Welcome to the ECFA 2021 Information Station!

Everyone Can Fantastic Attack 2021, or "ECFA 2021", is an online event for StepMania players on dance pads, in which timing accuracy is paramount.

ECFA 2021 will run from February 1st, 2021 through June 30, 2021.

How does the event work?

The goal of the ECFA Online series is to encourage and challenge dance game players to improve their timing accuracy.

ECFA 2021 is the latest iteration in this series. The event shares its acronym with "East Coast Fantastic Attack", the companion in-person tournament series, but the online series is primarily focused on individual accomplishment and progress.

The event organizers have curated a pack of over 400 pad charts, hand-picked to challenge different facets of a timing player's skill, and assigned ratings in six categories: Speed, Stamina, Technique, Movement, Rhythms, and Gimmicks.

The ECFA 2021 StepMania theme, also known as "Waterfall", judges players solely on the accuracy of their steps. The judgment scale has been updated for this event. The tightest, most valuable judgment is a "Masterful", which is smaller than a Fantastic, followed by "Awesome", which is slightly larger. Players earn ECFA Points primarily based on the proportion of Masterfuls and Awesomes achieved.

Every new song played during ECFA 2021 adds points to a player's total, and charts that have a higher level or category rating can contribute more points. How high can you get your total by the end of the event?

How do I participate?

  1. Acquire a dance pad and a computer setup that can run StepMania 5.

  2. Join the discord server! It's the easiest way to stay up-to-date on all things ECFA and connect with fellow players.

  3. Sign up for the event. Sign-ups are open for the entire duration of the event!

  4. Download the Waterfall theme. There are lots of new features in it designed for ECFA 2021 (check out the included readme), and only scores achieved on this theme will be counted. The theme does not officially support StepMania 5.3, but some entrants are using it successfully.

  5. Download the song packs, and save the link - additional DLC will be released on a regular schedule! A song list and chart reference is also available.

  6. Create a profile in StepMania to save scores. The Waterfall theme will automatically tabulate your progress as you play!

  7. To submit your scores:

    • Navigate to your ECFA 2021 score table by pressing Menu Left+Right from the song select screen.

    • Snap a screenshot or fully-visible photo of each page of scores.

    • Upload these photos, as well as the ECFA2021.wf file from your StepMania profile directory, at the ECFA 2021 facebook group or the #ecfa-2021-score-posts channel in the discord server.

    • A score entrant will transfer the step counts to the tracker for you.

  8. Have fun, and challenge yourself!

  9. But don't forget to read the complete rules! This page is just a summary.

How are ECFA 2021 and ECFA 8 connected?

East Coast Fantastic Attack 8, or "ECFA 8", is a hybrid in-person/remote tournament for StepMania players on dance pads, in which timing accuracy is paramount. Like ECFA 7, ECFA 8 will feature a team-based format.

The Boss Pack DLC #1 from ECFA 2021 also serves as the set of qualifiers that will be used to select and seed entrants for ECFA 8. (You do not have to participate in ECFA 2021 to enter ECFA 8, and vice versa.) Qualifier ranking is determined by the sum of the player's rank in each individual song's scoreboard. The top 32 seeds will be drafted into four teams of 8 competitors.

To qualify for ECFA 8, submit result screen photos or screenshots for all six charts to the East Coast FA Qualifying group on Facebook or the #ecfa-8-score-submissions channel in the discord server. The Waterfall judgment breakdown pane must be clearly visible in each shot. The scoring system and selectable options are the same as for ECFA 2021.

If you want your scores for songs in Boss Pack DLC #1 to contribute to your ECFA 2021 totals, you must also submit screenshots or score table photos through ECFA 2021 channels.

The ECFA 8 qualifying period will run from April 30th, 2021 through June 30th, 2021, ending at the same time as ECFA 2021 score submissions. (ECFA 8 itself will run from August 1st to 28th, 2021, with the in-person phase happening the weekend of August 6 – 8, 2021.)

For a full description of the ECFA 8 qualifying phase, click here!

Is ECFA 2021 a tournament?

The primary goal of ECFA 2021 is individual accomplishment and progress. However, we do have a leaderboard available alongside our chart digest that may prove useful for finding rivals or people at a similar skill level.

How difficult are the charts in this pack?

The overall physical difficulty of this pack ranges from 7s (similar to a DDR X-scale 9, a StepManiaX 15, or a Pump It Up 9) up through 14s, which are comparably difficult to the hardest charts currently available in DDR or SMX.

What do the different skill categories represent?

  • Speed: How fast the fast sections of the chart are.

  • Stamina: The raw physical output required to time the chart well.

  • Technique: The complexity of the patterning in the chart.

  • Movement: How much turning or jumping is required to play the chart as intended.

  • Rhythms: The complexity of the rhythms in the chart.

  • Gimmicks: A coarse measure of how hard the chart is to read, which includes features like stops and speed changes.

What are the timing windows used in this event?

  • Masterful: ±15ms

  • Awesome: ±30ms

  • Solid: ±50ms

  • OK: ±100ms

  • Fault: ±160ms

  • Miss: anything outside all windows

For event purposes, you are also allowed to disable the Fault window if you choose (this setting is available near the end of the Advanced menu during song options selection).

What are the "tech abbreviations" everybody is talking about?

The "tech abbreviations" that appear in the info panel help summarize what patterns the chart includes.

  • XO: crossovers (left foot hits right arrow or vice-versa)

  • FS: foot switches (alternate feet on consecutive taps of the same arrow)

  • BR: brackets (hit more than one arrow at once with one foot)

  • DS: double steps (hit consecutive steps on different arrows with the same foot)

  • SS: side switches (a foot switch performed on the left or right arrow)

  • SJ: step jumps (a tap step (or jump) followed quickly by a jump)

  • DT: double taps (hit one arrow with the same foot exactly twice in a row)

  • JA: jacks (hit one arrow with the same foot more than twice in a row)

  • FL: flams (hit two consecutive, isolated steps on different arrows very quickly or with an unusual rhythm)

  • BT: bracket taps (use a foot that is on a hold to tap another arrow)

  • HS: hold switch (switch the foot that is on a hold)

  • BU: bursts (a brief section of taps that is significantly more dense than the rest of the chart)

  • DR: drills (same as a burst, but patterned on only two arrows)

– indicates the technique appears infrequently or in an exceptionally simple way

+ indicates the technique appears very frequently or in an exceptionally challenging way

VincentITG has prepared a couple of helpful videos demonstrating each technique.