A Year In Mapping has returned for 2017 to bring you the achievements and accomplishments of the mapping community this past year. Similar to Mapper's Choice Awards, we have expanded our coverage to include statistics on all four modes this time around! Furthermore, to show our appreciation for each and every member of the mapping community, we've left a few words for every mapper who had ranked a set in 2017.
And without further ado, here's A Year In Mapping 2017!
Not often do you find newer mappers opting for a clean and simple style that focuses less on being Extras and Ultras, but instead more on catering towards the intermediate crowd. _DT3 examplifies this with a collection of easier guest difficulties, along with a relatively mild, but interesting, mapset.
_orange is a young and fresh newcomer to ranked status, with his first mapset being ranked in the last month of December. His style stays true to the songs he maps with uncomplicated patterns and smooth gameplay.
Despite his sparse track record, he'll outperform himself oftenly, delivering beatmaps with very logical rhythm and clean visual design , for example Aozora no Rhapsody.
Modern and clean, - Frontier -'s ability has only been somewhat demonstrated in the later half of the year with M2U - Marigold. However, he manages to exhibit proficiency in understanding gameplay and music representation by sprinkling in his own creative touch into his mapset.
As a skilled player, he highly emphasizes playability in his map, delivering clean mapsets that bring a comfortable gameplay experience. Tremendous improvements can be seen in some of his latest mapsets and we can definitely look forward to him in 2018!
1 of the only 2 banned mappers of 2017 who seemed to rank only 1 map in 2017, and it is the only ranked map of theirs in the span of their mapping career. Not even any GDs. Not sure what happened to them since no one I asked seems to know who they are, but they were decent at mapping nonetheless based off of their only ranked map. Possibly multi? Oh well, I hope for a speedy unban!
A new mapper that managed to enter the ranked section near the end of the year with another qualified map soon after, will be interesting to see what 2018 will bring.
-GN shows off his intricate osu prowess not only through unorthodox plays, but through unorthodox maps as well. Fury of the Storm is an impeccable replica of nostalgic Lesjuh maps, and his guest difficulty on Polygon exhibits a solid and smooth style.
An elite mapper who needs no introduction! He's been around the community for longer than most, contributing maps in an ever-evolving style that always stays ahead of the game! Be sure to look out for his maps of complex electronic songs, since those are definitely his strong suit.
Known mainly for his Normal difficulties, Akitoshi sports a clean style with various different slider shapes scattered about and caters towards a large audience with his simple yet effective interpretations of songs.
A very enthusiastic mapper who runs his own youtube channel and uploads videos monthly introducing theory of mapping. Regarding his mapping, he will occasionally produce some exceptionally cool unorthodox work e.g. Zetsubou no Fuchi, implementing specific ideas inside a difficulty and in-between difficulties extremely consistently.
Mainly focused on mapping eroge songs, Nanaka's maps were a little bit different from traditional Japanese style maps. It's easy to recognize his map by the symbolic N-shape jump and crossing sliders. Although he has been less active this year, I'm still looking forward to his new works!
Although considerably less active this past year, you can always count on -Nya- to deliver consistent and simple mapsets of your favourite anime songs.
Don't let his ...collection of low guest difficulties fool you, as -Rmdy's very own mapset of hakushu kassai utaawase demonstrates his full potential. His decision to go with a less-common large circle size is a daring one, but he pulls it off maginificently by topping it off with interesting gameplay as well!
Despite being mainly active in ctb and taiko (as mapper and bn), he still managed to get a few ranked standard difficulties this year , which is pretty neat.
A mysterious individual who drops in every once in a while to help out with guest difficulties, modding, or to rank his own map. His proficiency in low difficulties is apparent, with clean visuals and structure abound.
This is a BIG year for Tochi as he finally got unbanned! -Tochi is undeniably one of the best storyboarders in osu!; he excels in creating storyboards with complex background effects - that are suprisingly made with the in-built editor in game instead of coding! He is currently very active and we definitely can look forward to more -Tochi creations in 2018!
Mainly focusing on instrumental songs, Scarlet has a relatively clean placement style. His latest work Halcyon shows his prowess in stream design, utilizing the various technqiues to effectively express differences in the song with cursor motions.
Tackling such an eccentric song as his first map is brave, to say the least. Despite that, [ IWeenox ] succeeds spectacularly with smooth and fluid depiction of Mercy X - Caught Fire. Expect greater things from him in the future!
Pretty nice hitsounding for a newer mapper. Got his first ranked map pretty late into 2017 and you can definitely tell it's far from a usual beginner map.
It's always great to see experienced players take the dive into mapping, and [C u r i] has done so relatively well. With 7 juicy ranked sets this year, his provision of the kawaii uguu's are always within arm's reach!
Previously known as [Crz]sword. He has been mapping since 2016, but didn't rank many maps because he paid more effort to playing rather than mapping. And he also plays Taiko and Mania.
[Kamiya] managed to rank 3 mapsets this year. Significantly, he has matured his mapping style in a short time. And he has very interesting patterns in his latest maps.
His work is pretty interesting using unusual rhythm choices and old-styled patterns. Though some of his hitsounding work is rather controversial, some saying they don't fit the song well, I'm personally in favor of his hitsounding since he's willing to use less generic hitsounds, especially the hitsound work he's done in the Ling Yuan yousa - Ben Se mapset mapped by z1085684963.
An old mapper who ranked two maps in 2014 then suddenly quit mapping. He came back to rank a map, which had been graved for two years, and then disappeared again.
Known as the MCA rookie last year, 09kami first showed his talent with a number of challenging maps featuring songs from different genres. Additionaly, he is open to different ideas, even critics on his map, which help raise his mapping skills to a higher level.
Not to be confused with the creator of the 52 minute Unforgiving marathon, A r M i N is osu!'s #1 proponent of anime prohibition. Through his work on various short maps and his highly played difficulty on Yubi Bouenkyou ~Anime-ban~, he's definitely made a name for himself in 2017.
One of the bigger surprises I've had the pleasure of observing this year! Aeril demonstrates his broad skillset by mapping two drastically different songs, in two drastically different styles! His entrance into the ranked section was definitely an explosive one, and he does it all on top of being a pretty good player himself!
Another practitioner of the Triangle Temple, Neoskylove puts full effort into performing the Anime Mapset technique as frequently as possible, to ensure that the hunger of the Player Clan is always sated.
With two ranked maps this year, after only getting his first ranked map in late 2016, Agatsu has helped satisfying the never ending demand for simplistic, easy to play anime tv size insanes.
With only a handful of submitted maps, ailv's career as a mapper has only just begun. By breathing new life into the old classic LANA - Kiroku no Kakera -, his modern spin on it will definitely be met with praise.
After more than two years of mainly mapping for grave AIR finally came back to the ranked section at the end of the year, utilizing a very expressive style with really unique movement and visuals.
An older mapper, Akareh returned this year to make sure people would remember his legacy by ranking a pair of approval length mapsets. He mainly focuses on simple yet organized placement choices for a relaxing play experience.
alacat was one of this year's losses to the Quality Assurance Team. Throughout this year he's been ensuring maps had correct metadata while mapping a few sets on the side. It's sad to see him go, but we hope he continues to produce maps occasionally as an osu! alumni member!
As part of the big group of older mappers that were inactive during 2016 and even most of 2015, Alarido came back to bring some nostalgia to the ranked section by picking a set up again that was submitted in 2014.
Alheak is undoubtedly one of osu!'s most capable mappers. He's shown proficiency in mapping some of the most rhythmically complex and dynamic songs osu! has seen with coherence only achievable by the best of the best. His technical knowledge definitely shows in his mapping and I can't wait to see what he'll make next.
New mapper who started mapping in late 2016 and was very active in mapping GDs this year. Alphabet sports a clean and fluid mapping style spiced with smooth deathstreams and constantly shows improvements in his mapping. Hoping to see more work from him in 2018!
Ambient is a man who clearly loves collaboration. 2017 saw his first and only two ranked maps, both of which are marathons worked on by him and his friends!
Known as yink in chinese community. Compared with most beginner mappers, Ametrin‘s solid foundation let his map stand out this year. And he is a big fan of TK from Ling tosite sigure.
Despite his activity gradually declining over the years, Andrea's name has been cemented in osu! history as one of the most prominent mappers and modders, with 220 maps ranked and 2337 kudosu awarded. His momentary activity this year was a few guest difficulties and mapsets, but they are still hold up with his characteristic symmetrical style!
Anxient has a simple style with a twist: he actively avoids using curved sliders in his maps. Towards the earlier half of the year, Anxient contributed a set of a Danganronpa ED and participated as a mentor. Sadly he disappeared soon after.
Anze, better known as Ayalis, brings us a seemingly average anime marathon as his only contribution this year, but even that one map has its own fair share of interesting patterns!
A very active mapper who's been in the scene for years now, apple never fails to amaze mappers and players of all kinds with every new map he churns out and ranks. Although he may not be in the front of everyone's mind at all times, he could very well be considered as influential as captin1 in more recent times.
More well known for his Hello Zepp map. (Hello eZpp!) Arf focuses on mapping relaxing songs with a more old-school style. Keep an eye on him if you are looking for beatmaps of low-bpm songs!
Aprhimigon has a fairly variable style, typically focusing on thematics for his various works. Normally seen contributing guest difficulties, Arphimigon took it upon himself to rank two sets this year, including a remake of the old classic Beat Juggle. Also, make sure to go to him for his signature Lab Aesthetics mods.
Asahina Momoko is probably one of the best technical mappers out there, with a very expressive and clean mapping style that complements the song extremely well. Many of his peculiar patterns also give life to some of the most interesting and creative maps in osu!, one example in particular can be found in Transform, his entry for the aspire #2 beatmapping contest.
Even though his account was created back in 2010 it seems like he only really got into mapping this year. According to the map description, all of his own difficulties on his first ranked map ""were designed for CTB mode"" which is quite interesting.
2014 player who only recently started mapping (and got their first ranked map this year). Although he's only made lower difficulties for his sets and is relatively new to mapping, I'm hoping to see some steadfast progression from this mapper as 2018 goes on!
A new mapper who managed to rank 7 maps with the first one being ranked in spring 2017. Asuka_- uses a fairly simplistic style that improved noticeably over the course of the year.
Recently changed name from ""Toshino Kyoko"" under which he also ranked his first and only ranked map so far. Even though ranking a collab with multiple other newer mappers is quite challenging Atalanta actually managed to do exactly that.
Although he didn't make outstanding maps, Atrue was known by his contribution to the community. During this long period as a bat or qat, he helped a lot of mappers and brought new bloods to the bn team. He has encouraged many conservative mappers to see and mod others' maps; this is his greatest contribution in my opinion.
Atsuro has always sported a design style that looks odd among ordinary ranked maps. His maps have a major focus on straightforward polygons and symmetry without sacrificing gameplay in the slightest!
Previously known as Priti. Though he became less active this year, he still managed to produce 2 mapsets and 4 gds. His maps have very distinctive mapping style, having a combination of high sv with simple slider shape. His maps are enjoyable to play as he manages playability well in his maps despite making it rather challenging to play.
Known for his eccentric music choices dissimilar to what's usually seen in osu!, Bakari has consistently delivered quality maps and his activity shows no sign of decline. Also famous for having one of the highest kudosu counts in the game, his legacy of helping out many mappers along their journey will definitely not be forgotten!
New mapper who has just gotten his first map ranked. While his mapping style could still be better, it's pretty good for someone who has just gotten into the mapping scene, with a simple yet fitting style which does the job. It's also worth noting that he produces his own music, so if you're interested you can check his works out!
A new mapper who just began mapping in 2017. At the beginning his mapping style was kind of affected by PinkHeart's maps; for example, using many head-overlapping sliders. Now his maps have more diversity, and I'm sure his own talent will show through.
Taking inspirations from older mappers, Battle sports a simple yet organized mapping style, heavily focusing on using low rhythm densities and highly varied placements to create larger contrasts in his maps. This year they definitely showed that more standard songs aren't all they can do with their map of Re:End of a Dream.
Became completely inactive in the game after ranking the Flower Flag mapset, which is his only ranked mapset in 2017. Hope to see him make a comeback for 2018!
An anime mapper that reduced his activity this year. Although he has a little difficulty communicating with others in english, he still tried hard to rank maps when he was active. Also he is willing to help with others' maps, if not doing english mods.
Despite having lots of maps submitted since starting to map in early 2016, bite you death only started ranking maps during the second half of 2017 where he got his first two ranked maps. Will be interesting to see what 2018 brings.
An experienced mapper that became less and less active in mapping this year. Usually very unique song choice, often with less ""meta"" mapping to accommodate it. Apparently loves timing.
An old mapper who made a short comeback in early 2017. She is undeniably one of the mappers who successfully defined what is ""not to map for fame, but to map for fun"" by creating a bunch of simple but engaging to play lower difficulties.
BOUYAAA is mainly known for his mastery of western rock songs with a fairly organized style, sure to bring an enjoyable experience for fans of the songs.
A founder and administrator of osu! International as well as organizer of the related mapping contest, C00L is a fairly new presence in the mapping community. He brings a fairly simple style with a preference for higher density yet straightforward rhythm, perfect for players who are new to playing electronic maps.
Even though he's hasn't been very active this year, only managing to have some of his guest difficulties ranked as well as a ranked set, captin1 still deserves a shoutout as one of the most dedicated mappers osu! has known, delivering incredibly solid maps which many players and mappers alike still love.
Primarily known for being a member of the osu!catch community, celerih is a relatively new standard mapper who sports a clean and organized style. He also contributes as a BN and a moderator of r/osumapping.
Ever since getting more into mapping in 2016 Cellina has been ranking a few maps every year, this year with some big diversity in song length by ranking an approval map and a nearly 4 minute set, together with the obligatory anime tv size.
Although he was more active in 2016, Celsius still managed to rank a ton of great guest difficulties this year! He also ranked his own Halozy marathon to mark the end of the year for himself. A very consistent mapper in terms of his mapping speed and quality.
Cerulean Veyron is osu!'s K-pop cute boy representative. He's mapped various maps to help promote his presumably favorite music genre, while also helping out others as a Beatmap Nominator and spending his time judging various mapping contests across the community! 1/5
Having mapped for 5 years now, CET 6 is surprisingly unknown by most players. All of his ranked maps are relatively simple Chinese songs that make for simple yet enjoyable maps!
New Polish mapper who got his first ranked map in 2017. Albeit being one of the newer mappers, his maps already show some polish (pun intended) and follow their songs pretty well, which is impressive for someone who didn't start mapping long ago.
Chaoslitz is a very experienced mapper who is good at revealing details of the song by using complicated rhythm, while balancing the playability and visuals of his maps well.
Even though he only mapped the easy difficulty for his first ranked map, it seems like he started working on Insane and Extra difficulties as well, so it will be interesting to see what the following years will bring.
Once being active in 2015 to early 2016 period, cherry blossom has finally presented a new mapset - dreadnought - this year. His style remained like that of his older maps, making proper usage of large spacing streams and symmetry to keep things simple but fun to play.
A former BAT and older figure in the community, Chewin returned this year, ranking two mapsets in a clean and nostalgic style. Additionally, Chewin also contributed by returning to his former task as a BAT by joining the BN.
While not being known too well outside of Japan's community, Chirony has made and ranked a few maps every year since 2014, and while his maps don't get too much traction, they are simple in nature and fun to play once in a while.
A formerly well known anime mapper that started to slowly fade out of existence ever since 2015. Ranked one map (which was also submitted in 2015) after being barely active for all of 2016. ""probably last mapset, hope you like it.""
Very new mapper that I randomly stumbled upon in #modhelp one day; however, he's been improving at an alarmingly fast rate! Can't wait to see what he has stored for 2018!
His love for EDM is unmatched, with plenty of ranked guest difficulties and mapsets just for that genre alone! Come[Back]Home has been an active modder and mapper ever since his entry into the mapping scene back in late 2013, and he has returned recent after a brief hiatus to push forward more maps!
You rarely see people rank English songs, even less so ones that allow for Insane and higher difficulties, but CookieBite actually ranked two of them this year, adding some musical variety to the ranked section, while also ranking some Geometry Dash songs.
A mapper that's been recognized mostly for his english undertale maps in 2016. Cosmolade has started to deviate from that this year, branching his mapping to touhou and ""novelty"" english songs. You can't dispute that what Cosmolade is bringing to the ranked section is definitely unique.
Crimmi drops by this year with a pleasantly simple map. His veteran experience of almost 10 years can be seen with a solid, structured style reminiscent of the old days while managing to still feel modern.
Cryptic shows the world that there's more to anime songs than meets the eye, sporting an interesting mapping style that brings together a large range of techniques to express songs to the best of his ability. Earlier this year, Cryptic contributed as a mentor, Beatmap Nominator, and for a short while, a member of the QAT.
Crystal is famous for his great performance on OWCs and CWCs. Apart from his playing skills, he also showed his talent on mapping, especially on alternate maps like Take no Hana or Ryoushi no Umi. Hope he could keep active in 2018.
Straight outta 2015, they've been mapping more and more frequently as the years pass by, making 2017 their strongest year yet! At this rate, 2018 will be even better for him.
Other than being a fantastic player, CXu is also a very experienced mapper who has been in the mapping scene for a very long time, and this experience can be seen very well in his works, which are all very solid.
After ranking a lot of maps in 2016, Dailycare became rather inactive this year, but still came back for a short amount of time in November to rank one more of his 2016 senya maps.
A newer face in the mapping community, DakiniBrave shows his passion for j-pop by mapping it with a simple yet reflective style. If his recent map is any indicator, he's sure to capture both the hearts and playcounts of players with his future mapping.
Moving away from anime tv sizes after ranking two of them in 2016, DavidEd became one of the few mappers to provide harder maps for English songs by ranking four of them in 2017, mainly focusing on on 5+ minute Extra difficulties.
An older figure in the community known for his BMS mapsets, Dax sports a heavily pattern based style, focusing on symmetry usage. His recent map shows that even under heavy visual restrictions, a fun experience can be provided for the intended audience.
deadpon3 came into the scene early this year, ranking just 2 sets throughout 2017. He has much to learn, but he is growing at a decent pace, making 2018 possibly a great year for himself in improvement and results.
With only a single mapset ranked this year, Del05 has been slowly fading away from the mapping scene. However, his contributions in terms of guest difficulties and ranked sets, most of which are anime songs, are numerous!
Maps by Delis truly stood out in 2017. His unique visual style may be offputting to some, but it provides a feeling unlike other ranked maps, earning them a noteworthy position among the masses of ranked maps!
After starting to map in 2015 Depths has improved his mapping skills a lot, managing to become a very solid technical mapper. While his works aren't exactly innovative, they are very well structured and fluid, expressing the song very well.
DeRandom Otaku is one of the mappers who favors a large variety of music ranging from Japanese to Kpop, as well as the occasional electronic, appealing to many different music tastes. As a beatmap nominator, he contributed greatly through modding.
While he seems to have left the game by now, diraimur has been until recently an active mapper, who often took part in conversations in #modhelp and had quite a lot of graveyarded maps. His maps, while simple, were effective and very enjoyable.
A mapping pioneer, DJPop came back earlier in the year to rank his yearly christmas mapset. He's primarily known for his rhythmically challenging maps and grid based style, but his recent map showed that he's been able to keep up with the times quite well. Looking forward to seeing his contributions in further years.
New mapper who decided to rank a Harumachi Clover one day! Also seems like they are trying to rank another One Room song as well to start off their 2018 mapping spree.
DoKito is one of the few highly skilled players whose knowledge has transferred over to the editor! With his one famous 8 star ranked map this year, commonly referred to as Yomi yori, DoKito changed the competitive game for some of osu!'s top players. Will we see Cookiezi's potential 900pp score on this map become a reality in 2018? We'll see!
