Boston Flowers

Having finally rolled a very good team the Boston Flowers were spoiled for choice for our Charge. Our best pitcher, Rosemary Penguin took an early lead due to holding the incredible feat of being undefeated all the way to the Midsea-

FEEDBACK DETECTED

PEYTON DRYSDALE AND SQUID BROOM WERE SWITCHED IN THE FEEDBACK.

A new challenger arrived from the Yellowstone Magic. Squid Broom was a beloved player by fans since their hatching due to their name. Squid Broom’s personality is as straightforward as you can get. Please imagine a squid. Please imagine a broom. There you go, that’s Squid Broom.

FEEDBACK DETECTED

SQUID BROOM AND LUCIUS PRINCE WERE SWITCHED IN THE FEEDBACK.

Oh. They got Feedbacked again and are on the Fridays now… except that’s not true. Owing to a “Feature,” certain weather-induced player moves un-happened. Squid Broom was still on the Boston Flowers roster and available for Charging even though their player page listed them on the Hawai’i Fridays. 

The Flowers chose to lean into the opportunity to commit a data crime and charged Squid Broom, or more accurately the Fridays charged Squid Broom in addition to their chosen charge Moth Frosting. 

The Flowers now only have two static players, and the Fridays have four and no one has any idea what that’ll mean for the future. Data Crimes!

Breckenridge Jazz Hands

For the third Circuit in a row, the Jazz Hands had terrible pitching and not-good-enough batting. In the first week, we quickly fell to the bottom of the standings, barely above our long term rivals, the (contemptible) Moist Talkers. We spent the week excited for the Fiesta, and voted leadoff hitter Zee Phantom our party host.

In the Fiesta, we partied a lot Game 1, lost Game 2, and broke Blaseball in Game 3. Squid Psst cemented their status as a Jazz Hands legend by pitching two games simultaneously, getting Night Shifted in one, and Frozen in the other. We split Game 3 with the Pies to end our 3 game series tied 2-2, and somehow “advanced” the next round, only to see it cancelled due to noise complaints.

Like many teams, we choose to host a Sunday Mixer, which accidentally morphed into a Formal. The Divinity boost supercharged our Lineup of inconsistent Home Run hitters, propelling us to a slightly less terrible performance in Week 2. We somehow managed to win two Bloods in the midweek Blood Jam session, gaining Fire blood for “ace” pitcher Lily Cole, and Electric blood for Squid’s Night Shift replacement Troy Bowman. Unfortunately, we never got a shot at the Title Belt, and failed to qualify for the Postseason.

Zee Phantom had been an early Charge favourite, but Lily Cole rapidly overtook them in Week 2. Lily gained many fans by taking Game 1 of the Fiesta to extra innings so they could party before throwing the game winning strike out— a Shakespearean performance which reminded us of our beloved Lowe Forbes. Lily’s solid performance in week two and acquisition of Fire blood made them the clear choice to Charge, a decision I’m sure none of us will come to regret.

–deafhobbit

Core Mechanics 

After being presented our team roster for the Circuit, the Mechanics were in a partying mood— after all, being an average team in the strongest division in the League was just the thing to have to make it far in the Midseason Fiesta, or even win it for the promised prize! To top it off, we’d have a lot of chances for partying to make a good run at the second half of the season, so everything was looking great for a successful season. 

Other than missing a chance at getting another Bees Manhattan (the Mechs previously charged a player of the same name last Short Circuit), the first week of regular season play went about as expected, we declared our favourite bad pitcher Zebrina Vincent our Guest of Honour, even got a First Round Bye to start the Fiesta…

What do you mean, the Fiesta got cancelled after the first round? That was not the plan.

Silver lining: the Title Belt still was a fun feature for the Mechs, being holders of one of the two contested belts for way longer than we should’ve been, finally losing it to the San Francisco Lovers after an eventful and confusing 40-day reign. 

The rest of the season was marked by a flurry of Peanuts, with two Allergic and two Yummy reactions happening on our roster. Both yummy reactions happened on Pedro Vixen, an already strong pitcher who ended up almost Expansion Era shaped because of it. After much deliberation, Pedro Vixen was also selected as the team’s Charge target, as they always respected excellence in pitching. Just need to fix our lineup in the next Era, hopefully.

