray suddenly decides to use character and gets 3rd place at a supermajor" part. Jul piloted Robin to a 17th place finish at Shine 2019, which was only his third major appearance at the time. Maybe if Robin survives the transition to the next Smash title, he'll see some more success.
Honorable Mention: Ke-ya vs. Gomamamamama, Kagaribi#5 - Top 128 - From what I could tell, Ke-ya in Japan is the only active Robin player, at least as far as majors are concerned.
Honorable Mention: Synergy vs. Kurshaun, Super Smash Con: Fall Fest - Top 48 - The highest-placed set out of options here, but again like any piece without VOD proof I'm just going on assumptions here.
Honorable Mention: Ignis vs. Lumidyne, Phantom 2020 - Top 64 - This wasn't at a major, but the Fire Emblem nerd in me has to point out that a player named Ignis mains Robin and how that's lore accurate.

Shulk SHULK - Kome vs. Tea, EVO Japan 2020 - Losers Finals

Kome has long been the patron saint of Shulk gameplay since the Smash 4 days, and his finest work occurred at EVO Japan 2020. To date it's the only grand finals appearance of Shulk, and the losers finals duel with Tea was quite the spectacle. It's an intriguing character matchup, with the diverse combo options of Pac Man and the omnipresent arts from Shulk duking it out for supremacy. Kome was able to use big aerials to outspace Tea's boxing options. More importantly, he was able to find a plethora of kills against Tea's variety of recovery paths whether through great usage of Air Slash or going deep with Jump Art fairs. Throw in some good survivability with Shield Art and general evasiveness over the bell, and you have a complete package of Shulk's strengths wrapped up in a nice little bow.
Honorable Mention: Kome vs. ProtoBanham, Kagaribi#5 - Top 12 - Kome unleashes the full power of the Monado to defeat both of Proto's deadly characters.
Honorable Mention: jaredisking1 vs. ATATA, Rise 'N Grind - Top 16 - I believe jared is the only non-Kome Shulk to top 8 a major, and this was his deepest win at the event.
Honorable Mention: Uncivil Ninja vs. VoiD, Genesis 7 - Top 96 - Between this and Nicko vs. Leffen at Mainstage, it was tough selecting another NA Shulk result.

BowserJr BOWSER JR. - Yoda Cage vs. Ned, Let's Make Big Moves 2022 - Top 128

If I had a nickel every time a low tier character got an upset on a Fighter Pass 2 character at a Let's Make Moves tournament, but then lost the rematch in losers, I'd have (at least) two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. From Armadillo and Jake in 2023 to Yoda Cage and Ned in 2022, this time instead of funny block man, Bowser Jr. slays a god (with a cameo from Pokemon Trainer). Yoda Cage was able to consistently clean Ned's stocks thanks to a variety of special moves, up smash, and of course Jr's deadly jab. While he would lose the eventual rematch, Yoda did plenty enough in this set showcasing the strength and complexity of the lil' koopa kid.
Honorable Mention: Yoda Cage vs. LingLing, Glitch 8.5 - Top 24 - A reverse sweep was not on my bingo board when Yoda squared up against Ling in top 32.
Honorable Mention: Monty vs. ChocoTaco, The Big House 9 - Top 48 - Love me a good low tier battle pretty deep into a major. Must have been an entertaining watch.
Honorable Mention: Ketchup vs. Light, MSM 240 - Pools - Not a major, but when a pools match of a Summit qualifier features a favorite getting upset by Bowser Jr. in pools, that's 100% worth mentioning.

DuckHunt DUCK HUNT - Raito vs. Cosmos, Umebura Japan Major 2019 - Winners Semis

Perhaps it's been forgotten due to the passage of time, but Raito was kinda cooking in 2019 with his loyal Duck Hunt duo. The obscure character a handful of top 30 wins during Ultimate's first full year of competition and none were bigger than his dub on Cosmos at Umebura Japan Major. Given that the then Inkling main probably had zero experience in the matchup, Raito feasted for three games straight. Duck Hunt's complex projectile game and well-placed smash attacks took care of stocks cleanly. Thanks to those efforts, Raito and Duck Hunt found themselves in winners finals of a supermajor. When looking back at early Ultimate history, this is one of the most surprising achievements in my plebian opinion.
Honorable Mention: Raito vs. Dabuz, Albion 4 - Winner Semis - Surprisingly, Raito has a top 3 finish at a European major, notably taking out Dabuz before falling to Gluto.
Honorable Mention: Raito vs. Shuton, EVO 2019 - Top 24 - Besides Raito, Austrian SkWirrel is another known Duck Hunt enjoyer, running this character to 25th at Temple.
Honorable Mention: SkWiirrel vs. Ryukai, Temple: Hermes Edition - Top 48 - Besides Raito, Austrian SkWirrel is another known Duck Hunt enjoyer, running this character to 25th at Temple.

Ryu RYU - Asimo vs. Yoshidora, Kagaribi#9 - Winners Semis

In the past month alone, Asimo has collected enough top player wins to fill out Ryu's entire section by himself. At MaesumaTOP#11, he defeated Tea and Shuton (not to mention a nailbiter loss to acola in losers semis). At Kagaribi#9, he toppled Kameme and zackray (with yet another heartbreaker loss to acola, this time in grands). The duel between him and Yoshidora, both rising stars in their own right, was pretty special: back and forth, crushing combos and dominant performances from both players. These characters put out so much damage, you were on the edge of your seat the entire set. Since he burst onto the scene, Asimo has been making tremendous strides with Ryu and easily became the best in the world with the world warrior. His moment is coming. I'm a firm believer of this.
Honorable Mention: AndresFN vs. Glutonny, Temple: Hermes - Top 12 - Perhaps Gluto's troubles with FGC characters started on this day. Probably not, but nonetheless.
Honorable Mention: Asimo vs. Light, Gimvitational - Pools - Asimo got 2nd at Kaga#7, showed up to America for the first time, and promptly beat Light's ass in Gimv pools.
Honorable Mention: Ikan vs. yonni, Genesis 8 - Top 16 - While Vendetta and AndresFN argued over who was the best shoto, Ikan quietly outplaced them both (by a long shot) at G8.

