SCARYMOVIES: Tough one. Real tough one. G's entry might be more entertaining and with far more happening overall, but it feels incomplete by the end and the pharaoh theme itself is not as well applied. The eternal question of rewarding or not someone who sacrifices time-management in order to deliver a more detailed experience that does not make it to the finish line. Clovis entry was great, I especially enjoyed the team interactions (Jun-ho laughing got me), how Scary was introduced -and drawn-, and Clovis kindness shining in the end. Are you really playing a villain? In the end, I think I am going to be stupidly wry and forgive G since the story gets to a decent point, and he is a newbie to Crab. Hehe. I know. Plus I am always amazed at his dialogue and writing. What did you consume to write like that? That said, I won't be as forgiving next time.

MAROX: Very very tough one. Ana's entry has more passion and emotion into it and a more direct approach to a "trial" as well as it makes both crabs shine more equally. Marox entry exploits Caddie's strengths and has crisper, clearer art - it has the feeling of an unforgettable holiday adventure. At one point I had to reread one of Ana's pages to get what happened. Just because of that slight inconvenience I will give the vote to Marox - it might sound frustrating but what I am trying to convey is that it would be a draw otherwise. Gay Anubis son was a memorable character - I have realized Caddie has a penchant for creating good NPCS. Full Desmond VS LOVE when? Eh? I am not allowed to ask that here? Sorry.

HEAD INVESTIGATOR: Extremely tough decision. Berry entry had better art overall and even managed to shade somehow - I can only presume X has made a deal with the gods of time. I enjoyed the lonely fight in the desert - Berry is strangely cute and badass despite, perhaps precisely because of her homely-ness. Ultimately however I felt like I enjoyed more the narrative and humor of Head Investigator's entry and the desert also played a larger role in it (sinking him, making her go delirious) in affecting more evidently the plot outside of them being stranded.

MARV: Tough one. Jun-ho entry was nice and focused more on then exploring the pyramid. Marv's was funnier - Luke's comedy always shines. Ultimately while I liked both I'd say Marv had an edge.

LEO: This is so hard. God damn it. Make more uneven matches next time. Kell one was funny, nice, and OH MY GOD HAVE SEX RIGHT NOW. Huh? Who said that? Anyways. I liked how Kell seemed to be struggling for his life during the fight - not in the sense of being outmatched but rather in the sense that Leo takes fighting as a competition while Kell fights for survival. The racist explorer story was a fun parallel and detail. Leo entry had custom made music, animation, voice acting, some wonderful action and a very strong start. It's main flaw? Its right there in your face - its unfinished. Unfinished means bad time management. That alone tips the scales dangerously close to Kell. However, in the end Leo managed to complete its narrative. I'll give it to him.

LEONARD: Simply insane and very creative entry by Leonard. Intense and fast paced cartoon race and loved how they kept changing vehicles as well as all the occurrences happening during the race - one of those at makes me think it lasted more than 15 pages. Diesel Entry had some really creative panelling and use of videogame-like aesthetics which I really enjoyed, and I liked the colour as well, but it got beaten in craziness by the iguana. Or whatever that is.

FLUXXO: The chaotic match. Needle entry was utterly deranged, in a good way. It felt particularly unique. The joke of both chariots being unable to work anyways made me laugh loud. I am wondering if this chaos affinity will come to play later. As for Fluxxo, his entry simply had more going on in my opinion, with the added advantage of being coloured. Loved seeing his team interact and Needle taking the clown out of his usual dealings by being so unaffected by him. A strangely cute note. Are you really playing a villain?

GRETCHEN: I quite liked both entries, so its one of those cases where I feel bad not voting for Dizzy because the humour and references in hers were excellent and I liked how it intersected with Ignatius. Ultimately however Gretchen delivered a more complete experience, with some incredible ingenuity in how she managed to outsmart Dizzy's cartoon antics and some great comedy in the Pharaoh's new deviantart proclivities. Definitely a contender to fear.

ELLIE: Battle of talents. Lovell's entry was incomplete - and sadly not even in a way that still makes me grasp the full story. I also think they probably surpassed the page limit. That said, the two-three timelines being parallel thing seems like a very unique and interesting approach and I wish to see the full thing. Ellie is adorable in both entries but especially shines in her with her attempts to be useful in any way trampled by Lovell's power. The way she achieves victory is realistic - although it probably relies on Lovell not caring much, which is fine as I understand that's part of her character for this tourney. Ellie a qt. Best girl?

IGNATIUS: Jugglejack artist shows as usual some incredible technique and artistic skill, and I enjoyed how the clown clowned on the ex clown crown for an own that left him disowned of having won. There was simply more going on in Ignatius entry, and I liked how his appearing showing in other entries of his team as well - similar trick to what Misfits pulled, as well as the frenetic action of it all. Also, they should have sex.

HEMMA: A bit tougher than I expected but ultimately Hemma entry has more to it. Henry one is straightforward and has the advantage to seemingly be more related to the actual tahtib match. I ought to say though, Henry is quite calm in his own entry! He was painted as such a brutal warrior that I was waiting to see him smash Hemma's brain in with the stick, but if anything he just acted like an edgy older brother. Is he calmer than we all thought? He even had a gang! Are you really playing a villain? As for Hemma, hilarious to see him confuse ancient Egypt with the wild west for so long and I really like the character exploration and trauma displayed her and how willing he is to suffer in order to make things "right" and achieve victory - the battle was more intense. Team Xenomania more like team trauma.

