Make Your Move 25: Moveset Design Contest — Contest is Donezo! MYM 26 Starts March 17th!

[bubbyboytoo]

Far too long in the making, my Secret Santa set for Junyaa who I don't know what his Smashboards username is so I can't ping him and he's long since left MYM anyway so who even cares is finally, finally DONE. Wheeeeeeeee

 

[UserShadow7989]

Mr. Rime by SaltySuicune

Welcome to MYM, Salty! I mean, we've been introduced in the discord, but it feels wrong not to say it here. Mr. Rime is a cool (no pun intended) choice for a first set, with the set showcasing the variety of things he can draw on. I won't lie, the animations also cheered me up a little after a long day. I also appreciate the use of images to help visualize everything.

Some general advice: the standard inputs are lacking notes on things like lag or knockback that'd help picture how the character plays. For the same reason, it's worth noting down one or two tricks about how the moves play off of each other and Mr. Rime's specials, like if a move is fast but normally hits opponents too far away it can become a combo tool with a Barrier handy. NSpec might be a good ranged poking tool if someone is distracted with breaking a Barrier or to hound them a bit if they try to jump over, things like that.

For more specific critique: I like that foes can roll pas the Barriers and that Mr. Rime has some tools to properly punish that, but I feel like they might be a bit too tough to break through as-is; I worry he might be able to put them up as fast as opponents knock them down. They might also allow some silly combos by bouncing opponents off of them. My advice is to make summoning them slower once one is in play already and for a short time after the last one breaks, and make it so hitting someone against it damages the barrier as much as the attack that hit the opponent into it did (preventing infinites while allowing Mr. Rime to do some damage that way).

I'd give Up Special some hitboxes, like if he steps on someone on the way up it's a weak spike, and if he falls onto them it's a stronger one- just to give him a little safety as he gets back to the stage.

It's a good first set, and I'm looking forward to what you do next!

 

[GolisoPower]

"Hello, My Name's NINOOOOOOO!"
Nino by FrozenRoy & Slavic

I've always had a fascination for adapting different character gimmicks. Last contest, there was Soda Popinski and his take on a Power Meter. This time around, it's Nino and her adaptation of weapon durability that Robin has. Instead of just being one-and-done simple Specials, however, disposing of a tome instead directly upgrades it. Now, this would come off as bait for players to spam her projectiles, but the way they're pulled off, I'd say there's a better level of thinking to be had with her Specials, and it's especially fun if you really favor one Special over the other. I say as I spam the volcanic eruption that is Prominence Revolt whenever I play Pyra

As far as Specials go, there's still quite a bit to unpack: Neutral Special being a great defensive measure that is effectively a P.K. Fire + Eruption hybrid on steroids that's amazing for building up damage, though Forblaze took me a while to actually piece together. I found it interesting that you turned Thunder into a Shadow Flare-style attack instead of the weak projectile that Robin has proper, but that's not a bad thing, far from it. It gives Nino a pretty strong pressure game where you don't know what your foe is gonna do between getting hit and having the bolt strike down, while the upgraded version is what I can basically describe as a hybrid of Palutena's Up Smash and Magic Burst, which in and of itself is pretty fun. Up Special starts off as the basic "Elwind" recovery, but then it basically turns into Squall Hammer for Stage 2, with Stage 3, EKUSUKARIBAAAAAAA, being a Limit Blade Beam that you can just spam all until you run out of Durability. That one is kind of scary considering Limit Blade Beam is already a pretty powerful projectile. Down Special, while it is a counter, is still fairly unique, what with there being what is effectively "counter leniency" frames with the Frame 4 it eing a it of a onus ruising ayonet that rings oisterous uffoons on their utts in a ad reak. Ahem, alliterations aside, it's a fun bonus for successfully predicting your foe's next move in time and giving you a nearly infallible set-up on your end.

Everything afterward really ensures the Stage 3 Specials are strong for a reason, as a lot of your attacks also use tomes so you don't always get too ridiculous with it, such as Forward Smash getting more range with higher tomes or Down Smash gaining more hits the stronger the tome. I love how Jaffar shows up as an assist to fight alongside her, too. Really reminds me of how Videl works in Dragon Ball FighterZ with the Great Saiyaman. It really helps Nino not seem completely useless once she's completely out of tomes to use and at least gives her a fighting chance afterward. But even with all that, it doesn't detract from the fact that Nino is the star of this set and she certainly proves it. You two have posed a very good challenge against me and Tern's Meltryllis, but whoever shows up is only up to our votes. I look forward to the results of this JamCon but will look to this set very fondly when that time comes.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Asbestos

Okay, now you have me interested in Arknights. Makes sense you would tackle this franchise given you liked W. That’s one neat character design, and a fun powerset that is interpreted in a cool and unique mechanic in the form of underutilized shields. Did not know Arknights characters had in-game animations either, though from what I see they only seem to be a few. Also, your writing style feels like it’s in-tune for Asbestos’s character.

I agree with FA that Asbestos’s Up Special is a super cool move, one that makes great use of her character and has no basis for it in her source material! Feels character-fitting for her to ride her door like a skateboard too. Down Tilt and Dash Attack are neat moves too, particularly for tying into her door - the former a potential cross-up with Thermal, the latter a Dedede-style Dash Attack with defense on the front and a bounce at the end with Thermal. Even N-air is neat in its application as a funky, versatile anti-cross-up tool. Grab game was serviceable, but I enjoyed Down Throw at the end for typing into the Thermal mechanic directly.

I did think the Neutral, Side and Down Specials were mostly “there”, especially without Thermal, the former two being somewhat redundant with the Forward Smash and door mechanic with no Thermal. I understand the design choice though, and that Arknights characters are tricky to make movesets for, especially Asbestos as she doesn’t have a wide range of weaponry like W and has to fight with an unwieldy prop. Still, the melee was solid enough that I’d consider her to be among your best! I’m curious what you’d be capable of with a very strong set of Specials and a grab game that manage Asbestos’s execution. Certainly hyped for a certain Australian space girl in the works. In the meantime, Asbestos was worth the wait, very fun to get another Arknights set despite not having played the game. Good job here!

(Also I enjoyed reading the closing notes on the set, they’re always fun to read. After seeing Heavy this contest, I’d be genuinely interested in the Scout and I’m sure FA would be too for personal reasons.)

 

[Slavic]

I Looked Up Fate Lore But All I Got Was 80 Kirby Hats​

Meltryllis by GolisoPower and Arctic Tern deserves, if nothing else, a huge round of applause for managing to be a 30k set written in so few days. Even two leaders jointing together couldn't match that kind of effort, truly Herculean, and huge kudos for it. Just never do it again. Melt herself is a solid set, too, not just a lot of bluster, and is sure to be one of the stronger contenders this JamCon. The word count is something of a red herring, as a lot of Melt's word count is spent on match-up specific mechanics. That's not to say any less work went into the moveset by any means, but more that this is a much breezier read because the moves aren't quite as complex as the wordcount would lead on. In some cases, I feel like utilizing the alt text feature might be good for the set and reader in general, such as putting the information on Sarasvati in alt text attached to Joker's stock icon for each move, but ultimately it doesn't hamper the set any outside of general flow to include it in the direct text.

At her core, Meltryllis is a really enjoyable concept of a hyperlightweight with some insane risks she can take for big damage. It's definitely more refreshing than the standard lightweight of nickle-and-diming the foe to death, instead relying on her brutal attacks to provide the pressure and space she needs to survive, often times borrowing heavyweight design concepts in a way that really works. If all the extra matchup details are ignored, then Meltryllis is still a flashy and competent set at her core, definitely the best showing from both Golisio and Tern thus far (though I admittedly haven't read Veronica yet) and you should both be very proud of getting her out in a JamCon period of time.

I do think there are some writing disparities that can be a bit jarring, though this is more of something meta than actually in the set. Goliso seems to have an all around more casual writing style than Tern, which sometimes can trip me up a little, and a lot of the set early on talks about this set as a counterpart to Passionlip from last contest, which combined with a few uses of the personal 'I' in sentences (most egregious example is 'Much like how I made Passionlip a brand new “ultra-heavyweight” class of fighter') makes the early part of the moveset feel a lot less like a joint set. Like I said, this is definitely minor as it's not really related to anything in the moveset but would be something to keep an eye on in future joints as it does affect the set's flow just a little, at least for me.

There's a lot of effort put into Melt and the real question is whether or not it went to the right places. At a first glance skimming it led me to worry about the actual content of the set because a significant amount of her wordcount is dedicated to these one-off matchups. Having read it, however, I can confirm that underneath all of that is a very solid set that I think would do well on its own in a JamCon already, topped with six inches of Kirby hat icing for flavor. It's an enjoyable moveset, even with the memetic 'Kazuya's Moves' section of the set.

 

[Arctic Tern]

ASBESTOS (Bubby)

Asbestos is easily my favorite set of yours this contest, Bubby! The Specials have been criticized as being a bit there, but they serve their purpose well enough. Naturally, the highlight was the USpec and the ability to ride her shield like a surfboard, and all the movement that provides. The second was the Thermal Boost mechanic; I’m kinda a sucker for the “upgrade” genre, as it were, and this has some fairly cool ones! USmash having a late hit that combos, Dash Attack sending her into the air, and DAir’s fiery landing hitbox were highlights. Even without the upgrades, the melee is fairly good, and I especially like the mention of dash dancing.

The set’s primary flaw is that it’s unaware of its options, although I can see why that is. Some specific examples:

• Both of NAir’s hitboxes are affected by the movement boost from USpec; the front could potentially combo into itself thanks to the weak knockback and the back hit could be used to catch out dodges thanks to the movement.
• The set has a number of good tech chase options (and notes that), but does not have any way to set them up described. Front NAir and FThrow deal low enough radial knockback to set up these chases, so that should be mentioned.
• DAir has a really strong upwards hit at the start, which could potentially dissuade attempts to attack Asbestos from above at high percents due to the speed of the move.
• DThrow allows her to fill 25% of her Thermal Boost meter and get the resulting buffs. How would this knowledge affect fighters when Asbestos has 75% filled?
  

There are several other things I’d mention or outright change, but I’m not going to list all of them in this comment. This is not to say the set is bad - again, it’s my favorite of yours this contest - just that there’s a lot of room for improvement.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[ForwardArrow]

Meltryllis
Not gonna lie, I was thrown for a bit of a loop when you guys told me you had successfully made a 30,000 word moveset in 3 days, which while its a bit more obvious HOW you guys were able to do that seeing the final product is none-the-less very impressive. Its not just a big wordcount either, its a set that reads surprisingly nicely to get through and ultimately has a clear, focused goal of extreme snowball offensive pressure. Sadistic Nature's an incredibly strong buff that gets a lot out of landing multi-hits in particular and allows Meltryllis some really powerful combo strings, including the occasional 0-to-death if played well. But the drawback makes her frail status far more extreme, and Neutral Special's mechanic of absorbing part of the foe(or perhaps the entire foe) to give Meltryllis long-lasting buffs means she does have some incentive to try and stick around as long as possible. Side Special even gives another bonus for NSpecial's snowballing to make the dynamic more extreme and makes the risks of her 40 weight and Sadistic Nature's drawback feel all the more real.