Cloud CLOUD - Sparg0 vs. Light, Summit 4 - Grand Finals

When the world emerged from the quarantine period, Sparg0 emerged a new man. With the power of the Aegis and his trusty Cloud by his side, he wracked up strong performances left and right, though a major win remained ever-elusive for the young Mexican prodigy. But at Summit 4, everything clicked. He dominated his pool, dropping but a single game. It was the same during bracket. Chag fell by the wayside. Leo could not channel his game 4 powers thanks to an absolutely brilliant recovery and reversal. Light couldn't close the five game series, and when he returned to grands for the rematch the answers were no longer there. Sparg0 defeated Light once more and won the event he first broke out at six months ago.
Honorable Mention: Sparg0 vs. MkLeo, Summit 4 - Winners Semis - While his two Light sets was insane, the same could be said for how Sparg0 finished game four against Leo.
Honorable Mention: Sparg0 vs. acola, Genesis 9 - Losers Eighths - If Steve was actually a mid tier, this is what his gameplay would look like. Sparg0 dominated from the word "go."
Honorable Mention: Sparg0 vs. Tweek, Mainstage 2022 - Grand Finals - We had no idea at the time but this gigabanger of a series would be the start of three consecutive Sparg0 / Tweek grands.

Corrin CORRIN - MkLeo vs. Sparg0, RETA 2022 - Grand Finals

After this project is done, I look forward to seeing how many Fire Emblem entries involve MkLeo (though overall he's gotta be everywhere). RETA was on the heels of Summit 4 and Collision, events where Sparg0 went 2-0 vs. Leo. The adjustment Leo made this time around was to bring his Corrin out to play. After the dragon Princess dispatched Larry Lurr and Glutonny, she added Sparg0 to the kill list. Despite a hiccup in game one, Leo's Corrin was in complete control the rest of the way, winning the next three games (with two two-stocks included) to claim the invitational. It's a shame we haven't seen much more of this pick (outside of a jumpscare at Double Down vs. Proto) since.
Honorable Mention: SHADIC vs. Onin, Let's Make Big Moves 2023 - Top 64 - SHADIC delivers a stunning upset on Onin, giving the latter his worst placement in nearly a year. Oh and this kid is just 15 years old. Can you say "potential?"
Honorable Mention: Cosmos vs. Dabuz, Glitch 8 - Losers Quarters - EE said "oh he's given up." Coney said "getting ready for Byleth bro!" And Cosmos said "watch me reverse sweep the King of New York with my Smash 4 main."
Honorable Mention: Neo vs. Tea, MaesumaTOP#11 - Top 32 - The new champion for Corrin out in Japan, Neo has been making waves since appearing on the scene late last year.

Bayonetta BAYONETTA - Bloom4Eva vs. Glutonny, Vienna Challengers Arena 2022 - Grand Finals

The wicked witch of Smash 4 has seen a resurgence starting in 2022 thanks to the efforts of Bloom4Eva, the best player in the United Kingdom. After his first couple of majors in COLOSSEL, Double Down, and Ultimate WANTED #3, all eyes were on Bloom at Vienna Challengers Arena as he was on a collision course with Glutonny. The Brit won their UBF duel, but could he repeat the feat when the trophy was on the line? The short answer: yes. Combos flowed like water and Bloom tallied up the kills throughout a very tense five game set. In the end, UK triumphed over France and Bayonetta claimed her first Ultimate major thanks to double eliminating the best player in Europe.
Honorable Mention: Bloom4Eva vs. Glutonny, COLOSSEL 2022 - Losers Quarters - This is where the Bloom x Gluto rivalry began. UK vs. France, tale as old as time.
Honorable Mention: Bloom4Eva vs. Glutonny, Vienna Challengers Arena 2022 - Winners Semis - Originally this was one of Bloom's wins on Jake or quiK, but nah. Racking up wins against Gluto is no easy feat and he was 3-0 at one point.
Honorable Mention: frawg vs. Dabuz, Double Down 2022 - Pools - frawg got a crazy upset win on Dabuz in Double Down pools. Slaying the king that early in a bracket is pretty unheard of, but the Bayo did it.

If you ever wanted to play pinball in 3D on a portable device and not have to wear headgear... you'll probably want to grab these games now. Zen doesn't do physical cart/disc releases so when the eShop is shut down these will be gone forever.
You will still be able to download your purchases after the 3DS eShop closes on March 27.
You can not add funds directly to your 3DS account anymore. If you have a Nintendo Switch then you likely already have a Nintendo Network ID. Log onto your Nintendo account (https://accounts.nintendo.com/login) and link your 3DS account to it. Add funds to the Nintendo ID account, then purchase content from the 3DS eShop.
Here's what's on the 3DS eShop now:
Zen Pinball 3D ($7)

• Earth Defense
• Shaman
• Excalibur
• El Dorado

Star Wars Pinball ($7)

• Empire Strikes Back
• Boba Fett
• Clone Wars

Marvel Pinball ($8)

• Iron Man
• Blade
• Captain America
• Fantastic Four

Kirby's Pinball Land ($4)
Pinball: Revenge of the Gator ($3)

• Both of these are from the Game Boy. They were a lot of fun when I was a kid. Floaty physics and monochrome graphics. Ahh the classics. I still have these on the GB and I don't own the 3DS ports so I'm not sure if they're actually in 3D.

Pinball Breaker ($7)

• I've never played these. There seem to be 5 of them in separate downloads. Anyone know anything about these?

Are there any pinball games on the 3DS I missed?

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For those who may have seen my Melee GOAT Tracker and Ultimate GOAT Tracker from yesterday (which has been EDITED since it was posted), this is basically the same thing but applied to Smash 4. Many of the explanations below are copied from those posts and modified when necessary.
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With Smash 4's lifespan having recently been surpassed by Ultimate's, I figured I would continue this series to look at the legacies of Smash players on the Wii U. Since there is no longer a competitive scene for this game, I will not provide discussion at the end, so this post will basically conclude with the full list!
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Disclaimers

