DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 02/07/2020    Duedate: 03/05/2020

TROCAR ARENA

DM-54    TURN-380

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

URDNOT WREX
MASS EFFECT (332)
(54-3119) [12-0-0,143]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

URDNOT WREX                    IMAI
MASS EFFECT (332)              CRUX (352)
(54-3119) [12-0-0,143]         (54-3356) [1-0-0,13]

Popularity Leader              This Weeks Favorite

KORILL SAI                     URDNOT WREX
TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)        MASS EFFECT (332)
(54-3154) [11-25-0,58]         (54-3119) [12-0-0,143]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

TREES (340)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS BATHROOM (331)    15
2. BOOK OF THOMAS (341)        14      BOOK OF THOMAS (341)
3. TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)     13      Unchartered Team
4. CRUX (352)                  13
5. TREES (340)                  5      CRUX (352)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 0*CRUX (352)                 1   0  0  100   1/ 1 TREES (340)               6  3 0
 2/ 0 BOOK OF THOMAS (341)      62  43  3 59.0   2/ 3 BASH BROS BATHROOM (331)  6  5 0
 3/ 2 MASS EFFECT (332)         34  24  0 58.6   3/ 2 TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)   5 10 0
 4/ 1 TREES (340)               76  56  3 57.6   4/ 4 MASS EFFECT (332)         4  4 0
 5/ 3 TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)  509 444 16 53.4   5/ 0 BOOK OF THOMAS (341)      2  3 0
 6/ 4 BASH BROS BATHROOM (331) 108 112  6 49.1   6/ 0*CRUX (352)                1  0 0

    '*'   Unchartered team                       '-'  Team did not fight this turn
   (###)  Avoid teams by their Team Id          ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

                                    TEAM SPOTLIGHT

                                    Dark Stoicism

The giant sword cut a furrow into the dirt. The night's light reflected from a few 
patches on its slowly rusting blade, which rose out through an upturned mouth. The 
ricasso head stretched past a crossguard of outstretched hands. The stylized fighter 
handle stood on a pommel skull. Two beefy hands grasped the figure's body. The sword 
was massive, like the warrior holding it, called Stoic. The sword was sleek and 
battle-worn, the warrior was bloated and uncertain. Towering though he was, even under 
plates of armor, fat rolls peeked out. One might wonder if the cook decided to go to 
war while the soldiers stayed in the kitchen.

Stoic looked back. His manager, memory, had been there just a moment ago, but the tree 
line had misted over, obscuring the entrance. He shrugged under the weight of the 
armor and looked through his helmet. The moonlight was bright on a clearing in the 
forest. All was deadly quiet, night mist roiling. His sollrets clunking through patchy 
grass occasionally broke the silence. It would be serene, but he could feel eyes 
everywhere and the promise of death. This was not a quiet forest and certainly not the 
boisterous and sandy arena he normally fought in. This was the Dark Arena, final 
resting spot of the failed gladiator. 

                                        * * *

"I can do better. I can! Please!" Stoic pleaded but memory was unmoved. "My decision 
is final. You don't have the desire to live a life of war. You have not grown into the 
gladiator name I gave you." Stoic was on his knees, begging, searching memory's 
unseeing eyes for hope. Memory's mouth tightened as he let out an almost imperceptible 
sigh. He pulled the hood of his tight black cloak over his head, turned, and drifted 
away. 

"Wyvern, please. Surely you can save me?" The trainer put a hand on his shoulder. With 
Stoic on his knees, he and the diminutive trainer were eye to eye. An immortal warrior 
with many years and many deaths behind her, she did not harbor his fear of the 
unknown. "Today's fight is over. Tomorrow we will train for the next." She locked eyes 
with him, passing on some of her inner resolve. "Come," she bade, as she led him from 
the infirmary back to their training hall.

                                        * * * 

A biting pain seared through an exposed flap of skin on his stomach. His mind had 
wandered away from the fight. His opponent, a Dark Arena champion, had entered 
silently. An elf stood before him, two feet shorter, but standing tall and towering 
above Stoic by confidence and bearing if not physical height. He might have been a 
glimmering angel, moonbeams dancing on exquisite silver mail. The elf brought his 
needle-thin sword up, hilt to face, blade skyward, in honorable warrior salute. He was 
sure he had won, and everyone knew it. He had time to honor the walking dead. 

