DM 065 Newsletter

DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date : 08/14/2019 Duedate: 08/27/2019

DAL SHANG ARENA

DM-65 TURN-707

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

HEADROOM
TRILLIUM (779)
(65-7665) [13-7-0,128]

Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader

HEADROOM A
TRILLIUM (779) WISE GUYS (781)
(65-7665) [13-7-0,128] (65-7732) [0-1-0,1]

Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite

HEADROOM HEADROOM
TRILLIUM (779) TRILLIUM (779)
(65-7665) [13-7-0,128] (65-7665) [13-7-0,128]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

SAND DANCERS (233)

TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. TRILLIUM (779) 14
2. WISE GUYS (781) 1 TRILLIUM (779)
3. KILLER TUNES (191) 0 Unchartered Team
4. SAND DANCERS (233) -3
WISE GUYS (781)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 2 TRILLIUM (779) 52 35 2 59.8 1/ 1 SAND DANCERS (233) 7 8 0
2- 3 KILLER TUNES (191) 168 142 7 54.2 2/ 3 TRILLIUM (779) 6 6 0
3/ 1*WISE GUYS (781) 1 1 0 50.0 3- 2 KILLER TUNES (191) 2 1 0
4/ 4 SAND DANCERS (233) %1598 %1697 51 48.5 4/ 4*WISE GUYS (781) 1 1 0

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

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

Duelmasters History 101...

Way back when...

I remember my first Face to Face experience like it was yesterday. It was 1991
and I just had graduated from Colgate University in May -- I was already looking for a
job and planned on taking a month or two to relax and get into the swing of not being
in school for the first time in my life.
At the time I was running two Duelmasters teams, the Devil Advocates in Arvat and
the Angels of Pain in Zukal. As I recall, Vengeance had JUST graduated in Zukal. This
was pretty much the Golden Age of Duelmasters -- when Primus was the place to be and
17/17 warriors were highly competitive in tournaments. People had learned many of the
'secrets' of the game, but they were jealously guarded and the competition was fierce.
It was also the age of newsletter antagonism, with many 'Bad Guys' in almost all
arenas and even 'Evil Alliances' like the Dark Circle in full swing.
Amidst all of that I heard that RSI had decided to try a first ever East Coast
Face to Face Tournament! In Baltimore! I had some gift money from my graduation in my
pocket and all of 8 guys to run in the tournament, so I thought it would be awesome to
drive down and check out the Face to Face scene. For years I'd been envious of those
who got to go to the Tempe tournaments, and now I'd get to go to one myself! I spoke
with Mad Mad (who, at that time was all of 18 years old and working as a gas station
attendant near our Mom's house) and we agreed. We were going to the Face to Face!
The following day we started making plans, sent in our strategies and figuring
out a meal budget that wouldn't break the bank. Better yet, a friend of the family was
a travel agent and she told us that Eastern Airlines (yep, before Delta took over!)
had a special round trip fare from Hartford to BWI for $79 that summer! Easily worth
the savings on gas, parking and tolls!
Just before the tournament I had sent RSI a request for a new team -- yes, just
ONE team sheet -- and got back a neat one. My brother and I rolled up the team, the
Erdman Brothers, and we each took 2 warriors and DAed the scrubby 5th guy. These
warriors became Teddy Brewster and I Backstroke, some of our most iconic guys. And we
eagerly started running, prepping them for the Novices tournament!
All said and done, I had 12 warriors set to run, including 6 mis-timed basic
guys, a novice, a rookie and several ADM guys including my flagship warrior,
Vengeance, who previously had been my first guy to break 4 wins in a tournament, going
6-3-1 in his Adepts run. I planned on buying some rollups and adding some rookies at
the tournament. My expectations were essentially non-existent, but I hoped to learn a
lot and have an amazing time. Just before the tournament a personal ad we had put in a
bunch of newsletters was answered and we got a call from a player looking for room
mate(s). To this day I can't recall the guy's name or much about him, only that he
knew Phido and at the time Phido was phasing out of Duelmasters and giving away many
of his warriors. This person had been given 'Spaceman Spiff' -- an up and coming
warrior of Phido's and he was willing to share numbers and info on all of his
warriors! We eagerly accepted him as a roomie and were looking forward to meeting him.

