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SpyParty is a spy game about human behavior, performance, perception, and deception. While most espionage games have you spend your time shooting stuff, blowing stuff up, and driving fast, SpyParty has you hide in plain sight, deceive your opponent, and detect subtle behavioral tells to achieve your objectives.
Unlike the suave and confident spies you might find in films or books, most spies in spy games are more like super powered commandos--more Rambo than James Bond. By contrast, SpyParty is a new and quite different game about the more interesting and deeper aspects of being a spy.
The second Winter Cup is complete. Months ago, actually, but for posterity: the champion was Pofke, who defeated Ryooo in a dramatic match that ended with the same score as last year’s Winter Cup final: 10-8. Here’s how the tournament unfolded after the Group Stages:
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I will not be competing in SCL Season 6, and will in fact be taking an extended hiatus from SpyParty competitive play which will last for the foreseeable future. I will continue to administer the league, though, and I will continue to play SpyParty casually and be an active member of this wonderful community. The hiatus only extends to actual competitive play.
The reason is a simple one of time. Playing SpyParty competitively requires an enormous sum of time and effort from me, and while I could feasibly continue to keep that up, it always takes away greatly from other projects I could be working on, especially other projects for SpyParty.
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As a SpyParty player learns the game, they develop their own distinct style and approach. In the course of doing so many players begin, consciously or unconsciously, taking the same basic approach to each game, hitting the same notes in the same places. I’ve started referring to this as the “rhythm” of SpyParty, because I see it time and again, in the majority of my opponents’ games and my own games as well. While this rhythm serves as a strong foundation for play, the best players learn to break it to their own advantage.
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The 7th Annual SpyParty Summer Cup has come to an end, and as much as it irks me to write it: All Hail the King. KrazyCaley returned to the the event this year and showed his dominance yet again by winning his third Summer Cup title, breaking the tie with Yeesh, WHO WAS last year’s champion and IS the only person to do it back-to-back.
It wasn’t an easy road, however. This year’s Summer Cup was the biggest yet: 64 players began on the road to the Cup this year, doubling 2018’s 32. The prize pool grew with the player pool, with over $200 in cash prizes and other amenities. A full list of the prizes are shown below, some of which were both revealed and award in the Closing Ceremony.
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The group stages of the largest Summer Cup yet are just about wrapped up. Let’s take a look at who made it out of groups, how, and what their prospects look like going forward.
Predictions for Group A seemed to be relatively straightforward for most: virifaux would be the winner of the group, while the rest of the group battles it out for second. Though viri did win the group, and Harren came in second past Tflameee and BasiQ, the individual matches didn’t come out the way most expected. viri bled at the hands of Tflameee, and only took first in the group of the strength of tiebreakers. Unfortunately, Tflameee’s 1-1-1 record was not enough to advance, due to their draw against BasiQ, who gained their only point during that match.
OakWith two spots in the Tournament of Position up for grabs in Oak, competition is fierce among the top players. There are some unplayed matches, so the division is a bit tough to suss out, but InfamousCupcake, Legorve Genine, Monaters, Yglini, and Dels all have realistic shots at the Tournament, especially the first three; Legorve, in particular has yet to lose a match. Other players are still in it, but most will need both lots of wins and considerable help from others to get in.
Matches to Watch: Legorve Genine v. Monaters, Week 12 – This match could easily decide who’s in and who’s out, especially if Cupcake keeps up her impressively strong play.
Roughly two dozen people showed up to compete in Shark Week(end), a weekend-long mini-tournament to test and explore the game’s newest venue, Aquarium. The new venue’s most notable feature is a massive shark that swims back and forth between the sniper and the party, creating temporary (but significant, and predictable) occlusion.
Given the uptick in participation from the Teien tournament in December, the proceedings on the first day lasted roughly three-and-a-half-hours, and not everyone completed every match. Most players played 42 games. The top four slots were as follows:
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We’ve just released a new, dramatically improved version of the SCL Game Finder.
Game Finder 1.0 allowed you to search for any player, in any role, with any outcome, within a specific division and on a specific venue, for the previous two regular seasons. Version 2.0 is a massive leap forward in both available information and options.
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The first Winter Cup is complete! The champion was krazycaley, who defeated abearrawr in a tense finals, 10-8. Here’s how the tournament unfolded after the Group Stages:
How have I survived Diamond? What is it like for me to play in that terribly strong division for years on end? To understand my answer to those questions, you need two pieces of context.
The first piece of context has to do with a quote about love. It describes a concept that I’ve lived by since I read the quote, though I’ve now forgotten who wrote or said it. Whoever that was, they were talking about someone they loved dearly: “You are hard work.”
The meaning, as I take it, is that even (especially!) the best and most rewarding things in life, including true love itself, demand our hard work;—our attention, our focus, and our effort, to the best of our ability to give it. Nothing worthwhile is effortless.
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