MAILER Fall 2015 SPOILERS, COMMENTS, & HINTS

Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 8:29 pm

I got my first ever TV. Sadly it is a scum. My other 6 entries all did poorly. Most never made it past 2 fights, worst showing I have ever had excluding my first TV.
Grats to all the others won TV's & TC's!

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 4:30 am

Lugal_gg wrote:

I got my first ever TV. Sadly it is a scum. My other 6 entries all did poorly. Most never made it past 2 fights, worst showing I have ever had excluding my first TV.
Grats to all the others won TV's & TC's!

NOTHING sad about a scum TP TV - especially in Mailers.
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!
(We told you.)

Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:08 pm

I got my first dead warrior back.... and he'll be joining Life's Lessons at the table in North Fork! Cool

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:55 am

Street_Legal wrote:

I got my first dead warrior back.... and he'll be joining Life's Lessons at the table in North Fork! Cool

Congrats!
We saw that and are sorry to hear it. Crying or Very sad

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:19 am

This was a tourney I've been waiting to run for over two years. Ultimately it was all about rookies, but I did run a bunch of other guys, so I may as well mention them before the main event.

First the tourney fo the dead. One of my favorite times of years. Mostly my guys have been dead for years. As usual, the results were as unpredictable as ever (especially Dead Challengers). The warrior that I thought had the best chance of reaching the runoffs in my entire tourney went 0-2. The dead TP I had reach round 10 last year went 0-2. I had former Apprentice TC, TAR, come back in dead Adepts, cruising through until the final rounds. Unflushed, another former Apprentice TC, made round 10.

In the living tourneys, I really didn't have much going on. Only two warriors made it past round 8. One was Job, who has been there before; the other a Striker TV in Adepts. I had hopes for a Basher bust in Elgibles, but the writing was on the wall beforehand (before the tourney, not before the beginning of time because of his style). All the signs leading up the to tourney were negative for what I was hoping for. He went into the freeze: 25-12-15-21-25-14-7 with 211 skills. I went for the gusto and trained Gate skills leading to the tourney, leaving wit and deftness for the tourney. 1 Attack, 2 decise, 1 defense, 2 init, and 2 parry. 3 wit trains and 5 fights later, he was done.

But on to the glory... ROOKIES. BASHAPOCALYPSE! It was the day!
27 Bashers have been training for months, even years for this day. Added to their ranks was an arena replacement for a total of 28 bashers and 20 others to support them. The goal? Death and destruction. I'd set an arbitrary goal of 10 kills. I figured given the expected performance it was a stretch, but possible.

Round 1: 26-22-0-1. Not a great start.
Round 2: 27-20-2-0. Game ON!
Round 3: 21-17-2-1.
Round 4: 17-19-0-1. At this point, I'm a bit down. Eliminations are on and I'm way below where I'd hoped to be with this many wins.
Round 5: 21-9-2-0. Back on my low end expectations.
Round 6: 13-13-3-1. WOW! My heart is now beating fast. I need one more kill to reach my goal. WHAT A TURN! I also have 5 undefeated warriors left, including 4 bashers!

Alas, that was the end. I still call it a huge success and the sequel is funded.
My final record: 149-130-9-4, 6 TV's.
The bashers: 82-76-7-2.
Basher TV #1: 11-10-10-11-21-10-11 B, great/good
Basher TV #2: 13-3-13-17-17-10-11 B, norm/great
Basher TV #3: 17-11-7-11-17-14-7 B, great/good

No regrets. I had a blast! It was really hard not sharing with anyone that I'd pulled the trigger, but I kept quiet. Only my wife knew.

As expected, my full results were pretty bad, though closer to a final fight than I expected.

Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2015 3:29 am

What a doozy, Assur!
Way to go.
You are the President Elect for KAA.

Advanced Master Poster Joined: Sep 30, 2006 Posts: 473

They should have called this the tourney of Death. This one was brutal for me. I had no hopes for any of my AD warriors, except a freshman basher who made it to round 10 last tourney, but she got killed in round 5. All others did as I expected (poorly). My only hope in Challenger class (went 6-3 last tourney), bowed out with an impressive 0-2. I only sent a couple others outside of Rookies, but couldn't muster any better than 4-3.

