post a category and I'll give you a top 10

[yui 576]

I'm a bandwagoner who likes to 1-up people

[Summer Darj 292]

Anime lolis

Edited January 19, 2020 by Darj

[Thar 502]

gimme your top 10 list of top 10 lists

[yui 576]

18 minutes ago, Darj said:

Anime lolis

You've really put the ol' noggin to work on this one, especially with how loose the definition of loli can be.

10: LLENN (Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online)
9: Suwako Moriya (Touhou Project)
8: Benienma (Fate)
7: Helena Blavatsky (Fate)
6: Medusa (Lancer) (Fate)
5: Remilia Scarlet (Touhou Project)
4: Megumin (KonoSuba)
3: Kurumi Ebisuzawa (Gakkou Gurashi)
2: Illyasviel von Einzbern (Fate)
1: Leondardo da Vinci (Rider) (Fate)

2 minutes ago, Thar said:

gimme your top 10 list of top 10 lists

This is pretty meta. I'll come back to this one after I've made 10 top 10s in this thread, since I can't remember enough other top 10s to make one from other people's content.

[Kazooie 167]

fuck u thar u stole my question

top ten league moments for you. i want story time mr. person

[yui 576]

13 minutes ago, Kazooie said:

fuck u thar u stole my question

top ten league moments for you. i want story time mr. person

Oh boy. I've been with this game for about five years, so there's a fair few stories. There may well be some top-notch League moments I missed since it's been quite some time with this game, but here's ten moments I could think of that I'll never forget, with varying amounts of backstory and importance. I started with the ones I didn't directly do myself, and from there went from least to most favorite.

#10: Immortals in the 2016 NA LCS being actually immortal

Spoiler

Starting with this one because it's not actually something I did, but it was the only time I really cared to follow the esports scene. In the 2016 spring split, Immortals made their debut, and everyone expected big things of them. They had an all-star cast, after all, made up of a bunch of folks who were very good at their respective roles. And for most of the split, they lived up to their name. For several games, not only did IMT win every game, but not once did anybody on the team die. Quite impressive for pro League!! Even if WildTurtle did break the deathless streak after a few games, it still took six weeks for somebody to finally stop IMT's perfect winning streak.

Even IMT finally taking a loss stands out to me. It was a game against CLG, and the strategy they'd come up with was to shut down the jungler. And who did they pick in this game where they wanted to shut down Reignover? Udyr. Why does this specific jungle pick matter to me? Because Udyr hadn't been picked before this in the spring split, and at the time, I was a jungle player who just so happened to main Udyr. Seeing my main take down my favorite team of the split was a glorious moment.

#9: Two bots wanting me very, very dead

Spoiler

Also something I didn't do (not directly anyway), and a much shorter story. This was during the buildup to Yuumi's release, while she was on PBE but hadn't quite hit live yet. Being the support main that I am, I simply had to go test out this new champion. This story is related to her attach mechanic, since she's untargetable while attached. This matters because of bot behavior. Basically, I was at low health at this moment in time, and attached to somebody in midlane. The instant I detached, two enemy bots (Lux and Caitlyn) immediately fired their ults at me. Suffice to say, I was one dead kitty.

#8: Pyke changes (rip tank Pyke, rip mid Pyke)

Spoiler

Last one that I didn't do myself, I promise. On May 31st of 2018, Pyke - who I've mained since his release - was unleashed upon an unprepared live server. On November 7th of that same year, Pyke's ratios got changed. A lot. The movespeed on his W now scaled with lethality instead of bonus AD. The stun duration on his E no longer increased with rank, but instead scaled with lethality. And his ult's execute threshold got a new lethality scaling tacked onto it. These changes were intended to remove tank Pyke from the picture, since what many people would do was simply build him tanky so that he would be hard to kill while still having all his utility and still having AD from his passive converting bonus health into AD instead. Tank Pyke was dead with the arrival of patch 8.22, and that didn't matter to me at all because I always built lethality on him anyway.

