DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 05/07/2021    Duedate: 05/20/2021

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM 93    TURN 582

This Week's Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

LAVENDER
DISTINCT COLORS (1807)
(93-10575) [8-2-0,77]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

LAVENDER                       ONE EYED JACK
DISTINCT COLORS (1807)         5 CARD DRAW (1809)
(93-10575) [8-2-0,77]          (93-10586) [5-3-0,31]

Popularity Leader              This Week's Favorite

BURGANDY                       LOCKOUT
DISTINCT COLORS (1807)         BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
(93-10572) [6-4-0,46]          (93-10625) [1-0-0,9]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

DISTINCT COLORS (1807)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)          44 
2. RIPPERS R US (1805)           21    DISTINCT COLORS (1807)
3. DISTINCT COLORS (1807)        18    Unchartered Team
4. MEAL TEAM 6 (1810)            8  
5. THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)        3     BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 0*BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)       4   1  0 80.0   1/ 1 DISTINCT COLORS (1807)   11  3 0
 2/ 1 DISTINCT COLORS (1807)    36  13  0 73.5   2/ 4*MEAL TEAM 6 (1810)        5  7 2
 3/ 4*5 CARD DRAW (1809)        20  20  0 50.0   3/ 3*5 CARD DRAW (1809)        5 10 0
 4/ 3*THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)     4   6  0 40.0   4/ 0*BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)      4  1 0
 5/ 5*RIPPERS R US (1805)       10  19  1 34.5   5/ 5*THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)    4  6 0
 6- 7*THE REFORMERS (1801)       5  11  0 31.2   6/ 9*RIPPERS R US (1805)       2  3 0
 7/ 9*MEAL TEAM 6 (1810)         8  23  3 25.8   7- 8*SAINT (1813)              1  1 1
 8- 8*SAINT (1813)               2   6  1 25.0   8- 6*THE REFORMERS (1801)      1  1 0
 9- 0*CRIMSON FURY (326)         0   1  0  0.0   9- 0*CRIMSON FURY (326)        0  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

                               WARRIOR AND TEAM DESIGN 
                          (A lesson in The Consortium way.)

     The purpose of this spotlight is to provide newer/inexperienced D2 managers with 
warrior and team design concepts and to assist new managers by allowing observation of 
the details of a real-time team who will be competing against them in their Noblish 
Island arena. I will discuss the following:

1. An experienced manager's general design principles (over 100,000 warriors designed 
   and fought)

2. Some thoughts on team balance

3. A real five-warrior design (original team roll-up) just starting to compete with 
   you on Noblish Island

4. Summary and comments relevant to those designs

     First you might ask, "Who is writing this?  And I answer that I am "Rose Of 
Sharon", manager of FLOWERS, a member of The Consortium, who is a long, long time (35 
year, must be an elder fellow)) paying competitor in Duelmasters/D2. I will be 
overseeing this new team and will be offering you advice each round on Noblish Island 
too. (Free advice!)  Please think nothing of asking me questions in the personal ads 
or through diplos or on the RSI and/or Chatzy sites. You will get answers, often very 
interesting answers.
     Now I have to tell you this. This is one of the worst rollup sheets in the game 
(5 team average wit is 6.0!); so, of course, they had to go out and hire a female 
manager to handle the mess. We are in for a fun time on Noblish Isle. We certainly 
are.
     There is no one-and-only perfect design for any warrior. You will often find that 
when asking for experienced design advice, varying opinions and concepts are offered. 
However, there are some guidelines that each manager uses. The Consortium general 
design principles and guidelines look like this:

1.  WT is the first factor examined, followed by WL, which then determines the design 
    and style direction.

2.  Normally design to strengths/excesses, generally making high roll numbers higher.

3.  Design to stat/skill break points. (Know what base skills are attached to stat 
    points)

4.  Offensive-ish warriors need high WT to excel. Design to 11 (very minimum), need 
    11, 13, 15, 17, 21 for skill breaks. (note: offensives can win in the very short 
    run on physicals only)

5.  21 WT, 21DF, and 21 WL are coveted. The 21DF makes an aimed-blow almost 
    inevitable. Most managers automatically think Aimed-Blow when they can get 21 
    deftness. Not always, but usually. If not an aimer, then 11 DF is really all most 
    designs need.

