Congratulations to Toadette for winning volume 16 of the Winners hurt and heal series!
Some mildly interesting stats - this is the third Winners game that Toadette has been in. She was previously in volumes 2 and 11, but didn't win. Third time's the charm, right? For that matter, Toad has also been in 3 games, but has never won. So, cool to see a Toad win for the first time, in any case. (Of course, as long as Toadettefan was playing this game, we all knew the outcome before it started...)
Ironically, just two games ago, we had set the record for longest Winners game ever, as it took 2 and a half months to finish, and I had reduced the amount of characters to account for this forum boards lower activity. Then, two games later, we might have set the record for the shortest Winners game, at 2 days. Weird how that works.
But anyway, here is the next addition to the Winners gallery! And per Winsteins correction from the last game, Lou Albanos live-action Mario has also been replaced with the cartoon Mario.
And with that, Im sorry to say that this will be the final Winners game Ill be hosting.
I made the first Winners game in July 2011 back when these types of games were at their peak, and little did I know Id feel compelled to continue the tradition for nearly 8 years. Despite mostly retiring from these forums in 2014, I still vowed to make these games because of how infrequent it was to make them (the past few games were spaced apart by several years). My initial idea was to retire on the 20th game, in fact. However, this weird, random uptick of activity the Elimination board has seen this year has had me spending more time on the forum than Id like to. I explained in this farewell post from September that I feel uneasy revisiting this place too much, and I dont think Id be mentally well if I were to continue making games at the faster rate these are going. So, I feel like its time to finally retire from my last major commitment on this community.
I still plan to update the Winners thread, though thats probably the absolute minimum I can take since it doesnt require being on the site for very long. But as for Winners games, this is it for me. However, Ive been in contact with Smasher and she has considered picking up the mantle. Im totally fine with this, and would probably even assist with making the Winners gallery still, but well see what she decides on that.
Its been a pleasure making these games for you. Thank you all for playing