OT LOG IS BACKKK!!! (idk where ot17 went,,,)
update : whoops i might have taken a month or two to update this but its done now!!

Quite excited for this year's tournament as I've had my biggest improvements on FFR in the earlier months and I really hope I can perform with that same level of skill in the tourney even though I rusted quite a bit.

Round 1 : Akazu - (AAA)
We start off this year's tournament with a rather technical difficulty 100 file. I actually was not warmed up when I first played it which did cause some troubles at first (I don't recommend playing your tourney file first thing in a session lol) but I ended up getting it eventually. Went back afterwards to clean up my score as well for funsies (176p). Had mixed feelings about the file at first but replaying it when actually warm was pretty fun so it gets a thumbs up from me.

Round 2 : ETERNAL DRAIN v2 - (AAA)
Another strong start to the week, getting the AAA about an hour into the release (hadn't played since improving my round 1 score). When I first saw the song, I was scared to get quadwalls like Wh1teh's file but thankfully everything seemed pretty playable. It is a bit more stamina draining than I would expect but that might be because I'm still quite a bit rusty so I might try to clean up my score later this week, who knows. Anyways, cool file, cool song, see y'all next week!

Round 3 : BIBBIDIBA - (2-0-0-0)
Playing this song for the first time was incredibly scary as I hadn't played all week and was not comfortable with the file's speed. I ended up messing with my playfield quite a bit and ended up getting this huge fluke of a score. Getting 2g was really unexpected and I am quite happy that it happened :)).

Round 4 : Kyuukou - (11-0-0-4)
This was also a very intimidating file due to its length and, in my experience, very difficult ending. I grinded this one quite a bit, trying to get the least misses possible as I struggled to keep combo consistently on this file. I ended up FC'ing it, just shy of getting an SDG. I couldn't really have hoped for anything better considering the file's difficulty and my score allowed me to survive round 4.

Round 5 : Shinchoku Yaba-Zaemon uwu - (33-2-6-8)
This file... I did not enjoy. The file's length and insanely difficult patterns made me lose quite a lot of motivation to grind it. Also considering the fact that my summer job was taking up a lot of my time, I didn't get to get the best score I could have gotten but there's not much I can do about that. I could only really be happy I got to round 5 in the first place and leave it at that, because there was no way I could score well enough on this file to survive it.

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FINAL RANK : #8 (G7R5)

I'm a bit sad I lost my motivation to play rhythm games right at the end of the tournament, considering I was setting peak scores before it. However, I am still happy I managed to land in the top 8 considering some new top players were participating this year. As for my goals this year, I really don't know lol. I've been quite happy playing other games and playing rhythm games mostly for fun recently, but we'll see if I decide to try and improve in time for the next tourney. Until then, I'll be around!

Round 1 : sub/zero - (2-0-0-0)
My experience with this has been interesting, I got my 2g run on my first attempt but then never got a better run afterwards because of the jack intro. I was only aiming to survive so I didn't hunt for a AAA.

Round 2 : 99.9 (Eurobeat Remix) - (AAA)
I did NOT expect to AAA this on my first full run lmao. As soon as i saw the preview I knew my AAA chances were already higher than with round 1, but damn that was fast. (also now officially d8 thanks endymion)

Round 3 : 44 Edit v2 - (5-1-1-1)
I was quite surprised by the big difficulty spike, even though I should get used to them since that's how D8 rolls. I feel like even though the second half is harder physically, the first half has patterns that feel somewhat rng to hit for me. So if I get another pb after this, it'll be most likely by cleaning the second half's jacks. Also my score almost feels like a token unlock lol. New score dropped, with now a much cleaner sdg!

Round 4 : END OF SYSTEM - (2-1-0-2)
When I played the file for the first time, I felt like it was a lot easier than last round's file since I had already beaten my RG count on 44 edit. I think that is because one of the main difficulties in the file was the middle burst but that is much closer to my skillsets than the 44 edit jacks. Anyway, only played it like twice and then didn't play rhythm games for the rest of the week so we'll see how round 5 goes. (Also already got farther than last year in D7 lol)

Round 5 : dreamless wanderer - (21-0-5-0)
The SDG or better streak ends here :c. This chart stands out quite a bit from the other charts in that skill range as it's all streams with very little breaks in between which makes it one of the most physically hard files out there. My wrists could barely move in the last third of the song but I managed to get what is a pretty clean score from my point of view. Also managed to get top 8 which is very exciting!

Round 6 : POWA OF DA WILDANES - (33-1-6-2)
Another Camellia file! With this one being much tougher than the last one, I was surprised to see how much I enjoyed playing it even though it was crushing my arms. There were only a few specific patterns I started to dislike from restarting a bunch but overall I'm happy with this file and the score I got, but sadly it wasn't good enough for round 7...

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FINAL RANK : #7 (D8R6)

Very happy with how I performed in this tournament. I was much better than last year with my crushing round 4 fail as I dedicated this year to improving after being eliminated in D7. I'm hopeful for a spot in the top 5 in next year's tournament if I keep up the improvement pace (although more high D8 players might join).

I will update this with every round

TOURNAMENT ENDED - 5TH PLACE

Round 1 : [line:epsilon] - (AAA)
My first AAA of this map was a while ago, and oh boy was it a fluke. I was nervous to AAA this again because the file has many choke points but luckily I pulled it off, making me safe for round 1! (even if there are no eliminations)

Round 2 : You Show - (AAA)
I used to have a missflag on this for a pretty long time, mainly because of the second half with the jacky patterns. I knew that I could AAA it on a good day so I wasn't too nervous about this round. What I didn't expect was to get it on a casual session after work, with a single attempt! (not including dumb restarts in the first 200 notes). Round 2 cleared :D

Round 3 : Adcar - (4-0-0-0)
I don't remember how i got my blackflag on this, as playing it right now was not an easy task. I focused so much on not dying at the ending that I now struggle to play the first half because of the many restarts. I'm gonna take the 4g fc gladly now because I won't be able to have many other sessions before next round and I hate the ending.

Round 4 : Mishnu - (4-0-0-1)
This file is definitely something. I either hit everything and start to miss late in the file for some reason or i fc with a bunch of greats. My tournament run is the latter but I still think it could've been worse (could've also been better lol). Anyway I don't have much to say about this one.

Round 5 : PEACE BREAKER - (2-0-3-4)
I got a pretty good pb on this, although now most people in d8 beat me lol. I find the file extremely easy to miss on, especially at the end because of the combination of nerves and those jacks (the thing that makes it difficult imo). Anyway still got equiv on this so yay.

Round 6 : Gamma Stop Sending Me High Quality Rips - (6-1-4-4)
How tf did I get an sdg on this 6 months ago!? That ending is the only thing that makes this a 107. Not much to say, I think I could've done a bit better but the file is tedious to grind so I'll take what I have.

Round 7 : Undici - (17-0-12-2)
Yeah the rounds are getting really tough haha. I'm falling behind quite a bit from the rest of D8 but at least I PB'ed!

Round 8 : LWVIIX (Lawn Wake 69) - (59-1-14-4)
This concludes the spring showdown tournament, finishing with 5th place! I'm quite happy with how this went as I skillboosted a lot during this tournament. About round 8 now, this file is definitely something at a whopping 114 and the second half is where I get most of my goods lol. Also PB!

finally achieved godly, and i will be able to enjoy it for a good 9 days!!!!