{
    "data": [
        {
            "title": "The Community Has Spoken: MKCentral's DLC Desires",
            "author": "Dylan 718",
            "preview": "In 1992, video game fans across the world were greeted to Nintendo\u2019s newest spinoff for our favorite plumber: Super Mario Kart on the Super NES. Being a huge success worldwide, this game spawned the widely influential Mario Kart series. Thirty years later, across ten different consoles, players have raced across many locales of the Mushroom Kingdom, including real-world bustling cities, cloud-covered acropolises, desolate deserts, and even the insides of a pinball machine to the fiery depths of Bowser\u2019s Castle and the star-filled skies of Rainbow Road.\n\nNow, in 2022, players have the chance of revisiting some of these memorable locations through the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass. Excluding the tracks already in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, one hundred tracks (unannounced Mario Kart Tour tracks push this number above one hundred) are on the table to be brought back. Which tracks do you want to return through this DLC?\n\nTo figure out this question, I offered a survey which asked participants to select five tracks from every mainline game that they would like to see in the Booster Course Pass. 440 people have participated in my survey. Today, I would like to share these results.\n\nTo start, we have Super Mario Kart, the game that kick-started this spinoff franchise off. Super Mario Kart features seven track themes that repeat two to four times plus the original Rainbow Road to make up twenty tracks. There were eighteen possible returning tracks from Super Mario Kart, and here's how the community ranked them.\n\nSuper Mario Kart\u2019s archaic and repetitive gameplay subsequently contributes to its mixed outlook on track design. This is reflected in the results, where Ghost Valley 3 has the lowest amount of votes for a track voted #1 with only 204 votes. The tracks voted in the top 5 have yet to appear as a retro track (especially with the SNES Bowser Castle tracks as they are the only Super Mario Kart theme to not return as a retro track yet) which may contribute to them being held in high regard. The early numbered tracks are commonly outclassed by later numbered tracks with the only exception being Koopa Beach 1 outscoring Koopa Beach 2, possibly due to the latter having already reappeared in Mario Kart DS as a retro track.\n\nThe tracks that are ranked in the middle and bottom of the list are better represented by other tracks, which may explain their ranking aside from basic and unmemorable track design. For example, N64 Choco Mountain and SNES Donut Plains 3 already being in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe may contribute to Choco Island 1, Choco Island 2, Donut Plains 1 and Donut Plains 2 being ranked at the bottom of the list. The desire for other similar tracks in other games may also contribute to the rankings, for example, N64 Koopa Troopa Beach and GBA Bowser Castle 4 being more desirable than Koopa Beach 2 and Bowser Castle 1.\n\nAbove all, with repeated track themes and simple track layouts, Super Mario Kart\u2019s tracks are pretty bare-bones when compared to the other games on this list. With the shoddy quality of the tracks among the Booster Course Pass, it is unknown if the SNES tracks will be given a makeover they truly deserve in order for them to stand out against the other DLC tracks. It is extremely likely we will get one of the Mario Circuits, for nostalgia\u2019s sake, but any of the other track themes are just as likely.\n\nNext up, we have Mario Kart 64. Acting almost like a sequel to Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart 64 takes all of Super Mario Kart\u2019s track ideas and rebuilds them in the third dimension. Mario Kart 64 features sixteen tracks across four cups, with eleven eligible courses for voting. Here are the results:\n\nAs Mario Kart 64 was the first \u201c3D\u201d Mario Kart game, the developers were allowed to create grander tracks than what was possible on the Super NES. This, in turn, contributed to high levels of nostalgia; this is seen as fifteen out of the sixteen tracks in Mario Kart 64 have been remade as a retro track, with the exception of Wario Stadium. Following suit from SNES Ghost Valley 3, Banshee Boardwalk is the #1 vote for Mario Kart 64 with 292 votes; it was also voted as the #1 Ghost track. N64 Bowser\u2019s Castle has been voted as the #1 Bowser\u2019s Castle track, likely for laying the foundations on what makes a good Bowser track.\n\nIn terms of theming, some tracks may be unpopular due to clashing with themes already in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Will Moo Moo Farm clash with Wii Moo Moo Meadows? Will Sherbet Land and Wario Stadium oversaturate track themes when GCN Sherbet Land and DS Wario Stadium are already in the game? While Mario Kart Wii got away with something similar (having four Mario-themed tracks) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe already having three Rainbow Roads (with more likely on the way), it is unknown whether or not Nintendo will oversaturate the game with these specific tracks.\n\nAbove all, these tracks from the year 1996 have aged well, and while many were a bit lengthy in Mario Kart 64, many of those courses have already translated well to Mario Kart 8. Their unique track designs have stood the test of time. Outside of the tracks that scored within the Top 5, Frappe Snowland and Koopa Troopa Beach are highly requested tracks that also deserve to make it into the Booster Course Pass.\n\nMaking our way to the Game Boy Advance, we have Mario Kart: Super Circuit. Taking a step backwards from Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart: Super Circuit returns to Super Mario Kart\u2019s \u201c2D\u201d track design. Mario Kart: Super Circuit features twenty tracks across five cups. Unlike Super Mario Kart, however, Mario Kart: Super Circuit features zero repeating track themes, excluding the four Bowser Castle tracks. In total, there are sixteen eligible courses that could return in the Booster Course Pass originating from this game.\n\nDespite returning to Super Mario Kart\u2019s \u201c2D\u201d track design, Mario Kart: Super Circuit features distinctive track designs and obstacles that were not possible on the Super NES. GBA Rainbow Road being #1 with 277 votes should be no surprise, as it has supposedly been labeled as the next Rainbow Road track to be remade following N64 Rainbow Road. Riverside Park and Lakeside Park are among the only tracks, who arguably sport one of the best track themes, remaining to not be remade as a retro track in any form.\n\nSunset Wilds stands out as a sandy track with its sunset gimmick. Bowser Castle 4 is the only GBA Bowser Castle not yet to return as a retro track. The tracks on the higher end of this list are all memorable in their own way. With the exception of Snow Land, the bottom seven tracks have all reappeared as retro tracks already. On a case-by-case basis, whether these tracks scored low for this reason or because they were unremarkable is unknown.\n\nThese tracks were a bit more memorable than their SNES brethren; it is a shame that GBA tracks ultimately fly under the radar for most people. Outside of the tracks that scored within the Top 5, people should also keep their high spirits for Boo Lake\/Broken Pier, any GBA Bowser Castle track and Luigi Circuit.\n\nReturning to a home console after a quick detour, we have Mario Kart: Double Dash. The first fully \u201c3D\u201d Mario Kart game, everything from racers to tracks are fully modeled and ready for action. Mario Kart: Double Dash features sixteen tracks across four cups, with twelve possible courses remaining to be added to the Booster Pass. Here are the results:\n\nThe power of the Nintendo GameCube and its ability to render in 3D models allowed the developers to design track layouts that were not possible on past Nintendo hardware. This idea is shown in full display with Wario Colosseum taking the #1 spot with 338 votes, completely transforming the precedents N64 Wario Stadium established for a stadium track six years earlier. Similar to Mario Kart: Super Circuit, most of the tracks that have already returned as a retro track appear at the bottom of this list.\n\nGCN Bowser\u2019s Castle has been voted as the second-most requested Bowser\u2019s Castle, being nearly 85 votes behind N64 Bowser\u2019s Castle. In that same distance, Mushroom City is the fourth-most requested city track (excluding Mario Kart Tour courses) behind both 3DS Wuhu tracks and DS Delfino Square. GCN Rainbow Road has been voted as the fourth-most requested Rainbow Road and, interestingly, is neck and neck with DS Rainbow Road and Wii Rainbow Road, being five votes behind the former and three votes ahead of the latter.\n\nThere are a lot of splendid tracks here and quite a few of these tracks have equal chances of making it into the Booster Course Pass. Outside of the tracks that scored within the Top 5, people should remain optimistic for Waluigi Stadium, Dino Dino Jungle and Bowser\u2019s Castle to make it in as well.\n\nWe\u2019ve reached Mario Kart DS at last, a game that likely defined many people\u2019s childhoods. Despite returning to a handheld console so soon, Mario Kart DS is still displayed in \u201c3D\u201d with the assistance of lower-poly models and sprites. Mario Kart DS features sixteen nitro tracks across four cups, and like Double Dash, has twelve eligible courses\n\nWaluigi Pinball takes not only the #1 spot for the Mario Kart DS tracks, but the #1 spot out of every track that was featured in this poll with 374 votes. Huge surprise, I know. Airship Fortress and Delfino Square, the second-most requested and third-most requested tracks for Mario Kart DS, are nearly 100 votes behind Waluigi Pinball. In comparison, Airship Fortress has been voted as #4 overall and Delfino Square has been voted as #12 overall.\n\nDS Bowser\u2019s Castle has been voted as the third-most requested Bowser\u2019s Castle track, with 189 votes. Luigi\u2019s Mansion takes the spot as the most requested Luigi-themed track, while DS Mario Circuit takes the spot as the second-most requested Mario Circuit track (excluding tracks that have already returned). Ironically, Figure-8 Circuit has the least amount of votes out of Mario Kart DS tracks, despite the track layout being in the shape of an eight. It seems that even with a renewed opportunity, people think we have enough figure 8 courses in Mario Kart 8.\n\nSimilar to Mario Kart: Double Dash, there are a lot of grand tracks here that have potential to make it into the Booster Course Pass. Outside of the tracks that scored within the Top 5, DK Pass, Peach Gardens and Mario Circuit also have high chances of making it in.\n\nNext, we have Mario Kart Wii, the last console game before Mario Kart 8. Mario Kart Wii features sixteen nitro tracks across four cups. As with the last two games, there are also twelve eligible courses from Mario Kart Wii.\n\nAn evolution of the games that came before it, Mario Kart Wii features highly memorable tracks. It\u2019s no wonder that nearly half of these courses were already brought back as a retro track so soon across the latest Mario Kart titles. Maple Treeway takes the #1 spot out of the Mario Kart Wii tracks and the #5 spot overall with 310 votes, with Toad\u2019s Factory taking the #6 spot overall with 302 votes and DK Summit not too behind with the #10 spot overall with 289 votes.\n\nKoopa Cape has been voted as the most requested water\/beach track with 251 votes. DK Summit has also been voted as the second-most requested snow\/ice track as well as the most requested DK track. Admittedly, with all these highs, there\u2019s certainly got to be some lows. Wii Bowser\u2019s Castle is the least requested Bowser\u2019s Castle track, excluding the lower ranked SNES and GBA renditions. Mario Circuit and Luigi Circuit not only were the least voted tracks for Mario Kart Wii, but also the least voted tracks overall with 32 votes and 23 votes respectively, and despite it only being by only one vote, Wii Rainbow Road is the only eligible Rainbow Road to not be voted into the Top 5 of its game category.\n\nLike its recent brethren, there is such a wide assortment of worthy tracks that can make it into the Booster Course Pass. Outside of the tracks that scored within the Top 5, Daisy Circuit, Moonview Highway and Rainbow Road are not too far behind of making it in too.\n\nReaching the final game that's older than MK8 itself, we have Mario Kart 7 on the Nintendo 3DS. Mario Kart 7 shares a lot in common with its predecessor through similar graphics, sound design and outright picking four of the most requested tracks from it to use as retro tracks. Mario Kart 7 features sixteen nitro tracks across four cups, with just eleven courses to choose between for our poll.\n\nInterestingly, Mario Kart 7 is tied with Mario Kart 64 for having the highest retro track representation in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with five courses each. 3DS Rainbow Road takes the #1 spot with 300 votes, also having been voted as the most requested Rainbow Road and the #8 spot overall. With the exception of Shy Guy Bazaar being voted as the most requested desert-esque track, the votes for the other 3DS tracks are middle-of-the-road.\n\n3DS Bowser\u2019s Castle has been voted as the second-least requested 3D Bowser\u2019s Castle track with 136 votes, only 10 ahead of Wii Bowser\u2019s Castle. Daisy Hills takes the cake as the third-most requested Peach\/Daisy track with 129 votes, being nearly 120 votes behind GCN Daisy Cruiser. Mario Circuit and Cheep Cheep Lagoon are at the bottom of the barrel, with them having the title of the least requested 3DS track and least requested water\/beach track respectively.\n\nMario Kart 7 has a lot of highs but a lot of lows, too. The Top 5 clearly shine out from the rest of the tracks, leaving some tracks completely in the dust. Outside of the tracks that scored within the Top 5, Wario Shipyard and Rosalina\u2019s Ice World also have some potential on making it in.\n\nSoon after the announcement of the Booster Course Pass, fans everywhere were shocked with the inclusion of tracks from this hit mobile game. Featuring tracks from the real world and beyond, Mario Kart Tour\u2019s track design harkens back to the SNES days with having track themes repeat numerous times. Fortunately, for this DLC, all of the track layouts have been combined into one long course that changes with each lap.\n\nWith Wave 1 already bringing three courses from Mario Kart Tour, this may imply that all of Tour\u2019s courses might be finding their way over. With new courses still being released, it is possible that there are many we don\u2019t even know about yet. Since this poll, Amsterdam Drift has been released, Berlin Byways 1 has finally arrived, and other tracks are claimed to be datamined and leaked. With that all said, our poll had the following eight tracks under consideration when we ran it.\n\nDue to the smaller sample size of Tour tracks, they have all scored higher than expected. This is proven with the fact that Berlin Byways 2, the least requested Tour track with 231 votes, scored the #30 spot overall. Merry Mountain takes the #1 spot for Tour tracks, with 330 votes, as well as having earned the #3 spot overall. As mentioned, it is incredibly likely that we will see all of the Tour originals make it into the Booster Course Pass, whether they are in Mario Kart Tour currently or will arrive in the coming months. This may end up being a way to preserve these tracks in history if the Mario Kart Tour service ever closes.\n\nWhat new gimmicks will these tracks bring? Halfpipes? Going backwards similar to Paris Promenade? Tracks being sectioned off per lap similar to Tokyo Blur? We will have to wait and see on that.\n\nBattle Maps\n\nBefore the final results are shown, it is time to showcase the results for the Battle maps. Though there is no current indication that battle maps are on the way, Balloon Battle, Coin Runners, Shine Thief, Bob-Omb Blast and Renegade Roundup all have potential to be held in a new variety of arenas. As SNES Battle Course 1, GCN Luigi\u2019s Mansion and 3DS Wuhu Town are already in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, this leaves twenty-five Battle maps to be voted on. We didn\u2019t include the GameCube and DS Battle courses, as we think it is unlikely they\u2019d be brought back on a Switch game.\n\nEven though it is unlikely we will receive any Battle maps, it is still fun to determine which arenas are highly requested. Wii Funky Stadium has been voted as the most requested Battle map with 292 votes. GCN Pipe Plaza and N64 Block Fort are the second-most and third-most requested Battle maps with 215 votes and 184 votes respectively. The most requested DS Battle map was Twilight House with 132 votes (#6 spot overall), while the most requested 3DS Battle map was Honeybee Hive with 73 votes (#12 spot overall). The bottom seven spots on this list were fittingly all SNES and GBA Battle maps, with GBA Battle Course 3 having a measly seven votes.\n\nIf five Battle maps were to hypothetically make it into the Booster Course Pass as an added bonus, Wii Funky Stadium, GCN Pipe Plaza, N64 Block Fort (or N64 Double Deck since it is the only N64 Battle map yet to return as a retro Battle map), DS Twilight House and 3DS Honeybee Hive for being the most requested Battle maps from their game of origin.\n\nFinal Overall Results\n\nExcluding every retro track that is already in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, there are roughly one hundred possible choices (unannounced Tour tracks pushes this number above one hundred) to fill the remaining Booster Course Pass slots. To start, here is what the community\u2019s DLC pack would look like if we selected five courses from each game to fill out the remaining forty slots:\n\nNext, let\u2019s take a look at the overall rankings. Keep in mind, the Top 40 is not the exact same as in the chart above!\n\nFinally, after a discussion with Rookie, it was suggested that we include some more advanced metrics based on expected votes. It is unlikely that every eligible game gets exactly five tracks added from this point onward, even though our poll asked everyone to do exactly that. Breaking it into individual game sections simply made the process easier.\n\nHowever, on the overall results rankings, one thing became clear: courses in games with fewer options had a clear advantage, and this is seen clearly in the Mario Kart Tour results, where every track landed in the Top 30. Meanwhile, SNES and GBA tracks had a larger disadvantage. Based on our poll data, the most fair method to actually get our forty courses would be to consider how many votes each course got as well as how many other eligible courses were in its category.\n\nInitially, we tried a new score system. For SNES tracks, total votes would be multiplied by 18 \/ 5 (18 eligible tracks divided by 5 votes allotted per game). Tour votes would be multiplied by 8 \/ 5, and so on for the rest. What we found is that this slightly overcorrected the problem. Our second method however, we will share with you here.\n\nThe second method was based on the following premise: if all tracks in a category received the exact same vote total, what percentage of votes would they get? We then ranked every track based on how much they outperformed this number by game, and here are the rankings based on this tally.\n\nInterestingly enough, almost every Mario Kart Tour course is closer to the middle of the ranking than the top or bottom, while in our original ranking, all were in the top third. This is a more accurate picture, as the original Mario Kart Tour poll results had no outliers whatsoever.\n\nNeither method is perfect here - the most accurate method would be to just have people rank all their tracks in order, but as that was a little unreasonable for a simple survey, this will have to do.\n\nConclusion\n\nWere you surprised by the results? Is your favorite track near the top where it rightfully belongs, or is it near the bottom end of the list? Feel free to discuss the results and your opinions on them in the replies below or in the MKCentral MK8DX Community Discord Server. For those who would like to read the data points instead of viewing graphs, you may click here to view a Google Doc with all of the results and schematics, or read our advanced metric data here.\n\nI hope the results of this community poll were well worth the wait. As June comes to a close, it hopefully won\u2019t be long until the next details about the Booster Course Pass are announced. Will these results raise our expectations of what\u2019s to come? Or is this poll all wrong and is actually a poor representation of our hopes and dreams? Only time will tell.",
            "date": "2022-06-29 00:18:55",
            "date_human": "Jun 29, 2022",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=585",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Urntitled-1-1.png"
        },
        {
            "title": "Gotta Go Faster: The Allure of Speedrunning",
            "author": "jazzy",
            "preview": "When I first started playing Mario Kart competitively, it wasn't to play MKU, or compete in any form of online tournament or league. It was Christmas of 2014, and I had just been gifted a Wii U along with a handful of games, Mario Kart 8 being the one I was particularly excited for.\n\nWhy? Well, the most obvious answer was that I've been a Mario Kart nut since I was a kid, but there was something else that drew me to this particular entry. I won't lie: the graphics were beautiful at the time, but I had a mission in mind: to score a world record.\n\nRewind one year. I was bored of Mario Golf: World Tour and had borrowed my brother's copy of MK7. The Grand Prix were child's play to me; getting through them was a rather mundane exercise in which the main purpose was to become acquainted with the tracks themselves. Naturally, I ended up finishing with SNES Rainbow Road, and despite the simplicity of its design, the starry sky with the 3D effect on, the risk of falling off (and the consequent reward of success), and the sheer speed of rushing through the course signaled to me that I had unfinished business.\n\nI continued to play the game's final track in Time Trial mode, something I had toyed around with in past games, but viewed as \"practice\" for Grand Prix and didn't see too much value in the offering. My experience with MK7's GP mode, though, was the wake-up call I needed to start playing competitively. I was already developing a competitive mindset by the time I first picked up MK7; I had realized my skill in World Tour's online tournaments, consistently placing among the very top positions almost every time. What surprised me quite a bit, was just how addicting Time Trials became, almost instantly. I got bit by a bug and still have a bit of the itch even to this day.\n\nMy first sense of accomplishment was breaking the 1:20 mark. This sort of barrier is most often called a \"sub\", as in \"sub-1:20\", which in this case simply means a time under a minute and twenty seconds. It was a humble accomplishment, for I realized there was still a lot to go, and that there were most definitely many people who had clocked much better times. So I did a quick Google search for the world record on the track, and discovered what would serve as my foray into the global MK community.\n\nMy discovery was mkwrs.com, a site that lists up-to-date world records for major categories in the mainline Mario Kart games. I would quickly find the then-current world record of 1:12.991 by Mr.L, verified now by the site's history-keeping but which still rings a loud bell when I see it. The shaky camerawork in the linked video was typical of the time, and a nostalgic hallmark of \"classic\" MK competition, but it did present many tips, including the best character and kart to use, and driving techniques that would allow me to hone my skills. And hone them I did indeed: by the end of the year I would go on to hit 1:16.267, not once, but actually twice, before beating it several times in the coming years.\n\nI'll omit the remainder of my story, other than tie in what I said at the start: given my acute fondness for time trialing MK7, my goal for Mario Kart 8 was one task, albeit a bold one: to score my very own world record.\n\nBut there's a more fundamental question which I haven't answered. What makes time trials (a form of speedrunning, which I will get into), so fun? It's a repetitive and counterintuitive way of playing the game, relying on frequent restarts, and at times aggravating. Why don't we start with a little history lesson?\n\nCompetition at Its Core\n\nSpace Invaders (1978), which displayed high scores up-front, is credited for kickstarting competitive video gaming.\n\nSpeedrunning is inherently competitive, due to the sharing of records with other players (as well as tips and advice). That said, it's only a specific form of competition, so let's talk about video game competitions in a more general sense for perspective.\n\nThe renowned arcade hit Space Invaders is often considered the first video game which incited widespread competition, chiefly due to the fact that it was the first game which saved high scores as a programmed feature. This was a natural adoption from pinball machines, which were one precursor to arcade games.\n\nSince each arcade unit stored its own high score specific to that machine, players had no idea what scores people in other locations had achieved. This changed with the introduction of Twin Galaxies, which Walter Day founded by traveling to various cities around America, compiling and publishing a list of the best scores of various popular arcade games.\n\nThere's one word used above that you probably glossed over, and that's \"high\" in \"high score\". This stands in stark contrast with speedrunning, in which the aim is to achieve the lowest score. Games like golf also share this distinction, though in the case of a speedrun, the variable is time, which has real-world significance, and not merely an artificial construct.\n\n\"High\" scores mark the opposite side of the coin as \"low\" ones, but there's more to it than just the size of the numbers themselves. A lot of it has to do with the nature of the game itself. Games that favor high scores typically get harder as players progress, making racking up points a test of increasing skill. On the other hand, some games notably lack this characteristic in such a way that skilled players can play indefinitely due to their talent. As an example, the world record for the arcade game Asteroids was set over a grueling 58-hour marathon, where the determined John McAllister would rack up maximum lives, take a quick break as he suffered damage, only to return and reclaim the lives in what seemed like a perpetual endeavor.\n\nSuper Circuit's rendition of Cheese Land holds the lowest numerical world record in Mario Kart (along with some other tracks in the game), with its 0\"03 glitched lap.\n\nLow scores are completely different. In the case of a speedrun, there is an inherent lower bound on the time someone can achieve, although typically an exact number is not known. Since us humans always see a need to improve, and feel there's nothing to do after perfecting the game, some communities swear a silent oath not to analyze the game to the point where a definitive limit can be determined. This is observed to some degree in the SNES Super Mario Kart community, where tool-assisted speedruns (TASes) are not nearly as common as you might expect.\n\nOn the other hand, perfect runs are certainly achieved in many cases: the most well-known example in the MK world is Super Circuit's Cheese Land 0\"03 lap, made possible by a glitch that tends to bemuse the uninitiated. Others exist, and the concept is referred to as a \"maxed\" time, which seems to be a misnomer, but I like to reconcile the word choice as meaning \"having attained the maximum possible skill.\" In most circumstances, though, maxing a time is humanly impossible, or almost so, and the world record will slowly approach the limit, but likely never reach it.\n\nSpeedrunning Emerges\n\nTraveling in order to source records is nothing short of an antiquated practice nowadays, thanks to the internet. That invention is exactly what ignited speedrunning as a new way of playing games, since players could much more easily share knowledge with other experts and compete with each other.\n\nSuper Mario Kart shared with other games of the time the distinction of playing a vanguard role in the development of competitive speedrunning, which was of course natural, seeing as it was one of the more popular games when the first web browser was introduced in 1993 (SMK was released a year prior). We also can't turn a blind eye to the game's built-in timer, which provides an easy way to measure records accurately.\n\nThe trend was continued with the release of Mario Kart 64, and that game, along with increasing internet adoption in many parts of the world, led to Mario Kart assuming a seemingly permanent place in speedrunning culture.\n\nThe Mario Kart Players' Page, founded on or around August 15, 1997 by Kevin Booth, championed the quest to record the best records set in Mario Kart. Note the inconspicuous reference to Walter Day and Twin Galaxies among the updates.\n\nThere were a few notable sites highlighting MK64 records in its early days (supposedly \"over 40\"), such as REX's MK64 Rankings, although the only one to stand the test of time was the Mario Kart Players' Page, which still exists at mariokart64.com, and remains the go-to destination for time trial competition in retro MKs. Having been founded over 24 years ago, it's nothing short of remarkable for a community-run site to last so long. A detail I left out in the introduction to this article is that it was this site that got me connected with the Mario Kart community, thanks to its forums and my joining of a few Skype groups where I got to connect with other players, some of which I still am very close with even now.\n\nCheck Your Definition\n\nI've mainly been talking about time trials so far, but I'll admit I'm presenting a view contrary to what most players familiar with the Mario Kart scene would expect. In the context of MK specifically, \"speedrun\" most often refers to Grand Prix speedruns, not so much time trials.\n\nMy view is that both activities are by definition \"speedruns\", because the purpose in both is to complete an objective in the fastest possible time. That said, I accept the way we use our words here, not only because it's more practical to be able to distinguish easily between the two modes in conversation, but also because of another argument.\n\nLet's look at one of the most famous speedrunning games, Super Mario Bros. A launch title for the NES, Nintendo wanted to challenge players by having them run through a sequence of 32 levels in order to complete the game. Of course, we all know about the Warp Zones, but I would imagine Nintendo didn't intend for most players to use or find them. (Secrets like these were often implemented as a means to sell tips through official magazines and even paid phone hotlines.) The intent is important here. Nintendo also didn't intend the goal of the game to be to completed as fast as possible; they provided other mechanisms to claim accomplishment with, such as a score counter (which doesn't actually mean too much), and also a \"hard mode\" which is unlocked after completing the game once. Disagreeing in this sense is the design of Time Trials, where the whole point is to finish the level in as fast a time as you can.\n\nGrand Prix runs are more like Super Mario Bros. than Time Trials if looked at from the above perspective, since the intended purpose of Grand Prix is to score the most points, claim the trophies, and in most games, get a good \"rating\" (stars or letter ratings). A few MK games store your best total times achieved in Grand Prix mode, but this is not the norm for the series.\n\nNow you can see what I'm getting at. Speedrunning emerged as a different way to play games, in a way that often challenged the intended goal of the game. Under this philosophy, time trials aren't pure speedruns, while Grand Prix speedruns are, hence the distinction when players talking about racing Mario Kart.\n\nA Briefly Controversial Revolution\n\nDiscovered in 2020 using TAS techniques, this glitch in MK64 involves various tactics including running into penguins, falling off the track, hitting specific locations, and circling around the finish line to skip laps.\n\nIn 2003, the release of a particular video of a Super Mario Bros. 3 speedrun, by the player \"Morimoto\", generated a lot of attention. The incredible performance seemed superhuman, and it was: it was the video that sparked the tool-assisted speedrun scene, where special devices are used to complete a run faster than any human likely could.\n\nThese tools are usually emulators, computer programs which simulate the operation of console hardware. Earlier TASes were usually made with hacks that slowed the game played on a real console, but emulators provide far more capabilities, allowing for rewinding and manual entry of individual inputs. (Disclaimer: emulators, but more specifically the practice of downloading games off the internet to use, have been at odds with copyright laws, but so far no meaningful measures have been put into place to prohibit them entirely, and so TAS communities still thrive.)\n\nThe controversy arose because it became evident that a video alone isn't enough to prove the legitimacy of a human speedrun (called a real-time attack, or RTA). While in some games visual clues can signal the use of an emulator, this often isn't the case. Typically a variety of methods are employed, some \"soft\" (such as analyzing statistics on player progress and game events, and establishing trust with top players), some much \"harder\" (like using programmed game features including ghost sharing, or analyzing inputs to catch anything physically impossible).\n\nNowadays, TASing plays a key role in the overall speedrunning scene. By conducting tests in a way that is more akin to a science than entertainment, new insights can be revealed on the game's inner workings, and reveal faster methods of completing a run\u2014these contributions are used by players attempting RTAs to push their game further.