Sky vs Noir
Two veterans to start the evening, fully trained and very close in stats, Noir slightly stronger but Sky slightly faster. Sky ran in first, but this was a very even match, nothing in it at all and right down to the last blow - which (surprising to me, since I thought Sky would get that last peck in...) Noir managed to land, and win the fight!
Learner vs MissMarple
As a total contrast, two complete newcomer into the ring for the next bout. Despite having a greater tactical skill (and perhaps less useful, more resistance to magic!) Learner was slightly weaker than MissMarple, and although both were landing attacks at a very steady rate, the extra punch in MissMarple's attacks began to tell, and poor Learner gradually slowed whilst MissMarple drove ahead to a comfortable first win.
Boadicea vs Frosty
Not many are keen to take on Boadicea, a very strong and fast, and fully trained, fighter. Frosty though, with her usual lack of sense, seemed keen enough. Her record is erratic, losing what look to be easy fights and yet on one evening beating all three then league-leaders in a succession, so you can never be sure what will happen when she is in the ring. She seemed to be lacking concentration though, Boadicea got in several hard hits before Frosty began fighting back, and despite a brave try she could not recover from her poor start, and Boadicea took the victory.
Siegrune vs Camo
Two mid-trained fighters, similarly matched so promising a good fight. However, these birds never do quite what is expected. Camo rushed in fast, and hit, and hit, and hit... Siegrune seemed rather stunned by the onslaught (as were most of the crowd!) and just seemed unable to reply effectively, landing a few hits whilst Camo just kept on hammering away, ending with a very clear victory that went against everything you could reasonably have expected!
Yin vs Lethal Weapon
Both fully trained, Yin is exceptionally strong and fast but Lethal is a step ahead on both stats, and is one of the very top end birds we've seen in the league. This time, Lethal was very quick off the mark, rushing at Yin, but still the first hits were all by Yin and it looked like Lethal might be in trouble. Suddenly though, she began landing really hefty hits on Yin, and quickly powered her way back into the lead, and then on to victory. Close fight, and a well earned first win there for Lethal.
Dopey vs Grimgerde
Had a bit of trouble finding a good match for Grimgerde, most of the 'house' birds are either too well trained or yet to start training (must sort that out before the next fight!), but Dopey stepped up from Nyu's stables, slightly weaker but with a much higher physical resistance, so we also took the chance to see how that might affect a fight. Sadly for Dopey, it wasn't much help, even though almost a match in skill she barely landed a hit on Grimgerde, who blocked and hit back expertly and cruised to a surprisingly fast win.
For the novelty, we tried numbers against speed and magic - three frenzied ostards, Alf, Bert and Charlie, against Yappy, an extremely noisy bake kitsune. First to fall was Bert, hit hard and then poisoned, although Yappy took a few hits in the process. The key was how fast he realised to switch to the next target, and he was a little slow at first -which Alf and Charlie tried to take advantage of and hit a few times before Yappy turned his attention to Alf, who soon fell, but Yappy was pretty badly damaged. Charlie almost made it, landing several hefty hits, but Yappy managed a last second healing spell and bit back to finish off the final ostard, although it was remarkably close at the end.
So now, the current league tables stand like this :
3 Points : Lethal Weapon
2 Points : Grimgerde, Siegrune, Noir
1 Point : Shadow, Sky, White Coffee, Dopey, Yin, MissMarple, Boadicea, Camo
Lethal Weapon getting a good grip on things, but several well able to challenge, and newcomers pushing for their moment of glory too!