                                        * * * 

Old Wyvern snaked a short spear under his guard, stopping just short of cutting. She 
always used her deadly spear, even in training, such was her skill and control. He had 
a greatsword, blunted for training, but massive. "I can barely move it. How can I 
train or fight if it's too heavy?" He felt a familiar and painful whack from the blunt 
end of Wyvern's spear. "Don't blame the sword. Desire victory and the sword will 
move." She struck again and he moved to the side, not moving the sword so much as 
standing it in the path of the attack. The parry was unorthodox but successful. 
"That'll do. Now strike!"

                                        * * * 

Stoic tried to recall his training as the fight continued. It wasn't working. He was 
bleeding profusely. He fell back on his reserves of strength and willpower. Slash, 
cut, smash... the elf was striking every weak spot in his armor, inflicting damage at 
will. Circle, stab, circle, slash, circle, cut. Stoic had been on the ground twice 
before struggling to his feet, stumbling and throwing up defenses with little success. 
He felt frustrated and clumsy but kept defending. Maybe the attacks were coming more 
slowly...

                                        * * * 

The arena crowd was restless, only moderately attentive to the morning's rookie 
warriors. The sand worked its way between his toes. He was just a boy. His parents did 
not love their son so much as an arena bounty. Stoic was scared and slow and the man 
in front of him wished him harm. And harm he did. Stoic cowered behind his shield, 
without even a weapon. "It's better this way. Rely on your hands. I want to see what 
you can do," memory had said. Stoic was bruised and bleeding. His opponent was more 
tired than injured, exhausted, really. Under a slowly diminishing rain of blows, Stoic 
heard calls from his teammates. "Now strike!" They were yelling frantically. He peered 
over his shield to see his opponent, sweating, breathing heavily, grip loosening on 
his sword. The attacking gladiator overextended above his head, ready to deliver 
another hacking, unopposed blow. Stoic roared upward to his full height, at the same 
time sending his shield through the surprised gladiator's face. Blood spattered, he 
flipped once and landed face down with a thud, sword flying end over end to land ten 
feet away. The crowd gasped for a moment then roared. His team roared. He looked to 
see memory, gazing forward blindly as always, but clearly smiling at him.

                                        * * * 

Back in the night mist, he was tired and hurt. After a long fight, minutes under this 
barrage. It must happen soon. Stoic knew he would die. But he wasn't dead yet. He saw 
the elf circling, waiting for another attack. He saw the moonlight and the trees. He 
felt the watching eyes. He felt memory and old Wyvern and his team. He knew they could 
see. He felt his opponents and all the gladiators in him for this moment. He felt his 
parents, who only saw in him a mouth to feed. He saw the high elf, still glistening, 
now with sweat -- still looking down on Stoic -- looking down not with haughty 
indignation as before, but the desperation of a man trying to chop down a stone tower 
and just realizing his error. Stoic saw not confidence but desperation. For the first 
time, resignation gave way to fury. "Strike Now," he heard in his mind.

The elf leapt forward, blade flashing. Stoic spun to his right, pulling the massive 
blade in his wake. The elf and his blade shot through the spot Stoic had been, then 
turned back in disbelief at the unexpected life in his easy quarry. "Strike Now," 
Stoic thought, as he continued his spin, continued his fury, pulling the blade full 
circle, letting out a roar that called all the judging eyes to witness.

The blade felt warm in his hand. He struggled to catch his breath. The arc of the 
blade had pulled him another half circle away from his opponent. He looked back at the 
elf, ready for the next attack. The elf's body stood, head lying on its shoulder, neck 
detached entirely where the blade had hewn through. The head's eyes were still open, 
judging differently now, askew. Immortal these Dark Arena champions were, and 
immortality makes death an odd thing. Stoic fell to his knees, sobbing. The fight was 
over. And it might never end. 

