osu!catch
- Magic Girl - written by alienflybot
- Magic Girl - written by alienflybot
- - 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!
