Iron Builder's thrilling eighth round has come to a close!

I never expected this seed part to be 6017—it's not even in my Studio (or maybe I just haven't upgraded...).
Well, regardless, I was incredibly curious to see how this tiny seed part would blossom in the hands of our two builders.

First up, our old friend Eann. I must admit that in the initial round, the mushroom design seemed slightly overshadowed by Andrew's fountain and clock creations.
Next. Eann incorporated it into a single piece as a minifigure body, a candle, and cream flowers (that tray had me staring for ages...). In terms of the sheer number of uses, Eann clearly held the upper hand this round.
Oh, and I just have to say—I absolutely loved the classroom piece! It was packed with incredible detail! The electric toothbrush, mimicking an official set, was another delightful surprise.

Just when I thought Eann had it in the bag, I saw Andrew's “Medieval Market.” While using 6017 as flooring felt a bit like showing off, it was undeniably stunning! Andrew evened the score!

In the end, in this closely contested battle, I think Eann edged out the win. Congratulations to Eann, and equally to the equally talented Andrew. Thank you both for an amazing show.

Another great year of Iron Builder comes to an end with one final decision to make!

Parts Usage
In general, I think both our contestants featured some amazing seed parts usages in this round, with many clever ways of incorporating multiple ones in single MOC’s. On Andrew’s side, I love the Blue-Bell Monastery and especially the Laboratory Tools, the latter presenting five(!) different usages, all of them pretty much perfect. However, the plant pieces don’t look that convincing on the Medieval Market’s columns and the power poles. With only six builds in total, that makes it tough to win this category.
In the end, that doesn’t matter all that much, as Eann brought us the greatest Seed Parts Usage of the whole IB year: Both his classroom and Coral City are obviously stuffed with such a variety of smart ideas, but even small details like the bride on his Wedding Cake, the toothbrush or the sobbing emoji are simple yet brilliant. Overall, there’s no angle or section of the plant piece that didn’t get used in his selection of builds, resulting in a perfect score and a well-deserved win!

Build Quality
This one’s way more tough. Eann showed us that he’s capable of any type of build: Characters, life-sized object and full scenes, he can do it all. Andrew on the other hand came up with equally amazing creations, the Perchta Mask and Fighter Jet are so different, but mastered on the same smooth level of quality. I just wish he wouldn’t have sticked to mostly gray color schemes, which often looks too serious and sterile next to the bright light blue seeds. To me, his Zhiguli on the road is emblematic, because the idea for the seed parts usages is perfect, but the convincingly looking rest simply doesn’t match their demand for a more exaggerated and fun appearance, ultimately failing in both categories.
That is where Eann wins me over by adjusting his style to the roundish nature of the bell-shaped plant pieces, most notably on his comically rendered mage and dwarf. He also matched it with other pastel colors on the cake, showing his ability to adapt to the needs of both the seed part’s shape and color.

Performance
Again, Eann doesn’t really offer any weak spots. Whereas Andrew’s builds are all very well-made, but presented on the same plain black background, his opponent wowed me with his versatility by adding both real objects like a cake plate or coffee mug on a wooden table, while also showing off his editing skills to serve the composition. Completely overediting his Sink of Flowers is what elevates the MOC from being absolutely tasteless to sharply satirical.
Unfortunately, Andrew closed off his round with his weakest build (although the floor pattern is lovely), so weirdly framed between vignette and scene, when Eann finishes his game with a particularly strong entry that perfectly combines several strong seed parts usages and effective building techniques into a fun, polished and coherent creation. That’s what I call a performance!

Not an easy set of entries to judge, but when is it ever?

Eann came right out of the gate with a couple builds that deftly incorporated the bright seed part into their cheery colorschemes. Andrew's characteristic gray-on-black presentation really makes the Light Royal Blue pop out, but never in a way that makes them feel too tacked-on — that's the sweet spot for any Iron Builder build, in my opinion.

Most NPU in one build: Live Iron Builder Reaction (I didn't miss the crumpled lego bags!).

Build I'd most like to have on my desk: Blue-Bell Monastery (the seed part just works SO well as a mini fountain).

Most effective use of seedpart antistud: Farewell, Coral City.

In any case, the more I flip through the entries, the more I'm convinced that Perchta has seen deep into my soul, and I dare not cross her :)