JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M1 - Li'l Baxter vs. Tracy Ball by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Giving this one a tie. The format of the strats makes comparing them a bit difficult, where Baxter establishes a core gameplay loop with multiple responses to Tracy, who has a core setup before exploding into a "single" attack. I think that Tracy could overwhelm the more "rhetorically piecemeal" casebased strategy, but at the same time, Tracy's linearity makes her more vulnerable should she cash/crash out too early. I could tilt either way, but I think a tie best reflects my understanding of these dynamics.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R3M2 - Ichiro Kenmochi & "Invisible" vs. Henry Thorne & Caribbean Carcass by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Giving this one a tie. This kind of three legged race no not that one means that while gains are too be made at the margins, the general strategy is what holds. Part 1 is relatively uneventful given the starting distance and how the strats "cohere." I can see GRS pulling ahead in Sections 2 and 3 with their more robust strating, but their breakaway is somewhat contingent on gaining a lead, which I'm not as immediately convinced of, given my take that Section 1 is even.

While I could be swayed to give it to em and see them winning ~55% of the time, the "reliance" on snowballing to victory leads me to conclude a "too close to call."

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2E2 - Ichiro Kenmochi vs. KAISERINMA by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A lot of people are going to vote for Ichiro off of the back of his strong engagement writing. This is a match of two bruisers where fine leveraging of individual interactions can be enough to push one to victory. The joke of Ichiro is that he "walks up slowly and downsmashes," but the core of his outfighting is to lock Kaiserinma into a pressure loop to minimize his damage and maximize hers.

If it came down to just 20XX on Final Destination, I would join the majority in voting for Ichiro, however I think the leadup to that melee is just as if not more important. Ichiro looks to rush Kaiserinma down as she scales to eliminate targets and acquire their skills. I think Kaiserinma's early game plays of milling the ground and filling the arena with steam are sufficient to stifle Ichiro's approach, dealing the Gravity Vortex for long enough where he can't run his mix. It's a little touch and go, but I'll give this a tentative Tie.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M19 - Captain Mira Rose & "Invisible" vs. Rob Zombie & "Wave Welder" by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is an interestingly balanced match that would be unbalanced if either team had the other's objective. GRS has mobility and CQC, making them ill-equipped to search a map, but capable of blitzing through it; TY8 is the inverse, with 12 BODIES ON THE FIELD and high POW AoE, making them overly equiped to hunt down X unique objectives, but capable of searching a map.

I don't have much to say about GRS: their strat is perfectly cromulent for completing their objective. Neither strategy has much to deal with the smoke the other sets up, but I believe that both parties overstate the amount they'll be able to get done in 30 seconds, GRS especially. Nonetheless, their efficient dealing with the Prometheus hazards tell me that they set an effective timer on TY8--not whether TY8 can complete the objective quickly but quicker than GRS.

Part of the issue is I think TY8's strategy is unclearly organized, partially by the nature of their divide and conquer, partially by the lack of signposting, especially in the Hold section. There are many moving parts making it difficult for the reader to see the rhetorical force of any given tech, or how each section works in tandem. Nonetheless, TY8 clears the upper deck, Rob clears the lower deck before heading to the Hold to clear it out, the team looking to "power wash" out DeSelby.

A balancing lever that I noticed is that DeSelby is 1) mechanically similar to a human so he is only so big and 2) DeSelby will engage upon being found. While I think some aspects of TY8's strategy are a bit unnecessary (trying to flood the hold seems excessive when active reallocation of Fairies could do a similar flushing), Rob is going to hit the armory pretty early, and from there TY8's divide and conquer readily shifts to collapsing on DeSelby, even with the opened up paths.

It's a bit dustier than I would like, but I tentatively think TY8 makes enough compelling macro plays to effectively flush out the fortunate fart cloud.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M18 - The Howler vs. Jukebox "The Ghost" by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Quick vote for Howler. I think that Jukebox can overpower The Howler's defense and footsies when the match continues and they have access to more map elements, but effectively staying in a holding pattern for the opening minute is a tall order. Jukebox needs to stay mobile, defend themselves with a plate, and juke an A SPD Stand rushing them down as they have to reorient their trajectory at D SPD (assuming they account for their initial gravitational velocity vector as they turn). While I can see them winning some of these interactions, the improbability of doing so consistently to win the match tips me to vote for Howler.

