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

[SaltySuicune]

Ight so; Here's my Mr.Rime set.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: The Baseball Boys

Tackling a sport that would make your boy Froy proud, the Baseball Boys pitch a two-man concept that’s been on everyone’s mind: splitting your moveset between two characters! Heck, it could even be considered a modern and more tame take on the Hugo genre, which is very welcome.

The “Hugo” aspect is used well here as Green Glove handles the projectile play which is shown at the start of the set, and you lose those bevy of powerful options if he’s batted out. It sort of feels like an old MYM set with some obvious projectile redirection and hard interactions on Forward Smash (and reused on Forward Air). It’s the type of set that can easily lose steam near the end, but fun moves like Back Air, Up Air and Down Air for its deynsching potential allowed the set to stay fresh. I was particularly impressed with how hard you went on the Throws! It’s even nice as a “position resetter” for Green Glove. I enjoyed all the throws: Up Throw was a little confusing, but a fun and chaotic nod to fellow Nintendonian Tumble, which is always good in my books. Back Throw was really, really cool with tying in the Side Special projectile storage, and Down Throw is wacky - I appreciate you talking about how and why the Baseball Boys’ throws are good in FFA matches, as odd as it might be to praise that aspect of the throw.

All in all, Baseball Boys are a very solid set that are slightly higher for me than Claire and Shigaraki, falling into the realm of “Concepts aren’t revolutionary but what they do they do very well.” Your writing is great as usual - Down Special went hilariously hard with its philosophical take on melons, and Jab was fun and educational with its reference to slugs eating watermelons. Was not expecting a crash course on Mespotamian history.

 

[UserShadow7989]

"Doctor, aren't we a little early?"

"One hour early, to be exact. Unlike a certain showboating host, I know how to be punctual."

"Er, pardon me Doctor Cartwright, but what does punctuation have to do with anything?"

"...not what I meant, Berkeley. I'm saying we got here on time."

"I thought we took the bus? Don't you remember? They had to tie me to the roof-"

"Right. Well, the reason we're here early is I like to have time in case something happens. Like apparently needing to do your maintenance again. You're testing my patience."

"But I don't have a pencil-."

"Just post the set, bolt brain!"

"Oh, right, the set. It's right here!"


(Happy April Fools, everyone!)

 

[n88]

Taranza by bubbyboytoo
I don’t have a ton to say about this lil guy, but I really enjoyed the read! The minion-yoinking stuff is handled well and it’s fun to imagine it play out in MYM’s weird minion-heavy metagame. Or y’know, in a game with Assist Trophies or whatever. It’s just one piece in a cool command grab that has plenty of other utility, there’re sensible restrictions around it, and brainwashing a mook to preoccupy the enemy flows neatly into Taranza’s defensive gameplan without the set falling into the trap of over-investing in that as a centerpiece.

You’ve got a light, charming style, and the character feels well-realized (from an outsider perspective anyway; the only Kirby game I’ve played is Subspace Emissary). I still need to double back and read Wheelie, but I’m looking forward to him after checking this out. There are a lot of moveset tropes I really enjoy here: some projectiles with weird trajectories, command grab, pseudo-counter on a normal attack. Cool little package that’s fun to visualize!

Stray thoughts:

• RIP Taranza’s wife
• Weird synchronicity with spider-wizard jamcon characters. Or well, I guess Venom Strange isn’t explicitly spider-themed, but you get me.
• Heh, sixticuffs.
• The Aerials are really fun! Particularly enjoy UAir’s animation.
• ”This could actually have some tactical use, dropping unexpectedly fast gems down on foes to take them by surprise, but who knows?” - who indeed.
• Pretty sure there are watery spiders, but yeah, in the general case I don’t think they’re about it.

 

[bubbyboytoo]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ks8mrTgFu1NGTYSsxFMpwpqF5doAOKPMRpQqKVnhXRI/edit?usp=sharing
aprloflorl flolfolsl lsl l
(thisis a jokeset please do not count it as a regular set i do not want this stain on my resume)

 

[Slavic]

Light Yagami
355 Points

Jodie Reynolds, Alolan Marowak, Berkeley & Cartwright
324 Points

Wheelie, Taranza, Dark Blupi
270 Points

Blastoise, Meltryllis
264 Points

Broken Vessel, Venom Strange
193 Points

The Customer
183 Points

Quaxly, Quackfaster, Daisy
158 Points

Whitebeard, Nino, Bellossom, Hammer Bro
143 Points

Wolf Witch Veronica, Meltryllis
138 Points

Whitebeard, Two-Face
90 Points

Elder Princess Shroob
85 Points

Valkyrie
85 Points

Nino, Baseball Boys
82 Points

72 Points

The Heavy
54 Points

Slippy Toad
42 Points

Firelight Ekko
37 Points

Saki Amamiya
33 Points

Sleaze
30 Points

Aloy
30 Points

Mr. Rime
30 Points

---​

Another great day of Make Your Move, another post for User Rankings for you fools! The top of the list looks pretty familiar with the exception of Arctic Tern, returning from a year's vacation in the southern hemisphere to drop us a Ton of comments as well as two sets, boosting him up well-earnedly! We also see Peanut, Almand, challah, SaltySuicune, Turtles, and of course ForwardArrow joining User Rankings this time around! Bear in mind the changes made to the scoring of comments within certain time periods, as it could help you out in a pinch! Or something! Anyways, enjoy some differently formatted raw data.

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Also please utilize this document, covering what dates each moveset's bonus points for comment bonuses are.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Hammer Bro

Joining the Mario March is Hammer Bro, who feels like a good representation of your fundamentalist-based playstyle. He has 3 Specials that are comparable to existing Smash moves, each one able to catch out a foe who reacts to the other, and the stats write-up does a neat job at selling the feel of his character in tandem with his projectiles. Funny enough, his Down Special in Friend Bro reminds me of a much more simple, but chaotic version of Elder Princess Shroob’s Time Hole, logging in the last “attack” you used for the Friend Bro to use. This set does a great and convincing job of emulating what it’s like to go up against a Hammer Bro in the Mario games! Even having non-Specials/D-airs that the Friend Bro can use, like Up Smash working well against jump-ins that the Side Special boomerang incentivizes, is neat design. Hammer Bro’s melee isn’t ridiculously powerful either, as it should be given his minion status and the big advantage he has with his projectiles and Friend Bro.

The Smashes, Standards and Aerials are understandably basic as they feed into Hammer Bro’s more fundamental-based projectile game, though Up Smash’s boomerang trajectory and sweetspot is neat. Forward Air is also that fun move that, while not revolutionary, benefits a lot from its mention in how well it works from Hammer Bro’s Up Special hammers and his projectile game in general! Also surprised that you went for extra inputs on the Grab game to have some extra fun with the Friend Bro, and Back Throw has a strange appeal in looping back to Hammer Bro’s great edgeguarding game.

Hammer Bro does feel more simple compared to your great joint sets this contest, but there’s nothing wrong with that! He’s a perfectly solid set that captures the essence of his character perfectly, so the set was a big success in that regard. I don’t think you could do much more for Hammer Bro set-wise without straying too far from his character.

Spoiler: Mr. Rime

Welcome to MYM, SaltySuicune! Mr. Rime is a great choice for a Pokeset - we need more Gen 7-8 Pokemon, after all - with some fun animations as you’d expect from his character. The most prominent ones here are all 3 of his Smashes (Up Smash is a fun use of the clown nose on his belly) and the anvil Down Air. The extras have effort put into them too, it’s clear you had some fun with this character.

Mr. Rime could do with some added technical details, and a playstyle with how his moves work together! Basic details include knockback (strength and launch angle) and lag, and what application the move serves in Mr. Rime’s set like you do somewhat with his Neutral Air. For example:

• Neutral Special could be used for zoning or pestering opponents.
• Side Special seems like it would be a good combo starter, and give Mr. Rime a really good tool for interrupting enemy attacks. Mr. Rime could make a point in scaring foes into not attacking, making them shield or try to bait out his Side Special, which could lead into other options like his grab if they shield.
• Might be good to make it so foes can roll around the Down Special barriers, just like Pac-Man’s Fire Hydrant. Maybe they should have a time limit, and pull the n88 trick of making them disappear quicker and/or have less HP if you set more of them. You could even do fun stuff with these barriers, like knock foes into them for combos!
• Is the Down Air anvil a projectile, or does it function like Steve’s Down Air.

You’ll see that a lot of sets posted cover basic details on their attacks and go into detail on how that move works in their character’s playstyle. Even talk about how the character’s stats work in with their playstyle (a bit hard with average stats like Mr. Rime’s, but you can milk a gameplan out of his attacks). Learning what details to implement and developing your own movesetting style takes quite a while - try glancing at another person’s set to get an idea! It seems like Mr. Rime was something of a passionate project given the Discord previews and talking about him being in Smash. Especially looking forward to Deku when you get around to him!

 

[Slavic]

​

 

[UserShadow7989]

DARK BLUPI by bubbyboytoo and Shiny Hoppip by Slavic

Well, it appears MYM25 has come to a premature end; we have not one but two sets embodying everything we've strove towards over these long years in perfection, the culmination of move set making. The violent monster DARK BLUPI is perfectly encapsulated here in a set that captures its very nature, as is the far more secretly sinister Shiny Hoppip who hides its hideously evil true self behind a small frame and an inconspicuous blank smile. Despite their shorter length, the sets in question balance brilliantly creative inputs with well-thought out mechanical execution, elaborating on their usefulness in exotic detail without ever feeling like they're bogging down the reader. Sadly, as both have been submitted in the same contest, only one may take their rightful 1st place, but their posting on the same day will ensure that April 1st, 2022 will be a day that lives on in world history as the most important day to the contribution of fan media.


---


Nino by FrozenRoy and Slavic ***

Two joint sets in the same Jamcon is pretty cool, and Nino rounds out the trio of longboi sets both in word count and quality. Her mechanic is simple but effective: use up your tomes, get stronger ones after a vulnerable period. The set goes into detail about how this affects her assorted abilities and her overall gameplay, with times she spends without a given tome being more vulnerable but opening new high-risk high-reward options, all the while she can trust Jaffar to have her back when she needs it most. Underlying it all are a few neat sub-mechanics, like Jaffar's backstab, and Nino taking a page from Yoshi with her recovery being dependent on her second jump.

Her glass cannon build and ability to gradually snowball is a playstyle direction I love that doesn't come up often enough, with this Jamcon being a treat and already giving us two so far with very different takes. All of it weaves together expertly, from small touches like the easiest way to get foes to hold still also turning them about so backstabs aren't effortless out of them, to each move having different useages without the associated tome (such as Jab skipping over the relevant hits and changing either the end effect or way it is used in neutral), all while giving her strong rewards if she levels up her tomes but keeping her capable of late KOs without thanks to her excellent combo and off-stage games (the latter kept in check by her recovery quirks) so she isn't helpless without jumping through hoops.

I could probably gush for a while just going over all the interesting quirks of the different inputs and how well they work in simple play, so I'll wrap this up to keep it short. Nino is an extremely strong set conceptually, taking a few simple throughlines and tying them together to make something far greater than the sum of its parts. To be honest, I feel Nino could be a frontrunner for a contest on a whole, leave alone a Jamcon, were 25 not apparently the contest where everyone decided to go ham. Even then I'd be disappointed if this (and Melt and Strange for that matter) didn't land in the upper half of the top 50.

 

[Arctic Tern]

MR. RIME (Salty)

Welcome to MYM, Salty! A very interesting first character choice, but a standard one: my first set was a Pokemon, too!

This set is extremely bare bones; several attacks are only one sentence long. I see why that is, this is your first set. Just be aware that basically every move in MYM is at least a paragraph long, and the vast majority are multiple. Also, while Mr. Rime’s set has distinct animations (by the way, several of them are actually pretty good), there is no listed purpose to them. In MYM, even the simplest move has an underlying purpose to the set’s playstyle, whether it be mechanical or just filling a niche. This is not reason to immediately try to reach the word count of the big sets in MYM; they tend to be highly complex, and require somewhat in-depth knowledge of Smash to fully appreciate. I’d recommend you take a look at the Smash Wiki for advanced terms, as well as the resources supplied in the starting post in the “Unaffiliated Resources” section.

