Shadows

From Blaseball Wiki

The Shadows are part of a team's full player roster, comprising all the players not on the lineup or rotation..

History

The Shadows were first named during the Season β6 Elections, when Mike Townsend of the Seattle Garages and Donia Bailey of the Houston Spies "retreat[ed] to the Shadows" as a consequence of Blessings - due to Jaylen Hotdogfingers' resurrection, and Evelton McBlase II joining the Spies roster, respectively.

The Shadows were unviewable on the site by normal means, until Season β12 when Concessions became available for purchase. Fans then became able view the Shadows of their favorite team by purchasing an Apple.

Certain game mechanics can swap players between the Active Roster and the Shadows, including Blessings, Wills, Modifications, and Weather. Known methods are as follows:

Blessings

  • Blessings which move a player from the active roster to the Shadows, such as: Downsizing (in Season β7 and Season β9), Composite (in Season β8) or Weakest Link (in Season β16).
  • Blessings which move a player (usually the best in a given attribute) from the Shadows to the active roster, such as: Time to Shine and Sweet Relief in Season β16, or In a Pinch and Patchwork in Season β17.
  • Blessings which duplicate a player (intentionally or otherwise) and trade them for a player on the team that won the blessing - such as Party Line (in Seasons β6 and β8) and Popular By Association (in Season β10) - will move the non-duplicated player into their team's Shadows.
  • Blessings which trade or steal a player from the Shadows to the active roster, such as: Thief in the Night in Season β8; Grab and Smash, Out of Sight, and Disappearing Act in Season β9; and Hidden Power and Dark Star in Season β10.

Idol Leaderboard Blessings

As Shadow players are able to be idolised, Blessings which allow a team to steal a player off the Idol Leaderboard may target sufficiently popular shadowed players, and move them from the Shadows onto an active roster. To date, Chorby Short is the only Shadows player recruited in this manner, when the Yellowstone Magic won the Lottery Pick Blessing in Season β8.

When Incinerated players are targeted for recruitment via Idol Board blessings, their resurrection will result in a random teammate being sent to the Shadows (such as Jaylen Hotdogfingers and Mike Townsend).

Wills

  • Foreshadow allows a team to choose a Shadow player and an active player, and have them switch places, and has been available to teams since Season β12.
  • Move allows a team to move one player from any position into a random spot on the Lineup, Rotation, Bench or Bullpen. It has been available to teams since Season β15.
  • Plunder steals a player of the voter's choice from the Idol Leaderboard, and sends back a random player from the same position. It has been available to teams since Season β12. If a shadowed player is moved onto the Idol Leaderboard and is targeted by this Will, they will trade places with a Shadowed player on the team who executed the Will (The Plunder of Aurora Blortles by the Wild Wings for Matteo Cash being such an example). In addition, much like Blessings which target players or slots on the Idol Leaderboard, multiple active players have been sent to their team's Shadows after a Plunder targeted an Incinerated player and resurrected them.
  • Exchange and Equivalent Exchange allow trading of players between teams. While Votes may only be placed to exchange active players, if an active player is foreshadowed or moved earlier in the Election results, the player being exchanged will end up in the Shadows. To date, Nagomi McDaniel (in Season β12), Fitzgerald Blackburn (in Season β14), and Knight Triumphant (Season 14) have been shadowed in this manner.

Modifications

  • Players with the Hard Boiled Modification (namely, Uncle Plasma and Liquid Friend) were able to Investigate while playing in ballparks with the Crime Scene Modification. While doing so, they entered the Shadows of the opposing team. By the end of the game, Plasma had returned to their original team, and the Crime Scene modification was removed from the ballpark.
  • Players who have been Redacted and are no longer on any team's roster may emerge on second base during games being played at a ballpark with a Secret Base. The player will gain the Attractor modification, which will allow them to join the Shadows of a team which successfully runs them in.
  • Fax Machine is a Ballpark Renovation, first available for teams to construct in Season β17. It moves a pitcher who gives up 10+ runs in a single game into their team's Shadows, replacing them on the rotation with the best pitcher in the Shadows.
  • Voicemail is a Ballpark Renovation, debuted and ratified in Season β21. It moves the worst batter in the lineup with the best batter in the Shadows when the Home Team is shut out.
  • Phantom Thieves Guild is a Ballpark Renovation, debuted and ratified in Season β22. When a home team loses by 9 runs, the Guild will steal a player from the opposing team's shadows and add it to their own.
  • Ambush is a Team Modification, unique to the Hades Tigers and conferred upon them in Season β12 as a reward for advancing to the first evolutionary base. When a player is incinerated in a game the Tigers are playing, a random player from the Hall of Flame will join the Tigers' Shadows. Ambush has, as of Season 23, activated four times:

Other methods


Community Concepts

The Shadows are not explained or detailed in the game, and as such, the Blaseball Community has created several concepts to imagine how the Shadows look and feel for their teams.

COMMUNITY REPORTS
The remainder of this article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community.
  • The Shadow Moabbey is a Heliolatric monastery located on Haystack Mountain in the La Sal mountain range in eastern Utah, roughly 18 miles (28.9 km) east of the Hellmouth. It is home to the Order of Lanternbearers, a distant branch of the Heliolatric cults whose monastic practice has largely revolved around the Hellmouth Sunbeams since the long-foretold return of Blaseball. Like many institutions and organizations in Hellmouth, it is thought to have existed since both time immemorial and twenty years ago.