Although not the most active individual, his sole ranked map of this year demonstrates his ability to create polished and elegant patterns that accompany the charming nature of the song wonderfully.
Creator of the hit mapset of Hitorigoto, Doormat continues to show his love for anime by organizing mapsets of the cutest songs the ranked section has ever seen. His simple and organized style brings joy to many players each time he publishes a new work. Doormat contributed this year as a BN, making sure maps are as polished as they can be for the ranked section.
Doyak is one of the main contributors towards an organized environment for artists and titles of maps. His work as a QAT is highly appreciated, along with the equally well-organized maps that he's added to the ranked section.
M god M117 has kept active for more than 2 years and this number seems to still be growing. The most prominent point of his maps is the polished flow. His flow combined with common rhythm choices and clean placements made his maps very comfortable to play. Additionaly, he is always helpful to other mappers, especially beginners.
A man who really loves to map to drums for really long and hard hitting songs! Drummer is also a very new mapper that only managed to rank his first difficulty this year. He may probably stay in the mapping scene in the future as well, as he has been very active in mapping through the whole year, and it sure doesn't seem like he's stopping anytime soon! See you in 2018.
dsco is one of this year's greatest contenders for the Rookie of the year category. He only ranked his first maps this year, however you'd never believe that at a glance. Each map is its own standalone piece of work showcasing dsco's variety of ideas and technical capabilities!
Despite starting to map in 2015, DTM9 Nowa only ranked his first map in 2017. The experience he gained in those years can be seen in his recent works, which are well designed albeit a bit simple in structure. He definitely shows a lot of potential as a newcomer!
Dubturt first exposed himself to the ranked section near the end of 2017. He's got room to develop his mapping, but he's shown he's still pushing to improve himself with his latest pending maps!
With roughly 30 submitted maps EijiKuinbii has been very active this year, even though only one of these was pushed into the ranked category. It will be interesting to see what 2018 brings.
Being involed with over 20 sets while being restricted is no easy task, but eiri-, also known as Ayyri, has done the impossible! Her dedication to the game shows no bounds with guest difficulties in both osu!standard as well as osu!taiko. Although we included people with only ranked sets, I think she deserves a special mention for her enormous contribution to the game in 2017!
Ekoro is undoubtedly a very experienced and active mapper who can tackle many different mapping styles with ease. While he's mostly known for his Everything will freeze, he has an enormous amount of maps under his belt, both unranked and ranked, which deserve recognition and are mostly wonderfully executed.
Known as 'handsome muscle'. He is one of the few mappers that mapped a song that he composed by himself. Just like a composer, he is also good at hitsounding. The hitsounds in his maps were as natural as a track from the song itself.
Famous for his Tower of Heaven map last year, eLy is definitely becoming a very prominent mapper in osu! for players. He's been able to create maps with great lore that many players love to play. As he ranks Re:TrymenT at the end of 2017 after a long battle with many other mappers, he's set to (possibly) rank many more in 2018!
Famous for his top-tier playing skill, Emilia shows that his mapping is nothing to scoff at either. Best described as flexible, his mapping style is capable of fitting numerous genres, all the while maintaining the fluid gameplay and clean aesthetics he is known for! Not to mention the dab.
Because of the college entrance examination, Enjoy had to afk from mapping for a long time, and she even hasen't come back until now. Her maps have really natural flow and rhythm —— just like her username, Enjoyable.
Similar to his Korean predecessors, Enon sports a heavily player focused mapping style, applying clean aesthetics and comfortable flow into his maps. He is currently working with Dailycare on the new version of image material, which is definitely worth looking into!
New mapper who debuted in 2017, almost 2 years after starting mapping. While he's got only one ranked map at the moment, we can already see how much his style has evolved over time, having now a reasonably clean style.
Seems like he's recently trying to map more interesting things, after ranking a short easy diff, so it will be interesting to see how Est-'s mapping will develop from here.
Along with Natsu, her name is synonymous equivalent to K-pop in osu!. Always working with Natsu to introduce more awesome K-pop songs to the community.
Known for his flashy storyboards, Exile outdid himself by bringing the audio personification of his hobbies to the ranked section: Mili's world.execute(me); The level of detail and amount of code involved in creating this storyboard goes beyond the limits of what was thought possible with osu!'s storyboard engine, featuring complex foreground and background effects as well as a continuous story to accompany the song.
ezek is a mapper whose influences clearly draw from a long-gone generation. Considering he's been involved in mapping for longer than most mappers today, that's only to be expected. Alongside his mapping, ezek has been heavily involved in the modding side of osu!, resigning from the Beatmap Nomination Group just a few months ago after over a year of work. His time as one of the BN boys will be remembered!
F D Flourite has been mapping for about 4 years. He is one of the few mappers that focus on male vocal songs for years. It is interesting that he made several difficult maps when he just begin mapping. But after his mapping style matured, he turned to make relatively easier maps. Additionaly, he has contribuded a lot to the community as a BN.
Relatively new mapper who started around mid-late 2016 and has created many popular EDM mapsets since. Fanteer just seems to be ranking songs he likes, and not really trying out new stuff, but I hope they try to branch out and seek new ideas for mapping in 2018! Definitely lots of stored potential for Fanteer imo
After nearly three years and countless disqualifies, Fatfan Kolek finally managed to rank his well known ME!ME!ME! set this year, including guest difficulties for every game mode.
Feb's mapping has improved drastically throughout the year. His latest ranked map of SiM's LET iT END provides an experience that stands out above many of the other ranked maps this year, so his future work may be something to look forward to!
felys has been mapping for a while, with lots of submitted maps going back all the way to 2014, but only ranked his first map this year. You can clearly see the experience gained in all this time since it doesn't look like a ""first ranked map"" at all.
Thought you can only find conventional music in osu! ? Here comes Fenza introducing one of the Beethoven's masterpieces! Fenza has successfully established a pretty good start in the mapping scence by introducing the Sonata No.14 in cis-Moll, Op. 27/2 - 3. Satz mapset. Hope to see more from him in 2018!
fieryrage has progressed steadily in mapping, being extremely active in creating mapsets and guest difficulties this year. Hope to see even more improvement from him in 2018!
Only managing to break into the ranked scene in the second half of the year, one might expect inexperience from Finshie. A quick glance at his recent works will tell you otherwise, with a well-structured style that blends perfectly with the kind of songs he chooses to map.
One of the newer mappers of 2017, whose first ranked map is... interesting to say the least. His mapping style seems to be solid, despite showing some areas which can be improved. I'm definitely looking forward to his future maps!
Formerly known as KuranteMelodii, Firis has presented several mapsets and GDs to both the ranked and loved sections this year. Though people might be mainly familiar with his usage of evenly spaced triangular jumps in those ranked and loved difficulties, his technical maps in the Pending section display outstanding usage of very expressive slider art. I wish to see more work from him in the future!
"If you want to make a good map, go copy Dear You."" This is my first impression of Flower. It is hard to descirbe his maps in a few words because he changes his mapping style frequently. As an old mapper that has been mapping since 2012, sometimes his placements seems hard to understand. But overall, his maps still have decent quality. He was also an helpful modder and BAT when he was active.
A mapper who tried to branch into the realm of highly difficult maps in the beginning of 2017, only to settle down to simple insane level mapping once again. He got his first ranked map this last year, showing amazing improvement from his previous set from last year. Hopefully, FoxyGranpda continues to grow as we move on to 2018!
Very solid mapper, with a visually appealing and fluid mapping style which effectively underlines the song's features through a clever usage of spacing. Definitely one of the most consistent ones out there.
A household name in the osu! community that still manages to keep up with the times. His style, while still reminiscent of his older works, has evolved in a way that makes it appealing to the modern crowd. A shame that his activity has been slowly declining recently.
With only a handful of difficulties ranked this year, it's no wonder a name like this isn't recognized more in this generation. A well-known mapper from back in the day who has managed to evolve his style to fit modern standards, while keeping the soul of his maps intact.
Another new mapper, who got his first ranked map in 2017. His maps seems to be already incredibly solid for a new mapper, with a very clean style which uses well elements such as blankets and overlaps.
Previously known as imoutosan, Fushimi Rio focuses on eroge songs with a primary focus on smooth and expressive cursor movement. His recent map shows mastery in this regard, with slider designs and patterning that matches the feeling of the song in a unique way. Frequently collabs with his soul sister, PinkHeart.
Gabe is a well-known community member for his countless mods as well as his work as a global moderator. But let's not forget that he has his own mapping contributions as well, with a multitude of genres being ranked over his 5-year run!
Gaia was super active this year comapred to last year, taking part in around 20+ ranked sets compared to around half of that last year. Gaia had always succeeded in creating quality beatmaps for any kind of song at satisfying levels! He never fails to please players in any circumstance. Furthermore, Gaia has started to take a very noticeable influence from his favourite mapper cRyo as his newer maps are starting to resemble hers! 2018 may be Gaia's best year if he keeps up.
Garden used to grow really fast when he was a new mapper. Now he has a matured mapping style, which contains his stylized sliders and aesthetics. In particular, his combination of straight and curve sliders seems natural and plays well. Moreover, he is a very helpful modder and an active BN.
Hong Kong mapper making his debut into the ranked maps scene in 2017! Ranking some well known and great anime songs. Also created tasteful guest difficulties here and there for others.
Gero is the modern incarnation of symmetry based mapping styles popularized years ago. Reminiscent of the ever-famous Andrea, his maps have a distinct feeling that separates them from other ranked maps, especially in this day and age!
While this guy may not have many ranked maps, those in his catalog are worth a look! His first is a collaboration with RLC, one of osu!'s most well known mappers, and his second is a solo marathon of a rhythmically complex song. Care is clearly put towards expression of the most subtle aspects of intense music in both of his maps, making them especially engaging!
He hasn't done much in mapping for years, but came back to rank a Demetori map in 2017. Despite being a 2010 map, it's still surprisingly fun to play, mainly because of the comfortable flow and clean visuals.
A mapper who's practically associated with Demetori at this point, and for good reason. GoldenWolf showcases impressive activity this year with 6 ranked sets, 5 being of Demetori, all of which are pinnacles of metal mapping in their own right.
A new, but low-key mapper who has never really explored past Easy difficulties in the ranked section, but has managed to contribute storyboards to various other mapsets!
A new mapper who managed to create and rank 2 absolutely marvelous beatmaps, with his Kola Kid beatmap being a very pleasant surprise to anyone who isn't familiar with him. Definitely someone that has become really good in the short time he's been mapping so far, and someone who people should keep an eye on.
Another name commonly associated with anime mapsets, HabiHolic's activity has been on a seemingly gradual decline, but his maps are still enjoyable as always. A simple style with the occasional interesting pattern thrown in!
A new face in the mapping community, Hailie sports a style with simplicity that is unique in the current era. Her style utilizes very straightforward movements and rhythms combined with expressive spacing, as well as placements that resemble older maps. Definitely someone to look out for in 2018 if you prefer a simple play experience.
Previously known as HighTec, Hakura returns this year to overwrite his legacy of memes created by Gabe Power in 2016. Hakura brings a simplistic and player focused style to the table, but as his latest ranked map shows, he's also able to construct thematic mapsets that have a unique story behind them.
A fairly new mapper that managed to rank his first map early into 2017 and another one later on, both using rather unique and expressive mapping styles. Even though he ranked only two maps he contributed a lot by being an active modder and also bn later into the year.
While not being very active this year mapping-wise, happy30 has still managed to make a very special and memorable map: Keiichi Okabe - The Weight of the World (Japanese Version). With his simple yet extremely fitting mapping style and an almost touching storyboard, he managed to deliver the key message of the whole game in a beatmap, which is very impressive. It's definitely a must play for everyone who played and finished NieR:Automata. His latest Demetori ranked map also deserves attention, despite not being exactly recent!
Originally one of the highest ranked members of the Triangle Temple, Haruto has slowly evolved and branched off to develop his own personal form. It will be interesting to see his influence in the future, but for now, let's enjoy his own personalized variant of a very popular style!
One of the more active participants in the ranked section this year, Hazu-'s name will definitely be remembered by many for his clean and inoffensive mapping style catered toward lower-Insane players!
An experienced old mapper that came back to rank a 2013 map after being inactive for two years. Despite being mapped such a long time ago it holds up fine to modern standards.
New mapper that is trying out and experimenting with his style at the same year he's started taking mapping seriously. Hope to see how he does in 2018!
hi-mei does not stick to conventions. His maps intentionally stray from what we're all used to, providing engaging gameplay experiences that you'll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. The way he designs each map is always changing, so there's no saying what he might be capable of!
Hiicantpk debuted this year with his first and only ranked map: Celldweller - Weaponized. He's been improving noticeably throughout the year while perfecting his own ideas of organized object orientation, so be sure to look for what he produces in 2018!
Relatively new to the scene, Hikan sports a fairly straightforward style. Don't be deceived however, as his first ranked map shows that even a less complex style can still provide a good gameplay experience. Looking forward to seeing what he'll produce in the coming years!
New to the mapping scene, Hikaru Rose comes to the ranked section with a fairly intricate mapping style. He focuses on careful utilization of unique slider designs and fun stream designs as well as knowing how to keep an engaging play experience for highly repetitive songs. For fans of electronic music, this is a name to look out for in 2018.
Hobbes has improved tremendously as 2017 went on, where after ranking his best ranked map so far, (goreshit - o'er the flood) he went on to create GDs and sets which are fun to play, and of great quality! Hoping to see even more improvement from him in 2018!
New mapper whose only ranked map is... peculiar. His maps, while being simple, seem generally well done and follow well the song, without overdoing it.
A very new mapper that only managed to rank 1 set this year, albeit a memorable one with a really good storyboard! Hope to see more from him this year!
Nearly a household name at this point, Hollow Wings has continued to produce unconventional and expressive maps with a very high attention to detail. She's also known for placing a great deal of effort into sets by drawing the backgrounds, mapping most if not all of the difficulties, and even creating her own storyboard elements. This year she's made a few contributions to the ranked section, including her own cover of a song and a high paced touhou map, and also has some ventures in the electronic genre in the works. Look forward to her newer works in 2018
Despite not being nearly as active ranking wise in the past two years as back in 2015, this mapper's only ranked map this year shows a very neat visual design with some well utilized less conventional slider shapes paired with enjoyable movement.
A really decent mapper aside from being one of the top players, handling aesthetics and flow fantastically. His activity has dropped substantially in 2017, yet he still managed to rank a collab marathon featuring Nathan and Omar.
A mapper's first ranked map is usually worse than the average ranked map, but Hysteria's one and only ranked map this year is a treat to behold. His organization skills are levels above many experienced mappers and his design concepts make his map of BABYMETAL's THE ONE a worthwhile experience.
IceBeam is back and he's better than ever! With his last few contributions in 2014 and his last ranked set in 2012, he came back this year with a bang, ranking stunning difficulties and sets such as Outsider - Like A Man. IceBeam may be here to stay, and if he is, he may take 2018 by storm.
Although he did make a single GD in 2016, 2017 is where Imakuri really shined as he ranked multiple sets and gds which garnered lots of attention this year. Stay safe in 2018!
Most people may know him as Gloria Guard as that was his name before changing it late 2017. He's been semi-active throughout this year, coming and going as he ranked 2 sets and a GD for himself before the end of 2017. GG hasn't really been active the past few years, but it seems like he's slowly trying to make a comeback to how he was in 2013. Hope to see him progress and grow as the years go by!
Irohas's mapping improvement this year has been astounding! He changed his username near the beginning of 2017, though I had believed he was a different person because his mapping had changed so much. Great work!
Yiyo sports a simple yet straightforward style, focusing a lot of their song choices on Japanese male vocalists. Great at providing a spin on the typical song choices for the ranked section.
You probably know Jacob as the mapper behind the iconic map of NOMA's Brain Power. Despite being his only ranked map, it's of a level of quality that stands out above most other maps and it will undoubtedly be remembered by the osu! playerbase.
Primarily known for his storyboarding on electronic maps, Jakomo also shows us he's able to visualize songs in terms of objects as well. His rendition of Tetsuo's Redemption is a fairly good representation of the song and is great preparation for players looking to try their hand at some of the crazier electronic maps out there.
A newer mapper that pretty much disappeared from the mapping scene after ranking an anime tv size in early 2017. Maybe we can see something again next year?
He may primarily be an osu! catch mapper, but his contributions towards mapping in general have impacted all of us. JBHyperion is one of the most prominent faces of the Quality Assurance Team keeping the mapping and modding ecosystems in check.
A surprising showcase of solid anime mapping, from someone who literally only has 1 submitted map (being this one). I guess it is to be expected as the mapper has participated in the Mentorship Program as a mentee!
Joe Castle is a contradictory existence. He prefers to map some of the slowest songs osu! has seen, while simultaneously expressing his affection for Sonic with each of his beatmaps' backgrounds. Gotta go fast, Joe? The world may never know.
jonathalfj is the longest lasting member of the old BAT who's carried over his position into the relatively new Beatmap Nominators. That paired with his work as a mapper prominently known for his work on Demetori songs over the years has established his place as an essential mapper and modder for the osu! community.
Previously Known as EvilElvis, Jounzan has an incredibly unique style that manages to shape itself around the song while also providing a very engaging style. This year he contributed maps from various video games such as BlazBlue and Touhou, as well as songs from featured artists.
jyu is a mapper whose work has gone unnoticed for years. Achieving his first ranked map in 2014, he's been creating maps here and there for years, but only ranked his second map this year. He's the kind of mapper that may not be active at all times, but produces occasionally great work regardless!
KaedekaShizuru is an atypical mapper who focus more on song choices rather than the works in the editor —— choosing songs to map is also a part of mapping. Additionaly, he has kept his own aesthetic of maps for years.
After ranking a decent amount of maps, including his first one in 2016, he basically became completely inactive ranking wise this year, ranking only one map right at the start of 2017. Despite not mapping much he's been actively helping other people rank their maps by modding and nominating them.
Pretty solid mapper, who's started mapping not too long ago and managed to develop a very well structured mapping style in a short time. His usage of linear sliders and overlaps at times even remind my mapping style at times!
Very active and very consistent ranking many mapsets this year and last year. I do hope to see Kalibe grow more on his mapping methods, but he does seem to be here to stay!
A brazilian mapper that's mostly known for his ANiMA beatmap, only contributed an anime tv size to the ranked beatmap section this year. Hopefully he'll be more active in 2018!
Known him since 2014. Although he went MIA for the majority of 2015 and 2016, Misuzu came back in 2017 with quality just as high as his maps were in 2014! Great maps that are fun and unique as well! Hoping for him to stay in the coming years, and colourize the ranked category once more.
kanor ranked his first map over a year ago. Mostly of his maps are vocaloid songs and anime songs with male vocal, while he also made a number of gd for various kind of songs at the same time. Hope he would keep active in the future.
Just as in the lst few years Karia once again manages to show his love for mapping anime tv sizes from a few seasons ago in an often more interesting style, besides that he also finally managed to rank his 10 minutes long Yuruyuri Songs Compilation project.
Well known for his comfortable and very cleanly arranged mapd, Kencho once again ranked multiple maps this year, while also pushing other people's maps forward as a Beatmap Nominator until becoming rather inactive towards the end of 2017.
A mapper who was definitely much more active in 2014-2015; didn't rank a single diff in 2016. He did however rank a map (which is also his own first ranked map) which was famous for breaking the game with outrageously high combo as his announcement that he is definitely back for 2017. The real question though is if he's back for 2018?
Kibbleru's mapping shows you what is true dedication to 2016 Skystar's mapping. For 2017, ""Kibb can't do extras"" is finally a dead meme - Kibbleru has eventually handled extra difficulties very decently and used spectacular slider spams and improved rhythm choices in his maps.
Ranked their first and (so far) only mapset in 2017, for a vocaloid song that is moderately popular with most of the osu! community! Hope to see more activity from Kirylln in 2018 though!
