Make Your Move 28: Jamcon 2 Over!

[Arctic Tern]

Since we're having trouble finishing our sets again, I'm extending the end date of the Jamcon to April 9th, 12:00 PM EDT.

 

[BrazilianGuy]

Hi guys

I heard you were all in need of some romance so I set up a date for all of you, hope you enjoy

Part 1 - Its a date

Guide to who’s who in this moveset: Normal: You, the reader, thoughts and sentences Italic: Secret Character Bold Gray: Narration Baby Blue: Character 1 Orange: Character 2 Green: Me, Brazilian Guy, the author I had an idea, a crazy idea, hope this works, happy April Fools to those that celebr...

docs.google.com

(Jamcom 2 Entry)​

 

[UserShadow7989]

"Our next contestant in the "Joke" category is ready! Hailing from far, far away in parts unknown, famous sci-fi novelist Alanbee has arrived in a costume no doubt inspired by their next literary work!"

"...huh? That's not right? Whatever, that's what the cue cards said, so we're rolling with it. Get in there!"

Jamcon 2 entry. Hope you all have fun with this obscure pick!

 

[Kholdstare]

JamCon entry "Joke"​

 

[Arctic Tern]

Jamcon 28-2 is officially over! We’ve got plenty of entries to read, so let’s get going.

• First off, from yours truly, is the master of dimensions and pleaser of crowds himself, Dimentio! He may be a jester, but both the character and the set are no joke!
• Next, we have Hector Salamanca! Not an official entry since there’s only one move, but it may end up becoming something greater with time.
• Following is Galarian Farfetch’d, a character whose entire existence is based on a joke. Despite that, it’s a serious contender in its own right, whose samurai skills should not be underestimated.
• Then we have Jon Arbuckle from Garfield… in the form of a dating sim! I have no idea why anyone would be compelled to do this but it is most certainly the best Smash moveset/date with Jon Arbuckle of all time.
• Afterwards, we have “Alien” Alanbee, a joke character turned viable option from obscure party game Fortune’s Favor. They may not want to fight, but underestimate them at your own peril!
• Finally, Skibidi Toilet.

A very… interesting competition, to be sure, no doubt a result of the contest’s theme. But as stated prior, this contest is very serious, so get ready to read and vote!

 

[Arctic Tern]

Read and commented every Jamcon set!

My vote overall goes to "Alien" Alanbee. They may be an alien, but their playstyle is far from alien to MYM, and it's one that I feel is much stronger than the other sets for this Jamcon.

 

[BrazilianGuy]

Joke Jamcon Comments 1 - The Tio and The Samurai

Spoiler: Hector Salamanca

Arguably the best pick in this entire tournament. It's hard to really talk about art in it's purest form when you find it, but Tio Hector is just that, art in form of a moveset. He masterfully captures ALL the elements that make his character beloved in Breaking Bad, he is in a wheelchair, can't move, and he blows up, Bravo Vince.

Seeing bold decisions being taken is also something inspiring. This moveset has not one but two bold maneuvers. The first is to include Tuco as part of Hector's moveset, it's rather unexpected, as youd think he'd have his own TIGHT moveset, but once you rething it, it makes sense, Tuco would do anything for his Tio, he would be fighting for and alongside him in a time of need such as Smash Bros. And even if Tuco is merely part of of Hector's Set, he is still in the game, Charizard isn't less of a playable character just because he's part of Pokémon Trainer, likewise I find Tuco being here an inspiring, unexpected, but good choice. The second bold decision was not having a Tuco moveset.

anyway uuuh I liked when Hector said "ask Gus, you don't wanna face off against me!" and I liked when his stats where just 0, very funny, if I was judging STRICTLY on how well these movesets deliver the Jamcon theme, ie Joke, Hector would win by a landslide.

I also need to finish Better Call Saul, dang.

Spoiler: Galarian Farfetch'd

Getting it started, love the pick, not only do I love base Kanto Farfetch'd, I also used Galarian Farfetch'd and later a Sirfetch'd in my Pokémon Sword playthrough. I also really like the idea of making him just an outright Samsho character, is a very fun idea to make a Light character that deals so much damage and either prospers or dies fairly easily. I also like the slides, I'm more of a visuals fella, your stuff inspires me as to how far we can push presentation in a moveset.

He trully fits the Joke theming as well, since at times it does feel like he could play like someone from SamSho, a Samurai Movie, or even Nago from Guilty Gear, considering how he plays very differently from other light characters, my man deals big damage and kills good. He also has great range, I mean, the duck has BUSTER SWORD of range, thats crazy.

He also has a ton of fun move concepts, of course, I really love Down Special Swagger + Counter, being the biggest example of his Live or Die playstyle. The samurai way is a difficult path to trail, but I like how it can be used, for example, to counter an opponent that's too ok with using burst movement options or something, as they get the boost and then immediately get countered.

Forward Throw is also a fairly simple throw, but the stealing portion is very fun, I always think Smash should have more moves that mess with items.

Side Special is cool for the armor he gets, and while I get that he unleashes a ton of hits since it's Close Combat, feel like it could describe how he unleashes this close combat. And I have to say, Poison Jab is cool, but a little bit out of nowhere? Feels odd that the Foolish Samurai Warrior wielding a Leek Sword just uses poison on this one move and then nothing like it again, just odd, of course it fits cause he is a Pokémon and that is a Pokémon Move, but ya know, feels out of place.

Also wanna point out that his Down Tilt says "speed" when I think it should be "spear", and Back Throw is also lacking a bit in the second paragraph, I think? I can still see the vision with it but it's important to point out. Also he doesn't have 8 alts, I'm annoying about alts sorry.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed how you characterized him as a lil' birdy samurai that can and will slice and dice you, the win screen where he cuts the grass is very cool. You did a good job for Galarian Farfetch'd Chonk my dude. Still gotta read your other sets, but you are cooking good with this format in my view.