– Nitro (N1tr00#8811 on Discord)

Kansas City Breath Mints

Ball 1-0. Ball 2-0. Ball 3-0. Boat Hamless draws a walk.

In Kansas City, Boat Hamless’ plate appearances were so regular you could set your watch by them. The method by which they achieved this differed depending on who you asked— some argue that a boat has no identifiable strike zone, others that Hamless had some sort of psychic barrier that repelled strikes, and one opposing pitcher claimed “They just, like, stand there. Menacingly.” Whatever the cause, fans agreed that Boat’s incredible walk rate, OBP and league leading OPS (ignoring, as another reporter put it, undead invaders from another universe) merited a Charge into the Microphone, optimistic they’ll return to lead the League in walks again.

But Boat alone didn’t win the Breath Mints our second ring! Tube Rust was second in the League for Wins, Yuri O’Lantern had a phenomenal postseason BA of 0.407 and Liv Blather and Levar Downey used their Monitor-approved Blood to improve their performances. Most daringly of all, Layla Chambers pulled off the rarely seen but highly effective “catch fire in the postseason, get replaced with a better pitcher who pitches a save” manoeuvre. A brief timeline of events, with time given relative to the Material plane:

11:08pm UTC: Layla lets in three runs from the Worms

11:09pm UTC: Three fans comment “i don’t care if we win as long as layla dies”, “layla go in the fire ,” “has anyone actually been incined this season?”

11:10pm UTC: Rogue Umpire incinerated Layla Chambers! 

Kale Torch then led the team to victory, sporting no losses in their incredibly short career. Wherever they are, I hope they’re enjoying a nice retirement party with the Monitor. And I hope the Mints claim another ring in the Next Era!

• Finn

Miami Dale

Season Cinema was one of the better batters on the Dale, holding the team record for homers, sacrifice plays, and-

Wait, this article was supposed to be about our season? Not our Season?

Well, the Miami Dale had something that could certainly be called a season. The Lineup looked promising with bright stars in the form of Season Cinema, William Heat, Lamar Diomira, and Grace Ray. We also had some incredibly good names in the form of Snake Johns, Stone Pretzel, Season Cinema, and William Heat!

Our rotation? Not so much. Norris Manhattan was our only real superstar, but Emma Bark was ruthless despite her 0.4 stars. Which was bad, because we wanted to be good. Or was it good because we wanted to be bad?

Our goals were conflicting, which proved to be our downfall. We scraped past the Midseason Fiesta, couldn’t clutch it in time for the Playoffs, and choked when we got in through Title Belt power.

Now, a keen-eyed reader will notice that the player we Staticked, Adeline Revelry, is not a ‘star.’ They were more of an underwhelming pitcher who was Frozen more often than not.

But the one key trait that put them above all the other contenders (besides their impeccable name) was Blood Jams Vol. I. The wimd blew in our favor and we snatched Electric blood from the Garages in a repeat of history. And it couldn’t have gone to a more appropriately named player.

Despite all the Features, all the losses, and all the Title Belt shenanigans, this is certain to be a circuit the Dale will remember. At least, the ones who were watching will.

CLEAR FLESH CAN’T LOSE MAX VELOCITY DALE!

-Mango (guzmania#4173 on Discord)

New York Millennials

The Gamme 4 Millennials have been a fun bunch to watch; living completely normal lives until a Microphone emerged in the sky and forcing them to play Blaseball, each of them offered something interesting. Irene Fashion, Coyote Stone, Max Quigley, and Calvin Nether had a strong core in our Lineup. Violeta Cantu led the Mills in Triples, Cy Knives and Harold Castillo held their own, and even Cynthia Chalk and Markus Torch would impress with the occasional stolen base and home run.

The pitching staff was mostly solid, with Mordecai Damage sporting a respectable 2.41 ERA. Asher Juice, Dazzy Deng, and Loner Shelley pitched well, and Daniel Darko… was our Guest of Honor!

Loner Shelley would stand out the most for us, however. A deadpan cosmologist getting the first yummy reaction to a peanut since the Discipline Era, even the Shelled .1 deemed them its progeny. A combination of intense fan interest, solid stats all around, and highly sought after Relevancy (a rare feat among Mills), Loner Shelley was our Charge. While we didn’t perform poorly, we managed to stand out, play about average, and have some memorable moments. Whether it was defeating the Crabs in two simultaneous games, almost facing ourselves in the Fiesta, or Irene receiving a Jersey of Invitation to feature cameos of Deceased players from across universes, I’m proud of these players.

