MAILER Fall 2015 SPOILERS, COMMENTS, & HINTS

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 1:25 am

Please put any comments, spoilers, thoughts, ideas, hints, results, whines, shout outs, moans, praises, and whatever in this topic.
PLEASE

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 11:48 am

According to Khorvinus Lee has confirmed that the tournament is finished running...

Expert Poster Joined: Sep 03, 2013 Posts: 56

How many total entrants?

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 12:46 pm

We likely won't end up seeing total number of entrants until the newsletter unless someone goes and asks for teasers.

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 7:36 am

Another teaser from Chat...

Tournament was 2929 warriors...

Rookies was largest tournament...

Again from Khorvinus I believe... Seems like he has Lee's ear.

Oh, and tourney is printing...

Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 10:09 am

Thanks theDarkOne.

Now we play the waiting game. Mad

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 4:46 pm

FYI - FedEx is en route.

Posted: Thu Nov 05, 2015 8:55 pm

I thought i saw on Chatzy that some people had their results. Did I miss understand? Confused

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 6:45 am

I don't think anyone has it in hand but several know theirs is very close, thanks to FedEx tracking #s.

Posted: Fri Nov 06, 2015 12:41 pm

Ahhhh..Okay. I miss understood.

Expert Poster Joined: Sep 03, 2013 Posts: 56

Overall a solid outcome for myself I feel this time out. Roughly 42 entrants, all living, 6 TVs in total. 3 Apps, 2 Rookies, 1 Init. 2 LU, 1 BA, 1 SL, 1 AB, 1 PR. Worst showing was an 8-3. ) As for the overall W/L % I am unsure. Wink

I hope everyone had fun and got back some dead! Grats to the winners!

-Hollowshade

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2956

One Armed Bandit wrote:

Total entrants: 40
Class breakdown: 5 Primus, 1 Contender, 1 Eligible, 1 ADM, 2 Freshmen, 1 Challenger, 3 Champions, 4 Adepts, 5 Initiates, 2 Apprentices, 3 Rookies, 1 Dead Challenger, 2 Dead Champions, 4 Dead Adepts, 4 Dead Initiates, and 1 Dead Apprentice.
Style breakdown: 9 AB, 2 BA, 6 LU, 3 PL, 2 PR, 2 PS, 4 SL, 8 ST, 2 TP, and 2 WS.

Going into the tourney, I knew I had a number of remote chances of winning, but no single entry that I could pin my hopes on. I felt that my best classes were Freshmen and Champs, with Contenders and ADM my next best. In Freshmen, I was busting a SL and a LU and that class has traditionally been one where I am strong. In Champions, I had three good entrants: a Dec favorite learn 17-17-x-21 AB, a SL who had previously TV'd Inits and Adepts, and a stat-switch LU who had previously TV'd Inits before I mistimed him and missed Adepts. In Contenders, I felt that my SZ 19 LU Shewish Whaler was finally competitive and in ADM, I was busting a 21-21 AB with less than desirable physicals. Nothing to write home about, but I had enough chances that I hoped one of them would pan out.

Primus

My expectations in this class are very low. I have no competitive ABs at this level, but I run my King of Primus team each tourney to prepare them for the next contest.

By my standards, this class was a success! A number of my warriors did better against ABs than they normally do, by hitting a couple of them and knocking them down. It makes me think that the overwhelming power of ABs at the top end is slowly being chipped away. The real success story was my PS, Axe Murderer, who managed to go 2-3. Only three PS ran in the class for a combined record of 4-11. I checked with the owner of one of them and he went 1-4 (meaning the 3rd is also 1-4), so that makes my 2-3 the PS stylemaster!

Small victories...

Contenders through Challengers

I thought about going class by class through this section, but I figured it would be too depressing.

My Contender went 5-3. My Eligible bust-out went 5-3. My ADM bust-out went 4-3. My Freshmen bust-outs went 4-3 and 0-2. My Challenger went 5-3.

Years of prepping bust-outs only have them all wash out. That is the risk you take, though, when you set up a warrior to have one chance at a tourney class. At least the Contender and Challenger get to fight again next tourney.

Champions

At this point in the tourney, I was feeling pretty terrible. Champions is at the tail end of my tourney sweet spot (the group of classes where I seem to do well) and so far I didn't have a single TV, let alone a finals fight.

I had felt optimistic about my Champs when I filled out their strategies, but as the tourney approached I grew less and less confident. In Chatzy, it was revealed that TDO was sending a strong Champs crew including some killer STs and a prize-modified AB. At the last minute, Spirit decided to enter a prize modified LU who had already gotten one runner-up. I posted details about one of my Champs entries in Chatzy, Finger Sandwich, a SL who had gone 8-3 in Initiates and 12-3 in Adepts. Mgr predicted that he would go 4-3. My confidence was at an all time low heading into the first round of Champions.