Then a strategy that had been fairly obscure came into the limelight later on, about six or seven months later. Introducing midlane Pyke. His waveclear was pretty solid, and his ganks were god-tier. A very powerful off-meta pick that nobody really noticed until G2 did a video about it, at which point it exploded into the new flavor of the month. On June 26th, 2019, patch 9.13 would drop, and with it, mid Pyke would get butchered. His Q stab no longer did AoE damage, but instead just hit the nearest target, prioritizing champions. His E didn't affect minions or monsters at all (in the next patch, it regained the ability to stun minions and monsters, but still couldn't damage them). Pyke's waveclear was gone for good, and with it, mid Pyke received a massive blow while support Pyke was more or less unaffected. And boy oh boy, was that a dumpster fire on the Pyke mains subreddit.

It was so bad I even made a meme about it because mid and support Pykes seemed to be at each other's throats all the time.

And I'll admit, I take a bit of pride in being what seems like the only Pyke main to have played him as Riot intended, and therefore I'm the only one whose playstyle never got nerfed. In fact, tank Pyke getting shot down also brought about some buffs to lethality Pyke! As I hear, mid Pyke is still alive, but I don't know the details behind that.

#7: The reason I hated old Pantheon

Spoiler

If you've talked to me about the Pantheon rework that dropped in August, you'll know that it's one of my favorite reworks ever. And if you've talked to me about the way Pantheon was prior to this MAN-tier rework, you'll know I hated old Pantheon and refused to play him. This is the oldest story in this list, and it dates back to my very first day of playing League. Seeing as you're fairly new to League yourself, you've probably noticed I don't do a lot of hand-holding when trying to help new players get coached into this game. In fact, I do virtually none. This story is part of the reason for that.

On my first day of League, I was being coached in by an experienced player. The idea was, we'd both go botlane in PVP games, I'd learn the game, and she'd just tear asses up with Nocturne. This was not how to teach someone the game as it turns out, because when I went off to play on my own for once, I was suddenly in some pretty hot water. Especially when somebody else on the team locked in Master Yi, who was the only champion I had even the most minimal of understanding on. In a panic, I asked her who I should play, and she asked me to relay who was on the free rotation at the time. Out of the champs there, she told me to pick Pantheon.

The next 20 minutes was some of the most miserable gameplay I've ever experienced in League of Legends. That was the first and last time I played old Pantheon, and I'm glad he's gone now. As it so happens, I'm actually not that good at the current Pantheon either, but I at least enjoy playing this one.

#6: Spoonfeeding the Tryndamere

Spoiler

Or "How I learned to stop panicking and play Lee Sin"

Alluding to the Pantheon story a bit, Lee Sin was the champion I was most interested in when I first signed up. The reason I bought Master Yi on day 1 was because I'd been told he was a similar enough champion to Lee Sin (he isn't... like, at all, aside from both of them being Ionian junglers). It took a few years for me to finally acquire then try out the blind monk I'd been so interested in that I downloaded the game just to play him. This was sometime in 2019 I believe, and by this point I was readily familiar with how the game and its champions worked. So, finally ready to try out Lee Sin, I locked in, and immediately the nerves hit. Keep in mind, Lee Sin is the single most difficult jungler to play in League of Legends, and while my gameplay is pretty solid, my mechanical skill is actually pretty shit. That's why I tend to play lower-mechanics champs like Udyr or Pyke.

So here I am, playing one of the most mechanically-intensive champs and one of the most difficult champs in the game, never done it before, but I do know what I'm supposed to do at least. Lee Sin is an early game jungler, and I knew there was no way I'd carry this game. So what did I do? I ganked. I went up to toplane early and ganked for my Tryndamere, giving him a kill. Then I did it a couple more times. Twenty minutes later, I get called out by the enemy team after Tryndamere carries the game, telling me that all I did was spoonfeed him kills. Which, I did. But it won me the game, yeah?

