Chaospringle

The current any% world-record holder has a lot going for him coming into the League. If his slew of sub-1:01 times and double-race world records weren't enough to convince you, then surely his recent commanding victory in the fall 2018 tourney finals cemented himself as the presumptive favorite.

But while Chaos has beyond proven himself in the consistency department grinding out world record-pace runs, he does have some faults. By his own admission he had to learn how to race in last fall's tourney, and an early loss to Suisaiga meant he had to crawl his way to the Grand Finals through the losers' bracket. Chaos is newer to the scene than veterans like Nicroveda, and despite his opinion on its irrelevance, his sum-of-best still lags behind the likes of Stravos and LilKirbs. It takes time for Chaos' consistency to really show itself, so you can expect his multi-kingdom RTA splits like MSSL and RBM to outshine any single-kingdom segment.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:00:41 ( 1st / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:02:15 ( 1st / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:01:21.8 ( 1st / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:34 ( 4th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:10 ( 3rd / 10), Average 10:21.4 ( 2nd / 10)

LWCL: Best 11:58 ( 1st / 10), Average 12:13.4 ( 2nd / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:09 ( 1st / 10), Average 22:20.6 ( 1st / 10)

RBM: Best 16:19 ( 2nd / 10), Average 16:26.3 ( 1st / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 100.00% — 8 / 8 attempts ( T-1st / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 75.00% — 18 / 24 attempts ( T-1st / 9)

Nut Clip: 88.89% — 8 / 9 attempts (8th / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 77.78% — 7 / 9 attempts ( 3rd / 10)

Snow Dram: 90.00% — 9 / 10 attempts (6th / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 88.89% — 8 / 9 attempts ( 1st / 9)

Race History:

Equanimity

It's rare to find a runner that's revolutionized the game as much as Equan has. While other top runners were content with 10:17s or worse, Equan's persistence (and frequent resets) made him the first runner to get consistent 10:05 sand exits or better, scoring near-perfect Cascade and Sand IL records and dragging many top runners along with him in the process. Don't let his 9th-place finish in the tournament deceive you -- it's impossible to say how Equan would have done without forfeiting his final match but if he could have pulled a good enough late game like that in his 1:00:38 former world record, anything was on the table. He'll have an important chance at redemption in the League.

Equan can pull off great record attempts every once in a while, but his reset-often strategy doesn't work as well in a race atmosphere and it shows, having the last place best-to-worst spread in the league. It's tough to find a strat that he won't attempt, especially if he's behind. This means you can never count him fully out but sometimes his pursuit for flair and style can lead to game-ending mistakes like when he was upset by Orolme, losing minutes to failing a zero-timesave out-of-bounds trick in Ruined.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:01:54 (5th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:05:14 (7th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:03:16 (6th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 3:20 (10th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:14 (6th / 10), Average 10:32.2 (6th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:08 ( T-3rd / 10), Average 12:31.5 ( 4th / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:27 (5th / 10), Average 22:36.5 ( 4th / 10)

RBM: Best 16:43 (6th / 10), Average 17:35.7 (10th / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 66.67% — 2 / 3 attempts (T-8th / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 75.00% — 6 / 8 attempts ( T-1st / 9)

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 4 / 4 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 100.00% — 4 / 4 attempts ( 1st / 10)

Snow Dram: 100.00% — 4 / 4 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 66.67% — 2 / 3 attempts ( T-4th / 9)

Race History:

Suisaiga

The French-speaking Suisaiga is a silent killer, becoming the only runner to take a match from champion Chaospringle in the fall tourney en route to a bronze finish. Sui is one of the few runners along with Stravos and Reya to have serious GSA experience under his belt, having reached the finals of the summer tournament for the best average tournament finish in the entire league. Though he has yet to ascend from the bridesmaid's spot in any any% tournament (he won the fall world peace tourney), he's a fierce competitor that would have had the lowest spread if not for one flub during his rematch with Chaos.

For a championship runner of Sui's caliber though, it's hard to pinpoint a specific spot where he shines. None of his partial game RTAs break the top 2, and like Chaos he no longer holds any IL records on the community sum-of-bests. If Sui falls behind early as he did in the summer GSA finals, he might have to pray for mistakes on the other end as his gameplay at its best might not be enough to catch up.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:01:42 ( 4th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:03:50 ( 4th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:02:34.8 ( 4th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 2:08 (9th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:13 ( T-4th / 10), Average 10:27.8 (5th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:08 ( T-3rd / 10), Average 12:32 (5th / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:17 ( 4th / 10), Average 22:55.4 (6th / 10)

RBM: Best 16:27 ( T-4th / 10), Average 16:39.6 ( 3rd / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 83.33% — 5 / 6 attempts (6th / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 40.91% — 9 / 22 attempts (8th / 9)

