DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 06/18/2021 Duedate: 07/01/2021
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM 93 TURN 585
This Week's Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
GREED
BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
(93-10621) [4-0-0,36]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY GREED
BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
(93-10621) [4-0-0,36]
Popularity Leader This Week's Favorite
BAD FAITH PERILOUS PIRANHA
BB CBA NEGOT. (1814) VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818)
(93-10622) [2-2-0,27] (93-10647) [0-1-0,1]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
FLOWERS! (1816)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818) 38
2. BB CBA NEGOT. (1814) 23 SUBJUGATORS (617)
3. FLOWERS! (1816) 20 Unchartered Team
4. PHOENIX FORCE (1811) 14
5. THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815) -16 PHOENIX FORCE (1811)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 3*PHOENIX FORCE (1811) 5 2 0 71.4 1/ 4*FLOWERS! (1816) 9 6 0
2/ 1*BB CBA NEGOT. (1814) 12 8 0 60.0 2/ 1*BB CBA NEGOT. (1814) 8 7 0
3/ 2*FLOWERS! (1816) 9 6 0 60.0 3/ 3*THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815) 6 9 0
4/ 0*VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818) 3 2 0 60.0 4/ 6*PHOENIX FORCE (1811) 5 2 0
5/ 5*THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815) 10 15 0 40.0 5/ 0*VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818) 3 2 0
6- 7*THE REFORMERS (1801) 6 12 1 33.3 6- 8*THE REFORMERS (1801) 1 1 1
7- 0*DOMINION (1817) 0 4 0 0.0 7- 0*DOMINION (1817) 0 4 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
BASHING BASHERS!!!!
Is It Purely Discrimination?
Are Bashers misunderstood? Well, The Consortium Family certainly thinks so;
therefore, let's examine some facts and a few opinions. (Note: so does Hammer, so you
may wish to go back to Noblish Isle DM93 newsletter, turn 581 -"Another Look At
Bashers"-, and reread his comments.)
First, what, typically, is said about bashers? Sadly, I have heard these
statements all within the past month. "Don't make bashers." "Bashers are the worst
style." "Bashers are a no no, since they have a lousy weapon selection," "Anyone who
makes a basher ought to be shot!" "Bashers are worthless; they can't TC." "Bashers
don't win much." Enough of those discriminatory words, I say! Let's get to some facts.
Can bashers TC? Well, certainly; and they do. Bashers have TC'd 26 times. (Yes,
26 and not zero as some imply.)
Once in the 1980's.
Fourteen times in the 1990's.
Four times in the 2000's.
Six times in the 2010's.
Once already in the 2020's.
Only two bashers (Piledriver and Baffle) have TC'd twice, hence twenty-four
different bashers have TC'd. Six of those TC's were as immortal warriors (One in
Primus) and twenty were as mortals in classes Rookie through Champions.
The Consortium knows first-hand that bashers can TC, as:
Daniel Webster -- October 1998 Mailer
Skulk -- October 2003 Mailer
Bismuth Bender -- July 2011 Face-To-Face (Milwaukee)
have all done it. The Consortium is believed to be the first and only three-time
basher TCer. What did those three particular Consortium warriors have in common? None
were significantly blessed; all were godlingish designs; all had 17 Will (WT/WL =
21/17, 17/17, 21/17); and all were run by The Consortium Conglomerate.
Well, then, sure, those three TCs were sort-of godlings, but "normal" bashers
cannot win, can they?. Do they? Listen to this! The Consortium is running 22 non-
sandbagger bashers in current arenas and their overall arena record is 121-57-8, w/l =
.680. (They also have an overall tournament record of 46-33-1 = .582, with 3
TVs.)Let's randomly select half of those and examine the facts. (note: data as of June
1, 2021.)
The roll of the die selected the following 11, which had a total arena record of
56-23-6 = .709. These are the designs:
13-5-15-15-15-14-7
21-6-14-5-9-12-7
17-8-11-15-9-9-11
13-10-14-15-17-4-11
13-8-12-7-21-16-7
12-10-11-15-17-12-7
13-4-11-21-15-9-11
15-5-13-11-21-12-7
15-4-9-15-21-9-11
18-4-9-17-17-12-7
14-4-11-13-21-8-13
What do these arena warriors have in common? All have high ST. (12+) Most have
high WL. (although 9 works.) None are small. (all 9+ SZ.) Most have low CN. (ranging
from 4 to 10.)(The "average" of these warriors would make an approximate 14-6-12-15-
17-11-9 fighter.) So, bashers CAN fight and bashers CAN win!
A lot is said about "lousy basher weapon selection". And, in a way, that might be
so. One reason for that feeling may be that bashers are not suited for the scimitar
(SC), the weapon many (or most) consider the best weapon in the game. After all,
bashers don't slice and dice, they whack! And bashers are suited for the two weapons
most feel are the worst in the game -- the war flail (WF), commonly called the
"whiffle", and the morning star (MS).