My Lee Sin as of right now is pretty decent, but I still don't have the mechanical skill to insec people or to ward hop on the fly. It's gonna be a long road ahead before I'm proud of my Lee Sin, especially since I very rarely play him.

#5: IP grinding for Jhin

Spoiler

Prior to patch 7.22 which dropped in early November of 2017, blue essence wasn't your main currency to buy champions with. Back then, we instead had influence points (IP), which you earned a teensy bit of after every game. This story takes place before blue essence was even introduced, let alone before it was merged with IP, back in very early 2016.

A bit before this story, a new champion was slowly being teased. Champion pages on the official site would change, displaying a new animated icon for the champion and playing something special when you visited their page. The screen would go black, you'd hear a gunshot, and one of four special teaser arts would appear depending on which champion was affected by the teaser at the time. The League community was excited, and there was a lot of hype building up to what would finally be Jhin's reveal trailer. The crowd. Went. Wild. Everyone I knew wanted Jhin on release, including myself. Luckily, during the reign of IP, every so once in a blue moon a special thing would happen, where you'd get a whole lot of bonus IP for each game.

Such an event was happening during the buildup to Jhin's release. I rounded up some friends who also wanted Jhin, we all hit the queues, and a whole lot of games were played purely for the purpose of reaching the hefty sum of 7800IP to buy Jhin on release. To this day, Jhin is still my favorite ADC (as well as one of the most beloved ADCs overall by the community), and he'll probably continue to be my favorite ADC for the rest of League's days.

#4: "Get em, Funnybones!"

Spoiler

During this story, I was a toplane main, who mostly played Yorick. This is the brief and undetailed story of the only time I hopped into voice comms with strangers.

Somebody in the champ select lobby had posted a link to a discord server. I, bored enough at the time, decided "Fuck it, I'll voice comm with these nerds." The details of that game are pretty hazy to me, but this was during a time where my Yorick gameplay was at its best. I could 2v1 other champs in the right circumstances, I ate towers for breakfast, that sort of thing. The reason this story is named as such is because I remember getting ganked once, which turned into a 2v1 that ended in me killing the enemy toplaner, and the jungler running away. Somebody on the comms said "Get em, Funnybones!" (my league handle) as I chased down the jungler. That was a good game.

#3: My first (and only) Pyke pentakill

Spoiler

On October 18th, 2019, I got my first pentakill on my main. This was a goal I'd aspired to since his release, and while it did take me a year and a half, I did do it. I even have the video highlight of it right here.

It's a bit hard to keep track of me throughout, and it wasn't the fabled pentadunk like I'm still aspiring to, but when Rep and I duoqueue, good things happen. You can even see Rep in the video too (he's the Syndra on the bottom-right in the thumbnail). As I recall, this game did not start off well. I was having a shit time in lane that day, but things were picking up for me later in the game. And then, right at the end, right after we claimed drake, we got a pick. I killed the pick. Then we got a few more. Finally, it climaxed in getting that satisfying pentakill, with Qiyana who I hate being the last one dead. Talk about a happy ending.

The moral of this story is that Syndra/Pyke botlane is gross.

#2: My first pentakill ever

Spoiler

"Wait, you got a penta on someone other than Pyke?" you may ask. Why yes, my first penta wasn't on Pyke.

It was on Darius. I don't have a video of this one, but I can promise you Darius got me my first pentakill. It was almost stolen from me too! After getting the pentakill and telling my friends I finally got a penta, somebody even gifted me Dunkmaster Darius! Later, in the 2018 versus event, I was gifted God-King Darius due to lucky circumstances. I own both of Darius's legendary skins and didn't buy either one of them. stonks

#1: Getting accused of smurfing

Spoiler

This is both my favorite story and the youngest one. In fact, it only happened like a week ago.

