What if Ultimate Cliffhanger?

[darthvaderlim]

What if Ultimate Cliffhanger was kept in Sasuke 28 to 31? Of the competitors who reached Stage Three from 28 to 31, who do you think would have cleared?

Yuuji-Clear

Kanno-He might fail, but with training, he might clear since this was before his constant injuries

Asa-Hard to say, but I doubt he might clear, especially the fifth ledge

Kenji-Fail at fifth ledge or slightly earlier

Yusuke-Clear, he has an insane amount of upper body strength

Shunsuke-Fail

Lee-Fail, since he failed it in 25 and 26, fifth ledge at best

Hioki-Fail

Ragivaru-Fail

Shinya-Clear, given his strength

Ryo-Clear

Drew-Fail on first attempt, but maybe also a clear on later attempts

Tomohiro-Hard to say, maybe, but he isn't quite consistent

[edaan]

Yuuji- Clear
Kanno- Fail on his first 2 tries, clear on the other 2
Asa- Fail on his first 3, clear on his fourth
Yusuke- Clear on both
Takahashi- Fail on both
Hioki- Fail on both
Kawaguchi- Clear on both
Shinya- Clear
Shunsuke- Fail
Ryo- Clear
Lee- Clear (Barely)
D***- Fail in 30, Clear in 31
Anastase- Fail

[dakohosu]

Depends on how difficult the first half of Stage 3 is, which I presume will be fairly significantly buffed compared to 27 given that we literally had the fricking Arm Bike and a massively nerfed Flying Bar before the UCH, which obviously facilitated progress on the obstacle in 27 as competitors were less fatigued. Assuming they reverted back to 25's much more difficult and grip draining first half (Roulette Cylinder + Doorknob Grasper + Floating Boards), which they should've done given that that was the initial Stage 3 difficulty they wanted to have prior to the nerf to get a Kanzen, I'd go with the following:

Yuuji - Clear
Kanno - Fail in 28 and 29, as he did fail it in USA vs Japan which had the same first half and was aired after 29, either clear or fail at the end in 30, clear in 31.
Asa - definitely fail early in 28 as he failed before the Crazy transition in the actual 28, is probably failing in 29-30, getting better each time, and clearing in 31.
Yusuke - clear both times
Kong - fail in 29, maybe clear in 31, dude was an upper body monster
Hioki - fail both times, towards the end of the obstacle in 31, mid-way in 30
Kawaguchi - fail in 30, clear in 31
Shinya - clear, literally had one in his back yar
Shunsuke - fail, just doesn't have the grip strength or build for the obstacle
Ryo - clear, he beat the obstacle multiple times in USA vs World
Lee - probable clear given he came reasonably close in 26 which was 3.5 years before 30
Drew - fail in 30, clear in 31
Anastase - early fail, probably second transition

The reason I went with clear for a lot of the second attempts is because the UCH is mainly endurance, which can much more easily be out-trained than practicing for an incredibly specific do or die move like the 180 transitions, which can easily screw you in competition with the wrong hand placement, nerves, fatigue from earlier obstacles etc. It's much harder to imagine someone failing the UCH 5+ times without ever clearing it, unless they were losing general stamina due to ageing or injury, unlike the Crazy where we have the Hiokis and Satos of this world who can easily clear in practice but just choke in competition due to the specificity of the move.