The greatest LEGO constraction competition has finally come to a close in a spectacular final round between three absolutely amazing builders. Fittingly the theme was “The End”. Our three finalists are Ivan Martynov, Nikita Nikolsky, and Buttloaf_Builds.

Throughout the Cup, each of these builders has had some of their builds showcased here on BrickNerd so they are no stranger to the spotlight. Before we get to the final results, though, there are a few builds that won side awards in the competition that I would like to highlight.

Most Entertaining NPU (Nice Part Use)

This prize goes to one of BrickNerd’s very own writers Ted Andes for his amazing Hermit build. The specific part use was the hood of the character, being the back side of the Legends of Chima Buildable Figure Gorilla head. Of course, the whole build is really great, but the part usage on the hood is immaculate and feels very natural which is a big deal when it comes to good part usage.

Most Creative

This prize goes to a build and builder we have featured previously, but you can never have too much coverage of an amazing build. Pierthviv checks all the boxes with this drooling creature—creative part use, creative take on the theme, creative shaping, and a creative mix of System and Bionicle. The build really is a standout from this year’s competition and definitely deserves the “Most Creative” award.

Best Mask Use

With all the different masks that Bionicle has produced, it's no wonder a few would pop up in people’s builds in interesting ways. Tris Caulfield really brings this to a whole new level with three different types of masks and three types of headpieces used in an organic flower. The Hau and Hau Nuva make for great petals with both shape and texture, and hidden in the base, Kakamas help make up the dirt. The large leaves are Visorak heads which work perfectly, Rahkshi heads are used as more petals, and Piraka spines are used to create a rough thorny look.

Best in Show

I don't think I have to say much about this build for you to see why it won Best in Show. Woomy World brought his A-game during the preliminary round with this one, and instantly other builders predicted it would win Best in Show, even before the rest of the rounds! The build was discussed in our preliminary round article but deserves a second look here. Its color, shaping, expression, textures—everything just works so well together.

Third Place

And now, on to our finalists! In third place, we have Ivan Martynov with a really unique take on the “The End” theme, and an inspired recreation of it.

Taking the standard X in the corner of a window and turning it into an entire character to fight the “unresponsive window” is a really genius idea. I will say though, for an unresponsive window the creature is quite animated and aggressive looking, which I think is perfectly fitting for the scene. When it comes down to the finals of such a big competition every single detail really counts, such as the white axles as Xs on the computer screams, the sticker sheet as another open file, and the red hot dog as an exposed wire.

Second Place

In second place we have Nikita Nikolsky with a build full of personality, action, and perfect presentation.

The facial expressions of the main character evoke the comic book look that Nikita was going for so well. The way it's photographed too with forced perspective makes the build feel more alive than a normal 2D photo. The frog is really well done, keeping normal frog shaping mostly but having a huge cartoony mouth made of a hot air balloon panel really helps it fit right in. As I said with finals builds, every detail counts, and my favorite detail is the little fly saluting his hero and showing his respect with the little speech bubble with the letter F.

First Place

And finally, the victor of Bio-Cup 2022 is Ari (aka Buttloaf_Builds). As with the other two finalists, he brought the best of the best to the table, and it paid off.

A fitting theme throughout all three of these builds is the wonderful faces each has, and Ari's is no exception with a very serious and almost sad-looking forlorn blue face. But what is there to be sad about having a mechanical crab body, especially one built by Ari!? As with the other two builds, the details are really what completes the build, and here, all the brown wires winding around the body, the cloth piece used as flowing liquid, and a frog, rat, and fittingly a crab hidden on ground all help add to the scene.

Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who competed this year. Even though we say it every year, each Bio-Cup always seems better than the last, so it's always entertaining to see all the wonderful builders go head-to-head to not only compete but to grow as builders. I hope something from this year’s Bio-Cup has inspired you. Who knows, maybe you can join us next year in the competition.

Does Bio-Cup inspire you to try to build with more LEGO construction parts? Let us know in the comments below!

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