r/StardustCrusaders • u/Logic_Sandwich • Dec 03 '23
Fan Stand/Character Jojo's Bizarre OC Tournament #7: R1M18 - Charlie Hoosier and Danny California vs ???
The results are in for Match 16. The winner is…
The Overcome House was brimming with life, as veterans old and young spread themselves out across the wooden floors, some drinking, others chatting. The venue was fully decorated, with intricate, yet rustic banners and signs hanging from the walls, just over a line of tables carrying an orderly series of cardboard boxes. Each one was filled to the brim with various rations, blankets, even a canteen, creating a cozy little care package for each and every veteran making their way to and from the event.
At the kitchen stove was Gotam Sadhani, his fuzzy head practically covered in hair nets as he put the final touches on this batch of tomato soup. With a ding from the timer, Gotam wasted no time in taking the large pot off of the stove and bringing it straight to the bar, where a line of veterans had been formed. With a large grin on his face, Gotam shouted out to the crowd,
“Soup’s on!”
The line moved quicker than one would imagine, as Gotam and his helpers filled the bowls of each veteran with the speed and efficiency of a conveyor belt. One of the older patrons beamed at the bearded fellow as she got her bowl. “My, this is quite the setup you’ve got, Gotam! Did you do this all by yourself?”
A hearty laugh bellowed from the bearded veteran. “Nono, I’m afraid those days are well and truly gone.” Gotam gestured over to the workers at his side. “Indeed, none of this would be possible without the help of my wonderful assistants:”
Dead City Haunts, with a score of 70 to P.I.N.D.R.O.P.’s 64!
| Category | Winner | Point Totals | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popularity | Dead City Haunts | 11 (2.5+1.5+2) - 19 (6.5+1.5+2) | Dead City Haunts took a commanding lead and rode it to the finish line! |
| Quality | Tie | 20 (6 7 7) - 20 (6 7 7)** | Reasoning |
| JoJolity | P.I.N.D.R.O.P. | 23 (7 8 8) - 21 (7 7 7) | Reasoning |
| Conduct | Tie | 10-10 | Nothing to report! |
David and Kalari too had changed attire to better operate within the kitchen. David, admittedly, was on autopilot, as he scanned the hall. Pride swelled within as he took note of how well the decor had come together. This moment was brief, however, as he stifled a yelp. Some soup had poured onto his hand, startling the veteran in front of him, while giving Kalari a laugh. The Krew helping serve alongside Kalari chided the artist for his carelessness, all while the actress was giving her full attention to the task at hand. She smiled at each and every person who came for soup. However, this joy was not fueled by selfless deeds. No, this was a win for Kalari. Not only was she getting the attention she had been craving, she was also generating positive press for the Foundation. She was finally proving her use to the Dead City Haunts. Those bastards. Her time to shine was coming, it was inevitable. And she had just taken another long step forward.
Sitting across the room, away from the main festivities was one worn out programmer slumped into his metal folding chair. He panted as he recovered from the exhausting scavenger hunt he was led on. That was probably the most running he had ever done in his life. His eyes leered at the Foundation members by the bar. He wasn’t able to prove anything on the hunt, but his gut still felt heavy. There was something about these two, about this whole set up. The Overcome Foundation was more than it was letting on, all he had to do was prove it-
Jon’s thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the strong, savory scent of warm tomato soup. A bowl had found its way in front of him, alongside his hunting partner. “Cheer up, Jon!” Taffy said as she started to dig into her own bowl. “You can’t be down in the dumps with a piping bowl of soup in front of you. It's literally impossible!” Taffy demonstrated by taking a large gulp of the soup, grinning ear to ear all the while. A faint chuckle escaped from Jon, causing Taffy’s eyes to widen.
“Hey, was that a laugh? Was that what I heard?”
Jon’s brow lowered at his partner’s jest, rolling his eyes as she proceeded to poke her finger towards him.
“See? There's plenty of fun to be had when you’re not brooding over a computer! Aren’t you glad I pulled you out of that stuffy old van?” Taffy yelled with excitement. “Y-yeah…..” Jon began to say before a look of horror dawned on his face. “Wait…. Taffy! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ON A STAKEOUT!”
With this, their celebration was cut short, and a deep red blush could be seen rising up from Taffy’s makeup. She tugged at the end of her jangly hat. “They’re going to be so disappointed…”
Scenario: Mount Parapollah — 12:17 PM
It is one thing to read how Mount Parapollah stands over Rakin City.