Now before I delve into this, I just want to point out that many of the parameters holding this thing together are completely arbitrary, so if you want to argue over the rationale behind one certain metric or why one thing is weighed a certain way… feel free. But you’ve been warned. Please also know that I tried my best in making things make sense, so the use of the word “arbitrary” is technically correct but not necessarily synonymous with “silly.” The reality is that it’s probably impossible to create a purely mathematical model for anything like GOAT-tracking in Smash, so I basically tried to do what I could.
The tracker tries to capture many things, but there are many notable things it does NOT capture. One of these is what some might call “metagame impact.” Just because a player may have pioneered a character or playstyle does not give them any extra points. Another thing the tracker doesn’t capture is “era difficulty,” or “meta evolution" (we’re talking about “greatness,” not “best-ness”). Similarly, the tracker also does not capture “meta competitiveness.” The tracker only captures results at the end of the day.
The way the GOAT Tracker captures results is through rankings. Specifically, I used PGR v1 (covering all of 2015 and the first half of 2016), PGR v2 (covering the second half of 2016), PGR v3 (covering the first half of 2017), PGR v4 (covering the second half of 2017), and OrionRank 2018 (covering the rest). I chose the PGR rankings up through 2017 because those were the official rankings and included the vast majority of relevant tournaments. However, I chose OrionRank 2018 over PGR v5 because the latter excluded several major tournaments that occurred after it was released, whereas the former included all of them up until Ultimate came out. Overall, I largely consider these rankings to be good enough for the purposes of this exercise, regardless of some disagreements any of us may have with them.
This project covers all Smash 4 tournaments from Apex 2015 to Umebura Wii U Final.
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Methods

The methodology of the GOAT Tracker boils down to awarding points to any top-50 ranking in any given year (The cutoff is top 50 because a) points would be too infinitesimal to care about past that point and b) that would’ve been more work than I was willing to put in for too little worthwhile output.).
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The methodology hinges on three axioms:
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1) A rank is “worth” the number of points for rank 1 divided by its respective rank number.

• With rank 1 being worth 100 points (although it could be any number), rank 2 is 50, rank 3 is 33.333, rank 4 is 25, etc.
  • This means that--in a vacuum--if a player achieved rank n every year, they would need n years to have an equal score with one year's rank 1.

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2) Each ranking period is weighed according to its tournament activity (major = 1 point, supermajor = 2 points), normalized by half of the distance to the least-active period (2015-2016/v1).

• This aims to reward high-rankers in more active periods while not fully penalizing high-rankers who were not able to attend as many events in less active ones. For example, in 2015-16 (the least active period) there were not as many tournaments as when the scene began to grow throughout the remainder of 2016, so the major weight for that period is only 15; in contrast, the major weight for 2017/v4 (the most active period) is 24 after all majors and supermajors are summed. If there were no major weight, rankers who got ranked in 2015-16 would get the same number of points as those of the same rank in 2017/v4… which wouldn’t feel right, mainly because those in 2015-16 didn’t have to put their rank on the line nearly as often as those in 2017. The reason why the “normalized by half of the distance to the least-active period" part is included in this axiom, though, is so that 2017 rankers don’t get ranked egregiously higher than 2015-16 rankers simply for having the privilege of more available major tournaments. Instead of being ranked almost 2 times higher, they get ranked only about 30% higher (since the weight for 2017/v4 then becomes 24/2+15/2 = 19.5, whereas v1's weight remains constant at 15). This makes it so that those from 2015-16 don’t get shorted out of points for something they couldn’t control (number of major tournaments organized).
  • E.g., if a period's major score is 19 (like 2017/v3's is), the major weight used for it would be 17 (halfway between 15 and 19).
• Majors and supermajors were gathered exclusively from Liquipedia in order to maintain source consistency.
• Majors being counted as 1 point and supermajors as 2 is admittedly arbitrary (welcome), but is in line with other ranking systems of a similar nature in other competitions.
• Each ranking period is also weighed differently according to the length of time within them.
  • The PGR v1 rankings encompass a year and a half, so they get a weight of 1.5
  • The PGR v2, v3, and v4 rankings each encompass a half a year, so they get a weight of 0.5.
  • The OrionRank 2018 rankings encompass a full year, so they get no additional weight.

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3) Players with major tournament wins are rewarded extra points for doing so in years they were ranked.

• We’re trying to determine GOATs after all, so highlighting those who have reached the pinnacles of Smash 4 competition seemed reasonable to me. This also helps provide more context to rankings between periods. This addition to the methodology essentially rewards dominance, and reflects the amount of parity at the top in any given year. Additionally, this would result in a player’s score for a given year doubling if they happened to win all major tournaments in that year, but only increasing marginally if they only won, say, 10% of them.

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This one-page document summarizes all of the mathematics behind a player's GOAT Score. (This document was originally made for Melee, so please consider that online is not a consideration here.)
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One last disclaimer post-methods: Given the non-linear nature of the scoring, those with lower scores on the GOAT Tracker naturally have higher placement variance. Please keep this in mind if you believe placements in the lower rungs are wonky.
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Results

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Rank	Player	GOAT Score	PGR100 Rank
50	Trela	109.0	65
49	Pink Fresh	110.3	60
48	Mew2King	111.1	69
47	NAKAT	116.0	49
46	Choco	116.7	35
45	Earth	124.5	42
44	Tyrant	125.8	64
43	Hyuga	130.1	NR
42	Manny	136.2	39
41	Shuton	139.9	23
40	Shaky	140.6	83
39	Kirihara	148.7	28
38	Secret	150.0	45
37	Raito	153.0	38
36	Mr.E	161.8	37
35	Nietono	165.0	33
34	Vinnie	169.1	36
33	9B	169.3	44
32	Kameme	183.7	18
31	6WX	189.3	34
30	falln	199.6	29
29	WaDi	200.7	26
28	FOW	204.5	56
27	Light)	215.7	43
26	MVD	237.8	31
25	Fatality	268.4	19
24	Samsora	269.8	22
23	Zinoto	282.7	24
22	Cosmos	283.0	30
21	Elegant	299.9	27
20	Lima	304.7	20
19	KEN	327.9	9
18	CaptainZack	354.9	15
17	Ranai	357.1	21
16	ESAM	365.2	17
15	Marss	427.1	16
14	komorikiri	531.3	12
13	ANTi	535.4	14
12	Mistake	562.5	25
11	VoiD	707.8	11
10	Abadango	874.3	13
9	Mr.R	919.2	10
8	Salem	1058.7	6
7	Larry Lurr	1087.4	8
6	Ally	1149.9	5
5	Tweek	1657.3	7
4	Dabuz	2087.7	4
3	Nairo	2795.9	2
2	MkLeo	3616.8	3
1	ZeRo	7393.2	1

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For reference, here is the PGR100, which was released in December 2018. These two lists basically attempt the same goal, so it's interesting to see similarities and differences between them.
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Conclusion

Ultimately, the rankings used are bound to imperfection in one way or another. Coupling that with the fact that this project was restricted to using ordinal rank for scoring, it is certainly not a be-all-end-all. This exercise was never intended to be anything more than a fun activity for me, so I hope it's only reflected that way. In no way do I have the knowledge or experience in the scene to actually speak for it with any authority; I just like numbers.
I plan to run this same tracker-style algorithm for Brawl and other Smash games as well (I need legacy rankings for 64...), culminating in a whole Smash-wide one. So, check that out when it comes if you're interested!