Kisses sports a heavily player focused mapping style and is known for mapping various cute songs. Despite their simplicity, there is a great deal of care in their spacing and movement choices which leads to a great play experience. Kisses also contributed to the community this year as a new BN.
Barely active this year, but whenever he actually ranks a map you can expect it to be very well done, paired with great song choice. Even though he's been mapping for over 7 years he always manages to keep up with modern standards.
Kocari is a pretty experienced modder, legible in writing comprehensive mods. He has been helping mappers out actively throughout year, yet faded away from the mapping scene as the end of the year approaches.
A veteran in the Chinese mapping scene, Koiyuki has always been the type to stand out. Boasting a collection of 18 ranked maps and many more guest difficulties, he has proven himself to be well-versed in the realm of mapping and I hope he continues to showcase his skill in the future!
Known for being semi-active in mapping before 2017 due to discussion in threads and disqus and such, but it was this year where Kotori-Chan truly shined and ranked his first beatmap! Hopefully seeing more from him.
Known to many for his eccentric personality, Krfawy has always been a vocal advocate for more, and more, and more low difficulties in osu!. Although his activity wasn't as great as it used to be, he still pops in every now and again, most recently with a huge Polish collaboration mapset!
Very well known for his highly difficult, usually streamy, and sometimes controversial maps. Kroytz has been able to put out iconic maps throughout this year and a bit of last year as well! Expecting to see more maps of such kind in 2018 as well!
An older face in the community, ktgster continues to show a mastery of design and cursor control with his maps. He continues to create unconventional challenge, catering to players with many varieties of skillsets with an incredibly high level consistency and quality..
A mapper who achieved his popularity from very well known english EDM songs within and outside the osu! community, bringing in diversity to the table. He does map other types of songs as well here and there to keep the types of songs he maps himself diverse too, but for the most part, it's just EDM banger tunes.
While I prefer his old username, kunkakunkakunkakunka, I am definitely more fond of his new maps. kunka mostly avoided spacing variation throughout his early mapping carreer; however as time has gone on, he's experimented a bit more and created more interesting maps. His most recent maps show a mix of both design philosophies, which most mid-level players can find enjoyable!
Kurai is probably one of the oldest mappers still active to date, considered a veteran by many. He's now mostly known for his work as a QAT (as the metadata police), but we shouldn't forget his works in the mapping scene, which are in a large number and all very solid.
Kuron-kun hasn't put out much throughout the years he's been on osu! However his very few maps are quite iconic, such as his pensamento GD and his new nobore, frequently compared to Karen's MCA winning version. Hopefully he'll be more active next year though!
A new face in this community, kwk dominates alternating-style mapping with his smooth yet interesting style derived from his large amount of experience with alternating style maps. For anyone looking for unique and enjoyable maps in the coming year, this is the guy to look for.
With experience dating back 2 years, he has recently managed to score his first ranked map with Climber's High. Kyle73 shows off a clean and structured style that many players have grown fond of and does it surprisingly well!
An older name in the mapping community, Kyubey shows a mastery of a clean style from older origins. Earlier this year he ranked a high difficulty map of Goodbye which features a cool ending slider art after an extremely high paced play experience. He's made an incredible community contribution as a BN and as a member of the GMT.
A new mapper who is extremely active this year, ranking 10 mapsets in 2017. Most of Kyuukai's maps are clean and intuitive, bringing enjoyable gameplay experience. Let's see how he does in 2018!
A recognizable person that has managed to rank notable beatmaps since 2015, but had laid low until recently. Lama Poluna managed to create a decent marathon of the popular squartatrice beatmap which was very enjoyable for many players in the higher end of the skill level spectrum. Hope to see what he brings in 2018.
Previosuly known as intoon, Lami is well-known by both players and mappers alike for his... affection for large spacing. However, his attention to detail and clean placement is usually overlooked, and in that regard I think he shines best.
Very experienced mapper, even though he hasn't been very active in this current year. He's managed to rank only one map, the style of which is very similar to Granat, with many intense yet fluid jumps.
Low difficulties are Lanturn's forte. Most mappers put minimal effort into their Easy and Normal difficulties, while Lanturn ensures his low difficulties are some of the best content new players can get!
Showing great improvement from the past year, Lasse has forged a unique identity in mapping, bringing together a highly modernized style with several interesting techniques integrated from map to map and across all difficulty levels. He is one of the most consistently active BNs out there and brings about positive change to the ranked section by promoting an incredible variety of mapping styles, all while mentoring and working on monthly charts.
Lavender is a very experienced mapper, creating very well organized and engaging-to-play technical beatmaps, striking a balance between playability and challenge. I'm pretty sad to hear that Lavender decided to quit mapping after ranking his Boss Rush mapset.
New mapper, who's managed to get his first (and currently only) ranked map in 2017. While a bit rough at times, his map is well structured and contains some interesting ideas already. It will be interesting to see how his mapping style will evolve over time!
One of the most consistent and experienced Italian mappers, he hasn't been very active throughout this year but he still managed to leave us with one of the most unique technical maps of the year, PLANET//SHAPER, in collaboration with other very experienced mappers.
Formely and more famously known as Timorisu, LeaK is someone who is recognized mainly by his EDM songs; however, he has recently taken a turn this year, and managed to rank a very controversial, highly difficult, and interstingly different kind of map for a song that would not have been expected from him. It has seemed like he's been decreasing activity in mapping, but hopefully he'll still be here for the future!
With 7 new ranked maps 2017 has been a very active year for Left and he once again managed to show some more unique intrepretations on songs, to even keep fairly generic songs engaging to play without making the mapping feel to disconnected from the music.
LeKhanhHoa's single ranked map manages to capture the calming nature of the song while still managing to invoke captivating gameplay. Interested to see what he has to offer in the future!
A relatively new face to the community who recently ranked his first map in November 2017. I am really impressed by how passionate he is towards mapping, actively learning from other mappers. Definitely can keep an eye on what he'd offer in 2018!
Probably a name unfamiliar to many due to being a low-key Chinese mapper, he has been putting out ever since late 2015. However, he is very capable from breaking away from a generic anime style to create interesting concepts such as a linear grid style in Aka no Hana or a symmetry focused style in absolute configuration. Definitely someone you should be aware of if you didn't already!
Liyanna is one of the K-pop fanatics who contributed to a bunch of K-pop mapsets this year. Be sure to check out her mapset if you are looking for beatmaps of K-pop songs!
Known for being Sotarks's side-man in 2016, Linada has ranked many anime and jumpy beatmaps for the usual player's pp crave since the past few years. Doesn't seem like he'll be stopping anytime soon, and in fact, he has been showing some growth recently as well. Hope to see more growth throughout 2018 and for him to rank more anime maps!
lit120 has been around the mapping scene for a while, being one of the mappers who actively delivers mapsets for anime songs consistently. Most of his maps are featured with simple design and highly spaced jumps, providing very smooth gameplay experience.
Very active anime mapper having ranked many GDs and sets this year just like the past few years. Although he hasn't created maps that are ""notable"" so to speak within the mapping scene, he has created anime song sets and difficulties that are very enjoyable for many players, with tremendous amounts of plays in all his GDs and sets.
A newer mapper with rather uncommon song choice, who has shown a lot of improvement since first ranked map early this year. Ranked one of the few stream heavy 2017 maps that aren't 200+ bpm, which are always nice to see.
Prev. known as [ Abhor ], Lobelia has been sticking around here and there for the past few years ranking maps and GDs, starting off in 2015. He's not too active, but it's always great to see more people like Lobelia around ranking their favourite songs!
With his first rank being in 2017, he may still seem inexperienced to many. However, his pletheora of... eroge maps has displayed his ability to create well-structured maps with clean and smooth gameplay.
Becoming very popular very quickly, Loreley came in and out of 2017 with a bang, ranking catchy utaite songs, while mapping them in ways that most players would love. It also seems like he hasn't run out of steam yet, so we may see plenty more in 2018.
While he may only have one ranked map, it is not at all representative of LowComboFC's mapping capabilities. Checking out some of his unranked maps or guest difficulties reveals just how impressive of a mapper he is!
An established and pretty well known mapper, knwon for mapping very popular songs alongside some anime and underground music. Lumael definitely shined at 2017 however, ranking many mapsets that were just as popular as their 2016 sets, and keeping the frequency of sets consistent as well.
Pretty old 2015 mapper who made a semi-infamous pp map at the middle of 2017, but nonetheless a pretty good one. Comes and goes as the years pass by, but never leaves!
An old mapper, formerly known as Xanandra and ErufenRito, that came back 3 years after last ranking a map. Great usage of (often less conventional) movement. Manages to make ""older"" feeling maps without making them feel outdated or poorly aged.
Even though he currently has only one ranked map (and this map just contains two std difficulties), it's clear that Lyawi knows how to make a clean map, with a very solid structure and enjoyable patterns, which is something you don't see very often with newer mappers. He's definitely a standout!
Formerly known as Shmiklak. You might heard of him for his series of 55x55 maps but he is also doing exceptionally well in other mapsets with his clean and intuitive style! Hope to see more improvement from him in 2018!
Known for being the mini-Mazzerin at times. Maakkeli wasn't too active in 2017, only ranking 1 map (a huge drop compared to his activity in 2016), but he did rank a very popular and difficult map nonetheless. Hope to see him stay active for 2018 though!
A modding machine, briefly put. A familiar name if you've ever attempted to rank a map yourself, mancuso_JM_'s efforts to help the community are crystal clear. Jitensha, while sounding simple and straightforward, has been mapped in a way that uses unfamiliar patterns that still manages to bring out the song's nature! With great maps, numerous mods, as well as being a Global Moderator, what more could you ask for?
An older mapper, Mao brings a simplistic style that, at a glance, is from an era past. However, the care put into the construction of maps in this style, as well as how strongly they tie to the song, shows a high level of mastery that makes the maps more than able to keep up with modern mapping ideals. Mao contributes immensely to the community as a QAT, primarily guiding BNs everywhere to make the ranked section a better place.
Although favoring simpler pop music, Marianna takes advantage of modern leniency to use fast sliders and large jumps to give his maps that extra oomph. A fantastic change in what is usually a boring genre to play.
MashaSG sports a stable and clean mapping style that takes a great deal of care on playability and details of the song. Tales of The Destinies is definitely one of the bigger surprises to the community this year! Definitely can look for more growth on him in 2018.
The tradition lives on as Mazzerin ranks yet another map of an intense metal song this year. He may not be producing maps at the same rate he was years ago, but that doesn't mean his maps have lost their unique touch and level of quality!
A man with almost as many name changes as maps ranked, Meat Inspector, commonly known as a bor, is a new mapper this year. His style is highly unique and consistent, showing mastery of cursor control and overall design that consistently places him in the upper echelon of mappers. With his current ability of song representation, he is most certainly someone to watch out for in 2018!
Previously known as iMage--. Meg has been improving steadily, developing a simple and highly organized mapping style over time. Currently Meg is one of the most active mappers who create beatmaps for the most recent anime songs. Be sure to keep an eye on him if you are looking for decent beatmaps for anime songs!
A figure that most people aren't familiar with, Mei has been putting out the occasional maps and has gained significant fame after the ranking of EVO+'s Addiction. A shame he has mostly disappeared from the game now.
The second person I ever met on osu! Meyrink is mostly known for his anime sets and many connections in the mapping community. His activity has decreased substantially in the past 2 years, but he still ranked a set and a few gds himself for 2017!
Even though he hasn't been particularly active this year, Mikii still remains a very good mapper with an incredibly fluid mapping style, which makes his works always a pleasure to play.
Most of his recent maps haven't received much exposure due to falling directly to the graveyard, but they are some of Milan's best work yet. He's changed his mapping preferences noticeably as he's grown dissatisfied with standard mapping, so it's a shame more people aren't aware of his craftsmanship.
One of the newest accounts to get something ranked this year, he ranked over 20 maps and a huge amount of GDs in 2017. Mir mapped/modded and improved so much over this first year that it feels like he's been doing it for way longer. On top of that he's also been extremely active as BN.
Showing rapid improvement over the past year, Mirash is a new face in the mapping community. A rising wonder among russian mappers, he takes heavily from his predecessors, using highly variable rhythm and uncommon cursor movements, making for an engaging gameplay experience with every map. In 2018, I wouldn't be surprised to see them making a strong appearance, so watch out for them
Previously known as VINXIS, our beloved Omar Kamal contributed one mapset as a collab with RLC in the beginning of the year in a simple style befitting of the song. However, his contributions have been immense in other factors, such as tournament organization and even the organization of the MCA. As a result of his song composition, masterfully crafted memes, and significant contributions, there is no doubt osu! is a better place thanks to the work of Omar.
Previously known as ""Blue Dragon"" and famous for the Blue Dragon difficulty of his map Seiryu - BLUE DRAGON, Mismagius is one of osu!'s longest standing mappers. He's been a part of the game for 10 years, contributing a continuous stream of maps the whole time. Tons of his maps have influenced mappers throughout the years, so it wouldn't be far off to say that the mapping scene would be a different place without him!
An underrated mapper. Handled both aesthetic and creativity in his maps. Also he is one of the few mappers that use sliders with large radians frequently.
Modem has grown tremendously since 2015, creating very fascinating yet slow maps every year. Although he hasn't been as active as he used to be, he definitely brought out the best of the slow songs that he's mapped this year as he always has. Hope to see more of them in 2018!
Even though he's been less active than in former years, you can always rely on Momochikun to make solid (mainly anime) maps without forcing difficulty.
One of the newer technical mappers who has debuted in 2017. His mapping style seems to be already well developed and clean, which is impressive for someone who has just got his first ranked map, and it has potential to be even better.
One of the most active mappers in 2017. Monstrata produced generic mapsets most of the time, although he occasionally used a greater variety of patterns and ideas. Made several mapsets that ended with over 1 million plays; CBCC and Shiori are two examples of such maps. He also set a record for having 8 maps qualified on the same day
Considered by many THE videogame music mapper, MoodyRPG has delivered many videogame-related beatmaps with a simple yet very solid mapping style. It's also impressive how, despite being an old mapper, he is still active in the mapping scene: not many mappers continue to map years after their start!
moonlightleaf's has been fading in and out of this game for quite some time, but the experience racked up over the years has translated well into his mapping. His only ranked approval map in 2017 showcases an adorable accompaniment to an upbeat song, with comfortable gameplay and aesthetics to boot.
After his debut in the mapping scene, which dates back to 2015, moph has been gradually developing his mapping skills, becoming a very capable mapper. His maps are very well organized, with a very good usage of spacing emphasis to underline the song's features, and with a very pronounced visual consistency, which makes his maps very pleasing to look at.
MrSergio has certainly been the most active Italian mapper and staffer of this year, with an incredible amount of dedication put in his maps and in his work as a BN and as a GMT. His work in the mentorship program also deserves a mention. Unfortunately he seems to have gone suddenly inactive at the moment for unknown reasons, let's hope he can get back soon!
New to mapping, Mun enters the ranking section with a strong start. His single ranked map, LGND brings together a visually complex style that utilizes some more complex rhythms with an interesting implementation of spaced triples. He made substantial contributions to the Community Mentorship Program as an organizer this year.
Known much better as Desperate-kun, he has done extensive QAT work through the years, but sadly retired at around the middle of 2017. Hopefully he stays with and contributes to the mapping community in 2018 though!
Not to be confused with Naotoshi, Naitoshi is a mapper who showcases an incredible twist on electronic music with his mastery of cursor movement and complex rhythm control. His latest ranked map shows a unique twist on a rhythmically complex song, showcasing a high level understanding of all aspects of movement with sliders, creating a very bouncy and enjoyable play experience for experienced players.
Namki's definitely a pretty skilled mapper who can handle different genres without any problem, with a style which is partly similar to Jounzan's (or Evilelvis's) one, especially when it comes to her usage of jumps and slider velocity. It will be certainly interesting to see her future works!
Not to be confused with Naitoshi, Naotoshi is a newer mapper who rapidly improved, now able to masterfully handle of a simplistic style, having a more refined handling of rhythm and movement than most mappers using the same style. This year he contributed heavily by starting off the year as one of the most active BNs for a lengthy duration of the year. The most important thing of all that he contributed was multiple sets of your favorite 2017 tv size song, Harumachi Clover.
narakucrimson is not a name anyone was expecting to see associated with 2017. His prime period was 2011 and his mapping shows that he has drastically different design philosophies from mappers of today. Who knows what we'll see from him later on!
Even though his activity might have dropped compared to former years, Narcissu still managed to rank a well made approval map this year. Which, despite the song already being ranked multiple times, still feels like a unique addition to the ranked section, mainly due to making it more accesible for less skilled players and a cute take on difficulty progression throughout the map.
While not being too active in the mapping scene, Nathan still managed to squeeze in and rank a few maps here and there at the very beginning of 2017. Looks like he may repeat it next year as well with Sengoku Hop.
Natsu has consistently been one of osu!'s most active mappers and modders. His maps have a visual style that can be discerned at just a glance and his mods over the years have helped tons of mappers on their path towards rank.
One of the few newbie mappers who has successfully established an original mapping style. His maps are very impressive in terms of visual design with his excellent usage of varied slider designs. Gameplay experience of his map is great too since he uses alternating patterns and high sv wisely making his maps even spicier.
A k-pop (and deez nuts) mapper who has been active for quite some time, making maps which are simple but usually express the song very well, with some clean visuals as well.
Other than being very knowledgeable about dojin music, neonat is a very experienced mapper: he can handle a lot of different genres with ease, with a mapping style which is simple yet effective. He also deserves a shoutout for his work as a BN, which has been very consistent.
A very solid mapper who has improved greatly since his debut in the mapping scene, with a very clean style and an intuitive map design. Definitely one of the best newer mappers, especially considering his technical maps.
Nevo achieved his first ranked map at the very end of 2017. His ideas clearly draw from early Monstrata maps through hexagonal tessellation, so you can bet his future maps will be some of the most well-organized you can play!
New mapper who's apparently started mapping in 2016 and has shown a very noticeable improvement in his works, getting his first ranked maps in 2017. His style appears to be already quite solid, with a clean structure and an efficient use of spacing, which is why i'll definitely be looking forward to his future maps.
Formally known as My Angel Kanan, nextplay has been dabbling quite often in the normal and easy difficulty levels of ranked mapsets. hope to see what he brings to osu! in lower diffs (and maybe in higher diffs as well).
Nhawak is barely active in the mapping scene this year, however he still managed to rank a really popular dnb mapset: Whatever I Do. His mapping is pretty clean in general. Not much to complain.
After getting his first ranked map in 2016, Nitrous has continued delivering anime maps up until now, managing to underline the songs' features with a simple but fitting mapping style.
Very old and experienced mapper, with a simple yet incredibly elegant mapping style. His latest work shows that even older mappers can be up to date and make maps which are up to modern standards.
While she hass made worthwhile efforts in successfully ranking six maps in 2017, Noffy's work extends beyond map creation. Being part of a few Ranking Criteria discussions and involving himself in metadata work, he's helped the community more than we deserve!
It's hard to keep track of mappers when they change names so often. Formerly known as Reya and LunarBlossom, Nokris ranked a more modern version of Sally's ""Remind"" with a clean high bpm mapping style.
A very strict and unorthodox mapping style, contradictory to what a newer mapper would usually create, but oh boy is it a fresh and entertaining one. non-one has shown to great effect that mapping isn't about sticking to the norms at all!
Very experienced mapper who can deal with many different genres. His mapping style is simple yet well done and fitting, resulting in very solid and clean maps. He also deserves a special mention for his work as a BN, especially considering how he's been active since when he joined the team back in 2016.