The set could just have been simple snowballing, but it actually takes a smarter approach than that, realizing a particularly strong frame 5/potentially frame 1 kill move, an obscene damage multiplier, and the benefits she gets from NSpecial are enough on their own, and focuses a lot on neutral, with Meltryllis' ways of fending off an opponent in neutral while keeping them playing the dance to get in NSpecial hits to snowball. This is described as "the dance" in the moveset and its pretty fun to see play out, Meltryllis designed to always be just out of the foe's reach until its too late for them if she's playing well. And every time she avoids a foe's attack, she gets to make one of her following moves worse with a crit star. I found DSmash to be a standout move in terms of concept, I really like the in-and-out of dodge state as a way to weave around opponent's attacks in a unique way. It does end up coming across as pretty balanced too, games with Meltryllis often end very fast one way or the other as she's left with tools that make the opponent's mistakes pile up on them, but in her case she can afford to make fewer of them in total, so it kinda balances out.

I will say the set's advertised selling point, the Neutral Special stealing attributes from other characters, is probably the weakest part of the set for me. The effort that went into it is undeniably impressive, but it definitely feels like having the set spend as much time as it does talking about extremely specific matchups is a bit wasted, because like. Its one character out of over 80 in Smash itself, and god knows how many she'd be going up against in MYM(and I do tend to imagine MYM sets playing against each other a lot too), so its kind of hard to appreciate the changes when their applications are so niche. It also feels like it detracts from how the set's design later on can be handled, because the set isn't really able to more than sparingly mention the actual rewards of NSpecial when they change so drastically from opponent to opponent, making it harder for Meltryllis to create moves that really pay out the snowballing mechanics in exciting ways. It all ends up feeling like a big block of flavor text that's obviously more important than that, but I just don't think it adds much to the set's actual depth compared to how well designed the snowball aggressive game she has is.

Its undeniably a cool set, one that looked like when it came out it was primed to win the JamCon until this JamCon went completely insane and one I would've been quite happy to nominate. I'm not nominating it, but I hope one of you get a JamCon win in the future despite that, because this was undeniably very impressive.

Taranza
This is going to come across as a bit hypocritical after how I said I didn't like Meltryllis focusing so much on specific matchups, but I think the way Taranza handles playing against minion characters is great. I think I like it more here because its a side goal of the set and the move that does it is doing something else simultaneously, but the set goes out of its way to give him a tool to steal minions from minion characters that both provides compelling counterplay for the opponent while still allowing him to take advantage of a mechanic that's ubiquitous in MYM that existing Smash characters don't have an immediate response to. Plus, sneakily, the set gives Taranza a little downside against minion characters in Down Throw, a very powerful payoff to his grab that becomes considerably worse if a minion smacks him out of it, so there's an actual give and take that I like there. It doesn't dramatically effect my opinion of the set, but when people so frequently flub mechanics like this by just making them destroy minion/trap/projectile characters, its refreshing to see one that interacts with it in a way that makes the matchup MORE interesting rather than less.

Aside from how he interacts with MYM minion sets, Taranza is fine. He's a bit limited by his short design cycle to being a very basic camper type character, but the execution on it with the careful use of movement slows to not be too oppressive, the cooldown on his very obvious "space into trap move", and some fun moves like Up Smash and Down Aerial that give him a bit more nuance to his projectile game at least make it reasonably entertaining to read. I kind of found myself feeling like reading through the set that his stage control was missing a single piece to it to make the payoff feel more worthwhile. That said, throwing in some high power sweetspots amidst all the movement slows is an obvious but fun way to give him better kill potential for playing his game well. I did feel like a good number of moves were just kinda "there to attack in X direction and not much else", but there's enough good ideas in here that I did come out of the set liking it a bit. Pretty impressive given you finished it so fast to go immerse yourself in Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Alolan Marowak
I'll get my main gripe with this set out of the way ahead of time: I think Hex and Will-O-Wisp together end up feeling a bit too oppressive. Dealing with a flinch every 1.5 seconds is actually a pretty scary mechanic to fight against that constantly puts you on the defensive, and having the foe get pursued by a powerful stunning hitbox the entire time afterwards from the same move is a bit much. This feels like a mechanic you should snowball towards and not get access to nearly as casually as Alolan Marowak does, and I think the set would do well to either remove the Hex component(the set doesn't honestly get much out of it) or nerf both sides of the move considerably.

That aside, Alolan Marowak's pretty fun! Using Bonemerang as a means to project your own hitboxes across the stage with a boomerang projectile, potentially splitting Alolan Marowak's attacks into two pieces across the stage from each other, is a fun mechanic, and a solid take on disjointing your hitboxes away from your own body. The set gets good mileage out of this by scaring opponents into defending poorly for very powerful punishes like Down Smash or creating a big, oppressive wall around the bone like with Up Smash, or in smaller mixups like between Dash Attack and Up Special that are significantly less committal. Forward Smash is a move that particularly stuck out to me in terms of being a cool move even before you factor in the mechanic with how each variant is best against a different option the opponent picks against it, and how much scarier it gets in the context of Will-O-Wisp and Bonemarang on top of that. The set's melee is pretty solid across the board, a slightly weak grab game aside, and it manages to make the relatively common MYM concept of "move your hitboxes to a different part of the stage" remain entertaining with enough of its own flare on it. Its not a set that gave me a lot to complain about aside from the balance of one move, the most I can say is it doesn't have as strong a concept or characterization to grab me with as Honchkrow or Enya did last contest. I still think you did a good job here, its a worthy addition to the JamCon even if its a bit outclassed due to so many more ambitious in scope projects coming out alongside it.

Venom Strange
We usually don't get more than the one "how the hell was this made just for a JamCon" set per JamCon, and in this JamCon we got four of them, which is pretty incredible, and Venom Strange seems like its already becoming a fierce competitor for the title. I can absolutely see why, because the way this set handles minions is very cool and impressive. Starting the set off with the Wards, Portals, and Containers as ways to manipulate the summons in some pretty unique feeling ways, Venom Strange can use the summons both as autonomous constructs and as aids to his melee. Their autonomous functions tend to be pretty simple in a way that feels deliberate, but when you can put them in glass cages to follow up on Strange Supreme's attacks or portals that put foes in them(or in Rocket Raccoon's case, to build up a bomb supply) or transport powerful hitboxes all around the stage with Ghost Rider, it becomes a lot more obviously compelling. I like how simpler minions like Captain America serves a useful purpose as a guard to another minion and a potential passive(but tricky to use) counter against opponents, and even Ant Man feels like he has his purpose with the various prone setups the set has.

What I think sells the set for me, beyond that, is Venom Strange has his own set of moves that are clearly designed to work off these summons in clever ways. A move designed to fling a foe behind you specifically, for example, gets a lot of mileage in this set, Nair's pull effect works well into the attacks of autonomous minions, Jab's weak trap that is created in a surprisingly natural feeling way can still be used to some potentially interesting mileage alongside all the positioning and portal games the set offers, Dair's position swap that feels far better balanced than older variants of the effect, Down Throw weaponizing portals against foes offensively... I could go on a while, but its nice to have both a distinctive and well thought out set of minions alongside a set of moves that are clearly designed to supplement them, sometimes even in ways I don't commonly see in minion sets.

To address a couple weirder points of the set, I enjoy Venom Deadpool's presense. BThrow's damage is a bit high(once you figure out the funny formula), but I think he feels weirdly well implemented as a joke summon, both in terms of the humor being designed in a way that feels like it wouldn't just get annoying from match to match and having a bunch of niche uses that are fun but not taking up space in Strange's set where he'd end up causing problems. He's kinda like Captain Falcon's nipple spike from back in the day: its funny that its there, sometimes its helpful, but usually its just a novelty that holds some good comedic value. The actual thing preventing me from nominating this set as a well thought out, ambitious project that utilizes minions quite welll is just I was never sold on the Wards. I feel like there's a lot of potential jank situations they create that, while not usually popping up in a competitive match, could still get people stuck for an extremely long time when they do crop up. I honestly wonder how two Wards would interact with each in a mirror match to prevent looping foes in moving back and forth against their will at Ganondorf's walk speed. Just covering a couple edge cases with this would probably do enough to make it fine, but I'm not really that fond of using it to lock the opponent in place with the autonomous minion attacks either. It feels like a pretty clunky reward, likely to get the minion killed as the opponent's far more diverse arsenal will probably just kill the minion who would frequently miss access to their own mobility in the case of quite a few summons in the set, and doesn't really feel like a particularly engaging payoff compared to the much more interesting constructs introduced later on.

Still, this is a REALLY impressive second set back and I see why its already got some big fans. If this is what you can put out in 3 days Nate, you've already made quite a showing in your return.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Tifa Lockheart by wizfoot ***

Another excellent character choice; Tifa is built around a more focused combo-centric playstyle that is meant to convey Tifa's superhuman agility and martial prowess. She's a large set up from Heavy before her, the set going into detail about how her inputs interact with each other in a manner that hammers out how she is meant to play. Working into that is her mechanic, Fever Time, which is a limited duration buff she can trigger to increase her damage output as a reward for racking up a sufficient amount of damage.

I do think that there needs to be a little exploration outside combos, though, as it ends up being the majority of the set. Tern mentioned a few good examples, but one thing is I wish more was done with Fever Time or Tifa's Side/normal Down Special and how the latter changes the former (such as making the Side Special options gated behind more uses of Down Special better in their niches as something you can build up). You've already made some progress in this direction since the initial comments (such as tweaking back throw to give her grab game some more options), and there ARE details in the set proper like noting Up Tilt as a good panic button and FAir being a 'get off me' move.

There's a couple of odd touches to the set; Down Tilt is an interesting place for a projectile, but given the rest of her inputs it's hard to say where else to put it, and it's hardly the strangest placement we've seen this contest. This and Back Aerial does give her an interesting quirk in that she doesn't have a lot of moves that hit behind her outside of Up Special, which gives her a weakness to cross-ups she needs to mind when she's going ham- a neat touch that should be pointed out.

There's not much else for me to nitpick beyond that general advice; the Smash damage is a little low and could stand to receive a buff. I should note that in most cases (Megaman's FSmash is one such exception I know of), smashes do 1.4x their base damage when charged; it's not a hard rule, but it's something that we missed for a good while in MYM.

I'm impressed by your output this MYM, and how each set's shown improvement so far. I'm excited to get to Armstrong and whatever you cook up after him!

 

[GolisoPower]

"BREAKING NEWS: Robber Pulls Out Dagger; Waifu Pulls Out Sword"
Daisy by WeirdChillFever

And here's another for your personal Daisy Garden™, WCF! The gold mechanic fueling her abilities is an interesting approach for her and makes me want Coin Battle to come back next Smash. Down Special allowing you to buy more powerful weapons that can deal some extra effects is a fun little ditty that gives you the right tool for the right job, and the fact that you can transform it into a ballista ensures you're not gonna let them destroy your scheisse. Pursuit is a pretty fun skill that allows you to barrage opponents like with Dancing Blade, but unlike that Special, this one's a Neutral Special, meaning more freedom and better cross-up punishment potential. It's a better trickery-oriented move than others and I personally would love to get my hands on it. I do find it rather intriguing that Side Special is shackled by how much gold you have, but the more gold you have it gets a lot more powerful, which in a way is coincidentally alike to how Meltryllis's Side Special got more powerful the more EXP she has. Up Special, on its surface, is also a fairly standard input by itself...but then you get to the scaling armor that it has, which I feel comes in extremely handy. It's weak as an offensive skill, like what you described, but with the armor combined with its upward height, it turns into a fairly useful option that covers your escape in a very roundabout manner.