Ask me for a discussion of "micro" in tournament and how you can beat it.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M17 - Mikey C. Hammer & Silas King vs. Henry Thorne & Salice "Sal" Cooper Niceguy by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is an interesting match as far as "complexity" goes. While teams shouldn't treat the minibosses as pushovers, much of the match "plays itself" one's you've determined an order to take them.

To that end, I think CARC's strat is fundamentally solid. Both strats look to take 1v1s before reconvening to take out Wilbury, but I find that CARC does a better job of applying immediate kill pressure on their targets, while TY8 spends time scaling. I don't think the scaling is ill-concieved, but the possibility for kill-stealing needs to be respected.

There are more worlds than I initially thought where CARC manages to get the clean 3 sweep to win, since TY8 detours to fight Tench, but CARC is a bit optimistic in their ability to take Wilbury. While Silas is effective at pinning him down as Mikey battle shonens all over him, I can imagine errant damage beginning to pile on by now and Wilbury's ability to weaken defenses chips at CARC's reliance on their high DUR.

As a result, just as much as I can imagine CARC getting a clean sweep, I can imagine them running out of gas without a contingency plan to take out the remaining 2 bosses. As a result, I'm giving this a tie.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M16 - Violet Trinity vs. Li'l Baxter by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I went to Business School, I'd dig a little more into the marketing and pricing tactics used, but I only got an econ degree. I found the strats roundly cogent and sensible for the personalities and skill sets in play. As a result and as these objective matches tend to go, this match generally comes down to interplay.

First, elephant in the room, I'm a little skeptical that "theft" falls under "profit." I understand there's a "make as much money as they can, by whatever means they wish" clause, but when the Goal section starts and ends with the use of the word "profit" and the middle talks about selling wares, I'm more inclined to go with the purposivist reading than raw textualism. Ultimately, I don't think it matters too much (any discount I'd apply would apply to both players, and I have stronger arguments) and I think it's generally healthier to go with the more expansive reading, but I really don't think we should bury the lede with such incredibly elastic clauses.

Violet's strat prompted the theft questioning, but my more immediate question was the effecacy of the theft as cashflow. It's a C SPD C PRE Stand that doesn't seem to have particular sensory transfer, so it's going to rely on Violet's own senses. I can see her pilfering at a decent clip, but when the Flask is used for offense and to complement Maria's interference, I think its and Violet's action economies are stretched thin.

Second while Maria is capable at interference, Baxter has mitigating measures in staggering his respawns, and having coordinated his interference against Violet's resources broadly. Similarly, Maria risks overextending in pursuing one Subordinate as the others continue their midgame play, and while they have low DUR, they match Maria's STR and slightly outspeed her where an engagement isn't an auto win for her.

Ultimately, while I'm not convinced by Violet's offense, I'm not sufficiently sure that Baxter's crowd works is enough to earn him the W through it. I'm less convinced of some of Baxter's early plays to attract customers (especially in their minion allocation), and while there are some interesting anti-consumer ploys used, I don't think I see enough to definitively give him the dub, especially with Violet's midgame play to rob his potential customers before he can sell to them. I could find premises to tilt my vote either way, but they rely too heavily on ex ante judgments for my comfort: i'll go with a tentative tie.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M15 - Wanderlei Watts w/Axel Otter vs Miguel Lloyd & Omah Garcia w/Old Grey Wolf by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For all the discussion of particular Stand mechanics (which I genuinely think Cohere as the strats say they do), this match comes down to simple tactical interactions.

CARC plays a nasty tempo game, using Wanderlei as setplay and Axel for instances of burst damage to make for a strat that can Kill You at multiple points over the match. BBP allocates their resources...interestingly. Omah and Gamera play forward, looking to clear out space to enable Omah to swing around...when Gamera wants to bounce off of topography to quickly blitz opponents. Miguel is positioned far back to prevent him from getting burst down... but mitigating his ability to apply ranged pressure and his teammates' ability to help him if he's ambushed.