–Clip Clipperson

Yellowstone Magic

The final Short Circuit had us more divided than any other Circuit before it— but that wasn’t a bad thing.

 While it looked like we were going to have a singular star player in Squid Broom, them becoming a Flower meant that we had a better chance to see our team as a whole. While we did have players who performed consistently well, there was no longer a singular player on which all of our attention was focused. 

Peyton Drysdale and Isaac Puffins were both fearsome baserunners. Henri Kraal and Kay Pleck could hit the ball good. Slosh Chalk had a funny name and played well. Not only was our team statistically well-rounded but it felt like everyone was being equally appreciated by us adoring fans. Everyone had their favourite. And in the end, 56% of our adoration was poured into Errol Wool, our final Charge. 

Not only was Wool the only of Magic’s Charges to be in the Lineup rather than rotation, but there was also no one reason as to why they got our last burst of support. 

Though Errol was our Guest of Honor, their buffs from partying ended up being undone by the Ruthless onslaught of Snow, leaving them statistically worse than they started. Instead, we were charmed by the irresistible adoration of a player who was popularly perceived as a sheep. Punny cheers were too good to let go. The image of Charging that thick fluffy fleece with electricity evoked images that we couldn’t pass up. For some, it was simply that “Errol Wool” felt really good to say. Our varied reasoning behind charging Wool is a great reflection of how we experienced these last two weeks as a whole. 

This Circuit, it wasn’t all about the numbers. It was also about the love.

Mal (malgic#8522 on Discord)

And a final note – BNN relies on reports from readers like you to fill out articles! If you’d like to contribute something in the future, head on over to our discord!

The post The Last Dance: Short Circuit 3 Uptempo Recap appeared first on Blaseball News Network.

“But how else do you begin to describe how a team goes from being title contenders making their first-ever appearance in the Mild League Playoff Series (Semi-Finals) to being the worst team the season after?”

This was how I introduced my first and previous Core Mechanics recap and now it serves as a textbook example of dramatic irony. Of course, nobody could have seen this season coming. So without further ado, let me tell you the story of how the Core Mechanics went from the depths of the Core to the heights of the Championship. 

Fax Evasion 101 

Kelvin Andante… a name that will cause most of the League to ask, “Who?” Kelvin Andante was Foreshadowed into the Rotation to replace Jolene Willowtree in Season 17 in order to protect them from a potential swap. Kelvin is an average pitcher by most standards but overlooked in a team dripping with pitching talent. The plan was for Jolene to receive a small boost to their stats and to quickly return by Shadow Fax to pitch out the rest of the season.

At least, that was the plan because Kelvin Andante turned out to really like not being stuck in the shadowy underbelly of the Core. And made it their mission to not just simply avoid the Fax,  but to make it as agonizingly close as possible. 

Kelvin became the master of conceding 7, 8, 9 runs at home, just enough to crush the hopes of a Core victory occurring but also to make it just seem like they were this close to being Shadow Faxed. They took it one step further; they regularly conceded 10+ runs away from home in Stadiums in which Shadow Fax did not apply. When Kelvin finally allowed 10+ runs at home, Black Hole weather led to the discovery that the Shadow Fax will not register a Black Hole swallowing a win as exceeding 10 runs. 

The Breath Mints were the ones to finally bring Kelvin down on Day 84, with an 11-6 game in Salmon weather to finally free Jolene Willowtree from the Shadows, just in time to compete during the playoffs that were now within the Core’s grasp, but Jolene returned to the Mechanics with an unfamiliar face in the Lineup. 

Foxy Feedback 

Foxy Pebble was one of the Core’s early main batters, being brought into the Lineup for their natural batting ability. The Core was desperately attempting to fine-tune their pitching while performing emergency repairs on the batting Lineup not long after the Descension in Season 15. Foxy Pebble was that emergency solution, and they were exactly what the Core needed. 

Foxy was also happy to support and help the team. They used their great plate discipline and good contact hitting to get on base as much as possible, making those rare big plays or home runs count that much more to a team that struggled to put Runs on the board.

Over the seasons, as the Core began to rust and parts were replaced, Foxy had slipped down from the team’s top batters as Gia Holbrook, Adelaide Judochop, and Bees Taswell became great, competent batters in their own right. But Foxy was still there, ready to do their best and help the Core as much as they could, having a plate discipline still unmatched by most of the team.