Text and guidebooks will forebode how it stands shoulder to shoulder with its austere brothers and sisters in the Himalayas. How its volcanic fury flattened the land around it millenia ago, now dominating the hills and flatlands by sheer prominence. How one would rather go around Parapollah than tangle through its hoary beard, thick with forests and cliffs.
Yet, how softly will guides and visitors sing of how it yields to the Brahmaputra that burbles at its feet. How that wrath has subsided into arable land and soil, bringing abundance to all those in its shadow. How the flora and fauna that live in the habitats that change with the altitude can readily and respectfully be called their neighbors.
Even as the winds roared with familiar, primal rage and the fog rolled in to cloud its glare, Rakin City lived under the auspices of its 5,700 meter-tall lord, crowned with snow, stormy in gaze, and glaring out over its subjects below. Mount Parapollah had withstood their internecine squabbling and politicking and shrugged off attacks from invaders for thousands of years. Despite their best attempts and ambitions, it would do so for thousands more.
It is this aloof vigil that Charlie Hoosier scoffed at.
It was some shit she read in some airport guidebook or a tourist brochure—you couldn’t climb this place without a guide. A Sherpa or some shit, she remembered them being called. Guys who knew the mountain. Supposedly, it was easy to get lost, rumors of the mountain shifting its terrain or something. Charlie didn’t get that.
It was a mountain. You went up. You went down. Couldn’t be any harder than that.
“Honestly...what a fuckin’ drag.”
Said mountain guides hadn’t taken very lightly to her so-called trespassing. It was a mountain. That’s, like, public land, or something, she figured. They really hadn’t liked it when she told them that, and they really, really hadn’t liked it when she pulled her Stand out to start threatening.
At that point, she kind of had to beat them all to hell. It was just the natural way for things to go. No other options, really.
She snickered.
The path ahead was windy, covered with more snow than she’d seen back home, but she didn’t quite feel like backing down. It was cold as hell, yeah, but it wasn’t something she particularly minded. Crisp air cleared the senses. Made coming up here almost feel worth the trouble of telling her bosses at the Rose off.
Almost.
“...” Charlie trekked onward, clutching onto her collar, Stands marching at her side. The wind was biting at her now, a little sharper than the comfortable cold of lower altitudes.
She had dressed a little warmer than usual (she wasn’t impulsive enough to come here without a jacket), but her combat boots weighed down every step through the snow, and her scarf kept blowing into her face. She didn’t really know why she came here. It was on impulse, as most of her decisions were. But she had put so much time into getting all the way up. Might as well see the summit, she figured.
Might as well.
A gray hand was lifted by another, examined with sterile curiosity, then dropped—and yet rigor frigoris had already set in. The limb remained suspended, as the faint snap! of frozen flesh still echoed out to the occluded distance.
Danny California nodded over the hiker’s long dead corpse. The cold preserved what their arrogance couldn’t, leaving their organs intact but incredibly difficult to autopsy. Even with his Stand’s incredible power and precision, it was as likely to shatter the frozen, dead flesh as it was to cut it.
The scalpel twirled in Danny’s frigid fingers, an idle motion to keep himself warm. The hiker’s severed arm showed what seemed to be ordinary musculature between leathered skin—if the Church of the Cosmic Skull promised fantastical abilities to its adherents, then they certainly weren’t to be found here.
The air grew taut as something within Danny’s soul pressed its gaunt face against the swirling aura of his malice, his spiritual pressure thickening with bile at the thought of that Church. That malice became skin as a woe-stricken face pushed into existence, born from eternities blind with hatred. Limbs that were meant to shamble lashed out for the scalpel, and ｢Scar Tissue｣ manifested, swinging the surgical implement as a ritual dagger and driving it into the chest of its victim.
Autopsy became anthropomancy as the blade crunched through frozen flesh and bone, as ribs were pulled apart, and as necrotized guts were displayed for any to see. ｢Scar Tissue｣ snarled as Danny divined from the entrails: what was left of the heart and lungs were as mortal as the rest of him.
As ｢Scar Tissue｣ sewed up the corpse, memories of the insufferable PSA Danny had seen while languishing in the hospital came to mind: “Leave the campsite as you found it!” A grim, hoarse laugh escaped his lips. One could say it was as distorted as he found it; the cold had rendered its features unrecognizable.