\n\nAt times, innovations discovered using TAS techniques can turn the game on its head and then some. A notable recent example is what happened with Mario Kart 64 over the the past year or so: new shortcuts (glitches) were given a place in time trialing on 7 of the game's tracks, with an eighth demonstrated in a TAS but yet to be performed in an RTA world record run. As a result, records were smashed over and over, and top streamers gathered plenty of attention from the public as they \"broke\" the game in several new ways throughout the year.\n\nSuch glitches also have a place in Grand Prix speedruns. While Mario Kart 8 doesn't have any known glitches that provide a benefit to the player (aside from physics quirks such as \"firehopping\" and the effect of using different controllers in the Wii U version, and \"motion gliders\" in Deluxe), past MK games are chock-full of them, and are exploited to their fullest potential in speedruns of games such as MK64 and MKWii. In many ways, they generate a lot of public interest even with casual viewers, who completely eat up YouTubers' and streamers' content that feature extensive use of them.\n\nSpeedrunning Today\n\nSpeedrunners generally stream their attempts on platforms like Twitch (pictured: MKTheo). Lots of creativity is involved with arranging visuals and providing entertainment value to viewers.\n\nSpeedrunning in modern times is a bit different socially than in the past, and even compared to modern tournament-based competitions. As far as Mario Kart goes, players in competitions such as MKU often don't stream, and those that do almost exclusively do it for a few friends and generally wouldn't be considered hardcore streamers, at least not judging by that specific content.\n\nSpeedrunning has completely different customs. Streaming attempts is the norm, and often expected for higher-level gameplay. While a score in MKU or another tournament can be backed up by the other players in the room, a single-player game requires harder proof standards, of which streaming is one of the most effective and veracious forms.\n\nConsequently, social interactions are quite different: while players in tournaments communicate with their team during the game, streamers will interact with viewers through chat, talking while they type messages which can be answered by the player (or just ignored altogether). At times, friends will be in a call with the streamer, and serve as \"guests\" on the channel, often for fun, but also sometimes to collaborate with other players for cross-promotion. The best content creators can make significant sums of money through their efforts, which is an additional incentive for some to keep improving their game.\n\nLANs, or local, in-person tournaments, are hard to translate to the context of speedrunning. Sometimes \"one-try\" speedrunning tournaments are held at small venues (as well as online), but they usually are a part of a larger event where more traditional tournament formats are hosted.\n\nThat said, there is a definite place for speedrunning at more public venues. The semiannual Games Done Quick marathons (currently held completely online due to COVID-19 concerns) are an exemplary case, raising millions of dollars per event for charities, and feature top players from a vast array of games performing both traditional runs and quirky challenges, topped off with colorful commentary and a Twitch stream in which viewers are given the opportunity to interact with the event.\n\nAs for community involvement in Mario Kart speedrunning, most communication today takes place in various Discord community servers, which are usually separated based on game and interest (some more specific than others). These are the best places to meet other like-minded fans of the series and learn new ways to level up your game.\n\nEven if you don't have a capture card, hitting a world record in MK8DX will earn you a video on the MK8DX Records YouTube channel as well as an entry on mkwrs.com.\n\nFor Mario Kart 8 Deluxe specifically, there are two main sites which serve as the go-to spot for speedrunning records: speedrun.com for Grand Prix runs (as well as some miscellaneous categories), and MKLeaderboards for time trials. The former is a large project featuring basically any game you could think someone might possibly speedrun, while MKLeaderboards is a community project also featuring MKWii and 7. There are other sites as well, but these are the most prominent today, and are among the most reputable.\n\nWith the appeal of online multiplayer in MK8DX, speedrunning has taken a backseat compared to the first several games in the series. That said, speedrunning by no means holds an anachronistic existence in a world of online competition. Practicing individual tracks is a great way to prepare for tournament matches, letting players focus on improving their game systematically and without time constraints, rather than during the pressure of an intense online competition. Grand Prix runs simulate online matches in a unique way, with the tracks only appearing once each, and fostering development of competitors' \"running\" games as they try to break ahead of the AI to get to the finish in blazing time. Additional, more casual, categories for speedruns and time trials have been created that prohibit the use of items and mushrooms, which are meant to let runners focus on pure technical driving instead of relying on items.\n\nSpeedrunning isn't for everyone, but it's a pillar of the Mario Kart community, and provides a unique way to experience the game. Tournaments certainly have winners, but if you want to maintain your champion status going forward, you'll need to win the next one as well. The allure of speedrunning is often the dream of hitting a world record\u2014a coveted achievement most will not reach. That world record may not last long (when I finally hit mine, it lasted no more than 5 minutes), but there's the potential for it to last months, years, or in some cases, into the decades. No matter the circumstance, your name will be permanently etched into the history books when you get one. And on top of that, some players aspire to reach higher positions on overall rankings (my favored approach), or just thrive off the feeling of setting a new personal record or milestone. Whatever the case may be, it's an experience worth trying.",
            "date": "2021-12-01 18:41:23",
            "date_human": "Dec 1, 2021",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=525",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Screenshot-126b.png"
        },
        {
            "title": "7 Years Later, Team France hands Japan their first MK8 World Cup loss",
            "author": "Rookie",
            "preview": "After a grand return in 2021, the MK8 World Cup has finally concluded, and this time there's a new champion. To say that this is something that was never truly expected would be an understatement. After going 3-for-3 in World Cup victories in Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U, Team Japan appeared to be getting stronger every year. Without dropping a game in 2016, it was obvious that Japan won MK8. We thought at the time that perhaps the community would move on to a new entry in the Mario Kart series, but then the news that Mario Kart 8 would rerelease on the Switch broke.\n\nThis would certainly provide more chances for challengers to get a crack at ending Team Japan\u2019s newfound dynasty. The first year of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe would certainly level the playing field again, given that players had to learn some new mechanics, techniques, and strategies. Team Japan lost a single battle, but still emerged victorious in the war. Much like the Wii U entry, Team Japan would only improve, and they stopped losing games. After 6 total World Cups, the tournament would not return in 2020, and their run looked similar to some of the all-time great teams of any sport \u2013 6 Finals appearances, 0 losses. That was all she wrote.\n\nIt seemed fairly likely to expect that the Mario Kart 8 era was coming to a close. A mainline Mario Kart title has not released over 4 years after its predecessor since 2001. But this time, things were a little different. New Mario Kart experiences would come in the form of Mario Kart Tour and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. Despite Mario Kart Tour\u2019s success as a multiplayer game, the reality is that mobile games tend to capture different audiences than console games. In the end, Tour ended up coexisting with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe rather than outright replacing it. 2021 brought the return of the Mario Kart World Cup to Mario Kart Central, and this time, both games were featured, along with Mario Kart Wii.\n\nPossibly no team was happier about the return of the cup than Team France, who had built momentum in the last 2 cups, but came just short both times. France has always been one of the largest communities in the Mario Kart 8 scene, and despite the lack of cups, there was no absence of motivation for their player base the last 2 years. In the western community, French teams have been dominant in most 6v6 competitions, so they were certainly ready for the moment.\n\nIn what came as a surprise to many, Team France dethroned Team Japan in a quick 2-0 sweep in the finals. It took 7 cups, but the second champion country finally emerged. Though a few people suspected that France may have the firepower to win before the cup started, not many expected them to roll through the entire tournament without dropping a single game, let alone to Team Japan. Ahead of their match with Team France, the Team USA captain, Nato, mentioned that he believed this was Team France\u2019s strongest year and that they were better than Japan. His intuition ended up being the right call. There were moments where they had a few close calls, of course: at one point against every other team in the final 4, they were in a tight match with them a significant way into at least one match. Every time, though, the team would emerge victoriously.\n\nThe team\u2019s captain, Power, claimed their victory was \u201cthe product of hard work and team chemistry.\u201d In an interview ahead of their semifinals match, he said that the team\u2019s confidence largely stemmed from the fact that every possible lineup they put out produced great results. It\u2019s natural in team sports to expect a slight drop-off in performance whenever the starting lineup isn\u2019t out there in full, but this was something Team France had no worries about \u2013 so much so, that they rolled into their most important match in team history without their captain. Instead, it was Daxx, another veteran and leader on the Team France roster who stepped in. With excellent performances from the veterans and newcomers alike (as well as some showing off from Valer on stream), France won both wars. The margins weren\u2019t huge, but it felt that they had control for the majority of the set\n\n\"I watched it on the beach,\" Power mentioned. Sometimes, reschedules don't always go to plan. Luckily for Team France, they had a belief in all possible lineups. Power mentioned that \"Cloudtop Cruise was stressful since I couldn't listen to the call.\" Of course, he's referring to the close out race of game 2. Japan pulled the shock when they needed it, but France was prepared and dodged with another one off screen, which would end up being used as the final dagger.\n\nBefore the match, Team France was 0-6 all time against Team Japan. For a team with low mental fortitude, these facts alone can be enough to make execution incredibly tough. Sometimes confidence pays off though, and relieves the pressure a bit. The players on this team aren't new to winning competitions, but the World Cup was always on Team France's bucket list. You don't see years long streaks ending every day, because they last years for a reason. But of course, when one respectable streak finally does come to an end, it's special. You get to experience history.",
            "date": "2021-08-01 19:45:03",
            "date_human": "Aug 1, 2021",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=470",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2021\/08\/mkwc.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "MKC Invades Las Vegas: SNS 100 LAN Preview Guide",
            "author": "N\u012bGHT",
            "preview": "Since August of 2018, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe tournaments have been at the epicenter of Mario Kart Central online. The scene has grown dramatically since its inception, with thousands of members flocking to MKC to get a piece of the action in FFA, mogi, and team style events. Hundreds of more teams are onboarded each year with MK8DX and MKTour, the mobile counterpart.\n\nAll over the world IRL MK communities and LAN tournaments have thrived, most notably in France, the United Kingdom (Embrace the Change), and in the Netherlands at Esports Game Arena. The United States started to gain traction with IRL Mario Kart 8 Deluxe events through major expos such as PAX East in Boston, Genesis in Oakland, and other local tournaments in various cities across the country. The most well known and most frequent event in the US is called Saturday Night Speedway run by Allied Esports.\n\nSaturday Night Speedway, the west coast based MK8DX LAN event is housed in Sin City- Las Vegas, Nevada. Players from 4 to 74 gather on the weekend to put their pedal to the metal in a four round FFA tournament format. A combination of flashy production, noise, lights, and some shining moments of Tier E-esque gameplay are what you\u2019ll normally find on a given Saturday night. Not to mention, there is a rowdy bar that is stationed by the best bartender in the business, Frankie (and Noel) who are ready to fuel adult players with liquid courage needed to survive the chaos of the initial few rounds. The \"SNS\" community quickly integrated into MKC and the tournament now features players from over a half a dozen clans on a weekly basis.\n\nThere is no real way to describe \u201cSNS\u201d as over 99+ instances the tournament has seen drag queens, pro NFL players (there are too many to name... but Austin Ekeler showed up this first week of May!), Esports pros (FaZe clan founder Clipz), MK8 world record holders (SuperFX), and streamers such as Mankalor and ToKy test their might in an effort to win part of the $700 prize pool. For SNS 100, the plan is to up the ante to a $1,000 prize pool.\n\nThis article plans to highlight some of the players inside and out of the MKC community that will likely be in action and key contenders for the elite tournament on May 15th. With a cap due to COVID and time constraints of only 72 players, not all players listed below may enter. The stats presented below are courtesy of Megajkeezy (Jason Kilgore) highlighting the 11 tournaments of this current season. The player ranking listed is based on cumulative points eclipsed from the 11 events this season. Some skilled players might be ranked low simply because they have not shown up as frequently as local competitors, so do not take their ranking at face value. We will break down the entrants and some potential surprises for the tournament in this article. Feel free to read this article out of order, as it is not written for continuity. This article is merely a preview of the players and the deep MKC presence that will make up this tournament, and not an article devoted on LAN history, which may come at a later date. You may notice several teams will have players entered gearing up for SNS 100 which is crazy to comprehend given we are still in the middle of the pandemic. SNS 100 plans to go full throttle, as Las Vegas is nearing a full opening and in optimistic hopes to leave COVID-19 in the rear view mirror.\n\n[Image]\nYou can catch the action LIVE on Allied Esports twitch on May 15th!\n\nIkon and Ranked Entrants\n\nIkon (Symphony)\n\nIkon cashed his golden ticket on a paid trip to SNS 100 by defeating Cone\/Tulip (Star Clan) in a wild and unconventional last second pass in 200cc street rules Baby Park. Many believe that the clip of Ikon\u2019s impressive win could have beat out other baby park clips seen on ESPN. Ikon not only had to deal with Cone in a tiebreaker, but also had to outlast Sand (Symphony \/ iF) and Adam (Noir) in a 4 way race in the finals at SNS on Tour stop in Texas. It was a tight battle all the way through and the strength of competition that Ikon defeated should not be taken lightly.\n\nWhile Ikon has not dealt with the external factors surrounding the arena (lights, noise, etc.) he has gotten a taste of what to expect by playing in Texas on a trailer that some other traveling players may not have yet to experience (ie: glare from the sun, crowds, etc.). These nuances are something that only few players have been able to crack on their first try. Ikon\u2019s win over a full field of 11 other racers, with 3 of them being MKC opponents in Texas is no easy feat. All eyes will be on Ikon heading into SNS 100 as a favorite to win.\n\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/hNA73ThfV6c?t=7915\nThe epic tiebreaker between Ikon and Cone\/Tulip. Note: Scrub back to watch the full finals battle featuring Sand and Adam!\n\nSneakz (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #1\nSeason Starts: 11\/11\nNotes: 15 time SNS champion. 3 wins this season. 2.83 Average finish.\n\nSneakz is a free for all specialist for Pirate Hunters in select events. He is an urban legend in the MKC community given how infrequently he plays in team events, and because he clocks in at a whopping 12 years old. He gets permission from his dad, 8oh5, to play in events and seizes the opportunity to take advantage of your mistakes. Expect Sneakz to play with a LATAM playstyle, with backs, stop trolls, and any tactics necessary to secure the dub.\n\nFunny Name (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #2\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: 11 time SNS champion. 3 wins this season. Worst finish this season is 6th.\n\nFunny Name aka Swag King is one of the more technical players at SNS and is going to be one of the key contenders facing Ikon and others traveling to the event. Funny Name is outpacing Sneakz in overall points, but logistically missed 1 start this season to play in MKU primetime in Season 13 against Version 2. Funny Name has US tops on Bone Dry Dunes and Ice Ice Outpost and is one of the more prolific time trial centric players natively from Las Vegas. He is the top Vegas local that will look to take down the inbound competition.\n\nVanni (Free Agent)Rank: #3\nSeason Starts: 11\/11\nNotes: 3 time SNS champion. Missed finals once in his 11 starts this season.\n\nVanni (formerly Symphony, MKO) is a hot topic at SNS after temporarily (?) retiring from the MK8 competitive scene. He is the top inward player in the tournament. He recently won his 3rd SNS title this season on April 3rd. Staying out of trouble has been a key reason why Vanni has been fighting for a top ranking week in and week out. Expect pyramid hands, staredowns, and Vanni to be a fan favorite for SNS 100.\n\nGlitch (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #4\nSeason Starts: 9\/11\nNotes: 19 time SNS champion. Finished 2nd three times this season. Professional troll.\n\nGlitch is the most decorated SNS champion. He is known for his shock-bagging and his ability to physically and mentally break you down (you should have seen him and Cuj face off, it was poetry in motion). Not only does Glitch dodge shocks, but he also dodges beer cans thrown at him by adults (we're looking at you, Guinness Guy) who dislike Glitch\u2019s toxic yet rewarding playstyle. Glitch was highlighted in recent MKC seasons, as well as won the Kart Klash Invitational late last year in a field of stronger opponents. He changes his loadouts and can be a threat from all angles (he can run too) at SNS 100.\n\nJoronimo (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #5\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: 4 time SNS champion. Shell Shocked champion. Missed finals once in 10 starts this season.\n\nJoronimo is known for the best wink in Vegas and has limited time to capture his 5th title. As an active duty member of the Air Force, his time in Vegas is slowly coming to an end which could give Jory an edge in motivation for securing the title at SNS 100. Jory has been one of the original players of the tournament and is one of the few to have a drink at the bar named after him. He\u2019s also a pro D1 Isabelle player that you might see in action. Jory is also known for having the best wink in Vegas.\n\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/ycOqQwudAz4?t=13101\nThe first week in May featured a 2v2 mogi format with rawr xd \/ Funny Name in 1st, Glitch \/ Sneakz in 2nd, and NIGHT \/ Cherry in 3rd\n\nRidingMyPidgey (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #6\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: 2 time SNS champion. Made finals in every season appearance thus far. Actor.\n\nPidgey loves to be in front of the camera doing the Pidgey Shuffle. His hashtag #Justice4Pidgey caught traction with him securing two tournament wins in 2020. Pidgey consistently reviews his racing on his stream and proves that reviewing the film is the key to his success. Pidgey recently missed an SNS due to a film project, but is expected to be an entrant and a finals threat at SNS 100 on Donkey Kong.\n\nBaddercookie (Free Agent)Rank: #7\nSeason Starts: 11\/11\nNotes: 6 Finals appearances this season. May or may not have a different hair color for SNS 100.\n\nBaddercookie is an up and coming younger player and is an MKC free agent. He stays devoted to Waluigi scooty, and is a frontrunning threat with clean air. He has yet to win an SNS but his consistency has proven to be valuable by showing up each week and making the finals in a majority of his appearances. He is constantly improving and is just shy of a top 5 spot in the local seedings going into SNS 100.\n\nLVZ Kiro (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #8\nSeason Starts: 9\/11\nNotes: 8 Finals appearances this season. Arguably has the best dab in Vegas.\n\nKiro is likely one of the most anticipated players to win his first title, and what better occasion than SNS 100. His consistency in finals has been proven by making 8 trips in his 9 starts. Kiro however has missed the last two events, so we will have to see how he\u2019ll play heading into SNS 100. Kiro is open about his crippling lounge addiction and his Iron MMR deficiency. If anyone has any MMR you can donate to Kiro, please email mario[at]swagmoneygaming.com and a representative will be in touch. (Yes - it\u2019s real. Email if you dare.)\n\nImmortalMan2650 (Storm Rush Gaming)Rank: #9\nSeason Starts: 7\/11\nNotes: SNS Champion. Arguably the most improved player in Vegas.\n\nImmortal has made finals appearances in all but one of his starts this season. He went from being a brand new player in late 2019, and in some cases getting nauseous before playing on stage. Immortal has fought through his nerves and has taken improving his gameplay during the pandemic seriously. He\u2019s one of the most improved players and is a staple for SRG\u2019s squad in MKC. Don\u2019t rule out Immortal to be a major threat in the finals for SNS 100.\n\nCir9 (Casual Player)Rank: #10\nSeason Starts: 9\/11\nNotes: SNS Champion. Original SNS Community member.\n\nCir9 was the winner of SNS #3, and has improved along with some of the MKC players featured throughout the field. He races under JPN, and sometimes makes a cameo appearance in teamplay with ph. Cir9 also defeated Diplo in FUSER, a DJing based game and is the mastermind behind the MK8DX reality tournament tagged \u201cCirvival\u201d. Cir9 does it all and is one of the head admins within the community of players at SNS. He is also the king of trash talk which is another reason to beware of Cir9.\n\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/NightCrawlerCC\/status\/1388670749964070912?s=20\nTGray, co-leader of Night Kids playing Runners Assemble vs. American Gunslingers as rawr xd looks on and Ankles (AGs) is nearby.\n\nR1l3y (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #11\nSeason Starts: 8\/11\nNotes: 2nd chance notable winner.\n\nR1l3y is a unique player who came out of a year plus long hiatus. Originally he was known for battling in 2nd chance fighting for a semifinals spot. Since his return, he has been a borderline mainstay in finals appearances. He generally finishes in the mid pack of the finals and also is a crowd favorite with support from the house of mo (to be covered later), and his family. Expect the crowd to be on R1l3y\u2019s side, especially if his mom is in attendance. He is a new member of the Pirate Hackers, playing for their 2nd squad this MKU season.\n\nJinx (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #12\nSeason Starts: 9\/11\nNotes: 5 finals appearances in 9 starts. Prominent Waluigi cosplayer.\n\nThe live chat favorite is Jinx, who is well known streaming on Trovo. She is mentored by Darky and is quickly improving and building up on her consistency. It is unknown if Jinx is planning to bring a live chicken (somehow named Ty after Tyler17) to the arena for the 100th anniversary of SNS. Jinx could be a dark horse that could make it deep into the tournament.\n\nXIII (Storm Rush Gaming)Rank: #13\nSeason Starts: 11\/11\nNotes: Yet to DNQ for Semifinals.\n\nXIII, conveniently ranked 13th, is still looking to finish in the single digits at SNS. He has been extremely consistent finishing between 10th and 22nd in his starts this season. XIII is coming off of four straight finals appearances and is hoping to make it 5 straight going into SNS 100.\n\nKARMA (formerly Noir)Rank: #14\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: 5 finals appearances in 10 starts.\n\nKarma is known in MKC formerly as Gourmet, winning a division 6 title with the former Team Cafe, now known as Noir. Karma is consistently a semi finalist to finals player looking to capitalize on her success. Karma\u2019s item play has consistently improved the past several weeks so expect her to be a threat at all points of the event. Rumor has it she is looking to make her competitive MKC return.\n\nFreeDizzle (formerly Republic of Memes)Rank: #15\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: 2 finals appearances in last 3 starts\n\nFreedizzle is a boo main who\u2019s alias sparked the subclan Team Dizzle, a sub clan for Vegas players to learn the ropes of 6v6. Freedizzle was inspired to play King Boo because of Glitch and is one of the few players left maining him at the tournament. He shocked a lot of regulars with a very impressive run in the SNS Duos tournament with his partner, Bruh on May 1st.\n\nCherry (Banana Legion)Rank: #16\nSeason Starts: 5\/11\nNotes: only female SNS champion\n\nCherry is the catalyst which drove troves of Vegas players into the MKC community. She won SNS 4, and recently made her return back in October to SNS after a several month long hiatus. She has 2 finals appearances in her 5 starts and is the top ranked part time SNS player. Cherry is one of the few original SNS players left, now playing for Banana Legion.\n\nBruh (formerly Republic of Memes)Rank: #17\nSeason Starts: 6\/11\nNotes: 3 finals appearances in 6 starts\n\nBruh is a Link main who has been playing part time and may be making an appearance at SNS 100. The outspoken player will have to not only talk the talk, but walk the walk with a star studded field for SNS 100. He formerly was a member and leader of the Republic of Memes on MKC.\n\nTwoInchesMo (Casual Player)Rank: #18\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: has made semifinals in all but two appearances\n\nTwoinchesMo may have one of the most hype names in SNS history. He currently is the leader of his \u201chouse\u201d which features Jedata, Hush, Banda, DizneyKP, and others. Expect all of two inches of Mo and his friends to be present at SNS 100.\n\nBearUNLV (eUnited)Rank: #19\nSeason Starts: 3\/11\nNotes: 3 finals appearances in 3 starts. Creator of SNS, 3 time SNS champion\n\nBear is the creator of SNS, and for the past year and a half has been a prominent threat since competing in his tournament. After switching to Roy, the gloves were off as Bear was able to take down many SNS vets for multiple titles. Bear has been on quite a streak in limited starts, and expect to see more of Bear with NV\u2019s COVID protocols easing up. Bear also was a finalist in Genesis 7 in Oakland, California and has experience running and playing in major MK8 tournaments.\n\nNiGHT (Free Agent)Rank: #20\nSeason Starts: 6\/11\nNotes: 1 finals appearance in 4 starts. All time SNS 200cc Baby Park and Battle Mode Winner.\n\nNight has had a unique season, withdrawing from SNS twice after two dominant qualifying rounds to promote a content house in Las Vegas. Night has only made finals once in four viable starts this season, but has had success as a finalist in Genesis 7 and winning the One Up Games Quarantine Cup in 2020. While he has won a Vegas tournament back in 2019, he has yet to capture an SNS victory. In a crowded field, expect Night to be in the discussion to at least race his way into the show by any means necessary through tiebreakers or 2nd chance.\n\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/RS4b3Jjemc4\nSaturday Night Speedway Highlights from 2020\n\nrawr xd (Pirate Hackers)Rank: #21\nSeason Starts: 2\/11\nNotes: 2 time SNS champion. Finals appearances in both starts.\n\nRawr xd was on the rise this past season in MKC, taking over the reins of Pirate Hackers leadership. He finished 5th in Genesis 7, and is one of the more prominent regional players of SNS currently. Once or twice a month, rawr takes the trek from Arizona to compete at SNS. This season, he has finished 2nd and 3rd\u2026 but has yet to receive a plaque. Don't let his ranking fool you- Rawr could be the regional spoiler that has the best chance to take down the fly-in travelers inbound heading to SNS 100.\n\nTGray (Night Kids)Rank: #22\nSeason Starts: 3\/11\nNotes: 1 finals appearance this season. 9 toed assassin.\n\nTGray has made limited starts at SNS since becoming a co-leader of the up and coming team, Night Kids. He recently took a hiatus after a mysterious medical emergency that forced him to lose one of his toes. TGray however has been a staple in the NK lineup and like a few others, has limited history this season to tie down to. Will he rise to the occasion as he steps toe to toe on stage with the other SNS competitors?\n\nNote: After the time of writing this article, TGray has publicly confirmed he will not be in attendance at SNS 100 due to a prior engagement.\n\nYoungTheWizard (Kartlogical)Rank: #23\nSeason Starts: 8\/11\nNotes: 4 semi finals appearances in 8 starts\n\nYoungTheWizard is another inward player formerly known for his tenure on MKO and Speed Stars. He recently has made a return to SNS after a break and has had a season best finish of 9th place. YoungTheWizard is an inward player looking to be an upset at SNS 100.\n\nJedata (Casual Player)Rank: #24\nSeason Starts: 9\/11\nNotes: 7 semi finals appearances in 9 starts\n\nJedata is another player in the \u201cMasters'' group (30+ racer at SNS) who has had a consistent record of semi finals appearances. He\u2019s constantly flirting to take over the title of his house with TwoInchesMo, Banda, and others. It will be interesting to see where Jedata will compare with many prominent names traveling in as a semifinalist player.\n\nAirboom54 (Machine Kings Online)Rank: #25\nSeason Starts: 5\/11\nNotes: 4 semi finals appearances in 5 starts\n\nAirboom54 is known for his pop offs and some deep runs in 2nd chance. He is the manager of Machine Kings Online that briefly played for two seasons in MKC. Airboom has a career best finish of 12th this season, making finals once in five starts.\n\nAnkles (American Gunslingers)Rank: #26\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: Rapidly improving player, professional Iron 1 grinder.\n\nAnkles is slowly and surely gaining more traction with his gameplay each week. His grind in lounge has literally prepared him for the L mashing and item spam that will ensue come SNS 100. He recently joined American Gunslingers 2 for this upcoming MKU season. Ankles has over 120+ events in lounge and despite his low MMR, he hopes to prove that the reps are beneficial racing against a similar type of playstyle. He is in the discussions for being one of the most improved players at SNS.\n\nJabeeezie (Casual Player)Rank: #27\nSeason Starts: 7\/11\nNotes: 5 semi finals appearances in 8 starts\n\nJabeezie has always been a threat in semi finals or on the cusp of breaking out of 2nd chance. His season best finish is 14th.\n\nSprtsjoey1 (Storm Rush Gaming)Rank: #28\nSeason Starts: 11\/11\nNotes: 7 semi finals appearances in 11 starts\n\nJoey is well known for his baby park scream heard around the arena and has been labbing to improve his gameplay against a packed field of players for SNS 100. His season best finish is 14th, but has yet to make a finals appearance since early on in a limited field during the pandemic. Joey is one of the only ranked players from SRG that was featured in the first ever 6v6 featured at a LAN event that took place in February of 2020. Joey can also frequently be seen streaming MK8 online and is now one of the top 20 English streamers.\n\nJDX (formerly Republic of Memes)Rank: #29\nSeason Starts: 3\/11\nNotes: 3 semi finals appearances in 3 starts\n\nJDX is another inward player that has had a consistent showing in his limited attempts. Finishing 13th, 14th, and 15th in his three finishes, expect the same level of consistency if JDX can manage a higher strength of field than normally accustomed to. JDX is also a well known bowler in the SNS community scoring in the upper 200s consistently. Can he go for a perfect score at SNS 100?\n\nJay Jay 107 (Casual Player)Rank: #30\nSeason Starts: 6\/11\nNotes: 4 semi finals appearances in 6 starts\n\nJay Jay 107 is part of the Cruzer family that will have a \u201chome arena\u201d advantage when they play. They are the loudest (but not obnoxious, don\u2019t worry) group in the arena when they show up. With LA Cruzer and Moon Princess in town from California, we cannot have them overshadow the fact that Jay Jay 107 is the sole ranked player from within the family.