We flew into Baltimore early Friday afternoon and caught the shuttle from BWI to
the Inner Harbor area. Unlike some of the later FTFs, the hotel was very nice and in a
business area. We checked in with no mishaps and were incredibly psyched for the
tournament.
We sought out and found the convention room and from my recollection, it was
mobbed. RSI could probably provide more info on numbers, but it felt like well over 50
managers in attendance. All the tables were already taken up and we knew ABSOLUTELY NO
ONE.
Just then the hotel staff moved in a couple of new tables and we nabbed one in
the back corner, setting up our paperwork. At the next table there was a manager
eagerly looking through a pile of rollup sheets. He had bought 100 sheets there at the
FTF. I was stunned. ONE HUNDRED SHEETS??? It was like he had a pile of gold and gems
in front of him. We assumed he must have been a super-manager or something. And he did
have one warrior in Primus -- a warrior named Swiftdeath. Who he was very pleased
with. I think he started out 4-0 in the Primus tournament before getting beat up --
which we also thought was a mighty feat.
We went up front and timidly requested 5 rollups each... Which was as much as our
meager budgets could allow. Mad Max got a couple of good warriors (one was a 17/17
lunger type that was a good performer for him) but my rollups were really crappy. I
knew enough at this point to know that Wit and Will were GOOD and Size was BAD. And I
had 12 guys SZ 16+ out of those 25 warriors and not one of them could get 17/17 or
better. I filled the sheets out and was planning on turning them in and seeing what
happened. But first we had to eat, so we stashed our stuff in our room. Our roommate
had not yet arrived -- he was arriving in the evening.
(Segue -- I remember meeting everyone from RSI who was there at that tournament,
but only vaguely. I clearly remember meeting Lee and Kathy at the Orlando FTF the next
year -- but I was pretty intimidated by everyone that first year. I'm PRETTY sure I
met Sue. And Sandy. But that also might have been Orlando! My brother, being way more
social overall than I am, I'm sure met everyone!)
At that first FTF there was an actual 'Manager's Reception' with food and drinks.
It wasn't like a feast or anything, but I recall cold cuts and fruit and whatnot,
which was great for us -- it saved us from having to pay for a meal! Plus we got to
talk to some of the managers. However... that was something of a letdown. Most of them
were pretty arrogant and had zero time to talk to nobodies like us. I recall finding
out who Sharkey was -- and he pretty much ignored us. And there were several other
conversations which went like the classic Guardian quote, "I'm Guardian, who the F are
you?"
But we met one guy, even younger than we were, who went by Fewmaster Toede, and
he seemed like a nice kid, and the guy at the table next to us with the 100 rollups
was nice enough. In fact, as we were eating sandwiches, he started talking about his
'Quest' to make an army of SZ 21 warriors. His theory was that because size was the
one unchangeable stat, the only way to make warriors that were superior was to take
advantage of the 'extra' points of size and make good, big, bonused warriors. It
sounded like a reasonable idea at the time. He then went on to bemoan the fact that in
his 100 sheets he didn't get ANY 21 SZ warriors. He said that if anyone gave him a SZ
21 sheet he would let that person look through his 100 sheets and pick whatever they
wanted. I thought that was awesome! And I recalled seeing a SZ 21 in my cruddy rollups
I had purchased earlier -- so I ran up to the room to get my stuff. As I got there I
ran into our roommate! He had just checked in with the hotel and had gotten the key we
left for him at the front desk. He was unpacking his stuff. So we started a quick
conversation about Duelmasters, Phido's warriors and some of his warriors. He had a 3
ring binder with photocopies of many of the 'famous' warriors of the time -- E.
Hemmingway, Gypsy Moth... and then he had Spaceman Spiff who Phido had given him. I
remember looking at the beautiful stats. As I recall he was a SZ 5, 17 wit, 21 will
marvel... Which was way prettier than any warrior I owned except Vengeance. I shared
Vengeance's numbers with him and he was impressed. He predicted Vengeance would won
day win a Primus tournament! I hoped that would be the case! We talked a little bit
about strategies also, but I then grabbed my rollup sheets and hurried down to the
convention room.
As I went down, I sorted through the 5 team sheets. Sure enough, there was a SZ
21 guy! But wait! The sheet actually had TWO SZ 21s on it! Woo hoo!
I marched right in and found the guy with the pile of sheets. Proudly I showed
him the team of giants. True to his word, he handed me the heap of 100 warriors and
said I could pick whichever one I wanted. So I started digging through. It was pretty
amazing seeing all those team sheets. There were many warriors with 21 wits! To that
point the only 21 wit guy I'd ever had was Teddy Brewster. Mad Max had a replacement
warrior in 32 who also had a 21 wit, but he had no deftness and weird other stats. I
was tempted by several of the 21 wit guys. But I was looking for Spaceman Spiff! I
wanted a PL and I wanted one that looked like that!
Eventually I came across a sheet that had what I wanted! So pretty! A SZ 5, 17
wit, 21 will warrior with no weaknesses! I greedily took it and sealed the deal. I
filled out the team with a name I'd saved for this occasion... Satan's Kingdom! And
the new parry lunger became Rabid Moose! Tortured Trout on the same team was also very
nice, so I handed in that sheet and strategies for both for rookies!
Fewmaster Toede also found a SZ 21 guy in the rollups he bought and he picked out
a SZ 4 monster who also had 17WT, 21 WL and he made it a Wall of Steel.
I got Rabid Moose back and I was in love! 10-13-5-17-21-5-13 was his design. And
he rolled good damage (which even then I knew was lucky!) and had an Expert attack!
The only other warrior I had seen to that point with an expert attack to start was
Vengeance. I was ready to predict a rookies TV for me!