I decided to make Rookies my biggest class, and to be honest, my best hope for a TV. Unfortunately most were sent back to me in body bags and my best showing was 5-3. Needless to say, I was disappointed. I had a total of 7 deaths, almost 1/3 of my entire tourney team was put to grass. Looks like I added a few to more to next years dead tourney.

The only bright side was I did get back one of my dead AB's who went 10-3 in Dead Adepts. I haven't figured out my win/loss %, but I be shocked if I crossed 40%.

And here I thought I was getting better at this tourney thingy Laughing

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:13 am

Hello all...
This was by far one of the most unique tourneys for me in quite some time, especially considering I only sent in 16 warriors.

Primus - I wasn't expecting glory, but my AB Masked Intruder has been making steady progress towards TVing the class having finished 6-3 and 7-3 in his last two tourneys here. A 6-3 in this class was a welcome result, but I fell short of my ultimate goal... a coveted Primus TV....maybe next time!

Contenders - I had entered two warriors here, but only one ran for some reason. Big Daddy Kane had TV'd this class several times previously so I had my fingers crossed for a good performance. BDK wound up going 9-3 here (TV #1) and had his usual issues with the top ABs in the runoffs. Congrats to D-Mob on taking this tourney!

Eligibles - Again, only one warrior entered in this class... Warhead. He's one of my favorite warriors who has been in a fair number of Freshman/ADM runoffs and I finally decided to give him a chance in this class. A big fat 3-3 for my ST, but I'm not sure you can expect more from a ST in this class or above.

ADM - Two warriors entered here who I've been working on for quite some time... Pompeii and Come Get Some who've each had "their days" in past runoffs in various classes along the way. Neither was busting but both managed a very respectable 8-3 (TVs # 2 & 3) and handled themselves admirably against some tough competition.

Freshman - Going into the tourney, this was the class that I had my hopes set on..... I wanted to bust my non-modded yet talented Moving In Stereo (AB) here, so I decided to give him 2 wing-men along the way... Beast Mode (SL) and Sue Weeee (ST) who would also bust. I ran one other warrior here named CasualtyIsMyCulture (ST) here who had been progessing steadily in this class and wound up a respectable 5-3. Irony would have it, the wing-men would outlast the AB (who finished 9-3)... the ST managed a 3rd place at 10-3-1, and Beast Mode would RU after fighting the eventual TC four times... having beaten him the first two fights and losing the last two. TVs # 4, 5 & 6 by the time I had finished reading Freshman... a little bit of a let down but I was pretty stoked at this point knowing I was in the middle of reading a good tourney.

Challengers - SideEffectOfAwesome was my only entry here at 37FE, so I knew his fate before the tourney started.... a 4-3 was a pleasant surprise given his youth in the class.

Champions - Again, only one entry here who I probably could have left off the roster... A Tale of 300 who turned out a 3-3 record. Nothing to see here, moving on....

Adepts - That's right, you guessed it... only one entry here. This was the other tourney I had high hopes for, having entered Heisenberg (AB). He's a trip 21 AB who has a few prizes on him and had shown me absolutely nothing in the past, but I had a feeling he was primed to do something in the mailer. Sure enough, he turned out a 13-3 record (TV #7), a 3rd place finish and managed to tack a loss on the eventual TC.

Inits - Two entries in this class LOL! Feeling You're Nuts got killed in rd 3 finishing 2-1 and MyCupRunnethOver (PR) came out of nowhere to RU at 11-3 (TV # Cool

and was my very first PR TV!! I think I found his OE/AL and weapon finally which definitely helped his cause. This was probably my single biggest surprise of the tourney which put a smile on my face thinking my best chances of competing for a prize had already passed me by.

Apprents - Yep, one entry here - ABeautyThatTerrifies (PR). I was feeling the PR thing this tourney as I usually don't have much success with the style, but I'm not giving up on it. ABTT finished 5-3 here.

At the end of the day I ran 16 warriors, finished with 8 TVs (2 were RUs and 2 were 3rd place finishes) with a final W/L record of 113-46 (71.1%). No warrior I ran had a losing record (even the guy who died went out at 2-1). For a tourney with no TCs, this was probably the most unique and fun tourney I've had the pleasure of reading in quite some time.