                                          -- memory

                                      SPY REPORT

     Oh, hi.  Its just little 'ol Debby Tonte.  Thought I'd check out TROCAR to see 
what's new.  MVP award for DILIAN HALLIE?  TRADERS OF TROCAR's proud of her after 
beating SPECIES 37 and getting 17 points.  Talk about yer major upsets!  SPECIES 37's 
match with DILIAN HALLIE cost him a loss of 12 points!  This Duelmaster is like 
something else!  URDNOT WREX stopped YEW dead in hers tracks!  I hear the top team 
insists all their warriors get nine hours sleep.  They want photogenic fighters for 
PR photos.   
     I gotta admit I haven't been in "deep con caves" with any spies.  Really, I just 
wing this stuff.  TREES was TROCAR's most avoided team.  Is there some award for 
that?  I don't know what BASH BROS BATHROOM's been doing.  They certainly haven't 
been accepting many fights from TREES, that's fer sher.   
     What does a fighter fight for?  I mean, the crowds don't give a hoot if someone 
gets killed.  Not after four more fights.  What if they had a fight and nobody showed 
up?  I'd be out of a job, that's what!!!   
     I really didn't, you know, study when I was a kid.  Who would've guessed I'd be 
a famous Spyreporter?  I'm getting tired of writing this stuff, so I'm calling it 
quits.  I had a fun time, see you later-- Debby Tonte  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 URDNOT WREX 3119             12   0  0   143       MASS EFFECT (332)

CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 YEW 3209                     15  12  0    98       TREES (340)
 OAK 3250                     11   7  0    96       TREES (340)

CHAMPIONS                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 RUSSIAN LULLABY 3213         16   4  0    83       BOOK OF THOMAS (341)
 ELM 3206                     14  13  0    75       TREES (340)
 WATER DAMAGE 3203             4   1  0    74       BASH BROS BATHROOM (331)
 CHINA WHITE 3214             14   8  0    73       BOOK OF THOMAS (341)

CHALLENGER ADEPTS              W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 KORILL SAI 3154              11  25  0    58       TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)
 FIR 3251                     11   7  2    57       TREES (340)

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 BATHTUB RING 3341             5   2  0    56       BASH BROS BATHROOM (331)
 DILIAN HALLIE 3328            7   7  0    49       TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)
 SMALL TAMER 3181              9  10  0    41       TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)
 SPECIES 37 3163               7   2  0    36       MASS EFFECT (332)
 JACK 3123                     8   4  0    34       MASS EFFECT (332)

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-LEGION 3121                   6   5  0    29       MASS EFFECT (332)
 LARKIN SAND 3344              4   4  0    29       TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)
 MAGIC POTION 3321             3   0  0    27       BOOK OF THOMAS (341)
 FALLEN TOWEL RACK 3319        4   8  0    24       BASH BROS BATHROOM (331)

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 IMAI 3356                     1   0  0    13       CRUX (352)
-THE ILLUSIVE MAN 3188         1   5  0    12       MASS EFFECT (332)
 DA'UD SHEEN 3348              2   3  0     9       TRADERS OF TROCAR (252)
 BAY 3351                      0   1  0     1       TREES (340)

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD                W  L K TEAM NAME            SLAIN BY              TURN Revenge?
HEDIES 3362             0  1 0 BOOK OF THOMAS 341   LONG TALL LEMUEL      380  NONE
SHEDIES 3363            0  1 0 BOOK OF THOMAS 341   MAINAKHA-TE ASSA      380  NONE

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Species 37 -- Are you endangered.  That's all I pay attention to. -- Korill Sai

Water Damage -- It's worse when you freeze. -- Small Tamer

Fallen Towel Rack -- Not a handy support in time of need. -- Dilian Hallie

Legion -- And there were a lot of you, too. -- Da'ud Sheen

The Illusive Man -- I hope I didn't do too much damage.  I had trouble seeing you. -- 
Larkin Sand

