RPGmon Classic Draft, Round Two- Burning Hearts in the Arena!

[Mad Fnorder]

First, Week one's results!

Team Onion Knights vs. Blasty Stabby Damp
(Ho-oh[PKMN]/Kyle[S5]/Peco[BoF3]) vs. (Artea[L2]/Margulis[XS2]/Lani[FF9])
Our first match was Team Onion Knights, lead by Captain K., against Blasty/Stabby/Damp, lead by Snowfire. The duel began middle to middle, with Captain K putting Queen's Knight Kyle up against Xenosaga's Margulis in a sword duel. Margulis and his shadow turned out to be the better, downing Kyle and finishing him off with a vicious double team Boost Turn. Next for the Onion Knights came Ho-oh, the legendary Pokemon, who crushed Margulis through his shadow with a devastating Sky Attack. In response came the elf Artea, who's Dragon spell, striking weakness, put significant pressure on the firebird. After trading spells and Recovers, Captain K., not wanting to provoke a lethal counter-IP attack from Artea, switched to Peco. Snowfire responded with a switch to now Light-Champ Lani, who tore through the onion in record time before finishing off Ho-oh with a Super-Effective Water spell. Match to Blasty/Stabby/Damp, 2-0.,

NOTE: Recent drug tests have determined Margulis's statistics and functionality may be somewhat different from his performance in future matches. The Draft League is considering him on probation.

Team Yakumo vs. Team Clear Tranquil
(Maya[Persona2]/Beowulf[FFT]/Jean[BoF1]) vs. (Feena[G1]/Yulie[WA4]/Shana[LoD])
Paladienne Yulie met Temple Knight Beowulf as this match began. Yulie seemed to take hold of the match to start, opening with Quicken, evading Beowulf's first attack, and delivering a devastating Material Summon. After another toss of her rings, Beowulf was at critical, but responded by informing Yulie that "no, she was the demons", turning her into a Zombie. Yulie then finished Beowulf off with a quick bite to the brain. Yakumo then brought forth Maya Amano, revealing the other half of his strategy- casting Diarahan to heal the Zombiefied Yulie into a simply Dead Yulie. Next came forth Feena of Grandia fame, and she and Maya traded blows (And healing) for a number of turns. Trying to break the stalemate, Clear Tranquil switched to the Dragoon Shana, but despite a number of well-struck Additions and a Dragoon Transformation, a switch to Maia Custom made Shana the victim of Multi-Dimension for another instant KO. Feena returned, and eventually invoked Time Gate, eventually appearing to strike Maya down- or at least, until Recovery activated, bringing Maya back for the finishing blow. Jean, Frog Prince extraordinaire, took the time that he didn't need to enter the arena to start signing autographs- or at least, offering to. Winner, Team Yakumo, 2-0.

Team Magic Dance vs. Team Namagomi
(Eirika[FE8]/Alma[FFT]/Rafa[FFT]) vs. (Nel[SO3]/Caina[WA2]/Ruprecht[SO2])
Excal sent out the oft-maligned Rafa, wearing Earth Clothes, in to face Caina of Odessa from Namagomi. Rafa managed to survive a number of turns by targeting both herself and her oponent with Earth Strike, healing herself as she was fortunate enough to land blows. Eventually, her luck ran out, with Caina somewhat weakened after finishing her off with a 4D Hypno Blast. Another FFT castmate took the field, then, as Alma opened with her signature MBarrier. Caina retreated in favor of Wise Man Ruprecht, which caused a similar switch on the other side of the field, Excal trading Alma for FE Lord Eirika. Faced with this, Ruprecht made an about face, with Nel tagging in. A devastating attack from Eirika then left Nel on deaths' door, and a missed Ice Daggers in response resulted in a lethal counterstrike. Eirika remained on the field, striking down the weakenend Caina while taking a single blow in return, and then continuing on to weather Ruprecht's attacks and run him through, with slightly less than half her health remaining. Winner, Team Magic Dance, 2-0

Team Shock Therapy vs. Team Unoriginal
(Sharon[LoL2]/Robo[CT]/Pikachu[PKMN]) vs. (Geno[SMRPG]/Noa[LoL1]/Taya[SF2])
The final match of the week was one of the most exciting, with plenty of action and thrills. Team Shock Therapy sent its mascot Pikachu to face Legaia heroine Noa. Noa promptly exited the arena for Tayam who was paralyzed with a single Thunderwave. After being brought to the brink of death with a Thunderbolt, Taya struggled back, SMASHing Pikachu with Atlas 2. Taishyr countered with a Legaia beauty of his own, as the pirate Sharon built AP while finishing off Taya. Noa returned to the field, only to be Charmed by Sharon. We apologize to our home viewers, as we were unable to show this section of the match in its entirety. Reportedly, Sharon attempted to keep Noa captivated, but eventually the romance faded, and Noa showed the power of a woman scorned with a Queen Twister, knocking Sharon out. Our cameras returned to coverage to show Robo weathering the powerful Noa's Ark combination, and responding with an 9-Crisis Arm Uzi Punch. Unoriginal met a construct with a construct, and Geno came out to finish the match in a single resounding blow with Geno Whirl. Winner, Team Unoriginal, 1-0.
And now, the standings.

Blue Division
Namagomi, Taishyr, Unoriginal, Excal

1.(1-0, 2 Left)Team Magic Dance (Run by Excal): Worker 8, Eirika, Alma, Tengaar, Cleo, Rafa
2.(1-0, 1 Left)Team Unoriginal: Geno, Presea, Noa, Ayne, Collette, Taya
3t.(0-1)Team Namagomi: Nel Zelpher, Geddoe, Sara (BoF1), Caina, Vinsfeld Rhamadanthus, Ruprecht
3t.(0-1)Team Shock Therapy(Run by Taishyr): Gau, Sharon(Legaia 2), Sceptile, Robo, Pikachu, Fu So Ya

Ryu5 Division
Snowfire, Yakumo, Clear Tranquil, Captain K.

