Dud_bass has been hard at work over the past year creating the incredible brush stroke styled elemental artwork that has graced our recent splash screens and our fun-in-the-sun summer artwork featured in our recent Spring Break events.
We recently reached out to Dud_bass to learn more about them and their background and interests to give this amazing community member a well-deserved spotlight.
How did you first hear about Rivals and get into the scene?
Dud_bass: I got into Rivals from play with other friends in school. I passed it off as another indie game, however I slowly got into it. After a while, I started to play more and more Kragg, and even made my first art piece which was Absa.
How long have you been drawing Rivals art, and what was your inspiration to start?
Dud_bass: I drew rivals art for around 3-5 years now, since it was a growing and thriving community, I couldn’t help but throw myself into the fray. It also stemmed off into conceptualizing new character ideas and new designs. There’s always new inspiration coming from the content created as well.
What has been your favorite creation so far, and why?
Dud_bass: My favorite creation so far has to be my animations. They’ve always been satisfying to complete after a long day of hard work.
About how long does it take you to finish an art piece? Where in the process do you find yourself spending the most time?
Dud_bass: It usually takes anywhere between 2-24 hours to finish a piece, depending on quality, quantity, etc. Usually my process is straight from paint, start with a completely blank canvas and putting colors down.
What Rivals character is your favorite to draw and why?
Dud_bass: My favorite rivals character to draw is probably Clairen for her flow from her hairstyle and cape or Ori for its possibilities in lighting.
Things have been busy in the world of Rivals since our last patch with the announcement of Aether Studios, new games, characters, projects, andmuchmore! This update includes some quality of life changes along with standard bug fixes while rollback and other larger content updates are underway behind the scenes.
If you switch characters during a ranked set, losses will apply to the new character you switched to if your first character can’t lose any more stars.
The results screen no longer shows “+0” on coins earned.
When losing a money match, coins are now subtracted the moment the match ends.
The music player in the CSS now has an option to change the music volume, similar to the button on Stage Select.
Common SFX like standard swipes and hits now have a very slightly random pitch each time they’re played.
Workshop
Stage select now displays the names of custom characters instead of just “Custom”.
Practice mode now displays a prompt to press F5 to reload workshop content when debugging using the Ctrl+8 errors on mode.
New macros added to get_local_setting(): SET_FX_QUALITY, SET_HUD_SHAKE, SET_RETRO_FX, and SET_LANGUAGE.
Kragg’s Up Tilt sprite now matches the hitbox better.
Kragg’s rock can no longer be thrown if it’s already in the process of being broken.
Absa’s FStrong final hitbox has been lowered by 1 pixel, and its height has been reduced by 1 pixel, to prevent outlying behavior where it could hit only attacking players on Spirit Tree’s platforms.
Ori & Sein no longer gets their doublejump back after hitting someone with Dair and airdodging out of it.
They still keep their doublejump if they had it in the first place.
General Bugfixes
Fixed various minor sprite errors like missing pixels in Elliana’s crouch, Ranno’s Up Tilt, Kragg’s Down Tilt, and stray pixels in Ori and Sein’s Nair.
News links on the main menu are now clickable again.
Fixed an odd crash when changing pages on the workshop character CSS.
Hydroplaning FStrong forwards now properly keeps its momentum once again. In addition, hydroplaning FStrong forwards now works via the strong button as well as with the right stick.
Fixed profiles not saving properly when exiting online lobbies, causing preferred palettes to be stuck on one option.
Fixed the plant hazards on Aether Treetop not dragging you all the way down to the bottom blastzone.
Fixed win counts being displayed incorrectly on online stage select.
Fixed rune colors on workshop characters being inconsistent with base cast runes.
Fixed spectators being unable to favorite replays.
Fixed replays using the incorrect player names if you were a spectator.
Fixed a crash when exiting the replay menu immediately after quitting a replay.
Fixed the Random Stages rule sometimes picking Rock Wall twice in a row and never picking Fire Capital.
Fixed controls being stuck after inputting an incorrect cheatcode.
Fixed get_match_setting() not properly getting the time and stock when overridden by the stage. Stages and stage articles always pick what the option was before the match started, while characters and buddies will pick the option the stage overrides it to.
