A Gauntlet Thrown
The challenge started with a tweet…
#LoR pic.twitter.com/0UP5VHHRgK
— Herko Kerghans (@HerkoKerghans) February 15, 2022
… promptly answered by two tweets…
OK not to roast or anything but I genuinely don't know who half these people are? https://t.co/M0v26FQZpB
— Henneky (@Henneky1) February 15, 2022
Sounds pretty free tbh. Challenge accepted. Also should be good content 👀 https://t.co/LR2MDSUblG
— Kevor24 (@KevinAnctil) February 15, 2022
… and it was on: both teams would meet in honorable combat on Sunday, with decks as of yet unknown since the gauntlet had been thrown the Monday before the expansion patch.
Setbacks, and Setting the Rules
Personal issues forced two of the writers to step down: Wamuu, which frequent readers will probably be familiar with from the deck guides he usually writes, and Jason, known to the whole since, really, who does not know the name Fleurant?
Shadawx, of Day One Decks fame and Wombats extraordinaire -- and who had already declared himself ready to upholding the Writers' honor -- along with "Pink Police" Maybenextime promptly filled in the spots.In the meantime, rules were drawn and agreed upon. (https://tomadamswc.com)
For lineups, Riot Lock rules (no Champion can show up twice, no region pairing can show up twice) would be enforced across all five decks brought by a team, with two tweaks:
- One deck per player, no switching,
- At least 3 of the 4 new Champions must show up,
- Exactly one of the new Champions could (if desired) show up twice.
As for the confrontation, Pros and Writers agreed that:
- Bo1 matches would be used,
- The loser of a matchup would be out of the confrontation,
- The winner team would rotate the winner player, announcing their next contestant,
- The loser team would then choose their next contestant.
(Early on, teams had agreed that the winning player would remain in place; this rule was later rewritten to allow all players a chance to play at least one game).
Discord's Front Row
The unshakable nature of all players' honor being outside question, the teams also decided to add a twist: the matches would be broadcasted live, with no delay (since stream-sniping was not a consideration), and invited the denizens of the MaRu Discord to join one of the teams and share plays and insights as the battles were fought.
Ready to Rumble
Match One - Shadawx vs Henneky
Shadawx jumped first into the fray, brining Teemo Tristana Poppy:
11 cards
29 cards
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Followers
Spells
… and was met by Henneky, playing Yuumi Scouts.
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Demacia's relentlessness favored Shadawx in this combat, and Writers took the lead 1 to 0.
Match Two - Aikado versus Sirturmund
Having lost the first match, the Pros sent Aikado as their second combatant, packing -- as befits this Shellfolk Master -- a Curious version of Akshan Gnar:
15 cards
25 cards
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… and, having lost the first fight, the Pros also chose Sirturmund with The Scargrounds Udyr Tahm Kench as Aikado's opponent:
34 cards
6 cards
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Sirturmund proved that The Scargrounds hold as few secrets for him as Star Springs, widening the Writers' lead to 2-0.
Match Three - Maybenextime versus Jasensational
"Pink Police" Maybenextime was next for the writers -- like Aikado, MNT brought Akshan Gnar to the fight, but chose a Papercraft Dragon version.
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Confronting him he found Ezry Awarder Jasensational, with his signature Yasuo Leona deck:
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In stunning fashion, Jasensational shortened the gap to Pros 1, Writers 2.
Match Four - MajiinBae versus MonteXristo
This would be a match between two of the most powerful Ladder decks currently, with Seasonal Champion MajiinBae bringing Darkness…
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… whereas Writer, Wiggly Wombat, and lineups expert MonteXristo chose the deck that, at the moment of this typing, you'll find at the top of Balco's Tier List when sorting by winrate.
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Bringing enormous relief to the Writers, which feared this matchup the most, it turned out to be a Timeline in which the word-slinger team enlarged their advantage to 3-1.
Match Five - Leer versus Kevor
Being the fifth match, there was no strategy involved in choosing the combatants: the last of the Pros on the bench, Kevor -- who even though he was on a road trip, and had to connect by mobile, joined the challenge -- brought Galio Braum…
27 cards
13 cards
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… and our favorite Meta Reporter Leer piloted Yuumi Pantheon Demacia.
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Both pilots duked it out until Leer, even though he never drew his champs, was able to wrestle the score to 4-1.
Game Five - Jasensational versus Sirturmund
Jasensational on Leona Yasuo was now the last line of the Pro's defense...
... Sirturmund advanced, wielding Udyr Tahm Kench…
… Yasuo and Leona could not repeat its previous stunning performance, and Scargrounds closed the challenge putting the score 5-1 in the Writers' favor.
Aftermath
Both teams, along with their fans, jumped on the same shared Voice channel for virtual handshakes and congratulations on games well played.
Was the experience enjoyable for both parties?
"It was good fun," said Shellfolk connoisseur Aikado.
"Today's matches were a lot of fun," said MonteXristo, "I was really glad to go 5-1 against the MaRu Pro team."
Enough to have a rematch in the future?
"Next time, though," Aikido said, "gotta nerf Sirturmund; maybe he should play with one hand behind his back or something."
"Well…" smiled MonteXristo, "maybe Shadawx and I might not have lost to Yasuo Leona with the rest of the Wiggly Wombats behind us."
I don't know about you, folks…
… but that last phrase sounds like a challenge to me. =)
Stay tuned!
Sirturmund (Udyr Tahm Kench),
MonteXristo (Gnar Trundle Timelines),
Leer (Yuumi Pantheon),
and Maybenextime (Akshan Gnar),
will soon publish detailed deck guides about their weapons of choice for this confrontation.