As for the set itself, I do see a playstyle, even if it may not be intentional: an edgeguarder. That’s a very bare-bones playstyle at its core, but a perfectly fine one! What makes the best sets of MYM is how well the moves flow into a coherent whole. Talk about how Mr. Rime’s set allows him to set up for ledge situations, how his moves can react to common scenarios, what moves combo into what. Not every move has to fill directly into this playstyle: a simple spacer or damage-racking tool would also fit into his gameplan as needed tools for defense and offense.

To end this review/advice, I’d like to commend your choice again, because it is simple. That shows that you know your level of skill isn’t enough to make the super-complex sets that tend to rule the Top 10; humility is a highly valued trait amongst the community. Hope the best for your career!

BERKELEY & CARTWRIGHT (US)

Having previewed the set in chat, I was already fairly excited for the concept, and the finished product certainly delivered. Essentially, Berkeley is a heavyweight combo character with insane weight, good speed, high power, superarmor, and a shield that can’t be poked. Sounds fairly broken, until you realize that input delay means that his attacks come out slower than they should unless buffered, and even then his attacks have blindspots. The solution to this problem is Cartwright, who can take matters into her own hands and help Berkeley out, either with simple projectiles, creating barriers, or making traps to discourage rolls.

The above gimmick is already solid, but what sells the set is the execution. US does not go too in depth on how input lag affects the set, since it does so in the same way, and instead goes into how potentially terrifying Berkeley’s combo game can be. Almost all of his moves can combo and/or kill, yet every move still has a niche, from hitting grounded foes to being a cross up tool to countering zoners. It’s also nice seeing how Cartwright can play into things, usually by setting up traps to lock down the foe or using quick projectiles to hit the foe into Berkeley. My favorite move was DSmash, and not just because I played a part in it: the idea of an item that is only good on a specific character is hard to do, but works because of the duo’s mechanics. Lastly, the animations are great and appropriately cartoonish; ya gotta love Berkeley hitting himself for UAir.

Berkeley and Cartwright may be weak individually, but together they make up more than the sum of their parts.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Daisy by WeirdChillFever ***

Yet another Daisy joins the roster! Daisy from Fire Emblem makes an identity for herself by taking from some of the experimental mechanics from her home game, representing her class with style and giving us two Fire Emblem sets that involve weapon durability (there's a lot of parallels between this Jamcon's entries when you realize these sets were made without communication/in a razor thin time span, isn't there?).

I'm a fan of the core concepts and a lot of her individual inputs- using the funds you 'appropriate' from your opponents to keep yourself equipped with the most cutting-edge (hah) of sword technology and utilizing multi-hits to proc effects with a percentile chance, gaining some passive benefits from having some gold stashed so you have some motivation to pinch pennies over splurging at every opportunity, the monado-like input to get an item doubling as a counter that can get you a five-finger discount, all very cool tricks.

Her Neutral B, Pursuit, ties these tricks together nicely and serves as a genuinely neat ability (take a second swing immediately in exchange for doubling your end lag after the second, could see that being used by a Bravely Default set). Extra hits to get more chances to trigger your purchased swords' secondary effect, extra damage to rack up more gold. It's good stuff, and Side Special immediately after takes advantage of its quality of letting you aim the second attack in any direction, giving Daisy from Fire Emblem some impressive recovery when she needs it at the cost of being left vulnerable once the second dash ends.

Borrowing from other relevant skills and animations from her home game gives her some surprisingly cool animations that lead her to being appropriately slippery in a fight, Down Smash standing out to me for being able to cross-up with its movement. Dash Attack and Down Aerial's movement, and Up Throw's held variant stand out to me as good examples of how to use some forced movement on a fighter's inputs to convey someone evasive and tie nicely into her tricks.

I do have some concerns though, in part with the gold mechanic and the way the set handles the numbers and going around them. Sword prices feel a bit stiff given the number of multi-hit moves she has possibly chewing through her starting sword and others enough that saving up would be hard, though she can circumvent it with a well-timed counter or get a discount off of Forward Throw, and her Grab doesn't sound too hard to land in the latter case. Up Special and Up Smash kind of encourage her to just hang on to her money and bank on getting a grab or landing the counter (which would net her a Brave Sword as a steal). The fact she keeps what gold she accumulates between stocks also feels like it'd introduce an odd balance issue of her snowballing if she chooses to pinch her pennies. Numerical balance is certainly not my strong suit, mind, but this and a few other instances feel a little rough.

A quick example of that is her Forward Smash feels weirdly strong given that it and Neutral Special can give her a very easy 48% before freshness bonus/1v1 multiplier, which is crazy good. A more personal note would be the percentile chances of getting the effects of her status effect weapons- on average she'll break one before getting any effect procs, which might be fair given the strength of the effects if they land, but I'd prefer if it were a matter of any 1 or maybe even 2 hits on the sword before it breaks will inflict its ailment, with the rng being which hit it is, but that's personal opinion.

Some of the standards are a bit bland, such as Jab and Forward Tilt, which are fine basic moves but don't connect to each other or the set's specials much. Overall they're not bad, though, and moves like Dash Attack and Down Aerial are again ones I quite liked- Down Tilt works nicely in the concept of the set and has some nicely written humor, and Dash Attack meshes nicely with Daisy's other inputs as both a way to transition to the air and another fun movement effect for Pursuit to play with, with the native second attack to it being a nice KO option, and Down Aerial is a simple move but a very novel one that fits the playstyle nicely.

The grab game brings it back around in an interesting way, focusing on giving her some ways to play with her mechanic on top of her throws by holding the inputs. Up Throw's trick is legitimately neat, Pummel helps her accumulate gold quickly, and so on. Numbers aside, Forward Throw letting her get a discount on the non-Brave Swords and Down Throw giving you back uses are a little odd, but it's better than a bare bulb, especially paired with the former letting you dispose of your current sword.

Daisy from Fire Emblem's a fun set overall with lots of neat ideas that felt like they needed a little more time to hammer out, and after the longer jamcon sets was a relaxing and enjoyable read that helped me de-stress, even getting a few laughs out of me with the jokes written into the set.

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Berkerley and Cartwright

Another big OC set! In a character with similar energy to Rockerduck and Jeeves, these pair sport a fascinating mechanic: great frame data on Berkerley that’s hampered by a universal 7 frame start-up… unless you buffer your attack inputs, requiring a great deal of strategy from Cartwright to use effectively. When you look past the intimidating length and mechanic, the Specials and moves are mostly “simple” and fundamental, but talking about which melee options catch out which enemy responses works extra well here due to the buffering mechanic!

Funny enough, the Down Smash almost feels like more like a Special than the Down Special - having a melee weapon for Cartwright is handy, I like how Berkerley benefits from the screw more with his big body, and I especially like the damage bonus on the last hit of the screw!

I do wonder if this set could benefit from having exact start-up on all the moves given their emphasis on coming out really fast - could add a little extra “wow” factor - but it’s not essential. Funny enough, Down Air is similar to Jodie’s iirc, but is no less welcome here and has that neat cancel-to-F-air read - no stranger to reusing the “same” distinctive attack multiple sets in a row myself. The Back Air is also neat, and there’s something I like about the Up Air as well. I did forget he had an auto-turn mechanic until his grab game was brought up, but I understand why it’s in the set.

This set’s emphasis on frame data - having universally added start-up and using a mechanic to shave it off - reminded me a fair bit of Pegasus - though this set feels more in line with Marin quality to me, as there weren’t as many “standout-ish” moves and I could see this mechanic being refined a little in the future. I could see a set using the buffering mechanic and going into depth on “programmed” combo paths that reward the player for making an ambitious buffer (and how it can get them killed if they miss), but as Tern said that would have made the set exponentially long(er). Still a great job though, and once again praiseworthy dedication to another OC set!

 

[WeirdChillFever]

Spoiler: Daisy

I remember you bringing this character before, anything for another Daisy character from you! This set oddly reminds me of Conern’s set back in MYM16, and was ironically for Anna herself. Daisy has a refreshingly easy-to-understand money mechanic (damage inflicted = gold), and the weapons she purchases are nice and on the simple side that’s very understandable for a Jamcon set.

I’m certainly not opposed to the status effects being RNG-based when Daisy hits. I actually think it would be cool mechanic if you could play off foes letting their guard down when the RNG does occur (Green Missile misfire, for instance) or scaring foes into raising their guard up in case the RNG effect does occur. Say you have a buff where your moves have a one-in-five chance of triggering a time bomb that goes off 1.5 seconds after the foe recovers. Just talking to myself here in Ideas Mode, partly in case anyone else is reading this comment.

The RNG effects are implemented nicely here, not allowing Daisy to stun opponents in the air - what if hitting the opponent in midair slightly increased the chances of applying that sword’s effect, relative to the number of hits you got on them before they landed? Maybe one hit = the effect’s chance being one number lower, so if you hit the foe 5 times before they land your Silence Sword has a 1/7 chance of stunning the foe within a certain amount of time. That would make these swords more relevant in aerial combat, especially from the very, VERY cool and unique Pursuit attack - had this set more time, I could see the swords having greater variety in their status effects and serving as a stronger base that could easily be on par with Quackfaster. I particularly like Pursuit’s synergy with Daisy’s various multi-hit moves!

The Down Special shop acting as a counter -true to Fire Emblem sets - and allowing Daisy to steal a weapon for free is a particularly fun touch! I really like the characterisation on display here.

Down Tilt is simple, but a particularly great choice to work in with the Specials - it feels like a more extreme version of some Smash characters’ Down Tilts having a chance to trip, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of shield-shifting (hold B while shielding to tilt your shield in any direction) being brought up in a moveset. I also like how Pursuit works with Up Tilt in making it easier to land the spiking tipper. And Dash Attack + Pursuit working well with the landing follow-up, using Pursuit to drop yourself from farther up. Also, summoning a shop to buy stuff from after throwing your opponent is wacky, in a fun way. You seem to be setting a trend for grab games that summon groups of people or a location. What next, a grab game that summons all the Daisy characters you’ve made sets for?

All and all, Daisy was a pleasantly and surprisingly good read! Stronger than Rockerduck and even MYM24 Daisy in my books, smack in-between Quaxly and Quackfaster in quality. I just really, really liked Pursuit as a move that much. I feel like she has the potential to be an even better set, but whether you just want to focus on improving Quackfaster or make more sets is up to you.

Well first let me say that I kinda stopped planning for sets, since the planning would change every week and would stress me out. Basically, I could bang out three more sets in a month or I could just edit sets until Miror B and Cataquack. I’m not sure. I do plan on editing Daisy since it’s not much effort and since she‘s a character I thought about too much to leave in JamCon hell.

I am super glad that Pursuit (and to an extent, the melee) turned out as well as it did, considering I kinda gut-feeling wrote it down and the Bayo principle got added halfway. That did actually give Pursuit a clear purpose other than trying to make something as mundane as comboing an actual input to mirror Pursuit in Genealogy being a full skill for what’s known as simply doubling in the rest of the series.

Before I got to that point, Down B was actually the reason I wanted to make the set work, considering how completely tongue-in-cheek it was to have a counter as a hidden mechanic. Side B actually tied the set together, thanks to Fire Emblem Heroes recently releasing a Mareeta alt that mastered Astra, which gave a neat flair to all the multihits I planned and gave Daisy a bit of a narrative based on her interactions with Shannan.

Grab games summoning stuff is admittedly a biiit of a cop-out to do all the time, but it leads to self-contained mechanics and forces me to have a theme to my throws, which is a great way to keep me from phoning in the grab game. It might be a crutch for now, but it works for me.

Daisy by WeirdChillFever ***

Yet another Daisy joins the roster! Daisy from Fire Emblem makes an identity for herself by taking from some of the experimental mechanics from her home game, representing her class with style and giving us two Fire Emblem sets that involve weapon durability (there's a lot of parallels between this Jamcon's entries when you realize these sets were made without communication/in a razor thin time span, isn't there?).

