UPDATE 8:30 PM EST
Good evening everyone, I put the caps away for the update since there is no big X flare in the update, but as we got into in the initial post, the big X5.89 CME is headed this way. It was brought to my attention by neutralbystander11 that SWPC has released an update with some more infomation. My initial estimation of impacts was based on the DONKI scorecard, which is a more comprehensive and aggregate system of all models. However, its has limitations, namely how will existing waves combine and interact. The SWPC update is suggesting that the CMEs have in fact combined on the heels of the X5.89 which did appear to have a higher velocity than the preceeding CMEs upon ejection. That has influenced them to issue another G4-G5 watch. Looking at the solar wind right now, I do believe tomorrow night is going to be a better shot than tonight for another sighting. Could be wrong, and you need to leave me alot of room on that front, because arrival times is the hardest part with a dynamic setup like this. We all should be watching the solar wind for signs of imminent arrivals just in case they arrive sooner than expected. SWPC did not say anything about exact arrival time and their comments conflict with the latest ENLIL runs, which have not been the most reliable here lately. DONKI model aggregates suggest an arrival time of tomorrow 5/12 at 00:02 UTC which is 7 PM EST. That would be just about perfect, but the problem is that very little has panned out on the timelines implied. Again, we take the info for what its worth, but results may vary. I have eyes on it, but right now I am getting the sense that tomorrow night may be a better opportunity. I am watching the solar wind right now and the speed is insane at nearly 1000 km/s but the density is extremely light. A small fraction of what it was last night and the Bz is wavering back and forth from north to south orientation and we need a solid southerly orientation to hit paydirt. Its enough for a solid and steady G3, but one look at the auroral oval and you will see that last night was MUCH different.
We do not know when exactly it will arrive, but most indications are sometime tomorrow. I will show you what I am looking at. Check the left side for arrival time sfrom various offices, but the bottom is an average of all. It does say an upper bound of Kp8, but a common theme this week has been overperformance and SWPC apparently has gotten the memo with stronger wording showing up the past 24 hours or so.
https://preview.redd.it/1jy4xn5s6wzc1.png?width=1707&format=png&auto=webp&s=b0915f298b2695375b19a4fc01cf5aa98169bcb4
The ingredients are there for another spectacular night, but we are going to need a few things to work out right, but I think the chances are pretty good. More so than tonight, but again, I could very well be wrong. The CME will do as it please. All we can do is stay tuned, keep eyes on the skies and our data points, and hope that conditions line up, including the time of day for optimal viewing.
And nope, I am still not worried, just excited. Someone made an important comment earlier, and while we do need to keep it in context of changes in our mag field since then, but back in 03, we took an X10 and X17 direct almost back to back. Yet most I have talked to who saw that storm and this one say that the auroral display last night was noticeably more intense. If you have any input on that, do share. Do with that what you will, it is only anecdotal of course, but I can tell you after this epoch of skywatching ends, we are going to be breaking it down for months to come and the thing I am most interested in is Maggie. Our magnetic field is far more than our forcefield from such events and its a crucial component in virtually all levels of life on earth.
One final thing before I go. I want to talk about flying during geomagnetic storms. I have gotten far more of this question than I expected, but then again, I did not expect to have over 2000 people here a few days ago. People have asked if it is safe for them to fly, or even if it is safe for their pregnant spouses to fly. I fully understand the gravity of the question and I want to allay some concerns. If you get the chance to fly during a geomagnetic storm, do it. It will not harm you in and of itself. You will not be exposed to significant amounts of radiation. There is one metric you need to watch when it comes to flying, and its the same one as our astronauts and people on the ISS. Protons. Aside from navigation and communications considerations, the main thing airlines pay attention to is the solar radiation levels in the form of proton storms. When you see the chances for particular type of flares, you will sometime see probabilities for proton events. Proton events often accompany big flares and CMEs, but they can stem from other things too. Just like the Kp Index and the G1-G5 scale, proton radiation storms have their own scale from S1 to S5. Currently we are at S1 levels and have not exceeded it except for a brief moment yesterday. Levels could rise again, but so far have been muted, which is a tiny bit surprising but the numbers dont lie. The effects of proton storms are typically constrained to the polar regions unless the storm is sufficiently powerful enough to reach lower. There have been occaisions where airlines and space based entities have had to make adjustments on account of this, but when it comes to flying, they are looking at it closely. It never hurts to ask if you feel leery about it, but dont expect the ticket counter attendant to be able to explain it.
AA
Hey everyone, last night I had stated that it appeared the bulk of the CME was headed northward. Well in the light of day, that does not appear to be the case. LASCO coronagraphs updated this morning as well as the DONKI scoreboard and it does appear we have impacts that will continue through today, and until tomorrow, and possibly even Monday. Now this last flare and CME did stem from the 2nd strongest flare of this cycle I do believe, an impressive X5.9 with "massive dimming" according to CCMC indicating an impressive CME. It is a partial halo, and what that is telling us is that the bulk of it is in fact heading our way. It was of reasonably long duration and it will be on the tail end of a very active period thus far. Additionally there have been a few upper M-Class flares with decent duration themselves with probable CMEs. They have not been accurately modeled just yet. I am still consulting the ENLIL spiral, but its updates are lagging behind significantly. I am mainly working off imagery now and the DONKI scoreboard which honestly has been one of the coolest tools I have found, fortunate to have found it last week before this event. Thank you Mr. Harlan Thomas. Lets talk about what a "halo cme" means and clear up a few misconceptions.
When this term is used, its because in the coronographs, it appears that ejecta is literally flying out of all sides of the sun. We know this is not the case. CMEs are directional in nature, and while they can grow to massive sizes, they still do not go in all directions at once. The reason it appears that way is the viewing angle. The imagery is taken alot closer to earth than it is the sun. As a result, when a CME is fired directly at us, it appears to come from all sides of the sun from our angle, but really its just a wave that appears to grow larger in terms of visually as it gets closer. This same mechanic is often used to determine what is going on with other objects in space. If we detect something and it starts growing suddenly, its because its either coming towards us and appearing larger as a result, or because its actually growing of course. You would be surprised how much information about the cosmos is deduced by using process of elimination and if X = Y than it must be Z. We do the best we can with what we have. This particular CME was a partial halo, so that indicates the bulk of it is headed here, but some will miss.
As a result, DONKI is giving the latest CME an upper bound of Kp7 from an average of all models, with some individual models forecasting Kp8. This event has taught us in real time that the models are good for advice, but have a long way to go both in forecasting strength and timing. I lean more towards it overperforming than under performing even though its not as geoeffective as the previous waves because it will encounter a very perturbed magnetosphere. This storm did not quite get to Halloween 2003 levels in terms of strength, yet by many reports the aurora were reported to be more intense last night. For those who have been watching our magnetic field closely, this does not come as a surprise. After this event passes, we will dive into that a little bit more and break down what this means in the grand scheme, but for now lets focus on the here and now.
FORECAST FOR TONIGHT
The models are suggesting impacts continue into tonight with potential arrivals from the X1.0 and M9.8 which was the most impressive signature in AIA 131 with a rotating starlike effect and it went on for a long time with dual peaks near X1. It has an upper bound of Kp9 HOWEVER there is a chance that this wave has already affected us. We just dont know and all we can do is measure the impacts as they occur. I have had alot of questions about this and after the forecast I will explain. We also have impacts scheduled into tomorrow with upper bounds of Kp8. We also have the possibility of the X1.1 and X3.9 arriving in the next 24 hours. So the long and short of it is this. Tonight remains an excellent opportunity to aurora chase. The solar wind speed is very high currently at 918 km/s but the density is super low. However, if those arrivals start to come in, the density could jump, and that will start some fireworks with speeds that high. It would also be good if the Bz stays mostly south, the further the better. The bottom line is this. You are going to have to keep checking the SWL auroral dashboard and watch those numbers or you can cheat and look at the auroral oval to get a realtime idea of where it SHOULD be visible. Its a very good chance, and I would be optimistic we will get another show and its in the realm of possibility for it to be better than the first, but the opposite is true too. We just dont know because what happens in the solar wind, stays in the solar wind, until it reaches our probes around 5% of the way from here to the sun. That is our lead time ladies and gentlemen. 5%.
THis is the timeline for a flare/CME event and how we detect it.
X-Ray flux indicates a solar flare is in progress which will be quickly be confirmed by SDO imagery and similar probes in varius spectrums and wavelengths.
The solar flare has characteristics of a CME which are dimming around it, shockwave dispersal, and ejecta visible in various wavelengths. LASCO coronagraphs will pick it up and be able to get a general idea of the direction using visual analysis as well as instrumental. If the blast is full halo, it can be assumed its coming here.
Next its velocity and density will be measured and estimated using all data points available. Again, hard to measure these details so far away, but the system works as far as that goes, because we have many eyes on the sun. We dont have so many on the long trip between here and there since these bodies are so far apart and in motion. So using that data as well as all other data points, it is fed into the solar wind models like the WSA-ENLIL or EUHFORIA which will do their level best to give us a timeline and gauge the impacts.
Results vary widely between models and reality in this case and as the variables increase, the results are harder to predict. In this case we have a train of CMEs headed here, and I have said this from the very start, I fully expected them to struggle, and they have. The same rationale is why I was so confident saying this storm would overperform its forecast. I dont have to worry about being as right as much as they do, so I can take those risks. They have to play it safe.
So in summary, we detect and measure them as they leave the sun but we will not see them again in real detail until they reach our probes located about 5% to 6% of the entire distance from the earth to the sun. Using these probes, we then can detect their signatures and get a better idea of what is coming. When you look at your dasbhoard on SWL, and specifically the solar wind charts, there is a line that says "earth" but the chart goes further. What you are seeing is the characteristics of the CME be detected and then fed into the models. So as a result, there is no choice but to use the models for guidance and then take it as it comes. We get more advanced at this every decade and its likely that tools will be implemented in the future that give more data and therefore more accurate forecasts, especially for the tough ones like this weekend. You will just need to stay plugged in.
Is It Safe To Put The Tomato Plants Back Outside and Come Out of the Bunker?
In my humble opinion, this weekend should go a long way in allaying some fears about how vulnerable we are AT THIS POINT IN TIME to significant space weather events. By all metrics we experienced an extreme storm on the practical scale. Yes, Maggie sure is taking a beating this weakend, but so far she has not flinched, and life goes on despite hitting an estimated Kp11 according to some models with auroras visible in southern Mexico and Cuba. This should allay some fears about these garden variety solar storms being hazardous or dangerous to our technologically dependant way of life. Its significant, but not unprecedented in modern times. There may very well come a time when this is not the case, when a solar storm of this magnitude could be hazardous, but that is a hypothetical. So many things COULD happen and we have to respect that but at the same time, we have to live in the moment, the moment is all we have, and for now we are fine against stuff like this. There have been some outages and disruptions which were predicted and expected. Satcoms stuggled and various services have had outages. GPS and Radio definitely suffered and continue to. Starlink took a hit but seems to have recovered for the most part. There are still sporadic outages and performance issues across the board. Being impacted and being devastated are not the same though and this is all part of the game, but as far as I know, there have been no significant powergrid issues. Could there have been? People ask about 1989 when Quebecs grid went down and point to that, but what most dont know is that there were other factors in that stemming from the geology that caused the currents to do something unexpected. It was down for around 9 hours in some places. At the same time, we learned from it, and contrary to belief, measures have been taken to safeguard us during these events. Would those safeguards work in a CE or greater size storm? I hope we never have to find out together. We would not be defenseless, but it would likely be disastrous and theres no way around that in my view, but that aint this weekend folks. I wonder if the twitter people feel silly today?
Many have asked, how would we know if a storm was going to be that bad? What would the lead time be? Some even wonder if such information would be withheld. I will just tell you that there is no way that could happen. It is not just NASA/NOAA etc watching this stuff. Many are. The data and imagery is free to use for everyone and many keep tabs, far more closely than myself. If a CE happened, we would see the flare and CME signature and would immediately know that something extraordinary and anomalous happened by the flash, the radio burst, and all of the measurements taken during every CME. The numbers would tell us that the potential is there. However, in order to get the finer details, it takes a little time, and very precious time at that. These CMEs over the weekend arrived in around 48 hours. The Carrington Event was said to arrive somewhere between 14-17 hours IIRC. The long and short of that problem is that if you are not already prepared by the time the CME is detected, you are in a bad way. At the same time, its very difficult to prepare for the possibility of such a long term scenario but folks, we can't worry about it and get anxious.
Any number of things COULD happen. ATLAS could detect a 25KM comet headed directly for us from deep space. A supervolcano could erupt and wreck our climate and block the sunlight. WWIII could break out and go nuclear. I could go on and on and on with examples. These things are in fact threats, but all you can do is try to prepare for them. Stressing yourself about it needlessly serves no purpose. Existential threats are not in short supply these days and anyone truly paying attention recognizes that. I say this as a father and a husband. I do not miss much, at all because I cannot look away. I have been following the story that is human civilization in the modern age since I was very young. When I was a little boy and while other kids were watching cartoons and nickolodeon, I watched Hurricane Andrew slam into Florida, the OKC bombing, Desert Storm. I have been this way as long as I can remember and in some ways I feel cut out for it but that is probably me just being the main character of my own story, and we all do that at times. It can and does create anxiety sometimes and I recognize that but I try to keep it in its proper place and perspective but I man my station on the watchtower and I dont know why.
So lets enjoy this friends. We may have another very exciting night. After these CMEs pass, guess what? Solar max is not over and shows no signs of letting up just yet. It looks like we have some new active regions coming into view and complexity is a little muted but the size is there. AR3664 looked about the same at the E limb. Until those poles reverse and the rearrangement completes, we are in the thick of it. This does mean the CE watch continues of course, but more likely it just means we are going to have some more weekend like this one. Maybe more intense or maybe less. I can tell you that the fine folks here on this sub will be watching for all things. The fun stuff and the scary stuff and we will try to give it to you as straight as we can without the BS. I am analyst by trade in real life. I understand what it takes to analyze something effectively. It means looking at something without bias, without emotion, and without personal feelings or desires. Sometimes those things creep in anyway, but its the job of the analyst to keep his objectivity and not be swayed by anything but the result. I have been analyzing the sun and other topics for a long time and I have done so with no audience. I started this sub and in the past week it blew up and I cannot tell you how grateful and touched I am from it truly and every writer who has ever written anything, just wants somebody to read it. However, I am not willing to hype things up, scare people, be misleading, be overtly controversial, or get too high on my own supply. I am pleased that we did this organically but whether it was 1 person or 1000, I am going to do it the exact same way.
Well that is enough for now, so lets wrap it up. Again, I cannot demonstrate my gratitude enough. I am a sensitive person and I have no shame in that, and some of the comments had me saying nah, just something in my eye, I kid you not. Its been a great experience and I hope its been great for you, and I look forward to many more. As always I will try to answer questions and allay concerns as a priority but I see the thank yous and I appreciate them all.
For you nerds out there who want to see the DONKI scoreboard here it is.
https://kauai.ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/CMEscoreboard/
SWL dashboard
https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/auroral-activity.html
WSA-ENLIL Solar Wind Model
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/wsa-enlil-solar-wind-prediction
Down Detector To Check For Outages
https://downdetector.com/
New Active Regions Coming Into View
https://preview.redd.it/61sqiqgotuzc1.png?width=414&format=png&auto=webp&s=94fe1ecad5e8c1ea6c92b0a88b382d38fd0ba763
And last but not least, my favorite AIA 131, the last 48 hours. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM. SDO is having some bandwidth issues, so I cant attach video right now, but here is the link to the SWL viewer of it.
https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/solar-activity/solar-images/sdo.html#SDO_1024-16
AA

