Even by my standards, this report is woefully late.... sadly life has been conspiring to keep me away from UO, the forums, the internet and anything much fun recently. Hopefully that'll change before much longer - but now for the important stuff!
Final match of the season, with a few extra attractions - we were paying out treble the usual amounts for winning bets, there were prizes for the winners and commemorative statues for those who had taken part in season one, and my typing was probably worse than ever so everyone got a laugh, or maybe a headache, working out what on Earth I was on about....
The evening's bouts -
PeckyBalboa vs Mixer
Almost identical skills, with a very slight stat advantage to Pecky, this shaped up to be a close fight - but it really went to the last possible hit, the lead swung back and forward between these two until both had only red showing in their health bars, before Mixer landed the winning blow.
Quicksilver vs Dopey
Fast rush at the start of the bout from Quicksilver, Dopey fought back hard but never seemed to recover from the initial shock, and fairly rapidly Quicksilver built up an unstoppable combination of blows to take a clear victory.
Grumpy vs SpareUno
SpareUno seemed a bit nervous about getting in to the arena, but with a little persuasion settled down and squared up against her opponent. Grumpy rushed in to attack, but SpareUno didn't give an inch and stood off all Grumpy's attacks while landing heavy hits of her own. Brave try from Grumpy, but a solid win for SpareUno.
Spot vs Bernie
Identical stats, all combat skills matched, the only difference between these two was, of all things, a higher resisting spells skill for Bernie! Spot got off to a fast start, Bernie fought back to take the lead, but Spot hung in and again worked her way ahead. Very close bout, but Spot proved too strong for Bernie in the end.
Sky vs Nugget
Very fast opening rush from Nugget - which made almost no impact on Sky at all, who blocked almost every attack. Those that did land were much weaker than the blows Sky was landing, and despite a brave try from Nugget, she was clearly outclassed and Sky took a well-deserved victory.
And finally.... the fight to decide the title
Nari vs Cyanide
Current leader Cyanide was bound to be at the top of the table, but a win for Nari would have meant they both shared first place so there was a lot to fight for. Cyanide's not been on form lately, and although Cyanide rushed in to attack Nari seemed to be blocking most of her attacks, until Cyanide worked out how to break Nari's defensive skills and started landing some very heavy hits. Nari fought back to level the fight, but Cyanide kept on relentlessly and grabbed a close-fought win.
So, for the end of this season, places worked out as :
7 : Cyanide.
5 : Nari, Frosty.
4 : Trinsic Steel.
3 : Spike, Shadow, Bernie, Lightning, Spot, Sky.
2 : Midnight, BlueBlaze, Trinsic Rose, PeckyBalboa, Sango, Nugget, Noir, Mixer, Quicksilver, SpareUno.
1 : Lime, ThrobbingGristle, SnotKlap, Cerulean, Flash, Moonfeather, Dryad, Eric, Fir, Silver, Camo.
Sadly it seemed the Trinsic folks could not make it, so Steel didn't get another victory - but there's a third place statue waiting for collection when we next see her!
Congratulations to Cyanide for a well-deserved victory, and thanks to all those who attended, brought their pets along to compete, took all our money by betting on winners or just came along to pass the time - hope you all had fun, and we'll see you all when we start off the next eason, currently
planned to begin in August (July will be a holiday and training break for the competitors and their owners!).
We'll be moving venue slightly, to the building directly to the East - so any existing runes will work fine, you just have a ten-yard walk to the new arena to help keep you and your birds fit
Thanks also from me to the O*T folks, without who I'd still be wondering if this was a good idea and doing nothing about it, and it would never have got off the ground!