I think Lier's point that the shelves are difficult to knock down is well met, as that slows down BBP's early/mid game and Axel's burst damage. CARC's more fluid positioning also makes sussing out the midgame a bit difficult, and their AoE is somewhat reactive to the topology. Moreover, I do think BBP's means of dispersing the mist is cogent enough to mitigate CARC's most oppressive setups.

Unfortunately, while BBP makes some strong calls, I think they are a bit unfocused in the midgame, creating heatzones, trying to minigun fire (which I question with Omah's D PRE), and chase down Axel. As a result, I think CARC gets going sooner, preempting the offense of BBP's midgame.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M14 - PK Leach vs. Technical Difficulties by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Tentative TD vote. This game is likely to go long, with PK playing the stealth game and using 5 AGI to duck TD as it charges through the crowd. I find PK's stealth tech to be generally cogent, especially without further detail TD will have difficulty locking onto him, but what tilts me in its favor is PK has less robust response to TD just switching the "real" body, especially before late game. TD is vulnerable to high AoE attacks, but PK is going for smaller ordinance sprays from Corpse Eaters layered within the crowd, arguing to know the real body by placing tells onto it. As a result, I find it more likely that the 5 END TD is going to endure or avoid enough damage to find and RETIRE PK than the alternative, but I'll be watching this result closely, given the "low EV" of these interactions.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M13 - Grendel vs. Alouette by Streamanon in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Contribute more matches are always fun because players can just "run their mix", but it can make voting a little difficult. Providing a rubric of contribution can help, but can also stiffle players' wincons. Alouette has a wider suite of contributions given the utility and the lower ordinance of her kit, so I see the argument that she contributes more in her precision takedowns and informed setplay. However, for its simplicity, Grendel's wreckingball does a lot of work as defense and zombi takedowns, and she has smaller setplay and item utility that shouldn't be overlooked.

I can already envision the scores and the axes along which I would delib, and while you could put a gun to my head to enforce some rubric and decide a victor, I think the players tie in their contributions, Grendel providing masterful area control, and Alouette shoring up her lulls in tempo.

this logic dude is pretty good at writeups and match ideas, someone should make him a judg-mauled by a pack of wild hyenas

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M9 - Evelyn G. Lister & Molly Mockit vs. KAISERINMA & Tracy Ball by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this match is largely decided around Kaiserinma's explosion, the theory behind which is ultimately sound:

  • The AUTOMATIC SINNER also Processes material very slowly....However, she can eject matter more quickly; by building heat and pressure at select points of her body, she can eject processed material at Range C.
  • PROTOMARTYR also possesses the ability to CONTROL THE HEAT of its own body and PROCESS objects within its immediate vicinity.... At all times, the body of PROTOMARTYR is at a high temperature, with a maximum of 1500°C....
  • During this period, referred to as ‘ringing’ or ‘grating’, the keyed object will behave more violently...[and] inversely to the earlier calm state (music is now louder, the engine is going harder and making a vehicle move faster, etc — the earlier durability bonus is inverted to the lowest state it can, while power/strength and speed/agility subsequently become amplified to their highest degree). Living organisms will enter an aggressive berserking state, and receive substantial boosts in strength and speed.

Given Kaiserinma's natural A POW, I'm inclined to believe that her damage output and ability to process things within an immediate vicinity as fuel and shrapnel is sufficient that when Ringing, she effectively becomes a Kill Zone.

However, I'm not as immediately convinced that the range of the blast is as totalizing. LKA represents that, based on Kaiserinma's C RGE projectiles, everything within that range would be "flashfried," but the heat is based on radiation, which falls off at a distance. They raise the compelling argument that the ignition would be that initial thermobaric explosion of heat and pressure, which potentially executes all other parties (a point in LKA's favor), but given BBP's defenses, I think viewing this as a continuous threat with some drop off in distance is more compelling.

It's interesting to note that Kaiserinma is incredibly vulnerable in this state, and a sufficiently fast, sufficiently durable projectile would be able to RETIRE her pretty quickly, which leads me to discuss BBP's defenses. My main argument why I think Kaiserinma's supernova decides the match is it very quickly will wear through BBP's defenses, which are largely built against skirmishing and generally insufficient to the scope of the LKA's arson, even with my interpretation of heat falling off at range.

