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

[UserShadow7989]

Magdalena Reinier by Slavic ***

Your first OC set and a solid one at that, I quite enjoyed Magdalena all the way through. The world building notes placed after each input fleshed out the world she's from nicely, and her flair for the dramatic is present throughout each of the moves (her pummel animation even got a giggle out of me). The set balances a few mechanics- Fuel, Heat, Auto-Pilot, and her Shield- and I feel they do make for an interesting overall playstyle where you have to weigh your choices in concept. The individual moves and her Smash attack variants in particular are fun to picture in practice, giving her an aggressive game plan that's kept in check by her assorted systems.

I do feel there were a couple issues in implementation. One striking thing no doubt a result of the Jamcon time frame was that we don't learn the exact effect of running out of fuel on attacks that use them until Down Aerial; I feel it should've been noted under the mechanic, with individual moves noting if one of their applications only happens with the right fuel amount- since fuel and heat are effectively balanced against each other, a bit more attention to when a move benefits from one against the other would've been nice.

That's not to say there's not a lot to love here; the set is set up such that Magdalena is free to get increasingly aggressive as her resources dwindle and heat rises. Her moves are faster without her shield even if they lack the protection, reduced burst movement from her fuel-using inputs lets means she's less likely to overshoot or eat an attack the opponent started winding up from further away, her auto-pilot improving her dodges, and the increasing damage-over-time effect from being close to her, all encourage her to cast off her more defensive initial game plan and go for the kill as she nears defeat.

While it does feel like there could be more to the set, it's still a satisfying product and an excellent character all in one, and the fact the set was assembled so quickly isn't apparent outside of a couple hiccups. Nice work, Slavic!


Exdash Exiviiq by bubbyboytoo ***

An interesting pick, with an interesting core concept, that has some neat individual move ideas and mechanics in the way your sets always do, that ends up not quite coming together due to not being fully fleshed out to your usual 'small on words big on content' execution I'm always fond of. Exdash reps one of MYM's new favorite games well, giving the feel of a singular survivor doing all they can to fend off an overwhelming force with whatever they can harness.

Exdash is a zoner, unashamed and unabashed, with important weaknesses despite his breadth of tools that avoids some of the more obnoxious trappings of his canon Smash cousins, and also makes sure to personify some of his home game's loving references to Castlevania by taking a page from the Belmonts here and there with his own spin on them. Too slow to kite or camp mindlessly, too light to afford making mistakes, and bearing a mechanic that encourages him to keep racking up damage as best he can even when it seems hopeless. I do wonder if reaching a full meter might be a bit too hard for him as-is, but I've never been the best at numerical balancing, and those options ARE strong/he does carry over non-full meter between stocks (which brings to mind the annoying possibility he might hit full meter right before losing a stock if he's not careful, but good with the bad).

Honestly, I feel like Exdash is a set I'd like to see expanded on a little in the future. I hadn't mentioned them up until this point, but his avian companions are a nice addition to the set that gives it a little more depth. And whether or not it feels unfinished, it was an enjoyable read throughout.

 

[Smady]

Surprise surprise! It has been a while, but Ode Iou was a set that I read and fascinated me enough, and has been on my mind for the past week, that I decided to write a comment. It should not be secret that due to busyness, I don't have as much time for movesets or Make Your Move currently, though I do have some projects in the works, anyway...

This set really shows your evolution as an MYMer to make something this interesting that lacks the flashy aspects one might generally expect in an MYM set. I mentioned in the chat that the set's focus on Ode's unique, super heavy, and exciting body type was a very wise decision. The character is not only, well, huge, but his unique limbs and structure pretty much write moves on their own. It's not something I had considered and yet is naturally how this character would be designed for Smash.

As a fan of Live-A-Live (you got me into it, thanks for that), it was intriguing to see a moveset for the game and how it might interpret the various mechanics. The main takeaway from LAL is the poison mechanic, and it was close to how I remembered the fight in my playthrough. My experience was doing the Ninja route first (a hilarious mistake, but one I'm glad to have made) and Ode locking me down hardcore with poison damage. It was a slog of a fight, and this set does get across that feel, which is some powerful characterisation for a pretty simple boss. The characterisation does pretty well, too. There's not much to go on, but there is a certain bold arrogance through many move animations.

Mechanically the set is quite good too. I like the use of poison. As many others pointed out, distinguishing it from typical MYM poison was a great idea. The set has some entertaining melee attacks and generally interesting versions of typical super heavyweight fare. My favorite parts of the set were the pretty unorthodox smashes, with probably the forward smash being my favourite move. I couldn't help but wonder what else could be done with that move, like eating up his projectiles and spitting them back out, perhaps? The aerials were also surprisingly versatile, which is very important on a character whose main gimmick is having armoured jump squats.

So the set overall was great. I would say that the set could've been a bit more creative. The aforementioned forward smash did leave me wanting a bit more ultimately. The set relies on some relatively basic concepts, with stacking poison damage and a self-healing/battle of attrition sort of playstyle that could have been a little stronger. While the melee is good, I feel like the more creative inputs could've afforded to take a few more risks. An excellent set like Pegasus did take those chances. However, considering the fast development process for this set, the character, and everything else, it's pretty mild criticism and speaks to its impressive strengths.

Overall I am glad to see LAL getting love in the gaming and MYM worlds, and this was a perfect choice for the Jamcon. If I were to vote, this set feels very much like a strong RV or even RV+ contender. LAL is one of those games where I feel almost any character would be interesting in MYM. Even the trap setter, who is Ode's minion, would probably be fascinating. I would absolutely welcome any more sets for the game. Congratulations on temporarily reviving me from the grave with this great set.

 

[n88]

The Baseball Boys by Slavic

This is a really fun moveset that does a great job exploring its premise. The Baseball Boys as these pseudo-ICs that play with desynced projectile manipulation is a take that feels like it could get very MYMy. The set is pretty restrained in approach to the control scheme and setwide mechanics though, and devotes more of its creative energy to the individual attacks, to great success. The gonzo ricochet projectile gameplan is a lot of fun to visualize, and it’s complemented by really solid melee.

I dig the broader Yoshi’s Island pulls to flesh out their projectile game and add color. I, a purist, would have simply made the moveset boring, but I appreciate the little nods back to their home game. It’d come across as a bit of a reach on some Mario mooks, but feels like a clever exploitation of the absurd specificity of the Baseball Boys and their failure to make it off Yoshi's Island.

I remember FA was concerned about there being too many reflectors here and you were considering getting rid of most or all of them (or at least, getting rid of their ability to reflect enemy projectiles). I get that they might not need all the reflectors, but their pervasiveness does feel like a big part of Slugger’s identity (and something rooted in both his appearance in Yoshi’s Island and baseball bats in Smash) that it’d be a bummer to drop that angle altogether. I’d advocate preserving it to an extent. Keep a couple in, or put some limiter on reflecting besides just removing the reflectors.

Stray thoughts:

• The characters are labeled at the top, denying me the chance to ascertain on my own which one is which.
• Given the one ball limit, is NSpec a ‘do nothing if a ball is out’ sort of move, or will throwing a new one expire the old one? Also do ballified enemy projectiles count toward the limit? I’m assuming yes.
• There are too many laugh lines in this set for me to run around calling 'em all out. I loved the father/son bit.
• “Without Green Glove, a magic white glove, similar to Mario’s” - is this the Mario’s Jab moveset?

 

[UserShadow7989]

Ninon Joubert by Katapultar ***

It admittedly took me some time to figure out the mechanic, and I'm still a little confused as to how the math works on the frames as described by NSpec (a typo I think going by the rest of the set which threw me off a little) and how you use the held variant of Up Special vs priming the normal version (or how you charge Down Smash without priming it).

That aside, I REALLY liked Ninon. She has a strong core trick in her Neutral Special combined with being able to toss out stronger moves faster by banking them to take the edge off of her start and potentially end lag. Just having a core movement option that sees her jolt back and forth is cool, and it encapsulates her character of failing hilariously while still being able to pull off surprising feats of competence when believing in herself.

NSpec, USpec, and the interactions between NSpec/tapped USpec/held USpec are all cool stuff for movement. Ninon has a few overly simple inputs (such as FThrow; Jamcon, time crunch, etc) but for the most part her inputs are all rather fully fleshed out and interesting in their own right with that running thread of NSpec (with proper mentions of her other Specials, even DSpec) tying the set together well. There's an absolutely solid melee game underneath as well, taking each piece under consideration as part of the whole and extrapolating on the core mechanic and Neutral Special.

Compared to Seth, for a surprisingly good counterpoint where a mobility tool ends up being key to the set's more interesting tricks, I feel Seth had a more consistent quality throughout, while Ninon does more creative and wild things at her peak. I tend to lean concept over execution in a pinch, which means Ninon did manage to dethrone Seth (and Magdalena who was a close second consideration) as my current favorite Jamcon set. Unless the Nostalgia Critic surprises me (you never know!), Ninon pulls home a victory worthy of a bridge-annihilating celebration.