Congrats to the TCs and to everyone who participated!!!!

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:24 am

I realized I actually ran 2 warriors in Adepts! The second one named Choice Cut managed a very average 3-3 which is why I think I forgot to include him in the write-up! LOL

Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 11:34 am

My tourney went about as expected given I'm still trying to TV with off-styles of SL, PR, and PL. I.e., no TVs... Mad

I sent about 13 or 14, a bit less than I had expected, didn't get strats done in a timely manner. A few less dead than normal, only sent my 3 best from Sunset and my dead slasher from 5.

Of the dead, my slasher Soulstice, from Sunset, was my best hope, having gone 7-3-1 last year just missing the TV but putting him right at 30 FE for this year. He lost two of his first three then went on a run but was knocked out at 5-3 by the eventual undefeated TC. Now mired in dead challengers...
Only positive of the dead was the fact that my uber-bonused slasher Burnt Ocher who has been stuck in dead challengers for years now and hadn't won a fight in the bracket yet, much less even get to swing, actually won two fights! Out at 2-3 of course but I was astounded he actually won a couple. I figure by 2025 or so he should have a shot! Rolling Eyes

Of the living, had two slashers start off well in inits, one going 6-1-1 before running into the usual buzzsaw of the top strikers and/or lungers left at that point and getting knocked out. One 6-3-1, one 5-3-0, had another Sl die at 5-1 in apps, and one very good PR die as well. Just can't seem to get these guys over the hump. At least those who survived learned quite well, most are 21 WTers so I would hope but you never know at tourney.

Congrats to the winners, condolences to the losers and the dead. The sands giveth...and they sure as hell taketh away!

Posted: Thu Nov 19, 2015 6:59 pm

I thought I'd post some results from someone who's only been in the tourney for the last couple of years. I have no real pipeline established so my tourneys are generally very bottom heavy. I've achieved two TCs in my career and they were separated by twenty years or so. That being said, I sent my largest crop to a tourney ever. Fifty living and twenty-seven dead. I had a lot timed in basic tourneys and didn't want to hold them back. Impatience I guess. A lot of the dead were those infamous nostalgic entrants as well. Here's my breakdown:

Contenders: I entered three. Nothing to speak of really. I just want to max some guys and I figured the 15 fights of training couldn't hurt. 3-12. Awesome, NOT! Eh, more or less what you expect with a LU/PL/BA in the middle of contenders.

Challengers: A big skip in tourney classification. No real threats here, although the two entrants have 3 TVs between them. These two are prepping for TWX. 5-6. Not too shabby for 39 and 41 FE entering the fray.

Adepts: Another small skip. No champs worth running, at least not for the mail in. Sent 6 with one at 15FE. Couple STs represented the best chance going in but it as a LU who came the closest to an award at 7-3. 19-17 for the class.

Initiates: Sent 9 here with a couple from the grail team. Landed my first TV of the tourney as Minion of Darkheart Dungeon brought home his second TV with a 9-3-1 and 5th place (he went 8-3 in Apps in the spring mailer). He probably retires from tourneys until ADM at this point. Another highlight here. I nearly crossed the SL from my TV list but was thwarted in round 10. Initiates record was 33-25-2. Best class for me by win percentage.

Apprentices: Another 9 warrior entry. The best I could muster here was a ST going 6-3. Overall the class was an uninspiring 22-22-1.

Rookies: My largest entry. I feel it's easier to flood a mailer in any class and I had a lot of rookies I felt worth sending. In this class I had what I felt was my only real serious threat to TC but as well all know, rookies is a large crapshoot. Overall for the class I landed at 59-59-1-2 (losing a 6-1 ST) but pulled in two more TVs. Crow Helm of Crescent Shield was my favorite coming in and he only made it to round 12, going 9-3. The second TV was more of a surprise as Ramyl of Dark Constructs IX also went 9-3.

For the living tourney I went 141-141-4-2 with three TVs. That was slightly down from the 50.5% showing of the previous mailer but the award count higher.

