Dram Strat
Dram Strat, often simply referred to as Dram or occasionally Sand Dram, is a capture warp speedrun technique used in the ruins portion of the Sand Kingdom. It involves throwing Cappy upward near a Bullet Bill and then collecting the Power Moon in the alcove below as Mario while homing in with Cappy, so that Mario warps back up to the Bullet Bill after collecting the moon.
The trick was named satirically after Dram55, the speedrunner who discovered the trick, since he claimed to dislike when speedrun tricks were named after their discoverers and asked the trick not to be named after him. The joke has also been extended to unrelated tricks such as Snow Dram.
The term "dram" is also used more generally to refer to capture warps.
Execution
To execute this trick:
- Throw Cappy upward so that he stalls just below where the Bullet Bill is circling.
- While holding X or Y to keep Cappy in place, fall down toward the alcove and dive into it.
- Jump and dive one more time towards the moon, and shake the controller just before grabbing it to initiate Cappy's homing action.
If done correctly, Mario should automatically warp up to the Bullet Bill after collecting the moon.
It is also important to pay attention to the moving platform near the launcher, to ensure that it won't be in the way of Cappy's homing ability. Since Cappy can only stall for a limited amount of time, the Power Moon must be collected quickly.
Speedrun usage
This trick is used in the Any% and World Peace speedrun categories.
Any%
In the case of Any%, Alcove in the Ruins is collected regardless of which route is used. Therefore, opting not to do this trick (or failing it) will require the player to climb back up to the top afterward. Because of this, Dram Strat saves a fair amount of time in this category.
World Peace
In the case of World Peace, this trick has encouraged a complete reroute of the Sand Kingdom. Opting against or failing the trick with this updated route is as slow as or slower than the original route. Therefore, if one is not comfortable with Dram Strat, they should opt for the original route. (Even without the use of Dram Strat, the updated route is still harder than the original one.)
Variations
There are a few variations of Dram Strat that can save time over the original long jump method.
Ice Pillar Dram
Ice Pillar Dram, often simply called Ice Dram (not to be confused with Snow Dram), is a variation of Dram Strat that involves jumping to the nearby ice pillar and performing a spin jump from the top of it, instead of climbing all the way up to the same level as the Bullet Bill launcher and performing a long jump. Ice Pillar Dram involves capturing the Bullet Bill slightly closer to On the Lone Pillar and farther from the crate moon. In World Peace, this trick is slightly faster than traditional Dram Strat because the World Peace route does not get the crate moon, meaning the player is slightly closer to the next objective.
Single Bill
There is a fast variation of Dram Strat that can be performed if one manages to spinpound on the box that stores From a Crate in the Ruins in a near-perfect fashion. If they can collect the Power Moon and quickly recapture the Bullet Bill, they will be put up against a short amount of time to get to On the Lone Pillar before it explodes, which means it is possible to get both Moons using a singular Bullet Bill (hence the community name Single Bill). This strat is best performed by doing a spinpound roll to single jump to From a Crate in the Ruins. After getting that Moon, one quickly rolls and long jumps to throw Cappy and capture the Bullet Bill. Afterwards, it's smooth sailing until it's not–all of the movement has to be performed decently fast for one to get On the Lone Pillar before exploding. This trick can save a slight amount of time in a number of main categories.