 

[Hyper_Ridley]

Jon Arbuckle by BrazilianGuy
Finally, the 7 deadly sins of MYM28 have a lust rep! "MYM dating sim" was not a space I expected to fill on my 2025 bingo card. It's definitely among the most unique ways of formatting a moveset I've seen, and it got some good laughs out of me.

He reminds me of Dan from Street Fighter 4, where's he's technically an UP joke character but has enough goofy tricks for the mad lads out there to pull it off. The comic panel is a cool special, but my favorite attack was NAir, giving him 2 different hitboxes for playing the accordion was a really fun touch. The one thing I thought was too far was the coffee interaction between FAir and Jab, it just felt a bit too gimmicky for my tastes (and too caffeinated for Jon's tastes).

What are the odds that both of your MYM28 sets have a stove-summoming mechanic? I wonder what recipe Gabby Gator would read for Jon.

That final smash implies Gorefield is somehow involved in MYM28's story mode. God help us.

 

[Katapultar]

Dimentio [Arctic Tern]
Another revamp of an old Warlord set, Dimentio is a more simplistic and combo-orientated take on the duplicate genre, along with some fun in-character writing (not sure if you came up with some of the metaphors, but props to you either way). Rather than use duplicates as Ice Climbers, they effectively function as minions that you can program, giving them a solid amount of mix-ups and conditioning towards how opponents deal with them. That duplicates can potentially be locked out of using grounded or aerial inputs is a fascinating design choice, and it gets mileage here with conditioning opponents to take to the ground or the air. Side Special is front-loaded for a projectile start-up wise, the type of extreme that feels like something I’d implement in a set.

I don’t have too much to say with Dimentio, but there are some moves here that I’m pretty fond of. Down Smash is a highlight for how it works with your clones’ nerfed damage, as the downwards knockback takes advantage of their knockback nerf in a natural way to make the attack surprisingly stronger in their enlarged hands. Forward Smash is unorthodox in a way that appeals to me, and Up Smash has a neat little interaction with Side Special for extending combos. Forward Air is also weirdly a highlight for me - it’s a carbon copy of Luigi’s Forward Air, yet the set has a different application for it thanks to Dimentio’s air speed being different from Luigi. Finally, Down Throw’s clone interaction is neat for what is effectively a clone combo starter if I understand correctly, albeit dependent on the moves you had logged into your clone.


Skibidi Toilet [KholdStare]
This might be the most disturbing character I’ve read a moveset for in a while. It almost feels like the type of character that would come from a joint set between you and GolisoPower.

Skibidi Toilet is missing some details one would normally expect from a set, like damage percents and the corruption rate of Neutral Special, but you know what? I’m actually fine without those details. I’m here for the ideas, and this set actually has some very fun ideas. I also like how the properties on each move are split up.

(I’m also aware that you don’t have much time for movesetting, so I think you getting a Jamcon entry out is a big accomplishment)

Creepy factor aside, MYM rarely has movesets that involve turning your opponent into another character ALA Skibidi’s Neutral Special. I only remember Sarkhan Vol being able to turn opponents into Charizard, and I imagine that you do too. I could see how changing your opponent’s character would be a controversial design choice, but I think a moveset revolving around the concept would be really cool. Like, a moveset that’s designed in a way where the character has some kind of natural advantage in mirror matches.

Up Special is a neat versatile recovery, and Down Special’s adaptations sort of remind me of the Adapter Beast minion from ForwardArrow’s Knight moveset. I have to give you serious props for writing Skibidi animations and visuals for different adaptations. Dash Attack is a neat move past the Specials for its shockwave hitbox, and Forward Tilt’s property of having less end lag on-hit.

The set also has a cool set of Smashes. Forward Smash makes use of Skibidi’s smokescreen mechanic, being a strong hitbox with clanking properties. It’s nice that there are scenarios where opponents are better positioned to take advantage of Skibidi’s smokescreens. Up Smash has a genuinely unique idea via “randomized aiming,” and actually reminds me of Tern’s Oogie Boogie set where you can get rid of the RNG factor via charging. Meanwhile, Down Smash is a classic MYM’ian construct with a lot of uses. The move’s initial hitbox does lack the detail necessary to understand how the spawned barrel works on-hit, but it would be easy to include that information. Also a fan of Forward Air’s unorthodox attack angle.

U-air’s writing is funny. Forward Throw also has a fancy way with words. The entire grab game does, in fact.


Jon Arbuckle [Brazillian Guy]
I just have to say this - Jon is a really good “joke” set in my opinion. Like, this set is genuinely funny, in a way that honestly gives WCF’s Philomena Cunk a run for her money. I am impressed by the amount of effort that went into the “story” and the presentation + writing of this set, especially for a Jamcon and MYM as a whole where the moves and concepts take priority. The pictures also add a lot to the experience: the ever-changing imagery is particularly funny, like Garfield dressing up as Sonic the Hedgehog. The “is this real enough?” gag in particular is an absolute masterpiece, in my opinion. Reminds me of the live-action Garfield movie from when I was a kid (and the Click movie). If MYM sets prioritized humour, this moveset would easily get a Super Vote.

Now, onto the moveset itself! Jon is a funny character pick, especially when his cat is playable in a canonical Smash clone, so I’m glad someone made a set for him. I think it’s in-character for Jon to go out on dates and look for marriage candidates? That’s the impression the online date premise of the set gives, and I’m pretty sure Jon is canonically unmarried. Even if not, I vaguely know that the Garfield fandom has done some really crazy things, so Jon getting this kind of set treatment tracks.

Jon getting an item-spawning Neutral Special has some personal appeal to me, with creative liberties taken to ensure that the food he cooks can be weaponized. I really like the design choice behind giving Jon a command grab that sets up for his item throws, as it gives him a way to bypass shields when holding an item inhibits them. Something I want to do myself in a set.