1t.(1-0, 2 Left) Blasty/Stabby/Damp(run by Snowfire): Artea, Millenia, Kornell, Margulis, Lani, Bernadette
1t.(1-0, 2 Left)Team Yakumo: Maya Amano, Lyon, Beowulf, Florina, Jean (BoF2), Gijimu
3t.(0-1)Team Clear Tranquil: Feena, Fayt, Peppita, Yulie, Roger, Shana
3t.(0-1)Team Onion Knights (Run by Captain K.): Ho-oh, Selan, Kyle(S5), Belenus, Celine Jules, Peco

However, the season has just begun!

This weeks matchups are as follows!

Team Shock Treatment vs. Team Namagomi
Team Unoriginal vs. Team Magic Dance

Blasty/Stabby/Damp vs. Team Yakumo
Team Clear Tranquil vs. Team Onion Knights.


A reminder, there is one more regular season game remaining after this, and you must use your entire roster at least once each before that time or be penalized!

[Clear Tranquil]

Sheer awesmeness.

My first RPGmon experience was great fun. Thanks to Yakumo, Tal and Nitori for a great time.

Captain K!

Don't know what time it is over there but after lunchtime GMT I'll be away from my computer for a week again. So probably Friday again I'l be available for a match.

[Captain K.]

Okay, Friday it is.

[074]

Taishyr: Is it possible to get on AIM on your end, or will we have to do some referee acrobatics?  I'm available on Thursday night and Friday night.

[Yakumo]

Okay, the CT reset on losing a character is seriously over-emphasizing fast characters who land a final blow, and I highly, HIGHLY suggest you get rid of it before the eliminations part of this season.  I'm not saying this would have changed the result of my match with Snowfire, the team I picked matched up horribly, but having Lyon get nearly killed by Lani because she got a free double when Gijimu died kinda ruined any chance I may have had.  None of the refs use this normally to the best of my knowledge, either, only reset on voluntary change.  This seriously makes speed matter too much, it's already very important to begin with.

[Mad Fnorder]

You aren't the first person to suggest that the rule be changed, and I'm definitely considering it if interest holds long enough to do a Season 2. However, I am loath to change the rules in mid-stream, so to speak, when people have already drafted a certain way. Though, frankly, if a majority of the players/refs would prefer CT remaining on Death, then I'd go ahead and enforce it for the playoffs.

[Clear Tranquil]

Yeah ... it's kind of a bummer when fast characters have such a lead because of that and you're on the receiving end.

I shouldn't be complaining because I have Yulie ... but yeah it'd probably be more balanced in general for characters across the board if the CTB didn't reset.

[Excal]

Well, the Poke-style TB battles have their own charm.  Of course, this means that in some respects speed matters less.  But only for those who rely on multiple turns to the foe's own one.  It also has the occasional catch of a foe who is able to go first and just consistantly do massive damage, without the catch of elemental typing playing havok with that.

[Captain K.]

I vote for the new switch-in keeping the CT of the dead guy.

[Taishyr]

Namagomi: We'll need to do Thursday or Friday, either late night or early evening. Being in China, I not only lack AIM but a good evening time.

[074]

Hm.  I can do late times, thankfully.  Especially on Friday.  Though--do you have any chat programs that are AIM-compatible?

Alternatively, I guess we can get a ref to go-between IRC and AIM.


...stupid IRC not working on my computer.

[Talaysen]

Hm.  I can do late times, thankfully.  Especially on Friday.  Though--do you have any chat programs that are AIM-compatible?

The problem is likely the AIM protocol, not AIM itself, so any multi-IM client will still not connect to AIM, unless he can use a proxy or something.

On that note, Taishyr, have you tried using meebo?  It's a website that allows you to sign onto AIM, and should work.  AIM Express might also work.

[Clear Tranquil]

*brings Anadin for Tal*

I *have* to use Roger next match else I'll get a handicap ... but after that I'll go easy on the S03 characters ;p

I'm sorry for the trouble =/

[074]

Due to logistical issues regarding connection for my match, and my incapability of signing onto IRC, I hereby forfeit as to not hold things up.

[Excal]

Which begs the question.  How does forfeiting affect a) remaining chars for tiebreakers, and b) character usage to avoid penalties?

[Mad Fnorder]

Mmhrhm. I'll hold both teams to the honor system to send me their projected rosters, and count it as such.  As for tiebreaker purposes, It'll have to count as a 3-0.


In addition, we're having some logistical issues about SO3 characters in general. Namely, the state of the stat topic, which has no coherent averages. When the fight with two of the most SO3-knowledgeable people makes the ref tear their hair out,, well...

I'm not pleased with the effect on the competition, but until that stat topic is in order, I'm asking that Namagomi and Clear Tranquil PM me alternates for their SO cast members. I sincerely apologize, especially to Clear Tranquil, for whom it's half her team,  but this was totally unforeseen. The alternate's slot will still be considered "used" for the regular season- I.E. Namagomi won't have to use whoever gets swapped in for Nel, since Nel's already been played. Full update will go up as soon as I have the modified casts.

[DjinnAndTonic]

I just wanted to note that I really enjoyed the Fnorder's quick match write-ups that summarized the previous week's battles. I can wait until next season so I can try out a team!

-Djinn

[Clear Tranquil]

*hugs Djinn*

Indeed.

I just hope Yulie can hold the forte for my team =/ I'm not too upset about losing Roger but Peppita's a pretty good Middle with a crazy confusion game going on and Fayt turned out better than I thought he would. Ah well it'll be interesting to see how my new duellers do anyway.