Lurker > azuarc

Having to rush to do the first event is really dumb.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

I'm not rushing ahead. So far I have a total of like 3 teleport locations, one of which is the talent book domain.

I did learn it's possible to get to the artifact domain without spoiling yourself too much by taking a waverider most of the way there. It still requires piloting through new areas, though.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

skullbone posted...

Okay this card is absolutely amazing and I never thought we'd see a South Park reference in Hearthstone

https://preview.redd.it/xj21zcq0vlc71.png?width=798&auto=webp&s=717119f82d88be2beaea3efcce2628e524883a5f

I mean, this isn't the first time it's appeared in a WoW card game.



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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Claire vs Danganronpa, the final showdown.

Not sure what primary color you'd associate Kaede or Sonia with, unless pink counts as a primary color. Claire Redfield just seems way too freaking obvious, though. Either blue = sad or blood in Danganronpa is pink and therefore it replaces red as primary or...or...I don't know. Yeah, sorry, I don't know how that clue works as a fake-out. I'm going to assume it's Claire until Anagram surprises us.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Those are some close matches even when they weren't tied.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

My parents were protective and didn't let me watch any movies that might be actually scary. I would get spooked pretty easily, though. The only specific moment that really stands out in my mind was an episode of Punky Brewster where the cast gets stuck in a cave and one by one her friends disappear...and then there's this sequence at the end where they appear as heads on the wall of a cavern with weird (for the time) effects that unnerved me. And then Punky runs out of that room and when she turns around, her dog gets replaced by a giant dog skeleton. Of course she wakes up at the end at it was all a dream.

I don't even know why I was watching. It wasn't a show I followed.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Normally blonde. In this context, probably red.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

I found these blocks in two places where you hit them and they add another leaf to the image, 1 2 or 3. I have zero idea what their deal is. Otherwise, puzzles have been reasonably straightforward once I accepted that I'd find a way to find those two electroculus behind the gate some other way, which I did.

As I understand it, today is electro traveler talent book day. Anyone mess around with MC?

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Everyone in a Genshin discord I'm in is talking about Aloy right now.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Pioneer's Horizon
The Battle Was Just "To Continue That Future"
Unknown Pollution

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

swordz9 posted...

What we got is apparently only half of Inazuma for now which is crazy because it already feels pretty big

But they put the artifact domain at the ass end of it. ><

Gonna be weeks before I get there unless I rush it, which is precisely what I told myself I wouldn't do after finishing Dragonspine in a day.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Didn't set it yet, but I do think it's cool that we can set it.

Will probably go with Liyue given that I have two known achievements that I haven't been able to complete yet.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

POINT OF NO RETURN
Return to Oblivion
rhythm-changer

Could flip on the first match.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Yes, completely aware.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

I've never had a slump that's kept me from playing anything. I've certainly had slumps where I've fallen back on just playing a single MMO or whatever. But my absence of playing video games is to play other video games.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

When I hit that point, which I have at least three times now, I just pick some stuff I have locks on and level them using other 5-stars. I selectively go through and weed out all the junk that has no real chance of being used for anything. I'm usually a little more precious than I ought to be, but I still tend to expunge 80-90% of what I'd been carrying.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

It's definitely a weird glitch, considering you can't get characters from the banner. And yeah, I capped on artifacts yesterday, too, but I found a +16 that I took to 20. Bye 1-stars.

I'm sure I would have gone farther yesterday if the servers hadn't been down for so long in the day, but I'm hoping to sip the Inazuma content rather than slurp it...which is going to be hard when I'm only working for 1.5 hours today. Basically going to force myself to run some errands.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

I wouldn't say Sonia thinks a lot about Gundham. She spends time with him in chapter 4, sure, but she doesn't linger on him.

I also may have been thinking of fanfic when I was considering Kaede, since the main one I've read is literally about her leading the group with Shuichi dead in chapter 1, and her constantly lingering on that as she tries to move forward.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Looks like the artifact domain isn't immediately available, unless I missed something. Pity. I'm going to have to push through the story quickly now.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Anagram posted...

Next Up: A waifu who spends a long time thinking about a boy

That could be Kaede (Shuichi), Zelda (Link), probably Claire though admittedly I know little about RE...but probably not Sonia. Unless you want to argue that she thinks about Kazuichi in terms of how to politely stay away from him.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

It was a game designed for mobile, though. I suspect in some regards phone is easier than PS4.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Sounds like these controls are quite divisive, after all.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Grats. What AR are you at this point?