So the tournament started. Even though I didn't have anyone in the Primus
tournament, I followed that class with rapt attention. I also followed my own guys,
but was most excited about Teddy and Rabid Moose. I was eager to see how young
Vengeance would do also, but didn't expect much due to his inexperience.
The actual tournament was AWESOME. The hustle and action, managers shouting out
when they won fights (or got killed), and the constant output of turns. I tried to
hang around tables of experienced managers in the hopes that some would want to show
off impressive fights and I could see their strategies. And during the actual
tournament people were way more accepting of newbies and I did see and learn a ton.
By Sunday most of my feeble entrants had ben knocked out. Vengeance was hanging
in there in ADM at 5-2, which was great! My 2nd ever graduate. T. Deville, a TP, was
amazingly at 6-1 in ADM! Sadly, Teddy Brewster and Rabid Moose went 1-3 and 3-3 in
Novices and Rookies respectively. I still had a TP from Arvat, Sir Berus, sitting at
6-1 in Apprentices also as well as a TP at 5-2 in Novices. Sir Berus was a badly
designed scum type and the other one was a neat offensive type. Also my new wall of
steel from Zukal, Justice, was sitting at 5-2 in rookies. Mad Max had Teddy's Brother,
I Backstroke, in excellent shape at 6-1 in novices.
In Primus, some upsets had been going on and Donatello had taken some losses.
Mirage had inherited Teetotaler from Phido and Tee was doing very well, but Doc
LeGrand was having a great tournament and Gypsy Moth and Madam Butterfly were both
doing great.
At our table, Fewmaster Toede had several guys with an inside track to TV
including the Wall of Steel he got for his 21 SZ rollup. That one was named Fuzzy
Warrior and he was undefeated! 7-0! We were all very impressed.
In the end, my guys slowly fell like dominoes... Vengeance went out at 5-3, which
gave me tremendous hope for the future. Justice got scummed by Fewmaster Toede's TP to
lose out on a TV going 7-3 in rookies. Same deal with the TP I had in novices --
another 7-3. And my big surprise, T. Deville, in ADM getting taken down by Lethal of
Engines of Doom. Another 7-3. However my crappy scum, Sir Berus, just kept fighting
guys he could beat and went 9-1, for my first TV. Seeing as my personal record for a
tournament prior to that had been 6 wins, getting 3 guys to go 7-3 and a TV... I was
ecstatic. Plus, my new super warrior, Rabid Moose, had ended rookies with ADEX attack
and experts in parry and defense, which seemed like a great start for him despite his
3-3 tournament. I Backstroke was strong on day two and TVed Novices for Mad Max, which
was his first and made him incredibly happy.
Aaaand as the tournament wound down, Fewmaster Toede's WS was STILL undefeated!
10-0! In fact... he had TWO undefeated guys, as another of his warriors -- Flea -- was
also 10-0! I'm pretty sure Flea was a TP, but I'm not 100% on that after 28 years.
Toede asked Mad Max and me to help him in the runoffs and we were happy to be
included. So we scouted styles and found out what everyone in the runoffs was and even
got to look at some fights of the other warriors in prior rounds, scouting attack
locations, armor, weapons. Back then we thought we were brilliant doing this -- even
though it is so commonplace today.
Also from my memory, all the other guys were total parries. And though Fuzzy
Warrior (and Flea) had plenty of endurance, neither did much damage -- which made
victory a challenge.
In round 11, Flea fought another TP and was scummed in 19 minutes. It probably
could have gone either way, but he lost and was eliminated. Fuzzy Warrior got lucky
and fought a stand in. We were all psyched by that!
In round 12... ANOTHER stand in! Fuzzy mangled a Convicted Thief!!!
And then there were two. Fuzzy Warrior vs. a MIGHTY scum named Veritech Fighter.
He had previously won fights in 20-30 minutes and clearly had way greater endurance
than Fuzzy. And Fuzzy wasn't likely to take him on damage since he wasn't critting at
all and did normal damage. We got to look at two of Veritech Fighter's fights from
earlier in the tournament, one vs. another Wall of Steel. I noticed that around minute
12 the TP was getting tired and then getting hit by the Wall of Steel, but not enough
and the WS eventually toppled over from exhaustion. So we came up with what we
considered to be a great plan. We put Fuzzy in lighter armor -- ring or scale or
something, gave him a big weapon -- a GS, even though he was too short -- and ran him
super slow to start. 2-1-6 for the first 5 minutes, then 4-1-6 bash in min 6+.
Targeting the left leg to slow him down...
Then it was time... For 10 minutes the warriors stood, circled and did the
scumfest tango. Fuzzy made some attacks with his GS, but only landed one. In minute 5
out of nowhere he made a GS crit, hit Veritch fighter in the left leg and it was a
massive blow! We all cheered with hope!
Sadly... in minute 10 Fuzzy started getting tired. And we groaned.
But then in minute 12 Veritech Fighter was also tired. And the scumfest
continued.
Minute 13, Fuzzy Warrior bashed with his GS and Veritech Fighter took a shot to
the left leg. In minute 14 Fuzzy Warrior bashed with his GS and another hit to the
left leg! The TP was desperate!
Aaaand Fuzzy Warrior was staggering with exhaustion. He struggled to hold up his
weapons! He circled about aimlessly...
Minute 15... and again, out of nowhere! A GS crit! Veritch Fighter took the blow
to the left leg AGAIN! Spectators cringed as the horrific power of the blow struck
home!
And it was over! Fuzzy Warrior had won! Yes, it was victory for Fewmaster Toede,
but I took it as a moral victory for me as well!