https://preview.redd.it/ic6skc6w4rzc1.jpg?width=568&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e447c149e2d498333d952871a37639a7774c66a5
*ahem *
“Dead by Daylight is an online asymmetric multiplayer survival horror video game.”
We’ve all heard this by now. I think some people ridicule the game for being labeled as a ‘horror’ game as the developers have drifted further and further away from the original game’s spirit. But before even that, the game is called ‘asymmetrical,’ and I think it’s important we remember this. Dead by Daylight is a game that impossible to balance in a public match setting. By definition, the moment you load in there’s an imbalance between the survivors and one of the many unique killers, as well as individual player skill. Even if we imagine that you have 5 players of similar skill level, that are all equipped with the knowledge to deal with ‘X’ killer, even MORE core parts of the game serve to cause imbalance.
Maps:
due to the game being inherently skewed, there’s almost no chance a map can be well balanced. Unlike symmetrical type games, a map in dbd isn’t skewed because it favors a certain play-style or the other, because anybody is free to utilize or not utilize that play-style. In dbd, if a map is killer sided, a survivor cannot choose to adopt killer traits to create a more even match, and vice versa. Never mind the fact that certain killers have certain specialties which can vastly change how they interact with the map.
Resources:
while this could probably fall under the Maps, it plays a rather significant role. How many jungle gyms spawn in a map, if a map has many recurring structures, how many pallets, and what kinds of pallets, which variation of which recurring structure, hook spawns, basement spawn, generator locations, power specific spawns, etc… there is a veritable plethora of completely rng depending values that can nudge a match in one direction or the other. This is not to say a certain amount of skill *shouldn't* go into compensating and even overcoming such hurdles, but the sheer amount of boxes that need to be ticked creates a very inconsistent environment.
Builds and Playstyle:
Perk Metas and Tunneling. For the sake of argument, let’s assume the player base isn’t a large mass of emotionless sociopaths, incapable of empathy, being toxic, and feeling offended when things don’t go their way, and always always take the most optimal course of action (surprise, we’re not!). This means sometimes games will see meta vs meme, meme vs meme, and meta vs meta. Even IF both sides brought meta builds, their respective builds could be geared towards/against certain scenarios that simply don’t become relevant in that specific match. By contrast, a player using a certain playstyle could single-handedly invalidate a players entire build (tunneling the Deja vu, resilience, hyperfocus, stake out player or evenly hooking the OTR, DS, DH team). Again, this is not to say that neither circumstance cannot simply be outplayed, with the right amount of knowledge and creativity, nor that one situation isn’t more favorable to one side or the other, simply that the nature of the game is stubbornly resistant to the ‘fair’ and ‘pure skill expression’ we say we want from the game.
Can we make the game balanced?
I think there are two popular responses to this. “We have, it’s called comp” and “just make a ranked mode and a casual mode.” Lets first discuss dividing the game into two queues. Sike! That’s a funny joke. I don’t think anyone saying this realizes how unhelpful it is. *Not only* is this still subject to every single issue regarding how unbalanced the game is mentioned earlier, *not only* would this fail to segregate the competitive and casual players, as a) players all have varying concepts of what they consider ‘competitive’ and how much effort they should input to achieve an expected result and b) surprise! Trolls and tryhards will be present in both gamemodes, there’s no way of ‘forcing’ casual players to stay in casual and tryhard to stay in ranked. What’s worse than both of these issues, is the fact that a ranked queue would keep the same issues and *validate* any complaints about unfairness. At the very least, there are no stakes with public matches. Bloodpoints, iridescent shards, and the rift can ALL be earned/completed with minimal skill input and a decent time investment. If there were exclusive rewards, or at least substantial rewards for a ranked queue, it would *actually* be troublesome how unbalanced the entire game is. The final issue is that a ranked format would be rather complicated, because you would need to have separate rankings for survivors and killers, which would inherently be unfair to solo survivors. Your only other option would essentially be a ‘loose mmr’ gamemode and a ‘strict mmr’ gamemode, which I really don’t think would solve any issues.
So does comp fix the game?
Definitely not, but I think it has lots to offer. For those who don’t know, the comp dbd community has lots of large scale tournaments using various rulesets. There are a lot of rules in these rulesets. Certain killers have certain perks banned, play on specific maps, with specific offerings. Survivors have perks banned, most rulesets ban using duplicate perks, limited items and addons, etc… Additionally, win conditions are different from standard dbd (if you can even say standard dbd has win conditions). Most rulesets judge based on generators completed and amount of hooks, rather than simply kills and escapes. This by itself is a huge thing BHVR could take a look at, as it can help promote a more healthy environment in the casual setting, as well as being a more accurate indicator of performance. That said, not everything from comp can be incorporated easily. For starters, there’s no such thing as a solo player, even for killer. All matches consist of teams, survivors and a killer, who play alternating matches and choose winners based on the best results. Not only would having 5 players cooperating, with or without comms, be a high requirement, but playing 2 or 3 consecutive matches, even if both teams played against each other simultaneously, would be far too large of a time commitment for the vast majority of the player base. Not even considering making builds to match the appropriate rules for whatever killemap both sides are playing. It’s far too complicated to be implemented into the base game.
What (what, not what should!) BHVR is doing about this:
For starters, this is largely my assumptions based on what I’ve seen, I am not a dev nor am I able to easily discuss my opinions with one. An easy thing to see is that BHVR has chosen not to use either of the flawed responses as explained above. Especially the casual vs. ranked queue, while I wouldn’t be surprised I would be rather disappointed if they implemented it, considering how many seem to ask for it. BHVR also, from my understanding, have been very clear that the game is a low stakes ‘party game’, with public matches being very casual (or masochistic, same difference). As I mentioned earlier, there are no major or exclusive rewards for performing well. All necessary progression can be obtained purely casually. A less pleasant topic is mmr. While not everyone may be familiar with what the Match Making Rating is, most of the more dedicated players know of it, and I’ve not heard of anyone who thinks positively of it. The important step is to understand the purpose of mmr, rather than the resulting matches. 1. Mmr can’t find fair matches, so it shouldn’t be trying to. 2. Mmr has to benefit BHVR. 3. Mmr must account for queue times, as well as role availability. So what does mmr actually do? It registers your escapes/kills and uses that to place you into wide brackets, and widens the acceptable bracket size you can be matched with the longer you sit in queue. It’s goal is not to give you an accurate rating, just *a rating*. While you’re not intended to win or lose every single match, it’s still largely arbitrary. It *fools* you into thinking you earned those easy wins, and gaslights you into believing the only reason you lost your last match was because of poor matchmaking, or your teammates. It’s simply not intended to be accurate. Really, not a feel good answer, but in my personal opinion, it is the best thing BHVR can do with the current state of the game.
So is the game survivokiller sided??
This is a terrible question, and the correct answer is a terrible answer without revising the question. The game is survivor sided. But first, fix the question. Is it easier for survivor or killer to create a favorable situation for their team? Answer: it is easier for survivors to create a situation where they will escape. And there is good argument for this. Survivors have many powerful items and addons they can bring. There are many maps that are strong for survivor. Survivor is also the only side that can guarantee going to a certain realm. Most of the strongest players will recognize this. Funny thing, I don't think it matters one bit. Because none of this will happen in public matches. Certainly not consistently. Top killer players are commonly shown to get winstreaks in public matches upwards of 100 to nearly 2000. The skill level in pubs is so completely inconsistent that it doesn't matter if survivors bring the best they have to offer or if the killer is trapper or nurse. The argument that the match was lost due to the game favoring a side is entirely moot. Another player probably could have won the game, just as easily as you lost. Heck, YOU probably could have won that same game if a couple rng related items went in just the right direction. Its genuinely a pointless argument, that is only relevant because bad games suck and nobody wants it to just be a skill issue.
I said a lot. Most of this is just a rant/culmination of opinions that I've smoldered over for a while now. I don't expect many people to read this, much less agree with me, but if you do, I'd love to hear your opinions. Especially any thoughts on what we can do going forward to make dbd a fun game. Because I really do think its fun. I'm also a masochist.
TL;DR I hope you get sandbagged