6.  All warriors except AB must have normal damage and really need good. Make certain 
    that ST/SZ allows that, and have high enough WL to bump stats if not. Aimers can 
    succeed with less damage doing.

7.  9 WL is the reasonable min for offensives. All warriors MUST have some WL. Some 
    very few warriors might do OK with 7 or 8. (Maybe.)

8.  Do not add to CN for pure offensives.

9.  Defensive style warriors need big WL and CN. And, then, ST, too.

10. Physicals never hurt any warrior. Warriors can win early on with lesser skill, but 
    good physicals.

11. If all else fails, make the design a TP. They can win under almost any 
    circumstance. However, they need a higher combination (total) of CN, WL, and ST. 
    (especially WL and CN). But avoid those aimed-blows!

12. If the warrior is to be long-term (meaning a godling or really, really nice roll, 
    later intended for ADM), do not design a burner. (A burner is one where the 
    manager intends to raise stats and physicals as an intended strategy to enhanced 
    winning). Burners require very high WL as stat raises are dependent on WL.

13. However, there is not a thing wrong with making a burner otherwise.

14. Have variation in styles in arenas. This allows for better challenging, avoiding, 
    and match-ups. (Adding also fun and learning through variety.)

15. Design to the numbers, then choose style, rather than predetermine a style, then 
    design. (At least until you really know what you are doing.)

16. PRIMARY PRINCIPAL: Design each warrior with the idea of winning 60%+ of its 
    fights. Period.

     Pretty simple, it would seem. Well, we will see how I applied these principals to 
the FLOWERS Team. (Note: While not all of the concepts will be specifically referenced 
below in designing the five warriors, virtually are truly used in one or more places.) 
But first some comments on team design.
     A variety of styles is important. Why? (a) The more differing styles you 
experiment with, the more you learn. (b) It is more fun to run differing types. (c) 
Certain styles are susceptible to other styles and having a variety allows you to take 
advantage of (or avoid) some of those susceptibilities. (d) Testing multiple styles 
allows you to more quickly find the style/s that you enjoy most or are best with.
     I believe a manager, especially a new manager, should have at least these two 
warriors on his team: an especially fast/quick, decent damage offensive (striker, or 
maybe basher or slasher or lunger) and a scummy warrior with lots of physicals and who 
wins by wearing down foes while parrying or sucking up hit points. (Total parry or 
maybe wall-of-steel or parry strike.) It is important to learn how to win with both 
types, and the ST (striker) and TP (total parry) are excellent designs to do both: 
teach and win. This combination is invaluable because each tends to challenge and 
avoid different styles, and most importantly, they are both easy to work with. The 
other warriors on the team can/should be different, but I least (meaning, these are 
hardest) recommend these more difficult styles for rookie managers: AB (aimed 
blow=aimer), PR (parry riposte=ripper), PS (parry strike=piker), PL (parry  
lunge=plunger), and maybe WS (wall of steel=waste).
     Now on to a real life example. Below are listed the starting statistics (from the 
roll-up sheet) and the design statistics filled out and sent in by me,  Rose Of 
Sharon, manager of the FLOWERS team just now started on Noblish Isle. (And as I said 
above b" I got me a doozy of a roll-up sheet!)
     An initial thought on roll up sheets, in general. It can be hardest to design 
"radical" numbers. Unusually low ST or WL or super big SZ, or very low WT/WL combo, 
usually require the most design manipulation and variance from the design principles 
above. Very high WT and WL and/or sometimes DF, plus very small SZ are treasured!
     So, with that, let's get on to designing this team.

18-6-15-4-12-8-7 to 21-6-15-7-17-8-10 BA Design to strengths (concept #2) leads me to 
first add 3 to ST taking it to 21 and 5 to WL making it 17.  Then adding 3 to WT 
taking it to 7 giving it bare opportunity to learn skills and some weapon selection. 
The last 3 were added to DF taking it to 10, with the expectation of training DF the 
first fight to get it to the magic 11.

12-10-20-5-12-3-8 to 14-16-20-5-18-3-8 TP.  Design to strengths (concept #2) paves the 
way as I add all 14 points to those three stats, ST-CN-WL that were the highest. (Of 
course, excluding SZ.) A 7 ft tall total parry is not as optimal as a smaller version, 
but man, can he hit hard. (Presuming he will swing!)

