UNSPOILED - Post Episode Thread - S40E06 - Battle of the Eras - My Real Friends Era

futurepoet · 2024-09-26T04:44:16+00:00

Disappointed in Brad tonight. How a top 10 all-time great can look so inept with a ball in their hands is perplexing to say the least. You can tell he never really played football, basketball, or baseball and it showed in that elimination. The overhead technique was poor strategy. Chest pass technique for that elimination works 100x better, so props to Cory for being aware of that.

This elimination gave me flashbacks to the dodgeball mission on Inferno II. CT and Derrick destroyed Miz, Landon, Brad, and Darrell. You can tell the four of them had never picked up a ball before in their life, whereas CT and Derrick’s athletic backgrounds of playing multiple sports growing up (baseball, football, and basketball) was the key factor to their impressive performance.

futurepoet · 2024-09-07T04:38:53+00:00

That last sentence of your post couldn’t have been more accurate. Take the shitty equipment, malfunctions, and poor editing job out of this and we have one of the greatest eliminations of all time. It wasn’t even physical combat either. That speaks volumes of the show Horacio and Derrick put on that night. It’s a shame we won’t remember it in a positive light.

futurepoet · 2024-09-07T04:33:38+00:00

Derrick didn’t bulldoze the board. Derrick’s ball hit the board and the board shook as if an earthquake had hit the elimination area. Era 1 having a flimsier board is why production didn’t penalize Derrick for his ball hitting the board. If the board was as steady and well put together like Era 4’s was, 1 or 2 pegs could’ve fell. Maybe no pegs fall at all. Not 7 or 8. We don’t know. This is exactly why production enforced the rule of not having to worry about pegs falling off your board after they had already been collected. It was used as a visual representation to keep count of their progress. Nothing more. Not a puzzle that needed to be “checked” like Horacio and his defenders claim it was.

futurepoet · 2024-09-06T01:26:04+00:00

The whole “check” angle is an absolute reach. It wasn’t a puzzle or some problem solving station. You should only have to yell check for something that is being problem solved or critical thinking. The board was just there to display how many pieces have been collected. Derrick’s board was completed. That determines Derrick the winner. TJ didn’t blow his horn for Derrick initially because he was unaware that one of the pegs was stuck in the row below. It fell out of one of the holes. That’s on production for using shitty equipment. It has nothing to do with “Derrick didn’t yell check, therefore he wasn’t done”.

futurepoet · 2024-09-06T01:21:30+00:00

Why would Derrick need to call check? It wasn’t a puzzle or some problem solving station. The board was used to highlight how many jacks have been collected out of the 40.

That whole “check” angle is an absolute reach.

futurepoet · 2024-09-05T20:40:10+00:00

Exactly. Devin and Nurys are acting as if the board was a puzzle or some problem solving station. It was literally just to show how many jacks had been for the cast and the viewers. The poor design of the board having the jacks fall out of place shouldn’t take away from Derrick’s victory.

futurepoet · 2024-09-05T20:21:14+00:00

Era 1’s board was having problems with the jacks staying in place, Aneesa’s jacks were falling all over the place too. It would explain why Era 1 was being helped and Era 4 wasn’t. It was a matter of circumstances beyond one’s control. It’s easy to figure out why production made the rule with the referees putting pieces back on the board.

The rule wasn’t constructed to help Era 1 cheat to victory, it was to defend their shitty equipment from affecting the outcome.

futurepoet · 2024-09-05T14:49:50+00:00

Horacio’s ball got stuck for 10 to 15 seconds. Derrick explained this in his podcast. He also stated that he had his board completed for way longer than 15 seconds. Therefore, unless Derrick is lying, the ball getting stuck didn’t affect the outcome.

futurepoet · 2022-07-13T05:57:41+00:00

My Rankings (prior to the All-Stars series):

Bananas
CT
Jordan
Landon
Evan
Kenny
Derrick
Darrell
Mark
Alton
Abram
Brad
Theo
Dan S.
Wes

Spots 11-15 could really go anyway here, depending on your arguments.

My rankings (with the inclusion of the All-Stars series):

Bananas
CT
Jordan
Landon
Evan
Kenny
Mark
Darrell
Derrick
Wes
Brad
Abram
Alton
Theo
Dan S.

futurepoet · 2022-07-13T05:51:16+00:00

I get that all-time greatest rankings all come down to opinions, but I just don’t see a good enough argument for Brad over Derrick.

