New Orleans FtF

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2956

Ah yes, I remember round 7. I was so young and full of dreams.

My three 5-2 warriors finished up at 6-3, 6-3, and 5-3. All three 6-1 warriors finished up at 7-3. The only two warriors who made it to round 11 were the ones at 7-0 to start the day.

GAOLER of DUNGEON CELL was a PL bust-out in Eligibles. He went into the freeze with 207 skills and 35 trains. He trained WL twice to 25 in the arena and then SP to 21 (yes), giving him 221 skills at the start of the tourney. Boy did he look good. He was dodging and parrying and landing Superhuman damage SC crits all over the place. He trained both WT and DF to breakpoints along the way, getting up to 229 total skills before his training stalled out.

Going into round 10, GAOLER was 9-0 and was matched up again BOLD MR. WASABI, TMM's AB. The fight lasted for 6 minutes and GAOLER dealt a lot of parry damage, but couldn't land an actual SC crit on him. It turns out that Superhuman damage doesn't do much if you can't hit your opponent. At 9-1, GAOLER fought MAYHEM, TUM's LU. This fight was much quicker, as GAOLER was only allowed to attack once and it didn't connect. After three attacks from MAYHEM, two of which connected, GAOLER fell to his knees and the rest was a formality. At 9-2, GAOLER faced off against SKIDMARK BUG, TMM's PL. This fight lasted 5 minutes and once again, GAOLER couldn't hit his opponent. SKIDMARK BUG landed an attack every minute or two and slowly whittled away at him, until GAOLER exited the tourney at 9-3 with a TV. Congrats to TMM for going on to win this one with BOLD MR. WASABI.

My other warrior still in the tourney was KAPPA VELORUM, a WS in Initiates. He took a loss in round 9, but picked up his winning ways until round 14, when he was 12-1 and squaring off against ROAST BEAST, a TDO ST who he had beaten in round 11. This time luck was not in his favor. ROAST BEAST's first attack was parried, but his second SC attack connected with the leg and resulted in a knockdown. The remainder of the fight went as expected. Now at 12-2, KAPPA VELORUM was up against a Howlin Wolf ST whose name I don't have handy. Howlin Wolf's ST got a quick hit in, then got parried several times in a row into minute 2. But he didn't get tired and kept hammering away. Two more blows snuck past KAPPA VELORUM's defenses and he was done for. KAPPA VELORUM left the tourney with a TV, while Howlin Wolf went on to beat The Dark One in the finals.

My squad of 25 ended up going 86-81-0-1, earning two TVs and suffering the tragic death of a 21-21 PL. All in all, not a great tourney, but I couldn't expect any more with the squad I sent and me not in attendance.

Thanks to Howlin Wolf for proxying like a boss. Congrats to all the winners and to the rest of you, in the words of Sandy: suck it!

I'll see you on the sands in October.

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 2:45 pm

A report, albeit personal, from on site in New Orleans .....

The site is wonderful!
A fine, classy hotel.
So very much to do in walking distance.
Plenty of night life.
Lots of varying level of dining spots in walking distance.
CVS, Walgreens, convenience shops, Starbucks - all close
And that great New Orleans culture. (which means things were a little pricey)
Greatly enjoyed The National WWII Museum (spent appx 4 hours)

The event was very smooth (still finishing up as we write - 4 TCs done - all to be reported by someone else later))
First FTF we were able to be in bed by midnight Sat. (for those who chose to)

Consortium results? Feeble.
First ever FTF with less than 55% record.
54 entries (53 DM, 1 Contender)
147-160-0-7 (3 TVs) (2-12 Champions) (yes 7 dead, no kills)
(lost one 21/21WL LU and two 21/21DF AB's)
Thank goodness for Inits and Apprentices at 79-60

Tablemates - Crip and Mannequin - great company
Crip = 10 kills!
Mannequin = TC Contenders
Consortium = feeble

A really, really terrific time.

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 7:00 pm

Spirit and his good luck charm.

Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 8:35 pm

Otto_X wrote:

Spirit and his good luck charm.

He kidnapped her, didn't he? Laughing

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 6:08 am

Otto_X wrote:

Spirit and his good luck charm.

Rumor (confirmed) is that she devised all his strategies leading to 2 TCs!
In the DM world, that would be a keeper!

(How else could he have expected to gain even 1 C? Wink

)

Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2016 11:02 am

The Consortium wrote:

Otto_X wrote:

Spirit and his good luck charm.

Rumor (confirmed) is that she devised all his strategies leading to 2 TCs!
In the DM world, that would be a keeper!

(How else could he have expected to gain even 1 C? Wink

)

NICE! Congrats, Spirit!

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2956

The high points of my tourney:

I got my 2nd ever PL TV with GAOLER, a weird arena PL, in Eligibles. He was originally 8-10-7-11-20-17-11, ended up with nice bonuses and kept winning in the arena, so I ran him all the way to graduation. Upon graduation, I discovered very nice favorites, so kept running him. He failed to TV on his ADM bust-out, but had enough left in the tank to earn a 9-3 Eligibles TV. He'll now prep for Contenders and then eventually become part of my Primus stylemaster/King of Primus squad.