The stronger US dollar has acted as a handbrake on commodity prices, limiting what may have been otherwise a spectacular rebound to start 2024. Imagine what may happen if the dollar were to break down?
By : David Scutt, Market Analyst

• Commodities are demonstrating an asymmetric reaction to US dollar fluctuations
• When the USD softens, commodity prices often rally hard
• US bond futures may provide a signal on directional risks for USD and commodity prices
• Gold, silver and copper look constructive even before a definitive USD signal

Commodities love USD weakness right now

You can’t help but notice just how sensitive commodities are to US dollar movements right now. Take the price action on Thursday as a prime example with an unusually large increase in US jobless claims sparking big gains across the complex, seeing names like gold, silver and copper push back towards their YTD highs.
The asymmetric reaction provides a sense of how the stronger dollar has acted as a handbrake on commodity prices this year, limiting what may have been otherwise a spectacular rebound. It also makes you wonder what may happen when the strong dollar story breaks apart? If not accompanied by amplified global recession fears, you get the sense commodity prices may fly.

USD heavily influenced by Fed rate expectations

When assessing that prospect, there are worse market indicators to monitor than the front-end of the US bond curve. As this chart shows, the daily correlation between the US dollar index and US two-year bond yields over the past quarter stands at 0.89, implying the dollar usually follows movements at the front-end of the US curve.
When yields drop, so too does the dollar typically, and vice versus.
https://preview.redd.it/43jo60e9zhzc1.png?width=1835&format=png&auto=webp&s=6fa6ebe4c37e1c13bb7f18c7e60c9178163b05e3

US 2-year bond futures at key juncture ahead of US CPI

Given the strong positive relationship between the two, I’m paying close attention to moves in US two-year Treasury note futures. I described this instrument as a noise eliminator in a post earlier this week, using it as a filter to gauge trade setups in markets directly involving the US dollar or where the dollar can be highly influential.
As you’re tracking a highly liquid market that measures price rather than yields, I find note futures can combine fundamentals and technicals to get a clean read on directional risks for US rates and FX.
Right now, the jury is out when it comes to whether we’re witnessing a turning point for the big dollar with futures remaining close to key horizontal resistance with the 50 and 200-day moving averages sitting just above. This zone looms as important when it comes to directional risks for the dollar and short-end rates, managing to repel an attempted break higher last Friday following the release of softer-than-expected payrolls and ISM services PMI data.
https://preview.redd.it/3bt2h45dzhzc1.png?width=1913&format=png&auto=webp&s=f6448f0f10471f9d772c0f102dee9fb394c6a775
Source: Refinitiv
I don’t know what direction futures will break from here. Honestly, I don’t care. But I will be acting upon the signal it eventually delivers.
Should futures break higher, it points to a softer US dollar and firmer risk appetite, as long as not accompanied by recession fears. But should futures reverse course and push back towards the YTD lows, that would be problematic for risk appetite and cyclical assets given it would imply a growing risk of no rate cuts from the Fed this year.
When you look at the macro event calendar next week, you get the sense the US consumer price inflation report may be the catalyst to generate the signal from this indicator. But that’s just a hunch – the signal could arrive from no obvious catalyst at all.
As I wait for the signal on rates and dollar, my bias for commodities such as gold, silver and copper is higher.
Click the website link below to get our exclusive Guide to gold trading in Q2 2024.
https://www.cityindex.com/en-au/market-outlooks-2024/q2-gold-outlook/
https://preview.redd.it/owfajrphzhzc1.png?width=1000&format=png&auto=webp&s=05e39fcc826c44baff4d1fe9f0357518d09f1bd4

Gold looks great

Gold looks great on he charts, continuing to consolidate above former record highs within a broader uptrend. With RSI breaking its downtrend and MACD looking like it may soon crossover from below, momentum looks to be shifting higher once again. Having tried and failed on multiple occasions to break below $2285 in May, that would provide a decent entry level for longs, should the price return there. A stop could be placed below the level for protection.
Alternatively, should the price get a foothold above $2355.10, that too would be a decent entry level, allowing for a stop to be placed below targeting a retest of the 2024 high above $2430.
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Silver arguably even better

Silver looks arguably the most bullish market of the base and precious metals covered, breaking out of the falling wedge earlier this month before doing away with minor resistance levels at $27 and $27.75. With MACD crossing over from below and RSI breaking its downtrend, momentum is building to the upside.
Those considering establishing longs would buy now or wait for a possible pullback towards $27.75, allowing for a stop-loss to be placed below for protection. The initial trade target would be the YTD high around $27.75 with the 2021 high of $30.08 located not far above.
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Copper coiling and consolidating

Copper sits in a pennant formation within a broader uptrend dating back to February. With RSI breaking its downtrend, momentum may be about to turn higher, pointing to the potential for a bullish breakout of the pennant, opening the door to a possible move beyond the YTD high around $4.70 to a resistance zone starting from $4.82. The 2022 high of $5.04 sits just above.
Should these bullish trade setups play out, I will be using the signal from short-end US rates to determine whether to cut, hold or add whenever it is delivered.
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-- Written by David Scutt
Follow David on Twitter u/scutty
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See the original post here.
2-player board gaming constitutes a huge part of my hobbyist career, and it is obvious why. Many games are designed exclusively for 2-players, and many more work well at that count. Spanning back millennia with the likes of Chess, Checkers, and Go, 2-player-only games have served as a cornerstone of this hobby. And although I’ve explored and enjoyed this genre for a long time, Bitewing Games has never put out a 2-player-only game… until now.
After two and a half years of hunting, planning, and development, we’re finally ready to unveil our line of two-player-only games. But before we get to that, in celebration of this milestone I’d like to highlight and update my list of the best 2-player board games of all time. I shared my original Top 10 list a whopping 4 years ago, back when Bitewing Games was nothing more than a blog. It’s an old list, but still a pretty solid one. Yet I’ve since had many more encounters with incredible games. So many, in fact, that limiting my list to only 10 feels like a bit of a crime against the genre.
Rather than try to arbitrarily rank one title just barely above another, I’m going to dump my entire list of recommendations on you. I’ll even narrow them down into themed categories so it is easier for you to find your type of 2-player game. Let’s explore the best 2-player games I’ve ever played!

Spicy Brutality

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These are the meanest games on my list. Yet spicy games are also some of the most exciting. Proceed with caution, all ye who enter.

• Undaunted Series — If you’re looking for a war-game experience that is approachable, quick, and streamlined, then Undaunted is the best in the business. There are several unique experiences in this ongoing series of standalone games. Across the games that I’ve tried, I now have roughly 30 plays. We’ve really enjoyed how Undaunted merges smooth deck building with tense tactical skirmishes across many different scenarios.
• Radlands — If you’ve ever wished you could try Magic: The Gathering or similar dueling card games but been scared off by the steep barriers to entry, then Radlands might be the answer. Everything is contained in a single small box where players draw from the same deck to play out and command a team of post-apocalyptic fighters. The goal is to take out the enemy’s camps first, and you’ll have plenty of tools at your disposal. Despite the aggressive gameplay, the rules are very easy to get into, making this a breeze to teach and play.
• Marabunta — One of the newest 2-player designs from the legendary Reiner Knizia is a game of ants, dice, and dry erase markers. Although this one has been billed as a roll and write, it plays nothing like the genre. You feel that the most in how agonizing and cutthroat this game is. Marabunta combines painful “I split, you choose” decisions with cold-blooded area majorities on a shared board. Rarely has a game hurt so good to play.
• Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes! — Designer Paolo Mori has proven himself to be a reliable 2-player game designer across several titles which are on this list, but the first one we’ll cover is Caesar. Don’t be fooled by the cheap production, Caesar is a firecracker of a game. You and your opponent take turns deploying units onto the map, covering the spots that border two different regions. Once a region is completely surrounding by tokens, the player with the most strength wins the region. Yet whoever closes the region (covers the final border space) claims a bonus, so sometimes you even help your rival to finish taking over a battleground. That makes this sound like a nice game, but there are plenty of opportunities to undermine your opponents plans and abilities.
• The Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation — If you love the idea of Stratego, but perhaps not the execution, then this one is absolutely for you. Reiner Knizia offers his take on Stratego’s experience with a game that is also inspired by the Lord of the Rings trilogy. One player is trying to sneak Frodo all the way to Mordor without him getting captured, and the other player is trying to reclaim the ring or basically take over Middle Earth before the fellowship stops them. Devious bluffing and brutal conflicts abound in this highly revered classic from the Good Doctor Knizia that sadly hasn’t seen a new edition in many years.

Not Too Aggressive

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If the above suggestions seem a little to mean for you or your gaming partner, but you still want a hint of spice in your game, then I highly recommend the following…

• Lost Cities — This is perhaps Reiner Knizia’s most popular 2-player game ever, and for good reason! Many people have pointed to Lost Cities as the best game to play with your significant other. The decisions you make in this game can still be quite rude, but the key is that your opponent doesn’t know you are being rude. You’ve been holding that green 10 in your hand that they so desperately wanted the entire game… and you never even intended to use it for yourself? That’s Lost Cities for you. The hand management decisions in this game are fantastic. You’ll sweat over which cards to hang on to and which expeditions to commit to.
• Patchwork — Like Lost Cities, Patchwork is yet another widely recommended 2-player game, and for good reason! It combines the satisfaction of polyomino puzzling with smart economic considerations including time management and a button economy. There is a reason why this one has been endlessly in print for 10 straight years.
• Jaipur — I don’t think I appreciated Jaipur at first as much as I do now. Admittedly, it presents itself as a generic set collection game of spices and gems and camels. These games are a dime a dozen, right? Yet Jaipur sets itself apart by being so dang perfect and paced. You’ll feel yourself pulled in every direction as you race to meld sets first yet wait to build bigger sets, want to spend your turn doing one thing but feel compelled to do another thing, both curse and covet the camels, and so on.
• Battle Line / Schotten Totten — It’s hard to mention Knizia’s Lost Cities without also acknowledging Battle Line (aka Schotten Totten). Both of these simple card games are ripe with tough hand management decisions, yet they end up feeling very different on the table. Battle Line is about forming poker-style sets of cards across multiple fields of battle against your opponent. As far as I know, this design kicked off the genre known as “lane battlers,” and it is still one of the very best thanks to its timeless elegance.

Tug of War Trifecta

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Tug of War is a concept that lends itself nicely to 2-player games — one side pulls against the other. If these back and forth experiences sound appealing to you, then allow me to introduce you to the very best 2-player tug-of-war games.