Due to some missions telling me to play ranked games, I decided I should at least do my ten placement games to see where I am on the ladder. I got placed in Iron 2, which is pretty far down there, but could be worse. Anyway, during the placements, I of course played a lot of Pyke, because I'm a Pyke main. During one particular game, I popped all the way off, getting kills all over the map, making the enemy team's life suck, warding, de-warding, etc. I finished the game with 17 kills, 5 deaths, and 15 assists. I did more damage than my ADC (and was only outdamaged by the Katarina in midlane), had the second most kills out of everyone on both teams (again, second only to Kat), and earned the most gold out of everyone in the game. Overall, I performed so well that the enemy Tryndamere accused me of smurfing, which is the practice of using a second account for low-elo shenanigans, while your main account sits up at a higher rank (often platinum or higher). While I do have a smurf account, I forgot both the name and password for it, so I can't use it even if I wanted to.

 

[Chiri Bedhead 115]

Your favorite aidoru anime.

Or for something a little less completely impossible, your favorite anime aidorus.

[yui 576]

10 minutes ago, Chiri said:

Your favorite aidoru anime.

Or for something a little less completely impossible, your favorite anime aidorus.

If I'd seen ten or even five aidoru anime I'd give you a list for that too. But I've only watched Zombieland Saga and most (not even all) of Idolmaster at present. Ordered from top to bottom this time to save myself an extra step making the list.

1. Nikaidou Saki
2. Mizuno Ai
3. Hoshii Miki
4. Kikuchi Makoto
5. Ganaha Hibiki
6. Futami Ami & Mami (it ain't fair to count them separately)
7. Konno Junko
8. Minase Iori
9. Takatsuki Yayoi
10. Minamoto Sakura

[Summer Darj 292]

JoJo stands

[yui 576]

14 hours ago, Darj said:

JoJo stands

I haven't watched JoJo. I don't plan on watching JoJo. I do not like JoJo.

1. The World

[Mr Spaz 37]

DBZ Abridged quotes

[yui 576]

19 minutes ago, Mr Spaz said:

DBZ Abridged quotes

Don't watch DBZA either.

[Thar 502]

Named weapons in animated media (and yes, video games count as animated media)

[UltimateIRS 41]

yuri anime

[yui 576]

5 hours ago, Thar said:

Named weapons in animated media (and yes, video games count as animated media)

In no particular order...

1. Soul Edge (as seen in Soul Calibur 2)
2. Megashark (Terraria)
3. Val'anyr, Hammer of the Ancient Kings (Warcraft)
4. Sheilun, Staff of the Mists (Warcraft)
5. [Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker] (Warcraft)
6. Dawnfang/Duskfang (Elder Scrolls)
7. Blade of the Ruined King (League of Legends)
8. Wabbajack (as seen in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)
9. Colt M1877 Thunderer (as seen in Fate/Grand Order)
10. Rhaast (League of Legends)

5 hours ago, UltimateIRS said:

yuri anime

Going from bottom to top here, with short reviews on each.

10: Flip Flappers

Spoiler

I should preface this with a short disclaimer: I've not yet watched Flip Flappers, but it is on my to-do list. However, the idea behind it seems interesting enough, and my definition of yuri anime for the purpose of this list is rather strict, so I'm putting it here anyway.

#9: Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san

Spoiler

Same disclaimer. I haven't seen Tonari no Kyuuketsuki-san, but it's way up there on my agenda, and I like the idea behind it, more than Flip Flappers. I like cute gay girls doing cute gay things, I like vampires, so I can tell this is going to be right up my alley. I'll quote this post again after watching this and Flip Flappers to update you on where the two stand compared to the following eight anime that I have seen.

