# Plan 8 Retired — Council #8 (2026-05-27)

> The 9-file `data/evercraft/function/challenges/` subtree (Plan 8: speedrun timers / tournament brackets / boss-practice) was retired by **Minecraft Council convening #8** on 2026-05-27. Zero of the 9 files had a live external caller end-to-end. The single canon-bearing artifact (a 14-boss `name + subtitle` epithet table) was **lifted** into live raid + castle spawn paths before archive.

## Files archived (flattened — original sub-paths in parens)

- `load.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/load.mcfunction`) — registered 13 dead scoreboards + 1 dead `ec.challenge` trigger
- `boss_practice_start.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/boss_practice/start.mcfunction`) — held the 14-boss subtitle table; subtitles preserved below
- `boss_practice_end.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/boss_practice/end.mcfunction`)
- `speedrun_start.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/speedrun/start.mcfunction`)
- `speedrun_stop.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/speedrun/stop.mcfunction`)
- `tournament_create.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/tournament/create.mcfunction`)
- `tournament_join.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/tournament/join.mcfunction`)
- `tournament_start.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/tournament/start.mcfunction`)
- `tournament_champion.mcfunction` — (was `challenges/tournament/champion.mcfunction`)

## Why retired

All 8 challenge presets duplicated already-live loops:

| Plan 8 preset | Live system it duplicated |
|---|---|
| 1 — Race to DR 10 | `competition/` (solo timers) |
| 2 — First Mythical | `gacha/` + `quests/` |
| 3 — Boss Rush | `raids/` |
| 4 — Fastest Dungeon Clear | `dungeon/leaderboard/` (already shipped) |
| 5 — Iron Cook | `cooking/competition/` |
| 6 — Expedition Race | `foraging/` + dungeon clear loops |
| 7 — Survival Gauntlet | `competition/` |
| 8 — Fishing Tournament | `fishing/` + `competition/` |

### Structural defects (5 seats, 6 cross-seat convergences)

1. **`spectator/boss_intro/play` was end-to-end orphaned.** Its sole external caller (`boss_practice/start:32`) was dead. The cinematic's `$(subtitle)` slot at `show_title_macro:5` was never populated by any live writer. (balance + lore + performance)
2. **`spectator/boss_intro/tick` was never registered in any tick chain.** Even if `play` ever fired, the phase-1→phase-2 transition never executed — intro permanently stuck on phase 1. (performance, latent — picked up by lore-via-inference). **Fixed in W2 of this retirement.**
3. **`bossbar add minecraft:challenge_timer` missing.** 6 `bossbar set` calls in `speedrun/start` would log 6 errors per invocation. Wrong namespace too — should be `evercraft:`. (race + compliance + performance)
4. **`stopwatch create evercraft:challenge_timer` was GLOBAL, not per-player.** Two concurrent speedrunners would corrupt each other. The `/60` unit-conversion math in `speedrun/stop.mcfunction:9-12` was also wrong for any plausible 26.1 stopwatch unit. (race + compliance + performance)
5. **`ec.challenge` trigger was declared but never enabled.** `/trigger ec.challenge set 99` would error to chat ("You can't trigger that objective yet."). Plan 8's join UX was hard-blocked. (compliance + race + balance)
6. **Tournament was structurally race-broken.** No `#tn_active` re-entry gate on `create`; concurrent OPs corrupt `#tn_registered`/`#tn_slots`. No `tournament/cancel` for stuck state. Champion +10 coin reward identical to a 5-min cooking competition reward despite 3-10× the effort. (race + balance + compliance)

## Per-candidate ratified verdict

| File | Verdict | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| `boss_practice/start.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Subtitles lifted to raid spawns first (W1) |
| `boss_practice/end.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | No live callers; no canon writing |
| `speedrun/start.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Bossbar broken + stopwatch global |
| `speedrun/stop.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Bossbar broken + math wrong |
| `tournament/create.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Race-broken, no re-entry gate |
| `tournament/join.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Trigger-without-enable; join UX hard-blocked |
| `tournament/start.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Only called by archived `join` |
| `tournament/champion.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | Only called by archived `start`'s downstream |
| `load.mcfunction` | ARCHIVE | 13 dead scoreboards + 1 dead trigger |

## What lifted — 14-boss subtitle preservation table (CANON; verbatim from `boss_practice/start.mcfunction:16-29`)

This table is **insurance against the lift later getting reverted or rewritten**. If the live raid/castle spawn cinematic ever gets removed, re-author it from this table.

