Top pilots

[HamsterIV]

Please close this thread before my head gets too big. My party Hat wont fit anymore.

Don't worry about how big your head gets. I am sure you will find a way to balloon block with it.

[KitKatKitty]

I don't actually understand the point of this topic.
I've seen many great pilots, but the main thing about them, what make them good for you as a crew - is how you can cooperate with them. The good captain, for what I think, is the one you're having fun with.
For example, Mezhu is a great player, but I don't like him as a person and I hardly make a functioning crew with him. My beloved captain then is kinda noobish, but I have great fun with her.

This is my thoughts. I know I understood everything wrong, but I wanted to tell this.

Archi Rook...this is just a fun thread and a way for people to give "shout outs" if you will. There are actually a lot of random fun threads that try to do things other than complain about "bugs" or "what should be fixed".  There are TONS of amazing pilots from noobish as you say to veterans of 2 years. Every person will fly better with certain pilots and not well with others regardless of how good they are as a pilot. So just give some shout if you'd like!

[Tanya Phenole]

For example, Mezhu is a great player, but I don't like him as a person and I hardly make a functioning crew with him. My beloved captain then is kinda noobish, but I have great fun with her.

This is my thoughts. I know I understood everything wrong, but I wanted to tell this.

I personally prefer players  who are both little bit scandalous AND skilled. Those "flawless reputation" guys are sooo boooring. If some of us weren't considered assholes, the forum would be empty.

[Chmielewski]

Archi Rook...this is just a fun thread and a way for people to give "shout outs" if you will.

Don't worry, I constantly miss a joke.

So just give some shout if you'd like!

I would, if I wasn't so bad at remembering names %)

I personally prefer players  who are both little bit scandalous AND skilled. Those "flawless reputation" guys are sooo boooring. If some of us weren't considered assholes, the forum would be empty.

I think this is a matter of a personal taste. I just had enough of "i am the boss so shut up idiot" and "aircraft is a serious business" on my actual job, I think %)

[Kamoba]

Spud Without a doubt. King of the hill Labyrinth, he had an avarage skilled crew but a terrible ally who was lost on the map, me and my ally had the point the whole game until 550 points, then Spud pops up like a cork from a bottle and Hwacha's my butt! No enginers on my metamidion, he stays behind and finished us off pretty swiftly while our engineer works on trying to fix anything, our ally comes behind spud and whoosh! he's almost on the floor and going under me, ally rams me out of arc and spud gets away, we're both too far from the point and by now its about 570, Spud captures point and comes behind us, disabling both and keeping us all busy on the repairs he drops my ally into spawn counter, we hang on by a thread until the reload and goto respawn...
While we respawn spud somehow manages to direct his ally to the point! (Who had been at the edge of the map the whole time till this point!)
we drop the ally, pop, Spuds behind us, and we're floating away from the point as he sits calmly capturing it, final score, Spud wins 600 we lost 580....
Most impressive round I've seen any one man turn around!

[Shaytan]

I'll have to jump in here and put in a plug for Squash and Captain Smollett. Though they've both been out of the game for a while now, my memories of playing against them in RAFT vs Paddling games still represent the most intense, challenging, and fun experiences I ever had in competitive Icarus, and managing to beat the Paddling in Cogs S2 is the accomplishment of which I am most proud, perhaps even beyond my time with the Mandarins. The sheer coordination and accuracy of the Lucky Duck's long range fire was truly a thing of terror, the equal of which I never again experienced after the Paddling's retirement. Squash and Smollett were, in my opinion, the greatest strategic minds Icarus has seen, and the Paddling was its first and likely best uber-team. They deserve to be mentioned here.

Until The dancing feather and the corkscrew came in to wreck mama duck and baby duck. Good times.

[Schwalbe]

Most impressive round I've seen any one man turn around!

(G-Man's creepy voice) "The right man in the wrong place can make all the diff-erence in the world..."

[Teh Celery's]

I could talk all day about how I would fly on a ship with a SAC member as captain, any day of the week.  I started idolizing Cactus, Lambert, and Tropo's piloting skills since my early days of GoIO (main reason why I was personally invested in trying to join their ranks).

However, I'll leave that biased opinion out of this list:

Spud Nick scares the balls off of me.  Seriously.  Unless I have a lobby of skilled players on my team, I rarely stick around X_X

Jub Jub is one of my favorite pilots to try to test my skills against (I usually lose, though lol)
actually, a handful of pilots from SPQR really make me feel like I'm back in my Novice days.  Very humbling learning experiences.

LeMoon is very high up there on my list of pilots that I always flock to be on their ship.  Always a fun pilot.

Mr. Trickery is always a delightful pilot to fly under.