9-10-13-13-10-4-11 to 11-10-13-17-10-10-13 ST (Hey! Finally a warrior with some wit! 
Sadly, the only one.) Again using(concept #2), 4 are added to WT to take it to the 
highest break-point possible at 17. (Check out concept # 4.) Two were added to ST for 
weapon selection. (11 gives it optimal weapon selection for a non-high-ST warrior.) I 
decided that this offensive had to be "fast" to succeed, so I bumped SP a full six to 
10. Then, the last two was a choice between upping the ST to 13 or DF to 13 and I 
chose the latter. (However, read concept #5.)

8-9-13-4-14-15-7 to 13-9-13-7-20-15-7 BA  (Yet another dumb one.) Design to strengths, 
with SP at 15, that is plenty high so WL is next and a full six is added there to 20. 
Nothing else is particularly high (Except SZ. Arghh!) so I add five to ST for basher 
weapons, plus 3 to WT to give it a reasonable chance.

9-13-18-4-9-5-12 to 11-15-18-7-15-5-13 LU. Well it is too big to be much of anything 
except an offensive and it really doesn't have the will to make it a total parry, so, 
another offensive it is. If I apply Concept #2, I would apply most points to CN and 
DF, which will really make a messy warrior. So, I start by looking to Concept #1, and 
add six to WL and three to WT making it a bare, bare minimum 7. Two to ST taking it to 
11, one to DF to get some extra skills (Read Concept #3.) and the last two to CN, 
hoping to make it a scummy sort of offensive. I choose the lunging style. (See Concept 
#14.)

     The team mix is acceptable, with  four styles, albeit only one looks like a solid 
warrior. (The four low WT warriors will make this a challenge.) But, I like it! I wish 
you good luck competing against FLOWERS warriors. I suspect this team will struggle to 
meet the 60% objective (Read Concept #16.) and each warrior will try to do its part. 
They will be a fun team and they will both challenge and avoid.

     Now let's take a look at the overall design tendencies for this team in this 
situation. We had 70 points to add to the designs. Totaled, they look like this:

     ST = 14  (Looks typical and solid.)
     CN = 8   (CN is usually minimal with offensives and the one TP created 6 of the 
              points)
     SZ =  0  (Cannot add to size.)
     WT = 13  (1 of 2 most best stats. Adding many here is common; the 4 low starting 
              wits hampered this.)
     WL = 23  (1 of 2 most important stats. Adding the most points here is common.)
     SP =  6  (SP and CN are usually least added stats.)
     DF =  6  (DF adders are often quite variable. 6 looks good for this group.

The general tendencies look OK to me, as WT and WL are prime stats, ST and DF are 
probably next, and CN/SP are usually least added. (Well, except for SZ!)

     So there you have it: a new team; insight to warrior and team design; useful 
tidbits from a long-time veteran. May your stay in D2 be long and prosperous, and, 
most of all, fun. (As mine is and has been.)

               -- Rose Of Sharon Manager of FLOWERS (Consortium affiliated)

***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***

                            Assur's Guide to Tank Hybrids

Today's subject is one of Assur's favorite type of hybrids.  They may not be the best 
warriors to grace the sands, but they are a lot of fun. The idea is that you can't 
take them down and at some point they will attack back and when they hit, they will 
hit hard!

1) Design
     Tank Hybrids (hereafter referred to as simply tanks) are hybrids that wear lots 
of armor and have lots of hit points.  There are lots of variations of this type of 
hybrid, but typically they are not depending on anything other than their physical 
prowess to win. 

     Encumbrance and Hit Points are amongst their most important attributes. Skills 
are nice, but in some cases almost a forethought.  Attack is probably the most useful 
skill to have, followed by Parry and Defense.

     Endurance, Wit, and Will are all nice to have, but you can create a tank without 
any of these.  Typically they will have minimum 14 in strength and constitution, often 
much more.  Historically Assur has made high will versions of tanks, but has seen 
others succeed with very low will tanks as well.  Usually at least one of speed or 
deftness is quite low.  Most of Assur's tanks have also been stat trainers, so some of 
them have started lower than 14 in strength or constitution.

