Since the split of Any% TSA and Any% (banning TSA), I've done several Any% runs now (with a few successes). I've tried a new strategy (new for me): Demon Fiend with Pyre of Savagery, which is very similar to the TSA strat with the built in Sweep (using Trample instead) and auto-scaling with the Pyre. Here are my thoughts on the split:

Pros:

-It is a bit harder to keep DF alive compared to slapping Organ Harvester on TSA, which means each run requires finding 1 or 2 of a few different things to keep him alive. This does make runs a little bit unique to each other (though not too much in my experience).

-There's a little bit more thought and consideration to be had at Steel shops and Arms shops, since you're wanting Quick, Multistrike, and probably some way of keeping DF alive (another unit). There are a couple options for each (though Multistrike can be tougher), instead of literally just looking for 2x Multistrike on TSA and OH.

Cons:

-The runs still felt similar to a TSA run, without too much difference in average time (I don't have a huge pool of data to base that on though).

-I almost felt like I had to reset if Dominion is my final boss, as he requires so much armor to keep DF alive. I did get a good run with him, but there were several failed runs because of him. This adds one more reason to reset when finding a run start, which I don't really care for, but isn't a huge deal since it takes a second or 2.

-It feels like I'm just hoping to see Quick early, or else I'm going to die pretty quickly (and I'm wasting precious time watching the enemies attack me first).

-It still feels like a single strategy is going to dominate the leaderboards.

All that being said, I really don't know if having 2 Any% categories is necessary, nor do I actually think we need a category for each clan. With both Lazarus and Hellhorned, they essentially have everything you need to win within their own clan, with some clans offering a boost here and there. So it feels like every run, despite the clans used, will be the same thing with only slight differences.

Being able to see who can get the best overall time, no matter which clan or unit they use, would be my preference. I know that differs a lot from the MT1 leaderboard, but I don't see that as a bad thing, given how we have double the clans now. It might also make the leaderboard look a little less empty. However, that change isn't necessarily the main point of this post, just another thought when talking about Any% as a whole.

I'd be happy to hear other's thoughts on having separate leaderboards for each clan and on the split of TSA and no-TSA. Like I said, I don't have a huge amount of data yet, but these are just my experiences from running both types of Any% several times, and the cons seem to outweigh the pros by just a bit.

I know for Any%, reseting for a good start is ideal. However, would that be allowed for a Full Game speedrun? Let's say I start run 1, quick-reset for a good start, finish, and show IGT. Then, I start the next clan's run and reset until I get a good run there, and show IGT, etc.? Would the reseting count towards the total time?

Or would I need to reset the first clan's run (for an ideal start of course) and then once I've got a good run there, I just have to power through with whatever the game gives me on each subsequent run for the other clans, no reseting (unless I lose, but that's counted towards my total time)?

I'm just trying to get a clear picture of how a run like this would look, and unfortunately there's no video to watch and the rules are a little ambiguous.

So I've been learning 100 egg (thanks to TOTO's guide), and my emulator/rom won't let me fight the Sorceress. I go in the fight, and after about 30 seconds, it warps be into the first hub, with no gems and no eggs. I've also experienced something where I die to Spike or Scorch, and after beating them, can no longer get a better Sparx than green or blue. I know Insomniac put anti-piracy things in the game, but I also see that people play this on emulator successfully. Is there a fix to this?

I'm also running the 1.0 version, not the greatest hits (1.1) version, if that matters..

I was playing around with the fodder in Crystal Glacier, and found you could get some good proxies off of them. After some messing around with it, I found what could be a new strat for getting into the talisman room:

As the video says, you do gain ~7-8 seconds, but you lose about 25 or 30 gems. Could the time save make up for the gem loss?