That said, Tern did a very good job of explaining the mechanic to me, and that made a key difference here since I don't think I'd have enjoyed the set as much if I had an incorrect grasp of it- be sure to clean it up a little post-Jamcon voting.


The Nostalgia Critic by dilliam ***

The perfect encapsulation of the man himself- some decent ideas at first and a few funny gags scattered throughout, ending with disappointment.

That easy shot taken and put aside, The Nostalgia Critic set has some fun concepts in the Drunkenness status giving his moves some RNG that can backfire but also making them generally more potent, the bonus fruit-like NSpec that gives him some flavors of zoning tricks, Up Special's teleport trick letting him pop in to hit foes and pop back out, and his general dedication to being annoying to fight between his unpredictable smattering of options to control space and hit foes when they're least expecting it, as well as how many of his inputs (Up Tilt, Neutral Aerial, and Back Throw in specific) do double duty as taunts. His game plan is to lame it out, poking and prodding foes, kicking them when they're down, making it frustrating to approach or to force him to approach in equal measure, and generally just chip away until he gets a chance to vent his rage with one of his angry KO moves.

This really does fall off past the start, though. Drunkenness doesn't come up for about half of his inputs, which admittedly does give him some reliable options whether he's in that state or not, and most of his options don't particularly gel together to become more- the drunken version of F****** BUBBLES! leading nicely into Up Smash aside. Granted, the material you're working with here is a bit thin, but he's surprisingly not that chaotically interesting past the Smashes. Time WAS a factor, coming in just before the finish line for the Jamcon, but it'd have been nice to see this consistent quality and sense of chaos like in Slavic's Tumble set from last contest, as an alternative to something more typically solid.

Still, this set was a trip down memory lane, thinking back to the good old days before, uh, basically everything over the last decade or so honestly. Like those older episodes, the set might not be a masterpiece or consistent in quality, but there's a charm here and some good laughs that put a smile on my face, and it makes me miss it. I'm kinda interested in seeing a set that plays with a Drunkenness buff and RNG that way in the future, or a character where half of their inputs serve as extra taunts. So I'd say you accomplished your goal here, dill, and I'll admit the 6k words of this set were easier for me to read through than most- a nice reprieve of me turning my brain off and picturing the set in action as it was intended to be like in older MYM after a lot of reading and commenting.


My Jamcon Nomination is Ninon Joubert by Katapultar.

 

[GolisoPower]

"Shogun Ka Yo?!"
Ode Iou by U UserShadow7989

A FROGGE BIÞ A SMALE BEASTE WIÞ FOURE LEGGYS, WHICHE LIUEÞ BOÞE IN WATER AND ON LONDE! BUT ODE IOU BEN A GRET BEEſT!

Ahem...sorry 'bout that. Anyways, Hei Tred, or Ode Iou, or whatever he's called. LIVE A ƎVI⅃ is a game that I've been interested in ever since the remake was announced for Switch, and this feels, funnily enough, a good entry point into what I'd be in for. The character itself looks an awful lot like an extremely obscure youkai that nobody would probably hear about. In fact, the "big monster boss" thing is oddly reminding me of old Japanese tales like Momotaro or Shuten-douji. I guess that makes Oboro-maru the titular Momotaro or Minamoto-no-Raikou in those respective stories lol

Anyways, the set proper: The poison effects it introduces is an interesting alteration to what little poison effect exists in Smash already. It almost, in a way, reminds me of when I gave Sub-Zero a unique ice effect instead of the usual frozen effect. Side Special is a particularly dangerous projectile that doesn't just leave behind poison for you to pressure your foes with but also reduces their attack output by a small and short, yet very impactful margin. I wonder if that buff gets more and more intense the more times it's reflected before hitting, though. Would be pretty fun, in all honesty. Anyways, Neutral Special is another weaker, yet still useful projectile that allows you to spam needles for days and put foes on the defensive lest they get hit with poison. Down Special is a pretty fun take that plays up his amphibious physique with a Scintilla-style counter that further debuffs the foe if it's actually triggered, leading to potentially reducing damage to 0.7x if he's quick enough to attack once triggered. And lastly is the Ode Iou Bomb, or as you referred to in the set, Demon's Fall. A simple jump-and-ground-pound Up Special that can be easily covered by landing in a poison puddle. I do kinda wonder if that should create a splash that's its own hitbox if landing on a puddle, though, that would be pretty fun.

As for highlights on the normals, there's a lot to unpack: as I've stated in Discord, Side Smash is one of the most ridiculous I've ever seen, that much range for a hitgrab, followed by ridiculous burst damage and poison??? Damn, dude, hit the brakes! Down Smash made me remember that he's not like other frogs: he has snake arms. There are a lot of intricacies to that move that turns Ode Iou into an utter monster when it comes to stage control, leaving behind a poison mist that warns foes to not come in close and also has a great means of pinching them in a pincer maneuver between that and his fat froggy body. And lastly, Down throw, a move that seems to greatly improve his survivability with an innate healing property and also gives Iou a wicked set-up tool at later percentages, to boot. It's a fun little tool that gives him a pretty fun opportunity to further weaken his foes.

So overall, we have a frightening stage control character with a surprisingly good air game thanks to some powerful aerials and a good deal of zoning thanks to a varied projectile game and area denial that ensures nobody will move out of the way of where you want them. Maggie's got some stiff competition in this JamCon run, but regardless of who I nominate, Ode Iou was a pretty fun read that makes me want to get LIVE A ƎVI⅃ even more when it comes out.

...and now I want to eat frog legs.

It Is A Mystery
Exdash Exiviiq by bubbyboytoo

Our first Vampire Survivors set and it's for the literal last person I'd expect out of it. Not that that's bad, in fact, it's a real good thing! Exdash's Gimmicks are easy to understand: an EXP mechanic followed with a random crit mechanic on his Smashes that scales more with that EXP so as to not make it too BS for either side. The playset is simple to understand while still having a strong fun factor, strong points of Bubby's writing style, and conveys Exdash being a whispy space control character who's good at staying mobile and airborne. Neutral Special makes good use of his starting weapon as well as its counterpart for a unique space-covering attack that gives him some nice coverage and turns into a raw damage machine with it upgraded. Side Special is a hefty pressure projectile that gains the Smash attacks' benefits of critical hits and gets even scarier as the Sword. Up Special's another powerful projectile that gets even more ridiculous with EXP, and honestly I'm kinda scared and smiling over it. And then we have the absolute DIO move that is Down Special, being a terrifying flurry of knives when leveled up that's basically a much stronger rapid jab, though that's not to say the normal version's bad either. The normals give Exdash some surprising character, making use of both Ebony Wing and Peachone to fight for the most part while still using some of the other weapons found in Vampire Survivors. Side Smash's upgrade being a thing that heals him based on charge level is a fun, yet strong, effect that's balanced by it having strong-enough knockback that you can't spam it. Aside from all that, I feel like there's not much to say about it, but I think you did a pretty good job giving Vampire Survivors a set in this contest! A great effort, Bubby!

Quantum Chicken Soup Grass Big Chungus
Ninon Joubert by Katapultar

Now, this is a subaramazing set to read through! I can only say gomenasorry that your first idea didn't fall through, but hey, you ganbadid your best here, right?

A...anyways, now that that Certified Osakabehime Moment™ has passed, Ninon is, in all seriousness, a really fun set. Let's start with the Ninpo gimmick: it feels like another unique take on input storage that gives her a good long-term offense where she can look like she's about to use one move one moment, but then throws it out a few later! Of course, I was one of many who didn't understand it, but shoutout to Arctic Tern in Discord for making sense of it for us before you can apply the edits!

Neutral Special's an interesting dash where you can follow up with anything for an extra benefit, and with you performing extra dashes after landing a hit, you're effectively hitting their Pentagon by performing a ladder combo to the side blastline if the rush starts off-stage. That's even more likely if you do lethal Japanese sign language with your Neutral Special for extra distance and could perhaps be adapted for the top blastline if buffered. This is effectively the crux of the entire set, giving her unique hit-and-run tactics to work with. I really like Side Special being either a Belmont Cross or a weaker Blazing End, the former allowing for some good spacing/pressure and the latter being your strongest kill projectile, both of which get even crazier with Ninpo in the fray. Down Special's a decent counter that gives her more Ninpo slots for her to abuse when she uses her dash follow-ups in Neutral Special. And lastly Up Special, which is either two versatile projectiles in which the former is an annoying quick projectile while the latter is the stronger kill projectile or a Sheik-style burst teleport that not only gives her great mobility and recovery with a rush but also has a really scary sweet spot that can consistently kill at sub-100%. It all comes together in a "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" playstyle where she can be everywhere and kill from anywhere.

