R6M5 Quality Delibs

Judge Pequod (Archerous)

Quality

Another challenger approaches the king. Kid Savage, a Cause for Concern, finds himself fighting Angelino Caballero from the Moonbeam Riders. This clash is sure to become heated in no time at all. But who comes out on top?

Starting with Kid, we’re given two main objectives for the self-proclaimed tyrant to hit throughout the match: deny and deplete his opponent of resources, whittling down his options until a fatal beatdown from the boxer is all but guaranteed, all while making sure he has an audience to watch him do it. He drowns bonfires with his swamp, making it more difficult for Angelino to access without opening himself up. He uses up any remaining fuel by keeping up a strong offense of cannonballs and harpoons, the latter being used to keep Angelino’s movements further in check. As the churning seas continue to rise, he makes sure to make a path of scrap to platforms above for his newly formed ‘crew’, making sure that they aren’t unduly harmed during the titanic fight. Once he’s worn his beast of an opponent down, Kid wastes no time in releasing a torrent of punches into him, making use of all the set up from the prior hunt to keep him right where he wants him.

This is a fairly straightforward strategy, but one that plays to the strengths of Kid, and makes up for his shortcomings; all while exploiting Angelino’s. It’s a solid play, and thus, I’m giving it an 8. Well done!

Moving onto Angelino, we have a similar approach to prioritizing the safety of the NPCs. Only this time, they aren’t relegated to mere bystanders. Angelino recruits those he protects, giving them roles such as gathering and aiding their fellow ‘crewmates’ and looking out for any changes on the battlefield. This move gives Angelino the opportunity to form the Skiff, a defensive area that serves to protect the NPCs and allows him a single point to defend. From there, Angelino focuses on keeping Kid away from the NPCs rather than straight up attacking him. He leaves his assaults to Knock You Out, hoping to keep it occupied until everyone is accounted for, allowing him to take the final blow on Kid.

Angelino offers more of a defensive strategy, prioritizing the safety of the crew while also using them to give him an advantage in combat. He’s careful of Knock You Out, making sure not to rush in and only attack when it would be productive. It’s a sound strategy, and thus, I’m giving it an 8. Well done!

Judge Samuel Enderby (CPU)

Quality

Starting out with Angelino, and there’s a lot here that I think works very well! Angelino’s plan is a fairly simple one- get in on Kid with a variety of strong options to distract him and get around KYO as a finisher, while backing that up with a very patient plan otherwise to whittle down Kid and keep him otherwise occupied with ranged harassment and a methodological pace otherwise.

I do feel that some of Angelino’s defenses against Kid in close range are vulnerable to getting grabbed and that he could have used a bit more in mid-long range to avoid projectiles from Kid, but ultimately these are pretty small complaints. I think that, all in all, the strategy is defensively competent and offensively scary. I don’t have a lot to say besides ‘good job’. Given the slight defensive problems here I feel that a high 7/10 is earned.

As for Kid, I have relatively little to say. It’s a classic Kid strategy, leaning hard into aggression with heavy use of projectiles and working towards a brutal finisher. The harpoon idea is a good one to lock down Angelino if you get a good hit on him, forcing him between disengaging and ripping himself open or staying in effective range of KYO. I end up thinking your strategy also ends up working well against the mobility options Angelino tries to use to engage, giving you play against his nasty approach options.

I especially want to shout out the conceit of denying his resources; I think the way Kid does so is really smart here. By forcing Angelino to put extra effort into getting resources and not just letting him keep going back to them for free, Kid effectively puts Angelino on a timer and makes his bouncing between platforms significantly more costly. Overall, I feel that a hearty 8/10 is earned here!

Judge Jungfrau (Coop)

Quality-

Kid’s strategy excellently spots Angelino's strong points in close range combat and opts to take an aggressive ranged approach instead. Kid’s constant ascent upwards is good for keeping himself within general range to Angelino’s for KYO’s otherwise inaccurate water blasts to have effect and also lets him spread the marshlands out farther to more quickly eat at Angelino’s resources. It was also a really good call to keep the NPC’s close by to deter Angelino from closing in and accidentally hurting one of them (or needing to use up a Pulse in order not to harm them). Solid job, Kid gets an **8**.

Angelino’s strategy is similarly wary to an all out melee and takes good measures to ensure the upper hand (and higher ground) in this battle. Although I was initially confused by the base/skiff defense plan against an opponent who can easily terraform it into marsh, I found it to work surprisingly well here. The “base” being more of a safe haven for the NPC's and Ange cordoning them off into a smaller section gives both him and Kid more wiggle room to go wild without worrying about harming them. From there, Angelino's strat provides some well-thought and in-depth fighting methods for taking down Kid; using SPIRIT's draconic body and feints in a close-quarters boxing match with Kid and crocodilian tactics for when he can catch Kid in one of his swamps. Another solid job, Angelino also gets an **8**.