• Watergate — Based on the Watergate scandal from American history, this one has been a big hit in the last five years of hobbyist gaming. If you want a taste of Twilight Struggle (a famous but sprawling war game) in a fraction of the time and effort, then Watergate is hands down the best option. Watergate presents a cat and mouse tussle between the corrupt Nixon Administration and the courageous press who are out to expose them. You’ll be competing to drag key evidence onto your end of the tug of war track and throwing down powerful event cards in this slick tactical romp.
• Royal Visit — While it hasn’t even come close to the popularity and success of Knizia’s other 2-player titles, Royal Visit has proven to be another favorite for my wife and I to get to the table. Royal Visit is the purest Tug of War game of this Trifecta. All you have is 1 track and a hand of cards of four possible suits. On your turn you may only play one suit of card, the suit matches a character on the track, and the more cards you play drags that character closer to your end of the track. It sounds almost too simple to be any good, and by the looks of it some people actually do feel that way, but I find that the functional differences of each character and their cards makes this a surprisingly nuanced game. It’s hidden yet satisfying depth has proven itself to me across our many plays.
• Biltzkrieg!: World War Two in 20 Minutes — Those of you with a keen eye will notice that this game’s title has a lot in common with Caesar’s full title. That’s because both games are from the same designer and publisher team, and they both share the same idea of putting out a tile that is hidden behind your screen. The difference is that Caesar has a bunch of area majority battles while Blitzkrieg presents a bunch of tug of war tracks. Which is better between the two? That’s difficult to say. Depends on who you ask, really. But I’m more than happy to own and enjoy both. The other notable thing about Blitzkrieg is that it is basically a 2-player version of Paolo Mori’s cult classic game, Dogs of War.

Best Cooperative Games

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Well we’ve already covered so many games that let you roll up your sleeves and pummel your opponent (or lightly pinch them, in the less aggressive games). Why not take a break and look at some of the best 2-player cooperative games?

• Sky Team — If you want the latest and greatest hotness in the 2-player-only genre, then Sky Team should be the first place you look. It’s one that I rated highly on my Top 15 Games of 2023 list, and it is one of my wife’s favorite games in recent years. In this airborne thriller, you and your partner play as pilots of a commercial airplane with a mysterious communication problems. You’ll take turns putting out your hidden dice as you try to land the plane without causing a catastrophe. The big hurdle is that you can’t communicate what dice you have or where you want your copilot to put their dice. Sky Team entices you to come back for many more plays thanks to the various modules and scenarios that mix up the challenge.
• Sail — Sail is another major hit from 2023 where you are also piloting a ship together… only in this case you are trying to avoid the kraken via the medium of trick taking. This one is gorgeously illustrated by Weberson Santiago (one of my favorite board game artists) and also presents a variety of challenging scenarios featuring unique maps.
• MicroMacro Series — If you, like me, have a certain fondness or nostalgia for Where’s Waldo books, then MicroMacro should be right up your alley. This series of games takes the experience of Where’s Waldo and turns it into a bunch of murder mystery style cases that you and your partner must solve. The weird thing about this huge city map crammed with thousands of details is that it shows events taking place over time. You can follow a person walking down the street, around the corner, and into a building where they shove a victim out a window to their death. Yes, it is somehow both cute and dark.
• Pandemic: Iberia — I can’t list the best 2-player cooperative games without mentioning the titanic series, Pandemic. Where there are so many versions of this game at this point, I’ll just list one of our favorites — Pandemic: Iberia. You are still racing to cure diseases and contain outbreaks, but here it takes place in Iberia with a few interesting twists such as building a railroad infrastructure to shuttle you around faster.

Best Positional Abstracts

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There are so many positional abstracts (like Chess) in this world that it becomes increasingly hard for these mostly themeless games to stand out. Move a piece, capture a piece. Advance, retreat. Strike, counterstrike. May the best mind win. Here are my favorites that I have found.

• Onitama — Onitama is a dead simple abstract strategy game. To win, either capture your opponent’s leader, or move your leader into their leader’s starting space. Easy as that. The thing that makes this game so neat is that your pawn movement is dictated by whatever two movement cards are sitting in front of you. Any time you use a card, it gets rotated over to your opponent for them to be able to use on a future turn. So you end up dictating the future options of your rival. On top of that, Onitiama (and its expansions) provide a large variety movement cards, meaning that no two games will be alike.
• Project GIPF Series, Tzaar and Yinsh — Back in middle school (or sometime around then) I went through my Chess phase. Learning, exploring, and obsessing over the game as I played it with family members and on digital adaptations. Well some time after that (maybe in high school), I entered a project GIPF phase. Project GIPF is a newer line of games (relative to Chess, at least) that features zero theme but plenty of strategy. I call it a phase, but I only ever got deep into two games in this series: Tzaar and Yinsh. Tzaar forces you decide whether to make yourself stronger or your opponent weaker as you protect your three types of discs and try to wipe out one type of your opponent’s discs. Yinsh has you leaping your rings over a line of tiles, causing them to flip to the opposing player’s color. Once you have a line of five tiles of your color, you discard one of your rings from the board. The first person to discard three of their rings wins. I’ve enjoyed both of these games for how they twist and contort your brain in challenging new ways. If you have a gaming partner that is willing to take the plunge on these dry yet approachable boxes, then you’ll find plenty of strategic depth at their core.
• Santorini — This one stands out thanks to its verticality and its huge deck of asymmetric god powers. Players are moving their figures around and building up 3-layered structures. The objective is to position your figure on top of a 3-story building in order to win. But if your opponent is in an adjacent space, then they can stop you from reaching the top by capping the building off with a dome top. Once you have dabbled in the core game, then you can add in god abilities which mix up the challenges and opportunities of each play.
• Hive — Hive (specifically Hive Pocket) might just be the most travel-friendly board game ever. That’s because this one has no board or cards. It simply uses a handful of chunky plastic tiles… meaning you can play this one on virtually any flat-ish surface (including the sandy beach!). The point of Hive is to surround your opponent’s queen bee with tiles. All of the bug tiles move in unique and interesting ways… Grasshoppers can jump over a line of tiles to the opposite side. Beetles can climb on top of (and trap) other tiles. Ants can move anywhere they want (a very powerful bug). But all of the tiles must stay grouped together in one connected hive, so there are ways to block your opponent from moving certain bugs. Despite its simplicity, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of Hive.
• Chess and Go — It would be downright rude to not include Chess and Go, the two ancient titans of the genre, somewhere on this list. So here they are. Give them a play, scratch them off your bucket list, and who knows, maybe you’ll fall deep into their strategic rabbit holes. You wouldn’t be the first to do so.

Best Euro-Abstracts

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What the heck is a Euro-abstract? Beats me. I just heard somebody use the term once and it sounded fitting. My best guess is that a Euro-abstract is different from a standard abstract in that it generally features more modern design elements like points, theme, abilities and/or a pinch of luck.

• Great Plains — Speaking of Go, there are many excellent modern games inspired by this old classic. Great Plains is one such design. Players are spreading out their figures into valuable territories, seeking to have majority in these point-scoring territories at the end of the game. I find that two key features make Great Plains so… well, great: (1) Players can earn animal abilities that let them break the normal placement restrictions. (2) The map is randomly generated each game. Great Plains is one of my most recent discoveries, yet I’m already in love with it.
• Mandala — This one is a brilliant little card game where players are seeking to claim the most valuable cards, but the values of the cards and opportunities to earn them are steered entirely by the players throughout the game. All you do is add cards to a middle market or bid cards to your side to try and claim first dibs at the cards in that market. The entire deck is nothing more than six different colors of cards. Yet the depth that unfolds is sneakily satisfying.
• Patterns — Patterns is branded as a sequel to Mandala, although they don’t share much beyond the scoring system and creators. Actually, all three of the above games come from the same design duo: Trevor Benjamin and Brett J Gilbert. Considering the fact that these games are all only from the last five years, I’m starting to suspect that Trevor and Brett might be the best abstract game designers currently working in the industry. Patterns is phenomenal (another of my top rated games from 2023) due to its layered decisions of tile placement and claiming.
• Lacuna — I mentioned it in the past, but last year was a great year for 2-player-only games. Sky Team, Sail, Patterns, and Lacuna were all excellent. Lacuna is a tough to categorize because it is so unique, but I lumped it here due to the end of game flower majorities that happen for scoring. You start by using the cylindrical box like a salt shaker to sprinkle out the flower tokens onto a large cloth mat. Then you take turns positioning your pawns between two matching flowers to claim them both. After all pawns are out, the remaining flowers are claimed by the nearest pawns. So there is a refreshing spatial challenge of positioning your pawns in the best places to claim the most important flowers. For how quick and breezy this one is, it is an easy recommendation.
• Chartae — Chartae has impressed me in a way that no other 2-player game has. It crams a surprisingly rich filler game into a tiny little box. With only 9 tiles, the game packs a surprising punch. Either add a tile to the map or rotate a tile. The winner is the player who has the largest connected territory once the map is complete. Perhaps this isn’t one that you should go out of your way to acquire and play — the end result would likely feel underwhelming relative to the effort invested. But if you appreciate discovering surprising depth beneath absolute simplicity, then Chartae is a great choice.

Best Campaign/Legacy

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If you’re looking for a multi-session gaming experience with your arch nemesis, there are many options out there. But these are two of the best that we have found:

• Undaunted: Stalingrad — Undaunted: Stalingrad remains my favorite game in the Undaunted series. That is precisely because it is such a great legacy/campaign experience where your troops and environment change across many scenarios. The decisions you make in one battle will have ripple effects throughout the war.
• My City (and its spinoffs) — Those who enjoy polyomino games owe it to themselves to try My City. Across 24 episodes of evolving rules and challenges, you’ll agonize of the placement of your building tiles as you try to satisfy the various scoring objectives. My City is also one of the more approachable legacy games in existence, and intentionally so. I’ve found it to be a great game for couples or families who want to knock out a play or more each evening for a few weeks. The spinoff games, My City: Roll & Build and My Island, perhaps don’t reach the same heights as the original experience, but they still offer plenty of fun if you are hungry for more.

Skill-based Thrills

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Sometimes it’s nice to let your brain take a break and simply challenge your fingers and hands instead. It’s even more satisfying to see your skills improve with enough practice and experience. Here are two games that emphasize skill and physicality over intelligence and scheming.

• KLASK — KLASK is like miniature air hockey, but even better than the real thing. Or at least I would argue that because KLASK is so dang funny and enjoyable. Using the magnetic pawns that you control beneath the table, the goal is to knock the ball in your opponent’s goal… or stick two magnetic “biscuits” to their pawn… or hope they accidentally “KLASK” (move their pawn into their own goal). If any of those things happen, then you get a point. KLASK never fails to deliver a bombastic and lively experience. This game belongs in every household.
• Crokinole — The best thing that Canadians ever gave to the world was the game of Crokinole. That’s no slight against Canada — Crokinole is fantastic. Our Crokinole board hangs on our wall like a family heirloom. Usually people who see it assume it is some kind of dartboard. But the moment I pull it off the wall and dump out the discs, they are hooked. Crokinole is one of my most played games in my entire collection thanks to its broad appeal and supreme satisfaction of flicking and ricocheting discs across a slippery board.