\n\nExpected Regional Entrants\n\nDanny Fathom (Pirate Hackers)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: 1 semifinals appearances in 1 start, CEO and Genesis 7 finalist\n\nDanny got his first dose of SNS nearly two months ago, unable to make finals with a 15th place finish. Known as \u201cDC Danny\u201d, the real disconnect for Danny was the external factors that normally have plagued newcomers in hopes of getting an SNS championship. Now that Danny knows how the noise, lights, and cameras (especially this part) work, it\u2019s all a matter of action. He also has traveled to each major MK8 LAN in 2020 (Genesis 7, CEO Dreamland) and has been a finalist in each. If Danny can avoid putting his switch in sleep mode, expect him to go far at SNS 100.\n\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/HyperXEALV\/status\/1365895882563072005\nThe disconnect heard round the world.\n\nCaptain Luigi (Arcadia)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\nNotes: 1 SNS start\n\nCaptain Luigi (Michael) will be back in action at SNS. Michael fell to Mankalor during his first SNS appearance, but also wasn\u2019t as broken into the 150cc community at that point in his career. With a new format, bigger prize pool, and Michael\u2019s 150cc focus, expect him to exceed expectations from his debut and throw his name into the ring and #PipeUp for an SNS 100 championship bid.\n\nQuan4Sho (Noir)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: 1 semi finals appearance in 1 season start. Unconfirmed.\n\nQuan4Sho like other adult players sometimes gravitate to the bar which may or may not impair their playstyle. Quan, in two starts, has played well in qualifiers, but hasn\u2019t eclipsed the semi finals threshold to make his first finals appearance. This season, Quan finished 16th in his 2nd ever SNS start. If he attends SNS 100, he will hope that three times is the charm to make his first finals appearance.\n\nToKy (Twitch Streamer)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: finished 4th in first career SNS start\n\nRacing under Panoclio, ToKy came to play at SNS from the east coast and proved that jet lag is no object too insurmountable for him to overcome. He was a constant threat the entire night, and may be one of the top non-MKC players to look out for. He is already confirmed for SNS 100 and is bringing an entourage of other players, including Baperwave (The Unknowns), California Peter, and Aymz.\n\nWill SNS 100 be TOKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY TIME?\n\nCuj (Free Agent)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\nNotes: finalist in sole SNS appearance. Unconfirmed.\n\nCuj is more of a longshot to enter, but did place in the finals during his SNS debut on Halloween. Cuj, like others, mentioned that once you understand the nuances of the \"over the top\" playstyle and get a handle of how the LAN factors play into account, the racing is much more manageable. If his schedule permits, he will be a finalist threat in the front, back, and middle of the pack, similar to Glitch.\n\nSquill (Night Kids)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: semi finalist in sole SNS appearance\n\nSquill finished 20th in his SNS debut this past season but plans to up the ante at SNS 100. He was last seen at the bar with TGray and Cheese and alcohol may or may not have hindered his performance. We\u2019ll see how Squill performs for SNS 100 given that he has broken into the LAN environment in his debut.\n\nLA Cruzer (formerly Machine Kings Online)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: semi finalist in sole SNS appearance this season\n\nLA Cruzer will for sure have the biggest cheers and the loudest fan base surrounding him for SNS 100. His unique Tanooki mario \/ inward loadout proves to hold strong against stout fields. Cruzer had a short run on MKO and is arguably the 2nd best inward player at SNS behind Vanni. He's also one of the most talented regional players above the age of 30.\n\nMoonPrincess89 (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: semi finalist in sole SNS appearance this season\n\nLike Cruzer, Moon Princess is another regional player within the Cruzer family. She finished 23rd in her sole SNS start this season.\n\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=SrhSXqpY-CQ\n\nNQ (Kinetic Pii)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: semi finalist in sole SNS appearance this season\n\nNick Quan is hoping to capitalize on his semi finals appearance this season if the KP crew is able to come to SNS 100 barring logistics with MKU the next day. The LA to Vegas routine will be the key factor on a KP squad rolling deep to the event.\n\nZakkboi (Kinetic Pii)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: finalist in sole SNS appearance\n\nZakk plays under the toadbot Alias Toad#7861 and managed to earn a finals spot and a career best 11th place. Will Toadbot return before his MKU duties the next morning?\n\nHeartNSoul (Kinetic Pii)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: semifinalist in sole SNS appearance this season\n\nHeartNSoul finished 15th in his SNS appearance this past season but could be another threat to look out for going deep into the tournament.\n\nNinjaBuddy (Kinetic Pii)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: semifinalist in sole SNS appearance this season\n\nNinjaBuddy finished 18th in her latest SNS appearance. Can she rise to the occasion to become a female champion?\n\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oM903d2Etgw\n\nOther Local Entrants\n\nMORZ~I~LA (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 8\/11\nNotes: 2 semifinals appearances in 8 starts\n\nMorzilla is the local member of the Cruzer Family, and will be looking to bolster his playstyle with the energy and support from his family in and out of town. He recently has been practicing on a metal mario \/ standard bike loadout and it seems to be paying off dividends for him.\n\nCruzn-E (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 5\/11\n\nCruzn-E\u2019s season best finish was 29th which marks them as a 2nd chance contender.\n\nMRSHL (formerly Pirate Hackers)\nNotes: SNS Champion\n\nMarshal is expected to return after a major hiatus, leaving the competitive scene for the 2nd time in July of 2020. He was an integral part of ph when it was founded, coming up with the \u201cHackers\u201d component to the team name. MRSHL is virtually guaranteed to be the only koopa troopa player in the field for SNS 100. He has one SNS championship under his belt, tying with professional rocket league player, Pluto, at SNS 11.\n\nFroggo (Pirate Hackers)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: 1 semi final appearance in 1 start this season, SNS Champion. Unconfirmed.\n\nFroggo won SNS back at SNS 47 and regularly plays as a Hunter within the ph ecosystem. He has a season best finish of 14th which came in his sole start. Froggo is a senior in high school, and recently has taken a break from LANs to focus on gearing up for college. It will be interesting to see what form he is in for SNS 100.\n\nLastPlace4Life (Pirate Hackers)\nSeason Starts: 4\/11\nNotes: 3 semi finals appearances in 4 starts\n\nLastPlace4Life is currently in the middle of a political campaign, but will also be in attendance for SNS 100. His season best finish is 16th so far. LP4L has also had a brief tenure with Kinetic Pii and ran Machine Kings Online.\n\nSyntheric (formerly Pirate Hackers)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\n\nSyntheric is making a return from a long hiatus at SNS 100. Having had to drop competitive racing and SNS due to work obligations, SNS 100 will be a great reunion for him and it will be exciting to see him back on the track.\n\nNintenDORK (Storm Rush Gaming)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\n\nNinenDORK is also making his return to action after a work-related hiatus working in the medical field on the front lines of the pandemic. Another player that will be exciting to see back in action to make their season debut!\n\nTwoFlips (Symphony)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\n\nTwoFlips like NintenDORK will also be back in action. TwoFlips now is a key contributor to Bass Line, and has been visibly practicing during his off time. In one his most recent appearances, he pulled off a perfect 60 in his latest qualifying run and hopes to continue on that success deeper in the tournament. TwoFlips is also expected to be a potential deep threat and hopes to pass under the radar after being absent from SNS for months.\n\nCheese (Night Kids)\nSeason Starts: 1\/11\nNotes: 1 semi final appearance this season\n\nCheese finished 17th in his sole tournament appearance this season. He is another Night Kids member that will be an underrated player to focus on, especially in the earlier stages of the tournament.\n\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zH-HYqp5Mk0\n\nMarioPartyKing (Storm Rush Gaming)\nSeason Starts: 3\/11\nNotes: 1 semi final appearance in 3 season starts\n\nMPK has made one semi finals appearance at SNS this season. MPK has finished a season best 13th in his Yoshi \/ landship loadout. With IRL duties and other obligations leading Storm Rush Gaming, MPK could be a mysterious entry for SNS 100 given the lack of data on him in recent events. He has some momentum going into SNS 100 with a strong Duos performance with his partner, Supreme-O.\n\nTinsqu (Storm Rush Gaming)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\n\nTinsqu could be another local entering into SNS 100. She is the leader of SRG\u2019s Mario Kart division. Like MPK, she has not shown up to compete in SNS this past season so her current gameplay level could be unknown. Don\u2019t rule her out from a semis or finals bid.\n\n8oh5 (Dad Gaming League)\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\nNotes: 1 semi finals appearance in 10 starts\n\n8oh5 aka Sneakz\u2019 dad will also be in attendance and is hoping to have his 2nd semi finals appearance this season at SNS 100. He is a member of the Dad Gaming League and will hope to bring his DK Scooty combo deep into the tournament. Also expected to enter are Slickz, Sweetz, and Sneaky Mama.\n\nXero (I Ain\u2019t No B*)\nSeason Starts: 2\/11\nNotes: 2 semi finals appearances in 2 starts\n\nXero is a player who has mastered the art of playing with a smash box. He has had two semi finals appearances in his two starts and is hoping for that consistency to shine at SNS 100. He plans to crush the competition with his bare hands, if he already isn\u2019t doing that with his next meal of the day.\n\nMr. Scooty (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 6\/11\nNotes: 1 semi finals appearance in 6 starts\n\nMr. Scooty is an enigma who also has gone under such aliases as Kane and Luigi (his luigi costume is insane). He stays loyal to the Scooty brand, but has gone to 2nd chance 4 out of the 6 times this past season. His son, BadderCookie is one of the up and coming racers at SNS.\n\nSgt. Kazoo (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 10\/11\n\nNotes: Best finish this season is 28th\n\nBatGav (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 9\/11\nNotes: Best finish this season is 36th\n\nHeidi Sprite (PowerPuffs)\nSeason Starts: 6\/11\nNotes: 2 semi finals appearance in 6 starts\n\nBanda (Casual Player)\nSeason Starts: 6\/11\nNotes: 2 semi finals appearance in 6 starts\n\nPotential Surprise Entrants\n\nSamuel (Dynamite)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\nNotes: 10 time SNS champion.\n\nSamuel had a remarkable SNS championship run and is now one of the clear staples of the Dynamite Omega squad for this upcoming MKU season. Samuel not only had command of the top spot during his tenure at SNS, but also was in a battle with Darky, Hydro, and Ginja when he made a cameo appearance at the Encore LAN event in New York. While it\u2019s unlikely that Samuel will make it to SNS 100, he could be the surprise entrant that could throw a wrench into the plans of a favorite winning.\n\nNOTE: Samuel is 100% confirmed and entered for SNS 100 at the time this article is published.\n\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/NightCrawlerCC\/status\/1177377299156439041\nFirst time ever a player was able to make drunk members of the crowd strip in support of them.\nSamuel had one of the most impressive runs in SNS history.\n\nSuperFX (High Definition)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\nNotes: 2 time SNS champion in 3 appearances\n\nKyle (SuperFX) has had two major SNS wins in 3 starts, initially tying with Hobbie at SNS 12 and outright winning his 2nd SNS appearance. Kyle made a return at SNS 38, but lost narrowly as both Sneakz and Kyrette tied to defeat Kyle. While it\u2019s heavily unlikely Kyle will attend, he could be the redemption arc SNS 100 needs.\n\nMankalor (Streamer)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\nNotes: SNS champion\n\nMankalor has made two starts at SNS, becoming the champion in his first outing. Word has it there is a special guest spot, and Mankalor could be an easily choice as to filling in that particular role.\n\nXavier Woods \/ Austin Creed\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\n\nXavier Woods could also be a unique special guest, having played against BearUNLV, Knives, and Night in a 6v6 on WWE Network. Creed stated if he was in Vegas, SNS could be an option. With WrestleMania in the books, is it possible that Creed could come out and take on Team Bear man to man?\n\nNote: Also shot down given his current storyline with WWE at the time this article was written.\n\nJPGiviner (SecretX)\nSeason Starts: 0\/11\nNotes: Special Guest?\n\nWhile John has stated that he likely won\u2019t come to SNS until 2022, there is a small chance I personally believe he could be the special guest for SNS 100. His stock has gone up not only from his base of competitive followers, but also by bridging the gap to expand awareness of general MK8 strats and driving to casual MK8 players. Given the heavy MKC player base that makes up the SNS community John could be mum on the fact that he is planning to make an appearance with Ikon to give the SNS field a run for their money. This is highly unlikely, but I\u2019d be remiss not include JPGivener as an unlikely but potential entrant. This could be the push John needs\u2026 content is king.\n\nNote: This is completely shot down given the lockdown situation in Canada but it was a great guess. It was worth a try haha.\n\nAs you can see, the field for next Saturday, May 15th will be stacked with American talent. Comment below with who you think may be the special guest or who you are rooting for to win SNS 100!\n\nThe current SNS 100 lineup as of May 6th. Unconfirmed entrants: Tinsqu, Quan4Sho, Cuj, Kinetic Pii, and Froggo",
            "date": "2021-05-07 05:28:08",
            "date_human": "May 7, 2021",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=439",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2021\/05\/HyperXESALV.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "Mario Kart Central Season 6 Power Rankings",
            "author": "Speck",
            "preview": "Hello once again, Mario Kart gamers!\n\nSeason 6 of Mario Kart team tournament play has drawn to a close, in tandem with the closure of a year that has no doubt challenged many of us in a lot of ways. Not so for the Mario Kart tournament scene, however; there has never been a more bustling and exciting time to be part of the high-octane, high-stakes racing experience. We have now successfully hosted two complete Mario Kart Universal seasons with the involvement of 120 robust rosters of teams spanning 15 divisions of play. There is a undisputed sense of passion for the game that is evidenced by both the players and organization of its staff members, as the retention rate of teams throughout and between seasons is the best it has ever been, and the Discord server and Primetime casts serve to keep the community informed and in hot anticipation of the current and upcoming action. We have seen the return of stable favorites such as Agility and the EuroLeague and Americas Cup, as well a fresh new format in Double Down which kept bouts dynamic and promoted momentum-based play. Individual or mogi-based formats have also seen enhancements, with character or kart-specific tournaments, more timeframes to give opportunities for all karters across the globe to thrive, and the highly successful Lounge Squad queues that make getting right into accessible, balanced rooms so simple. Of course, season 6 culminated with the glorious Mario Kart Worlds, in which we witnessed the finest hands and minds meld as one for a bid to be the champions of the universe, earned by none other than Japan\u2019s Team NX.\n\nWith Mario Kart Universal Season 13 to commence in the not-too-distant future, it is now a pleasure to announce the Season 6 Mario Kart Central Power Rankings. No doubt you will see some familiar faces return to the ranks, but some fresh faces have already made a decent dent to build their progress on.\n\nThis time around, I am joined by a team of superb writers eager to share their community and tournament knowledge with you all: Dylan 718, jerry and Aran. The name of the writer will be placed in brackets next to the listed team to indicate their contribution.\n\nWithout further ado, here are your rankings! We commence with three honorable mentions, and then launch into an extended Top 30 rankings:\n\nHonorable Mention #1 - Arcadia Terra (Dylan)\n\nArcadia Terra has been around since the inception of the MKU tournament back in 2014. Similarly to MKU throughout the years, Arcadia Terra has also changed quite a bit. The team has been through a lot since Season 5\u2019s Power Rankings with Biz going to Resemblance, gdin being promoted to Arcadia Sky and Staple Stable and Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade not being able to play. All is not lost however, as Arcadia Terra is ready for their grand return. Stevens\u2019 experience as a former Arcadia Sky player provides the backbone for the team with Geddy, Nate, popuko and Radi all prepared to demolish the competition. With Kevin\u2019s unique playstyle \u2013 that being Light-Blue Yoshi riding the Comet using remote controls through detached joy-cons \u2013 and the addition of Michael, opposing teams will have to think twice on how to counter this growing threat.\n\nHonorable Mention #2 - Higher Octave (Dylan)\n\nThis symphonic ensemble has been climbing up the chromatic scale of Mario Kart since their debut back in MKU Season 9. They have made impeccable progress, with their dignified defeat over the undefeated eXodus in MKU Season 11 and Arcadia Terra in MKU Season 12. This composition features a nostalgic tone, with old favorites such as jacob, Fate, Galley, Ayano and Myles contributing to the ensemble. With Jack, Virgo from Machine Kings Online, BenFoolery from Nerd Prom, and newcomer Slugger joining in the concert, Higher Octave is certainly keeping the beat steady for the competition that lies ahead. Will Higher Octave continue to harmonize with each other or will they produce a cacophony instead?\n\nHonorable Mention #3 - Rainbow Fun Rubis (Dylan)\n\nReturning from a long hiatus in 2017, we have another classic in the form of Rainbow Fun Rubis. Rainbow Fun Rubis features the mainstay DJR alongside Ap6, Loic and Sky1887. Their journey in MKU Season 12 Division 4 was met with opposition against Wii Elite Clan, having lost to them by only 4. This only strengthened their resolve as Rainbow Fun Rubis ultimately beat Wii Elite Clan in their second go-around as well as Difference which gave Rainbow Fun Rubis an edge. Even with the loss of L\u00e9o, Yazid and Kami, Rainbow Fun is certainly not out for the count. Their Division 4 experience combined with their second team\u2019s Division 9 victory will undeniably spell doom onto the race track. Picking up Royal, Kayron and all of their players from Rainbow Fun Saphir, Rainbow Fun is absolutely ready to upset the competition.\n\n#30 - Wii Elite Clan (Dylan)\n\nMirroring their Kira Team brethren, Wii Elite Clan made their premiere in Mario Kart Wii\u2019s World Clan League in 2008. Wii Elite Clan are strong fighters for sure, keeping matches close with Fatal Aces, Jean-Pierre Papin and Melodya Orph\u00e9e during MKU Season 11 Division 4, however, their unfortunate loss against pieck simps had cost them a playoffs spot. Wii Elite Clan have made their presence known throughout the years, with Silver, Alex, Jut and Falcon all being forces to be reckoned with. These players, along with the return of Seb, M\u00e4rv, Kataquak, MK Hype and all of the players in Wii Elite Clan Silver, will surely shake things up on Cheep Cheep Beach for MKU Season 13 and beyond.\n\n#29 - Version 2 (Dylan)\n\nComing a long way from 2018\u2019s Continental Cup, Version 2 has set sail towards the western world with a vengeance. As the first Oceanic team to be a part of Mario Kart Central, Version 2 has quickly left a strong impact onto the community. Having Ensy, Hayashi, Shadow, Mooden, Renai-Circulation and especially Anthony has paid off with them earning 7th in Americas Cup Season 8 as well as claiming the glorious Division 5 Title in MKU Season 12. Their roster has remained stagnant over the year, with the only recent addition being ByronBoss from Nerd Prom, however this allows the team to strengthen themselves and batten down the hatches as they prepare for MKU Season 13.\n\n#28 - Dynamite Omega (jerry)\n\nOne of the many returning teams to the Power Rankings, Dynamite's second team brings the boom to the competition! Much like their first team, Dynamite Omega has hovered around the same level for the past few seasons, being near the middle division zone within Division 5. This team has mostly worked with the same few players for the past seasons, usually rolling with Batboo, Silvia, Mitch, Pianist and Fox. Recently, however, some old and new faces have risen up to help strengthen Omega's player roster. Of course, I'm talking about jxesenee (crow of judgement), Flarena (J) and the grand return of Pedro. Erik has also made his long-awaited return from Battle Brigade and it appears that Jev came along with him for the ride. Is this the change Dynamite Omega needed to break out of the middle divisions? Will they be able to pack a punch and light an explosion in future tournaments? As the fuse gets shorter and the hissing gets louder, we anxiously await to see the damage dealt by Dynamite Omega!\n\n#27 - TR eSports (Dylan)\n\nPrepare for trouble and make it double as TR eSports is here to extend their reach to the stars above. Piloted by Moy and guided by Sergi87 and Sergiosh, the TR eSports rocket has their course plotted for success as they blast off at the speed of light. TR eSports soared through the cosmos during MKU Season 11, going all the way to the playoffs where they faced off against eXodus, going 0-2 against the gallant Germans. Although they lost some crewmates in Nando, P3r3jon, Ander, and pepowed, the rocket\u2019s course hasn\u2019t been altered in the slightest. Gaining favorites such as Alex_Gp2, Rushiez, Allen and Juancho, TR eSports hopes to rebuild and fortify themselves in time for MKU Season 13. You better be ready to surrender, as TR eSports is prepared to fight!\n\n#26 - Yoshi Family Galaxy (Dylan)\n\nThe Yoshi herd returns once again to trample the competition. After nearly getting trampled in MKU Season 11, Yoshi Family Galaxy needed to turn things around. Recruiting Champi-Brothers own Crazykonga into the herd, Yoshi Family Galaxy evidently meant business this time around for Season 12. This worked in the Yoshi herd\u2019s favor and fought hard all the way to the playoffs. They trampled over Dynamite Omega in the semifinals but got vanquished by Pirate Hackers in the end. The Yoshi herd is certainly no pushover, with fan-favorites Ti_C, Alexxx, Pillou, Yugo and Hollend utterly decimating any opposition. Let\u2019s hope for their continued success in their mission to stampede the competition.\n\n#25 - Jean-Pierre Papin (Dylan)\n\nNamed after a legendary French footballer, Jean-Pierre Papin is ready to rumble for one more round on the Mario Kart track. MKU Season 11 was bright for them, making their way towards the finals in Division 4 against pieck simps. The \u201cBest of 3 Theory\u201d, a term coined by Brandon, ultimately affected Jean-Pierre Papin\u2019s performance, having won the first match against pieck simps but then proceeded to get sweeped in the next two matches. A vengeance was born, and this was displayed in full during MKU Season 12 where the ferocious footballers defeated pieck simps, tackling them towards the bottom of Division 3. With new recruits Amatarawu and Gab from Jean-Pierre Pernaut, Jean-Pierre Papin is looking to score another touchdown in the midst of MKU Season 13.\n\n#24 - Pirate Hackers (jerry)\n\nThe Las Vegas LAN crew makes their debut to the Team Power Rankings while continuing to tear it up, regardless of the division they're placed in. It doesn't seem to matter where they are seeded, Pirate Hackers are always ready to tear up the competition. They have even managed to win Divisions 7, 6, and 4 of the last three MKU seasons in a row! With the staple AU run-heavy duo of Darky and ember being supported by rapidly-improving players like Ty, Luckyo, ShyGuy, and rawr xd, it's no wonder why the Hackers have seen as much success as they have the past tournaments. Pirate Hackers, unfortunately, suffered from a chain of misfortune starting with Season 12 Division 4 Playoff Finals. One of their staple players, sinic, was suddenly unavailable right before the big series to take the banner. Regardless of this, they were still able to swiftly take the series with a 2-0 finish. Concluding the season, both Darky and ember also departed from the team, leading to Pirate Hackers losing half of their main lineup in such a short amount of time. Can they recover from this heavy hit to their main lineup? Will they be able to carry on their previous momentum? Stay tuned and find out!\n\n#23 - Star Clan Cosmos (jerry)\n\nMaking their first appearance in Agility IV, Ferg and Saezuri branched out from the main core of Star Clan to form Star Clan Cosmos, along with other quintessential players like xNts, Ethan, Kuzu, LX, and Crony to name a few. Star Clan's 2nd team went on to win Division 5 of MKU Season 10. Going straight into Season 11 with a new French-heavy core in Sorata and Winter, Star Clan Cosmos fought their hardest in Division 4, but to no avail, going 0-2 in both weeks 2 and 3 to finish with a 3-0-7 record. Afterwards, Star Clan Cosmos went on to change their team name to Star Clan Solar while also recruiting now-staple players like Yoshiracer, Ben, and Green. Star Clan Solar were definitely able to see the brighter side of things in Season 12 where they went on to finish 21st: 5th in Division 3, one position away from playoffs. Concluding the season, the Star Clan Solar players went back onto the first team to fill in for player losses to form Star Clan Supreme, however, I don't think this will be the last the community will ever see of a second string of Star Clan. Will the sun rise and give shine to another project in the future? Only time will tell.\n\n#22 - Tuestame la Tostada (jerry)\n\nAfter almost exactly a 2-year long hiatus, the toast has returned to the scene! With a very closely-knit and well-rounded core of Nare, Centels, JaVinci, and Hkn, Tuestame la Tostada made their grand return to the competitive scene in MKU Season 11. After finishing 2-0-8 in Division 5, Tuestame la Tostada were discounted as an average (perhaps even below average) team in the middle division zone. After picking up strong players to compliment the core, like Spyke and Seergio, however, the community realized that Tuestame la Tostada were capable of dealing damage. Dealing damage they certainly did, as they were able to finish 4th in EuroLeague Season 4, eliminating Jean-Pierre Pernaut in the late bracket stage, and outliving other well-known higher level teams like Resemblance and World Friend Moon. These results in mind, they were sent to play in Division 3 the next season of MKU, and went on to take the banner in a flawless 4-0 playoff run; perfectly toasted on both sides if I do say so myself.\n\n#21 - Zodiacs\/pieck simps (jerry)\n\nA rebranding of the team previously known as Sunset, Zodiacs are one of the many teams making their Team Power Rankings debut this season under the leadership of Ambivalent World (Ethan), Miles, and Josh K. After a strong first showing in Double Down, Zodiacs went onward to play MKU Season 11 in Division 4, and eventually win the division. With decent results in Americas Cup Season 8 and Agility V, Zodiacs had their Division 3 spot locked in for the next MKU Season. Their Division 3 debut proved to certainly be a difficult one; going 0-5 in the first 3 weeks until they were able to beat TR eSports, Star Clan Cosmos\/Solar, and Tuestame la Tostada to finish the season with a 3-0-7 record. With recent pickups in Ster, Lin and the Inkling main himself, Delta, the stars just might align for Zodiacs and their tournament future.\n\n#20 - Fatal Aces (jerry)\n\nA top level powerhouse in the previous iteration of the game, Fatal Aces makes their MK8DX Team Power Rankings debut. With a core of Pepe, Leroy, Chim, Doodle, and Jax, it was apparent that this team wasn't one to take lightly. After an impressive 17th place in Double Down, (outscoring and even tying with well known teams like World Friend Moon, Soul, Drift Riders, and Inkling Feet) Fatal Aces were seeded in Division 4 for MKU Season 11. They finished the season going 4-0-6 (2 of those losses being via forfeit), missing playoffs by 2 wins. They were able to find some momentum in Agility V and MKU Season 12 however, where they were seeded into Division 3 after adding Daniel and Crowe to their main lineup. Fatal Aces pushed all the way up to the Semifinals, before being eliminated by Tuestame la Tostada in a very close 0-2 series (losing both matches by a miniscule 10 points each; this series was a lot closer than the 0-2 end result makes it out to be).\n\n#19 - eXodus (jerry)\n\nA returning team to the Team Power Rankings selection for this season, eXodus found much success in their tournament results during the second half of the year. After a rough patch in the road through Agility IV and MKU Season 10, eXodus took the time gifted by the offseason to regroup, and return to future tournaments on a clean slate. Finishing Double Down in 9th and winning Division 5 in MKU Season 11, eXodus were on the come up. In fact, they finished the year pulling the best placements the team has ever seen, with 17th in Agility V, 9th in EuroLeague Season 4, and 19th in MKU Season 12 (a drastic improvement from their previous 31st place to win Division 5 in the previous MKU Season). Will eXodus continue to climb up the ranks as fast as they have been? Be on the lookout for this team's next results, as they are certainly one to keep on the radar.\n\n#18 - Melodya Orph\u00e9e (jerry)\n\nMelodya's first team continues to provide consistent results in Division 4 throughout the durations of MKU Seasons 10 and 11. However, after strengthening their player core in Babou, Teqzo, Aszni, and Mystery, then adding some very strong players to the roster, like Demon and Joubak, Melodya Orph\u00e9e were ready to put on a ballet-h\u00e9ro\u00efque in MKU Season 12 Division 2. Their finishing with a 3-0-7 record doesn't do enough justice for how well this team exceeded community expectations. Snagging surprising wins vs Inkling Feet and future Division 2 Winners Soul, as well as respectably close results against other Division 2 Playoff teams like Resemblance and Banana Legion, it's safe to say that Melodya Orph\u00e9e certainly put on a better showing than most attendees expected them to. Will they be able to continue delivering these types of results? Will the op\u00e9rette finish in heroism? In tragedy? This and more as the show goes on!\n\n#17 - Drift Riders (jerry)\n\nA very well known French team returning from a two and a half year long hiatus, Drift Riders returned to the scene under the leadership of Sig, Electro, and Aszni in Agility IV (with Ronan coming along for MKU Season 10 and onward). Their first results after returning weren't anything too special, but the team really found their stride starting MKU Season 10 playing in Division 4, making it all the way to Playoff Finals before getting eliminated by Yoshi Family Galaxy to finish 24th overall. The team's upward momentum carried on all the way through Double Down, Agility V, then the most recent season in MKU, where Drift Riders advanced to Finals in Division 3 to face off against Tuestame la Tostada.\n\n#16 - Midnight Wasps (Aran)\n\nMidnight Wasps, a reformed version of the team Vertex, has had a story all about starting fresh. After what seemed the apparent end of Vertex, Midnight Wasps rose from the ashes under the direction of Felix with a roster full of fresh faces such as Anto and Nel. It took them a while to get settled, but their commitment to grinding the game together regardless of their newness allowed them to quickly start competing at the Division 3 level in Season 11 of MKU, earning their way into Division 2 the next season. Although their debut in Division 2 was a rough one, it was an experience that has only made them stronger. They kept striving to improve by playing daily with their revised roster and were able to finish at a very strong 7th in Double Down, securing their place as a locked-in team for their newfound level.\n\n#15 - Inkling Feet (Dylan)\n\nThe Cinderella story continues where we last left off with Inflow getting 19th in MKU Season 10 after losing the Division 3 Semifinals. They have made flawless progress since then, having been renamed to Inkling Feet and achieving 5th in Agility V, 9th in Americas Cup Season 12 and most recently 13th in MKU Season 12, nearly missing a playoff spot in Division 2. Inkling Feet have many tricks up their sleeve, the first one being their diverse player roster with wisch, Tynan, and Mike B providing the front support and Rhys, Roberto and LMDS completing the inward trinity. Inkling Feet\u2019s next trick is their unique track selection, with track picks such as Water Park and N64 Toad\u2019s Turnpike. The inward trinity greatly appreciates these picks as it allows them to break away from the pack. Inkling Feet\u2019s last trick is their ability to bring about the shock whenever it\u2019s needed, with 87 and newcomers Ember and Varo staying amidst the pack to do just that. Inkling Feet have come a long way since their inception and they are certainly ready to continue their progress and steamroll the opposition.