I had a deep run in Initiates with an ordinary looking WS, KAPPA VELORUM. I keep track of other manager's TC designs when they choose to share them, and I knew that Floyd had TC'd Initiates years ago with a 13-13-8-17-17-3-13 WS. So while I might normally have designed the roll-up as 15-13-8-17-17-3-11, I went with Floyd's design instead. Man was I glad I did. I think I benefited from stumbling on some of his favorites in the 10 FE leading up to Initiates. I had written the following notes on his overview: "SC crits with 8 OE" and "ripostes with 5 AL and no tactic". So I ran him with the SC and an 8-5 rhythm and he performed like a rock star. He came very close to winning at all, losing to two STs in the last two rounds to finish 3rd, one of which he had beaten previously in round 11 but who knocked him down the second time around. Thanks to Floyd for the design and the desperation strategy. I'm amazed at what a +4 Par 17-17 WS can do under the right circumstances and this has caused me to question my own design instincts.

I ran an experimental PS in Rookies and he was a marginal success. The design was 7-10-11-21-17-15-3 and he rolled up +1 or better Par, +2 or better Def, and +4 Dec. I was sure he would flail wildly and go 0-3, but in fact he learned Dec and Att and ended up going 4-3, beating some solid warriors along the way. He has earned himself a spot in a future Apprentices tourney.

The low points of my tourney:

I lost a 7-10-11-21-21-5-11 PL in Initiates. I've been making lots of great roll-ups into PLs, PSs, PRs, and WSs in an attempt to get an elusive TC with one of those four styles. While its a bummer to lose one, it'll give me something to run for the next decade in the October mail-ins.

I have gone all year without a TC. If I fail to do well in October, this will mark my worst year of tourney performances since 2008. Most of that is my own doing, as I've been expending resources on the styles that I have the most difficulty with, and I skipped both the January and July FtFs. But it still feels crummy! I have a good squad planned for October, so hopefully I can salvage something from 2016.

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2956

Tourney newsletters for day 2 have now been updated.

http://www.reality.com/ff57con.htm

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2956

The TCs, RUs, and Bloodfeud graduates are:

Primus: LITTLEST TYRANT (TMM AB)/R IS FOR REPUGNANT (TUM AB)
Contenders: DICKY V GOES POSTAL (Mannequin AB)/ALICE BLUE (TUM AB)
Eligibles: BOLD MR. WASABI (TMM AB)/MAYHEM (TUM LU)
ADM: TAKANOHANA (Otto X PL)/UGAMUGGAH (TUM LU)
Freshmen: E-X (Spirit AB)/FLYING PIG (TDO TP)
Challengers: BEEMO (TMM PR)/PIMPLED NINNY (TMM AB)
Champions: DERMAL GRABBER (DMob LU)/ERNIE ERNESTO (HW ST)
Adepts: WORTH THE WAIT (TMM LU)/DALOBEAD (Kharadmon ST)
Initiates: HEY BUDDY (HW ST)/ROAST BEAST (TDO ST)
Apprentices: SANDY (Spirit LU)/MAFIA FALLACY (DMob LU)
Rookies: DARKSTAR (Floyd ST)/SPORKUS (TDO SL)

FtF Bloodgames:
HAPPY-GO-LINTY 98-5440 (TUM AB)
MEGATRON 98-5287 (TMM BA)
TRUMAN OLSON 98-5377 (Anarchist TP)

MI Bloodgames:
DRAUGHT 99-5783 (Hollowshade ST)
POISONED APPLE 99-5786 (Hollowshade WS)
RACOON 99-6151 (JE LU)

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2956

Small correction to my tourney report, for the sake of posterity:

I had the attributes slightly wrong for my one death in the tourney. The correct attributes are 9(2)-9-10-21-21-5-11 PL.

Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2016 11:14 am

By far the most enjoyable FTF experience I've ever had. The combination of a fun tournament (Did not have a losing round until DEEP in the runnoffs (round 16 I believe), had 3 runner ups and a 67% W/L) and a great location made it the most fun I've had at a FTF.

The hotel was great, food was great, hanging with the nerdmigos... also great.

Next year will be hard pressed to come close!

Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2016 5:53 pm

This will be my first attempt at a tourney write up. Hopefully it won't be my last...

