One of my Super Happy Fun Times from last year.
That clip perfectly demonstrates how frustrating and unfair 6th girder fireballs can be. For anyone not aware, 6th girder fireballs -- like top level pie factory fireballs -- never climb back down. Once a fireball ascends the 6th girder, "hope", as Chris so aptly puts it in his video, becomes one of your best survival tools. Great clip.
Does anyone else start not-even-trying as far as points are concerned once the fireballs move into troublesome positions?
I pretty much just shut down when they're being little wankers (as you can see in that clip).
Assuming you're not down to your last man, sometimes it's best to abandon ship and maximize points for the death. In fact, there is a certain 6th girder fireball behavior that can make a board impassable. When this happens, "super happy fun time" can actually be fun, as point-pressing with no intention of passing the board can lead to all sorts of crazy goodness.
In a max point-pressing game, the development of 6th girder fireball scenarios are part of the accepted risk. This risk is deemed acceptable for two main reasons: one, allowing aggressive fireballs to dictate bottom hammer play will sink level averages (and the truly aggressive climbers are not that common); and two, whether forced to abandon ship or killed trying to escape a 6th girder fireball, the death will be a "good death".