| # | Boss name | Subtitle (epithet) | Live spawn path lifted into |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hollow Sovereign | Ancient City's Darkest Defender | `raids/boss/hollow_sovereign/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 2 | Leviathan | The Ocean Given Form | `raids/boss/leviathan/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 3 | Gilded Tyrant | Gold-Obsessed Overlord | `raids/boss/gilded_tyrant/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 4 | Arbiter | Judge of All Who Enter | `raids/boss/arbiter/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 5 | Grand Illusionist | Master of Beasts and Deception | `raids/boss/grand_illusionist/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 6 | Ashen Lord | Born from Wither Ash | `raids/boss/ashen_lord/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 7 | Eternal Pharaoh | Refused to Stay Buried | `raids/boss/eternal_pharaoh/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 8 | Venomweaver | Master of Poisons | `raids/boss/venomweaver/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 9 | Void Architect | Builder of Endings | `raids/boss/void_architect/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 10 | Gatekeeper | Guardian of the Portal | `raids/boss/gatekeeper/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 11 | Deepcrawler | Terror of the Mines | `raids/boss/deepcrawler/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 12 | Mossheart Warden | Nature's Fury | `raids/boss/mossheart_warden/spawn.mcfunction` |
| 13 | Iron Phalanx | Castle Floor 20 Guardian | `castle/spawn_iron_phalanx.mcfunction` |
| 14 | Crimson Bulwark | Castle Floor 25 Gatekeeper | `castle/spawn_crimson_bulwark.mcfunction` + `raids/boss/crimson_bulwark/spawn.mcfunction` (dual-home) |

All 14 names match canon in live `raids/boss/` + `castle/`. All 14 subtitles are unique writing — not present in any live spawn prior to this Council's lift. The raid spawns themselves use prose + first-person quotes; this practice file was the only source of compressed epithets ("Builder of Endings", "Refused to Stay Buried", "Terror of the Mines", "Guardian of the Portal").

Of note — this practice file was the **canonical home of two cross-system facts** before its retirement:
- Iron Phalanx = Castle floor 20 (only the castle spawn comment + this practice subtitle express it as a named role)
- Crimson Bulwark = Castle floor 25 AND a raid boss (the dual-home boss; this file is where its castle role gets a public-facing epithet)

## Side-effects of retirement (other files modified by Council #8)

- `data/evercraft/function/init.mcfunction` — removed `# === CHALLENGE & COMPETITIVE SYSTEMS (Plan 8) ===` + `function evercraft:challenges/load` registration
- `data/evercraft/function/admin/strip_player_zero.mcfunction` — stripped 13 scoreboard-set lines (`bp.active`, `bp.boss_id`, `ch.active`, `ch.personal_best`, `ch.score`, `ch.timer`, `ch.type`, `ec.challenge`, `tn.active`, `tn.bracket`, `tn.round`, `tn.seed`, `tn.wins`) + orphaned headers `# --- boss progression ---` and `# --- challenges ---` + tags `bp.practicing` + `ch.running`. Blueprint tags `bp.previewing` + `bp.building` retained — those belong to the live `blueprints/` system, NOT to boss-practice.
- `data/evercraft/function/tick.mcfunction` — registered the previously-orphaned `spectator/boss_intro/tick` behind an `sp.intro_phase=1..` existence gate (fixes the cinematic phase-1→phase-2 transition that never previously fired)
- 15 boss spawn files received a 3-line lift block (data modify + `execute as @a run function ...boss_intro/play`):
  - 12 standard raid bosses (`raids/boss/<id>/spawn.mcfunction`)
  - `raids/boss/crimson_bulwark/spawn.mcfunction` (raid-home of the dual-home boss)
  - `castle/spawn_iron_phalanx.mcfunction`
  - `castle/spawn_crimson_bulwark.mcfunction`

## Recovery path

**If a future maintainer wants speedrun timers, tournament brackets, or boss-practice UX — DO NOT resurrect this skeleton.** Design fresh. The structural defects (race-broken create gate, global stopwatch, wrong-namespace bossbar, trigger-without-enable, 3-10× effort mismatch on rewards) are too deep to patch incrementally.

Replacement paths now live in:
- Solo competition timers → `competition/`
- 1v1 PvP brackets → `duel/`
- Pet duels → `pet_duel/`
- Boss-rush gameplay → `raids/`
- Speedrun-style fastest clear → `dungeon/leaderboard/`

## See also

- `_council/2026-05-27-dead-code-challenges/CLOSED.md` — full convening narrative
- `_council/2026-05-27-dead-code-challenges/chat/SYNTHESIS.md` — dispatcher synthesis + verdict table
- `_council/2026-05-27-dead-code-challenges/chat/lore.md` — 14-boss canon verification (lines 15-30)
- `BIG_BRAIN/30-systems/challenges.md` — tombstoned leaf doc with retirement note
