No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Thanks to the Coronavirus giving me some unexpected free time, the Gaoling Bending Tournament Reports are back!
And what a tournament to return to. It certainly had its ups and downs, but in the end we had the pleasure of watching one of the most brilliant performances ever from a competitor. So sit back and enjoy.
Firstly I would like to complain about the disappointing lack of waterbenders taking part this month. I'm hoping for a strong return in May, otherwise we may need to have words.
Air - Vincebobogunoosh, Noorbie, kopk1, Woerr,
Earth - martdamp, palsjuegs, Kuhler
Fire - will2703, StuckInKarma, Shoolfie, Infamous_Mobb
Non-Bending - KevinY3, GameCubeDude
This months tournament took place in a double elimination format, which means it was very complicated to follow. All you need to know is that it means fighters have to lose twice to be eliminated. I shall do my best to guide you through it! Due to uneven numbers, Martdamp was automatically placed in Round 2. And remember, any fighter who loses in this round goes into the losers bracket.
The first of the first round matches was a keenly anticipated contest between Vincebobogunoosh and KevinY3. Both are former winners and were many peoples favourites to take the title this time around, particularly with the absences of defending champion Porku and triple champion EvieAscendant. The fight was an understandably agile afair, both competitors leapt around the arena like the air and non-benders they were. Vince landed most of the significant hits but Kevin is eventually taken down by her own attack, remember that for later. Overall, it's a reasonably comfortable victory for Vince.
Elsewhere in the round: Kopk1 took a one sided victory over will2703.
Palsjuegs and Shoolfie met in an all team clash. An attritional fight followed, with neither side landing too many big hits. Palsjuegs eventually lands the killer blow and advances.
New Chat Mod, Noorbie, had a routine win over debutant StuckInKarma after getting on top early on.
Woerr was handed a bye to the next round after his opponent failed to appear.
In my notes I also wrote about a fight between GameCubeDude and Timodenoob. However, I wrote that GameCubeDude won the fight, but he later appeared in the losers bracket, and Timodenoob doesn't appear again the tournament. I am very confused, but for arguments sake, let's just say that GameCubeDude actually lost and that Timodenoob got very drunk in one of the arenas fine drinking establishments and had to withdraw. Clear? Good!
Losers Bracket:
There was only one fight here, fought between GameCubeDude and StuckInKarma. The latter was on top throughout and took victory, despite a brave effort from a debuting GameCubeDude, who hasn't been on the server long.
Both will2703 and Shoolfie were given byes through this round.
Winners Bracket:
One of the highlights of the tournament was the fight between Vincebobogunoosh and martdamp. Mart has long been praying for a decent run in the tournament, as his form has been, to put it mildy, absolutely dreadful. To be fair to him, he put up a very good fight against one of the tournament favourites in Vince. There was excellent use of combos on display as both fighters proved the value in putting far too much time into learning the mechanics of bending on this server. Vince eventually came out on top, but Mart could take solace in the fact that his form may be turning... Oh, who am I kidding?!
Another very strong fight was between Palsjuegs and Woerr. Both were evenly matched and able to land regular hits on the other. It was hard to call until Woerr landed a flurry of good hits on his opponent, coming out on top of what was a good fight.
A third decent fight was between Noorbie and Infamous_Mobb. It was another fight were both competitors were able to land good hits on one another. Noobie eventually came out on top, but Infamous can be pleased with their performance.
Losers Bracket:
The first of the big hitters to be beaten in the second round appear here as KevinY3 and Palsjuegs clashed. Kevin gained an early advantage and was able to hold onto it as Palsjuegs struggled to land any meaningful hits. Kevin advances, whilst Palsjuegs must live with the regret of not taking part as a waterbender this month.
Infamous_Mobb, StuckInKarma and martdamp were all given byes into the next round.
Winners Bracket:
The first fight here was between the airbending pair of Vincebobogunoosh and Kopk1. A decent fight with both players showcasing the agility of airbending excellently. Vince eventually comes out on top after a decent fight.
The second fight was between Noorbie and Woerr. After a fairly even start, with both primarily sticking to long range attacks, Noorbie eventually claimed victory and advanced to the semi finals.
Losers Bracket:
The round got underway with an intense fight between KevinY3 and Infamous_Mobb. Infamous_Mobb's aggressive, if inelegant, tactics meant that the fight always had action, as Kevin too was drawn into a close quarters bout that wasn't favourable to her. Eventually though, the experience of Kevin shone through, and she claimed another good victory. Infamous can be pleased with their performances as they exit the competition.
There was another close quarters fight between martdamp and StuckInKarma. This time though, Mart looked relatively untroubled as he overcame his opponent.
Winners Bracket:
The fourth round, or maybe that should be 'winners bracket final', was fought between Vincebobogunoosh and Noorbie. The winner of this fight would advance straight into the final, whilst the loser would face a second fight to try and get a rematch in the final. Vince came out of the blocks fastest, landing good hits early on and forcing Noorbie onto the back foot. Suddenly though, Vince stopped moving, he had lagged out. In the confusion, Noorbie was very fair and stopped fighting. The fight was restarted after a brief interlude, and Vince carried on where he left off, claiming an efficient victory and advancing to the final.