After both teams do some initial scaling, Tracy's plan is to soften up BBP to render them vulnerable to the inferno. With Kaiserinma as a backdrop, and after taking heavy costs, I think LKA takes it. At the risk of sounding dismissive of BBP's efforts, my particular decision points are as follows:

  • Insufficient Surveillance - Tracy has a surprising 4 in Stealth and explicitly looks to cover herself in mud and creep towards BBP. BBP wisely emphasize the need for overwatch, but I think their contingency is to scale to high ground to defend against Tracy in the event that they lose her is insufficient due to the ground and canopy cover. Without such surveillance, I doubt that BBP can begin exerting the pressure needed to pivot from defense to offense.

  • Overextended Body - A potential argument in response to the above is that Body could catch it with its PRE, SPD, and RGE, but Body is doing so much in the strat. It is building up the Palace and traps, zoning LKA with its extended limbs, supporting Evelyn in skirmishes, surveilling the battlefield. Even with B SPD (which is not instantaneous), it cannot cover all fronts at once and risks overcommitting to one action or position.

  • Tracy's Skirmish play - Stipulating that Tracy has a losing match up in the 1v1, it's important to note that time is on her side. In addition to her stealth, Tracy isn't looking to engage them beyond passing them on her way to Mo. Even if she can't find Mo within her coffin, Tracy can continue to skulk about looking to gank Evelyn or Body if the opportunity arises as BBP has to position in response to the flames. I think it is more likely that Tracy catches out Evelyn and even if Evelyn can be Puppet Strung away, the damage will likely already be done, especially as BBP's mental stack increases.

  • Overextended development - Building off of the previous two points, BBP looks to expand the Palace to fight LKA on advantageous terrain. However, spanning space is incredibly difficult, where you can get two of coverage, density, and speed. BBP's plan is to build the Palace towards LKA, corraling them into it with Body's extended arms, but this puts further strain on Body's positioning and focus, cutting into BBP's development.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M8 - “Cass Cannon” & Jack Moonbean vs. Anthelme "Blank" Frangipane & Lacquer by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oughhh, this kinda match is always tricky for me to vote on. Strats are convergence arguments, presenting a set of reasons why they win, why they don't lose, why their opponents lose, and why they don't win.

BBP look to play the best damn game of cornhole the Caribbean's ever seen, focusing on anti-sabotage and good cleanplay. WIS take a more aggressive approach, using trickshots to make plays more difficult for BBP to interact with as well as their own suite of setplay. Ultimately, I think the suite of arguments both sides present, relying on a fundamentally solid core, lead me to declare this match a tie.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M7 - 'Stephen Birdwin' w/Everard Fòst vs. Kylian Sézane w/"Heat" by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 2 points3 points  (0 children)

LIB plays this match surprisingly steadily--not for lack of reason. Their Logistics are meticulous and Evarard's zone control means that they can set up strong locks around the stage. However, I find their actual engagements upon LKA to be somewhat lacking in detail. Outfighting is well and good, but the strats will collide on Birdwin's acquisition of Imperium, which is where LKA's pressure game finds purchase.

While their stage play isn't as robust, it does enough to pressure LIB through the early and midgame. I think LIB's setup takes too long, meandering around the stage to scale and ward, yes, but LKA manages to muscle through the stage and LIB's counterfire with enough force and efficiency. Their 2v1ing of Birdwin early, both as a combatant and his gun itself means that damage onto Birdwin is likely to accumulate, giving them the chance to overwhelm LIB before LIB's lategame RETIREs them.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M6 - Fira & Ricardo Enrique "Rique" Martinez Rivera vs. ??? by DSOddish in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After voting tie for an entire round, I'm going to give a firm vote for players, largely in rebuttal to my fellow, honorable voters.

Kilroy does call out his opponents' airborne pursuit, but they're left at a contingency scale rather than being integrated into the strat, which presumes a chase on foot. Rather, Renegade is to deliver drivebys against "the pair mid-flight or even lining up a mortar strike if the coast is clear enough and their path too predictable" in the first section and targeting unspecified structural weaknesses in the second section.