Highlights for her kit include her Up Smash, which I imagine her being covered in soot on hit, cartoonishly to play up her comedic nature, but the fact that she can follow up with yet another projectile that transfers ridiculous kill power to an amazing distance away from you. Her fan attacks almost make her a far less fanservicey version of Mai Shiranui but replace the bon-kyu-bon with absolute pon charm. It's also interesting that you can access the counter state through Down throw as well, allowing her to potentially block get-up attacks and get her yet another Ninpo slot. She tends to have the right spots for her gimmicks and I love it.

So overall, Ninon is a set that's just as enthusiastic about what it does as the character itself and is now officially the hard place to go with Maggie's rock. I'll have to think about which to nominate after I read through Dill's set lol

We'd Forget Him, But You Didn't
The Nostalgia Critic by dilliam

And we wrap up this JamCon with this lowkey and extremely deprecative set for the Nostalgia Critic. You said you made this set for the hell of it and it shows, but that's okay, you clearly had fun writing this! So the moveset gives him the playstyle of a drunk mosquito. From this point forward, I'm going to call this one the Mosquito Critic, because he's annoying, you don't know when he'll bite, and it gets really old from just trying to shoo him away every time he comes in. Anyways, Mosquito Critic has some RNG in the form of being drunk, but in this Legend, he's no Drunken Master. The set seems to mostly focus on the mildly salvageable first few years of his career, with a few hints of his "no better than Hollywood greed" modern era stuff, and can I just say, your mechanics are mighty simple, and yet there still feels like a lot of words. Not to say I had a hard time reading it, in fact, I felt it was easy to read, but the fact that you can put in the number of details you did in something so simple tells me you're taking what you applied with Teridax to heart and I'm all for it! Mosquito Critic's Specials seem interesting, giving you a choice whether you want to do it Sober and Clean or Drunk and Dirty with Side Special. I never would've thought to make the old gags into a Bonus Fruit-style move, and they all seem to have a pretty fun functionality to all of them. Then again, I never once considered making a Mosquito Critic set, so thanks for taking that bullet. Down Special is a powerful area-denial Special that if drunk has the chance to be an utterly BRUTAL edgeguard tool/Poison Cloud-style move where you get some protections, while Up Special gives him some good distance normally, but gains versatility while drunk! Some of the moves that you included are sure to give people some nostalgia for the Mosquito Critic's old days when we were younger and didn't care as we watched this dude tear apart hideous schlock. This isn't winning any awards anytime soon, but it sort of exemplifies what Nostalgia Critic is these days: a living joke we all love to viciously mock instead of admiring. You said that the Bugsnax was the set where you were gonna get serious, and I look forward to that with immense hype.

Now, then...my nomination:

Spoiler: Drumroll please...

MAGGIE GETS MY VOTE!

 

[dilliam]

SCORPION
Scorpion is a set that desperately needs more detail and fine tuning. The gimmick shows promise, nerfing knockback to extend combo strings, but it feels extreme with the huge knockback modifier and its actual role in the set feels minimal due to its specific activation and lack of applications described. The actual combo possibilities feel very glossed over outside of “this pairs well with x, y, and z”. This set would benefit greatly from more detail about possible combos and applications on every move.

NINON JOUBERT
Ninon has a slightly high barrier entry thanks to her primary gimmick, which personally took me a few reads over to truly understand, but was an enjoyable read nonetheless. Neutral Special is a fun central move that shakes up the entire kit in interesting ways. The counter is a really creative one too, shifting her hurtbox around has lots of possible applications. Up smash is fun too, it’s fun to imagine the shenanigans she can pull off with the bomb.

ODE IOU
Ode Iou benefits from a very unique poison mechanic that plays with the match timer itself in unique ways. The poison mechanic itself is very creative, putting them on a timer, effectively, before they take a hit. This is a really fun way to make him incredibly scary to fight against, combined with his poison field offering him small heals among other benefits. Side smash is a particularly fun move as well, I’m a sucker for big grabs like that. The attention to detail on his jumps is interesting as well, giving him a shocking amount of mobility despite his heavyweight nature.

EXDASH
Exdash plays with RNG in fun ways and the EXP mechanic is basic but creative. I do enjoy when sets focus on progression over the course of the match instead of one stock, and the leveling up mechanic was really fun too. I was also a fan of the birds and how they basically let the player throw out two inputs at once, which spices up his otherwise basic melee game nicely.

SETH
Seth is a competently made, if basic, set. The big hook here is his up special canceling into anything, which is milked for absolutely all its worth and it is fun to picture exactly what Seth could pull off with this tech. It’s hard to really describe this set other than “solid,” but it is very well put together and has a solid grasp of smash mechanics, and it channels the character well. This feels like the ideal Seth set for Smash in a similar manner to Sephiroth’s set being the best he could be in canon Smash, none of the wild high concept gimmicks one would see in MYM but still very fun.

YANG GUIFEI
Yang Guifei did take some time to sink in, but when I understood the bigger picture it was a very enjoyable set. The crit stars as a mechanic is fun. Down special seemed disgustingly overpowered at first, but I do like the idea of forcing opponents to approach you in order to get rid of a potentially broken status effect, letting you capitalize on brash mistakes. I do wish there were KO percents listed considering Cthuga’s Essence, considering how vital it is to letting her net kills.

MAGDALENA REINER
This is without a doubt my favorite set this JamCon. There’s a lot of concepts to juggle here, between the shield, the ammo types, the heat meter, and the fuel meter, but it never feels overwhelming or excessive. Everything bounces off of each other really well here, with the extra mobility provided by the fuel combined with the possible shield plays and different projectiles via the numerous ammo types. All the potential interactions between the shield and the projectiles is fun too. Outside of the… moveset part of the moveset, I really liked the little bits of lore sprinkled in after every input. It really helps the character feel alive, and it keeps things fresh as opposed to just dumping all the lore at the very beginning of the set.

My JamCon nomination is Magdalena Reiner.

The following are comments for non-JamCon sets that I had read previously but have not commented on yet.

TARANZA
This is another really simple set that’s absolutely mechanically sound without any huge gaping flaws, but no insane gimmicks or hooks either. I do enjoy all the different web traps as well as the mind control throw, especially how it’s balanced to not be obnoxious, fantastic stuff there. My favorite part of this set, though, is the fact that Taranza can turn minions to his side. It seems like a natural evolution to the concept of minions in a platform fighter, especially if they are as widely used as they are in MYM, to have moves that specifically counter them, much like how reflectors/pockets/etc are designed to deal with projectiles. It’s a very simple but novel thing that I appreciate.

DARK BLUPI
Dark Blupi is an utterly fantastic set that really shows the twisted side of Blupi’s psyche that he keeps repressed from the outside world. However, I must deduct all points because he cannot beat Goku.

SHINY HOPPIP
This set is the Eight Crazy Nights of movesets.

 

[FrozenRoy]

MYM25's 2nd Jamcon has ended!​

The quite nicely volumous, 8-set Jamcon 2 has ended, and we have a winner! It did take a tiebreak, but Ode Iou by UserShadow7989 is our winner, continuing our tend of every Jamcon having at least one new winner in it. Given UserShadow's participation since the first Jamcon, it's certainly a well deserved win. Vote totals below.

Ode Iou: Katapultar, Arctic Tern - 2.5 Points
Magdalena Reiner: GolisoPower, Dilliam - 2 Points
Ninon Joubert: UserShadow - 1.5 Points

I'm excited to see what UserShadow can bring next time around. Here's to another excellent Jamcon!

 

[Slavic]

Click me for raw data break down

Jodie Reynolds, Alolan Marowak, Berkeley & Cartwright, Nephenee, Ode Iou
755 Points

Light Yagami, Miruca Crotze, Jigoro Hakamichi, Mai & Yui, Ninon Joubert
742 Points

Blastoise, Meltryllis, Sam & Max, Seth
637 Points

Wheelie, Taranza, Dark Blupi, Asbestos, Exdash Exiviq
355 Points

Wolf Witch Veronica, Meltryllis, Eldlich the Golden Lord, Yang Guifei
354 Points

Broken Vessel, Venom Strange, Goro Akechi
311 Points

The Heavy, Tifa Lockhart, Senator Armstrong, The Dragonborn, Scorpion
236 Points

Quaxly, Mrs. Quackfaster, Daisy
221 Points

Whitebeard, Nino, Bellossom, Hammer Bro, Nephenee
214 Points

The Customer
213 Points

Nino, The Baseball Boys, Shiny Hoppip, Magdalena Reinier
192 Points

The Nostalgia Critic
176 Points

Valkyrie
171 Points

Whitebeard, Two-Face, Sam Fisher
163 Points

Elder Princess Shroob
100 Points

Slippy Toad
98 Points

Sleaze, Alex
63 Points

Firelight Ekko
37 Points

Saki Amimaya
33 Points

Aloy
33 Points

Mr. Rime
30 Points

24 Points

12 Points

---​

After an ever-so-slight delay, I'm bringing you the next fresh installment of the User Rankings! A lot has happened in that time... a lot, so point values have skyrocketed! Kat's racing after US who's currently in the lead with a massive 755 points!! All around things have gone incredibly well this contest, and so far every set has received multiple comments! Quite the feat and in such a timely manner, I'm so proud of how this contest is going!