Happy Hobbyist

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I don’t often stray into the ultra-heavy gaming territory, which is why most of the games that I play, talk about, and publish are medium weight or lighter. But it seems like the sweet spot for most hobbyist gamers is in that medium weight territory anyway. These are the games that are generally a bit longer to play, require ten or fifteen more minutes to teacher, and combine multiple mechanisms together. Here are my best recommendations for the hobbyist gamer!

• Innovation — This civilization-themed card game may very well be the best of its class for having a streamlined ruleset with massive and chaotic potential, but it is not for everyone. Innovation is less about outwitting your opponent within an open information playing field and more about wacky opportunism. That means you get plenty of moments of surprise attacks, last-minute scrambles, and tactical lunges. It’s a game that keeps you on your toes from start to finish — the more nimble player will win. But it’s only enjoyable if you are willing to let the craziness sweep you away. It’s only worthwhile if you find endless wordy abilities to be exciting rather than exhausting.
• Splendor Duel — If Splendor is a bit too simple or light for your tastes, then Splendor Duel might be what you are looking for. Here there are a few more considerations to deal with as you claim gems, earn cards, and build your engine. I love how it cranks up the heat by allowing players to pressure each other on multiple possible victory conditions.
• Match of the Century — This one is Paolo Mori’s take on a lane battler (like Battle Line) and a pseudo-sibling to Watergate. You’ll be reenacting the chess match of the century by playing a game about chess that isn’t actually chess. By committing cards to each lane and utilizing card powers, you’ll determine who comes out on top during each “match” or round. It is a game about making short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. I dig it!
• Zamek / Carcassonne The Castle — Carcassonne provides a great 2-player experience on its own, but like Pandemic it has seen many spin-offs due to its popularity. One of those spin-off games is a 2-player-only version designed by the one and only Reiner Knizia that introduces some fantastic features to the Carcassonne system. Players are confined to adding tiles within a wall, and the wall itself functions as a score track with bonus corners that encourage you to stop on them exactly. Subtle changes like these make you think all the harder about where you want to place tiles and when you want to score them. It’s easily my favorite way to play Carcassonne. Unfortunatley, this one is very difficult to obtain (unless you track down a used copy or order Zamek from Poland).
• 7 Wonders Duel — Based on the big box hit, 7 Wonders, 7 Wonders Duel has the honor of being the second highest rated 2-player-only game on BoardGameGeek. Does that mean it is the second best 2-player-only game ever created? That’s for you to decide. All I know is that it is mega popular and mega fun. Players take turns drafting cards from a pyramid display as they build their civilization and wonders. Like Splendor Duel (both co-designed by Bruno Cathala), it allows you to gun for 3 possible victory objectives and pressure your rival in their weakest categories.

Great at 2, and other counts too!

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• The Quest for El Dorado — How many racing games do you know that are amazing at 2 players? The Quest for El Dorado is yet another Knizia classic that has sold gangbusters, and for good reason. Through building your deck and playing out cards, you’ll race across the different types of terrain. It works so well at 2-players because each player controls 2 explorers that both must reach the finish line in order to win. With infinite map possibilities and oodles of expansion content, El Dorado has been a blast for us every time it hits the table.
• A Feast for Odin — These next two games are without a doubt the meatiest on my list. Despite the long playtime (usually 2-3 hours when you include setup and teardown), A Feast for Odin is comfort food gaming. You’re given a big board of spaces that demand to be filled with tiles and a huge sandbox of viking-style options for how to acquire those tiles. Just like any good feast, you’ll come away satisfied.
• Ark Nova — One of the absolute hottest releases of the past decade is undoubtedly Ark Nova. It features its own style of comfort food entertainment by letting you manage and customize your own zoo across a few hours of heavy gaming. The massive deck of cards features a truly wild variety of animals that you will only scratch the surface of with each play.
• Crokinole — There’s only one game so good that it deserves to be mentioned twice on the same list. Crokinole, baby! I had to include it here as well just because the 2v2 mode is such a riot.
• Azul — The modern classic, Azul, is probably at its spiciest at 2-players where the hate drafting is most direct. But that’s why I love playing it at 2. Azul brings the goods with a clever, family-weight experience ripe with clackety colorful tiles.

This concludes my list featuring 40 of the best 2-player games I’ve ever played. These titles and my experiences playing them with another person have me into the gamer and publisher that I am today. Today I am thrilled to pay tribute to this genre and continue its legacy with the reveal of Bitewing Games’ new line of 2-player-only games: the Mythos Collection — 2-player games of strategy and mythology. Our goal for this line of games is to recruit the best 2-player game creators in the industry and assemble the most renowned line of 2-player games the world has ever seen. The Mythos Collection is made by and of legends.
To kick off this new line of games, there is no designer we trust more than the world-renowned Reiner Knizia (as the prophesy foretold, this is the year of the Knizia after all). I’m pleased to unveil his newest 2-player games: Iliad and Ichor.

Iliad

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The Trojan War has begun, and both sides of the conflict pursue every advantage they can possibly gain. Two opposing heroes, Hector of the Trojans and Achilles of the Greeks, seek the favor of the gods to lend them support and tip the scales of fate. Only one side will emerge victorious — its hero becoming the legend of the Iliad.
Iliad is a tile-placement strategy game featuring powerful tile abilities and divergent victory objectives. Check out the Predicted list of FAQs here to learn more.

Ichor

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The dark monsters of Greek mythology have gathered for one final assault on Mount Olympus. The Greek gods are prepared to defend their sacred ground. Who will prevail in this decisive battle of blood and Ichor?
Ichor is an asymmetric strategy game featuring a huge variety of one-time-use character powers. Check out the Predicted list of FAQs here to learn more.
Epic posts and publishing projects like these are only made possible through the support of our Kickstarter backers. Iliad and Ichor will launch on Kickstarter in late June — be sure to follow the Kickstarter page so you don’t miss out!
https://preview.redd.it/cssxtgnjw7zc1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=84b81d0cf60e777354140cc058a1b9de0cff6188
What are some of your favorite 2-player games? Share below!
Article written by Nick of Bitewing Games. Outside of practicing dentistry part-time, Nick has devoted his remaining work-time to collaborating with the world’s best designers, illustrators, and creators in producing classy board games that bite, including the critically acclaimed titles Trailblazers by Ryan Courtney and Zoo Vadis by Reiner Knizia. He hopes you’ll join Bitewing Games in their quest to create and share classy board games with a bite.
Disclaimer: When Bitewing Games finds a designer or artist or publisher that we like, we sometimes try to collaborate with these creators on our own publishing projects. We work with these folks because we like their work, and it is natural and predictable that we will continue to praise and enjoy their work. Any opinions shared are subject to biases including business relationships, personal acquaintances, gaming preferences, and more. That said, our intent is to help grow the hobby, share our gaming experiences, and find folks with similar tastes. Please take any and all of our opinions with a hearty grain of salt as you partake in this tabletop hobby feast.

Source: https://twitter.com/solana/status/1787628978515415303
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TOP STORY

Meet the Winners of Solana Renaissance

https://preview.redd.it/sseh61bx5yyc1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=8b110954e4ca364e3088d0d4f32c4cd59e5b1366
With 1071 submissions and 8300 participants from over 95 countries, Colosseum’s Solana Renaissance Hackathon was the biggest in Solana ecosystem history.
And now, the winners have been announced!
The Grand Champion is Ore, a digital currency that enables anyone to mine using a novel proof-of-work algorithm on the Solana blockchain.
You can browse winners from all tracks on the official Colosseum announcement and get familiar with the next generation of Solana products.
Colosseum cofounder Matty Taylor took to X with a message for Renaissance participants:
“You all should be proud for pushing crypto forward. For those that won, stay focused. This is just the beginning of your startup journey. For those that didn't win, don't be discouraged. Many top eco projects competed in multiple hackathons before finding the right product, with the right cofounders. Onwards!”
https://blog.colosseum.org/announcing-the-winners-of-the-solana-renaissance-hackathon

Gameshift x Google Cloud

https://preview.redd.it/o6j2lp1b6yyc1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=df3cda030ab19bed85cf97cdfe20d0c056500d0b
GameShift is coming to Google Cloud!
Solana Labs’ new partnership with Google Cloud will accelerate the integration of digital assets and user-generated content into web2 games.
Game developers of all sizes can now deploy GameShift with a few clicks on Google Cloud, seamlessly layering web3 into games without any blockchain coding.
“By bringing GameShift into Google Cloud’s ecosystem for living games, we're giving developers a streamlined path to build immersive blockchain experiences without wrestling with the underlying technology.” said Jack Buser, Director for Games at Google Cloud
https://twitter.com/GameShift_dev/status/1786020518564368544

The Bonkathon hackathon presented by RadiantsDAO is officially live!

You have until June 10 to build the next great BONK dApp and compete for $350k in prizes.
https://preview.redd.it/3k6n3mqf6yyc1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=17420c54d256209e6cf455f9a46ebbf409d9d250

Introducing Bonsol, verifiable compute for Solana

Learn more about verifiable onchain data via zero knowledge tech.
https://preview.redd.it/0skcpekh6yyc1.png?width=1200&format=png&auto=webp&s=bdfd185c85b063ace975b2603aa5bb88fe5b540d

Ecosystem Roundup

🔹 Anthia Labs launches Flare, a command line interface for Solana devs.
🔹 Phantom wallet surpasses 7 million active monthly users.
🔹 SuperteamDE is holding a 24-hour hackathon in Berlin on May 21.
🔹 Fluxbeam has rolled out v2 of its Token Creation tool with a token extensions integration.
🔹 Solflare has transacted 500k swaps via Metamask Snaps.
🔹 New analytics from Visa indicate stablecoin volume on Solana is the highest of any blockchain.
🔹 Crypto asset management platform Swissborg integrates Solana.
🔹 Jupiter acquires self-custody wallet Ultimate Wallet.
🔹 CivicKey integrates token extensions into Civic Pass.

Solana Gaming in Focus

🟠 Solforge Fusion, a Solana-based hybrid card game from creators of Magic The Gathering and The Ascension Deckbuilding Game, is live with early access on Steam now.
🟠 MON Protocol is bringing game and IP publishing to the Solana Games ecosystem.
🟠 Popular Solana-based horse racing game Photo Finish LIVE was an official partner of the Kentucky Derby.
🟠 Third-feline-shooter game Nyan Heroes announced Esports partnerships with G2, FNATC, and Evil Geniuses
🟠 Sanctum has launched Sanctum Wonderland, a playable loyalty program with collectible pets.
​
https://solana.com/solutions/gaming-and-entertainment

Media Roundup

🟣 Solana cofounder and Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko visits Lightspeed to chart out the Solana endgame.
🟣 On Validated, host Austin Federa chats with Rushi Manche of Movement Labs about Move and Solana.
🟣 On Raoul Pal’s The Journey Man podcast, Asymmetric CEO Joe McCann joins for a macro-perspective deep dive on Solana
🟣 The BlockCrunch podcast features Drift Protocol’s Cindy Leow and Chris Heaney discussing the state of DeFi on Solana.
🟣 Lightspeed hosts Mert Mumtaz and Garrett Harper analyze why Stripe chose to build with Solana
🟣 Colosseum cofounder Matty Taylor visited the Frictionless podcast to reveal the secret sauce for the Solana Renaissance hackathon.
🟣 Read Blockworks’ report covering DePIN on Solana.
​
If you want to keep updated about the growing Solana ecosytem, feel free to subscribe to Solana Newsletter: https://solana.com/newsletter
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Hey all, student getting into maya As part of a course and for personal projects. I've been trying to generate a quick rig step-by-step for a pre-made model, but in spite of the guides and model being symmetrical, the skeleton/rig keeps coming out asymmetrical. I've double checked everything i can think of but there might be something obvious i'm missing... Help?
Legs are off-centre.
Left arm downwards.
Entire left side is pulled back?
Skeleton/Rig settings.