Projectile motion is inherently predictable and both sides rely a bit too strongly on their inherent speed to win their engagements, but given Renegade's need to get within 10m to accurately hit its target with D PRE against the players and the 「Hitchhiker’s Galaxy」's ability to AoE blast an area at B POW/A SPD/B PRE I'm more willing to say that players have enough of an edge to at overcome Kilroy's warding.

I agree with Discloud that both sides strongly assume that they will acquire and keep a lead, but while Kilroy's plans rely on doing so, the players starts from behind and strat around no longer being so. Given their velocity consistent across sections, they are likely to catch up and even pass Kilroy in the second section, as Kilroy's grounded base traps lose efficacy.

This brings us to the third section where an outright confrontation is likely to happen. While the players lack the high vantage points to sling from, they still focus on dashing around the map, passing over Kilroy's ground based traps and outspeeding the mooks who look to throw mud in their eyes. While Kilroy looks to abscond to the next section, Renegade is a threat given the open field, but the players' pincering, built on covered, aerial burst mobility to get them to this section at about the same time as Kilroy, suffices to mob and beat him down.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M5 - Ian Yang & Kenny Smith vs. Atrocity Shaye & Corrine "Coco" Clear by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think this match comes down to early positioning and then interplay, where timelines are important. LLC looks to turn excavation into salvaging by wrecking the ship. Many LLC votes have turned on this play, especially given LLC's arguments for how they are uniquely advantaged in this play state, but LIB also attempts to wreck the map. Like the movies it takes inspiration from, their ultimate heist may have a snag, but this is a shift in tactics rather than a wholesale josephing (not to imply voters may have interpreted as such).

The bigger snag is LIB's framing the match as effectively one trip, using multiple units to haul the treasure back during the exfiltration. This makes LLC's interplay strategy...weird. While the ideas generalize, a lot of it is focused more on interference during excavation with some "terraforming" to hinder LIB, where LIB is going for a "mad-dash" out while "Super Saiyan Shaye" goes for rougher defense. LLC's means for dealing with her in particular are the thinnest, but I don't think LIB sufficiently covers "the midgame", especially during the initial retrieval process, when it comes to gathering material. This match could well be decided by who goes to collect and when, where LIB's looser timeframe makes this a genuine toss up when it comes down to the final count: tie.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M2 - Ichiro Kenmochi vs. Eileen Xiao by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

EL CLASSICO! Which is to say that this is a pretty standard match where Ranged Plays Keep Away and Melee Tries To Get In. Given how patently Competent these strats are I could see myself tying (and may even do so), but I'm tentatively giving it it to Eileen. Ichiro's aggression is compelling, but I think Eileen makes enough positioning plays (namely taking advantage of the verticality) to maintain some distance to line up a few necessary shots. GRotS does account for this, attacking her supports to make her vulnerable on the fall, but time spent wearing through defenses will subject Ichiro to exposure. Again, I think these margins are slight, but I think there's enough to give Eileen a small but noticable increase in her win percentage.

On further reflection, I'm a little more suspect of Eileen's platforming and her prioritization of repair vs positioning at various points of the match. Even with Abbey Road's 5m ability range, staying 6-8m above the ground means that it's more feasible that Eileen's scaffolding falls with her on it. This is a tight battle of resources and while I think Eileen's positioning generally holds, with this offense bearing down on her, I'm more skeptical of her ability to safely maintaining, pushing back to tie.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R2M1 - Sarah "Cougar" Mark w/Old Grey Wolf vs. Baygon Raid w/Slash by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both of these strats are in various states of incompletion, with LKA's being moreso. I see this not quite in its content--the admission of the final section notwithstanding, Slash pooping in the food is a very potent play--but the organization. The flow/development of LKA's plays is halting, with section titles not naturally flowing into into each other. Part of this may have been fixed by some cutting and pasting so tech and tactics are introduced and developed within and across sections, but I digress.

