Unbelievable. Literally a day after learning the strat and only 15 minutes of attempts in IGT, I've done it. I've become only the 4th human to do 9 death warp RTA.

This strategy has no fewer than 8 frame perfect inputs, all jump presses and releases. The first few FPs aren't that hard, but once you get into the tunnel, you have a conglomerate of presses and releases, including a 5 frame press and a 5 frame release immediately after. Once past that, it's all about timing a frame perfect 2f jump press, after which the plunger will eject you into the death warp spot and finish the level.

This strat saves about a second over the method used in fullgame runs, and ties the current IL world record for the level. The strat is "easy" and simple enough that it has potential to be used in fullgame in the future, most likely as a 2:2x strat.

Regardless, I'm happy this is my first IL WR, and it gives me confidence that I can snag a few other top IL times in other levels.