The rest of the set is fairly standard at first, but then you hit me with equations that make it so you're reliant on your localized money system to bolster your moves and maybe even land a critical hit with Down Smash. Speaking of, that move seems a lot more balanced than Hero's own Critical Hits, which makes sense since here it's tied to how much gold you have on you. A fact that a lot of her moves can be followed up with Pursuit like Side Smash or Dash attack ends up giving her an excessively mobile rushdown playstyle that builds up power as you steal gold, and I absolutely love it. Good work, WCF!

Look To The Cookie
Two-Face by Rychu

Going off of Daisy is an admittedly more simple, yet still enjoyable set. Two-Face's take on a stance system is interesting, giving him the option to use the other side's attacks instead of what's active. This gives me the image of Pyra using Photon Edge or Mythra using Pyra's Side Smash. It's a genuinely unique approach that I think plays into Two-Face's character and gives it a slight richness to the set. The fact that swapping to the other is random vaguely reminds me of how Eyedol works in Killer Instinct, as he was also a stance character who swapped at random.

Side Special is fairly distinct from Joker's Gun not just because of how it's different between Harvey and Two-Face, but also because it's an actual projectile as opposed to a really long disjoint. Makes sense since you're using a higher-caliber gun. Up Special is a little strange at first, using a modified Bat-Grapple as Harvey, but Joker used his own modified version of the Batmobile, so what do I know? The Two-Face version, meanwhile, is still a good, if more aggressive, Up Special that I imagine would have some hype off-stage killing. The rest of the set possesses minimal call-backs to his comic appearance aside from Side Smash, but they're still some attacks that fit his character particularly well. It's a very simple if unique take on a stance character, and while I kinda wish that there was a little more spice to it, I still think it's fun for the amount of time you were given to make this. Its presentation is very unique, the playstyle is pretty straightforward and it's a very quick read overall. Good job getting this out, Rychu!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Miruca Crotze by Katapultar ***

Another set I just loved right out of the gate. The time card mechanic is a cool way of implementing delayed hitboxes and traps, forcing Miruca to work for her prepared tricks by engaging with the opponent. The way it all triggers and is set up creates more things for opponents to interact with rather than less, and unlike most trap-heavy long-range fighters she's not the type to nickel and dime her opponents to death with annoying pokes but a glass cannon who lacks much in the way of survival skill.

Time cards are simple to understand but are applied in many different ways, from assorted delayed attacks, to a convenient cancel out of an attack, to a move that's better the less the track moves, to one of her throws turning the whole assembly into a countdown, and more. All of which can go to waste if you mindlessly spam out attacks and zoning tools over actively planning out your attacks, engaging the foe, and successfully baiting or conditioning them. Foes getting in and running through a combo on her (with some attention to mind things like the falling nails) can undo all her work, but she can set up some truly fascinating layers of impending threats and chain reactions if given half the opportunity.

I'm speaking fairly broadly, but that's for lack of nitpicks to pull out. Her melee game is clean and effective in practice, while still having a lot of little added bells and whistles to each. All with a strong base playstyle throughline and a reasonable word count. I've been eating very well this contest in seeing a lot of high quality sets that are just absolutely 'me'. Nice work, Kat!

 

[Kholdstare]

I didn't intend on doing too much reading/commenting while I'm on hiatus, but I did read two movesets, one by Rychu and the other by wizfoot . More to come when I'm in the mood for it.

 

[GolisoPower]

Alola, Moana!
Bellossom by FrozenRoy

And now we come to Froy's second Jamcon set/contingency plan for when Nino doesn't work out! Or...was that the other way around, I'm not sure. EITHER WAY. Much like Slaking last contest, this was a pretty quick and easy read to go through. The whole knot tying the set together, the Sunny Day, is a fun little area that improves Bellossom's viability so long as she remains inside. Survivability, mobility, attack power, it's all there. Speaking of, we continue the Specials with the classic "Sunny Day + Solar Beam" combo, the one dreaded combo on viable Grass-type Pokemon such as Tangrowth. I don't mind it essentially being the equivalent of Robin's Thoron locked behind a Wario Waft-style charge, I was just under the impression that it would be a little more like a pseudo-Daybreak. Not to say it's bad, I love the raw power it has and the replication of its pure synergy with Sunny Day. Leech Seed is great for survivability and pressure, being basically Eigaon with a Nosferatu effect, and Petal Dance is a pretty fun mind-games recovery that gives you two stages for you to recover with and a pretty strong first stage that can be used for pseudo-countering opponents who are dumb enough to hit you while you're blocking.

The rest of the set seems to really breeze on by, with highlights being Side Smash and her adorable Grab and Pummel animations. Side Smash takes the concept of the Princess's Side Smash and replaces their effects with the three different powder moves that Bellossom has access to: Stun Spore being a paralyzing attack that's great for immediate set-ups, Poison Powder being a second damage-over-time effect that gives Bellossom even greater pressure and plays splendidly into her Up Smash, and Sleep Powder gives you a longer-term set-up that you can use with your laggier/stronger moves. I do kind of wonder if Up Smash should deal even more damage to an opponent who's suffering from B-throw's effect, though. Haven't really looked into some parts of Pokemon mechanics, so I dunno if Venoshock gets stronger against Badly Poisoned foes as opposed to regular Poisoned foes. Regardless, Bellossom popped by to say Alola and she's here to stay! You did a nice job making the set, Froy!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Jigoro Hakamichi by Katapultar ***

Well here's an odd choice. The core concept of building up a more powerful weapon by way of more varied attacks is cool, with the execution feeling quite nice- the more he builds it up, the stronger it is and the more times he can use it. I really like how Up Special and Autobiographical Forward Smash play into it, encouraging more variety from opponents in kind and feeling like something that would be fitting for a fast-adapting monster or the like (I forget, did B. Polneraff have a trick like this? It'd fit Anubis' MO).

The set also does a good job of building on Jigoro's, being generous here, 'quirks', slowly building himself up in his mind, trying to control foes with his fishing rod, punishing 'predictable' attacks through assorted means and demanding variety from his opponents, and having a number of extra options he'll pull out to try and keep foes from getting a word in edgewise.

His tricks are balanced out by a functional but mostly unimpressive default kit using his sword and fishing pole, with Jigoro needing to mind his varied tools representing his 'breadth of experience' to keep up with the superhuman swordfighters Smash typically sees. His abrasive, egotistical personality is emphasized with a host of quotes and animation details, too, making it delightfully easy to envision the canon Smash cast pounding him into the ground like a tent post. His aerials tend to be better when he's in control of the match, and are woefully less helpful when he's in a tight spot. The bear liver is tacky, sure, but acceptable all things considered and makes for another way he can bully and condition his opponents.

There's a few things to go over, as much as I could gush about his characterization and how I like his core gimmick. Regarding Neutral Special, there should probably have a visual tell for when you can re-summon the biographer to your spot or not. It's only something that'd come up on oddball stages prior to Jigoro getting the six moves needed for his autobiography, but a small visual tell like the biographer having a simple sweatdrop symbol over her head would do.

The Autobiography moves hit a little too hard, though given he has to work for it that's understandable. Book FTilt is the main egregious one- Dash Attack makes sense for how he has to build it up for the full potential and then not use the Book at all, though the paper trail feels like it should be +0.5% damage per page instead of being close to the main hit's power. FTilt by contrast does incredible damage even with only two hits from the minimum 6 pages, and with Down Smash he can get those two hits in much easier than it probably should be. It can still be very strong, but I'd knock it down to 18% on hit or make it scale similar to Dash Attack. I'd also drop the duration of his Rage mode since he can access it just by grabbing and pummeling the opponent until they escape.

The liver is fine, but there are some things that feel tacked on- I feel the interaction it has with Up Smash is a bit of stretch, but harmless. Up Throw's buff is a little odd, though it is at least used nicely in the context of the set. Despite the warts, I like this set as much as I like the idea of beating this guy up in Smash- a good amount.

Side note, love the biographer and her behavior during Down Throw. Looking forward to the inevitable OC set.

 

[n88]

I can't die here ...
I need to determine the truth ...

When those thoughts overcame me, I awakened to that power - a most fortunate accident.

MYM25-03 | Link​

 

[Arctic Tern]

GORO AKECHI (n88)

Crow here is a very good set, especially for your third returning set! Robin Hood’s usage as a way to set up delayed moves is a very fitting way of implementing Akechi’s Persona; I especially like Samarecarm and the delayed teleport, an idea I’ve been tinkering with for some time. Akechi’s own Specials are also fairly good, with the highlight being NSpec’s ability to increase the ending lag his foe takes. Robin’s Smashes are also pretty good, with my personal favorite being FSmash and the ability to position foes offstage or set up into Akechi’s FSmash. Closing off the Robin section, the two different ways he can affect Crow’s throws adds significant depth to his gameplan and allows for very tricky setups as a reward for positioning him well.

Not to say that Akechi himself is bad, far from it! His melee, while understandably simple, is all solid and serves their purpose well. I especially like how his Jab can’t jablock to balance out all of his other prone abuse shenanigans. The animations and characterization are also on point: graceful, Marth-esque swordsmanship except for the brief moments his masquerade breaks on landing his hitgrabs. My primary complaints are that I feel there are too many moves dedicated to setting up tech chases, though admittedly only one of them is easy to land, and the fact that Debilitate, for how interesting the concept is, doesn’t really get played with that much.

Despite that, Crow definitely makes his mark as a fully distinct character from Joker, and is a solid entry into the contest. Now, we wait for the truth to be revealed…

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Senator Steven Armstrong by wizfoot ***

Your third set for MYM 25 already! It's really impressive that everyone's managed to pump out 40 sets so soon- wonder if we can keep up the momentum with the second Jamcon around the corner? Armstrong contrasts Tifa's more kinetic combos and movement with being a powerhouse one-hit-one-kill type, shrugging off blows early on and still being pretty dang durable after the fact. Moves like Jab show off what you've learned, and even the briefer moves in the set make sure to mention their applications or how they interact with each other.

I did find more things to pick at by comparison to Tifa, though. Regarding the mechanic's wording, it's a bit odd. He can take knockback from attacks that do 'less than' 10% damage when at 15%? Doesn't that mean that attacks doing 10% or more damage are blocked, but not attacks weaker than that? It'd make more sense if attacks doing over 30% beat out his armor starting at 15% damage, 20% starting at 25% damage, 10% starting at 35% damage, and then he loses it at 45% as current. How does Neutral Special work in midair? I'd give the fist a hitbox itself, maybe make it a mean but short-reaching spike that prones foes if they're grounded/land before coming out of it (a few molten chunks kicking up around them for visual flair, bury effect maybe going by one gif where Jack is embedded in the ground?) and let it generate the normal grounded effect if he lands during the wind-up.