Nyquill has played a far different role from most mappers in osu!. He contributed to the game as one of its developers years ago, and he continues to contribute to the growing library of featured artists through his work on the Mappers' Guild! Perhaps he won't be in the foreground of the mapping community, but he's definitely making a difference behind the scenes.
While he hasn't been very active in 2017, managing only to rank 2 maps, Nyukai still remains a very consistent and experienced mapper, and the experience from his years of mapping are surely shown in his maps, which are usually very well realized and clean, with an excellent usage of symmetry as well.
Known for most of the year as Okorin and under many different avatars, Okoratu, a QAT leader, has contributed immensely to the game this year. While he only brought one mapset to the ranked section this year, it was certainly a memorable one with a focus on low AR and bezier curve design, bringing a modern twist to older design paramaters for a unique experience across the entire mapset. Most of his work this year has been through spearheading a great deal of new Ranking Criteria drafts, leading the Community Mentorship Program, nominating various mapsets, and going back and forth with developers to ensure that the community's needs are met. Additionally, without him, we wouldn't have the great oko_hand emoji to show appreciation for each other's company.
A familiar name for the modhelp regulars and appearing in the ranked section last year on a collab difficulty, Ongaku puts out his first ranked mapset this year. YoiYoi Kokon sports a clean and organized style with fast paced gameplay, definitely worth checking out for fans of alternating maps.
While still being a new mapper, osuskrub has improved his mapping skill in a very short time, even managing to get a ranked map not long after his first work. It will be certainly interesting to see how he will improve over time, given his current maps.
No stranger to the mapping scene, P A N has remained consistent in his mapping throughout the years. Although only having a handful of maps in 2017, his usage of acute jumps and clean organisation showcases his expertise in mapping. Not to mention being a true hardcore APink fan.
Knew him since he starrted mapping since he wanted my input for a map of one of my songs. He's been leaning more towards taiko recently, but he is very active nonetheless. Expect to possibly see many more taiko/std hybrids from him in 2018!
A new mapper that improved a lot over the year. Ranked some enjoyable to play Insane and lower difficulty maps in the last few months of 2017 that often feel reminiscent of great older Russian mappers.
Staying away from mainstream mapping, Pata-Mon makes relatively easy maps and puts more effort into mapping lower diffs like Hard or Normal. He is strict to his maps' aesthetics in a mathematic way, especially spacings.
Pentori has been around the community quite a bit this year. His work as a Beatmap Nominator has helped a variety of mappers and he earned the winning spot in Modhelp Mapping Contest #3. He may not be the most active mapper, but his work is nonetheless impressive!
I really respect Pereira006 for his contribution in helping the mappers back in the days. He was barely active this year, disappearing from the mapping scene after ranking his last mapset. Although he is not too involved in this game anymore, his good work will never be forgotten.
With his first and only ranked map being produced near the end of this year, PeterEU has stepped his foot through the door to the mapping world. We're looking forward to what he can create in 2018 with all the experience he'll be gaining!
Pho is known for an interesting design approach to mapping, focusing on a very solid structure and interesting visual designs. He typically pushes mapsets of high speed utaite covers which, when paired with his mapping, leave behind a rewarding play experience.
Known for eroge mapping, PinkHeart is one of the few mappers who are able to tie together a stunningly beautiful visual design while showing mastery of cursor control and rhythm on a level rarely matched by others. Her recent mapsets utilize blanket designs to their fullest, keeping the player spinning around at high speeds paired with complex shapes to show off prominently held sounds, providing a highly rewarding gameplay experience.
Long term mapper that always manages to adapt his style well to current standards and also seems to have been experimenting more and more with different styles over the course of the year. Sadly not very active with his own sets in 2017, but made some interesting, often more reading-focused guest difficulties.
The first mapper who often comes in my mind when talking about double BPM maps is pkk, and for a very good reason: he's been one of the most consistently good mappers when it comes to this category of maps, with an incredibly fluid and intuitive style which makes his maps very fun to play!
Despite being new to the mapping scene, Plaudible has stood out from other new mappers by establishing a very fluid mapping style and achieving a role in beatmap nominator. His latest work - JINGO JUNGLE is particualarly impressive as he mangaged to utilize fast sliders very coherently.
New mapper who has dramatically improved his mapping skills over the course of just one year, managing to rank 3 maps in 2017, an impressive feat for someone who debuted in the mapping scene so recently. His mapping style, while still being a little bit rough around the edges, is very interesting, and could lead to something amazing in the future.
Really only getting into the groove of ranking this year, ProEzreal's korean influence is clear with strict placements and an obvious focus on structure. Watching different styles from different regions is always something interesting to observe, especially when every mapper has their own individual spin on it!
After not ranking anything for over a year, Pururut came back to the mapping scene earlier this year to rank a map that has been submitted since 2015, just to disappear again after doing so.
Famous for his love of Linkin Park and... long maps, pw384 succeeds Guilty All The Same, a 9-difficulty 6-minute mapset, with a 36 minute marathon, Living Things. Wait, not just a 36 minute marathon, a 36 minute marathon with two difficulties, all mapped by himself. To top it all off, the difficulties are all well done with consistent applications of both symmetry and repetition!
It's not often that a mapper ranks a map, then disassociates from mapping for 5 years only to come back with higher activity levels than anyone else! Realazy has modernized his mapping flawlessly, making it hard to believe he was ever involved in osu! in 2012.
Reazen made his debut in 2017 with a simple enhi set having the top 2 difficulties created by guests. Seems like a new fresh face in osu!mapping and I hope to see how he grows and improves as time goes on!
While he hasn't been hugely popular, ReFaller has been constantly making new maps with a very clean and structured mapping style, handling different genres with ease. His graveyard section in particular shows how much effort he has put into mapping since when he started, containing 43 maps which were all done in the span of 3 years.
Regou's surely become one of the most interesting technical mappers of this year, thanks to his very peculiar usage of sliders (and slider velocities) and to a very creative style which makes his maps stand out from most of the others which are present in the same genre. Some of his best works can be seen in maps like AsiaN distractive and Key of timepieces, but in general all of his maps are very good and worth playing!
Definitely one of the biggest Yaoi fanatics in the osu! community who has been creating a series of yaoi beatmaps! As a beatmap nominator, Regraz has contributed much on helping the mappers on pushing their mapsets forward consistently. Aside from modding, Regraz is also a skilled mapper who handles a simplistic style nicely.
Priorizing low difficulties can be demotivating, as not many people appreciate the work put into them. However, that hasn't stopped Renumi! He's produced quite a few mapsets featuring low difficulties with no sign of stopping any time soon, so if that's up your alley, check him out!
Loved by many Japanese people, Repl4y is a very new mapper who only started mapping seriously this year. His tremendous following and recognition has been growing very rapidly (especially within the Japanese mapping comunity), and he doesn't plan to stop as we head on to 2018! A man who truly loves to map his favourite anime songs.
Rin Desu's dive into a variable BPM map as his first ranked was definitely an adventurous one, but to a player it would be practically unnoticeable due to his careful usage of sliders and circles! Definitely a job well done and looking forward to future stuff!
PP-ology expert who delivers extremely aim-heavy beatmaps to the ranked section. If you are looking for challenging jump maps, Riven's maps are exactly what you are looking for.
A kiwi mapper who is getting better and better by the second. He's been actively mapping for a couple or so years now, but due to his health, he is forced to take an indefinite hiatus. Hope you get better and come back for 2018!
Pretty much a household name in the game at this point, Rizia has consistently shown utmost proficiency in handling the editor. With almost 50 ranked mapsets under his belt, its no surprise that his understanding of gameplay is almost unparalleled. Ask anyone, and you can bet they'll sing praise to Rizia's collection of fun and enjoyable maps.
While not being too active in the latter half of the year compared to the first, RLC still managed to create and rank some timeless beatmaps. Although he hasn't played an active role in the community recently, RLC always manages to influence many mappers with his extraordinary yet pleasant style in most maps he creates; however, he has recently decided to change up how he maps, so we might see a new face of RLC and his maps next year... some of his new work shows his new style as well!
You'd be out of luck if you tried finding another mapper from India, especially at a skill level comparable to Rohit6. He's a mapper with capabilities that seem underappreciated by most mappers, but worry not -- your work is not going unnoticed!
rs_fadeaway is one of the mappers whose main interest is not in ranking his maps. He's been in the beatmap creation business since 2010, but only in 2016 and 2017 did he rank his only two maps. It's clear that rs_fadeaway isn't swayed by the mapping ideas used in most maps today -- he's got his own preferences which result in maps that are undeniably engaging!
While Rumia- is not too focused on ranking beatmaps this year, he keeps up his good work on creating mapsets with clean and intuitive style. From his pending mapsets, I can see that his mapping is evolving tremendously as he managed to combine the strength of his mapping style with more technical patterns, making his beatmaps far more expressive. Make sure to keep an eye on him in 2018!
Definitely a style more befitting of older mappers, with strict polygonal placement as well as the occasional usage of symmetry. But what if I told you that RVMathew was a newer mapper? With a perplexing mix of old and new concepts, what does he have in store for us in the future?
RyoKazuka is perhaps one of the least viewed mappers out there. While he only has two ranked maps, one of them was the winner of an official mapping contest that earned him the title of ""Elite Mapper,"" so you can be sure his maps are top notch quality! He's still active in creating maps, so I expect more from him in the coming year.
Known for his anime sets and non-standard mapping sahuang has established himself over the years as a prominent member of mapping in osu! and 2017 was no less compared to his past years!
Sakurauchi Riko's maps have definitely improved throughout the year. His earlier maps were rather disorganized, but with his latest map of Quynh Nhu's Don Coi, anyone can see clear progression through neat object placements and interesting gimmick implementation. He's got a fair few maps aiming for rank right now, so expect to see his name throughout the next year!
A fluid, gameplay oriented style reminiscent of various American and Japanese freestyle mappers back in the day! And he's mapping the same songs to boot!
Definitely a name you wouldn't expect seeing in 2017, but believe or not, Saten is still around as a Global Moderator. However this doesn't mean he's no longer interested in the mapping side of the game! With a revival of the ever-popular Zetsubou plantation map, he marks his return to the ranked section, his first mapset in almost 4 years!
While debuting in 2017, Sauziteoi seems to be already quite experienced with mapping, considering how he's already started doing it years ago. His only ranked map shows how he's already developed a pretty fluid mapping style, with an interesting use of overlaps. It will be interesting to see where this mapping style will lead for sure.
A new face this year, Komore has established themselves with a simple style taking roots from earlier years. Manages to consistently create varied and representative maps for each song he comes across.
A fairly new mapper, sdafsf's maps show a very high level of organization, quite unlike his name. His ranked map barely scratches the surface of his ability, so make sure to check out his guest difficulties to see his unique approaches to various songs.
New to the ranked section but not necessarily to mapping, Sebu shows a promising style that borrows heavily from modern electronic styles. He performed quite the feat this year in pushing forward polygon, which was featured in OWC due to its heavy usage of stream jumps. Hope to see more from this mapper in 2018.
Despite slowly declining in activity in the past years Secretpipe still managed to rank multiple maps for electronic songs in his usual clean mapping style this year, helping him stay one of the more well known dnb mappers.
An old name in the community, Seikatu sports an organized mapping style with an older feel to it, typically sticking to Insane difficulties. This year he participated in quite a few different mapsets, showing off his versatility as a mapper quite well.
Seni definitely stands out from most of the new mappers this year. He established himself in the mapping scene by ranking a 7-star difficulty, which is a reworked version of Foreground Eclipse - From Under Cover (Caught Up In A Love Song). Hope to see how he does in 2018!
He has continued to map and rank anime maps very actively until the last quarter of this year. Some of his maps are pretty interesting, with unusual usage of high sv and excessive jump patterns.
Sharkie may not rank most of his maps, but he has experience and a unique design style that makes him noteworthy among mappers today. His latest ranked map, an English rock song marathon, is probably his best yet. It's got a mix of different BPM sections and an interesting design that makes for a map worth giving a try!
New to the scene, Sharu has achieved much with his mastery of the modern mapping style in the past year, even placing third in one of the #modhelp mapping contests. Definitely a name to watch out for in the coming years to see how his style develops.
While not being often noticed sheela still remains a very talented mapper, so talented that he's even managed to win a french beatmapping contest back in 2016 with a very interesting technical map, Holystone. We should also remember his work as a BN, which has been consistent except for the last few months!
One of the older mappers in the community and a pioneer of more freeform mapping, Shiirn's style shows he has adapted well to modern times. He continues to bring forward several of the more unique electronic mapsets with his usage of weird slider shapes as well as a uniquely harsh play experience.
Far from being a newcomer to the ranked section, ShiraKai has been ranking stuff for a few years now and 2017 is no exception. WIth two ranked WALKUERE approval maps, both in collaboration with N a s y a, he has been showing how well their mapping styles work together to create a cohesive feeling playing experience.
Shiranai is a mapper whose work appeals to a small niche of players. He maps mainly calm instrumental tracks which set a mood unique alongside most maps!
A new mapper, Shiratoi shows a clean and composed style and has brought a couple Japanese pop songs to the ranked section. It will be nice to see how this mapper's style develops over the next year.
With over 70 submitted maps since 2012 Shizuku- finally managed to make his debut into the ranked section with nothing less than a near 6 minute extra difficulty that manages to utilize some interesting ideas.
Shogud showcases his discipline by not enough making an Insane for a song that most would throw Extra and Ultras at! Your efforts will not go unnoticed, keep doing what you do!
New mapper who debuted in 2017 with his first ranked map, who seems to be mapping mostly easier difficulties, ranging from Easy to Hard. Despite starting mapping in 2016, his maps seem to be already very polished and fluid, while also being very fitting to the song.
It's noticeable that Shurelia mostly chooses slow and elegant songs to map. According to his song choices, there were just simple and relaxing patterns in his maps, which fit well with the songs. Additionally, he is a member of the GMT.
Truly one of the bigger surprises this year, with a style so well constructed and precise you'd think he had been at it for a real long time. Genuinely looking forward to his future endeavours!
Not only is Sidetail an excellent mapper with coherent design sense, but he's also made a name for himself as one of osu!'s most competent storyboarders. Most people may know him by the name ""BetaStar,"" under which he created a number of intriguing visual experiences for players who play with less than 100% background dim to enjoy!
Sieg was very active from 2013 to 2015. He was one of the few English songs mappers that kept active for a long time. Without tricky patterns, his maps were simple but fun to play. Apart from mapping, he also contributed a lot as a BN.
1 of the 2 only banned mappers of 2017 who was very active at 2016 and early 2017. Not sure what happened to them, but it seems like they were banned early on in the year. They did make some great easy, low-level, and laid-back difficulty mapsets however that are worth checking out!
More commonly known as Snepif, Silleth is a mapper whose maps you've definitely played before. He's made countless classics throughout the years and advanced his mapping alongside the norms of current map design. If you're looking for something difficult to play, his 7 star ranked map this year of BLOOD STAIN CHILD's MOON LIGHT WAVE is exactly what you're looking for.
Silverboxer's only ranked map this year was the first one of 2017! He's been a part of the mapping scene for quite some time, though most of his maps remain unranked. We'll see what more he can produce in this coming year.
Sing is a pretty solid mapper, and continues to deliver beatmaps with fluid flow and decent aesthetics. Some of his work such as Future Cider is spectacular as he managed to use peculiar SV changes which gives an unique and engaging gameplay experience.
It's surprising how much of a name Sinnoh has made for himself in the short time he's been on osu!. All 7 of his ranked maps have been from 2017 and he's achieved the role of being a Beatmap Nominator in both osu! standard and osu! catch. His dedication to the game is incomparable.
In my eyes he's easily one of the best when it comes to technical mapping. He has an incredibly clean and varied style, which takes advantage of the song while being very intuitive for the player as well. It's a bit of a shame that he's not very active right now!
Sjoy is a typical mapper that focuses more on gameplay rather than the aesthetic of his maps. As a touhou songs mapper, his mapping style and these songs were a really good fit. It's a pity that he has been afk now.
This guy apparently really likes calm songs, just like in 2016 he ranked a set for one of these, while also contributing to the mapping community by being a semi-active modder.
Mainly known as a top player, Smoothie World is a crowd favorite due to his focus on electronic songs and smoothly playing maps. His recent Camellia map provides a coherent and player friendly take on the song, showing his talent in making chaotic songs accessible to a large portion of the playerbase.
As he said, there's no more rabbit jump style after his first ranked map on May 2016. SnowNino_ has made a transition from an unranked ultra maps maker to a quality mapper. Now he makes various kinds of maps and has kept ranking maps actively this year.
Often praised as one of osu!'s best modders, Sonnyc has been an essential member of the mapping community. His work towards modding as a Beatmap Nominator has been appreciated by many and his highly organized mapping reminiscent of maps from a few years ago is a breath of fresh air
Just as he was in 2016, Sotarks has undoubtedly been one of 2017's most prolific mappers. He's practically a mapping machine considering how many mapsets and guest difficulties he's created in his time on osu!. Without his work, we'd have a fairly lower number of ranked maps this year, and for sure fewer maps of fhána's music!
Other than being an active BN, squirrelpascals is also a pretty solid mapper despite getting his first ranked map only in 2017, with a very clean style and an interesting usage of high circle size. It will be surely interesting to see how his mapping style will evolve in the future!
With his first map ranked in 2015 and none in 2016, SrSkyPlayer came back to the ranked section this year by picking up a map again that was first submitted all the way back in 2014, showing that sometimes it's better to just leave a map and get back to it after improving as a mapper.
Aside from creating general anime beatmaps, Starrstyx has been experimenting in beatmap contests quite a lot this year, trying to use more technical patterns such as high svs and cut streams in his beatmaps. Really hope to see how he does in 2018!
Although he was really only active in 2016, Stjpa did rank his final and possibly his best map at the beginning of 2017 before leaving the BNG by the middle of 2017. He has uploaded a handful of maps since then, but he doesn't seem to be as active as he was in 2016. Hope to see him possibly make a comeback for 2018!
Strategas is most well known for his well-organized drum 'n' bass mapping, culminating in his impressive 2015 and 2016 Liquicity Year Mix marathons. Near the end of this year however, he's shown a newfound interest in mapping japanese songs, proving that every osu! mapper is an anime girl at heart.
A new mapper, Suissie shows promise with his expressive style that shows great handling of awkward motions to reflect the song. It will be interesting to see what else he produces in 2018.
New to the scene, Sulfur ranked his first mapset this year as a remake of an older classic. His style is fairly straightforward with a few interesting placement choices that separate him from other mappers, making him someone to look out for in 2018.
A promising new mapper. His mapping has improved a lot in this year. In general, his newer maps have very cool aesthetics and decent rhythm choice, which was not revealed in his first efforts. Notably, he also won pending cup #5.
Relatively new face in the mapping community who started mapping in 2016. He had an extremely active year, ranking 7 mapsets, which is incomparable by most of the new mappers. Surely he still have room for improvement but I believe he'll improve tremendously if he keeps up in 2018.
Mostly known for his 2015 sets, Tarrasky came back from a year hiatus in 2016 to rank even more mapsets and GDs for players throughout 2017! Hoperfully he stays for good this time, pleasing mappers and players alike.
Apparently 2017 is the year of new russian mappers, and Testo is one of them. After improving a noticeable amount over the course of the year he got his first ranked map in November and qualified a more interesting one right at the end of December.
Ranked their first map ever including GDs this year; a Game of Thrones beatmap added to the ranked section, bringing in more diversity to osu!'s ranked category!
Coming on strong in 2017, thzz brought out Labradorite which may have been one of the best maps of 2017. He did wane in activity for std as 2017 went on, but he did manage to map and rank a few beatmaps over the course of the year as well. He has made some other notable maps in the mapping scene for std such as Hengen Jizai, but it looks like he's leaning more towards taiko lately.