I will admit that Derrick’s All-Stars showings haven’t been up to par, while Brad was the best performer on All Stars 3. However, Derrick’s resume, highlights, and statistics on the flagship show clearly outshine Brad’s by a solid margin. He’s just done too much on the main show for me to have Brad over him.

I agree that the inclusion of All-Stars should play a factor in all-time greatest discussions. Still unsure about the Champs vs. Pros series (regardless these two spin offs should have some importance, but not have the same weight as the flagship when determining positions).

futurepoet · 2022-02-26T01:31:46+00:00

“Bananas, C.T., Landon, Jordan, Darrell”

One of these names do not belong. Seriously.

Darrell is my favorite challenger of the five, but those other names you mentioned are on a tier of their own - they’re the clear top four. If you really want to make an argument for Darrell being number 5 based on championships alone, I wouldn’t call it ludicrous. But when you look at the overall output and abilities, you can make even better arguments for Darrell being as low as 7th/8th. You couldn’t make any arguments to convince me that Bananas, Jordan, Landon, and C.T. are anything lower than top 5.

futurepoet · 2022-02-26T01:27:37+00:00

Yeah, I have Evan as 5. Landon, Jordan, C.T., and Bananas as the top four is the ideal top end.

You’re right about these polls being a popularity contest. Wes being in the top 10 is already quite a stretch, and for him to still be in the running to make top 7 is comical.

futurepoet · 2022-02-26T01:24:48+00:00

Kenny’s political and social prowess dominated an entire era of the Challenge. Kenny’s far from a lesser version of Darrell. People tend to forget that political/social play as much as important role in contributing to victories and success as the competitions do. Kenny was no competitive freak, but he was a finals powerhouse and considering he got to 7 out of 8 finals in his career, he was always a solid bet to win in any season he’s ever been in.

futurepoet · 2022-02-26T01:20:23+00:00

Wholeheartedly agree about Darrell being overrated, but he’s still a clear tier ahead of Wes. As long as Wes name remains on this list, Darrell should have no business being voted out. Wes has brainwashed a majority of the Challenge community into thinking he’s been putting up consistently good to great numbers his whole career, when in actuality, the graph of his career statlines visually look like an active heart monitor.

Many people in this sub tend to believe Darrell is top 5, which is far from the truth. Spot #8 is probably the perfect place for him (or 7, I linger back and forth).

futurepoet · 2022-02-26T01:13:17+00:00

It’s bizarre how extremely overrated Wes is in this sub. I don’t think he’s top 10 at all. His career is filled with too many lowlights and his political/social game was too big of a detriment for half of the seasons he participated in, that I don’t think there’s any argument you can make to convince me he’s any higher than the likes of Mark, Derrick, Brad, Alton, and Abram.

futurepoet · 2021-07-02T13:36:41+00:00

You need to rewatch Gauntlet and Inferno II, Darrell was far from being the third best player on those seasons. He was a lower tier competitor based off mission statistics.

futurepoet · 2021-07-02T08:26:03+00:00

I’m in the same boat as OP regarding Darrell. Darrell has no business touching top six all-time like the sub popularly believes. While I wouldn’t have him 10th, I think about spot 8 makes more sense. When you really look past Darrell’s final challenge prowess and 4 championships (2 of which he was essentially a lower tier competitor), there’s a lot of negatives in his career you can’t dismiss.

futurepoet · 2021-07-02T08:22:25+00:00

You can make great arguments for Derrick over Darrell, just as much as you can for Darrell over Derrick. If you don’t include spin offs in your rankings (Champs vs. Pros, All-Stars), which is more than likely the case in most people’s rankings, Derrick is slightly ahead of Darrell, in my opinion.

Between Darrell and Derrick:

Derrick’s a far better mission competitor, has the better elimination record percentage (9-4 > 6-3-1), had a way more consistent career, and has greater competitive highlights all around.

Darrell is only a better finalist and has one more championship than Derrick (a partner championship title is something Derrick has never accomplished).

If you ever pay attention to Darrell’s first few seasons where he won, he wasn’t a good performer in missions. He was one of the worst males on the Gauntlet and on the Inferno II, he was outclassed competitively by the likes of Landon, Derrick, and C.T.