I'm a fan of the core concepts and a lot of her individual inputs- using the funds you 'appropriate' from your opponents to keep yourself equipped with the most cutting-edge (hah) of sword technology and utilizing multi-hits to proc effects with a percentile chance, gaining some passive benefits from having some gold stashed so you have some motivation to pinch pennies over splurging at every opportunity, the monado-like input to get an item doubling as a counter that can get you a five-finger discount, all very cool tricks.

Her Neutral B, Pursuit, ties these tricks together nicely and serves as a genuinely neat ability (take a second swing immediately in exchange for doubling your end lag after the second, could see that being used by a Bravely Default set). Extra hits to get more chances to trigger your purchased swords' secondary effect, extra damage to rack up more gold. It's good stuff, and Side Special immediately after takes advantage of its quality of letting you aim the second attack in any direction, giving Daisy from Fire Emblem some impressive recovery when she needs it at the cost of being left vulnerable once the second dash ends.

Borrowing from other relevant skills and animations from her home game gives her some surprisingly cool animations that lead her to being appropriately slippery in a fight, Down Smash standing out to me for being able to cross-up with its movement. Dash Attack and Down Aerial's movement, and Up Throw's held variant stand out to me as good examples of how to use some forced movement on a fighter's inputs to convey someone evasive and tie nicely into her tricks.

I do have some concerns though, in part with the gold mechanic and the way the set handles the numbers and going around them. Sword prices feel a bit stiff given the number of multi-hit moves she has possibly chewing through her starting sword and others enough that saving up would be hard, though she can circumvent it with a well-timed counter or get a discount off of Forward Throw, and her Grab doesn't sound too hard to land in the latter case. Up Special and Up Smash kind of encourage her to just hang on to her money and bank on getting a grab or landing the counter (which would net her a Brave Sword as a steal). The fact she keeps what gold she accumulates between stocks also feels like it'd introduce an odd balance issue of her snowballing if she chooses to pinch her pennies. Numerical balance is certainly not my strong suit, mind, but this and a few other instances feel a little rough.

A quick example of that is her Forward Smash feels weirdly strong given that it and Neutral Special can give her a very easy 48% before freshness bonus/1v1 multiplier, which is crazy good. A more personal note would be the percentile chances of getting the effects of her status effect weapons- on average she'll break one before getting any effect procs, which might be fair given the strength of the effects if they land, but I'd prefer if it were a matter of any 1 or maybe even 2 hits on the sword before it breaks will inflict its ailment, with the rng being which hit it is, but that's personal opinion.

Some of the standards are a bit bland, such as Jab and Forward Tilt, which are fine basic moves but don't connect to each other or the set's specials much. Overall they're not bad, though, and moves like Dash Attack and Down Aerial are again ones I quite liked- Down Tilt works nicely in the concept of the set and has some nicely written humor, and Dash Attack meshes nicely with Daisy's other inputs as both a way to transition to the air and another fun movement effect for Pursuit to play with, with the native second attack to it being a nice KO option, and Down Aerial is a simple move but a very novel one that fits the playstyle nicely.

The grab game brings it back around in an interesting way, focusing on giving her some ways to play with her mechanic on top of her throws by holding the inputs. Up Throw's trick is legitimately neat, Pummel helps her accumulate gold quickly, and so on. Numbers aside, Forward Throw letting her get a discount on the non-Brave Swords and Down Throw giving you back uses are a little odd, but it's better than a bare bulb, especially paired with the former letting you dispose of your current sword.

Daisy from Fire Emblem's a fun set overall with lots of neat ideas that felt like they needed a little more time to hammer out, and after the longer jamcon sets was a relaxing and enjoyable read that helped me de-stress, even getting a few laughs out of me with the jokes written into the set.

It is really funny how Froy and I both made FE sets for this JamCon, especially since he helped a lot by spouting some attack ideas for me to simply write down. Meanwhile I thought he was making a Fate set and had no idea he was doubling up on the FE count with Slavic. Daisy even could‘ve ended up a joint if I respected my time enough to not spend a weekend on JamCon instead of school work, so that deprived Froy of doubling up on FE sets himself and doing a triple JamCon.

I’m actually impressed how well the mechanics tied together (RNG, multi-hits, Coins) considering I kinda just put them there for the sake of jamming in everything Daisy (and to an extent, Genealogy). Pursuit was a toughie to balance, since I didn’t want to give up on the feel of it being a move that would be a game-wide mechanic on anyone else but also needing the reason to be used over simply comboing with a move.

I super get the idea that the Coin mechanic and exact numbers aren’t balanced as much, I could definitely take another look at that and redesign things based on not having to fat dog the numbers in a pinch. I’m wary of making Daisy lose coins on a kill since I don’t think it’s original, but that’s 1. not an amazing reason to mess the balance up and 2. I have an idea for a dumb gimmick throw that could replace the admittedly redundant DThrow, where you can bank their Coins with Anna (with interest, of course) so that your wallet doesn’t get cut in half upon death.

RNG, similarly, might not have the right numbers but . When I return to the set I might just make it a lot more akin to the numbers in Genealogy itself, with the durability of a sword being like 50 hits. As said before I also might change the effects so that it’s not the three stuns, I could see Berserk inflicting a Pichu self-damage condition on the opponent, for example. Playing with that and not giving her a stun on every sword might also help loosen up balance.

Forced movement in moves is totally my jam and I’m glad I could add a lot of them to Daisy. Part of it is because crit animations in Gebealogy are just Jumps most of the time, but part of it is my memetic bias for them.

EDIT: Shin Hoppipzilla Comment:
why.

okay but this was actually a pretty enjoyable set. I liked Tumble more because it could back up its smack talk with being an actually set that tried but I will never blame you for putting less effort into Shiny Hoppip. Despite the rushed nature, it’s actually full of fun mechanics that completely get played for laughs, but could form centerpieces of sets for those that try which I guess is just the nature of Pokémon moves. Its floaty nature and five top tier jumps especially was a very neat take on a character that I’m sure will combine with The Venusaur Up Air for some competent shenanigans.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Two-Face by Rychu ***

Two-Face has an interesting concept in being a 2-in-1 set that penalizes you for not switching periodically, with a few workarounds that ultimately forces you to adapt while giving you a little risk/reward leeway in when you chose to swap or how you use what you're given. Harvey serves as a simple combo character with a lack of KO options and Two-Face more of a heavyweight-like bruiser who is a bit slow on the offensive. While there's some neat tricks like the two hit Jab swapping the order of the two to create an entirely different set of strengths and weaknesses, and the specials/smashes start the set off strong by being cool ideas, the two sets stay pretty well within their niche with not a lot of twists in the basic melee kit, and end up a bit bare bones for it.

The big thing is that the hook of switching between Harvey and Two-Face doesn't really get played off of too well. In particular, it'd have been neat if there were some more listed examples of where the ability to briefly dip into the other set via Down Special would come in handy- or maybe if that was an overarching mechanic, where holding a non-smash input breaks out the other side's attack with added lag. You also mentioned making the set more 50/50-heavy as an idea in hindsight, which would've been a great way to build off of his dual nature.

The stuff that's there is all competently handled, with short but sweet moves couched in fundamentals, but there could stand to be more interplay between moves in general. Up Special comes up a few times as a good lead in for fun and profit to other attacks, and I feel is probably your best use of Down Special as-is, so there's touches of it there, just something I wish there was more of. Second is the ability to use Down Special mid-grab, though I'm not sure how you'd do that without accidentally triggering Down Throw (maybe make it available by tapping B instead of the normal Down Special input). The grab game itself would've been a nice place to tie the two together based on that, but the actual throws are pretty one-note.

Note that despite the negative tone of this comment, I respect the hell out of the fact you fit a functional 2-in-1 set into 4 days and just over 5k words, and there's no diminishing that accomplishment. This feels like a set concept that can be improved upon greatly when you have the time to go over the idea more and edit it, too, but even as-is it's a neat one-off concept and a welcome addition to the Jamcon.

 

[wizfoot]

If there was one thing Little Mac had gotten used to by now, it was training alone.

He could train with Doc fine, sure. But now Doc was gone. Ryu, Ken, Terry, and Kazuya weren’t boxers. Wii Fit Trainer made fun of him behind his back; oh yeah, he may be short, but he can hear. Even Mario didn’t seem to want to hang out with him.

Fine by him. Mac was the underdog. He’s used to this sort of treatment. His glove hit the vinyl, the logo changing in his head from the brand to Cloud's face. His foot shuffled across the leather. He readied his fist...

“You know, your stance is wide.”

Mac looked over.

“The way your arms are positioned. You’re totally open to a blow to your chin.”

He shifted into a defensive stance.

“See, that’s better.” The woman stepped out into the light of Mac’s gym, the heavy overhead lights shining down onto her long black hair. “But you’re still open...”

Next thing he knew, her glove was on his forehead and Mac was on the floor.

“...near your eyes. Come on, get up. You’ll need to toughen up if you want to beat Cloud.”


TIFA LOCKHART PUNCHES INTO BATTLE!

Spoiler: Changelog (UPDATED 04/09/2022 )

"MYM 25 will never come again... so let me have this moment."

04/03/2022:
Edited neutral air's frame data and fleshed out use as a bait
Edited back throw to make it more reliable as a kill option
Down tilt and down smash frame data fixed
Tifa's weakness to disjoints noted in "In Smash"
Blizzard Ball travels for an additional 10 frames (8 frames > 18)
Down air fleshed out to include weakness to shield
Forward tilt fleshed out to include uses as a poking attack or shield probe

04/09/2022:
Forward Smash and Down Smash percentages buffed
Tifa's weakness to crossups noted

"wizfoot... changelogs aren't the only way to tell people that you've updated a set."

 

[Torgo the Bear]

Spoiler: along came a spider

Taranza
bubbyboytoo

This was quick and simple...very JamCon-y. I really don't have much to say about this one, but it was still pretty fun. I definitely preferred Wheelie, though. The minion controlling mechanics were all pretty fun, and I genuinely liked how it was used in Down Throw. But yeah, I honestly don't have much else to say about this one. Maybe it could be touched up a bit post-JamCon, but even as it stands, it's fun enough!

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Going through some of the recent sets, so I'll leave comments on what I've read so far. Apologies for anyone I've skipped or end up skipping - I don't always have the time to read and/or comment. Will try to comment more when I can.

Spoiler: Taranza

You know, I should probably play Triple Deluxe again, since I've only run through it once and hardly remember much about it. Modern Kirby "ally" characters are pretty hit or miss for me, but I always thought Taranza was one of the cooler designs of the bunch, and I like how you characterize him here, Bubby. Aside from the minion control and some of the debuff shenanigans (which are mild and far from oppressive by MYM standards), this is a very "in-Smash" set that I could legitimately see myself playing and having a good time with. I do wonder if Ftilt is redundant with Side Special, but I suppose one could just combo the latter into the former to make use of Ftilt's higher damage, so it's not a big issue. Just a thought I had, thinking there might be a way to further differentiate the roles of the two moves.

Dair is probably my favorite move of the set, both from a flavor and mechanical perspective. I'm a sucker for "create your own platform" types of moves. A shoutout to Uthrow as well, which is a simple but neat concept that I can imagine being fun to mess around with. The Final Smash is exactly what you'd imagine, but I like how it actually makes use of Taranza's remote grabbing mechanics in order to maximize its effectiveness. It's a small touch, but I always like when Final Smashes actually work alongside the core moveset in some way.

I find myself wishing that there were a little more unique physics-based properties on the web-based attacks. I like the Utilt, with the web around Taranza's body bouncing foes away if the vertical spike hitbox doesn't connect, and I feel like there could maybe be a bit more of that. Like maybe the gemstone projectiles from the Usmash could have an extended bounce if they launch off of a web trap formed from Up Special? I also feel like the grab could have some kind of unique Z-air with a stun effect or something. If I recall, you've implied that it was a bit of a rushed project (plus it was for JamCon), so it makes sense why this isn't your most in-depth set, and for what it's worth, it still works just fine and is functionally sound as-is.

Overall, I like this moveset and I think it'd be fun (which is my main criteria for determining how much I like a moveset), so it gets my approval.

