Another History of the WSC

WSC #16 – Fun in the Sun

Even though the winter-themed WSC attracted many illegal entries, there were no such problems with the summer version;however, this may have been due to the slightly more restricting theme. The spriters could choose one of three tasks: make a sun-related Pokémon, fuse Groudon with a Pokémon, or do a Fire retype. The prize-winners this week certainly pushed the theme to its limits, as always! Noobiess grabbed a cold drink and strolled into first place, with Estranged taking second. Felixmartin and Arch took Most Original and Most Humorous respectively.

As has been mentioned in the previous articles, a concept in spriting gets you a long way—in this case, to the winning spot in the WSC! Noobiess's snow cone Snorunt both amused and intrigued the judges, which led him to a narrow victory over Estranged's Groudon/Gyarados fusion. It actually looks strangely appetising, despite the ice cream actually being the cotton balls of Jumpluff!

The main two contenders for the winning position in this week's WSC brought both of the different aspects of spriting to the table—noobiess's entry focused mainly on concept, whereas Estranged astounded the judges with his natural skill. Groudon is generally a very difficult Pokémon to fuse, due to its sheer size and odd features, yet Estranged pulled it off with aplomb. Groudon's generally awkward face blends naturally with that of Gyarados, so much so that not a tooth seems out of place!

As the summer of the northern hemisphere rolls around, we all want to be in the position of this Squirtle—reclining in a deck chair in the shade of a parasol. While not the best execution of a sprite, Felixmartin appealed to the judges on common ground and thus took the Most Original Honorable Mention this week. As for Arch's Fire-typed Jumpluff, I'm just waiting for it to fire its laser! Arch has succeeded in his attempt to bring out the evil side of our favourite innocent Pokémon, fireballs and all!

WSC #17 – C.L.A.U.S.

As Christmas reared its jolly head, Rodan came up with one of the most difficult themes the WSC had ever seen—a five Pokémon fusion! Yet not only that, but the five Pokémon involved each needed to start with a letter from C.L.A.U.S. There was a great disparity in the level of entries, but the top two spots definitely stretched the theme to its limits and managed to produce amazingly natural fusions. MrBlack took first place, with newcomer Fossil taking second place and the Most Original Honorable Mention. Most Humorous went to Suezotiger.

At first glance, MrBlack's winning entry looks far too natural to be a fusion of five Pokémon from a limited pool of choices. In fact, it does at second glance too! MrBlack proved his status as a master spriter with this Corsola/Lumineon/Arbok/Umbreon/Sceptile fusion! The different body parts meld naturally and the beautifully pink and blue color scheme is sublime.

Being brutally honest, this is quite a bizarre sprite. However, it remains an interesting and well-executed concept that garnered Fossil both a second-place spot and the Most Original prize. It looks kind of huggable, but ready to completely ingest you and dissolve you with the acid that it secrets from its moustache.

Yes, I know what you're thinking. This obtained the Most Humorous award.

What?

Other WSC Highlights

While there was scepticism among the judges originally, this sprite really did grow on the Smeargle's Studio community and garnered first place for BynineB in WSC #19!

A concept that many have though of over the years, Wizwum executed it perfectly—a Sandstorm Castform! This took second place in WSC #19.

Seriin once again wowed the judges with these two sprites in WSC #20, leaping into first place by quite a distance! Machamp seamlessly becomes a dragon, with Dodrio fusing with Shaymin remarkably well.

Estranged both amused and amazed the public with this Cacturne colossus in WSC #21, with the line art perfectly executed and the flower adding a nice burst of color to the sprite.

In a very difficult week filled with utterly unfusable Pokémon, BynineB did remarkably well with this fusion. Kakuna fits nicely, and Regigigas' toned down color scheme makes the sprite much more natural. This brought BynineB the first place spot in WSC #29.

While the concept may be slightly on the bland side, the execution of this sprite is completely and utterly perfect, without a pixel out of place! With two other sprites, Seraphic took first place in WSC #33.

Conclusion

And so, after traversing a total of three articles to conquer the WSC, the history comes to an end. Though the WSC has slowly declined over that many weeks that it has been running, a new influx of spriters and possible judging reform on the horizon can only make Smogon's only spriting contest a great competition once again.

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