NIO: The cops entry was really fun - they are probably the funniest characters of the tournament. I especially liked Head Investigator being baffled at them and the "this is how everyone should treat the police" line. Nio had less time to work on their entry - as usual Polly art shines as one of the, if not the, favorite artists of mine in this tournament. But even beyond that I liked the story more, how it connected with Scarymovies, and the more intrinsic use of mummies for it. Also Atta cameo. You can buy 10% of a vote by featuring Atta.

KELLY: I see some very noticeable art improvement in Scarlet's entry compared to last tournament, to the point I feel now I will stop commenting that, and it also had color - this was a difficult vote. I think ultimately I was slightly more entertained by Kelly's entry despite its simplicity or perhaps precisely because it was easier to follow. I like the action and I like how their personalities (Kelly is bubbly and eager to fight, Scarlet is a bit more on her own world) are depicted in both. Realistic bad CGI Rock in Kelly's probably is what swayed my vote.

SMOKE: I was happily surprised reading this! I admit Smoke was not truly in my radar until now, I find them incredibly cute now and I can see the innocent being and troubled man team chemistry with Clovis. The airheadedness is lovely showcased. Outside of that I also found the entry to be narratively quite strong and touching - an exploration of Dea's character and innocence/self hate more than anything. A huge step up from previous tournament entries in my opinion. To Dea: Completely unwarranted advice: never "UNFINISHED PANEL". As a small grumpy elf said once, some crabs have lost simply because they let people know their entries were incomplete to their own standards. Outside of that. Probably the most atmospheric entry I have seen. The work on backgrounds is very nice, there was actual effort put in making the reader buy Dea is in ancient egypt. However, sadly the build of such atmosphere sacrifices half of the pages for just Dea riding towards the tomb, leaving her encounter with Smoke and the actual resolution of the conflict to be delivered in pretty short time.

MELODY: Speedrun entry (salvaged) was short but amusing, although given that he himself lost in his own entry... I don't think much of the scenario thing since as N377, Speedrun-anon is a newbie and was willing to try to fix his mistake. Melody entry knocked it out of the park, funny, action, team interactions, and ending in a rather sour note. The makings of a tournament character arc. I can tell the bunny packs a punch when she wants to. One of those entries where I end up feeling a LOT happened despite being perfectly under the limits - well paced. I hope she gains some confidence by the end of this!

TOABYAK: Surprisingly a bit harder to vote than I thought, because I quite liked Adel's story! I was holding up my breath as they described yu-gi-oh without calling it yu-gi-oh that it cracked me once Toabyak reacted. And the ending might have been the result of a lack of time but it was fitting for Adel and amusing. Toabyak's entry was straight but id say shows art improvement from previous tournaments and shows both his ruthless yet gentlemany nature. Pouring the wine on top as respect was a nice ending. In the end, I feel a part of me is biased against entries that don't involve drawing more. Maybe if the drawings of Adel's entry were more descriptive of the scenes (her summoning the shadow field, Toabyak's final boss dragon, Meteor X, etc) and not just close ups of her she would have gained my vote. I might be more forgiving next time as I understand Adel anon is very new to drawing.

BERNO: Not an easy vote at all actually, but Berno's style always gets to me. Time Warrior entry had a lot going on and I really loved how he portrayed his team. The art is quite unique and the bait/attack finish with the golf thing was pretty amusing. However I felt it made less use of the prompt and at points it meandered. I appreciate the Atta cameos in both! One Atta a day keeps the doctor away. As for Berno's it was pretty amazing and packed with action and sexy plus the misfit crossover aspect, but my main criticism is that his opponent should have shone even more.

N377/GILROY: I, a person against abstaining, have decided to abstain. I liked N377 entry once it was finished, I believe the author has a solid grasp on comedy and I pretty much laughed at every page. I find myself very willing to forgive rookie mistakes for Crabs that are just starting the tournament - even more when they go back and do an effort to fix it, showing me they actually care. I dislike in that regard how dismissive I have seen people be regarding the entry. Gilroy's entry seemed to have more going on, although it suffers at times from a lack of readability. I think the unique art-style is a strength that should not be discarded, but it needs to be minded as to ensure the reader will not have any trouble following the story. Outside of that - it was a rather awesome 3 way battle! Finishing with the two balls dunk was both fittingly disrespectful as it should be given the theme of the entry, AND hilarious.

FISHIMOTE: The funniest entry in this whole round, I was cackling all the way. Plus your art is deceptively great - I am jealous of it. I even feared you had ignored the no flying rule for the win but ended up being addressed. As for Bakutsu, the entry is shorter but my main issue is more that it only introduces his opponent and then the actual match gets relegated to a textbox explaining the outcome of it... This is not a short story entry but a comic, so I want to see it! I have hopes you will improve on this next round so just like Bakutsu, don't lose willpower yet.

RIRINA: An entry that was perhaps a tad too insane for my taste, but still, fresh compared to others and I liked Zehya in that outfit. As for Caddi, she would have won my vote if the entry weren't incomplete again - time management! Also some day I will be able to guess your fetish.