Aspire Stage Two: osu!taiko Begins

As the osu! beatmapping world still reels from the thunderous conclusion to the last Aspire contest, it is time for the osu!taiko community to take their very first steps into the unknown, featuring the sound of Function Phantom!

A contest where no limit is sacred and (almost) everything goes, Aspire is the premier "no-rules" official beatmapping contest.

Earlier in the year, we saw some of the osu! community's most skilled mappers battle among the sombre tones of The Solace of Oblivion, producing some of the craziest entries we've seen thus far.

It is now time for the osu!taiko community to show the world what they're made of. And as the osu! stage began with someone familiar, so too shall the osu!taiko community begin their contest with a track and artist that we are excited to reveal:

Enter Function Phantom - Algebra.

(If you've been following things as of late, this means exactly what you think it means.)

A four and a half minute descent into the sound of rhythm gaming world-wide, Algebra will test the technical expertise of osu!taiko's bravest mappers.

The trends set in this contest will dictate the course of every osu!taiko Aspire stage to come. No pressure!

The rules are as follows:

• This contest is for the osu!taiko mode only.
• The osu!taiko Ranking Criteria DOES NOT APPLY to this contest in any capacity whatsoever.
• You may submit ONE difficulty to the contest OF YOUR OWN CREATION, be it collaborative or otherwise.
• The map you submit may be of any difficulty tier you wish, though Aspire contests are generally for Expert (5.25+ star) tier and above.
• The map itself must be able to be passed (note: NOT fc'd) by a human player without using difficulty reducing mods of any kind.
• The drain time of your entry must be at least 70% of the song's total length.
• If your entry has no additional assets (hitsounds, backgrounds, etc), it MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A .osu file.
• If your entry HAS additional assets such as storyboard assets, hitsounds, etc, it MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A .osz with a size NO LARGER THAN 20mb. Accounting for the size of the track, you have roughly 16mb of asset space available for use. Extensions may be granted upon request via forum PM to Ephemeral.

As how Stage One worked, this contest will be judged by a combination of double-blind community voting and the expert opinion of a judging panel weighted equally against each other. Keep your audience engaged and the judges awed, or you could lose it all!

We will aim to provide a livestreamed feature displaying the competitive entries received alongside expert commentary from renowned and established osu!taiko community members as well.

The top three maps voted for shall receive:

• 1st place: 6 months of osu!supporter, unique Aspire 2017: Stage Two profile badge, a osu!news showcase featuring their winning entry and an Elite Mapper: Aspirant forum title (or special incrementation if they already possess one). The map shall also be enshrined as an Aspire class Approval map forevermore.
• 2nd place and 3rd place: 3/2 months of osu!supporter, unique Aspire 2017: Stage Two Honorable Mention profile badge and their mapset gifted the Loved status.

Entries will remain open for 32 days from the date of this post. Get cracking, and check the contest listing for more details and a dedicated countdown if you're uncertain.

Use everything and anything at your disposal. This is no ordinary beatmapping contest.

Download the pre-timed contest .osz file here and get started!

Enter your creation over at the contest listing!

—Ephemeral