Tourney of the Dead

Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:48 pm

Here is to hoping it happens this time. Very Happy

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2957

This is a little like the telephone game, but Spirit got a copy of the announcement in the mail and typed some of it in chat.

Prize is Young Frankenstein: 'You can take two dead warriors and create one Young Frankenstein using the best qualities of those two warriors: style, attributes, skill bonuses, favorites, etc. The resulting immortal warrior may be used as a replacement on any of your teams. It will be a rookie and must be 'in bounds' no style mismatch, etc.'

Lots of et ceteras, but at first glance, it looks similar to the old Frankenstein except:

- warriors must start at 0 FE with no learns (no starting at 20 FE with sick learning curves)
- managers can't trigger a graduation and sneak a peak at favorites before deciding whether to use a warrior (since both warriors must be dead)
- can't get out of bounds favorites (out of bounds bonuses were already prohibited last time)
- get to use dead guys or have to kill off living guys to use
- gained immortality

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:08 pm

I bet Lee will post a pdf in the next week or so, but here's a link to a pic of the announcement.

http://imgur.com/ZqpIn6n

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2014 6:05 pm

I would love to win this. Oh man I would love to win this!!!

But I have a question; does that mean the two warriors you took the stats from are gone forever?

Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 12:49 am

Compared to other prizes offered, we are sort of approximately ambivalent about this one.

Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:41 am

I'd love to win it too, I already know what I'd do... end up with a devastating damage, normal endurance 21WT Basher with at least 3 starting Experts. Do you think "out of bounds" favorite weapons would be allowed? Like LU weapons on this Basher, for instance?

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2957

I sent two questions to Lee regarding the tourney prize a few days ago, and I received a reply tonight.

Q: The story portion of the announcement states "Take two dead guys, just normal guys with no special enhancements, no potions or that kind of stuff", but there is no mention of natural or unnatural warriors in the prize text. Should we assume that only natural warriors will be allowed to be used as part of Young Frankenstein?

A: You are correct that only unmodified warriors can be part of a Frankenstein.

Q: The story portion also includes a bit, "What about total stats? Do they, like, have to be just eighty four points, or can they be higher?" This seems to imply that you can mix and match attributes, so long as the result is 84 points. Can you mix and match or must a player pick one entire set of attributes?

A: As far as the attributes go, I guess it's okay to mix and match them, too. It wasn't my original intent but it was Judith's idea and it's interesting. So long as the end result adds to 84 points, it does add a little extra element to the prize. The bonuses will be added to a mode roll of the new attribute/style combo, so we still don't risk any out-of-bounds warriors. And it will give managers with fewer dead warriors more options, and gives the prize an additional dimension. So I think it's a good addition.

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:09 pm

But does it mean that he warriors you take stats from disappear?

Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:30 pm

Hate to say it but the mix-n-match is still ambiguous. Does it mean that you can pick the ST from one guy and CN from the other, or can you rearrange the numbers like a stat-switch?

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:21 am

the way I understood it was, for example, say you have a dead guy 21-21-10-3-3-21-5 and another one 3-3-10-21-21-5-21, you can pick the highest stat from either warrior and have 21-21-10-21-21-21-21... but I'm probably wrong in my assumption...

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2957

Longshot - With past Frankensteins, the warriors used to create it disappear. I see no reason why this would function any differently than those. Assume that the Frankenstein components are destroyed.

Otto X - The announcement clearly states "using the best qualities of those two warriors: style, attributes, skill bonuses, favorites, etc." The only question was whether you pick which entire set of attributes, or whether you pick which ST, which CN, which SZ, etc. Lee has decided to go with the latter. There is absolutely no interpretation which includes picking one warriors SP to use as the WT, for example.

Jack - There is a stipulation that the warrior must be "in-bounds". Lee said, plain as day, that the resulting warrior must add up to 84 points. The warrior you suggested does not add up to 84 points.

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Mar 10, 2008 Posts: 1999

I sent in 7, no real shots at anything but my first foray back in quite some time.

5 Rookies, 1 Champ, 1 Challenger

Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 12:37 pm

I only sent 9 dead guys, and 2 live. Both good Strikers, since I've had better luck with them in mail-ins than at F2F's.

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2957

The tourney is running or has run. I'm sure it will be printing all week and FedEx delivery will probably arrive on Friday, with USPS delivery shortly after.

This was a big tourney for me. I had a lousy showing in the main tournament in Chicago, with most of my bust-outs fizzling and not even making the run-offs. I needed to compensate somehow. It was either up my game for October or buy a red sports car. I figured this was cheaper.