Also, if I translated the time correctly, servers go down at 4 eastern today, with the planned downtime of 5 hours. Of course, they're usually up earlier, but don't plan on hitting up the game the minute you get home today unless you're west coast and work late.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Octopunch
Unknown Pollution
Immanence

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Lightning Strikes posted...

Nope!

Well, then buckle in for a hot take, because I think ME2's story is garbage. There are literally four missions in the game that are part of the main quest because the entire rest of the game is Recruitment Simulator 2185. "Let's go to this place to find some random person that might help us!" "Now let's go to some place across the galaxy to do that person a favor!" "What's that? The universe is in danger? Oh, just hang on, we need to harden one more companion first."

Seems completely silly. Let's not overlook the fact that they literally kill your character off in the first minute of the game just so you can be resurrected into some clandestine organization rather than working as a Specter. Definitely made a statement when you played it, but in hindsight, wasn't it kinda silly?

Oh yeah, and then when you fight to the very end of the suicide mission, you encounter an oversized human simulacrum as a final boss. Apparently the reavers have decided that you've pissed them off enough and are going to capture humans to make a giant human reaver out of...which could be a cool reveal if done well, but the boss was just ridiculous looking.

If not for the line-level writing, the renegade prompts, and the variance and worldbuilding from the sidequests, this one would be completely in the tank.

Mass Effect 2 rating: 3.5

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Haven't played 3, but did I vote on ME2? I feel like I would have remembered if you'd all gotten to hear me rant about its story.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Randomly stumbled upon a bloatty floatie and got 100% exploration on the last area I was missing. Just in time for new map to explore.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Is this the first re-run for Yanfei? That alone might compel some folks.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Pre-install went pretty quick for me. Started it while cleaning up my desk, and it finished before the desk did.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

There were some awkward places to climb for sure, but I didn't have trouble with it. Most of the really high places are near a teleporter.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

That sounds more like a review of the game than a "moment."

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Who divides Europe into eastern, western and central? Is Germany so different it needs to be separated from France?

ChichiriMuyo posted...

Outside of the 45-46 years of Soviet occupations no one breaks Europe into a simple East/West dichotomy.

Uh, yeah, okay, but considering none of us are older that WWII, that Soviet control looms pretty large. You can't tell me there isn't a difference between the state of east Germany and west Germany, which are supposed to be part of the same nation. Whether or not it was reasonable to do so before 1945, splitting east/west is absolutely reasonable and understandable. And if that's too "simple," then merely adding in a central is not going to cut it, either.


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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Beyond the Bounds
Tellur Town (Autumn)
Sight of Silence

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Sunroof posted...

People think it's 8181 because that's what it says. However, you need to remember he's looking through a mirror. That means it would actually be 1818. HOWEVER! He is seeing the address from the inside of the store, meaning you'd have to reverse it a second time. So it's 8181 after all.

TBF, it states that it has "8181" painted on it. Therefore, the address is 8181. It doesn't say that it is Randy's perception that it looks like 8181. Either the narrator (or Randy) has already accounted for any flipping that takes place by stating definitively that 8181 is painted on it.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

1) Eagles
2) 8181
3) a woman
4) iPod Pro
5) they wear glasses

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Can't remember the last time I went to a theater.

Or watched any movie, for that matter.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

SovietOmega posted...

I can't completely dismiss electro traveler. I've heard that there is some serious potential for support there.

I know nothing about electro traveler, but I've definitely heard it implied that he/she will be a strong option, which is interesting and also kinda exciting given that anemo/geo MC was only so-so as a purported 5-star.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Also, might as well point out...



Turns out a couple people got it right, but not too many. I never actually voted, but I wouldn't have picked 1.7 as the release.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79570893

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

A prison? More like in a zoo, ma.
Where does Baal get her exercise? Inazumba class.