#8: Venus Versus Virus

Spoiler

To kick off the yuri I have seen, let's talk about mediocrity, because Venus Versus Virus has plenty of that. That isn't to say it's a bad show, but I wouldn't expect this to win any awards either. The plot centers around Sumire - blessed with the incredible ability to see dead people - and Lucia, whose job is to hunt these ghosts and blah blah blah. Put frankly, I don't like damsels in distress, and Sumire is very good at playing damsel. I feel like the show would be a lot better if it centered around Lucia instead.

7/10

#7: Saki

Spoiler

(I couldn't find the OP for the main season)

In the world of anime, mundane games are hyped up and made overly flashy, and I feel like Saki might be trying to parody that with how you can easily forget that this is a show about mahjong despite the girls playing mahjong as you forget it. While not strictly a yuri anime on its own, there are enough canon yuri ships (two?) for this to count when combined with the almost complete lack of any and all males in this show. Saki is entertaining, albeit a bit plain, and I would immediately suggest it to any mahjong enthusiast. Or y'know, someone who wants to watch cute and probably gay girls play games. Solid show overall.

8/10

#6: Akuma no Riddle (spoilers in review)

Spoiler

Rating this one at the start since the later half of this review has spoilers. 9/10.

Akuma no Riddle is a glimmering and perfect example of "simple works best," because if it stuck to that philosophy, this very easily could have made top 3 on the list, perhaps even taking the #1 spot. The simple of it is, a special class has been assembled, where everyone except one student - Haru Ichinose - is an assassin. Their job is to figure out who isn't the assassin, and kill them... or that's how it's supposed to be. Tokaku Azuma - whose gaydar has been activated by Haru - defects from the job and instead makes it her new mission to deal with all the other assassins. There's a lot of things I can praise about this show. Most importantly, the fight scenes. No two assassins in this murder class have the same methods of elimination, which keeps the show fresh as Azuma works her way through the rest of her class in the name of lesbian love. The characters themselves are also pretty interesting for enemy of the week types, and hilariously enough, Azuma just might be the least interesting character in the show, despite being the protagonist.

However, a show I praise as much as Akuma no Riddle must have some problems, right? Well, it does. Big ones. As neat as most of the cast is, some characters are simply unenjoyable, but this is the least of Akuma no Riddle's crimes. Everything below this point is spoilers, so if you want to watch this show, I'd advise not reading further and simply closing this spoiler and moving on to the next one.

While a lot of the early episodes are pretty straightforward, things start getting weird near the end. Black magic? Haru apparently emits a special "queen bee" pheromone? The final assassin is basically a cyborg who can attach a bunch of guns and stuff to her body? If Akuma no Riddle hadn't gotten weird at the end here and just played it straight, this show would be scoring a lot higher than it is. More than this though, the dynamic between two particular assassins was never explored (because we didn't have the airtime to do it), and worst of all, it's revealed during the final credit roll that everyone is alive. Never has my suspense been so perfectly destroyed as learning that despite the fatal injuries many assassins suffered, everyone's still alive and well. It's because of this awful home stretch that Akuma no Riddle can't get past #6 on this list, no matter how much I liked everything prior to this point.

#5: Yuru Yuri

Spoiler

I couldn't find the animation for the second season's OP, but this is one of my favorite OPs of all time, so fuck the season 1 OP I do what I want.

Yuru Yuri is my go-to suggestion for people who want a particularly chill time with their anime. A stark contrast to the above Akuma no Riddle in just about every way imaginable, Yuru Yuri is impressively down-to-earth while still having plenty of fun, making it probably the easiest show to watch on this list. That's good on its own, but this is also something that has clearly mastered the art of running gags. I generally dislike running gags, but Yuru Yuri pulls it off in juuuuust the right way that they stay funny through the whole three seasons. The characters also aren't particularly complex - I could sum up any of them with a single sentence - and this is the kind of writing where simple characters like that are preferable.

Heavy recommendation for if someone wants to watch something but isn't sure what. 9/10.

#4: Kiniro Mosaic

Spoiler

I couldn't find the OP again.