The dead tourney, loaded with sentimental entries, was 72-74-4-2. Much better than last years 30.6% winning percentage! I also doubled last years dead TV count with a 7fe +8 WS and a 8fe Bullfrog LU coming back from dead inits.

Overall 213-215-8-4. Win percentage dipped for the first time since the return so that will be a renewed focus in Tempe. See you there!

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:52 am

Halloween Tourney 2015

Sorry that I am late with this. I had planned on writing a report. But timing is always the biggest problem. Finally, I have them and am able to recount my experience.
When I saw how thin the envelope was, I immediately became disheartened. Add the murmurings on Chatzy and the forum; I had resigned myself to looking at a bunch of replacement roll ups. This time last year I was losing warriors like crazy. Putting my name on a turn sheet was signing that warrior’s death certificate. This is not an exaggeration. Losing almost ten warriors in four months to the 2014 Halloween tourney and regular play is not fun. So you can understand why I might be a little gun shy when I see a thin envelope.
Advanced-These will be easy because the magic numbers are 0-2-0.
Par the Sliver – I really had hoped for a better performance for this guy. He is my one and only TV in the game. He got TVs in MIGT 17 and 18. But back in those days he went by Par-Salian. He even went 5-3-0 in the 2015 Spring Tourney. So, I was expecting more. Not this time. Tuna Salad of Parking Lot 4 and Almond Fisher of Medal of Honor 4 had his number. I shouldn’t feel too bad about his performance. His two opponents out ranked him by 25 and 50 fights respectively and one of them was a Blood Games survivor. My only complaint is that Par didn’t learn any skills. Seriously, if you are going to smack him around and take his lunch money like a kid at recess, surely you can teach him some skills.
Sturm the Brute- Can you tell that I was into Dragonlance back in the old days? He was simply called Sturm back then. Sturn is the Chosen’s more… boisterous character. Even going so far as to go to Aruak City and insult the citizens. Sturm was completely out classed this go around. His opponents were Zebzambezi of Philanthropists and Fighting Illini of Big Ten 3. The funny thing is that I thought I was being smart by putting Sturm in plate mail. He kept getting mowed over by opponents with his other armour selections. So, I thought it would help. Boy was I wrong! Both of his opponents were the same style and both showed up without armour. To say it was a slaughter would be an understatement. But he is just happy that none of his opponents were from Aruak City.

Koroshiya Ichi- I am still trying to figure out Koroshiya. His opponents loved him this go around though. With Steaming Earl of Sauna Time and Beast Mode of Deviation 6 . These fights were another case of being out classed. I have another idea for a strategy. Maybe I will eventually figure this guy out, but until then. I will enjoy tinkering with him. He is fun to play.

Adepts More 0-2-0 fun!
Halin Stormbreaker- Halin is another of my warrior monks from the Chosen. He is also one of the few living warriors I ran. Nothing really special to say about these fights either. He is 8-8-1 in regular play and went 0-2-0 in the Adepts. His opponents were Ceylon of Tower of Snakes (12-2-1) and Lhoris of Wrathmen 6 (0-0-0).

Marin Bleu- Why do I keep trying to make this character work? But here I am again running her. You’d think she would be a hell of a lot better with the ratings she has. But she still can’t parry worth a damn or attack either. Maybe she will get it when she gets her master ratings. Her opponents were Skeletor of XXX Bandits and Lodi Dodi of Doggy Style.
And now for the dead…
The Dead Tourney was my biggest group of warriors. Gotta keep the faith, right? You’ll notice that the numbers 0-2-0 pop up again during this entry. Every tourney I notice a pattern. The 2015 spring tourney was my “midget aimed blow” tourney. Either my opponent was a SIZE 3, an aimed blow, or both. The 2014 Halloween tourney was the “Slip past/ twist around the parry” tourney. This one was the “go 0-2-0 because your opponent has better skills/ maxed out stats despite having less fights than you”. But not all was doom and gloom.
Hope Dasher- One of my biggest mistakes! I was cocky with her and thought I could take out a VERY experienced lunger. The goal was to win duel master from him. I could have waited and won the title a couple of turns after, but I was young and impatient. Fortunately, she seems to be doing better and better each dead tourney. So I will see her on the sands again someday. I had better or there will be a maxed out zombie running around the dead tourney ruining everyone’s day.