Board 8 UID's:
https://1drv.ms/x/s!Aggo67KJ1ZzZqnnN4Yi4BK1VJsnY

Respawnable fodder artifacts
https://ibb.co/BrnyC3j

Bosses who can drop artifacts
https://ibb.co/jkKNvFM

Unmarked trials that give out adventure rank
https://ibb.co/mqVpFGD

Ore farming route:
https://fragstrat.com/genshin-impact/guides/best-mining-route-for-crystal-chunk

Spawn locations for monsters to farm mats (includes some not marked in your adventure book)
https://ibb.co/nP6nghg
(Highest level versions for best mats)
https://ibb.co/Wcbk2sf

Trails to follow for character ascension materials
https://ibb.co/KzFK7P5

Days of the week chart for material farming
https://ibb.co/vXDtzq5

Elemental reaction chart
https://ibb.co/7gfP3fX

Genshin Impact interactable map
https://genshin-impact-map.appsample.com/#/

Updated map for materials for characters
https://ibb.co/PhMYWLz

Weird hilichurl spawns
https://ibb.co/5smnPJ9
https://ibb.co/txBQ4h7

Equipment to Damage Calculator:
https://genshinimpactcalculator.com/genshinCalc.html

(This is just a copy-paste of the old topic, which copied the topic before. If anyone has updated materials, now's the time to post them.)

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

I had an uninstall moment yesterday, too. It was only one game, but I had a decent build going, was in second place on turn 9 with 26 health, with a board that was showing a lot of promise, and then ran into some dude who basically just had one huge taunt and a bunch of fresh 5-stars that took bad trades. Received exact lethal on a 0.6%. Sad part is I clearly had the better build, even if for one turn this guy was slightly favored.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

remember when we were in R1 and the higher seed was (usually) listed first

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Fogbeasts
The Butterfly's Temptation
Pressure Cooker

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Xenoblade: Definitive Edition Fogbeasts Battle
Non-normalized rating: 8
Ranking: 10 of 16

Unfortunately for Snatcher, Fogbeasts is a definite match-up nightmare. What some are referring to as Torna part 2 has certainly lived up to the hype so far after mostly going the distance in Supras 2020 contest. Love Psalm had the unfortunate placement to get doubled in R1 and Altered Genos fared only marginally better. The quick right hand of the piano drives the opening of Fogbeasts before the other instruments jump in as well, giving this song a blend of casually-listenable and unpredictably-interesting that very few songs can match, alongside strong presentation and production. Its hard to foresee a match in bracket A where it wouldnt be seen as the favorite other than maybe against Gurumin.

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Ys IX -Monstrum NOX- Glessing Way!
Non-normalized rating: 7.5
Ranking: 12 of 16

Getting this far wasnt a major accomplishment against the likes of Mission 5 Spaceship and Sanctuary-SHU. Not saying it was unearned or that those opponents are fodder, but we know the board at large loves Falcom. Winning round 3 here will definitely put the exclamation point on the title here, though. TBH, its a longshot. Glessing Way is an uptempo, driving, energetic track with guitars and synths that do the Falcom thing that works so well in general. I dont think this is top tier Ys, though, and this is going to be one heck of an uphill battle.

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God Eater 2: Rage Burst Butterflys Temptation
Non-normalized rating: 10
Ranking: 2 of 16

Its no secret I love this track. Brought to the board by Nio #1 Go Shiina Fan raptH, Butterfly made the field 4 straight years, never failing to reach round 3, before dropping out the last two competitions. Its a divisive song and usually has a bunch of folks that are driven batty each time it wins a round, but while its not for everyone, it does do its thing very well. A strong opening backed by incomprehensible singing is the first wedge, and the dubstep guitar solo at 2:54 makes that an irreparable divide. So far, more of the voters have been on Butterflys side of that split, doubling Underwater Prom Queens and surpassing Inevitable Struggle by 10 votes, which the bracket placement suggests our hosts didnt see coming. That was a slightly painful match for me, albeit never in question.

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ClaDun: This is an RPG The Explosion
Non-normalized rating: 9
Ranking: 4 of 16

Speaking of nioI wonder if I can convince her to swing by and vote on these matches, because shell have some really torn loyalties. Bunnyslug go boom?

The Explosion had one of the most dominant performances of the contest against Planet X and didnt have too much trouble with Lucky Charm. Its a song I like, usually just not quite enough to put it over other tracks that I favor, so it ends up being a in the absence of other options track for me, which is unfortunate, because two of the songs left in A4 are tracks I favor. Still, I think Explosion has a reasonably decent chance of breaking through. Its certainly been here before in two previous appearances, so A4 gives the impression of being a stacked final four.