I don’t actually dislike Jon’s pie being hilariously OP. It seems to be shockingly in-character for Jon to get murderous over a pie, assuming that comic strip isn’t edited, and the chances of actually spawning the pie are really low anyway. Heck, I actually think this is one of the best and most practical/tasteful (no pun intended) implementations of a “lol OP move” that you’d normally see on an old joke set for a broken character with a bunch of insta-kill moves. 500% does feel absurdly high compared to the other numbers and this being a “serious” set - I’d say to bring it down to 50% while keeping its insta-kill properties, and you’re golden. Dealing 500% would allow Jon to cheese bosses if the RNG gods favour him.

Jon’s Up Special admittedly got me to look up Garfield Kart on Youtube. I like the flavour behind his Down Special, where Jon draws a large comic strip, but I think that giving himself an area where he can tank a single hit is overpowered in an unfun way. I get how it’s meant to synergize with Neutral Special set-up, but Jon can draw panels pretty fast, and being able to face-tank anything short of a grab or a multi-hit would massively limit what most fighters can do without being punished. Also not sure how Jon staying inside a panel he drew gives him armour from a flavour perspective, but that’s a minor issue in comparison. Not sure how you’d change the effect, but there’s a lot you could do with the abstract nature of magically creating comic panels.

Moving past the Specials, Jon feels like a “slice of life character done right.” Specifically, his moves have him do casual things that would be in-line with his actions from the comics, rather than going out of your way to make him more violent. Jab involves drinking coffee and Up Tilt is a dance move. These casual animations also help to add character. I also like Jon getting moves for Garfield from the NASB games. D-tilt is funny, as it has a chance of tripping “you” instead of the opponent as a way to balance out its spammability. Good to see N-air acknowledging z-drops via NSpec Items - another move with a neat gimmick that limits its spammability, and makes sense given the attack’s animation. Damage isn’t mentioned on this move, but I didn’t have a problem with that on Skibidi Toilet so neither do I here.

Forward Air has a funny animation, and the comic strip accompanying it is… something else. The move’s speed buff gimmick with Jab is a bit weird input-wise, and probably unintuitive for players despite how much it makes sense animation-wise. Would also be neat if the set went into more detail on how the speed boost benefits Jon, but I won’t complain much when this is a Jamcon set and top-tier joke entry. U-air reminds me of Villager’s turnip attacks, and is just interesting to see someone tackle RNG in such a way.

Man, that’s one powerful Back Throw lol. Also can’t help but imagine Jon getting hearts in his eyes when he uses his Forward Smash on Cunk. I like that his Smashes don’t appear to be intended acts of violence, but still have enough force to distinguish themselves as his stronger moves.

Jon was a blast to read, a great experience. I can’t rank him too highly compared to other movesets, as I don’t think his concepts are as strong or synergize as well as other sets of yours like Scarecrow, but I do have some positive bias in how some of Jon’s Specials and moves were designed. Kind of surprised that he was intentionally supposed to be a bad character, but he still feels very playable, and I’m glad you didn’t make him so weak that he wouldn’t feel satisfying to play with.


"Alien" Alanbee [Usershadow7989]
Wasn’t expecting a third FF character for this Jamcon, but it makes sense here! I was looking forward to reading this set after looking at Tern’s comment, as mind control is something I’ve wanted to do meaningfully for a while. This set handles mind control in a fairly tame manner, and a unique one too - most mind control is handled like “control character for X seconds,” but Alanbee can only give foes a certain number of commands, can’t make them use Specials, and they can only attack if they have an actual target to hit. Mind-controlled foes can even hit Alanbee, and I think it’s a good thing that you resisted the (potential) temptation to give him a counter. Auto-turning as a more “low key” form of mind control also makes sense, and only on a “cartoon” character would mind controlling projectiles to reflect them makes sense. Also have to give this set props for its wild writing.

Alanbee does what I’d hope and expect mind control sets to do: set a bunch of traps that you can walk your mind-controlled opponent into. Part of me wonders if Alanbee’s mine and soldier count are a bit too generous - I could see cases where Alanbee stacks 3 mines in the same area and deals absolutely ridiculous damage (unless I overlooked something that prevents this) - but the fact that both can be removed with one hit really helps to balance things out. The soldiers get particularly interesting when they can be mind controlled and effectively used as programmable duplicates, as minions are another concept that get a lot of fun out of mind control. Between that and Alanbee’s Dash Attack, I swear that you and Tern shared a braincell when writing up your entries for this Jamcon.

Alanbee is reasonably simple after the Specials, aside from the neat pseudo-pocket the grab has on your constructs. Kind of a fifth Special: is neat that you can store mind-controlled constructs for later, more practical uses, though I could see “hold grab button to do this” being a tad unintuitive for new players without a guide. Down Throw off grab game is a different take on the usual “tech scenario” type throws, as foes have the option to tech and Alanbee has the range necessary to get something off of it even if the foe does tech. U-tilt has an elaborate hitbox and animation, while D-tilt has a funky animation and the potential projectile that can be exploited when used by a soldier. U-air is neat in how its hitbox works as well as U-Smash, which has a hilariously elaborate visual description in a good way. Placing the Smashes section at the end of the set was an unusual design choice for you, and created interesting expectations where I thought they were going to be super crazy stuff that played with Alanbee’s mind control (even though U-Smash technically fits this bill). Not that all the Smashes have to be crazy (especially on a Jamcon): F-Smash and D-Smash have their own uses in the set, and restraining yourself can be the smarter choice.


Hector Salamanca [Slavic]
Bold choice to make an actual one-input jokeset. I actually like this approach to jokesetting: what’s here - the intro, stat, mechanic and Neutral Special - has enough quality and effort put into it to keep the reader’s attention, yet it’s a super light read compared to modern MYM sets. Your writing style makes this more entertaining!

