Make Your Move 22: Moveset Design Contest - Top 50 released! New sets go in MYM23!

[Cookies N Milk]

Are we at a point where we just read the movesets and just comment on them and vote on which one is the best?

 

[plague126]

Are we at a point where we just read the movesets and just comment on them and vote on which one is the best?

Yes, right now is reading period, and you can comment now as well

 

[plague126]

Ethan Nestor has been revised and edited.

Wobbler has been revised and edited.

Comments, Part 2:


Naomi Faren: First off, i really like the intro sections, they give me a super detailed picture. I also like the transition from stats to Up B, it’s really smooth. And the Up B itself is really cool, and i like the fact that that despite it being very good, you’ve gave it a property that makes spamming it not what you want to do. The Neutral B is also really really interesting, what with being able to not only rapid jab, but do almost every other move in her set, it opens the door to a lot of different traps or setups, and I like that, and the interaction with Down B is also interesting too. I also like how Side B can be used in multiple ways: To set up water to move around with, for horizontal recovery, or for a simple damaging projectile. Down B is also interesting: moving around her projectiles in ways that threaten the opponent if they get too close, and pulling water on stage towards it, making opponents have to focus more on getting away, and letting Naomi set up some combos as well. Also, the attacks you use are really creative, and take full advantage of the water powers and spreading water along the stage. I also really like how you describe each move’s use with the water clone, it really adds to the quality of the moveset! I also like the umbrella moves’s interactions with projectiles as well, adds more strategy. I also like being able to store the Down Smash bomb. I also like the Final Smash enhancing a lot of her setups and moves.

Kunai: Kunai seems really interesting! For a minor character, you really managed to make this moveset unique and creative! I also really like the sense of humor in this set, it got multiple chuckles out of me, and I really like humor in sets. Neutral Special seems like a cool move, for pressure against opponents trying to get behind her and cross her up. I also like the fact that you can fireball motion to change how side special works a bit, allows for different ways to use the move, and I always like multiple ways a move can be used. I also really like that this can be reflected, it just makes me laugh for some reason. I also like that both Neutral Special and Side Special can get more power in exchange for no quick option. I also can see a lot of cool ways having the clone perform attacks can be used. I also very much like the pressure making a clone on impact can put, having the chance to get hit by a move for double damage and 1.22x knockback is scary, especially for the combination of both tornadoes or with the counter. Being able to teleport the wind seems like another very good tool for pressure. I also like that the counter is not just a simple hit, but you can do any move if you’re fast enough, and i also really like the log storing the power of the countered move. I also like that in the air, the log automatically gets the hit, and that charging the counter can both harm foes by making them stuck attacking for a bit, but can also help Kunai's up special blast do damage, or just be a strong projectile if you make your clones carry it.

Conker: Conker seems like a very good first set! Having played a bit of Conker's Bad Fur Day, I really like the addition of both special mechanics, both the hover, for Conker's movement, and the razor wire as a way to represent Conker's uh....adult themes. Although, I...don't really see the point of the Canon Moves section, to be honest. I also like the simplicity of the set, it's a bit refreshing after reading so many complex movesets. I also very much like the addition of the gifs, it helps me visualize the set. Especially the gif from Dead By Daylight, i love that game. And...I like the concept for Down B, don't get me wrong, but...there is way too many items you can possibly get from it, and it just bogs things down for me. However, I really like all the cosmetic stuff, it really adds to the feeling that you really cared about this moveset too. Also...it may be just me but I don't really get why you were arguing that Conker has a good chance of getting in in the conclusion, I feel like most movesets in MYM realistically have no chance of getting in.

skekSil the Chamberlain: Gonna state this right off the bat: I freaking love this moveset. It nails the personality of skekSil from what i can tell, and i especially like the aspect of, as you mentioned, laying out plans and then improvising when they inevitably fall through, which is a type of character I absolutely love, so props to you for nailing that. I also really like how descriptive this set is. Honestly, from reading some of your sets in previous MYM sets (specifically the Luigi's Mansion ones), i think one of your strong points is descriptive writing. The essence mechanic is also simple, yet interesting, and I like the ways you make use of it. The Down Special is something i can already see used for offensive plays, or defensive plays, and i like that it has that versatility. I also like that Neutral Special can both fill up the vial for more offense, or drain skekSil to change his playstyle, it just, again, has a lot of versatility, and adds a lot of pressure options. I also very much like the crack enhancing some of skekSil's moves, i love when moves can get enhanced. And Side Special is really cool too, each minion has its own use and still retains versatility, which I once again love. I also like the interactions with the crystal beam, especially being able to make a Garthim with the beam, which i could see being really hard to pull off, but satisfying if you do. I also like that foes can even turn his minions against him, adds more strategy to the move. I also like how the Up Special can let skekSil repostion his minions in ways more beneficial to him. I also really like how the grab is useful for more than just the throws, but can be used for manipulating the opponent/opponents as well. I also like how the pummel can be used as a normal pummel,or as a tool to move your minions around as well. Also, that down throw gif is painful looking, and made me wince. I also like how up throw can paralyze over a crack, to set up for more combos. Overall, I’d say this is honestly the best set I’ve read in this contest so far.

Whitehorn: Finally, I am reviewing Whitehorn. First off, this is written well! I like that you describe the movement and s bit of the playstyle right off, it lets me conceptualize stuff. Neutral Special is an interesting use of the nail swipe, which i had expected to be a jab, but the way you used it as a Neutral Special is really unique! Mothwing Cloak is also a really good movement option, and complements the playstyle you gave for Whitehorn too. Down Special is an interesting way to incorporate focus too, I like it! This set is honestly a really good simple set, and after some of the long ones, this is a great change of pace. Honestly, this set was simple, and I loved it.

 

[Slavic]

Spoiler: Alex

Alex by FrozenRoy does an exceptional job at showing how melee can be made both interestingly and intuitively in every input. Alex, at his heart, is about as much a grappler as the Smash engine allows for without getting repetitive, and both his grab game and his two Special command grabs work permeate the essence of the set, with the rest of the set playing off how those moves interact. For a set with no constructions, minions, or pretty much anything aside from a positional advantage and some superarmor, Alex squeezes potential out of every input to play into a dominating, heavy-weight combo playstyle. The presence of Overhaul is really solid as well, with strong justification of it only affecting his Specials and Smashes. It reminds me of a refined version of Doomfist’s Best Defense, though honestly a lot of good superarmor mechanics do.

There’s a ton of mobility in Alex, and I’ve found mobility increasingly to be an interesting aspect of characters in pretty much everything. Alex has great rolls, both referring to his dodges as well as his neat landing trick out of FAir. He’s heavy but he hops all over the stage, which is good because he has to get in close and behind the opponent whenever possible. So many moves play off the threat of his command grabs, it’s a joy to read through every move to see where they click into place in the set. This is one that doesn’t read like a flowchart, it reads like a puzzle. Every move is touching a handful of other moves, and it creates something greater than the sum of its parts. The numerous GIFs help, but it’s really easy to visualize Alex moving around the stage.

Because melee is something I struggle with more than other parts of a set, this comment is more of an endorsement to read the set than criticism. One thing I like about Froy’s sets is they tend to make inputs very derivative in their function in a good way, helping recontextualize what moves really do (at least for me, anyways). In a set where 95% of the inputs are melee attacks, this makes for a great read for self-improvement in writing, and is just a damn fine set as well. If I had to put any arbitrary criticisms out for Alex, one would be there are some points during the set where a move goes in great detail to basically say the opponent faces away from Alex at the end of it, and I think it might not always be true? FSmash is the one I had this thought, where it states the opponent is knocked behind Alex while he turns around. It’s not fully clear if this always faces the opponent away from Alex or if it assumes the foe is facing towards him to start with. It’s minor, but it adds anything to my comment lmao.

Spoiler: Whitehorn

After the subtitle of MYM22 having become “somebody please review Whitehorn so we don’t have to hear the meme for another 12 hours,” I will say I had my expectations a little low, and Whitehorn by FruitLoop managed to surpass those expectations. I figure I owe it a comment for that. Right off the bat, Whitehorn has pretty solid presentation all around with a good understanding of the medium that makes it very approachable for a newcomer set, even going so far as to link to a separate document to cover move data. It’s sort of a Muno-esque set in terms of setting out to focus on application of moves rather than the moves themselves. Obviously there are a lot of images in the set, which can be useful for making your sets more popular for people unfamiliar with the source material like me. As a general writing tip, some of the sentences throughout the set can be a little confusing and rereading your writing to make sure it flows well would be a huge bump up for the set. Specifically, it can be hard to tell if the set is talking about a move’s abilities in Hollow Knight or in Smash, and making sure that’s clear helps keep the reader from having to go over something multiple times to make sure they understand. (Maybe I’m just too weak a reader for the glorious Whitehorn, however).

The actual set itself on the whole is very, as MYM coins, “in-Smash”, which is far from a bad thing for a first or second time set. The vast majority of people come to this contest to make sets for characters to be in Smash Bros, so it’s a good place to start. You have a solid grasp on what makes sets tick in Smash Bros, which makes Whitehorn a promising start to a MYM career. There’s less to actively complain in this set, partly because it strings fairly basic attacks into a coherent playstyle so there isn’t much room to mess up, not that that discredits the set or the author any. There are moves that do stand out and I enjoy quite a bit; Focus, which I know has been reworked since the set was posted, is a fun buff, and maybe my favorite move in the set was UAir, a move that just starts to tap into the free potential MYM provides for characters.

Is Whitehorn really the best set in MYM22? I mean, the answer is obviously yes. Because this is a first set, I do want to give more broad set-making advice, because one-hit wonders like this are so rare. First, definitely make more sets. Take the comments you get for Whitehorn and not only apply it to him but to all the sets you make further down the road. Stockpile the information you get and let it hone your style. You’ve already shown a willingness to listen to set criticism, based on what I’ve seen from FA’s comment compared to what I read, so don’t lose that because it will help you improve more than most things (except reading other sets, that’s probably the number one way to improve your own set-making abilities). You have a ton of promise with this being your first set in MYM, so definitely keep making them because I’d love to see what a set even better than Whitehorn looks like.

Spoiler: Parla

Parla by Katapultar .

This set has stolen hours and hours of my life away from me, so the least I can do is give it some actual meaningful criticism where I feel it needs it. As a basic premise for this monster of a set (get it?), Parla revolves around giving treats to the opponent, stealing and eating the treats to become a dragon, using the dragon to create a manipulatable fireball, creating a couch for a number of reasons, the ability to cook treats and superheat items… the list can go on, because this set covers an insane amount of content in it, contributing to that daunting 30k+ word count. For what it’s worth, despite me begrudging the time it took to read this, it’s rarely a boring set, but there are some areas where I think it can be repetitive and other times downright nonsensical. I know you were a big fan of the set being produced, and that’s really fair because I can only imagine the work that went into putting this together.

The Specials (all six of them) lay out the groundwork for the set really well. Up Special (Kat not naming Specials continues to hurt my soul) I firmly believe should be the first move discussed, especially since Parla can become Luft at the start of a stock. It helps clean up SSpec a bit if the meter is talked about in USpec first and then segue into how the treats refill. Outside of that, I really like the idea of transforming for a recovery into essentially an aerial god, rather than just an obligatory move (which Parla still has access to, obviously). Luft seems both fun to play as and against, essentially being a big punching bag that hits back. Additionally, the Overcharge giving an armored fifth jump is really fun to play around.

Getting into the actual mechanics of SSpec, it handles the whole concept of “give the enemy an item” better than a lot of sets have, and actually feels incredibly in character for a maid who loves to sneak the snacks she should be serving. It feels significantly less tacky when the character is literally handing it to the opponent on a silver platter, but the characterization isn’t all there is to here. The healing is enough where it would be noticeable, but not enough where it polarizes gameplay, and has strong benefits for Parla thanks to her gaining her Luft Meter. It’s a neat little treat to play around, and even extends to being able to force the opponent’s own items back on them. This move has a strong benefit of coming after many attempts at similar moves that didn’t have the self-awareness this has. The full array of consequences are explored here and makes it feel very intentional in a good way.

Dragon Side Spec (or DSSpec) is an extremely elaborate fireball move which is relevant for most of the set, and I think it can be a little too convoluted. A lot of Parla’s set plays off of the holdable fireball this set can produce, but only does so by interrupting the attack by landing, which leaves it for an amorphous period of time based on how much damage it would have done, and there’s so much math for this move’s damage calculations and longevity it can be hard to follow. Personally, I think having a manual cancel to drop a fire trap down would be better, especially because it gives a clearer feedback to the player on both how long it will last and it’s just more intuitive. The actual fireball and its variations I’m totally on board with, but the actual set up and explanation can be really draining for a reader like me.

Neutral Special is a hyper-strong Inhale that allows Parla to position foes and, more importantly, her sweets. It’s pretty chill that it’s so strong, especially because Parla is hilariously open to getting hit by sucking opponents in too close since she doesn’t actually eat them, and it plays into her overall gameplan of keeping her enemies close and her snacks closer. The ability to retain hitboxes on projectiles and items is actually neat and could lend itself to some really interesting combos, and fully exhausting the move gives brief invincibility to Parla, helping add to this as a unique combo starter. The move starts to get weird with the stronger version of the attack, which of course allows Parla to breathe out a tornado. The tornado has some bizarre wording about being horizontal but that makes a confusing visual combined with the stated knockback, so it could use some clarification. The tornado is fine as a bonus hitbox, and given that Parla is a Wind monster I’m okay with this concept for an attack.

As a Dragonmaid, Parla’s DSpec summons a couch! This is pretty fun and still falls in line with maidly activities, and dropping heavy items is always one of the most satisfying types of attacks in Smash. The main purpose of the couch, besides being a fun attack, is for generating debris as its broken. Similar to DSSpec, there’s a lot of math at this point concerning how much health the couch has, how many pieces that will generate, and the fact that the couch takes fall damage, which is a fun sentence to type. It leads to thinking the attack is more complex than it really is, but here I have trouble thinking of a simpler way to put / handle it. It just sucks to be taken out of the immersion a bit to spend a chunk of time talking about couch health. Besides Havok physics engine debris, the couch can also be used for niche moves to bounce either projectiles or Parla herself off of. My favorite interaction with the couch in the set is by far her pulling it inwards to force opponents to sit on it. It’s just mechanically a moving trip but it’s just fun characterization. As a final aside on the couch, there’s a point in the move where it mentions that the couch is immune to projectiles because it’s too short, and that really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Rounding out the specials is DDSpec, which is a tornado that both serves as a hitbox, reflector, and a way to bounce your items up to you. It’s a very useful move, especially for a form who can only be in the air and would want to grab, for instance, a throwable fireball to secure a kill, but it starts to dip into one of my problems with the set which is that we are already seeing another tornado in the set a few moves later, and as a spoiler to those who haven’t read (who are you to read comments before sets, anyways??) it’s not the last tornado. Technically this isn’t a huge problem, but it makes for a visually non-distinct set of attacks that all feel arbitrarily different in effect. Because they have variations on what they do (such as this one being a reflector while the NSpec one carrying foes), it makes it hard to remember what move is being referenced later as the tornadoes are talked about, and also seems not ideal for gameplay.

Into the standards, the set continues to hold water well. We do still get a lot of prop interactions with moves like the UTilt which is, again, another tornado. This one can also reflect projectiles, but not Parla’s projectiles. However, it can reflect Parla’s projectiles if they were previously reflected by Luft instead, and this gets into how weird and different all the tornadoes are in this set, and I know it’s a weird sticking point but it really does stand out, especially for how deliberate an interaction that is it almost comes off as forced. The jab ends with another tornado, this one being able to grab items who are hit by it. Overall, the standard game is really competent and does neat stuff, like FTilt using wind as a cover hitbox directly on both side of Parla. There’s plenty of neat stuff to look at here, but a lot of it gets drowned out by seeing the same attack basically on repeat.

I’ll get it out of the way early, the DSmash is yet another, but thankfully final, tornado in the moveset. Like before, this one can steal items from opponents, but more or less functions like a normal attack, designed primarily in interaction to move items around some more. Up Smash is a second fireball attack, but I honestly don’t mind since the first fireball was limited to only Luft in the air, and this is significantly different both functionally and visually. It’s a neat move that has a Volcano Kick-esque windbox a la inhaling during the charge animation. One of my favorite moves in the set in general is FSmash, a daring dash forward. This is a neat concept as it has a lot of options while still just being one attack, tossing items passed towards Parla, being a strong approach, and giving superarmor towards the end of the attack rather than the beginning, punishing foes for hesitating. What I love about it is the ability to barrel off the stage with it, not only for getting good kills but also transitioning into her killer aerial game, all while leaving her open to heavy punishment on a miss.