2) Style Choice
     Any style can tank it up, but the higher attack styles work better, simply 
because when you do attack, you want to hit.  But any style can work. Lungers have the 
highest attack base.  Aimed Blows with 21 deftness are just below Lungers.  Next is a 
four way tie between Parry Lungers, Wall of Steels, Bashers, and Slashers.  Parry 
Strikes, Parry Ripostes, and Strikers are all considered lower attack styles, but the 
lowest starting attack style is, of course, the Total Parry (a full 8 attack skills 
lower than the same Lunger).  Advantages/disadvantages of tanking styles:

Lunger: Highest total skills, but learns are not the best and high endurance burn.

Aimed Blows: High deftness requirements means designs are very limited.

Walls of Steel: High total skills, learns (att/par/ini) are awesome for tanks.  High 
Endurance burn.

Basher: Learn attack and decise, reasonable endurance burn.  A more offensive of tank.

Parry Lungers: Similar to Wall of Steels, with slightly worse learning and skills.

Slashers: Similar to Bashers, but don't learn decise as fast and slightly higher 
endurance burn.

Parry Strikes: One of the few warrior types where their learns work together (decise 
and parry).  Conserve endurance very well.  The best tanking style of the lower attack 
styles.

Strikers: Again similar to bashers, but with fewer attack skills, but better endurance 
conservation.

Parry Ripostes: Only 2 attack more than total parries, worse learning, and worse 
weapon selection suggests that Total Parries would be a better choice.

Total Parries: Horrible attack, but can use most of the big weapons and the best 
defenses in the game makes them a good choice for a more defensive tank.

3) Weapon Selection
     Typically you will choose the highest damage weapon you can use for your Tank.
Some nice choices (with relatively low stat requirements) are:

Maul (15 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft), Broadsword (11 Str, 9 Wit, 7 Dft),
Battle Axe (15 Str, 7 Wit, 9 Dft), and Long Spear (11 Str, 5 Wit, 9 Dft)

Feel free to choose other weapons, even if you lack the requirements to use them.

4) Strategy and tactics
     Tanks are fun to run, because you can really play with their strategies and see 
different results.  Typically you will run in the upper range of offensive effort 
(5+), but in certain minutes, you very well might go more defensive depending on your 
tank.  As mentioned last turn, some warriors will actually attack more with lower 
offensive effort (usually if it is their favorite rhythm).  To start, though, play 
with 5-10 offensive effort.  Activity level can be anything.  I have literally run 
tanks with 10 activity level in one fight and 1 activity level in the next.

     I have used almost every tactic with Tanks.  I can't remember using the Riposte 
tactic, but no reason you can't try it.  And some styles are not well suited to some 
tactics.

5) Armor
APA/F is the norm.

***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***

                                QUEEN OF CLUBS CLUBBED

So, the Queen finally traded in her great axe for a more favorable war hammer in an 
effort to be well suited with a quicker weapon that many Bashers discover to be 
profitable during their arena careers.

She also discarded her plate armor and full helm for a suit of scalemail armor and a 
helm to reduce her weight carry, in an effort to be quicker on the sands.

However, her random matchup with Burgandy of Distinct Colors was anything but 
spectacular, as her opponent clubbed her on her left elbow with its maul, sending her 
desperate, before another swipe of its maul wounded her on the right knee, which was 
all it took for Queen Of Clubs to be gravely injured.

The only positive point was that the Queen surrendered gracefully and did not have to 
visit the Infirmary.

Also, adding insult to injury, was the fact that the Queen failed to learn a skill 
from the random matchup with Burgandy.

You new players can take note that there are times when you as a manager will decide 
to make changes in the strategy of a particular warrior, then wait for the result with 
a higher level of expectancy, only to be disappointed by an outcome that is sometimes 
worse than what the warrior has done in previous fights, early in its career!

Turn 581 was one of those times that every manager will experience at one time or 
another, if a manager plays this game long enough. For some, it comes sooner, rather 
than later!

5 Card Draw suffered an 0-5 showing on the Noblish Island sands. 4 of those losses 
were to warriors from Distinct Colors and 2 were by challenges issued by my friend 
Consortium.

Assur dealt my stable the other loss via a random matchup.

At least my 5 losses were to managers that I have crossed blades against over the 
years, who I consider to be friends in the game!