Here are the basher weapons: GA, GS, HL, MA, ML, MS, QS, WF, WH, and the 3
shields. Some are hard to "qualify" for, as they require 15+ ST. (GS, HL, ML) But when
they hit, they hit hard! That strength need can be a disadvantage for many designs,
taking away points more desirable elsewhere in design. Two, as mentioned above, are
considered the worst in the game. (WF, MS) That leaves few to choose from, and all but
one "require" 13 ST to use suitably. But, The Consortium is a big user of the
quarterstaff (QS), war hammer (WH), and great axe (GA), and not at all adverse to the
mace (MA). He has also been known to often use, and win with, those three regularly on
styles other than bashers:
QS on strikers (ST)
WH on strikers (ST), total parries (TP) and pikers. (PS)
GA on wall-of-steels (WS)and slashers (SL)
So, maybe those weapons are not quite so bad as some managers think. Which brings
us back to the title of this spotlight "Bashing Bashers". Bashers do get bashed and
discriminated against. And perhaps, as was outlined above, that is one large pile of
bashed cow patties. Enjoy bashers -- they get it done.
-- Rose Of Sharon a Consortium affiliated Manager (June 2021)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Greetings from the Top!
Once again, I have the honor of addressing the readers of the Noblish Island
newsletter, before I and my 5 Card Draw stable mates are transferred to only RSI knows
where!
I had the good fortune of randomly matching with Kung-Fu Master in a Lunger versus
Aimer battle that ended in my favor!
In fact, my other stable mates were victorious in each of their matches!
5 Card Draw scored a 5-0-0 turn, was ranked first with 57 points in the Teams On The
Move category, plus ended our ten turns with a 26-24-0 won/loss record for a decent 52
per cent, especially decent among current Hammer-managed stables!
We have set the bar high for the incoming Vicious Fish 2021 stable that Hammer is
managing, so it will be interesting to see how those vicious ones fare in the Noblish
Island arena over the next ten turns!
My parting record of 7-3-0 and 65 recognition points is not too shabby!
My best advice is to be wary of those Consortium and Assur stables!
Be sure to take heed and put into practice their advice!
Enjoying the View from the Top!
-- One Eyed Jack
SPY REPORT
Thankyouthankyou. It's great for me, The Unknown Spymaster to be back in
NOBLISH ISLAND. Hope you enjoy the show. Oh, who am I kidding? I already got paid!
Say good-bye to BB CBA NEGOT., as they are pushed from the coveted top team spot by
the FLOWERS! stable. Coming up with a solid 3-2-0 outing, FLOWERS! has advanced 3
places in the rankings. Hey everybody, watch out for THE ALLIGATOR GAR, who flew up
17 points in the rankings after mashing DON CRESCENT like a melon. Keep your eye on
this guy. Ya know, some days it doesn't pay to walk out on the sands. FAREN END was
bested by UGLY and drops 6 points. In front of all the crowds, GREED took the
Duelmaster's crown for his own. I give the bum two weeks. Can you believe they are
paying me 10 gold to deliver this stuff?
Here is other news that is of note. Here's a song for you: Who's afraid of the
big, bad FLOWERS!? Big bad FLOWERS!. Big bad FLOWERS!. NOBLISH ISLAND's afraid of
the big bad FLOWERS!. Tra la la la la! For those of you who like math, try this
one: FLOWERS! + Weapons That go Boom = BB CBA NEGOT. + Avoid City. Well dang howdy,
but if challenges were votes, OMNI would be president. Although it may be a contest
he doesn't want to win.
Being a spy is great--other people die and you spend the rest of the day
drinking to their memory. Better tanked than dead! Here's some advice: warriors
with little wit and will may encounter problems on the trail to the Isle.