There's a few missing details in that vein; Side Special and Up Special could stand to mention how far they move you forward with Side Special/up with the starting portion of Up Special (though the latter compares it to Incineroar, so that could be taken as the explanation, something I realized while typing this up). The coverage of Up Smash and Down Smash would be appreciated, giving an idea of how much clearance foes need to give Armstrong when he breaks out the big guns. Aside from that, the set crosses all its "t"s and dots all its "i"s, those just seemed like the ones that'd be more appreciated.

I think my only larger scale suggestion is to tie things to the mechanic or specials a bit more- note where a move really benefits from armor or suffers from its absence, or stuff that can burn out opponents' air dodge so he can properly mess them up with Neutral or Side Special as they come down.

It's not as big a leap in quality as Tifa was from Heavy, but Senator Armstrong I feel is another step stronger. Nicely done!

 

[GolisoPower]

Richard Wagner Is Smiling From His Grave
Valkyrie by ForwardArrow

You know, I am one set away from thinking that the universe is keeping track of my story progress in F/GO because I had just arrived at the Norse Lostbelt at the time I read this set for Valkyrie. I mean, what's next, Froy makes a set for Super Orion when I get to the Greek Lostbelt or something??? Anyways, Valkyrie.

This set feels like a much-more-streamlined version of what I did for Wolf Witch Veronica: a 3-in-1 set, but all the attacks are nearly the same except for some tweaked properties based on what Valkyrie you're taking control of. It makes the concept much easier to handle since you know what every attack looks like across all three forms as opposed to having to deal with 3 separate characters' worth of movesets, which generally makes it all a much easier read than my own, too.

Neutral Special sounds like a delightful Magic Burst-style defense tool and my Pyra-lovin' ass is really attracted to Thrud's numbers, not gonna lie. I don't care if it becomes basically a Warlock Punch, I'm gonna use that version, goddammit. Side Special took me a while to piece together: was it like a Power Dunk or a Burning Knuckle? Then it came together that it was a Burning Knuckle. Either way, it is still pretty amusing if a bit mundane-wait, that's not getting into the endlag reduction bonus for it, tho! This brings up another thing I like about how this was executed: each Valkyrie has a specific move that they're a master over, such as Hildr with D-air, Thrud with N-air, and this Special with Ortlinde. It really makes it so that even if you prefer playing as one over the other, playing Valkyrie encourages you to swap in order to get the best version of the attack you want. Though with some moves like Up Special, they have equal grounds in how good they are due to their different effects: Ortlinde for added mobility and enhanced recovery, Hildr for scant frames, and Thrud for raw aggression. All three versions have their own benefits that make them equal to each other and add a layer of flexibility to the kit as a whole.

A lot of the moves you've given Valkyrie for me to read are also pretty cool if not for the different changes across the three Valkyries, then in what they would do regardless: F-tilt taking a shield attack and giving her bolstered defenses with it is practically an upgraded version of Hero's F-tilt 1 thanks to the passive armor, giving her a surprising level of survivability on use. Side Smash uses a few of Sephiroth's wonky middle-hitbox spacing, but she also has Byleth's range, in turn, to make it that much easier to land the sweet spot in the middle. The synergy that D-throw also has with Up Smash sounds like ungodly amounts of scare tactics, as you're basically putting the opponent in a Shigechi-style situation and making them explode twice. Killer Queen has touched that Valkyrie spear, apparently. Up throw playing into the Valkyrie's role in Norse mythology is a good touch for them, and it makes for the start of a pretty scary ladder combo start, especially with Thrud.

Overall, I find myself in a bit of a pickle here: on the one hand, I've had settled for nominating Light Yagami when I've finished reading all the JamCon sets, but now? I'm...not really so sure, in all honesty. They're both really good, but there's just something about both of them that makes them exactly equal in terms of nomination worthiness. Ah, if only I can nominate more than one! Regardless, you did splendidly with Valkyrie, my dude, pat yourself on the back for this one!

Now to wait and see if the universe responds to my FGO story progression again.

 

[UserShadow7989]

After hemming and hawwing on it for a while, I've decided to nominate Valkyrie by ForwardArrow for the Jamcon! It was a hard choice between this set and the rest, and it ended up coming down to just really liking the set for handling a 3-in-1 and appealing to my tastes specifically.

Since interest was expressed in seeing how everyone ranked the whole set of submissions: Venom Strange was 2nd (LOVED the concept but execution was a hair weaker), Nino 3rd (rock solid execution, concept bias got the other two ahead), Meltryllis 4th (cool snowballing glass cannon playstyle and while the melt pool details are very match-up specific they exist for every character hypothetically and the ones described gives us insight on how it all gels together in a given match, so I wouldn't call them extras), Light Yagami 5th (couple of hiccups in execution, impressed by being a solid set for the character), Taranza 6th, Daisy 7th, Bellossom 8th, Firelight Ekko 9th, Two Face 10th. All of them were beautifully done and a joy to read.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Goro Akechi

A moveset we’ve all been waiting for, this one didn’t disappoint! I was genuinely impressed with the detail put into Akechi’s attack and idle animations; always thought MYM was a step up in describing attack animations since Slyvia in MYM21, but this set felt like it went an extra mile. Small shout-out to mentioning that the camera follows Robin like a fighter.

I like the way Robin is implemented: right off the bat he’s an entity that allows Goro to fire off one of 4 delayed move with his Persona Specials, but can only fire off ONE of those 4. Do you play it safe and have combo fun with Samecarm? Do you threaten shields with Haomon and Mudoon? Or do you go full nut and commit to Megaton Raid? Even the Debilitate effect felt interesting and relevant with Akechi’s proning game. I especially like how Hamon and Mudoons’ insta-kill effects are implemented in Smash, it feels pretty organic without delving into any ridiculous one-hit kill mechanics. That’s not to say you should always fire off delayed attacks though, as Robin Hood can be used in Akechi’s Smashes and his grab game.

Akechi’s Specials were cool too, if not cooler! Neutral Special felt like a unique “tech chase” against shields, one I could see being disadvantaged by opponents with good grabs. Side Special is an odd pseudo-counter that gives Akechi a buff, and Up Special works well with Robin Hood thanks to its dragging effect. But Down Special might have surprisingly been my favourite, which I wasn’t expecting given its shorter length: a committal, single downwards gunshot that’s reminiscent to Joker’s Neutral Special, but is massively buffed against prone, tripped or helpless foes. Not only does this feel unique, it works very well with Akechi’s heavy emphasis on proning. I wonder if it is a bit too powerful as a spike against helpless opponents going by the percent its groundbounce can kill onstage opponents, even if Akechi isn’t too likely to hit such an opponent. Maybe it doesn’t deal quite as much downwards knockback against helpless opponents?

The rest of the melee was consistently good. Some fun impaling hitgrab sweetspots, a unique control scheme of holding or pressing A to cancel follow-ups, and a very fun mix-up based Dash Attack. I like the flame visual on Forward Smash, it helps with the Persona 5-like feel in tandem with Debilitate. Reading the side throws, I understand Tern’s point on Akechi leaning a lot into leaving foes in prone, but it feels fair enough that he wants to have a number of attacks that can be used to control his enemy’s position for Robin Hood’s stronger delayed attacks.

Akechi is a very strong way to start up your Persona career. Would be very impressed if you followed through with his Loki incarnation, especially to the degree shown in this set! That would be amazing dedication for a single character.

 

[Katapultar]

"Thank you all so much! We'll do our best!"



Mai and Yui join the Kat Guild! Current members: 4 (Jigoro is banned from the guild).​

 

[UserShadow7989]

Sam Fisher by Rychu ***

To start off with the obvious: I love the presentation of this set, a third party describing the known capabilities and tactics of Sam Fisher being an excellent way to describe his inputs and how he uses them in tandem. He controls space through deception and proper use of tools, hiding away in smoke or using a long-ranged only kill option to force opponents to remain within his effective range or navigate the assorted traps he can set. His guns in general are more tools than simple spammable projectiles, his shotgun breaking down shields and the aforementioned sniper rifle forcing the opponent to approach or suffer the consequences. His whole playstyle hinges on making him what the presentation makes him out to be: a terrifying menace who can exploit mistakes and weaknesses.

Building on that is his Side Special, which lets him build up to a singular, super powerful hit on an opponent he's tagged with enough melee hits, making him more and more dangerous the better he keeps control of the match. The tools themselves are varied, including mines to differing projectiles to a gas grenade that creates a smokescreen with secondary benefits. Speaking of, I'm not sure how I feel about the gas grenade adding a failure chance for disjoints/projectiles, though I do like that Sam's guns count as disjoints and thus get the lower 'failure' chance, and I can't deny the set uses it well with effects like the Side Special slowly lowering his own failure rate and how it overall forces foes to pursue him through his traps.

For the fundamental melee moves, Sam's got a bevy of neat tricks- Down Tilt being a pseudo dodge (I'm not sure if Ultimate still has background-hitting moves like Melee did/whether that's something to make note of, but hey, it's a fun blast from the past that hurts nothing), Forward Aerial letting him prop himself between two surfaces for a moment, Up Tilt and Dash Attack changing some properties based on his crouching/standing stance, Down Aerial having a secondary shield-countering effect, and more. His standards, aerials, and throws all nicely build toward his playstyle with tricky effects to bait and punish foes, limit their defensive options further, get a pay-off with his mines, get in a few hits to build toward Side Special's lucky number 10, or buy himself some needed time or breathing room to set up traps.

Wrapping it all up is the Smash section; a simple but potent lead in to a finishing blow with Forward Smash, Up Smash being a stronger melee hit that can KO, and Down Smash a killer trap that'll trigger once Sam's out of the general vicinity. Sam Fisher is an excellent set and a great addition to an already strong contest.

 

[GolisoPower]

Back To The Future, Directed By Jordan Peele
Firelight Ekko by ProfPeanut

So Peanut has returned to MYM and this is the first modern set anybody has ever read from him. Honestly, it's a mighty decent return to MYM, speaking as one who wasn't around for his Grim Matchstick set way back in MYM20. But honestly, Ekko's a pretty good and simple set.

I'm getting the impression that Ekko is a pretty dominant character in the air thanks to how his Down Special is tied to his Firelight trail, which, let's be real, you'll be in the air a lot in Smash Ultimate. Trust me, I've seen some plays. Anyways, DSpec is a pretty good option for burst mobility and using it to reverse an off-stage kill before it happens. Side Special is a pretty interesting pseudo-bury projectile that provides him a fairly scary set-up move that he can use to dunk on opponents in a potential ToD. Neutral Special is a pretty cool way to obscure your movements like with Piranha Plant, while also providing him another brief, if still valuable, set-up tool. Lastly, but certainly not least, Up Special, being a fairly interesting tool that cuts off most of your set for the first use, but inverts it for the second move. It really gives Ekko that further-bolstered aerial offense thanks to him mixing it up with each use, but then you have that bolstered defense during that second dash. Overall, Ekko seems to have some sort of aerial dominance to him that would put him up there with the giants.

