Yeah, I’ve tried out Crystal. I like it, I think it’s got a lot of potential. I like the improved performance, and the concurrency model. The community and ecosystem isn’t as strong, though. If I had to pick one right more, it would still be Ruby! I love Elixir too, for different reasons. It’s a completely different language, but with a similar style.
I had a look at Mirah back in the day. It’s like Ruby, with stronger, more static typing, that is designed-in better than Ruby’s bolted on typing additions.