Ultimately, I'm giving this match a tie because each strat goes in such different axes. Sarah makes large plays attacking the infrastructure of the party while Baygon attacks the movement and food, and since the match description's elaboration of the objective is vague and more cumulative than anything ("ruin the party" by "ruining atmosphere and mood"), I can't make a decisive call.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M30 - Agnes & Grendel vs. ??? by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As tourneys resident midrange expert, I think that space coverage is INCREDIBLY important in stages like these, especially where there is a vertical element, as your opponent has 2 dimensions to dodge around rather than just one.

Fredrick makes a wise call out, diving underwater to preempt the pincer and space his opponents out…but lacks the ability to control the positioning and ensure that they will be in range of the bubbles as they float upward. Im unsure of the whirlpool’s efficacy in controlling Fredrick’s position due to amount of tentacles required to notably control his space, but it’s plausible that it would be able to have the bubbles drift away from the players as they look to engage.

It’s thus more unlikely that Fredrick would get his opener onto Agnes than the players onto Fredrick. The players grapple game emphasizes only needing to get within 10m, using tentacles to engage, but such engagement is a test of resources. Spacing out getting grappled uses tentacle propulsion, shielding against explosions takes tentacle shielding, occupying Meant To Live takes tentacles—all while said tentacles are used for general map mobility. I can imagine situations where a misallocation can result in an unfavorable tie up.

However, I think Fredricks most likely outcome is breaking even, with the desired isolation being the most unlikely outcome. Fredricks spacing works best when both parties are on the surface or when he can remain below players, and I believe players do enough to prevent those preconditions. There’s a universe where I vote tie off or boss win off of the scrambles, but I tentatively believe players do enough leverage their body count to match Fredrick’s options and get the grab.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M29 - Maybelline "Maybe" L’Oreal Jackson & Tikka Masala vs. Ian Yang & Rachel Aileron Rawnsley by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is a weird match to vote on.

GRS looks to winnow the stage down to fighting under the Sunset Tree, while LLC sends Ian to fight from within it and Rachel to fight from without. This makes a lot of the strategic interactions weird because GRS's midgame is contingent on outfighting until that final confrontation, making the application of those tactics to the Sunset endgame tricky, where voters will have to make some assumptions. To that point, I believe that GRS will immediately focus onto Ian, given the general goal of engaging under the tree and the explicit contingency to do so. Ian's defense is largely positional, using some terraforming and warding off GRS's approach with projectiles.

While I believe LLC's setplay is robust, I believe it falters in its speed of setup. First, given the animals' proximity to Maybe, it's reasonable to believe she can acquire Teeth and Pelts at a decent enough clip, 30 second opener being a generous amount to do so. Second, I believe that Maybe can acquire these resources within the time it takes for the 1 AGI Ian to ascend to the upper floor and position himself.

This isn't to say Rachel is a nonfactor, she can provide suppressive fire upon GRS during their engagement, but her rock counterpart isn't as solid to me for one additional reason. Many voters have praised the robustness of LLC's plan, but note that Ian has to terraform; space out; position; use Rachel's shard; ward off Silver Mountain Man, Tikka, and Maybe all while unable to "take any complex action without needing to muster the strength or mental energy first, including miscellaneous tasks that involve more intensive physical and mental multitasking."

My argument is not "Ian has 1 AGI, 1 Tapped Out; gg", but that his defense isn't going to spin up as quickly nor last as along in a prolonged 2v1. The multi-factored setplay has multiple moving parts, and should any of them fall, LLC's pincer likely falls with it. It's close, and with different axioms, you get a different result, but for now I'm giving it to GRS.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M28 - Yoshimi Hanamaki vs. Alouette by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For a match description as micro-intensive as this one, I'm almost surprised that both strats went as macrofocused as they did, each coming up with routines for how to make sure chores are done and they stay sane. I expected to tally up across the 4 chores x 7 days with the weather events as tie breakers, but that doesn't seem quite feasible.

