The Ranking Charts for May 2016 have been just released and can be found here!
This month our dedicated QAT members, Bakari, MMzz, Deif and Blocko picked the maps for the Monthly Ranking Charts.
The charts have previously been created by letting four dedicated community members select the most noteworthy maps of this month. We also reward the top beatmap in each category by providing 1 month of supporter status to the mapper.
For osu!, we decided to let Bakari pick their favourite maps.
One of the most noticeable sets of the month. Video, background and even combo colours and, of course, mapping styles as well - everything goes brilliantly with the song. Dynamic flow of every difficulty that varies in style as you pick harder difficulties emphasizes the map in a very interesting way. Be sure to check it out! Whatever you skill level way, you are almost certain to enjoy it!
A great proof of the fact that we do not give "Elite Mapper" titles away for nothing. Insanely amazing harder difficulties, that gently descend into brilliantly mapped collab and more beginner friendly Normal and guest Hard. Every difficulty on its own is beautiful enough and could stand as a good example of how to map, but in the set all together they leave me speechless, as I can not help but play the set again, and again and again.
Looking for something different to try? Up for some hit accuracy training? This set is exactly what you need. The map itself is really well done and the way pishifat handles timing changes is impressive: every difficulty remains well playable while also following the song as close as it is possible.
It is impossible not to like the wonderful voice Sharlo has! Along with the lovely and catchy melody, the song makes a perfect match for this community. The map is also well-done, as the difficulty spread is well thought, and every difficulty is designed in a way, it gets the best this wonderful music can provide.
A great and powerful song enriched by well-done hitsounds. Mapping is organized in a way it creates a neat difficulty spread, making sure a player of every skill range can find something to their taste! And even if you feel like the style the jumpy style is not your thing, it is a rare thing to see a full-length mapped English rock, so you should definitely give it a try at least for the sake of variety!
Powerful vocals and 1/3 snapping go too well together. I could not ignore this piece of art that is so fun to play! Despite the simplicity of the rhythms and the fact, that there is no any difficulty above 3,5 stars, this map is still surprisingly fun to play even for the skilled players as the rhythm is quite different from what we see in the majority of the maps.
For Taiko, we asked MMzz about their favourite maps in May 2016.
As always with LeaF, you need to expect the unexpected. There are quite a few 1/6 and even 1/8 burst that always catch me off guard. Outside of the tricky patterns, the map is solid, with some interesting streams and rhythm choices that help it stand out from the batch of ranked maps in May.
Keeping up with the Dragonforce trend, be prepared for constant dense patterns/streaming. Although this is one of the easier Dragonforce maps because of the BPM and OD, the streams can still get a little tricky with offbeat sections. Make sure you pay attention while streaming.
As an official song from Taiko no Tatsujin, the song is very "interesting" to say the least. Besides how weird it is, the song is pretty catchy and has a really interesting rhythm that Ono takes full advantage of. There are a lot of interesting patterns you rarely see in taiko maps these days like kdd k ddk or kkd k dkk. You'll also encounter heavy finisher sections and a 1/3 rhythm section.
This map might not be the most challenging out of the maps ranked in May, but it is definitely charming because of the music choice. This style of music always blends well with Taiko drums and Dumpling does it just right. The rhythm they use is a combination of following the song, but adding their own rhythm in as well to make it more unique.
Hands down the hardest map we saw in May. At 256 BPM, the amount of raw speed and endurance you need is very high. Nwolf piles very dense patterns on top of a very interesting beat provided by the song. Even in the more "calm" sections of the song, you will see some 5 note 1/4 patterns. That with the very long streams you see near the beginning and end of the map should warn you to not take this map lightly.
A collaboration with Nofool. Although the song doesn't have a very interesting beat compared to the other maps this month. The mappers found a way to mix in unique patterns to keep the map entertaining for the length. You'll see regular streams, doubles, quads and even some brief 1/3. Overall a fun map and both mapper's styles mix very well.
For osu!catch, Deif was the chosen one to declare the winners of the May 2016 beatmaps.
Believe it or not, a converted beatmap took my attention this month to become the selected favourite map in May 2016. The catchy k-pop song, the balanced direction changes and the awesomly flowed patterns made a GEEnius combination for this beatmap. The current length makes it an endurance map, so make sure you don't have a nervous breakdown in the middle of it! A real pity you cannot see the "NO NO NO" sliders properly in osu!catch... Congratulations!
This is the first ranked osu!catch difficulty of guineaQ, which resulted in being a quite balanced one. The patterns are simple, yet used with care like some of the spreaded streams at the beginning of the difficulty or some anti-flow jumps in the middle section.
I hope we can enjoy more of his specific difficulties in the near future. Good job!
The difficulties made by Kurokami and Xinely are well balanced and enjoyable to play. Both of them are quite veteran mappers and know what players enjoy! Xinely's difficulty introduces players to some zig-zag patterns, while Kurokami's is centered mostly on some accesible so-called "pixel jumps". Both osu!catch specific difficulties are definitely worth playing them. For the players that are just starting with this game mode, there's an easier specific difficulty made by Kurokami as well that completes the spread.
For the players who rather prefer to hear some relaxing music, this map would be the perfect option this month. - Magic Bomb - is an specialist on those kind of calm maps, and this one specially has a nice flow players would enjoy. For extra challenge and due to the current low approach rate, it's recommended to use Hardrock or Doubletime as extra mods.