When it comes to Russian mapping, TicClick is definitely one of the mapper who you'd think of. He has been inactive for a while, yet made a short comeback this year, ranking nachi - bellow that is done back in 2016.
Hard to believe this guy sprung up out of nowhere in the last quarter of 2017 with 4 whole ranked mapsets! Absolutely charming is how I'd describe his style, which accompanies the songs he maps perfectly.
As another newcomer to the ranked section this year, tokiko shows his love for touhou arranges by ranking multiple of them, including a nearly 4 minute set without any guest difficultuies.
Praised by many for his stable and fluid style, toybot continuously delivers with a multitude of sets and guest difficulties ranked this year. A reliable, and consistent mapper, it's no wonder plenty of people ask him for guest difficulties.
While he's been mapping since 2015, it's taken until 2017 for Toyosaki Aki to begin ranking his maps. He's been slowly but steadily working to improve his maps throughout the years and as he continues, expect to see more maps from him!
Trust is an old mapper who is starting to get more and more active after his disappearance in 2015. As part of the legendary/legacy group known as ""nagifukers"", Trust has always shown exceptional skill when creating quality beatmaps. He may be considered one of the greatest anime mappers if not the greatest anime mapper of all time as well!
A fairly old name in the community, tutuhaha continues to bring forth several mapsets in an older style, which heavily features a bias for vertical axis symmetry. His recent ranked map takes us back to the times his mapping developed with a fast paced song from wowaka, which shows us that even though the style is older, it can be still be an enjoyable experience.
Having only mapped an Easy difficulty for Harumachi Clover, Uber is probably the least fitting member on this list. However, that also means he's successfully dedicated his mapping career to a meme, so it's undeniable that he's got potential as a mapper!
No stranger to the mapping community, Ultima Fox finally ranked his first real mapset (no easy sets don't count)! His experience shows with a serene yet thrilling map of Nekomata Master - Greening!
New to the ranked section but definitely not to the mapping scene, UndeadCapulet has brought forward several works that test the values of mappers and modders alike with his unique ideas. His latest mapset shows an interesting take on an english pop song, featuring several mapping techniques heavily utilized by an older generation of mappers, yet tied together with a modern design philosophy. None will forget the day he brought forth the twenty second long slider, and who knows what we'll see from him in 2018.
A newer mapper who finally got some ranked maps during mid/late 2017, after attempting it multiple times before, showing that sometimes you just have to move on to the next map and if you keep improving it's going to work out at some point.
Having some old maps graved for years is common to most old mappers. But Urushi38 has managed to rank these graved maps like FAKE PROMISE or The World's End. His maps are adorable to players, and players are glad to wait for years until they get ranked.
You may have seen vanucik in sets by shmiklak/marvollo or russians, but vanucik himself came out in 2017 to rank his very own mapsets, with one even gaining more than a million playsr total (Snails & Pegboard Nerds - Deep In The Night)!
Not a mapper you'd call particularly active, but Vell still had his own fair share of interesting maps this year. On top of Kalafina, Vell chose to add goreshit to his list of mapped artists, a pretty odd decision to many considering his tame, calming song choices in the past. Despite that, he handled the song brilliantly with smooth and fluid patterns all around that made for comfortable gameplay. With a subsequent Kalafina map that returned to his roots of calming yet thrilling marathons, Vell proved that the extent of his ability knows no bounds.
Even though he only got his first ranked map late into 2016 Venix managed to rank a lot of maps during 2017, including the legendary double easy diff 30 second map ""pi"".
Veridian's strong admiration for a select few artists is pretty clear from a quick glance at his collection of ranked maps. You can't help but smile when playing his maps though, especially with the accompaniment of the adorably goofy songs he adores so much!
Most of Vert's maps possess a strong personal style: they seem to not be not polished enough but play well. Also, he is able to handle complex rhythms and add suitable hitsounds to his maps. This made his maps stand out from a bunch of random jump maps.
After his first works, which date back to 2015, Voli has managed to dramatically improve his style: his maps are now very clean, with a structure which is fluid and very pleasant to look at, and with a good usage of symmetry. Let's also not forget about his work as a BN, which has been pretty consistent!
Although possessing a very, very sparse track record, wa_ is a name known by many for his various contributions to exceedingly popular mapsets. He possesses a stable and fluid style with a touch of originality, a perfect fit for the songs he chooses the map.
His resume might not be the most impressive so far, but his dedication surely is. Waku's a guy who definitely loves mapping, and you can see it very clearly from the stuff he makes!
A devout disciple of the Triangle Temple, walaowey spends his free time honing the fine Art of the Hexagon and occasionally displays his ability with the popular technique, Anime Mapset. Inoffensive and consistent, this style of mapping has been done over and over again but each disciple provides their own interesting spin on it.
New italian mapper who managed to get his first ranked map in 2017. He shows a lot of potential, as his map already shows a pretty solid structure and his works could evolve into something very interesting in the future.
Better known as wasinkingspeedq, his love for K-pop knows no bounds. It's really great to see K-pop slowly getting bigger over the years! Here's to an eventful year for K-pop in 2018, 화이팅!
"Random stuff sometimes makes the map better."" As his activity was significantly declined since late 2016, this sentence dramatically became his most noticeable point of 2017. Wcx ranked his first map in 2011, and he kept his activity until 2016. During this period he had also been a MAT/BAT for around 2 years. It's hard to judge of his maps' qualities, but it is certain that he has his own theory of mapping, and he is good at sliderarts.
You rarely see newcomers rank full songs as their first map, even less so if they happen to be without any GDs, but William K did exactly this by ranking a nearly 5 minute long solo ENHI set early into the year, followed by another (much shorter) set later.
Pretty new mapper that ranked banger songs as his debut. He really loves his symmetry and repeating jump shapes, but he is also very new, so I am hoping to see some skill development in regards to mapping in 2018 from him!
WISPG_G ranked a 10 minute collab right at the start of the year, where he mapped over 7 minutes, after that he only submitted a few maps over the course of the year, but didn't try to rank any of them.
Mapped and ranked the incredibly popular Cycle Hit. Though it's rather generic, it's very satisfying to most players since he mainly uses simple patterns.
Basically disappeared from the mapping scene after ranking his 2015 christmas map right at the start of 2017 and one of his graved 2014 maps as a GD a few days later.
A mapper who is constantly mapping and ranking very popular drum and bass songs, xChorse has in fact been mapping since 2014-2015, and he's only been growing since! See you in 2018.
As an expert in pp-ology, Xexxar has produced countless maps that push the limits of difficulty. Alongside his expert mapping, he's also helped mappers everywhere through his modding and beatmap nomination work, so it was sad to see him depart from his Beatmap Nominator role near the tail end of the year.
Xiaolin's acitvity has been intermittent throughout the years, with his earliest activity dating back to 2014! It's great to see that not everyone quits when they're bored!
Xinely has contributed thoroughly to mapping throughout the years. Her work as a mapper in both osu! standard and osu! catch has brought joy to all kinds of players, plus her work as a modder has brought joy to mappers!
Although his activity has significantly wavered ever since his golden anime years of 2014 and 2015, xxdeathx still lurks around, dropping the occasional guest difficulty here and there and even ranking a pretty old mapset from 2014. He might be too old to stir the gravy, but he can still lick the spoon.
Yahuri's a newcomer to the mapping scene, but his structure and adherence to aesthetics is like none other. Even in his few ranked difficulties and mapsets, his attention to detail is truly remarkable, definitely unlike someone you'd call a newcomer!
After getting more into mapping and figuring out the ranking process by ranking a few maps late into 2016, Yamicchi became very active ranking wise this year, focusing mainly on electronic music together with the occasional anime map. People with interest in electronic music should definitely be familiar with his maps.
Even though he's been mapping for a long time, with a lot of submitted maps going back all the way to 2014, he only ranked his first set in March 2017, with two more following during the year. Focuses on simple and intuitive to play anime tv size maps.
A new name to the scene, yaspo brings a very solidly made mapset to the ranked section as his first ranked which shows off his ability to map under self imposed limitations. Hope to see more works from this mapper in 2018!
A 2014-2015 mapper that was barely active over 2016 came back this year to actually rank one of his 2016 maps. Together with the other Extra GDs by mappers mainly active around the same time, it feels like a set that would perfectly fit into 2015 while still holding up to current standards.
You may know yf_bmp for his incredible storyboards, but he's also an excellent mapper who's made some of the most solid and interesting beatmaps, making use of patterns and mapping concepts which aren't seen very frequently even now. He's managed to win a pending cup mapping contest, and for a very good reason!
Having only ranked a handful of maps throughout his mapping career, one might not recognize his name at first glance, but Yoges is definitely one to keep an eye on in the coming years. His song choice and mapping style may not be your usual clean and comfortable one, but they'll definitely leave a lasting impression on you. A positive one, of course.
Yohanes is a mapper who wears his inspiration on his sleeve. He's contributed a fair number of maps in 2017 with a style reminiscent of Frostmourne's mapping and it's easy to see how much care he puts into his content through increased organization in each consecutive map!
A new mapper who has improved a lot since the first time I saw his map. Now he could make nice arrangements of overlapping sliders and decent flow in his maps. Hope to see his maps ranked in 2018.
Yukiyo treads the path of the old god, Monstrata. On top of religiously practicing in the Triangle Temple everyday, he goes one step further by performing along to the same songs that Monstrata once used. Will the learner become the master one day?
He has a unique style of rhythm choices and placements. Also with his solid foundation he managed to make decent maps for various kinds of songs, albeit without replying to mods. By the way, guess who's [rasis]?
Zare isn't too involved in osu! anymore, but his work will never be forgotten. In his short time as a Beatmap Nominator he's helped numerous mappers make their way to the mapping scene, myself included, and his maps are a treat to play as well.
New to the mapping scene, Zer0- shows he's well adapted to the osu! meta by ranking both a Japanese pop song and a drumstep song this year in solid styles. He's also got quite a knack for storyboarding for Korean pop, so make sure to check that out as well.
An older name in the mapping community, Zero__wind continues to construct maps with his mastery of cursor movement. His recent map of Kimi to Gelaende shows this off very well, utilizing several uncommonly used placement styles to their strengths and reflecting the song in a highly unique way. Zero__wind has contributed to the community this year as a member of the GMT and a BN.
Quality, not quantity. Zhuriel is a perfect example of why ranking isn't as important as it seems. With his first map being submitted way back in 2015, it took him 2 whole years before he got his first set ranked. Evidently, those two years did not go to waste, as Paper Moon stands strong as one of the most impactful beatmaps I have encountered this year. Definitely someone I'd keep an eye on in the future.
_Rise is one of the mappers who came from « taiko-san jiro », which is similar to osu !taiko. He got his first ranked map in 2017 but you should definitely try his graveyarded ones too. His wide range of styles and difficulties should satisfy most of the players.
Being the long-standing top player of the mode, _yu68 engaged in mapping for ranked starting from 2017 and focused on making harder maps like Necrophagiatoast and MANIERA. We could expect this highly skilled player to stay active in the mapping scene and bring us maps of wide variety!
-Sh1n1- is a fantastic mapper with great knowledge of structure and an understanding of how to make said structure stay fun. His maps don't need to veer too much into being difficult to be fun in the end!
Relatively new mapper in the scene but with a lot of potential and a clean mapping style. 'Okashi na Yume o Ohitotsu Douzo' is a pretty map for newer but also more experienced players but also 'Atlantico Blue' is recommendable.
aabc271 is one of the 'oldies' but still one of the more memorable names in the Taiko scene. Has a very decent and smooth mapping style and definitely a good call to play their maps.
His ranked map in the past was only one diff and it seemed to not be very famous as a mapper engaged in the ranking section. However, his ranked map in 2017 ""ZADAMGA"" gave us a great shock! Don't take your eyes off his future works.
Recently joined the BNG and also around in the community for a fairly long time. Providing decent beatmaps but also good mods, you really should give his maps a try!
Alwaysyukaz is fairly new to the taiko mapping scene, with Shiawase Iro being his first ranked set, having only one more guest difficulty ranked earlier in 2017 on Leprechaun. However, there is more to come and based on this map, it can only be a good thing.
Founder of the tasuke cult, Arrival lost sight of anything that is not related to his god tasuke912. He reached a point where most of his own maps are filled with patterns copied from tasuke’s maps, may they fit the song or not… Apart from that Arrival became BN and ranked 7 maps in 2017. A notable map of those is BLACK or WHITE?, a five minute difficulty featuring some dank streams!
Rather new to mapping, an aspiring mapper ASPIRIN (haha get it) appeared in 2017. With their first own ranked map, Saifu 'Kamiasobi no Uta', ASPIRIN delivers a well-structured patterns that represent the song brilliantly, and shows a lot of potential as a mapper.
Backfire has been mapping for quite a long time now, providing us with interesting maps over the years. He is especially known for his Taikocalypse difficulties that used to be some of the hardest maps to be found in the past. He is back(fire) this year with some ranked maps including one from his brand new Taikoclysme series, Uta.
Butter0414 registered only 2 years ago and managed to get his first two ranked maps this year, False Cross and Youkoso JAPARI PARK e, one marathon and one mapset respectively. He doesn’t seem very active right now, but he is still here preparing another map for the ranked section.
chaica kind of disappeared in 2017 right after ranking his map “snow blind -after-“ from fripSide, a very simple and clean marathon. Luckily, he seems to be back now and ready to make some new maps for us!
Charlotte is an active mapper that has been getting much better over the years. He has always been into the ranked section and he reached a point where he has more ranked than graveyarded maps. Charlotte used to mostly map anime songs, but he significantly increased his range of genres this year. We greet him as the mapper with the second-most ranked maps in 2017.
With Weave Detonator as his debut appearance, Chocola_2287 put notable effort in mapping spreads last year and managed to get a few of them ranked such as Hitorigoto and Nawatobi. This demonstrated his ability of making decent sets apart from usual technical map creations.
Well known as the man with most ranked taiko difficulties this year, Chromoxx offers a wide range of music styles to the ranked section, from Drum and Bass to Rock along with Anime or Novelty, following a very specific flowing mapping style
Dargin kind of started to get more into mapping this year after reaching a decent amount of experience in the game mode as a player. His very first (and only) ranked map is BAMF. A kind of song we don’t see much in the taiko ranked section even though its maker Pegboard Nerds is quite a popular group. Dargin is still working on other maps as of today, so we might see more from him in the future.
Already quite known with a lot of unranked maps, DarkVortex keeps providing enjoyable difficulties for everyone with a remarkable Shikou no Ran set in 2017, definetly a mapper to follow !
Dellvangel, normally a mania mapper, mapped one good taiko set in form of anime TV size song Blow Out. You can stay here for 2018, our dons and kats are friendly.
Definitely more experienced than what you might think, EdamaMe411 has been active in taiko mapping for several years with now more than 50 submitted maps. His pack contains a lot of medium difficulty maps with mainly anime, rhythm game and vocaloid songs. We congratulate him for his second ranked map this year.
Probably not that known for the majority in the taiko community but they brought out a pretty decent taiko mapset with 'AIWAGUMA'. Let's see what they will us in the future!
Known as one of the most impressive gimmick mappers this year with his spiritual brother katacheh, he recently managed to get his first ranked map. Though this is a single difficulty set it shows that he can make suitable maps for the ranked section too, we hope to see more from him.
Faputa has a good start of his taiko mapping journey with ranking a bunch of easy, but relaxing taiko beatmaps for the community. Nice start, but it is still a far cry from ending!
frukoyurdakul, who became a BN in 2017, worked on making hard maps of rock genre mainly, and he created a number of hard maps for players who are not satisfied with easy maps. His style of following the drum accurately can be said to be the optimal way of taiko mapping to make maps objectively good.
An experienced standard mapper who gave a try to taiko and was rewarded a beatmap in the ranked section ! Check out his relaxing Interlude - teatime map if you haven't already.
Gemu- is a mapper with a lot of effort to dole out. Having been assisted by me a few times in his early mapping career, it's fantastic to see him getting maps out on his own. With simple song choices and quality maps, Gemu- brings a pool of relaxation to an otherwise hectic mix of maps.
Long time player, long time mapper, long time weird jokes maker, Gezoda is kind of the Jean-Claude Van Damme of osu!taiko. He registered more than 8 years ago, participated in 5 Taiko World Cup, held the BAT title for 2 years… and yet he was still here in 2017 adding some fresh maps to his huge collection. Even though his 2017 ranked maps might not be THAT memorable, Gezoda is probably one of the first who tried to push ranking criteria to their limits with maps such as Lawn Wake IV (Black).
He got his second ranked map early in the year but don’t be fooled by this number: he is a very active mapper and he recently reached the 100 submitted maps milestone. His map list covers a wide range of music genres which shows how versatile he is. He might get his third ranked map soon and we are looking forward to it!
After years of mapping in various modes, this mapper finally got first own ranked map, in collaboration with 2 other mappers. The outcome is a streamy map to nicely cover the song which is intense with 1/4 piano/guitar rhythms. The mapper and two friends, have sure delivered well!
From the people who brought you ""Salchipapa,"" Hanjamon is a mapper who has consistently been able to make great maps for many years now. With great understanding of patterns and structure, we can only imagine what awaits us now that he has his hands on music making programs.
Gunshots and drums and dons. Finally another mapper who appreciates using finishers as much as I do. Additionally, their first ranked map overall. Congratulations, Hiicantpk!
While this mapper may not get to finish too many maps, the ones they do finish are award winning. Despite being a one-handed player, hikikochan's maps provide great flow across playstyles and have impressively structured patterns to boot. Look forward to the three total maps they'll finish this 2018!
iloveyou4ever is a fairly new mapper who managed to rank 5 marathons this year even though he didn’t have any ranked map before, which is quite impressive. A notable one of those is True Blue [DJ Command Mix] (Full Ver.), a 6 minutes map filled with short streams that represent the song in a respectful and enjoyable way!
There are a lot of 'The Legend of the Black Shawarma' in our taco world, and Invective's takes a place. 2 years of effort made the shawarma become delicious. Unfortunately, we seldom see the chef keep producing good tacos now...
One of the few non-Japanese players who managed to break into the top 30 of our mode, he is in fact also a great mapper! It took him more than one year to get his first map ranked but it probably was worth the wait for us players. Beware as he doesn’t seem to be done with the ranked section yet!
JBH mapped one set that was ranked on January 2nd and it's 2.12*. After that he decided to abandon taiko again. Traitor. At least he gave OnosakiHito a good playground to bring jiro difficulties into 2017, with Acceleration.
As one of my fellow taiko mapping community members, JessiChan puts extremely hardwork and effort on pushing his map 'O2i3 - TSLove' forward. You know what, he won't quit! His perseverant attitude is highly impressive and appreciated in the community. TaikoSuperLove!
Jonawaga is known as a standard mapper more than a Taiko Nominator XD. His simple taiko mapping style remarks that taiko is an instrument, after all. I am looking forward to his new tries on mapping complicated music pieces!
Quite the old and experienced mapper with over 100 submitted maps, JUDYDANNY has not been very active this year but still ranked one map. Even though he has been a BN for several years, he didn’t push many of his own sets to the ranked section but focused on helping others instead. We thank him for his great contribution.
Known as one of the most impressive gimmick mappers this year with his spiritual brother Fantazy, he recently managed to get his first ranked map. A clean and simple set unlike some crazy maps we were used to, we hope to see more from him.
Kazaze's first ranked set, and on a quite long pop song. Overall a nice map, and a welcome addition to 2017's ranked maps. Hopefully we will see more in 2018!
Older than what you might think, Kin has been mapping and modding for years in osu!taiko while also being proficient in osu!catch and osu!standard. He recently joined the BNG and is now an active figure of the ranking process. If you are an experienced player, you should definitely try his Bassdrop Freaks (Long Ver.) map which contains impressive SV changes and complex patterns.