There are 10 aerials to this set, since Luft has her own set of them, but thankfully the set calms down a little bit here. There’s less heavy interactions through the moves which makes a welcome change of pace after how intricately connected the ground game was. Parla’s aerials are primarily standard fare for aerials, usually combined with unique hitboxes like the scissoring motion in FAir (bad wording, I know), or the UAir which can allow Parla to stall her descent as she breathes a stream of fire above her. Surprisingly, no move creates a tornado in the aerials which is nice, but Parla’s aerial game is really designed for her other form…

Luft has a ton of fun with her aerials, almost to the point where I question the balance on them. Her FAir has superarmor on her head, which is also the hitbox on the attack that hits for 17.5% damage and can kill from 100%. I actually don’t hate this at all, and I think Luft’s overwhelming aerial game makes for a good payoff for having to master such a complex playstyle beforehand. I did have some trouble visualizing Luft’s BAir, it might be good to go back to clarify because there’s even contradiction saying that only the front half of Luft has a hitbox and later that the tail has one as well. The move I have the most trouble with the balance for is actually Luft’s Down Air, which has a lot of working parts and a ton of hitboxes, allowing for easy damage to pretty much anyone nearby from my understanding of it, given her body is a hitbox, her tail is a long hitbox, landing creates shockwave hitboxes, and her slamming her tail down as she lands is a hitbox. It’s just a lot and seems way too overwhelming for an aerial.

Parla’s pummel is a massage and leads to a reverse throw / release that Alex would be jealous of. There’s good character especially in the grab game and even the more “basic” throws bring new things to the table. Things start out pretty mellow with UThrow, essentially just Kirby’s UThrow with a good chunk more rules, such as foes being able to be knocked out of the attack and dealing massive damage to outsiders. Because of this, there's a tangible benefit to having an opponent knocked out of the attack, thus becoming an outsider to their own throw. It’s really neat concept that deserves to be called out. Back Throw takes things up a notch, again lowering your defenses with a very “in-Smash” throw of swinging the opponent around and throwing them. This causes them to drop treats, always useful, as well as bringing in items and damaging fighters. This is all fine, but the move starts to become a little baffling when we get to the part where the throw can actually pull in the tornado generated by NSpec (I think). Since Parla is wind-associated, this is buyable, but does get a bit goofy and refers to something from the very beginning of the set like 29k words ago. DThrow is deliberately designed as a basic throw for starting combos when Parla has literally no setup, and that’s pretty well needed. It’s good at what it does and doesn’t rub me the wrong way.

FThrow gets its own paragraph, and hoo boy. Forward Throw shoots a stream of fire slightly upwards that carries foes up at an angle. Good! It also carries items, which is a little weirder for fire to do, especially considered it’s not nearly as useful for Parla to position items close to opponents unless they’re in a tornado, but that’s fine, it works since it’s the same effect it has on opponents. On top of all this, items carried in the flames become heated items, which damage foes for 5% when they try to pick them up. Finally, this cooks the treats that Parla makes into better treats that do everything better. All of this is unique to this throw specifically, and are brought up only a few inputs from the end. It feels like these ideas spawned at the end of the moveset and were just put on the throw for ease, but it’s nearly nonsensical. Of all the moves in the set, this is the only one where I am actively against it. It’s an extremely context sensitive move that changes a ton about how the item gameplay of Parla works, tacked onto the end despite multiple moves before using fire. The effects themselves are logical for the set, but putting them here is extremely confusing.

This was a very criticism-heavy comment, but I don’t want this taken the wrong way. This is a very solid set. Because it was clear a ton of effort was put into writing it, I took this comment and my read a little more serious than usual because the set deserves something back. Every move (except for FThrow) sits well for me, and there’s a good sense of gameplan and really fun ideas in it, and it overflows with characterization. It’s just held back a bit by some baffling interactions, the presence of multiple setup mechanics on an end-of-set throw, and repeating the same attack concept (tornadoes) with different effects. Like, tornado attacks aren’t bad for a wind-based character, but striving to make each one different makes it really hard to keep track of which ones do what, and it would be better if multiple attacks had the same tornado effect instead. Still, a very solid set that I want to see through to perfection, and sits very high in my rankings currently.

Spoiler: Arina

Arina by Bionichute is a very different kind of set from Bianca in a majorly good way. Typically, Bianca's sets tend to revolve around standard MYM-ian interactions with things like minions with filler moves between, but Arina actually has none of those interactions. Instead, Arina's outright a fighting game character, a melee-oriented one which forces a different approach to set-making than other characters. The set isn't a significantly longer set than a normal Bianca set by any means, nor are the moves more complex, but there's purpose to almost all the moves in terms of fighting, not just interactions. Even with the tilts and aerials only being a paragraph or two long, they pack a lot of gameplay into the moves by having them fill actual roles in the set, making these not just animations with hitboxes but pieces in a complete set.

While the set squeezes more out of less by focusing on the actual gameplay, there are a few areas that could do with a little beefing up. The big one is in the throws, which are stated to be part of her weak grab game but do still feel a bit like just filling out moves, particularly in the BThrow. DThrow is a great example of soft interactions and setups, though, being a good move on its own while also tying into her fun Dash Attack. It's a little trickier for characters who are primarily close-combat to focus on how throws can set other moves up, but it does help to make the set feel cohesive (which is a strong point for this set aside). In a similar boat are the aerials, though to a lesser degree, where there's less focus on the functionality of the moves and more on the fact they tend to have multiple hits. The functionality for the aerials is there, but is far from the focus and would be good to refine the set on aerial gamesense.

Part of why this set feels so cohesive I suspect comes from the fact that it's translated from a fighting game, and I think that's a good thing for your setmaking. It's essentially making a set as a sum of the move's functions, rather than branching off the character and making every move in a vacuum or in relation to some third element beyond the character and the moves themselves. Hopefully, whatever philosophy you used when making this set sticks, because I really enjoyed reading it and it's a refreshing change for your sets in my opinion.

Spoiler: Eevee

Eevee by ZLBProductions is a brief read and one that I want to give a bit of formal commentary on because I think it's a good place for learning. The idea behind Eevee's set makes sense, because Eevee by itself doesn't do much and having it evolve mid-battle permanently or otherwise would be messy, exhausting, and probably not add a ton to gameplay. Part of me likes how the different inputs are broken up into the different Eeveelutions (4th gen being the aerials, originals being the smashes, etc.) One problem this gets is having the set is stilted towards certain Eevolutions, with particularly Sylveon, Espeon, and Umbreon getting the highlights of the set and Glaceon and Leafeon getting the shaft. Going this route, I might also include the standards with the aerial Eeveelutions to make them feel less restricted in their representation than the other five.

Probably the set's biggest problem is a sort-of "identity crisis" it has, though a fitting thing for Eevee to have. By stretching the moveset across all the different Eeveelutions, we get splashes of flavor in the moves, which in itself is a fun concept. The problem starts to arise that it also means Eevee and the player don't really get to experience any particular element of the set to a satisfying conclusion. With limited inputs to represent the ideas of this set, it would be good to go all in on those moves. A good example in-set is Future Sight, which is a cool move that's heavily associated with Espeon. The set has fun with it with nuance and function, allowing the player to trade the surprise of the attack by charging it. It feels like the set is too married to putting the Eeveelutions organized within the set, which leaves some weird choices like having Dark Pulse as a recovery move and Shock Wave as an USmash. Another issue with the identity of the set is that it strives to also give Eevee its own moves, which severely limits the potential of the set's design when the grab game and standards are all within the normal realms of an Eevee.

I don't want this comment to sound overly harsh, because it's not intended to be. I know you took the effort to edit the set after receiving some commentary on it and I that shows an interest in setmaking that warrants further advice. This set honestly isn't bad by any stretch, but it just stays so confined in the limits of Smash that it doesn't allow some of the cooler ideas to shine. If there were more moves like Future Sight, or if the different elemental moves played off each other more directly, there'd be more interest and more to talk about with this set. Ultimately, it's a solid base for a good set, and certainly isn't the worst in the contest, but it just leaves me wanting it to explore the concepts more. I know this wasn't an especially positive comment but I do want to help clarify why a set might not receive as much attention / praise as you look for as someone who's been there. Reading my next comment on Poochyena might also help.

Spoiler: Poochyena

Something of a surprise set concept from FrozenRoy for the mook challenge, Poochyena takes the predatory nature of the Pokemon and applies it all in for the set. It's kind of fitting to have this comment following Eevee's, not only because they're both dog-esque Pokemon but because there's some (literal) elements that are easy to compare later on. Poochyena is a very aggressive fighter which is fun to see for a Pokemon so small, and the set does a good job at showcasing both Poochyena's pursuit-theming as well as the Dark-type in general. The highlights of the set definitely lay in the elemental fang Smashes and Feint Attack for me. Feint Attack is a clever way to utilize the move without it being a teleport, both matching the rest of Poochyena's playstyle while also tying into the sneaky trick of Dark-types. The elemental fangs (as well as the Poison Fang throw) bring it fun mechanics by directly punishing foes with potent "counters", and again tie into Poochyena's overarching aggression playstyle.

The set is fun for how simple it is, though I think at times it's a little too simple. A fair number of the moves are basically 'here's the hitbox, it's for combos'. There are some really cool things, like the spiking UAir or the reversing Dash Attack, but compared these and the longer inputs, moves like UTilt and DTilt unsatisfying. The grab game, aside from Poison Fang and the UThrow, also suffers from this where it feels like moves are just designed to go into other moves without too much identity of their own. This isn't to say the set is poorly thought out or badly written, it's definitely a functional set with a good gamesense about it. It just loses a lot of fun in the later inputs for me, which is abstract as a criticism but something I'm struggling to put a finger on. That having been said, the set is really fun even with some of the later inputs and is a refreshing way to do a Pokemon-set.

 

[Cookies N Milk]

Ethan Nestor has been revised and edited.

Comments, Part 2:


Naomi Faren: First off, i really like the intro sections, they give me a super detailed picture. I also like the transition from stats to Up B, it’s really smooth. And the Up B itself is really cool, and i like the fact that that despite it being very good, you’ve gave it a property that makes spamming it not what you want to do. The Neutral B is also really really interesting, what with being able to not only rapid jab, but do almost every other move in her set, it opens the door to a lot of different traps or setups, and I like that, and the interaction with Down B is also interesting too. I also like how Side B can be used in multiple ways: To set up water to move around with, for horizontal recovery, or for a simple damaging projectile. Down B is also interesting: moving around her projectiles in ways that threaten the opponent if they get too close, and pulling water on stage towards it, making opponents have to focus more on getting away, and letting Naomi set up some combos as well. Also, the attacks you use are really creative, and take full advantage of the water powers and spreading water along the stage. I also really like how you describe each move’s use with the water clone, it really adds to the quality of the moveset! I also like the umbrella moves’s interactions with projectiles as well, adds more strategy. I also like being able to store the Down Smash bomb. I also like the Final Smash enhancing a lot of her setups and moves.

Kunai: Kunai seems really interesting! For a minor character, you really managed to make this moveset unique and creative! I also really like the sense of humor in this set, it got multiple chuckles out of me, and I really like humor in sets. Neutral Special seems like a cool move, for pressure against opponents trying to get behind her and cross her up. I also like the fact that you can fireball motion to change how side special works a bit, allows for different ways to use the move, and I always like multiple ways a move can be used. I also really like that this can be reflected, it just makes me laugh for some reason. I also like that both Neutral Special and Side Special can get more power in exchange for no quick option. I also can see a lot of cool ways having the clone perform attacks can be used. I also very much like the pressure making a clone on impact can put, having the chance to get hit by a move for double damage and 1.22x knockback is scary, especially for the combination of both tornadoes or with the counter. Being able to teleport the wind seems like another very good tool for pressure. I also like that the counter is not just a simple hit, but you can do any move if you’re fast enough, and i also really like the log storing the power of the countered move. I also like that in the air, the log automatically gets the hit, and that charging the counter can both harm foes by making them stuck attacking for a bit, but can also help Kunai's up special blast do damage, or just be a strong projectile if you make your clones carry it.

Conker: Conker seems like a very good first set! Having played a bit of Conker's Bad Fur Day, I really like the addition of both special mechanics, both the hover, for Conker's movement, and the razor wire as a way to represent Conker's uh....adult themes. Although, I...don't really see the point of the Canon Moves section, to be honest. I also like the simplicity of the set, it's a bit refreshing after reading so many complex movesets. I also very much like the addition of the gifs, it helps me visualize the set. Especially the gif from Dead By Daylight, i love that game. And...I like the concept for Down B, don't get me wrong, but...there is way too many items you can possibly get from it, and it just bogs things down for me. However, I really like all the cosmetic stuff, it really adds to the feeling that you really cared about this moveset too. Also...it may be just me but I don't really get why you were arguing that Conker has a good chance of getting in in the conclusion, I feel like most movesets in MYM realistically have no chance of getting in.

I put canon moves to show which moves are canon, because sakurai said its better for the moves to be canon, which I’m trying to show that Conker would be a good character

 

[plague126]

I put canon moves to show which moves are canon, because sakurai said its better for the moves to be canon, which I’m trying to show that Conker would be a good character

Eh, that's fair. Still just...it felt odd to me.

 

[Professor Lexicovermis]

son.
8/10

​

Morlagren (apologies in advance if I misspell his name mid-comment) is Bubby's first foray into the increasingly-popular OC space of MYM, and what a maiden voyage he is! Right off the bat, we have a character who is simultaneously unique and comfortably familiar by means of conveniently resembling existing Smash characters anatomically. The introduction lays out a compelling premise, and I'm pleased to see that the set commits to painting the character's personality via animations; when making an OC, this sort of thing is absolutely vital! Moving into mechanics, Morlagren makes use of a modest suite of simple and easy-to-digest concepts, namely his Grey Goo, which elegantly mixes the existing Ink mechanic with some good old fashioned DoT, allowing him to steadily eat away at foes over time. Beyond this central mechanic, he also has central gimmicks in the form of his Nanite Clones and his Copywolf special, both of which are well-explained and very easy to understand despite both of them having some rather deep implications when combined with Morlagren's kit. Speaking of, said kit is almost entirely comprised of simple, yet effective moves, with a handful of flashier, more exotic attacks (Up Special, Nanite Clone, F-Tilt, and D-Throw come to mind). This makes Morlagren very easy to follow and imagine in action. Because he consists almost entirely of canon Smash mechanics combined and recontextualized in fun and interesting ways, Morlagren is a very In-Smash set, which is kinda unusual for an OC; not that it's a bad thing! I'm fond of his lean, elegant design. My only concern is that it might be a little TOO easy to keep the foe Gooed, but considering it only deals 1.5% a second (3% if they're also standing on Gooed terrain), I think it's more or less fine as is, especially since Morlagren's own damage output is reasonably middling. All in all, a very solid set; great work!

 

[FruitLoop]

Ok, L O O P S review time. I will be adding more reviews later in the future dw.

Spoiler: Wobbler

So Wobbler is a set by plague whom is a newcomer. Obviously I'm one too so it honestly doesn't matter.

The set itself clearly has a lot of creative charm that makes TABS a generally fun and charming game and the whole idea of mixing and matching different characters in a set to create one unified whole while also still appearing as basically a dummy makes the set on a tonal level very in linei with Smash's generally goofy nature. I overall think that the visuals showcased in the set makes it a lot easier to see Plague's vision with the character.

I think the idea behind a monado arts-version of a specific move/projectile where you can use it for different scenarios is a REALLY neat concept. Though I was a bit confused by how it functioned since while I know that you can hold it down to swap between bows, it still leaves a few questions in the air. Like if this is a bow-based move, wouldn't it be chargeable like other bows and how would that work? If the bows WEREN'T chargeable then would tapping the bow just make it function and how would it be possible for the game to know if you want to swap bows or not, it's a bit of a complicated system and IMO Plague should have replaced the monado-arts system as the actual Down-Special since having a generic counter really isn't the most creative thing, especially for a swordsmen. With a Down-B being the ability to swap between bows you can make your Neutral-Special be where you can charge your bow and it'll also make it easier for the opponent to guess what bow you will use and how they can adapt. Adding a UI for which bow you swapped into would also be helpful.

I think the other issue with the set comes with the playstyle. The TABS character has mostly fine Ground Mobility and good-ish Air Mobility but you get no Out of Shield Options in defensive play it seems and no good "quick" moves to really be able to utilize your mobility. Meanwhile the character seems a bit too sluggish in terms of all of its moves to really get anything going. In order for anything to work it seems like the character will have to play bait and punish with their mostly decent mobility and punish with their slower attacks which seems nice on the surface, however many smart players can just abuse their safe options or even just flat out camp Wobbler. Having just a bow to camp with even with its Variety also means that Wobbler is very vulnerable to many campy playstyles while Wobbler isn't fast enough to really approach any real camping-based characters. This in general would mean that Wobbler will have to deal with a lot of degenerative playstyles even at the lower levels of competitive play and it'd just make the match really unfun for a lot of Wobbler players. The character's main strength is supposedly their insanely high damage outputs but a lot of them have the issue of being super impractical to land unless you get a hard punish. The reason why characters like Ganondorf, Bowser, Ike, and Wolf all work (Even if Ganondorf himself isn't a great character, he's still got a very coherent design) is that they at least have a few safe moves to deal with certain situations including a few safe moves that can reliably kill. Also good damage output is usually based around combo games as well even if they are basic confirms like Ganondorf Down-Throw Nair or Ike's Nair to Up-Air. Wobbler doesn't really get that kind of thing reliably it seems. Up-Tilt doesn't seem like a move that can be reliably landed on if it's a headbutt based move like Squirtle since Wobbler doesn't seem fast enough to really go for runup Up-Tilts and Wobbler will likely have to pray that the opponent lands right on top of him to get anything going as a "main" combo starter and Back-Throw being a combo throw at low % doesn't seem like a move that will be able to reliably combo into any of Wobbler's more damaging moves from the angle that I perceive the move to be in. I guess you have Neutaral-Air but there's not enough details about how it combos specifically and Up-Air seems to be the only move that it may have combo potential on due to Wobbler having absurdly sluggish moves.