I’m not entirely versed with Hector’s backstory and history in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, but this set feels like it’s specifically plucking the character from one scene in the show. Not to say that’s a bad thing, but it does make me assume that Hector is never portrayed pre-wheelchair in the show, as a menacing kingpin who could have had an able-bodied set via using his men to beat people up (though that would taken far more ambition).

Hector’s stats section feels like a humorous parody. We’ve had a few sets for characters in wheelchairs - Dr. Strangelove, Armie Buff, Joe Swanson and GanD this contest - but only on a jokeset can you get away with a character who can’t move! What is this, MYM12? Imagining other characters assisting Hector is cute, and kind of makes me think about a potential wheelchair OC.

“On his own, Hector out of his chair is essentially helpless, but if a teammate is nearby they can interact with Hector to place him back in his chair if he’s nearby. If not, they can perform a friendly grab to carry him back to wherever his vehicle of choice is parked. “ So uhhh, does this mean that you can put Hector on Wario’s bike? Or get him to drive Garbage Man’s truck? That would be scary. His weirdly crazy tough guy armour and disruptive bell NSpec make him sound annoying to fight, but that doesn’t matter because he’s not meant to be balanced.

This jokeset kind of leaves me wanting more: both for the concepts, and the promise of Tuco Salamanca and more Breaking Bad representation. Even as-is, I think these kinds of jokesets are good for MYM: just a fun little thing that gets readers thinking and doesn’t have to be taken seriously, just as MYM is meant to be for fun.


Galarian Farfetch'd [TortoiseNotTurtle]
This is a very interesting Pokemon choice for this Jamcon, especially with the fascinating decision to use Samurai Shodown as the inspiration for the moveset. We really could do with an actual SamSho moveset for MYM.

G-Farfetch’d is a very simple glass cannon “sword” based set. I like that G’s leek has its length described, yet you also factor in its shorter height compared to the average human swordie.

• Interesting take on the move Brutal Swing. I could see a tiny bit of room to clarify on what type of follow-ups G can get based on charge. Even something as simple as “quick follow-up with no charge, big attack with full charge.” Leaving grounded opponents crumpled would also open up tech situations. The high damage from a fully-charged hit would definitely help you take stocks.
• Side Special and Down Special have an interesting thing going, where both are powerful in exchange for making G-Farfetch’d more vulnerable to damage afterwards. I’m actually pretty fond of how Swagger works from a gameplay perspective, as both the damage buff and counter aspect incentivize offensive play. Big damage multiplier = big incentive for opponent to throw out a big hit for you to potentially counter. Don’t think we’ve ever had an attack in MYM that combines an enemy buff with a counter. Swagger also functions as a natural “comeback” move when you use it when your damage is really high and the extra damage taken wouldn’t matter.
• I like Jab and Dash Attack having an emphasis on safety, something that G-Farfetch’d would really need. Nice that synergy between certain moves is noted. D-Smash having a strong late back hitbox is also a nice little trick for that type of input.
• Item-stealing via F-throw does feel unnecessarily gimmicky, especially on a Pokemon that isn’t known to steal from others like Liepard. Probably the type of effect that’s better to implement on a Special. Set isn’t being harmed by keeping the effect in, though. (is a bit weird that F-throw’s tech chase properties are only mentioned in the throw interactions slide and not the throw itself)
• D-throw sounds very mean on lightweights. Honestly might be a bit much, as lightweights will already die earlier from their lighter weight, especially from a powerful fighter like G-Farfetch’d.
• Forward Air and Back Air kind of feel like they invoke “Pokemon Syndrome” to a degree. Basically a case where giving a Pokemon certain attacks doesn’t necessarily feel right, even if they can learn those moves in-game. I guess it kind of feels out of place for G-Farfetch’d to use poison or turn its wings to steel for regular attacks when it’s more about swinging its leak around like the Fighting-type Pokemon it is.

Jamcon nomination goes to "Alien" Alanbee, but I have to give a special shout-out to Jon Arbuckle. The latter was a very entertaining read and might have best encompassed the "joke" theme of the Jamcon, but it wouldn't have been fair on the other entries if I deviated from my usual means of rankings sets just for him.

 

[tunz]

I'm in a bit of a downtime period for movesetting, so figured I'd just chuck this out there since I was already planning on announcing it-

For the Long Con, arranged by n88, I'm officially submitting my favorite creation this contest, and maybe in all of my MYM career, King Bob-Omb! (The post where his moveset is linked is the literal first post after the start of the MYM28 thread)

 

[n88]

Dimentio by Arctic Tern
I had a hard time getting into this one - you're a strong designer but Dimentio specifically didn't resonate with me as much as your other recent stuff I've read. Still looking forward to catching up on Shauntal anyway, so I hope a lukewarm comment doesn't come across as a sign of lost faith.

NSpec is one of those moves that would be wild in the context of Smash itself but is kind of an old friend in the context of MYM. And (at least for me), it's a friend I wish would get his act together a little bit. I know other people have more of an appetite for this sort of thing, but for me whenever we're stealthily move programming a clone with no feedback and hitting jump to toggle aerials it just starts to feel really unlike Smash's intuitive control systems.

I think in this case Dimentio also doesn't necessarily get... that much out of them having this crazy range of options? Like, I dunno, if they had a few canned attacks he could pick between more simply, I think it'd be a more digestible and balanced framework. Putting hard limits on their knockback/damage is good but Dimentio has some silly hitboxes in his moveset and giving them access to those feels pretty strong, especially in the context that basically every clone move is a combo-starter. Ultimately the moveset's synergies with NSpec are fairly simple, but NSpec itself achieves that through a pretty intricate mechanism - I'm not sure it's adding the depth to earn its complexity.