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. Hasta la bye-bye. (Loud choruses of
'Beat it, ya bum!')-- The Unknown Spymaster
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GREED 10621 4 0 0 36 BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
OMNI 10596 3 0 0 28 PHOENIX FORCE (1811)
BAD FAITH 10622 2 2 0 27 BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
POPPY 10633 3 0 0 25 FLOWERS! (1816)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
IRIS 10635 2 1 0 23 FLOWERS! (1816)
UGLY 10639 2 1 0 19 BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
THE ALLIGATOR GAR 10649 1 0 0 17 VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818)
LILY 10632 2 1 0 15 FLOWERS! (1816)
CHUCK BYWAY 10628 3 2 0 14 THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)
-HUGH LATIMER 10558 2 1 1 14 THE REFORMERS (1801)
-CHARLES SPURGEN 10530 1 3 0 14 THE REFORMERS (1801)
GREAT WHITE SHARK 10648 1 0 0 14 VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818)
THUNDERHAMMER 10597 2 1 0 13 PHOENIX FORCE (1811)
CROCUS 10634 1 2 0 11 FLOWERS! (1816)
STRIKE 10623 3 1 0 10 BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
FAREN END 10631 2 3 0 9 THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)
DON CRESCENT 10629 2 3 0 9 THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)
EDGAR DETOUR 10630 2 3 0 9 THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)
LOCKOUT 10625 1 3 0 6 BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
CASEY BOONE 10638 1 3 0 6 THIRD HIGHWAY 3 (1815)
PUFFER FISH PERIL 10646 1 0 0 5 VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818)
DAISY 10636 1 2 0 5 FLOWERS! (1816)
PERILOUS PIRANHA 10647 0 1 0 1 VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818)
-JUNA THE HAWK 10645 0 1 0 1 DOMINION (1817)
-SYRUN NEL 10641 0 1 0 1 DOMINION (1817)
-GILDED ALOINE 10644 0 1 0 1 DOMINION (1817)
-GRYMGAR 10642 0 1 0 1 DOMINION (1817)
BRUTAL BARRACUDA 10650 0 1 0 1 VICIOUS FISH 2021 (1818)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
WEAPON DELTA 10593 0 1 0 PHOENIX FORCE 1811 HUGH LATIMER 10558 583
PERSONAL ADS
Stoppa Squeal, your turn might just be next. Can you feel the Duelmaster crown in your
future. -- Rose Of Sharon
Hammer, welcome to your tasty, er, I Mean, Vicious Fish. (wink) --Rose Of Sharon
Casey Boone, nope. Gotta be quite well-formed to be a Flower Girl, and, sadly, I am
quite average. -- Lily
Chuck Byway, sometimes a little jiggling goes a long way. You know? -- Iris
Darby's Meat, I think maybe you were a little undercooked. -- Daisy
Omni, I salute your superior skills. -- Crocus
Grymgar, it was my turn to shine. Luck fell my way. -- Lily
Strike, one, two, three -- you're OUT! What a fine, fine win for me and my Flowers
Team. Rose Of Sharon is almost down on the floor with a roaring belly-laugh. -- Iris
Thunderhammer, beware the poppies ..... -- Poppy
Health. Humility. Honor. The flowers are in bloom. -- Rose Of Sharon
P.S. And I am very proud of my ragged team of uncut flowers for going 4-1.
What styles work well or poorly with any of these qualities:
1) A low strength number (3-6)
2) Bad parry statements such as "reylying on his/her speed to stay out of trouble"
3) Highly coordinated/very highly coordinated and can use two weapons
4) Using two weapons or weapon and shied in general.
In what twisted world is Bad Faith a favorite? -- Jorja
Wild Card Joker -- I was worried you might overbalance, trip, and fall on me. Glad it
didn't come to that. -- Don Crescent
Queen of Clubs -- Since you're leaving the island now, avoiding you would be a wasted
effort. -- Edgar de Tour
Queen of Hearts -- Trying to cut it out and cook it, were you? Glad to see the last
of you. -- Faren End
Taco Smell -- I'm from southern New Mexico, and I *like* tacos. With plenty of salsa.
-- Chuck Byway
Juna the Hawk -- Either train that stat or drop the shield. You'll do better. --
Casey Boone
As for my general animus against aimed blows: I consider that the emphasis currently
given to that style is undermining the game. Everyone playing now, at any level of the
game, started in Basic, in the mortal arenas, with the give and take, the push and
shove of different styles. Over time it has been discovered that aimed blows do best
at the high end of the game: Primus and the tourneys. But in Basic, where everyone
starts, aimed blows are handicapped, and for a relatively inexperienced manager, what
they do best is die. This is discouraging. We don't need to discourage new players.
And from a role-playing point of view (that used to be a big thing, and it's good) the
neuter golem aimed blows are ruining the economy of Alastari. Whatever happened to
staying home and raising food and children to maintain the countries? -- Jorja, Sand
Dancers in Lirith Kia, Middle Way and other teams almost anywhere in Alastari (Lirith
Kai is not in Alastari)
Rose of Sharon -- Thanks for the kudos! One Eyed Jack was wild enough to gain and keep
the throne for two turns! Now he is gone! Your arch nemesis Assur has the inside track
to claiming the DM 93 arena throne now! -- Hammer
Edgar Detour -- Good to know that you are not my secret admirer! -- Wild Card Joker
Jorja -- Completely understandable regarding avoiding contest killers! -- Hammer
Kung-Fu Master -- Luck of the draw was in my favor! Salute! -- One Eyed Jack
Don Crescent -- Finally got my third win at your expense! Salute! -- Wild Card Joker
Edgar Detour -- At least I leave the arena with a .500 record at your expense! Salute!