Spoiler: Alolan Marowak

Ah yes, one of the cooler regional variants. A good character choice! Alolan Marowak is a surprisingly in-depth zoner/bruiser hybrid (actually crossing over into pure puppet fighter territory with that remote-control bone) that really makes use of both the Ghost and Fire elements of its design to good effect.

The combination of Will-o-Wisp and Hex as essentially a self-contained, two-phase move is clever and recalls how they'd often be implied in a Pokémon battle. I really like the concept of a boomerang projectile that makes use of the "returning catch" animation in a meaningful way, and I'd say it's executed pleasantly well here, especially with the catch animation breaking special fall and letting Marowak get a sort of "second chance" or go super aggro off-stage if you're confident you can catch the Bonemerang. And that's just the cherry on top of every other well thought-out, possible interaction which you detail.

I really appreciate the characterization here, interpreting Marowak as both sneaky and mischievous like a Ghost type should be, but also a physically powerful berserker who likes to get up close and personal with strong, clubbing hits. It's notably more in-depth than I was expecting from a JamCon entry, with each move having specific detailed applications that are clearly elaborated on. I don't like to rank sets, but I'd give it a very respectable B+ at the least. Good job!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Bellossom by FrozenRoy ***

Two entries in the same Jamcon is a new record, and hopefully something we'll get to see in future events. Bellossom is a little rushed with some spelling errors and a hanging sentence fragment peppered throughout, but none of the inputs are quite so barebones as to feel fillerish even if they toe the line sometimes. Bellossom's game plan is decently well-defined: a zoner who can set up a specific spot they're stronger in but isn't as effective at zoning once pushed out of it due to their key tools being a bit slow or specific and their general melee being actively lacking in reach in key points. It's a zoner who actually has difficulty when the foe gets in, which is a novelty in Smash due to its platform fighter mechanics where hitting a zoning foe hard knocks them back into their ideal range, compared to contemporary fighters where it's the intended effect and they're trapped in the corner of shame, so I approve.

The core focuses on status ailments to create openings and discourage or punish approaches from specific angles, all while Bellossom gradually charges a powerful move and gets it faster by doing their thing well. In the Sunny Day area, their zoning tools are stronger, their primary kill option comes online faster, and their debilitating effects are more potent. Drawing on some gen 1 quirkiness to link Leech Seed and some assorted poison and other healing effects together thematically is a fun touch and makes me think of our 'U8' experimenting. That said, the bread and butter fundamental options do feel a tad bland (mostly the standards outside of Jab), partly due to not calling attention to how they mesh with the assorted zoning tools and general core of the set in some inputs, but that's reasonable given the time crunch (similar to how I feel on some bits of the previous two Jamcon entries I commented).

Bellossom is still a solid set gripes aside, and I did get a chuckle out of some of the references therein, so it's an entry I'm happy we got and another Pokemon we can check off the list as needing a decent set. Just 3/4ths of a thousand more or so to go.

 

[wizfoot]

Spoiler: Blastoise by Arctic Tern

I'll just say it: Bulbasaur > Squirtle.

Anyways!

I’ve always wanted to make a Pokeset. My first try was Drapion, but I’ve also tried Gallade (my favorite Pokemon). Anyways, yes, I love Pokesets and I’m happy to see such a great one from a beginner!

The Pros:

• I really like the puddle mechanic! It's a great way to boost the mobility of a slow fighter and can set up a lot of dope mind games.
• I really like the "Flashed" effect Flash Cannon gives.
• Rapid Spin reflecting projectiles is a really cool nod to how it works in game!
• The dash attack is fine and average. Which is a great thing! It gives some nice normalcy with a set with a lot of moving parts while also merging well with the puddle mechanic.
• Back Air being a committal kill move gives me some huge Ganon vibes. And I love me some Ganon vibes.

The Cons:

• FSmash's windup is... 28 frames?! Jesus! That's a little high, in my opinion.
• I really like NSpec, but I feel like Hydro Pump's hitbox is just a bit too small. I think it could work a bit better as having a minor hitbox along the stream of water and a stronger sweet spot on the tip.
• “While Blastoise never learned Bubble Beam naturally in the games, he did learn Bubble naturally up until Gen 8.” I think you have a typo here.

Summary:

A great start! Some parts need tweaking but it's a great first set for a beginner. Better than mine, lol. Can't wait to read what else you've made!

 

[Arctic Tern]

TIFA LOCKHART (Wizfoot)

Tifa is a pretty decent newcomer set, I’d say. The combo heavy playstyle fits the character, and there’s actually a fairly in-depth combo game in the set. It also doesn’t break the game too hard (a common problem with newcomers) and I commend the effort to make every attack in the set come from somewhere.

Nevertheless, there are problems with the set, namely a lack of detail. Most sets will go over how a move plays into neutral (the state where neither player has a solid advantage) and how their tools affect the opponent. Tifa does not; for example, her NAir has an optional second hit, but doesn’t go over potential 50/50s caused by it or how Tifa can follow up on a baited approach. Also, I kinda think the set is too focused on comboing. This is most prevalent in the throws, where every throw is a combo throw. Most sets have one or two combo throws, with a KO throw or a spacing throw in there as well. This adds diversity of play, which means that there are multiple ways to use the character’s tools to win a match.

Don’t mistake this for me not liking the set! It’s certainly a good effort, just not as good as the others in this contest. Keep up the good work!

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Valkyrie by ForwardArrow ***

And just when I praised a 2-in-1 Jamcon entry, someone goes and one-ups even that level of audacity (granted by technicality, but still). First and foremost, thanks for laying out the perfect way to tackle that trainer set mechanic I've been wanting to do and giving your blessing on using it. That out of the way, I'm very happy this isn't a full on 3-in-1 so much as three closely knit sets, because having to read a Stooges-length entry within two days would've ended me.

The concept is pretty cool, too, using the three Valkyries as more of a stance change, while borrowing from the neat tricks that would normally be exclusive to multi-character sets in allowing one to hang in there and provide an assist as you swap to your new character. The differences between the three are mostly down to number and flavor, but the end result is three distinct playstyles in one set that work together nicely, aided by their Specials in particular synergizing with and encouraging swaps (Nova being a big coverage attack that hits hard but is infeasible used solo, Blessing varying in number of uses but passing on between the swapped Valkyries compensating for the one who wants it most getting the least, Up Smash's hitbox extension, etc). The melee kits of each Valkyrie is nicely interlaced within each individual member of the trio in that vein.

The set hits a nice balance of keeping the multiple character interactions relevant without suffocating out the individual inputs' vanilla usage with a ton of gimmicky interactions (the approach the Stooges took to their detriment). There's still quirky effects woven into the moves, though, and given primarily to Ortlinde to give her a stronger identity than just 'the balanced but meh' one and make her especially effective at supporting the others on top of filling the gaps in their playstyles. She worked out to be my favorite of the three as a result, though the tanky nature of Thurd and glass cannon aspects of Hildr are fun in their own right. I feel like this set is very much my jam, for reasons similar to Venom Strange (use of multiple fighters with good fundamentals and tricks mixed in), and it fits that this came out in such a stacked Jamcon. A decent peppering of typos are here, but I feel that that's standard for Jamcon entries and most of the sets did have at least one or two.

Quick nitpick, but does NSpec halt the user's fall for the whole of the attack? That might allow for some odd stalling situations; might want to stipulate that their fall is only halted for the first use of Nova in a given air trip, which wouldn't undercut the intended uses in any meaningful away but prevent oddball air stalling (though swapping to Thurd and using it would still be a nice 'we're deep off stage with both of us on our last stocks so I'm gonna make sure I don't hit the bottom blast zone first' trick).

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Tifa

It’s great to see you make a set for a character from your favourite game, and Tifa does see an improvement on frame data balance-wise! Tifa’s rushdown playstyle feels pretty spot-on for her character, and Fever Time is a pretty cool gimmick: you build it up by dealing 50% and activate it with Shield Special, but only get one use of it per stock.

- On Neutral Special, what does “stunlocked freefall” mean? Is it the tumbling animation opponents go through when you perform a footstool jump on them? It’d hard to get a feel for how much stun it deals, but feels fine enough as a combo starter frame data-wise. Also small error: the move says it doesn’t deal damage, but damage is listed in the green text.

- For Up Special, you might want to be a bit more specific on which parts of the move deal knockback. It does list a kill percentage, but for all I know only the spin at the end could deal knockback, and the rise and fall could deal no knockback but potentially open up combos. This is important to mention given how combo-centric Tifa is. I feel like you could make the move come out 10-20 frames sooner, make it comparable to something like Cloud or Lucina’s recoveries frame-wise given you can’t pick a direction to travel. Zuko’s Up Special also had a ton of lag to it, but hey, it’s easy enough to fix!

- I like the premise behind Side Special. It’s a fair enough approach to make this Tifa’s only Special that’s affected by chi, just keeping it basic. It has more added elaboration from when I last read it too: distance on Whirling Uppercut and horizontal knockback on Rise and Fall.

- Making Tifa lose her chi points when she enters Fever Time feels a bit counter-productive, unless I’m missing a reason for it. She does have a Fever Time Down Special, but it would be neat if Tifa was able to keep her chi points and still have access to one of her 3 Side Specials, depending on how much chi the player had before using Fever Time.

- You said you swapped Down Tilt and Down Smash, but Blazing Fist still feels like and is written like it’s a Smash Attack, mentioning charge hold, whereas the listed Down Smash, Water Kick, doesn’t mention charge hold. Was this intentional?

The non-Specials are serviceable! I appreciate these talking about various moves Tifa can go into to supplement her combo-heaviness. I do agree with Tern that you could talk more about how these moves work in “neutral” - baiting as Tern said, and the strengths and weaknesses of these moves like whether they lose to shields or have low hitboxes that lose to jump-ins. I partly think it comes down to talking and being more aware of the moves’ lag and what implications that would have on the move: for example, a move with a lot of end lag being susceptible to being baited out, while a move with low start-up could be a great punish or combo piece. And a move with high start-up like Mario’s Forward Air is more of a hard read or threaten, and low end lag is safe.

Reading your Discord response to Tern’s comment, I get where you’re coming from where applications like baiting aren’t implemented in your sets because you play Smash casually. I’m glad to hear you’re willing to use this advice though! To add to Tern’s advice on the Neutral Air, I’ll throw in some ways you could expand upon:

• As a close-ranged fighter, I could see many of Tifa’s attacks losing out to disjointed hitboxes, so she might want to emphasize baiting these attacks and closing in for a punish and combo-starter with her high speed.
• You have the right idea with mentioning that Forward Smash serves as a good punish. Its end lag is comparable to Marth’s Forward Smash which comes out fast but has a lot of end lag, so it’s a move that would very likely lose to shields. This could also be applied to Up Smash given its similar frame data.
• I could also see Tifa’s stall-then-fall Down Air losing to shields, but if the foe holds up their shield expecting this you could do an empty full-hop into a grab!
• In fact, I could see Tifa’s grab being an important neutral tool for her given her shields can presumably punish those aforementioned Forward Smash, Up Smash and Down Air. The fact that you added Tern’s Neutral Air advice for the multi-hit mix-up baiting into grabs is great for this.
• I could see Side Tilt being safe on block with its low frame data, especially from max range.

Tifa is an improvement over Heavy, a good effort to make the individual moves relevant and willingness to take advice. In fact, I’d say she’s your best set so far! There’s a lot to learn about Smash gameplay, something that generally happens over time. Reading sets is among the best ways to improve and learn details, something you’ve been doing now (Blastoise, who I know you’ve read, is a good choice for a set with a basic core but delves into baiting and 50/50s and how simple melee attacks can compliment each other). You can only get better from here - good work!

 

[UserShadow7989]

Firelight Ekko (Epsilon) by ProfPeanut ***

Welcome back, Peanut! The number of folks coming back or joining after a long lurk this contest has been wonderful, and like others, Firelight Ekko is a sweet first entry on return. Another neat take on multiple fighters in a small set, this time Ekko's Firelight companions summoned as a neat passive 'trap' he leaves in his wake that become full on allies for a time. Tying into that is his movement being bolstered by the same hoverboard that signals them to come in, and his ability to lose it or have it on cooldown if he dips into some of his specials, other moves being usable during said movement specials to extra effect in a nice web of interaction.