First/Previous/Next
Nya suddenly perked up as she recognised the ‘ping’ of the grandmaster in the astral realm, who had just arrived personally with several others, though her enthusiasm dimmed on realising she would need to explain herself. She and Svaarti had been happily conversing for what must have been several hours now, and though the Stygian had always been on cordial terms with the Nirah before whenever they had classes or study group together they had never really been close. However, after talking to her over several topics of magical theory she found that she and Svaarti had a lot in common, and was nothing like her scumbag brother. Though she really wanted to ask more about the Golden Staff, the Stygian knew better than to potentially blow her cover.
It hadn’t been seen in action since the time of Azazel during the Demonfire war. The elders would need to be informed at once, and the fact that the one that had recent possession of it also had that sword…
Her thoughts were instantly interrupted by a loud, challenging squawk as the Corvid familiar spread their wings and began casting.
Carrow had also detected the astral ‘ping’...
*****
“Devil’s Daughter attacked my sister and I, and after getting Svaarti out of there I defended myself successfully.” Svaartal snapped to the inquisitors. “I have no intention of explaining my actions to those sympathetic to her.”
“Strange. Devil’s Daughter has consistently fought threats to the city and its people.” Inquisitor Faegleal glared at the Nirah. She knew enough about this one from the injuries his ambush had inflicted on Jack, Alora and their friends on their way back from visiting the Oracle, and she was not happy he was in front of her, having been lauded a hero of the Klown attack. ”Why did she target you?”
“The motivations of Devil’s Daughter are hardly that black and white.” Another inquisitor drawled with a wicked smile, as Faegleal scowled even harder. Of course the resident Drow Matriarch would be the one to throw doubt into the mix and derail the questioning. “Indeed, many upstanding corporations and organisations have placed bounties on Devil’s Daughter for her sabotaging activities. The way I see it, not only has this Nirah proven himself a valiant warrior in rescuing many of those that would have otherwise have perished in the combat and mounting an effective defence with his equally valiant sister despite the incompetence shown by Clan Bharzum in allowing this to happen.” Her wicked smile grew even wider with that final, biting comment, looking towards Ivar Bharzum as she said it.
“That he was a key factor in the battle is not in doubt.” Faegleal called out in an attempt to restore order, as many of the other inquisitors nodded in agreement with the drow, some more enthusiastically than others. “What I want to know is why Dr Reyazz Grine met with your Patrons.”
“Why don’t you go ask them, Astarite?” Svaartal sneered at the inquisitor. “I’m just a mercenary House Mal’Kar treats well. If I had even heard the faintest of rumours the party would be attacked my sister and I wouldn’t have gone, and if House Mal’Kar knew, then I have no doubt they would have forbidden me attending.”
“His logic is sound Inquisitor Faegleal.” The Red Legion inquisitor spoke up. “Unless you have any further questions, I think that there is nothing more to ask. His actions this night have witness accounts backing it up, so unless you have any solid evidence to the contrary, I believe this hearing is adjourned and Svaartal is cleared beyond any reasonable doubt of the charge of aiding the attack. Though I must say that it is a shame this young man is no longer an aspirant for the Red Legion.”
“A shame for you maybe...” Svaartal began, before a Hoduth quickly rushed into the room, whispering something into Ivar’s ear.
“We have a situation.” Ivar began, addressing the group, but Svaartal was alerted by Carrow informing him of an astral incursion.
“They’re going for Svaarti!” The Nirah shouted, before he quickly teleported away from the worried inquisitors.
*****
“OVERCHARGE!” Jack yelled, aiming his gun down the corridor, ready to shoot straight at the lead figure of the small group, who all stopped in unison “Don’t move or try anything, you’re surrounded.”
His words were true. Sigrin and the Clan Bharzum Rock Guard had done a stellar job of looking casual right up until they quickly formed a firing line, aiming right at the mysterious figures, who for their part cooperated with Jack’s demands.
“We do not seek a conflict with you Outsider.” The lead figure calmly spoke. The voice sounded like it belonged to an elderly person, whispery, but still having an inner strength behind it. “We will cooperate. It was not our intention to cause a panic, especially in these dire times.”
“Gee, what a great fucking way to go about that.” Jack drawled with sarcasm, not believing the figure’s words in the slightest. “I’ve met plenty of weird dudes in robes with hostile intentions already, tonight included. So you’re going to have to excuse me if I don’t buy that shit. You still haven’t said what you want.”
“We registered ourselves with Clan Bharzum’s guards at the entrance, and we are here for our charge.”
“Is there any way you would propose to verify both that and everything else?” Jack asked. “For all I know you’re the alien equivalent of Bill Cosby.”
“I do not know who that is, but may we remove our hoods?” The lead figure asked. “I understand you question our logic, but our identity will answer it.”
“Don’t move, I will do it for you.” Jack spoke up before Sigrin had a chance. “If you think I’m going to give you the chance to cast a spell with subtle hand movements then you’re more retarded than you look.”
Several of the figures bristled at that but immediately stopped at the slight movement of the leader. Quickly looking to Sigrin who nodded in understanding, Jack quickly but carefully went to the lead figure and slid the hood back, revealing the pale, wrinkled red skin of an elderly Stygian man who looked to be nothing more than a fleshy bag of bones. Moving to the other figures revealed more Stygians, though a few ones at the back were of differing species. On reaching the last figure, Jack pulled the hood back to reveal Rena, who stared back at Jack with a cool glance.
“You’re here for Nya?” Jack asked as he moved back, having made the connection. “I’m going to need confirmation on that. I was the one to get her out of there and keep her alive, so I have a duty of care here. I need to know she’s gonna be alright.”
“What the Grandmaster says is true.” Rena said as the fox-like being nodded her head ever so slightly to them, in a deferring way.
“You must be Rena.” Sigrin addressed her dryly. “You are wanted for debriefing and general questioning to aid in our investigation, where the hell have you been?”
Rena for her part simply looked to the ‘Grandmaster’ to speak for her.
“Rena alerted us of what happened and that Nya was here. We registered ourselves at the entrance, but considering the confirmed company of several factions and individuals with borderline hostile attitudes towards the Stygian people we elected to cloak our presence. Rena will of course cooperate with your investigation. I see now that this was done in error, and you have my apologies.”
“LIAR!” A voice snarled, as Svaartal slinked down the corridor, past several of the Clan Bharzum guards. And he wasn’t alone.
Several armed Drow were flanking him with wicked looking plasma weaponry. Jack recognised Soren leading them, along with a female that he didn’t recognise. Though none were taking aim, Jack had no doubt that they were well trained and ready to throw down if things got even more out of hand than they already were. A squawk came from behind as Carrow flew above and landed on the Nirah’s shoulder.
“Confirmed master.” The familiar sneered as Svaartal raised his crossbow at the Grandmaster. “The astral signature came from this group.”
“A magical attack?” Sigrin questioned, as Jack very subtly shifted his stance to be able to get into cover against the drow, should he need to.
“No, I merely wished to confirm the location of my adopted ward.” The Grandmaster calmly replied, not intimidated in the slightest by the newcomers. “In fact, if she is stable enough she can come with us and we will leave, in order for our presence to not cause any further friction.”
“A Devilspawn wanting to go through all that trouble to retrieve one of their own? I doubt it. It is more likely you’re also here to cause harm to my sister.” Svaartal snapped back. “A Devilspawn already tried once tonight, and I doubt it is a coincidence that more have come out of the shadows. You’re lucky Frost got to you first.”
“Everybody calm down.” Sigrin ordered everyone. “They don’t need to enter the room, so we can wheel her here and escort you all out. I will also remind you all that you’ve all agreed to respect the Elysium of this location upon entering.”
“That is acceptable.” The Grandmaster nodded, though looked at Svaartal curiously as several Hoduth guards went to get Nya. Svaartal for his part stared right back at him through the sights of the crossbow that had proven an excellent choice so far. Rena was also intensely gazing at him, likely in rage. He had never particularly paid the Vulsta much thought before, though he would have to tread carefully in future. Thanks to his affiliation with House Mal’Kar he was now a deputised Prefect after all, and would need to work with her at some point.
However he didn’t need to play nice.
It took a few minutes for Nya to be wheeled out, and the atmosphere was tense throughout. Anything could have triggered a fight, but fortunately Sigrin Bharzum was able to maintain the peace even as Svaartal was tempted to start a fight with the Devilspawn staring at him. Soren had assured him that the Drow would have his back if anything were to happen, but Svaartal knew his chances weren’t the best right now. He knew Frost had met Devil’s Daughter the previous night, and had no doubt he and his group were the reason why she came for him and Svaarti.
He and House Mal’Kar would need to plan their response.
“Here she is, We’ve repaired what we could of her physical wounds but she’s suffered some major trauma. We’ve theorised she faced an enemy wizard who we are trying to identify, so if she wakes up we want to talk to her.”
“I understand.” The Grandmaster nodded, all business. “While Rena answers your questions we shall exchange details and render what aid we can, provided the peace remains enforced.” He gave a side glance to Svaartal and the Drow contingent as he spoke, though Jack knew there were at least some within the Red Legion that would be hostile to the Stygians too.
“Thank you.” Sigrin nodded. “Since I don’t want any more blood being spilled tonight I’ll move your group to the other side of the complex with a contingent of militia guards. If you’re sincere with that offer for help, let them know what you can do and we’ll transfer willing volunteers over to you. You’ll be compensated well for the service.”
“I assure you, no compensation is necessary.” The Grandmaster smiled sweetly. Svaartal made a scoffing sound of disbelief but he didn’t say anything further.
“We will discuss that later, for now, follow me please.” Sigrin ordered, leading them right past the drow to Svaartal’s dismay.
“Once we’re done here I will help see to your just rewards for your acts of bravery, or at least get your details I can send things too.” Sigrin quickly whispered to Svaartal as she passed. “Irrespective of your motivations you helped save a lot of people tonight, and it is Clan Bharzum’s hope that we do right by both you and your sister.”