(To compare/contrast with a different recent moveset of yours, Killer BOB, I think he also does some duplicate programming stuff but with duplicates of the opponent - to me that one makes a lot of sense. Killer BOB's version is a bit lighter weight to begin with and gets more immediate results anyway, but I think he also has more reason to want it there in the first place. It's a duplicate of the opponent, that could be a My Little Pony or it could be Valozarg. Just use their own kit, interacts more cleanly and saves time - BOB gets to simplify his own workload that way! Dimentio feels like he's giving himself extra homework here.)

That's not to say this sort premise that can't work, but NSpec feels like one of those little MYMisms that gets an "okay but this better be good" reaction out of me. I want my initial doubts to be stomped into the dirt. I want to be looking back at the duplicate programming like "I was wrong and this was the only way to do it. There is a duplicate programming shaped hole in the fabric of this moveset and nothing else would have sufficed. This transgression against god's order has propelled the moveset to new heights".

(Okay, that's hyperbolic - broadly and more plainly it's okay to spin up funky/unorthodox ideas and I don't want to sound like a Big Crazy Move Hater, but big swings do often want more support to feel like natural design choices. Dimentio is making NSpec the star of the show and using it as a platform to build off of mechanically, but without really supporting it on that gamefeel level that I'd really want in order to buy into the idea.)

So anyway Dimentio wasn't the Tern set for me, which I was a bit surprised by because I usually enjoy your jamcon entries. Glad I read it though - there're still some fun moves in there, and I had to sit and think about why I wasn't having a lot of fun with this one. It's tight enough that it's not a huge chore to get through even when not super on board with what it's doing.

One other nagging thought I had while reading was that I wasn't sure how badly he really relied on DSpec/NSpec? The set brings up the idea that he needs to make space so that he can get to those moves here and there, but he's got a pretty generous blend of range and speed on a lot of his normals. I do think he could put up a pretty good fight just leaning on that and then settle for opportunistic NSpecs/DSpecs here and there without fishing too hard for 'em. In general I worry a little bit about stuff like Jab and FSmash (though they're fun inputs) on a puppet character that doesn't really have to commit too much to his puppet once it's out.

The moveset's reference/recontextualization of bits and bobs from Luigi is a fun motif and a highlight on moves where that's present - makes perfect sense and it's always cool to see movesets that highlight stuff in the kits of real fighters.

I kinda hate doing this because I hate assigning numbers to feelings and art but in recognition of the fact that my comments are rambly and rarely make it clear where I land on a moveset (and the community's pretty clear preference for Number)...

Stray thoughts:

• NSpec was slightly hard to follow because the explanation of logging jumps around a bit too much to make for easy reading, like a sign-spinner who just chugged a 4loko.
• SSpec is strong enough that it wins a lot of projectile wars - destroys most fast, casual projectiles and keeps going. Which maybe the move is aware of, but I wasn't quite sure from the description.
• DSpec at the ledge feels a little spooky, especially just using the fact that it's solid to stuff recoveries. IMO if he whiffs the timing people should get to recover, it's strong enough as it is.
• Really enjoy FSmash - hitbox is maybe kinda generous, Bob-Omb explosions are pretty big I think. Up Smash is fun too - in general I'm a fan of the Smashes.
• Did not take a ton of move-by-move notes on this one, I was more turning over the structure and figuring out how to articulate my feelings on that. It feels pretty solid moment-to-moment though, my doubts are more in the architecture.

Hector Salamanca by Slavic
This Shigaraki & Nomu Kronk & Yzma reboot is weird.

Galarian Farfetch'd by T TortoiseNotTurtle
This is a pretty bite-sized moveset that I'm not gonna have as much to say about as Dimentio. It does have some fun ideas - the core vision is strong and I think the idea of a Cloud/Ike type Big Swordie but with a small body is really fun. The set doesn't always do that much to leverage the uniqueness of that dynamic though - there's not a lot of acknowledgement of how the itty bitty hurtbox might influence his play. Like the fact that he's a pipsqueak immediately makes his FTilt pretty different from Ike's (despite the similar animation, Galarian Farfetch'd would presumably hit way lower) but the moveset doesn't really make anything of that.

The two-stage DSpec is really neat but also feels underpowered to me. "Counter that works at range" is nice but it's not game-breaking, especially locked behind another move, and I'm not sure it's really worth the buff you're handing the opponent. It is really funny to hand the opponent buffs and then try to counter them, though, I love the premise. Fits right into the moveset's themes and feels like a natural thing to put on a silly Smash character. The rest is fine-tuning.

Speaking of which, the active frames on some moves are a bit high? It stuck out on FTilt particularly, which is an Ike-esque FTilt (using his animation for reference even) but somehow has 8 frames of activity to Ike's 2 - being active that long wouldn't feel like a quick slash. Even Marth FTilt, which is a big arc, is only active for 4. (NSpec is similarly a slash with high activity but I was more willing to handwave it there since... it's a big tentpole move, maybe there's some energy effects, idk). Not a huge deal but it was something I noticed that could be worth refining.

There's nothing wrong with concision but descriptions can feel a little too tight at times. The set does inject the odd character/animation detail, which is nice, but a lot of moves get compressed down to "simple UTilt/simple DTilt" and there's not always a strong sense of specificity.

He's a breezy read though, can't complain about that even if I'm more apt to gravitate toward something with a little more to dig into.

Stray thoughts:

• For some reason my browser just will not load the whole slideshow, it abruptly stops at 26 and I thought the moveset wasn't finished. Phone loads the whole thing fine though so not like my network can't handle it. Wack.

Jon Arbuckle by BrazilianGuy
Man I remember you posting about Jon Arbuckle before, maybe as a Movetober? So glad to see it pay off with a Jon Arbuckle moveset. He's not the strongest moveset this jamcon mechanically - he doesn't define his playstyle too strongly and feels like he's kinda just winging it in terms of the overall design.

