Sticks Out (of Elimination)

I'm not great at writing these sorts of posts, so please forgive the lack of segues and how all over the place this may seem.

This was my first year leading an eliminations team. I am so thankful my team trusted me to lead them despite that, and followed me to the end. Even more so, I am eternally grateful for everyone who stepped up and chipped in to make things easier, those who donated to our treasury so less well-off members could succeed (plus funded prizes and contracts), as well as every Stoneling who showed up and gave this their all—even when we were at death's door, down to our final life.

Our leadership team consisted of...

• Vice Captains: BoonieSteep, MASKY, Leafeh, Stan, Aleks-ODBird
• Council: Deatvert, MrPringles, Koflachs, Zentiq
• Developers: Marches, SHY, 0x530
• Push Leads: DonWinters, BigDog3000, BuffaloBeats, windyswag, JustinPA, Minhotaur, Plugar, CrusaderW
• Supply Chain & Slacker Patrol: Stellaray, Mistress_Kryn, tits, Doge5935, Lays, Inferno
• General Helpers: Blobi, Madziasama, joecappa, Nexus, Superlaser, newtonium

I would also like to give a special thank-you to the following individuals:

MASKY - For running internal so fucking well. All of the long hours you put in as a server admin, push lead, communicator, and... well, there's too much to name. You did not even just a little bit, but a LOT of everything, and words cannot begin to describe how grateful I am for having you by my side.

BoonieSteep - For your varied support both internally and externally. Between diplo coverage, spear-heading slacker patrol programs, volunteering to help hand out supplies to our distributors, and aid with any other little thing that came up; you were truly a star.

Deatvert - For your invaluable insight and useful scripts. It was really nice to have someone as experienced in this part of the game as you that I could fully trust and throw things at to receive feedback, and I am more grateful for that than you could possibly know.

Leafeh - For being willing to work with me even though we started off on the wrong foot. Most significantly, for stepping up and taking charge when I was over 36 hours sleep deprived, telling me I had 40 minutes to secure a deal before you'd make a call (and to sleep, haha), then helping us get back on the right track after.

Koflachs - For doing everything you could, anytime you could. You were massive help with supply and as an armorer/treasurer, on our slacker patrol, and with providing general assistance across the board (even regarding highly-confidential tasks).

MrPringles - For being a trusted personal assistant throughout this. Despite being stuck on mobile, you actively looked for ways you could help me out via outreach, discreet but comprehensive research, and pitching in with others to help fund things to aid in our success.

Zentiq - For your constant vigilance and positivity. Your amazing work on slacker patrol, with the revive contract management, and general support overall (and with very high activity) are a few of the things that come to mind.

Mistress_Kryn - For your help with outreach early on and running an art contest in our server. You did so much more too, on both slacker patrol and supply chain, and really contributed to the wonderful environment we had.

Blaze - For being as integral as you were in the mid/late game. Many top battle-stat players refuse to hit these, while you stacked and did whatever you could to be a stunning example of what a true team player is.

An additional thank-you to the Asclepius revive faction and their co-leader Tokuki, who received a hostile revives contract from us against Rocket Scientists last second (plus Reptilians later), and still managed to get it done.

Finally, there is one more group it would be truly wrong of me to leave out of this—APEX.

You guys were the best ally anyone could have ever asked for, sticking your necks out for us even when there was nothing to gain from it, putting yourselves at risk just to be good to us, and helping us in every way that you possibly could at the very end, when we needed it most.

LDP, you were my best friend from day one, and I am so happy we got to go through this together. To the rest of the APEX team—especially Jairyll, Swatsicle, Maharball, and Maks—I won't go into specifics of what you did, as it wouldn't be right to disclose such without your permission, but please know that I am eternally grateful for it all.

To everyone:

You all did so much it would be impossible for me to list everything, and you believed in me even when I wasn't sure if I believed in myself. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

This was an incredibly intense and stressful experience, but also fun. I got to know and befriend so many people—including some I would have never expected to—and I wouldn't trade any of that for the world.