Svaartal didn’t give an indication either way. His Patrons after all were right beside him, and he had no reason to even consider leaving them.
The Nirah dismissed his crossbow as the Stygians themselves got closer, to favour summoning his sword or shoot out a disruptor knife should they make a move against him, and while most of the rest of that group kept their distance as they passed, his mouth grinned in anticipation as the Grandmaster stopped to stare at him closely with a very curious expression. Soren quickly placed a reassuring hand on Svaartal’s shoulder before stepping in front of the Nirah to block his view, having hands on his twin blades.
“Keep walking, filth.” The drow purred arrogantly.
The Grandmaster opened his mouth as if to say something, before closing it and moving along.
Seeing that the situation had resolved itself, Jack left before anyone had noticed he had gone. While he could have spoken up he didn’t want to make the situation any worse, and was content to allow the two different parties to argue amongst themselves. He was done getting involved for tonight.
It was only when the Stygians turned the corner did Svaartal relax, and Soren released his hold on the Nirah’s shoulder.
“We leave as soon as we can.” The Drow Noble ordered. “If even part of what I have heard you have accomplished tonight is true you and your sister can expect a response and House Mal’Kar needs to plan how we present your antics. Where is Svaarti?”
“She’s this way.” Svaartal answered as he led the Drow to the nearby bay where they were keeping his sister. Though Clan Bharzum had promised him they would care for Svaarti long term, the fact that they had let Devilspawn get this close to her meant that he just couldn’t trust the Hoduth to keep her safe.
“What happened?” Soren asked one of the house wizards that he brought with him.
“Heavy spell scarring, the body will repair as will the spirit, but letting them heal as one will take time.” The mage replied without a hint of interest.
“A shame, I had rather hoped to better acquaint myself with this one.” Soran sighed as he stood by Svaarti’s bed, his finger stroking her hair as he trailed it down to her neckline. “Still, she will heal in time, a talented caster like her will surely manage it sooner rather than later. I will ensure she gets the best treatment we can provide to bring her back.”
“Thank you.” Svaartal said, noting the way Soren looked at his sister with interest without calling it out. “Are we able to move her?”
“No issue.” The female Drow grinned at Svaartal. “Say what you want about their security but Clan Bharzum at least builds their equipment with functionality in mind. It’s all clipped together so we can just wheel it all as one connected mass. When we get back I can switch her over to better tech.”
“Thank you.” Svaartal nodded at the unusual drow before turning to Soren. “Are we going now? I should at least speak to Sigrin Bharzum about compensation.”
“You can speak to her later over secured comms.” Soren gave a sly smile. “House Mal’Kar will ensure she keeps her promise and you are fully compensated and publicly congratulated. For now the best thing to do would be to leave before Clan Bharzum knows we are gone.”
“As you wish.” Svaartal shrugged, as he wheeled Svaarti away.
******
“How are we even going to get home?” Jack tiredly asked Alora as the group was finally reunited. “I don’t think we’re in a position to be walking back.”
“Clan Bharzum has promised to taxi people that need to get home.” The Eladrie yawned back. “We’ll still have to walk part of the way back since they don’t have a closer landing zone but it won’t be too far. Rayle is staying here for now until she hopefully wakes up so we don’t need to worry about transporting them. Vanya and Zayle are confirmed to be coming with us too and I’ve offered succour to anyone that needs it, though I think most will be staying here tonight. Clan Bharzum seems to be trying to go all out with their hospitality, it’s clear they want to regain face after what happened. Since my magic is expended there’s little reason for us to stay and clog things up, though I suspect we’ll be coming back to render assistance once we’ve rested up.”
“I think all of us can make it under our own power.” Nika groaned as she sat up, indicating a stack of crutches leaning against the well. “Except Dante. Don’t know what’s wrong with him. He was fine until the portal closed, then he just collapsed.”
Jack examined the ‘dog’ once again, seeing if there was anything wrong that he could see. Dante was breathing weakly and had gotten up once or twice to make himself more comfortable without acknowledging the others, but other than that they were curled up under Nika’s bed asleep.
“Maybe he’s just really tired?” Sephy opined.
“Nah, I don’t think so.” Jack replied unsurely. “We’ve seen him sleeping before and it hasn’t been like this. Hopefully with rest he’ll get better but if he doesn’t maybe we can call a vet?”
“What’s a vet?” Zayle asked curiously, having kept quiet until now.
“Like a doctor or healer for animals.” Jack quickly explained. “Hopefully Dante will be alright but as far as getting back goes I can probably carry him.”
“We have spare cargo haulers if you need them.” a familiar voice called out as Ivar Bharzum approached the group. “Borrow what you need but we’ll probably need them back.”
“Captain.” Jack acknowledged with a nod. “Need me for anything else?”
Ivar shook his head. “You kids are spent, and you’ve done enough. Even if I did need you lot helping out you’d probably do more harm than good considering how tired you are. No offence.”
“None taken Captain, you’re probably right, though once we’re recharged we can come back and help, we have no excuse not to.” Alora politely smiled.
“Well we’ll need you back at some point anyway so we can reward you and give you your stuff back.” He looked to Jack. “That gauntlet of yours we managed to peel off your arm is pretty fucked, you don’t want it back right now, trust me. Luckily for you I have runesmiths on speed dial. They’re going to fix it up and make it more durable, plus add a few new features for you to play with and hopefully fuck up some Klowns in the future!”
“Thanks.” Jack sighed, rubbing his arm where the metal had melted his flesh. Though he had finally had something to sooth the pain of, he had been warned that it would still bother him for a while, though thankfully the worst of it had been healed magically. The rest would be natural. He still sported many less-serious injuries all over him that the medics hadn’t been able to prioritise with their limited resources, but if he came back they would see to him if there wasn’t a greater priority.
“Now I swear on me Clan, that isn’t all you and your party will be rewarded with.” Ivar hurried to add. “Once we’ve got the wounded out of the way and compensated the victims and their families, we’ll open the vault and bring out the good shit. That’ll take some time though, so in the mean time you can hold on to this.”
The Hoduth reached to his back and unclipped something, before presenting it to Jack, who despite himself grinned madly as what he saw.
“This isn’t your official reward from Clan Bharzum or anything.” Ivar pointed out. “But considering the reports the boys picking through Outpost Khundohr have been giving me about the aftermath of your chopping rampage, it doesn’t seem right to let you go without this considering your old axe broke. Give it a feel.”
Jack did, picking up the double-headed battle axe and running his hand down the length of the shaft. The material of the handle was comfortable, at a perfect temperature that he knew would keep his hands from getting too sweaty. He could feel the very subtle grooves in the metal, which ran all the way from the base of the shaft all the way to the top. He was surprised by the light weight of it as he gave it a few practice swings, making sure nobody was near him when he did. Though he worried that the lighter weight would impact his ability to fuck shit up, Ivar assured him that the blades of the axe were magically honed, and wouldn’t need sharpening.
“That thing’s been gathering dust on my wall. I think it’s much better when it’s in use, don’t you?” He grinned a wicked smile at seeing Jack’s approval.
“Wow! Thank you!” Jack smiled. “I hope things get a bit peaceful above all else, but part of me hopes I get to put this bad boy to use!”
“Hopefully chopping wood lad!” Ivar snickered. “Anyway, I actually came here to let you kids know we’ll put you on the next shuttle to get you home. Medics have prescribed some different medicines for you all which one of the girls has already bagged for you.”
“Would they be needing more meds by any chance?” Sephy asked curiously, perking up as if remembering something.”
“Probably.” Ivar shrugged. “If they’re buying, they usually advertise for it.”
What was that about Sephy? Chiyo asked as the group after Ivar left and they got up to follow him to the shuttle.
“Remember what we said we’d do with those drugs we liberated from the Prefects Lockup?” Sephy grinned.
“Well that will cover a few pizza deliveries at least.” Nika shrugged. “Reckon they’ll still deliver after a Klown attack?”
*****
Grandmaster Ilvella bid Sigrin Bharzum farewell with a smile as he led his followers to the edge of the complex, before several of the others passed the threshold of the district gate and began summoning a portal to transport them home.
“Are you sure we cannot offer any further aid dear?” The Stygian asked with a kindly smile as several of the others began summoning a portal to transport them home. “Though my beloved Nya has suffered greatly, others have surely suffered more.”
“Clan Bharzum thanks you for your offer, Grandmaster.” Sigrin replied with a smile. “But we have it well in hand. We would however like to speak to Nya when she awakens to see if she saw anything that may be of use to the investigation.”
“Of course.” Ilvella smiled. “We will contact you when she awakens and is able to talk. Will that be all or is there anything else?”
“That’s all for now Grandmaster.” Sigrin replied after a quick think. “Just help Nya recover.”
“We certainly will!” The Sygian nodded as he entered the portal.
The moment the portal fully closed behind him on the other side, his false grandfatherly smile immediately turned into a look of calm anger.
“You have much to answer for Rena.” He coldly addressed her.
“Who in the name of the gods was that Nirah!?”
*****
First/Previous/Next
Well that's that over with!
If you're impatient for the next chapter, why not check out my previous series?
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EDIT: Part of my math was wrong when this was originally posted, so this has been updated to reflect the correct scores. For any minor changes that resulted, the list and discussion section have been adjusted accordingly.
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For those who may have seen my Melee GOAT Tracker, this is basically the same thing but applied to Ultimate. Much of the explanations below are copied from that post and modified for Ultimate when necessary.
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Ultimate's lifespan has officially surpassed Smash 4's (with some wrinkles along the way), and today marks the 5-year anniversary of the game being revealed. Due to this, I decided to try to track the growing legacies of each player and how they've evolved since the game came out in late 2018. Let's dive in!
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Disclaimers