Featuring Karen Kujo, one of the best moeblobs of all time, Kiniro Mosaic is a wonderfully chill show. Centering about Shinobu Oomiya who adores blondes and her friends in school, this is two seasons of just the right amount of diabetes-inducing cute. There's not much of particular note to address with this show, but if you want to chill out and have some fun watching moeblob antics, this is an excellent choice of anime. Would recommend over Yuru Yuri in just about every aspect aside from how bafflingly easy Yuru Yuri is to watch, and is probably my favorite moeblob anime overall, just barely edging out its competitor.

9/10

#3: Mikaguren Gakuen Kumikyoku

Spoiler

If somebody asked me to condense all of my taste in anime into a single show, this would probably be the result. Featuring gay as fuck protagonist Eruna Ichinomiya, this is the story of a girl who joins a high school her cousin recommended purely because she wanted to meet one of the girls in the brochure, finding herself quickly thrust into a system revolving around superpowered battles and clubs and taking it upon herself to impress the girl of her dreams on the battlefield. It's goofy as hell, packed with energy, action, and characters with just the right amount of depth to them. The only complaint I could possibly make is that the artstyle downgrades some during some fight scenes, but if I was watching an anime for its artstyle, I would have no intention of finishing Asobi Asobase.

A hefty 9/10 for this one. A second season could easily propel this show into 10/10 territory.

#2: Asagao to Kase-san

Spoiler

This is actually a movie, not an anime in the regular sense. But not only do I like Asagao to Kase-san to warrant an exception, but it's my thread anyway, so I make the rules on what counts or not.

Asagao to Kase-san deserves a special mention among all these yuri anime. While the rest of these entries love to shiptease and otherwise give off gay vibes, this is the only entry on this list that's actually about a lesbian couple. A couple made up of the relatively timid plant appointee Yui Yamada, and the track team star Tomoka Kase. Both of them are awkward idiots, and this is a movie about them that takes a handful of chapters from the manga (heavily recommend!) and brings them to animated, full-color life. It's one hour of actually gay girls being actually gay for one another, and trying to get their new and awkward relationship to work out. There's some happy stuff, some sad stuff, some silly stuff, and all of this is delivered with an easy-on-the-eyes artstyle and some good old down-to-earth writing. No gimmicks, no weird shit, just a new couple doing their best to be a couple.

Literally my only complaint about this movie is that it's a movie instead of a 12-episode anime. This means you only get an hour of it instead of four hours. 10/10.

#1: Hibike! Euphonium

Spoiler

Do you like K-ON? What if I told you there's a K-ON that's better in virtually every way imaginable? Hibike! Euphonium is gay as fuck, and everything - yes, everything - about this show was handled absolutely perfectly. Featuring a great artstyle with impressive attention to detail, easily the best cast of characters I've ever seen, spectacular writing, and my favorite anime OP of all time, I won't shy away from calling Euphonium a flawless masterpiece of an anime, and that's not a form of praise I'd even give to Zombieland Saga, which currently holds the title of my favorite anime ever. I'm not even sure where to start with this anime, and the fact that I of all people am getting emotional thinking about this show says a lot.

Just. Watch it. The characters are top-notch, the animation is gorgeous, the soundtrack is great, and it's obvious watching it that everyone involved was passionate about making this anime happen. That passion paid off gloriously. This was supposed to be in the #2 spot in the first draft of my list, but halfway into my review, I realized that putting it anywhere besides the #1 spot would just be dishonest and sell it short. This may be setting your expectations for this show really high if you plan to watch it after reading my enthusiastic review, but that's fine. Wherever your expectations are, you won't be disappointed. 10/10, 100/100.

 

[Mr Spaz 37]

Words that you would likely never use in conversation

[Sethera 290]

Top ten zombos.

[yui 576]

On 1/22/2020 at 7:09 PM, Mr Spaz said:

Words that you would likely never use in conversation

In no particular order other than the order I thought of them in...