Consortium and Assur are two of the most proficient managers that I know, who have 
found ways to entertain themselves with winning Bashers, or at least serviceable 
Bashers, when many other managers would simply send their warrior to the Dark Arena.

We salute Assur and his Bash Bros Quarantine stable for their 34-16-2, 68 per cent 
won/loss record as Assur prepares to send a new stable to compete here in Noblish 
Island for the next ten turns.

Looks like his new stable, Collective Bargaining Agreement, has the potential to wreak 
havoc in the arena, plus potentially be a 'burr under the saddle' of whatever new 
stable Consortium sends to Noblish Island in the near future!

You new players should take a closer look at the article Assur wrote last cycle 
regarding the creation of his CBA stable.

New players would also do well to re-read the tournament article that Consortium wrote 
last cycle!

Both articles will serve new players well as both have nuggets of wisdom that new 
managers can employ early in their careers!

See you on the sands!

                                   -- Hammer, Duel 2 Sponsor, mgr of 5 Card Draw

                                 DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
                             Notes from the arena champ.

Assur asked me to talk about will, today.  I'd much rather talk about what a God I was 
and how I dominated the sands and the throne, but Assur says will.  So...

I have 21 will!  21 will is highly recommended.  Will is THE primary stat for 
endurance, gives hit points, is used for making rolls during the fight (including 
surviving death), is the primary stat for raising stats later on,and gives useful 
skills (ATT, DEC, DEF, and PAR).  It also plays a lesser role in learning skills, 
which is primarily based on your wit.

But like many other stats, will has some key breakpoints.

The first key breakpoint is WL=7.  Technically, WL=5 is also a breakpoint, but that is 
a much more advanced topic than what I will cover.  WL=7 is the minimum most managers 
should consider. There is a fairly large gap from 7 to 15 before skills start coming 
again.  The key downside to WL 7 is endurance.  Usually, if you're looking at WL=7, 
you should be looking at the hybrid styles that can deal with low endurance (TP, PS, 
PR, and AB)

Next, WL=9.  You get one decise skill here.  That is it.  It is better than 7 in all 
aspects, but the really they both are very low and bad.  9 is less bad.  Except for 
the endurance concern, 7 is perfectly fine for warriors that don't care about that 
decise skill.  For warriors that do care, 9 is perfect (unless you can get to 15).  
These warriors are mostly the offensive warriors (SL, BA, ST -- though slashers love 
endurance, so 9 is pretty low for them). 

WL=15 is a huge breakpoint.  This is where you start getting all four skills again.  
No skills from 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14.  So Assur typically doesn't add points to WL to 
get to any of those values.  9 or 15.

WL=17 is the next breakpoint, another set of skills and all that other stuff you get 
from high will.

WL=21 is perfect!!!  (At least until you graduate, then you can raise will to 25)B  
Why wouldn't you want as much will as is possible?  And WL=21 gives 2 of each of the 
skills mentioned above except DEC (you only get 1 DEC skill at 21 will)

Good luck!

                                             -- Pets

                                      SPY REPORT

     It's me, The Unknown Spymaster here with my bag to give you the news on last 
week's fights.  Coming up with a solid 2-3-0 outing, RIPPERS R US has advanced 3 
places in the rankings.  BB CBA NEGOT. seems to have it's eye on the top team spot, 
and if they continue having 4-1-0 weeks they may get it!  Hey everybody, watch out 
for LAVENDER, who flew up 14 points in the rankings after mashing CONVICTED ASSASSIN 
like a melon.  Keep your eye on this beast.  Ya know, some days it doesn't pay to 
walk out on the sands.  ORANGE was subdued by CAPTURED ORC and drops 15 points.  It's 
a proud day for the DISTINCT COLORS stable, as their warrior, LAVENDER, ascended the 
Duelmaster's throne.  An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but an onion a day keeps 
T.P.s at bay.   
     Let's dig a little deeper into what's happening in the NOBLISH ISLAND arena.  
And hey, kiddies, those of you who didn't avoid SAINT, please raise you hand.  Wow.  
Does NOBLISH ISLAND really have that many liars?  Okay, so I may not be funny, but 
catch DISTINCT COLORS' act in the arena.  Those acrobats seem to be fairly deft at 
running from SAINT.   
     Remember that an arena is not always a safe place to be, but it is one of the 
most interesting, though!  And who needs the Dark Arena if you've got BLINKY ME 
EYEPOKE around?  This week he decorated his armor with MEDIATION.  Who's next?  Ask 
not the elves for counsel, for they will say both yes and no.  Silly buggers, eh?   
     Well, that wasn't too bad; Alarond told me that the people in NOBLISH ISLAND 
have no sense of humor.  Or maybe that they were senseless.  Well, there goes another 
Spy Report.  Good luck in next week's fights.  Its been real, and its been fun, but 
it hasn't been real fun...-- The Unknown Spymaster  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 LAVENDER 10575                8   2  0  77         DISTINCT COLORS (1807)    