Turn 1 Hope Dasher vs Born of Fire of Fear Factory II – Oh the humiliation this guy must have felt losing to Hope’s style. The odds say he was supposed to win. All it took was one hit and he was down. Hope advances with a 1-0-0 record.
Turn 2 Hope Dasher vs Shroud of Grim Fandango – Hope looks across the sands and see another of the same style. “I just beat one of your kind.” She says. “Yes” replies the islander from Sunset. “But I am not that guy.” And then he proceeds to spank her. At least it took TWO hits as opposed to one. And so, with checked ego, Hope goes into the next turn with a 1-1-0 record.
Turn 3 Hope Dasher vs SSG 2 of Medal of Honor HB – Hope got her groove back in this fight. Well kind of…SSG 2 caused Hope to drop her scimitar after one critical hit for extra damage and go desperate. She managed to draw her back up and break his scimitar. And that was the game changer. SSG 2 was too hotly engaged to draw his back up. But he was tenacious enough to throw open hand attacks at her. Hope just kept parrying until he realised he couldn’t touch her. And so Hope advances with a 2-1-0 record.

Turn 4 Hope Dasher vs Phlegm Pedigree of 101607I – Once again, a broken weapon. This does not happen often, so I enjoy the advantage. Especially since Phlegm is a warrior fighting in the Champion’s class with a regular record of 0-1-0. Phlegm Pedigree spends the rest of the match throwing himself onto her long sword. Ahringol himself stops the fight and whispers something about lynching the black smith who forged these weapons. Hope advances to turn 5 with a 3-1-0 record.

Turn 5 Hope Dasher vs Harvey Wallbanger of Hangovers- This was one of Hope’s more boring fights. Harvey parried or dodged everything she threw at him. She finally got a hit in at the end of the 4th minute and then finished it in the first quarter of the 5th. Hope is now on her way with a 4-1-0 record.

Turn 6 Hope Dasher vs Puba Shiv of 101607L – When I saw that Hope was in the tourney with a 4-1-0 record, I was starting to believe that she would at least make ten rounds. The old Hope was back. She was controlling her opponents and keeping them on their toes while she picked them apart. And then I saw that Puba Shiv was fighting in the Champion’s class with a regular arena record of 0-1-0. I knew she wasn’t going to win. I didn’t even bother to read the fight until I started writing this. And so, with a 4-2-0 record, she went into the 7th turn. There was still hope that she could still finish the tourney even though she wouldn’t win the prize.

Turn 7 Hope Dasher vs Waffle Head of Superior Forces 4603- My what a sharp battle axe you have there! And Waffle Head beat her with one hit! But I don’t feel too bad. Waffle Head was 6-0-0 when Hope met him. Surprisingly enough, Jack Ur Jaws! killed Waffle Head on the next turn. Hey! Jack Ur Jaws! How about some credit on that assist? Yeah… It was all part of Hope and my plan to set you up for your third kill. What? You aren’t buying it? Who asked you anyway! So ends Hopes run for life…for now.

The One- Hello 0-2 my old friend. I see you are annoying me again. And so the hopes of winning back a really good warrior ends. This warrior is special to me because she was the original member of the Chosen and my first time I designed her style. I didn’t bother reading her fights until I wrote this article. Mostly because her first opponent was fighting in the Champions Class and was 1-0-0 and her second opponent was 4-3-1in regular play. Ratings be damned! I can’t seem to win facing that. I didn’t even know she died on the second turn until I checked the newsletter to see if Waffle Head won a TC or TV.

The Man- Another 0-2. This warrior is also special to me. Mostly because he was learning skills back in the old days like people take breathes of air. Advanced master be damned! Yes, I said advanced master. I was actually expecting this guy to do better this go around. But when my first opponent’s regular record was 10-0-0 and my second was 0-0-0 in the Champions Tourney, I skipped this warrior as well and move on to the next because you know there is no winning coming out of this.