Man

Nothing but respect for the unga bungas 🫡

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I miss them

omg is that APATE?! Our Glorious Leader?!?! will u sign my forehead pls <3

just want to say that SnS had some of the most amazing, class act leaders of all. we did not have in-fighting but instead all banded together to create a diverse team full of wonderful people and ideas. thank you especially to Apate, and to BoonieSteep(#ShowMeYourBoones), Leafeh(no funny quote here i just love you), Stan(mvp!), and Aleks-ODBird.

huge thank you to our other councilmates Zentiq and Koflachs, who i put to WORK for newsies, supplies, comms, and a million other things (and ofc Zentiq and Lays for keeping me competitive in HITS). #blamezentiq

some of the y'all were immediately helpful right off the bat, so i'd like to extra loudly s/o Inferno(literally a genius full stop), DonWinters (for amazing service a second year in a row), Stellaray(KACHOW), doge5935, Madziasama (my copy paste queen <3), Mistress_Kryn(so frickin speedy), shy, Marches, and of course good ol' tits.

thank you to all my amazing push captains - BigDog3000, BuffaloBeats, windyswag, Minhotaur, JustinPA. you let me sleep and kept me sane

thank you to LDP for understanding my hesitance to trust ANYONE or ANYTHING and still showing up with Swatsicle and Maharball.

thank you to everyone who donated stuff, who regularly showed up in chat to keep us hype, to everyone who regularly made hits even when it was hard. if i named all of you by name, we would legitimately be here all night. you know who you are, and i love you <3

it has truly been an honor to fight alongside you all, to share the work and the victory and the stress and the laughs. me, hubsky, & baby Rocky "Unga Bunga" Stickson love you all <3

#BigStickEnergy

Here's to an APEX win! #BigStickEnergy

UNGA BUNGA, not the result we wanted, but it was a blast!

T'was a blast, thanks for everything!

Glad this was my team! All leaders and helpers were ace and it was so drama free thanks for letting me be part of the ride 

Well it's been a great one guys. Having won with the Huve last year, I came into this year not sure what to expect - I'm so so glad I joined again. Sticks and Stones have been the most unbelievably chill and kind team, and I've enjoyed every second of this, even though we didn't manage to bring it home in the end. 

Being a helper and part of supplies/slacker patrol, I had the opportunity of seeing just a glimpse of all the work that happens behind the scenes to keep a team running, and I had the chance to meet hundreds of new people, who have all made a massive, positive impression on me. 

So now to the people who I owe a shoutout to who made a massive impact on me:

Apate: Thank you for being the best leader we could ever ask for, for keeping the team together and figuring everything out behind the scenes. Also personally, thank you so much for taking a chance on me and letting me join leadership, I've enjoyed every second of it and I hope I did you proud <3

Leafeh: I always thought you were so cool since you lead hornets last year, and Im so happy I got to be in the same team as you again, and that I got to know you a bit better. I cannot thank you enough for all the support you gave me top help me reach 5%, I definitely couldn't have done it without you, and I hope I made you proud <3

Koflachs: thanks for always being there when I freaked out/needed something, and for being a familiar face in the team :)

and of course, MASKY: I've never seen someone so locked in with pushes and keeping the whole team motivated and happy, thank you so much for keeping us all sane and sacrificing your own sleep for us - I have loved loved loved talking to you and the fact you remained so chill even when shit hit the fan, I hope you get all of your sleep back <3

also, 

DonWinters (most goated push captain, thanks for keeping me on my toes by trying to get more hits than you)

Lays (for putting up with my constant yapping)

Boonie (top tier slacker campaigns and always super nice)

platonical (i promise I'm not scary)

gh0st (always great to have a talk with)

kittywarrior (your an icon)

seeter (the life advice was really appreciated, see you in 10 years)

to my fellow helpers (sry if I forgot any) - minhotaur, inferno, mistress, tits, joecappa, windy, doge, nexus, superlaser, Justin, blobi, shy

and more people - 4legged, anjethewierd, lorduntamed, madz, ROF and countless others...

I love you all sm and I really hope we get to fight together again someday <3

I've run out of things to say so....

UNGA BUNGA & KACHOW!

- Stellaray out.

Unga bungas all around 

UNGA BUNGAAA

Ah fk, my screen is a little blurry. 

UNGA BUNGAS FOR LIFE!! 

UNGA BUNGA FOREVER 🦴🔥

unga bungas, well said my friend :)

Unga Bunga forever <3

Unga Bunga

Forever

Much love everyone.

You know where to find me.

xx 

#BigStickEnergy

UNGA BUNGA