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 PINK 10615                    5   0  0  53         DISTINCT COLORS (1807)    
 YELLOW 10574                  8   2  0  52         DISTINCT COLORS (1807)    
 BURGANDY 10572                6   4  0  46         DISTINCT COLORS (1807)    
 ORANGE 10573                  6   3  0  34         DISTINCT COLORS (1807)    

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-FOUR 10626                    1   0  1  33         SAINT (1813)              
 ONE EYED JACK 10586           5   3  0  31         5 CARD DRAW (1809)        
 BLINKY ME EYEPOKE 10601       3   1  2  25         MEAL TEAM 6 (1810)        
 QUEEN OF CLUBS 10585          4   4  0  24         5 CARD DRAW (1809)        

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 JACK OF DIAMONDS 10583        5   3  0  23         5 CARD DRAW (1809)        
 FEAR MONGER 10564             3   3  0  23         RIPPERS R US (1805)       
 STOPPA SQUEAL 10600           3   2  0  21         MEAL TEAM 6 (1810)        
 DAR CINDER 10562              3   3  0  17         RIPPERS R US (1805)       
 QUEEN OF HEARTS 10587         4   4  0  16         5 CARD DRAW (1809)        
 FAREN END 10631               1   1  0  15         THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)    
 BAD FAITH 10622               1   0  0  13         BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)      
 WILD CARD JOKER 10584         2   6  0  12         5 CARD DRAW (1809)        
 GRUNTER 10563                 2   4  1  11         RIPPERS R US (1805)       
 DON CRESCENT 10629            1   1  0  11         THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)    
 AMBER CLAD 10561              2   4  0  10         RIPPERS R US (1805)       
 GREED 10621                   1   0  0  10         BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)      
-HUGH LATIMER 10558            1   1  0   9         THE REFORMERS (1801)      
 LOCKOUT 10625                 1   0  0   9         BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)      
 STRIKE 10623                  1   0  0   9         BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)      
 EDGAR DETOUR 10630            1   1  0   4         THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)    
 CHUCK BYWAY 10628             1   1  0   4         THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)    
 SHELL SHELL 10599             0   4  0   4         RIPPERS R US (1805)       
-WILLIAM FOSTER 10582          0   2  0   2         THE REFORMERS (1801)      
 TACO SMELL 10618              0   2  0   2         MEAL TEAM 6 (1810)        
-IAN MACDOUGAL 1810            0   1  0   1         CRIMSON FURY (326)        

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 CASEY BOONE 10638             0   1  0   1         THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)    

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

THE DEAD                W  L K TEAM NAME            SLAIN BY              TURN Revenge?
MEDIATION 10624         0  1 0 BB CBA NEGOT. 1814   BLINKY ME EYEPO 10601 582   
NICE BOI 10613          0  4 0 MEAL TEAM 6 1810     MOUNTAIN TROLL        582  NONE
BARB ALLEY 10627        0  1 0 THIRD HIGHWAY 3 1815 BLINKY ME EYEPO 10601 581   

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Assur, we are quite accomplished at avoiding. We are. -- All Us Consortium Folk
P.S. But why avoid YOU? Easy wins are easy wins.
P.P.S. But you will have a one FE advantage on everything, so maybe some slight 
avoiding?
P.P.P.S. And the new recruits are four manure lumps and a player. A score for you.

Hammer, my friend, uh, my Distinct Colors were surely ON, weren't they? -- Whitey, 
Distinct Colors

Family, it was a true pleasure thumping you. -- Yellow
P.S. And going 100% w/l vs. Assur in his final Quarantine turn.

