What a fantastic round with a truly unique and ridiculous element. Both builders gave us an Iron Builder show to remember!

Parts Usage
This category proved especially difficult to decide, with both builders truly making the seed part the standout of each and every build. Highlights for me include Sandro’s The Green Dragon, which very effectively makes use of the element’s scale-like features, and then of course there’s Gerrit’s Sneaker, a masterclass in brick sculpting that integrates the seed part seamlessly into the build. The build that ultimately won me to Sandro’s side was Stingray, with the extremely clever use of the underside of the element.

Build Quality
Even beyond seed part usage, there’s insane NPU to be found from both builders. Whether it’s Gerrit’s… is that a Throwbot case!? or Sandro’s many hidden Bionicle masks, the builders never disappointed when it came to quality. Sandro just edges out in this category, having consistently delivered extremely polished builds with great presentation.

Performance
I was consistently amazed by the variety I saw from both builders. It can’t be too often that we don’t see any minifigure-scaled builds over the course of an Iron Builder Round, and it was great to see so many new styles represented. From his first build though, Gerrit was here to entertain. Whether it was the subtle inclusion of a green dragon on his First Strike or the less subtle way of kicking back with his own take on a shoe build, Gerrit not only built, but he performed.

Congratulations to you both on a round well done!

What a great round! The Super Mario theme features a lot of unique printed and dual-molded elements that are specifically designed for the imaginary video game world and are somewhat difficult to integrate into MOCs. You both did a great job, and each new build surprised me - needless to say, judging the round in the end was not an easy task.
(By the way, the abundance of Japanese-themed models was a funny coincidence - I love when unintentional things like that happen in contests!)

Parts Usage
Both builders were able to use the tricky part in a variety of ways. For me, two very specific builds stand out: Sandro's stingray and Gerrit's sneaker. Sandro was able to use the conveniently shaped underside of the seed part as a fish head, and Gerrit stacked the shells so that their white edges appeared as shoelaces.
Although it was a tough call, I think Sandro wins in this category: his models rely heavily on the various organic shapes and patterns created by the seed part.

Build Quality
Both builders showed impressive skill and ended up creating aesthetically pleasing, well presented models. Builds that attempted to emulate real product photography or shelf styling are probably the highlight of this round in terms of presentation.
I almost had a tie in this category: not only did the contestants find the perfect balance between intricate detailing and clever use of elements, but they also used the color scheme of the seed part to their advantage. Ultimately, I decided to give the win to Sandro, as his consistent effort, topped off with a powerful final fusion build, left a lasting impression on me.

Performance
While both competitors delivered consistently high quality entries, I feel that Gerrit, who once again demonstrated his ability to work in diverse building styles, deserves the win in this category. As someone who enjoys concise and laconic models, I really appreciated Gerrit's eagerness to explore fun concepts in a classic Iron Builder fashion.

Congrats to you both!

I knew it would be tough to decide a winner, but not this tough - organizers, you’ve outdone yourselves, a truly devious seed part. Good thing the contestants were up for the challenge! Both produced exceptional builds and took the bulky, two-toned nature of the seed part in their stride.

The ‘spam the seed part approach’ often results in good builds but Gerrit’s couch and especially Sandro’s floral kimono are legendary. Subtly in Seed Part Usage was not lacking either, as seen in Sandro’s Stingray and Gerrit’s Matoro. It was Gerrit’s greater tendency to embed the seed part (see the ingenuous trainer’s lace) that tipped the scales for this category however.

Build Quality was top notch too, with only a couple of misses: Sandro’s wonderful flower’s deserve a vase more befitting their beauty, while Gerrit’s fab cheerleaders are missing some letters on their banner. The hits greatly outweigh any misses though. Sandro’s kimono and dragon are super tight builds, as are Gerrit’s tank and NPU galore Fabergé egg. Overall however, Sandro had the edge here, each build beautifully presented with equal care given to details and overall composition.

Performance was (you guessed it) tough to call. Sandro demonstrated elegance throughout. Building to a crescendo with his final model, it blended elements of previous entries like the stingray’s mandibles and the pink blossom kimono motif. It was Gerrit’s sheer variety of builds won out however. Bombastic throughout, each build screamed ‘look at me, how crazy am I!?’ - which definitely qualifies as a performance worthy of the Iron Builder title in my book.