Fixed an article’s player_id not actually being set correctly if spawned via another article.
It’s April Fools Day and that means our team just spent a massive amount of time on an elaborate holiday spectacle. This year, we came back with our third Rivals Direct. But because we constantly have to keep one-upping the previous year, we couldn’t just simply do another plain, boring direct. We had to push ourselves to the limit.
And that’s how Twitch Plays Rivals Direct was born. The fans who joined in the Twitch Stream were able to influence the direct itself and even play both Rivals and Creatures through voting in chat.
We also returned to the world of Lovers of Aether but two years have passed since our last visit so instead of Aether High, we stop at Aether University. Adam Carra was the host again but this time as Adam Capybara as he found himself inside the Lovers world. Viewers helped Adam make dialog decisions, complete minigames, and navigate Aether University as he tried to uncover content trailers from the game’s characters. Inputs from Twitch chat controlled the experience to create an out-of-the-ordinary direct that was loaded with Aether reveals.
Tales of Aether
The first reveal was a new trailer for Tales of Aether, a comic series set in the Aether universe. As many fans were expected, we’re confirming that the first comic series will follow the story of Clairen, the Flame’s Salvation. The comic will be released later in 2021 and you’ll have to wait just a little longer to find out how to get your hands on it.
Rivals Workshop Character Pack
Since we launched Steam Workshop support for Rivals of Aether in 2019, we have been amazed at the sheer amount of creative and wild characters that creators have posted to our workshop. There have been over 1600 characters posted and we set our eyes on four of the best original creations to bring into the Rivals of Aether universe. These four characters will officially be joining the roster in an update later this year – both on Steam and on Nintendo Switch!
Grassroot Elements
Your favorite Youtuber Adam Carra is back and he’s about to outdo even himself. Adam is working on a new documentary focused on the development of Rivals of Aether and its competitive scene. You’ll get to see how the journey started along with some fantastic interviews with players, developers, organizers, and other community members. The documentary is sure to get you hyped as local competition eventually returns!
Creatures of Aether
Creatures of Aether has made a ton of progress on iOS and Android since its launch in September 2020. We have increased the Rivals from 5 to 11 adding a new one each month. The newest Rival, Fleet, is a protagonist from our upcoming title Dungeons of Aether. We also announced today that Creatures of Aether is coming to Steam this summer so you can play it with your favorite mouse and keyboard. We are hoping to get more players into the game with the Steam release. Join the Official Discord today if you are interested in Creatures of Aether.
Rivals Rollback Netcode
For those of you who have been following Rivals development, you know that Rollback has been a long time coming. Thanks to the work of YellowAfterlife and Zach Reedy, we have finally gotten to the point where the game state is saving and loading in a reasonable time. We’re hunting down desyncs and feel confident that we can get players into a 1v1 Open Beta on Steam sometime this Summer™. Follow Rivals of Aether on Twitter for updates on how the rollback netcode is progressing.
Dungeons of Aether
We announced today the genre of our upcoming game Dungeons of Aether – it’s a turn-based roguelite. We have an amazing team working on this pixel-perfect adventure in Aether and we can’t wait for you to get your hands on it in 2022. We also revealed another protagonist today named Artemis. She’s an elite warrior who is part of the Fire Mora and is sent on a secret mission by Loxodont that lands her in Julesvale. We have two protagonists left to reveal before the game launches so stay tuned!
Aether Studios
The Direct ended with Adam finally getting his hands on the 3D folder revealing a new project that our team is working on. We have graduated past the humble Dan Fornace LLC and a new team is building the next big adventure in Aether. We don’t have a ton more news to share on this project just yet but enjoy the teaser and follow Aether Studios on Twitter to get more updates.
Wrap-up
And that was everything. It was an amazing experience being able to play with fans and reveal all this content. All I know is that next year, April Fools Day needs to be canceled.
It’s that time of year! The snow is melting. The sun is staying out longer. And the Rivals of Aether team is preparing for another over-the-top and waste-of-developer-resources April Fools day event.
If you have been following our development, you may have realized that April 1st has slowly become the Rivals of Aether update day. What started as joke blog posts a few years ago grew into our first Rivals Direct in 2018, then the release of an entire free dating sim game called Lovers of Aether in 2019, then Rivals Direct 2 in 2020. Now we’re back for 2021 and we have to go even bigger and even better because I don’t value my sanity.