Also judging from the character's frame data and attributes, the character doesn't seem to have a good disadvantage state because Wobbler is likely a tall character and doesn't have any fast options or multiple jumps or real good landing options in general while having no Out of Shield Options for dealing with pressure. Mix that with the fact that the character is on the lighter end of being a Midweight and this character will likely be sent flying after a few neutral interactions. The character also doesn't seem to have a lot of information about their recovery so I suggest to elaborate on that.

Overall I think Wobbler need a bit more clarity on a lot of his moves in terms of their functions and how their frame data works. The main issue is just the fact that due to a lack of clarification it's REALLY hard to find a good gameplan on the Wobbler and it ends up making the character seem REALLLLLLLLY underpowered due to such. However I think despite this the set gets a lot right as a TABS representation and I think that the concepts for the specials are REALLY interesting outside of the general counter and the general lack of information on the Up-B. They really are meant to be super interactive and to give Wobbler a great X-Factor and a potentially high skill ceiling which really could make the character super fun to watch and play at higher levels of competitive play while also being completely different from the rest of the cast. I just think that there needs to be a bit more info and some balancing tweaks for that vision to fully come to life.


The Loops Council Score: 6/10

Spoiler: Whitehorn

Before we begin,

Today's review is sponsored by Raid Shadow Legends, one of the biggest mobile role-playing games of 2019 and it's totally free! Currently almost 10 million users have joined Raid over the last six months, and it's one of the most impressive games in its class with detailed models, environments and smooth 60 frames per second animations! All the champions in the game can be customized with unique gear that changes your strategic buffs and abilities! The dungeon bosses have some ridiculous skills of their own and figuring out the perfect party and strategy to overtake them's a lot of fun! Currently with over 300,000 reviews, Raid has almost a perfect score on the Play Store! The community is growing fast and the highly anticipated new faction wars feature is now live, you might even find my squad out there in the arena! It's easier to start now than ever with rates program for new players you get a new daily login reward for the first 90 days that you play in the game! So what are you waiting for? Go to the review description, click on the special links and you'll get 50,000 silver and a free epic champion as part of the new player program to start your journey! Good luck and I'll see you there!

Because we all know that the unwritten rules of MYM 22 is to have at least one review of Whitehorn, I'm going to do one eventhough I'm the ACTUAL set creator.

Whitehorn is a perfect set in every sense of the word and take that as gospel my friends. It has a really good plot, enticing characters, and more motifs than a college student "art" film that they spent thousands of dollars on Tuition to make. While the first act of Whitehorn is really slow, it really starts to pick up once Zote appears and that's where the ever-so famous Whitehorn gets its recognition for. No wonder it's got 4 Sequels in the making!

Whitehorn is a masterpiece in every sense of the word and it doesn't even deserve 1st place in MYM 22, it deserves 0th place because it's already 1st place in 50 different parallel universes. This set really says a lot about our society and it's the magnum opus of MYM history as it clearly proves that creating a set is an artform if it's specifically for a writing contest for a game where an actual goddess can lose to a dog that's a lying politician assistant mayor of her town.

The Loops Council Score: 10000000000000000/10

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Dragonmaid Tillroo

As the set that provided the base for Parla's stats and Up Special, I thought I should check up on her partner. No one else has read this set yet, plus she didn't make it onto your personal Top 10 sets ATM!

Up Special transformation is a very solid base right off the bat, similar to Bowser Jr.'s recovery in that you get alternate aerials to use, only stronger. A meter that fills up faster when you interrupt a foe's attack is quite appealing too, a good interpretation of what you interpreted as Tillroo being aggressive. And then there's the transformation working quicker when your meter is higher. That being said, Up Special does feel a bit underpowered, especially in context of the meter: you basically have to deal 90% to a foe to get full meter if you're not interrupting their attacks, which does take a bit to fill, and you can lose that meter quite easily by just jumping to prolong a single transformation. Not to mention you can't fill meter in dragon form. Maybe you could give her a set amount of midair jumps, maybe 3-4? Her recovery is pretty weak if she doesn't have a dragon transformation and midair jumps through it, and there's every chance that she may be forced to some or all of her jumps to recover, leaving her with little meter if she gets knocked offstage too soon. You could even have her start out with 1 unit at the start of a match.

Tillroo is a fine set at the moment, but there's one thing(s) that I think really holds her back: her other 3 Specials. They don't seem to have a huge amount of, what's the word, meat on them. More importantly, their nature as projectiles, combined with Tillroo's Smashes and the emphasis on keeping foes away for your projectiles does feel disconnecting from her Up Special move in a way and her move interrupting - wouldn't these benefit from a more melee-based playstyle? I know Tillroo's used to working in the kitchen alone (and thus she would appreciate the space), but come on man, she's a dragon - and a fiery one at that! That's not to say there's no awareness on the move interrupting though, especially on moves like Tillroo's D-tilt. I also thought her U-Smash was interesting in the context of her dragon form, unable to charge it for too long given her air time, but having a way to deal with opponents beneath you to either side.

Neutral Special is perfectly fine for how it works with the meter gain - it's a fast projectile that can whack opponents out of their moves, potentially their recovery (perhaps force low recoveries and exploit them for 2-framing/spiking?), and could do anything from creating an opening for you to curbing ranged games depending on how far you were from the foe. The starting lag increasing on constructive uses is fine (funny how Tillroo's movement gets a bit sloppy when the Dragonmaids are supposed to be professional? Interesting characterisation), but you could also make it so you don't get flinching when the move is staled to a certain degree - the knife could leave a trail of flame when it does deal hitstun. Side Special doesn't seem to add much - rather, I think it would be much cooler if Tillroo had a move where she charged along the stage, for a move that could let her catch opponents in their end lag but is unsafe on block. Depending on how far the move went, it could potentially put Tillroo into helpless after using it so her recovery isn't too ridiculous when she has her dragon form. If you wanted to keep the flame trails from Side Special, you could potentially have Tillroo leave a patch of flames where she was (or maybe the first half of her rush) which deal damage and maybe flinch when they expire for some stage control.

Much as I like the Down Special's animations (like using her tail and heating the pan with her breath and admiring her handiwork), you could even change this move for something more melee-based. Why not take some inspiration from her boss? She could have a counter where she's preparing some food with her frying pan (keeping the fun fire breath animation, and potentially glancing forwards warily to make sure that the foe is not up to no good) - if she's struck, she just flash steps to the foe (albeit with a distance cap on far she can go, of course - possibly farther when she was grounded, so that it's not an infinite recovery) and attempts to catch them by the neck with a FURIOUS look for daring to interrupt her meal prep! It's not uber fast however, so TIllroo could potentially get baited out by projectile users, who could then just punish Tillroo with that move without worry about getting punished herself (her melee game, while it already does, could place a strong emphasis on punishment). The counter could have some decent frames to it, but if Tillroo got attacked she will drop her food and the foe will get a free meal! This lets you keep the aspect of Tillroo cooking up food, without say, needing to put it onto her taunts or other non-attacking animations to show them off.

Want to keep the ally-healing aspect of the food? How about this: if Tillroo gets countered by a teammate, she will grab them, shove them food onto them and then toss them away in a direction of your (or their) choice, dealing no damage and some set knockback. It would be funny if she did this while being annoyed if it was for someone like Parla (no more sweets!), but if it's for someone like Hasukee or a more earnest ally her expression will soften, even if they continue to pester her. To balance things out, neither fighter could have invincibility for most of the time, but you could hilariously throw the foe into an opponent to damage them and potentially get meter bonus. Maybe the knockback is enhanced if you both input the same direction? The food could heal a generous amount (10%+), but you need to wait a while before Tillroo has any more to give.

This is just a thought on Up Special: what if Tillroo could leap in any direction to do her dragon transformation? Getting a momentum boost in that direction (more prominent 4-ways instead of diagonally) and poooosibly being able to act quicker if she leaped downwards, though you do already have this governed by the meter. I am mainly thinking about how only being able to go up could make the options for comboing into dragon form from Tillroo attacks a bit linear (assuming that was a possibility, if the Flamme moves could do that, though Tillroo can leap a shorter height than Parla), and the fact that if you could fly forwards it would add to her aggressive game, like being able to charge into an opponent. She could even slam into the ground to make a fiery shockwave and bounce off to get some momentum going for a dragon follow-up.


I've gone on a bit long, but to summarize an idea for a Tillroo re-vamp: her melee could have a strong emphasis on punishing opponents for their mistakes in meter gain. She could even have a move that gets a buff for doing this, like her Side Special. She could be a bit of a semi-Hasukee who gets off stronger hits and punishing mistakes instead of combos, which would give her less meter or so. You could also take from Naomi/the other Dragonmaids in that she's not so hot against shields, but her Smashes could be re-worked to give her some big power moves to threaten those if she's given the time, while also giving you the opportunity to have some very fun angry animations on say something like a F-Smash.

With Dahlia edits nearly done, and you mentioning you want to improve Cicolatta, I wonder if that would get extended to Tillroo? It might take a fair bit of effort, likely having to do up new moves and change the nature of her playstyle, but as your partner in the Dragonmaid movement and big fan of the maids I would love to see Tillroo unleash her real power and be up there with the big boys.

 

[plague126]

I am making this comment separate because I think it’s deserving of it. Conker’s Down B is....I’m not sugarcoating it. Most of the moves in it, even with their rarity, are obscenely broken. I’ll use the revolver as an example. It has 6 shots. Each shot does 41.4%, is very fast, can apparently go through everything, has infinite range, and KOs at 75%. And even with a 5.2% chance of being pulled, theres so many other overpowered options that youre likely to get more than one in a match.

 

[Cookies N Milk]

I am making this comment separate because I think it’s deserving of it. Conker’s Down B is....I’m not sugarcoating it. Most of the moves in it, even with their rarity, are obscenely broken. I’ll use the revolver as an example. It has 6 shots. Each shot does 41.4%, is very fast, can apparently go through everything, has infinite range, and KOs at 75%. And even with a 5.2% chance of being pulled, theres so many other overpowered options that youre likely to get more than one in a match.

Just reflect it? It’s a projectile or just jump over it. If you read close enough, you can cause him to drop it if the hit is powerful enough.

 

[plague126]

Just reflect it? It’s a projectile or just jump over it. If you read close enough, you can cause him to drop it if the hit is powerful enough.

For one, you yourself stated it moved incredibly fast, and uh...not all characters have reflectors, and you’re basically just saying “be good”

But let’s bring up another example. The gas canister is more powerful than Pirahna Plant’s poison cloud, is 30% bigger, and lasts 18 seconds. That is also overpowered. Almost all of the down b set is overpowered.

 

[Cookies N Milk]

For one, you yourself stated it moved incredibly fast, and uh...not all characters have reflectors, and you’re basically just saying “be good”

But let’s bring up another example. The gas canister is more powerful than Pirahna Plant’s poison cloud, is 30% bigger, and lasts 18 seconds. That is also overpowered. Almost all of the down b set is overpowered.

If you think his down B is really overpowered then why don’t you suggest some changes? Your the only person who said he was OP
Edit: I think the revolver could use a nerf, how about every time Conker fires out, he will suffer a small slowdown for a short duration. He will be shaking from the power of the gun, and he can’t shoot while slowed down. He can still move, shield, and dodge. He cannot put the gun away until he stops shaking. I did make some adjustments in the moveset. Gas canister is now only 20% bigger and lasts 14 seconds

 

[BKupa666]

MAGICA DESPELL:
From one longtime Kutthroat to another, it's good to see you've joined the MYM community during the last handful of contests, WeirdChillFever . Still being in the process of catching up on those contests, I can't speak as to how Magica stacks up to your works during those, but in a vacuum, I'd say she has decent enough fundamentals that leave room to be built upon, either upon revision or in future sets. From a bird's-eye perspective, I think the possession mechanic and the ensuing tradeoffs it gives her standards have some merit in a vacuum, though the 12-second recharge timer probably is a bit steep. Where I'm less enthralled is in that Magica doesn't seem to have much focus as far as when, specifically, she'll want to possess Lena, and for the sake of pulling off which specific combos. The different versions of moves are serviceable by themselves, but they come off almost as a limited Zelda/Sheik transformation in practice.

There's definite playstyle buried in here, with player choice between Magica using up the possession timer early to take advantage of enhanced combo properties on a handful of moves, or saving possession time for when a victim is at kill percent, and options like the burying D-Throw variant can be the setup she needs to land the final blow. It's just a matter of acknowledging those possible options and then potentially elaborating upon them in the context of the other setups Magica can do, including with her shadows. Speaking of which, I like the concept of her generating the shadows by pegging foes with the initial fireballs, though they also could've been integrated in with the main possession mechanic a bit better. Perhaps, rather than simply buffing the damage of a handful of moves when on her person, the shadows could grant Magica better/longer control over Lena for a time? That's spitballing, but also would create more pros and cons to whether or not Magica expends the shadows to create her hazards. I see potential throughout the set waiting to be teased out, and however you decide to proceed here, I'm excited to continue reading your submissions. If only just for the additional villain song move names they could be poised to bring, heh.

 

[FrozenRoy]

Conker's Bad Set Day (Conker the Squirrel Cookies N Milk )

This set has a LOT to cover, dear god. Let me get one thing off my chest to start with, though: PLEASE lower the text size of this set, it makes it unduly large and weird to read, where one paragraph moves take up an entire Google Docs page because the text size is made for ants to read. It was a real pain to get through, honestly.

This set feels like it has a lot of overpowered issues with it, largely stemming from huge numbers issues. The revolver is an obvious example: It has infinite range, does 41.4% damage, goes through everything, kills projectiles, is extremely faST, kills at 75% and has six shots to boot. No, the shaking is not a good nerf to it, because it may as well be a glorified taunt after you kill someone with this extremely powerful move. And no, saying "just reflect it" is not an adequate balance issue. First off, lots of characters in Smash don't even have reflection abilities, so this isn't valid to a bunch of them. It also generally falls into the poor balance issue of "just don't get hit". Everyone is going to get hit, not even pro players are gods, and this move is actually really difficult to avoid given its intense range, speed, going through everything, and so on. This projectile essentially kills a shield in one hit and the only committment to it is RNG, basically. There are a LOT of moves like this in Conker, like the crossbow which deals like 30.5% damage (I assume this is with max bounces but the set doesn't say what its base damage is lol), the shotgun shots dealing so much, and so on.

This is contrasted by some incredibly bizarre numbers for timing, probably stemming from being new, no worries there it's all a learning process. For example, Conker is mentioned to throw the knives "incredibly quickly", then says that it is 1.5 seconds between knife throws. For reference, Smash runs at 60 Frames Per Second, and Warlock Punch is 70 frames. So that's saying it takes longer than a full Warlock Punch of startup for the next knife to be thrown, making it INCREDIBLY slow. This also applies to reload times, which are said to be 4+ seconds at many points and seemingly need to be mostly done in one go, making them unusably slow. I recommend using websites like Kuroganehammer or Ultimateframedata.com to get a better idea of damage output and how fast attacks in Smash are.

In general, Conker has attacks which are incredibly fast, combo or kill quite a bit, have range with a Down Special offering him crazy versatility, and most of the attacks are also high in the game in terms of single-hit damage output, leaving it feeling rather overpowered there as well. The set also doesn't really go into how exactly Conker combos or how his moves work into each other, which is generally highly encouraged to give readers a sense of how they play, a "playstyle" if you will. The playstyle section delves into this some, but it is generally nice to talk about it on the moves themselves, and to be less vague and general on WHAT moves are helpful for making someone an "all rounder" for example. The playstyle also basically just says "Conker has a lot of strengths and no weaknesses" which is concerning.

Razor Wire is a very weird special effect, in part because you mention the effect is called razor wire and "They will be in mostly sharp based moves" and yet most of the time it is applied on other moves, including multiple times Conker just...kicking...for some reason? The name of the mechanic feels entirely out of touch with the mechanic and in general I don't actually know why this is specifically in Conker. Leaving that aside, locking a foe out of all Specials and ESPECIALLY their dodges is pretty strong, complete with a reasonable movement speed debuff to boot. And Conker can apply it very casually as well, which given it stacks can just completely wreck a foe. This could work with a different approach (like a lot of this set), but as-is it just feels bizarre and broken.

I will also note Sakurai didn't say canon moves are better, but more about translating canon abilities being fun/good, and that translating how a fighter would act canon-wise was good. And even if there wasn't that, there is no reason for a "canon moves" section, and the entire table of contents is kinda useless given it doesn't have any links or anything so it is just telling you what the section headers already will. Also, nobody in the universe has said Conker on the Xbox is the best looking Xbox game, but that doesn't really matter to the set quality.

Overall, Conker is a set that really needs to go more in-depth into what it is doing and needs serious number tune-ups to even approach a decent set and probably some different approaches as well. Context Sensitivity being so insanely RNG dependant doesn't feel good, maybe you could have found a way to make the move actually context sensitive? I'd definitely recommend expanding more on stuff rather than just listing bullet points on a Special, as well. Talking like "It will be X" kinda threw me off but wasn't major. Better luck next time, Cookies.