On Day 58 of Season 18, during a Feedback event with the San Francisco Lovers, Foxy Pebble would be replaced by Cannonball Sports, a star batter for the Lovers. Unfortunately, this was a downgrade for the Lovers and the Core became conflicted. While Cannonball Sports was undeniably a fantastic hitter— as they would prove throughout the rest of the season— we bid farewell to another original member of the Core that we had grown to love dearly.

See you soon Foxy, thanks for everything you did for us.

The Playoffs

The Mechs had the best result they could realistically have hoped for going into the Playoffs, realizing that the Hawaii Fridays vs Mechanics was inevitable as the space between the 4th and 3rd seed grew. A battle ensued for the 2nd place seed. This was due to the Friday’s Home Field Advantage gift, giving a run for free to the Fridays’ every home game. The Core getting the 2nd place seed would mean a maximum of 2 Games at The Cookout— which is exactly what happened.

The Mechanics had also received an advantage of their own, thanks to the Bargain Bin gift. Bees Taswell had become Ambitious about our Playoff chances, leading to them Overperforming in the Postseason.

We went in with as many advantages as we could against the Fridays’ stellar batting, and the first game showed with Shirai still under the effects of Coffee 3, the first game ended in a close 3.4-5 win to the Core. We had won but if that had been at the Cookout and no Coffee 3s, the result could’ve gone the opposite way. To seal the series, we would need a win at the Cookout— but how?

Spears Taylor Bloodrained our star batter Gia Holbrook to add an Out shortly after the beginning of game 2, and the results were devastating. 

For those unaware, the Core Mechanics, like every team with 3 Championship wins or above, have a team-specific Evolution Mod: Georgias overperform if they get negative Runs in a game, Worms get a buff if they are last in their division. With the Maintenance Mode Modification, If any of the Mechs’ players sustain damage during a game, they receive a 4th Out from the Umpires for the rest of the game, which Spears Taylor had just done to Gia Holbrook.

10-2 was the final score for game 2 in the Core’s favor, and a shutout in the 3rd game would send the Fridays out of the Playoffs in a clean sweep. We would find out a few hours later we were to face the Pies after the Crabs had held them to a final dramatic game, but an event in that game would drastically change the course of the playoffs for the Pies.

The pitcher going against Shirai McElroy of the Mechanics in the first game of the Mild Championship series was Nerd Pacheco, who had just had a Superallergic reaction due to a stray peanut in the Crabs vs Pies series, making them completely unfit to play, and the series ended in a one-sided victory for the Mechanics.

My deepest condolences and sympathies go out to the Pies. Seeing that happen to a beloved player is unimaginable, and on behalf of not just the Core, but the whole league, we wish you and Nerd the best.

Games 2 and 3 were close contests. While the Pies batting Lineup is extraordinary, so is the often underrated defense of the Mechanics. Marking a massive tonal shift from the high scoring games of the Pies vs Crabs, the Mechanics would go on to win 2-1 and 4-3 respectively to sweep the Pies out of Playoffs and proceed to their [UNAVALIABLE] finals, their first since descending in Season 12 to play another team new to the finals, the Boston Flowers.

The Flowers vs Mechs series would go down to the wire: losing the first game 6-4, before stealing the lead back in Games 2 and 3, winning 4-1 and 3-0, respectively. Finally, under the blistering heat of Sun 2, Chorby Short pitched an amazing game to end Game 4 in a 4-1 loss for the Mechanics. The final would go to a final game. 

The Final Game

“Now lets go out there and show the Flowers; we’re not finished here just yet!” chants of “MECHS GOOD” and dedications to deceased Core members and those on other teams are read out “FOR HANDS SCOREBURG, FOR RUFFIAN APPLESAUCE.” The names continue to be read aloud as we share stories of how this team has become our home, and we wouldn’t change it for a thing. 

Welcome to the Core, ten minutes before Game 5 to decide who will win the ILB Championship, and we’re nervous.

The number of hits has been approximately the same for both sides throughout the series, with the Core hitting more home runs, it will likely all come down to a low scoring pitching duel.

That’s exactly how it plays out. Mechanics go up 1 before the Flowers equalize. The Core begins to edge away with Mindy Kugel, who just last season batting for the first time, having nerves of steel to bat singles in separate innings to bring Christian Combs and Bees Taswell home. 