I sent 76 warriors.

Broken down by class: 3 Primus, 3 Contenders, 1 Eligible, 2 ADM, 2 Freshmen, 0 Challengers, 2 Champions, 2 Adepts, 9 Initiates, 12 Apprentices, 21 Rookies, 0 Dead Challengers, 4 Dead Champions, 3 Dead Adepts, 5 Dead Initiates, 7 Dead Apprentices

Broken down by style: 19 AB, 3 BA, 13 LU, 2 PL, 1 PR, 3 PS, 6 SL, 18 ST, 5 TP, 6 WS

My roster is a little more AB/ST/LU heavy than normal, although I did manage to find representatives of every style, including two Rookie PLs. I'm still searching for that elusive PL TV. No Challengers or Dead Challengers. I keep waiting for a worthy warrior for that class to show its head, but haven't seen one in a while.

The highlights of my tourney squad:

Primus - Just competing for stylemasters in this class.

Contenders - My most developed AB, a mode non-Fist favorite fellow who TC'd ADM named Royal Pretender is learning his last gateway skills over the Contenders/Primus line. He has been going 3-3 to 5-3 in Contenders for a while now, and I figured it was time to max out an AB for King of Primus until I can get a better one up there. I'm hoping for a TV in the class, but I wouldn't rule out far better or worse results.

Eligibles - Boatswain, an AB and former regular arena guy from one of my first teams in DM-18, is busting out in Eligibles. As a trip-17, he trained WT, WL, and DF to 21 prior to the tourney. Unfortunately, that just leaves so low percentage trains to try to luck into during the tourney. He has been losing in the bottom of the Primus arena for so long, that I have no idea if he is any good or not. But with +4 Def, SC and Lunge favorites, and his little bust-out, a guy can dream.

ADM - I have two bust-outs in this class. Kolactan Kabob is the better of the two, being a 21-21 LU whose roll-up I received from Manager many years ago. Scurvy Lady, a 21-21 TP, is the fruit of a stat-switch potion from a number of years back and is along for the ride. Both are entering the class with 191 skills and should top out around 215. They are not ideal for fighting it out with prize modified ABs, but hopefully their solid physicals and 30 extra skills will make the difference.

Freshmen - I'm running my sponge BA, Surly Deckhand, like always, but I don't think he'll fare well this tourney against the bust-outs. My real hope is my zombie AB, Buried Treasure, who is busting her DF. Unfortunately, she is somewhat flawed and at least one of her competition entered the tournament as a late grad, with a 20 skill head start on her.

Champions - One immortal Champ is my only hope in this class. Black Death, a 21-21 LU, has beautiful numbers but hasn't performed in previous tournies. Hopefully the favorites knowledge from his graduation notice will make the difference.

Adepts - My one hope here is Heath Bar, Apprentices runner-up from last January. It has been a long road prepping him for Adepts in a slow arena. Mediocre on paper, he looked awesome in the last tournament and in the arena, so I'm hopeful he can make a run for it.

Initiates through Rookies - I'm traditionally pretty bad in these classes, so I wouldn't dare predict success. I have some nice warriors on paper. It remains to be seen if I'll still think they are nice after the tourney.

Dead Champs through Dead Apprentices - I have some nice dead entrants, 19 in total (25% of my roster). No single warrior stands out, but I'd be happy to get any of them back.

Good luck to everyone in the tourney! I'm looking forward to reading the results.

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2957

I've had a few weeks to digest the tourney. Its sitting okay with me. Didn't make me sick to my stomach like Chicago, but didn't leave me feeling completely satisfied either.

Final record was 298-214-15-8, for a 58% win percentage. Out of 76 entries, I won 11 awards for a 14.5% award percentage. Good, solid numbers.

Previously, I had posted my hopefuls. Here is how they did.

Primus - My SL and LU did horrendous, each going 0-5. The only silver lining was my WS, who despite not being maxed out, beat 2 ABs to go 2-3. Didn't win the stylemaster, but gives me hope for the future.

Contenders - Royal Pretender went into the tournament looking like 25(17)-20(11)-13-25(18)-25(4)-7(2)-25(4) AB, with no Att/Def bonuses and a QS favorite. Having failed to be competitive in the class in previous tournies, I decided to turn on the tap and learn his remaining gateway skills. It served a dual purpose: taking a shot at this Contenders tourney as he learned past the line into Primus and trying to max out an AB for King of Primus 2 years from now. All told, Royal Pretender exceeded expectations. He picked up his remaining Defense skills quickly, went undefeated with his QS against defensive warriors and looked good with the Fist against offensives and other ABs. Royal Pretender made the run-offs with 1 loss, but the eventual champion would prove to be his bane. He fought Rockwell in round 12 and round 15, where Rockwell showed that he was the superior warrior. Royal Pretender had to settle for the runner-up. Congrats to Otto X on Rockwell's TC!