Kisses- Kisses [Kisses] A standard mapper has just kissed the taiko community! His attempts in Taiko mapping are breakthroughs for himself. Hope he can leave his lips in Taiko longer!
What a skyrocket in popularity and mapping skill this year! komasy marked 2017 with his incredible consistency at making great maps following a heavy Jiro style, with a proeminence of rhythm game songs.
Kurai already existed when I first started playing taiko and it shows that they know how to deal with taiko mapping. A simple map that gives newer players a good entry level Oni, and that on a French song! Also there's a cow mooing at the end.
A very well known standard mapper and BN that gave a try in ranking a taiko map this year. The rhythms are quite well made and he probably has a lot of potential, we can just hope for him to keep mapping drums!
LZD is a very underrated mapper. He has those maps you find in the graveyard that really surprise you with their quality when you play them. If we can get this guy a few more tickets to the ranked section, that'd be nice.
Strong player also known for holding several months the lowest user rating in osu!taiko history with his map Moment of Betrayal. It is his first and only ranked map even though this sad record wasn’t really deserved. However, he doesn’t seem done with mapping yet so we might see more from him.
Brazil is a country that gained quite a lot of good players and mappers this year and Marm is one of them. He kept working hard on his maps and managed to get his first ranked one, Redshift Galaxy, near the end of 2017. This fast and unusual song sounds pretty hard to map yet Marm succeeded in making something interesting out of it.
Even with relatively few ranked maps this year, he still marked the mode with his Nico Nico Douga songs and an amazing, TJBC winning and Spotlight featuring Din Don Dan remix that struck the month of August with an impeccable design and patterning choice.
Known for being the strongest European player these past few years, Mew104 is actually also a very impressive mapper. His favorite music genre being metal, he got his first ranked map this years which is Scars of Yesterday from Dragonforce. Make sure to check out his other maps if you like the genre.
If you're looking for weird and funny song choices with very good standards of mapping, then Midnaait is definitely your man. 'We Are Number One (Remix)' and 'sorry asap croissant' are great great beatmaps just to count up some examples.
Even though he has not been very active those past years, MMzz is still very well known by the osu!taiko community as one of the most experienced player and mapper of this game mode. He used to be the only top player being part of the ranking process as he held the QAT title several years while also being in the top 50. He once again demonstrated his ability to map any sort of song in a cool way this year with some dank maps such as NEXT LEVEL and POWA OF DA WILDANES!
The (in)famous triangle guy comes to create a map in another game mode then leaves, but the legacy is actually enjoyable. W-wait, do we count TRICKL4SH?
Previously known as a top mania player, Nanatsu felt like trying out taiko mapping and ended up doing quite well. Unfortunately, he seems to be retired now, leaving us with a last ranked map this year. Make sure to check his maps though, you won’t be disappointed.
Oh my god, Naotoshi knows songs other than Harumachi Clover?! While normally a standard mapper, Naotoshi has started mapping and ranking more difficulties of the only true gamemode - osu!taiko, ranging from anime TV size to 5 minute songs. What will we see in 2018?
Long-time taiko mapper and joined the QAT last year, tirelessly producing beatmaps with decent spreads since years and also claiming the title for having the most ranked beatmaps in 2017 for taiko mode. Personal favorite: 'MY LIBERATION'.
Neppu(Jerry) actually is one of the oldest active users in the taiko mapping scene as he registered back in 2010, though he wasn’t that active the whole time and thus he didn’t submit a large amount of maps. Nowadays he seems to be hesitating between either getting more into mapping or focusing on his memer career. His only ranked map in 2017 is the opening S.M.L* (TV size ver.), back from a 4 years sleep in the graveyard.
Nifty is a newcomer who started to actively map in taiko this year. He is one of the few mappers who work on SV changes in order to give players a better experience. One of his notable maps from 2017 is fuego (sakuraburst remix) which provides some well-rounded SV speedups and slowdowns.
Nishizumi gained a lot of attention in 2016 after ranking a particular 7 star map which was known for its high and probably not deserved star rating. It actually was his third ranked map, with the first one getting its ranked status in 2015. Nishizumi is still a very active mapper today and he managed to rank a total of 9 maps this year! Can he break his own record in 2018? Only time will tell.
Long time mapper and great community contributor, Nwolf is now the oldest member of the BNG with more than 3 years in! He has been doing various things for the community over the years such as TWC statistician, osu!taiko LMS mappool selector, beatmap spotlight selector etc. Thought he never did put mapping aside since he still ranked 3 maps in 2017. One of those is Perfect Free, a 5 minutes maps with fancy SV changes that will probably please players looking for some reading challenge.
Even though his singing is not the best, he still tries as hard as he can and never gives up, just like his mapping I guess… On a serious note he was one of the most active mappers in the past and he significantly helped our mode to grow up, we are glad to still have him here.
Another standard mapper who's entering the real mode. While their Jpop Drop set is decent, but not much, there's more Pachiru taiko difficulties in pending and entering ranked section in 2018. Can't wait!
Raiden has been around for a while now, even becoming a QAT (poor guy). He's known for mapping a lot of metal songs, and being good at that and being featured with them in spotlights in several months. However, he also got his speedcore map Magical Sanctuary ranked this year, a huge change from his normally mapped songs.
Raphalge is a dedicated player and mapper with probably more experience than what you might think. He started to map taiko 2 years ago already, and finally managed to get his first ranked map this year: Nobore! Susume! Takai Tou. This five minutes long map provides a cool experience for beginners and more experienced players as its low bpm favors the use of the Double Time mod.
With 'Fall of Fall ~ The Door Into Summer' beatmap, (and recently ranked 'Ascension to Heaven') Remus shows great ability of creating drum-based beatmaps. You might think ""Demetori, drum-based, the combination is kinda stale.."", but the map delivers amazingly. Definitely play worthy!
Desptie owning a single ranked mapest, Sanawieck shows his clean Japanese style in 'Yui Horie - PRESENTER'. When will this rare customer come back to our mapping family?
Known for Galaxy Collapse, Sayaka- is a mapper that creates songs and creates maps himself. I hope for him to restart taiko mapping and to make the mapping community develop by his great songs.
Senritsu is a very skilled mapper we don't get to see enough of. Being that most of his sets are of rather tame songs, I think there's a bit of untapped potential in him.
Shinsekai- is a mapper I'm sad to admit I have let down pretty frequently as a BN. Lacking re-check patience, I started to miss out on what are actually pretty solid maps. I'm glad others were willing to give him a chance and support his never-give-up attitude.
Skull Kid is an active mapper and player who doesn’t try to get his maps ranked very often. He has more than 60 grave yarded maps for only 2 ranked maps as of today. The second one, Fast Paced Society, got ranked this year. It is a long and challenging map which provides some quite draining streams, you should definitely try it if you want to put your reading and stamina skills to test.
Aside from 3/16 jokes, Skylish is a well established mapper and a helpful part of the community with his position as Beatmap Nominator. 'Precious You*', his latest ranked beatmap, shows a really smooth difficulty spread and is a really good beatmap for newer players. Meanwhile I heard someone in the world yelling 'Ishukan Communication' and I have no idea how to react.
An inactive falling star with his resignation of BN, does not let these be barriers of his shining beatmaps. The greatest characteristic of snowball112 maps are well balanced difficult spread across the whole mapset, his 3 ranked mapsets are so telling!
As one of the oldies in taiko mapping community, two times being a Taiko BN, with his new title osu alumni! now, Stefan performs consistently strong and active in taiko mapping. His contribution on the community has profound influence rather than his mapping style though X)
strickluke entered the taiko mapping scene this year by ranking two marathons, both with high quality, having consistent and difficult pattern usage as well as many slider velocity changes. I'm excited to see more in 2018!
Very discreet user that you had probably not heard of before this year. He showed off some incredible skills at making storyboards and managed to win the aspire 2017 contest, now having his entry as his first ranked map! Unluckily he doesn’t seem active for the moment, but we hope to see him back for the next contests.
I think I have never enjoyed it so much before when someone creates beatmaps to wrestling men. Although I am not a fan of DragonForce maps: If you're one, then Surono can provide you very well with content, 'Cry Thunder' and 'Extraction Zone' are remarkable examples.
Sylphi has talented taiko mapping sense and skills. I am so surprised that he has so few ranked mapset now! What a pity. I can't wait for seeing his new maps hitting on QF section!
My former mentee from the Taiko Mentor program two years ago, he improved a lot since his 'Chik Habit' beatmap. 'Intro - the other Side' is maybe not the best of his works but 'MilK' and 'TRICKL4SH 220' are really good creations by him and I am really proud of him that he's today part of the Beatmap Nomination Group.
Is it still needed to present him? Former captain of the TWC winning Japanese taiko team, tasuke912 has been for a long while a proficient taiko player, his playing skill only rivaled by his mapping skill. Although 2015 is the year when he started to really shine with incredible creations such as Anima or Tiger Rampage, 2017 saw from him a lot of very high quality unranked maps while still being on top of the charts in terms of ranked difficulties! No doubt 2018 will be the theatre of even more awesome creations from him.
Big figure of osu!taiko, TKS has always been known for his high quality maps and was also a top player at some point (#1 in 2014). He was BN for a while and did a lot in general for our gamemode, he retired in 2015 which is why he is now titled alumni. Luckily for us he came back this year with some fresh ranked maps such as AsiaN distractive and Sky of Twilight.
toara_fict hasn't done much in 2017 but they're still mentionable for their mapset for '[1/5] Short ver.' which is pretty smooth and enjoyable to play. Hopefully we see more of them in 2018!
After becoming BN in 2016, Volta became particularly proficient in taiko mapping, he even managed to rank more than 10 maps in 2017. Though most of those are either rhythm game or anime songs, Volta also seems to be into cleaning as he mapped a song about vacuum cleaners, Pylesos.
After more than 4 years of absence from the Ranked section, but still mapping, whosthebox (now known as YUGAMI NEE NA) comes back with a tech-oriented approval-length map. The song is furioso melodia which has tons of 1/6 through and through and even a fully 1/3 gabba part, leaving big room for mappers to create a tech map. The result is a total joy for tech map enthusiasts! Mmm spicy dkdkdkd's.
After a lot of graving, World Fraction finally got first own ranked beatmap, 'S.O.S.'. A rather generic anime map, but done right, and appeals to a good amount of player base.
I think xfraczynho had a really hard start: Producing so much content but no sight of getting anything ranked. However, 2017 was his year joining the BNG and getting a total of three maps ranked within three months. His first map 'DioSynth' which had some problems at the begin also has some good approaches and I am excited to see what he'll release and how to excite us.
xtrem3x' performance in taiko mapping does not go as extreme as his name indicates, that's a pity. Hope he will achieve more in polishing his mapping style in 2k18!
Strong player and active mapper even though he appeared only two years ago, yassu- made his way into the ranked section and he got several sets of his ranked this year again. If you are looking for fast maps you should probably check his ""DJ MOKOJI"" series.
Experienced mapper with over 50 submitted maps, yuzu__rinrin managed to rank 4 maps in 2017. A notable one of those is eastward, a cool ginkiha song which provides a great mapping variety since several guest mappers are part of the set. Most of yuzu__rinrin maps are either anime or rhythm game songs and they cover a decent range of difficulty so if you like the genre you should check them out!
Multimode and very experienced mapper, he ranked two quite interesting marathons this year. If you try them you will notice that Zetera often works on SV changes to support the song in a cool way. If you are looking for challenging and well-rounded maps you should definitely check his “Majin Oni” series.
- Magic Girl - certainly did not let anyone down in 2017, ranking her first collaboration project Don’t let you down along with JBHyperion. Being Touhou enthusiasts, the duo also composed the map Necro Fantasia and successfully went for the ranked status. Besides creating hard maps, - Magic Girl - is competent at mapping easier difficulties, especially Salad. In 2017, nightfall and Arcadia were pushed to ranked state with her contributed Salad difficulties. While it seems - Magic Girl - has become slightly quiet in the mapping field, I am still in hopes of seeing her great work very soon.
Anyone who has tried to rank a beatmap will tell tales of the initial difficulty involved, and many mappers rightly see their first rank as a special achievement. -Hex- is a mapper who has quietly grown over the second half of 2017, learning from their mistakes and improving day by day, managing to achieve their first ranked map, featuring Cup and Salad difficulties, in October. Whilst they haven't especially built upon this success as yet with only one other catch mapset submitted, I hope they continue to grow and I look forward to another mapset from them in 2018.
Formerly known as Chara, -Plus- is an underrated mapper who has always been striving for excellence. While most may not know, -Plus- started his osu!catch mapping career in 2014, and finally got his first-ever ranked mapset in the late 2017. Despite having a short amount of ranked maps, -Plus- is a versatile mapper who can map parts ranging from soft, peaceful tunes to exhilarating, vibrant music, which can be easily observed from his ranked Undertale marathon. Breakthrough in osu!catch mapping from him is yet to come!
As a new mapper last year, -Sh1n1- had a slow breakthrough but has made great success in 2017. With 6 ranked mapsets and 2 GDs, he's been really active as a mapper but also as a BN. He's been one of the people who's contributed the most to catch this year all in all in the mapping scene. All this experience is greatly shown in his maps; he's a mapper who prefers to perfect his maps before submitting leaving all maps with high quality and good flow, even though this might also sometimes restrict the output of maps created. We'll be hoping for yet another active year coming from -Sh1n1- in 2018!
Commonly known because of her rendition of chrono diver -fragment-, -wwwww (formerly known as Fii) went ahead along with Ascendance this year to provide us with two polished-to-the-core marathon maps, the first being their overdose diff on </emotional>, a well-known dnb song by kamome sano, and the second being a rain-level diff on Hanatan's Sekai wa Koi ni Ochiteiru, both of them being extremely high quality maps on their own. She also had lots of ranked GDs on 5 different sets in all in 2017, showing the range of genres she is able to map proficiently. We all expect to see a lot more coming from her on the coming 2018.
After returning from a long hiatus due to a busy school life, alienflybot's reinstated Beatmap Nominator membership heralds the return of the highest ranked osu!catch BN. Even though his 1 ranked map may not show it this year, alienflybot's extremely precise mapping style and ability to stray from the meta while still creating very high quality maps is something to look forward to in 2018.
It would not be an exaggeration to state that Ascendance dominated the world of osu!catch mapping in 2017, with almost double the output of ranked difficulties of any other mapper. He has made it his goal to break records and does so with almost frightening ease, securing for himself the largest total mapset drain and highest max combo. Add to this his triumph in March's osu!catch MBC which secured him the Elite Mapper title, and it leaves one to wonder what more there is to achieve. In any regard, Ascendance has left rather large shoes for any mapper in 2018 to fill.
Benny- (or known earlier as BennyBananas), is someone that's been around mapping for a pretty long time. Although only recently last year getting her first ranked map, Benny- has recently stepped up her game, ranking a few of her own maps as well as a GD. Her advancement into the BNG can't be understated either, coming seemingly out of nowhere and making a big impact on the community. All in all, with a slow but steady continuation of her activity, we should expect consistent ability coming from Benny- in the next year.
Few mappers have had as successful debut year as celerih in 2017, as he managed to push three separate mapsets to Ranked status. Even fewer complete their first rank with a hybrid mapset. From a humble beginning of a single Cup difficulty, celerih rapidly expanded his mapping knowledge and confidence this past year, culminating in dual-mode membership of the Beatmap Nominators. As his playing and mapping skills continue to increase throughout 2018, Overdose mapping should become more accessible, helping to round out an already respectable skill set.
Ever active as a Quality Assurance Team member making sure everything was in order in the qualified section this year, Deif greeted us with his rendition of Demetori's Youkai no Yama ~ Mysterious Mountain, an enjoyable 5 minute overdose diff of a nice metal Touhou arrangement. He also went out of his way to rank Myosotis, a mapset in which he used some quite technical patterns not seen everyday at the time of its qualification. But his most remarkable work was his Overdose on ZiRoX's A Bella!, in which he introduced hyperjumps inside of sliders to keep up with the song's unpredictable nature. Because of feats like these is why we're hoping to see more of his maps for this 2018.
Following a relatively slow breakout year with a shorter set, Hareimu forced all eyes to be on him earlier this year with DARK THUNDER, a high quality marathon map seemingly out of nowhere. Even without an extreme amount of maps in his graveyard, Hareimu's ability to map can't be understated. His strong approach to playability in maps, as well as his acceptance into the Beatmap Nominators, should turn him into one of the best mappers in the upcoming year.
The resident chair thrower of osu!catch, JBHyperion's ability to work outside the box is something to be admired. Being an experienced mapper, JBHyperion's flexibility when it comes to the editor has been proven time and time again, from his abundance of cs5 or non-standard difficulty settings to his ability to rank an all-mode set this year. Although his activity slowed down quite a bit in 2017, JBHyperion continues to be a helpful presence at the heart of our community.
Along with Ponchiwi, Jusenkyo brought the Spanish side of the musical spectrum to the ranked section. Ever improving over his simple mapping style, he still has to show us what he's able to create when he decides to put all his effort and creativity into any song he chooses this year.
Kyuare has been one of the pillars of osu!catch mapping, continuing to impress everyone. Kyuare mastered the art of employing technical patterns which consist of wiggling movements and back-and-forth jumps while maintaining excellent flow in maps. Kyuare also tends to feature the use of 1/3 and 1/6 snaps in his maps to construct compact atmospheres, namely Chronoxia and Lilieze to Enryuu Laevateinn. His skill to map out of the box is also worth mentioning. His upcoming mapping projects are eagerly anticipated by the community.
When you see the name MBomb (previously known as - Magic Bomb -), Inferno is probably the map most people associate with him from 2017. MBomb is one of the older mappers and and is well known for his low BPM maps but with maps like Inferno and Reanimate, he proves he can map a variety of songs and difficulties. Throughout the years he's gained a lot of mapping and modding experience and this is strongly shown in his maps with the usage of well-playing hyperchains, antiflow, and snappy patterns in his higher difficulties. We'll be looking forward to what he'll do in 2018!
Myle made history in 2017 by being the first mapper from the Russian Federation to push a mapset to Ranked status with his rendition of the popular Shelter AMV in May. He had a quiet end to 2017 however, choosing to focus on improving his Overdose-level mapping capabilities before pushing further mapsets. With a beautifully clean style and a clear drive to improve, at least one other full-spread mapset in the Ranked category should be a more than achievable goal for 2018.
After nearly a year in pending, Paranoid Grapes finally managed to rank nightfall, a calm but fun mapset that elegantly reflects the music. Along with this, he managed to rank 3 GDs, so he really stepped up his game from last year. We'll be looking forward to what great mapsets will pop up in ranked in 2018!
Ponchiwi is a mapper who grew significantly in 2017 whilst still managing to remain close to refreshing ""older-style"" mapping roots. Additionally, along with Jusenkyo, he has heralded a welcome return for Spanish music in osu!catch, with two mapsets ranked in April and September of this year. Despite his vast playing skill and experience, he has focused almost exclusively on Cup-Rain spreads thus far; I'd like to see Ponchiwi break out of his comfort zone next year in order to round out an improving skill set.
Razor Sharp is a mapper who has been trying to make maps with challenging jumps and streams, even for top players. With his remarkable work burn this moment into the retina of my eye, he offers professional players an actual challenge with dense streams and unforgiving jumps. He tends to feature the use of 1/4 snaps with clean use of distances, and we're excited to see his 2018 works.
He is the new rising mapper in 2017. With clean and regular, but well-used patterns, he is increasingly recognized among users as maps such as Towa Naru Kizuna to Omoi no Kiseki that are selected in the CWC mappool. We are looking forward to see his mapping in 2018.