Top of the 6th, we’re up 3-1, and we all know who our hopes come down to, Jolene Willowtree. They are pitching the game of their life, recreating what Chorby Short had just done to use in Game 4, the Flowers trying with all their might to get on base, but it doesn’t happen. Strikeout after strikeout happens as the Core nervously counts down how many Outs the Flowers have left 9, 8, 7 quickly becomes 3, 2, 1… 0.

I throw the Core Mechanics cap I’ve been clutching into the air as the Core Mechanics erupt, those of who were coherent enough managed to scream out a “YESSS” or “WE DID IT,” and the rest of us sound like we’ve had a little bit too much apple juice for a brief minute. 

We felt on top of the world for hours, and while this season could have played out so drastically differently such as: What if Nerd Pacheco never sustained that awful Superallergic reaction? What if we hadn’t Feedbacked and received Cannonball Sports from the Lovers? 

We can only deal in the present and the outcomes that the cold, calculating Blaseball Gods present us with and take it from there. 

I do hope one day, though, that the teams we faced, the teams that supported us, and everyone in between, has their time on Blaseball’s grandest stage to make their own story and to carry that story with you long after the spotlight dims. Because I have to tell you, I’ll be carrying this one for a long time, of how something I never thought would be possible happened right before my eyes, because odds are odds for a reason. They leave room for miracles to happen.

The post Ascension: Core Mechanics Season 18 Recap appeared first on Blaseball News Network.

This recap is weird. It’s not often you read that as the first sentence of a recap, but how else do you begin to describe how a team goes from being title contenders, making their first-ever appearance in the Mild League Playoff Series (Semi-Finals), to being the worst team the season after? 

So in the first twist of this Season 17 recap, we find ourselves back in Season 16.  

Season 16 Election Woes

The Season 16 Core Mechanics were a frightening team. It only took one look at the pitching Rotation to see why.  There wasn’t a single pitcher in the Rotation below 5 stars. It resulted in the best Runs Allowed record in the league that season, only 232.9 Runs Allowed overall, 2.35 Runs Allowed per game, with only the Season 16 Champions, the Dallas Steaks coming close to that.

Season 16’s Election was the beginning of that pitching Rotation falling apart in a wimdy vote that shocked everyone at the Core, and its combination with another will:

The Mechanics had just pulled off one of the worst or, depending on your perspective, one of the greatest trade deals in Blaseball history: in terms of pitching stars, we gave the Steaks a 6.3-star pitcher for a 1.7-star pitcher in return.

Attempts were made to bring Zoey home at the Season 17 Elections. Thanks to the kindness of the Steaks team and others but were ultimately unsuccessful and with the recent Season 18 Wills changes, Zoey is unlikely to be returning anytime soon, and so we wish them the best and will always welcome them back with open arms. 

The Speedrun

The consequences of all this weren’t surprising. The Core ended up falling 9 places in the BNN Rankings from 6th in Season 16 to 15th in Season 17. The rest of the pitching Rotation was unharmed, PolkaDot just wasn’t the beloved icon they once were. 

Okay, so the Mechs were definitely on track for a PARTYTIME season, but how did we speedrun it? That came down to those entities we banned from the Core long ago, the Blaseball Gods and their sinister underling *The Weather,* specifically Reverb.

Day 2 of Season 17 saw Mindy Kugel, a 5.5-star pitcher, swap places with batter Bottles Suljak. While Mindy turned out to actually be a great batter, gliding across the immateria, Bottles’ pitching was more akin to them slowly drowning and falling through reality as we know it.

Thankfully, Bottles only had to wait until Day 74 to be saved after the brand new Modification, Fax Machine, caused them to be swapped out with a brand new ILB player from the Core Shadows, Cravel Gesundheit. But nobody at the Core was relaxing towards the end of the season.

The Return of the Jaylen Hotdogfingers Tour

The Yellowstone Magic arrived at the Core on Day 88. The series’ forecast of Solar Eclipse, Feedback, and Feedback was grim, and the Fliickerrriiing Jaylen Hotdogfingers was continuing with their world tour.

Jaylen had previously visited the Core back in Season 13 shortly after our arrival, causing us to lose Lizzy Pasta to the Fridays (They would be quickly Shadowed at the end of the season and have remained there since), but was eventually replaced by new-to-batting Mindy Kugel from earlier.