They’re not just visiting aliens, a guy in a suit or an unfortunate individual accident.
They’re a different and invasive species that if left unchecked, will eventually wipe out the normal way of life. You do need to stretch a little but it’s certainly not impossible to make a distinction that’s good enough to were it doesn’t feel that stupid.

I have a circuit that generates a sequence of 1's and 0's.
The sequence will form a pattern of 1 and 0 that look something like this:
https://preview.redd.it/4as7vj1td9xc1.png?width=456&format=png&auto=webp&s=f5b5b1cf4df7df1d9426e21c7b922b18979f63c8
The pattern can be slowed down or sped up. It can also stop and change direction randomly. *EDITS\* -When the signal stops, it idles on either 1 or 0 depending on where it stopped. -The signal is asymmetrical
https://preview.redd.it/bv5uy60de9xc1.png?width=458&format=png&auto=webp&s=e8a0cb60ec9f3f86f267c4ceed454dfc0d092783
From the signal, I'd like to detect the direction of the pattern and increment a counter, determine whether it is forwards or backwards, the speed of the pattern, and possibly if there is any acceleration in the pattern. I have some basic signal processing background so I've read into autocorrelation as a possible solution. But I don't know if autocorrelation can pick out the signal when it is sped up/slowed down- only when the signal is the same length
Is this a signal processing job or something that can be solved by training a neural network? Can something like this be done using digital logic/FPGA/Microcontroller?

Hello ,
​
This post was ready and supposed to be up over two months ago, but due to the slow shipment of superbuy and waiting to do some fit tests, it was delayed for the actual review.
​

Introduction

​
A few months back i tried to gather many of the available models and some information for the bracket masks , diving deep into the East Asian mask markets.
Disclaimer: There's a high probability some names of the Asian models of the inner frames been written in a wrong way with the Google translation. There are dozens more that i haven't found. Many of the models are just OEMs , produced for other companies.
The post contains personal opinions that may find disagreements, but we're here for discussing, exchanging opinions and correcting whatever is wrong.
Credits to: u/Jiongtyx for mentioning the Zimi Air late in 2022, u/Covidcautioushuman for helping the community shopping with superbuy and mainly noms780 bringing it back to surface, providing extended details for every Zimi model.
Special thanks to Zhou Liang, the owner of ZiMi Air, that helped me to gather additional info a few weeks before posting this.
​
ZiMi Air ZM100 KN100
​

The original idea from Japan

Founded in 1907, Shigematsu is considered to be one of the major manufacturers in East Asia. Premium partner at the latest A+A world trade fair in 2023 in a major space , the company provides many unique designs. The Shigematsu DD11 DS2 was invented 20 years ago. This bracket mask has several versions and iterations, including N95 and KN95 models. The company offers good half and full face masks, fit test machines and an interesting respirator in a surgical shape, with a bracket called 'Fine Fit Plus'. The Shigematsu DS2 inner frame still recognized to be one of the best of it's type, with a low breathing resistance, good speech intelligibility and great comfort. The price and it's one size are usually the main drawbacks. This mask type contains a filter with a soft face seal and an inner silicone bracket. Usually, it is suitable for small-medium sized faces (equivalent size ~ ZiMi 7711).
​

Pros and Cons of the respirators with inner frames

Every mask shape has it's advantages and disadvantages . This shape with the inner bracket designed to eliminate lens fogging, mask imprints and most importantly to maximize the breathable space. That means, bigger filtering area and lower breathing resistance. The folding designs that include two side hooks on the mask can transform the straps from ear loop to headband and can be adjustable to the proper tightness. The fit, even on the ears, is generally better than other common ear loop respirators used by the public. Therefore, it's usually a significant and comfortable upgrade at the same time. Another benefit is sustainability, as the frame can be reused, the filter life is bigger than 8 hours (14hours officially stated for the Shigematsu) and the cost minimized usually to filter cartridges (ZiMi). Zimi Air newest versions and a few other companies offer the brackets in a hard bendable plastic, while other brands produce transparent silicone. Last but not least, this type of respirator is meant to serve well small heads and fill in the gaps for Asian or kids' faces. The exception again is ZiMi Air, which offers large sizes as well. Sooner or later it will be redesigned for the western communities.
To sum up:
​
Pros
● Reduced heat and moisture build-up on glasses or protective eyewear
● Foldable with form resilience
● Structure for air flow and chamber space
● Soft touch, stretchy to a face
● Enhance air tightness around the face
● Sweat adsorption and release
● Easy to realize a successful or failed seal check.
● Easy breathing through the nose, as there's no nose wire closing the nasal passages
● Major upgrade compared to the typical mainstream earloop disposables
● Long lasting filter life
● Suitable for MRI
​
Cons
● Price, with only a few exceptions, is usually on the higher side compared to other protective mask shapes.
● While this mask shape ticks all the important boxes (fit, filtration efficiency, breathability), the aesthetics may not be ideal for some face types.
● Most brands are targeted to the East Asian market, therefore it's not an easy task to purchase overseas most of the models through superbuy.
Note: Last months those issues were solved and soon the masks will be sold through well known e-commerce, with international shipping and reasonable timeframes, such as The Face Mask Store and PPEO. The company announced that they will also open an AliExpress shop.
● Similar to quarter elastomerics, bracket masks 'sit' over the chin and below the mouth and some may find this disturbing or uncomfortable. Inner frames are made of hard plastic or silicone. For some faces the pressure on the upper and bottom edge may be unbearable, depending the brand, size and model. Especially, if it doesn't fit.
● The specific shape is designed to fulfill Asian faces in general or S-M sizes, with the exception of ZiMi Air and few other brands which offer several sizes. Even large bracket masks may not offer yet a solution for some high nose bridges and L-XL faces, but these gaps will be solved in the near future, since the company evolves and introduces new updated products.
​

The ZiMi Air respirators from Shanghai

​
About the company
Shanghai ZiMi Air Purification Technology Co., Ltd., located in the Shanghai Jiao Tong Innovation Park in Sijing Town developed and produced several bracket masks and considered to be the largest manufacturer of inner frames in China.
The platforms for online sales of these types of inner frames are mainly JD.com's system (including JD.com's self-operated, JD.com supermarket and JD.com industrial product channels), taobao and 1688.
In 2017, Zhou Liang, general manager of Shanghai ZiMi Air decided to extend his market reach to "bracket masks" and began to develop the first generation of them. The brand name back then was 'Duoling Air'. In recent years, he started a new business, optimizing and upgrading the second-generation of this folded mask type .
Until 2021, the company has applied for 2 invention patents, for 15 utility model patents and has obtained 7 certificates(applied for 11 appearance patents, and has obtained 11 certificates).
As of today, these numbers have been increased with new generations of Zimi Air masks popping up. That means, 20 invention patents & utility patents that have been infringed, with 5-10 more are being applied for, making them the biggest company of inner frames in China.
The OEM revenue accounted for 95% before 2022 and 23% in 2023. The percentage will further drop, as the company will mainly focus on their brand.
ZiMi Air Headquarters
Why Zimi Air?
While many foldable respirators with inner frames exist in East Asia and around the world, ZiMi Air was picked due the continuous progress of the company making new models, updating the old ones, offering different sizes/grades and adaptability between them, with different filter cartridges. This year, new versions (03) will be available in some models, making them one of the biggest and best company of inner frames. ZiMi Air is only focused and expertised in bracket masks throughout the years, producing the best possible options, combining high filtration efficiency, low breathing resistance and a good seal. Last but not least, the obvious reason was the cheap price and reasonable shipping fees. The Korean, Japanese and European offers may have a potential with interesting models, but the total price was way off to pounce on them. Not to mention, once again, i never got a reply from all of these companies (S.Korea & Japan), trying to source some models and general info. Unfortunately, most of the mask manufacturers are shutting down their businesses or limiting their production and they're very hard to reach.
Purchase links with superbuy are available on this post and from other stores as well, but you can also find them in the wiki. Kindly, have in mind for superbuy:

1. The difficulty processing for first-time buyers.
   
2. The estimated delivery for the cheapest shipping options are slow (20-60 days depending the region). Especially, when choosing the low cost superbuy shipping method for Europe, be prepared for long delays (better estimates for the US). Best options for Europe are usually those that go through Netherlands, but shipping options may be different for different countries. It's better to pick pre-paid custom duties shipping services, but that doesn't guarantee that you won't pay anything extra in customs, unfortunately. At the moment, the best estimates and total prices for Europe come from ppeo, but for single units the only option is superbuy. Soon, the Face Mask Store will list them as well and also an AliExpress ZiMi Air shop will pop up in the future.
   
3. From time to time, some listings are getting out of stock and there is a potential for the Zimi Air products to discontinue models other than M, which according to the company are not that popular. For now, the company is going the opposite direction and will release more sizes.
   