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Spoiler: I see you there, Sakurai. 👀

But a Mii costume isn't going to cut it. Let's try and make this a reality with a moveset.

Spoiler

"My name is Jacky Bryant!"

 

[Arctic Tern]

JACKY BRYANT (Turtles)

First off, top notch character choice. I’m not that well versed on Virtua Fighter compared to other fighting games but more FGC characters are always appreciated.

Anyway, this is the first MYM set to go full-hog with the “3D fighter” genre, having more than 5 standard moves and a crouch dash. Unique to Jacky, however, is a simulation of his series’ control scheme, where A punches and tapped B kicks. Naturally, the standards are the highlight of the set; with 16 standards to work with, every move manages to fill in a niche that other moves don’t. There are some similarities in purpose between the moves but they have enough differences that they’re not that noticeable and it’s inevitable in a set with 16 standards. The other moves are also fairly solid, with a standout being the DSmash and its use as a combo starter rather than ender.

What I like most about the set is how accurately it gets across Jacky, both in character and playstyle. Jacky’s described as a mix-up heavy character in Virtua Fighter and that comes across excellently here, with his stance switching allowing him to mix-up his attack timings or move out of the way before rushing in with a move. I also like how he can skip his pummel, which both adds to the mix-up game and fits his hot-blooded battle persona. Lastly, there’s a good deal of flashy moves, such as his Falcon Punch-esque Lightning Storm and SSpec’s ability to suicide.

Would I say that Jacky Bryant is a surprisingly good fighting game set and a welcome return to form for Turtles? “YEAH!”

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Jacky Bryant

Wasn’t expecting another set from you all of a sudden, and a fleshed-out one for a fighting game character at that! Feels like a bit of an “out there” character pick from you. I respect setmakers who are willing to go the mile to adapt FG characters into movesets, as these are some of the harder sets to make in my opinion. It’s funny how we’ve had a few sets this contest that have split their melee attacks between the A and B inputs, as Almand’s Alex set did that too, but Specials can be performed normally here too! It’s actually impressive that you managed to include this many extra moves, and not only keep the wordcount low but highlight the attacks’ applications in an easy-to-understand way too.

His cancelling mechanic is fun, and I appreciate that while he can do this against shields, he receives a penalty if he does it against a shield. Pak Sao is cool too! We don’t get many idle-based mechanics like this in the vein of Link and Hero’s shields, and while the fact that it only counters ground-based punches is situational, I don’t feel like it would be obtrusive to gameplay when the foe can just hit Jacky in his shield or during his landing lag. It also makes me think about all the punch-based moves in my MYM25 sets (almost none).

I enjoy Jacky’s approach to some of his Specials, where his Down Special and Side Special have different effects based on what Jacky was doing when he performed them. His arsenal of grounded attacks do a good job of filling in various niches and pieces for his neutral and combo game. While not a lot of Jacky’s tricks stood out to me as being “Wow!” compared to other sets this contest, I did like landing N-air’s hitbox, Side Special’s useful air-to-ground transition straight out of Dead or Alive, talking about DI and good old instant-throwing from Brawl’s Subspace Emissary, which works well with Jacky’s impatient personality. And honestly, this set feels definitive enough for Jacky, I wouldn’t ask for any more than what you’ve done. So very good work here! Enjoyed this one more than Slippy Toad, actually. And agreed with Tern, more fighting sets are always welcome in MYM.

 

[Katapultar]

"Fufufu... believe it or not, the three of us are the.... ready for it?

Izuna, Tsukuyo, let's do it!"

"Okay, prez!"

"Okay....!"

"Now! Ninja-style Hypercool Pose!


What is a ninja!? And what is ninpo!?"

"What is the essence of the ninja....!?"

"We research, explore and shed light on these questions. Three cute ninjas, working in the shadows to help spread our love of ninja to all!"

"That's us!"

"We turn sobs into smiles-

We're the mightiest ninja squad in all of Hyakkiyako Alliance Academy!

Our name? The Ninjutsu Research Club!"

"That's us!"

"That's us......"

"And I'm the club president, Chidori Michiru!"

CHIDORI MICHIRU KUDA IZUNA


"I know what you must be thinking - 'what cool and adorable ninja beauties these girls are!'"

(Tsukuyo isn't here right now - for now, Ninon is filling in for that third spot in the club)​

 

[UserShadow7989]

Jacky Bryant by BridgesWithTurtles

Welcome back! 24 and 25 have seen the return of quite a few personalities from MYM's past, to much rejoicing, and I must say you continue the trend of coming back strong. Jacky reminds me of the finer points of Almand's set designing style (fitting given the fighting game character translation), translating the character into Smash's engine with a few choice mechanics and elaborating in depth on the inputs and how they form a cohesive fighting style for the character in moment to moment gameplay over any ridiculously flashy set-up, constructs, or gimmicks.

Jacky manages to be a delight, from fun touches like a recurring statistic being how likely he is to shout "YEAH!" from a given move to interesting twists in what are on the surface simple attacks to give them all their own identity and niche in his set- quite appreciated, given he effectively has an extra 13 inputs in his standards section (two each of the normal five, then two each of diagonals for 18 vs the usual 5). As mentioned, his personality and fighting style come through nicely, with the mental image of forming combos between switching up punch and kick attacks giving him a kinetic feel that is fun to imagine playing as.

To avoid retreading the heaping of praise- earned as it is- I do feel there's a couple of inputs that don't quite do much in the context of the rest of the set. While the throws are short on a whole, they do serve their niches fine, but it'd be nice for a recommendation of what move to use out of them in the case of Forward and Back Throw, and his aerials (aside from Down Aerial) feel kinda under baked compared to the rest of the set (by design, granted- it does sell the lack of verticality of his home series nicely, and he's not as badly off as Little Mac, who proves that a terrible air game can seriously undercut a contender balance-wise).

This set also continues the trend of MYM 25 not really having any bad or even mediocre sets, despite Jacky being number 54. Rock solid and engaging are the best ways I can describe the set- nicely done.

 

[Arctic Tern]

CHIDORI MICHIRU (Kat)

Michiru is yet another fine addition to Kat’s ninja girl repertoire, and one with better realized concepts than Ninon. I am a bit concerned with the balance on the dynamite given the range and how quickly Michiru gets it, but there’s a lot of fun interplay with the dynamite and the fact Michiru can also be hit with the explosion helps mitigate things. Beyond that, the Side Special has some cool usage reminiscent of Rufus’ USpec, and the ability to buff starting lag upon repeated usage is a cool idea in practice, though there’s not as much elaboration on this as I’d like. There’s a variety of fun tools scattered throughout the set as well, like DSmash being able to be used to launch Michiru forwards and DAir’s horizontal projectile. Lastly, I have to give nods to the characterization; Michiru’s animations make her feel like someone who’s only pretending to be a cool anime ninja girl instead actually being one, and the grab being filmed makes for a neat visual I could see being used for a “celebrity” type of character.

Overall, a very solid set, mainly held back by aforementioned balance concerns and not using the SSpec lag reduction as much as I probably would.

KUDA IZUNA (Kat)

If I had a nickel for every time Kat made a set for a ninja girl named Izuna, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

Izuna manages to surpass her senpai Michiru, at least in set quality. The forced damage debuff on moves that combo is already an interesting basis for a set, but then there’s the percentage based shurikens with customizable knockback and an ammo bank! The debuff is a welcome reprieve, because Izuna has a lot of combo moves and more than one high power KO move. Shurikens get a lot of focus in the set, from being used as boomerangs to traps or just simple items. All of these uses get focused on at some point in the set, with Izuna being able to either bait landings or teleport to mix up where the shuriken will go.

That’s not to say shurikens are all that the set focuses on, far from it. Izuna has a very detailed bait-and-punish game based on using her speed and move angles to condition certain approaches, either with one of her power moves or her DSpec counter. Said counter also spawns a dummy that she can hit to power her shuriken. SSpec creates two types of bombs, one being a delayed trap several of Izuna’s moves interact with and the other being a smoke bomb that allows her to pull out her strong moves with invincibility. I also have to give compliments to the melee game; standouts were Dash Attack and its angled variants and FAir’s multitude of mixups out of the dragging hits. To name one complaint, I think the max damage on UThrow is a bit too high, even with the frame disadvantage and debuff.

That is a minor number complaint though; Izuna manages to be my favorite of the Ninjutsu Research Club movesets (unless the inevitable Tsukuyo set manages to surpass it).