We are going above and beyond for Rivals Direct 3. This year we are getting the most important character involved – you! We’re inviting fans to come influence the Direct itself while we announce new updates in the Rivals of Aether universe. That’s right, we are doing a Twitch Plays version of the Rivals Direct. For those unfamiliar with the genre of Twitch Plays, fans will be able to use the Twitch chat to cast their vote and influence what content we show off. As far as I’m aware, this is the first time a developer has ever done something like this for a live reveal. And that makes sense, because we are extremely stupid when it comes to generating ideas for April 1st. You can only imagine the work and organization required to pull this off. Hopefully we can do it, right?
Now, I know what you’re all asking. Will your favorite youtuber, Adam Carra, be returning for his third Rivals Direct? And to that, I can give you an emphatic “I guess you’ll have to watch it.”
When and Where?
The direct will premiere at 10 AM PT April 1st on Twitch. You’ll want to mark your calendar so you can influence the event with all the fans. The video of the direct will be posted on YouTube after the event.
Press Kit
If you would like to make an article about our Direct check out our press resources for this special event here: Direct 3 Presskit.
“D-tilt –> short-hop –> missile –> down special–> u-strong. Call that the Halite Drop.”
10. Halite
Halite makes his debut on the Rivals Top 50 after multiple years of his legends being told. Halite entered RCS Air with impressive wins over Levin, Protagify, and Ceroas before DQing at 9th place to internet issues. A few months later, Halite received the gift of ethernet connection and all eyes were on him for a deep bracket run. Halite did just that, punching and shooting his way to winners finals after a thrilling game 5 victory over Kusi. Halite’s two events may have been unconventional, but it is clear that his time in the spotlight is well earned. The prospect of seeing Halite’s relentless Elliana in future online events is absolutely thrilling, and we expect big things next season!
9. CheesyPotato
CheesyPotato has been playing Rivals since 2016 and picked up the competitive bug a few years later thanks to fellow New Yorkers, Nexplosion and Dudbass. Over the course of the season, CheesyPotato had been on the cusp of Top 8 placements in multiple majors, falling just shy until her spectacular run in the RCS Finals. In one of the most difficult bracket paths to date, CheesyPotato scored back to back upsets over two separate Elemental Major winners, Xaro and Seggo. CheesyPotato’s 5th place finish at the RCS Finals was the result of hard work and perseverance after gradually improving her placements all season long.
8. Squanto
Sqaunto leaps onto the RCS Top 50 with three consecutive Top 8 placements to start off the season. As the highest ranked solo Ranno on the Top 50, Squanto placed in the Top 8 of every single ROCS event and Elemental Major that he entered, only breaking that streak in the RCS Finals. Squanto tallied wins against the likes of ZeeBee and CakeAssault while only losing a single set to players ranked below him.
“I only play a certain group of people and I use my amazing brain to teach them the secrets of RoA.”
7. Blue
As one of the breakout stars of Season 4, Mike (A.K.A. Blue) continued his trend of whirlwind appearances in Season 5 by winning his first official event since the beginning of lockdown from winners side. Prior to RCS Air in October 2020, the last time we saw Mike on the big stage was at Genesis 7 in January of that same year. Following his blistering performance at RCS Air, Mike brought out his Zetterburn for another shutout victory at a non-RCS event, Kingpin 4, followed by a solo Ranno run with victories over MSB and Xaro to place 4th at RCS Water. Mike is clearly a man of many talents with a focus on enjoying himself. Mike prides himself in helping train his friends in Rivals, and was exuberant to witness the accomplishments of players that have not previously been able to attend locals like Flarey, CheesyPotato, Squanto, and Kusi.
“Free Will is an illusion.”
6. ZeeBee
ZeeBee is a former New York Kragg that has recently found his way to Colorado, which has expanded his horizons in the online Rivals scene. ZeeBee has shown time and time again that he is a constant threat in brackets, placing Top 8 in three separate Majors while earning 1-1 records against Squanto, Blue, CakeAssault, and Xaro. As the first returning member of our Top 10, Season 5 marks the third year in a row that ZeeBee has moved up in ranking.
