This is currently a WIP. If you have suggestions or comments on this guide, please ping me in the MK7 Discord under the same name (Fire). I am no WR holder or master speedrunner, so some insight from more experienced players is always welcomed!
This is a guide to achieving a faster time on the Mushroom Cup. Most of what I say here can also be applied to TTs, but some tricks are only for Grand Prix. Most of this is just observation from the top runs in the category. Some terminology will be listed at the bottom. With that out of the way, let's begin!
Course 1: Toad Circuit -There are two straights for which you can use SSMTs to save time: the one at the start/finish line, and the one after the small glider section. -After the second straight, there's a left turn and then a curve with a ramp surrounded by sand on the right. It's possible to reach this ramp without a Mushroom and save time. Hold a drift to the left and try to angle yourself with the bottom left corner of the ramp. You would've charged up a SMT. Right before you would touch the sand, release the SMT and hop. If your positioning and timing were right, you should barely reach the ramp without touching the sand at all. Then trick off the ramp and make sure to not accidentally land on the sand (though with your speed, it shouldn't be too hard) -On the second and third laps of the race, the glider ramp with pop up. Normally, taking this would just be slower than riding on the orange/red boosts on the ground, but there's a trick using the ramp to get a last place item while staying in first.
To perform it, drift so that your kart is angled to the right before you glide off it (I personally don't recommend tricking or doing a Mini Turbo since it often gives you too much height). Tricking causes your kart to go higher, which may make the next part more difficult. You need to glide to the right and dip down to grab an Item Box before gliding up and to the left back onto the lower portion of the track. If you don't glide left right after getting the Item Box, you may end up gliding into a death barrier and lose a chunk of time. The timing to grab the item box is a bit tricky, but it can be done with some practice.
The reason this works is because when you descend to grab the Item Box, the game thinks you're behind everyone else (assuming you're in first or some other high placing), and momentarily marks you as eighth, which makes the game roll an eighth place item for you when you grab the item box. Gliding out of the area does not change the drop because the game decides the set of drops based on the position you were in when you grabbed the Item Box, not your current position. Your drop's usefulness should save more time than you would lose detouring. However, I have had a few moments where I did the trick to get an item box and I got what looked like a first place item. This seems to happen when you don't go far right enough or when you grab the first item box, before the game can recognize you're in last.
Course 2: Daisy Hills This course has a few straights you can gain time on with SSMTs. These are; -The area around the start/finish line -The bridge after the first set of item boxes
After the second set of item boxes, there's a left turn and you can choose to either cut through the grass on the left, or go on the bridge to the right. The general consensus from seeing runs is that the right side is actually faster (unless you maybe have a Mushroom). After gliding off the ramp, glide down and to the left under the windmills. I've heard of a trick that allows you to gain time by diving down then up to hit the front of the balloons for a speed boost, but this doesn't seem to be as effective as just gliding through the windmills. Other than this, there aren't too many advanced tricks here.
Course 3: Cheep Cheep Lagoon This is the only course in this cup to have water sections. It also has only one straight, the part of the track near the start/finish line.
------Terminology------
Straight: A more or less straight line of road. Normal drifts wouldn't save you time here. SSMT: Short for "straight-stretched Mini Turbo". Used mainly to gain time on straights, though SSMTs can be used outside of those to gain time. These are typically just normal (blue) Mini-Turbos. MT/SMT: "Mini Turbo" and "Super Mini Turbo" respectively. If you've ever played Mario Kart before, you probably know what these are more or less. Holding a drift will eventually result in blue sparks (a Mini Turbo) coming out of the back wheels of your kart, and releasing the drift will give you a small boost. Super Mini Turbos take longer to charge but give a longer boost. TT: Short for "Time Trials".
Changelog: Sept. 27, 2018 - Guide created. Sept. 28, 2018 - Minor edits Oct. 2, 2018 - Added Daisy Hills section Oct. 3, 2018 - Removed "don't dip down far enough to have the game recognize you as in last, but far enough down to grab the item box". Began section on CCL. Oct. 8, 2018 - Minor edits (will get back to finishing this soon!)