My Champs got off to a good start. The Dec learn AB looked good, and his anti-ST strategy worked more often than not. He had a strong showing but came up just short of a TV at 7-3-1. My stat-switch LU did even better, lunging and dodging his way to a TV but at the end of the day he met his match with Spirit's LU. He went 1-2 against Spectre in the run-offs and finished the tourney at 10-3.

Finger Sandwich of Shewish Buffet is a natural 11-9-5-21-17-14-7 SL, a product of the replacement pool. He required a ST train early on to pick up normal damage and his physicals held him back in Apprentices, but his learning and bonuses were able to compensate by Initiates. Decise favorite learn and +4 Att, he managed a low end TV in Initiates and finally broke out in Adepts where the scum have stopped running.

Finger Sandwich beat a SL and a LU in rounds 1 and 2, but he suffered his first setback in round 3 with a loss to a ST. Over the next 6 rounds he set things right, beating 2 STs, 2 LUs, 1 PR and 1 AB, making him 8-1 going into round 10. A TV was assured so long as he didn't die.

In round 10, he faced what would later become my LU's downfall, Spectre of Spirit's Realm 2. Finger Sandwich got the jump but threw a normal which hit, then threw a crit which got dodged, riposted and he was beaten with a LO crit, leaving my warrior at 8-2.

The next three rounds were a blur, as Finger Sandwich beat a ST, a LU, and Mordant Deserter. When things slowed down, there were just two warriors left, my SL at 11-2 and Spectre at 12-1, who had already beaten my SL once AND eliminated my LU from the run-offs. I prepared myself for the runner-up, but Finger Sandwich had other ideas. One HA crit and the first fight was over. Now they were evened up at 12-2 each. The next match went exactly the same. One HA crit and the second fight was over.

I could hardly believe it, but my natural SL had TC'd Champions. He is my second Slasher TC and my third Champions TC, making SL my 5th best performing style (behind AB, LU, ST, and TP) and Champions tied for my 4th best tourney class with Challengers (behind Eligibles, ADM, and Freshmen).

Tough break for Spirit who had a great warrior contesting the finals. Hopefully this isn't the last we see of his LU.

Adepts through Rookies

0 TVs in these classes. I guess I need to look elsewhere for my next TC hopefuls!

Dead Challengers

I entered one sentimental warrior into this class, a 9-5-11-21-17-6-15 ST who was tied for my first TC by winning Champions in April 2009. If he won his way back to life, he would have very little tourney future, but I thought he deserved better than to languish in my dead pile for the next decade.

He had already reached 163 total skills and was training physicals. Over the course of the tourney he picked up a WL train, a ST train, and 3 CN trains, giving him a damage bump, an endurance bump, a carry capacity bump, and two hit point bumps! Footpad (formerly named Prisoner A74) had a great run, but came up just short of the finals at 12-3. Even though he has little future, it was great to see him run, be successful, and I'll probably continue to run him in Challengers for as long as I'm able.

Dead Adepts through Dead Apprentices

A couple of warriors came close with 7-3 and 6-3 performances, but luck was not with them.

----------

When the sands settled, my 40 entrants went 157-115-2-4 for a 58% win rate, winning 3 awards and a consolation prize (one Champs TC, one Champs TV, one Dead Challengers TV, and the Primus PS stylemaster). If it weren't for Champions, I would've had a terrible tourney, but that one class made it into a great one.

Congrats and condolences to Spirit on his runner-up. Congrats to all the winners and those who got valued warriors back from the dead.

I won't be attending Tempe, but will send 15-20 warriors by proxy and will eagerly follow along online. I'm already looking forward to it!

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 9:18 am

I'll do my write up later this week, but here are what I have for manager/styles for the final fights

Primus: TMM's Little Girl Crush (AB) over TMM's John Ashcroft (AB)
Contenders: DMobster's Calavera (AB) over TMM's Scootie Puff Jr (AB)
Eligibles: TUM's Immolation (WS) over Mannequin's Three Blind Weiss (WS)
ADM: Mannequin's Khitai (PL) over Chief Illiniwek's Anton Chigurh (AB)
Freshmen: Kharadmon's B'Ziadul (LU) over Marmaduke's Beast Mode (SL)
Challengers: Khisanth's Diamondback (LU) over TUM's Soft 'N Chewy (AB)
Champions: OAB's Finger Sandwich (SL) over Spirit's Spectre (LU)
Adepts: DMobster's Saucy Alcohol (ST) over Khisanth's Mr Wiggles (AB)
Initiates: TMM's Dark Miasma (LU) over Marmaduke's Mycup Runneth Over (PR)
Apprentices: Howlin Wolf's Peperomia Pizza (LU) over DMobster's Slug Laxity (LU)
Rookies: Lg Guillotine's Punka (WS) over TDO's Henchman (SL)

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 2:53 pm

I ran a whopping 4 guys... 2 living, 2 dead. The only one worth mentioning was a ST in dead champs who went 7-3-3. One fight away from being an extra in the walking dead...

Unchartered Poster Joined: Aug 27, 2006 Posts: 47

Damn, three kills is pretty impressive, Jack.