 

[Cookies N Milk]

Conker's Bad Set Day (Conker the Squirrel Cookies N Milk )

This set has a LOT to cover, dear god. Let me get one thing off my chest to start with, though: PLEASE lower the text size of this set, it makes it unduly large and weird to read, where one paragraph moves take up an entire Google Docs page because the text size is made for ants to read. It was a real pain to get through, honestly.

This set feels like it has a lot of overpowered issues with it, largely stemming from huge numbers issues. The revolver is an obvious example: It has infinite range, does 41.4% damage, goes through everything, kills projectiles, is extremely faST, kills at 75% and has six shots to boot. No, the shaking is not a good nerf to it, because it may as well be a glorified taunt after you kill someone with this extremely powerful move. And no, saying "just reflect it" is not an adequate balance issue. First off, lots of characters in Smash don't even have reflection abilities, so this isn't valid to a bunch of them. It also generally falls into the poor balance issue of "just don't get hit". Everyone is going to get hit, not even pro players are gods, and this move is actually really difficult to avoid given its intense range, speed, going through everything, and so on. This projectile essentially kills a shield in one hit and the only committment to it is RNG, basically. There are a LOT of moves like this in Conker, like the crossbow which deals like 30.5% damage (I assume this is with max bounces but the set doesn't say what its base damage is lol), the shotgun shots dealing so much, and so on.

This is contrasted by some incredibly bizarre numbers for timing, probably stemming from being new, no worries there it's all a learning process. For example, Conker is mentioned to throw the knives "incredibly quickly", then says that it is 1.5 seconds between knife throws. For reference, Smash runs at 60 Frames Per Second, and Warlock Punch is 70 frames. So that's saying it takes longer than a full Warlock Punch of startup for the next knife to be thrown, making it INCREDIBLY slow. This also applies to reload times, which are said to be 4+ seconds at many points and seemingly need to be mostly done in one go, making them unusably slow. I recommend using websites like Kuroganehammer or Ultimateframedata.com to get a better idea of damage output and how fast attacks in Smash are.

In general, Conker has attacks which are incredibly fast, combo or kill quite a bit, have range with a Down Special offering him crazy versatility, and most of the attacks are also high in the game in terms of single-hit damage output, leaving it feeling rather overpowered there as well. The set also doesn't really go into how exactly Conker combos or how his moves work into each other, which is generally highly encouraged to give readers a sense of how they play, a "playstyle" if you will. The playstyle section delves into this some, but it is generally nice to talk about it on the moves themselves, and to be less vague and general on WHAT moves are helpful for making someone an "all rounder" for example. The playstyle also basically just says "Conker has a lot of strengths and no weaknesses" which is concerning.

Razor Wire is a very weird special effect, in part because you mention the effect is called razor wire and "They will be in mostly sharp based moves" and yet most of the time it is applied on other moves, including multiple times Conker just...kicking...for some reason? The name of the mechanic feels entirely out of touch with the mechanic and in general I don't actually know why this is specifically in Conker. Leaving that aside, locking a foe out of all Specials and ESPECIALLY their dodges is pretty strong, complete with a reasonable movement speed debuff to boot. And Conker can apply it very casually as well, which given it stacks can just completely wreck a foe. This could work with a different approach (like a lot of this set), but as-is it just feels bizarre and broken.

I will also note Sakurai didn't say canon moves are better, but more about translating canon abilities being fun/good, and that translating how a fighter would act canon-wise was good. And even if there wasn't that, there is no reason for a "canon moves" section, and the entire table of contents is kinda useless given it doesn't have any links or anything so it is just telling you what the section headers already will. Also, nobody in the universe has said Conker on the Xbox is the best looking Xbox game, but that doesn't really matter to the set quality.

Overall, Conker is a set that really needs to go more in-depth into what it is doing and needs serious number tune-ups to even approach a decent set and probably some different approaches as well. Context Sensitivity being so insanely RNG dependant doesn't feel good, maybe you could have found a way to make the move actually context sensitive? I'd definitely recommend expanding more on stuff rather than just listing bullet points on a Special, as well. Talking like "It will be X" kinda threw me off but wasn't major. Better luck next time, Cookies.

Thanks for responding, I’ll try to use the suggestions in my next moveset, or I might update it. I’ll try to do better in the next contest, this was my first moveset after all.

edit: now that I think about it now, he was definitely overpowered. I’ll definitely nerf him when I got the time. I’ll try to make changes to the moveset and future movesets as well.

 

[Bionichute]

Spark Kirby, but for Furries
You're pretty good at set-making for a (relative) newcomer, Bubby. Zeraora is a Pokemon I personally dislike, but i don't usually let those kind of biases hurt my opinion on sets. I really like the charging mechanic, though like a lot of similar sets, it does run its course once you reach the end, and even you seemed to have trouble coming up with throws that the gimmick would work with. I actually personally really like how the gimmick interacts with the smashes, but i feel they're also the weakest moves in the set by themselves. My main problem with the set is that some of the animations are a bit too... overly verbose? I couldn't wrap my head around DSmash or BAir, they talk way too much about the position of Zeraora's feet. But otherwise, this is a pretty good set, good job!


DKC: The Moveset
Kritter is a weird set (and not just because I keep wanting to call it Kremling). Its highly gimmicked, having three different structures built for its specials, and one created for his grab, each of which technically flow into each other in a strange, convoluted way. It's charming in a sense, feeling intentionally like a nostalgic throwback to pre-MYM10 sets, but with actual knowledge of how balance works. It still isn't that great, unfortunately, due to very under-detailed standards and aerials, which feel TOO generic for what comes before. My ideal would just have it go dull prop and pull out something for every move, or at least most of his moves like with Piranha Plant. There still isn't anything outwardly bad about it, I just feel like a high prop character would fit this "character". I am also not a big fan of the club being used on every Smash, I feel more variety could have gone in there, like maybe have him use Skurvy's cannon. Oh I just realized it might have been cool to have the Klaptrap gun from the cartoon in there as a special, dang. Uh anyway I don't have much else to say and don't know how to end this lol

 

[UserShadow7989]

Water Witch Andrea by Munomario777 :

I'm always a fan of your sets, Muno, and knowing that you made a set for a character in the OC setting I've wound up making over the last few contests really is an honor. Andrea appeals to me as a character, and it shines through in several points of her set, such as using a Piranha to water ski or her Dash Attack's lackidasical animation, or her more serious grab game. The references in the set like the sap bubble in particular tickled me. All things considered, giving this set a comment is long overdue.

Getting more into the meat of things, your approach of having logical consistency where it might create unique advantages against certain match-ups or on certain stages is interesting, and I never really know how to feel about it. Andrea would play very differently on Fountain of Dreams or in a match against Naomi, her piranha not having as many points to jump out but much more water to swim through being the obvious and easy example. While it's true stage/opponents having different effects on a given character's playstyle is alwas a thing, I've always specifically bent logic in favor of keeping advantages and interactions self-contained.

That's personal taste, though, and Andrea's interactions are really cool in general. Having to soak the opponent specifically for some of the stronger effects like spearing a foe to the spot or the thorned vine also keeps this from being too swing-y. The uses of Andrea's water arts and puddles are decently potent enough to be rewarding and add an interesting dynamic to her play in a resource to manage, while being kept from being too strong by needing to recharge and each individual application having their own limits and restrictions, without also making them too precious to use.

The set shows a strong grasp and use of smash's mechanics and quirks that often get overlooked, Up Special in particular referencing a lot of details like allowing Andrea to buffer an aerial to use it before entering the helpless state like Olimar's winged pikmin, and transitioning into a wall cling right out of the vine grapple ala Extreme Speed. Using points of reference like that make these details easy to understand and remember, even before the helpful diagrams add extra clarity. It's used to create some fun situations like Andrea being able to act in a number of ways between inputting her Up Special and suddenly being pulled to the point the thrown seed lands.

The presentation in general is a neat approach; obvious joke about Forward Tilt being a Special aside, it helpfully introduces the set's most core mechanic at the start, and splitting move descriptions into two sections between mechanics and applications does make it easier for me to remember all the details despite constant distractions and my own issues with concentration and reading.

The set shows a strong grasp and use of smash's mechanics and quirks that often get overlooked, Up Special in particular referencing a lot of details like allowing Andrea to buffer an aerial to use it before entering the helpless state like Olimar's winged pikmin, and transitioning into a wall cling right out of the vine grapple ala Extreme Speed. Using points of reference like that make these details easy to understand and remember, even before the helpful diagrams add extra clarity. It's used to create some fun situations like Andrea being able to act in a number of ways between inputting her Up Special and suddenly being pulled to the point the thrown seed lands.

There's a couple of things I'm iffy on; I'm not sure how I feel about Down Special functioning differently in 1v1 and Teams/FFA, but it's a reasonable way to deal with the normal version being odd to implement in the latter and doesn't harm much, and much of what functions well with one does just as well with the other. I'm also a little leery of Up Throw giving Andrea effective total invulnerability for a short time, even if it costing 75% of her meter and requiring she land her weak grab probably makes it okay. It does form a very cool high-end payoff if you can use it AND Down Special together, though.

The bread and butter inputs are functional, but some are a bit light on content after a strong core. They're kept interesting primarily by the movement options and effects Water Arts provide. That leads into what I think is the core issue I have with Andrea despite all the things I love in her; I feel there's not a lot of interplay with her tools. Her moves all have neat applications, and hearing them described felt like I was listening to Isaw explaining a real character in Ultimate, but most only have one or two tools they really jive with.

Her wand is mostly forgotten after a point in the set and doesn't have a ton of interaction beyond turning water to grass or the sap bubble which is only mentioned a couple times after. Her Piranha gets only a mention or two past specials, as neat as using it to water ski with the vines are (which themselves are barely brought up past an early point). The urchin is only there for two aerials at the end of the set and don't really have any mention of how it could play off of her other tricks, like using an Up Special vine to pull Andrea as she performs either to deliver a surprise sea urchin to someone from above or below as an example.

The water arts are a neat trick but ultimately boil down to just having Andrea propel herself away for her hit and run playstyle after a point, with the odd (semi-)spike; that's really all they need to be, but having her tools do more interesting stuff with it like dragging an opponent along, or a move with low ending lag but decent knockback using it to launch her after the opponent immediately so she can follow up, or even a move where she has a more precise control of the spray to choose which way she goes or the arc she takes.

I don't necessarily mean hard interactions like turning water to grass, but more organic stuff like the grass stopping her sponge would be neat. I feel that some of it is already there but not given a lot of attention, like slowing the opponent with grass would work nicely with water arts in general to escape or start combos, and could potentially be used to better corner a foe with your various tools like the urchin, sap bubble, etc; maybe in the sections describing usage, a few more words with how the tools from that section work in relation to those from the last and each other would be a good idea.

 

[Cookies N Milk]

After a lot of demand, Poor Conker has been nerfed.

I did take Frozen Roy’s advice and did nerf him. I did lower the size from 18 to 16. I removed the bullet points on the specials, but not on the items. I decided to keep it on the items to make it a little easier to read (to me at least). I did change some of the moves to be a more balanced and more like “Conker”.

Thoughts please?

 

[plague126]

Ennard: Ah, scoop boy. This is another amazing FNAF character moveset. It nails the calculating nature of Ennard, in a different way fron Springtrap. Ennard was cunning. He succeeded. And that’s what made him scary. And this nails it. All the mechanics you added are also really interesting. The wireframes really fit Ennard’s haphazard body, and most likely would fall off in a battle. And adapting and using them for enhanced moves is just the kind of plan Ennard’d use. Also, weird thing to like but, the colors of the move names are really cool. The eyes are also a cool and creepy mechanic, and I like how it works with the wireframes too, and it adds to it in a creepy way, especially with Metal Slugs. Using Variable Scent Release as a special was something i didn’t expect, but just makes perfect sense. I also like how it can be used to change his playstyle as well. I really like how certain moves reference the sister location animatronics too. The Side Special has a looot of versatility too, yet in a simple enough to use way. The Up Special is also gloriously creepy in a way i just love, especially the pun with the name. I also like Scooper being able to replenish wireframes if used right too. Overall this set just interacts with itself very, very well.

Arina: I haven’t heard of Waku Waku 7 before, but having read this, Arina seems like a really cool and interesting character! It’s an interesting take on the shotoclone archetype, with its own spin that fits the character. Honestly, I really like seeing movesets for characters from other fighting games for Smash, it’s really cool seeing moves translated into a whole different kind of game and still working. Arina Beam has a surprising amount of versatility, a bit expected as it’s her only projectile, but I still like how you made it work well for a lot of purposes. The ES moves are also a really cool part of this, and are distinct enough from command inputs that it feels like its own thing. Arina Crash is also something i like, the additional inputs are really interesing, with each move having a set purpose. Arina Burst also seems like an interesting adaptation of her super moves, that works really well for reversal, like you said. The dash attack’s increased damage on prone opponents is also interesting, and something i really like. Also, “it may be big but it isn't enough to compare to a leg (i am so sorry for that).” just made me die of laughter. Also the fact that there is a move in Waku Waku 7 that involves a butt slap somehow doesn’t faze me. This was honestly just, really great all around. And refreshingly simple.

Kira Yoshikage: I have to hand it to you, you did great with Kira! This set has had a lot of JoJo sets, and all of them are great, this one is no exception. Already, the Stand mechanics, like the Stand Leap and how the Stand works are already distinct from the other stand users I’ve reviewed so far. The splitting up of moves into Acts is also a nice touch, I really like it. I also like how a lot of the moves are Queen songs, it fits the theme of his stand well. Down Special being able to be activated during moves that involve hands is also a really nice touch, and very subtle, I like it. Jab also working as a tool to summon the Stand adds a nice simple way to summon the stand without having to commit to an attack. And Sheer Heart Attack being drawn towards heat based moves and therefore being able to be manipulated is just, brilliant, I love it. And Up Smash being able to change Killer Queen’s position is really interesting, and I can see some of the stuff that could be done with this already, especially with Up Tilt. And damn, those grabs are brutal. Stray Cat is also a really interesting move, and i like the pressure and mind games from not knowing if its explosive or not. Up Air sounds like a really fun move to use as well, too. Down Air and Up Special recovering and also dealing damage also fits really well too. I'd say this is probably my favorite JoJo set this contest yet, honestly.


Poochyena: I think something important in Pokemon sets is trying to capture the essence of the Pokemon's nickname. And I think you nailed that with Poochyena, you managed to use bites in a lot of different and unique ways! Crunch seems like a good damage move, both for shield and just for normal damage, and i like that. Howling Snarl also seems like a good buffing and debuffing move, and fits with Poochyena's playstyle. Take Down is also an interesting move, it has a different use depending on if its used close on ground, far on ground, or in air, and I like it. Feint Attack also seems very cool, good for crossups, and the ability to feint it out into other moves is a neat touch that I could see be really fun. I also like all the smashes being elemental fnag moves, I love when smash moves have a theme to them. The paralyze effect on Thunder Fang is also very interesting, plays well into Poochyene's chase playstyle, especially with its powered up hit. Fire Fang being just even more powerful on powered up is also simple, and kinda refreshing. The different Frozen effect on Ice Fang also works well, and seems very useful in conjunction with the rest of Poochyena's set. I also like the new uses gained when the smashes are used with Feint Attack as well. Also, bite attacks adding time to the poison timer really works well, and can possinly encourage trying to go for more of those bite moves to extend it. And I really like the aftereffect of the Final Smash, it's really cool.

Kritter: I always love seeing movesets for basic enemies, and Kritter is a very good one! The Banana Hoard Special is a unique one, and I really can’t compare it to anything else I’ve seen. It has a lot of uses, cover for Kritter and expanding hitboxes for one. Mecha-Kritters also seem like an interesting tool, especially with the banana piles as a trap. Up Special increasing aerial prowess for a short time is also something that’s interesting, and can modify Kritter’s playstyle for a bit. Mine Cart is also a really interesting mobility option, and the setups it can get seem really cool. The grab being a barrel makes me chuckle for some reason, and I like how it interacts with bananas. Also I love the cartoonish nature of the down throw and up throw, it fits perfectly. Although...while i do like themes in smash attacks, I feel like making all the smash moves use the club was a bit wasted potential, even though i havent really played much DK. I do like being able to throw the club for Forward Smash. I also like the alternating slam aspect of Down Smash too. I also like how the Up Smash works with the minecart too. I liked the smashes just...feel like they’re a bit of missed potential. The Final Smash is also a really good alternative to the Blast-O-Matic, I like it.



Eevee: Eevee is honestly one of my favourite Pokemon too, the Eevelutions are all really cool (and I’m hoping we can actually get more in the future). Having Eevee use moves from each of the Eeveelutions is a really interesting mechanic, and I like how it works! It’s a unique take on Eevee’s signature thing about them. Eevee being a jack of all trades also fits it well. The moves to use for each purpose also both fit Eevee, and fit the Eeveelutions when the move is based on them. I also just really like Future Sight, and it seems like it could disrupt a lot of strategies for the opponent. I also like that the smashes are referencing the 3 original eeveelutions. Although...I do think this set could stand to have some more detailed descriptions at points.