And now, the rest of the set: I really love how grab is a cargo throw without it even using a throw. It makes sense since you're on an object that makes you paradoxically plant your feet firmly into the ground and move around at the same time. The throws are still fighter-esque without being just "cargo throw follow-ups" if you catch my drift here. Sorry if I didn't put it in a way easy to understand here lol I don't know what I'm saying either. Aside from that, though, there isn't much to say. It's still a pretty fun set, in the end. Welcome back, and good job getting this out all the same!

And now, my Nomination:

Spoiler: 10: Bellossom

Spoiler: 9: Taranza

Spoiler: 8: Firelight Ekko

Spoiler: 7: Alolan Marowak

Spoiler: 6: Two-Face

Spoiler: 5: Daisy

Spoiler: 4: Venom Strange

Spoiler: 3: Nino

Spoiler: 2: Light Yagami

Which means my nomination goes to
VALKYRIE!
She was honestly the biggest highlight of the whole JamCon for me, and for good reason! Nice work, FA!

 

[Arctic Tern]

MAI & YUI (Kat)

Easily the most experimental set Kat’s done in years, Mai and Yui are a very slow, very light duo with strong hits, but slow moves. This would make them very low tier, except that they can perform attacks separate from each other’s ending lag with their mechanic at the cost of not having Specials. Kat makes great use out of this setup, with using slow moves to make the foe dodge into another twin’s attack, various moves allowing them to desync in fun ways, and moves that are unsafe normally but become safe when the other twin is taken into account.

A lot of the moves have very extensive gimmicks, but I feel that Mai and Yui’s lack of Specials justifies this a lot more than in other sets. Some of my favorites included USmash’s item generation and it’s differing knockback and damage on being thrown or dropped, FSmash’s potentially very long lasting shockwave, and the Held Pummel’s Defense Down debuff; I particularly like the fact it lasts longer the less damage the foe has because most of the twins’ attacks can kill at high percents anyway. I did feel that the set was, ironically, a bit too overpowered, mainly on the damage fronts - 60% on an aerial seems a bit high, even if Mai and Yui are very slow.

Despite that, Mai and Yui are currently my favorite Kat set this contest, due to the concept and execution of it. I know you don’t think this set will be popular, but I like it a lot so I think you won on that front.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Sam & Max by Arctic Tern ***

I love the interplay between the Freelance Police duo, the set allowing the player to make full use of Max as a companion both in letting the duo separate and perform their own attacks and having inputs relating to their positions regarding each other, and even adding in Noir!Sam as a mechanic when he's forced to fly solo. Fizzball leading with a delightful callback to the Baseball Boys' watermelon joke and other bits of humor here feel right at home with the series, while also adding some fun mechanical tricks to their repertoire.

In general the duo make use of their mechanics well with the assorted inventory items giving them heavy stage control that plays into their assorted tech chases. Sam has a bit more defensive moves to his name, while Max is fittingly focused on aggro, with Noir!Sam picking up the slack and switching to a far more offensive game to finish the opponent off if his little buddy bites it (at the cost of this triggering when he's one foot in the grave more often than not and robbing him of his recovery, forcing him to secure the kill and go all out- nice bit of characterization). Noir!Sam feels fully fleshed out conceptually while being purposefully lacking in key areas mechanically to discourage anyone from purposefully getting rid of Max, too, avoiding any OoC issues and ensuring he remains more of a consolation bonus rather than a goal.

The set in general goes into exactly the right amount of depth with each of the duo's moves and how they play into each other, giving it the feeling of a properly zany and chaotic pair of combatants while being fundamentally functional, nothing feeling too off here with the exception of things that are meant to (Sam's Jab 2 not connecting from his Jab 1 without something to play off of, being more of a deadly extra attack on its own he wants some set-up for, for example). There's plenty of reason given to stick together or split up at different points, such as a lack of good neutral tools when divided in exchange for greater pay-offs and stage control (as well as Fizzball Cancelling). Forward Throw gives a nice summary of the duo's strengths and weaknesses, the set knowing what it is and what it wants to do from start to finish.

There's also just a significant amount of careful thought put in for the little details; Grab having a longer regrab timer to prevent the two from chain grabbing with their advantage of numbers, Back Throw being deadly in a FFA for other foes as compensation for the general weaknesses Sam and Max have when facing multiple enemies at once with their poorer defenses. Max's Neutral Aerial serving as a brake for precise positioning out of Side Special. Even the eclectic mix of items in Down Special all get called back to at different points. All this in a set that's relatively compact for what is a 2.5 in 1 deal.

This is a really, really good set, to the point I would give it a Super Vote if we were to vote right now. Considering this is your third ever set and that 25's been absolutely bonkers, that's something to be proud of. Nice work, Tern!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Asbestos by bubbyboytoo ***

Wasn't expecting more Arknights so soon! Asbestos has a neat design that's made full use of here, with her unique custom-weapon getting good mileage for both a defensive mechanic that compensates for her own slowness and rock solid fundamentals. Other comments have mentioned there's not a ton of interplay with the Specials and the rest of the set (the awesome Up Special aside), but I will note they serve their purposes in the set proper and are still plenty functional.

Her door-slash-shield's mechanic itself and Up Special are the big hooks to this set, and while I wonder if the set could've gotten a little crazier with them, I do like what was done and the execution of a cool super mode, Down Special giving the player a little more leeway in triggering and controlling it than its comparison point with Joker/Arsene. This also led to some animations of how Abby swings her weapon around or tinkers with its mechanics, and while it took me a moment to parse sometimes, I do love the combination of jury-rigged brilliance and brute force 'screw it, Imma swing it at them' the character brings to the table.

More than anything, the set has an interesting flow to how it would play, aggressively but slowly advancing with your defensive abilities and then breaking out heavy firepower and burst movement when the time is right. I think that that's your strong suit as a set maker, focusing on how playing the character would feel and making that wholly unique, rather than a massive web of interactions or extremely off the wall inputs (though there's plenty of fun tricks here). I admittedly don't have a lot of critiques or suggestions I can make that Kat and Tern didn't cover (which was stuff I wouldn't have been able to come up with regardless, honestly), but I agree with his assessment that this is your best set of the contest so far.

(Also, I appreciate the shout out; I almost forgot that!)

 

[n88]

Alolan Marowak by U UserShadow7989
Long been a fan of Ghost types, and Cubone/Marowak are also rad, so I’m really into the character choice here. I love the implementation of Bonemerang - it’s tapping into a lot of Smash’s cooler projectiles in a way that feels clean and grounded, but is immediately a platform for some funky remote control shenanigans. The set finds cool ways to play with that as it goes on, and gets good mileage out of distributing Marowak’s hitboxes between his bone and other sources to shake up the possible uses of each move. The idea of him as this sort of mode-switch heavyweight who can toss his weapon aside to get a lot tricksier feels on-point and fun for a spooky twist on a pretty conventional smashy kind of character. Really solid stuff and I’m glad we got it out of the Jamcon!

Stray thoughts:

• “they curly up slightly as they fall” - but do they Moe up or Larry up?
• Cool to see a big signature FSpec here, it sometimes feels like the unloved middle child of Special inputs.
• Boneless FSpec always taking you toward the bone makes thematic sense, but I think it’d be more intuitive, control-wise, to just let him do his little command dash in whichever direction you input. Not gonna shake up his game that much. I like the soft encouragement of going toward the bone via the endlag cancel.
• Will O Wisp/Hex does feel a little nasty, but other people have talked about that and there’re a lot of dials to turn.
• ”Taking from the space pilots, Marowak halts their fall in place, then shoots off in a chosen direction while wreathed in red-hot fire.” - be cooler if it matched the bone flame color. Or you could maybe have his bone fire also turn red when you use this.
• There’s a sentence at the end of the penultimate paragraph of USpec, about the command dash, that I think would feel more at home at the end of the previous paragraph.
• A funny amount of Akechi parallel, particularly in FSmash. Love it when little synchronicities like this crop up.
• A lot of the melee past the Smashes feels well-executed but I forgot to take notes, whoops. It does a good job playing with Bonemerang as a centerpiece, but Shadow Bone didn’t come back around as much as I expected. I suppose its applications are relatively straightforward.
• I did have to read UAir a couple times to grok some of the mechanics, I got confused about whether or not the move would always bring his bone back to his hand if used while Bonemeranging. (My current understanding: yes?)

 

[Torgo the Bear]

Spoiler: Why do I hear Eminem

Venom Strange
n88

Quite the interesting character choice! I really like deep cut characters from franchises I enjoy, so this set already delivers on that front! Anyways, as for the moveset itself, the specials were generally just...okay. I mean, I understand that the real meat of the set is all dedicated to the summons, but the specials do tend to feel...lacking. Especially the Wards. Wards can sound useful from time to time, but I never really felt like they were needed. At least I enjoyed Up Special.

But anyways, this definitely got better in the standards. I really like the idea of the summons, and I never really felt like any of their mechanics were too much or too little. My favorite summons were Rocket and Ghost Rider, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of them! I feel like this works really well for a summoner character, and it actually helped me with some of the concepts for how one of my own sets will work.

Overall, I honestly think I'd enjoy playing this character. It's wacky enough while still feeling pretty true to all the characters involved (especially Venom Deadpool, my god). So even though the specials were a bit weak in my opinion, I still feel like this was a real solid set!

 

[wizfoot]

A light blanket of snow falls upon a tundra. Far in the background a large city can be seen, thick walls protecting a castle town with a large palace at its center; the camera pans over an empty marketplace and next to a statue of a man standing above a snake before settling on a bridge in front of the palace. A letter falls through one of the roof’s support beams and onto the bridge. A hand in a metal gauntlet picks it up.

“You should have acted.”

Silhouettes clash amidst the chaos of Final Destination. The sparks briefly light up the faces of King K. Rool and Bowser Jr. scowling at each other before fading to black.

“But no-one wanted to believe...”

Magic is cast, lighting up the shadows of Temple. A sudden blast of fire reveals the faces of Corrin and Robin, with a sudden blast of energy from the Levin Sword causing the camera to fade to black yet again.

“When the truth dawns... it dawns in fire!”

Ridley and Bowser have Mario and Samus pinned; Samus’s visor cracks under Ridley’s hand.

A loud burst of magic forces Ridley and Bowser away from Samus and Mario. A horned silhouette appears behind them, brandishing a shining steel sword in one hand and a shield in his other.

“In their tongue, he is Dovahkiin; ‘Dragonborn’!”


THE DRAGONBORN FORCES HIS WAY IN!

Link suddenly appears before a triumphant Dragonborn, who has his eyes closed. He knocks an arrow and fires; the Dragonborn winces in pain before opening his eyes looking down to see an arrow stuck in his knee.

Spoiler: Changelog (UPDATED 4/24/2022)

"But a day shall arise when the dark first draft's lies shall be silenced forever and then!"

4/16/2022:

Added detail to every special
Added detail to Forward Air

4/24/2022:

Throw percentages edited
White margins removed

"Fair MYM25 shall be free from wizfoot's bad frames!"

 

[n88]

Light Yagami by Katapultar
I gather this is a notorious/iconic character; cool to see something like that tackled for a jamcon. The powerset feels difficult to translate, but the set has a fun time incorporating various kill methods into the set as minions/constructs/what have you.