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VVVVVV Pressure Cooker
Non-normalized rating: 10
Ranking: 1 of 16

Perhaps the last great unretired VVVVVV track (Predestined Fate says hi), Pressure Cooker fell shy in retirement last year, which was tragic. Easily the songs strongest performance after 2-1-2 prior, but its back to try again and I certainly will be voting for it here. Theres really nothing I need to say about why this song is great beyond telling you its from VVVVVV. Its destroyed two very unfortunate victims, Psycho Soldier Theme and Fly to the Leaden Sky, and might go through a couple more before this is over, but its hard to be disappointed with those results.

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Phantasy Star Online Ice-Covered Love ~ Kohri
Non-normalized rating: 3
Ranking: 16 of 16

Im not really sure what to say about Kohri. Its not a track that appeals for me. It has a strong driving pulse, and listening to it objectively, I can appreciate why other people would like it. Its simply not for me. The non-normalized rating is working in most songs favor here, but it actually makes Kohri look a lot worse than I really think it is. Ill be very sad if it beats Pressure Cooker, and Ive been a sad a lot this year as the brackets played out, so Im fully prepared for it to happen. Kohri already defeated my surprise favorite, 14.3 Billion Years, and followed that up with a win over Subuta.1.

uh-oh, looks like I need to listen, rate, and write up more songs now. I thought we'd go to 4 songs a day and I'd have a little more time. =x

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

uhhhhhh.....what?

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Would it be possible to get the playlist order updated?

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Communism or fascism?

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Class::CIEL_N_PROTECTA;
Fairfrozen
One Night in Neo Kobe City

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Mad Rat Dead Heartless Being
Non-normalized rating: 7.5
Ranking: 13 of 16

In some ways, Im disappointed. Its Dangerous to Go Alone and Out of Tartarus are tracks I probably favor. Additionally, my top MRD song got eliminated a couple days ago. In that regard, Heartless Being is aptly named.

But taken on its own merits, HB is still a great song. Theres very little from MRD that hasnt proven to be at minimum above average, and HB is one of the chosen ones. Its going to face some difficult competition, but it has a very real shot at retiring, and I have absolutely no problem with that.

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Ar nosurge Class::CIEL_N_PROTECTA;
Non-normalized rating: 8
Ranking: 8 of 16

I never know what Im going to get heading into a hymmnos track. Some are schizo and abrasive. Some are smooth and melodic to the point of boring. PROTECTA has a bold, strong sound despite the long tones and the casual feel of the instrumentation and vocals. It wont win over some of the people that loved the abruptness and unpredictability of EXSPHERE, but its a much easier song to listen to casually, while being dominant enough to demand not actually listening to it casually. Track 7 never had a chance, and Foregone Destruction clearly already knew what was coming. (That match was decided by one vote, but I couldnt not make the joke.)

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Okami Ryoshima Coast
Non-normalized rating: 8
Ranking: 11 of 16

Ryoshima Coast/Plain is the quintessential Okami song. I know weve retired two songs that went to the finals, one of them winning, but if you ask me to think of what Okami sounds like, Im going to go to Ryoshima Coast first, so its a little bit of a surprise to me it hasnt fared better in the past. (I say this of a song thats been to the retirement round.)

Tonewise, relative to the rest of its game, RC reminds me a little of Hills of Radiant Wind. Not that the two actually sound alike, but without having played either Nier or Okami for more than an hour, I feel like they serve a similar function within the soundtrack. What it does, it does really well, but its also a tiny little pinch bland in that its going to appeal to who it appeals to, its going to fail to appeal to fans of the other song, and it probably squeaks out just enough of the divide to win. At least, thats how it went with Obstacle and Nekozamurai no Gyakushuu.

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One Step From Eden Fairfrozen
Non-normalized rating: 8.5
Ranking: 6 of 16

And that might not be good enough to surpass Fairfrozen. The OSFE track did survive a tiebreaker against Weight of the World, but Nier tends to be strong here and that says a good bit. It won much more comfortably against Impossible Worlds and has enough spunk and energy to stand up to the rest of the competition in A2.

If you had me guess what game FF was from without knowing any better, my first answer would have been Crosscode. The electronic dance vibe really feels at home in that setting, and going off the video pic, Im going to guess OSFE isnt much different.

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Koumajou Densetsu II Rose-Killing Carmilla
Non-normalized rating: 8
Ranking: 7 of 16

Professional Problem? What problem? Avian Animosity? Haters gonna hate. A night in Kobe? Pff, that scarlet sky is gonna be falling down. Or so fans of RKC hope. One of the early favorites for quite a few and projected to retire in quite a few favorites brackets, the song seems to take the good parts of Touhou music and toss the rest in favor of instrumentation that isnt a zunpet or a frantic piano. Personally, I like it, but not enough to vote against another song I also like. I think its going to siphon a ton of votes from its competitor each round until something can stand up to it.