Fenn Mataraci: First off, the writing gimmick in this one is really cool, and has me thinking about what the apparent alternate universe this came from is like. I also really like the flask mechanic, the fact that as you use it you get lighter and therefore can change your strategy is interesting to me. Portable Oasis seems like a very useful postioning move, for just maniplating the foe's position on tsage, and when trying to recover. Flask Toss also seems like a really good projectile move, and I like how it changes the less water you have, just like with Flask Tow, another good move that utilizes the changing weight of the flask well (and also reminds me of the Tow Anchor from Shovel Knight). Dowse is also a very interesting move. It's the fastest movement option she has, but to use it a lot, you need to sacrifice the water in your flask to do so, it creates some very interesting strategy. Independence also seems like a nice special for when you might not want a very strong attack at the moment, given that it affects smashes. Overall, while the interesting writing gimmick is indeed amazing, i really liked the set and its gimmick as well! And I'm curious if future movesets might also have this writing gimmick too.




Also: From this set i can infer that this hypothetical game now has: Geno, Sylux, Spring Man, Ryu Hayabusa, Medusa, Impa, Shadow, Chun Li, and Akuma


Imaginary Numbers: I think I'm safe in saying this is the weirdest set I've read yet. But I freaking love it. The moveset is just super cool! First off, i like how you made all the stats a reference to the 138 attack, and still made it fit the character. I also like that this moveset uses a lot of actual math, math was always my favorite subject. 138 is also a very interesting move, it can be very powerful, but also backfire on Imaginary Numbers if it backfires, which, as it should, goes up with the more damage the next one it does. It's also a good example of the math i love in this set. PRZ*(XX)@ is also a very cool move, the concept of it doing as much damage and knockback as the last successful move the foe did is a very cool concept, and makes the foe conscious of every move they make, especially in free for alls. I also really like the knockback calculation thing in ER#&&T7, its simple yet can make for an unpredictable situation for the opponent. I also like how as the n-gon loses sides, it loses damage, but gains knockback, and i also like how Imaginary Numbers can attack them itself to give itself some passive hitboxes. I also like the RNG of X, and how you can either hope for luck with a shorter charging time, or sacrifice quickness for more likely high damage. +nnnnnn(27) also seems like a very useful tool for if the foe gets too risky and you're at a high percent, and you can punish them for that, even if they're at a low percent. Calculate Weaknesses also seems like a very good tool for pressuring the foe, making them more cautious so they dont take a bunch of damage. And oh god, imagine hitting a max number 138 on an opponent after the weaknesses are calculated. I also really like how the moves whose names are numbers's damage percents relate to the number they turn into. The Pummel is also very interesting to me, because it makes grabs good options depending on the foe's percent. Plead the Fifth is also a very interesting in move in that it changes uses the higher percent Imaginary Numbers is. Factorial is also an interesting move, it’s cool and another way to play around Imaginary Numbers’s damage, and is also a good representation of factorials. I also like Swap Function’s ones digit swapping, and how it works really well with the rest of its throws. I also like how Balanced Equation can give the opportunity for damaging combos while the foe is at high percent. I also really like Clear Error’s ability to manipulate decimals, alongside its damage calculation. And Program Omega seems like a very powerful final smash, better to use when the for is at a medium but not high percent, which is interesting! Overall, I just really like how creative this is. Both in the damage manipulation aspects, and in making math and numbers into interesting moves.

Primeape: This is another interesting Pokemon set! Anger Point is a really cool mechanic that works well with Primeape’s aggressive playstyle and personality. I really like how Neutral Special changes uses the more its staled, in a way that, depending on your strategy, might make you want to stale the move, which most moves are normally not built around. Side Specials cancel ability seems also like a good way to do...well, a lot of things, mixups mainly, with the opponent having to guess what you’re going to do out of it, if you even do anything, its a great tool. Down Special is also a really interesting counter, as it isnt just a simple tool to punish people rushing in for big hits, but it also punishes opponents who play too defensively, pressuring them to get closer. Up Special is a move that seems like a really good counter to people trying to chase him offstage. Using Side Special for an offstage dunk seems like a risky move, and one thats satisfying to pull off. The Forward Tilt's ability to turn around during Side Special is also really interesting, and seems like a good tool for people trying to cross up Primeape during this.



Magica DeSpell: I think this set is really interesting, even though I haven't seen much of DuckTales yet. First off, Power of the Eclipse is a very interesting mechanic, you can possess Lena for more power, but more risk when the time runs out, or play it safe as Shadow Magica, and its really up to you to decide which option is the best in any given situation. Shadow Steal also is a pretty cool move, seems like a good way to manipulate and create shadows, and there's already a good amount of ways just in that section of how to use it. Also, the writing in this set is pretty humorous and descriptive, good job on that. Shadow Vortex also adds some more versatility to the shadows that opens up even more uses for what seems like an integral part of her set. I also like how you've differentiated the moves with Lena with each form, making the unpossessed moves have more range, in exchange for being more easily punished, and making the possessed moves safer, but with less range. And honestly, the description of all these attacks are just amazing, i can really just picture them in my mind. I also like how a lot of the move names are Disney Villain songs, it's a nice touch.


Tamaki Damo: This is another really interesting JoJo set. Vitamin C's interactions with foes are really interesting, and encourages Tamaki to stay close to take advantage of the effects of the foe turning from a ripe apple into a gross, soft, squishy apple that doesn't even taste good, or....ugh, a soft grape. Ascorbic Grab is a pretty interesting move, seems good for speeding up the softening of the foe, or if the foe is stubborn, at a high enough percent, and soft enough, making them go the Wicked Witch way out. Sticky Fingers also seems like a really good pressure tool, making foes have to go to the air to avoid the softening, and possibly stay close to Tamaki depending on where the fingerprints are. Scurvy Dodge also seems like a good move for not only movement, but to counter foes trying to be too aggressive. Antioxidant Smash also seems like a good way to set up pressure more selectively, as opposed to the line of Sticky Fingers. I also like how softened foes take more damage from stabbing moves, it not only encourages Tamaki to use the moves that take advantage of this, but it also helps in team battles too (Imagine Ridley's Down B hitting at the final stage of softening). Also, damn, that Final Smash is painful.

Probopass: This is a really good first set! You nailed the Compass Pokemon nickname aspect of Probopass really well in my opinion, it already looks like it has some interesting interactions. Magnet Bomb seems like a good way to work with the magnetism effect, as it can chase foes to give them something to worry about, and make them focus on something other than you. Spark is also really good tool against rushdown characters, and against characters trying to use the magnetism effect to get closer to him and get aggressive. Magnet Rise’s effect on magnetized opponents is also really interesting, and gives more strategy to when to magnetize, and when to recover. I also like how you separate stuff into how moves work and what their use is. Magnet Push/Pull is also a really interesting move, its hard to master, but a great tool in Probopass’s kit when you can master it. I also like the interesting and unique magnetism effects on a lot of the moves, it makes Probopass really unique! Especially the natural interaction with the rapid jab.

Irou: This is a really interesting set! The fact that you were able to male a fully fleshed out set for a Yu-Gi-Oh card is a testament to the creativity of this contest. Blindsense, first off, is a very interesting mechanic, aside from just being a damage boost, it also lets Irou get around faster and pressure opponents more, plus, i love a mechanic that affects how all the other moves perform. Swallow Flip is also an interesting and unique counter, mainly because of the ability to counter way outside of its normal range on Marked opponents. I always like seeing interesting takes on counters, honestly. I also like the pressure Swift Swallow Strike can apply on opponents, it really gives Irou’s set a good tool for getting opponents to do something you can predict. Honestly, most of the effects on Marked foes seem to apply a lot of pressure and safety to Irou, and i like that. Overall I think this just a very unique and interesting take on a swordfighter archetype, good job!

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Hol Horse

The fact that you made this set and Anubis in just one week is nothing short of astonishing - colour me green with envy. It definitely reminds me of Warlord's Ribby and Croaks case, where the best was ironically made in 2 days from a miraculous burst of inspiration like how the Harry Potter books got made - or something among those lines. Much as I enjoyed Kiwi's interpretation of Hol Horse riding an actual horse, I have to tip my hat to the unscrupulous trio of MarthTrinity, Davidreamcatcha and TheSundanceKid.

I knew I was in for a treat from some of the stuff I glanced shortly after this set was released (dash mechanic, grab, Dash Attack, Down Special, F-tilt), but I must say I'm surprised at how simple the actual Specials (minus the Down Special) ended up being in context to this being a 22k set that is adored by all who have laid eyes upon it. Neutral Special, Side Special and Up Special are all simple enough traps/projectiles with their own uses, moves that could be any number of other fighters (albeit with obvious changes in flavour, because not everyone has a magic homing gun or a monster in a puddle for an ally). This set, however, enhances them with raw attention to detail in the implications of their uses, like as get-up covering options, foes wanting to be wary of their positioning to avoid your Up Special and from the surprisingly simple yet excellent Dash Attack (seriously).

One thing I really liked about this set: it very clearly defined Hol Horse's strengths and weaknesses as a fighter. He's a super tricky and annoying (cowardly) fighter with many prominent traps and movement from his great and self-aware back dash. I admittedly thought he was too powerful from his Specials given how easily they punish shielding, but you do balance it out by depriving Hol of some stuff that other fighters would take for granted, like a quick Jab or orthodox D-Smash, as well not giving him a combo game and having his recovery be terrible among the lines of the Belmonts. I enjoyed how you were self-aware of this with the D-tilt being good at edge-guarding in the place of him not being able to go far off the stage given his recovery, as well as the fact that his projectiles can cover him as he recovers. There's also his grab game being bad but working well (and practically needing to) use it out of his traps to catch shielding opponents - as one of the parts of the set I read before this sitting, that actually influenced how I thought about writing grabs (being more aware the gameplay and balance implications of their speed and range) and in turn influenced Parla. It all comes together in a way that fits Hol Horse very well. Despite the set being so long, it could have been longer, but you don't drag things on for super long in talking about some stuff that doesn't need to be said in some of the simple moves. Every part of the set adds something interesting, even the aerials despite they not being Hol's strong point, and that B-throw is sweet sweet sweet. Also nice that the grabs continue to play into the set's set-up reliance, not having a super duper strong kill option.

Down Special is the conceptual highlight of the set, a veeeery ambitious interesting take on Thoth's powers. It's a great way to implement a one-time buff in needing to commit to one of your attacks, potentially deadly in a prone situation (I found F-Smash to be one of the more interesting prone set-ups due to its tracking, while still being offset by how punishable Thoth makes it) but not something you can repeat, and plus there's the mindgame factors that you are quite aware of, of which alone gives the move value once you've activated an offensive prediction. Defensive prediction is mostly cool: to cover for Hol Horse and his lack of recovery, forcing the foe to mix up their offensive options and you having to commit to your prediction among 20+ inputs, I wonder whether it would get a bit annoying in the event where Hol Horse gets a free dodge out of nowhere when offensive predictions contribute a ton to the set. I don't think removing defensive options from the set would make it any worse, but at the same time I'm fine with them being in and they do contribute to the fun writing.

(I wonder if Thoth N-air's reverse sex kick could be used as a safe on shield thing on the stronger hit, or way to mess with foes who thought the later hit was unsafe?)

Overall, I'd say that Hol Horse is pure gold. The set is extremely aware of what it can do with its moves, as well as Hol Horse's strengths and weaknesses - while balancing his moves and playstyle to fit in with those stats. This alone would have been a very solid set with just simple moves, yet the set went and took some very ambitious strides - mindgames - to add some more complexity. Furthermore, Hol Horse's playstyle is perfectly in line with his cowardly nature, that being he wants to exploit his projectile traps, and the writing style is the icing on the cake. It's not always easy to get this fine mixture of balance, playstyle, character and ambition topped with self-awareness of the implications of the moves, but when you do you get a truly great set, just like Hol Horse. Which is ironic, because while Hol Horse prefers to be a number two kind of guy, it seems like he'll be heading up a place by the time this contest is finished. You more than deserve it.

Astoundingly good job Froy. This is truly shaping up to be your contest given your big 4 in the work, like how MYM17 was Smady's prime time or MYM20 for MasterWarlord. It might be tricky for your faves to surpass the JoJos, given they were made in that miraculous golden zone that Warlord was in when he made the frogs, though it would be also interesting to see how you fare outside of it.

 

[plague126]

I've decided to post my current ranking of movesets I've read
1. Imaginary Numbers
2. Master Xehanort
3. skekSil the Chamberlain
4. Ennard
5. Reigen Arataka
6. Fox Butler Aki
7. Springtrap
8. Kira Yoshikage
9. Lon Lon Ranch
10. Hol Horse
11. Quilby
12. Lakitu
13. Dragonmaid Hauskee
14. Dragonmaid Tillroo
15. Dragonmaid Nasary
16. Dragonmaid Parla
17. Rudy the Clown
18. Utsuho Reiji
19. Mina Aquila
20. Nox
21. Kingpin
22. Hugo
23. Slime Witch Dahlia
24. Bakugo
25. Zeraora
26. Water Witch Andrea
27. Bolt Witch Victoria
28. Black Polnareff
29. Cioccolata
30. Ibaraki-Douji
31. Three Mage Sisters
32. Arina
33. Fenn Mataraci
34. Naomi Faren
35. Kano
36. Whisper
37. Daisy
38. Alex
39. PaniK
40. Reapress
41. GUN Soldier and Black Warrior
42. Kyoko Sakura
43. Pidgey
44. Morlagren
45. Robin
46. Kunai
47. Elekid
48. Vulture
49. Lord Zedd
50. Probopass
51. Sarcophacurse
52. Kimblee
53. Sgt. Hammer
54. Poochyena
55. Eevee
56. Magica DeSpell
57. V
58. Primeape
59. Kritter
60. Irou
61. Tamaki Damo
62. Goomba
63. Star Force Megaman
64. Steve
65. Shake King
66. Scorchio
67. Abraham Lincoln
68. PMD Grovyle
69. Rose Quartz
70. Sandshrew
71. Armie Buff
72. Whitehorn
73. Conker
74. Liara T’Soni
75. Godzilla
76. Master Core
77. White Mage
78. Freya Crescent
79. Black Mage

 

[ZLBProductions]

Ahem...

Eevee Edits!! Man it's been a while!

Now surely, it's mostly just adjustments and adding detail, but I think I did a good job at elaborating my intent for a lot of these moves, and Eevee in general. You likely know where to find the set yourself, but in case it's a little hard (oh trust me, it's been a while), I'll provide a link right [HERE] to the set in this thread.​

 

[plague126]

Comments Part 3 because the part 2 is getting too long



Lord Zedd: This was a really enjoyable set to read! Lord Zedd was always my favorite Power Rangers villain, and you nailed it. I love the approach to manipulation you took, making it based around control of both the stage and the opponent. Z-Lightning is a very cool tool, being both a tool for defense, and a tool for setting up damaging and brutal combos. Z-Putty Underling also seems like a good move for getting opponents vulnerable, and letting Zedd set up some combos or kill moves, or just acting as distractions to make the opponent focus on while you plot your next nefarious scheme. Darkness Burst is also a very good get off me tool, as well as a move you want to use when you're sure it will hit, so you can get the more powerful versions. I also really like the pressure capabilities of Zedd's Shield Special, and how it complements his grab game well. His Forward Smash is also a very useful tool for combos, despite being a bit basic, which I like! Basic tools for stuff is always needed. I also like how the grabs and throws can help Zedd with making the Putty minions distract the opponent with their grubby grabby hands. I also very much like the Forward Throw's set up potential. Overall this is a great set!

Lakitu: This is another very interesting Mario minion set! I really liked Pirahna Plant’s moveset in Smash, and i really liked this one as well! Lakitu being a slippery, defensive character makes a lot of sense too, what him him being near the top of the screen a lot. The Spinies are a very good part of the set already, its Lakitu’s classic move, and the way they work is great, letting Lakitu have multiple hitboxes out that, while not applying pressure, will make opponents have to watch their moves and be more predictable. Neutral Special is also a very good tool for Lakitu's defensive style, and also can allow him to set up some strong attacks if his opponents are too projectile happy. Down Special is also a very good buffing tool, and complements a lot of Lakitu's kit well. The Up Special is also a great mobility tool, and the tools of using grabs and smash attacks in the air is a very good addition to this move. The Down Smash is also a very versatile tool, for damage, stunning, buffing your Spinies, and even ledgeguarding if youre very confident. Up Smash is also another very good minion tool for this set, not only for saving Spinies, but just for controlling the opponents movements, and damaging them if they're not careful. The grab game is also very interesting, and i like the touch of it working differently in the air, and the option of instead just hurling a Spiny or Pirahna Egg forward for some oomph is another really great tool. I also like the Standards and Aerials referencing Lakitu's appearances in the spinoff games too. Overall, I think this set takes some really good creative liberties with the stuff Laktu's been seen to do, and it weaves it all together to create a great defensive playstyle!