\n\n#14 - Star Clan Supreme (Aran)\n\nThe landscape has certainly changed for Star Clan Supreme, with the team finding themselves facing off in Division 2 now against a new set of opponents. A promising Season 11 of MKU was cut short by a heartbreakingly close margin as they missed the playoffs by no more than a head-to-head points tiebreaker against \u03ce\u01922, but they still bounced back for the next season. Much like Season 11, Season 12 was a frustrating one for the team, with a star-studded roster featuring powerhouses such as Rhys, Mike B, and Vesper, they still came in the middle of the pack when 10 matches were played and completed. However, the crown jewel for Star Clan of this power rankings season came in the finals of America\u2019s Cup where they showed they still had what it takes to face off against Division 1 teams in a match that came down to the last race. They had to settle for second in that tournament, but the team made a statement that they are still here and still dripping in talent.\n\n#13 - Banana Legion (Aran)\n\nAt a first glance, BL\u2019s recent performances might seem run of the mill. However, they have shown they can improve to face down bigger challenges and will continue to be a growing threat at the highest levels of competitions. Make no mistake, this team is a brimming pot of weapons with the likes of Royal, Ruby, and the recent addition of Yoshi helping them seal a playoff spot in Season 12 of MKU and take the fight to resemblance in a hard-fought semifinals' matchup. On top of their recent rise in MKU, they also pulled off a huge upset in Agility V after a close loss against JPP set them against seasoned Division 1 opponent ARC to secure themselves a top 10 finish in Agility V. Look to see them continue to pull off upsets in the future.\n\n#12 - Resemblance (Aran)\n\nThe highest-ranking new team of this release of power rankings and one of the most impressive breakout teams in a while, Resemblance came on to the scene as a revival of the old team Elegance. Their performances across Division 3 and then as they added many new players and rose to Division 2 earned them the respect of many that all new teams crave. Make no mistake, although this team has not claimed a division title, they have made finals in the past two seasons they played, and that momentum certainly has shown no signs of stopping. Possibly one of their most impressive wins as a new team was taking down Arcadia, a well-regarded veteran team in this game in Agility V where they finished 9th. Results like these show that new teams can dominate and Resemblance probably won\u2019t be a runner-up team forever.\n\n#11 - Mushroom Team Jungle (Aran)\n\nMushroom Team Jungle has been a team that has shown they can experience big changes and power through. Name changes, roster changes, division opponent changes, yet they still find a way to keep it up and put out solid performances. After a strong third place performance in Division 2 of MKU Season 11, a few new players joined up to help them move forward into the next season. Even though their main lineup experienced a good amount of variance, they still were able to put up a respectable season holding out for a 6th place Division 2 finish in Season 12. Even though this team is ever shaping into a new form with each new season it seems, they find their rhythm regardless.\n\n#10 - Sadistisk obalans u-sv\u00e4ng l\u00e5ngsam (Aran)\n\nSoul or Sadistisk obalans u-sv\u00e4ng l\u00e5ngsam, as they go by, is certainly a team with the potential to rise higher and higher due to their drive to improve and teamwork prowess. After winning Division 3 and ascending to Division 2, they put together a solid Season 11 of MKU, finishing fourth within their division. After just one season in Division 2, they had all the experience they needed to surge to the top and claim a win over a seemingly unstoppable foe. They also finished inside the top 10 in a highly competitive Agility V and showed that chemistry and dedication alone can give a huge edge over opponents and win wars. This team has a bright future ahead.\n\n#9 - World Friend Moon (Aran)\n\nLa Moon\u2019s roster has remained constant for a long time, and it has benefited them greatly. After a long time of grinding the game together with their main squad, they made the Division 2 finals in Season 11 finishing 8th overall in MKU. Their chemistry and skill combined paved their way into the top 8 teams and punched them a ticket into Division 1, relegating up with their Division 2 rivals Dynamite Alpha the next season. When they met in Division 1, they kept it even going 1-1 against them in competition. Consistency really was key for this squad, as they finished 7th in both Agility V and EuroLeague Season 4 to put them inside of the top 10 teams.\n\n#8 - Dynamite Alpha (jerry)\n\nWithout a doubt, one of the teams with the strongest shock factor this latter half of the year, Dynamite Alpha made the community do a double take with what they pulled off. After having played as a higher-end Division 2 team for the past few MKU seasons with the same core of players, (Leon, Alfie, Varo, Saika and co.) they managed to make playoffs in one of the closest divisions ever seen with a 6-0-4 shared with 3 other teams. Clawing at Mushroom Team Mind and tail whipping World Friend Moon in playoffs thanks to a shocking Baby Park pick, Dynamite Alpha secured their Season 12 Division 1 spot. Recruiting Origin and welcoming Denno back to the team, they were ready to show Division 1 what they had to offer. Looking past their 1-0-9 record, Dynamite Alpha certainly brought more than most people expected them to. Losing to 5 in-a-row MKU Champion World Friend Star by a miniscule 20 points is something even the high end Division 1 teams struggle to do. That, along with many other close results from them this season, proved to the community that Dynamite Alpha weren't to be treated lightly. What awaits this team in the future? Will the fursuits stay on? Find out in the next installment of Team Power Rankings!\n\n#7 - Nferno Blaze (jerry)\n\nThe staple German team; Nferno's first team has seen a pretty wild second half of the year. After just barely missing the Division 2 Champion title in a very close final to Jean-Pierre Pernaut in MKU Season 10, NFO1 proved to still be a Division 1 contending team regardless. This group of players are no strangers to Division 1, especially with a core consisting of Kay, Paul, waenot, and Lezard. Their return to the top division in MKU Season 11 finished in a 4-0-6 record, which may not seem impressive at first, but considering that two of those wins were against locked-in top 4 teams like HD and Re;, you gotta give attention and respect where it's due. After earning 17th in Agility V, however, the team decided to temporarily disband and let their members disperse. Will they come back as strong as they were in the recent seasons of MKU? How long will they stick around? Only time will tell.\n\n#6 - Arcadia Sky (jerry)\n\nA very stable and consistent team all throughout, Arcadia's first team has seen a slow and steady rise in their tournaments results this past half year. Finishing 9th, 6th, and 6th again over the past 3 MKU seasons while also acquiring many close results against top teams in both MKC tournaments and MKWorlds, Arcadia Sky have certainly proved that they are more than fit to be one of the teams that absolutely belong in Division 1. With a very skilled and experienced roster, along with a visible upward trend in tournament results, Arcadia Sky's future is looking very bright. Will this momentum continue? Just how hard can the pipers pipe up? This and more to come next season!\n\n#5 - Jean-Pierre Pernaut (jerry)\n\nAfter having been relegated to Division 2 and taking the win against Nferno Blaze in MKU Season 10 playoff finals, Jean-Pierre Pernaut found himself back in D1 to open up Season 11 of MKU. JPP\u2019s first few results were, to put it bluntly, not impressive; they went 0-6 before going 2-0 the 4th week versus NFO and HD, then lost to \u03ce\u0192 Star by only 22 in a close 1-1 week 5. After a somewhat lackluster return to Division 1, JPP knew that they had much to prove if they wanted to keep their Division 1 spot. Skip forward to Agility V: JPP promoted Crunchy from their second team, recruited ScarTax, and got to work. JPP managed to make it all the way up to 3rd place before getting eliminated by Re; in the Loser\u2019s Finals by only 6 points. The latest season of MKU, JPP finished with a respectable 4-0-6 record in Division 1 to tie with ARC and x\u0131 in the wild card standings. It's also worth noting that JPP fought valiantly against ARC in the MKWorlds qualifiers, but unfortunately, to no avail.\n\n#4 - High Definition (Speck)\n\nLast time, we mentioned that High Definition were about to surpass a decade of competitive Mario Kart participation, a colossal feat of dedication that has spanned four Nintendo consoles and constant shifts in the metagame. They have since passed this point, and they have celebrated this with a phenomenal Season 6 showing. Out of the six tournaments they participated in, they never placed below 4th, and made podium in two thirds. Let\u2019s start with their crown achievement in Americas Cup, which saw them dispatch a Star Clan team fresh off hefty dents in Mushroom Team and Pirate Hackers and an upset on Arcadia Sky. Then, there was Agility V, with a flawless winner\u2019s bracket run which saw them thoroughly dominate a Dynamite Alpha in peak form and Requiem, both by a margin of 172 points, though the latter would come back to haunt them. And of course, who can forget their stellar run in Worlds? Streaming out of group stages with victories over Kaiser and New virtue Know was already a monumental feat, but with their Game 3 against SrX reaching breaking point on Race 11, a Dugo-supplied shock dodges 3 HD members and permits a fantastic item chain for Cynda to secure a Top 4-7-9 to all but secure their place as the best faring western team at Worlds. With a steady roster to continue building on for the future, there\u2019s only one thing left to say \u2013 LET\u2019S GOOOOOOOOOO for the next season!\n\n#3 - x\u0131 (Speck)\n\nRemember that time the 44th President of the United States flew through the Achilles vent and blasted some dudes out of a big space ball? Me neither, but it seems x\u0131 has been matching that level of execution throughout this season of play. Season 11 of Mario Kart Universal was already pretty swell for them with another entry into playoffs, but this season marked their first attempt at a slick banner since running toe-to-toe with Team JBZZ back in Season 5. In order to get there, they had to bop Requiem in a game 3 scenario, which they secured with Izaya, Kay and Robel all scoring sweet centuries. Double Down was also pretty hot for them, as they terminated Prestige in another semi-final on their swan song. And of course, they played in the big space ball tournament otherwise known as Worlds, and actually were wildly close to advancing to groups, with a win over SrX and losses of less than 20 to Victory 6 and World Friend Star. We don\u2019t quite know how far this team is headed in Season 7 \u2013 just expect Mona to keep calling the shots, and ojiro aran, donald mike, son1c X shad0w and Mario Judah to make some plays.\n\n#2 - Requiem (Speck)\n\nNo doubt a serious bid for a glorious gold medal in the power rankings was on the cards for Requiem. It seems fortune did not quite favor them this time round, but a shiny silver medal to succeed their bronze medal in the power ranking season prior is a sure sign of progress for an already formidable team. We already mentioned their flying start to this season from Double Down, but it\u2019s certainly worth a reminder that Requiem went undefeated in bracket, even pitted against x\u0131 and former silver spotters Prestige. Next, we simply must talk about Season 11\u2019s MKU, the French derby to determine the champions. Their setup involving bagging tracks worked tremendously in game 1, but World Friend countered with a heavy win in game two. Up 18 on the final game, Requiem looked set to finally usurp the throne\u2026 Then Wario\u2019s Gold Mine happened, a race probably best forgotten. After that, Agility V did not quite mirror the journey they travelled in Double Down, after a clobbering by High Definition at the Winner's Finals\u2026 But after squeaking by Jean-Pierre Pernaut in the Loser's Finals, Requiem published the revenge arc that toppled HD with the winner\u2019s advantage. Finally, though their appearance in Worlds might have seemed underwhelming on paper, they kept For our Victory and Marf to within 20 points and stalemated with a stacked Gamma side, a testament to just how balanced and competitive their group was. Only one addition to an already well-established Lez\u2019-led team as of late in Demon, a key instrument to RK and Prestige\u2019s former success. Still, bronze, then silver; if the pattern tells us anything\u2026\n\n#1 - World Friend Star (jerry)\n\n5-time MKU Champions, accompanied by many other tournament wins and runner-up placements in EuroLeague, Agility, and Amplify, World Friend Star's reign of absolute dominance continues with little sign of interruption. With such impressive results stacked on top of one another, la Star has done more than enough to prove that they are as eye-catching and essential as the North Star (hahaha), remaining in the same center spot in the night sky as the champion. It's not for no reason that World Friend have gained as much attention as they have, within, and even outside of the Mario Kart Community as a whole. They are an absolute behemoth of a team, with each of their players having years of experience in Division 1 play, filling in any role that is needed at the moment during any given race. One of the most notable examples, Thomas (commonly referred to as ths) has a Top 10 Worldwide time on many courses, both with and without the use of shrooms. Despite the fact that Thomas is one of, if not, THE, best runner on World Friend, he doesn't hesitate to go backwards and bag for the shock if he hears that his teammates are occupying most of the bottom spots. It's exactly this sense of selflessness and versatility that makes a player so special and worthy of community-wide praise and respect. The fact that this level of teamplay and communication is also present in the rest of World Friend Star's roster goes to show just how much depth is present within the team and each individual player, so much so to the point where there is no \"bad\" World Friend Star lineup. Don't get me wrong, World Friend Star isn't the perfect team by any means, but they've undeniably put in the effort and even more to sit at the top for as long as they have. Could this be the season where the champions get taken down? If so, who's gonna be the one to take the crown? Will World Friend Star keep stacking the gold in their Tournament History tab? Only time will tell, my fellow Mario Kart gamers, only time will tell.\n\nCongratulations to all of the teams that have made, or continue to make, the rankings. We hope you are able to take some time to recognize and celebrate your success. And to those looking to make the rankings, don\u2019t give up, and never stop learning and growing as a player and a team!\n\nSeason 7 has already commenced with Amplify VI, and the next Mario Kart Universal will begin on the 7th of February. Be sure to keep an eye on the forums and our Discord for more information on this and future tournaments. Until then, keep karting!",
            "date": "2021-02-05 20:58:13",
            "date_human": "Feb 5, 2021",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=429",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2021\/02\/mk8dprankings.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "Silly Season Part 2: Something's Gotta Give",
            "author": "N\u012bGHT",
            "preview": "As we are approaching the roster deadline for MKU Season 13, the past month has been extremely pivotal for a series of teams that have not been covered in major detail within our previous installment. Some of the following updates could be overlapping from the previous article. By the time this is written, some information may be out of date due to last minute transfers.\n\nIt\u2019s been made clear that the battle to break into Division 1 is the most chaotic it has been in the history of competitive Mario Kart. A full out Jerry Springer brawl ensued in the MKU social discord, resulting in some amazing twitch content between RK and Soul. Rather than adding fuel to the fire, we\u2019re going to analyze the movement of 24 established teams that had the most movement within the last month- specifically with a focus on this crazy battle between the past, present, and future D1 teams.\n\nThis article will start with Division 1, and then will jump to teams in no particular order:\n\nWorld Friend\n\nWorld Friend will likely see Star and Moon within two separate divisions this season. Starxlx was the sole recruit for Star in the offseason, after completing a 4 month stint with the now defunct Fatal Aces squad (edit: They came back. Nice.) . This now makes World Friend Star, the 5x defending MKU champions a squad of the dirty dozen once again.\n\nIt is important to note that Mars, Lanfii, Flowx, Valer, and Julot have all just surpassed their 2 year anniversary and are some of the clear role players that we will see more of throughout this upcoming season. The team is rounded out by Theo, Swift, Thomas, Damien, Starlow, and Roks- with the majority of the names mentioned already with a year or two under their belt on the team.\n\nMoon saw Joubak (Melodya) and OnyBeast join the squad in late December. Joubak comes from a season with Melodya and has experience playing for a variety of French teams. OnyBeast spent nearly two years in the World Friend ecosystem, and transferred back to Moon after a short 2 day stay at Noir.\n\nIt will be interesting to see how Moon will perform, likely in D2, with the fringe D1 teams that will challenge them. Moon has been a top 10 finisher in MKU overall in the last four seasons.\n\nRequiem\n\nReqiuem made two new additions on December 14th as Season 12 of MKU was concluding. They added Demxn (Melodya) and Saikz (Dynamite) to round out their squad for this upcoming season. Eight players on the team have already hit their two year anniversary: Lez, Echoes, Minegear, Toad, JB le Gibet, Nitroco, Dayem, and Ro. Avogadrox has also been with the team for just over a year as well. Requiem plans to head into Season 13 with a 15 player roster and is hoping to build off of their playoff run from last season.\n\nHigh Definition\n\nHigh Definition promoted Jamie and Blaze up from HDolino to the main roster- but don\u2019t read too much into that as they had linked the teams for MKU last season (edit: They have now signed up as two teams. Thanks, Silly Season). HD is hoping to build on their playoff run as well from last season in a very crowded field now vying for D1.\n\nTenure wise, the majority of the team has remained loyal and a significant portion of the team has jumped between the two rosters. There are no new recruits for HDolino, and we\u2019ll have to see if the plan for HD is to link the rosters again this season. (Edit: Kasper recently transferred from Star Clan to HD as the most prominent recruit)\n\nXI\n\nFormerly known as the Obama Star Destroyers, xi has made one additional change to their roster for this upcoming season. Crowe re-signed with the team on January 4th. Crowe did play with Fatal Aces last season, but took a sixth month sabbatical after leaving xi at the end of March in 2020. It is important to note that Bjorn left earlier in the offseason, mentioned in the previous article and that Kay has transferred back to NFO.\n\nXi is another team to watch out for that had a run into the playoffs this past season- finishing 2nd to World Friend.\n\nJPP\n\nJean Pierre Pernaut saw one addition to their squad for this upcoming season. Kuzoo, formerly on Sweatyzard X has sided with the top JPP squad after a playoff outing in Division 4 of last season. Kuzoo was a key contributor, coming in fresh off a season of play after being absent since March of 2020. Rhoba is set to lead the lean 10 player squad into Season 13.\n\nTheir second team, Jean Pierre Papin, saw Gab move to the team in relegation on December 29th. Amaterawu followed suit on the same day, coming over from Sweatyzard Y to become the 17th player on their second squad.\n\nArcadia\n\nMousou Express joined ARC on December 8th, also known as Athaway, who has previous experience from JBZZ and Nasty Raid Jin. Arcadia Sky got 6th in MKU last season. Led by Teeples and Corazon (Evol Love), the 12 player squad is going to venture into Season 13 with their new teammate and focus on a playoff run in a packed D1 field.\n\nThere have been no new additions to their second squad, Terra, in quite some time. Radi is the newest member according to the registry, joining Terra in April of 2020. (edit: they added Michael, Captain Luigi to the squad since this was written as a new member of Terra)\n\nDynamite\n\nThe thirteen player roster led by Mark saw three new additions in this offseason with Kimo, Jev, and Spork joining the top squad.\n\nKimo was re-promoted back up to Alpha after a season of MKU on Omega. Kimo has been within the Dynamite ecosystem since November of 2019.\n\nJev has Battle Brigade roots, and has since been promoted up as well from Omega to compete with Alpha this season.\n\nSpork moves to Alpha directly after being a main starter for Dark Souls in his debut season with his new team.\n\nDynamite will also be a name to look out for as MKU staff will soon determine where teams will settle division wise in the next coming week.\n\nRK\n\nManaged by Sliver and led by Engel and Angel, RK has put their racing where their mouth is by defeating Soul in a comeback vying for one of the limited spots remaining in D1. After being forced to sit out last season, RK has a LOT to prove.\n\nThey started the offseason by recruiting Ryan\u2019s, who has been out of action since August known for last playing with Prestige. Ryan\u2019s is officially coming home (cue the Brian Scalabrine NBA reference) and is returning to RK after an absence of nearly two years\u2026 last playing with them in November of 2019!\n\nGuti was next to be added, having a solid season in MKU S12 to be promoted up to RK1. Guti was the top scorer for RK2, and nearly got his team into the finals of Division 5. Rozando La Kalamidad went the distance with Fenix Y, but unfortunately succumbed to the pressure in the final two games of their series. Expect Guti to be a player with depth for RK1 this season.\n\nJapanese player mol53 is the final addition to RK1. Not much is known about Mol besides some impressive one off tournament results and more notably, a 5th place finish in Mario Kart Worlds with SrX.\n\nAs for RK2, 7 of the 11 players are brand new additions for this season. Pol migrates over from Star Clan Solar and Soul with some upper division experience. Markel moves up from Emblem\u2019s Academy, along with teammate Ness to round out the squad. AketX also left the Star Clan ecosystem on what was a crowded roster onto RK2. Trebol jumped over from the now defunct Prodigy. Nico moved over from NRB they consolidated to one team. Lastly, Iroquois is a Japanese player who may also provide depth for RK2 this season.\n\niF\n\nOne of the most interesting stories of the offseason so far is Inkling Feet. They have produced some serious results with the new additions to their squad. The decision to split the team in two (as for most teams) proved to be extremely beneficial as it has elevated their star players into an apparent D1 bid.\n\nInkling Feet, managed by Tynan and led by Rhys provides a fusion of different styles\u2026 Prestige, Horizon, and original inFlow to name a few. On top of Wisch, 87 (Civil), Doodlebob (Diego G), and Roberto, there are three new additions that have joined for this coming season.\n\nWhen Mike B isn\u2019t getting swole at the gym, he\u2019s putting in reps in MK8. He\u2019s had success playing within the Star Clan and Divine Phoenix ecosystem and can supplement the strong core that exists already for iF.\n\nVaro, who departed from Dynamite joins the squad to add more fuel to the fire that is Inkling Feet. Varo is main lineup material with D1 experience and this was proven with his Amplify run.\n\nLast but not least is Ember, who joins from Pirate Hackers. Ember is coming off of multiple division wins and has very quickly through Amplify proven with his nine compadres that iF is ready to play this season.\n\nWith silly season ending\u2026 it appears (no pun intended) that Inkling Feet can go toe to toe with the best of the best. They have proven with some strong upsets throughout Amplify that they are now a borderline lock for Division 1, and they are now one of the top predominantly North American teams.\n\nInkling Fingers is 12 players deep and is led by Aran. Mattex, Joel, Jerry, Javier, Spectrum, Alpaco, and Sparky have all made the move to free up space up top on Inkling Feet. Sand (Symphony) and SkytheKid (Symphony) signed with the team in mid December. Lastly, BryWH played some ping pong within the iF system after departing from Zodiacs, but found his home on the second squad. Pana was a member, but recently dipped to join TRP- \u201cThe Real Panas\u201d which is led by FAL.\n\nExpect both iF teams to be relatively close to each other in division level heading into season 13.\n\nSOUL\n\nSoul is sticking with their tested 14 player roster and has not recruited this season. While there is some controversy surrounding the D1 debate, it made sense to include them in this article. They are confident that no additional pieces are needed for their run heading into Season 13.\n\nStar Clan Supreme\n\nStar Clan once again saw some movement this season as they ditched Solar and moved back to one team. With the key players from Solar now back under one roof, it will be interesting to see how playing time will work for major tournaments.\n\nGreen, Saezuri, Harry, YoshiRacer, Ethan_, LX, and Enri all were promoted up during this exchange. Shortly after, Pure moved up as well in mid December.\n\nOne of the more interesting moves was Darky moving from Pirate Hackers in late December. Darky has roots to a majority of Star Clan through the 200cc scene via Rated R, and his move can prove to be a big lift for Star Clan going forward.\n\nFollowing Darky a few days later was Kasper, who is relatively new to the scene making his competitive debut. He has since moved to HD given some volatile movement within Star Clan.\n\nAs this article was being written, Xylem has now become the 2nd team of Star Clan Supreme. Risky Ricky from Pirate Hackers will take the helm, bringing back former teammate Nolan and friend Ikasa. Tails is also joining after previously playing for Speed Stars. The team is also led by Jeric, who has some experience with AfterDark as well. They already have rounded out the team with 12+ players, set for MKU S13.\n\nedit:\n\nAfter writing this article, Star Clan saw several players leave... including Harry who has left for Japanese squad SV with Enri.\n\nMarlon West (Zedaw) left to go back to TSF after previously playing with them in Agility on a temporary basis.\n\nFork Ice Bahn has also left for OUH.\n\nMushroom Team\n\nMushroom Team\u2019s rebrand also came with some movement this offseason. MT1 (Jungle) saw 7 of the 16 players on the squad be featured in a transaction this season. Kyowns, Moe Medina, and Ian Zuko all promoted up from Forest. The RoB has moved to MT1 after a season with Dark Phantom Knights. Cris and Slip also were promoted shortly after from Forest, and were joined by Zuker who has since played the last full year on TR eSports.\n\nEight of the 14 players on MT2 also are new additions. Nayra was the first to migrate over after a year with Noob Reborn, being a key contributor for the Chilean squad. Zorro has been relegated down from MT1, but recently took a 9 day stint on TR eSports but has since moved back. Zorro is now the leader of MT2. Following suit is IceMan who has also relegated down from Jungle. Kevin was the next player to sign with Forest after a season with the now defunct Prodigy. The next player to move was Zanark, who hasn\u2019t been seen in action since July of 2020- last playing for Aether\u2019s Paradise.\n\nThe next two players to move were Oscar and Centels- from Tuestame la Tostada. Centels is also now set to lead the team and has previously played in the MT ecosystem prior to playing for TT. Javiwii made the move late as their final addition and has since played for TR eSports and Aether\u2019s Paradise. Luis is still set to manage Forest as the team was previously slated in D4 last season.\n\nEdit: Mushroom Team Jungle rebranded back to Mushroom Team, but Forest is still the secondary team. MoeMedina started a series of transactions on January 26th, moving down to Forest. Luis moved up from Forest to MT1. Zuker, Zorro, Slip, and IceMan all switched places between MT2 and MT1. Ian Zuko transferred multiple times, but there is no change to his placement on MT1. Slip did get relegated as well on January 28th.\n\nMidnight Wasps\n\nIn the previous article, it was mentioned that Leo and Yuki have joined Midnight Wasps as they head into season 13.\n\nNow, it is time to highlight the 2nd team underneath Felix\u2019s ownership- the Hornets. Led by DavidZSM, the squad is comprised of Jc, Kami, Malthias, Perig, Putofsky, Shid, Yazi, and Ziner.\n\nThe majority of the players listed above have been relegated down from the main Midnight Wasps roster.\n\nPirate Hackers\n\nThe predominantly Vegas based team was given the gauntlet this offseason, with a series of planned and a few unplanned moves. Losing Sinic unexpectedly before their Division 4 finals win is a lingering blow. With the departure of seven key players across both teams, Hackers flipped leadership and promoted NIGHT, Hartless, and Emarie up from Hunters (ph2). Latest to join after completing his trial was Pulse (former leader of Siege) who should provide added depth behind the existing roster. With Darky and Ember out, the team is still comprised of Ty, Luckyo, rawr xd, Bud (formerly known as Funny Name), Glitch, Matt G, ShyGuy, and Asuna.\n\nGSCorinth7 was added as a late edition to replace RiskyRicky (leader of Xylem, SC2) who previously played a season with Dark Souls.\n\nWith the Hunter\u2019s key meta departing for Battle Brigade, former Hackers leaders Megajkeezy and Joronimo relegated down to lead Hunters and rebuild the developmental roster. Violin was signed in late December, along with Jinx and Tyran a few days ago. Amaris (formerly known as Saki) rejoined the squad after a small personal break. The latest addition was LastPlace4Life, a former member of ph, leader of Ascension, and past member of Kinetic Pii.\n\nBattle Brigade\n\nWith some early losses to some upper division teams and recently with the loss of Immersive (who has now joined Boo Bombs), Battle Brigade got some interesting additions that will make them a team to watch this upcoming season. Returning is Sam, Julia, Ross, Pakaguarra, and Yoshi24Kobe. Wooper (Siege) and Curious Guy (Dream) both signed in early December.\n\nNext to follow suit was Hi. (Siege) and the trio of Francis, Shomo, and Tristan from Pirate Hackers. The trio was a key component of the meta lineup on their former team. Most notably squeezed between the ph movement though was another key pickup for Battle Brigade- Silvy (Dynamite) to round out the squad for this season.\n\nDark Souls \/ Demon Souls\n\nEight of the 19 players are returning players for season 13 for Dark Souls. Eleven new recruits are revitalizing the team, led by Edy. Spork has since moved to Dynamite, and GSCorinth left for an English speaking team.\n\nLike other teams above, Dark Souls also profited from some heavy recruiting. FiReBloKl joins from Galatic Wheels as their initial recruit of the offseason. Next was a series of recruits from Kame House, which unfortunately closed their doors for good after two rough runs in Division 8 the past two seasons. Goku, Chino, and Kinopio all signed together as a result of this.\n\nHugo and JohnDA joined on December 26th, marking their competitive debuts with Dark Souls. In the middle of the madness was Miguel720, making the migration from Nerd Prom. Kenito (Japan) also signed on after playing last season for Noob Reborn. One of the more interesting moves was Barker, one of the El Salvadorian players known for founding Crazy Karts, which is now known as Arcanum Aeterna. The 11th player to make the move was Mayelito from Dark Phantom Knights.\n\nEdit: Demon Souls team is now moving some players away from the original team as their 2nd team.\n\nTuestame La Tostada\n\nDespite some small movement going the way of MT, TT signed three new recruits this offseason. The D3 champs added 3 Spaniards\u2026 starting with Ander who is coming over from TR eSports. Next is Neykan, one of the few departures from the RK ecosystem who was out of action last season of MKU. NandoBA10 was another player from TR eSports who made the jump over to TT.\n\nExodus\n\nDespite the impressive top 20 result in last season of MKU, Exodus has consolidated back into one team with several key players gone after last season. A majority of those players Zuax has since moved to NFO and Haupi joined Fatal Aces.\n\nAure was a key recruit who moved over from Greed Island along with a string of players promoted up from the EX2 roster. Kafin and Christian are set to lead with the assistance of Yasn. Besides Christian, the only returning players from EX1 out of the 21 are SirDozent, MethodM, and Jin.\n\nEquivoke\n\nEquivoke is back and set to return - and some key recruits were mentioned in the last article. In late December, Hazumi was added back to the team after a few weeks off the roster. Trattore is set to make their competitive debut for the squad. Most notably signing is DVD93 who has nearly spent a full year with NMX but has since made the jump to Equivoke. MarKusSuS joins from Turbo Shells, another Italian team with a season of MKU under their belt. Similar to Hazumi, Frax is back on the registry and should be a key player to watch when the team goes back into league play.\n\nAfterDark\n\nDan Talent\u2019s has been recruiting hard and has positioned the AfterDark squad to be as competitive as they have been since the inception of the clan. AfterDark has seen a series of acquisitions since late December. First is Japanese player Laty, who has had some strong individual mogi results. Alpha is back joining the team after his departure in December of 2020. Following suit is James, who has re-signed with the squad. Nebula is the next signee, who is playing his first MKU since Season 11 with Knights of the Multiverse. Nebula however was signed with Boo Bombs, but joined in the offseason and was ineligible for season 12.\n\nTulip (formerly known as Cone) has re-signed back to AfterDark now that he is tournament eligible. Denix, who has previously played for Fatal Anchors who can also add some depth to the team. July has re-signed with the team, after being out of action since March 2020. Bork also re-signed to round out the team.\n\nNoob Reborn\n\nNoob Reborn currently sits at a 16 player roster after consolidating back to one team. A majority of the players leaving NRB have since joined other Spanish speaking clans, and most notably RK.\n\nJotabe is back to lead the team this season, with Pau and Ericstar supporting.\n\nSouls of the Circuit\n\nNine of STC\u2019s 12 player lineup are new for MKU Season 13.\n\nXexon44, Coco75, and Catex signed in early January, migrating from Rosa. TN, JH_Speedgame, Isko, doudou, funseer, and PikaPika are all new to the game.\n\nElixir\n\nThe division 10 champions have 5 new players out of their 13 player main roster. PeraGira hopped over from Cataclysms. Senor Lechita also transferred over from Emblem\u2019s Academy. The third player to move over was Rafa Dobon from TT Emblem. Shiro moves over with past experience from TR eSports (2). Lastly, Javi01 moved after hopping between a few teams this offseason.\n\nElixir Laboratory is a team of 12 players filled with some players relegated from the main Elixir squad, and a series of players making their debuts to the competitive Mario Kart scene!\n\nShells From Hell\n\nHell may not have froze over yet, but Shells from Hell is back. The lean 10 player squad is set to put the team in action for the first time since May of 2020.\n\nAndy is returning after a strong set of runs with Fenix Y and Fatal Aces. Ata departed Mushroom Team Jungle to join the squad. Cantu was last in action playing for Red Ribbon in August 2020. Gabe also hopped on board, playing last season for Fenix as well but already moving between the defunct Aura, Prodigy, and lately transferred from Dark Phantom Knights. DPK did have a series of movement as well, and top performer Hiroku also transferred over. KAMIT who is set to lead the team also is coming back from Fenix Y. Hellfire is next, making the move from Zodiacs. Matito, Pepe, and Yoko round out the squad- departing from The Last Dance and Dark Phantom Knights.",