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 5 / 5 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 60.00% — 3 / 5 attempts (8th / 10)

Snow Dram: 100.00% — 5 / 5 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 80.00% — 4 / 5 attempts ( 3rd / 9)

Race History:

LilKirbs

Kirbs is an enigma. Known for some of the most heartbreaking late-game chokes during record attempts -- including a run that made it to the final forks in Luncheon with a 1:00:2x BPT back on November 3rd, certainly WR pace even by today's standards -- his record of races has been steadily improving, and with some minor adjustments he could be the biggest threat to Chaospringle's title defense. There's very little not to like about Kirbs. He's a jack of all trades setting both the best Theo% and RBM splits in the tourney, he has a newly minted 1:00 PB, and most importantly he always plays his best when the stakes are high. After being hit with a vicious 30-second 3-cycle wiggler timeloss in night metro facing against the best player in the world, Kirbs played one of the best lategames ever seen in a race, breaking his own Luncheon IL world record by two seconds en route to a 1:01:07 finish. Had he been facing anyone not named Chaospringle in the fall tourney finals, he certainly would have shot out the wire as a champion, but coming into the League he won't be settling for the second-best race time ever any more.

It's hard to come up with generalizations about Kirbs, because at his best he can match just about any runner. But while his movement in kingdoms like Luncheon is top notch, he's still just as prone to making mistakes on the big things like snow dram and three-cycle -- both tricks that he's generally overwhelmingly consistent at, except when he isn't like in the grand finals. Kirbs was a little late to join the 1:00 club compared to the likes of Equan, Chaos, and Sui, and it's possible that finally reaching his any% potential in the lull before League play could give him that extra boost of confidence he needs to become indestructible.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:01:09 ( 2nd / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:02:46 ( 2nd / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:01:39.6 ( 2nd / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:37 (5th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:07 ( 1st / 10), Average 10:21.8 ( 3rd / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:01 ( 2nd / 10), Average 12:11.1 ( 1st / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:11 ( 3rd / 10), Average 22:32.3 ( 3rd / 10)

RBM: Best 16:18 ( 1st / 10), Average 16:34.2 ( 2nd / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 87.50% — 7 / 8 attempts (5th / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 68.42% — 13 / 19 attempts ( 3rd / 9)

Nut Clip: 87.50% — 7 / 8 attempts (9th / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 62.50% — 5 / 8 attempts (7th / 10)

Snow Dram: 88.89% — 8 / 9 attempts (7th / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 57.14% — 4 / 7 attempts (6th / 9)

Race History:

Fir

Fir has officially broken his PB curse, paving the way for the League's top joycon runner to make a splash in the tournament scene after sitting out the fall tourney. An innovator and the true embodiment of a grinder, Fir managed to keep his PB attempts both interesting and consistent with his own flair strategies like Fir Harriet and a risky cloud-boost before the first Bowser fight.

While Fir has certainly proven himself as a runner, the League will serve as his first real test as a racer. His two matches in the summer tournament don't tell us much, in part because he faced Equan in the second round. And for Fir to be up there with the best of them, he'll have to learn to pull a 1:01:30 or better out of his pocket -- a time that up until recently nearly matched his PB.

NicroVeda

Nicro is no stranger to being the best -- he's either tied or broken the any% world record a staggering 14 times ever since the early days of the game last December, the most of anyone in the League. And ever since his dramatic jump from 6th to 1st place on the Any% leaderboards in September, everyone's been wondering when he might pounce once again. The League will be the perfect chance for Nicro to show off his improvements that aren't yet reflected in his PB, which is the oldest in the League.

But while Nicro is the most veteran player in the League, he's also the most inexperienced racer. He sat out the fall GSA tournament, and was forced to forfeit the summer tournament due to internet issues. It's been over a full year since Nic won the 2017 SpeedGaming Any% tournament against Vallu, and both the game and its players have changed significantly since then. Historically the early game has always been Nicro's weak point and it shows in his PB, but he might be able to get by with some of his newly-acquired Theo% golds in the past three months.

Stravos96

Including the SpeedRunnersLeague tournament and the summer GSA tourney, Stravos had won at least 13 consecutive any% tournament races going into the fall winners' semifinals, taking down every runner in his path including LilKirbs, Fir, Dansta, Equan, and Sui. It took the perfect storm of poor luck and a solid run from Kirbs to end his streak then with a frame-perfect tie, later decided in Kirbs' favor on a rematch. Stravos has admitted that the world record isn't as important to him as his other goals with the game, and he achieved one of those goals a good deal before anyone else by achieving a 59:59 sum of best in mid-November. His 1:01:14 PB could use some improving, but he's proven in the past that when it comes down to a race, the only time that matters is the time after shooting out the wire -- and it helps that his moon is still one of his greatest strengths.