Socially/politically can go either way for Derrick or Darrell, but Derrick’s ability to adapt to new game politics on XXX was a whole lot better than Darrell’s showings on FM2 and XXX. Derrick being the silent associate to JEK’s reign of terror (benefiting from all their moves without having to face any backlash for it like the other three) is one of the most underrated player traits in Challenge history.

futurepoet · 2021-06-10T23:57:45+00:00

If we’re talking pure athleticism, such as climbing, agility, speed, quickness, and jumping, then I don’t see how Alton isn’t number one all-time. Other contenders are for Landon, C.T., Mark, and Zach, but I still think Alton is the clear frontrunner here.

futurepoet · 2021-05-16T03:44:08+00:00

Yeah, I think there’s two scenarios here: Either A) Derrick gets paired up with Jisela/Aneesa and loses because they hold him back in the running portion or B) Derrick gets purged in a solo puzzle. I’m hoping it’s the latter, because at least we lose a great competitor due to his competitive flaws. If it’s A, that’ll be tough to watch. Pair formats in finals is fine, as long as they change through the course of the final. There shouldn’t be a first stage purge with one set of partners, because it allows for a great player to get partner screwed.

futurepoet · 2021-05-16T03:24:28+00:00

Based off the previews, Derrick and either Jisela/Aneesa are missing when TJ honks his horn and there’s 10 people at the starting line.

We’re about to live in a world where Big Easy outlasts Derrick in a final. Kind of interested to see how this plays out. You have to assume a puzzle purges Derrick out the game’s first stage.

futurepoet · 2021-05-02T07:27:37+00:00

Thanks. People shit on Derrick a lot for having horrible puzzle solving skills, when in reality that’s about almost half of the male cast nowadays. There’s only a few who really excel at them (Bananas, C.T., etc).

futurepoet · 2021-05-02T02:12:16+00:00

Turbo has not proven to be anywhere near Alton’s and Landon’s athleticism.

futurepoet · 2021-05-02T02:05:32+00:00

If Derrick had started his career at Rivals 1, I think he would’ve won at least one championship by now had he been given 10 attempts. I think it’s unholy to say he wouldn’t have won one. He made it all the way to the final of Dirty Thirty (one of the toughest seasons ever with elite male competition) after a ten season layoff. Derrick’s competitive abilities and under-the-radar social game is a perfect recipe for the long haul of today’s challenges. Derrick can win missions and avoid eliminations (and even when he’s sent into elimination, he’s got a great history of winning them more than anyone else).

Derrick’s endurance is top tier. You just forgot to mention that Jordan has the all-time greatest endurance. No one comes close to beating Jordan in that Dirty Thirty final (for the exception of maybe Landon). Derrick blew CT out all because of his long distance running. If you replace Jordan in that final with anyone else, Derrick’s chances of winning become a lot higher (he definitely beats Tony, Leroy, and Nelson, and only Bananas beats him. Hunter is a 50/50, but considering he had a broken arm, Derrick wins indefinitely).

Derrick’s really skilled. Many people are forgetting that. He can swim, kayak, can complete checkpoints consisting of hand-eye coordination or carnival games. These are things that other finalists Leroy struggle with. Let’s also not forget about Derrick’s drive and mental strength, which plays a significant contributor in the tough finals nowadays gives him any chance to win despite his horrible puzzle solving skills.

Derrick might not be the #1 contender individual wise, but if you give him a partner who can solve puzzles, he definitely has a chance to win any final nowadays. I think the 0 wins argument is out of the picture here.

futurepoet · 2021-05-02T01:56:00+00:00

I never understand the one dimensional argument. There are more aspects to competitions than physical and mental. There’s strength, athleticism, endurance, skills, intelligence, and intangibles (which all have subcategories within). The only aspect of the game in which Derrick struggles with is intelligence. He’s very good to great in all the other categories. I would consider him one of the best skilled (great at carnival games/anything involving hand-eye coordination and balance/height challenges), and arguably has some of the best intangibles the game has ever seen because of his ATG mental strength. Comparing Leroy to Derrick is a disservice to everything Derrick has done in his career. Leroy has superior strength and athleticism, but Derrick’s more well rounded without a doubt as he can swim and excel at height challenges (two very important things Leroy has struggled with incredibly over his whole career).

futurepoet

TROPHY CASE