The level of weird mindgames around what he’s written in the death note also feels cool. I do wonder if the sheer flexibility of the mechanic does at a certain point just obfuscate what he’s doing, rather than encouraging the active sort of “well if he’s done this, I can counter by….” level of back and forth reading that the set describes sometimes. I may be biased as an unga bunga player myself, though, and I think the set manages to ride the line and keep itself working as intended for the most part. The fake death note stuff might be pushing the envelope and nudging the set a bit toward straight inscrutability for the opponent, but IIRC you’re planning on editing that post-jamcon anyway? I think the fake death note mechanics are pretty cuttable anyway; they’re not adding as much as the moves that play more directly with the set’s core mindgame paradigm where everyone knows when he’s done something, they just don’t know what.

The core concept of this sort of escalating boost by being able to predict a series of attacks you’ll land and incentivizing making it as long as you can is undeniably cool for a character like this. I really love that it makes him a weird style of thinky fighter who wants you to take a moment to think about what your best options are and have miniature game plans for each little segment of the match. My favorite of the Jamcon entries I’ve read so far.

Stray thoughts:

• A tragic number of people are killed by heart attacks every year, not realizing that they can simply spot dodge.
• There’s a bit in Neutral Special that says “The reward for all this trouble? Getting to pick more than one move to deathblow without manually changing it using the Death Note.”. That confused me a bit, because it made it sound like all of the moves you picked became deathblows. Ended up re-reading the couple paragraphs around that a couple times to digest what was really going on.
• The hard interactions with corpses/criminals in FSmash are weird but mechanically cool. Perhaps weird in a way that honors the source material? I’ll just trust you as my guide here.
• “Maybe those people were Light’s intended victims, so even if D-Smash misses everything is still going according to plan?” - funny throwaway line, but it does actually do a lot to convey character.
  • Man where does that car go, though? Or come from? Wild attack to try to visualize.
  • Funny that this moveset and Strange both hit people with cars.
• I never before considered the possibility that Newton was lucky to survive his encounter with that apple.
• Ah, the evergreen UAir that hits downward: an old friend. It does feel a bit weird from the animation here, though that’s a very small complaint.
• Dash Attack describes hitting foes up into a lingering UAir, but the end of UAir’s description made it sound like landing would cancel the gunfire.
• The Up Tilt scythe does feel like a bit of a theme reach, the way the move contextualizes it. I feel like it’s the sort of reach that would feel more justified if it were positioned a bit more prominently in the set rather than squirreled away on a tilt, though YMMV. As-is, Up Tilt ends up feeling a bit showy and out-there amidst a section of inputs that otherwise feel like they’re operating on the established logic of the set.
• The agent-heavy grabgame is fun, strong note to go out on.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: The Dragonborn

From one canonically overpowered to another, now we have the Dragonborn, whose immense shouting power is kept in check by a cooldown mechanic. I’m used to using the small (Kirby-sized) training mode blocks, but I’m assuming the large training blocks are either 5x5 or 10x10 smaller blocks. Either way, this set has quite some extreme range on its Dovah moves! Up Special can carry Dragonborn an extreme distance, high enough that he’d probably go well above the stage if he used it near the bottom blast zone. And the Smashes all have massive hitboxes, but this I’m willing to overlook - they aren’t Specials, do take some time to charge and have a cooldown afterwards.

I’m curious how some of the Specials play into Dragonborn’s game, though to your credit you do mention Neutral and Side Special in a few of the non-Special moves. Neutral Special feels like either a combo-starter or high knockback move. Also, does Up Special leave you in helpless after use? I’m assuming Side Special is a screen-wide time slower - potent, and something I feel could be used to start combos in a similar way to Witch Time. It’s kind of balanced in a funny way, because the bigger time stops prevent you from using your Specials or Smashes as they require the Dovah shouting to use!

Down Special does feel like the weakest Special, because this type of passive Special is normally something you’d work into the moveset itself, like whether it could cover your slower attacks like Dash Attack and Forward Air. Beyond that, I did like Down Air being a vertical take on Link’s arrows right down to picking up and reusing them, and Forward Air being a hitbox that can damage you up-close is a fun idea! Maybe Down Special’s heavy armour could protect you from the close-ranged blast?

Dragonborn felt more interesting than Armstrong and with a few genuinely fun ideas, enough that I’d consider him among your best. With a little more playing off of the Specials, I’d probably say he’s your best!

(Also, Dragonborn’s Taunts and Victory poses strike me as him being characterised as a clumsy, gluttonous barbarian who likes to mess with people. No reason that can’t be the case when his characterization is determined by the Skyrim player, from what I understand.)

 

[Arctic Tern]

THE DRAGONBORN (Wiz)

First off, top notch character choice. I believe this is the first Elder Scrolls set we’ve had, which is kinda strange when you think about it.

Secondly, the implementation of the Dragonborn’s Shouts is fairly nice, in my opinion. I particularly like the Smashes, which are more like Specials than Smashes as stated by the set itself. Also, the use of the Hunting Bow as a weaker version of Link’s arrows was pretty fun! Nothing to say that I didn’t already say, except that I’d like you to put a bit more time into your sets. It’s perfectly fine to make sets for fun, but if you’re thinking of seriously competing then it’s instrumental that you put more than a few days into it.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[n88]

Daisy Fire Emblem by WeirdChillFever
Pursuit is an interesting interpretation of Fire Emblem style combat. Feels like a take that really only works on a character that hits wimpily, since you’re talking about - in a situation where you’re buffering attacks together by cutting endlag - the foe not only still being in range for the second attack, but also potentially freeing up and having a chance to attack in the middle of Daisy’s hits. Cool mechanic to intersperse into all the optional follow-up hits here.

Pursuit introduces this concept of follow-up hits always being angle-able in any of the main 8 directions, which the set occasionally seems to go against (as in Down Smash just saying she can leap left or right). The omnidirectionality feels a little awkward to me both from a player input perspective and from an animation perspective, and seems pretty niche on many attacks, in the context that she needs to land her first hit in order to actually use Pursuit. The set starts taking better advantage of it as it goes on, though, with some weird knockback angles. In general I felt like the Pursuit shenanigans picked up a lot of steam somewhere in the middle of the standards.

The RNG status effects and the tension between racking up hits to try to get lucky and wearing out your weapons is a really fun space to explore. In practice I feel like some of her tools that theoretically raise her odds of getting the status effect don’t technically do her any good - applying sleep in the middle of a committal string of attacks would then just immediately hit the foe out of sleep. Easy to tweak that into working as intended though, I think.

The details get a little fuzzy in places and the set doesn’t always explore its concepts as thoroughly as it could, but y’know, it’s a jamcon and you had the restraint to not commit to something absolutely unhinged. Fun little set, and would love to see you return to these ideas in future Fire Emblem work.

Stray thoughts:

• It’d make for more interesting choices if her status effects had greater mechanical differentiation; sleep/stun/paralysis all feel like flavors of the same thing.
• I appreciate the little Fire Emblem mechanic history lessons tucked away in the moves here.
• Down Tilt implies to me that hitting a shield still counts as landing it for Pursuit purposes, but I didn’t get that from the Pursuit description.
• Down Tilt describes the 8-direction Pursuit follow-up as helping her poke shields, but her relevant options feel pretty negligible. Just “straight up” if she’s right on top of them, right? Diagonally uwpard and toward them feels like it’s almost always gonna hit a shield.
• “Trying to reach the sun, Daisy jumps up …” the second coming of Venusaur?
• “Either way, I’m not doing that for Up Air.” Gold star.
• I do wonder if it’d occasionally be worth just fighting with the crap Iron Sword for maximum combo bs.
• Crazy to introduce a pummel that deals psychic damage.
• The castle was a surprising element. I don't love it aesthetically: that isn't an actual criticism, just a gut feeling about a bold aesthetic choice. Then again, Anna set up shop in the first move of the set, so perhaps I'm being fussy and the set is entirely self-consistent and in fact bookended by merchants. In any case, looking forward to your next outta-nowhere location-themed grabgame to end a set on.

Two-Face by Rychu
Exciting character choice! Weird (but appropriate) that we’ve gotten two sets for this guy considering how tough he is to translate. The set takes a solid approach - a lot of the standard and aerial inputs are leaning heavily on Smash language and tropes to convey character rather than pushing anything too wild, and makes smart choices about how to communicate and differentiate the two halves of the set.

The coin flip mechanic centerpiece feels well-implemented here, though I do wish NSpec came with a side of carrot for all its stick. It’d be cool if you actually had more reason to want to flip, to make for some more natural transition points, and avoid the possible pitfall of a coin flip feeling like a chore.

Down Special is interesting, but I’m not sure he has a compelling reason to use it (at least outside the context of his grab, where he can do it basically for free). It’s not particularly convenient in either a heat-of-the-moment or a planned-in-advance way, thanks to the input speed and the punishment to his coin flip timer respectively. I do like letting him go against his flip result (for a price), but I think the mechanism could be a little more fluid.

Two-Face is a fun and lightweight read, though, so I don’t want to spend too much time digging at him. I know you mentioned that you weren’t really sold on the set and got some late-breaking ideas that you didn’t have time to incorporate. I’d be curious to see those, because there’s a really solid conceptual core and take on the character here that I’d love to see expanded on.

Stray thoughts:

• Presentation is really on point here, of course.
• The need to flip creates an interesting dynamic where he’s gonna be periodically very vulnerable to pressure, but that’s not really addressed.
• Up Smash might be stretching the limits of Harvey’s characterization a bit. Not that he can’t be violent, but it feels a lot more manic than the rest of what he’s got going on.
  • Though I do of course appreciate the parallel between fire burn and acid burn.
• My favorite moves here are the ones where Two-Face’s version is doubling down on what Harvey does (FSpec and NAir, particularly).
• “... ol’ Harv doesn’t have the stats to back either of those playstyles up.” I feel like he should have those stats. The coin flip mechanic denies him a lot of the normal benefits of stance/transformation characters.
• I really respect not doing a minion thing here, which feels like the easy jazz-him-up button, and just committing to Two-Face himself.

Nino by Slavic and FrozenRoy
Fire Emblem hype train go! I dig the idea of embracing the character’s in-game growth as a central mechanic. The concept is paid off well, using the slow build-up to justify these huge flashy moves that she may or may not get a chance to use, since she’s fragile as all get-out. Funny that we got a couple of these crazy snowball sets this jamcon.

The tome durability stuff ends up feeling like a lot to track in practice, with different parts of her kit essentially pulling from three different ammo banks, and the upgrade mechanic introducing significant changes to a lot of her kit over the course of a stock. I found myself wishing a couple times in the standards that some moves were a bit more consistent across tome upgrades. Admittedly, my favorite moves in the set were the jab and forward throw, for all their weird variation, so I can’t complain much. Perhaps this is why I’m never part of focus groups.

Shorter comment than some of my other recent ones, but these sorts of big, polished things are always the ones I have the hardest time wrapping my head around. Everything feels very sharp here, in a way that doesn’t leave me with a lot to poke at. Solid work, though.