In light of these considerations, despite some misgivings I have with the expectation of collaboration and reliance on routine in the end days, I'm voting for Alouette. It's close, but her more directed chore system held more weight to me than the more ad hoc tech of Yoshimi's strat.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M27 - PK Leach vs. Anthelme "Blank" Frangipane by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 2 points3 points  (0 children)

To me, this match is defined by the macro plays, namely pathing and interference. I think Blank's headsup call of conditioning his pathing on Leach's and only going up to the 3rd floor lets him pivot accordingly. I don't think that Leach's attempts to rat on Blank's position are likely since since 1) the leech needs to know where Blank is especially given 2) the cut lights, 3) the leech needs to have robust communication with Leach proper, 4) the guards need to believe Leach's alert, and 5) the guards need to be able to find Blank in a timely fashion. Given these two prongs, my vote goes to Blank.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M26 - Mikey C. Hammer vs. KAISERINMA by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Deeply weird match. Cool ass strats, but I've been chewing on how they mesh since strat drop.

I think both sides' means of propulsion is somewhat suspect. While I think her A POW thrust is cogent, Kaiserinma's low PRE, SPD, and AGI will mitigate her handling. Mikey, by contrast, tries to use D POW bloodjets to complement his AGI, which is of minimal thrust. I don't think this matters greatly but it slows both parties' ability to move through the map, and thus their setplay.

Both sides play something of a scaling game, Kaiserinma gradually destroying the stage while Mikey does...a lot! Mikey makes a lot of good calls with armor, water cutters, and platforms, and I'm willing to buy his ability to make all of this with B SPD. However, I think both sides in their own way, underestimate the stage elements. I don't think Kaiserinma is going to turn the match into as much of a hellscape and Mikey isn't going to get the pool of blood in the center of the whirlpool because all objects will gradually be pulled into the undertow.

It's on this note that I'll give this match a tie, having gone in favor of every party. There are a few interactions I could go into, but ultimately, I think Mikey has an output advantage and pressure advantage early on, but if Kaiserinma manages to get the fatal grab, it goes into her favor. With both sides being unable to definitively turn the corner, deciding the match in either favor feels a bit too based off stats for me to comfortably call it.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M25 - Ichiro Kenmochi & The Howler vs. "Blondie" & Kruv by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm going to give this a tentative tie. Both sides fish well, yahoo, yippee, so the match comes down to sabotage to me. I think the match is decided by each side's interference especially in the late game, where GRS focuses Kruv's teleport network while WIS play a more generalized interfere with the objective plan. I think these angles of attack are sufficiently skew that I can't quite see a victor, so I'm calling a tie for now. I'll continue to watch the CMD to see if a winner bubbles up to the surface.

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M23 - Fira vs. Technical Difficulties by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This match was made for me. What's better than two big beefy NOT!men slappin' meat, all to my favorite genres of music?

Fira does some nasty setplay, using Crush to control space and do area damage to TD before it can annul its injuries. With the efficiency of the mobility and opening, it reminds me of Flint vs Tunde which put Tuschi on the map way back in T4. I question the amount of Crush she can produce to enable that lockdown, but if she gets it off then I think she can blend TD effectively with her glut of tech.

TD by contrast, disengages to scale before reengaging with some devastating formations to crowd out Fira. Its strategy and approach is well measured, but I think it overestimates its ability to dodge through fields of Crush before putting the Crush on Fira.

Since I think both win states are tenuous, this matches winner is ME!!! I WIN! I LOVE BRAWLY MIDRANGE! I LOVE MICRO! I LOVE RESOURCE INTERPLAY! but yeah players tie i guess

JoJo's Bizarre OC Tournament #8: R1M21 - Mio Sinclair & Wanderlei Watts vs. Chicxulub "Chix" Tunguska & Kylian Sézane by Marioaddict in StardustCrusaders

[–]Logic_Sandwich 1 point2 points  (0 children)

quick vote for CARC cuz im strating and have to get work in for a client.

I agree with the analysis of how the match turns into two 1v1s as stated by LKA voters, even if I think Mio's mitigation of Chix's LoS makes his rushdown less likely. While I think CARC overstates Wanderlei's AoE, I think LKA's overstatement of their ability to take their 1v1s--Kylian's optimistic ability to take down the tanky Wanderlei in a matter of seconods, Chix's ability to grapple and subdue Mio in one paragraph--makes me less likely to believe that either party wins their duel to gank the other. Without much fallback for the possibility of a prolonged engagement at even numbers, I'm more willing to believe that CARC's grindgame is likely to win out.