Losers Bracket:
The fight between Kopk1 and KevinY3 promised much, airbenders and non-benders often provide good entertainment. The fight was an understandably agile affair, as Kevin did her best to keep Kopk at arms length and keeping on top of him. After a decent fight, Kevin comes out on top.
If you want a lesson in how to win using earthbending, then look no further than this fight for tips. Martdamp came up against Woerr in an earth vs air battle. Mart made excellent use of earth shackle to slow down his agile opponent, and along with the powerful moves that earthbending has, it proved a deadly combination. A very strong victory for Mart.
As there are only two fights to talk about, and they are the last two in the losers bracket, we'll cover them both here.
Fifth Round:
KevinY3 vs martdamp was a keenly anticipated fight, as they had consistently been the two strongest fighters in the losers bracket. Both were desperate to reach the final, and two more wins would get them there. The fight starts strongly for both as they exchange blows. Mart keeps trying for a shackle, so he can pull off another signature combo, Kevin is wise to it however, and is able to dodge those attempts. The fight is intense, but Kevin seems relaxed, especially as she finds time to type some in-play commentary into chat whilst fighting. There is general astonishment amongst those watching, as nobody can work out exactly how she's managing to do that and dodge Mart at the same time. Even with that flex, Kevin is able to take down Mart in truly exceptional fashion. Martdamp must lick his wounds and try again next month, but he will take huge pride in how he's performed this time, that first title might be getting even closer!
Sixth Round, or the 'Losers Final':
This was it, the final chance for either Noorbie or KevinY3 to reach the final and have a shot at getting revenge on Vince. The fight was another high quality affair, if a little bit less intense than the previous fight. Kevin still finds time to type away in chat, and she takes another excellent win, setting up a mouth-watering final with Vince. Noorbie must settle for third, but she put in a good account of himself and can be proud of her performances.
After nearly ninety minutes of fighting, we have our final two. The veteran airbender Vincebobogunoosh, and the talented non-bender KevinY3. Both have won this tournament before, and both were incredibly keen add a second title to their collection.
The format for this final is simple. Kevin, as she came through the losers bracket, must beat Vince twice to claim overall victory. Vince only needs to win once.
The final got underway with Kevin starting the strongest, getting some solid hits in. Vince manages to hold on though, but not for quite long enough. Some excellent work from Kevin knocks Vince down, giving her a morale boosting win. Just one more performance like that and she would have her second title.
The second fight began on a more even footing. Kevin stood strong though and landed some solid hits. This brilliantly efficient display from Kevin was very impressive indeed, Vince was nowhere to be seen. In the end, it was much more routine win than anyone expected for Kevin. Whilst it may not have been one of the all time great finals, it was certainly one of the all time great individual performances from the newly crowned double champion, KevinY3.
The bracket for this tournament can be viewed here. I recommend opening it and rereading this report, just to see if it makes any more sense with a visual aid.
Best Fighter - There is only one winner here, and it's the champion. KevinY3, who had a simply brilliant tournament. From losing her first fight to Vince, going through the losers bracket, to exacting her revenge on him to take a stunning win, all whilst typing away in chat. Congratulations Kevin!
Best Fight - I'll be honest, it was slim pickings this month, but the one stand out fight was the final round of KevinY3 vs Vincebobogunoosh. Kevin put in a pair of excellent performances to take the title, whilst Vince was unable to hold his own for long enough to deny her.
The Fair Play Award - This is awarded to Noorbie for sportingly stopping the fight when it was clear her opponent was having technical issues. It would've been easy for her to simply kill Vince when he was lagged out, but she didn't, and the fight could restart.
The "Read the instructions next time" award - This is awarded to the surprisingly large amount of people who didn't assign their stats before their fights began. Note for next time everyone, use /c to set your stats, and do it before you get into the arena for your fight!
Funniest Moment - It's a hat-trick of awards for KevinY3 this month, something I'm sure she will value as much as her overall title! None of us could quite work out how she was able to type in chat whilst she was fighting, especially as she seemed to keep moving whilst doing it! It was very fun to watch.
Last Notes
Firstly, the usual thank you's. Thanks to Porku, Cheesesandwich, and Vincebobogunoosh for helping to run the tournament this month, it certainly wasn't an easy one! Also thanks to martdamp and GuoKao for being the good admins they are and keeping things from catching fire.And finally, thanks to everyone who took part this month! It was great to see so many people online and enjoying the server, we hope to see you again next month.
I also thought I'd take this opportunity to say a quick hello to everyone, as I've been absent from the server from quite some time before this month. It's been brilliant to be back and I hope to stick around for some time writing these reports and being the general dogsbody that I am.
Many thanks for reading, keep an eye on the Discord and the server announcements for news about the next tournament.
QuietDove