Elekid: Once again another great Pokemon set. Elekid’s ThunderPunch is a really good tool for his kit, not just for its tool for combos, but for his charge mechanic, which is a really cool mechanic that both fits Elekid and is an interesting playstyle, especially with the static mechanic. The optimal strategy strikes a balance between charging your punch to get the meter up, and using it effectively to combo out of. Thunderbolt seems like a very good projectile tool too, especially with the Thunderbolt 2 attack, and even more especially during Charged State. Thunder Crash during Charged State also seems like another great combo tool, with more cancellability than Firefly, and the ability to turn it safe on shield. Thunder is also a very cool move, I like that it isnt just an anti-air, but works as also a good positioning and stage control tool. The rapid jab’s tool to pause the timer on the charge also seems like a very good counter to people trying to play defensively, kinda forcing them to approach. Shock Kick seems like one of the most versatile moves in the sets, for its combo potential, both out of Charged State, and especially in Charged State. The Forward Smash also looks like a valuable and needed tool against shields, and just a great aggressive option all around. Overall, this is just a really good combo-oriented Pokemon set with a very cool gimmick!

Sarcophacurse: This is another set of yours i really enjoyed! The humor in it already got a chuckle out of me before i even got to the moves, and the moves themselves are great too. First off, Pharaonic Curse is a great debuffing tool, and while it does seem hard to land, it seems worth it if you do land, giving Sarcophacurse a much easier time winning, and forcing him to focus more on ground moves than on air moves, which is also helped by Gilded Guard letting him power through attacks, which the curse can help out even more. The Crummy Mummies are also very interesting minions, being good distractions, and good damage dealers with their Crummy Curse, and the ability to give them Gilded Guard only makes this better. The specials all work really well together, and give Sarcophacurse a very clear playstyle of buffs, debuffs, and distractions right off the bat. Also, the move names are brilliantly punny and I love it. Looking through the standards, it seems like Sarcophacurse's attacks have a lot of risk to them, but great payoff, which is a playstyle i like because it requires careful planning. I also like the positioning and mainpulation a lot of his tilts and the grab have with the mummies, it allows Sarcopha to better use them to ruin the foe's day, especially if he Forward Tilts or throws them to try to gimp the foe, which is a hilarious addition might i add. Overall, Sarcophacurse is a very good heavyweight character, with a focus on buffing himself to decrease the chance he's knocked all the way to Anubis, debuffing the foe to send them to an earlier grave, and a lot of strong attacks that are risky to just throw out.


Pidgey: This is another amazing Pokemon set! The set is surprisingly creative, and the fact that you were able to do this for a Pidgey is a testament to your skills. I also very much like how you detail the uses of moves in the moves themselves, its a nice touch! Sand Attack and Gust, first off, are great tools, Gust for pushing opponents and clouds around, and Sand Attack for being a good area denier, and enhancing a lot of Pidgey’s ground game. Feather Dance is also a very good projectile tool for traps and for denying certain approaches, especially with its angling capabilities, and interactions with both Gust and Sand Attack. Tailwind's windbox seems like a great positioning tool for Pidgey, and a great tool for pushing around the foe, and annoying them. Twister is also a very versatile tool as well, a good kill move, combo set up, and pressure tool all in one, and works well for all of those uses. I also like how you portray Pidgey's ground moves in a way that still shows Pidgey's air strengths. Wing Attack also seems like a great tool for moving the feathers small distances, its a precise tool compared to Gust's big push. I also like the added bonus of Hurricane being able to go past the blast zone and come back down, i really like it! Same with the fire tornado after two consecutive down smashes, its a good tool to people trying to punish a missed Down Smash. U-Turn is a great maneuvering tool, that seems like a great tool for catching opponents off guard. Air Cutter seems like a great juggling tool, which is only improved more by Pidgey's extra jumps. Honestly, Pidgey's air game in general is just great, its seeming like an integral part of the set, which is very fitting for Pidgey, being a birb. Overall, this is just a very innovative and creative, yet fitting set for Pidgey. The special gimmicks and mechanics are complex yet simple, and work well with a lot of the set in a way I just love.


Kingpin: This is another really good Marvel villain set! I’ve always really liked Kingpin, especially in Spider-Verse and i think you nailed him in this moveset. First off, the Safes are a very interesting mechanic, and have a lot of uses. They can serve as walls, things to bounce foes off of, just general damage dealers, possibly a kill move, and more, and the uses all seem to come naturally and make sense. The stage manipulation, both through dropping stages down or by slanting them, is both a great tool for Kingpin, and a hilarious image. Chi-cane-ry is also a very good pressure and mindgame tool, especially with the ability to bounce it off your safes, it gives a lot of stage control to Kingpin, which, given he's a mafia boss, fits well. Bringing Out The Big Guns is also another great stage control tool, as well as being a good tool for scaring people and just racking up damage in general. I also like the special pummel near a safe and i also feel like the head falling off comment is a story of itself. The ability to angle the back throw is also a nice touch that can really change the use of the move, same with the Up Throw and the three different variations of the Down Throw, though obviously more pronounced with the Down Throw. Honestly Kingpin's grab game in general has a lot of uses and works well with a lot of his set as well. F-Tilt also seems like a great tool on rebounds, with the ability to transition into the second punch seeming very cool and with potential to annoy foes. The different shockwaves from Down Smash also seem like another great tool for versatile options, which Kingpin has a lot of. Overall, i think Kingpin is a very good set, focused on stage control, and momentum in the way of weaving all your different set ups together to put the foe into a bed with the aquatic life, which is very fitting for the mafia boss that is Kingpin.

 

[Kholdstare]

My final moveset of the contest...

Wobbler!​

​

So Wobbler, while you have a decent foundation, suffers from some issues. There is a consciencous goal here - stand in the fire, which goes against any MMO player's creed - but it feels like a very weak foundation to hold the set up. It's obvious that the goal of the set is to represent TABS as a game and to both draw people into playing the game and to reward players who are a fan of the game in the form of references. But... beyond that, it feels all surface-level. It's mostly disjointed hitboxes or projectiles, tacky (and I don't mean that in a harsh or insulting way) visualizations, and very little else of substance. Let me explain a bit better. The individual moves are single references. They barely fit together except for the underlying theme of the fire trap. Imagine a good moveset as a jigsaw puzzle. Here, the puzzle has a different shape and picture on each piece. Quite jarring to put together, wouldn't you imagine? Even when you do put it together, I don't quite get the logic behind it - it's not sufficiently explained why standing in the fire changes the moves in the way it does, other than you wanted alternate forms for the moves to further represent the game. Side Special, too, changing wildly based on level of charge is a major visual disconnect. Also, why isn't the fire bow the default version of the neutral special? You have to manually swap to it each stock to unlock the rest of the set. As far as reading it, it's very hard to read. The pictures are *huge*. I'd love it if you could scale them down, or just link them instead of having them as inline images. There are also moves that feel quite useless given their restrictions - committing 3 full seconds to an attack is far too much to ask from a player.

That's not to say the set isn't without merit. You have a great level of awareness of what the set is capable of (and others, as evidenced from your comments). I did quite enjoy the interactions between projectiles, and the genre this set carves out for itself is something I'd want to handle in Smash. The extras too were pretty cute. You have some level of personal investment in this set so I'd like for you to keep the good and work on the bad. First things first, make it more readable and make the visual disconnect between attacks less jarring.

 

[Slavic]

end of contest means one thing...

ARBITRARY (AND NOT LEGALLY BINDING) MOVESET PREVIEWS!​

It's pretty basic this time, no word searches or mystery quotes, green border means I have tangible material for the set while blue means I just have ideas for them, enjoy a bunch of pictures or whatever

 

[UserShadow7989]

Arina: Bionichute

Sorry it took so long to get around to reading Arina! Arina's writing is clean and concise, making her moves easy to understand and remember; it's a consistent strong point I see in your sets, and something I appreciate more as sets get longer and deeper. I don't mean that as some sort of backhanded complement about length, either; reading the set reminded me of the Terry showcase where Sakurai outlined the character's various moves and their inspirations with care.

For a character with primarily kicks as her only weapon (aside from her Neutral Special's Arina Beam!) she manages to get a good amount of mileage in terms of move variety, offering a pretty interesting take on the Shotoclone genre of fighters. While I can't give it the accolades I would for some of the mechanically complex sets we tend to see take the top spots of each contest, it's got a beauty to its simplicity that's often undervalued.

For actual advice, I'm unfortunately not able to give much more than I did when she was being shown in the preview chat. I feel that Up Throwing the opponent should have the opponent come back down towards Arina regardless of stage movement, leaving them being hit out or Arina taking a hit as the only things that can interrupt in the interest of certain stages not invalidating part of her kit by default.

I also suggest more detail be given in regards to how pieces of her kit cover for or connect with each other. A slower move and a faster one with similar coverage make for a nice 50/50, where opponents trying to read one will get smacked with the other. One move's knockback hitting foes into the area another covers with low enough end lag on the former and start up on the latter means they can combo together nicely, possibly 'confirming' if quick and reliable enough that opponents won't get to act between the two; that sort of thing.

There's already some of that here, like Up Smash mentioning it leads into her air game nicely. An example of one thing you could note is how Back Aerial might be good for dealing with directional air dodges on a read when opponents were expecting her Forward Aerial, or how it's a nice 50/50 with Forward Aerial out of short hop by quickly turning before jumping (or with a trick called a "Reverse Aerial Rush" that functions similarly, and when executed allows the character to retain some momentum while jumping into the air).

I don't get the opportunity to say it often, but I enjoy reading your sets, and I'm always excited when a new preview goes up in the chat. You had a pretty solid contest, and I can't wait to see what you bring to the table in MYM23!

 

[PeridotGX]

If I do any rankings, they'll be here.

I'm also posting hints for the characters I'm planning on making sets for next contest. Keyword being planning, I don't think any of the ones I planned for this contest got finished. Anyways, here are they're silhouettes.

...I thought they'd be a whole lot more subtle. oh well.

 

[Mamboo07]

If I do any rankings, they'll be here.

I'm also posting hints for the characters I'm planning on making sets for next contest. Keyword being planning, I don't think any of the ones I planned for this contest got finished. Anyways, here are they're silhouettes.
View attachment 261566
...I thought they'd be a whole lot more subtle. oh well.

Lemme guess them:
-White Diamond
-A Blaze from Minecraft
-Mr. Rime
-Spinal?
-A Mega Man character

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Kyoko Sakura

A remix for one of your favourite Madoka characters? Cool! She never did get into the Top 50 unlike her MC brethren, Madoka non withstanding. It is also ironic that this set was posted in MYM22, which is MYM11 multiplied by 2. That might not sound like much in the difference of set quality between contests, but if Smash has taught us anything it's that knockback multipliers are far stronger than they look.

Kyoko is a fine mid-ranged melee set from you, especially given melee is a bit outside of your comfort zone. I mentioned some of my opinions on Discord, but will bring some of them up here for posterity. One of my favourite parts of the set was the Up Special's back throw being stronger if you swing an opponent into the stage rather than offstage, especially in the context of being on a mid-ranged fighter. This is also interesting in the context of rewarding Kyoko out of an "offensive" if she takes control of the middle of the stage where she is in the best position to use the USpec B-throw's stronger knockback.

Another move I mentioned liking was the F-Smash: not so much the charge reset, which is unique (I did hear Froy say he used that in a preview of one of his sets, not sure whether it has been posted though so Kyoko has technically done it earlier), but rather the frame 14 hitbox to either side of you, the back hitbox which can push opponents in front of you for the main sweetspot based on their positioning behind you. Side Special is also an interesting take on Dancing Blade, mainly in the idea of different results from spacing and the option to position yourself; I can understand why it took a month or so for you to finish this move.

Despite being melee-orientated, Kyoko does very much have that FA set feel to her. This is most prominent in her Neutral Special (obviously based on her Final Smash), a powerful chargeable spear attack that can hit at close range or mid-range, but whose main appeal is to create shockwaves that extend to either side and cover the close or mid range that the spear didn't and pressure foes in that range. This move reminds me a bit of one of Urabrask's Specials where he ejects a gas that practically deals Falcon Punch damage, but is meant to be used to create gas rather than be a big strong attack. Perches Poxtrot also does this with his Warlock Punch esque move that denies the Warlock Punch potential in favour of creating oil. The main thing that felt FA'ian here was the shockwave itself, which seems like something that would be on one of your projectile-orientated characters. As much as I like the implications of the shockwave for your melee game, I feel a bit 50/50 on the move. It does seem maaaaybe a bit easy to throw out if the charge can be stored a bit, but it's a bit hard for me to comprehend.

In working with a long-ranged fighter, I did feel you were a bit overly cautious in the set's balance. This is understandable, as the best Smash comparison in the Belmonts do look pretty overpowered with their long range and keeping opponents out. One move that could do with less lag is Kyoko's Up Special: the fact that she needs to space herself for the pin hitbox already makes it enough of a challenge to land, plus it's her recovery and seems to be a pretty prominent move. I do wonder whether it is very underpowered as a recovery in being a tether, but you could potentially take inspiration from Byleth and their ability to pull themselves to a wall/side of the stage up to 3 times.

F-air is another move I felt was cautious in its balance in the context of being long-ranged: namely in making it making it have harsh end lag except when hitting a foe with it. I do think lag is used a lot to balance Kyoko's range and that's generally fine, but a fighter with her range and weapon could have other weaknesses in her melee combat. A spear is not the widest weapon - some of her moves could have narrow hitboxes (ala Pit's F-air) that the foe could weave around to get in closer? F-air strikes me as being one of these moves. You could even use hitbox duration as a way to punish Kyoko. Little stuff like this could really enhance a mid-ranged fighter's melee game and set a stronger basis for the strengths and weaknesses of their playstyle.

Kyoko feels like a transitional moveset - she's primarily a melee set, but with some vestiges of un-smash "playground" stuff like Neutral Special and U-Smash's jump. This reminds me of Usershadow's progress this contest, in that he has transitioned from a more projectile/playground approach to his sets to gaining a greater awareness of melee and Smash Ultimate's myriad of mechanics (helped with reading other sets!). This is a reason for much of my critique here. With that said, it's great that you went out and tried your hand at this kind of melee! It's a great learning process - as someone who has been a fan of your sets and of the big villains and hated characters you've done sets for, I would love to see more sets from you if possible and think that getting yourself more comfortable with melee would be a great way to expand your character options. You do know a good melee game when you read it, after all.

In spite of all I've said, I like Kyoko! She's a RV candidate, which is strong in this more competitive contest where you only get to RV/SV a mere 20 sets. It would be cool if she got around the Top 20 just like Homura, Mami and Sayaka, which sure beats hanging down with Kyubey in a 44th position. In any case, I hope this comment and the making of Kyoko helped you. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product that is Master Xehanort.

 

[bubbyboytoo]

Might as well post this here as well for posterity: I made a silhouette preview thimgabob too! It's alright, I guess. Some of these are super obscure though so uhh don't beat yourself up if you can't get them i guess lol

 

[plague126]

I’ve decided to post quotes as previews of sets i plan to do


“Did you know a young boy drowned the year before those two others were killed? The counselors weren’t paying any attention.”

“I think I've had just about enough of you, guy! You made my minion cry! NOBODY makes my minions cry except ME!"

“Guys, we've got a long road ahead. It's not going to be an easy one, but we'll always have each other's backs along it. Let's go home; we've got a lot of work to do…And I’m eager to get started.”

“Any last words?” “I got one. Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian.”


“LET’S EAT!”

“What should I do, grab a shovel and start digging? Just thinking about it makes my flawless face flush! Working is for commoners! But I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty.”

“The bigger the explosion, the better the alchemist!”


“How dare you compare me to a child's plaything! You've cut me deep. Deeper than the Mariana Trench... My remote control system is so complex, even the folks at NASA can’t recreate or even comprehend it! Ah, but don't make me say stuff that might destroy NASA's dreams. I just couldn't BEAR that!”


“You've been quite elusive. But your skills make you worth the catch."

"Now, stick to the plan and you'll be just fine. But if you deviate from it for even a single moment...I won't come back for you. Okay? Good luck!"


And one more for April Fools...

“So God gave me some power and I fell to sleep. When I woke up I was outside of the Smosh Manshon!”

 

[BKupa666]

RUDY THE CLOWN:
The second Smadian heavyweight I've read this contest, Rudy definitely does not disappoint. At a bird's-eye level, you've done marvelously at taking a brilliantly designed but superficially low-potential final boss and squeezing out all possible potential. I like how he melds influences from a good majority of Smash's existing heavyweights with his own flourishes, the obvious overarching one being filling his music boxes to make use of afterimages. Which, the clear thought you've put into the different timeframes, strengths and properties of the afterimages is commendable, but I find myself even more taken with the simple complexity of his hands. You've baked such great versatility into what on its face is a generic Isaac push move, with his ability to situationally send out one of both hands, push or grab both opponents and minions with them, and clap or punch them into each other for telegraphed yet threatening hitboxes. Strategically calling back hands with melee attacks in calling out enemy behavior comes off almost as an inverse Potato Head mechanic, while the tweaks that can improve or diminish hand moves like N-Air and F-Air are neat additions too. As minor nitpicks, given that hand re-summoning is lagless, I don't know that it's as much of a downside calling them back from their 'push' animation as the set appears to make it. I also wish there were a bit more explanation given as to how Rudy appears when charging F-Smash or D-Smash without hands (a more understated animation when he's in his hand-less fat lard state could be good in terms of confusing opponents).