2017 marked a rather quiet year in mapping for Riari, though his Ranked mapset of FLIP FLAP FLIP FLAP was noteworthy for the inclusion of a previously unused or obscure concept - the [Pure Illusion] difficulty progressively demonstrating features of Cup, Salad, Platter and Rain difficulties as the song progresses. A large part of Riari's withdrawal from the mapping scene can likely be attributed to his study abroad year in Japan, but come his return in summer he can be surely counted on to continue where he left off last year.
Fresh out of the water in 2017, RoseusJaeger came here to stay with their mapsets on History Maker, Hallucination and syncretism, all three being pretty well crafted overall. We're eager to see what kinds of things Roseus comes up with this year, and we all wish the best for them.
Considering 2017 was Sinnoh's first year as a catch mapper, he's quickly become well known in the community with 4 ranked mapsets and a total of 7 ranked GDs. Although many might remember him for meme maps such as Yeah Boy - Shooting Stars and the high class stuff, we also remember his well produced and technical map Towards The Horizon which is by far his best work yet. His advancement to the BNG is also really impressive. Looking forward to see what shows up in the ranked section the following year from this mapper!
From just being known for ""Sorcerer's Platter"" to creating one of the cleanest overall sets in osu!catch with ""7 Colors"", as well as joining the Beatmap Nominators, Sorcerer's leap deserves high praise for both his efforts in assisting the community as well as his ability to map. One of the strongest points to be noted was his breakthrough into Overdose mapping, creating impressive difficulties on On the FM and When It Falls. This is definitely a mapper whose progress should be noted going into the next year.
To many mappers, Spectator is someone to look up to in multiple ways. Along with CLSW, Spectator paved the way for the meta as we know it today to shine, and even to this day he continues to find new ways to innovate almost flawlessly. After a hiatus earlier last year, Spectator returned in 2017 with the spotlight on him, creating masterpieces such as Boogie, and recently ranking more creative maps such as Marigold. Regardless of his ranked map count, Spectator is a mapper that anyone in osu!catch should know the name of, and his maps will make sure you'll never forget that name.
Even though Surono's year consisted only of ranking a Cup difficulty, his efforts are still admirable. Taking almost 2 years to rank his dual-mode set, Surono's beginnings as a CTB mapper have been small but not unnoticed, and I hope that we can see more catch-focused sets with him in the future.
Mapping can be a labor of love for some, and when it all becomes too much, sometimes you need to take a step back, collect your thoughts, and make a fresh start. SYAHME embodied this philosophy in 2017, choosing to improve his command of lower difficulties and focus almost entirely on a single map, sakuzyo's ""that day"". In an effort to make 2018 a more successful year, he's recently begun large-scale remapping work on some of his older sets. A higher quality product all-round should make for a more fruitful return in the near future.
Who says a low-ranked player cannot do anything good in the mapping field? WildOne94’s mapping talent is never underestimated even though he has only roughly 2,500 performance points as a player. In 2017, WildOne94 single-handedly pushed two of his full-spread mapsets to ranked state, namely OKAY and By Design. What’s even more, 4 guest difficulties crafted by him are ranked alongside some experienced mappers in the same year. WildOne94’s maps always arouse public interest, as the easier difficulties are clean and lenient for beginners, while the harder ones are challenging yet with great flow to cater to the experts. 2018 may be the year of him reaching the top.
Generally known as examination, Yumeno Himiko is an all-rounded mapper. His Rains are widely recognized due to their excellent flow and aesthetic patterning. In 2017, Kamiiro Awase was ranked, along with a Rain crafted by Yumeno Himiko. Yet Yumeno Himiko’s mapping ability is never restricted; he always pushes his limits further. His second full-spread mapset, Uncontrollable, was ranked last year, featuring a CS5 Overdose with fast-paced and bursting movements. In addition, Yumeno Himiko’s storyboarding skill is worth highlighting, with EOS (kamome sano rmx) as one of the most beautiful storyboards in osu!. Expect some more great work from him in 2018.
Even though this year was a pretty inactive year for him mapping-wise, ZiRoX steadily ranked his rendition on M2U's A Bella!, a set with a really clean mapping style that didn't leave anything to be desired, covering everything the song had to provide with outstanding precision. Personally I expect more from him this 2018, so I hope you go ahead and surprise us all!
Showing his experience in handling high level 4K pattern in a clever and technical way, each of _Underjoy's chart have its own gimmick and distinct theme that makes it really fun to enjoy the mixture of variation that he brought each time to the ranked section. Most of his X icon chart features dense jumpstream with some of the long trill and stacks to add some technicalities and differences for the pattern. However in his latest ranked map, he proves that he can change his style really differently by bringing purely jack concept map which is really different from his previous map. The flexibility of the content he brought to the community surely deserves compliment and bigger recognition from the others.
Entering the mapping scene in early 2016, - Aries - has improved and refined the simple and clean cut style of many newer mappers to create something that may not be what high level players find challenging, but is meant for casual and quick play. Even so, he's still expanding his style to include some trickier LNs for the lower skilled player.
After started mapping in 2016, - Ly0572 - has finally started to widen his mapping experience by trying tackling into the anti-meta 5K beatmap and having unconventional electronic genre song as his choices. with the usage of LN stream combined with clean chordstream pattern really bring his map to the A game.
One of the first mappers to rank a map in 2017, -[Apple]- finally broke through the ranked scene in early January with his map, We're So Happy (P*Light Remix) after a tumultuous two months in pending and help/wip after the first time it was qualified in September of 2016. As many novice mappers tend to do, his style is a simple mix of streams with some overlapped LNs for longer held sounds. Conventional but clean!
An old mapper that's notable for having really clean and rigid structured style mapping, -Soragami- already proves his experience in how he handle each section and each part of the song effectively. as shown in his MariannE map where he mixing unorthodox wall LN pattern and stream effectively, reflecting the song that build up slow but more intense leaning towards the end.
Veteran mapper [ A v a l o n ] wasn't as active this year as he was in the last but when he does occasionally release a map, he's sure to impress with a clean and easy to follow style that has influenced many aspiring mappers. The effort he puts in his maps doesn't go unnoticed, which has rightfully earned him and his maps much positive attention.
Despite not being stand out in the community, however his Hitorigoto map has some promising feature with complex but conventional LN mapping that following the vocal and gradually becoming trickier for each part.
As one of the older mapper and BN from the early era, Shana makes a rather diverse attempt and approach with her song choices and mapping, started from mapping conventional anime map into a more controversial other rythm game song. and despite that, she already makes a rather succesful map that reach multiple dimension of mapping era.
Known for his unranked technical maps and quiet presence in the mapping scene, Abraxos entered the ranked section for the first time this year, bringing along his unique use of short long notes and streams. It's an interesting new perspective of mapping and it won't be the last from him.
A rather well known Qrispy Joybox Mapper that also start relatively new, AchsanLovers brings a rather simple and yet profound chart that utilize conventional LN and double LN following both vocal and background song, and it got executed rather well and player friendly.
The 'Pump It Up' mapper once again makes his appearances in the ranked section after being hiatus for 2 years. Enacted his pattern style to be more anchory and unorthodox shield pattern with out of the box burst pattern for higher difficulty song, AJIekceu definitely brings something much more fresh in pretty much overall aspect into the mania ranking community.
Sporting an impressive 86 submitted maps to date, ALEFY is a mapper well known for his SV and LN heavy maps. He continues to impress with a keysounded LN centered chart, a welcome addition to the ranked mappool of mania.
Going above and beyond when it comes to making charts accessible to players of all levels and keymodes, AlisceaSparku added an impressive 16 difficulty mapset including keymodes from 4k - 7k with difficulties ranging from Easy to Insane to the ranked section this year, with many more in the works. Here's to more multi keymode maps!
Having his first ranked map at the early 2017, Alsty- makes a quite distinct impression by mapping Indonesia vocaloid remix song that he combined with unusual SV progression both in calm and agressive part, and yet friendly enough to grants him a lot of positive reception and huge favourite support from the players. His first map already grants him spot in the top 10 of the Community Choice Awards 2017.
Though with only 2 maps ranked last year, Amiichii still showed his experienced skills in mapping both 4K and 7K. His maps are especially neat, and styles inside are very clear. However, unlike other normal anime maps, with key features like SVs in 4K and LNs in 7K, his maps are also fun to play.
Despite being new in the mapping field, he already showcase his knowledge by mapping diverse keymode started from 4K to 7K with his Zen Zen Zense map. the passion to keep learning even the anti meta keymodes makes him grow to be one of the more potential mapper in the future.
Being another SDVX mapper in the community, Aras proves that he is not afraid to going aggressive but also fun with his pattern approach that utilize irregular and yet effective staircases and mini LN placement. the SV bump and slowjam that's been used in high leverage and yet proves to going with a great efficacy.
Archerlove's prominently LN based style of mapping is a prime example of never trusting SR, and he makes players work for their score. Utilizing a lot of long note overlaps and inverse patterning, it's sure to challenge how good a player thinks they might be. This patterning is not just exclusive to his 7K maps, but also includes his 4K maps, and it's always inpsiring new mappers to step out of accepted standards of mania mapping.
An ex-BAT member that's well known for his service contribution as well as joining mania world cup multiple times since 2014, arcwinolivirus brings some of the chart that's really outstanding and got massive popularity to the point it got played countless times in its era. although he did has hiatus moment for quite long period, he always go back and rank full spread 4K and 7K difficulties, which seemed to be his preference for most of his map. Definitely his presence in the community is something that's really respectable for many players and mappers.
Not to be confused with Lazyboy007, Asherz007 first appeared in the ranked section this year in July with a simple keysounded map, kicking off his quick rise to prominency in the community when he became a BN only two months later in September. Now a well involved and integrated community member, he's shaping and moving the future generation of mappers into new and exciting fronts for the better.
Well known for his 30 seconds and unusual america cartoon song choices, Ayachi Meme brings conventional and yet consistently friendly pattern for players that playing the game in much more casual way.
Ayachi- ranked a lot of anime songs and music game songs in the past years, especially in 2015 and 2016. His maps feature really balanced and smooth patterns which are quite easy for beginners to enjoy. The map he ranked this year is also for a famous anime song, of which 4+7K spreads give beginners for both keymodes a sweet time.
Not one to leave out the newer players, Benzopirene's impressive 12 difficulty set includes plenty of weak SVs to introduce easy level players into harder reading challenges. This accessibility makes it a worthy introduction to players of any kind who are unfamiliar SV changes. Additionally, his unranked maps cater more towards higher level players with a focus in trickier patterning that, at first glance, some would see as messy, but in reality is an organized chaos.
biemote has always been an experienced 6K mapper from an early time of the osu!mania community. His 6K mapping style is well represented in this map. Concepts are strictly built on the music but are also extended and creatively applied into various kinds of patterns, where jacks and 1/8 stairs are mixed to express the culmination of this map. The community would like to see more 6K maps with such creativity.
osu!mania's mascot, the ET Blocko has had a year full of dedicated QAT work, but he also spared time for selecting maps for both of this year's Mania World Cups. His mapping efforts came to fruition right at the end of the year, with his long awaited Just Hold On mapset reaching ranked status exactly at Christmas Eve.
Appearing late in the year, Calcyon is a patient mapper who makes clean and simple maps more for enjoyment rather than challenge. The visuals he presents are stunningly simple and easy on the eyes, making his maps something more for the casual player to enjoy, an increasingly rare intent in today's ever evolving competitive ranked pool.
Carol, also a newcomer in osu!mania mapping, started his learning process with a relatively short map. Though it took indeed a bit long to rank his first map, he still learned a lot and showcased a very clean map as his first attempt. It is great to see him finally achieve his goal, and we expect him to substantiate the ranked section with more of his creations.
Before 2017, Critical_Star was known as a famous 4K mapper, whose 4K mapping style also improved to a large extent in 2017. His first 7K map, Sennen no Kotowari, surprised many, where his insights in 7K pattern-making and music representation are well expressed in that map. 2 more creations are made at the end of last year. Though becoming gradually inactive from mapping and BN work, he has impacted many players and mappers with his maps and efforts to help others.
Known as Dragon Ball mapper, CrumpetFiddler have passion and drive to keep asking many other experienced mapper towards how to improve as mapper, and keep learning towards his remapping till finally ranked his first map at the later of 2017. Definitely can expect more great contents from him in the future!
The mixture of variation Curiossity brings into his map is quite splendid. Starting with having fast roll stream and then mixed with high BPM triple and even quad jack, not to mention the LN usage and SV bump that fits the atmosphere of the song. Definitely quite a remarkable effort.
As one of the BN in the early mania era, DE-CADE has excavating his knowledge and notoriously honing his skill to keep sharp at approaching multiple dimension of mapping perspective. His first ranked map has already proven to be one of the most played beatmap in the osu!mania history with over a thousand favourite and million of play, which only few other mania beatmap that accomplish the same feat.
Dellvangel's fast paced and upbeat maps have always been able to get players excited. He took his leave from the BNG in the summer to focus on IRL responsibilities, and while it's sad to see him go, his dedication and effort towards helping mappers push their maps closer to rank has made an impact on many aspiring mappers.
As one of the top players, DoNotMess has also been experienced in mapping. He learned and improved a lot in the last year, and Sheriruth, his 2nd ranked map which features well-made LN patterns, has been especially popular, which is a reason for his name appearing on the list of most played record sets.
Notable for both 4K and 6K maps, Draftnell leans towards more comfortable and accuracy oriented pattern that's casual player friendly. One of his more unusual genre electronic song beatmap puts him into the top 10 of Community Choice Award as of 2016.
dudehacker is always known as one of the best hitsounders in osu!mania. Besides self-made hitsounds for lots of maps, he also developed many useful hitsound tools that helped countless mappers with hitsound problems. In mapping, he aims to help beginners familliarize with 7K with his maps. Featuring smooth patterns all the way through the song, his 7K ranked maps become one of the first choices for 7K beginners.
EFP as a skilled mania player was venturing into mapping world but unfortunately needs really long time to actually got his first map ranked. He originally already got BN multiple times in the past but unfortunately all of them suddenly retired before can giving the map a proper nomination. The map itself gained a huge amount of mod that makes the mapper keep improving with each time he waiting, until finally after 2 years the map get its proper place in ranked section.
A quite phenomenal mapper that she already have one of her map in the top 10 of the Community Choice Awards of 2016. Although her forte mostly in lower difficulty mapping, however she understand how to incorporate her concept and make an accurate choices in how she wants to implement her idea. Not only that, but she also understand how to choose the song along with correct people to help her map, thus earn her the popularity.
As one of the active modder and just recently got his BN position as prove of his modding skill, error_exe777 showcases a smart usage of multiple LN layering along with completely using custom bass hitsound as the base in the majority of the difficulty. Overall an intriguing concept that can be expected more in the future.
One of the most influential and knowledgeable mapper in the entire community. With so many maps he publish and even manage to be the map choices in the Mania World Cup multiple times, Evening proves that unranked section is also a fun section to express mapper's content. publishing so many diverse high level chart and elevated it in the realm that people never ever imagine before, his style forte revolves around aggressive SV that's memorable and have predictable appearances along with each of the SV transition flows smoothly, while many of his unranked beatmap revolves to be more unpredictable and fierce by even playing with red line to playing even more with SV. And yet, still enjoyable by the community to let his maps gain so much support to reach the loved section. The amount of loved beatmaps that he got so far is the most that a single mapper has ever gotten in the mania history.
Starting mapping in late 2016, ExNeko quickly grasped the basics and developed his clean style with two easy but delicate mapsets ranked in the last year. He also gives his try in 7K mapping recently, and it will be a pleasure to see more of his creations ranked for more players to enjoy in the future.
One of the BN that pass the very first BN test, Feerum makes himself a very notable figure in mania community by providing his service to get promoted becoming QAT at July 2016. He showcases his forte in understanding low difficulty pattern and difficulty spread that's gradually comfortable for beginner player to start their improvement in Mania, also that his mastery in an effective usage of hitsound sample really brought his map to be a perfect example on what beginner friendly should like. Not to mention his mania mapping guide that also even also helps new mapper in develops their mapping technique.
Already been a representative in the mania world cup couple times already, Felipe himself already charting maps that mostly from stepmania mapping, and decided to start for real for ranking. Although his chart has the issue for having similar nature with one of the older map, however he keeps looking for every hole and opportunity to give better and variated representation of the song, and thus earn him spot back into the ranking section.
Fresh Chicken is one of the most famous SOUND VOLTEX mappers. After his Blastix Riotz was awarded the best of 2016, he brought to us a few well-made SOUND VOLTEX IV maps this year too. He makes good use of basic patterns and mixes many of his good ideas into his map, which are not only challenging but also expressive of music.
Frim4503 is distinctively well known in the entire mania community by only ranking anti-meta 5K marathon so far. He proves that even anti-meta mapping also a fun pattern to play for casual player by providing comfortable and yet interesting layering by combining different variation for each of the section in marathon length map along with SV that utilize vocal syllable properly. 4 of his map already got into the beatmap spotlight which makes him one of the mapper with the most spotlight in mania community.
As the mapper with high proficiency of 7K expertise in the community, Garalulu never cease to amaze players and fellow mappers with his ability to conceptualize and bring such a highly technical pattern that keeps developing in each of the style revolving around 02Jam and BMS inspired chart. and not only he charting 7K map, but he also demonstrate that his 4K charting skill is also a top notch with bringing very heavy SV chart along with really dense and technical wall LN and tricky releases to accompanying the chart, really established himself as a versatile and multifaceted charter.
A hybrid mapper that doing well both in mania and taiko, he also was active in modding field by keep offering his help in both modes he proficient at. In mania he focus on difficult complex LN that increasing in difficulty as the song progress, that player needs good finger independence and high focus in reading to nail properly.
Being a very old StepMania player, Halogen- is really famous for his accuracy high level player and also rock many leaderboards across osu mania ranked beatmap. Halogen- starting his mania mapping by having collaboration between anti meta 6K map with taiko mode. The amount diversity and unorthodox approach on this map is remarkable. Started from having tricky long note releases along with trill that's relatively short but consistently exist across the map, challenge the player to having technical control over their play and surely not the one to be able to breeze through easily. also with the addition of keysound really bring the track much livelier like watching theater show. Surely with his very long experience in VSRG community, the possibility of concept he brings to the community would be endless.
Well known for his 9K maps, hannanos kicked off the new year of 2017 with a somewhat belated Christmas map. His unique symmetrical style looks easy but is more challenging than most maps in that difficulty range due to the lack of rests between hands and required coordination.
More active in the first half of the year, Hydria contributed to the ranked mappool with two, unconventional, short mapsets that are unorthodox in a fun way. He's been also experimenting with mapping a lot - submitting an astonishing amount of over 75 mapsets in 2017 alone!
Having many of his map oriented towards HoneyWorks song, Ibrahim breaks a leg with some of the conventional and yet well structured beatmap that really showcases his experience in handling the song in a well designed pattern.
Well known mapper with mapping O2i3 song, he really knows how to captivate and develop chart concept with interesting song choices and comfortable touch of long note patterning that bring his map really likeable by the community looking at the amount of favourite and positive reception and feedback that players provide into the chart.
With having some of his project going into loved status because of community support, Janko also prove that his capability into handling his map in the ranked section as well. With mostly focusing on SV bump and conventional jack pattern, he understand how to do build-up pattern to support the song that's calm but also complex at the same time.
A well known QAT that specializes in CTB mode, he took all the gamemodes that he never learn before, and try condensed them into one set for him to rank. The journey to make that happens of course isn't easy by any means especially when the entire gamemode set that he made by himself and also have to get approval from all gamemode BN. But nonetheless, he manages to get it done in 2 years of his effort into the map. Having mania difficulty full of grace notes and also evolve his concept into much more trill along with uncommon LN chord and releases really showcases all the experience and advises he took from his learning time.
Known more for his antics in #osumania, Jesuren ranked his first map this year, a 42 second saradisk song representative of his erratic but cheerful nature. While it doesn't stand out as innovative, it's a nice play for those lazy days with simple 1/4 triplets and 1/6 bursts that come as slightly challenging for some but not long enough to become frustrating.