Now before I delve into this, I just want to point out that many of the parameters holding this thing together are completely arbitrary, so if you want to argue over the rationale behind one certain metric or why one thing is weighed a certain way… feel free. But you’ve been warned. Please also know that I tried my best in making things make sense, so the use of the word “arbitrary” is technically correct but not necessarily synonymous with “silly.” The reality is that it’s probably impossible to create a purely mathematical model for anything like GOAT-tracking in Smash, so I basically tried to do what I could.
The tracker tries to capture many things, but there are many notable things it does NOT capture. One of these is what some might call “metagame impact.” Just because a player may have pioneered a character or playstyle does not give them any extra points. Another thing the tracker doesn’t capture is “era difficulty,” or “meta evolution" (we’re talking about “greatness,” not “best-ness”). Similarly, the tracker also does not capture “meta competitiveness.” The tracker only captures results at the end of the day.
The way the GOAT Tracker captures results is through rankings. Specifically, I chose to use OrionRank: OrionRank 2019 (covering all of 2019), OrionRank 2020 (covering after 2019 up until the pandemic started), OrionRank Eclipse (covering when offline tournaments resumed in 2021 through the end of that year), and OrionRank 2022 (covering all of 2022). I decided against using PGRU 2019 editions due to the spring edition excluding some tournaments, as well as the fact that choosing OrionRank instead would allow for more source consistency with the list. To that same point, OrionRank 2022 was used instead of the official rankings because the first half of 2022 did not have an official global ranking. Overall, I largely consider these rankings to be good enough for the purposes of this exercise, regardless of some disagreements any of us may have with them.
This project covers the time from the release of the game through Scuffed World Tour. (Note: No 2023 data are considered.)
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Methods