His other mechanic, the Firelight Marks, creates some interesting scenarios in how he wants to order his attacks and possibly play off of the assistance of his fellow Firelights (who can only apply it with their first hit on summon). Aside from Down Tilt giving it an alternate trip effect I highly approve of, Up Tilt mentions the added stun from it triggering can be used to combo out of it, to name a couple points it appears. I do wonder if his allies might be a bit disruptive to his Firelight Mark plays and combos- though even in that case, only their first attack on entry will apply a Mark, so anything they do as an AI won't be disruptive to the former. It's a nice bit of balancing between that and his other assorted tricks.

I do agree with Kat that he could've used a bit more in the nitty gritty details, though there's not a total dearth of it here. Aside from mentioning specific follow-ups, some attacks that are punishable on miss can benefit from Firelights covering you as you recover, or 50/50s can make for some fun moments where Ekko capitalizes on a Firelight's botched attack. There's some potential for playing off of the Neutral and Side Specials already, too- he has a number of moves that have commital follow-ups, and some moves that are fast but do too much knockback to combo normally, as respective synergies that are worth giving a nod to.

On a mechanical topic, I do have a couple things to comment on in regards to the Grab. I'm a bit curious as to how you input Down Special while Grab is active (buffering it maybe?) without inputting Down Throw- maybe it can be triggered just by tapping B in the Grab? You made a good balance decision by having the Firelights hang back while you Grab the foe, but Ekko is free to go to town if the foe gets grabbed by them. Given it's rare for the AI to input it on its own, you might just make it so they're not able to Grab just as a precaution/to simplify.

This could then be used to have a little interesting interplay- lower damage generally means less shield stun, so this would make your back-up Firelights easily stopped by shields, so Ekko himself could use his pretty good Grab (and maybe one or two other shield-countering attacks like Side Special) to compensate. They do also have a limited supply of their own Side Special bombs, so opponents might need to weigh baiting it out or the risk of the AI using them if it's still in reserve while focusing on Ekko himself- changing the behavior so they'll whip it out if they keep getting blocked by a shield or the foe keeps throwing up their shield near them would be a neat trick. Or you could very well keep their ability to grab and skip on this for a different angle, though you might want to make their grabs have a shorter duration just in case if you keep'em.

The throws and aerials (outside of Down Aerial) are kind of where the set falls off, possibly a result of the deadline; I feel the detail about throws being weakened if used while using Down Special is actually something that could've been played off of for them, turning 4 utility/kill options into combo tools that lead into other bits of his set and such. Aerials could've used a little more in general, stuff playing with your trail like Down Aerial does or possibly being used out of jumping off your board to catch opponents trying to roll or jump past it.

On a fluff note, the mechanic noting that Ekko attacks with 'crude bars and metal spears', and his melee moves making no specification as to which gives me the mental image that his exact choice of bludgeon varies between individual uses of a given move- which is a very nice touch of flavor, given as the intro states he's been forced to make do.

This isn't a bad returning set by any means, with a good base that could be fleshed out with edits or returned to with a different character idea, and as-is doesn't have anything explicitly bad in it so much as leaving the reader wanting more. Ekko is hopefully a sign of things to come in the future!

 

[Katapultar]

​

A small girl stands over a long stone bench, inspecting a set of blueprints with a pensive look. Her focus breaks when the doorbell rings and a young man enters, but she does not look away from her work.

"Welcome, Light. I take it you're here for police business?"

Light rubs the back of his head bashfully. "You got me. My father needs an order of reinforced papers for the police department. And I could do with some papers for my studying."

"You're in your final year of high school, aren't you?"

"That's right. But you're amazing yourself, Miruca. So young, but you have your own successful business. You must have been a brilliant student at Central Academy."

"...I don't want to talk about that. If you're going to make an order, then just get down to business. I have a backlog of orders to get through."

"Right." Light steps up to the counter and sets down a stack of bills. Miruca merely glances at the bills and nods in affirmation.

DING! The door slams open as another man enters, swaggering forth as if he owns the atelier. It's enough to get both Light and Miruca's attention.

​

"Miruca! And if it isn't Souchiro's son, Light Yagami!"

Miruca straightens up. "How do you do, Mr. Hakamichi?"

"How am I doing? Spectacular! I love the new sword you imbued for me! Why, just a few days ago I cleaved a giant tortoise in half!"

Miruca averted her gaze and held her arm anxiously. Jigoro was wealthy, one of Miruca's most frequent customers. She was one of the few adolescents that Jigoro actually liked - a list she could count on one finger - but even had a limit to how much she could tolerate him.

"You're welcome. Did you have some business here?"

"I'm looking for a sturdy pair of boots and vest. Me and boys are going hunting in the woods next week. Also, I want you to inspect my sword. Make sure it's not damaged."

Jigoro placed his sword on the counter right over the blueprints, completely ignoring the fact that Miruca had been studying them the the whole time he had been in the atelier. Fresh blood and sweat from the blade stained the blueprints, but Miruca didn't object or push the sword aside - she knew that it didn't take much to set off this obnoxious human being.

As Jigoro stood there, checking his watch while Miruca begrudgingly inspected his sword, his gaze wandered to Light's direction, like he had forgotten that the youth was in the room. Then his jovial smile morphed into a scowl.

"By the way, I walked into my office last night, only to find that some ingrate has stolen the draft of my biography. Disgusting." Jigoro was practically leering at Light, like it was his fault and he should do something about it.

"That's unfortunate. Are you sure you didn't misplace it?"

"For your information, boy, I lock up my biography in a display cabinet every night before I go to bed, left open on the page I last left off. So when I wake up I can marvel at the progress of my life and the masterpiece that will ultimately be revealed to the public. But when I woke up this morning, my biography was not there! A ninja must have stolen it. And that is where you and the police come in."

"Don't you have a back-up copy of your biography saved on a computer?"

"Back-up copy? Bah! Why would I save it on one of those horrible machines? Someone could steal the data and claim my story as their own! That's why I only keep one copy of my draft."

While Jigoro wasn't looking, Miruca yawned, slipped his sword into a drawer in the counter and wiped the blood and sweat off the blueprints with a slightly sour look. This drama was the last thing she needed when she had so many orders to work through, a fact that MYM'ers can relate to with moveset reading. She wished that Jigoro would walk out of her atelier right this instant.

"So, Mr. Hakamichi. How much progress did you have on your biography?"

"Progress? I had the whole thing finished!"
(There are two new sets here)​

 

[wizfoot]

I made this set in 2 days. n88 convinced me on discord to post it anyways.

I mean, this has technically been planned since MYM24. So there's that. Ahem.

Mario barely dodges a swipe from Chrom. Robin backs the Prince up, casting an Arcfire that catches Link. Mario goes to free Link and lands a kick on Robin’s back, disturbing her concentration long enough for Link to get a forward tilt and take her second stock.

Chrom swipes again at Mario, knocking Mario off Eldin Bridge and leaving him grasping the edge of the shattered bridge. The plumber lifts himself back onto the stage just before it repairs itself, placing down his left foot...

And nearly losing his balance again as the stage shakes. The fighters pause. Mario taps his foot on the stage again and it shakes once more. Did he do that?

A great monster suddenly emerges from the bridge, shattering the brick and mortar that was just repaired. It resembles a giant metal ant, and roars with the fury of all the monsters in Mushroom Kingdom. A ball on the top opens and out steps... a completely normal person.

“Well, if it isn’t Saucy Mario.”

“…Saucy Mario?” Chrom mouths. Robin shrugs.

“Checked the internet lately?”

The internet? What the heck’s an “internet”? Mario looks over to Link who is equally as confused.

The man jumps down and grabs Mario! Mario struggles as his neck is in the large man’s grip; balding, thin glasses, thick neck... who the heck was this guy?

“Played college ball, y’know. Coulda gone pro if I hadn’t joined the Navy. I’m not one of those beltway pansies. I could break Sakurai in two... with my bare hands!”

Mario screams as he’s flipped up into the air; for a brief moment he thinks he’ll just hit the ground, but then a kick sends him flying across the bridge.

“Don’t mess with THIS Senator!”


SENATOR ARMSTRONG RUNS FOR SMASH!

Spoiler: Changelog (UPDATED 04/06/2022)

"Don't **** with this changelog!"

04/05/2022:

Nanomachines clarified
Nanomachines reworked; now inactive during the end lag of any of Armstrong's moves
Down Special (Nanomachines, Son) nerfed (10 secs of super armor > 7 secs; 0.7x damage resistance > 0.85x)
Down Special now completely removes Armstrong's super armor if used, even if interrupted
Jab frames corrected
Forward Smash (Unenlightened Masses) nerfed (28 frames of hit end lag > 31 frames)
Side Tilt (Legislator's Lick) buffed (158% kill > 115% kill)
Formatting errors fixed
More flavor added to Introduction
Running speed nerfed (1.654 > 1.43)

04/05/2022:

Down Special (Nanomachines, Son) nerfed (25 startup frames > 85 frames)
Two new songs added: "Might Makes Right" and "The Mastermind"
Gif and quote added to Aerial header

04/06/2022:
Down Special (Nanomachines, Son) buffed; Armstrong now moves 1.2x faster under its effects
Up throw and forward throw now kill at lower percentages (176%/234% > 138%/163%)
Side Special name changed ("Followed Wrath" > "Burn the Weak")

"Update, you piece of ****!"

​

 

[Arctic Tern]

WOLF WITCH VERONICA (Goliso)

Finally got around to reading this set! Veronica is a highly ambitious set, being essentially a three-in-one set where one set is locked behind taking 100%. The set does a good job at actually bridging together these options, with constructs from one set being able to stick around for another. I particularly liked the wolf summons and how they can potentially cover a lot of space, and the options Veronica has to use her Gaelach with her Smashes. Everything flows together quite nicely, with no move being outright useless; highly impressive given the number of inputs! Lastly, the animations are particularly and satisfyingly brutal, especially on Lycanthrope - the grab being just severing the foe’s tendons being the prime example. Side note, it’s kinda funny to me how Veronica’s Smashes take inspiration from Geese Howard, considering she’s a wolf-themed martial artist with dead parents who fights against a crime boss.

Overall, I’d definitely agree with the consensus that this is easily your best set yet! Sink your teeth into it if you know what’s good for ya!

MIRUCA CROTZE (Kat)

Miruca is a fine addition to Kat’s litany of Atelier sets. The gimmick is kinda complicated at first glance, but in simple terms some of Miruca’s attacks are delayed hitboxes where the “timer” is attacks landed. This is primarily used to allow the normally slow Miruca to combo her moves together, or just to force a reaction on hit; a very fun take on how delayed hitboxes normally function. Even without this gimmick, there’s some fun tools at play here: highlights include the DAir’s spike hitbox and her ability to weaken the foe with some attacks to make her variety of big power moves that much deadlier.

I don’t really have that much to say about this set, it’s just overall quite solid. Good on ya, Kat.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Senator Armstrong

Man, this character might be one of, if not the single most wanted characters for a moveset! We’ve been wanting this guy since MYM14, but it was surprisingly hard to interpret his relatively basic heavyweight powers and nanomachine durability. His Nanomachine mechanic is a fine way to interpret this - he’s still vulnerable to grabs at early percents, and I like how the passive super amor gives him a resistance to the typical heavyweight vulnerability of being comboed.

I do think the passive armor is unfun for opponents: most fighters can only use their grab to deal with Armstrong at low percents, and unless they have a Special or Aerial command grab they can’t really combat him in midair. I think the armor should be nerfed to slight knockback-based armor while Armstrong is in the air, just enough that he can tank through multi-hits and low knockback to resist being comboed while still being vulnerable to moves that deal moderate or high knockback. I also wonder if the passive amor should be disabled during Armstrong’s end lag. By making these changes, Armstrong can be a huge threat in neutral and foes have to be careful how they approach him, but Armstrong is more vulnerable in midair, and losing his armor during his end lag means he can’t just throw out attacks recklessly.