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

SHEDIES was butchered by MAINAKHA-TE ASSASSIN in a 1 minute Dark Arena fight.
HEDIES was butchered by LONG TALL LEMUEL in a 1 minute brutal Dark Arena duel.
URDNOT WREX overcame YEW in a action packed 3 minute bloody veteran's Title match.
OAK devastated CHINA WHITE in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
ELM was savagely defeated by RUSSIAN LULLABY in a dull 17 minute master's competition.
WATER DAMAGE devastated KORILL SAI in a 1 minute mismatched match.
BATHTUB RING overcame SMALL TAMER in a 1 minute fight.
FIR overcame LARKIN SAND in a 1 minute melee.
SPECIES 37 slimly lost to DILIAN HALLIE in a 2 minute duel.
JACK viciously subdued FALLEN TOWEL RACK in a action packed 1 minute gruesome fight.
MAGIC POTION overpowered DA'UD SHEEN in a action packed 1 minute gory one-sided fight.
IMAI overpowered BAY in a crowd pleasing 1 minute bloody one-sided match.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|AIMED BLOW                       4         TOTAL PARRY       16 -   8 -  0      67  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  3         PARRY-RIPOSTE      6 -   3 -  0      67  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   3         STRIKING ATTACK   12 -   7 -  0      63  |
|BASHING ATTACK                   3         AIMED BLOW        14 -   9 -  0      61  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      2         BASHING ATTACK    14 -  12 -  1      54  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  2         WALL OF STEEL     11 -  10 -  0      52  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    2         SLASHING ATTACK    6 -   7 -  1      46  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      1         PARRY-LUNGE        3 -   6 -  1      33  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         LUNGING ATTACK     7 -  17 -  1      29  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    1         PARRY-STRIKE       0 -   1 -  0       0  |

Turn 380 was great if you     Not so great if you used      The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles:     the fighting styles:          top eleven warriors are:

AIMED BLOW         4 -  0     LUNGING ATTACK     1 -  2         2  STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-LUNGE        1 -  0     BASHING ATTACK     1 -  2         2  AIMED BLOW     
STRIKING ATTACK    2 -  1     PARRY-STRIKE       0 -  1         2  LUNGING ATTACK 
TOTAL PARRY        1 -  1     PARRY-RIPOSTE      0 -  1         1  WALL OF STEEL  
                              SLASHING ATTACK    0 -  2         1  BASHING ATTACK 
                              WALL OF STEEL      0 -  2         1  TOTAL PARRY    
                                                                1  PARRY-RIPOSTE  
                                                                1  PARRY-LUNGE    

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
STRIKING ATTACK  URDNOT WREX 3119           12   0  0  143 MASS EFFECT (332)
WALL OF STEEL    YEW 3209                   15  12  0   98 TREES (340)
BASHING ATTACK   OAK 3250                   11   7  0   96 TREES (340)
TOTAL PARRY      RUSSIAN LULLABY 3213       16   4  0   83 BOOK OF THOMAS (341)
PARRY-RIPOSTE    ELM 3206                   14  13  0   75 TREES (340)
AIMED BLOW       WATER DAMAGE 3203           4   1  0   74 BASH BROS BATHROOM (331)
LUNGING ATTACK   CHINA WHITE 3214           14   8  0   73 BOOK OF THOMAS (341)
PARRY-LUNGE      FIR 3251                   11   7  2   57 TREES (340)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is KORILL SAI 3154.  The most popular warrior this turn 
was URDNOT WREX 3119.  The ten other most popular fighters were JACK 3123, DILIAN 
HALLIE 3328, IMAI 3356, BATHTUB RING 3341, SPECIES 37 3163, MAGIC POTION 3321, YEW 
3209, OAK 3250, WATER DAMAGE 3203, and FIR 3251.

The least popular fighter this week was RUSSIAN LULLABY 3213.  The other ten least 
popular fighters were ELM 3206, SMALL TAMER 3181, KORILL SAI 3154, CHINA WHITE 3214, 
HEDIES 3362, SHEDIES 3363, BAY 3351, DA'UD SHEEN 3348, FALLEN TOWEL RACK 3319, and 
LARKIN SAND 3344.

The following warriors will travel to AD after next turn:

YEW (54-3209) TREES (340)