The methodology of the GOAT Tracker boils down to awarding points to any top-50 ranking in any given year (The cutoff is top 50 because a) points would be too infinitesimal to care about past that point and b) that would’ve been more work than I was willing to put in for too little worthwhile output.).
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The methodology hinges on three axioms:
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1) A rank is “worth” the number of points for rank 1 divided by its respective rank number.

• With rank 1 being worth 100 points (although it could be any number), rank 2 is 50, rank 3 is 33.333, rank 4 is 25, etc.
  • This means that--in a vacuum--if a player achieved rank n every year, they would need n years to have an equal score with one year's rank 1.

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2) Each ranking period is weighed according to its tournament activity (major = 1 point, supermajor = 2 points), normalized by half of the distance to the least-active period (2020).

• This aims to reward high-rankers in more active periods while not fully penalizing high-rankers who were not able to attend as many events in less active ones. For example, in 2020 (the least active period) there was only a handful of tournaments (since the pandemic started in March), so the major weight for that period is only 10; in contrast, the major weight for 2022 (the most active period) is 54 after all majors and supermajors are summed. If there were no major weight, rankers who got ranked in 2020 would get the same number of points as those of the same rank in 2022… which wouldn’t feel right, mainly because those in 2020 didn’t have to put their rank on the line nearly as often as those in 2022. The reason why the “normalized by half of the distance to the least-active period" part is included in this axiom, though, is so that 2022 rankers don’t get ranked egregiously higher than 2020 rankers simply for having the privilege of more available major tournaments. Instead of being ranked over 5 times higher, they get ranked only about 3 times higher (since the weight for 2022 then becomes 54/2+10/2 = 32, whereas 2020's weight remains constant at 10). This makes it so that those from 2020 don’t get shorted out of points for something they couldn’t control (number of major tournaments organized).
  • E.g., if a period's major score is 45 (like 2019's is), the major weight used for it would be 27.5 (halfway between 10 and 45).
• Majors and supermajors were gathered exclusively from Liquipedia in order to maintain source consistency.
• Majors being counted as 1 point and supermajors as 2 is admittedly arbitrary (welcome), but is in line with other ranking systems of a similar nature in other competitions.
• Online tournaments are not counted.
  • Despite online somewhat counting for the Melee Tracker, I decided to exclude online for Ultimate for a handful of reasons. For one, the difference between online Ultimate and offline Ultimate is much more pronounced than the difference between online Melee and offline Melee, due to the increased lag. Additionally, there are no reliable rankings for this period, nor are any online tournaments counted as majors on Liquipedia. And, speaking of "this period," some regions experienced more online activity than others during the pandemic. Lastly, I decided it would not be fair to discount those players who were not as able to reliably play online during this period, who would thus be punished for something largely out of their control.
• Since the pandemic complicated rankings, each ranking period is also weighed differently according to the length of time within them.
  • The 2019 and 2022 rankings encompass a full year, so they get no additional weight.
  • The 2020 rankings only encompass about 10 or so weeks, so they get a weight of 0.2.
  • The 2021 rankings roughly encompass the back half of the year, so they get a weight of 0.5.

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3) Players with major tournament wins are rewarded extra points for doing so in years they were ranked.

• We’re trying to determine GOATs after all, so highlighting those who have reached the pinnacles of Ultimate competition seemed reasonable to me. This also helps provide more context to rankings between periods. This addition to the methodology essentially rewards dominance, and reflects the amount of parity at the top in any given year. Additionally, this would result in a player’s score for a given year doubling if they happened to win all major tournaments in that year, but only increasing marginally if they only won, say, 10% of them.