From what I understand, Down Special essentially gives Armstrong 8 seconds of invincibility once-per-stock. It might be a bit oppressive as it means foes can’t interact with him that entire time, but his attacks are slow at least. What if Down Special was a counter that referenced the memetic image of Raiden pummeling at Armstrong’s chest to futile effect? If Armstrong counters, he gets his nanomachine armor back to a degree, or even gains temporary super armor against the attack he countered, but only works against one attack. Would give him a mean anti-projectile game.

Armstrong is able to carry on Tifa’s improved melee to a degree. I like Jab’s mentioning that a number of Armstrong’s attacks aren’t great against shields to balance out his armor. That you talk about the move’s applications in more detail also makes it one of the more refined attacks in the set. His Side Tilt could KO earlier if it’s that slow, like at 110% from center stage. His Up Throw is surprisingly unorthodox, as it can be used as either a combo-starter or kill move if you press A to kick the foe away.

Armstrong is a good effort from you! Especially for something you made in 2 days. He’s a tricky character to handle, and heavyweight mechanics like super armor can be hard to balance without a lot of knowledge and experience, but a very good character choice for you with the sheer GIF material his boss fight(s) provide. There is room for improvement, but with a character of such appeal to MYM I hope this set will get a good deal of attention.

 

[wizfoot]

Spoiler: Senator Armstrong

Man, this character might be one of, if not the single most wanted characters for a moveset! We’ve been wanting this guy since MYM14, but it was surprisingly hard to interpret his relatively basic heavyweight powers and nanomachine durability. His Nanomachine mechanic is a fine way to interpret this - he’s still vulnerable to grabs at early percents, and I like how the passive super amor gives him a resistance to the typical heavyweight vulnerability of being comboed.

I do think the passive armor is unfun for opponents: most fighters can only use their grab to deal with Armstrong at low percents, and unless they have a Special or Aerial command grab they can’t really combat him in midair. I think the armor should be nerfed to slight knockback-based armor while Armstrong is in the air, just enough that he can tank through multi-hits and low knockback to resist being comboed while still being vulnerable to moves that deal moderate or high knockback. I also wonder if the passive amor should be disabled during Armstrong’s end lag. By making these changes, Armstrong can be a huge threat in neutral and foes have to be careful how they approach him, but Armstrong is more vulnerable in midair, and losing his armor during his end lag means he can’t just throw out attacks recklessly.

From what I understand, Down Special essentially gives Armstrong 8 seconds of invincibility once-per-stock. It might be a bit oppressive as it means foes can’t interact with him that entire time, but his attacks are slow at least. What if Down Special was a counter that referenced the memetic image of Raiden pummeling at Armstrong’s chest to futile effect? If Armstrong counters, he gets his nanomachine armor back to a degree, or even gains temporary super armor against the attack he countered, but only works against one attack. Would give him a mean anti-projectile game.

Armstrong is able to carry on Tifa’s improved melee to a degree. I like Jab’s mentioning that a number of Armstrong’s attacks aren’t great against shields to balance out his armor. That you talk about the move’s applications in more detail also makes it one of the more refined attacks in the set. His Side Tilt could KO earlier if it’s that slow, like at 110% from center stage. His Up Throw is surprisingly unorthodox, as it can be used as either a combo-starter or kill move if you press A to kick the foe away.

Armstrong is a good effort from you! Especially for something you made in 2 days. He’s a tricky character to handle, and heavyweight mechanics like super armor can be hard to balance without a lot of knowledge and experience, but a very good character choice for you with the sheer GIF material his boss fight(s) provide. There is room for improvement, but with a character of such appeal to MYM I hope this set will get a good deal of attention.

if you don't mind me reposting my discord response...

Spoiler: Comment Response, son! It lengthens in response to wizfoot's ideas.

I'm gonna have to disagree on making down special a counter and making his gimmick only give him knockback resistance in midair. A few well-placed aerials can break the nanomachines anyways and down special being a counter doesn't feel like it would fit with the rest of his moveset in my opinion, but I can certainly see it being nerfed a bit more. And it's not "invincibility"; he can still be grabbed and take damage, he just doesn't take any knockback regardless of high how of a percent he's at.

In my mind it would be best utilized when you're at, say, 40% and close to completely breaking but you have a breather. Say you have stage control and your opponent is attempting to recover or lost their recovery; you can use down special to give yourself a few more seconds of extra armor for a small tradeoff for the rest of your percentage. I do like the idea of the armor being disabled during his end lag, though. It kind of makes sense from a "this is how his nanomachines work in canon" angle too, seeing that when attacking Raiden in the final stage of his boss fight his defensive capabilities were eventually cancelled out due to how hard we was attacking; leading to him eventually being stabbed in the stomach and disheartened (get it?).

Thanks for the comment! I'm still a little shaky on whether releasing him way earlier than my other completed sets was worth it but I think it's definitely paying off.

 

[GolisoPower]

Kicking Ass By Taking Names
Light Yagami by Katapultar

So like many anime fans, I'm learned about Death Note when I was really really young. Like, in the early 2010s. At the time I barely had an idea about its premise until a few years later. Reading this was extremely interesting, mainly because of how the Deathblow system works, being a prediction-based kill system that primes 4 attacks to hit your foe. It's a pretty innovative system that plays into the character pretty well, even with my own lacking second-hand knowledge of the character. The constructs he has using Side Special and Down Special play into it extremely interestingly, either being a guy who can attack for you directly as a sort of pseudo-minion or a non-guy that serves as a projectile that falls from the high above the stage. A lot of the attacks he also possesses allude to parts of the story that even a newbie to the franchise like me would take interest in, such as the brutal recreation of Isaac Newton's story that is Down Air, the various death methods in his Smash Attacks or even the scythe, which I had no idea he had access to. Granted I had no idea what you had done for the edits on Jab and N-air because you changed them before I wrapped it up, but turning them into smaller, weaker Deathblows is an interesting, if safe, option if you don't want to commit to Neutral Special. Overall, Light Yagami comes together in an interestingly defensive playstyle that requires intelligent thinking and careful planning to achieve victory, just like how Light himself functions in the show. He's a very strong contender for Nomination after Venom Strange, and I was pleasantly surprised by this character choice. Nice work, Kat!

 

[UserShadow7989]

The Baseball Boys by Slavic ***

And here we have a semi-Hugo set just to continue the trend of classic MYM concepts being revived and explored with the benefit of experience and hindsight! The set functions as a clever twist on the Ice Climbers, with your 'Nana' handling a number of the moves, being a bit slower and much easier to desync as needed, and responsible for half your inputs rather than miming everything with a delay. All this plays into a major throughline of the set: the ability to create, reflect, and store your own projectiles by clever use of the duo's desync shenanigans.

I'm a sucker for multiple simultaneous fighters and hitbox manipulation in case my sets aren't a big enough hint, and The Baseball Boys do a cracker jack job of it with Slugger having a few different reflectors with their own pros and cons to both balance the number he has and give the player multiple conditional options, as well as the projectile variety from Glove Guy and the associated varied arcs he can fling them in- on top of being able to catch an opponent's projectile as a semi-pocket and fling them in those arcs the next time he uses a projectile move!

All of this is tied together nicely by a few choice moves (like Down Aerial and Down Special being able to better separate and move the two apart from each other, Up Special being a one-stop shop for all your sync/desync needs at the cost of being your recovery/vulnerability) and especially the Grab Game (Grab recalling Glove Guy to your side if present and letting the two make use of nearly all of the set's toys and set-up in different ways).

All this in a polished set with a decent bit of humor like what we saw glimpses of in Tumble (the Watermelons tangent in particular being funny and making the different functions of the different types more memorable without driving up the word count). The Boys require some careful play to get the most of their rewards despite their potential for stage control, their specific weaknesses and the set being split between the two meaning they can't really just zone out foes to an unhealthy degree. The only advice that comes to mind is that you might want to cap the extra movement from an Up Special whiff so you don't go flying way past a ledge to your demise when trying to reunite the two.


Hammer Bro by FrozenRoy ***

An iconic Mario enemy that's long overdue for a modern set (or any set? Have we had a set for these guys yet?), Hammer Bro. takes the Piranha Plant approach of dipping into their Bros' tool kits to make a fuller set that still fits the feel of the Bro himself. The varied projectiles and their blindspots also do the trick of making him exactly as obnoxious a camper at his best as he should be while keeping him from being too good at it and ensuring there's actual interaction between him and his opponent instead of spamming one or two inputs.

Going beyond that though is the core trick of the set, which adds an extra layer to the concept Piranha Plant brought to the table: Down Special. After all, the most iconic appearances of Hammer Bros and the source of a lot of their infamy is when they show up in pairs! Each Friend Bro has their niche and strengths/weaknesses defined by the inputs associated with them, but despite the set dividing itself up into four intentionally focused mini-kits that give each Helper Bro something different but valuable to offer, the set itself for the player-controlled Bro feels perfectly coherent with a distinct playstyle instead of being a mishmash master of none.

The set does a wonderful job of functioning both when you're stuck working solo and when you have a partner, and I do overall like the implementation of the Helper Bro- like I mentioned for The Baseball Boys, I'm a sucker for multi-fighter sets and repurposing inputs for shenanigans. The Pummel Throws are a nice added touch that gives the Throw game variety and adds one more factor to consider when thinking about what moves to use when, and make up for the shorter normal throws that are simple but effective at what they do.

Two quick nitpicks: Forward Aerial's move name is incorrectly colored as a Boomerang Bro move instead of a Hammer Bro moves, and how do you input Dash Attack for Down Special? In the latter case, I think holding A on the ground would do the trick.

 

[Arctic Tern]

JIGORO HAKAMICHI (Kat)

This is the stupidest character choice in MYM 25 so far and I love it.

Jigoro embraces the inevitable tackiness that comes with making a Katawa Shoujo set and makes it work. The biography is a very cool take on Kat’s signature item play, where the item is built up by landing different attacks on the foe… or being hit by different attacks. Tools like Up Special and Down Special help alleviate his inevitable weakness to combos, and the biography attacks themselves are pretty cool, the most stand out being the FTilt. Melee is surprisingly solid for a character this low potential, having interesting gimmicks to help his gameplan or just serve as solid tools. Lastly, the grab’s gimmick is pretty interesting, and the DThrow was probably my favorite move in the set!

I do have some actual criticisms though. Most glaringly, I think Jigoro’s advantage state is a bit too strong, most notably with his DSmash pitfall; the set mentions using biography FTilt, which comes out frame 1 and does 25%, but has no mention of end lag. This could be fixed by giving it really slow end lag so that he can’t rack up 50% from a pitfall, but still. Also, the USmash’s glue effect is a bit too tacky for my taste, but it does have a nice effect on the set’s gameplay and he references glue enough for it to be kinda associated with him, so I’m fine with it staying.

Overall, I liked Jigoro about as much as Miruca; while that set had better balance and execution, Jigoro had much more interesting concepts and characterization (plus I have a soft spot for low potential sets like these).

SENATOR ARMSTRONG (Wizfoot)

Armstrong is a very long-awaited character to get a set, but a newcomer doing him was not expected.

Armstrong’s playstyle is simple yet fitting, a heavyweight bruiser with power and some surprising speed with his burst options. His set’s main gimmick is his nanomachines, which provide him with superarmor that gets weaker as he takes damage, a very fascinating concept. The set itself is basic, but gets the job done; the standout move was UThrow and the ability to change it from a combo to a kill throw.

Don’t really have much to say that I didn’t say on Tifa, so… yeah.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[Rychu]

"They don't make them like me anymore..."


​

 

[Torgo the Bear]

Spoiler: Spooky Scary Skeletons Send Shivers Down Your Spine! It's Super Effective!

Alolan Marowak
U UserShadow7989

Another fairly short and simple JamCon set, but definitely still enjoyable! Alolan Marowak is a really cool Pokemon, and I feel like you portrayed it really well! I thoroughly enjoyed everything you did with Bonemarang, and Will-O-Wisp was also executed in an interesting way. I was also a pretty big fan of down smash and most of the aerials.

Like most shorter sets, I really don't have much to say about this one. But I'm happy it exists here, and I think you did a great job!