But in terms of just being a generally delightful reading experience this was the peak of the jamcon, and I really appreciate that he does have a full kit even if it's a loose, playful one. Straight-up jokesets are, IMO, really difficult. It's hard to be genuinely funny in a vacuum and I think Jon finds a good balance of having real mechanics to straight man the gags and provide structure while being more focused on the comedy.

Even past the absurdity of the premise (Jon Arbuckle Smash Bros moveset by way of a dating sim, god I love how absurdly niche this community can get), the writing here is just genuinely funny in a way that isn't easy to pull off. The commitment to the bit with alternate VN "endings" and various Garfield visual gags is extremely good as well, I love the image edits throughout and I think the narration skews exactly the right amount of wild to add color without getting off-track.

I'm also gonna take a moment to praise DSpec - I saw Kat had some balance concerns about it and I think that's fair, but leveraging Jon being a cartoonist to have him create panels is a brilliant choice. It's a non-obvious thing to do with the character that actually makes perfect sense, and I think it pulls a trick that is kinda Smash-y (using the character to represent the home genre and series) in a way that dovetails neatly into the character. If you wanted to play with it a little, a thought I had for how to tone it down would be to have panels only provide super armor when one of Jon's bad animations kicks in (burns food, gets scared of mouse, etc.). I think it'd dovetail with the idea that Jon is the butt of a lot of jokes in the comic, making the panels a showcase for his failures, and also encourage him to go for stuff and to heck with the (perhaps RNG) repercussions. (That'd probably require a lot of retuning and reworking to build into the set though, and I think Jon is a fun little piece of art as it is, so no pressure to go build him up into something more serious)

Very fun read! I need to catch up on your more serious stuff this contest though, was a big Ed fan last time around.

"Alien" Alanbee by U UserShadow7989
Insane that I'm getting two-nickeled on duplicate programmers with Luigi Dash Attack this jamcon. Alanbee does tackle some of the same concepts I was a little shaky on in Dimentio, but has more feedback in the UI design and simpler control, plus it feels more discoverable. Like Alanbee can use its brain control on the dupe soldiers but they're kinda just one piece of this whole madcap thing.

The gigabrain set-ups feel like they have pretty sharp rails - commands use resource, soldiers are fragile, grabs have good constraints, opponents break out of mind control easily - the one thing I could maybe see being a little more careful about is extending the cooldown on mind controlling the opponent? 1 second isn't a ton for what I can imagine being a bit of a feel-bad to get hit with repeatedly. Not gonna sweat numbers too much in a jamcon though (I could also see mine damage coming down).

The moveset doesn't unpack the impact of just directly using NSpec all by itself - there's very little discussion of the move on its own, but I think realistically it's a pretty good set-up tool? Hard to say without frame data but if Alanbee gets frame advantage off the base version, forcing the opponent to run a short distance away and then toss out a laggy attack is probably pretty great? The distances involved in the forced movement are pretty sensibly small so forced movement on its own shouldn't be too compromising.

It's hard not to get on board with how much fun the moveset is having with the madcap energy - I think the normals find a good balance between playing it simple and just going for oddball range-y moves that have funky applications and introducing the odd funky interaction like ground chunk golf that works into the zanier side of the kit.

This was clearly fun to write and think about - always love the Fortune's Favor stuff. The energy really comes through in the moveset and makes it hard not to have a good time with.

Skibidi Toilet by Kholdstare
This is the most I have had to learn about Skibidi Toilet - I haven't been avoiding it, but I just don't tend to run across it in my day-to-day or even my year-to-year. Don't quite get what the big deal is after reading this, but what do I know.

There's some interesting conceptual stuff going on here - the way the smokescreens work in this set is genuinely really cool. Really strong horror vibes to have all these big attacks that are kinda easy to challenge but in turn feed back into the neutral game set-up. Big fan of that mechanic and I think it's the central idea that the set gets the most out of at the moment.

Transforming the opponent into a Skibidi Toilet is very funny especially on the meta level for kind of a memetic character. It does admittedly seem potentially annoying but hard to say it's for sure busted without more details - if you go back and build this up more (which like, totally fair if you'd rather focus on other stuff and leave this as a simple jamcon fella) I'd be careful about it. The set doesn't do too much with being able to force a mirror match, I don't think? It's interesting but not a space that's really being used much.

Then the last big centerpiece type thing here is the adaptation stuff - the aesthetics of this are actually really fun and extra in a way I enjoy. I do think mechanically it's a weird thing to care about this much mechanically and the set would probably be better balanced if it didn't invest heavily in Type in terms of the mechanics. I think doing animation stuff based on the Type is really cool and already there though so it'd make sense to keep that even if you did want to rework things and pivot away from the Type being the thing that really mattered mechanically. (I feel like other people have probably pointed this out but 0.6x damage is a really big nerf against any attack, but being able to casually pick that up against big swaths of an opponent's moveset is scary)

The set kinda misses the opportunity to weave the adaptation and corruption together - Skibidi Toilet actively gets to influence his opponent's available options but that doesn't really come up (his attacks don't even make note of their own Types!). In general the whole shebang ends up feeling a bit rushed in places, though it's a fun read. Pretty light stuff, and there are a lot of good gags throughout. I think Adaptation probably needs a rework and Corruption needs some more careful fleshing-out but move-to-move the animations are fun and he's got some solid conceptual basis if you do end up wanting to build it up more.

Stray thoughts:

• I think this moveset is missing a link to the Skibidi Anthem somewhere early, I don't know it.
• Glad I learned that the game actually has internal "butt" and "feet" flags for hitboxes from this moveset and not from an Azur Lane set.
• "frame 5.676e+8" - this is a good bit but I think you forgot to convert from seconds to frames.
• A lot of good gags throughout the moveset.
• I don't know what a Minecraft piston is like, I have a 401k.

Giving my vote this jamcon to "Alien" Alanbee.