But everyone knew what double-Feedback weather and Fliickerrriiing would mean. We were going to lose one of our beloved, excellent pitchers Shirai McElroy and Jolene Willowtree, or PolkaDot Patterson or Cravel Gesundheit.

The first Feedback game got underway. As the innings passed, debate raged over who might be swapped, and nervous energy descended on the Core. But with the final Out of the game came collective sigh of relief and a 4-2 win to Yellowstone with no Feedback. Fans celebrated.

The idea that maybe just maybe we might somehow escape the Jaylen world tour began spreading into people’s minds— but to slightly misquote The Anchor “as any long-term fan of Blaseball will tell you, going into something with good feelings is a horrible, horrible mistake.” 

The Feedback struck on Day 90 with the best possible outcome: Cravel Gesundheit was swapped with Jaylen Hotdogfingers and fans from both teams rejoiced. This was a solid trade with the smallest amount of heartbreak possible. The Garages would at the end of the Season break Jaylen’s Fliickerrriiing curse with a Modification reroll to Super Idol, and both are pitching today in Season 18.

The Name is Alto

PolkaDot Patterson we knew is no more. That much became clear, especially to a team like the Core, which would have pitching pumping through its veins if not for the actual pesky blood and oil in the way.

The Core was faced with a dilemma: as a pitcher, PolkaDot seemed done. Even if we trained them back to their previous standard or Zoey’s standard, their natural talent had disappeared and we had just finished our focus on pitching.

So we faced an incredibly tough question: Do we Shadow one of Blaseball’s most influential players with little hope of bringing them out again and make a fantastic pitching roster again?

That was the question hanging over everything, but as this was happening PolkaDot’s popularity on the team grew. They might not have been the amazing pitching superstar that they once were but that didn’t matter, they were trying their best and trying to make sense of the legacy that they had inherited and all the expectations that came with that, and we loved that determination.

Soon, the name Alto became commonplace within the Core when referring to PolkaDot, in reference to the Alternate infusion that had changed them, and plans were made after Alto’s talent for batting was recognized in a team that had long suffered from lackluster batting.

While Alto still ended up joining the Shadows as a result of the Fax Machine, Alto looks set to make a return in the near future to forge a new legacy and story with the Core Mechanics— not as a pitcher, but as a batter. We can’t wait to see what they will do, and who knows— maybe PolkaDot is off somewhere, still throwing fastballs. 

The Future

Once the aftermath of being the PARTYTIME hosts winded down, in which we had uniquely introduced each team (The Dale managing this twice due to PARTYTIME shenanigans) and presented a Gearball matching their team’s color schemes, we turned our attention towards the future.

The Season 17 Election was mostly positive for us, but as mentioned earlier we were unable to bring Zoey Kirchner back home to the Core. We were able to shorten the pitching Rotation down to 3 people and sent Jolene Willowtree to the Shadows ready to replace any pitcher with over 10 runs conceded and utilize Shadow Fax the best as we can.  

Gia Holbrook’s batting was Infused to beyond 5 stars, which is unheard of for a Core Mechanics batter, leading to excitement over what Gia can now bring to the table as a thoroughly great batter. The Garages, as mentioned earlier, re-rolled Jaylen Hotdogfingers Fliickerrriiing modification making them a surprise addition to the Core’s pitching Rotation for the foreseeable future.

While the Core Mechanics may not be the one-sided pitching powerhouse they once were, we can finally say that the holes in our team composition have been fixed with stable batting and pitching throughout— and in a time in which the League is submerged in immateria, that might not be a bad thing at all.

The post Maintenance Mode: Core Mechanics Recap Season 17 appeared first on Blaseball News Network.

Season 16 looks to be the rise of the expansion teams. After solid seasons of Partying and Wills paired with the vicious Consumer Attacks targeting the top teams, the work of the expansion teams’ fans finally seems to be paying off.

However, for three of the expansion teams who descended back in Season 12, they fell into a competitive league with no fans or funds that had radically changed since they last competed here. This was a unique moment for a league that has largely remained unchanged since its inception, with the exception of the Tokyo Lift joining in Season 11 after the Baltimore Crabs’ Ascension. 

