Ragnar (DW4) vs Roan (G2): Roan only 5HKOs here, ouch. And he doesn't 5-3 or anything.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Leo (Lunar:EBC): Leo also only 5HKOs, but 20% draining goes a long way. Although he never doubles during this time, ugh. Still Ragnar only barely 4HKOs so draining is horrible here. Swordedge armour doesn't tilt that, especially since it drops Ragnar's def such that he is 4HKOed.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Tear (TotA): Just so much faster, and can heal.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Karin (SH2): Due to regen, Ragnar only 4HKOs. Karin only 6HKOs though. And misses out on a 6-4.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Aelia (VP1): Probably kills in 3 rounds, isn't 2HKOed, has a 4-3 anyway.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Bow (BoF2): Shot, I guess.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Noel (SO2): Surely. Surely.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Serra (FE7): Serra doubles with Lightning, so her damage isn't complete garbage. She needs four attacks to win, and also counters. So... Serra, Ragnar (counter), Serra, Ragnar (counter). And one of Ragnar's two attacks will miss. Swordedge... yeesh, really sucks, it can't even tilt this fight since it basically reflects 1/12 of damage, which isn't enough.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Bard (FFT): Uh okay. Bard restores 26% of a bar of PCHP with each attack, Ragnar takes off 38%, but Bard has an almost constant 3-2 so should uh kinda ward off damage forever. Swordedge isn't really an option since it makes the draining that much better. And after 3 Ragnar attacks the draining powers up to put the match out of reach. Fail. EDIT: Sword of Lethargy. Ragnar has about a 55% chance to win the battle each time he lands sleep (either sleep cancels 3 turns, or only 2 and it reapplies within the next two attacks, or only 1 and it reapplies immediately), and since Bard 10HKOs he should live long enough to land sleep twice.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Bard (FF5): This is kinda reminiscent of Bard vs. Viki. Confuse is... probably a bit too nasty here? I dunno. It could be more accurate, but it's good enough, I think. Doubleturns are a nice boon for when confuse fails.
Ragnar (DW4) vs Edward (FF4): Good luck locking Ragnar's durability long enough before he 2HKOs. This is like FF5 bard except the status is much less accurate.
Ragnar really wanted Swordedge Armour to not suck. Otherwise, he's decent at pure slugging due to that HP, but even Bard/Leo level healing wrecks him, or any sort of status.
Setzer vs Roan (G2): Faster 3HKO.
Setzer vs Leo (Lunar:EBC): 3HKOs, isn't 3HKOed, isn't doubleturned before then.
Setzer vs Tear (TotA): Setzer is faster and barely 3HKOs, which forces Tear to heal at some point. Tear 3HKOs back. After two attacks she is usually alive, so she heals, survives two more attacks, and wins. Setzer has about a 36% of KOing unexpectedly at some point here, which isn't really good enough.
Setzer vs Karin (SH2): Regen helps ease off any risk of death from Setzer's 3 turns, and Karin 3HKOs.
Setzer vs Aelia (VP1): As with Karin, only Aelia has more HP to start with.
Setzer vs Bow (BoF2): Shot works.
Setzer vs Noel (SO2): Okay, finally someone who Fixed Dice rips apart.
Setzer vs Serra (FE7): Same with the Ragnar fight, Serra has enough offence such that Setzer only gets two turns (she 4HKOs here). Two turns don't kill Serra.
Setzer vs Bard (FFT): Bard 6HKOs and is faster, so Setzer gets 5 turns. If Setzer's damage isn't spiky, the draining actually is good enough to win this, but Setzer's damage is spiky... hmm. *calcs* Oh god, REALLY? Setzer only has a 49% chance to win this? Damnit Setzer what the hell.
Setzer vs Bard (FF5): Setzer can block confuse at no real penalty, so Bard has to use stop and try to slowly use regular attacks to win. I don't think that's going to work, especially since Setzer has some MBlock.
Setzer vs Edward (FF4): No.
Yeah, he has problems. I think we all intuitively thought he would beat people like Tear and BARD, but he doesn't. I think he still tends to beat non-draining healers with significantly below average damage but those are few and far between in Middle.
Kazin (SF2) vs Roan (G2): Oh god, Kazin is slightly below average speed by threat range, really? Anyway Roan is faster and 2HKOs.
Kazin vs Leo (Lunar:EBC): Okay, so, Desoul. I used that spell a lot and I'm quite sure it's signicanlty better than 30-35% for most of the game. But... it did fall off late, which I'm guessing is where Gourry/Pyro tested. One of these days I need to figure out how I deal with games where status takes a sudden decline towards the end (this, SH1, etc.) presumably because enemies start resisting it in some way. I dunno. Anyway, turn 2 Desoul wins this while turn 3 Desoul loses. Leo 2HKOs and isn't 2HKOed otherwise.
Kazin vs Tear (TotA): Tear apparently 2HKOs so Kazin can't just fire Desouls and win. While I'm willing to kneejerk her slower (Tales mages), mm. Kazin wins if either Desoul is turn 2 here, or if he can doubleturn before running out of MP (unfortunately I think he needs Blaze 4 to heal-lock, but he still has 8 shots).
Kazin vs Karin (SH2): Faster, resists fire, immunes ID. Ugly.
Kazin vs Aelia (VP1): Aelia needs three turns, and only barely survives two Blaze 4's on raw HP... which means her Res lowers her into 2HKO range.
Kazin vs Bow (BoF2): Still getting used to Kazin being outsped by the likes of Bow. So much for this being a good fight.
Kazin vs Noel (SO2): Uhh yeah guess I respect his healing speed enough for this.
Kazin vs Serra (FE7): Serra is faster with a 4HKO. Desoul probably isn't turn 3 against Serra res regardless of what it is normally, and Blaze 4 both provokes counters and runs into Serra Mdur/evade anyway.
Kazin vs Bard (FFT): Too much damage for the draining to overcome, Kazin 2HKOs through it.
Kazin vs Bard (FF5): Confuse. Kazin's magic will rip himself in two.
Kazin vs Edward (FF4): FF4o Edward kind of a free win.
I'll split the difference on Tear/Leo and award Kazin one win and one loss, although I may revisit how I feel about Desoul later.
Ragnar 5-6
Kazin 4-7
Setzer 3-8
Challengers who swept the competition: Aelia, Bow, Serra. Hilarious.
