SMG ABC Server: / discord
Now this one is pretty cool, first actual A press save in a while. So PurpleSun made a 1xA TAS of this star a few years ago, where the only A Press was to get off the pole onto the top portion of the ship. I didn't really think it was savable, but PurpleSun did have an idea where you get a lot of height from a shell, and then fire boost on top, skipping the pole entirely. (Note that if you're on the pole and get fire boosted, you can't move horizontally so you have to start from beneath the pole.)
After a lot of messing around, I managed to pull it off. The most annoying parts were getting the shell in the right spot to start the skip, and avoiding the actual pole while Mario is airborne. I did try getting it 0xA but I don't think you're able to get enough height, at least with the technique I was using. Still a very nice strat.
The rest of the star is relatively straightforward except for the fireball at the end of the level. Normally when you kill the boss, all the fireballs disappear, so you can't use them to collect the star. However, if you kill a magikoopa while their fireball is still active, then the game actually won't unload the fireball when the boss is killed. Presumably it's because unloading the fireball is tied to unloading the magikoopa, so when the magikoopa is gone the game doesn't think there's anything to unload, including the fireball which does still exist. Thus, you're able to boost off it into the star.
This still leaves 2 A Presses in the daredevil comet version of the level left - I doubt the pole is savable but maybe there's something to do on the star grab? Time will tell. Great start for Garden Dome.