​
Purchase through Superbuy or other well-known stores
Until stores that ship internationally (ppeo , the Face Mask Store, AliExpress) starting to sell all of the Zimi models, the only option will generally be superbuy. It's also ideal for purchasing single units. Then, the buyer can purchase filter cartridges from the other stores as well. In the near future, depending the region you live, either one of the 4 options may be cheaper than others.
In the case of superbuy, several excellent domestic Chinese respirators cannot be shipped outside mainland China. The only way is to sign up at www.superbuy.com, to enter all the details and paste the link of the mask for purchase. First, the buyer pays for the product and the domestic shipping. The order is shipped to the Chinese warehouse of superbuy. Then, the products are unpacked , photographed and the buyer is informed that the items have been stored to the warehouse. There's also a section with a dozen of coupons . There are various shipping methods to choose from and after picking the desired service, there's an option to pay the fees. After the payment of the shipping costs , the package is sent to the recipient. This way will help mask enthusiasts overseas to purchase special Chinese respirators and not only bracket masks.
​
Models and Sizing
Below are the detailed framing dimensions and the models of each size provided by the company. Detailed dimensions contributed by noms780. More info has provide noms780 here.
The general recommendation in adult sizing is:
- Chin to nose bridge distance 136-150mm: Large size recommended - Chin to nose bridge distance 106-135mm: Medium size recommended
- Chin to nose bridge distance 80-105mm: Small size recommended
ZiMi Air sizing (click to expand)
​
Note: Once or twice a year, ZiMi Air produces new sizes, models or cartridges. Therefore this list may change in the future. Also, you have to log-in to superbuy to see the products listed below.
The same sizing details as below are listed on the wiki with superbuy links under the Chinese suppliers, since some models are not visible on the official taobao Zimi store.
​
Hands-On
Since i didn't know my sizing, i purchased singles from the ZM9233 (M), ZM100 (L) and black cartridges with valves (x10) from the ZM9541F (M) and ZM8210F (L). The good thing is that different models of the same size fit with the frames of different grades.
The whole product, from the packaging to every little detail, is niche. First thing to notice, there's no typical bad plastic smell, unlikely other masks made in Asia and other parts of the world.
Despite there is a variation in pressure drop among different models, the difference between KN95 and KN100 grades of the models 9541(02) and 9233(02) are not way big. On the other hand, the higher breathing resistance had the ZM100 KN100 (01) , which also had the highest fit factors for my face, but i think there's also a 02 version(it may be more breathable). ZiMi 9233 KN100 version 02 is more breathable compared to 01.
Even though i liked more the 9233 for it's comfort and aesthetics, fit scores were not as good as ZM100, but i did pass the fit test several times. I believe these type of models are for high risk scenarios,for a couple of hours use each time. If you have a large face & wide (like me), in common respirator shapes, the breathable mask area is actual smaller than the whole filter. Going to inner frames, there is a significant difference in terms of fit and comfort. This is finally a well fitted tight respirator that allows you to breathe through your nose.
ZiMi Air 8210F V KN95 on ZM100 frame
Nose foams are installed only in the KN100 versions. Masks and filter cartridges, all have pre-installed strap adjusters, but the default tension may change in the near future, as the company is aware that needs to be revised. In any way, the adjusters are installed, so they're part of the respirator. Therefore, there's no excuse for the wearer not fitting the mask properly, as there's no excuse not forming the nose wire on other masks. Especially these type of products, where the donning procedure is easier than many other disposables.
​
To sum-up, here are the main characteristics of ZiMi Air compared to other companies that produce inner frames:
​
Pros
- Different sizes with new and updated models each year.
- Lower pressure drop compared to the competitors.
- Price. Japanese, Korean and European models are usually way more expensive and usually not better in performance.
- One of the few brands of this type that offer high performance respirators (KN100) .
- The different colors and the flexibility of cartridges, either black or other colors from Akkair.
​
Cons
- Price is higher than other mainstream protective KN95/KN100 respirators.
- Other brands offer mechanism that converts headstraps to earloops, but ZiMi has changed that producing the cartridges with ultrasonic welding, so the buyer has to buy two masks (earloop & headband) instead of one.
ZiMi Air 8210F V KN95 and ZM100 frame
​
Fit test results
I performed several quantitative fit tests with a portacount. I tested the medium ZiMi 9233 KN100 (02), the large ZiMi ZM100 KN100 (01), the black filter element 9541F KN95 (02) with valve (headbands) on the 9233 bracket and the black filter element 8210F KN95 with valve on the ZM100 bracket. The model that fits me best is the ZM100 (L). For medium models, i can feel that the fit is not as good as L, even though the tests are not that bad.
Side Note: When breathing through my mouth (deep breathing) and even worse, when talking, i exhale too many particles that inflate my overall scores. This is a pattern with every good mask that i've tried, going from a few hundreds to double digits, esp when talking. For example, Draeger 1920 from 400+ff on average and 40 when talking. I repeated the tests doing silent jaw movement exercises and scores were way better, but i decided to post the exact OSHA protocol with talking for the two KN100s. Scores without talking loud were much higher for the ZM100 and other masks in general, but below are listed the worst tests. For the black KN95 models, i did silent jaw movements, because loud talking messed up everything. Therefore, not only every face fit is unique, but in this particular matter, scores are on the lower side for me when my mouth opened. Your scores may be totally different.
​
Here are the results for the ZiMi Air models:
- ZiMi 9233 KN100, ZM100 KN100, black 9541F KN95 (V) headbands installed on the inner frame of 9233, black 8210F KN95 (V) headbands installed on the inner frame of ZM100.

Exercise / Μodel	9233 (02) KN100 (M)	ZM100 KN100 01 (L)	8210F V KN95 (L)	9541F V KN95 (M)
Normal Breathing	362	2596	98	89
Deep breathing	252	555	87	37
Head Side to Side	337	1547	39	75
Head Up and Down	297	1118	139	55
Talking	65	513	57	58
Grimace Excl.	-	-	-	-
Bending over	352	691	82	40
Normal breathing	269	1498	46	49
Overall ff	201	899	66	53

For every single model, the N99 mode is used, which measures particles that get both from the filter and around the mask. Ambient counts from 1500 to 3000 (different days).
​

The Chinese market

China has a big variation of brands and models with either unique models or OEMs from other companies. All the potential/suspected rebranded ZiMi models will be mentioned on the descriptions. This list is just a fraction of the total bracket masks, including many discontinued models, since ZiMi had OEMs for more than 20 companies. Unfortunately, with the exception of them, most brands of inner frames in China and other Asian countries have stopped/reduced production and closed factories, as a consequence of the minimum mask demand worldwide.
Here is the CN catalogue that includes the rest of bracket mask family (chances are that many more exist, but either haven't found them or closed their businesses):
​
Chaomei (CM) 6007V KN95
Big company with several KN95 / ffp products and many variations. The specific model comes in denim blue or white, with the older GB2626-2006 standard. Discontinued models 4 years now.
Gangkai MG09 KN95
Another reputable company with N95, ffp , P2, DS2 and KN95 (Giko) respirators. They have developed and produced their own bracket .Their mask comes in light blue color.
Siwo Pro7 and medical D920 KN95 respirators
Siwo is very likely the only company that offers the bracket respirators with an external nose wire on their medical, light blue models. The masks contain convertible ear loops to headstraps mechanism and the frame is made by Gangkai. Two models exist, the Pro7 and the medical D920 KN95. Even if Siwo and Gangkai look somehow identical, the filter material of the latter has better filtration efficiency. Children sizes are available for both versions, but tend to fit larger kid sizes.
Ye Dun KN95
This was likely the closest attempt to mimic the Shigematsu prototype idea. Ye Dun is a company that makes plastic molds, therefore the price is cheap, but the filter has high breathing resistance. It failed miserably according to the Chinese feedback i found in some blogs, for it's cheap filter material and the leaky valve. Still, there are people who like the unvalved versions though. The mask offers the hook mod, transforming ear loops to headbands, a cool Japanese-like individual packaging, versions with and without valve and iterations with activated carbon filter. It's probably the cheapest of the whole catalogue, priced at 1.1 yuan during sales.
352 AS 9520/9521 KN95
A Chinese Air Purifier company with very slick machines sold an inner frame model, which will appear in a few more below. It came in white and black. Very cool packaging, but hard to find inside China, as it was discontinued 4 years ago. Similar size to ZiMi 7711 (adult small) like many other models, which corresponds to adult small.Life is playing tricks though and found it in my country out of nowhere with ffp3 certification.
Li Yan KN95
The moment you realize that your search went too far, finding a Chinese taobao store named 'North Korea and United States supplier' ... This looks similar to the 352 AS9520 bracket mask, using a different valve and the older GB2626-2006 standard.
Bestex KN95 with AC filter
Another interesting bracket produced by Ningbo. It offers convertible straps and an AC filter in it. The company also offers surgical face masks and NIOSH respirators and they have produced this inner frame, which is discontinued.
Boluo BL08 KN95
The BL08, that looks similar to the previous Shigematsu version, finds much appreciation on the JD platform. Made in Jiangsu, it's an OEM product that has been discontinued. It features the hook style transformation from earloop to headstraps.
Motlun Electric Blower KN95 respirator
Motlun is another Chinese respirator offering an electronic valve with the mask, but was discontinued 6 years back.
Sumfound F01V KN95
A company that specializes in positive pressure accessories for respirators, offers a bracket mask with valve , several cartridges and other accessories for it's product and for Lifa Air LM99 models. Likely to be manufactured by Ye Dun.
Breazwell Songyan D60 & D65 KN95
Another Chinese brand of inner frames. These OEM models include also an AC filter and adjustable/convertible headstraps.
Akkair KN95 filter cartridges
Akkair is an OEM of ZiMi Air company offering filter cartridges in different colors and patterns. They provide color options for the children brackets and also for the models 7711(S) / 9541(M) / 8210 (L).
Zhende N9501B KN95
A famous Chinese company offers the Zimi Air design. The brand is providing also a children's mask.
Marcio KN95
Marcio, which was generally known for it's cup shape respirators, is using the Zimi 9541 design and the KP95 series in white and black color. Taking it even further, the company is offering the masks with outsourced cool electronic valves.
Zhongtai 9500 KP95 series
A Chinese 007 agent with a tuxedo and a papillion printed on the box? That's some serious marketing for a Zimi Air KP95 iteration with an AC filter.
Yi Ming - One Life Technology
Another Air Purifier company that also sells 3rd party nasal sprays, Fengrui air quality control gadgets(G1) and OEM ZiMi Air masks. If some ZiMi models are out of stock , here's the place to look after for models. Unfortunately, the grey sealing air tight fabric of the KN95 versions has been replaced to a light blue, similar to ZiMi.
Domeair Cooling N95/N95V KN95 respirators
Again, a Zimi Air OEM respirator.
Nuokang KN95 respirators
Company with 18 years of experience in manufacturing masks. Here's an additional Zimi Air series that includes a light blue version for kids.
Duoling Air KN95 and KN100 respirators
This was the first name of Zimi Air back in the day, until 2020 with the models 9550/9540. It carried hooks on the sides that converted the mask from headstrap to earloop.
https://preview.redd.it/d5nnj388hhwc1.jpg?width=3128&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=74cb70043909b5e5f4c7a68b7fa0bcfe3c1e504c

The Japanese market

Domestic mask market is very straight forward with minimal and good options.
​
Shigematsu DD11 DS2
The current generation of the DD11 offers four versions, two with headbands and two ear hooks. Two of them carry valves. Packaging varies for different regions, standards and quantities. In terms of sizing, it's similar to the ZiMi 7711,which corresponds to adult small. (available on Amazon Japan)
Shigematsu 'Fine Fit Plus'
The most interesting design, adapting the surgical shape, adding an inner frame and ear hooks. The 'FFP' comes in two sizes, the adult version(orange packaging) and the small/female alternative(green version). Ideal mask for the general public, upgrading from the flimsy surgical disposables, but not on par with KN95/N95/DS2/ffp2 bracket masks
Trusco DD11-S2
Another reputable Japanese company that uses the OEM design from Shigematsu.
Kanjekanle reusable mask
This Japanese proposal features a liquid silicone frame, medical PP and PE hot melt point isolation layer, cotton insulation cloth coating, a medical breathing valve and medical PE ear hooks. Available in kids mask as well and three different colors.
The Japanese offers

The S.Korean market

South Korea has it's own respirators with inner frames. The shape here is 'fat'. The patent belongs to Evergreen Cleantop, seen also in many other familiar companies to the US buyers, carrying different variations. The models follow the KCs Korean industrial standard (KOSHA), but a few KF94 versions are provided as well.
Most of the bracket masks here offer convertible ear loops to headstraps and can be purchased through Gmarket. Kindly note, the Korean offers have a higher pressure drop than the ZiMi and Shigematsu equivelant options.
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Evergreen Cleantop C600, C700 and C800 KCs / KF94 / KF99 series
Cleantop is the No.1 mask maker in S.Korea that owns the patent of bracket masks and offer respirators in different standards (N95,N99, ffp1, ffp2,ffp, DS2). Several grades, versions with valves and models with activated carbon filters offered in boxes of 10 for the bracket masks.
Dobu N95 / KCs / KF94 500 series
Dobu is another reputable Korean manufacturer that produces inner frames for it's 500 series. It's model on their official website indicates the suitable size.
Geonyoung Cleantech Kanuto KCs
Cleantech should be familiar to buyers from US, for it's KF94 trifolds. Unfortunately, Korean KCs bracket masks didn't find the appreciation they deserved, compared to the less tight fitting earloop KF94s.
Fine Tech KCs series
Another - 'familiar' to the KF94 fans - brand offering bracket masks in several iterations under the KCs standard.
AER(x-DuPont) KA/KX and Q Pro KCs series
Aer is a vehicle filter and mask manufacturer. Their top model is considered to be the KA-130V KCs, which is a dustproof respirator(KCs) and one of the best Korean inner frame. Another interesting bifold comes from the Q Pro line, in different colors and a silicon inner frame.
Respirator Technique (RST) DPF series
Korean safety company that offers the DPF 500 and DPF 700 KCs series. Variations include with valves, small sizes, AC filters and customizable models in different colors/sizes.
Dreamz KCs series
Customized RST respirators in different colors and sizes.
GLS KCs series
Probably the most ugly inner frame due to the placement of the valve. It comes in different grades.
Youngseung YS701A KCs
A respond to the pandemic in 2020 produced this level 1(P2) KCs model. The YS701AC includes an AC filter.
Vavant KCs
Never thought to see a quilted, padded-like material in a respirator, but here we are. Several grades available for this Korean brand.
S.Korean inner frames
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The European offers