Going into the tourney I decided to try my hand at my first bust. I haven't even done a practice one but I really wanted this prize. I think it's a very powerful prize. I have several in the ADM classes that are soooooo close to busting but just not quite there. I felt the same about my Freshman AB E-X. He was created in the 90s as a bit of an experiment starting with a 20 wt and 20 wl. Thus the name, E-X. Original, I know! This is what he looked like going in: 17(5) 12(5) 12 20 15(6) 4 20. Good/Good. 35 Attack, 28 Def. His fave weapon is the EP. Wasn't gonna use that thru the tourney so I went with the trusty SC. He also never seemed to do well open handed so I didn't plan on going that route. For the last year I've been trying to get his ST up one more in hopes of Great damage. He just couldn't get another raise and I grew tired of trying so I threw him in the mix. It did put him at 102FE which could very well of helped in the tourney. I wanted to get seven trains between WT and DF so he'd have a GM attack before the end of the tourney. He got his first two trains post freeze but failed on his third. Getting 5 during the tourney was doable but with his WL it would be a challenge. He won his first fight so off to a good start. He then lost his second to another AB named Inny Meanie. At this point it's too early to tell what's going on cause Inny Meanie beat him soundly. Lucky for me Firehydrant Defiler killed Inny Meanie in round 4 so I didn't have to worry about him anymore. Sorry, Inny Meanie. He didn't get his second loss until round 11 where he was beaten by Women at the Well. A very talented warrior I'm sure we'll see plenty of in the future. Come the end of round 12 there were three of us left. Flying Pig, Depp and E-X. Considering what Woman at the Well did to E-X I was worried about Dr F's LU, Depp. Flying Pig is TDO's Uber Scum so I was less worried there. The match ups were right though. I had a stand in while the LU and TP were matched up. I figured the TP should take out the LU then I should take out the TP. Looking pretty good at that moment and that's how it played out. However, there was an input error for Depp and that threw him back in the mix. Now the LU got the stand in and I had to fight Flying Pig. If things went as I figured I'd have to fight the LU in the title fight now. Not feeling as confident. As fate would have it there was yet another input error this time on Flying Pig. So now Flying Pig gets the stand in and I have to fight Depp. I was a bit stressed at this point as I'm sure some can attest, especially Dr F! Next turn fights are ran and Flying Pig beat the stand in and E-X was the winner over Depp. Dr F came and congraulated me and I think he took my pulse at the same time. Lol. Considering I had never TC'd I was really wanting this. The prize had become secondary. I knew I had the edge but E-X still had to beat TDO's uber scum who had parried almost everything E-X had thrown at him in their prior fight. Good thing E-X had gotten his seventh overall stat raise between WT and WL thus giving him his Grand Master Attack. I had varied my aim location but for this last fight I figured the quickest way to end it is to aim for the head. So I did. Flying Pig parried almost everything I had even with the high attack. Thankfully E-X got some good shots in and finished the fight with a couple to the head. Flying Pig went down and Spirit got his first TC! Yay Spirit! I wasn't done yet as I had a knacky lunger still alive in Apps...
Sandy of Lovely Ladies is my LU in apps who was undefeated thru most of the tourney. I also have a warrior on that team named Lee but she didn't roll as well. Lol Sandy is 9(1) 12 10 17 21 5 11. Good/Good. Started Good/Normal but I bumped her ST once for the SS and it also increased her damage. Without Good damage I don't think she could of done near as well. I'm slowly going from my old ways of making skill whores and I'm mixing in physicals too. This old dog is learning some new tricks. Lol Sandy went undefeated thru round 11 and was the only undefeated left until 12 when she lost to a nasty Striker named Studio Conveyor. That's ok cause she's learning well and has overcame a lot to get where she is. Who I didn't want her to face was GentleBens warrior, S.N.A.F.U. I had two other warriors lose to him earlier in the tourney. He also has two kills! He's nasty! Round 14 he and Sandy match up and are they only warriors still in it with only one loss. It was a good fight but Sandy came out on top(keep your comments to yourselves!). Now there are only four of us left. After round fifteen it was Sandy and Dmobsters LU, Mafia Fallacy. Mafia Fallacy was 5-2 at one point and now here he is 13-2! Says a lot about the warrior and his manager. I was 14-1 so I had room to make a mistake. Boy did I need it! In round 16 Mafia Fallacy beat Sandy with Sandy only getting one hit in with her SS. There was a lot of attacking and dodging on both sides but Mafia Fallacy won. I knew I couldn't fight Sandy with the same strat. Sandy had just gotten her Master in attack but she needed more! More damage would help as well. So I switched to the LO and fought her with the L tactic in minute one. Only way I could have a shot at winning. Sitting in the chair for Freshmen was nerve wracking! Sitting in the chair for Apps was a bit better because I now had my first TC. Dmobster had gotten a TC earlier that tourney so he was good to go as well. The fight started and seemed like it would be more of the same until Sandy hit Mafia in the shoulder and knocked him to the ground. Yay L tactic! Sandy continued to attack and hit Mafia but Mafia wouldn't give up. I thought for sure he was gonna stand up and take Sandy out but it didn't happen. Sandy hit him enough times that Mafia gave in. Spirit had not only his second TC but second in the same tourney! Fortune has smiled upon me! After wiping the sweat off my brow and getting congratulations from everyone I sat down and tried to let it sink it. As of this writing it still hasn't quite set in. Of course I give all the credit to my girlfriend who was able to attend with me. She has to be my good luck charm! I don't see me ever repeating this success but I'm hopeful that it isn't my last TC. The weekend was great even without the tourney, being in NOLA and all. The TC's were just icing on the cake! I figured up my total win/loss percentage for the tourney and I was just under .500. You should see some of the crap I run! There were numerous 0-3's. More than I care to admit. Lol I hope I didn't miss any important detail in all this. Once again I thank all of you who have congratulated me. I also hope this wasn't boring to read. Lol Until next time, see you on the sands!

Spirit