R2M13 Quality Delibs

Judge Galatea (Yuri)

Hi! Judge Yuri here! This may come as a surprise to you, but I’m a pretty big fan of boss matches.

Starting with Vasant! Right off the bat I gotta say - I appreciate the dedication to making the strat read in a cool and different way from the norm while also making it actually Readable. A lot of strats that go for something different in terms of presentation run the risk of making a strat that is actively difficult to read, but this is still clear as a breeze, and it gets both of the characters across well. The actual mechanics here are pretty solid as well. Set up traps and such to dissuade approaches. That being said, some preparation for a full force rushdown would’ve done you wonders here. Even if you do have some traps and whatnot, Gioia’s mobility is off the goop, and it’s likely she could force you to respond far sooner than expected.

Your CQC stuff is pretty neat as well, not really any complaints there, and I have similar thoughts on the rest of the mechanics for the strategy. Nothing stands out like crazy in either direction. It’s Xenny’s Easy Breezy C+ Strategy. That being said, I am left a little confused when it comes to the gist of the strat in its entirety. While a defensive bunker-down strategy has its merits for certain, and this strategy could absolutely destroy the right combination of player characters... You decided to use this strategy against a character who may be the single best defense breaker in the tournament.

I say “confused”, but I know exactly why you did it, and I have to give respect where it is due. This is a great boss strategy, even if it is purposely suboptimal. CPU Dragon. You gave me a 6 on my boss match. And now I am going to return the favor. This strategy gets a **6** from me.

Onto Players!

I think trying to end this one early is a pretty good call. Best way to deal with hyperscaling is to simply Not. I really really like your opener as well - it’s a smart way to roll in creating cover with immediately limiting Vasant’s options. It also makes doing a rushdown far more effective, considering that allowing him to actually get behind cover can make things far more difficult. It’s a small thing, but it’s the kind of play that makes me smile. Good mobility as well. It’s a good use of Charvet’s skillset to make sure dissuading an approach is extremely difficult for Vas. Your CQC with Gioia is pretty alright as well, no real notes.

As for Charvet, this is where I raise an eyebrow a little. The strategy claims it’s going for a very fast strategy, and Gioia’s section treats it as though she’s not going to be there fighting alone for that long, but the things Charvet wants to do will inevitably take a lot of time, especially with all the different groups he’s approaching. It feels a little like the strat is wasting some of that built up momentum it got earlier. I do get that Charvet is very much a npc scaler who does need a lot of time, but it still feels like he’s meandering a bit for a strat that demands urgency.

Regardless, I get what he’s going for, and I think getting NPCs to interfere with Vasant’s business is a good call. The battle plan beyond that is good enough! It works! Although I’m left wondering what your plans are for dealing with the literal elephant in the room. The strat doesn’t bring up BSS that much from what I can tell, and I feel like it probably should - it’s an extremely precise and dangerous Stand, even if you manage to limit its use.

Ultimately this is a fine strat. Nothing blew me away, and I have a few complaints that keep it from reaching high, but the central plan is solid enough to warrant a **7**.

Judge Persephone (Extra)

Quality:

Beginning with the Metropolis Suite, the big thing for me is that BSS does all of the work yet little to no mention is made of its C DUR, especially considering Love Kills possesses the capability to absolutely shred that. Love Kills on the whole feels somewhat underprepped for; its paperization makes defensive play much less solid, its high power is a constant threat to BSS, and the mobility it offers Gioia makes it hard to pin down. Freakum Dress is respected more, though that's largely due to the Loss Condition for the boss of "hurting a worker." That makes Charvet's disguise capabilities exceedingly dangerous, which is accounted for by having BSS focus Stands over people. That said, in a vacuum, the plan is incredibly solid; stockpile, do a little bit of economics, profit, kill. Sorry Vas you're not changing any time soon. RIP you and your dreams of domestic bliss. I bestow upon ye a **6** Qual.

For the players, I honestly have a lot of the same to say; there's a lack of respect in many senses for what BSS and Square One can do. Love Kills is fragile and low-range, and BSS is an area control Stand. Combine this with the fact that hydrokinesis can make paperization much trickier, and I think you definitely needed to worry a little more about the elephant in the room. There are also a couple of things that just rub me the wrong way; firstly, the opening move of trying to lock Vasant out of the cottage is practically never as fast as you make it out to be, which complicates matters slightly by giving Vasant some level of immediate cover. Secondly, while it's not a huge deal and another disguise could be donned, Charvet is not capable of disguising as his teammates; even a movie star's fashion taste is beneath him. Thirdly, very little is said about Square One and the objects it can provide. I don't fault you for not using it yourselves, but I do wish it was given slightly more spotlight outside of a single contingency about the golf cart (which isn't even entirely about the golf cart.) For similar reasons to the boss strategy, I'm going to give this a **6.**

Judge Echo (Coop)

Quality-

Starting with Vasant (Verve) and Xen (not from Half Life), they go for a turtling fortress strategy, making full use of [Bittersweet Symphony]’s A Range to continuously dig up bushes to add to its walls. While maybe not the best plan against an opponent who can potentially rip these walls to shreds, the clever use of Snares and water-ball covered striking weapons to target blind spots in [Love Kills]’s coverage would prove effective against an early rush from Gioia, especially if she were to do something silly like launch herself right in there (foreshadowing). Additionally, exclusively targeting Stand bodies rather than users really helps against the disguise shenanigans Charvet can whip up.

Where this strategy falters though is with some good old classic time mismanagement. There is a lot of time spent in the beginning splitting focus between fending off invaders, gathering field resources, and building up walls, that the first half of the strat seems to really stumble over itself in trying to gain momentum. On top of this, I think that Vasant’s trips into [Square One] would mess up the rhythm he’s got going as these trips also remove his multitasking Stand from the field. The strategy itself still has its solid points though despite these issues, and earns a solid **6**.

Moving to the players, there’s a lot of cool stuff here that I like. Charvet and Gioia make good use of their charisma skills to manipulate the crowds here, the armada of fake Gioia’s being a particularly inspired late game maneuver for closing in on Vasant. I also really like the close range stealth tactics from Gioia that has her crumpling into a ball only to uncrumple with a different Freakum disguise.

Recognizing that nailing down the boss to his starting location to limit his ability to run about the large map is a decent starting point. While the endgame here is powerful, what me and the other judges are less fond of here is how you all get to that point. Obviously, Charvet is going to need time to gather the fake Gioia’s, so the logical conclusion is that the real Gioia will need to stall Vasant out while this happens. While the smokescreen entrance and use of torn up earth clumps to soak up the enemy’s water attacks are good stalling methods, there is a small issue with your methods though. I understand that fighting Stands with broad or many abilities are prone to being tunnel visioned into only making plans against certain aspects. I think launching yourself at a large elephantine Stand body with the only CQC contingency for it being “it has average stats, I can stall” with no further explanation though is a pretty big oversight. This isn’t to say doing so is impossible, but you’re going to need to give us way more than “I’ll be fine”.

It sucks because there is some really cool shit in here from both Charvet and Gioia (in the latter half of the strat and contingencies section), but that first big chunk of Gioia activity really sours a lot of what you all were trying to achieve here. The general game plan is solid though, and the creative plays and narrative interaction between the two player characters here are on par - still earning a low **7** for the Player team from me.