The legendary destroyer of osu!mania pp system has struck once again in 2017. Despite not being active for the majority of the year, he managed to get a new, record breaking mapset ranked. Doppelganger. The first ranked osu!mania map that not only crossed way above the 8* margin, barely touched by his MANIERA beatmap, but going as far as crossing the 9* mark becoming the third map in osu!'s history to do that (not counting TAG4 maps). Additionally one of his most famous maps - the 7K MWC Finals Tiebreaker - Blue Zenith - finally reached the loved status near the end of the year. With this in mind, who knows how big impact Jinjin will have on osu!mania's charting in 2018?
Well known for his LN style of mapping, juankristal finally made it through to the ranked section of maps last year with his uniquely noodle inspired map, FIRST. Sporting an impressive ratio of nearly 2 long notes for each short note, his map is accessible to players of all levels, further encouraging the rise of LN mapping for ranked. His contributions are much appreciated!
Julie, renowned for her beginner friendly style of mapping, in 2017 spent most of the year on Beatmap Nominator work. Although not as active as in previous years, she had two GDs featured on Mat's In The Garden mapset, and rounded off the year in holiday spirits with Jingle Bells. Julie's mapsets always please people who are learning osu!mania and I'm really hopeful we'll see more of her work in 2018!
7K anime map generally becoming more uncommonly in the ranking section, but JztCallMeRon took his own authentic approach and decided to have 7K as his primary choices in mapping. Starting the map with very long 1/2 jack along with 1/1 chord, player really need to have decent independence and finger coordination to hit them properly. The kiai structure itself evolving into something from conventional 1/2 chord pattern into a more tricky 1/2 LN stream along with 1/1 chord LN in the middle and the closing part of kiai. Overall the chart that he brings really establish his structure fluently.
Having been around the mapping scene since 2015, with a ranked GD in 2016, Kaito-kun presents a simply designed spread with jumpstreams, handstreams, and more for players of any level looking for a rush filled 4 minutes of 200 BPM streams. Known for having some stellar meme-type mods, his positivity has made modding and mapping a truly community fueled activity that encourages and inspires others to do the same.
Already well known and established mapper and Beatmap Nominator, Kamikaze finally brought the TOKIO FUNKA saga to an end after four long years when it was ranked in March of last year. No novice to new and cutting edge styles including heavy usage of trills, overlapping LNs, and symmetrical visuals, his unique perspective on mapping has inspired many others to follow suit and push the limits of what's acceptable, and expand the wide horizons of charting.
Being the oldest current mania BN in the community, Kawawa is one of the most knowledgeable mapper and modder in 7K field of mapping by bringing so many high level 7K set into the ranking field. Starting from developing the very complex patterning and keeping the density while having really great playability that flows really well for high ranking player, but also have additional of the certain technical aspect that doesn't lessening the impact of the overall map that entwined with the music agressiveness. We can say that his contributions in the community are really impactful by providing many high quality charts that keeping the experienced players intact in the game.
Notorious for being very skilled player and an osu!mania champion 2017, Kim_GodSSI also charting so many unranked beatmaps for quite long time already with an impressive 73 beatmaps but just newly ranked beatmap in the end of 2017. His style charting being made apparent that it's from 02Jam because of the amount of dense LN he poured into most of his map, included the ranked one. the rarity of noodles 7K chart really brings his creation to be something that many high level player waiting for.
Despite not being an obtrusive community member, however his ranked beatmap actually has been played quite a lot in the multiplayer which makes his map quite likeable by community. Considering his style oriented towards jumpstream and also handstream oriented map that's a meta pattern in the community, not to mention his song choices from vocaloid also has a quite huge margin of popularity.
As a senior member of ex-BN that already serving for roughly 2,5 years , there's nothing but a full gratitude for the service he brought for the community. Kuo Kyoka with the immense experience and knowledge that he gains for over multiple years really brings him to be one of the notorious mapper from its era and even then until now. His pattern style brings a well organized and immaculate structured pattern that's really neat both in aesthetic and gameplay wise. For lower difficulty he tends to focus the drum beat and loud percussion in column 1 and 4, signify the instrument to be more accentuated.
Starting from mapping only lower difficulty, he ask many veteran GD'ers to assist and teach him the concept of mapping and modding that effectively brings him slowly to do much difficult chart. and the knowledge he gains expand into even other keymodes that he kept improved to attain even further height, definitely someone that should be kept an eye on.
A mapper with having an unusually odd choices and taste, starting from the song, and also his own chart with rigid technical dense jack pattern along with complex and less predictable SV along with couple LN certainly really bring his personality and versatility directly into the community.
Not concerned with difficulty, PP, or even map attention, Lefrave made a mark with his map, Lost my pieces. Rather than taking the player on an excited adventure of unique and fun filled gimmicks, they present an emotional and sentimental experience, bringing players back to times encompassing silly but life defining romantic moments. Their minimalist use of hitsounds helps to bring out the atmosphere and absorb the player into a short 2 minute emotional journey of rediscovery.
The old-timer in osu!mania's community, Lenfried- is known as a connoisseur of old style 7K charts and his mapping style bears a lot of characteristics known from those times. His style is unorthodox, mostly with LN usage which stands out from others and makes his maps that much more interesting and that's very a very valuable trait in osu!mania.
Being another relatively new mapper in osu!mania, Litharrale quickly grasped mapping basics and ranked his first map for the famous song in osu!, Koi no Hime Hime Pettanko by *namirin. Besides, he successfully made his way to a BN shortly after his first ranked map, and contributed much efforts into helping with ranking process. It is a pity that he left BNG recently, but his contributions to the community will be remembered by us.
As a strong player and proficient 4K and 5K mapper, Lude did a very good job in unveiling every detail of a piece of music in his maps. It is not only about the patterns, but also about the delicate SVs in his maps that made one of his maps the #3 of MMC.
With straightforward LNs and basic rhythms, Mage offers maps geared towards those aiming to challenge themselves without stepping too far out of their comfort zone. Short and to the point, his style is easy to follow while still bringing pleasant surprises to the player with a beginner's introduction to more advanced multi-timing LN releases.
Starting quietly, but gain such huge attention when hits the ranked section. Memoria is possibly one of the more controversial map to date because of the very new experience having pure long stamina jack map that mania never has before. Despite the amount of layering and pattern fixing needed to blend with the song properly, in the end Manwon manage to having the map to be ranked.
Within his first ranked map however already show his experience and blow the community away with one of the most famous marathon map in mania. Although he choose a more conventional and smooth comfortable pattern in lower diff mapping, however his higher diff mapping certainly a remarkable one to gain so much attention from the community
Taking complex types of mapping and condensing them into a simplified form for less experienced players to attempt, Maxus contributed many of his signature accessible maps to the ranked scene this year, giving players a small taste of long notes, slider velocity changes, and jacks that aren't so easy as to be boring but aren't so hard as to be inaccessible to the majority of the player base. In addition, his hard work as a BN throughout the year was noticed by many, at times bringing more maps into the qualified section of mania than the entire mania BNG combined. While he isn't as active as he used to be, he's still around as a friendly face in the community, offering help at every turn.
With having long experience of charting in stepmania back in the old times, MEGAtive charted all of his map as something that we usually call by ""anti-meta"", that's because he sought to always bring something more unorthodox into the ranking section either from less-well known rythm game song, unconventional charting technique and last but not least, not afraid to try something controversial to explore even more possibility into his mapping knowledge and style.
Even with the hard times to rank his first map, Muu-chan keep trying to constantly look for mod and not giving up till he finally reach his goal and rank some more other map. His chart mostly consist of accuracy chord pattern that really focus on percussion to be stand out.
Entering the mapping scene late in the year, newbandpro emphasizes playability and does well in synthesizing multiple parts into one single moving line in his easy and normal difficulties, forcing players to pick out the nuances in a song and hear how they relate with other parts. These difficulties are opportunities for newer players to practice the idea that there's more than just following the song.
A mapper with reputation being the 7K keysound mapper across his beatmap, Niks really brought hitsound into something that community even more love to have, given the scarcity of keysound beatmap that has such an appeal to be played. Although his focus is more on the 7K casual pattern, however he also confirmed to have 4K charting capabilities as well, which we can expect more great result from him in the future.
Not only being one of the famous accuracy player in the old era, he also actually a notable mapper with consistently blowing the ranking section each time he entered the ranking section and constantly change his pattern style and various keymode. Starting from tricky LN holds, high speed burst oriented song, anti-meta X icon mapping, and also even including some of controversial high level mapping. His presence in the community certainly also a big contribution into bringing mania mapping into fruition
Charting mostly anime song, however Noxus understand how to incorporate the instrument with his own style into something uncommonly seen. With his pattern mostly consist of unusual LN chord and releases combined with 1/4 LN to emphasize the subtle short sound, definitely one of the fast learning mapper that creates interesting concept to have.
Being relatively new in the mapping ranking field last year, and yet he already provide really unconvential high level chart that's really an astonishing accomplishment to have. the map has the light jack theme based as the fundamental concept of the chart and later got mixed with a touch of Chord LN, some of the 1/8 Jumpstream and explosive SV stutter. With the amount of diversity he put into his first map, we can expect much more greater content in his upcoming map!
Unorthodox doesn't begin to scratch the surface in describing Parachor's odd and chaotic charts. He constantly pushes the limits of what's rankable, innovating new ideas and techniques that are rarely found in the ranked section. Signature use of short LNs, release graces, and subtle but tricky SVs define this prominent and popular style among higher level players. His maps break every unspoken rule of mania with excellent execution.
Having spent two years attempting to rank his first map, PnX has come a long way in mapping. Simple long notes and short note combinations fill his charts, and he has a way of picking out subtle lines in the music and bringing them out fully in his maps while combining them with multiple other parts to create a mosaic of different moving lines that are still unique in their own right.
Having herself dedicated in Osu!mania modding community, Protastic101 is possibly one of the most influential and hard working consistent modders in the community. Started her modding career from 2016 until now becoming QAT, her mapping style took a really diverse approach started from very complex LN wall and also utilize stutter and strong SV bump flawlessly and rather efficacious way. She also makes herself notable with being a master of hitsound and keysound, providing an enlightenment to the community on how to choose and doing hitsound/keysound effectively. her mastery in the field already be proven by having one of her set was picked by the community as the most favourite, allowing her to be the Community Choice Award of 2017.
Well known for his Mania guest difficulties in a lot of standard sets, puxtu's prominent LN-less percussion only style is often the first a new mapper encounters due to the large volume of players who play his maps. It's no surprise then that many take after this simple and clean style, so in a way, he indirectly influenced the shaping of Mania mapping by providing players a general idea with which to create their own unique styles.
With such an intricate and well-flow 7K bracketstream chart, he maps all of his chart from BMS source which also a fundamental of his mapping style. The element of pattern that he adds for the variative and complexity purpose of the chart is a lot, starting from dense chordhand, staircases, either mini and long bracket, and finally some of unorthodox short burst combined with couple of grace notes. The component that he brought into mapping certainly an insight for other mapper to looked at.
Although not showed up often in the community, however qodtjr put up a decent creation with ranking stamina dense jumsptream pattern that have its own contrast compared with other similar map, which is putting some of runningmen and long trill as the characteristic and identity that shows how the mapper embed his own concept.
A well known contributor in the scorewatch production, Raveille has decided to started mapping not only for ranked but to gather many mappers across the entire mania community and makes one huge collaboration in loved status that has never been seen in mania history before. the amount of passion and drive he puts toward many aspect of his project is quite exceptional and noteworthy.
One of the more conventional 7K charters, Reba took his approach into mapping comfortable linear chordstream chart with some additional LN stream on top of that. As he charted more song, he added more technicalities by adding much more bracket in the middle of the pattern, which makes his chart bring certain challenging aspect that worth many tries to nail.
As the fans of Re:Zero anime series, Remuring expresses his passion for the song series through his chart that mostly oriented with short jack at some places, but mostly it's arranged in the way that it could be played conventionally by casual player without going over technical.
Whether it's ranked or unranked, Reyzra won't be separated from Love Live content which becomes his primary song choices in his mapping. His rough start in the beginning of his mapping career cause of the full spread of the full version song cost him 3 years worth of time to rank his first map. And despite that, his passion doesn't seem to fade away and that makes him to be able to reach the goal he wanted, makes him one of the most dedicated one.
As the senior mapper of the early mania community, richardfeder already become such an inspiration and the respected member of the community for a long time. Many of his song choices revolves around Visual Novel or game soundtrack, and his mapping forte revolves around 7K mapping with highly technical bracket stream along with unusual trill burst that requires really high pattern coordination and thorough execution. Especially for his 7K+1 BMS chart, he uses lot of classic crossovers along with long trill pattern combine with couple minijack to express the rapid 1/4 sound. Overall a really inventive mapper that becoming one of the pillar that makes osu!mania today.
riunosk is a mapper that mainly focuses on creating maps for practice purpose, featuring different patterns of difficulty in his maps. Being also as a very strong player in osu!mania, he has wonderful insights into mapping, with his ranked map in 2017 featuring well-arranged LNs that made it overwhelmingly diffcult. Though it took long for him to actually rank a map, he still didn't give up and bring us with his excellent creations.
An active and helpful BN, Rivals_7 has contributed a fair number of maps to ranked this year, whether it be through maps that he's ranked himself, or maps he's helped push forward. His charts make heavy use of slider velocities in a subtle way to avoid inhibiting the player's reading. His hitsounding is something to take note of though, as he goes above and beyond with keysounding even the tiniest wobbles in sound. He's made a positive impact this year with his contributions and shows no signs of slowing down.
A hybrid BN that already contributing in multiple modes at once. Sinnoh took a really smart approach in his pattern concept from trying mapping irregular consistent 1/3 chart to having a SV-theme map with complex LN that's really challenging and complicated but completely fun and enjoyable to give the player a real sense of achievement for nailing each part properly. Really fast learning and clever mapper that will do much more great content in the future.
As a very old mapper that already contributes into the mania ranking charts since 2013, Skalim is a notable high level player that charting some of the various keymodes chart that's outstandingly eminent in its era. His mapping structure probably one of the very few charter that has an absolute rigid and clean concept but at the same time retain its technicality to the outmost. The classic approach that he brings certainly bring him to be one of the respectable charters.
Winner of the Monthly Beatmapping Contest of April 2017 earning him the title of ""Elite Mapper,"" Soul Evans manages to spin an interesting and unique map out of a generic song containing plenty of LNs and oddly snapped bursts. While sad to say he couldn't add much else, it has helped shape his mapping style to be more eccentric and is certainly a welcome change to the ranked section.
SpectorDG was an old mapper that has been active in 2015. With his Zettai Reido being ranked, he returned to the community in 2017. His maps make good use of basic patterns and fit with the music in a good sense with very clear concepts, which make them some of the most popular SOUND VOLTEX maps in osu!mania.
As one of the legendary old mappers, Spy brought us his delicate creations for a group of new and popular IIDX songs. His mapping style has always been especially clear and smooth, which has guided many other mappers after his era. It will be pleasing to see more of his creations brought to osu!mania community and inspire more new mappers.
Known as Taiko BN and also one of the forum active contributor, He started his mania mapping with the song choices that supports him to do many variative 1/6 and 1/8 guitar pattern that adds to his mapping style along with mini stream LN pattern. He has well known big contribution in taiko, and will do in mania field as well.
While there's nothing that particularly stands out about this mapper, Syadow-'s style is conventional and clean with a strict adherence to the song, so what's heard is what the player gets. This makes it easy to follow and is a reason why he's a great GDer for lower difficulties as can be seen in the large number of guest difficulties he's created this year that have been ranked.
Tidek's maps are a brand of their own when it comes to osu!mania's 4K charting scene. Known for his love of complex maps, SV and high HP & OD values, he struck gold once again this year with his Leaf - I map. He's a mapper willing to take risks; he's capable of making maps that are extreme, but don't force difficulty nor come across as overboard. Branching out into more and more challenging songs to map, we might see even greater maps from him in the future!
Being relatively new BN in mania, but he already makes a huge impact by keep releasing content and active in modding and icon field. having the musical background really helps him not only in providing substantial high quality map, but also in the piano keysound that he applied in some of his map as well. He also doing some of hybrid map along with mania which hopefully will bring more collaboration with other mode along with mania being more apparent in the future.
Tornspirit spent most of the year in the mapping community trying to help out 5K players both as a mapper and modder, resulting in his first map ranked - PARANOiA Revolution, which took him almost exactly 2 years to rank.
Entering his mania ranking for the first time by doing hybrid set, Vampir sets a big appearances when ranking Demend ~After Legend~ Which not only support his intrinsic mapping style, but also ask the right GD to support his song choices and capabilities to its fullest, which gain him recognizition from many players and mappers.
Most people know of Verniy_Chan as that one LiSA mapper, and for her incredibly popular 2016 map, Electric ""Sister"" Bitch, which has already set the bar high. In meeting expectations, 2017 was a year full of her classic song compilation storyboards with simple strobes and smooth transitions, while the charts contained many easy to play bursts and streams, but still managed to keep it interesting with LN transitions and slider velocity changes.
Virtue- is one of the most active mappers and modders in osu!mania community in the last year. Known as ""Halozy Mapper"", he is famous for his marathons of many Halozy songs.Though he failed last two rounds of BN application, with his gradually improving strength and knowledge in osu!mania mapping, he will succeed in the future.
Possibly the underdog mapper of last year, Wadu took the ranked scene by surprise with his map Grimm (Kobaryo's FTN-Remix). Utilizing strong SV stutters, jacks, shields, and more, it's a change in pace from the average ranked mania map. Not stopping there, he has continued to make extravagantly difficult maps while still maintaining a level of appropriateness for the song. Despite having appeared relatively recently, he already has a presence in the community.
Despite having standard as his main mode and relatively new in mania mode, he manages to becoming mania BN and releases chart with unusual LN shield patterning. His Tenshi no Osore map is the second map which has the full LN without a single note in HD diff.
A high level player from stepmania that also actually a skilled mapper by doing so much of experimental chart that he keeps in graveyard but nonetheless showcase his knowledge in the mapping field. His first ranked map certainly shows that by doing a seldom concept of 1/8 snap jumpstream that's certainly rare to be seen in the community. It happens to be community's favourite and gaining support to have more similar concept of mapping appearing in the ranking field.
Asking about one of the most enjoyable SV map? without a doubt, Wonki take the crown with some of the zekk remix song he charted himself with aggressive and yet convenient and have sighreadable SV. All of the SV calculation he made revolving the strong bump with chord pattern that's comfortable and satisfying to hit, something that's truly uncommon in ranking charts. Definitely something unique that players would love to tirelessly play over and over.
Publishing his first ranked map in 2014, YaHao with the former IGN of SanadaYukimura constantly develop his mapping technique and song genre diversity and consistently publishing variative content with how many beatmaps he already ranked until now.
ZZHBOY was one of a few mappers and BNs who have proficiency in modding and mapping both osu!standard and osu!mania. He mapped mania with smooth note arrangements and clear logics, which made most of his maps quite popular among new players. Besides, he has mapped a few maps with delicate keysounds, which demonstrated his skill in keysounding too. Sadly he has gone inactive since early 2017, but his great efforts to help and influence other mappers and to entertain the players are always praiseworthy.
you guys really did a great job, thanks for all of your works.
Sorry but i decide to give simple mods to mappers, since the last bn test. Because i think mappers would easily understand what i'm saying even i don't explain. If one mapper can't do that, well, he may just wanna deny me rather than my mods. Of course, i don't think i'm worse than any members in bn team within modding ability area. to players: If an Extra diff can be dtfc, we mappers usually call that diff "Insane", no matter how much pp it provides.