Ever since his SOB fell below 1:01 Stravos has been billed by some fans as the game's best prospect to achieve the first fated sub-hour run, but he's not without his critics. Some have said that the strategies in Stravos' SOB don't match up with what he usually attempts in runs, and that may be especially true for races where consistency pays off too much to attempt more risky IL strats. In addition his stranglehold on the best segments has been dwindling away as other runners have begun to catch up, with LilKirbs now boasting a 59:53 SOB and all but one of his former IL records being surpassed on the community sum of bests. A dip down to a 1:00 PB could be just what Stravos needs to re-instill his confidence in stringing together as many 'good enough' levels as he needs to win.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:01:23 ( 3rd / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:02:56 ( 3rd / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:02:06.5 ( 3rd / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:33 ( 3rd / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:13 ( T-4th / 10), Average 10:23.7 ( 4th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:12 (5th / 10), Average 12:28.2 ( 3rd / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:10 ( 2nd / 10), Average 22:30.7 ( 2nd / 10)

RBM: Best 16:26 ( 3rd / 10), Average 16:43.8 ( 4th / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 77.78% — 7 / 9 attempts (7th / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 57.14% — 12 / 21 attempts (5th / 9)

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 7 / 7 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 85.71% — 6 / 7 attempts ( 2nd / 10)

Snow Dram: 100.00% — 7 / 7 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 42.86% — 3 / 7 attempts (7th / 9)

Race History:

reyalsdiorteM

At just 14 years old, Reya is the youngest of the League bunch, but you wouldn't know it looking at his race results. Like Stravos, he out-performed his PB in tournament play several times to score the bronze in the GSA summer tourney, and his Current Version 1:02:06 World Record has managed to stand unsurpassed for nearly three months as of writing. Limcube said it best when he once mentioned that Reya is a master of backups, which is crucial in a game like SMO where the times spent recovering from mistakes are often the most impactful moments in a race. He should be able to outperform his 7th-place fall tourney result in League play with a little luck and more opportunity.

There are however still some questions lingering around Reya. His stream schedule has been somewhat inconsistent lately, and it's not certain if he'll be able to get in the practice he needs to climb up the ranks. None of his individual statistics from the last tourney are mind-blowing, with his 16:27 best RBM being the only partial-game RTA making the top 4 cut. But all that aside, he should have a solid shot at making it to PACE if he can put his backups to use and make up time where his opponents falter.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:02:29 (6th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:04:09 (5th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:03:13.2 (5th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:40 (7th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:18 (7th / 10), Average 10:44.2 (9th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:31 (8th / 10), Average 12:54 (10th / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:34 (6th / 10), Average 22:51 (5th / 10)

RBM: Best 16:27 ( T-4th / 10), Average 16:44 (5th / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 100.00% — 2 / 2 attempts ( T-1st / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 40.00% — 2 / 5 attempts (9th / 9)

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 4 / 4 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 75.00% — 3 / 4 attempts ( 4th / 10)

Snow Dram: 100.00% — 4 / 4 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 0.00% — 0 / 2 attempts (9th / 9)

Race History:

Dansta2106

Once known only for his Cap Kingdom times, Dansta has finally begun putting in the practice to be one of the world's best full-game Any% runners, and it's hard to argue with the results so far. Dansta is arguably the newest to emerge on the top any% League scene, and he was once known for grinding hundreds of hours of attempts in early game. He's begun to add ILs to his routine, but his first kingdoms still shine the most, splitting a fanstastic 10:08 Theo% in his race against Reya.

In this game though, experience pays, and splitting a 2:19 cap kingdom in a race won't help all that much compared to dozens of seconds for grabs in late game. Dansta will need to extend his consistency past sand to avoid making the same careless mistakes on big tricks, and though it isn't strictly necessary, it wouldn't hurt to have a lower 1:01 PB to prove he belongs with the other boys. Dansta has one of the highest upsides in the league, but he'll need to accelerate his progress pretty substantially to have a shot at the title.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:02:58 (7th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:04:28 (6th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:03:44 (7th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:30 ( 2nd / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:08 ( 2nd / 10), Average 10:18.3 ( 1st / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:38 (T-9th / 10), Average 12:51.5 (8th / 10)

MSSL: Best 22:49 (7th / 10), Average 23:22.1 (7th / 10)

RBM: Best 16:48 (7th / 10), Average 17:12 (7th / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 66.67% — 6 / 9 attempts (T-8th / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 60.00% — 12 / 20 attempts ( 4th / 9)

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 6 / 6 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 66.67% — 4 / 6 attempts (T-5th / 10)

Snow Dram: 60.00% — 6 / 10 attempts (9th / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 66.67% — 4 / 6 attempts ( T-4th / 9)

Race History:

ddangers

As much a community ambassador as he is a runner, this fan favorite will be looking to collect some serious scalps in the League fresh off of converting from version 1.2 strats to the faster v1.0. Though his times look unimpressive, it's important to remember that Dangers played the entire tournament on the current version of the game, losing time to 1.0 runners in Theo% and MSSL that he might now be able to make up in League play. In fact, Dangers was the most consistent top racer in the entire fall tournament, having a worst-to-best spread of under one and a half minutes. If he can bump up his average while mainaining his consistency, he might be able to steal a win or two off some high caliber runners, or at the very least score some valuable time-based points to snag a spot at PACE.