            "date": "2021-01-29 23:52:00",
            "date_human": "Jan 29, 2021",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=418",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2021\/01\/kingboo.png"
        },
        {
            "title": "Silly Season is Back!",
            "author": "N\u012bGHT",
            "preview": "As we bid farewell to MKU Season 12, this upcoming silly season is shaping up to be more chaotic and entertaining than ever. Not only are we heading into a holiday stretch, but the Amplify VI transfer deadline is looming, just days away.\n\nThis update will cover notable players throughout the tail end November, and key transactions from December 13th to December 24th. For teams that got eliminated early from MKU, they took advantage of some transactions prior to silly season that we will analyze in brief detail. For division champions and playoff contenders, expect their moves to be made in the near future.\n\nDEC 8 - All Aboard the Mousou-Express\n\nMousou-Express, also known as Athaway, is back from a season break and signed prior to the offseason with Arcadia Sky. He has played for a series of prolific teams, including JBZZ with which he won a EuroLeague and Agility title. Mousou-Express also played for Requiem for about 7 months, and a 3 and a half month stint on Nasty Raid Jin.\n\n> \u201cI wanted to join ARC because I was searching for a team with which I could compete at the highest level, and is stable enough that I could stay in that team for a very long time if I want to\u201d.\n>\n> Mousou-Express (also known as Athaway)\n\nIt was also mentioned that the break was to enjoy Sundays off, and to be available for teams he really wanted to join long term by being one of the top free agents throughout the season. That way, when ARC had a spot available, he could be there.\n\nDEC 13 - APE is Back\n\nTeam Ape is back, with Zatlo (Fenix) once again at the helm. Joining Zatlo back is a slew of players, including: Alepard (Greed Island), Lorenzo (Battle Brigade), Nico (Battle Brigade), Redmi (rookie season), Rico (rookie season), TheManu (RK), KoroSensei (Turbo Shells), Dr. Vab (Turbo Shells), Debbo (Turbo Shells), Franz (NMX), and Gomi (NMX). Spaniard Rober and Swiss Athes never left the team, and are being rejoined by the others.\n\nWe\u2019ll see if this revival pans out for APE. It appears they have a variety of experience across several divisions. They are slated to play in Amplify VI.\n\nDEC 13 - The Last Dance\n\nPableras (Gomaespuma, Fenix) has created The Last Dance. It is a predominantly European facing team with potential to grow. Pableras is joined by Jan_Chan (Gomaespuma), Alfon (Tuestama la Tostada Emblem), MonoSanti (Gomaespuma), Kabkal (Gomaespuma), Markii (Gomaespuma), Arseneboy (Olympus Valkyries), Dicux (Poki e-sports), el pana monolo (Golden Karts), Cleisei (Olympus Valkyries), Lax3n (Olympus Valkyries), and Vilela (Gomaespuma).\n\nAs of the time of this article, Gomaespuma has 17 players registered on their squad- so this appears to be a peel off and GO is in no threat of instability.\n\nDEC 14 - Requiem Adds Two\n\nRequiem has picked up two recruits in Saikz (Dynamite) and Demxn (Melodya, STC). Saikz previously spent the last 9 months in the Dynamite ecosystem\u2026 where Dynamite became the D2 champions and also had their debut season in division 1. Demxn spent the last season in division 3, and is another key member for Requiem as they prepare for Amplify.\n\nDEC 14 - Team Pelotillas\n\nMarqinho (Euphorya) has returned after a season away to form Team Pelotillas. Helping lead the team is Mirela (Aether Paradise) who joins after a 9 month stint. Former AEP member Juan was signed to the team as of December 15th. Pikabros from Kame House was next to join on December 16th. Babi is returning to competitive for the first time since their stint on New Age in August of 2019. Shusui is brand new, making their competitive debut for the team. Shusui signed on December 18th. Pelotillas has 6 players so far, and need 3 more to become officially eligible for events.\n\nDEC 14 - Equivoke Returns\n\nOn December 14th, Dr. Proctor (Dream) signed with Equivoke, marking their first signing of this silly season. The team has returned with Bowser and Frax leading, and with Kirby, Xakob, Schmutz, and Marimo remaining loyal awaiting the team\u2019s return to competition. Riky resigned on December 21st with teammates Lyncas and Zerowski from the NMX ecosystem. We\u2019re looking forward to see what other signings this team will have. They are slated to play in Amplify VI.\n\nDEC 15 - The Prodigal Leaders Return\n\nHanz and Ganon broke off the former KVT Alpha as a rebrand and formed \u201cProdigy\u201d. Prior to silly season starting, Matito, Trebol, Gabs, JBaau and Kevin were the remaining players. With Hanz and Ganon rejoining, they were soon followed by 7 (The Savage Forwards), Gabe (Fenix), Pels (Fast Evils), and Javier GM (Fast Evils), just days later. The team of 11 is slated to showcase their new outfit for Amplify VI.\n\nDEC 15 - Feet, Fingers, Oh My\n\nInkling Fingers was created by Nathan on December 7th, the \u201cB\u201d team within the iF system. Joining Nathan was Mattex, Joel, Jerry, Javier, Spectrum, Alpaco, Sparky, and Sand (Symphony). These moves happened in early December.\n\nOn December 15th, BryWH was relegated from Inkling Fingers back to Inkling Feet. SkyTheKid joins Sand in the jump over from the Symphony ecosystem, taking Bry\u2019s spot on the second team.\n\nVaro also left Dynamite on December 15th, joining Inkling Feet with Bry.\n\nDEC 15 - Midnight Wasps Gains Leo\n\nMidnight Wasps gains Leo from Rainbow Fun after he had a 6 month stint with the French team. Leo also joins German player Yuki (Rainbow Fun) as the 2nd MW recruit heading into season 13.\n\nDEC 16 - CHOCO KART Gains in Numbers\n\nChoco Kart leader Sr. Chocorobot founded the team on November 2nd, 2020. Joining him, Valemacarena, and SkyBlue are three new recruits: Consome, El Teto, and Josee099. At least three more members to go before Choco Kart hits the grandest stage of them all: MKU.\n\nDEC 16 - KAMIKAZE Sets Fire to the Registry\n\nKamikaze formed in August of 2020 with leader Joeey and with recently added support in early December from Seazxn (Royal Stars). Kamikaze is set to make their tournament debut in Amplify Vi. Recently, the team added 3 new recruits: Taelico, Brook, and Kori. This brings the team to 13 members. A majority of the team is entering competitive MK8 for the first time.\n\nDEC 16 - Star Clan Supreme Finishes Their Roll Up\n\nStar Clan is known for a series of off season transactions, and this silly season is no different with Solar being absorbed by their main team - now known as Star Clan Supreme. Green, Saezuri, Harry, YoshiRacer, LX, Ethan_, Enri, and Pure all have moved up from the now defunct Star Clan Solar.\n\nDEC 16 - RK Makes A Mark\n\nAfter a season on the sidelines, you can make the argument that RK will be out for blood upon their return. The Sliver, Engel, and Drack managed team has added on two new recruits to increase their roster to 14. Ryans (last in action for Prestige) and Guti (relegated up from RK2) are joining the group for this upcoming season.\n\nThere has been a significant amount of movement on RK2, so we\u2019ll have to see if the 8 player roster will make it through the offseason or if there will be new recruits added to make them tournament eligible. A majority of RK2 did end up bailing for Black Wolves.\n\nDEC 16 - Dark Souls Adds Three\n\nDark Souls added three Spaniards to the team in FiReBlokl, Goku, and Chino. Fire is transferring from Galatic Wheels, while Goku and Chino were former teammates within Kame House.\n\nDEC 16 - Project HIVE Adds Three\n\nSimilar to Dark Souls, Project HIVE has added three new players so far. This includes Steve, Lars_Chan, and Niklass. Steve and Niklass come over from Royal Stars, Lars_Chan from Exodus. As of this article, Project HIVE has no plans yet to enter into Amplify VI.\n\nDEC 17 - Ster and Lin Couple Up with Zodiacs\n\nSter and Lin have both signed together with Zodiacs as of December 17th. Ster has been out of action since Season 9, so it will be interesting to see how this first season back bodes for him. Likewise, Lin is looking to enter her second MKU season and has yet to play since MKU Season 9 The pair are both moving over from Horizon, which shut down in April of 2020.\n\nDEC 18 - American Gunslingers Doubles Up\n\nAmerican Gunslingers pulls the trigger on creating a second team on December 18th. The second team is lead by The Truth and somrat, Joining team two are Steen, Demani, Ashli, Big Ken, Gamer1, ThaGoat, Spooky (Nerd Prom), and Bby Lev (Nerd Prom). The majority of the team is coming over from the main team, with no other past clan experience. Ideally, this should give the developmental players the ability to get MKU starts and ample playing time.\n\nThat being said, American Gunslingers sees Big Ed moving back to lead, with WokeWumbo (Siege) and Ginja (Fatal Anchors) joining for this season.\n\nDEC 18 - Santy and InLove Move to Savage Forwards\n\nSanty moves to The Savage Forwards after a two month stint on difference, along with InLove, who spent the last season on Dark Phantom Knights.\n\nDEC 18 - Another Extreme Element Adds 3\n\nJoaquin joins after a season off and jumps from Golden Karts to Another Extreme Element. Luigi On joins after a month break from AXE, along with Marvin (Itollani Warriors).\n\nDEC 18 - Noob Revolution Re-signs Claudio\n\nAfter a month break, NRV re-signed Claudio to rejoin the team for the upcoming season.\n\nDEC 18 - Nferno Blaze Returns\n\nDecember 18th saw Mickey return to Nferno from Zodiacs. Rejoining a day later from Star Clan Supreme was Paul. Denno played the past season with Dynamite Alpha, but has also resigned now as the leader. Devoty also resigned on December 24th who was a key contributor in the past to the team. The team is still at 8 players, but it is expected that they will continue to make moves this offseason to put themselves in a competitive position for Season 13.\n\nDEC 19- Pandala Signs Four\n\nAC2 (Legend of Stars), Cahuete (Melodya), Maho (Rosa), and Faker3 (Rosa) all resigned with Pandala. For all but AC2, they have had a previous tenure on the team. This increases Pandala\u2019s member base up to 17 prior to Amplify and MKU Season 13.\n\nDEC 20 - The Pack is Back\n\nKenshiSenpai returns as the top dog in a whopping 13 transaction move to revive Black Wolves. Sticking with the team since the April 2020 hiatus was Hiro and Xavi from Spain. Diego (Valyria) and DaniPro (Elixir) are both set to return to lead as well. Black Wolves is a predominantly Spanish team and they are returning with a mix of synergy from Kame House, RK, Aether Paradise, Elixir, Valyria, and more.\n\nDEC 20 - Symphony Strengthens in Numbers\n\nSymphony has added four new players to Octave this offseason and took advantage of some moves prior to silly season officially getting underway. Jack (Equivoke) has joined, playing for the first time since June of 2020. TwoFlips was recently relegated up from Bass Line after 7 months on their second squad, becoming what is now the 9th active member of Higher Octave. BenFoolery also was signed after a 7 month stint with Nerd Prom. Lastly, Virgo rejoins after being signed on December 24th - not pledging allegiance to any team since he debuted on MKO from April to August of 2020.\n\nDEC 21 - Rainbow Fun Consolidates\n\nRight off of the momentum of their D9 win, Rainbow Fun 2 rolled up back into Rainbow Fun. It is an interesting move- with only 1 players sticking around prior to the RF2 players rejoining the top squad. Swiss player DJR will manage the team. Also part of the 11 transaction move is Royal45000 - coming over from Sweatyzard.\n\nDEC 21 - Gugnir Forms\n\nManaged by Sorata (Star Clan), Gugnir is a french based team with a mix of players from a variety of teams on MKC. TheMax (Rainbow Fun), Zefe (Rainbow Fun), Loic (Drift Riders), Teqzo (Melodya), Kazuto L\u2019Inspectur (Knights of Wheels), Winter (Star Clan), Fast (Drift Riders), and Cocozie (Souls of the Circuit) have all jumped on board. Both former Star Clan players will help lead the squad into their first season.\n\nDEC 21 - TR Esports Gains Four\n\nTR Esports 2 gained Piojo (Kame House), Inklink, Ale Z Plumber, and Titobousi (Emblem\u2019s Academy)\n\nDEC 21 - Introducing Dragon Bill\n\nDragon Bill is a 15 player French squad led by Phenyyx (Knights of Wheels). The majority of the team is brand new to the scene.\n\nDEC 22 - NMX Underground Goes Dark\n\nWith NMX Underground down to 3 players, a sweeping move brought a majority of players to the main team. This includes Pero, Bownsi, Amos, Next (listed as their manager), Gecko, Ball, and Pepino.\n\nNotable Individual Transactions (Dec 13 to Dec 24)\n\nOzokerite from the MKTour scene has signed with Storm Rush Gaming. SRG had some unique adds towards the end of November as well with Tone from Symphony, and Elena from Siege.\n\nAlso moving on from the death of Siege is Hi. Hi. has since signed with Battle Brigade.\n\nJay from Project Hive has signed with Nferno Volt after a month and a half on the developmental team.\n\nSignalex has joined Battle Brigade after a two month stint with KNIFE.\n\nKim from France, who we haven\u2019t seen in action since their one month stint in 2019 on Zealous, has rejoined the scene and will be playing for Fatal Anchors.\n\nKimo has been relegated up through the Dynamite ecosystem, going from Omega to Alpha.\n\nKaos has moved from Fast Evils to Fenix Z.\n\nKrazyKrisi moves from WEC Silver to Exodus 2.\n\nBlue (Mystery Team) has moved to Knights of Wheels.\n\nLittea migrates from Nerd Prom to Dynamite.\n\nDevilJoker signs to Cusha Team from Noob Reborn.\n\nJev relegates up to Dynamite Alpha from Dynamite Omega.\n\nJoronimo is relegated down from Pirate Hackers to Pirate Hunters.\n\nPeekaboo joins X Project.\n\nDiego6 joins Kartnita Asada from Difference.\n\nFrancis joins Battle Brigade from Pirate Hunters.\n\nToni moves from Difference to Resemblence.\n\nPlatinum Disco joins Zodiacs from Dynamite.\n\nThe next installment of Silly Season will cover the most recent transactions have have shaken up from December 25th to January 1st.",
            "date": "2020-12-28 22:00:00",
            "date_human": "Dec 28, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=408",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/ysabelle.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "Mario Kart Worlds: Meet the Japanese Teams",
            "author": "Speck",
            "preview": "We\u2019ve seen worlds collide in the realm of Mario Kart many times before, as each nation volunteer the very best of their talents to compete. This time, however, as the greatest players turn up to prove their ability once more, they will not being doing so for their nation \u2013 this time, it is from the teams they play with. This domestic form of play favors familiarity, trust, and communication, all vital parts of successful tournament play.\n\nFive teams from the western world have been elected to participate: World Friend Star, Requiem, Arcadia Sky, xi, and High Definition. These are teams that are known well to MKCentral visitors, as teams that have produced exceptional play time and time again, and now have a chance to put all they have learned to the test against each other, as well as some of the cr\u00e8me of the crop that Japan has to offer too. Yet, despite Japan\u2019s repeated success in world tournaments, the teams within the Japanese Mario Kart community are still somewhat undocumented and unknown to the rest of the world.\n\nToday, we\u2019re going to introduce you to the 11 Japanese teams that have fought valiantly across a wide spectrum of tournament and individual play, and earned their right to compete on the world stage.\n\nIn alphabetical order:\n\nAkichi Pro (Ap)\n\nApparently, when translated, the word Akichi means a plot of unused land. There\u2019s definitely some insightful meaning that could have, as a team that has the potential to turn the land it gains into a result worth remembering. Though Akichi Pro has been playing together for a decent string of time and have experienced play against teams of all calibers, they have generally not played in many of MKBlog\u2019s team tournaments. Despite that, they saw some fertile ground in their JTL 4 team tournament run. Their first two rounds were never in threat, but a very fretful opponent in Marf turned up for them in the third round. Regardless, they sprouted some fruitful initial growth, and that blossomed with a superb race 7 Ribbon Road, in which a stupendous lap 2 shock simultaneously saved their tops after glider, targetshocked some Marf members, and still permitted a dodge for a top 4, 7, 9. The final result was an utter stomp of +154. The Giant Killing aptly put a top to Ap\u2019s giant score the next round, but only by a margin of 18. You can generally expect Ap to start a match with the classic Wario Stadium, or Animal Crossing dependent on spots. Onim, the team\u2019s leader and Mario Kart Worlds organizer, is very familiar with play in both domestic and western scenes, having played for Banana Legion on several occasions, and this knowledge could give them a distinct edge against overseas opponents. They also have Gasly, a very potent points scorer for them, and Sebas, who holds a strong claim as the best South American player on offer at the moment in time.\n\nFor our Victory (FV)\n\nNearly 12 years ago, a Mario Kart Wii team with the same tag, Foro Vandal, were achieving their own victories in the first division of the World Clan League. Could this be destiny for this ambitious troupe on the world stage? Catch a glimpse of FV in action, and you\u2019ll notice the elephant in the room \u2013 they are all inward bikers. This could prove to be a valuable asset, as squads used to a very standard set of character(s) (waaaa), vehicles and courses must now shift their strategy on the fly. Indeed, a scan of some of FV\u2019s recent scrimmages exposes some unorthodox starter tracks, such as Water Park, nitro Mario Circuit and Wild Woods. FV are another team that sees deep team tournament runs, with quarter-final runs in the most recent JTL and the first, second and fifth MKBlog tournaments, and a semi-final advancement in the 2nd JTL. In the fifth MKBlog tournament, they nearly missed quarters, on a nail-biter Race 11 Twisted Mansion, only up by 8 points. So how did they convert that into a 28-point lead into last race? They were simply getting more offensive hits in than their opponent, as FV successfully predicted their opposition\u2019s intended lines and stopping them by running into them with bananas or with forward snipes. In terms of players, anticipate some brutal plays from the likes of shooter, purin, boo, and familiar names Romsu and Rhys, the latter of which has been storming through lounge as of late.\n\nGamma (\u03b3) (Contributed by Dylan 718)\n\nUp next we have \u03b3, whose roster is common knowledge in the West. \u03b3\u2019s leader, avalon, is tied with Monar for having the most wins across all of Mario Kart Blog\u2019s tournaments. KF25 has been on Team Japan since 2018. Daichi, chappi, Kay and Milotic are among the very few players who have managed to have achieved Master in lounge. \u03b3 made their debut in the fourth Mario Kart Blog cup way back in February of this year. \u03b3 fought their way straight to the semifinals, having defeated RiZE along the way. Although they were defeated by the Giant Killing with only a -10 loss, the prowess of the team was vividly displayed. Their next journey during the fifth Mario Kart Blog Cup demonstrated their superb capabilities as they came face-to-face against NvK for the fifth round. For the final race, \u03b3 chose Moo Moo Meadows as a niche track pick, deciding to run the track instead of going for a strong game-changing item when NvK had a majority of the top 6 spots going into the race. \u03b3 was surprisingly able to gain top 6 within one lap around the meadows and preserved it with quick thinking from avalon slowing down in order to back a bomb at NvK which allowed \u03b3 more time to break away. Not even a late-game blue shell was able to end their top 6, having been swiftly destroyed from Kay\u2019s horn that he managed to pull and preserve in lap 2. Their matches are usually filled to the brim with Piranha Plant Slide, Dolphin Shoals, Tick-Tock Clock and especially Moo Moo Meadows so expect these tracks to be a recurring element during \u03b3\u2019s Mario Kart Worlds expedition.\n\nGiant Killing (GK)\n\nMany of us know the story of David and Goliath, which teaches us that sometimes the small and humble can overcome the gargantuan beasts that hinder their progress. However, with a team with as many accolades and achievements as Giant Killing, are they ironically becoming the goliath they are attempting to slay? GK, known for its members naming themselves variations of the word \u2018Killing\u2019 with the first letter changed, have been representing in some form even back in vanilla Mario Kart 8, and it seems they have taken to Deluxe just as effectively, reaching MKBlog team tournament finals three times and getting the gold in two. The behemoth they found themselves having to slay in the 4th MKBlog tourney was NX, and it was a wildly neck-and-neck tussle. GK found themselves up by a heavily unnerving +6 going into final race, and opted to go to Royal Raceway. It was as chaotic as one would expect, with each team dealing massive blows in a desperate attempt to cling onto top spots. So what was the deciding factor? GK backed two NX members before the finish line, for a -4 race and +2 squeak-by dub. This should indicate that GK is a team that can clutch when backs are against the wall. So who will be putting giants to sleep in the tournament? Well, Purple is certainly a fine specimen, at least in terms of being able to rack up absurd points totals, as expected of a Team Japan member. duel is another superb candidate, a very versatile player, who has recently been TTing tracks without mushrooms in preparation for the tournament, adaptive play that could be rewarded. And then there\u2019s Train, who\u2019s become rather viral as a Japanese YouTuber, with neatly edited Mario Kart content aided with a vibrant personality, which could certainly hold GK together when pushed to their limits in this competition.\n\nKaiser (\u03c7er)\n\nKaiser is no doubt a team that will be seeking dominion in this tournament, especially if they are able to advance past the bracket stages. Whilst Kaiser is still a relatively young team of around half a year, they\u2019ve already made some huge waves in the Japanese scene, having had no fear of scrimmaging other high flyers right from the word go. They have only participated in the most recent MKBlog tournament, but it cannot be understated how epic their journey was. Four straight rounds of +100 victories, only to be placed into a duel with For our Victory. A very smart Neo Bowser City pick (and a track Kaiser seem fond of on a wider scale) on race 10 from \u03c7er stumped FV\u2019s inward bikers from gaining any sort of momentum, and through a mix of a front breakaway and gradual formation in mid-pack, \u03c7er decreed a top 5 to claim their namesake. Their semi-final ceremony was a pit against the Giant Killing. So what happened this time? Race 3 Tick-Tock Clock happened. GK simply had no answer as \u03c7er systematically gunned down GK\u2019s frontal presence and reigned with another top 5, a significant points lead that Kaiser held onto. Sadly, the final ended the monarchy. While Kaiser achieved this magnificent feat with Roks and Daxx, who are not playing for them in Worlds, they still have several weapons. Yuru was a highly valuable points contributor for their tournament run, never scoring below 90 points across all matches. Meanwhile, Nazu teamed up with Daxx in the recent 2v2 MKCentral tournament and achieved bronze, and is no stranger to Tier S play in lounge.\n\nMarf\n\nOne thing is for sure, their tag is certainly fun to say out loud. Marf made their debut in the third Mario Kart Blog team tournament back in August 2019, and made a pretty solid dent on their first try by making the third round. Their next outing in MKBlog Cup 4 was even more impressive, this time breaking the target and beyond with five successful rounds, only to be knocked out by the Giant Killing. Participation in these tournaments and regular scrimmages were the key to set up Marf in a superb position when MKBlog Cup 5 rolled around. They utterly steamrolled the same five rounds, their closest loss still being a 118 point buster against D-6\u2019. Their grab range would not suffice in the quarter-final once again, this time to NX, but just making that quarter-final was enough to earn their wild card spot at Worlds. To assume that their wild card status places Marf at a disadvantage is a marvelous mistake \u2013 they have had little issue keeping pace with Kaiser and the aforementioned Giant Killing in recent scrimmages. There are a couple of trends to look out for in Marf\u2019s matches: They appear to begin a match with Piranha Plant Slide, DK Jungle or Ribbon Road dependent on positions. The name Chlorine may be familiar to some veteran players, having held world record time trials on Mario Kart Stadium and GBA Mario Circuit earlier this year, so expect these as pocket picks.\n\nNew virtue Know (NvK)\n\nWith a name that could certainly pass as a kick-ass rock band, New virtue Know aptly have been picking up and maintaining clinical playing ability, and have fostered a neat core of close pals in the process. They have turned up to a variety of JTL and MKBlog team tournaments, and bizarrely enough are very consistent across the board, almost always making round-of-16 or quarter finals. Clearly, this is something NvK has spotted, because they have been relentlessly scrimmaging other Worlds participants in the lead-up to game time. Now, let\u2019s talk about K4I, because he is rather a star at this moment in time. Whilst he was already performing admirably in lounge before, season 3 has seen him playing out of his mind, and that has been handsomely rewarded as the first player to reach Grandmaster status \u2013 though has also proven how utterly difficult it is to maintain such a title, toppling back down to Master soon after. Recently, he also produced a new world record time on Sunshine Airport, so look to witness some pristine lines if he secures a top spot for his team. Then there\u2019s the yin and yang duo of Yuyuyu and Nonono. They positively and negatively nulled others in a 2v2 MKCentral tournament back in 2018, and have no doubt only honed their joint chemistry since. And then there\u2019s captain Futsukin at the helm, with a marked fondness of nitro Rainbow Road, for which he held world record shortly after the game\u2019s release. K4I also has a top 10 time here, so anticipate a technicolor tussle in space also.\n\nNX\n\nAttempting to sum up what this team has accomplished in its lifespan feels borderline futile, but we will try our best. Let\u2019s start with this team as a unit. Of the 7 MKBlog team tournaments listed on the website, NX have made the final round in all but one of them (the other still reaching semi-finals), and have taken home the crown in 4 of those 6 showings. Clearly, NX is a team that has legions of game knowledge and knowledge of their own members to consistently produce tournament wins, but let\u2019s look at a specific example, their most recent team tournament final against Kaiser. NX is inputting chip damage into \u03c7er each race, but their rival is preventing them from making any real promising breakaway to claim the tournament\u2026 Until Race 8 Twisted Mansion. NX successfully block all \u03c7er members from taking lap 1 cut, and this gives their single shrooming mate a very rapid breakaway, joined by another NX member by the end of lap 1. They successfully chain for a horn, permitting their blue holder to advance up for the duration of lap 2, now branching into a top 4. By the time \u03c7er realizes and attempts to bag for shock lap 3, it is too late, and NX earn a superb +28 safety that sees them through to another trophy for the cabinet. As for their members? Well, Monar is a little bit ridiculously good. A finalist in 19 separate MKBlog tournaments and the gold winner in 12 of them, and the current highest ranked player in lounge as of this post, one of only two participants to reach Grandmaster level. As for the 2nd highest lounge player right now? That\u2019s Kusaan, a name Twitter users will no doubt be familiar with, as clips of his absurd plays or karting experiments regularly go viral within the community. This is not even mentioning support from prized players such as Ton, Peze, Moa and Sawasawa. A lot of eyes will be on this prestigious squad \u2013 Will their domestic success transfer to the world stage?\n\nRiZE Love Kiss (RiZE)\n\nRiZE up, gamers! This affectionate selection pride themselves on time and in time, with the sheer amount of time trial world records some of their individuals have set. There\u2019s Wami, the former fastest three-lap setter on Sweet Sweet Canyon, Electrodome and Twisted Mansion, and Lation, the king of sand and ice with Dry Dry Desert and Sherbet Land. This neat mix of courses means RiZE may have flexibility on the courses they can build momentum into quickly. We most also not forget about Toa, a key participant for Japan\u2019s A team against the world last year. Whilst RiZE\u2019s team tournament performances have been a little hit-and-miss at times, they no doubt look fondly on a dazzling run through the fourth JTL tournament to the semi-finals. At the door for quarters was the Giant Killing, but no giant could elevate to the level RiZE set in their bout. In their rendition of Ribbon Road on race 10, RiZE simply stocked up shrooms in mid-pack for lap 1, chained them into reds to eradicate GK members up-pack on lap 2, and then simply rotated between their offensive and catch-up items to maintain a Top 4 and 9, 10.\n\nSrX\n\nA majority of squads in the tournament contain a roster of at least 9 players, permitting for fluidity and adaptability in player, and therefore playstyle alterations. Not so for SrX, who will be entering the competition with a 7-man squad, but this comes with the benefit of the same tried and tested players turning up every time and padding to each other\u2019s strengths. SrX qualified from a wild card position in MKBlog\u2019s fifth tournament, which was also their debut. The match that got them there was a fight with PK, in which they consistently made small gains each race that gradually weakened PK\u2019s chances of producing a return. One such race was a race 3 Ice Ice Outpost, which was looking dire after some botched lap 1 play. But SrX regrouped and successfully fished for a shock, activated on lap 3 to deny 3 PK members items, dodge one of their own, and chained for a blue to ruin PK\u2019s first place breakaway for a +14 race. Leading the charge on this half-dozen plus one will no doubt be ur and miffy, who are both currently on the cusp of breaking into the top 10 players in lounge as of writing this post, and miffy was also a part of the winning trio for MKCentral\u2019s Haloween tournament. As the team\u2019s leader, we can also expect Roto to be forming some of the key strategies to implement.\n\nVictory6 (VI)\n\nLet\u2019s get right to the point with Victory6: In MKBlog Team Tournament 5, they were truly the lion that is represented in their emblem, ruling with an iron fist over their kingdom. Over 100 point victories across the board in every round until the semi-finals, where it took domestic leaders NX to finally put an end to their slaughter. Even in the quarter-finals, SrX were left stunned when VI launched right into Mount Wario on the first race. VI broke into a group run early with superior lines on Section 1, expertly split up at the snow section before the trees to completely avoid all of SrX\u2019s offense, and that left SrX with absolutely no resources to respond to the two VI members in mid-pack, culminating in a top 4, 6, 7 and setting the tone for the remainder of the war. Rin was absolutely unstoppable the entire duration of the tournament, his lowest score still just shy of a century at 99. Apple and AK are also A-class players, more than capable of roaming the jungle that is the global competition.\n\nNow that you\u2019ve been acquainted with Japan\u2019s finest squadrons, make sure to tune in to https:\/\/www.twitch.tv\/mariokartcentral this weekend as we catch them as well as our western battalions duke it out to be crowned champions of the world! The first matches commence at 7AM EST\/1PM CET today, and quarterfinals commence at 8AM EST\/2PM CET tomorrow, with semifinals and finals played next weekend.",