Rucin is new to the game, and is on my list because they are doing an excellent job of learning the ropes.  Really putting in an effort to support gun-arcs and stay away from Galleon broadsides xD
Same goes to FreedomSoul.
I will leave a lot of matches or ships if the captain seems extremely uneducated on game mechanics, but I'll jump on those two Pilot's ships in a heartbeat. 

I love new pilots that show potential.  It's like watching the next generation of 45's that get tossed on this list, while they are still growing and learning and getting better.  Almost like reading a really good book, and watching the plot start to unfold and take shape...   That's a learning experience for me, all on it's own.  Very magnificent, in my opinion.


EDIT:  Derpy Squid is my favorite co-pilot for casual gameplay.  He's very inexperienced with it, and has this sort of, timid piloting style.  It literally brings out the best in me.  My brain registers the match as "if I don't carry, and IDDQD myself into godmode, we will lose."  He isn't terribad or anything, but something just clicks, and I suddenly learn how to pilot, and we do an amazing job staying together and bringing the pain.
  One of my personal favorites to fly under, as well.  Calm, perceptive, and eager to fly moar good.

[Crafeksterty]

Garsh darn it! Im not so trendy atm because of my lack of secure net.
But thanks for the mentions!!!

I like lueosis piloting, i want to see him not fly a pyra though. CUS I KNOW YOU CAN DO CRAZY SHIT MAAAN.

Skrim was always an inspiration being beside him constantly.


Im not aware of who can fly a proper squid or not, but anyone willing to take their time on the squid is top on my books. Fiasco, i know you can actualy do it

[Kamoba]

Lueosi recently I had the privilege of Leuosi joining a match on our team after our ally deserted us, he joined a game where we was 2v1 for about five minutes on someone else's squid, not his loadout, and within moments takes out the one giving us ranged harassment, the. Together we take out the one close guns!
Keeping in mind how exhausted we all were from survival fighting for five minutes it was a truly epic moment to be saved by such a renowned player! Finishing score 5-0!
Second match we was pitted against our saviour, he had a competent ally now and we had a metamidion that lacked in the shooting department, things were looking bad! We honestly thought we were done for! So we took Hades Artemis and kept our attention to threats and defending ally...  All I can say is I have never seen a squid flown so tactically, but we gave them what for! truly an exhuasting but rewarding game! May fair winds meet this man and his crew in the future!

[Skrimskraw]

current top 3 pilots in competitive play:

1. Lueosi
He still shows ability to keep his team at the top spot. Working with different ships than metamidion more often and it pays off. His goldfish is almost at the same level as fiascos which is still enough to make it dangerous.

2. JubJub
The increase in different ships for Praetorians is also paying off. Jubjub is showing an immense increase in skill level as a pilot. When watching games with jubjub look out for the mindgames he plays in engagements, he makes maneuvre tricks seem like an easy game.

3. Spud nick
Spud nick enters my list of top pilots just leaping over melon. The reason for this is that cake as a team is showing an incredible eye for positioning and higher tactics than other teams. Although cake wont beat every team 5-0 they still show high skill level. Spud nick I feel is the best pilot on the cake team due to his experience and understanding of guns and positioning.

whats to look for in the future?
If you are into watching competitive games I suggest that you watch SCS and keep and eye on the teams mentioned above aswell as Wings of Daedalus who are improving their playstyle by watching old streams, specificly using same builds and tactics as thralls did, aswell as taking inspiration from the mandarins. WoD only lacks the experience of old veteran pilots, but Heldigris is doing a good job at learning, so hopefully WoD will have a spot on the list some time

[Dutch Vanya]

What makes some pilots definitively better than others? Is this just about competitive matches? Doesn't every experienced pilot perform amazing feats sometimes, and screw up other times? So far the most consistent mentions have been Lue and Spud, who have quite simply played the most matches out of anyone. What really makes someone a top pilot?

[Tanya Phenole]

I may be 150% biased here, but Sammy <3

Really I have never expierenced such advanced control over stress situations even with Lue. And since everyone flies carronades now, junker is always a stress situation for entire match. Everything is always red, everything is always not chemed, and you still manage to keep DPS output cause he has clearest view on right prioritising, never giving up in the worst fuck-ups (tomato flies to some R&D finals participants).

Really after Sammy or/and Frogger all other pilots seem to be lazy skrubs who just stay on helm doing nothing. Once again, I am 300% biased.

[Kamoba]

What makes some pilots definitively better than others? Is this just about competitive matches? Doesn't every experienced pilot perform amazing feats sometimes, and screw up other times? So far the most consistent mentions have been Lue and Spud, who have quite simply played the most matches out of anyone. What really makes someone a top pilot?

I think it's less about the feats performed and more about the control led over the larger area of the battle field..

[AbbyTheRat]