Legal MYACH Combo Adds

by Crazy Ivan

In the wild, wild West days of MYACH we played no-holds-barred.  This came to a quick end back in 2005 when some players decided to add in tricks that, while tangentially related to Myachi, relied almost entirely on non-Myachi skills.  For example, an acrobatic competitor would do a back hand spring with a Myachi on hand, or even worse, a flip while doing a Hulk.

Eventually we came up with some clumsy rules to try to keep this aspect out of the game, but over time this became more and more cumbersome until eventually we went the opposite direction.  The rule now reads that only "approved" moves can be called in MYACH.  While no comprehensive list of these "approved" moves yet exist, there are at least 4,000 "common" moves and combos so there is no shortage of potential calls.

But to keep things interesting, challenging and surprising, we also allow for what is called a "Combo-Add".  This is a stipulation that you call during your move that makes the trick harder.  Like tricks, these Combo-Adds are restricted.  If a double jointed person decided to use "bending your elbow backwards while..." as a Combo-Add it wouldn't exactly fit with the heart of the game.

While this list is by no means complete, I figured it would be a good idea to toss out a few of the accepted Combo-Adds to give everyone an idea of what is and is not acceptable.  Below are a few of the most common Adds that you'll run into in a game of Myach:

• Weak-Side: Perhaps the most common "Combo Add", forcing a player to do a move on their weak side can easily turn a familiar move into a complex one.  Of course, like all of the combo adds below, if you call this on your opponent you'll have to do it that way as well so unless you're strong on your weak side this will be adding the same disadvantage to both players.  Note that you can't call a move "right handed" or "left footed" or anything like that.  You can only call "strong side" or "weak side" so that a left handed player and a right handed player can still have a reasonable game together. 
• No Reset: This is a common Add in a tough combo.  In a combo that requires multiple tosses and catches, a player can call "no reset", which means that you can't readjust the Myachi after the catch.  For example, if you called a Daredevil back and forth, the opponent would be allowed to make a slight adjustment after catching the first Daredevil.  If you called it "No Reset", they would have to go directly into the 2nd Daredevil from however they caught the first.
• Foot Can't Touch Down: This is usually done in conjunction with an Under the Leg or Foot Stall combo.  This is a way to make balance moves a bit tougher and it means exactly what it says.  It means that you can't put your foot back on the ground until the move is over.  Combos that use multiple Under the Leg Throws are common candidates for this Add.  A great example might be an Under the Leg to Mantis to Reverse Under the Leg.  If you don't see it right away, try this combo twice, but on the second try, don't allow yourself to step down in between the steps.
• Eyes Closed: Obviously this doesn't mean much if you add it to a trick like the Daredevil, but by forcing a player to do a move blind you can actually turn a relatively easy move into a really tough one.  This is especially effective when you're using aerials and high body stalls.
• Continuous: In some combos, the tricks will be much easier if you pause in between them.  This is particularly true of series that involve multiple stall surfaces.  If you want to add some difficulty, you can force your opponent to do the moves continuously rather than allowing them to pause and catch their breath between each stall.
• Hand/Myachi Can't go Above/Below...: This Add entered the game to stop people from doing moves in the cheapest possible manner but continues as a great Combo Add.  The first time I saw this called was against an opponent who liked to cheat his toe stalls by dropping the Myachi from about 3 inches above his toe.  His opponent started to counter by saying "Hand can't go below your waist" or "The toss has to go over your head" to ensure a real throw.  This also works great when you want someone to do something fast.  You can say "throw can't go above your head" or otherwise restrict the height of the throw.
• Tag Placement: For a lot of your "Skate Type" tricks, you can add a serious amount of difficulty just by insisting on a specific placement of the tag.  In other words, you can call that the Myachi must land with the tag facing the same way it was at the start and thereby force a more controlled spin.  This is particularly effective in variations on the Impossible or the Tre-Flip.  It can make some of the easiest moves in the game into legitimate letter-getters.
• Stall Counts: This is not a very common add, but it can be used when playing against someone who is particularly weak with a stall that you're pretty good at.  If, for example, they don't have much control of their Mantis, you can call a "count" on the Mantis portion of the trick.  For example, you could do a combo that ends in a Mantis and insist that they hold it for a 3 count.  What this means is that in order to hit the trick, they need a perfect Mantis.  Without that Combo-Add, they could hold the Mantis for less than a second and return it to the hand without penalty.  Keep in mind that all 3 counts aren't created equally, though, so expect your opponent to count as fast as possible.

Obviously there are plenty of other Combo-Adds that you could use, though these are the most common ones I encounter.  If you have a Combo-Add that you or your opponents use a lot, let me know and I can add it to the list.

Word of warning on Combo-Adds, though.  Whatever you call, you have to do as well.  Just be sure that when you use a Combo-Add you're not making the move too tough for yourself.

It should also be noted that not all Combo-Adds are legal.  I've seen some pretty silly attempts at Combo Adds (I actually had an opponent tell me that I had to do a Wolverine but my name had to be Alex at the time) so clearly there are some boundaries.  Perhaps I'll write a future article on banned Combo-Adds.  If you ever have a question about the legality of a Combo-Add, shoot me an e-mail at crazyivan@myachi.com and we'll run it by the MYACH competition committee (Monk, Animal, Bones, Noodles and I) and we'll get you an answer as quickly as we can hash one out.