Another good example of a beatmap by pishifat. Plenty of BPM and rhythm changes, this difficulty offers an extra challenge with the anti-flow patterns and the rather vertical streams. Careful with some of the broken streams and the constant zig-zag patterns on the highest difficulty! They'll surely break your combo if you're not careful enough. Definitely a good alternative between all those anime songs that flood the Ranked Beatmaps section.
Do you enjoy catching hard/edge dashes? This is the perfect beatmap for you! Combined with some hyperdashes and patterns typical of a Rain difficulty, this conversion offers a good challenge for the players who are tyred of the typical difficulty settings. The slightly smaller circle size and the distance of the dashes offer this possibility in the highest difficulty of the beatmap. Old school players will surely get them all!
For osu!mania, Blocko was able to select their personal most noteworthy beatmap from last month.
This is one of the most innovative and creative beatmaps that I've ever played. Seeing all of these complex patterns and slider velocities laid out in front of me, Evening never ceases to impress. This map brings us lots of unusual, yet very notable features that are rarely seen in a ranked 4K map, or even in osu!mania's ranked section. For starters, there are a wide variety of patterns that come into play here, like streams, rolls, jackhammers and jumpstreams. Along with those are 147 BPM chordjacks that are utilized to full effect, which can be super tricky to play through if you're not prepared for it. This even has 294 BPM 1/4 jumpstreams sprinkled throughout the map, which can be really difficult and take lots of control to play through if you're planning to play that pattern as a 220 BPM jumptrill, but only the most skilled players can even pull off that really fast jumpstream perfectly from start to finish. But that's not all. The slider velocities in this map capture the chaotic behavior in the song itself. Those slider velocities create jumps and stutters that make harmony with the patterns and the song, thus creating a marathon map that shows masterful usage of patterns and slider velocities together. This map takes the throne as #1 for osu!mania's May 2016 Ranking Charts, and if you're an experienced player who is looking for a real challenge that truly tests your stamina, coordination and control, this map is just for you.
Another pandemonic song gets a place in this month's Ranking Charts, and for a number of reasons. Even though this song is unpredictable and constantly shifting in nature, MEGAtive and Aste-, a guest mapper in this beatmap, charted this song in a way that creates unity to the patterns and the music. The diffculty spread in this 6K mapset is really well made here, featuring long note patterns that grow more and more complex the farther you go from this mapset. Most notably, the tricky long note patterns in the Camellia difficulty were delicately and nicely used to highlight the dubstep parts which can be really fun for the fingers. A mapset like this definitely deserves a spot in the Monthly Ranking Charts as this has neat and unique features that separates this from the rest of the beatmaps.
Here's another fun 4K mapset entering the ranked section. This mapset has five 4K difficulties catering to a wide range of players. The patterns created by Critical_Star and guest mapper Feerum are tastefully done and it's easy for people to recognize the intruments the patterns are following. Also, the difficulty spread laid out on this mapset is very balanced from its easiest difficulty to the hardest. It starts off using single notes with a steady rhythm that mixes it up for players that have gotten a grip to the game, and slowly introduces more intricate patterns as you progress through the mapset. Overall, it's a solid beatmap that I'd recommend people to play!
This is also one heck of a chaotic track! Fresh Chicken, guest mapper [ A v a l o n ] and collaborator leqek have really outdone themselves with this beatmap. The easier difficulties have patterns that can be easily followed for most players that have the ropes of the game, but the hardest difficulty gets pretty creative on its structure. The patterns on EXHAUST are ambitious and innovative, and it provides a good challenge later on because of its heavy layering of rolls and broken streams. Even when the patterns may seem particularly hard to read at first, they're still connected to each other and flow in a way that is both comfortable and enjoyable. This is a mapset that I find particularly fun, and it definitely has a place in the ranking charts.
I'd say this is a mapset that has a well defined spread for a lot of players to enjoy. This beatmap has two keymodes, 4K and 7K, for a total of 6 difficulties. The lower difficulties feature conventional patterns that covers for beginners, but the later difficulties take it up a notch with chords, long notes and even piano sweeps. Long note patterns combined with chords would be a challenge for players training their finger independence, especially for the 7K difficulties. Even so, these patterns are actually pleasant to play through. Overall, Muu-chan and guest charter Eternalie have done a great job of mapping this song, highlighting the key melodies and making fun patterns along the way.
And another 4K map enters the Ranking Charts! This time by Dellvangel - featuring four 4K difficulties with guest appearances from DixonBlackwing and Critical_Star. At the start, the patterns start off comfy and easy to follow, but they get denser and more complicated as you go through the mapset. Each mapper here has their own interpretation of the song, and all of them provide a consistent structure that acts as a backbone for the beatmap's difficulty spread. I'm a big fan when it comes to great difficulty spreads, and this beatmap earns a spot in the Ranking Charts for having those qualities. Great job to everyone involved!
The May 2016 ranking charts will end on the 15th July 2016. For the next month, we will elect new community members to pick their favourite beatmaps, so stay tuned!
Congratulations to the winners of the March 2016 Ranking Charts. They receive a month of supporter status for their efforts!
Good luck with the new charts! We'd love to hear any and all feedback you have about the new format and selection process for the charts - feel free to leave a comment below!
—OnosakiHito
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