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[ForwardArrow]

Eldlich, the Golden Lord
I remember saying in chat that "the best 23 moves of Veronica by themselves would probably be a set I'd actually quite like." Well, here it is, the equivalent of the best 23 moves of Veronica by themselves, and arguably then some. Sure, minions are done a lot more than balancing transformatinos, but I'd argue pure "terrain occupation" akin to Inkling's ink or even Ode Iou's poison is a bit more uncommon, and Eldlich has a bit of fun by making it a two tiered buff where his powers go berserk if you can get down the second, more powerful layer. Honestly I'd say the set really gets to selling itself once it goes beyond the Specials, because a lot of the ways the moves change on Golden Land or Cursed Eldland are cool, with some favorites being how Cursed Eldland can make some truly massive counter hitboxes for a daunting threat against your minions with Up Smash, the Golden Homunculus extending the effects up into a higher platform, FTilt's ability to reflect off Golden Statues, Dash Attack's power up at the cost of your army. The set knows what makes these kinds of minion interaction sets fun, it sticks to it, while honestly making the actual hitboxes on these attacks feel about the most relevant they ever have from your sets. His attacks feel useful behind or alongside an army of minions and have some pretty fun ways they can extend off all his stage control tools, I'm rather fond of the simultaneous stage control and combo potential Side Special offers him.

With that said, I think this set's a little too strong in its current state. If you want the standout move that needs a nerf, Down Smash is the big one. Its a pretty incredible move before the buffs even if it can accidentally kill your own minions, and I really do think the Gold and even Cursed Eldland sacrifice is more than worth the hideously powerful damage on a move that is just barely reactable if at all. Either the damage should go down or it should be the laggiest Smash in his set, as I feel by comparison the big Lightning Storm hit requiring both no minions out AND Cursed Eldland to actually hit obscene levels of power is comparatively more balanced. I also feel like the homunculus just feels a bit too big of a platform and its throws are too strong for what at times just feels like a weird grab construct, you intended to give Eldlich more middling throws but I'd argue even the base versions are pretty solid and the moment he gets ANY upgrades the set gets silly strong. I think until the Cursed Eldland throws his grab game should be a bit weaker than it is right now. I don't mind that he has some obscene range and kill moves if he gets his setup, it does feel earned if nothing else given how laggy creating Cursed Eldland is, I just think he's a little too good even before he gets there and can end stocks too brainlessly off of DSmash's astronomical power as things stand right now.

All that said, balance concerns don't really ruin the set for me, and its fairly easy to go through and tweak some numbers down. I'd say with that stuff fixed, this is my favorite set of yours by a pretty safe margin, and a very enjoyable take on the hard interaction minion set genre. The way Eldlich is characterized as a charismatic egomaniac is also fun here, Up Tilt being a highlight for me in that regard with the extra taunt and the sheer absurdity of that animation on an Up Tilt, so props for that, too.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Chidori Michiru by Katapultar

The first of the ninja club trio (of whom one member is currently MIA), Chidori nicely embodies the overeager ninja fan archetype with her playstyle that sends her flying this way and that with explosive displays that disguises surprisingly cerebral play meant to evade attacks and strike foes at their weakest. She can't simply outrun her foes and camp due to her low speed, and going in gun blazing will end badly with both her ammo count limitation and her propensity for being sent flying by her own recoil. Her best tool takes time to get access to and replace, so she does need to watch where she's slinging all that fire if she wants to make the most of it.

The set makes for an interesting mesh of tricks and basic fundamentals to convey the character, and no pun, she does sound like a blast to play. The grab working as an oddball tether with her hurling a flashbang at her foe and working off of their position from there (and setting up a tripod to record for bonus flavor points) stands out as a good example, with greater benefit for getting foes at longer range (adding an extra layer to pivot/dash grab since they give her more range).

There are some little hiccups in the details, though. The ammo mechanic doesn't describe what happens when you attempt to use a move that needs ammo you don't have outside of two specific inputs that could be considered exceptions without context. I assume Chidori goes through the animation with no hitbox and a 'click' sound effect, going by Up Tilt. The Special Throw similarly fails to mention how it's triggered, though presumably it's the B button to shoot/enter the throw, with directionals to activate the teleport/determine where she goes. These aren't big issues, you can figure it out by context, but it did cause me to pause and scroll back up to reread bits to make sure I hadn't missed anything a couple of times.

 

[UserShadow7989]

JAMCON 25-3​

JamCons are a monthly mini-competition where MYM'ers write up a set under a chosen "theme" within a 4-day period: starting from 12AM PST and ending on Wednesday that same time. Once the submission period is over, MYM'ers have 2 weeks to read and comment all of the entries, after which they can nominate their favorite entry. The entry that receives the most votes wins! The winner then picks the theme for the next JamCon.

• The set needs to be serious, not a joke entry or missing inputs on purpose.
• Commenting and nominating a set is recommended, especially if you participated yourself.
• To encourage commenting, anyone who nominates will receive a 0.5 point voter bonus on their JamCon entries. JamCon nominations count as 1 point. Nominating a set can mean the difference between a tie and a win!
• Major edits are not allowed until the JamCon competition is finished. Minor edits like grammar, number-crunching, presentation or adding pictures or even extras are still allowed.
• Multiple JamCon entries are allowed!
• Joint sets between more than one setmaker are allowed! Team up with someone to finish your entry quicker!
• You can use a pre-existing "skeleton" as the base for a JamCon set: intro, presentation, move images, Final Smash and even extras are allowed to be done before or after the JamCon. Only the stats and usual 23 moves (Specials, Standards, Smashes, Aerials and Grabs + Throws) need to be done during the JamCon.

This week's theme is:

R E F L E C T C E L F E R​

• Reflect can be literal, with a character whose abilities have to do with mirrors or reflective surfaces, such as Hol Horse's partner, J Geil.
• The character can be a semi-literal reflection of another, either as a literal clone of or mimicking them, such as Dark Samus.
• A character whose story arc and theme exists to contrast and parallel another character's, like heroes and villains who went through similar trauma or have a similar defining motivation but differed by a key aspect, such as Jecht to Tidus.
• Or a character who is opposite to another in almost every way to highlight their character traits, such as Vergil acting as a counterpart to Dante.
• The character might even be someone who tends to 'reflect' (or meditate) a lot- whether this be an ascetic character like Zenyatta or someone with a knack for self-narration right out of a noir film.
• It could also be a character with a mechanical focus on reflecting projectiles, generating mirrors to bank shots off of, and so on- The Baseball Boys being an example of a set with multiple reflectors and a focus on redirecting projectiles.
• You may make a set that's a deliberate opposite of a previous set you've made in terms of playstyle or focus, like an air-focused sci-fi fighter with a rushdown game plan to contrast a ground-bound magic zoner.
• Or you might choose a set for a pair of characters who serve as opposites to each other.
• It could be a vain character who surrounds themselves with mirrors or reflective surfaces, self-portraits, etc. The kind of character who would carry a hand mirror around constantly.
• Or just make a character from a game with 'reflect' or 'mirror' in the title. Or whose name is a palindrome.

 

[Arctic Tern]

(Jamcon 3 entry)​

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Shadow Mario

This is an unexpected and nostalgic choice, as someone for whom MYM5 Bowser Jr was among their most memorable early reads. Shadow Mario has a refreshingly simple core with some unexpected MYM’ian gimmicks, like minion summoning and a delayed teleport recovery you have to plan in advance. The latter gives Shadow Mario an exploitable weakness in his recovery plan, and funny enough it somewhat reminds me of another MYM5 set in good old Alphonse, as well as Akechi’s Persona recovery of course.

Minion-based sets would normally have a big focus on those minions, but Shadow Mario isn’t as reliant on his minions, and that’s perfectly fine! Everything is just a tool for his aggressive gameplan. Funny enough, some of the melee here makes me wonder if you took a bit of inspiration from having recently read Michiru and Izuna, like Jab being able to combo into tilts or mixing up your falls speeds to use your Aerials differently (and a slow grab + weakness to shields), but maybe I’m just being vain.

Speaking of Aerials, I really liked Shadow Mario’s Aerials as a whole: N-air makes great use of his enhanced fastfall speed, and while it deals downwards knockback Shadow Mario can’t afford to go in too deep given the nature of his recovery. F-air is refreshingly simple but serves as a weakness that’s covered by his useful multi-hit B-air, which I enjoyed for its DI mindgame and autocancel mix-up capabilities, and D-air lets Shadow Mario have fun with its Up Special teleport if he times it right. Having several moves that are good at catching foes behind you also feeds into Shadow Mario’s aggressive gameplan nicely. It’s always good to be reminded of DI making your moves KO later too. All and all, another short but good Jamcon entry from you!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Kuda Izuna by Katapultar

The set is very front-loaded (says the writer for Jodie), but it ends up being worthwhile, the assorted tricks, limitations, and applications of her shurikens, bullets, and knockback reduction penalty for combos see a lot of use through the set to create a frantic high energy playstyle that sees her shooting back and forth across the stage (literally) and being a combo fiend, with the ammo mechanic and reduced payoff for combos balancing out her otherwise crazy mobility tools and damage racking potential. Her need to land a strong hit raw (usually on a hard read) means she can't coast on these abilities forever.

