Archerous' R4M2 Delib

Quality

Waves rise and fall as king and god clash. Sulka Kiisseli, unquestioned tyrant from Heart of the Rose vs. King Savage, who’s proven more than once that he’s still a Cause for Concern. One commands an army, the other stands with a newfound pair of allies to fend them off. This match is sure to be the stuff of legends, but the question remains. How do they fare?

Starting with Sulka, they begin by digging trenches around the museum in a bid to acquire as much mass as they can before their invasion truly begins. They use some of this mass to make their follower, Olli, more durable, as well as themselves, making them much more difficult to take down. Meanwhile, Olli uses his Ghostlight for reconnaissance, keeping tabs on the state of the Gallery. This move also serves to obscure the windows of the museum, giving the zombies and opportunity to get a sneak attack off on their opposition. Once setup is done, Sulka redistributes their remaining mass into the pile of stones besides them, making them heavier, and far more dangerous. The duo spend their opening moves doing as much prep as they can, prioritizing self buffs and preparing weapons suitable for a siege. A good move.

As the waves begin, Sulka sends forth a few corpses with the intention of setting off any initial traps, and maybe infecting Kid and Rasna while they’re at it. With their enemies distracted, Sulka fires their Meteor Cannon at them, adding onto the overwhelming force. Meanwhile, Olli sneaks into the building undetected with a bodyguarding ent, hoping to continue their reconnaissance while the chaos is going on behind them. During this phase, Sulka begins to target their opponents directly. In terms of priority, Rasna makes the top of the list, as they move to whittle down her stamina, as she has the means to give Sulka the most trouble.

Once the next wave begins, Sulka brings out a final attack, the Dead Man’s Silent Forest. It’s a heavy attack that, combined with the attacking corpses, gives a high chance of infecting their foes with illness. This, much like the whole assault, is a distraction for their true plan. Once inside, Olli steals the Nightbloom from under the Gallery’s noses, using his invisibility to get in and out, granting Sulka the victory they’ve been searching for.

Heart of the Rose presents a solid strategy, making good use of their resources to keep their enemies occupied, all while underhandedly taking the Nightbloom for themselves. For that, I’m giving this strat a 7. Well done!

Onto Kid, he spends his first moments getting worked up, creating a flood across the floor to create difficult terrain. Rasna and Markov, on the other hand, ascend to the second floor, creating as many weapons as they can to bolster their arsenal. Once they’ve gotten a well-rounded selection of tools, they start to demolish the second floor. The duo hides the Nightbloom in the gift shop, piled under a ton of merch and locked inside a display case. Given the natural defenses offered by the gift shop, mainly the lack of entrances and the plethora of cover, this is a smart choice. This opening works to slow down their enemies, denying them any chance of mobility by destroying the second floor. They must work within the confines of the flood. A strong use of their starting time.

Once the opposition starts to wade in, the duo get to work. They go over their tactics to deal with the various types of zombies. They target the limbs of the ents to immobilize them, effectively making them inert. Whenever a spider comes into line of sight, they make sure to take it out before it gets the chance to jump them. When it comes to corpses, Rasna takes priority in dealing with them, as she can afford to take on an infection way more than Kid can. She uses her arsenal to not only protect herself from the corpses, but to deal with them at ease. Meanwhile, Kid is on the hunt for Sulka, charging them as soon as they enter his field of vision. He opens with an attack from the vending machine. Whether they block it or not is irrelevant, as they’ll either take the initial damage or have to deal with the vending shrapnel from Knock You Out’s strike. If Sulka has a wall, the duo works to break it down, Rasna dealing with the Corpses and Kid rushing Olli, respectively. Once the pair is able to reach Sulka, they move to pincer them, taking care to distance themselves from Dark Disquiet’s deadly grasp while trying to corner the ‘false god’.

Of course, if Sulka plays defensively, so will they. The CfC duo will hole up in the gift shop, again taking advantage of the natural defenses it provides to outlast the oncoming hordes. However, Sulka can’t stay back forever. Either Olli or Sulka needs to get into the gift shop to acquire the Nightbloom, leading to a direct confrontation with Rasna and Kid. They anticipate this, and work to put a stop to the invasion for good.

This is a very thorough strat, making sure to cover their bases, going so far as to completely destroy the flooring of the second floor to deny their opponents the chance of avoiding the flood. In a short amount of time, they create a simple, yet quite effective obstacle for their opponents to overcome: two incredibly dangerous fighters rushing over a flooded floor. Thus, I’m giving this strat an 8. Well done!

Jojolity

As for Jojolities, I’ll be brief. I found both narratives present in their respective strats to be quite engaging. Kid’s reflection of his past brushes with violence resonated very well. His actions throughout the match speak to their influence on his psyche. He’s no longer afraid to be in danger, he’s accepted it, embraced it, for better or for worse. Sulka, during the match,  offers a grand showing of their captivating presence. Every decision they make oozes with a sense of godhood, from choosing to stay behind in battle, letting their pawns do the dirty work for them, to confidently proclaiming their right to rule Rakinnagarh and its people. They put on a dramatic performance, fitting for one who’s about to ascend. I think both teams did excellent, thus I’m giving both Jojolities an 8. Well done!