            "date": "2020-12-05 08:38:45",
            "date_human": "Dec 5, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=399",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/12\/mks.png"
        },
        {
            "title": "MKU Season 12: Silly Season",
            "author": "N\u012bGHT",
            "preview": "In professional sports, the most chaotic time that a league endures may not actually occur during the regular season. Every league or organization generally has a few months (usually in the summer) of what is known as a free agency period, where racers or athletes can come and go between teams, or even renew contracts with their existing teams. In racing in particular, this is known as the Silly Season. Things can drastically change for a driver and the leading events can make or break a team.\n\nDuring this time, there are generally a few \u201cstand out\u201d stories. Mario Kart Central\u2019s free agency period is no different. The 6-7 week time frame (depending on a respective team\u2019s MKU performance) was a wild ride throughout the offseason.\n\nNot to break the 4th wall, but there may be things in this article that could be outdated or simply not incorporated for time because of the mere fact that things happened so quickly. Hopefully you like this format, as this could be a weekly article for the next season.\n\nBefore we go into some of the highlights from this offseason, I want to wish the MKU staff the best of luck. They\u2019re phenomenal at what they do, and I put this article off over time due to the stagnant nature of the transactions. Then, all of the sudden, new teams formed then faded away. Leaders moved to their B team. Some teams merged. It all happens so quickly. Here are some of the highlights of what happened since September 13th. At this point, some teams were already out of the playoff run making adjustments for this upcoming season. The top teams in MKU got their start on September 20th- just a week later fighting for their respective coveted division banners.\n\nWith that being said, I present to you the scoop on MKC\u2019s latest 150cc Silly Season:\n\nDragon Blue forms on September 9th\n\nWhile this team may have formed during MKU Season 11, it\u2019s worth noting that ALEXPLORER\u2019s leadership from the Mushroom Team ecosystem will be the one with the firepower leading this team to their league debut.\n\nRainbow Fun Splits in Two on September 10th\n\nRubis and Saphir respectively are the two teams in the Rainbow Fun ecosystem. Saphir formed in mid September led DJR and ap6. Saphir\u2019s 10 player team is rounded out by Sky1887 getting promoted from Harmonia in October along with newcomers Kylian, Clement, and Cronex.\n\nID Fox joins Rubis (Valyria) along with Kemboy (Yoshi Family), Aulo (Knights of Wheels), Zefe (banned - so ineligible to compete), and Louka (Souls of the Circuit) this offseason.\n\nRosa forms on September 12th\n\nThe European clan formed right as the offseason was about to begin, by team manager Vlyne. While Vlyne is new to the league, Rosa is surrounded by a few veterans and players who have been associated with some other teams. Most importantly, Axel has hopped over after a main run on the former Milobus Assembly. The German also had some short stints in the Greed Island ecosystem. FAKER3 hopped back over from Pandala after a short 8 day stint, but is more notably known for their tenure on Nasty Raid Kermit.\n\nBanana Legion Grows in Numbers starting September 13th\n\nBanana Legion re-signed Davis from Higher Octave on September 13th but since left the team on October 30th. Joshua re-signed on October 3rd from the Symphony ecosystem following suit. A day later, Japanese player Pot signed on board, making their MKU debut. BL also got some unique pickups in Yoshi (Nferno) and Troita (Euphorya) for this upcoming season.\n\nStar Clan Movement Lingers Throughout the Offseason starting September 13th\n\nRylan and Vesper lead Star Clan Lotus and they are one of a few teams that did a number with their frequency of silly season transactions. Lotus, the top team, saw Sorata move up from Solar.\n\nJapanese sensation Kout was onboarded in late September to Lotus. Rylan flip flopped between Solar and Lotus but eventually landed on Lotus on September 30th. The same can be said for Mike B who is back in action on the top team.\n\nJordan is back, after transferring twice this offseason. Initially he was slated for RK but moved to Star Clan Lotus roughly two weeks ago. German player Paul moved to Lotus from the NFO Consolidation in late October. Call leader Ferg made two transfers this off season as well, shifting from Solar to The Savage Forwards. After a brief 9 day stint, he moved back to Lotus. Marlon had a similar fate, but with a 12 day stint on TSF, returning back to Lotus.\n\nSaezuri, Ethan, and LX are slated to lead Solar into action for MKU this upcoming season - and they had a crazy amount of movement as well. Sorata\u2019s departure from Solar was filled quickly by Yoshiracer (Zodiacs) on September 13th. Qadim was signed from DY Omega, and Green was signed a week after- finishing his season stint with Noir. Ben from Zodiacs also moves to Solar to join his former teammate. Amidst the new players, Pure also moved down to Solar from Lotus. Sam also hopes to find a permanent home, being one of the players that hopped the most this off season. She left Fatal Anchors for A New Majesty, then both RK squads, and ultimately has found a home with Star Clan as of October 30th. Hopefully this will be her permanent home, as this is her 6th team since July. Kumo also joins Solar this season, making the jump from Fatal Anchors to join former teammate Sam. Miless joined late from the MACROSS closure, and Harry departed from alleged 8ve volatility to join the squad on October 30th.\n\nKinetic Pii forms on September 14th\n\nThe friend group turned MK8 team is a unique story- as most of the players have IRL relationships through band and music. They are looking to start off on a good note in their MKU debut with leadership from NQ (MKO), TGray (MKO), and kpsanch. While the leadership has had some MKU experience in the MKO ecosystem, the majority of the team is brand new. The leaders struck a chord with LastPlace4Life (MKO, Pirate Hackers) who joined the team on October 21st for added support as MKO closed its doors.\n\nNick \u201cNQ\u201d Quan had the following to say about the formation of Kinetic Pii:\n\n> \u201cWe are mutual friends in real life. We\u2019re likeminded. We enjoy the game and we\u2019re excited to see KP grow\u201d.\n>\n> Nick Quan, NQ - Manager of Kinetic Pii\n\nFloat forms on September 14th\n\nThe mastermind behind Float is Lily, who previously departed from MKO, formerly known as Ascension. Light is also listed as the leader after a 3+ month tenure with Nerd Prom. Dr. Procter also is notable, migrating over from the late Apex Racing ecosystem after 7 months. We\u2019ll see how this team progresses throughout the regular season after their impressive Agility finish in the amateur bracket.\n\nMacross forms on September 14th\n\nFormed primarily from players previously within the Star Clan ecosystem, Littea has focused on improving players through the use of analytics. Miless is also on board as a leader to support Littea in the team\u2019s endeavors. They\u2019re slated for action in both MKU and America\u2019s Cup. Samuel, the west coast LAN player and MKTour player makes his debut with Macross. Nebula from the late KMV and Yoshi24Kobe from American Gunslingers along with 6 other players round out this squad. Miguel, April, Xavier, Sanchez, and Ritsu all have previous league experience.\n\nEditors note: GGs silly season. Macross folded on October 31st. Samuel made a quick transfer over to The Unknowns, while Yoshi24Kobe moved over to Battle Brigade. April and Miless transferred back to Star Clan Solar, but April will be missing action this season. Miguel and Tea also made the quick migration to Nerd Prom prior to transfers closing.\n\nKartvengers Alpha + Omega Restructuring on September 16th\n\nJL and Rushiez and company from the Red Ribbon Ecosystem move back to create Kartvengers Team Alpha. Hanz, Matito, Trebol, Ganon, Kamit, gabs, and Scales are streamlined to lead the Alpha squad into their first MKU.\n\nThe original Kartvengers (Omega) managed by Nico and lead by Bomba brings back Jonax (Noob Reborn) and signs a series of players to replace the real estate lost by Alpha. Other notable players include Jordan Munoz (Itollani Warriors) and returning Alcaraz (Latin Kart) who transferred over in October.\n\nArcanum Signings start on September 20th\n\nBarker ran Arcanum Aeterna saw an immediate boost to kick off silly season with signing Alejandro (NOVAE). Alejandro had the following to say a week after his transaction:\n\n> \u201cEven though the team is new and has a lot to learn, they're like a 2nd family to me, a feeling that I lost with NOV\u00c6 a long time ago\u201d.\n>\n> Alejandro, Leader of Arcanum Aeterna\n\nJoining suit was Aleister (formerly known as Lapis) on the move. Alemantium from Fenix Z was quick to follow along with Light from Silence Eclipse in mid October.\n\nPolaris signed rookie Laynez, adding a Guatemalan to their player base. Hinata moved over in mid October from Silence Eclipse with Wilfredo being relegated down from Aeterna. Gerar, Bloehna, and Foehna are slated to lead the team into their 2nd MKU season.\n\nNMX goes big with Equivoke, then goes \u201cUnderground\u201d on September 20th\n\nNMX started off their silly season by reacquiring Jimbo, DVD, Riky, and Lyncas98 from Equivoke. DVD and Jimbo are set to lead the top team with St0ck1. On October 2nd, NMX created Team NMX Underground which features Next managing a squad of 10 who moved down to the 2nd team.\n\nTurbo Shells forms on September 22nd\n\nTurbo Shells is a new European team molded from the Kartperial and Boo Bombs ecosystem, with Tyran (Kartperial, Boo Bombs) leading the squad into their first MKU appearance. Gah joins in leading the squad. Notable transactions include Debbo, Kraz (AfterDark), and Dr.VAB (APE).\n\nFenix Making Moves on September 22nd\n\nFenix overhauled their squad with some massive editions, starting on the 22nd of September with Pana from Valyria. A day later, Sergio and Roguee from NOVAE made the jump- with only Sergio now eligible for MKU. Twins Enger and Flaps also joined, leaving the dormant Silence Eclipse ecosystem. In mid October, Andy from Fatal Aces joined the Y squad. Rookie Ingrid was the next to sign, followed by the Italian, Zatlo from APE. Last but not least, the Costa Rican player Claw arrived from Euphorya\u2019s closure. Ruben, Rolex, and Black are slated to lead Fenix Y into another MKU season following a strong Agility run in the amateur bracket.\n\nFenix Z saw some unique additions that might be overshadowed by Fenix Y. First to move in October was Final Emblem\u2019s female JulesLuffy. Titan from Kame House was next, along with Rosee who elected not to stick with The Savage Forwards through their merger. Colombian player Vic was the next to be relegated down to Z from Y. After some uncertainty with Sparta playing this season, Haze was able to secure a spot back in the Fenix ecosystem as a notable player for Fenix Z. Starter for X Project, Spanish player Rashford signed shortly before the deadline. Matias will round out the Fenix Z squad from a transaction standpoint, leaving APE which will not be in action this season.\n\nCataclysms forms on September 24th\n\nFrom some remnants of the Black Diamond ecosystem forms Cataclysms, hoping to follow up on their 49th place run in Agility. They are lead by Sejo, Cardenas, and Nivek who all have experience with each other in Black Diamond. Unfortunately, with 5 players on the squad, Black Diamond appears to be inactive this season.\n\nIcy Karts rebrands on September 24th\n\nFormed from the Silence Eclipse ecosystem, Icy Karts is essentially the rebrand of Silence Eclipse Saros. While the main SE may not be in action, this squad will be led by Pterog, Vashki, and Lemmy.\n\nYOSHI GANG WHERE YOU AT?\n\nKnife forms on September 25th\n\nOnline returns (ex Kaisers, Kev 03\u2019s Gamers) with newcomer leader Daseia with a brand new international team. While there are a majority of new players making their league debut, the team did acquire Signal (Boo Bombs) who should provide some experience making their initial MKU run.\n\nVice House forms on September 27th\n\nNEOVEGA from the Silence Eclipse ecosystem forms the Latin American squad en route to their debut appearances in both MKU and America\u2019s Cup. Not much is known from experience wise, but Vice House can only go up from here.\n\nResemblance and Difference Movement starting September 28th\n\nDraco moves down to the 2nd team within the Resemblance ecosystem, with a solid supporting cast with co leaders Demon and Nanachi. Diego6 (Kartnita Asada), Juancho (Gomaespuma), Martin (Corredores del Sol), Yiyo (NOVAE), Benjax (Savage), nxJuan1998 (Mushroom Team), and Toni (Kira Team) join the others moving down from Resemblance to the 2nd squad.\n\nWith real estate opening up on the top team, Resemblance goes into their 2nd MKU season with some added depth to the existing Raul, Colcho, DG, and Eru. JuanP joins from Kartnita Asada along with Biz (Arcadia Terra), ApG77 (SOUL), Cuj (Banana Legion), Kokote (Mushroom Team), Fresh (Fatal Aces), Brox (Euphorya), and Luisao (Euphorya).\n\nSiege forms on August 20th\n\nSiege is a team that made a statement with their amateur bracket run in Agility. Led by Fools (MKO, Noir) and Pulse (Equivoke), the team has recruited some solid mid division depth. Former Noir teammate Shirako joined the squad just 4 days after the team\u2019s incorporation. Other notable players are Antwann X (Apex Racing) and Alexis (Fatal Aces, Apex Racing).\n\n\u201cThe Little Big Horn Effect\u201d with the West Coast (US) - October 1st\n\nThis politically incorrect phrase based off of American history is known to describe how one or two events force other events to follow suit. There are many examples of this in MKC each season, but given I know this American West Coast scene well, I have the best opportunity to explain it.\n\nUnironically, it was a combination of MKO\u2019s closure and Symphony movement that triggered a shakeup of predominantly west coast players between Symphony, Pirate Hunters, Kinetic Pii, American Gunslingers, Storm Rush Gaming, and Noob Reborn. Float also formed as a result of the MKO closure.\n\nSymphony\u2019s Higher Octave saw some departures mentioned throughout the article, moving Myles, Wason, and Prove up. Bass Line inherited Corey, Vanni, and SoccerGuy from MKO, along with Dom from American Gunslingers. Bass Line did have a few departures as well, as we saw Mason and Icy depart for Storm Rush Gaming. Danny Fathom also jumped ship to join the Pirate Hunters. Bilingual HSB migrated over to Noob Reborn from the Symphony ecosystem.\n\nSouls of the Circuit Goes \"Dark\" on October 3rdSTC moves to one team with a lean roster of 10. Led by DoniHaymon, Vincegeta, and Kevix, the team has a few new additions and players moving up from STC Dark which is defunct this season. Dass is a new addition from NR Kermit, and Kiridoo is making their MKU season debut. The other players have all been relegated up and it will be interesting to see where they end up given some of the recent departures.\n\nSweatyzard doubles to X and Y on October 4th\n\nSweatyzard moves back to two teams with some major editions on the top team. Demyx (NR Kermit), Reilly (NR Kermit), Mystix (Dynamite Omega), Caro (NR Kermit), BlackDown (NR Jin), and Freezyy (Melodya Eurydice) are all new additions. Most notable are the editions Beni (Dynamite Omega) and Kuzoo who is returning to MKU action this season. TICA will lead the second team with a series of returning players and additions.\n\nStorm Rush Gaming forms on October 5th\n\nThe long awaited debut of SRG has arrived in MKC and the group has radically practiced off the grid to prepare for their MKU debut. This group broke competitive Mario Kart history participating in the first ever live streamed and televised war out of an Esports arena in Las Vegas. Tinsqu manages the team in her first season under the MKC umbrella. Mario Party King, who is the founder of SRG, is met by some newer players. Most notably are Immortal Man, SportsJoey1, Dancin Parrot, and Professor Spam with varying experience coming from MKO. Mason and Icy join the squad from the Symphony Ecosystem as well.\n\nMKC Media caught up with Tinsqu who had the following comments on the upcoming season:\n\n> \u201cWe at SRG are very excited to finally be participating in a Mario Kart Season!\n>\n> We've used the time from Season 11 to work on the behind-the-scenes of creating a Mario Kart team ... We used the off-season to gather our members, set up wars, and get them ready for Season 12. We value community and we strive to foster a healthy competitive environment. Our aim is to give our members that opportunity, whether they're new to the scene or seasoned veterans.\n>\n> It's been a long time coming! Thank you to everyone for all of your support\u201d!\n>\n> Tinsqu, Esports Manager of Storm Rush Gaming\n\nMelodya Pickups starting on October 5th\n\nBabou\u2019s Melodya Orphee saw Joubak and Demxn join the crew on October 5th from Souls of the Circuit. Shortly after, Aszni (Drift Riders) also made the jump with Flo (NR Jin). The new additions join Babou, Teqzo, Prismillion, Klein, and Mystery.\n\nWith the lean top squad, Narky and Liline moved down to Eurydice on October 6th. Syara and Ryu migrated from Souls of the Circuit along with Cahuete from Pandala.\n\nAmerican Gunslingers acquisitions starting on October 5th\n\nVince \u201cThe Truth\u201d and Big Ed have given their squad a new look, with some editions to make up for some key departures. The 15 player team sees 8 players returning and 7 new additions. Vladi kicked things off starting October 5th, Transferring from Fenix Z after a short stint with them this offseason. ThaGoat and Steen sign on board as rookies for their first MKU seasons. Jason 12 also joins from the Apex Racing ecosystem on October 8th. After some speculation on potentially moving to Symphony, Acid ended up extending his contract with American Gunslingers. The most notable transactions though are Gucci and Quan4sho who tried to make things happen earlier this off season with Sparta.\n\nOlympus Valkyries forms on October 14th\n\nThe Spanish team is set for MKU, managed by Holymorph (Aether Paradise, Black Wolves). The majority of players (12) all have competitive experience for a variety of Spanish speaking clans, including X Project, Kira Team, Aether\u2019s Paradise, Gomaespuma, and more.\n\nDark Souls forms on October 15th\n\nEdy created Dark Souls with loyal players from the Kira Team ecosystem. Hiram transfers over from the Dark Phantom Knights (of no relation). Sorriso, Spork, David, cft, and Aldo have ties to KT and have joined Edy on this expedition. Anthon makes his league debut, while Ezplo (Fast Evils) and GSCorinth (Higher Octave) jump on to round out the squad. Good luck learning Spanish, Geg.\n\nCusha Team forms on October 16th\n\nCusha Team joins the league as the first primary team from Guatemala. HEX is managing the team with past experience from Arcanum Polaris. Joshu and Mr. Jaegger also join the squad from Arcanum Polaris, along with Kellin and Kriss from Poki E-Sports.\n\nLatin Warriors merges with Itollani Warriors on October 16th\nManaged by Jaimearandah, ITW had made a few transactions with players migrating from Arcanum Polaris and Luna\u2019s Carts. On October 23rd, Islas, Alex1319, Donovxn, Kazuto, Bonar XP, Roldan, Holden, Julio, and Heroe all merged from Latin Warriors. Titan (Mexico - not to be confused with KH Titan) also joined the team making his MKU debut to round out the team.\n\nInferno Blaze Out of Action, but the Fire Rekindles with Volt - October 18th\n\nAlpha moves down to Volt on October 18th, and Volt saw two other transactions this offseason. Seb was acquired from Wii Elite Clan and Izumi from Star Clan Solar. The Boshi, Dashi, and hLeo led team is set for action for their 9th MKU season.\n\nRonRons forms on September 14th\n\nFrench clan Ronrons is set to make their first MKU appearance in Season 12, managed by newcomer Akyron.\n\nProject Hive forms on October 22nd\n\nProject Hive is slated to swarm into MKU, managed by Lisa (Royal Stars) and led by GerryNICX (Exodus) and Mulli (Exodus). The trio of Germans are prepared to lead their squad into MKU as they are surrounded by some less experienced players.\n\nInka Warriors Doubles Down on October 22nd\n\nThe Peruvian powerhouse of Inka Warriors expands their doors by first admitting newcomer LuisLuv12 and Balki (Noob Reborn) onto the top team, managed by Jar.\n\nIW2 is led by Starlord and Maf. The pair is set to lead the second team into MKU with a well rounded team of 13 players.\n\nMKC Media caught up with Maf making her MKU season debut:\n\n> We have many players eager to learn and improve. The idea of \u200b\u200bdoing two groups is to test our levels and even if we fail, never give up and keep trying. Everyone is very enthusiastic, a little scared maybe for not achieving certain goals because it's the first time in the MKU of some of them (mine for example) but deep down we want to do our best\n>\n> Maf, Leader of Inka Warriors 2\n\nThe Unknowns return on October 26th\n\nSleep returns with Spesh (both formerly AfterDark) to revive the Unknowns for their 3rd MKU season. They are joined by Steeler from back in the MPTV days and the dynamic female duo of Cherry (Melodya Euridice) and returning Leenie (Silence Eclipse). Also set to return amongst others are YoshiPhoenix and Clock who joined the leaders with previous stints on AfterDark.\n\nMKC Media met up with Spesh who had this to say about this upcoming season:\n\n> \u201cThe bros return. A team designed to have fun in a community where it\u2019s become too serious\".\n>\n> Spesh, Leader of former Division 6 Champions (old format) - The Unknowns\n\nxi Gains Strength with Severed Ties on October 26th\n\nNato and Zinc led xi saw four notable transactions this offseason. Tyler rebounds back to xi after a two week fling with Severance. Logic moved back to xi after some commitment issues with RK (6 day stint), and old flame Fatal Aces (2 day stint), being with xi this previous MKU season. Izaya had a 3 day stint with RK before ending back up with xi as well on October 28th. Kay also joins the squad moving from Nferno Blaze to Severance to xi. Cuffing season is upon us ladies and gentlemen.\n\nAll jokes aside, expect xi to be in peak form come this MKU season with their returning and new editions.\n\nWhile MKC Media couldn't get a quote from Nato, as he is a busy man... he did share that a majority of xi is rumored to be inactive this season- so expect a leaner lineup from them in MKU.\n\nHigh Definition Makes a \u201cRookie\u201d Move on October 27th\n\nWith HDolino out of action this season, Rookie has relegated himself back up to HD1. Players make plays.\n\nZodiac Warriors forms on October 29th\n\nHATER (Dark Phantom Knights) queues up for MKU Season 12 with his teammates predominantly from the DPK and LC ecosystem.\n\nThe Final Days | October 29th to October 31st\n\nThe final three days of the Silly Season were a whirlwind, first starting with players being added to several of the newer teams this season. Below are some notable transactions not previously mentioned above:\n\nPepe made the move from Fatal Aces to Gomaespuma. A day later up before the deadline, he had a change of heart- thus moving back to Fatal Aces.\n\nAidan is back. For his first season back, he has elected to join AfterDark for an MKU run with leader Dan Talents. Also joining AfterDark this season is Orka, Xeter, dz, Alpha, mk8James, Frostiezz, and Allen.\n\nFast and Loic both made the move from Souls of the Circuit to Drift Riders.\n\nMost notably, on October 30th Tuestame La Tostada Emblem formed out of the remains of Final Emblem and have officially become the 2nd team in the TT ecosystem. Fifteen players all made the official switch- with the team being led by Rafa Dobon and Radiador\n\nLuisao secured a deal with Resemblance, officially departing from Euphorya. Joining Luisao in Resemblance is Spyke as well. DaniPro departed Eurphorya going a slightly differente route- finding a home at Elixir.\n\nShane is back in action in his 2nd MKU season, departing Greed Island and moving over to SOUL.\n\nRuscof moves over from Royal Stars to Legends of Stars.\n\nLast but not least, Latin Ribbon which we saw make an attempted merger died out, forcing the team to scramble to find respective teams. Ramas was able to find a home with The Savage Forwards along with his past teammate, Oziel. David, Chiki, JOhn, and JBaau moved from Latin Ribbon over to KVT Alpa for the upcoming season. Somulo was the last to make a move, and has since joined Kartnita Asada.\n\nAnd there you have it! This is a complete guide to the past offseason for MKU Season 12. Hopefully next season we can analyze these transactions in a little more detail every week. Best of luck this season, and see you on the track. - NIGHT",
            "date": "2020-11-05 01:25:27",
            "date_human": "Nov 5, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=368",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/11\/black.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "Track Selection: The Trends in the Bends",
            "author": "Speck",
            "preview": "We\u2019ve all been there. Scrolling through the cups, furiously trying to decide the best track to select as the timer runs its own course. There are so many variables that can alter your decision. What position did I earn last race? Should I pick this track because it\u2019s one of my favorites? Or maybe I should pick this instead because it\u2019s very popular at the moment? Actually, I haven\u2019t been getting good spots on that track recently, so I should consider something else. No one picks this, so maybe it\u2019ll catch them off guard? But I can\u2019t pull off that shortcut consistently\u2026 So I think I\u2019ll just pick this as it is safe.\n\n48 tracks, on paper, might seem as though they would become stale fairly rapidly, especially considering that, for those who started playing since vanilla Mario Kart 8, they have been racing on these tracks for over 6 years at this point. Yet, bear in mind that in most Mario Kart tournament formats, one will usually play 8 or 12 races per match or round. This means in one individual sitting of play, you\u2019ll likely only be experiencing a quarter or less of the total track pool. In addition, unless all participants select the same course, track selection is random, resulting in a marked difference between picking a track and playing a track. Factoring in the possibility of a track being picked from the pool of 48, and then being selected in the roulette over 12 votes from all players, over 12 races, plus the potential for a track to be repicked 11 times, there are an absurd 331,776 possible combinations of tracks in such a format.* Of course, there are factors that can narrow down the possibilities, such as voting with your team in 6v6 or multi-team formats, but the sheer quantity of track combinations is an aspect that serves to keep Mario Kart fresh and exciting.\n\nStill, there is no doubt that our own preferences and perceptions on this game\u2019s courses shape how we play the game in the current day, even if these thoughts tend to shift and adapt in the moment. A little while ago, I asked members of the community to rank all of the tracks based on how often they thought they played those tracks, across all tournament and casual play. Meanwhile, Boo Bombs member SirBubbleChu asked members of the community to select their top 5 and bottom 5 favorite tracks, utilizing a points-based system to equally weigh the number of votes for and against the tracks to comprehensively rank them from most to least popular. By collaborating on these findings, we might be able to determine whether there is any correlation between a track\u2019s popularity, and its perceived place in the current \u2018meta\u2019 of tracks.\n\nWe will commence with my own survey first. I asked participants to rank all 48 tracks based on how often they saw that track across all forms of Mario Kart play. The website would display two tracks, and participants chose which course they thought they saw more regularly. Rinse and repeat several times, until a comprehensive list is produced. I then took these full course lists and calculated the mean position each course received. The results are as follows:\n\nTo many that have been involved as players or spectators in the Mario Kart tournament scene for some time, a sizable quantity of the perceived most common and least common tracks will come as little surprise. But it is no doubt worth reiterating the functions of some of these tracks that place them in the positions they are, especially to those fresh to the scene and seeking some guidance into potential tracks to pick up.\n\nFor example, DS Wario Stadium almost certainly earns a spot at the top of the list as a staple track for picking when you are dominating the top spots. This can be attributed to two key characteristics of this track. Firstly, the paths of the track are very thin, and conjoin many twists and turns. The three straightaways in the track are also far from passive experiences, requiring navigation of boost panels, the transition off a ramp into underwater, or a glider. The effect of this layout is a course that rewards tight lines around bends, and trapping unknowing players behind you with well-placed bananas or backed shells, on top of performing certain drifting and handling strategies, which can great assist in breaking away compared to the players unaware or unable to emulate them. Secondly, there is still a sense of accessibility of Wario Stadium that makes it agreeable across a wider scope of players. Aside from the anti-gravity section there is nowhere to fall off the track, and the tight turns can also produce thrilling pack-based situations, where managing a decent turn next time might net the player several key overtakes. It is one of the few frontrunning tracks that adopts an \u2018easy to play, hard to master\u2019 approach.\n\nMeanwhile, Dolphin Shoals\u2019 position can likely be attributed to its uniqueness as an \u2018anti-1st\u2019 track. In contrast to Wario Stadium, the relative wideness of the course at the beginning, combined with the straightaways and the application of water speed, fosters the capacity for multiple drafts to propel past the leaders very quickly. Overtaking is also very viable on the eel, with well-executed multi-tricks. Yet, the anti-1st status does not just apply to the opening. Using a bullet bill either after the first turn or just before the eel produces absurdly long periods of use to bring a player right back into the front, and the potential for a thundershock to target top spots over the glider or initial cave sections is a constant threat. Overall, it is a course that, whilst predominately anti-1st in nature, does allow players some berth to adapt their strategy on the fly. Interestingly, the chief alternative to Dolphin Shoals, Electrodrome, did not assume similar frequency, at tied 14th.\n\nAnd from common to ultra rare, let us talk about the least commonly seen track: normal Mario Circuit. After some careful thought, I could supply two possible reasons this track is virtually never booted up. One is that it lacks tangible benefits to any approach. Frontrunning the track is difficult as the two shortcuts can cut off enough space to place first in contention, yet the staggered nature of the two main shortcuts and further cutoff points means that using mushrooms and stars to clear one might leave you with no means to clear the next, unless you are significantly far behind. Therefore, this tends to lead to a gamble among the pack for mushrooms for the final shortcut, a gamble that is not quite as controlled as on tracks such as Dry Dry Desert or Cheese Land. Two, beyond the near-constant anti-gravity, the track is relatively no-thrills, severely lacking in the flashy technical displays that are readily abundant in several of the higher ranked tracks.\n\nNow, moving on to SirBubbleChu\u2019s survey. He asked all participants to select their top 5 favorite tracks, and top 5 least favorite tracks. Beforehand, he asked participants to select how they play the game (time trialing, competitive play, casual play etc.) and the MKU division they play in or perceive their skill level to be at. The full list of tracks are then displayed twice, allowing the participant to select their top 5 favorites in one list, and their top 5 least favorites in the next list. As aforementioned, SirBubbleChu used a points-based system that added points for favorite tracks, subtracted points for least favorite tracks, and did not add or subtract points to tracks not selected. He produced three full lists from his data: One which positioned tracks based on most to least votes as a favorite track, one which positioned tracks with the most votes as least favorite tracks, and a final list averaging the points between favorite and least favorite votes to produce a comprehensive list of the most and least popular tracks.