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Sam Fisher

This set has some of the best character-relevant presentation I've ever seen! It all fits brilliantly: the vague image of Sam Fisher, the infrared style colouring, the computer terminology and great writing style. Instead of portraying the character openly, the set is written as though Sam Fisher is a mysterious entity, incredibly fitting given his status as a stealth game protagonist. You have every right to be proud of this, especially when it’s back-to-back with Two-Face’s fantastic intro. Put them together with Whitebeard, and you’re quickly establishing yourself as the king of modern day presentation. The writing in particular makes this set a very distinctive read.

Onto the set itself, being able to perform your ground moves from a crouch is fun, and the set’s inventory mechanic has Claire vibes even if Fisher doesn’t share her limited ammo per stock - on his Down Special, at least. I’m sure we’ve all thought of smokescreens that can make fighters’ attacks miss, but it’s bold that you actually implemented that (50% chance for disjointed hitboxes to miss, 75% chance for projectiles to miss). I am personally fine with setmakers implementing this type if RNG.

• Snake’s C4 takes 25 frames to explode according to Ultimate Frame Data, which is slower than Fisher’s Wall Mine. I get how anyone would think that Snake’s C4 explodes quicker, but I have no problem with Fisher’s Wall Mine exploding within 4 frames as he can’t plant it on opponents unlike Snake.

Neutral Special is where the Claire comparisons kick in, but it’s simple here and I like the Mega Man comparisons of introducing Fisher’s Jab, Forward Tilt and Neutral Air where he fires the gun. The SC-IS Sniper Rifle oddly reminds me of my own Ferrijit set where it’s an effective long-ranged tool, though here it has the neat drawbacks of having not only very limited ammo but not damaging opponents within 8 grids of Fisher. Aim-cancelling is a particularly fun way to round out the Neutral Special.

Onto another fun move is Side Special, for its unique melee build-up into Execution - not only negating the chance of disjointed hitboxes missing in the GAS, but playing off Fisher’s firearms to make them stronger and even Execute out of his end lag! It explains why Fisher’s firearms aren’t super strong in spite of their limited ammo. Really cool how it all works together. I also really like his Up Special, a spacing tool that ties in well with Fisher’s trap and projectile-based Specials, but can be used against him by opponents to reel him to his anchor point and start a combo. Aerial-wise, we haven’t had many sets that specialise in hanging from the edge of the stage, and it works especially well with Fisher’s traps and projectiles.

Oh man, when’s the last time a MYM set dealt with background hitting attacks? If I’m not mistaken, this is a very obscure mechanic in Brawl, sweeping moves like Dedede’s Down Smash could hit the background. I think MYM only did background hitting attacks between MYM6-12? Arbok, Yukon Cornelius and Bowser the Brash did it from memory. I wonder if it could do with some elaboration, but I don’t mind this being in the set. On a different note, I like how some melee attacks have more starting lag if they’re used while crouching, as it means there’s a reason for Fisher to not always crouch. Also love the Forward Air split kick’s standing-between-walls/platforms technique, even if it’s niche. It’s as refreshing as the gimmick on Sephiroth’s own Forward Air, and that move came from Smash!

Down Air is a great move too - for the info on Krav Maga, its unique properties against shields and working well with Side Special’s Execute. You get a lot out of a little with these melee attacks, which is impressive. Finishing the set is an especially fun Down Smash, in its hitbox that can be activated just by moving away a certain distance from the grenade. Also, the Final Smash reminds me of Smady’s Raiden set in MYM5, in that guards are utilised. Somewhat fitting that the last move in the set actually gives us a glimpse of Fisher’s personality, especially when it’s followed up by some actually clear images of the man to close the set.

All and all, Sam is a very good set and a highly and unique enjoyable read. Been curious how your solo, more time-dedicated ventures would turn out after Law, and this one did not disappoint. A short but sweet read that contains some fascinating ideas.

Spoiler: Dark Blupi

• I love the idea of people making up dark or light versions of characters as jokesets. Didn’t FA say he would make Light Falz if you finished Dark Blupi?
• Side Special’s idea of sticking a platform on your opponent is… surprisingly good. It would be weird to work into a serious set and would be easy to mess up, but still.
• Up Special is surprisingly tame flavour-wise compared to the extreme and EVIL Neutral Special and Down Specials. Actually another fun idea.
• Oh man, Down Special is getting into DR. STRANGELOVE territory! This is going to sound weird, but I like how tame the blast radius is along with the 10 second timer despite how extreme the effect is (assuming you can only have 1 bomb out, lol).
• Up Tilt’s stacking is funny.
• Dash Attack feels like it would be fun to use.
• Pfft, Down Smash. This is one of the funnier moves in this jokeset; a move that damages opponents not wearing a specific type of clothing is stupid in a fun way, perfect for putting in a jokeset. Would this move affect Kirby? Are Kirby’s feet shoes or his actual feet?

Because I can:

• Heatran
• Gorea
• Banette
• Hunter J (Salamence)
• Jecht
• Keldeo
• Beheeyem
• Cherry
• Keroro Platoon
• Oogie Boogie
• Putata
• Tamaki Kawazoe
• Syrup
• Guzma (Golisopod)
• Armie Buff (she’s in a wheelchair, but she’s not wearing footwear)
• Ibaraki-Douji

Are my only characters who don’t wear footwear, prosthetics or lack feet, so they would be affected by Dark Blupi’s Down Smash.

• Back Air would actually work well as a serious move, and is even balanced damage-wise. Especially fun if the fighter has a mechanic that benefits from racking up multiple hits.
• Oops, an infinite stall-then-fall Down Air that goes through terrain, what a terrible move! I sure hope it spikes opponents or deals a ton of knockback!
• I love how you remembered that the L preview had him put his foe in a cage and made female character accuse him of being a pervert.
• Heh, disembowelment magically fixes itself.
• Pffft, my god, I love those names for the Blupi’s alternate costumes!
• Using emojis for the taunts is pure genius. I love it.

 

[Arctic Tern]

It had been almost a week since the Shroobs invaded.

Even in that short timespan, the damage done to New York City was clear. The streets were ravaged, with cracks and pits making vehicular travel nearly impossible. Buildings all around were destroyed - were being destroyed, one particularly tall building falling on top of a smaller street and causing more havoc. Civilians were running in panic, Shroob invaders firing ray guns and leading armies to corral them into their ships in a desperate attempt at survival.

And yet, despite that, in an untouched building, some people were sleeping through it.

Two men were sleeping together in a chair...although "men" would only be a fitting description in the "person" sense, as they were not humans at all. Sitting on the chair was a large, bipedal dog in a suit, while on his lap sat a small, naked rabbit. Regardless of the invasion happening as they slept, the two continued to slumber as if this was a mere distraction... or they had been through so many alien invasions it was routine.

Their peaceful sleep was interrupted the second their phone rang.

"I GOT IT! I GOT IT!" The duo screamed as they made a mad dash towards the phone, desperate to answer it first. Or at least the dog did; the rabbit was flung to the side just as he got ready to run. He didn't really mind; the dog always won these races anyways.

"No... yes... no way!... huh?... Holy Beethoven doing backflips into the Mariana Trench with a radioactive slug! We're on our way!"

"What's the problem? Is it the aliens? I've already blown up a spaceship twice in this month alone and there's only so many times you can do that before it gets stale!" the rabbit asked.

"No, little buddy, it's much, much worse... the Commissioner's prized coffee mug has been stolen!"

"...really?" the rabbit asked. Even for him, this seemed ridiculous.

"Not just that! In order to prevent himself from being poisoned by potential enemies the Commissioner has put small traces of all known and unknown poisons in his coffee for the past 2 decades. As a result, all these poisons have combined into a microscopic puddle deadlier than every poison in the world combined. The mug was stolen by those mushrooms, and if they find that puddle, they can recreate the poison, supply it to their troops, and wipe out the entire United States in under 30 minutes!"

"...So, the aliens, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much. No time to waste, little buddy, let's go!"

And with that, the two were off on yet another bizarre task, one that would take them across the world and potentially the universe at large.

SAM & MAX IN:



NO SHROOM FOR ERROR!

Based on the 1999 teen comedy "Sam & Max Get Smashed"​

 

[Arctic Tern]

SAM FISHER (Rychu)

Sam Fisher is a very weird pick for MYM standards, given he’s a regular human with no powers. Nevertheless, Rychu makes an actually pretty solid set for him!

The biggest hook is the gas grenades, which allow Sam to hide where he set up his traps or his current weapon. I particularly like how the gas makes projectiles have a chance to miss, thus possibly encouraging foes to stay in the gas to avoid his gun fire. On that subject, the characterization is spot on, with the set’s emphasis on forcing reactions though fear of Fisher’s options being very in line with what he does in Splinter Cell. The melee is also good, with emphasis on his crouch attack mechanic; a particular standout was UAir and its ability to send foes to the ground. DSmash was also a highlight, with Fisher gaining the ability to dissuade foes into even attacking him for fear of setting off his explosives. Lastly, the presentation is top notch, looking like a file some agency has on Fisher, very appropriate.

There’s a lot of other things I like, but they all add together into a short, yet quite sweet experience.

See more comments and ratings on my personal page!

 

[wizfoot]

2 OF MY FAVORITE FRANCHISES BACK TO BACK???? ok.

Spoiler: Sam Fisher (Rychu)

Holy ****.

I love absolutely everything about this set. The formatting, the moves, the photos... gah! It's beautiful.

I love how his neutral special incorporates into his up special. It's a really cool way to give him some great off-stage potential that I can imagine being used for mixups on some platforms. I also can't get over how awesome the idea of a multi-move neutral special is; I considered doing something similar when I was working on Captain Price a while back but never got around to it before abandoning him.

If there's a single criticism I have to make, I'm going to go with how weak his neutral air feels. It doesn't feel underpowered by any means of the imagination but I feel like the percent done could be buffed just a bit.

Still, this is easily the best set in the entire contest so far in my opinion. Fantastic work!

Spoiler: Sam and Max (I Guess... A Tern? An Arctic Tern?)

I'll admit I didn't imagine the set functioning like Ice Climbers, but I guess that's just due to how I would make the set. I expected Sam and Max to be interchangeable, but I like the Icees-esque pairing as well.

My favorite move in the set is definitely side special. I love the idea of Sam grabbing Max and just tossing him, much to the bewilderment of the other fighters (especially those who take themselves a bit too seriously like Marth or Cloud). I really like that it functions both as a projectile and also as a way to separate Sam and Max.

If there's something I'm going to criticize the set for I'm going to have to go with the grab, really. I know you opted to make another reference in place of a normal command grab but in full honesty I just feel like a command grab would round out the set a bit more (no pun intended). I'm also not a huge fan of the addition of Noir Sam; I feel like it would work just as well if Sam was kept normal.

I really like the humor you bring to the presentation! Overall, this is a pretty solid set with a few drawbacks I couldn't ignore. Still a great set from someone in the first MYM contest and you've certainly upheld my expectations!

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

A few comments

Spoiler: Bellossom

I don't see a lot of love for Bellossom, but it's actually one of my more well-liked Pokémon, personally (I prefer it to Vileplume at any rate, which is probably unpopular). I think it's cool how it's the only case where a Pokémon LOSES a type upon evolving. But anyway, to the actual moveset.

Bellossom is right up my alley as far as moveset styles are concerned, JamCon or not. The gimmick is clear, the moves all have a purpose and gel with that gimmick, and it's all very concise and readable. The character seems to be a bit of a frame trapper who, funnily enough, excels at whiff punishes and unwise trades despite her lackluster frame data. Amusingly, it's as if Bellossom is more dangerous the more her opponent fears challenging her, despite being fairly easy to overwhelm by headstrong opponents who don't even care to respect her options. That's not a weak point of the set's design at all, though, and it's obviously part of her characterization and playstyle to be a fighter who seems rather nonthreatening but who actually has plenty of hidden tools to put overconfident opponents in their place (the Peach/Daisy inspiration is very real here). It's also good to see a zoner-type character that actually has to camp by their resource somewhat, actually getting somewhat punished for letting the opponent push them out of their comfort zone. I do think Bellossom has decently strong boxing tools to fight back with even if worse comes to worst, but I'm not sure if it was your intention to make her a totally dedicated zoner/camper to begin with.

