A problem-free evening, following working out some of the issues EA spotted last time, with the following outcomes!
Grimgerde vs Lemon
Lemon looked to be the underdog (underchicken?) for this one, but Grimgerde had a slightly disappointing match last session, and they were reasonable closely matched, on paper... and as often proves the case, paper and statistics can lie! Despite a good start, Lemon faded and soon Grimgerde took an unassailable lead, and gained her first victory of the season.
Boadicea vs Shadow
One of Diddlysquat's exceptionally capable fighters, Boadicea is a very intimidating opponent and not many birds look to be matches for her - but she does seem to slightly lack that 'killer instinct', last week she narrowly lost to one of the 'house' birds, Noir, and this time another of the ECL stables came forward to try their luck - coincidentally another black shade of battle chicken, Shadow. A horrendously close fight ensued, health bars remaining identical and both gradually falling, and it was too close to call right down to the final hit - which surprised everyone by being landed by Shadow! It seems black is not Boadicea's lucky colour.....
Sky vs Frosty
About as close to a twinned pair as you can get, only a tiny difference in dexterity in Sky's favour separates these two - both fully trained, and experienced birds. Frosty, though, is spectacularly unreliable - some weeks unstoppable, others disappointing, you never really know what's in store when she steps in to the ring, and tonight was no exception. Frosty charged in fast, and it looked rather like she'd run headlong into a brick wall, barely landing a hit whilst Sky methodically pecked and clawed her way to a surprisingly clear victory!
Lethal Weapon vs Yin
Lethal is currently the highest stat bird in the league, Yin is not far behind though and both are matched in skill, so the suspicion was a quick start and early hit or two by either bird would prove decisive in slowing the other one down. Sure enough, Lethal rushed in and landed a couple of hefty blows on Yin, and although they were trading hits pretty evenly from there onwards, that initial rush gave Lethal the edge needed to drive through for a well deserved win.
Red Lizard vs Siegrune
First appearance by the Vesper Trading Company stables, Red was up against one of Trinsic's finest, Siegrune. Although raw strength was in Red's favour, Siegrune's skills were noticeably higher, and it was a fairly high risk strategy for Red - land a few heavy hits and she'd be OK, but if Siegrune defended and landed smaller hits herself, Red would be in trouble. Sure enough, Siegrune played the tactical game, blocking most attacks and wearing down her opponent, and whilst Red tried hard Siegrune never looked to be in any real difficulty, and followed Grimgerde's example to give Trinsic their second win of the evening.
Geiger vs White Coffee
Glowing green against bright white, two total newcomers stepped in to the ring for the final chicken bout of the evening. Very similar in skills and capabilities, we suspected the usual results from a newcomers fight - very close, and almost impossible to guess the outcome. The fight proceeded to swing between the two, each taking and then losing a small lead, until Geiger seemed to tire and landed fewer and fewer hits, whilst White Coffee kept going strong and pushed through to a good win on her first league battle.
For the novelty bout, we opted for a mechanical theme - one Clanky Golem against one clockwork Vollem! Much more expensive to produce, and also magic casting, the Vollem looked a strong possibility for the win, but the golem's immunity to poison might have helped, is the vollem made unwise casting choices. The outcome was an incredibly close fight - to the point where, with both creatures showing only red on their health bars, they both backed off from each other to take a breather! I suspected that was the vollem's chance, a crafty spell at range would have sealed the match, but it failed to grab the chance, they both came back to melee and the golem landed the killing hit!
So, we have an interesting, and wide open, league table following this evening :
2 Points : Lethal Weapon, Siegrune
1 point each for ; Grimgerde, Shadow, Sky, White Coffee, Dopey, Yin, and Noir.
The house had an interesting evening.... long queues at the betting table, and a lot of winners taking away our money, but thankfully a couple of surprise results kept the losses to reasonable levels, and we're still in business - so we're back for match three on Monday 25 July, 8PM UK time, as ever at the O*T arena in Zento - hope to see you there!