Stray thoughts:

• I like that there’s a Fire Emblem character named Brendan.
• “The level of the Tome also affects how long it takes to recharge: 10 seconds for a base Tome, 15 for a second tier Tome and 20 seconds for the final level of Tome.” - based on some of the notes later in the set, it sounds like she has to wait the length of time for what she’s upgraded to, rather than what she’s upgraded from. Given that, the 10 second wait for recharging a base level Tome never happens, right?
• Fire Emblem caster upgrades Thunder tome with one easy trick, the results will shock you!
• “the sweetspot on this move also serves as a reflector, with Jaffar continuing to spin his blades.” - Jaffar spawns in above Nino and drops down on the enemy, though, yeah? Not a terribly useful reflector placement (unless Nino reflects it by herself and Jaffar is just a show-off).
• So tired of fake book fans, I bet she doesn’t even know how to read.

Bellossom by FrozenRoy
This feels like an unabashedly straightforward projectile camper in a lot of ways; funny that the mechanics are being used on this lil lightweight that runs so counter to MYM stereotypes. I do appreciate the little choices that set her apart from the classics of the genre, like all her powder traps getting funneled through a single slow move and all coming out in set order (I really like that set-order cycle-through-moves mechanic and wouldn’t mind seeing more of it in MYM; established Smash thing after all).

The set’s not doing anything too conceptually ambitious and occasionally feels a little dry in the normals, but the writing does a good enough job keeping things flowing along. Technically sound lil one-day Pokeset.

Stray thoughts:

• “opponents can jump over Bellossom and strike her down with all of their hatred” - hate leads to suffering.
• “there is an autocancel window specifically after the penultimate hit but before the last hit, which if Bellossom lands during will lead into most of her quick air game.” - her air attacks are described as pretty middling, speed-wise, aren't they?
• “Taking a single seed into her little hand,” - I’m not convinced she even has hands.
• “the reward of setting that up with a cloud that only lasts 5 seconds itself!” - 10 seconds inside a sunbeam, I believe, so technically doable. (Admittedly still quite niche to get an FSmash out and then climb way up the screen inside 5 seconds)
• 2% is pretty meaty for a pummel in Ultimate. I had Venom Strange doing about that much too, I didn’t realize pummel strength had been largely standardized into a narrow band until I was wrapping up Akechi and looked it up. Anyway my point is that it’s funny that she pummels harder than HMAs.

 

[Slavic]

My biggest problem with JamCon reading this time around has been having to muster up comments, and honestly reading in general. I do like to put as much effort as I can with comments and be as useful as I can. That being said, in the spirit of the JamCon, I'm going to focus on getting comments out without giving excessive thought, as an exercise to match the idea of JamCons (and to actually get comments out this time). I'll almost certainly go back and provide more in depth commentary on these sets later, especially the bigger, more complex ones that do have more to say, but for now we're just running with train of thought. Without further ado, let us commence the JamCommentary!

Kirby: No Way Home
Taranza by bubbyboytoo is very much in line with how your JamCon sets have been going from last contest. I think this is actually on the high end of them as well, though I'd still say I liked Cookie Scouts a bit more. I've started to appreciate your writing style more and more as time goes on, and have found myself switching from 'say this, say that' to just reading through the moves and letting the connections draw themselves. A great example in Taranza is the use of the webbing trap. A lot of word count could be added to the set in just giving specific examples of it being useful in detail as it comes up, but instead it's brought up a few times and otherwise leaves the reader to intuit the rest. I don't think this is always going to be the best option, especially in a more complex set, but Taranza's tools are relatively simple enough its not too hard to keep everything together in your head. I think this is an especially good way to approach JamCons writing, too (as long as you aren't fixing to bust out a 20-30k moveset in a handful of days).

As for the meat of the set, I do like my mobility influencing and debuffing sets, both of which form the backbone of Taranza (note: spiders do not have backbones, they are invertebrates and instead feature a rigid exoskeleton made of chitin). The set puts efforts in place to keep certain actions from being too oppressive: all the webbing Specials, the Web Hold, and Down Throw all seem self aware enough not to make Taranza into a horrifying monster to fight against. A lot of the individual moves in the set are neat to me as well, one of my favorites being the Up Smash web spike. I also like the nods to Kirby's own Smashh set, a small detail that does go a long way for me in making the set feel right at home in Smash.

Welcome to the Bone Zone
Alolan Marowak by U UserShadow7989 has an incredibly fun trick to it in Bonermerang. Obviously this move would have to be front and center for any self respecting Marowak, but the Ghost type works in Marowak's favor to create a wonderful haunted projectile Luma mechanic! The idea is simple but really does work so well, aided in no small part by the wonderful weaving of bone moves throughout the standards. The core makes for an incredibly solid pressure set, utilizing the full threat of the projectile bone. The major highlights of this set are Forward Smash, a Dancing Blade-ish move with the potential to become a very fun customizable projectile that can even reflect other projectiles, and randomly Forward Tilt. The latter is an impressive job of taking one of the simplest possible moves in the set and making it so integral, both to Marowak's normal gameplay and to manipulating the bone to his whims.

There are some definite power issues with Alolan Marowak, I think, however. Hex is disgustingly strong, and combined with a perfect Will-O-Wisp deals some frankly absurd damage that's not terribly hard to pull off casually, thanks to being slow, long-lived projectiles. Not to mention how much Marowak can potentially punish a predicted shield. Speaking of, Down Smash also seems quite strong, though as the dedicated shield counter it can probably afford it a bit. In general, the Smashes are capable of some scary killing power on a character who already seems quite good thanks to a usable standards game and a fantastic set of Specials, so it might be worth tuning back just a little to make them feel a bit more sane. That aside, this is a very fun set that's pulled off with a lot of competence and features a lot of character for the Pokemon with the various dancing moves involved.

 

[Torgo the Bear]

Spoiler: How do ya like 'dem apples?

Light Yagami
Katapultar

This set was really fascinating! While I'm not necessarily all that knowledgeable about anime and manga, at least I know what Death Note actually is. And just on the sheer concept of this character alone, I was very interested to see how you'd translate it into Smash. And I really feel like you got it! I think the heart attack mechanic works really well for a character who's main gimmick in canon is just straight up instantly killing people. I never really felt like it was used poorly in the set, and I can't help but laugh at how you can spot dodge a heart attack.

I really loved the concept of attacks that summon other people who can kill you. The criminal, corpse, agents, and car all felt really fun and I enjoyed their many uses and interactions. I also love how an apple turns into such a useful tool. Plus, the fake note shenanigans are really fun. Also gotta say I really like his grab and pummel.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I think you did a really good job taking a character with more than enough potential to be absolutely broken and make them actually feel balanced, yet also incredibly fun to play. Very solid JamCon set!

 

[BKupa666]

MELTRYLLIS:
Melt's absorption mechanic and associated uses appealed to me in much the same way Gawain's copy mechanics did. She incorporates Smash's array of different character-specific traits and move types, going so far as to steal virtual new move sections of command inputs from the game's various fighting game characters, without them overstaying their welcome or overshadowing her own options. Down B also is a neat feast-or-famine type concept, letting her snowball as a threat with each bread-and-butter combo hit at the cost of becoming an even more vulnerable lightweight for a time, no small thing when she's incentivized to get up close in landing Neutral B on foes to begin with.

There's plenty of fun regular moves scattered here too, like a multi-sided dash attack, escape function for F-Smash and modernized "foreground-background" move in D-Smash. I could see Melt being a major pain in some match-ups, given possible incentives to run away using her speed in whittling down her foe's timer to deal 20% on Melt Virus and hers in recovering from Down B's cooldown. Some formatting also threw me at first, requiring a moment of comprehension to note that Power Meter and Limit Specials weren't directly part of Melt's own meter mechanic based on their placement. Otherwise, an excellent iteration on everything that made me a Passionlip fan and one of this Jamcon's better outings. GolisoPower Arctic Tern

TARANZA:
A succinct set that builds on Kirby's burgeoning representation this contest and takes effective advantage of Taranza's spidery body type and magic powerset throughout the melee. I could see players setting an Up Special web onstage for a trap akin to a Pac-Man trampoline, before floating back and forth to pressure them in. It's good to see selective vulnerability baked into certain attacks, with more punishable attacks than one typically sees in a lighter character in options like F-Tilt and dash attack, and especially Neutral B upon escape. For the latter, that helps to keep grounded a move that otherwise could become quite oppressive, given the magic ball's speed and double grab difficulty (which, outside of competitive play, can be rather dangerously long).

Along those lines, if you wanted to edit Taranza post-Jamcon, I didn't see reference to his aerial movement speed during U-Throw, a promising inversion on grounded cargo throws but potentially devastating for offstage gimps (a safeguard thankfully put in D-Throw). Another fun addition could involve specifying that Down Special balls bounce off of drop-through platforms, which, angled right, would let Taranza create some wonky trajectories depending on where he starts the move. bubbyboytoo

ALOLAN MAROWAK:
Marowak milks your traditional boomerang concept for all it's worth and carves out its own distinct take on the Potato Head/Luma genre. The Specials, while individually simple, play into each other nicely, what with Shadow Bone halting the boomerang's return while threatening space and Up Special getting refreshed on Marowak's contact with the returning bone — I could see players throwing the boomerang out while recovering in protective fashion before surging into it for the extra boost. I also like Down Special's different use after a foe has been caught with the initial figure-eight (though I don't think it's specified how this works in FFA, does he just lose the figure-eight until it's worn off the one victim?).

Forward Smash bouncing back projectiles, potentially from a distance, would make Marowak quite the dangerous opponent in match-ups where those with their own reflectors would try to neuter Down Special's potency. On the whole, Marowak's melee weaves in enough moves specifically using the bone vs. its regular body, to where there's good interconnectivity for what is essentially a moveset divorced in two via boomerang. U-Smash's downward bone drop, F-Tilt's rhythmic hits and dash attack's flame spreading were among my favorite options. And, though I think grab-game could use a bit more fleshing out (as best I can tell, in the throws, it's implied that the boomerang freezes in place, but not outright stated in grab itself), the ability to set up into bone tech chases with F-Throw or a well-spaced KO with B-Throw is appealing to the grappler afficionado in me. U UserShadow7989

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Melty Molten Galaxy
As someone who wasn’t the biggest fan of Fairy Gawain for having a move that copied stuff and then not mention that mostly ever again, Meltryllis went in the complete opposite direction, pouring out paragraphs for how she played specifically in the Joker/K. Rool/Lucario matchups. Not sure if I’m a fan of that approach, but it definitely brings an experimental flair that we know from Goliso and I personally want to see from Tern. It also matches the JamCon flair and I very much respect the effort put into it to for me to make it a good contender.

Melt then has some gimmicks of their own in the form of the basic Melt Virus buffs, the Crime Ballet and Crit Star system and Sadistic Nature. The latter especially is an impressive mechanic, but its execution on a move-by-move basis gets lost between all the match-up specifics which generally does lead to a diluting of Melt’s core playstyle. Crit Stars especially are moreso described as the Literally MYM form of attacks, which leaves the Crime Ballet stuff to get to that Crit Star in the first place in the dust. A pity, because pound-for-pound, each of these mechanics could carry an entire set.

The standards is where the trademark elegance comes in, they fit the characterization and playstyle given and even give some interesting applications in stuff like the Down Smash. They also match the flair of FGO in a sense and their Crit Star versions are all unique. Melt already does a lot though, so that uniqueness comes over as more superficial.

Overall, I’m very impressed by how much you were able to do in the time limit, so much so that I believe you did too much, which is absolutely crazy. Good job!