 

[n88]

Belphemon by SaltySuicune
The animation style of Belphemon just sleeping by default and only waking up for (some) attacks is a great way of implementing the guy without overcomplicating things - feels very true to the theme of the set. Broadly there are some fun animation choices throughout the set and I think that's probably the best thing it has going for it at the moment.

He does feel a little undercooked in terms of playstyle at the moment. NSpec has a pretty strong pitch - sure, man, go ahead and spam that projectile, play lazy as heck! But beyond that, aside from the odd combo mention, moves don't really push the idea that they're too synergistic or contribute to a central playstyle. I don't think that's an inherent weakness on your end or anything - I've read others of yours that sold me better on the overall vision and that one I previewed the other day also has a stronger core conceit. I think Belphy here is your first set in quite a while though - better part of a year? - so it's natural to be shaking the rust off a little bit, I'm contending with that myself at the moment.

The odd number or potential combo stuck out to me as sounding a little off, but I don't want to get too bogged down in nitpicking - thought I'd key in on a couple things to highlight instead as points where the set could build on what it's doing.

The set points at DTilt as a viable OoS right now - I know he's been through some tweaks so it's possible that was slightly more true at some point in the past. Even a basically instantaneous DTilt wouldn't be that fast an OoS though! Basically, dropping a shield takes 11 frames - so if you're picking any attack as your OoS option that requires dropping your shield, you're adding 11 frames of start-up to that. 11-12 frames is also just about the most start-up you want on an OoS option. More than that and you're leaving yourself pretty open to get interrupted.

I think NAir having armor (an unspecified amount?) definitely makes it his go-to OoS at the moment. Hitting on frame 11 would be a bit slow otherwise - Sephi's NAir is frame 9 and that's probably about as slow as a good OoS aerial can be without something juicy going for it. Armor would definitely be "something juicy" though. Characters like Ike and DK that have armored USpecs will use those a lot OoS.

I'm particularly highlighting this stuff because OoS is a situation that naturally lends weight to certain inputs (grab, USmash, USpec, aerials). If you're savvy to examples of good OoS moves in Ultimate and the kinds of choices the game naturally rewards (the "default" playstyle so to speak), it can help inform a lot of design decisions around those moves. It's a really cool area of the game to learn about and try to design around because it constrains your options so much. It's a sort of universal canned scenario! You don't have to worry too much about what every little piece of the kit is doing, just the key OoS inputs. How easily your fighter can turn things around under shield pressure, and what that looks like, will lend a lot of character and playstyle to a moveset on its own.

Funny to see a 3v1 mode here - is that Hypah's influence? These are nostalgic for me, I need to take a swing at one sometime.

Anyway, this is a lightweight fun read and I learned something about Digimon. Digimon never disappoints, it always sounds significantly more horrifying than I'd assumed. That said I'd want a little more playstyle focus to really get into the design pitch, so he's not doing numbers on the rankings; one star. (That probably sounds bad? I see now why other people's rankings add a bunch of stars at the bottom even if they practically never use those. But anything non-0 is at some level good for me)

 

[BrazilianGuy]

Joke Jamcon Comments 2 - The Jester

Spoiler: Dimentio

I have a very superficial knowledge of Dimentio, as I remember watching a playthrough of his game way back when I was younger, I also remember him from FFC2; he was a main antagonist throughout all of FFC after his introduction in 2. However, what I really recall from that specific Dimentio moveset was how he could make walls, and he went against Revolver Ocelot, whose shots would get stronger the more they bounced on walls, leading to a very one-sided matchup. This has nothing to do with THIS Dimentio moveset but I like to mention these random non-sequitors.

Off the bat one thing I really liked on this moveset was how many comparisons to Luigi there are, which seems kinda random until you realize that yeah no, it makes sense for Dimentio to get a couple of similarities to him, I like that. It helps they are also not 1 to 1 call outs, like he has Loogi Up Air in his Up Tilt, that one I really like as the flip fits Dimoogi on that input. Even his Forward Air, which shows the most Luiginess of the whole set (expect the final smash I guess) it still works differently enough, plus its not like Smash characters can`t share moves.

Obviously I think the highlight of this set are the CLONES, as someone who really likes Jojo Heritage for the Future, I enjoy that you have to code in what your Clone does before he goes out to the world, also fits his schemer ways very well. My favorite use of them, and move in the whole set, is Down Special, with how you banish them to the 2D realm and if a clone is in there it will simply do an anime ambush and completely fry whoever is inside, I honestly find that so cool and awesome. It`s also fair since you are using two important resources to have it work (clone + box). Clones can be tricky to do, but the one in this set does well.

Up Smash is also a highlight in how it lets you juggle Shurikens, my dumb suggestion is to let him juggle items he`s holding, so like he could juggle a bob-omb and have it explode in the air hitting someone, or juggling a Mr Saturn to have it break a shield from someone above him. Its silly but I think it fits the silly.

Yeah, all in all Dimentio is very solid, great stuff for the schemer 2D jester.

 

[UserShadow7989]

Jamcon Comment time! apologies for the lack of organizational pizzazz and short sentences; normally I extrapolate my notes into something more wordy, but time constraints and my brain are restricting me right now; here's the raw notes and nothing but the notes!


Dimentio by Arctic Tern
-I would allow Dimentio to program aerials in his clones just by pressing the jump button in place of A, rather then it being a 'toggle'. Dash attack is mentioned as usable by clone but not given a means of input, would recommend back + a. The ability to program in inputs during a dodge is cool, but as nate mentioned I'm not sure how to convey that to the player (I tried coming up with a good visual cue or the like, but I'm drawing a blank, sadly).

-His moves make good use of clones between different coverage, lingering duration, and the weaker nature of such attacks giving them different utility (clone dsmash leaving foes prone for example)

-I love the interactions between moves such as clone + box and shuriken + juggle. The set does an excellent job of describing how moves can plat into each other with the aid of your clone.

-It's interesting to me how the context of Dimentio's differing stats and other inputs (and of course his clone) makes the handful of moves he's cloned off of Luigi function differently for him. It's something I'd like to see done more often.