In terms of Rudy's other elements, I'm pleasantly surprised with how relevant you've made Clowning Around with several of his throws and standards. That's the sort of combo enhancer that could easily be tacked on as an afterthought, but it's a lot more well thought out here, serving almost like a damage-free self-application of Crash Bomber. I'm quite impressed with the effort put into the six minion types, which all have their diverse niche in the moveset. I don't know that their individualities all are integrated in among Rudy's standards as smoothly as Ennard's various wireframe creations, but on a more general level I like how they're integrated in with the music box mechanic, plus the various hitboxes they make upon getting killed (something I unknowingly echoed to a smaller degree with skekSil's essence blasts). And, as far as the music box goes, I'm unsure of the balance of it taking just 20% for Rudy to fill one up and receive 10+ seconds of afterimages that could, in tandem with his other summons, become pretty oppressive, even with the lesser multipliers on some variants. In your shoes I might also have diversified the damage/timeframe Rudy has to fill up the differently-colored boxes, based on the reward he stands to receive. In the end, Rudy might well be my favorite of the sets I've read thus far this contest, and definitely the one I'd jump at the chance to actually play. Probably in a grudge match against a certain other fighting clown with summons that float across the stage. . .

 

[Bionichute]

its that time again

Spoiler: previews, ranked from most to least likely to be finished

 

[Smady]

Thanks for the Rudy comment BKupa666 ! I appreciate how much you liked both the incorporation of Rudy's simple final boss mechanics and the overall game mechanics of Wario Land 3. As I've said to you in chat, I always wanted to make a set that makes the most of what WL3 shows to you of Rudy and its many great game mechanics, without losing the essence of the character. It's no wonder that a schemer like skekSil would have some in common with Rudy, another manipulative and evil villain. They're not the exact same flavour of duplicitous, but nonetheless, they're both great villains.

You had some great suggestions and I've made a few changes based on your commentary. The only significant thing I can say in defence is that each music box has a slightly different duration though they are built up in the same way. I did however nerf the way the meter is built up as you can see, so it shouldn't get too crazy. Hope you enjoy these changes.

Spoiler

Hands nerf
The hands add 3 frames of end lag to any move that uses them when summoned back as the hands have to meld back into Rudy's doughy form! Nothing too major, but does reduce his potential for follow-ups.

Further hitbox info on the fsmash and dsmash when the hands are out
Fsmash
When the hand used in the smash is out on stage, Rudy will lean back without the fist being there reducing his hurtbox size and making the charging animation subtly different, with his lumpy shoulder pulsating instead! This doesn't change the move but makes it a little more of a mindgame for foes to have foresight against the attack.
+Dsmash
On top of that, the hands will not actively be in the charging animation and Rudy merely leans back away from the screen reducing his hurtbox while giving the move murkier visibility for foes, making it tougher - like fsmash - for foes to predict its use.

+Music box nerf
When the box isn't out, the meter will go down slowly at a rate of 5% of the bar every second, putting it on somewhat of a timer.

 

[Smady]

Hol Horse is precisely the sort of moveset I'd hoped to see in MYM22! I came into this MYM after a bit of burnout on OCs last contest, not that I don't appreciate the love and passion that goes into those sets, but everyone knows my heart really lies in making sets for existing villain characters above all else. A character like Hol Horse I would never have expected to get a set of this calibre and I'm so thankful for your efforts here in giving him the set he deserves. This and Black Polnareff are love letters to both JoJo and HftF, you even went so far as to track down online Fightcade play for footage and inspiration! It's not easy to find such footage online for a game that may as well be MUGEN in modern day.

So after all of that build up what makes this set so special? I think Kat put his finger on it well when he commented on how simple this set is in its specials and how it all unwraps after that point. You take Hol Horse's HftF set and just interpret it in the most straightforward way while planting the seeds for the later parts of the set in both how Boingo and J Geil work mechanically while establishing his glass cannon playstyle. There's a fair few of these in MYM22 and I always love this archetype of character being able to go all out while having an exploitable recovery. Smash loves this archetype too, I'd argue most of the newcomers added in Ultimate tend to have elements of a glass cannon. This is because I think it's just so fun to give the potential for huge damage and power with a catch. This and many of your best sets work on the same premise of having great power but having the juggle downsides, in this set this comes in the form of both a poor recovery and grab, as well as a poorer close range game than you'd expect. It's very cleverly balanced.

The way the set goes about executing the mechanics of the Boingo Thoth book and how J Geil's reflections work, really deserve individual praise too for nailing pretty nebulous, difficult balance. The set does this by merely emulating what is done in HftF, or by interpreting these new powers like Boingo in a way that is as intuitive as would be demanded for new players to understand. Considering how complex the set is under the hood given the Thoth buffs and the set up you were obligated to do using the falling glass and J Geil, the set is a really squeaky clean application of all these mechanics without feeling burdened by them.

Fsmash is unsurprisingly one of my favourite moves as an attack for interpreting the glass shattering as a hitbox as it is in JoJo, there's something viscerally satisfying about creating such a huge array of hitboxes out of such a simple input. And naturally it works super crisp into his playstyle. I also kind of like that Hol Horse does have his fair share of melee. We're past the old days where this isn't to be expected now, but Hol Horse still should have a few meaty kicks interlaced within his various gunslinger attacks. As has already been touched on, the dash attack slide and prone abuse focus is really wonderfully done. Actually one of the few complaints I have is that the forward aerial is a bit too much for me in terms of summoning the J Geil hand out of the glass. The grab game is also pretty simple but the set already has more than enough depth to justify it, and the characterisation shines through on them too.

The characterisation is all so subtle and well done throughout the set too. I like the small details you give in illuminating Hol Horse's weakness through his playstyle, reflecting his obvious weaknesses as a person and reliance on others, while at the same time presenting the sheer ridiculous potential of his stand. This feels both in character for Hol Horse and presents a great example of how to do JoJo in general. The character shines through and the JoJo references flow like water throughout the set encapsulating absolutely everything you'd expect. Overall I definitely really liked this set! It's one of the best sets you've made in my opinion and I can see it compete for my SV+ come time to vote! I just hope the set doesn't suffer an ironic twist of fate if it does get close to the top! This MYM in general I think may well go down for you as another great MYM on par with anyone's else's best MYM. Thanks for all you've done for the community and continuing to put out amazing sets, Roy!

Kunai was an exciting prospect as a big fan of Shinobu, and largely I’d say the set is no disappointment. It’s just as referential, imaginative and well balanced as Shinobu, while being a more mellowed out moveset that doesn’t quite pull out the flashiness of Shinobu’s clones. Instead Kunai focuses on the cool wind tunnel that both speeds up and reflects at the same time as being a big impressive tornado hitbox a la Auron circa MYM9. The melee, as I’ve come to expect from your sets, was really well thought out, every move having a really strong visualization to it because of great writing. The moves all manage to stand out despite at times only bearing a small difference, for example in utilizing a reverse grip or how the knife is being held or how it’s used. It’s always a joy to read you execute these simpler moves that can in other also great sets become muddled in awkward turn-of-phrase or end up being redundant, but Kunai effectively manages to make the most of a fairly straightforward ninja playstyle.

The way the clones work in this are largely piggybacking off of Shinobu, and as Shinobu’s clones were really well done, I can hardly complain. However the set does at times feel a little familiar. Mostly where it branches off is in the way the tornado reflects and boosts in a totally unique way, and Kunai predictably has a fair share of knives to throw. These moves tend to be versatile as melee while still acting as the projectile you’d expect for reflection shenanigans. By comparison to Shinobu though, it’s not got the same level of insane complexity and mostly is what you’d expect out of a ninja clones set, the clones adding a couple of interactions in for example the pummel or strengthening certain moves because of 50/50s, but largely not adding too terribly much. Again I can’t complain, Shinobu was an underrated and excellent set, it’s still a lot of fun to return to those ideas and see the series filled out with another set.

To finish up, as I don’t have an awful lot to say on this one, I do love all the references and writing style of this set. Who else would reference Crump, Kamoshida and Spadefox’s edgy philosophical pose in the same moveset? I love it. I also love the little things like the increasingly expensive looking log and statue, the “hugging a cute girl,” the alt costumes. I am probably the last person who would like this kind of LFP and yet here I am enjoying this set immensely because of your great style. Nicely done Kat!

Yoshikage Kira is easily your best set Khold, and I say that as the biggest fan of Dead Hand. Where that set was at its strongest, the tone and characterization, is back in full force here providing a delightful background for the reader. It’s readily apparent to anyone who takes a passing glance that Kira’s set is enveloped by the JoJo atmosphere and character, blurring the lines between the presentation and set proper. The set admirably tries to tell the full story of Kira as a character and I feel it does its best job early on establishing who the character is which is a real treat if you are a fan of him or the series. That it tells the whole story of the villain is truly impressive.

The set takes some Kholdian turns in the balance when the stand is in play, shaving off the 5 frames of start lag when Killer Queen is summoned if he’s already out, at the cost of greatly increasing the size of Kira’s hurtbox. You’ve played with these sorts of mechanics in the past but this is by far the cleanest best balanced of these mechanics. It’s an interesting dichotomy keeping Kira’s offence in check by severely nerfing his defence when the stand is out, in an efficient and surprisingly intuitive way. It’s pretty much a glass cannon, there’s been many of them this contest, this one being most similar to Kimblee what with the explosive concepts. Where it and Kimblee divide strongly is that Kimblee is more of a general glass cannon revolving around a very poor recovery, durability and balanced by huge offensive power alone, while Kira’s mechanics craft a bit of a deeper playstyle.

The set was always going to have a tough time juggling all the things Kira can do. You did a great job though deciding what to include, for example when I thought about how a Kira set might work I tended to use Stray Cat, but the way you go about things, I love the purity of keeping it solely focused on Kira’s own abilities and attacks. It just feels correct to instead focus on things like interpreting his various manga attacks/poses, for example the ftilt, the hilarious uthrow, the fsmash all being fun ways of bringing in material. Smash does this and so do JJBA and EoH, the recent 3D JoJo fighting games. The set does a great job of nailing the atmosphere, the playstyle and the individual moves if not directly using something he does in the manga/anime, feeling completely fitting to the character, the full package.

The set did have a few minor issues. The balance while strangely fascinating in how well it works given the amount of asterisks about the frame data, and meticulous details of things like active frames, I think probably leans a bit into being UP. This is simply because of Kira’s hitboxes not being the best (Killer Queen has more precise strikes rather than say, a Bowser fsmash dropkick that’s really meaty). A lot of the moves where Killer Queen does get a meaty hitbox, these are generally held down a bit by those 5 frames of starting lag if he’s not already out. It might become a little frustrating in disadvantage, as AFAIK, Kira doesn’t have any special get off me option he can throw out like a Bowser uspec out of shield. To give an idea, Mac has some of the best frame data in the game with 1 or 2 frame moves, but is still a bottom tier. It would actually be perfectly fair for Killer Queen to have this speed of move when he’s already out, it might sound too good on paper in practice but it’s absolutely justified in my opinion. A move like nair that doesn’t even KO would be a good pick for a buff, I’d bring down the tilts to be around 5 frames with Killer Queen too rather than closer to 10. I’m interested if you agree because you clearly put a lot of thought into the balance and I do have a love of pushing the number balance of sets. In any case, it’s a fun challenge to balance this character.

Overall my opinion of this set is very positive! It’s by far your best set and frankly, it’s a gigantic improvement on Dead Hand, a set I personally liked more than anyone else. I can only hope you find the inspiration and time to make even more sets like this one in the future.

As the other person to have made a FNAF set this MYM, I approached Springtrap well aware of the challenges you face designing a set for this series, and my interest was piqued how you would try and overcome the inherent difficulty. To be honest the set has some good ideas, but I think this character is just very hard to get right. In terms of what you did get right, the references and material use is spot on, going so far as to use his idle animations or at least getting the feel of his melee right. Suffice to say for this alone, it’s a big improvement on the meme Springtrap. However there’s a few major issues and I’m not sure there’s much of an easy fix for them.

First of all, the way [Error] works, while a fun idea, is actually pretty awkward because of FFAs. Now, I’m not a huge stickler about sets being perfect transitions between FFA and 1v1s, but an illusion that only works on 1 foe at a time creates some really big logical problems when there’s more than 1 opponent at the same time. If you give 1 of the players this illusion, how is it that every other player is affected by them, or even sees them? You could just edit it so it’s only seen by other players in FFAs or teams though it’s still going to be weird even in that case.

The other issue I have that’s a bit worse is the use of other animatronics. Phantom Balloon Boy feels very tacked on and considering how violent Springtrap can get, it’s pretty bizarre that he literally scares every character like Ganondorf to the point they’re stunned that long. The amount of stun is really broken even if knockback is reduced. This would at minimum lead to whatever combos Springtrap could dream of when his knockback is reduced so the foe isn’t launched too far. I imagine even a smash attack would just end the stock most of the time when Springtrap still has plenty of time to push the foe to the edge. The other animatronics appearing on just the throws is even more odd. Fair to put them on Springtrap as I doubt the Phantom characters specifically would ever get their own sets but Springtrap’s specials are kind of crying out for another big concept too. Just summoning them for attacks or as minions would’ve really helped the set, and besides the fact they’re underplayed, the throws are pretty barebones when they aren’t involved.

Speaking of barebones I have to admit that’s the last big problem I have with the set, the moves especially the standards and aerials are super basic. I’m not against the attack animations, they just need more explanation especially with this character who is hard to imagine doing these more general moves. It’s hard for me to imagine Springtrap just do something as visceral as a Mario fair or dair stomp, it’s the kind of character who invites a lot of flavour text, because the way he moves would absolutely not be fluid. That feels like the biggest missed opportunity here and why it’s so hard to get this character right, Springtrap has tough concepts, is a very awkward character just in terms of animations, “jump scares” are tough to get right, and it goes on. Considering that it’s remarkable you got right what you did and I would still like to see you try at the series again, because it’s still interesting to see sets as someone who gets the appeal of the franchise.

 

[Kholdstare]

Thank you for the comment on Kira, Smady! Telling the complete story of Kira was one of my major goals so I'm happy you appreciated that. I will admit that Kimblee was an inspiration for the move direction (a set I enjoyed the ideas behind the mechanics but wasn't sold on the characterization or execution). The use of increased offense through faster attacks but decreased defense through a larger hurtbox was my way of maintaining his balance "status quo" that I think is only possible because of Smash's unique gameplay. Also it does tickle me pink to see the term "Kholdian", hehe.

Trying to encompass Kira's entire repertoire while still maintaining a cohesive moveset was a big plus for me as well. I took a page from Heritage for the Future by putting in as many references as I can which leads to some pretty funny situations admittedly when you look at it all together, the UThrow namely being one of them. You see 3D fighters like Eyes of Heaven and My Hero One's Justice struggle with encompassing a character's full abilities a lot considering how many alternate versions of the characters are playable (there's two Kiras in EoH for instance) and even traditional fighters like HFTF having two Kakyoins and DBFZ having God knows how many Gokus.

Stray Cat I knew had to be a big part of Kira given how it removes one of his weaknesses (Stand Range) and essentially can transform him into a different character in terms of playstyle. Early drafts of this set had some weird Stray Cat moves too, like bubble platforms Kira could bounce off of. In the end, using Stray Cat to facilitate a couple of move animations for the purpose of explosion hitboxes and the Neutral Special was the most elegant solution for me. What I'm most satisfied with is how the unprimed version of Stray Cat's bubbles are still relevant outside of mindgames and how it intuitively interacts with Down Special.

I see what you mean regarding balance. Lowering Kira's normals and aerials to 1-5 frames of lag with Killer Queen out would actually be cool now that I think about it, throwing back to the fast paced action of JoJo combat and traditional fighters as well. I'll go over those moves to see what could be buffed, especially Neutral Aerial, and bounce them off of Discord. Little Mac by the way is one of my casual mains; I love his ground game. I know FA had concerns about Kira's swingy balance so it would be interesting to see what some tweaking would look like.

Thanks again for reading and the comment! The positive reception to him has really boosted my confidence and put a smile on my face. This has always been my end goal as a MYMer, to have a set I'm satisfied with and for the people I look up to to like it as well. I'm also happy you liked Dead Hand as well, though I knew that last contest it's still nice to have one's work referenced past the MYM it was posted in, hehe. Look forward to more Kiras in the future, although I'm not sure I can do the "telling the story of a character" thing with everyone.

 

[FrozenRoy]

ZeraoraoraORAORAORA (Zeraora bubbyboytoo )

Zeraora is a set with a simple premise, but that doesn't make it bad. In fact, Bubby, I would say I rather enjoyed this set, and that it is the best Bubby set I can remember reading! I will note I have not read Morlagren or Sgt. Hammer yet though, but it sounds like Zeraora is definitely the preferred of them.

Zeraora brings back the classic style of electric charge in MYM, where you power up your charge with movement, like a static electricity generator. Zeraora gets his additional way to charge with his Shield Special (and, later, Down Throw), but it is riskier or forces Zeraora to give up some advantage state, meaning that he still has an opportunity cost to it. In addition to the expected uses, though, Zeraora used it for something I really enjoyed: Zeraora's smash attack charges use up his charge meter, but in return he can actually cancel his smash attack charges, allowing him to fake out the opponent! It also means his charged attacks are stronger, and can come with added effects! This kind of "feint" effect on the smash attacks is pretty neat, although I will say I would reduce the lag a good amount on the cancel itself. Half of the fun is it NOT being committal and forcing opponents to deal with that, I imagine. I do wonder if requiring all three bars is a bit underpowered as well, although it is probably fine. You could potentially switch it up to it taking 1/3rd, 2/3rd and then 1 whole bar instead of 1/2/3 bars and it would be good too, I think.

