October MI 2023

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2958

It seems there is no thread for this tourney yet, so I thought I'd make one.

- The tourney is taking place on Saturday, October 28
- Strategies are due on Wednesday, October 25, although they usually accept them for a few days after up until they start running the tournament
- The prize for all living TCs is one potion of Resurrection, Immortality, or Rejuvenation; living TVs get priority challenging in the arena
- The prize for all dead TCs is resurrection plus immortality on themselves, while all dead TVs are resurrected
- There will be stylemaster awards in all tourney classes for the nine styles that don't TC, and the prize for that is 1 ZAP potion, which can be used to re-roll a part of the favorites, a skill bonus, damage, or handedness (and possibly endurance now too)

Time to get those strategies in if you haven't already!

Good luck to everyone in the tourney.

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2958

Some other useful items to know:

- arenas with due dates of Thursday October 26 and earlier run BEFORE the tourney
- arenas with due dates of Friday October 27 and later run AFTER the tourney
- there is no longer a basic freeze; warriors fight in classes based on their FE on the day of the tourney

Unchartered Poster Joined: Oct 07, 2012 Posts: 38

There will be stylemaster awards in all tourney classes for the nine styles that don't TC, and the prize for that is 1 ZAP potion, which can be used to re-roll a part of the favorites, a skill bonus, damage, or handedness (and possibly endurance now too)

I thought it was just a +1 skill are we positive it is more than that?

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2958

studcraft wrote:

There will be stylemaster awards in all tourney classes for the nine styles that don't TC, and the prize for that is 1 ZAP potion, which can be used to re-roll a part of the favorites, a skill bonus, damage, or handedness (and possibly endurance now too)

I thought it was just a +1 skill are we positive it is more than that?

It is in the tourney announcement.

The prize for stylemasters this tourney is one ZAP potion instead of one +1 bonus potion.

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2958

The tourney is running, so it is safe to preview my tourney squad. I was aiming for 55 entries, but after a last minute replacement showed up on a team that was already running and with two other additions because of stylemasters, I ended up with 58.

By style: 13 AB, 3 BA, 15 LU, 2 PL, 4 PR, 3 PS, 2 SL, 9 ST, 3 TP, 4 WS
By class: 9 Primus, 5 Contenders, 2 Eligibles, 1 ADM, 5 Freshmen, 3 Challengers, 1 Champion, 1 Adept, 12 Initiates, 4 Apprentices, 3 Rookies, 3 Dead Challengers, 1 Dead Champion, 2 Dead Adepts, 2 Dead Initiates, 4 Dead Apprentices

This TC prize is the weakest TC prize there is, so one can usually count on weak competition. While the addition of Rejuvenation to the old standby of Resurrection or Immortality is nice, it still doesn't rank up there with the January, July, or April prizes. On the other hand, the switch from bonus potion to ZAP for stylemasters is exciting, but I couldn't quite figure out what impact that would have on the tourney. With increased volume, but more of the weaker styles, does that make the tourney easier or harder? It probably makes it easier to TV, harder to TC, and definitely harder to win stylemasters.

The stylemasters did impact my tourney squad, however. I cut my 2nd and 3rd best ABs from Primus and added extra members of other styles. So my Primus crew consists of 9 warriors of 9 different styles. My best AB is going for a TV, 7 warriors are going for stylemasters, and one poor LU is trying to finish his SP training by next King of Primus competition.

I also added two dead warriors from my DM 18 team, in the hopes that they might win a stylemaster and I could use the prize on someone else on the team. They are a 9 FE 17-12-6-21-7-6-15 PR (with AEs in Rip and Att) and a 2 FE 7-12-6-21-15-9-14 SL (with an AE in Init and Good damage). Neither entry is bad, they are just long ago retired dead warriors that I wouldn't have run otherwise.

I haven't been going all out each tourney with new setups and fresh warriors, as I've found the relentless push to keep the pipeline flowing actually makes the game seem more like work than fun. So in April, I had lots of 0 FE entries, which led to having lots of 4 FE entries in July. That resulted in a big and hopefully strong Initiates class for this tourney. Of my 12 Initiates, two are 13-3 Rookie TVs from April, three are 8-3/9-3 Apprentice TVs from July, one is a Zombie WS that debuted with a 7-3 in July, three others are 21-21 LUs, and the remaining three entries are warriors who simply did well enough in the preceding tournies to be worth timing. This is probably an average class for some of the high volume managers, but for me, its about as good as it gets. I am very LU heavy in the class, but there is a sprinkling of other stuff with 3 STs, a WS, and a BA.

My second best shot is in Eligibles, where I busted a warrior that flirted dangerously close to the line. ALGENUBI entered the freeze with stats of 24(14)-20(9)-5-8(1)-24(3)-9-23(2) after a failed ADM bust and plenty of training in DM 102. He had 199 skills at the freeze, which is cutting it really close. In the post-freeze arena turns, he trained WL to 25 and spent two turns learning 6 skills (which included 2 Att and 2 Def), so is entering the tourney with 209 total skills. He is alternating DF and WT trains, so with any luck he can complete DF to 25 and then WT to 11 during the run-offs. He has not shown any knack prior to now, so I'm not that hopeful, but the FI favorite should help.

My third best class is Contenders, where I have 3 sandbaggers with 11 Contenders TVs between them, along with a new zombie AB who should be competitive and a crummy old AB that I am training over the line to retirement. In the past, I would've rated this class higher, but my Contenders got creamed in July with 0 TVs so my confidence level is low. I would love a good performance out of a few of them. I get a special thrill whenever my TP, SPARE ANCHOR, manages to TV.

And that's what you are up against from me. I have nothing but sandbaggers in ADM, Freshmen, and Challengers, and don't expect a whole lot from them. I only have a single entry in Champions, Adepts, and Dead Champions, and only a few entries in Apprentices, Rookies, Dead Challengers, Dead Adepts, Dead Initiates, and Dead Apprentices. Just enough to give me a chance and some fun reading, but not so much that I'm expecting anything.

It sounds like RSI was busy late into Saturday evening entering warriors, so this is shaping up to be a big tourney. Between the dead TVs and the living TCs and the stylemasters, I hope everyone walks away from the tourney winning something and feeling good about it. But for good measure, good luck to everyone!

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 2:00 am

Great read, OAB. appreciate your effort and reading it.

Unchartered Poster Joined: May 20, 2023 Posts: 18

I sent 80 or so living, 9 dead. All are in Adepts or lower classifications, with about half of the living in Rookies with successively fewer at each higher tier. I'm still getting my feet under me on the higher end classes, seeing what it takes to be competitive there. I expect I'll be more selective at the FTF in January, but for the mailer, I am very much looking forward to seeing how my strats and alt strats worked in the matchup game. Hoping for a few TVs and maybe a Stylemaster again following my New Orleans SM.

Can't wait to see the results!

Urmar/Obregon

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2023 2:12 pm

Good luck to all.
Hopefully, FEDEX starts dropping tomorrow.

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2023 1:49 am

FEDEX is in the "mail" for delivery Fri.

IT'S COMING >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2023 11:10 pm

FEDEX choosers were rewarded Friday.
Mailer NL included.