All this without touching on the shuriken, a customizable projectile reward for chaining together your hits in clever ways with more risk making for more reward, adding an extra dimension as you choose between your easy combos or go for riskier bait and punish tactics to land meatier attacks or moves that don't string together well but have effects that synergize better for the end reward. There's more to the set such as the bombs from Side Special or Up Special's buff, but it's difficult to go over everything in detail beyond saying everything felt like it was incorporated well (with only the smokescreen being unmentioned for much of the set, a given when its effect is so self-explanatory and its application uniform among other options). I feel this is a little overwhelming at times, but that's a personal taste matter and not something I have much ground to criticize.

From there is the usual solid melee and charming characterization that stays strong throughout the set, but each input also has its own little quirks that make it interesting and unique both to picture in practice and for how it fits into her game plan. There's a large number of built-in follow-ups or variants among her moves that add up to a ton of options, to the point I'd almost call her overpowered if not for the mechanics she possesses deliberately undercutting her ability to KO to near-Sheik levels and her own frailty/need to be careful not to launch herself into danger. It feels potentially a bit strong with how much damage she can deal even so, with Jab 2 and Up Throw racking up some potentially absurd damage, but that's a numbers issue I'm not equipped to evaluate and I feel convinced that it's balanced out (though she's absolutely terrifying in 2v2 or FFA with the right partner).

Aside from a loose smattering of typos and the multihit version of the shuriken not mentioning how it affects damage (and it's easy to assume it's the same damage as it'd deal otherwise split among the multiple hits), I don't have much I can point to solidly as an issue. Izuna is a legitimately high watermark set to me, and makes me excited for whenever you feel ready to do the next Blue Archive ninja-wannabe set. Excellent work.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Here's my MYM 25 Jamcon 3 entry! Remember: this is the final day, get your entries in!

​

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Miracle Matter

Miracle Matter is a fascinating read, as a remake of an old Rool set and something of an extreme take on Kurt Zisa’s concept where you’re “locked” into one of several forms that your inputs are divided among. Each form has something of a self-contained playstyle, like Miracle Matter is made up of several mini-sets, and the instant access to 4 of MM’s forms via throws makes grab game extra interesting among its various other tricks. MM’s attacks and playstyle feel pretty faithful to its boss fight too, not feeling like it’s going too out of its way to exploit its elemental attacks.

Fitting for a character associated with MYM5, this set is particularly MYM’ian in some areas: generating lingering fire and ice, traps and item generation. But above all, F-Smash bashing your items along and interacting with your entire set-up was unexpected! Unexpected to see this kind of move in a modern set. The set felt more like a handful of neat individual moves rather than one big concept you play off, which suits me just fine as I like these kinds of sets a lot!

And I quite liked a good number of MM’s moves: F-tilt’s neat buffering to catch foes from different angles, and a fun take on Sephiroth’s F-air with its aerial counterpart. N-air creating bombs, U-air’s falling bomb, D-air being a good move that’s balanced by MM’s mechanic, and U-throw for its unique delayed hitbox that have its timer halved. Cutter Matter in particular is a great example of this set’s neat set design in your choice of moves to distribute to it. Mention of item play could perhaps enhance this set further, and I assume that the needle item doesn’t deal extreme shield damage despite its Mr. Saturn comparison, but it is all perfectly fine.

Long story short? Miracle Matter is definitely one of my favourite Jamcon sets from you, probably tied with Enya. Would have been an easy nomination from me last Jamcon.

 

[Juando]

Is that the uninvited knight from Kirby & The Amazing Mirror?! Guess he had a fight with Meta Knight. The Mirror World must cast a long shadow across the galaxy... At least he's here as a friend!

Jamcon 3 entry

 

[UserShadow7989]

Update:

Due to unanimous agreement and unforeseen delays holding up a good few folks, the current Jamcon's deadline will be extended 1 more day. That's no reason to dawdle, though- put your submissions together fast, do some last minute touch-ups, or take a gander at some of the submissions we've already received- including a solid first set appearance in both the Jamcon and contest as a whole one from our newest participant Juando!

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Dark Meta Knight

Welcome to MYM! Great to have you here for this Jamcon, and with another classic Kirby villain nonetheless. Dark Meta Knight shows a good sense of Smash understanding with references to combo usage, tech chasing, forcing approaches and hard reads. I’m fine with damage percents not being listed either, you might not have a full understanding of balanced damage percents and they’re not essential to enjoying the moves, as shown here. I also enjoyed the Meta Knight comparisons, and his “dirty” playstyle feels about right as that is what Wolf’s playstyle is compared to.

Down Special seems to be DMK’s core Special, creating a clone some distance ahead of him that copies his movements. A fun idea, but it’s not referenced throughout the rest of his moveset! You do reference DMK wanting to pop foes into his clone with a low knockback move to extend his combos, though. I also wonder if the clone should be able to take hitstun, so foes can actually punish it. There doesn’t seem to be any notable lag, risk or cooldown behind using the clone, no reason for DMK not to have a clone out and just make another one if he has the time and space for it. It’s an easy fix though, and your very first moveset too.

In any case, Dark Meta Knight is very solid for a newcomer set, and I found the set’s level of information satisfying enough. Very curious if you plan to stick around or would be willing to join us in Discord. Dark Meta Knight showed a lot of promise, looking forward to seeing what you do next!

 

[Slavic]

For the stylish reveal of the character with the best music from their franchise, click here! For the actual JamCon 3 - Reflections set, click the star!

​

 

[n88]

sjfaosdfhaiodusfhkadfnksajcvnlak
[MYM25-04] ... [Link]​

 

[UserShadow7989]

Submissions for Jamcon 25 - 3 are now closed! Thank you all for your enthusiasm, and better luck next time to those who weren't able to participate. We've got a few high quality submissions here, so do be sure to leave some feedback and cast a vote! The votes will be tallied and winner announced on June 8th.


This Jamcon's submissions are:

It's a tanuki! It's a clown car! No, it's Shadow Mario by Arctic Tern , a dark reflection and imposter of Mario himself who framed him for mass pollution and vandalism on Isle Delfino!

Miracle Matter by myself, born of Dark Matter- itself born in a reflection of the manner Kirby himself was- and capable of using the same elemental abilities as the pink puff ball in its appearance.

Warning! A new challenger approaches! Juando makes their debut with a Dark Meta Knight set, a dark reflection of Meta Knight from the Mirror World and an especially hype choice!

Buck up, soldier! The Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes makes his stand in MYM, written by Slavic .

And rounding out the roster is the "Idar" mech from Heavy Nova! A game of questionable quality, and an interesting choice by n88 !

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Bucky Barnes

Impressive that you made this set within practically a day! This is a welcome set that continues a number of Jamcon trends: numerous Marvel/DC sets posted within Jamcon periods (Green Goblin, Magneto, Two-Face, Venom Strange), and another character Slavic really likes that comes with GIFs always enhances the reading experience! Barnes in humorously similar to Two-Face in that both characters have dual identities and can switch between different forms and have a firearm-based Special and no superpowers, though Barnes is twice as long wordcount-wise. Having to go through what is essentially a committal move to shift between sets is a neat idea, which could be fun to explore in different ways in transformation-based sets. Beyond this, the set is quick and clean melee that is generally independent between the two sets, but I do like Winter Soldier's delayed mine being an object Barnes can play off in his own set! I also liked seeing the Wonderwing take on Barnes' Side Special, Jab's projectile attack and Winter Soldier fittingly having a strong grab game. Not much else to say here, but this was an enjoyable set, one that I'm glad exists to give this character a set and for another Marvel Cinematic set under your belt.

 

[bubbyboytoo]

I'm contractually obligated to comment on Kirby sets so I figured I might as well do the others as well and get a proper vote in.

Spoiler: Shadow Mario

This is a pretty fun set! The thematic stats are on-point, annoyingly slippery and slowing foes down by leaving traps and such but fairly easy to dispose of once you do get the drop on him. I've never played Sunshine myself so I can't really speak for accuracy to the source material, but it all feels sensible for what I know of him; paint traps, making graffiti, drawing enemies into existence and such. One thing that strikes me is USpec being a delayed teleport from the point you use it that you can't activate manually, requiring quite a bit of foresight to use effectively. Cool stuff overall, no complaints from me!