5. CakeAssault
CakeAssault returns as one of the most famous names to ever touch the game, stressing the importance of enjoying himself during our online season before he can reconnect with his friends from Pittsburgh and New Jersey once locals return. Over the course of 2020, CakeAssault began forming a rivalry of sorts with Xaro, trading sets left and right as Xaro became more and more consistent. Their conflict has concluded for now, with CakeAssault triumphantly eliminating his foe and placing 4th in the RCS Finals. Among his accomplishments in Season 5, CakeAssault recorded perfect attendance and earned Top 8 in five of six Majors. Outside of the game, CakeAssault is an actuarial math major at University of Pittsburgh with a love for Super Smash Bros. Melee.
4. Seggo
Seggo comes in at a much deserved #4 with three Top 8 finishes. The highlight of the season is undoubtedly his undefeated 1st place run at RCS Water, where his famous Elliana aided in completing a nearly solo Ranno bracket. While the character swap may have been surprising to some, Seggo’s season was full of character diversity as he possesses one of the most comprehensive full-cast proficiencies in the community. During Season 5, he only fell to five different players over the course of four events while never placing below 9th at a Major. Seggo finds solace in the Rivals community thanks to his friends that lift up and inspire him at every turn. His favorite moments of the season were winning his first RCS event and competing in the RCS Finals with his teammate, Ahntye.
“Shout-outs to ELPE for convincing me to pick up Ori.”
3. Kusi
Kusi makes his first ever appearance on the Rivals Top 50 with an astonishing Top 3 ranking. Kusi first picked up Rivals as a Kragg main around the release of Ori & Sein in 2017. It was not until April of 2020 that Kusi first used his Ori secondary in bracket which, as fate would have it, would become the first bracket Kusi had ever won. Taking this as a sign, Kusi began grinding the game and improving exponentially while more than tripling his previous 1,000 hours spent in Rivals during 2020. Kusi entered all six Season 5 events, never missing Top 8 a single time and placing 2nd in each of the final two events. His overall consistency during Season 5 and skyrocketing improvement has earned him nearly everything a player can only dream of. We suspect that Kusi will be taking home the first place trophy in Majors on the not too distant horizon.
“Finally brought home the win at finals, see everyone next Genesis. :)”
2. Penguin
Penguin takes the 2nd place ranking for the second year in a row after a truly electrifying Season 5. Collecting two 1st place finishes this season, Penguin finally overcame his curse and took home the gold at our Finals event. He has beaten each of the nine Top 10 players that he has faced, with perfect records on seven of them. On top of his head-to-head wins, Penguin has placed in the Top 4 at five of the six Majors this season. He first started playing the game at Super Smash Con 2016 with FullStream as his mentor, CakeAssault as his practice partner, and Zeke as his coach to help cement him where he is today. As with seasons past, Penguin remains an immovable object to nearly every competitor and is a stone cold killer that requires near perfection to best in bracket.
1. Xaro
Jumping from 5th in Season 4 to 1st in Season 5 is no easy feat. Xaro made Top 8 in every single Major in Season 5 while hoisting virtual trophies in RCS Fire and RCS Earth. As far as player match-ups go, Xaro holds a 5-2 record over Penguin while only dropping sets to Top 10 players and having a single negative head-to-head record against Blue. Xaro’s favorite moment of Season 5 was his immaculate losers run in RCS Earth, where he won seven straight sets by toppling Seggo, hoppyKnitz, MSB, CakeAssault, Kusi, then finally resetting and finishing off Penguin to win the event.
Xaro has become just the third player to ever earn a first place ranking in five seasons of the Top 50. It is nearly impossible to believe that another year has come and gone in what seems like a time vacuum with us crowning the Frostbite 2020 champions seemingly yesterday. We would like to once again thank the community from the bottom of our hearts for coming together and making Season 5 such a success despite the extreme circumstances in the real world. We hope for a safe return of local events in the future; but until then, please stay safe and keep a lookout for future official events coming soon!
View more articles in the Season Five Online NA Rankings Series:
If you have been following our development, you may have realized that April 1st has slowly become the Rivals of Aether update day. 
