JJOCT7 R2M11 Quality

Judge Otis (CPUDragon)

This is a match where both strategies have really, really strong openers. Deacon’s rushdown and Blake’s layered offense all both extremely impressive, and I think that the openers of these are extremely good at succinctly covering all of their bases. No notes here.
I think that the midgame is where most of my critiques are. For Blake, I feel that after a really strong opener you don’t have the focus I’d have liked; it feels like you spend a lot more time on the first floor than you mean to, then spend more time than you mean to on the second floor. My biggest critique, however, is the lack of proper CQC preparation. While your hit-n-run tactics are strong, it feels like you lack real play if the knife is taken out of your control and/or Atomic Dog ever gets within close range.
This is really the core of things; you’re home free if you get up to the roof while able to pin down Atomic Dog, but I think given the confines of the map it’s a major issue to reach that point. Mixed with a few small notes like switching weapons being a slight but notable tempo loss, and I feel confident that this is a 6/10. You have an overwhelming endgame and an overwhelming early game, but I feel if you fall behind your tempo you could be punished very, very, very hard.
As for Deacon, there’s a similarly strong opening, but the major point I’d hit on is overextension. A defensive strategy is always going to be a fraught road to walk, since you have to be incredibly careful about what you end up using, and while I think that in terms of defensive strategy this is top notch, the tactics raised my brow.
Things like the hay absorbing and manipulating Blake were the main thing of note. While Atomic Dog can absolutely Output through other objects to manipulate Blake, I feel that hay would be a troublesome thing to use- specifically I feel that it overstretches the C Precision of the Stand pretty thin. Given how Atomic has to focus on absorbing from the environment and to absorb and input force on multiple smaller items at once, I think that something would have to give. While the protection for Deacon himself was top notch, I think the thing that’d give is the positioning of Atomic Dog.
I also think that you wouldn’t be able to break up Out of Touch easily at longer range. Atomic Dog has the inverse relationship to range and efficacy, and given Blake’s own strategy I doubt that he’d give you the opportunity. Given Atomic Dog’s immense Durability and that it gives Deacon the ability to move around while withered this isn’t an absolute dealbreaker, but being hit by Out of Touch in my mind still isn’t a good look. Deacon himself can use some of his focus on keeping his person well positioned and safe, which helps, but Atomic Dog still has a lot put on it.
Generally, while the plan to wear Blake down is very strong strategically, the moment to moment I felt would wear on the focus Deacon has to bear. This would be, again, a dealbreaker if your defensive tactics for Deacon weren’t great or you had less defensive stats, but as is I think this is worth a solid 6/10.
As a reminder, despite my critiques a 6 is still a good score; these are strategies I enjoyed reading and thinking about, and you should both be damn happy with these.

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Judge Bessie (Flamechar)

A skilled close-quarters match with several VIBs (Very Important Bovines) that cannot afford to be harmed. This was a fun one to read.
Starting with Deacon, he begins by building up energy using gravity and annoyed cows, but this is only for the opening moments so as to prepare a double-strike on Blake - annoy the cow behind them then use the rest of the energy to break the crossbow. They intend to get the crossbow broken as much as possible, especially so in this opening segment as they Plan numerous possible routes of Blake’s so as to predict and still get that weapon’s limb [Counterplay].
The strategy as a whole is to stay on the defensive to wear out their opponent: keeping shards of hay up in the air and on Blake so as to absorb kinetic energy and slow his movements to better dodge attacks, land hits and add even more hay, as well as slowly sapping the heat in his body to eventually weaken him to take down with one last attack; Deacon and his Stand positioning themselves so that Blake will be exposed to one when targeting another so as to break the crossbow over and over again [Logistics], and if Deacon is at risk he uses some of the absorbed energy to create bursts of movement so as to either leap over obstacles, away from Blake’s shield, or to slide under a cow - of whom his more defensive strategy makes sure that he will not accidentally make a game-ending attack against any of the cattle. The crossbow isn’t the only tool that they intend to keep out of play—with the knife intended to be grabbed from either it hitting Atomic Dog and Blake being tripped so as to prevent him from getting it back, or via catching it in the air, so that it can be tossed outside of the map.
Overall, a really great showing of Planning, Logistics, Technical Understanding and Counterplay, with a clear overarching gameplan alongside a nice Narrative touch—however, the main part of the show in the dust cloud may be stretching aspects of PRE and RNG given that’s a Lot of Hay that is all being taken from at once, and while the positioning is great a more careful eye. And thus, after careful consideration, I have decided to give this a **7**: I don’t think those aspects of the hay cloud fundamentally affect the strat as a whole (and while I’m not giving a 6, I see how the rubric does justify that as a score given the main problem being centered on the stats), and this does *not* take away from the fact that this was both a really good strat and a fun one to read, and was well on the way to getting 10s in both categories.

Now for Blake, he starts by hoping to deal a huge blow on Deacon early on, aiming for his legs with the crossbow and then tossing his knife (embedded into a strap of fabric so as to enable mid-throw teleports and easy ways to prevent the theft of the dagger by comboing with a smash with the shield [TU/Counterplay]). They see the scenario ending up in three directions: the Stand blocking the shots, leading to Blake unloading into it before switching to the shield; Deacon dodging backwards, leading to Blake shooting into the floor of the pen to agitate the cow inside (which could be risky depending on if the water that hits them gets affected by the decay) and then locking his opponent into the pen using the shield; or Deacon dodging out of the pen, where Blake intends to teleport to him and slam him back in [with an additional scenario of Atomic Dog attempting to grab the dagger].
Blake then escapes up to the top of the map, setting up shop to fire down from above by damaging the ladder to go up and creating holes so as to gain more sightlines against Deacon (with the knife being useful for teleporting up and down floors as well as across to other holes). If Deacon is to head up to the second floor with him, the blacksmith has set up traps with loose crossbow bolts to create spikes in the mesh for him to step on, as well as firing more bolts and escaping to the first floor - taking anything for supplies (such as knives for fake-outs) if there is time before hopping back up if Deacon follows him. Once he decides to move into the endgame, he waits until Deacon is in position (on either floor) before breaking the mesh floor, either causing Deacon to fall or be buried before Blake drops down, teleports up to the roof and uses his shield to let him land with the momentum of falling 3 floors and a kinetic blast to finish it off.
Once again, a very solid strategy with one little thing holding it back - instead of anything content wise the problem is one in Formatting, with some areas feeling like the strategy blends together where there should be gaps or indications that they are on a separate topic (largely contained within the middle segment). Thus, I am giving this one a **7** as well. Once again, I will say this was a fun strat with some great Technical Usage plays.

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Judge Nanami (ElectricExtra)

Starting with Deacon, I feel like there are two main things that hold this back. The formatting is slightly wonky at points, which can hurt readability, though that's mostly a nitpick. The real issue is overextension; there are a couple points in the strategy where Atomic Dog does a *lot* all at once, and C PRE isn't quite enough to make it all work as well as you sell it. Considering your strategy is disruption and defense throughout, even a moderate slipup like that can really hurt the plan on the whole; that said, everything else on display is pretty solid, so I think I can give this a comfortable **7.**

As for Blake, I have very little in the way of notes. You play aggressively, you use the stage hazard well, you get creative and you make the most of your mobility and defense in the same breath. It feels cohesive and coherent, and it does exactly what it needs to do. A very solid **8.**