-Solid fundamentals as always, paired with some lovely animation ideas. Up throw is a favorite for perfectly fitting a KO throw.

-Love all of the similes in the set. BAir describing the difficulty in landing it 'like a skydiver without a parachute' made me giggle.

-I'm sure having Dimentio in the same hypothetical story mode as a tall, anxious green person with a blue collar job and a mind controlling device on them isn't any cause for concern, especially not one with parallels to Luigi.


Hector Salamanca by Slavic

-Fun little joke concept with a neat couple of mechanics.

-Ideas for sets involving limited normal movement have been made and proposed before, but this mechanic does have an interesting approach to the concept and the Neutral Special self-destruct is fascinating in its own right.

I'd recommend noting that staling the bell lowers hitlag so he can't infinite foes into a self-destruct once he has a stock lead.


Galarian Farfetch'd by T TortoiseNotTurtle

-Love the presentation of this; I've always used Firefox, so when I turned on the Google Chrome mobile app I was surprised to see all this animate. It makes for an easy reading experience.

-Right off the cuff I love the duelist playstyle to properly convey the samurai inspiration through mechanics, making for a unique playstyle feel.

-Jump Heights aren't showing, but it might be my mobile browser.

-The Specials all convey the main gameplan beautifully, from the risky crumpling hit of Neutral Special simulating the single stroke clash of anime samurai (leaving Farfetch'd to finish the job after) at the cost of being a huge commitment, to Side Special's self-debuff after use, but my favorite is Down Special mixing Swagger and Substitute for a positively punishing counter.

-Dash Attack's retreating slash to prod opponents into making a mistake, and () keep the core concept going through the set, though options like Up Special's options and Side Special's armor to mix up recovery, Jab providing a simple safety tool, FTilt controlling space etc prevent it from being so exaggerated as to be suffocating. The set has a nice balance of moves to prod and provoke foes and moves to keep them corralled.

-FThrow a little gimmicky even if the special effect is neat. Back and depending in foes' weight DThrow deal a lot of damage. Aerials bring it back in.


Jon Arbuckle by BrazilianGuy

-Making a whole narrative framing device for the set was a fun approach, feels like the theme got everyone to try and be a little silly with it. Complete with some endings to boot! ...I mean, they exist, so I'm mentioning them.

-Jon is unquestionably a joke character, with some deliberate rng to hamper and help, a down special that sounds highly impressive but crumbles after blocking just one move (or more impressively three projectiles), very precise if spammable hitboxes... but his tools do work together in some regard to help with that, Side Special positioning opponents precisely for a prohectile, Neutral Special giving him one of a few good one-use attacks or a quick top-off (or the one in a hundred surprise ko), forward and (sort of) down tilt being repeatable to keep poking foes back to arm's length and rack damage, etc. He even has some nice impractical but strong hitboxes like Up Tilt's back hitbox or (less extreme) Back Aerials's second hit.

-That said the numbers and effects get a little too silly for a functional joke character- doubling Jon's speed for 2 seconds by using FAir and then Jab is hilarious and the reuse of coffee as a prop could help the hypothetical player make the connection as to why Jon is suddenly outpacing Captain Falcon, but that, Down Special, and his varied projectiles means he could be a very obnoxious camper. It does admittedly combine with his NSpec, DSpec, and NAir's flip-flopping attack options to make him a set-up based fighter who can prep certain options to make himself more formidable in a fascinating way, though!

-Down Tilt repeats lines 4 and 5. There's a couple instances of missing data with X placeholders, Up Aerial frame data coming to mind, but it's understandable given the jamcon time limit and the effort put into presentation.


Skibidi Toilet by Kholdstare

-Last jamcon set, let's go. The intended playstyle is surprisingly straightforward for the character choice, just gum up the stage with harmful things and then exercise your strong neutral tools.

-Stats and mechanic look good, though I was worried that the smokescreens might allow spamming Neutral Special to just handicap the opponent almost out of the gate. Thankfully the smokescreens are limited in how they are made beyond a few smaller incidental ones gained by just using a given attack, and your opponent generally won't lose track enough that NSpec becomes free.

In fact, the smokescreens see some good use in Forward Smash to create an added purpose to the move that makes contesting the otherwise slow and punishable input a little trickier, and Up Smash adds to that fun. The varied nasty little surprises that can be abused from the smokescreen bring to mind why it was as common as it was in days of MYM olde.

-Neutral Special could stand to give us an idea on how long it take to transform the opponent or if the effect can wear off. I assume not, which is unfortunate given he can conceivably hide in smokescreens while spamming the move, then get foes at stage 2 to hamstring their attacks and let damage pile on quickly. It doesn't seem to be too easy, just a balance concern for this totally serious set.

-Ignoring the 'humor' of the series, most of the jokes in the set proper didn't land for me, but I did get a laugh from Side Special noting the parasite and most opponents have comparable self-preservation skills.

-Getting to more meaty specials, Down Special's a delightful concept, adapting their, well, adaptive abilities and the many weird variants of the creature flavorfully and giving them a pretty unique counter of the deal, while Up Special honestly sounds like a ton of fun to use.

-The standards are a good mix of fundamentals and despite the oddity of the character choice are built with practicality in mind; given the character's generally crazy moveset, it's good to see. Aerials get a little nuttier, but the underlying mechanics are simple enough to grasp and give the character a surprisingly effective air presence. The throws are a bit light, with an oddball interaction on back throw but otherwise nothing offensive- just very much a "oh crap the deadline" final section.

Overall, less crazy than I was expecting, and that certainly is a set for Skibidi Toilet.


My nomination goes to Dimentio by Arctic Tern. Nicely done!

 

[Arctic Tern]

Jamcon 2's voting period has ended! And with a total of 3.5 votes, "Alien" Alanbee claims victory!