Archerous' R5M6 Delib

Quality

The King of Swords has arrived, and just in time for a bonafide ass-kicking from two dangerous women. Dawn Hu from IMPACT competes with Honeydew Blue from Evergreen to see who can do the most to defeat Tachibana, with both bringing their expertises to this legendary battle. We’ll go over this in two phases for each combatant: how well do they deal with Tachibana and how do they deal with counterplay from the other? With a variety of abilities and tactics on the field, this is sure to be a fight to remember. So how do they do?

Starting with Dawn, we’ll focus on her handling of Tachibana first. She offers a strong counter to his defensive strategy by actively dodging and bumping any deadly projectile falling her way, while making great use of her rope and beetles to keep her in an advantageous position no matter what gravity tricks he throws at her. When it comes to actually fighting him, she opts to meet him in melee combat, taking weapons from the warehouse and catapulting them to her inside his fortress. These weapons prove to be invaluable to her assault, especially given the various modifiers she can give them with her bumpers, turning her into an unpredictable force of nature when attacking the King. With these tools in place, she stacks the odds incredibly high in her favor, making sure that Tachibana knows that he is leagues beneath her.

As for her fellow combatant, Dawn is able to keep Honeydew’s tampering to a minimum by not directly engaging with her, instead focusing on Tachibana the entire time. In the events she interferes anyways, she’s able to keep her and Romantico at bay with her bumpers and any set up she has is mobile enough to simply move it away from a disruptive Honeydew.

With these two aspects combined, Dawn makes a strong case for contributing the most to Tachibana’s defeat. She takes charge and doesn’t let up once she’s got her momentum going. This proves to be very effective and well-executed, to boot. Thus, I’m giving this strategy a 9. Well done!

Onto Honeydew, we’ll address her own measures against the King of Swords. Unlike Dawn, she doesn’t charge straight into battle, opting to set up traps and tricks instead. She recognizes that speed and power aren’t where her own strength lies. She spends the battle in a few key locations, being under Romantico for a time and inside a barrel for the majority of it. Combined with her strategy to have Romantico fling big piles of junk over into the fortress, Honeydew carefully crafts a maze of her own design, giving her total control over any inhabitants unfortunate enough to find their way inside. During this phase, she uses Dawn’s aggressive nature to her advantage, allowing any shifts in gravity to be triggered by her alone, while Honeydew remains bolted down in her barrel, relaying any relevant information about the ongoing fight to Romantico. Once Tachibana is in her court, she’ll use her impressive stealth to get the drop on him, surprising him with a crushing attack while Romantico finishes off his protection.

As for Dawn, Honeydew doesn’t directly interfere with her fellow combatant, but that doesn’t mean she lets her have all the fun. Though she mainly uses Dawn to distract Tachibana, she debilitates her attacks whenever convenient for her to make sure that the Ranger’s distractions don’t become anything more. Using the junk maze, she purposefully lures Tachibana into it, forcing Dawn to step into it, as well. With the added walls, ricochet shots will land with less power. If Dawn gets too close, she’ll throw objects at Dawn to make her use her beetles defensively, limiting their use in sabotage.

Honeydew plays a subtle game, but a finely-tuned one at that. Dawn is allowed to act, but not anymore effective than she’s permitted to. Tachibana responds to Romantico’s actions without realizing the true threat that Honeydew brings. Combining both of these efforts, Honeydew offers her absolute best to make sure she’s the one who contributes most to taking out the King. Thus, I’m also giving this strategy a 9. Well done!

Jojolity

As for Jojolities, I’ll keep it brief. Dawn puts on an amazing display of athleticism throughout the fight, using every rope, bumper, and ledge to keep her on target. There’s a great sense of movement throughout the strat, I was getting tired just from following her actions. Couple all that with her impressive use of close quarters tactics, you can see how this Park Ranger earned her place. Thus, I’m giving this Jojolity an 8. Well done!

Onto Honeydew, she goes for an entirely different vibe. You’re never quite sure where she is, nor what it is she’s actually planning, all until it's revealed at the end. And by that point, it's too late. As mentioned previously, her strat is finely-tuned to keep everyone in line, only acting when it benefits her. These subtle plays and the structure of the strat ooze with trickery, allowing them to coalesce into a very effective narrative. Thus, I’m giving this Jojolity a 9. Well done!