S#5 - Failoffs (Semi-finals)

[Falconeer]

We are currently Playing.....
Failoffs (Semi-finals)
** All games have to be played BEFORE January 21th 2012 **





** All games have to be played BEFORE January 21th 2012 **

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[Cancklebiter]

Fianna Chulain should be marked down as the winner from the last round =).

[Kail]

Also, Squigskins lost, unless I'm misremembering the beating I took, so it would be the Rogues that carry on, I think?

[IainC]

In the failoffs, the first loser is truth.

[Celer]

Sorry Vampires (and the winner of the other side), but I'm out of town until Tuesday the 17th.  I shouldn't have a problem getting our match in after that, so let's just say this delay is adding to the drama...

[IainC]

Fuck this game.

Ezrast and I played, Nuffle picked the winner.

It was 2-2 on turn 15 with me receiving. Ezrast was also down to only 6 Elves (to my 8) due to a death, two KOs and two sendings off. I set up everyone except my thrower on the line of scrimmage and pushed them all forwards so that he couldn't mark them all while the thrower retrieved the ball and retreated out of Blitz range. Ezrast covered where he could but left most of my players unmarked. I had a choice of a 3+ throw to my catcher with a possible interception or a bunch of 4+ throws to various players who didn't have catch but without any risk of interception. I decided to risk it and covered the player who could intercept with all the spare Elven tackle zones that I could - Ezrast's Elf had neither catch nor Nerves of Steel so I was confident in him needing a 6 and then being surrounded by Elves if he did somehow manage it. Of course he rolls a 6 to intercept. In his last turn he then blitzes away my Wardancer, dodges his unskilled Line-elf out of the cage of Wood Elves, hands off to a marked Line-elf who then dodges away from his marker to make a pass to another Elf who then runs in the winner on the last turn of the game. I had been resigned to the fact that if my D6 rolls had gone south on my last turn we'd be playing extra time but I wasn't prepared for what actually happened. In hindsight, I had rerolls in hand, I should have made the longer throw to a random Elf but I never expect interceptions to happen except on Elves with Catch and I was paranoid about fluffing the throw on the last turn.

[ezrast]

Fantastic, intense game between IainC's Fianna Chulain and my Rouge Rogues. The replay is actually pretty fun if you like seeing crazy elf-on-elf bullshit.

[Celer]

I am returned!  And ready to see if an elf race can make it into the finals of the playoffs/failoffs for once. 

MEGRIM LET US MAKE OUR TIME.

[ezrast]

Megrim?

Kill him.

[Celer]

Sorry for the delay here folks, it's 100% my fault, I'm dealing with a family emergency.  We've got a time set up on Friday evening (PST) that should only get me in a little trouble.  If we're lucky, I'll lose, because next week will be another rough one!

[Megrim]

Megrim?

Kill him.

You should be glad! Of the four remaining teams in both the Play-offs and the Fail-offs, I am the only non-elf player remaining. At least there is going to be some variety this season.

p.s. Does anyone know a good site for setting up a livestream of the game?

[ezrast]

I mean I want you to kill Celer, not the other way around.

I'm not good enough with inducements to take on 1830 TV worth of skilled elves.

[Megrim]

I mean I want you to kill Celer, not the other way around.

I'm not good enough with inducements to take on 1830 TV worth of skilled elves.

Ooohoo, I'm sorry. I misread that. You know, Vampires, antagonism, etc... (everytime they talk about me, I cut myself! Another slice of cake)

To be honest, I don't think that its going to be an easy game. Not that any of them have been easy so far.

[Megrim]

I mean I want you to kill Celer, not the other way around.

I'm not good enough with inducements to take on 1830 TV worth of skilled elves.

So yea, about that whole killing thing...

 

[Celer]

My heart definitely wasn't in this one, so my strategy wasn't exactly up to snuff.  For example, I didn't notice it was Very Sunny until toward the end of the game, which MAY have affected my plan to throw long bombs all day long. 

But it was injuries that turned the game.  While my previous matches against Dwarf and Ogre had relatively empty injury boxes, the Vampires harvested all that built-up probability right from turn 1.  I opted to let a level 2 guard-lineman with -AV die without an Apoc on the first block of the game, which I'm not sure was the right thing to do.  Then on turn 2, when my superstar +ST/+AG guy let himself get crowd surfed into a BH, I apoced him to keep him in the game.  Turn 3/4 knocked out my Kicker with a BH, and turn 4/5 knocked out my other +ST blitzer with a MNG.  This plus a KO or two left the elves severely outnumbered, and I started to wonder whether I was actually defending or if the vamps were choosing to slowly whittle me down.  The elves got their chance by declining a Wrestle on a blockless-thrall and causing an early turnover, and even managed to knock the ball loose.  I'm pretty sure I mishandled positioning when the ball was on the turf though, and I certainly didn't account for an AG5 vampire being nearby to scoop it up in traffic, make a couple dodges, and pass the ball for a TD.  The elves had 2 turns to equalize, and they did manage to run a few elves through the defensive line.  However, the long bomb roll was 1/1 and the half ended 1-0.

I don't really remember much of the second half, I was a bit distracted and still very much outnumbered with no KOs waking up on either kickoff.  Elves received and again set themselves up for a long bomb TD, but mis-judged the positioning and had to throw it from a TZ and it dropped to the turf (which allowed the receiver to get surfed).  The ball changed possession a few times, but the elves never had the numbers to advance it (or even to move more receivers downfield), and eventually the vamps took control and the 2-0 lead.  A particularly nasty Pitch Invasion stunned about 8 vamps, but the elves almost bungled even this gift by failing to pick up the ball and allowing 2 of the vamps still on their feet to get a TZ on the thrower and the ball.  Elf BS prevailed there and they got themselves a pity TD.  There was no Riot on the turn 15 kickoff, so the elves were out of time.  They did not bother challenging a final vampire TD to make the final score 3-1.

Interesting stats: elves were 0/6 on KO rolls, 3/6 on pickups, and of the 12 armor breaks only 4 of them were stuns.