The SpinShare SpeenLeague is underway! The SpeenLeague brings together top players from all around the world, both familiar faces from the top 8 of the SpinShare SpeenOpen and newer faces from within the community. With the playoffs ready to kick off, the SpeenLeague’s top players have their eyes on the prize.

Enter TreXDer, one of Spin Rhythm’s longest-running top competitors. TreXDer is one of only two players to have a top 8 appearance in every SpeenOpen (the other being NickAzn). In addition, TreXDer was a finalist of two of those SpeenOpens, including the most recent, where he finished 2nd.

I talked with TreXDer about his storied competitive history and his playoff prospects.

rewardadrawer: Tell us a little about yourself.

TreXDer: Well… Hello! My name is TreXDer and I am one of the weird CTM-Players. I have playing this game for over a year now and I still love it. I am 18 years old, live in Germany, and I still attend school.

You are one of the only players in the league who uses Click-to-Move (CTM) with a keyboard. How does this differentiate your play from the other members of the SpeenLeague?

So, I use my space bar for beats and do everything else on my mouse, basically. The main difference to other play styles is, that the wheel only moves when I am pressing M1. This makes it very special, but also a bit harder. It’s a unique way to play the game. I only know very few people who play this game like me, but I just stuck to this playstyle, because after the release of SRXD early access I did not even know there was a different way to play the game. I tried to change to freewheel, but honestly, I am just glad I didn’t. It’s way more fun for me like this.

There has been an emergence of turntables among hardcore players. How do you compare this emerging turntable scene to your CTM play?

I just want to play on a turntable as well. I always thought about it, but the main question I am asking myself is: Is it worth it? And the answer is yes for me now. The advantage I have is, that Turntable and CTM are actually not that different, so I shouldn’t have too many problems getting used to it. Someday I am definitely going to have one as well since I am not going to quit this game soon.

You are one of the longest-running high-level players in the game, since before customs even. How has it been to see the growth of the game?

Actually, it’s very interesting to see. New players came and left, but some stood and I am happy to see this game slowly growing. All the updates, all the people, all the events… This game is so different from what it was one year ago. I like 99% of the updates the devs released, and I feel like everyone has a voice. You have an idea? Suggest it to a dev! Everyone can change the game and make it even better. This is the only game where I am an active community member, and I definitely don’t regret it. In a few days, customs have their 1st anniversary, and it’s wild if you think about what happened in only one year. Everyone in this community should be proud of themselves!

Is there anything about the early days of Spin Rhythm XD that you miss?

Not really, but what I miss are the first days and weeks. I still remember myself grinding EX on Believe and making progress. Because of the small amount of people it was easier to get a good position, and this motivated me to keep playing. Seeing your name on the leader board was a special experience for me. And all the old names: LizardDude, jongizombie, MKNerd, Xehilox, …

In a few days, customs have their 1st anniversary, and it’s wild if you think about what happened in only one year. Everyone in this community should be proud of themselves!

Trexder

When XD first came out, I began to grind every single hour I could. This was probably the first peak I had. Right now we have tournaments, active charters, a great community, hard-working devs, and Stride. So is there anything else you could ask for? Every update that gets released gives me new motivation, so I hope the devs are not going to stop soon! But I am confident they don’t have this planned 🙂

The SpeenLeague marks a shift in competitive tone: going forward, the difficulty floor and ceiling of charts is raising drastically. How do you think difficulty 50s and 60s charts in playoffs will affect the competitive landscape?

It will definitely change some things. I think everyone competing in the SSSL has a difficulty range, where they play best. For me, this is probably about diff. 40-55 so I am happy to play those charts even though I haven’t practiced at all until this point. I think some other players felt really confident with the 30s, but probably have some tough time now on the harder charts. But well, it’s about fun at the end and I am ready to try my best on Saturday!

You were considered a tournament favorite going into the League, and favorite to win the group after Mapy’s departure; however, kaddalaug managed to take top spot after sweeping the second round robin. Are you looking forward to a rematch with him in the finals?

Kadd is on fire and disabled earlys and lates in the options for the round robin 1 and 2 map pool. Kadd deserved every win, so seeing him on first now is deserved. I am interested to see his future matches, and if I have to play against him again: I am ready.

Kadd is on fire and disabled earlys and lates in the options for the round robin 1 and 2 map pool.

Trexder, on kaddalaug

You are one of only two people to make top 8 in all four SpeenOpens (the other being NickAzn). How do you think that experience will fare against babyjimbo, your round 1 opponent?

Not gonna lie, babyjimbo is the one where I am afraid of most of the pool. Hearing that he is going to be my first opponent definitely makes this a challenge. But now I just have one more reason to grind the map pool. This match could go either way. I am just going to see what happens I guess. Jimbo is kinda underrated, I think. He got FCs on Charts I could only dream about. I also don’t think having some tournament experience is going to help me too much, but we’ll see.

Is there anything else you’d like to say to readers?

Thx to all the organizers, commentators, referees, mods, and admins! The work you do for this game is indescribable! Henry would be proud…

It’s all or nothing for the SpeenLeague finals!

You can watch TreXDer and the rest of the SpeenLeague finalists on Twitch Saturdays for the playoffs, starting at 12pm EST/4m UTC. If you’re not able to watch the SpeenLeague live, you can still follow the action on the Toornament bracket or catch all the matches on YouTube. Spin Rhythm XD is available on Steam. If you’d like to play these charts yourself, check out SpinShare and get in on the action!