-- Queen Of Clubs
Faren End -- I also leave the arena with a .500 record at your expense! Salute! Queen
Of Hearts
Blinky Me Eyepoke -- Good news is that I leave the arena with a winning record by
defeating a two-time killer! Bad news is that you were the loser! Salute! -- Jack Of
Diamonds
Meal Team 6 -- May your graduating stable fare better in the future with what you have
learned here during your ten turns of training at Noblish Island arena! -- Hammer
Rose of Sharon / Consortium -- Great 22 points of recommended actions! Hopefully the
new players are paying attention to your advice! -- Hammer
Jorja -- I always enjoy the amusing ending of your Ripper article! Hopefully the new
players gleaned some useful gems from what you wrote! -- Hammer
Assur -- Looks like Bad Faith and Greed have the inside track to the DM 93 arena
throne! Looking forward to reading your next article! -- Hammer
All -- I look forward to crossing blades with your warriors! Especially with my new
stable! -- Hammer, mgr of Vicious Fish 2021
New Players -- Pay attention to the articles and comments in the newsletter! Enjoy the
game! -- Hammer, Duel 2 Sponsor, mgr of Vicious Fish 2021
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
POPPY viciously subdued CHUCK BYWAY in a 1 minute gruesome amateur's Challenge fight.
LILY was subdued by OMNI in a 1 minute novice's Challenge melee.
BAD FAITH was luckily beaten by CAPTURED ORC in a 1 minute amateur's duel.
GREED defeated FRATSFA SLAVE in a 1 minute amateur's Title match.
THUNDERHAMMER viciously subdued EDGAR DETOUR in a 2 minute bloody novice's duel.
STRIKE luckily beat PERILOUS PIRANHA in a popular 3 minute gruesome amateur's brawl.
LOCKOUT was vanquished by GREAT WHITE SHARK in a 1 minute gruesome uneven duel.
DON CRESCENT was overpowered by THE ALLIGATOR GAR in a 1 minute uneven duel.
FAREN END was defeated by UGLY in a action packed 1 minute novice's fight.
CROCUS overpowered BRUTAL BARRACUDA in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
IRIS demolished CASEY BOONE in a 1 minute mismatched competition.
DAISY was outwaited by PUFFER FISH PERIL in a unpopular 19 minute novice's battle.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK 6 SLASHING ATTACK 14 - 8 - 1 64 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 TOTAL PARRY 18 - 12 - 0 60 |
|BASHING ATTACK 4 AIMED BLOW 28 - 23 - 3 55 |
|TOTAL PARRY 3 BASHING ATTACK 28 - 23 - 0 55 |
|AIMED BLOW 3 LUNGING ATTACK 21 - 19 - 0 53 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 STRIKING ATTACK 26 - 27 - 1 49 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 WALL OF STEEL 11 - 12 - 1 48 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 6 - 14 - 0 30 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 - 0 0 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 2 - 0 0 |
Turn 585 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:
LUNGING ATTACK 4 - 0 AIMED BLOW 1 - 2 5 STRIKING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 3 - 1 STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 5 2 LUNGING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 2 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 BASHING ATTACK
PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 1 AIMED BLOW
PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE
SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 1
WALL OF STEEL 0 - 1
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK GREED 10621 4 0 0 36 BB CBA NEGOT. (1814)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is BAD FAITH 10622. The most popular warrior this turn
was PERILOUS PIRANHA 10647. The ten other most popular fighters were THUNDERHAMMER
10597, BAD FAITH 10622, GREED 10621, GREAT WHITE SHARK 10648, UGLY 10639, POPPY
10633, OMNI 10596, THE ALLIGATOR GAR 10649, CROCUS 10634, and LILY 10632.
The least popular fighter this week was DAISY 10636. The other ten least popular
fighters were PUFFER FISH PERIL 10646, CASEY BOONE 10638, BRUTAL BARRACUDA 10650, DON
CRESCENT 10629, LOCKOUT 10625, CHUCK BYWAY 10628, IRIS 10635, FAREN END 10631, STRIKE
10623, and EDGAR DETOUR 10630.
NEW GRADUATES--FROM ALL ARENAS (INCLUDING CLOSED ARENAS)
For those of you who keep track of such things, a few additional warriors graduated
from regular DM arenas (including closed arenas) since the last tournament.
RUDE RICK (18-10632) WEIRD STUDENTS (723)
KNITTED AFGHAN (73-4123) WORLDWIDE GORE (36)
INNEY AUDI (82-5509) FARFIGNEWTONS (673)
GEORGE W BUSH LEAGUE (82-10150) SAFE ON AN ERROR (1500)
YUTICU (82-35822) WOTB A30 (5910)
VAMPIRIC MAIL (84-9355) SUPE FORCES 7902 (1693)
PROVE PLANKING (85-12093) JAN 16 T (2205)
PONDER (85-24880) VERBS II (4573)
Congrats to the grads. -- Green Eyes