Such a lovely little piece our competitors got this round--and in such a horrible color. Both builders rose to the challenge and treated us to some ingenious and impactful builds.

Parts Usage:
Iron Builder is all about the seed part and making it shine, something that can be specially difficult with a bizarrely colored element. Both builders struggled to make us believe that pink was the color they wanted. Xiheng's zipper and camera, and Ari's shurken and tires felt like they were pink only because they had to be. Xiheng's The Dark Side came closest to giving us that "this is what this part was made for" moment; Ari's builds often felt like masterpieces with diamonds sprinkled on top. Black was a favorite choice of contrast color for both contestants, with Tidefang being the most memorable example; Ari also played well with brighter colors in Ironforged, though the seed part gets a little lost. When it came to ingenious use of the part, Ari generally stuck with its flat front side and an emphasis on its spikes, although Shinobi Drift is a great use of the element's edge even if the pink color feels out of place. Xiheng, possibly just by dint of building more, showed us more sides of the seed part; the bottom bar on his Designer's Set and the underside in Cat Paradise stand out in this regard. While Ari integrated the part into his builds extremely well, Xiheng's more purposeful use of the seed element gives him the edge.

Build Quality:
Quality is an extremely close battle with these two masters. Xiheng came out swinging and never stopped; builds like Designer Set and The Dark Side show polish and sharp presentation. A few of his quicker jabs feel a bit rushed or lacking context, like Back to the seed parts or Owl. While it was a great idea to make use of the scraps in Iron Builder, the build lacks cohesion or a unifying presentation. Still, Xiheng's consistently clean and clever use of LEGO bricks is top notch; an outstanding example is the brilliant use of a red cauldron for an open fish mouth.
On the other hand Ari's presentation consistently sells his builds. His mastery of color to tell a tale shines in Ego, Thunderstruck highlights the seed part strikingly well, and not a piece feels out of place in the meanacing chaos of Ironforged. And though Ari built fewer creations, their larger size makes up for the smaller quantity.

Performance:
The round felt like it had barely started when it ended, likely because of Xiheng's long string of leadoff builds without any response from Ari. When Ari finally did strike, the build was stunning, but it may have been too little too late. Xiheng's smaller creations just kept coming and it felt like he was doing the entertaining while Ari tried to squeeze a build or two in here or there. Xiheng's clever reply to the red fish Ari gave him, in Little Fish's Revenge (although the diamond felt like a confusing afterthought) was good entertainment as was Iron Builder with its many easter eggs. Ari's Ironforged was a powerful ending statement, but at the end of the day, it was Xiheng who kept us coming back to #iron-builds and gave us a chuckle when we got there.

Parts Usage:
In this category, it is important that the seed part is used in a variety of ways and occupies the center of attention within the build. The idea of a hidden seed part, or a seed part that seems to be tossed into a concept after the fact doesn’t perform as well in my book. Throughout the round, I believe that Xiheng better exemplified this idea. His “Zip it” and “Camera” uniquely captured the part’s versatility while his use of the part as a gear in “Cat Paradise” highlighted a non visual use for the part. For Ari, his “Thunderstruck” did a nice job keeping the part at the center and “Shinobi Drift” seemed like another build that was inspired by the part. Unfortunately, partially due to the scale of a few of his other builds, the seed part was lost. Therefore, I am awarding this category to Xiheng.

Build Quality:
When it comes to build quality, Ari is a true master of his craft. Nearly all of his builds were extremely ambitious but he executed each one and was able to present a highly polished final product. His build “Ego” is a master class in character design showing not only expressive, unique emotions but also incorporating some non-traditional parts to really make the build come to life. I appreciated that Xiheng dipped into a bit of character design as well with his “The Drak Side” which also showed off his considerable talent when it comes to building characters. Overall though, in a contest of pure quality, Ari takes this one for the round as he was able to maintain a high level of fully thought out and complete builds.

Performance:
Xiheng started strong right out of the gate managing to get 5 builds completed before Ari was able to get his first one done. Not only this, but he continued to build at different scales and with completely different genres including life sized builds, character builds, and animals. He also managed to incorporate lots of seed parts from previous rounds which was a fun addition. Ari edged ahead of him in terms of puns which each of his builds containing multiple solid ones each time. While each one was spectacular, Ari didn’t show quite the same variation as Xiheng when it came to themes and style of builds. That along with the sheer difference in number, 10 vs 5 builds, I am awarding this category to Xiheng.

Parts Usage:
This round could be summarized in a simple sentence: two very different builders, two very different strategies. I have a hard time deciding if this makes my job as a judge harder (or the comparison crueller) but it certainly made for an intriguing clash of creative personalities. Dark pink proved to be a great color for the seed part, and both builders found amazing ways of showcasing it. But as far as shape goes, one builder managed to maintain a higher level of out-of-the-box thinking. Ari only produced five entries, which might be what made his repeated use of the seed part as claws and horns so regrettably obvious. The puppet’s head in “Ego” and the kite in “Thunderstruck” were quite successful (the wheels and shuriken in “Shinobi Drift” less so) but did little to dullen the sense of repetitiveness.
On the other hand, twice as many entries means twice as many opportunities to feature the seed part in new scenarios, and that’s exactly what Xiheng’s lineup achieved. From flower petals to cat ears, including a camera shutter and a dog’s behind, Xiheng’s diversified uses of the seed part and globally effective integration were delightful. The point goes to Xiheng.

Build Quality:
Build quality soared high during this round. And while Xiheng went for quantity, Ari delivered a small but highly impactful selection of character builds. “Thunderstruck” is a beautiful lesson in composition and the beauty of simplicity, and the bold colors, raw energy and interesting part usages in “Ironforged” are very eye-catching. “Ego” is likely to be my favorite build of the round, and possibly one of the more memorable builds to come out of Iron Builder in recent years.
Xiheng’s designs have lots of personality and show great promise, but lack some of the confidence and creative maturity that characterizes Ari’s building style (this is visible in entries like “Owl”, “Little Fish’s Revenge” and “Camera” especially). It is definitely easier to produce five great-looking entries than ten, but when it’s done at this level, it’s hard to argue. The point goes to Ari.

Performance:
Performance-wise, this was a rather peculiar round. While Xiheng followed a typical Iron Builder rhythm, Ari stayed true to himself and opted for a much slower output – so slow Xiheng had to wait nine days before seeing a single entry from him. And once the builds started coming in, they were beautiful… but so unsurprising in nature. Ari is a character-building master, and he exclusively stuck to that: only “Thunderstruck” brought a sliver of diversity to his lineup. As such, I come out of this round with the feeling that Ari shied away from taking risks and tackling unfamiliar subjects. His “build less but better” strategy did not help in that regard: two or three more builds might have brought a greater sense of diversity to the lineup.
Xiheng, on the other hand, went absolutely all out on brick-built gags and references: “My Own Opponent” got a genuine laugh out of me, and the numerous past IB seed part cameos did not go unnoticed either (“Back to the seed parts” is especially remarkable in that regard). But above all, Xiheng’s lineup entertains through the diversity of topics and subjects breached: every new build was something unique and different, and as such generated a few more surprises. The point goes to Xiheng.