Jorja, welcome back. You are always missed and leave us full of worries. I do think a 
Serious Aimer Rant Document (SARD) would be in complete order. I really do. Have at 
'em! -- Whitey and all the other Consortium Managers

Colors, colors everywhere, and not a brush in sight! -- Whitey, Distinct Colors

My 10th round is over and the Distinct Colors have moved on -- Whitey (Consortium 
affiliated)

And my first round is upcoming and the Flowers are in the arena. -- Rose Of Sharon 
(Consortium affiliated)

Consortium -- My friend you sure put a 'whuppin' on my 4 warriors last cycle! -- 
Hammer

Burgandy -- You mauled me! -- Queen Of Clubs

Lavender -- You sorely wounded me! -- One Eyed Jack

Pink -- You made me bleed badly! -- Jack Of Diamonds

Orange -- I needed several days of bedrest in the Infirmary! -- Queen Of Hearts

Indoors -- I should have stayed indoors! -- Wild Card Joker

Assur -- Congratulations on the fine showing of your Bash Bros Quarantine stable! -- 
Hammer

PS: Looking forward to the debut of your Collective Bargaining Agreement stable!

New Players -- Looks like it is going to be a summer of fun here in the arena! -- 
Hammer, Duel 2 Sponsor, mgr 5 Card Draw

I will post an addendum to my Hybrid article next turn.  Since the original writing, 
I've had some great success with low will versions of the Tank Hybrid. -- Assur

I'm trying to drive my tired brain to produce personals, even though I didn't get 
receipts for personals sent in yesterday.  I guess I'll just have to hope for the best 
with these. -- Jorja, Third Highway

Hugh Latimer -- I liked the whole "several days' bedrest" gig.  They have me out every 
day training at the guildhouse.  The commission has identified me as a golem.  My 
mother never said anything about that.  I think the commission has two ways to decide 
that:  if your roll-up is sent in with no gender, or if your roll-up is potentially so 
good you might have been blessed by the gods of dueling.  Since I have a gender, so it 
must be the other.  Jorja looked at my overview and says she doesn't see it.  Maybe 
I'm just unlucky.  We'll have to see how it works out.  Good fight, I guess, and 
thanks for the skill. -- Faren End

Blinky Me Eyepoke -- I did not enjoy that experience.  Other managers are likely to be 
more upset than Jorja, so consider NOT attacking the head.  Jorja says I will likely 
re-manifest in an alley back on Illis. Rats.  I was hoping for a mainland residence. 
-- Ghost of Barb Alley
P.S.  I don't think much of an audience that cheers and applauds as I die in front of 
them.

Nice Boi -- I wasn't happy to start off against one of your style, but I got lucky.  
Thanks for not killing me.  I hope this third loss hasn't killed you.  Some managers 
are less patient than Jorja.  And for the record, I did NOT laugh.  The steward who 
reports on the fights favors dramatics. -- Edgar de Tour

Taco Smell -- Needs more cilantro in the meat.  But seriously, you need more armor, 
given your style. -- Chuck Byway

I wonder what will happen if Jorja sends in a strategy change for the Embezzling 
Scribe.  She's been threatening to do that, says his total ineptitude offends her.  
But it makes it easier for us to win. -- Don Crescent

Hammer -- Just because bashers are one of the two worst styles in the game?!?  Is that 
really enough to withdraw your love for them?!? -- Assur the sad 
P.S. All styles are not created equally.  Parry Strikers and Bashers are considered 
the worst styles in terms of winning.  Strikers, Lungers, and Aimed Blows the top 
three.  Total Parries also deserve mention in the top styles.

What is the simplest way to win with a Total Parry?!?
* First, something like 15-15-x-x-21-x-11 TP is perfect.  Feel free to adjust those 
numbers, but that base is so beautiful you almost can't help but win fights.
* Next, outfit your Total Parry with a couple of shields, APA and a Full Helm. 
* Write 1-1-1 Parry as your rhythm and tactic for all minutes of the fight.
* Finally, run away from Aimed Blows.
          -- Assur
P.S. Note that I am now running a 14-18-4-10-20-9-9 TP and will use a similar strategy 
to what I describe above.