\n\nLet\u2019s start by briefly observing the first two lists. The first is the tracks with the most votes as favorite tracks:\n\nAlready we can begin to draw some correlations between some tracks that received among the most votes as a favorite track compared to how commonly they seem to be picked, tracks such as Music Park, Tick-Tock Clock, and of course Wario Stadium. Similar trends can be seen on the other end of the spectrum, with Shy Guy Falls, and the notorious Baby Park and Toad\u2019s Turnpike.\n\nCuriously, a couple of courses seem also to be bucking the trend immediately. Take Big Blue, for instance. Relatively middling in terms of track pick frequency, it appears the F-Zero track harbors a decent chunk of fans. For sure, it is one of the most ambitious designs for a Mario Kart setting, packing plenty of fast-paced, roller-coaster like turns, boost pads and panels, and a kick-ass remix of the signature Big Blue theme. It has wildly daring shortcuts that are not necessarily too high-risk, but still feel quite epic to pull off, and sectioned tracks tend to provide a breath of fresh air out of the conventional 3-lap system. Its place as a pick is a little distorted, though, likely attributed to the glider section into Section 3 \u2013 it tends to give away many big power items, even to players in high spots. This can turn the final bends into a measuring contest of who has the biggest weapons at their disposal to batter those who are unarmed and underprepared. Big Blue, then, likely bucks the trend, as a track that\u2019s very fun to race, but tricky to muster favorable outcomes with, at least without some thorough experience.\n\nThen there is another infamous slice, Cheese Land. 6th in frequency, a measly 46th as a favorite track. Often seen as the secondary pick to Dry Dry Desert (another track not faring well as a favorite), Cheese Land is a hardcore bagging and power item hoarding track, thanks to its huge final shortcut and another culprit of insane bullet bill strategies in combination with thundershocks. It is an ideal track to select after a sub-par race as it denies those in top spots an opportunity in a frountrunning track, yet the wildly unpredictable nature on the board of tracks like Cheese Land is undoubtedly a key contributor to lacking in a player\u2019s good books. A prime example of a course that is almost always necessary, but tends to just be tolerated for the sake of making progress.\n\nNext are the least favorite tracks, with 1 having the least \u2018least favorite\u2019 votes and working downwards to the most \u2018least favorite\u2019 votes at 48:\n\nThe bottom side of the list, the most disliked tracks, are still not especially eye-opening, considering we have just seen a similar sample of the same as receiving the least \u2018favorite track\u2019 votes, and tend to fare either low or middling in frequency as a pick. Wario Stadium and Tick-Tock Clock are clear exceptions, however. Perhaps I was incorrect in assuming Wario Stadium\u2019s role as an accessible frontrunning track? This is possible, but another possibility is that the sheer quantity of its selection could be somewhat wearying. Tick-Tock Clock might also fall under this category, and aided by the difficulty of the thin clock-hand shortcuts as a frustration point. Also of note is the placement of the aforementioned Cheese Land and Dry Dry Desert on the list, supporting our theory that the tracks are simply a necessary commodity over a source of enjoyment.\n\nA gander on the top of the list, however, and a handful of the courses are initially perplexing \u2013 Toad Harbor, Royal Raceway, Mario Kart Stadium, even Yoshi Valley and Sweet Sweet Canyon all see either just above average or fairly below average perceived play. Upon attempting to dissect why these tracks were rarely actively disliked, however, I noticed some marked similarities. Namely, all of these courses are very \u2018safe\u2019 to drive. Each of them have very few points at which a player can fall off, either through heavy use of guard rails or the shaping the of the track naturally deterring people from falling unless they significantly veer away from the standard paths. All of these courses have a small, but vital shortcut on their final bend, so even players who been bullied into, or intentionally played from the back always have a chance to steal away a decent spot in the closing moments. That being said, the low-risk nature of these tracks also creates a solidly satisfying frontrunning experience, too, especially as the former three tracks contain reliable but effective no-item shortcuts, and the latter two contain alternate paths that can add a layer of depth into deciding your optimal lines on the fly. In short, these tracks are likely lacking in disapproval due to their adaptive and forgiving layouts, which are highly accessible to virtually all brands of player.\n\nAnd finally, we reach the core of SirBubbleChu\u2019s findings, combining both the points from both positive and negative votes to piece a definitive list of tracks, from most to least popular:\n\nNot too surprising overall, considering this is a combination of our previous lists, and we have previously discussed some of the noticeable anomalies. Four of the five top tracks are frontrunning focused, and three of the courses in our bottom set are catchup focused. This would suggest players gain considerable enjoyment from the satisfaction of successfully and skillfully navigating courses at the front of the pack, over the clustered and frantic nature of playing from the back.\n\nAnd now that we have the comprehensive list of the most popular tracks, we can now combine this data with the most and least picked tracks to present a complete graph:\n\nLet us now return to the original question: Is there any correlation between track popularity and how commonly a track is picked?\n\nAn initial glance at this graph would suggest this is not the case. One might expect a tandem increase between popularity and commonness, yet only a handful of courses seem to facilitate this trend (of all the courses, only Moo Moo Meadows had the same result in popularity and rate picked, at 34th). With this in mind, however, looking at the bigger picture might not be ideal, especially as both mine and SirBubbleChu\u2019s surveys asked participants to provide their thoughts based on subjective opinions over any objective components. Instead, it might instead be worth looking at clusters of tracks within certain squares of the graph. For example, in the top-right side, seven tracks have a marked gap from any other cluster, marking them as the very favorable and worthwhile across the board (again, worth noting that six of the seven are frontrunning courses, with Dolphin Shoals as our aforementioned breakup course). Meanwhile, the bottom-left four squares contain eleven courses, which support the theory that a disliked course is also rarely played, whether that be from notoriety from selections such as Baby Park or Toad\u2019s Turnpike, or courses such as Thwomp Ruins or Wild Woods that never quite found, or have a very niche part in tournament play and beyond. Finally, notice the curve that can be formed out of the four bagging\/catchup tracks in the bottom right corner; one could almost consider it a priority list for that brand of courses.\n\nIt is the courses in the middle where we find the most discrepancies, but there does seem to be two noticeable clusters: Tracks which are in the upper-middle half of popularity tend to fall into the lower-middle half of commonness, and vice versa. Let\u2019s analyze a couple of tracks from both clusters to see if we can spot any rationale behind their placements:\n\nWater Park can certainly be considered to fit into our \u2018no-thrills\u2019, accessible driving category, with the only chance of falling off being at the glider with extreme tilting, and it contains one very small shortcut in its underwater section. So how come it fared better, popularity-wise at least, compared to similar courses in its band? It actually likely comes down to its lack of pick rate, combined with its simplicity. Its lack of play likely meant it went undetected in terms of an actively disliked course, instead paving the way for fans of the track to leave a bigger impact with its positive votes.\n\nMeanwhile, Dragon Driftway\u2019s spot can likely be attributed to having one of the most difficult no-item shortcuts in the game, requiring a precision ultra-mini turbo and hop over a sizable gap before the bridge. However, the key difference between this and Shy Guy Fall\u2019s shortcut is that in Dragon Driftway\u2019s case, the cut is early enough in the track that failing it does not necessarily spell a death sentence for the remainder of the race. Therefore, it is likely skipped over by a majority of players that do not have practice or relative confidence in taking the shortcut, but picked by those that have honed in on practice, or can use back-up strategies for failed attempts at the cut.\n\nTurning to the other side of the spectrum, let\u2019s look at Piranha Plant Slide, Ice Ice Outpost, and Bone Dry Dunes as a collective, because all three of them share some eerily similar qualities. All of them are long, winding courses, with some elements of off-road or sliding physics in parts. Even more bizarrely, all three of them end the exact same way, too \u2013 a glider section into a final turn containing a high-risk shortcut that has the potential to earn a player a lot of last-second overtakes. All three of them are fairly trap-friendly where there are thin corridors to stack bananas or back shells, making for smooth frontrunning choices. But the chance for a target shock over a glider, denial of the final shortcut from a bomb or boo, or general crowd control in the pack from boomerangs or fire flowers can make these tracks especially frustrating at key moments, turning the tide of what might have seemed a sure high spot. Perhaps, then, they are to be considered the \u2018back-up\u2019 or \u2018risky\u2019 frontrunning selections, with potential to be utilized well in the right hands, but lacking in the safety nets from the Wario Stadiums and Hyrule Circuits of the pole position preferences.\n\nNow that we have presented all of the data, and put forward some deeper analysis on a handful of courses, we are now able to discuss what may be the underlying cause acting as the foundation for determining these results: Utility. Utility is difficult in some ways to pin down in a quantifiable way, because there is utility in the sense of your own inputs and ability on the controller in response to the track, and the track itself, the visual and aesthetic representation for the driving mechanics being put to the test. The tracks that are favored in both popularity and commonness are where they are because they offer such high utility both on and off-screen, being satisfying to drive from the execution from the player\u2019s driving and item-based input, in conjunction with how smooth the plays look on the course itself. That is not to suggest that the remaining courses lack any sort of viable utility at all, but the utility is either not quite so widespread or consistent, or must be approached with a differing toolkit to unlock the potential for frequency or player satisfaction. In another sense, utility is also control for the player. When the player feels under control relative to the track presented to them, but also challenged by the possibility of many varying outcomes, the player reaches a sense of flow, which is highly impactful on the player\u2019s perceptions of the courses. Of course, getting such a feeling from a track is still highly personal and subjective, but over time, as the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe community pushed and tested the boundaries of the courses on all fronts, the courses that stood the test of time in terms of general enjoyment, and\/or out of use or purpose, took shape into what we have discussed today.\n\nStill, even though Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been released for over three years, there is always the chance for new track-based revelations to be made and established. Could you be the person that changes the way we think about that track? Only one way to find out!\n\n* fun fact: If you take any 12 tracks and place them in any order, the odds of getting your exact combination of tracks in the exact same order are 1 in 33371339479827148800. Please thank my teammate gdin as well as Vike for blowing my mind with this information\u2026",
            "date": "2020-10-20 12:24:39",
            "date_human": "Oct 20, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=349",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/thumb-1920-516774.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "An MKU Week to Remember and some Playoff Projections",
            "author": "Rookie",
            "preview": "The concept of an \"MkLeo number\" is a fun way for players of all kinds to monitor how close they are to the top of the competition. But for the sake of this community, we'll have to refer to this term as a \"World Friend Star\" number. There's not much disputing that the team with an almost flawless first half of the year is the current team to beat. So how do you find your number? Whether or not you count tournament matches only, it doesn't matter to Jean-Pierre Pernaut, the only team to go 2-0 this week in Mario Kart Universal's top division. If you're counting just this season, their number is sitting at 3 \u2014 this is because they defeated Nferno, who beat Requiem, who defeated the defending champs. What's crazy about this is that all of this happened in a single week.\n\nIt doesn't stop there either. JPP also defeated High Definition this week. HD would then take down The Baltimore Basculin in primetime, a team who had just defeated Arcadia Sky, who had defeated Novae. In a single weekend, a winless, last place team has a claim of victory over every single team in Division 1.\n\nTo really put into perspective how unlikely the odds were of this all happening, a few things need to be stated. The top division tends to work differently to many of the others. As a team continues to improve, it gets exponentially harder to move up the rankings. As an estimate, I would say the effort required to get from D2 champion level up to league champion level would be comparable from a Division 10 team making the push all the way to competing in Division 5. So for a team that went into this week with an 0-6 record to accomplish what JPP did this week, not only would they have to play their best MK of the season, they would also need a lot of other matches to fall in a very specific way.\n\nDue to the nature of the top division historically being a little more predictable than others, a week that features 6 of the teams going 1-1 is incredibly rare. If you noticed that the standings update this week didn't feel very different, it's because the top 6 in the current standings all went 1-1. None of the frontrunners gained or lost any games on any of the teams surrounding them on the leaderboards. When this rare feat happens, it's also pretty rare for the single 2-0 team to be the team who was in last place going into the week. There's also no guarantee that 6 teams going 1-1 will even lead to the chainlike phenomena that JPP experienced this week. Given this past week was one of the two that saw competition against both conference and out of conference foes, it's safe to say this probably won't happen again for a very long time.\n\nNeedless to say, this single week may have contributed to the single best Division 1 we've experienced in MKU to date. In a division that's historically been pretty imbalanced, every team is within 4 games of each other going into the final week. So, how will this week play out? Well, I've decided to take a deeper look and work the numbers to really understand what's going on in the top 3 divisions in MKU. As much as I would like to do an analysis of all 15 divisions, I must apologize and say it would've simply been too much work in too short of a time frame. Given this post is only going to be relevant for about six days regardless, I think it's just better that I do a thorough job for a few and call it a day. I hope you find my playoff projections informative \u2014 try not to go too hard on me when one of the teams with <1% playoff odds somehow squeak their way in next week.\n\nDivision 1\n\nJean-Pierre Pernaut, despite their historic week, have been eliminated from contention officially. Six teams still have their sights on a title going into the final week of the regular season. World Friend Star once again is the clear favorite, but probably by not as wide of a margin as people may have thought before Season 11 started. Of these six teams, no other team has won a MKU League title, so the competition is surely hungry. Can they win a 4th straight title? Well, we'll get to answer that in just under three weeks.\n\nBefore we take a look at my official projections, I'd like to set a few things straight. Remember, these are projections. Not guarantees. How do they work though? Well, as much as I would like to claim that I've set up an elo system that will appropriately calculate the odds of any specific team winning any specific matchup, I can't claim that. What I can say though is that percentages of winning certain matches can be roughly estimated through factors such as records. But perhaps the most important ingredient to solving this puzzle is understanding what matches remain for a team, and how a win or loss may affect them in the standings. Some teams may have only one way to make or miss the playoffs, whereas others may have a plethora of different routes that makes them slightly harder to predict. As a rule of thumb, those near the middle of the standings will probably be slightly less accurate. The lower the division also may create less accuracy, to the point where I needed to use approximations over more exact ratios. This is because Division 2 and 3 are a bit closer and have more variance in who is likely to come out on top for the title. It's very hard for a team to claim the title of league's best, but there's a handful who could surely claim to be 9th best (or 7th, if you want to go by final standings). Finally, I want to mention that I'm not considering ties here. There are a few instances where ties would influence the outcome, but given how rare they tend to be, they're nearly negligible percentage-wise. They'll only be seriously considered if it's necessary to prove that a team is still not eliminated.\n\nSo one last reminder, me saying that a team has higher playoff chance than another is not me saying anything about the skill level of those teams. If you're tied in record, chances are I'd give you a 50% chance to beat a team you're tied with. Exceptions include World Friend Star, where they have the r\u00e9sum\u00e9 to claim no match should be a 50-50. But what it does mean is that circumstances of the final week probably mean teams with tied records do not have equal paths to the playoff. The top three divisions really all are unique in how the playoff picture resides at the moment. It's part of the beauty of tournament organization. There's infinite possibilities, all that are pretty unlikely to happen individually. But something has to happen, and we get all these wacky scenarios to try to make sense of. Anyways, I've rambled enough, so let's finally look at D1's picture now.\n\nThe top two seeds have taken care of business and locked up a playoff berth and likely hosting advantage in the semifinal rounds. At this point, the questions lie in which of the four middle teams will take the final two spots.\n\nHigh Definition is the team that looks like almost a third lock at this point, but it's not guaranteed yet. Despite being seeded below both Requiem and The Baltimore Basculin, they took care of both teams handily, which for a fourth overall seed should in theory lock up the playoffs by this point in time. HD's undoing has been in losses in matches they were projected to win, so a little bit of vulnerability does emerge for them going into the final week. There's only a single doomsday scenario for them, so let's entertain that idea real quick.\n\nFirst of all, it should be noted that HD needs only a single win to not have to worry about other matches. This may be difficult against World Friend Star, though we've clearly seen high potential for them to beat and lose to any team in this division. The second match vs Novae is probably the one that should be punching their playoff ticket considering they've been trending downward the last few weeks, but Novae has nothing to lose in this circumstance, and the pressure of a second match may be high. Novae could very much play spoiler in similar fashion that HD themselves did to Prestige last season.\n\nSo if they go 0-2, what else has to happen? Well, three other matches have to go against them, so there shouldn't be too much pressure on them. The only situation they aren't a top four team at the end is if The Baltimore Basculin (x\u0131) and Nferno Blaze both pass them up, and given they have the tiebreaker vs x\u0131, life is made a little bit easier. x\u0131 will have to beat both Requiem and Nferno this weekend, and then Nferno must take care of Arcadia Sky. Only if all 5 of these matches end up this way will HD be eliminated, so it's probably a safe bet to assume they'll be meeting up for a playoff series with Requiem in about 12 days, unless they win their conference or Requiem throws theirs. This is perhaps more of a longshot than missing the playoffs entirely though for them, as it would require them to go 2-0, and for World Friend Star to go 0-2. It's probably safe to assume that World Friend will be taking Conference A.\n\nRequiem has their conference won with another win, but if they were to go 0-2, they won't hold on if either x\u0131 or NFO hit the clutch 2-0 week. This is because they would lose out on conference wins that the others would gain. Requiem gained most of their conference lead during the out of conference play session to begin with. Still, it's about 90% likely to see a Re-HD matchup in the first round. NFO's odds to win Conference B are lower than x\u0131's because for x\u0131 to go 2-0, it already implies that Requiem has lost a game.\n\nNferno fairs a little bit better if their goal is simply to get into the playoffs via wild card. Even if you argue their odds to beat x\u0131 are below 50%, you must consider that they don't have to face Requiem on the final week, while x\u0131 does. It's also worth noting that in the scenario where HD has a rough final week, NFO has the tiebreaker vs them \u2014 a luxury that x\u0131 don't currently have. Now, if x\u0131 beats NFO, they're in, no matter what happens in the Requiem match that follows. But if they lose, especially if it's by more than 28, the building falls apart, because they would have no longer have the tiebreaker against both HD and NFO.\n\nIf you're NFO, the x\u0131 match is the most important one of the season up to this point. The match is even more important to x\u0131 however, because they don't have as many lifelines if they lose it. NFO can at least be happy that if they lose to x\u0131, they could still profit off of HD losing both their matches.\n\nThe interesting scenario is the one where HD, NFO, and x\u0131 all tie at 5-5 records. In this event, it'll come down to +\/- differential. Due to HD's massive primetime win this weekend however, this is simply a scenario that x\u0131 would like to avoid.\n\nThere's one other team we still must mention though: Arcadia Sky. They likely saw their season end on the final races against x\u0131 on a Cloudtop Cruise race that reportedly could've spelled disaster for x\u0131 due to miscommunication, but they survived. Now Arcadia has an uphill climb to make it back to the postseason for the first time since Season 8, but a road still does exist. The problem is that they need a specific outcome for every single match of the remaining Conference B matches. So if you're an Arcadia fan, buckle up, let's take a look at the map.\n\n- Arcadia win over Requiem\n- Arcadia win over Nferno (by at least 18)\n- Nferno win over x\u0131\n- Requiem win over x\u0131\n\nTo start, since Nferno and x\u0131 still face off, one of them should end up with 5 wins. Arcadia wants this to be NFO, because they can still win the tiebreaker with them as long as they take the match by at least 18. Bringing x\u0131 into the picture is only going to hurt them, and in the case where there was a 3 team tie between HD, NFO, and ARC, it doesn't look good for them unless they really beat NFO badly. So there's one realistic path, which is the one mentioned above. You should probably prefer HD win a war if you want ARC in the playoffs.\n\nThe playoff picture isn't super entertaining, because like I mentioned, Re-HD looks almost like a lock. If there is a surprise where HD doesn't make the postseason though, we'll see a Round of wf-xi and Re-NFO. This would be the most unexpected first round, but if HD were to win the conference somehow, you could also see wf-Re facing off in Round 1. I would simply expect to see wf-x\u0131\/NFO, Re-HD at the current time right now. x\u0131-NFO is your must watch matchup for D1 this next week.\n\nSo who will win Division 1 this season? It's really up for grabs compared to many seasons in MKU history. In a league that went through a dominant reign of Severance for many seasons back on the Wii U game, it'll always look pretty wide open, but the defending champs certainly won in about as dominant fashion as you can realistically obtain. If anything though, it's truly been proven that \"Any Given Sunday\" is a very real factor in the top division this season.\n\nDivision 2\n\nD2 really did it again, creating another impossible looking table where a team is currently tied for first in their conference with a better differential than the first place team, yet if the season ended today that team wouldn't be in the playoffs. How does that happen? Well, I don't want to do the research, but just know it did. The good news for Star Clan Nebula, the team I was talking about earlier, is that we still have a week of play remaining.\n\nThe top 3 records in this division all belong in Conference B, which really is making the Conference A teams see winning the conference as a necessity. Of course it is still possible to get a 2-2 playoff bracket, but it's definitely a bit unlikely. It wouldn't be the craziest thing that's ever happened though.\n\nI think perhaps my favorite fact for D2 is that while Inkling Feet appear to be in the Wild Card race at 1.5 Games Back, they actually aren't in the Wild Card Race at all. But fear not \u0131F fans, your season not only still has hope \u2014 the team actually controls it's destiny.\n\nBut how? Well, it's simple. The only way it can pass the current Wild Card teams (sitting at 5-3) is by going 2-0 this weekend, to finish at 5-1-4. But here's the thing: if this happens, \u0131F is actually just guaranteed to win their conference instead. No wild card needed. This is because the two teams ahead of them are both 4-4 right now, and they play both. So if they go 2-0, both of those teams will finish 5-5 at best; \u0131F will be 5-1-4, so despite being 0.5 GB now, they do control their destiny. Gotta love ties.\n\nWhat this all means is that \u0131F's playoff odds are identical to their odds of winning their conference, as you can see below.\n\nDespite the positivity and hype, it won't be a free ride for \u0131F. Remember that World Friend Moon and Star Clan Nebula were both in D1 consideration before the season. These wins will have to be earned. But if they can overcome it, what a story that would be.\n\nWhat's unfortunate for Star Clan right now is that despite having a better record than Inkling Feet, they aren't guaranteed to make the playoffs if they go 2-0 like \u0131F. Reread this sentence again and try to make sense of it. This is what is so cool about tournaments and tiebreakers. It sounds like it doesn't make any sense, but it just works. This is because if S\u00a2 goes 2-0, there's nothing stopping World Friend Moon from going 2-0 also. Because the teams split matches against each other, World Friend's second squad wins the conference tiebreaker via Conference Wins.\n\nHere's the four remaining wars in Conference A. A \"1\" indicates that the match went the way the top row claims. As you can see, World Friend takes most outcomes, but Inkling Feet takes the conference whenever they win both. What this leaves us is a Star Clan team that needs a little help if it wants hosting advantage in round 1 of the playoffs.\n\nIt's not all bad news for Star Clan though, because they have a bit more flexibility when it comes to the Wild Card standings compared to World Friend Moon. Because Mushroom Team Mind and Inkling Feet tied earlier in the season, it's almost certain that tiebreakers involving them with the other contending teams won't matter. Though they could tie in record also, it doesn't matter because as mentioned before, Inkling Feet is already in via their conference if they finish 5-1-4, the only possible way they could tie MT.\n\nSo when it comes to tiebreakers, four teams want to have an advantage over each other: Soul, Dynamite Alpha, Star Clan Nebula, and Inkling Feet.\n\nSoul, if you want to complain that I didn't spell your entire name out, I'm sorry, but I'm not going out of my way. You can ask Nato how it feels to get his team names ignored. Sometimes the teams need to be convenient for us for a change also!\n\nBut back on topic, here's where the good news comes in for Star Clan: they have the tiebreaker over Dynamite and World Friend in the wild card standings. This is a little crazy because they don't have the tiebreak over World Friend in the conference standings, but they do here. So these are the teams they'd prefer to tie with.\n\nWorld Friend Moon only has the tiebreak on Soul. Soul and Dynamite are currently 1-1 in series vs these teams with a match pending between the two this final week, but given the differential, it's likely that Soul has the advantage to win this matchup.\n\nWhat this means is that in the event of a tie between these teams, Soul is likely the benefactor (2-1, heavy +\/-), followed by Star Clan (2-1, -28 +\/-), Dynamite (1-2, positive +\/-), then World Friend Moon (1-2, -150). So World Friend is in the most danger in a tied scenario. It's very likely that the top 3 of these 4 teams will make the dance, so they're going to want to try to avoid any ties they possibly can.\n\nThe good news for World Friend Moon is they do control their destiny and can avoid any unfortunate rolls by just winning. They seriously need to win though, because losing could make their hosting advantage in round 1 and playoff berth evaporate in just two hours. Practice up this week.\n\nNeedless to say, the scenarios are complex here, and the teams all just need to win if they want to improve their odds. Though Star Clan is currently sitting slightly below 50% odds of making the playoffs, if they win both wars, their odds are going to skyrocket. They may not directly control their destiny at this point, but winning will still make a playoff campaign quite likely.\n\nMoving on, let's take a look at the Conference currently with the advantage in the playoff race.\n\nThe interesting observation here to me is that because of Conference Wins, 1 of the 16 timelines has Soul losing to Dynamite, and still winning the conference despite it. Even though Soul has a harder remaining schedule than Dynamite, they have a higher chance to win the conference. This is likely because they get their own chance to take down Mushroom Team themselves, while Dynamite doesn't.\n\nThere's really not much to say here though, because the top three teams all appear to be pretty likely to make it. Their combined playoff odds are less than 300% however, so don't just assume it'll stay at 3-1. The conferences look imbalanced now, but one weird final weekend could change that notion entirely. Mushroom Team Mind controls their destiny and looks to right some wrongs from last season. Really, these teams just need to avoid going 0-2 this weekend.\n\nOne last interesting note is that Banana Legion is not down and out yet. They're capable of winning their last 2 wars and going 5-5. Had the earlier primetime match vs Soul gone the other way (or I guess more realistically, the one that was decided by 2 points), they'd be right in the hunt at 4-4. That one match was the difference between being tied for a wild card spot right now and being 2 entire games out. But like Arcadia in D1, let's take a look at what would be the reasonable path for BL. Let's start (there's still more) with the following:\n\n- Banana Legion defeats Mushroom Team Mind\n- Banana Legion defeats Dynamite Alpha\n- Soul defeats Dynamite Alpha\n\nIt's obvious BL needs to go 5-5 since they're 2 GB already in the wild card standings. What's incredible is that despite being 2 GB with 2 games left, there is a path just because of the matchups that are happening. Soul and Dynamite play each other, so one has to win. Banana Legion wants to cheer for Soul, because they have no way to beat them in a tiebreaker right now. They can show up vs Dynamite and beat them this week however, because if they split, they'll have the advantage in conference wins if both teams are 5-5.\n\nWhat this means is that BL will be behind both MT and Soul, and one other team is guaranteed to take the Conference A title, so that means whoever doesn't win the title, they must finish ahead of. There's no one way to do this. It's possible that Inkling Feet and Euphorya Osiris sweep and they get in that way on top of the three earlier conditions, but that's probably a big ask. Realistically they're going to likely have to win another tiebreaker with another 5-5 team. The most likely hope for BL is that Star Clan wins the conference, because BL has the tiebreak against Dynamite and World Friend Moon if they're all 5-5. There is a way for BL to win no matter who the Conference A champion is, but there best bet is probably Star Clan.