1. Assimilation
2. Peerless
3. Electroconvulsive
4. Paraphilia
5. Anchovy
6. Dictionary
7. Ubiquitous
8. Necrophobia (not to be confused with necrophilia, which is a word I have used in conversation multiple times)
9. Trillion
10. Antidisestablishmentarianism

4 hours ago, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd said:

Top ten zombos.

Top to bottom

1. Nikaidou Saki (Zombieland Saga)
2. Aikawa Ayumu (Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?)
3. Zombina (Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou)
4. Mizuno Ai (Zombieland Saga)
5. Sanka Rea (Sankarea)
6. Miyako Yoshika (Touhou Project)
7. Minamoto Sakura (Zombieland Saga)
8. Squigly (Skullgirls)
9. Konno Junko (Zombieland Saga)
10. Sid Barrett (Soul Eater)

[Summer Darj 292]

One Piece devil fruit powers.

[yui 576]

9 hours ago, Darj said:

One Piece devil fruit powers.

You're really good at picking anime I not only don't watch, but have no intention of watching.

[DragonSage 52]

Hmu with your favorite Touhou spell card names.

[yui 576]

On 1/24/2020 at 5:36 PM, DragonSage said:

Hmu with your favorite Touhou spell card names.

In no particular order...

1. Love Sign "Master Spark"
2. "Pristine Danmaku for Killing a Person"
3. Sea Opening "Moses's Miracle"
4. Divine Virtue "Bumper Crop Rice Shower"
5. Shinigami "Higan Retour"
6. Native God "Froggy Braves the Wind and Rain"
7. "Illusionary Dominance"
8. Moon Sign "Silent Selene"
9. Freeze Sign "Perfect Freeze"
10. Capsize "Dragging Anchor"

There aren't a lot of spell card names I have any real attachment to or feelings for beyond Master Spark though. This was very specific but also pretty enjoyable to put together.

[Summer Darj 292]

FGO Rider class units.

[yui 576]

3 hours ago, Darj said:

FGO Rider class units.

Ordered from bottom to top, with takes on each entry. Should note that gameplay is mostly not a factor here, but it is a little bit.

#10 - Astolfo

Spoiler

Kicking off the list is a Servant who gets a disproportionate amount of attention, especially for an Apocrypha Servant. Astolfo is, simply put, a good character cursed with shit writers. From his debut in Apocrypha to his continued presence in the awful, awful FGO chapter called Agartha, it seems that our whimsical paladin has an incredible knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Conversely, Astolfo was easily one of the highlights of Agartha, and the chapter is what caused him to grow on me. Sadly, much like his writers, Astolfo's gameplay in FGO doesn't seem that impressive either, even if his NP has a free-ass Protection From Arrows tied onto it.

#9 - Bartholomew Roberts

Spoiler

Bartholomew's a simple guy. He likes the pirate's life, proper conduct, and young girls/boys with their hair over one/both of their eyes. Most of the pirate Riders don't really do it for me for one reason or another (most; see Drake later on this list), but Bartholomew hits just the right chords with me. I would hang out with this guy, I would have drinks with this guy, and I eagerly await the day he and the other anniversary bronze Servants hit NA. I'd gush about Chen Gong a bit here, but this list is about Riders, not Casters.

#8 - Ushiwakamaru

Spoiler

Ushi only making #8 on this list despite her presence in Babylonia, being my first Rider, and just overall being a solid Servant and quality waifu, speaks a lot about just how stacked the Rider class actually is. It's hard to really get into detail on why I like Ushiwakamaru, so I'll keep it short and simple. Ushi is a good girl, and deserves lots of headpats. She's also a pretty top-notch badass among the Servants available on the friend point banner.

