So I have recently started practicing pipe jumps, and have become reasonably consistent in it (although still not enough to immediately start using it in runs).

One thing that has been annoying me is the jumping koopa in 8-1 between the 2 pillars. Somehow, more often than not, I am not able to clear it. I believe that some patterns are really tough/impossible, while some others are a lot easier. Is that the case? If so, are there any tutorials available which can help to clear any pattern of the koopa? I do not see it being referred as a tough point in the level anywhere, so I am puzzled about it. Maybe the patterns are not that tough, but its me who isn't playing it well enough?

If you don't jump on the single koopa right before the 1st pipe jump, it should not be in your way

Ah, that was the reason! I was jumping on him everytime just for fun... Thanks a lot!

Stomping particular enemies is really important in this level. You gotta stomp on the buzzy beetle for judges, then not stomp the 3 goombas to get 3 koopas, then need to stomp on two of them to despawn another goomba, and also not stomp on the koopa before the first pipe jump....

Stomping the buzzy beetle isn't needed, it's only to tell if you have good or bad judges, it isn't required to stomp it to get good judges

The way you stomp on enemies can effect how later enemies spawn in, and how many of them do. As Wolf said stomping thee very first buzzy beetle doesn't affect how the other enemies spawn, it's just a visual confirmation on whether or not you have good judges. Though I am really happy to see that you're getting consistent at pipe jumps, hopefully you'll be able to start doing them in runs soon!

Okay, that was a misconception from my end then. I thought the first buzzy beetle controlled good/bad judges. Though I always wondered that if the top players can perform some highly precise tricks, stopping the buzzy beetle at a particular pixel should be a relatively much much easier task, so why is it even a deal they talk about while performing runs? Makes sense now.

But then my understanding of judges goes for a toss. My understanding was that if we stomp on it at a particular pixel, we get good judges, otherwise we get bad judges. But if it is just visual confirmation, on what does the judges depend? Must not be framerules, or perhaps even frames, since runners can ensure being at the same framerule/frame reaching there. Is it just like completely random, so much that it cannot even be controlled?

Yeah, the buzzy beetle actually has nothing to do with actually getting the framerule or not, it's just there to tell you whether or not you have to hit the first pixel of the star block to save the framerule.

If the white pixel is there you have a 100% chance of saving it regardless of what place you hit the star block. If the white pixel on the buzzy beetle isn't there you have a 50/50 chance of it saving the framerule regardless of where you hit the star block. It all depends on which frame you enter the pipe when you beat 4-2.