\n\nUnfortunately, Euphorya Osiris won't be headed to the postseason in Season 11. There's a little bit of an optical illusion in the Conference A standings. Though they are only 2 GB on first place, it does not matter unfortunately. This is because if both teams in first place go 0-2, Inkling Feet will be taking the conference as mentioned from the start. Still, with everything going on at the beginning of the season, it was nice to see EU competing in D2 regardless. We'll hope to see another good showing from the S10 finalists in the near future.\n\nDivision 3\n\nThis division is almost the inverse of Division 2. We talked a lot about conference wins as a tiebreaker method earlier, but as far as D3 this season goes, you might as well throw that knowledge out the window. The top 2 teams of the division, Resemblance & Nasty Raid Jin, rescheduled their Week 4 match, but despite having 1 less game played than the rest of the division, they've both already secured their conference titles and have hosting advantage for the D3 semifinals. At this point there's not much to play for rather than bragging rights, or perhaps a perfect season in Resemblance's case. While we're happy for their success this season, unfortunately we're done talking about them because for the sake of this article, we're more interested in the opposite of perfection. We're interested in the mess.\n\nDespite the giant two team lead, no teams are eliminated yet. The one in the best shape however is Midnight Wasps. In the wild card race, they're tied for the best record, and have the best tiebreaker scenario. They're quite literally the guy in the lobby who is pulling bullet bills and goldens in 3rd place just because the frontrunners are that far ahead. Winning even one more game at this point practically puts them in the playoffs, with the only worry being if Valyria goes 2-0 in the last weekend in this scenario, and even then Drift Riders need to take care of business and go 2-0 also. The toughest break for the wasps is that due to conference alignment, they're looking to be the team that is going to have to deal with the undefeated Resemblance squad in the first round. But given that the other option is Nasty Raid, it doesn't really matter much. This is a team known to make upsets, going all the way back to early 8U, and regardless of the competition, the top dogs of the division are going to have to deal with the MK8 murder hornets.\n\nPerhaps the best alternative for Resemblance would be if Valyria made it to the playoffs. They're currently the 6th most likely to make it, so it's a bit of a long shot, but they have the tiebreaker over \u043c\u03c9 if they can get there. It'll be tough though, considering they have a game remaining with Nasty Raid.\n\nThe team who has a kind of rough tiebreaker scenario is Drift Riders, but the good news for them is that they're currently sitting in a wild card slot, and they're one of the few teams that don't have to play one of the conference winners this weekend. Their biggest worry this weekend is going to be HDolino, whose entire season relies on beating them in the final match. The good news for the Drift Riders is that HD has to take on Resemblance first. The bad news is if they can find a way to somehow beat a Resemblance team that may be resting starters, their confidence could be through the roof. D\u042f handled HD by 18 in the first leg of the season. In a tiebreaker scenario, they'll want to make sure that if they drop to HD they'll want to do it by 16 or less. While they have more advantages than HD right now, if they were to lose by 18 or more, the differential and tiebreakers favor HD. This is a scenario they just want to avoid to begin with.\n\nYoshi Family Galaxy is a long shot to make the playoffs, but there's a moderately feasible route for them. They simply need to win out, and fall into a scenario where mw is 4-6 with them, and HD is either 3-7 or 4-6. In this scenario Yoshi Family and Drift Riders would make it out, with Valyria and Arcadia Terra also sitting at 3-7.\n\nArcadia Terra has the lowest odds of making the postseason due to poor tiebreakers. They need to win out to start, Yoshi Family Galaxy must win out, and Drift Riders must also lose to HDolino, because the only way they're going to win a tiebreaker scenario is if YF and D\u042f are both involved. The larger problem at hand here is that they're going to likely want Midnight Wasps to be 5-5, because if they were also 4-6, it would make winning a tiebreaker nearly impossible for them. Valyria also holds a tiebreaker against them, so they ideally need them to be 3-7 as well. Considering they need HD to contain D\u042f to a 4-6 record, the unfortunate reality is that this creates a new problem. HD themselves hold the tiebreaker over ARC, and in the likely scenario where +\/- between tied opponents is involved, they have a massive advantage over ARC. What this creates is a technically possible scenario for Terra to make the playoffs, but it's a bit unrealistic. They're probably going to have to start with beating Drift Riders by over 100, and then hope everything else takes place. The good news is that they've already done that this season. Hooray?\n\nBefore I finish this all up, I think the fun thing about this division is that a 6-way tie at 4-6 is on the table. 2 teams having a winning record isn't so far-fetched when the 2 teams may go 9-1 and 8-2 (the only way to make this scenario happen requires no 10-0, sorry Resemblance). Here's what it would take though. Every single match has to go a certain way, with a few big upsets, so we're looking at a 1-in-500 scenario. Given what happened in D1 this weekend though, those odds don't seem so bad anymore.\n\n- Resemblance defeats HDolino\n- HDolino defeats Drift Riders\n- Arcadia Terra defeats Drift Riders\n- Arcadia Terra defeats Resemblance\n- Valyria defeats Nasty Raid Jin\n- Nasty Raid Jin defeats Midnight Wasps\n- Yoshi Family Galaxy defeats Midnight Wasps\n- Yoshi Family Galaxy defeats Valyria\n\nSo who makes the playoffs in this scenario? Well, probably Midnight Wasps. They're the only team guaranteed to have 3 TB points. But depending on how the last week goes and how close some matches are, all other teams except Arcadia Terra (with 2) may end up with 2 or 3.\n\nGiven HDolino defeats Drift Riders in this scenario, it's pretty likely that margin would be above the 18 mentioned before. Most wins in this division have been larger. So in this scenario it's likely Midnight Wasps and HDolino make the playoffs, due to the size of some of the wins. But if the HD-D\u042f match was very close, then it's likely going to be Drift Riders or Valyria that takes it. Both have one awful loss, but a pretty good track record outside of that.\n\nSo that probably isn't happening, but it's fun to speculate regardless. This'll wrap it up, but for everyone who hasn't been focused on the all the divisions, there are a few other undefeated seasons still going outside of Resemblance to keep watch of. This includes:\n\n- Fatal Anchors (D8)\n- Apex Racing (D10)\n- Royal Stars (D14)\n- StarBits (D15)\n\nTechnically, StarBits are undefeated, but they did have a draw vs Arcanum Polaris. Shoutouts to them. Good luck to these teams on completing these seasons, and perhaps we'll get a few spoilers next week or in the playoffs!\n\nOne last message, thanks everyone for making this season special. We were surprised to even surpass 90 teams in Season 10. It could've very well been a peak, but then we had 30% growth on top of that for Season 11. 120 teams is really spectacular, given we're 3 years into the newest game now. Only about 2 years ago we were at 50, which was the first time since 2012 we had numbers that high. So the activity is special, to say the least. Hopefully it can continue to grow. If you have any friends who would be interested in playing, let them know about MKU and the other competitions on MKC! The more the merrier, after all.\n\nWill I do another one of these articles in the future? I'm not sure. It was fun to study the numbers and go more in-depth, but it was a bit time consuming. But if you like the content, feel free to ask for more, and maybe we'll try to make something like this more frequent. Have a great week everyone, and good luck in the final week!",
            "date": "2020-09-08 01:06:41",
            "date_human": "Sep 8, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=240",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/thumb-1920-519874.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "Introducing MKCentral News",
            "author": "jazzy",
            "preview": "Hello everyone,\n\nTo lead off, we'd like to shout out to the entire community for the site's expansive growth through the entirety of the year so far. With record-breaking participation and overwhelming support, we're able to continue providing our best to you all. We're excited to announce our latest site features\u2014most notably, MKCentral's new News site. Separate from the registry and forums*, this will be the new home of plenty of content, as we grow it in the coming weeks, months, and years.\n\nFor starters, we'll use it for site announcements like this one, showcasing new features, tournaments, and other updates. We also plan on taking on a new team of writers as part of our larger and ever-growing Media Staff crew, to write summaries, recaps, and other coverage of Mario Kart tournaments. We also may occasionally publish special feature articles highlighting interesting topics or new general Mario Kart news, perhaps from a more casual standpoint.\n\nIf you're interested in writing for us, we'd love to hear from you! Our Media Staff applications are always open on our forums; with your application, you can showcase your pen-and-paper talent by including or linking some of your work. While we accept applications from anyone, we will be selective with our recruits, as we want to ensure top quality from our authors. That being said, if you think you have what it takes, drop us a note!\n\nThe one-and-only Speck has already kindly volunteered his time to write our first article, which you should definitely take a look at if you've got a few minutes of free time. It showcases another big announcement\u2014our latest edition of MKCentral's Team Power Rankings. We're doing it a bit differently this time, and have some special goodies in store at the end of Speck's awesome read, too. Check it out now!\n\nIf you've taken a peek at our homepage today, you'll notice front-and-center are our latest news articles! This integration will let you know at a glance if there's anything new to flick through.\n\nAgain, thank you all for your dedication and support for our first two full years! We hope you love the progress we're happy to share, and keep an eye out for new reads in the coming weeks!\n\n---------------------------------------------------------------\n\n*Note: As a side effect of the news site being separate from the registry and forums, ads will appear to all users on news pages, even supporters. We ask for your understanding and thank site supporters for their generous contributions.",
            "date": "2020-08-30 21:40:52",
            "date_human": "Aug 30, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=172",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/thumb-1920-519872.jpg"
        },
        {
            "title": "Mario Kart Central Season 5 Team Power Rankings",
            "author": "Speck",
            "preview": "Hello and welcome, Mario Kart gamers!\n\nIt\u2019s time once again for the hottest competition in the Mario Kart scene, the Mario Kart Universal league, and a plethora of team tournaments to commence. But it\u2019s not just any season of Mario Kart Universal\u2026 It\u2019s the biggest season of Mario Kart Universal ever! An absolutely staggering 120 teams will be testing their mettle on the racetrack this time round, officially making this the largest team-based tournament in Mario Kart history. There\u2019s never been a better time to be part of this exciting, ever-changing experience, all driven by the dedication and passion the community has fostered into shaping this incredible game into how we play it in the present day. A huge shoutout to all entrants, old and new, and the MKU staff who have been working hard to make this gargantuan beast of a season become reality.\n\nWith that in mind, it is a pleasure to be able to reveal the most up-to-date Mario Kart Central Season 5 Power Rankings. Through hard work, a wide scope of experience, and fighting even when the odds might have been against them, these teams have set the benchmark for quality Mario Kart gameplay that we can all admire and learn from.\n\nWe begin with five honorable mentions:\n\nPrincess Monarchy\n\nThis close-knit European team has unfortunately encountered some overwhelming challenges in attempts to reign supreme in MKU the past couple of seasons, falling just shy of a playoff qualification in Division 4 in the previous season. There\u2019s some promising progress, though, with their last two ranked results displaying domineering victories over Wii Elite Clan and High Definition\u2019s second team. With the dust settled a little more now, Princess Monarchy could look to build on that progress and produce their first ruling season this time round.\n\nMelodya Aria\n\nAn absolutely harmonious run by Babou\u2019s ensemble in their second season. Dropping 9 out of 10 wins in Division 4 is no easy feat, though they must surely be gutted by a flat playoff semifinal. Also of note is their entry into the gold bracket of Amplify, thanks to a surprise result over Banana Legion. They\u2019ve undergone a slight rebranding to Melodya Orph\u00e9e for the upcoming season, but it seems the beat remains mostly the same for them going forward.\n\nKira Team\n\nKira Team\u2019s honorable mention miraculously mirrors Melodya Aria in many ways. They just earned the Division 4 banner the season prior and were looking in great form to add another, only to be haunted by one of two teams to take a win off them in their playoff berth. Kira Team carries a great legacy of victory, as the first team to win the vintage Division 1 banner in Mario Kart Wii\u2019s World Clan League in 2008. Could they ever return to those glory days?\n\nEquivoke\n\nDoubling up on Division 4 Conference B teams, Equivoke have been quietly advancing up the ranks since their inception into the league three seasons prior. The predominately central European team perhaps feels a little underwhelmed this time round after two superb runs before, but should take pride in shaking things up in Amplify, dispatching several teams with ease and a respectable battle with World Friend Moon. Expect them to continue shaking things up.\n\nDrift Riders\n\nIn the first few months of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the Drift Riders were truly terrifying, latching onto a bronze in the first MKU tournament, and fifth in the inaugural league format. Shift into the current day, and despite just barely scraping into playoffs in their first season back due to a tie, they smoothly operate the semifinal to Melodya, thanks in part to a fantastic individual effort from Asznee. Unfortunately, they had to settle for Division 4 silver this time, but no doubt the hunger is strong to replicate the past.\n\nAnd here goes, your power rankings for Season 5 of Mario Kart Central tournament play:\n\n#25 \u2013 Yoshi Family Galaxy\n\nThere have been many occasions where Yoshi Family have proven that sleeping on them is a worldly mistake. This season was no exception for the French brood. After a perfect four for four on inter-division play, Yoshi Family very nearly choked their playoff spot with a painful set of latter-half conference play. No doubt this proved to be the wake-up call the Yoshi herd needed, as they proceeded to utterly trample through the playoffs and earn the Division 4 banner, their first banner since Season 5. This veteran team should be proud of their resilience, and continue this momentum into the next season and their side tournaments.\n\n#24 \u2013 Midnight Wasps\n\nThere are two things you can count on by a team led by Canadian Felix. First, a loyal core of members who are constantly willing to play for the greater good of the team. Second, a squad that thoroughly punishes mistakes made by other teams on the track. One would think that Midnight Wasps would have settled into Division 3 in their return season quite nicely, with some of their members having a taste of Division 1 under Vertex, but unfortunately they struggled to make a sting amongst some tricky competition. Still, it\u2019s early days for the Wasps, so given a little time, they may progress just like they did in vanilla Mario Kart 8.\n\n#23 \u2013 Pirates of Duisburg\n\nThe German-based scourge led by Boshi has been plundering the mid-to-high divisions for some time now. The hunt for treasure has been a little scarce for them, though they nearly took the gold in Division 3, Season 7 after sinking Arcadia\u2019s second squad in the playoff semifinals. This was sadly another season of struggling to stay afloat of relegation in the same division, but they did convincingly barrage one of the division favorites. Following the trend of resurrecting vintage teams, the Pirates will return as Nferno Volt this time round; perhaps this will reignite the spark.\n\n#22 \u2013 Jean-Pierre Papin\n\nJean-Pierre Papin is no stranger to the sport, with well over a decade of experience, a brilliant score count amongst many appearances, and some prestigious rewards to their name. That is true, of course, of the French footballer, but the Mario Kart team of the same name certainly has flashes striking well too, tying their highest rank since Season 6. This season was dim for them in Division 3, but they had better showings in Agility and Amplify, bizarrely having their loser\u2019s run in the former stopped by their first team, and possess their all-important Division 3 banner from the season prior.\n\n#21 \u2013 Mushroom Team Soul\n\nIt seems that astronomy was perhaps a little too large-scale for the secondary Spanish bunch, and so they have opted to adopt a more spiritual side in Soul. It has been a bit of a middling, no-thrill season for them, both in MKU and Agility, but there were occasional flashes and dashes of convincing results. The transfer of FalcoX from the first squad, and Hydra from the remains of Black Wolves, show some promise of a potential epiphany going forward.\n\n#20 \u2013 Inflow\n\nFun fact: In MKU Season 3, aside from one disqualified team, Inflow finished dead last, in 57th place. Seven seasons, some key member changes (yet with leaders jerry and wisch seeing it through the whole way), and three division banners later, Inflow have just produced their best season yet, in 19th. If one ever needed proof that it is possible to start from rock bottom, and put in the hard work and determination to power up the ranks, Inflow is your journey to follow. It was a decent season with 7 conference W\u2019s, ended in the playoff semifinals. Can the Cinderella story continue?\n\n#19 \u2013 Euphorya Ra\n\nSeason 9 was setting up to be a time where the Mario Kart gods smiled upon both forms of Euphorya. We will be getting to the afterlife-based first team in due course, but the Euphorya blessed by the sun met the fate of flying too close to it, as their Division 2 playoff dreams melted away to the next team on the list. Surely meant to appease their fate, the Spanish summoned another worthy Division 3 conference run in Season 10\u2026 Only for the sun beams to brighten again at the same place. They will now be fusing with the first team to wholly worship the vegetation under Osiris; perhaps a change in seeding is natural, then.\n\n#18 \u2013 Arcadia Terra\n\nTo avoid any biases for my own team, here are just the objective stats for Arcadia Terra: An 18th place finish in MKU this season after 3 wins and 7 losses in Division 2, and a 17th place finish in Agility, tying with several teams all within 22nd and 16th on these power rankings.\n\nHere\u2019s to another season of defeating the giant enemy spider!\n\n#17 \u2013 Banana Legion\n\nIt has been a fruitful season for Royal\u2019s rumble. They performed excellently in this MKU season, bunching up 8 of 10 wins with relatively little dispute, but a slip-up in the finals must surely seem unappealing. Unlike a lot of teams previous, who are currently at their peak performance rank-wise and seek to raise the bar higher, Banana Legion no doubt have a goal in mind \u2013 to replicate their Season 5 stint in Division 2, a time during which they were comfortably disposing a team like World Friend. They\u2019ve been inking some contracts in the off-season, with Brye, Dragon, Cuj and the return of phonepup. Quite a legion now!\n\n#16 \u2013 Cherish\n\nAn apt name indeed. Cherish seemed to embrace and cultivate a thorough and thought-through execution in their performances, and never let a setback slow them down. This can likely be attributed to a rigid line-up that worked off one another; 5 players (Squidz, Jasmine, perishi, Articuno and TheKoopaGuy) appeared in all 10 conference matches, and all of them statistically pulled their weight. Add Arsene as a safeguard, and that was the makings of an admirable playoff success. They add to the list of teams that have made some brand alterations, now named *ahem*\u2026 Sadistisk obalans u-sv\u00e4ng l\u00e5ngsam. Well, that\u2019s va coolt!\n\n#15 \u2013 Rozando la Katastrofe\n\nThere are few teams that have made quite the imprint on the Mario Kart scene quite like Sliver\u2019s section has. They found themselves in top-flight play after sensational back-to-back banners in Seasons 2 and 3 in divisions vice versa. Yet, a considerable portion of their time after has sadly lived up to the latter of their namesake, and their previous season especially was something to sweep under the rug. They had a middling, if not consistent episode in Division 2 this time, but Agility signaled that RK still had some fire left in them, with a radical 5-game loser\u2019s bracket streak. They are the first team on this list to cease play in Season 11. Unfortunate, but understandable.\n\n#14 \u2013 Novae\n\nNovae is one of the freshest teams cracking the top 15 \u2013 but there are already some bright indications of a party where the vibes are only getting more positive. Perhaps not so much in this MKU Division 2 season, in which they were locked in a conference room with 3 teams that possessed a far wider scope of experience of play at this level. It\u2019s the Americas Cup in which they demonstrated dominance, runners-up in the first time and cancelling out xi for a fifth-place finish the second time. They\u2019ve been on an absolute monster of a recruiting spree this off-season, picking up Sebas, Angel, Drack, and the Spanish Roberto, among others. If they adapt in time, the party might only just be getting started.\n\n#13 \u2013 Dynamite Alpha\n\nFrom fresh to mature, Dynamite\u2019s journey has been more of a long fuse than a wild explosion, but it is surely to the team\u2019s benefit, as the synergy can only continue to broaden. We already have evidence of this with their potent 1-2 combo in Togepilovesnug and Varo, as well as more recent addition Samurott, and an adaptive supporting cast. It seems that Markness\u2019 mass have a keen fondness for unlucky numbers, as they placed 13th in this MKU season, Agility, Amplify and this season\u2019s Americas Cup, a bizarre demonstration in consistency across the board. With that kind of foundation, Dynamite Alpha could make a key bid to climb again.\n\n#12 \u2013 Mushroom Team Mind\n\nNo wonder Mushroom Team\u2019s first faction come to Mind \u2013 they are the only team in the entire rankings to have participated in every available major tournament, backed by a versatility and depth in their roster that very few teams can muster in the same way. They produced a decent Division 2 MKU run in which 6 of their squad more than pulled their weight, only to falter in a heartbreaker of a semifinal playoff. A cerebral shout out should also be made to their Agility run, dispatching a Vertex team at their peak twice and the next team on this list. One thing\u2019s for sure, you can expect Mushroom Team to keep turning up.\n\n#11 \u2013 World Friend Moon\n\nThe night is still young for the secondary French connection, who have only made forward rises through the ranks since they acquainted themselves into it in Season 6. Their last two seasons have been rather scrappy affairs, pulling through just when required to scrape playoff berths. The miracle playoff run they performed in Season 9, including a shutout of a borderline unstoppable Dynamite Alpha, sadly could not be repeated this time. Where they truly played out their minds, however, was in Agility \u2013 for a moment there, we had to rethink who really was the first World Friend team! With Linkos sent to bolster this circle of chums, they may continue to eclipse.\n\n#10 \u2013 Jean-Pierre Pernaut\n\nFrom a legendary footballer to a legendary news broadcaster, JPP has made the news at 10, but they certainly aren\u2019t an anchor. Their first cast into top-flight play was no doubt jarring for them in Season 9, but their upset in Week 2 against hot favorites Prestige will surely go into their highlight reel. With a slightly sunnier forecast back in Division 2 the next time round, JPP got to work. It was the combination of Saru, LMDS and Falso that shook things up, as a glance at any of their results showed at least two of the three popping off, the combination they needed to earn the banner. Will the second attempt at the top yield a success story? Tune in to find out!\n\n#9 \u2013 Blizzard\n\nFittingly enough, it was the autumn and winter months last year in which the German group demonstrated just how frosty they could be, in which they made playoffs in their inaugural Division 1 run, were just shy of podium finishes in the Compass Draw and third Agility, and earned silver in the European League. That is not to say Blizzard have declined in quality closer to present, as a playoff run in Division 2 in an MKU where the competition has hit a heatwave across the board is a key sign of adaptability. Though they did freeze up in the final against JPP, slightly better side tournament finishes keep them ahead. From frostbite to burn, under Nferno Blaze, the heat is on for another go for gold.\n\n#8 \u2013 Star Clan Nebula\n\nStar Clan is an incredibly exciting team to watch. Whilst many top teams might recruit one or two Japanese players for versatility, Ferg\u2019s flagship is one of the very few teams that have integrated several Japanese members to the squad, creating a JPN\/NA hybrid that incorporates a lot of individual talent. It was a rough time for them in Star Division, yet it cannot be understated some of the wild card moments they contributed that influenced the conference, with wins over Euphorya and Prestige completely changing the playoff contenders. A demotion for Season 11 might feel a little sour, but considering they went 14-for-2 and cruised through playoffs for a banner for their return in Season 8, it would seem the stars could, and should, align for them.\n\n#7 \u2013 Arcadia Sky\n\nAnother quick bias-avoiding stat list for my first team overlords: A 9th place finish in MKU this season after a two win, eight loss run in Division 1, a 4th place finish in Amplify assisted by a win over a team higher than them in these rankings, a 17th place finish in Amplify, and runners-up in the recent Americas Cup.\n\nIt\u2019s time to pipe up once again, lads!\n\n#6 \u2013 xi\n\nOut of fear of them changing their name to something more fashionable in popular culture, they shall just be referred to by their tag for the time being. One could argue that xi has almost as much metal as the black bass, the most metal of all fish, with five bronzes, a silver and a gold across purely MKU-based tournaments in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe alone, and a stonking 16 medals if we include all tournaments across both Mario Kart 8 games. One of those bronzes was earned this season after a 3-season hiatus; it seems as though clout doesn\u2019t rust, though it does melt in the underworld. It appears that Nato has been very busy writing letters to some associates with hefty contracts, signing Canadian Alex, Eru, KF25, and Logic. Can they learn Final Gambit (at Level 40)?\n\n#5 \u2013 High Definition\n\nRookie of the year? More like Rookie of the decade. It\u2019s crystal clear at this point that High Definition is a team that has stood the test of time. Up-and-coming in Mario Kart Wii, positively dominant in mid-to-late meta Mario Kart 7, matured like fine wine in Mario Kart 8 vanilla, and have yet to vacate top division play in Deluxe. They were so, so close to earning their first MKU champion\u2019s belt in Season 9, bringing World Friend Star with them to the final inning; A shock that dodged two World Friend members in 3rd and 4th on Ribbon Road proved to be the curtain call. Their start to Season 10 was static, but their second round of intra-conference play broadcasted some insane potential. For the first time ever, Rookie will be taking a seat in the second team, leaving HD1 in the wildly capable hands of Cynda and Zebe. Could this be 10 years in the making?\n\n#4 \u2013 Euphorya Anubis\n\nWhat an absolutely divine pilgrimage made by this Spanish selection. They began as Victory Racers, a team spawned by RK Sliver\u2019s fanbase having front row seats to his road to Division 1, and yet in just a matter of seasons they left the audience and became front and center on that very stage. From the get-go of Season 10, Anubis took no prisoners, sending down all three of their conference adversaries. A trickier second half nearly saw miss playoffs entirely, yet for all to see on Primetime MKCentral TV, they dismantled Arcadia Sky\u2019s top spots on Neo Bowser City final race to clinch the conference title. They transcended xi in a 3-game epic, but High Definition\u2019s fate befell upon them also against World Friend. With the fusion of Ra and Anubis into Osiris, this might be a season of revising and refreshing their strategies; but the plains remain fertile for growth.\n\n#3 \u2013 Requiem\n\nFor a team that has dutifully earned their spot as bronze on the power rankings, Requiem are a very interesting case, in that they are not quite as \u2018out-there\u2019 and headlined in ways the teams around them are as frequently. That is absolutely not to say Requiem does not possess some robust talent, with seasoned superstars such as Nitroco and Dayem, with a special shoutout to JB, Impo and Ro\u2019, who orchestrated a stunning victory in a 3v3 tournament back in March. When the time comes, Requiem has shown they can put their heads down and play quality, clinical Mario Kart. Minegear\u2019s men were the only squad to take a game from the eventual champions, only for revenge to be enacted later down the line. They are also the first team to make massive ground in this season already, after a spectacular undefeated streak in Double Down. Is third time the charm for this team with a dream?\n\n#2 \u2013 Prestige\n\nNow, if you were looking for the premium package that was almost always front-page news, this international elite was just that. Their previous iteration in Zealous was just as bound to affluence, exclusively earning silver and gold medals in top-tier MKU over four seasons. It\u2019s abundantly clear as to how Prestige rose to greatness in the same vain, with a cluster of some of the finest individual talent the game has been bestowed with, including Ryan\u2019s, despair, Sebas, Julian and Tynan, among the greatest players in their respective countries. They were very much in playoff contention in Season 10, until a High Definition team hungry for revenge dispatched them out. Where they placed remarkable damage, however, was Agility, with another silver for the trophy case, and Amplify, a particularly special affair in which they overcame a 48-point deficit against number one on the power rankings, and then some after a coordinated power item barrage on GBA Mario Circuit for a crown. Prestige is no more as its members filter into other teams, but no doubt they\u2019ll be a large imprint on the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe league play history books.\n\n#1 \u2013 World Friend Star\n\nThird-time Mario Kart Universal league champions. Agility IV champions. Amplify V runners-up. European League champions. World Friend Star has truly written themselves into the stars of Mario Kart tournament play, and likely even beyond that at this point. But what makes World Friend a cut above the rest? Watch any of their gameplay, especially in finals, and the evidence mounts up: they are an astounding, cohesive unit. Every member can frontrun, every member can play in the pack, every member can bag for shocks. And the key for unlocking this potential? They adapt their team game plan, right there on the racetrack, almost instantaneously, to reach the most optimal outcome in that moment, in an act of team trust and execution that so very few teams can emulate in quite the same way. It is from this flow that results get produced. They barely broke a sweat in MKU this time, aside from the aforementioned loss to Requiem, and a clincher against Prestige. Seven World Friend members provided above an 82 point average. They only slipped up to their second team in Agility, which if anything is still a huge compliment to World Friend as a collective. Their smallest win in European League was still a comfortable bid of 52 points. However one observes it, World Friend Star\u2019s constellation is at the brightest it has ever been. Just how long will their reign last?\n\nFinal Words\n\nThanks to all teams for playing this season, and a huge congrats to those that made the cut for this edition of MKCentral's Power Rankings! If you'd like to check out a summary of this season's Power Rankings, or revisit previous seasons, we're excited to announce our latest site feature: Power Ranking Integration! You can take a look here, as well as view a team's rank on their registry profile too. Good luck to all teams for the next season!",
            "date": "2020-08-30 02:44:37",
            "date_human": "Aug 30, 2020",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/?p=150",
            "image": "https:\/\/www.mariokartcentral.com\/wp\/app\/uploads\/2020\/08\/thumb-1920-519876.jpg"
        }
    ]
}