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Snatcher One Night in Neo Kobe City
Non-normalized rating: 8.5
Ranking: 5 of 16

A classic VGM lovers track that has only been seen once since VGMC7. There were murmurings that some of the supra crossovers favored jazz, which probably led to someone bringing this back, and so far its won both rounds easily, trouncing Suspenseful Third Day and almost doubling Dance of Dogs Howl. That certainly indicates some strength or some weak competition. Im going to assume both, but more of the former. Kobes got great saxophone action throughout and has a fantastic mix of laidback and attention-seeking.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Yikes, either you're just starting off or that's some terrible luck.

Unless you're extremely close to being capped for crit rate, the first one. With Eula in particular, crit consistency is really important since it's all about her burst. Failing to crit on the burst can lead to a considerable extension in a fight.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

Funny, nobody's stuffing for TTM now, huh...

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.

National Park
Planet Wisp
Cosmic Hero

I don't know if I'll keep up with this, but I wrote commentary and rankings of R3 bracket A earlier today, so I may as well post this garbage.

Pokemon GSC National Park
Non-normalized rating: 6.5
Ranking: 14 of 16

The word to describe National Park is idyllic. Its very tranquil, calm, creates the mood of an easy-going afternoon in the grass during a cookout, playing horseshoes, etc. I appreciate what it does, and at the same time, I find it to be glorified elevator music. Like, I dont have any problem at all listening to it, and its very well done, but I dont think I would choose to listen to it over other songs I legitimately enjoy listening to. Considering this beat a version of RFTM and then Nefertiti, its presence in R3 is a bit of a surprise to me. Its not a me track, but at the same time, I dont think of it as being in the style of the people who usually vote opposite me, either. I would have expected a round 2 ceiling for a song like this, but given that its opponent like last round is potentially abrasive, I can also see it advancing here, too.

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Rose Gun Days linkage-alter
Non-normalized rating: 6
Ranking: 15 of 16

LA is simultaneously really cool and like listening to someone drop a piano down stairs. I believe I voted for it in the first two rounds, and on a good day I really get into its main groove. Today, my opinion is that its too chaotic. It defeated Soft Collision and Collapsed Expressway to get here, and thats fine and dandy, but it may have met the worst possible match-up possible here in round 3, going against a song that is calm, easy to follow, and potentially evokes nostalgia for a lot of the same people who might otherwise vote for LA. In any event, my mood at this exact second is pretty low energy, so linkage-alter is just a bit too much for me rn.

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Gurumin: a Monstrous Adventure Soaring Through Azure Sadness
Non-normalized rating: 8
Ranking: 9 of 16

Youll notice that these are non-normalized ratings. That means Im trying to imagine if I evenly distribute songs from 1 to 10, rather than how things would normally fall, which is along a bell curve with almost everything between 5 and 6.5. Ordinarily Sad Blue Sky would probably only get like a 6.5 or 7, but the truth is I just dont have that many songs above a 7 and so it gets to look better. (This will be relative to all songs, not just the remaining field.)

Which is funny because in the books, Im the nominator of the track, but I dont have any great love here, either. I think its the most worthy of the A1 tracks to retire, especially given its pedigree and track record. It won my returners discord tournament, and therefore my nom, as well as a previous R4 exit, so it certainly should have the backing of a ton of people, but VGMC happens. After all, Fury Sparks didnt even survive Discovery to challenge it and Fuse Man had the misfortune of being fed here in round 1.

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Sonic Colors Planet Wisp Act 1
Non-normalized rating: 9
Ranking: 3 of 16

Sonic Colors tracks that Ive heard tend to be very clean, very chill, and very upbeat at the same time, which is usually a great combination. Although I wouldnt say that anything I can recall off the top of my head without checking and please dont at me because I forgot something and oh my god Im sorry for not checking lay off manis a particular stand-out, I also cant recall hearing anything that Ive found remotely objectionable, either. Wisp 1 doesnt really do much, but its got such a great vibe that its hard to be disappointed with it. That presented an awkward match-up against the equally chill The Rain Formerly Known as Purple in round 2 where Wisps energy just barely put it over the top, but it only won modestly in R1 against Vengeful God in Dark Ocean Abyss, too.

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Only the exceptions can be exceptional.