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Lifa LM99 and LM95 adults and kids series
Lifa is Finnish Air Purifier company that made several mask brackets for adults and kids, apart from their trifold and bifold ffp respirators in color. Lifa Air is not a pure European company. It is invested and controlled by China's Edifier (speakers). The company buys it's own equipment and produces it by itself . The disadvantage is that the mask is asymmetrical on the left and right, but the performance is ok. Their prices range high, similar to the Shigematsu. Most interesting model is the black LM99D, but they're not praised enough inside China. Sizing is similar to the ZiMi 7711, which corresponds to adult small.
IQ Air ffp2
Swiss company that offers a similar size to ZiMi 7711 bracket mask, which is an adult small. Made in Germany, but the materials and the inner frame are imported from China.
European inner frames
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Other innovative designs with or without the support of an inner / outer frame

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- 'Cup' shapes
The convertible ear loop to headstrap mechanism is also found on several other Asian respirators without inner frames. These masks have the usual inner cell material to keep their cup style in shape without collapsing, with the disadvantage of the added breathing resistance. Here are some interesting examples (more brands and models exist):
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3M 8955J DS2 / 8955K - 8955KA KCs (Japan - S.Korea)
Available in the Japanese and Korean market, the 3M unique design offers convertible ear loop straps. The newest version (8955KA) includes for the first time an inner frame.
Anyguard VC KCs series (S.Korea)
Another well known KF94 brand offering here some serious protection with their VC cup style/foldable models. Produced in Vietnam.
Luna Safety KCs (S.Korea)
An outer frame with an inner filter? This is the Korean proposal that comes in a box of 10 filter with one protective frame.
Moldex (US) , Delta Plus Spidermask (France) , Alpha Solway AMF & Alpha Flow series (Scotland), Era(TR)-JSP(UK)-MFA (TR) -Würth (DE) Flexinet series
Outer frames are common in many regions across the globe. Most brands are offering one piece disposables, some others, like Delta Plus, sell separate the filters and the bracket.
Denpro (N.Ireland)
Denpro is a manufacturer listed onto the NHS Framework Agreement for PPE.As a division of Denroy, one of the world’s leading innovators of high-tech, critical components for the aerospace, medical, defense and automotive industries.
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- Trifolds
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JSP Springfit (UK)
The trifold series from JSP feature a unique endoskeleton structure.
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Respirators with the support of inneouter frame (apart from 3M/Anyguard)
- Duckbills
3M's R&D team had much more inspiration the previous decade.3M Aura Gen2,3M Vflex,3M Aura 9400 premium series,3M 9500KN series,3M Aura Gen3,3M 8862/9062 etc. I can't remember any innovative product in 3M disposable respirators from 2020 until today. The KF94 bifold maybe? That's it.
Here's another unique offer from 3M that took place in Japan the previous decade. The VFlex with a full functional filter area for the wearer:
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3M VFlex 8933 DS2 - discontinued model (Japan)
The 3M respirator with the lowest possible pressure drop (19Pa). The wearer here takes advantage of the whole filter area, making it a pleasant experience. Bonus for the wide adjustable braided straps.
3M 8933 DS2 & flyer (discontinued model)
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- Asian innovative Quarter & half elastomerics
East Asian countries provide some futuristic silicone elastomerics. Models are mentioned for their actual design and not for their unknown functionality.
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Yuan Sentai quarter elastomeric (China)
A discreet design, carrying a pleated filter and offering different colors and sizes. Cheap price at ~8$ for the mask and one filter. A more expensive model from the same company includes electric air supply in several colors. The company should make an upgraded version with bettewider straps though.
Kanshouzhe quarter elastomeric (China)
A dirty cheap fashionable quarter elastomeric in different colors with KN95/KP100 filters. Kids' versions available.
Daierta Silicone outer frame with goggles and filter
This is another great idea for great seal and replaceable filters , with additional eye protection.
Kang Le inner & outer frame with replaceable filters
A rather strange design with two frames and a filter in the middle.
Intelligent electric air purifiers (China)
Many companies provide quarter elastomerics-electric air purifiers in several colors.
Asian Quarter Elastomerics and Intelligent Air Purifiers
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The misinterpretation of the standards

Most of the N95 production is made in China and East Asia in general. Even some companies, with domestic manufacturing in the US and Europe, imported parts and meltblown from East Asia. Same story for Australia, where the majority of P2 respirators are Chinese OEM models.
The big multinational companies, such as 3M and Honeywell, offer the same disposable and half/full face mask models in different parts of the world, with different certifications, owning a very high stake on Chinese sales. The CN companies that produce N95/P2/ffp2 respirators usually sell the same/similar models domestically, under the GB2626-2019 standard or some of them have printed on the masks two or three different certifications. Therefore, there's a big confusion stating that respirators certified as N95/P2/ffp/KF94 are good, KN95s are bad, when the actual meaning is exported ear loop bifolds from 2020 sent outside China.
48 different brands of cup shapes under the GB2626-2019 standard (KN95,KP95,KN100)
This misleading argument followed the Korean standard the recent years, for the fact that most of the certified KF94 respirators are using ear loops. South Korea offers the healthcare 'KF' standard, approved by the Korean MFDS, usually called as 'disease prevention for the general public'. On the other hand, the industrial 'KCs' or KOSHA certification (Korean 1st class KMOEL - 2017-64) is the main standard of personal protective equipment. The KCs mostly includes tight fitting headband respirators and offers three levels of protection in a weird order: level 2 (P1), level 1(P2) and express (P3). The majority of the bracket masks in S.Korea follow the KCs standard, among cup shape and generally 3M ppe. Some of the bracket masks follow the KF94 and the N95 standard.
S.Korean cup shapes under the KCs(KOSHA) standard
When it comes to picking the right protection, the selection ideally should include a mask that fits, in a domestic certification for the buyer. As good as it is the N95/NIOSH certification, with it's strict regulations, the lack of a good standard for the general public and children is missing. The fact that all NIOSH respirators should include headstraps for adult sized faces is not a viable option and will lead again to future shortages and bad imports. The presence of ear loop US made & US certified respirators is something that needs to fill in the gap, so that the North America market won't depend on non-legitimate imports. Canada already owns the CSA standard and China has a mask standard for children since 2020. It's time for other countries to provide new standards for the general public, which may not tolerate headstrap respirators.
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'Unless it's an ffp3...'
The most common misinformation written in the social media among Europeans is that the ffp3 grade is THE appropriate mask for Covid rather than the ffp2. Under the EN149 standard, the acceptable total inward leakage for the ffp3s is from 2% up to 5%. This allows mask manufacturers to make ffp3 respirators with ear loops and ear hooks. A quick search in several selling platforms will show that the most sold ffp3s are usually earloop bifolds across Europe. Not a coincidence that there are more good ffp2 masks than ffp3s.
Still, from time to time, recalled batches are announced for ffp respirators in Europe (small percentage of the production), even for ffp3 models. For that reason, the search should include reputable companies and specific models.
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Better decisions for the general public in the future

Here are some ideas with products for the general public, since it's not a realistic solution to manufacture billions of 3M Auras and train different populations (science fiction scenario).
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Frames for improving the seal of masks
Inner brackets would be a good idea to be part of every available mask type for the general public, from surgical masks to the highest grade respirator.
Here are some cool accessories that can improve the fit of several masks:
● The simple inner bracket for surgical masks.
● Pudun Spectrum Shield: The advanced bracket that's transforming disposables to inner frames. A sustainable solution, making a better fit from cheap bifold masks. The advantage here is the additional breathable space and aesthetics. However, some large masks should be folded properly to fit in. It's an accessory that needs updated versions, to solve fitting problems for the general public.
● Many cheap alternative to 'Fix the Mask' exist in the East Asian Market, but not as good as the US version.
https://preview.redd.it/dclie1509gwc1.jpg?width=2092&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2629e23c23aceea93248f942a7244b9696ff3525

Improvements and ideas for disposable products

Here are some ideas for future designs in disposable respirators
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Fit, comfort, aesthetics and breathability in combination with easier donning with new respirators
It's not an easy task to place a trifold respirator with headbands. The 3M Aura is almost an ancient relic, a design from 2011 that fits many different adult faces, but the general public will have a hard time donning it. Same with the Draeger 1900 series. Things got a little better with the Gen3 and the pulling tabs. The only trifold respirator with the fastest donning time is the Norwegian Uniqon, but it was mainly supplied to professionals. The solution is to see new trifold designs from big companies which have the know-how on this area.
Still, inner frames and cup shapes, especially with one continuous strap, have the advantage. The ideal scenario is to invent a mask with the easiest donning in combination with a low pressure drop, long lasting comfort and different sizes.
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Disposables with inner sealing
Cup shapes with an inner gaskets, such as Makrite Envi or 9800 series (or Soft Seal N95) and bifolds with a peripheral PU/silicone foam (Shining Time ffp3, Aer Q Pro) may have better chance of a proper fit .
Inner Elastomeric - Outer replaceable filter. Mu Sheng Tank KN100
Known for it's cup shapes, MST offers a KN100 respirator with an inner elastomeric and an outer replaceable filter under the GB2626-2019 standard.
Three Star Co.,ltd Korean elastomeric
Better looking elastomerics than the 'overkill' options should also be on the list. A - somehow - discreet Korean offer in black and white is showing the way.
Big nose foams should be used in respirators
Fujian Angel Non Woven Fabric Tech Co. Ltd and Ningbo Ciheng Import and Export CO.,ltd provide wholesales for 'Aura-style'. Every company producing new respirators should consider using them or sell them as accessories for modifications. Many masks would benefit of these large foams.
https://preview.redd.it/bcmsd7fx9gwc1.jpg?width=6097&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b08b983d0645cb40bb90f1776edc379c5b8f7009

Epilogue

Inner frames are the type of respirators designed to fulfill exceptional comfort and fit, especially for S & M faces, in brands other than ZiMi Air. The latter, with it's continuous progress, has become the biggest brand of this mask type that offers a large variety of models and sizes among many reputable companies, since they're focused and expertise only in one type of model. Bigger companies, with many different departments and type of products, usually don't evolve enough in inner frames, especially now that many factories closed many mask facilities and struggling to stay alive, unfortunately. As Zhou Liang quotes: 'if you try to do everything, you will do nothing well' and that's why ZiMi Air are leading the industry in one type of respirator.
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Thank you for reading my exhaustive posts :) .
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