Spoiler: Miracle Matter

Ohhh man this is a really cool set. Every form has a different niche and none of them feel redundant! Neutral Special lets you go back to normal form whenever you want! Combining different lingering aspects for complicated interactions that still feel intuitive, like Ice's slippery ground, Spark's bouncing laser, throwable items produced by others! It makes excellent use of all the attacks it utilizes in the original game and utilizing the theming to fill out the rest of the inputs; one of my favorite things about Kirby as a series is how all the powers are basically just raw themed potential that you can shape whichever way you want, and you've done that very well indeed. Perhaps I've got a franchise bias (I mean I know I do, but you get it), but I'd truly be shocked if any other set ended up taking my vote in this JamCon.

Spoiler: Dark Meta Knight

Hi Juando, welcome to MYM. Interesting to have your first entry to the community be a JamCon entry, especially just dropping out of the blue with quite an appropriate character choice. Personally I probably would've formulated this set differently, but I'll put my personal thoughts on the character aside and judge the set by how it is. First off, it's missing damage numbers as I'm sure you've already been told; I know it's quite intimidating at first, but I'd say they're the minimum first step on the road to moveset competence. (Quite strange to include kill percents and not damage numbers IMO, as an aside.) Aside from that it's surprisingly well-detailed, I'd say, laying out how the moves contribute to his playstyle, and the care you take to differentiate him from base Meta Knight is a nice attention to detail. I'd recommend adding some images as well; shouldn't be too hard to find video of his attacks to work with. You've definitely got potential as a setter (DSpec is a pretty cool implementation of mirror abilities, reminds my of my own Simirror set from way back in MYM21) and I'd like to see you stick around!

Spoiler: Bucky Barnes

Kind of a retread concept-wise of Two-Face, but there's plenty in the nitty-gritty to differentiate them well. I've never been a superhero guy so I can't say it gripped me or have anything particularly outstanding to comment on, but Bucky finds a good niche to sit in and handles the stance-change move-swapping well. I think I like him a bit more than Two-Face actually, just for theming and general execution, so nice work!

Spoiler: Idar

I'm gonna be honest here, I have to go back and double-check this thing's name every single time I write it. Never watched Froy's stream of this so I don't quite get the memetastic energy of the character choice, but you present it in an amusing enough way nonetheless. Quickly looking it up on YouTube... yeah, that's certainly something alright.

Okay I've sat here for like 10 minutes and can't come up with anything else to say so there it is, that's the comment. There's some interesting ideas like all back inputs being available and the Stamina mechanic, but you don't take the character seriously at all and it just kind of putters out in the end, you know? You've said something to that effect in the chat before but yeah. jus lettin you knooooooow

With everything said and done, my final vote for this JamCon goes to Miracle Matter by U UserShadow7989 . Nice work!

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Should probably post these comments now or I'll never get around to it.

Spoiler: Dark Meta Knight

I'm starting with the man in the mirror.

Congrats on your first set! I do like the simple idea of a more powerful take on Meta Knight's general schematics, and the idea to have DMK (I almost typed "DMX") be a ledge-trapper as opposed to the original Meta Knight's emphasis on off-stage wall-of-paining in order to cheese stocks is a neat one. I like how he parallels how MK is already kind of a "dishonest" character - given his reliance on gimping to net KOs - but with DMK putting a bit more of an aggressive spin on it. All in all, I think you did an alright job making him feel like his counterpart but with enough sensible tradeoffs that he doesn't come off as a straight upgrade or downgrade.

There's some interesting ideas here with a lot of moves, like Back Air, having multiple separate but concurrent hitboxes that each have their own optimal uses. It fits the character well, what with the whole "mirrors" theme and all. It makes perfect sense he'd be able to attack from several different angles at once.

Less positively, I don't really like the Up Tilt. Its utility feels redundant with the neutral special and IMO it kind of detracts a bit from the NSpecial having variable charge levels if you can just throw out a tilt attack that's both seemingly faster and stronger on average than NSpecial is. I'm not a big fan of Neutral Air either, simply because an AoE of 10x10 Training Stage units is absolutely bonkers no matter what kind of counterplay you give it - I don't think being able to simply challenge the move on reaction is enough to balance it, especially since having a clone in play would apparently make this move even more enormous.

There are a few typos in the set, but none that are too much of a barrier to understanding anything, though I feel I should point out that Up Throw killing at 12% seems like a mistake (I think you meant 120%, unless Up Throw is just an insanely OP kill move, which...is actually really funny to imagine). The lack of damage values on DMK's moves is peculiar - I don't think it totally ruins the set or anything, but I do think including damage values in general is good for broadening the depth of a character's playstyle (for a simple example, you can designate one of their throws as a "damage-dealing" throw to give it a bit more of a defined niche).

I enjoyed reading this set. DMK has some flaws but there's notably a respectable grasp of Smash mechanics at its core. I'm interested in seeing how you can build on those fundamentals with a future moveset.

I took it upon myself to whip up some potential alts for DMK, by the way. Feel free to use or ignore them as you wish.

Spoiler: Shadow Mario

This is an elegant set that clearly explains its concept and then runs with it. It hits that perfect middle ground between on-brand Smash and "higher concept" MYM. Adapting Shadow Mario as a fighter who incentivizes opponents to chase him as he runs around the stage, taking advantage of this style of interaction, is very in-character. There's some really fun synergy between most of his kit. I really like the stupidly risky (in a good way) Down Air that can pair with graffiti portals as a failsafe against SDing/punishment. Some other stand-out moves are the backwards-hitting Down Smash, the dash attack emulating the fluidity of movement options in Mario Sunshine, and the Up Tilt with its mixup variation giving Shadow Mario a flair of underhanded trickery in his fighting style.

I also made some alts for Shadow Mario based on your description in the extras section. Hope they're passable.

Spoiler: Bucky Barnes

Read this as "Binky Barnes" at first and...yeah. That was an interesting thought.

The only MCU thing I've seen is the original Captain America movie, but I don't remember much of it, so this character is completely foreign to me and I'm just gonna assume you did a good job adapting his normal personality/abilities.

At first, I felt as if the Winter Soldier persona was shining just a bit brighter, but as the set went on I think I actually leaned toward Bucky having generally more interesting moves to work with, though I'll still say that both personas do have well-defined roles and complement each other well, plus both personas are fairly entertaining just because of their comical animations and personality quirks. I like how the metal arm comes into play as a melee/disjoint hybrid both from a mechanical and flavor perspective. We sometimes see characters with shields that let them shrug off attacks, but it's cool to see what is essentially a shield be one and the same with the character's own limb.

There isn't a whole lot in this set that stands out as being particularly novel or previously unseen, but not every moveset has to reinvent the wheel, and I think it's totally fun enough of a design as it is. The best move is the Final Smash, obviously.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Idar

Idar is an amusing little set, one that I assume is a semi-joke entry like Tristan Taylor from last contest. Both sets meant to immortalize a memetic character in MYM. I also get the impression that Idar is intentionally underpowered, albeit in a clever, subtle way compared to Tristan being blatant about it. Beyond that, it's interesting that Idar has some conceptual overlaps with sets you've done this contest: ala Broken Vessel, a Special that moves you backwards, which now that I think about it reminds me of your Isamu set from MYM12, even though that set used an automatic backwards teleport iirc. The Down Special's command grab then draws comparison to Akechi and his prone abuse, its hitgrab and the grab hitbox on Idar's F-Smash. Idar also has some nice animations in the timeframe he was made. There's not much to say beyond that, similar to Bucky Barnes there, but a fighter with a really slow turnaround and back inputs like Terry and Jacky Bryant is fun. A fun choice though, and great to see you build up more sets for your modern portfolio.

Nomination goes to Miracle Matter, with Shadow Mario as an honorable mention.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Shadow Mario by Arctic Tern ***

A blast from the past, and something that brings me a little joy just by existing as a Bowser Jr. main. Shadow Mario perfectly encapsulates the feel of chasing him in his levels without making him into an obnoxious camper, enough of his kit focusing on melee (and mirroring Mario's own attacks with tweaks to totally change their purpose, fittingly enough) to force him to fight the foe instead of simply cat and mousing them endlessly.

His abilities focus on restricting opponent's movements, creating obstacles and applying a debuff to their mobility options that make them more predictable for his assorted bait and punish options. His ability to penalize sloppy movement is given an extra twist by how much he enjoys fighting foes behind himself, and his Specials all give his set a solid basis between coating the stage in a hazard one small stretch at a time and creating simple minions, a bouncing projectile like Mario's own, and the ability to set up a spot he'll suddenly teleport back to in advance.

There's a real feeling of mischief to how he plays, even down to his melee game with a few alternate inputs and variations that can completely flummox the foe if they don't read his behavior right. This is an incredibly solid set as standard for you, and I feel like that combined with how meticulously well it captures the character, it's a strong contender for winning this Jamcon right out the gate.

 

[Arctic Tern]

Jamcon 3 sets ranked!

Nominaton: Miracle Matter by UserShadow! There weren't that many competitors for this Jamcon, so MM takes this without that much debate (not that the other sets are bad).