However, consistency only takes you so far. Even considering the 1.2 handicap, Dangers' best race time is still not much better than many racers' worsts, and his times in the non-1.0-advantage segments like LWCL and RBM are only marginally better than his other segments. He'll need to leverage both his own and others' race experiences learned from commentating dozens of high-profile matches to have a serious shot at the finals.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:04:18 (10th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:05:46 (10th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:04:53.5 (10th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:28 ( 1st / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 11:00 (10th / 10), Average 11:03.5 (10th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:38 (T-9th / 10), Average 12:47.2 (7th / 10)

MSSL: Best 23:35 (10th / 10), Average 23:59.7 (9th / 10)

RBM: Best 16:50 (8th / 10), Average 17:03 (6th / 10)

Tricks:

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 4 / 4 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 50.00% — 2 / 4 attempts (9th / 10)

Snow Dram: 80.00% — 4 / 5 attempts (8th / 10)

Race History:

LilAggy

Aggy has done well for himself to qualify for the League, and he's already admitted his determination to qualify for the finals at PACE. He'll need some changes to get there, but it's not as drastic of a difference as you might think. Though Aggy's average times are relatively unimpressive, many of them were achieved in wins against slower runners where he only needed to coast to the finish, perhaps without pushing himself to the best times he could have achieved.

The numbers will be a hard pill to swallow for Aggy, as most of his stats linger around the bottom three League runners. But anything is possible with enough practice, and it's clear that Aggy will be looking for a nice PB improvement to have his best shot against the best of the League.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:03:57 (9th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:05:35 (8th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:04:45.3 (9th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:38 (6th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:21 (9th / 10), Average 10:35 (T-7th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:24 (7th / 10), Average 12:39.8 (6th / 10)

MSSL: Best 23:24 (9th / 10), Average 23:59.8 (10th / 10)

RBM: Best 17:16 (10th / 10), Average 17:30.6 (9th / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 100.00% — 5 / 5 attempts ( T-1st / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 52.94% — 9 / 17 attempts (6th / 9)

Nut Clip: 100.00% — 6 / 6 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 66.67% — 4 / 6 attempts (T-5th / 10)

Snow Dram: 37.50% — 6 / 16 attempts (10th / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 33.33% — 2 / 6 attempts (8th / 9)

Race History:

Orolme

The recurring joke about Orolme being allowed to bring his 2P partner-in-crime Parazite to races doesn't get any less funny the more times it's said. Though Orolme's PB is technically the worst in the field, while his competitors were out grinding 1P any% he's put a significant amount of effort into being the best 2P runner in the world, scoring a recent PB of 1:00:01 in that category taking full advantage of the faster game mechanics. And all that practice when Parazite wasn't in the room wasn't all for naught, as he pulled the biggest upset of the fall tournament against Equan in his first race.

Two-player mechanics are no substitute for practice time alone though, and though he took a solid no-questions win against LilAggy, his win against Equan left some doubt as his competitor lost minutes to deaths in Ruined. Much like Aggy, Orolme will need some luck to mix it up with the best, but his relative naivete to one-player running may prove to be a strength as much as it is a handicap.

Stats:

Best Race Time: 1:03:49 (8th / 10 League runners)

Worst Race Time: 1:05:40 (9th / 10)

Average Race Time: 1:04:29.6 (8th / 10)

Spread (consistency): 1:51 (8th / 10)

Partial Game RTAs:

Theo%: Best 10:20 (8th / 10), Average 10:35 (T-7th / 10)

LWCL: Best 12:19 (6th / 10), Average 12:53.4 (9th / 10)

MSSL: Best 23:21 (8th / 10), Average 23:37.2 (8th / 10)

RBM: Best 16:53 (9th / 10), Average 17:24 (8th / 10)

Tricks:

FMS: 100.00% — 6 / 6 attempts ( T-1st / 9)

Sphynx Clip: 41.18% — 7 / 17 attempts (7th / 9)

Nut Clip: 83.33% — 5 / 6 attempts (10th / 10)

Scoot Clip Driveby: 16.67% — 1 / 6 attempts (10th / 10)

Snow Dram: 100.00% — 5 / 5 attempts ( T-1st / 10)

Kobe Turnip Clip: 83.33% — 5 / 6 attempts ( 2nd / 9)

Race History: