Subsuming Vortex
Subsuming Vortex is a 2.1/2.2 Extreme Demon level initially created by SeptaGon7. It was redecorated by Renn241, then verified and published by Cursed on 10 November 2025.[1] Created in 2018, it was set to be the hardest Nine Circles level ever made, surpassing Unnerfed Sakupen Circles. The level features flashy visuals, extremely tight wave sections, and rapidly changing speed.
Subsuming Vortex was placed at #9 on the Demonlist, essentially becoming the hardest Nine Circles level.
History
On 12 May 2020, SeptaGon7's friend vitesse showcased Subsuming Vortex on his channel.[2] The level showcased was its initial version. Back then, the level was considered impossible, as the hardest verified level was formerly Tartarus.
Verification
HipoSmokeWeed
HipoSmokeWeed was the first major contender to take the title of the verifier of Subsuming Vortex, as he had been making progress long before Cursed even started verifying the level. Keep in mind that he was playing on the first version of the level. On 6 November 2022, HipoSmokeWeed set a 45% world record, achieving it with a fairly low attempt count.[3] His goal was to keep grinding the level, but he kept failing at 45% and 44%, and gave up on trying. According to him, an unbeatable world record on Subsuming Vortex would be 49%, the level was very possible, and that 46% on the level might be harder than 53% on Sakupen Circles. Also, for him, the 46-66% section was much harder than any other part in the level.
On 12 November 2022, HipoSmokeWeed uploaded his second and final progress video for Subsuming Vortex, in which he achieved a 66-100% run.[4] After this run, he said he would drop the level; however, he was very proud of his accomplishments, praising the wave parts in the level for how satisfying it was to play them.
Cursed
Cursed had already played the level for some time before deciding to play on a live stream, having reached 47%, 36-58%, 45-90%, and 53-100% twice.[5] The next day after the live on 8 April 2025, he uploaded a video of all his best runs at the time.[6] In the meantime of playing Subsuming Vortex, he was also trying Acheron, so he decided to beat the latter first to concentrate on the former fully. His next stream appeared on 18 April, where he achieved 59%, 35-96%, and 45-100%.[7] He would then take a break to play other levels, namely Silent clubstep. On 1 July, he streamed Subsuming Vortex again.[8]
On 3 July, Cursed got 61% twice,[9] on 4 July 72%,[10] on 6 July 85% and 77% twice,[11] On 10 July 35-100%,[12] and on 2 August he would fail at the furthest spot—96%.[13] After the fail, he would be taking longer breaks from playing the level. On 21 August, he already got 35-100% four times and failed past 66% 18 times.[14] On 22 August he did 35-100% again,[15] and on 3 September he already failed 23 times past 66%,[16] On 9 November he would crash at 82% and then 87%,[17] with 282 deaths past 53% and 25 deaths past 66%.
However, on 10 November 2025, Cursed finally verified Subsuming Vortex after around 85,000 attempts, and a total of 296 crashes past 53%, and a furthest crash at 96%.[18][19]
Description
- 0-4%: Subsuming Vortex begins with a triple-spike, followed by a pad sequence and a dash orb. Then, another pad sequence occurs with the player having to hit a green orb before transforming into a ship.
- 4-8%: Next is a ship sequence with orbs and an upside-down and mini portal before transforming back into a cube.
- 8-13%: Afterwards, there is a downwards staircase before a toggle orb that makes the player normal size, a short pad and orb sequence before a dash orb, and another triple-spike, where they must land on the edge of the block to reach an orb to teleport to the next section.
- 13-28%: Next is a ball section with slopes and orbs.
- 28-30%: This part is a short transitional cube section with orbs.
- 30-39%: Afterwards, there is a mostly upside-down UFO section that is primarily synced-clicks to the music with a single gravity portal into a cube section with orbs in portals and fake spike structures, and also a pad and an orb into the drop.
- Work in progress - more to be added soon
Gameplay
First 10 victors
| Victor # | Player | Date Completed | Total Attempts | Furthest Fail | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verifier | Cursed | 10 November 2025 | ~85,000 | 96% | YouTube |
| 1 | wPopoff | 24 November 2025 | ~10,700 | 96% | YouTube |
| 2 | Zoink | 15 December 2025 | ~3,900 | 80% | YouTube |
| 3 | GreenZz | 5 March 2026 | 35,226 | 88% | YouTube |
| 4 | A6 | 5 March 2026 | ? | 97% | YouTube |
| 5 | LAMINGTON | 10 March 2026 | 45,870 | 81% | YouTube |
| 6 | zRodmentor | 31 March 2026 | 19,718 | ? | YouTube |
| 7 | Weyolll3 | 10 April 2026 | ~61,000 | 80% | YouTube |
| 8 | beto | 12 May 2026 | ? | 96% | YouTube |
Trivia
- Subsuming Vortex was rated on 15 November 2025 and placed at #9 on the Demonlist a month later on 15 December 2025, above Silent clubstep and below andromeda.
- This addition pushed Anathema out of the Top 10, Slaughterhouse out of the Top 20, Verdant Landscape into the Extended List, and Axiom Asterism into the Legacy List.
- Subsuming Vortex is currently the hardest rated level published by its verifier, surpassing Kyouki, which had previously held the title for nearly three years.
- The first victor, wPopoff, initially beat Subsuming Vortex with his microphone turned off, which forced him to rebeat it, which he managed to do roughly two hours later.
- Subsuming Vortex was initially created as a joke to make generic Top 1 Nine Circles levels, which were common back in 2018.[20]
- SeptaGon7's first preview of Subsuming Vortex had 'harder than [Sonic Wave]' in the title, which Subsuming Vortex ended up being way harder than Sonic Wave.
- The 66-100% portion of the level was split off into a separate challenge after the run was first done by jcak in 2021,[21] which was placed on the Challenge List.
- Subsuming Vortex was a former Top 1 impossible level on the Impossible Levels List (ILL).
- The level name is a reference to the Calamity Mod spell tome of the same name.
- Subsuming Vortex is often humorously called 'Submissive Vortrox' due to sharing a similar name with the YouTuber.
- beto completed Subsuming Vortex as his second ever beaten Extreme Demon and as a jump from Cosmic Cyclone.
- In the end, Subsuming Vortex did not surpass Unnerfed Sakupen Circles in difficulty, as according to the Global Demonlist, the latter is the #6 hardest level, while the former sits at #12.
- Purplix achieved 66-100% on mobile with 60Hz on 26 May 2026 after over 11,000 attempts.[22]
Videos
References
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eYG1ogJpIQ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG8K_d3rg4w
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p59lC61HnRo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNKg3-0LpME
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxMzVmONpoI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rT2jo6ZJ4A
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmaAw1Nc8LE
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H1-8Wp3pyY
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUEu3EEqKGY
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4tWww8YilI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tJ2O94h8G4
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaw_bVYRmUI
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIB2YjGs1GM
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4mG28CyHXA
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS68d2uttDc
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhRKJWV8Vfk
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xf3gj49We9o
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFUg0KBstuk
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eYG1ogJpIQ
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ZUChTiL1rGA
- ↑ https://youtu.be/peKGtlpIK4Y
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTPAzHyHs9w