The powders are the first inputs of the set that really jump out to me. Stun Spore is a clever way to implement a paralyzing Pokemon move, making it more of a frame-delaying attack disruptor than the typical "stunlock" effect you always see these moves adapted as. Including a practical application of the poison/Leech Seed glitch from Gen 1 is a major deep lore pull that is highly applauded. I like the interplay between all the powders - they all have interactions with one another, but they can each set up for other options in Bellossom's kit, so the player has choice in whether they want to chain multiple powders in quick succession or go another route with their effects. It opens a lot of branching avenues off of a few relatively simple status effects, which is neat and a good example of getting multiple uses out of a single input without things feeling bloated.

Fthrow's first paragraph seems to end abruptly. Not sure what that's about. I actually really like this move, though. The animation is really cool (I love seeing all the different ways moves like Giga Drain have been interpreted) and it's always nice to see a "spacing" throw with a little extra utility to it.

I don't have much else to say about this one (despite this comment probably being longer than the moveset itself). It's all quite self-explanatory and I don't have any objections to any of the numbers or parameters. I'll just end it by saying I like it and good job crafting two JamCon movesets in such a short timeframe.

Spoiler: Senator Armstrong

Hi, Wizfoot. This is an unexpected but welcome character to see a moveset for. One thing I've gleaned from your movesets is that you're very thorough in listing exact frame data and hitbox properties for each move, which I just want to point out is something I appreciate since it helps to better picture how the move functions in actual application during a match. The highlights here are the animations - all the moves are pretty much what you'd want and expect Armstrong to do. My favorite input is Up Throw - good animation, great use of the character, and it even has multiple optional routes within the input itself, which is something I always really like on throws.

Implementing the nanomachines as a super armor mechanic with knockback thresholds that scale with Armstrong's damage percent is a good way to utilize that aspect of the character, but I find myself agreeing with some other observations that it seems just a bit overtuned.

The specials here are all fairly basic but get the job done, and they're what you'd expect from the character in question. The only one I'm unsure about is the down special, which I feel is underplayed due to its one-time use while also being both underpowered and overpowered at the same time. I foresee a few issues with Armstrong being more or less invincible for 8 seconds per stock. You say he can still be grabbed and damaged, but I honestly don't see why anyone would even attempt to challenge him as opposed to just running away, which is much safer and more practical since he can't rebuff himself for the rest of his stock anyway. Opponents would essentially be forced to try and avoid confrontation during this window, which is kind of a pacer-breaker. It does make for some interesting characterization, since Armstrong IS the kind of guy who'd you'd want to stay far away at all costs from when he's all powered up like that, but at the same time, I feel like it wouldn't even really be fun for the Armstrong player themselves. Especially since he's slow enough that avoiding him shouldn't be too hard for half the roster. Something like this might work better if he had some way to force (or at least incentivize) the opponent to engage with him.

Personally, I actually think the once-per-stock limit isn't a wholly bad idea, but I do think there should be a reason for moves of this type to actually take up an input instead if it's not being implemented in some other way. I'm of the opinion that the nanomachines' effect could have been implemented more elegantly here. Perhaps as part of Armstrong's already established passive armor mechanic, or as an automatic effect that takes place when certain conditions are met. Maybe Armstrong gains the buff automatically if he gets hit by a particularly powerful attack or takes a certain amount of damage without dealing any himself (as if he's desperate to play catch-up). You could even just have it be usable multiple times but with a nerf to its effects or some kind of debuff window after it wears off. There are a lot of directions you could take it, but I do think it needs some sort of rework.

A small note about Back Aerial: For thematic reasons, I feel like this move should have some kind of extra armor to it independent of Armstrong's hurtbox, letting it eat through attempts to challenge it.

The grab game is good conceptually, but I feel like the kill percents need adjusting. Uthrow and Bthrow are supposedly some of Armstrong's best kill moves, but 176% and 234% are incredibly late percents for a kill throw to be KOing at.

Overall a very solid effort, but it's held back a bit by some odd numbers and a gimmick that I think needs a little more time in the oven.

Also, the thought of his Boxing Ring title just being "Colorado Senator" is hilarious to me. In a genuinely good way. I love it. You can picture the meme template this would absolutely become.

Spoiler: Sam Fisher

10/10 set for presentation alone, I gotta say. Nobody's gonna argue with me on this, right? The digital greentext, the blurry camera images...even the simple choice to present attacks and actions from the (second-hand!) perspective of a potential opponent as opposed to the Fisher player themselves...it's so good. And it's not just fluff, either. The writing very smartly uses its presentation to put all of its information into a context that's easily digestible from a viewpoint of understanding the character's gameplay.

I really love stealth-based characters (I wish more Smash characters used actual stealth as part of their playstyle, but it's tricky to implement), so seeing how you captured Splinter Cell so faithfully is really awesome. To be blunt, the whole thing is really good, disregarding my own bias for the concept. This set probably has my favorite use of firearm ammunition and weapon swapping thus far and may have my all-time favorite up special period. Up Throw is another move that I really like, both thematically and mechanically. But all the inputs are good here. There really isn't a bad one. If I had to make one tiny nitpick, I feel like Dtilt is a little tacky, and might've fit better as some kind of spot dodge-related mechanic or something. But other than that, I've no complaints.

Fantastic job on this one, Rychu.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Slippy Toad by BridgesWithTurtles ***

Conceptually, this set does an excellent job of conveying Slippy's character, from small animation touches highlighting his clumsiness to his mechanical stats and weaknesses showing he's far from at home in the air, unlike his more confident coworker. Jab even highlights the difference between him and other Star Fox members by being mechanically similar to Fox and Falco's rapid jabs but far less impressive visually. He uses his intelligence to deal with his shortcomings as a fighter, key weaknesses in his set covered by his ability to summon helpers for both his own protection and to provide offensive pressure on foes that can either zone them out or force them to break the rhythm of their preferred combo chains to react to a predictable but reliable threat. The set absolutely nails the character of Slippy while making him someone I'd love to play.

That said, the set has a few warts when you look under the hood. Neutral Special straight-up disabling shield for 9 seconds is a hell of a thing. Rather, one thought is that it makes the foe take added shield damage/stun as Slippy/his mechanical allies target a 'weak point' in the shield, making it more dangerous with the assorted passive hitboxes he can put out that can keep them pressed in it if they try to put it up at the right time. Slippy himself might otherwise struggle with shields with only one or two good answers to them in his kit that aren't situational or reliant on NSpec (Forward Smash for example I could see being good against shields, FTilt might be situationally good if it reflect back and hits a shield twice thanks to a Shieldtron), but once he's got covering fire from his inventions or his debuff active is surprisingly good at taking them apart.

Neutral Aerial lacks a damage percentage, and mentions the move being low priority- a thing we found out way later than we probably should have is that aside from special cases priority is determined by damage and that aerial moves tend to just not have it (other moves hit through it without interacting and it'll hit through other aerials without interacting). Though this does mean you can just slap a damage number on and nix the mention of priority to fix it. I also appreciate what you were going for, but giving Down Aerial and Back Aerial just enough to be safe on hit without much reward would be best rather than having Back Aerial be outright useless and Down Aerial sometimes being unsafe on hit despite the required precision to hit. The set does call attention to Little Mac as an in-canon example, but his air game being so utterly awful is almost the sole reason he's the bottom of bottom tier instead of decently high up, and Slippy's no Little Mac on the ground.

Down Throw mentions the explosion leaves the foe prone but also states it does high upward knockback- you could probably transplant the prone effect to another throw with a low-angle of knockback since DThrow has some good stuff going for it already and it'd spice up some of the simpler effects there. Especially because Slippy's assorted constructs would give him an edge in tech chases, so having a throw that can get one of those going would do a lot to reward him for keeping on top of things. Back Throw would be my recommendation; while Forward Throw sort of borders on it early, it's fine as is, and Back Throw would make sense logistically as it'd let Slippy toss foes back into the set up he was in the midst of/set up moments ago.

In general I'd say note a little more where his Specials interact with his set when there's a good time for it (Down Tilt, Down Smash, and Back Aerial for example mean Slippy benefits greatly having a turret set up behind himself to cover anyone who takes advantage of his lack of 'get this guy off my tail!' options, and Down Smash itself or Side Special can serve an important role in having someone or something to have his back. There's actually quite a few synergies there already, the set just needs to call attention to it.

As critical as this comment sounds, this is a legitimately good set to return on after so long away from MYM. There's obvious effort to give the character interesting core tools that synergize with the rest of the set and show them at their best, with attention paid to fundamental melee moves, stats, and other crunchy mechanical bits to capture the feel of the character and make the set play like playing the character should. It's honestly made me like Slippy Toad that much more, and that's one of the best things a set can do.

(Personal taste nitpick: Might recommend changing DSpec's 'direct control' input to holding the input? It's a personal taste thing where I try to avoid double-taps since inputs in fighting games can come down to 1/60ths of a second and I worry that it'd be easy to mis-input them too far apart or close together that way for non-competitive players, but given Neutral Combos are a thing for a lot of characters and Down Special in specific is a move you're not going to spam in one place it feels like it works fine here.)

 

[Katapultar]

Spoiler: Sam and Max

I’ve been very impressed with your sets and comments, both in their high quality and output speed. You’re essentially our 6th Leader! Here is another fun set (and fun characters!) that utilize one of modern MYM’s favourite archetypes, tag-team fighters. Sam and Max can attack while the other is in lag, but Max has poor range on many of his attacks so it’s not ridiculous.

The Specials are solid - I love items like the banana peel and playing off the tag-team nature of the set - but where the set really shines for me is past that with its great melee and the fun variety you get with what is effectively two sets in one. The Smashes are all really cool, especially Forward Smash with its fun mix-up between Sam and Max’s contrasting attacks. Up Smash is excellent too, where you can set a separated Max as a “trap” to fire at opponents who get above him, and the hard interaction you get if you have Sam and Max’s rockets hit each other. No wonder tag team sets are so popular in MYM. The melee from here is very well-designed and always conscious of its balance, like Sam and Max being great against foes forced to tech and scaring them into certain reactions, and elaborate options like using Sam’s Dash Attack early to have Max hit shielding foes with his Forward Tilt and have Sam pressure from it, even mentioned as a RAR with Sam’s Back Air. Or Max’s bizarre Neutral Air to stall him in the air so Sam can knock foes up to him for his powerful aerial follow-ups.

• Minor number-based nitpick: 19 frames of end lag on Sam’s frame 9 Forward Air feels a bit short for what’s supposed to be long end lag. Dedede’s Forward Air has 26 frames of end lag and doesn’t come out until frame 13. It does have long landing lag, though.
• I love how ultra-specific spacing is required on Sam’s Back Air to get a ludicrously powerful hitbox! Those are fun moves, and not just because Zelda is my main in Smash Ultimate. FA and bubby will definitely enjoy this move given W and Polterkitty. Funny enough, headshots are an actual (but very, very obscure) thing in Smash - iirc, Marth can get headshots with his Shield Breaker Neutral Special. Kirby’s entire body is treated as his head for that move.
• I’m starting to associate you with Z-airs thanks to this set and Melt. I like it.
• “Sam puts his hands on his hips as he and Max deliver one of their trademark witty observations related to the current fighter.” This is begging to be explored in detail (I love the witty remark you made for Light in the collaborative story mode thread:
  "Apparently, this "Kira" has the supernatural ability to kill anything he sees!" "I can do that with my bare hands, Sam, what else can he do?"
• "Noir Sam will merely deliver a long, angsty monologue about how every human is secretly evil and the pains of love, or other noir subjects." Noir Sam would get along great with Kimblee!

Sam & Max is another great set from you, one that definitely lived up to the hype. Honestly, your melee is absolutely on par with the best, and it’s exciting to see how your character choices unravel as you have a lot of good tastes in franchises. If you’re able to throw out a very strong base concept to play off with your melee, I could easily see you making a frontrunner set and breaking into the Top 5, if not better.