#7 - Mandricardo

Spoiler

Speaking of badasses in the friend point gacha, let's talk about FGO's premiere Mongolian Servant. Servants that have Noble Phantasms/skills that result in their own death are always pretty cool dudes, and Mandricardo is no exception. I won't be talking about his presence in the latest Lostbelt, since I don't actually know the story going on over there and don't want to get spoiled on it, but basically, Mandricardo's a cool dude. I want him in my roster, and I want to put him to good use when he graces NA with his presence.

#6 - Francis Drake

Spoiler

Most of the pirates in the Rider class don't really do it for me, as stated. Drake isn't most pirates. Her presence speaks for itself, really, so going into detail on why I like Drake shouldn't really be necessary. She's also an outstanding farming Servant, though I probably still wouldn't use her in favor of my Arash+Berserkers setup I've got going.

#5 - Boudicca

Spoiler

Easing us into the upper half of the list is one of the most useless Servants in FGO, at least before she gets a rank-up quest. Boudicca's presence was the single-greatest highlight in the Septem singularity by a long shot, and being both a fan of her historical character and just in general a sucker for Celtic things, it should be no surprise that the incredibly lovable queen of the Celts worked her way up here. I would let Boudicca coddle and cuddle me without a second thought, and I'm not really into that sort of treatment as a general rule.

#4 - Sakata Kintoki (Rider)

Spoiler

As an enthusiast for quick teams, Rider Kintoki is one of the Servants I would most benefit from having. However, I missed the rerun of his event by mere days when signing up, and knowing that possibly the best Quick Servant in the game is forever out of my reach because I was days late for signing up has always left a sour taste in my mouth. That's why I always keep an eye open for people who have him on their support list. Setting aside the fact that his gameplay performance is just ridiculously good, Kintoki's character just in general is really cool, and even in his default Berserker form, Kintoki's a total bro. Add a motorcycle, 80s-tastic getup, and a belt buckle with an engine on it, and you get the welfare Servant I crave the most, yet can never have unless DWs comes up with some crazy shit.

#3 - Mordred (Rider)

Spoiler

I like Mordred a lot, as should any Fate fan of culture. So what if we add a swimsuit, surfboard, make her personality ever so slightly less rough around the edges, and give her a tan? That's a recipe for a top-tier waifu. Along with Kintoki just above, Summer Mordred is a Servant I'll never own, but I'm fine with that this time, since she doesn't really suit my gameplay wants/needs. Mordred is a good girl who just wants some fatherly approval, and I'll support her in her quest. She's also the single best thing about Apocrypha, but that's as a Saber so I won't get too into that.

#2 - Leonardo da Vinci (Rider)

Spoiler

da Vinci is overall one of my favorite Servants in all of FGO, so giving her a loli version with some ridiculous skills that lend to an NP-spamming, critical-blasting arts Rider with supportive capabilities is a surefire way to secure the #2 spot on my top 10 Riders list. Because it's still da Vinci, she's still the positive-thinking, ever-helpful, and just so slightly sassy universal genius she always was. There's a lot more I'd like to say about Rider da Vinci, but that's spoilers that some people reading this thread might not have gotten to just yet.

#1 - Alexander

Spoiler

And topping off the list is the young King of Conquerers. My foremost Rider, my most anticipated animation update, and the shota who broke my fragile heterosexuality over his knee. It's been a long and wacky adventure with this kid, starting as far back as the Orleans singularity, where he first appeared alongside Waver. It didn't really register at first that he's a younger Iskandar (who didn't quite make this list, but came real close) and it was a pleasant surprise when it did, but having an Alexander of my own is where things kicked up a notch. I forget when he answered my summons, but he's been a mainstay in my teams ever since, and seeing him in story/event dialogue has always been a treat.

Billy and Kotaro are how I understood what Musashi (a rabid shotacon) was on about. Alexander is how I came to agree with her. Anyone who leaves that sort of impact on me deserves the #1 spot forever.

 

[Summer Darj 292]

My Hero Academia perks. But disregard their users or how they use them. In other words, about bias from the characters.