Taranza (Can‘t think of a good pun :/)
JamCons are really unfair. While others joint on a full four-day venture, you decided to take the JamCon spirit to heart to zoom out a one-day set. It’s dumb that we have to judge this against a backdrop of Melts and Ninos, because Taranza is a solid set. Now, just like Fire Emblem, I like Kirby’s appeal in sets since Super Star-style powersets are a bit like Smash Bros. movesets in a way and Taranza takes that transposability to heart. Because of what I can only assume to be a combination of the one-day deadline and more literal attack inspiration from Kirby, it’s a lot more “in-Smash” than “Literal MYM”, but it’s a solid transposition of Kirby movesets to Smash that has a lot of singular neat moves and a thread of stage control. A solid outing, downright impressive given its deadline with ideas (puppeteering!) that I would love to see return in a big boy set.

all i remember from this set is when it said DAISY in all caps (belossom)
Out of all JamCon sets, this sure exists. Bellossom is another great iteration in the One-Day-Pokésets of this contest and does so with the god-given flavor of JamCon of “This is a mechanic that could be capitalized upon in a set not made in a day”. Sunny Day especially is a mechanic that ties into a lot of other things in Pokémon and Bellossom ticks all of them off with Leech Seed and Giga Drain. Other than that, there are spores and a spoonful of poison moves to reference Oddish and I just. Kinda do not have an opinion on it other than “it exists” and “congratulations for being the first person to contribute to two JamCon sets in a single JamCon”

 

[UserShadow7989]

Goro Akechi by n88 ***

I love how Robin Hood is handled here, serving as an excellent supplement to Akechi's calculated playstyle. Forward Persona Special I like in particular for being designed in relation to the source material's effect without getting too tacky about it and being plenty useful for a few reasons outside of its big situational effect (demolishing shields and threatening a big radius over a thin but long area). Debilitate being a shared effect across his moves is a nice touch, giving a consistent reward regardless of which move you land to ensure his aid is appreciated in any match-up.

Up Persona Special is of course one of my favorite tricks, setting up a cancel of sorts for yourself that lets you be a little more aggressive, with caveats that forces Akechi to be more calculating instead of delving into his more violent tendencies (for now). The ability to further delay his attacks is great, making him a lingering threat foes need to pay more mind to and possibly throwing off distracted foes' timing, letting Akechi better set himself up to snap the trap closed on foes at the cost of more commitment and needing to work a little harder and longer for it.

I liked the ideas when you first posted the preview so long ago, and they feel more polished here for the time spent working everything out. His influence extending to Akechi's Smashes and Throws and the interplay between them and Robin Hood's own Specials was a great idea, too, being something added after I last saw the preview and a pleasant surprise. Smashes allowing you to position Robin as a side benefit, and him adding two possible benefits to Akechi's grab game depending on if he was summoned mid-grab or already present added some delightful depth to that section.

Akechi's specials are less immediately flashy than Robin's, but don't disappoint; Neutral Special is a cool way to implement that ability, and Side Special is an interesting fusion of a pseudo-counter with a two-stage attack. The set builds strongly on his character for his own personal attacks, borrowing touches from Marth for reasons stated in the NAir's alt text, and I feel it works very well for getting across his "Detective Prince" credentials and interpreting his social link benefits. Forward Smash's notes even brings up a nice theme along the set- where some of his moves are flashier than they need to be by default and careful restraint is something you have to exercise for better precision, again hinting at his actual personality.

Moving on to nitpicks, it does feel like there's a lot of instances of 'hitgrab that puts foes in prone', but given each move has some differing use cases it's not a tremendous issue. Forward Persona Special says it's the fastest of the Persona Specials, but has a delay of 2.5 seconds to Neutral Persona Special's 2 seconds? It later mentions "Between Akechi’s summoning animation and the full second of wind-up, it’s just about on par with Warlock Punch in speed.", which I assume means the delay is meant to be 1 second. Up Tilt says it can be angled 'unlike a lot of Forward Tilts', which I believe is meant to say 'Up Tilts'. The set could also stand a few more token mentions about how his moves can deal with foes' get up options, even if it's a bit obvious, given he has so much focus on prone-ing foes. Robin Up Throw C should say "above Akechi's Head" instead of "Above Robin's Head".

Even with those complaints, there's a solid level of quality all throughout the set, and the grab/throw section ends the set on a high note with a mix of creative effects and solid fundamentals that feel just right. I really do like Akechi- it's a genuinely good set by any standards. I usually don't mention them, but the sheer volume of Extras deserve a nod, too- really good stuff. Wonderful work, nate!

 

[Katapultar]

Jamcon 25-1's reading deadline has been extended for 2 days - ends on Tuesday 9-10PM PST if I have my timezones correct. I could extend it further if necessary, but the next Jamcon is technically due to start on the 24th this month if this Jamcon's winner posts it ASAP, and I don't want to eat into that time. Ideally, we want to have 1 Jamcon per month this contest.

The current score is:

Valkyrie: 2.5 (UserShadow, GolisoPower, voter bonus)
Nino: 2 (Arctic Tern, ForwardArrow (planned nomination))
Meltryllis: 1.5 (voter bonus x2)
Venom Strange: 1 (Katapultar)
Light Yagami: 0.5 (voter bonus)
Alolan Marowak: 0.5 (voter bonus)

 

[FrozenRoy]

L + Ratio + Never Scored + No Boss Battle + Beaten by Marshmallow (Taranza bubbyboytoo )

Considering this set was made quite admittedly quickly to get to Kirby and the Forgotten Land, I find the minion control Special especially well done given it is a subject of historical controversy and difficulty in getting it just right. I think part of it was MYM being a bit overly sensitive in the past to it ("MYM Brawl" relied so heavily on things NOT fighting that the ability was much more powerful), some Smash changes themselves (specifically, being able to control ATs compared to them being one-use before gives the ability much more use outside of MYM) and an evolution of balancing. Taranza has all the appropriate kind of countermeasures I can see and also gives the foe some form of counterplay in breaking away at the strings to get their minions back faster, meaning that it isn't just a "yoink don't enjoy the game" button (such an ability could work by being very brief but yes). I also like the idea of the controlled character charging and focusing on Taranza when it escapes both from a gameplay perspective (not only does it balance the move more but also adds a dynamic element to how Taranza plays) but an also quite fun and fitting flavor element.

After showing off the start, Taranza settles into a solid though not super impressive set that combines stage control on attacks like his Smashes or Side Special with sweetspot-based attacks that benefit from his ability to slow down enemy movement. It doesn't really wow me or get me super invested the same way some of your stronger sets like Calliope or Polterkitty (still need to read Wheelie/Asbestos, sorry!) have, but it is also very clean and easy to imagine this working in Smash with a clear playstyle, so I'm pleased. Mixing in a little super armor on Taranza as a lightweight gives him a bit of a niche compared to the average and presents fun enough gameplay possibilities. I think the Smashes were probably the area that most tied together how Taranza worked and Down Aerial felt like a standout move, despite Steve's Anvil being an incredibly MYMian move we've had very few moves look to it for inspiration! Down Throw ends on a very flashy note that adds an interesting dimension to the set and I really like how, flavor-wise, Taranza can in theory grab the foe and their minion and mash them together to fight like a kid playing with action figures. It reminds me of Rool's ancient Kamek set in a lot of ways conceptually, albeit obviously very modernized. I'd make a note saying that they're cancelled out of any move they're in if they lack stage under them, as otherwise all you have to do is aim something like an Inkling Up Special to go offstage and it becomes a pain, although the move has enough caveats that I'm not devastated without a change for now.

Overall a solid set, particularly for the time it was made, that could definitely occupy a lower spot on my votelist by the end of the contest. I'd like to add a final note that this set was a breezy read that got chuckles out of me at multiple points in writing, especially Forward Smash. Always nice to have easy reads like that!

 

[n88]

Valkyrie by ForwardArrow
I love the direction here, awesome to see a MYM take on a Pyra/Mythra type of character. The care put into differentiating the Valkyries is impressive. They’ve got distinct identities that are shaped by interesting, natural twists on the moves. You’re drawing a lot out of mostly-small property changes and really making it work.

The set doesn’t arrive at individuation the easy way, either; a sort of small/medium/large structure where moves just got progressively slower and deadlier from one valkyrie to the next would have been really low-hanging fruit here, but the three are more creatively distinct than that. I’m particularly impressed with Ortlinde. She feels cohesive but slightly weird and with cool counter-y and mobility stuff, busting her out of the ‘middle child’ role she could have fallen into as the jack-of-all-trades.

The possibility of the lingering Valkyrie on Valkyrie Swap is a Very MYM twist on a transformation thing; reminded me of Rocket Grunt. Cool that the rest of the set is grounded enough to really spotlight that as a mechanic instead of using it as a platform for crazier stuff. There's a rock solid execution on a mostly-simple concept that still has a lot of inherent pop. Not hard to see why this has been a darling in Jamcon voting.

Stray Thruds:

• Of course “Thrud” is the bruiser of the bunch.
• Up Smash is really the only bit of the set that felt unexpectedly wild. There’s also a bit of Up Smash saying “Thrud and Ortlinde's attacks come out fast enough” that I think meant Hildr and Ortlinde.
• “having another Valkyrie throwing out Nairs/Dairs/Uairs alongside you can do a lot of work in making the first couple Uairs get the opponent quite high into the sky” - you don’t have a way to get assistant Valkyries to jump, do you? I guess you can Up Special them into the air, but that feels slightly fiddly in the context of trying to get them to help ladder.
• DThrow has diagonal knockback, but the horizontal bit of that is in what direction? Direction being relative to how the foe is facing feels most intuitive since the point of origin is on/in them. Could be interesting if they’re pressured to want to face a certain way.

Firelight Ekko by ProfPeanut
Cool idea to do an echo of another MYM set - I skimmed Original Recipe Ekko as I was reading through this to appreciate some of the parallels. The firelight trail is a cool concept for a centerpiece - I do think it’d probably be a little easier to tune the balance on the Firelights if they were a little less powerful but more renewable, but it’s an interesting choice between them and the hoverboard to give him some really significant per-stock limitations on his resources. Makes him feel like quite the glass cannon.

The kineticism combined with the trail mechanic is really attention-grabbing. I love the core concept of Ekko as a really mobile character who’s leaving this dangerous wake behind him. It’s used to really impressive effect in some of his more dynamic animations, like DThrow and DAir. It’s a shame that the set loses a little momentum in the aerials, because it feels like they should be important to him, what with the hoverboard shenanigans. Still a really fun set, thanks for jamming!

Stray thoughts:

• Welcome back I guess! (I didn’t realize you’d been out of the game as well until people reacted to you dropping a new set!)
• A small thing, but it stuck out as cool that the Up Special dash can continue along the stage or ricochet depending on the angle. Fun li’l movement option baked into an already-cool Special
• “Ekko swings his weapon forward” - I was almost annoyed about not just saying what the weapon was, but I scrolled back up to the image and yeah I got no idea what that is either.
• The hoverboard grab game is super slick, love it. Wouldn't mind a little more meat in the throws, but throws are tough and the premise of being able to use them from basically anywhere does limit you a bit.