I am sure it could be argued Zeraora is too excessive when it comes to the amount of moves that are combo fodder, and while that is a somewhat fair complaint, I think it works fine here with Zeraora obviously being a quick-twitch combo character in the vein of Sheik and Greninja. These characters often have a ton of combo-style moves where half of the fun is what the player can make from free-flowing combo options to surprise the opponent and using a large variety of combo options to overwhelm the opponent with that and stuff like frame data. Zeraora feels like a solid addition to that kind of mold. I liked how Forward Tilt felt like a different spacer with the rest of the set and the electric "scarf" getting used for this kind of attack felt creative.

In general, I would say an issue with Zeraora is the set in general feels underpowered. It isn't exactly easy to get three bars for something like Jab, which requires three bars to do 25% damage without even setup knockback, which feels pretty bad in Smash Ultimate where you can land an Ike NAir to get 23%+ or what have you, and while Zeraora has benefits that doesn't, it is the kind of option that feels almost never worth it. I would either allow Zeraora to end with some kind of more beneficial knockback (start a small combo? low knockback angle to force tech situations?) or would boost its damage. You could pretty easily have this do 32% or something and I don't even think it would be that great. The charge meter also feels like it could stand to fill faster, half a bar for a full Final Destination of dashing feels rather weak. Finally, Zeraora's combos sometimes sound like they might be kind of small, although this might be more an issue of my reading it than anything.

I thought the Specials were fairly solid as a base, Discharge was kind of fun being a low-lag option no matter the power it has, which gives it a variety of applications from comboing to killing, and I liked that the 2-bar version wasn't as great as the 1 or 3 bar due to less specialization, kinda gave the impression you want to use it at specific times, which was good. Side Special changing its hitbox style with charge level was fairly neat (and feels like it could have more application/experimentation in the future), and Up Special was fairly neat as an Extremespeed-esque attack, and I did like how it felt like it had multi-faceted uses based on your charge level (it might be fun if Zeraora's animations got increasingly violent in impact to emphasize the increasing recoil). Down Special gets the most changes out of any of Zeraora's Specials thanks to the range increase as well as the rest, and BOY is that 3-bar version scary, but given the high resource drain and high starting lag it SHOULD be really scary. Having such a big, flashy move be for damage rather than killing power is also interesting. I will say I would actually consider upping the damage on this a little bit for all versions (maybe +6% per charge level instead of +5%, or even +7%?) considering that this is a laggy attack that requires resources to be great, hitting for over 30% damage shouldn't be too scary.

A few quick hits of attacks I liked past that: Up Tilt being able to either be a close-combo damage option or being able to expend a bar to make it a long-range combo with stuff like Up Special made this pretty simple juggler fun, Down Tilt felt pretty aware of a way to do charge boosts aside from just "hit hard" and I like how it presents an interesting choice to the viewer and has different uses if, say, a second hit can shieldpoke. Dash Attack's animation was a really nice touch, I wonder if it should boost Zeraora's speed slightly when charged, I liked the way you can use the increased momentum from more of a dash attack as an off-stage option. Neutral Aerial was one of my favorite attacks, transforming this sex kick move into somewhat of a mindgame thanks to how the tatsu-style second attack works. It also presumably can be a hit-confirm or even a bit of use when edge-guarding! Up Aerial is aware enough to make sure Zeraora doesn't have an easy kill confirm by just Up Aerial -> Up Aerial and Down Aerial's mixture of a Thunder-esque attack with a Zetterburn-style spike was good and I liked how it rewarded hitting up close despite the bolt's range as a balancing act.

This leads to the biggest areas this set could be improved, largely with the pretty lackluster grab game, which was the only part of Zeraora I felt was actively bad and was a jarring quality disconnect compared to the rest. 3/4ths of the throws are just mediocre-to-solid KO throws whose only addition from charges is KOing veeeeery slightly earlier, and Down Throw gaining charge is fine but I did feel disappointed there wasn't a charge-expenditure option. Every single other attack has it aside from a move whose ONLY purpose is to gain charge (unlike this, which is also an attack) and the ability to exchange meter gain for some other effect would have been an interesting decision to make. I would definitely implore you to change up these throws to add more to them: Maybe a unique knockback angle on B-Throw or F-Throw that is low, so it forces a tech situation at lower percentages, or a charge that instead adds hitstun or REDUCES knockback to allow Zeraora to use them as a combo starter instead, which could be really deadly with Zeraora's stronger combo game!

For Down Throw, I would definitely add a charge-expending ability to it, allowing Zeraora to choose between gaining a bar for little hitbox effect as-is or expending it for a stronger effect. Maybe the opponent could have electricity shocked into them or their static electricity could be increased, causing Zeraora's next electric attack to spark it and deal bonus damage which could be deadly with stuff like Forward Smash? Maybe it has a "static cling" effect that causes Zeraora or the thrown foe to slowly move towards each other, making it harder to escape his offensive pressure? Or it could even just knock the foe into prone and, I dunno, the static cling to the ground gives them a small delay before they can use their prone options for a stronger prone option than normal. It could be something I didn't even think of, either, but I wish it had something.

Similarly, I do think this set could have gotten more experimental or flashy in the smashes, whose charge expending options didn't feel like that much once you got past the charge-cancel mechanic, I feel this moreso for Up Smash and Down Smash. Maybe Up Smash could send sparks up that increase range and are a multi-hit to catch air dodges better, but deal less damage/knockback than hitting with the base hitbox, or a reverse of the Down Aerial where a small bolt of electricity shoots up and the tip is a spike that can allow Zeraora to combo or something? I feel there's definite room to do more here.

Ultimately, though, Zeraora was a rather pleasant set that took a simple concept and I felt executed it quite well. You definitely added more depth to the moves compared to, say, Jupiter, even when accounting for the natural fact the charge mechanic would add a little by default. Also, I enjoyed the playstyle section, which actually helped convince me on an aspect I had been unsure of before, specifically the set lacking more movement-attack options. I hope you continue making sets as good as this!

Adware 2.0 (Springtrap ZLBProductions )

Quite a burst of Five Nights at Freddy's sets this contest, eh? Maybe soon we'll have five sets for it and we can call it Five Sets at Freddy's...anyway.

Springtrap is a set that has a decent idea in the [ERROR] mechanic, but it really needs a lot of work. The main thing it needs is just...More. Smady discussed animations in his comment, so let me come from my biggest gripe which is the actual gameplay. For example, the first three standards don't even describe lag which is one of the most basic things we usually want to see in movesets. It isn't like we need exact frame data or anything, but a basic idea (either via descriptor or comparisons) is essentially required. There's even a difference between saying, say, "This attack is slow", "This attack is slightly on the slower end" and "This attack is REALLY slow" that all allow a reader to better visualize and understand the attack. Furthermore, the attacks give essentially no idea or description of how they work into Springtrap's overall playstyle, other attacks, themes...most anything, really, as they are essentially as barebones as possible, although Up Tilt tries. This is also very true with the Aerials (the set in general has this issue but it is most pronounced in those two sections), for example half of Neutral Aerial (which clocks in at a mere 56 words total) is dedicated to just saying it is normal in every way rather than giving any type of indication to why Springtrap wants to use this "normal" Neutral Aerial and so on.

This makes the set not only a dull read, but one with pretty low quality, seemingly a collection of difficult-to-visualize moves with seemingly no cohesion at all. To use an analogy that as I recall Katapultar used, you can kind of think of movesets as a puzzle, with your words and descriptions being the pieces that you want to get the reader to complete into your intentions. If you give them nothing to work with, like a puzzle that's 80% just blank red (thanks Nintendo!), then even if the finished product is good people simply won't be seeing the bigger picture and putting it together. Thanks to the lack of description, Springtrap is essentially a blank puzzle outside of a few pieces of Special, giving me a profound sense of...nothing.

Now, high word counts do NOT make a good set (to use a self-depricating example, my Leoric set from MYM18 was like my 3rd longest set when I made it. It also is an awful set and rightly did not place), otherwise you could just write anything to make a set "better". But there's generally a certain minimum of explanation and depth you need to convey in order for the reader to understand. You can think of it like an Art of Smash-style video (IzawSmash's channel!), except you lack the ability to show the person you are discussing what you mean (which usually means it is longer). As illustration, Springtrap's main body set (no description, stats or Final Smash) is 3,739 words. Divide that by 23 (the number of moves in a moveset) and each attack on average is only getting about 162 words to itself, which isn't a lot of room to try and explain the complexity that comes from playing Smash Brothers. If we cut out the grab and pummel as inputs (since those are almost always very small), it is 178 words a section.

But, on top of that, almost ALL of that is just in the mechanic and specials, leaving the rest of the set incredibly little to work with. If you take out the Specials/mechanic (and reduce the size by 4 to account for 4 less inputs), Springtrap's non-Specials average about 101 words a move, with the Standards/Aerials being less. When you consider a good chunk of those words are spent on mentioning damage, animation, lag...you are left with very little in the way of giving the attack depth and are instead just making an attack that reads "This character attacks". This is the number one thing that MUST be improved if you want to make better sets in the future.

Personally, I would recommend reading some sets to understand the kind of depth that is usually looked for by comparison. Most of UserShadow's sets (not Primeape, though, being a very basic set and universally considered his weakest set) from both this contest and the last are great example of more moderately sized sets (and therefor more comperable to what you're looking for, I imagine) that add in a pretty good amount of nuance and depth to the entire set. Paper Witch Mint from last contest is a "5k challenge" (meaning a set whose moveset body is 5k words or less total) set and finished 31st last contest, for an easy to read example. Some other sets that are more modestly sized I would recommend include SCRATCH (8.3k words including intro, stats, extras and Final Smash, finished 19th in MYM21), Poochyena (has been fairly liked this contest and is only 5.5k words including intro and stats), Muno's trio of Jefferson DeGrey, Jaina Stormborne and Valerie Rose (all around 7.5k to 10k words including intro, stats etc, and which got 26th, 25th and 23rd respectively), Haunter from MYM20 (Around 7-8k words, 18th in MYM20) or Elekid from this contest. There are MANY other sets than just these + the UserShadow sets worth reading, of course, but here I am trying to find a rather narrow definition of sets specifically good for seeing what I mean about the expansion of gameplay thoughts without being too long (and, generally, not being ones like minion sets to emphasize how it is the basics that need improvement).

On top of that, while [ERROR] is a decent idea, I found its execution rather lackluster, and not too creative. It definitely is something that could get the fearful spooks of FNAF into Smash, but it ultimately almost always boils down to "illusionary Springtrap boosts the attack's damage", for example the Smashes are pretty boring in this regard. Even something simple like, say, let's take Forward Smash, right now it just does the attack again. Imagine if, say, the illusionary Springtrap appears in front of Springtrap and facing the original, so that a foe in the middle will have it appear behind them. They then attack and where their attack meets is a strong sweetspot that deals great damage as both Springtraps skewer the foe! Not only would this be more rewarding to land, it also would fit FNAF by being a representation of jump-scaring the opponent, as Springtrap appearing behind them unexpectedly led to their demise! [ERROR] doesn't even do almost anything save for a mediocre power boost on most of Springtrap's throws despite the fact he is summoning illusionary versions of other characters! This feels like a huge missed chance to do so much more than the most basic of buffing effects. I feel like Neutral Special could have been moved to, say, Forward Smash and Neutral Special could have involved using the illusions in more innovative ways for example, and even then bring them back for the throws for some unique effects later or something! Side Special is the only move that really does much with it and I feel like the stun is too powerful sounding especially since it opens up strong combo opportunities with how the stun works.

I hope I did not come across as harsh, but Springtrap simply had a lot of issues that prevented me from getting much of anything from it, and I just didn't really hav much positive to say aside from the fact [ERROR] feels like a good mechanic flavorfully speaking. I hope that you improve in the future, anyway, as it'd be nice to see even more strong sets come out given the quality this contest (and last contest, too!)

 

[Slavic]

PaniK has received extensive edits! Click his name to see them... if you dare.

Changelog is below if you just want the cliffnotes.

Spoiler: PaniK Changes

Neutral Special - Summon​

- Stock limit on monsters removed, changed to a five second cool down on respawning them in for general viability
- Cooldown on summoning monsters removed to aid neutral
- Removed ability to tap through the monster selection, only brings up a wheel
Castle of Dark Illusions
- Size decreased to Bowser’s size
- HP increased from 50 to 70
- Produces a spherical effect rather than a conical one
- The Castle crashing onto him no longer damages PaniK
Crass Clown
- HP increased from 15 to 25
- Always spawns on top of Clown Ball
- Also looking at Official Card Art Crass Clown uses a Scythe, not a balancing rod, so attacks have been slightly modified to adjust for this
- Baton Spin buffed from 9% to 12% damage
- Stab attack buffed from 7% to 11% damage
Ryu-Kishin
- HP increased from 20 to 30
- Speed increased
- Given mid-air jumps rather than “bobbing through the air”
- Slashing attack buffed to 13% damage
- Second and third attacks completely redone
Reaper of the Cards
- Scythe attack increased to 16% damage
- Phase attack increased to 5% damage
Tribute
- Tribute mechanic moved from Down Smash to Double-Tapping Summon input
- No longer an attack
- Opens wheel to select monster to tribute
- Now affects all PaniK’s moves

Side Special - Shadow Shackle​

- Chaos Shield moved to Down Special
- Call of the Haunted removed

Down Special - Chaos Shield​

- Animation changed to match Summon / FSmash
- Changed from 2 moves of superarmor to 5 seconds of Tough Guy armor
- Added ability to overheal monsters through tribute
- Tribute input now creates an attack blocking shield around the Castle’s darkness

Up Special - UpperKut​

- Damage buffed on first hit from 6% to 7%
- Included and changed Tribute effect
- Doesn’t put PaniK in helpless when used from the ground

Grab Game​

- Tribute effect added to pummel to attach Shadow Shackle
- All throws replaced
- Smashes and Grab Game Swapped

Smashes​

- Tribute effect added to all Smashes
- DSmash replaced
- USmash now lingers on stage as a trap

Standards​

- Jab start lag reduced
- FTilt replaced
- UTilt replaced

Aerials​

- UThrow replaced
- FAir speed increased

Final Smash​

- Final Smash changed

 

[UserShadow7989]

Mina Aquila: ForwardArrow
Another long overdue comment, I mentioned after my first read through I would give her a second glance to see if I could offer some criticism. Sorry it took me this long! I reread it recently, and made a few notes I think could help.

Mina's a fun character with visually distinctive moves that made it easy to recall and picture her attacks as I went through the set, and she makes pretty great use of her core tools in Ginny, the petals, and the fruits. Overall though, I feel Mina could use a few buffs to her base versions of each move? Having each move improve so much with proper use of her pink petals is pretty cool, but it feels like she's a little too weak without them, and it means she will often have to neglect the purple and red petals.

Her Neutral Aerial having a 3 frame window where it's good by default and is pretty bleck for the rest of it is the immediate example that comes to mind, though admittedly I'm not great at thinking in terms of frames. I think her petals could stand to have a little more duration to them, even with how fast Smash is and Ginny's assistance at storing and refreshing them. As-is she has to micromanage her petals constantly.

The primary buff I'd recommend is letting Ginny pick up petals from further than just his tiny hitbox; given they have two somewhat erratic movement patterns it feels like it would be hard to pick them up on purpose, and you're not likely to send Ginny near a set unless you intend for the pick up to happen or are willing to make the trade-off.

For some other buffs, I feel that the Down Special tree could have the time it grows trimmed (heh) to 3 seconds instead of 5; with how fast Smash Bros is, it feels like the fight could easily shift away from the tree before Mina gets the chance to really capitalize on or make use of its fruit, which themselves take a while to grow after the first. On the topic of the tree, does it obstruct movement? That can be very useful if Mina can smack opponents against it, though you'll need some way to prevent wall infinites or similar shenanigans if so. I assume not due to the lack of the latter, in which case you should note it down. Ginny's spin from eating a fruit could also stand to have its base duration lengthened, given how much set up it takes to begin with (Ginny in place, fruit thrown to Ginny, and then batting the foe into Ginny).

On a less pressing note, I'd suggest that vines extending off the nearest foe in a FFA situation be changed to 'nearest foe in the direction Mina faces, or the nearest foe behind her if she reverses the grab input'. That way it's a little harder to waste the grab by mistake, or to have it go off on one opponent while you're going for another.

A quick nitpick while I'm at it; in Down Tilt, it mentions: "If Ginny is just standing around doing nothing and the plants roll into him, Ginny will be pushed into a roll by the plants, going forward about 1.2 battlefield platforms with the same rolling hitbox as an unangled Forward Tilt." I believe you meant Side Special?

Aside from the numbers and the Standards section, which felt a bit like a weak section for me (perhaps Forward Tilt's projectile getting more of a call back from the rest of the set would've been nice, and I feel Up Tilt is functional but a bit bland in hindsight), I enjoyed every section of the set thoroughly. The Aerials and Throws felt particularly strong. Seeing an extension of the Hee-mo universe was pretty unexpected, and dipping so far outside your comfort zone has produced an interesting end result. While you don't count Mina as one of your heavy hitters this contest, she's no slouch either.