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This one-page document summarizes all of the mathematics behind a player's GOAT Score. (This document was originally made for Melee, so please consider that online is not counted here.)
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One last disclaimer post-methods: Given the non-linear nature of the scoring, those with lower scores on the GOAT Tracker naturally have higher placement variance. Please keep this in mind if you believe placements in the lower rungs are wonky.
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Results

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Rank	Player	GOAT Score
50	Mr.R	113.8
49	Rivers	114.6
48	Raito	114.8
47	WaDi	118.4
46	Elegant	123.0
45	Gackt	123.1
44	Jakal	125.6
43	Asimo	128.0
42	Kome	130.9
41	Anathema	136.9
40	Bloom4Eva	141.7
39	Lui$	144.1
38	MVD	146.6
37	Big D	158.1
36	Miya)	165.9
35	Hero)	166.2
34	Dark Wizzy	167.0
33	Salem	169.2
32	Abadango	170.1
31	Myran	173.0
30	LeoN	175.8
29	VoiD	176.0
28	Sisqui	176.7
27	Zomba	216.4
26	Kurama	232.6
25	Sonix	257.8
24	MuteAce	262.6
23	ESAM	275.0
22	Yoshidora	288.1
21	Riddles	327.8
20	Onin	337.8
19	KEN	369.8
18	Kameme	374.5
17	SALTONE	407.1
16	Cosmos	438.3
15	Maister	583.0
14	Nairo	592.9
13	Zackray	708.7
12	Dabuz	744.0
11	ProtoBanham	867.9
10	Glutonny	960.1
9	Marss	975.9
8	Samsora	986.0
7	Tea	1017.9
6	Shuton	1053.5
5	Light)	1245.7
4	Sparg0	1634.2
3	acola	1866.7
2	Tweek	2297.5
1	MkLeo	9047.6

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Discussion

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MkLeo
Well, Ultimate's GOAT Tracker was bound to be less controversial than Melee's for one reason alone, and that is MkLeo, the undisputed GOAT of Smash Ultimate. Having succeeded with a plethora of characters (most notably Byleth, Joker, and Aegis), Leo has never ranked below #1 in an OrionRank ranking. With his score additionally boosted by having more major tournament victories than anyone else during this period, he places first with nearly quadruple the number of points as #2. In addition to being leaps and bounds ahead of the rest, Leo is also a crowd favorite nowadays, unlike some #1 players who often have a target on their back from fans (not that he doesn't from his competitors, to be sure). He is truly the people's GOAT, and I am excited to watch him build his legacy even further in the coming years.
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2-4
I think it's fairly safe to say that Tweek is the 2nd greatest Ultimate player of all time at this point. Despite not ranking as highly as some others on this list in 2022, he still ranked in the top 10 (#8), and coupling that with his rank 2 finish in 2019 and consistency in the top 10 otherwise, he has the second-best longevity in the game. Here's to hoping Tweek gets signed soon, because he undoubtedly deserves it. Love seeing a Diddy do well!
#3 and #4 are a bit more contested, I'd imagine. Ultimately, this algorithm favors acola (GOAT Steve) over Sparg0 (GOAT Cloud) due to the former's reign of terror in Japan last year--which seems to be continuing into this year. Being in the top 5 of all time for this game at such a young age is a huge feat, regardless of character. In light of the recent Steve discourse, I'll be interested to see how acola performs this year, particularly in any NA tournaments he attends.
Sparg0 is arguably #3, and I wouldn't blame anyone for personally ranking him there (although #2 would be a stretch, in my opinion). His performances with swordies, much like his compatriot at #1, have been nothing short of impressive, and he seems to be in a great place right now, so 2023 could very well be another dominant year for Sparg0.
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5-10
The top 4 greatest Ultimate players of all time seem to be clear enough; after that, though, there is more room for interpretation.
Light leads this pack at #5. His Fox is blistering to say the least, with a playstyle many might argue as the most high-octane of the top 10. He finds himself out-ranking the rest in this bunch due to having such a great 2022. Shuton and Tea follow at #6 and #7, respectively. The GOAT Pac-Man and GOAT Olimar continue to display impressive consistency over their careers and currently duke it out for 2nd-greatest Japanese player of all time.
#8 and #9 are also hotly contested. I could most definitely see arguments for Marss (GOAT ZSS) higher than #9 and above Samsora (GOAT Peach), but the algorithm favors the latter ever so slightly due to the 2019 rankings. Tough. Closely behind Marss is Glutonny, the GOAT Wario. Ultimately, it is very close between all these players!
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11-15
ProtoBanham heard "Tea and Shuton fighting for 2nd-best Japanese player ever" and said "not so fast." The Lucina and Min Min main became even better post-pandemic, and is flirting with the top 10 in this algorithm. We shall see who out of those three performs best in 2023. Zackray's trend is opposite of Proto's as he performed better pre-pandemic than post-, but he nonetheless is rewarded for that at #13. Dabuz is sandwiched between these two at #12, and is the highest ranked player to have yet to win a major. Nairo and Maister round out the top 15; it'll be intriguing to see how much the latter grows his legacy from this point, as a major victory also eludes him.
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The rest
At around this point, there is a steep drop-off, so I will not delve into each player. However, it is interesting to see how players like Onin (#20), Riddles (#21), Yoshidora (#22), and Sonix (#25) have all already staked their claims into the top 25 off of just post-pandemic results. Other players around the top 30 range have still shown great consistency over the years and may still be forces to be reckoned with going into 2023.
Scores in the 30-50 range are honestly pretty close, so I take that to mean more time is needed for many definitive conclusions between those players. I suspect that by the end of this year, more new faces will appear around this range, considering there is still a lot of room for changes in Ultimate's lifespan.
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Conclusion

Ultimately, the rankings used are bound to imperfection in one way or another. Coupling that with the fact that this project was restricted to using ordinal rank for scoring, it is certainly not a be-all-end-all. This exercise was never intended to be anything more than a fun activity for me, so I hope it's only reflected that way. In no way do I have the knowledge or experience in the scene to actually speak for it with any authority; I just like numbers.
I plan to run this same tracker-style algorithm for other Smash games as well (I need legacy rankings for 64...), culminating in a whole Smash-wide one. So, check that out when it comes if you're interested!

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