Now, with the benefit of a few seasons of hindsight and the memories still fresh, I asked fans of my team, the Core Mechanics, what drove that original choice to back the team and, more importantly, why they made the Core their home. 

The first question I asked was this: “If you were previously a fan of an existing team before transferring over to the Core Mechanics, what was the driving force behind that decision or supporting two teams?”

The first theme that emerged in the responses was the opportunity to create something new and different at the Mechanics without the limitations of existing culture, and I’ve quoted some of these responses below, with permission:

“I loved the opportunity to find community and try my hand at being a part of creating a new subculture in Blaseball… I wanted to see what else was possible.” -Azure (Azurite Coast)

“There was a new team with a cool punny name that appealed to me… I had an opportunity to get on the ground floor of helping shape the team’s aesthetic… and I wanted to take advantage of that and contribute.” -CosmicDuctTape

The second theme that emerged was a personal connection with the theme of the Core Mechanics, with lots of people resonating through personal experience with the mechanical aspect as seen below:

“I am a massive fan of mechanical stuffs, especially Battlebots and transport infrastructure. I basically didn’t have a choice but to jump over.” -Shorkball

“I felt that theCore was much more alike my interests… joining a team as it was being founded sounded fun.” -Slapi 

“I was starting to get tired of the [former team’s] aesthetic. I’m a forever tinker renaissance man type of person, so the whole Mechanic Thing immediately called to me, so the swap made sense and had good timing.” -Esoteric Triangle 

This second theme has seemingly become the dominant reason to join the Core as responses from new fans who picked the Core as their first team quickly showed:

“I picked the Core Mechanics because I personally am really interested in Engineering.” -Hal 2000

“Out of all the teams, that was the one that stood out immediately to me since I do like the mechanical theming.” -Wires in a Box

These quotes are just a snapshot of the responses I received but show the personal connection and ability to create drove many Mechanics fans to the team. 

But now, after multiple seasons, what is it about Mechanics that has encouraged them to stay and what do they love the most about the Mechanics? If you had asked me this question, I would have given you a rambling, long-winded response that one Mechanics fan summed up in a single sentence:

“The Mech community has an endless hunger to create and improve.” -LexaByteNV

This unequivocally strikes at the heart of not only the Mechanics but Blaseball as a whole. 

I read response after response about how the community’s positive and creative environment motivated them to work on projects from team lore, abandoned personal projects, and Election planning and number-crunching and to attack these projects head on. 

“The way we communally encourage creativity and each other’s creative projects, including (and maybe especially) people who are nervous to try something new or insecure in their skills.” -sleepykai

“Our tendency to passionately dive into projects and jump at ideas that benefit the team… we are ‘Brr’ incarnate and can direct that when the times calls for it.”-ShadowStranger

People not only felt energised by the environment but also to be themselves. The Mechanics made accessibility a key theme of the team early on, leading to the pioneering of the photo ID system that quickly spread to the rest of the Discord server. 

“Accessibility! Especially in the ‘live your best dream life however you want’ sense, in the way we have discussed life in the Core? That’s been the best.”-Anonymous 

As mentioned above, the theme dripped into the Core itself, which allowed them to envision a place much like the community as a whole. Welcoming to all, regardless of your circumstances, a place in which ideas are celebrated and incorporated into something bigger than ourselves where everyone is heard.  

“Sure, the Core is a world that is technically completely non-canon, but the worldbuilding of the Core and the attitudes of the people who live there is absolutely amazing.” -Audmirable

“The huge breadth of expertise within the Core. It’s everything I love about Blaseball’s fanbase in general turned up to 11. We’ve got artists, musicians, game designers, architects, robot builders, mathematicians, and materials scientists!”-NF211

When I asked the fans what they wanted other teams to know about the culture of the Core Mechanics, there were main types of responses:

“Core is Down.” -Lots of Mechs Fans. 

“The Core isn’t just steampunk robots. That’s so limiting! The Core is steampunk and biopunk and neonpunk and solarpunk and every single -punk at the same time.” -hillexed

“We’re a friendly bunch, and we’d love to have you visit!” -Darth Paradox

The Core Mechanics are ultimately doing what we expect of mechanics. They are imagining and designing a world for all of us within their culture. Working together as a community despite coming from so many different backgrounds to make creative things happen and ultimately creating something that we can all be proud of— regardless of what the Blaseball Gods throw at us. After all, we banned them from the Core.

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