So the tournament was over, but the addiction had been stoked and the fires
burned brighter than ever!

Hope you all enjoyed! -- The Dark One

(Thanks to Assur for having the newsletter. For YEARs others -- I'm thinking
Marmaduke -- thought someone else had won rookies that tournament -- but I knew
differently.)

SPY REPORT

Greetings, Warriors of DAL SHANG. Allow this humble servant Novgorodny Vir to
give you a respite from the fights in the form of this Spyreport. SAND DANCERS had
cause to celebrate, after MIGHTY MITE got 19 points by beating TILES. DON LO
certainly had a baffled expression on his face, after losing to ONE-EYED YOFAN and
losing 16 points in the process! Those who hoped for a new Duelmaster were
disappointed by BUMBLEFINGER, of SAND DANCERS, who despite a 15-26-1 couldn't
overcome DAL SHANG's Number 1. So who was the warrior seen charging into immovable
walls and challenging dead trees? Someone's got a basic problem...
My mother wished me to avoid conflict, and seek the gentle trade of Spyreporter.
But warriors aren't supposed to avoid fights! Perhaps the warriors of KILLER TUNES
should take up some hobbies, as they are the most avoided team... The warriors of
KILLER TUNES found their efforts at combat frustrated as WISE GUYS apparently had
more important things to do than fight.
Is there life after death? Pragmatics (and warriors) know there is death after
life! Ask not a spymaster for counsel, for he will pontificate long after you have
fallen into an unconscious stupor.
Do not think spyreporting in DAL SHANG is the highlight of my life. As the
seasons change, and the creatures of the wild change also, so do I feel a yearning to
leave this place. Like a mixed metaphor, and an overtaxed simile, I now bid DAL
SHANG farewell-- Novgorodny Vir

DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
HEADROOM 7665 13 7 0 128 TRILLIUM (779)

CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
LEAPIN LIZARD 7654 22 20 1 98 SAND DANCERS (233)
-VICINITY 7666 8 0 0 96 TRILLIUM (779)

CHAMPIONS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BUMBLEFINGER 7655 15 26 1 74 SAND DANCERS (233)
-SOBER 6422 2 1 0 71 KILLER TUNES (191)

CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-ANOTHER BRICK PT2 6475 11 9 1 62 KILLER TUNES (191)
-PORK SODA 6870 7 11 0 61 KILLER TUNES (191)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
FORT POINT 7719 6 2 0 54 TRILLIUM (779)
DON LO 7716 10 3 0 46 SAND DANCERS (233)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
MIGHTY MITE 7720 7 5 1 43 SAND DANCERS (233)
PEARL JOSEPHINA 7714 7 7 0 42 SAND DANCERS (233)

CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
TILES 7713 6 4 1 32 TRILLIUM (779)

INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-STARDOG CHAMPION 7635 2 1 0 17 KILLER TUNES (191)
CONGRESS 7727 2 3 0 14 TRILLIUM (779)
-CRAFTY 7733 1 0 0 8 WISE GUYS (781)
A 7732 0 1 0 1 WISE GUYS (781)

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

THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?

PERSONAL ADS

Headroom -- The handicapper hates me. Why else would he have matched me against you?
-- Bumblefinger

Well, I bashed around that unprintable female impersonator. That makes it a good day
for me. -- Leapin Lizard

Tiles -- And we did it again, with the same result. -- Don Lo

Fort Point -- Good moves, especially the one where you surrendered gracefully. --
Pearl Josephina

Standbys are NOT supposed to do that. -- Mighty Mite

LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

HEADROOM devastated BUMBLEFINGER in a action packed 1 minute mismatched Title fight.
LEAPIN LIZARD handily defeated CAPTIAN LENSAR in a 1 minute one-sided match.
DON LO was devastated by ONE-EYED YOFAN in a popular 1 minute one-sided contest.
PEARL JOSEPHINA was subdued by FORT POINT in a crowd pleasing 1 minute competition.
TILES lost to MIGHTY MITE in a 2 minute bloody fight.
CONGRESS overpowered A in a 1 minute mismatched brawl.

BATTLE REPORT

MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 PARRY-LUNGE 2 - 0 - 0 100 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 LUNGING ATTACK 24 - 9 - 0 73 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 2 AIMED BLOW 7 - 3 - 1 70 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 PARRY-STRIKE 7 - 4 - 0 64 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 TOTAL PARRY 2 - 2 - 0 50 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 5 - 5 - 0 50 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 0 BASHING ATTACK 8 - 13 - 1 38 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 0 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 1 - 0 0 |
|TOTAL PARRY 0 STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 2 - 0 0 |
|WALL OF STEEL 0 SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 - 0 0 |

Turn 707 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 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 4 LUNGING ATTACK
LUNGING ATTACK 3 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 2 2 BASHING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 STRIKING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 TOTAL PARRY
TOTAL PARRY 0 - 0 1 PARRY-STRIKE
WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
LUNGING ATTACK HEADROOM 7665 13 7 0 128 TRILLIUM (779)
AIMED BLOW LEAPIN LIZARD 7654 22 20 1 98 SAND DANCERS (233)
PARRY-STRIKE DON LO 7716 10 3 0 46 SAND DANCERS (233)
BASHING ATTACK MIGHTY MITE 7720 7 5 1 43 SAND DANCERS (233)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is HEADROOM 7665. The most popular warrior this turn
was HEADROOM 7665. The ten other most popular fighters were LEAPIN LIZARD 7654, FORT
POINT 7719, TILES 7713, MIGHTY MITE 7720, CONGRESS 7727, DON LO 7716, PEARL JOSEPHINA
7714, BUMBLEFINGER 7655, A 7732, and 0.

The least popular fighter this week was A 7732. The other ten least popular fighters
were BUMBLEFINGER 7655, PEARL JOSEPHINA 7714, DON LO 7716, CONGRESS 7727, MIGHTY MITE
7720, TILES 7713, FORT POINT 7719, LEAPIN LIZARD 7654, HEADROOM 7665, and 0.

The following warriors will travel to AD after next turn:

HEADROOM (65-7665) TRILLIUM (779)
LEAPIN LIZARD (65-7654) SAND DANCERS (233)