Eligibles - Boatswain did better than I feared and worse than I hoped. Following the freeze, he trained WT, WL and DF to 21 (4th trains). During the tourney, he picked up 5th trains in each of them. He ran hot, going 10-10-Lunge with the Scimitar (being a Scimitar/Lunge tactic favorite, it seemed like the thing to do). It worked great up until it didn't. He faced two good LUs who delivered three losses, turning a 9-0 beginning into a 9-3 TV.

ADM - I won't go into too much detail, but I continue to have erratic results in this class. My 21-21 TP eliminated a competitive AB on turn 2, but ended up putting up a mediocre performance in the end, finishing up at 5-3. My 21-21 LU beat the eventual TC, but was eliminated by another AB from the same manager to finish up at 7-3. Two bust-outs, no TVs.

Freshmen - My hopeful, Buried Treasure, was the product of a zombie potion and was augmented by a mega-ZAP (to Fist) and 10 learned skills (Defense). She was sitting at 144 total skills and 11 trains, with 20 Att/19 Def learned. Based on her attributes, it wasn't practical for me to set her up as an ADM bust-out (as the distance from 144 to the low 170s would be impossible to bridge in any reasonable amount of time without busting that 21 DF). So bust she did. She had gone 7-3 once before, so I figured she had a good run in her. She picked up two DF trains to 23 prior to the tourney, and finished up to 25 DF in the early rounds. At the end of round 12, she was 12-0, but things soon fell apart. Over the next four rounds, she fought two warriors twice each. Kulgan, a LU run by HowlinWolf, ran her over in their first match, but she was able to redeem herself in the second with a dodge, a riposte, and a well placed Fist. Latka, a BA run by Mannequin, proved to be her downfall. In both matches he swung first, and made it past her defenses. It was quick, if not painless. Buried Treasure, too, would have to settle for the runner-up. Congrats to Mannequin on Latka's TC!

Champions - Black Death, an 11-10-5-21-21-5-11 LU, had so far failed to perform in tournies. 0 TVs up to this point, so my expectations were tempered. That said, he had been learning great in the lead up to this tourney and I was able to time a graduation notice a week before the tourney with 29 FE. And then I read the graduation overview... Wow! EP, Lunge/Dodge, MO/VH, Def learn. Def learn I already knew and MO/VH I had guessed, but double-tactic was a huge score and it was nice to know why I hadn't been able to find his favorite weapon. Despite lacking 4 DF, I decided to use the EP vs light and medium armor. He couldn't do worse than he had in previous tournies. Once again, I am reminded why favorites knowledge is so good. It has been the reason for my success with two TPs in Challengers (although that knowledge came from experimentation and observation) and it turned Black Death from a 5-3 warrior into a 8-2 one with a chance in the run-offs. A win in round 11. A win in round 12. A win in round 13. I didn't know it at the time of my reading, but I was now in the finals. Unfortunately for Black Death, Terry Seymour was not easily impressed. Black Death got to attack 3 times, all of which were dodged. Terry responded with a blistering series of punches and kicks that left little doubt as to who was the better warrior. Black Death would win me my third runner-up. Congrats to Anarchist on Terry Seymour's TC!

The rest of my living tourney was uneventful. My Adept hopeful washed out early, and Inits through Rookies netted me three low end TVs.

If there was a silver living, it was in the Dead tournies. Orc Tenderloin, SL and former Inits RU, won his way back in Dead Champs and is preparing for life as a Challengers sandbagger. Baby Back Ribs, a 13 FE ST, went 8-3-1 to TV Dead Adepts and set himself up almost perfectly (19 FE) for a future living Adepts tourney. Blue Plate Special, a 4 FE ST, did one better and landed exactly at 10 FE after his 8-3-1 performance. Not bad, guys.

All told, the tourney was very exciting to read and all that was missing was a TC. The TC drought may last a little bit longer, as I expect to miss Tempe. Perhaps Assur can muster something with my small squad, but if not, I'll have to go all out for April.

The good news is that 11 different managers won the 11 living TCs. I know its just one tourney, but that is a positive sign for the health and balance of the game. Congrats to all the winners and condolences to all the runner-ups!