 

[UserShadow7989]

While not on par with the last rabbit/rabbit-adjacent set I've made, this is a set you shouldn't miss! I'd make a little scenario post for this, but I'm dead tired, so take what you can get:

Hikaru joins the fight!

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Hikaru

Another welcome US set for the recurring rabbit and cartoon themes, Hikaru has a few tricks that rarely see play in MYM: a buff that makes you giant, and more uniquely a slot machine move! We barely see those in MYM, and I’d honestly like to give the concept a go myself. Side Special’s upgrades work in a fascinating manner too: the way the bells scroll feel very video game-like, and somewhat surprising that we don’t get more of these kinds of moves in MYM. The OH! “upgrade” on Down Special was unexpected and hilarious. I assume that the Star upgrade is essentially 4 seconds of “invincibility”, and doesn’t seem to get mentioned in the set but is fine. I did wonder if the Kiku Beam is too good at gimping when you get it out, given the beam’s duration and low-angled knockback of the lower half, but the beam’s height doesn’t feel too bad, and Hikaru does have to jump through some hoops to get it, so it works.

Hikaru is a unique set, as the Specials and tricks that make up the bulk of her set are self-contained, not necessarily serving as an overarching mechanic that deeply affects her non-Specials. I feel like this design didn’t leave Hikaru with as much melee inspiration as your best works, but there were still moves that I liked! Jab for its DI mix-up between hits 1 and 2, B-air for being potentially rewarding with multiple Down Special power-ups, and Forward Throw and Back Throw for playing off Hikaru’s Neutral Special directly, or Specials in the case of the former. As well as U-air’s unique floaty effect on hit, and D-air making an attempt to play off the Kiku Beam. I also appreciated the way Hikaru’s Neutral Air and Forward Air animations were described: they feel like a good reference for semi-common weapon-based animations (rolling through the air, bringing down weapon for big swing).

Berkeley + Cartwright, Nephenee and Miracle Matter resonated with me more for what I thought were stronger ideas and melee (to say nothing of Jodie too), but Hikaru is still a rock-solid set, and much appreciated to see you dip into new and unfamiliar franchises. Funny enough, I thought Hikaru was going to be a tag-team set with Akane, given the set’s length and some of the multi-man sets we’ve had this contest. Maybe on another set? Nonetheless, now that you’ve finished Hikaru, I’m looking forward to seeing what your next big project will be.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Dark Meta Knight by Juando ***

Welcome to MYM! Dark Meta Knight is a solid set to enter on, with a clear playstyle in mind and the right tools for the job. Neutral Special as a general purpose punish and reflector that forces foes to fight on his terms and bullies them around, Side Special is a variable-hit projectile maker that can end abruptly to exploit a defensive response or condition foes to letting their guard down just to toss out another shot. Down Special gives him incredible disjoint and doubles up on his hitboxes, putting foes in a position where getting to him requires taking some extra lumps along the way.

What's most striking to me is how the set's melee options play out. On top of having a solid grasp of fundamentals, Dark Meta Knight's character is personified in that a lot of his attacks are- for the most part- perfectly effective at what one would want that input to do, but usually with a twist that makes it less straightforward in application while having a much meaner way to use it. Blindspots directly above and below DMK for his Up Smash and Down Aerial, for an example of the former, but covering rolls and techs, and being able to more effectively deal with ledge stalling and meteor smash foes who try to meet him head-on, respectively, for an example of the latter.

Individual moves also ooze creativity in feel and effect- Neutral Aerial was probably my favorite of the lot, with a laundry lists of strength and a cool multi-clone animation that establishes dominance within spitting distance, but with the fatal flaw of being trumped by any other real attack. It felt like the perfect way to convey DMK's character in a move: dangerous and not afraid to fight dirty, but far from the stand up noble warrior his counterpart is.

There's a couple of nitpicks I have; to clarify, NSpec used in the air causes Dark Meta Knight to go into freefall, but the last suggested use of it is to drop off the side of the stage to get a sweet stage bounce on a recovering foe. Freefall not meaning special fall ala an Up Special in this case, then, but meaning he drops for a while post-attack to keep him from stalling forever with it? It's a very well-thought out balancing factor on several levels that keeps him from mindlessly spamming the move off stage and giving opponents a reprieve from its use to approach/foil approaches in the air, but wanted to be sure I'm not misinterpreting it (I have a bad habit of using freefall when I'm referring to special fall). Lack of damage specification is a little unusual, but the set does fine by focusing on the conceptual and going into detail on its uses.

My poor reading comprehension did require I re-read a few things, but despite that the set is a nice, brisk read with a very solid foundation, plenty of flavor, and conveyance of personality through mechanics in every words. It's a heck of a set to come in on, especially within the time limit!

 

[n88]

Shadow Mario by Arctic Tern

I never played Sunshine, but I dig trying to channel the game as much as possible: unique enemies, goop, and all. It’s a well-constructed little thing with the smart approach to melee you’ve already built a reputation for. Funny to see another set playing up back attacks (in a completely opposite way from Idar) this jamcon, and I think it's done in an interesting way here, giving him just a slightly weird/off dynamic from normal positioning shenanigans. I like the approach to borrowing from Mario's moveset here as well - you're not lifting things all over the place, but it feels like it happens in a low-key way that fleshes out his melee game well and introduces some variety into his attacks (what with his originals being generally more paintbrush/goop-focused).

The set keeps itself successfully lightweight and mostly focuses on the right stuff, I think. If I had to pick at a couple nits, I do think Shadow Mario kinda glosses over some of the downsides of the delayed teleport messing with your set-ups or interfering with your attacks that are longer in duration, and I wish the minions got brought up just a little more, to make them feel a bit more at home in the set. Still, hard to complain about a short one, and this is a solid showing.

Stray thoughts:

• Might be a good idea for USpec to have some kind of visual indicator when SM is gonna teleport soon.
• DSpec doesn’t seem to consider what happens when you try to create minions in the air (or I didn't catch it if it did).
• Really dig the pivot FTilt.
• FAir feels a little undersold as a gimping move - horizontal knockback that’s outright killing from mid-stage at 120% is pretty solid, that’s gonna ruin a lot of people’s days off-stage.
• That DAir is nasty - initial hitbox is pretty comparable to Ganondorf’s DAir on a character who’s got way more mobility. Admittedly more committal due to being a stall then fall.

 

[Arctic Tern]

HIKARU (US)

I actually have vague memories of seeing Parodius gameplay as a kid, so I did have vague familiarity with the character beforehand. With that said, Hikaru’s brand of bizarre shmup action totally appeals to me (I tend to like oddball characters in general). I particularly like the approach to snowballing; her stats don’t change for the most part, it’s just that her normally meh NSpec gets better and better with every upgrade you give to it. The roulette is a nice form of pseudo-randomness that is actually in full control of the player, and the ability to buffer it from Hikaru’s attacks adds some nice depth and further reason to use all of her moves at some point.

Outside of the mechanic, Hikaru’s got some fairly in-depth melee with suitably goofy animations (personal favorite is DSmash); I particularly like how most of them work with her Bell upgrades. Not much to say outside of that, really, it’s a good set from something totally up my alley.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[GolisoPower]

I Call This One, Bold And Brash
Shadow Mario by Arctic Tern

I haven't played a bit of Super Mario Sunshine, but I know a few things: it's the reason why pachinko's so hated, it's a treasure trove of Koopa lore, and Mario did nothing wrong. Anyways, Shadow Mario.

He's a fairly decent set that's revolved around spacing thanks to disjointed paintbrush strikes and goop-based tomfoolery. Neutral Special's a scary combination of Mario's spammable Neutral Special and Joker's Eiha, add the bonus of slowing down movement. It really gives Shadow Mario a means of making escapes and approaches much harder for your foe. I love how Side Special sort of plays into that movement debuff, making it difficult for people to avoid the goo trail when affected, which also makes for some amazing stage control, on top of protecting the minions of your Down Special. Speaking of which, Down Special is a very simple way of summoning minions that somehow manages to be balanced. I particularly love the Hatopop minion especially. Up Special's an interesting take on a teleport where you can fly around and choose where you teleport as opposed to other teleport recoveries that just bring you a set distance. It gives Shadow Mario some surprising mind-games and cross-up potential when you got your foes focused on your minions.

The rest of the set takes some decent advantage of the paintbrush as a deathly instrument of artistic brutality, either painting enemies for your attacks or beating the devil out of it on your foes, making it into what is effectively a scenario of "What If Bob Ross Was A Serial Killer". I especially like Up Smash summoning a Piranha Plant to bite above you, and the fact that you gave him Mario's Ground Pound, ironically making him more faithful to the source material than canon Mario. The reference photo you gave for Forward throw is unintentionally hilarious to me because Shadow Mario looks like he's brutalizing Peach with a lariat and I love it. Anyways, I'd say Shadow Mario doesn't belong in the trash, but rather is set up to bring the cash. Good work, my man!