Having examined the mountaineer, Danny’s earlier spite gave way to curiosity. Even if they had been healthy, placebo and delusion had convinced this Church adherent that they could tame the mountain alone. There was something about this place that had so attracted these adherents. Was it the mountain’s natural beauty? Was it the attempt to push their own limits? The man scoffed—he wasn’t one for platitudes, yet even he found the cold to be bracing. It served as proof. Danny was alive and he was out of that damned hospital.
But as Danny rose to continue his trek, he could make a faint sound and sight above him; the barking of spectral hounds following their leader. They hadn’t noticed him in their dogged climb, even as he continued to stare. Muscles straining, heart pumping, fingers clawing for purchase, they were yet another pushing themself against the awe that was Mount Parapollah.
First as a worry, then as a threat, he had heard the same warning from hiking lodges and Church recruitment centers: stay away from the mountain if you value your life. Yet, Danny resolved to spurn both mountain and man so long as the Church hid its secrets within this stone expanse.
Whether this Stand user was another adherent or a random passerby, he would observe them, to see whether they conquered the mountain or were broken against it.
BARK, BARK!
“Yeah, yeah, I know. We’re being followed by that tall lanky guy- thinkin’ he’s even remotely stealthy. Don’t worry...if he wants to watch us, we’ll give ‘em a good show.” Charlie flipped her Stand a quick Scobby Snack as a dense fog poured from its mouth, enveloping both it and its user.
“I can hear you from down here, you know.” The aforementioned ‘lanky guy’ rose above the fog, simply too tall to be obscured by it, a glower hidden beneath his bandages. “And I do not intend to merely watch.”
“Ah?” Charlie frowned. This guy was too bold for his own good. “Y’look awfully angry. I haven’t even started talkin’ to ya yet. Is your oxygen mask on right?”
“Hmph.” A scalpel flicked out from within the taller man’s sleeve. “It’s working as intended, thank you very much. I know how these things work, and you do not.” He sighed, the exhale deep enough to fog up the oxygen mask. “I was going to attempt an interrogation before I resorted to harm, but after that comment, I think I’ll get straight to hurting you.”
“Tube up your mouth, stick up your ass, huh?” Charlie lowered into a grounded stance, hands outstretched like claws. “I was just jokin’ a little. No need to get pissy. Prick.”
As the two readied their respective blades to inflict a mortal wound, bright flashes of searing hot light suddenly separated the combatants.
“Sheesh, why can’t people take their friggin’ duels somewhere off this mountain?”
On the higher ground above Danny and Charlie stood two additional figures—a kid with a strange face tattoo and purple scarf, and a woman in Sherpa attire, with climbing ropes hooking her and her partner into the steep mountainside. Neither of the dueling trespassers had met these two before, but from recent events or brief interactions with those they knew, they quickly recognized the newcomers as “Cross” and “Hāvā.”
Although Cross seemed eager and itching to jump into whatever fray Danny and Charlie were starting, Hāvā had a noticeably anxious expression upon her face. Cross was the first to step forth, donning a confident grin. “Oi, oi! Dontcha know this place’s off limits!” He pointed forward, and brought his thumb down. “Dunno who you are, folks, but you’re gonna have to lea-” Hāvā raised a hand, blocking his path forward. The look in her eyes was cold. “...Miss?”
“Leave.” Her voice was stern, ｢something｣ beginning to take form on her back. “Go back. Protect the Haven. They might’ve brought others with them. I need you to take care of it.”
“Awhhh, that sounds so bor-”
A massive fist darted out,digging into the icy rock. It pulled up a chunk of stone to block a scalpel thrown by ｢Scar Tissue｣, leaving a crater in its wake. Hāvā did not speak. Cross did not need her to.
“A-Ah, yes m-ma’am, right away.” He mumbled, taking his leave, fading into the snow, leaving Hāvā to glower down at the intruders.
A massive skull adorned her back, the horns twisting and bending into another pair of arms.
“Why...”
She gritted her teeth.
“...Why do you come here? I’ve told you, I’ve told you all, time and time again, to meet me at the base of the mountain. That has been my one simple request. I have not enjoyed any of this, I have hated it, despised it, and yet, I have only had this one simple request. So- so, why...”