The Dominatrix - Say it with me...0-2. The Dominatrix was twin roll ups from the old days. Her sister got her invite two years ago. Both were solid designs and I have seen number similar to hers be successful. So I keep going back for her. Even though she went 0-2, I saw some improvement in her performance. This Dead Adept class was a wash for her. Anyway, on to the next warrior.
Stink Breath - Yeap! 0-2. Another one of my adepts bites the dust. But this was more of an experimental strategy. I use something huge like a great axe and she can go three or more minutes. She uses a hatchet and she is winded by the end of the second minute. That was one of the factors that contributed to her losing her first fight; “Tired and barely able to defend herself”.
The Hush- I lost the Hush trying to learn some skills before the winter 2016 Face to Face in Tempe. I was going to sit out for a few months because there was a tourney honouring a deceased player. But I could have used the skills. So, I fought one more turn. And then he was killed with two lucky shots from a broad sword. Battle Axes couldn’t kill him. Two lucky shots from a broad sword did. And the real p*sser? Remember me talking about losing ten warriors in four months? Well the turn sheets for the FtF were lost in the mail and didn’t arrive until the Monday after the tourney. None of my guys fought anyway.

Turn 1 The Hush vs Jubilant Jeff of Weird Students – And now for het apprentices. I think this was the guy from the 2015 Summer Face to Face. There were a lot of Weird Students in the newsletter. When I saw Jeff, I was worried because he had the mark (0-0-0 and 0-0-0). Even if it is the apprentice class, that could be the kiss of death. But he Hush managed to beat him. 1-0-0; on to turn two.
Turn 2 The Hush vs Cordial Cathy of Weird Students - The Hush was all over Cathy in the beginning. And then he appeared to be tiring. One more attack and he was struggling for reserves of energy. Cathy gets one hit in and the arena master stops the fight. Goes four minutes with a great axe but can barely finish one minute with a scimitar. The armour didn’t change nor the tactic. The only thing that has changed is that the Hush increased his con before he died. It seems raising his CON and filling out his turn sheet was the worst thing I could do for the guy. 1-1-0; time for turn 3.

Turn 3 The Hush vs Champipple of Off That Too - It’s a mixture of Champagne and Ripple. I call it Champipple. Champipple had the Hush’s number. God knows that opening shot to the face was brutal. But our deceased elf managed to pull it out. And now we are up to 2-1-0.
Turn 4 The Hush vs Cool V of Groove Holmes - This match was quick and easy. One hit from the Hush and Cool V (5?) dropped. The Hush then says, “Some advice for the future: Avoid me.” Big talk for a dead elf. 3-1-0.
Turn 5 The Hush vs Polar Bear of Snow Fort- Polar Bear won the struggle for supremacy and bound forward with intent on hacking the Hush into a bloody mound. The Hush managed to take the fight back and get off three shots to end the match. I have said it before; there is nothing more brutal than two warriors in a hatchet fight. 4-1-0; the Hush is off to turn 6.
Turn 6 The Hush vs Careless Cathy of Weird Students - Careless Cathy was all over the Hush like a cheap suit. He couldn’t get a hit in to save his life. He is at 4-2-0. I know it is over, but I am enjoying the fights. So I turn over the last sheet.

Turn 7 The Hush vs I Hate Lardomania of Democrat- And so I look at the opening statements and know that he Hush was done. The plate armour was a dead giveaway. The Hush gave some good shots and won every minute until the 6th. That is when I Hate Lardomania started attack. I guess being ‘tired and barely able to defend himself’ was the sign that he was safe and could attack. But I Hate Lardomania made it to 8-3-0. Congratulation! I also noticed Cool V made it to 7-3-0. Congratulations to you as well.

My guys will see your guys in a few weeks. Cool

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 12:59 am

Sorry it was so jumbled. But you can't seem to edit anything on this site anymore. Sad

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:26 pm

Didn't seem jumbled at all to me. Thanks for the write up! Shroud was my buy BTW. He was done at 2-3 so H.D. got the last laugh there!

Posted: Tue Dec 01, 2015 10:58 pm

Stik wrote:

Didn't seem jumbled at all to me. Thanks for the write up! Shroud was my buy BTW. He was done at 2-3 so H.D. got the last laugh there!

Well, I hope you get him back. He seems pretty good. I just hope I never have to fight him again. lol