Whitey -- You truly are the best!  Beating me with a 34-16 record?!? -- Assur

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

NICE BOI was butchered by MOUNTAIN TROLL in a 1 minute Dark Arena fight.
LAVENDER demolished CONVICTED ASSASSIN in a 1 minute one-sided Title melee.
ORANGE was overpowered by CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute mismatched duel.
ONE EYED JACK was devastated by PINK in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
YELLOW outlasted THE USEROUS MERCHANT in a unpopular 15 minute competition.
BURGANDY won victory over FRATSFA SLAVE in a crowd pleasing 1 minute fight.
DAR CINDER narrowly defeated WILD CARD JOKER in a 2 minute bloody brawl.
GRUNTER was savagely defeated by JACK OF DIAMONDS in a 2 minute gruesome melee.
FEAR MONGER slimly won victory over QUEEN OF HEARTS in a 2 minute gruesome duel.
AMBER CLAD was overpowered by FAREN END in a 1 minute uneven duel.
QUEEN OF CLUBS overpowered CHUCK BYWAY in a 1 minute gruesome one-sided fight.
SHELL SHELL was overpowered by STRIKE in a tiresome 11 minute one-sided fight.
STOPPA SQUEAL bested DON CRESCENT in a 4 minute amateur's conflict.
BLINKY ME EYEPOKE killed MEDIATION in a 2 minute amateur's match.
TACO SMELL was beaten by LOCKOUT in a popular 3 minute amateur's conflict.
EDGAR DETOUR lost to BAD FAITH in a action packed 1 minute amateur's bout.
GREED handily defeated CASEY BOONE in a 1 minute mismatched bout.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK                  6         SLASHING ATTACK   18 -   9 -  1      67  |
|BASHING ATTACK                   5         AIMED BLOW        37 -  22 -  3      63  |
|AIMED BLOW                       5         TOTAL PARRY       12 -   9 -  0      57  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      4         LUNGING ATTACK    21 -  18 -  2      54  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   3         BASHING ATTACK    26 -  25 -  1      51  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  2         STRIKING ATTACK   21 -  23 -  0      48  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    2         WALL OF STEEL      9 -  11 -  1      45  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    2         PARRY-RIPOSTE      6 -  13 -  0      32  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      0         PARRY-STRIKE       0 -   3 -  0       0  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     0         PARRY-LUNGE        0 -   2 -  0       0  |

Turn 582 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:

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

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
SLASHING ATTACK  LAVENDER 10575              8   2  0   77 DISTINCT COLORS (1807)
BASHING ATTACK   PINK 10615                  5   0  0   53 DISTINCT COLORS (1807)
TOTAL PARRY      YELLOW 10574                8   2  0   52 DISTINCT COLORS (1807)
AIMED BLOW       ORANGE 10573                6   3  0   34 DISTINCT COLORS (1807)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is BURGANDY 10572.  The most popular warrior this turn 
was LOCKOUT 10625.  The ten other most popular fighters were BURGANDY 10572, JACK OF 
DIAMONDS 10583, BAD FAITH 10622, FEAR MONGER 10564, QUEEN OF HEARTS 10587, MEDIATION 
10624, NICE BOI 10613, LAVENDER 10575, PINK 10615, and DAR CINDER 10562.

The least popular fighter this week was YELLOW 10574.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were STRIKE 10623, SHELL SHELL 10599, STOPPA SQUEAL 10600, CASEY BOONE 
10638, EDGAR DETOUR 10630, TACO SMELL 10618, CHUCK BYWAY 10628, AMBER CLAD 10561, 
GRUNTER 10563, and ONE EYED JACK 10586.

                             * * * * *   MEMO  * * * * *

From:       The Office of Accurate Census Reporting, Gladiatorial Commission
To:         All Managers

In the interest of preserving our natural resources and preventing managerial writer's 
cramp, the census form has been eliminated, effective immediately.  Managers may 
register their warriors' races and/or favorite sayings by simply writing them on a 
separate piece of paper and submitting them to the Commission.  Each warrior may have 
up to 15 favorite sayings.  Each saying must be categorized Jeer, Gloat, Boredom, Ouch, 
Victory and may be up to 70 characters long.  For any questions, please contact the 
Gladiatorial Commission.