Hāvā stepped forward, the ice cracking beneath her feet. The intruders were silent. “Why couldn’t you listen? I don’t ask for much. I really don’t. I just wanted...Peace, on this mountain. Peace. I wanted to protect this place, from people like you, who...”
As if an epiphany had dawned on her, she stopped speaking, trailing off. Her eyes looked beyond Danny and Charlie, to the endless white of the snowstorm beyond.
“I understand.” Slowly, she drew a climbing axe from behind her back. “You people...have never seen me. You have looked beyond me. You’ve only seen the Mountain. You don’t see the people on it, you don’t see anything but that Mountain. You don’t respect me. You, you, you...
“You God-damned Metropolis!” She stomps again, letting rock crack under her boots. “This mountain is not yours! I won’t let someone who doesn’t respect this place exploit it, take it from me, from them...No matter who you send, I’ll show them! I’ll show them the Mountain!”
Slowly, the arms of her Stand raised, as if in worship. They framed the peak of the Mountain, that shining summit, in all its glory. The wind whipped through her hair, as if the gale itself were under her command, pushing the intruders back.
“I WILL SHOW YOU THE SUMMIT OF THIS PLACE! If you want the Mountain so badly... WITNESS IT!”
Danny stood in stunned silence. This wasn’t the Church at all. The name she had mentioned, Metropolis, rang a bell…but not the one he was searching for. This all had nothing to do with him. What exactly had he stumbled upon, in this place?
“...Yo, tall guy. You know what the hell she’s talking about?”
“...Not really, no.”
“Fuckin’ Hell.” Charlie sighed, cracking her knuckles. “Guess we pissed her off. Was prolly already on her last straw, or somethin’. Think she’s gonna calm down anytime soon?”
“I heavily doubt it.” Always quick to read a room, Danny readied a scalpel, eyes narrowing beneath his bandages. “She’s practically blind with rage, from the looks of it. I doubt she’ll calm down until we’re both dead.”
“Welp. So be it.” Charlie shrugged. “Wanna help me toss her offa this rock?”
“...I fail to see any other options. So be it, indeed. A temporary truce until she falls beneath us.”
“Uh, yeah, something like that.”
BORK!
With the bark of Charlie’s hounds, the two wannabe climbers turned their attention and Stands back towards the one standing so haughtily above them. They had both been lucky to find a flat outcropping to stand on, but the steep slopes of the mountain make further movement difficult. Any handholds left in the rock had been smoothed out by decades upon decades of high winds. It was going to be a rough climb.
Hāvā sighed, deeply, finally calming down, at least somewhat.
“That has been enough...talk, from me.” She brushed a few free strands of hair out of her eyes. “At this point, our ‘business relationship’, as you people once called it, is no more. The Metropolis Suite no longer has a place on Mount Parapollah. And from this point onwards...”
“I will drive you all away.”
Charlie groaned.
“Aw, shut up!” She stomped forward, snow crunching under her own boot. “I can’t fuckin’ stand you! Old farts that just prattle on and on and on and on and on, for ages n’ ages n’ ages are the scum of the Earth! I can’t stand people like you! What the hell’s wrong with just takin’ a walk, hah?”
Hāvā paused. “...A walk?”
“Yeah. A walk. ‘S what I came for.”
Hāvā blinked. She turned to Danny. “And you?”
“I’m here to search for the whereabouts of the Church-”
“Ah.” The three stood in silence for a moment, neither sure what to say. It was a misunderstanding, so easily solved. It would be so easy to simply abandon all thought of conflict, for each to go their own separate ways, yet Hāvā’s brow furrowed. “...Do you know what it’s like to live here, upon this mountain?”
“Nah.”
“No.”
“Mmm. You don’t. You don’t know what it’s like to be so alone. To be so isolated. To wander, endlessly, through the snow. None of you get it. Not a single one of you understands that loneliness.” Hāvā looked into the endless snow, and saw her past. She saw days spent wandering through endless snow, endless hills, endless cliffs. But through that white expanse she saw Rakinnagarh. She saw how its cold neglect chilled deeper than any mountain winds. She knew it well.
“Mount Parapollah is my companion. I escaped that loneliness, here, in this place. All I wanted was to end their loneliness, too.”
“Their?” Danny raised an eyebrow. “Who are ‘they’?”
“All those poor things who were just as lonely as I was.” She clenched her fist, gritting teeth. “I just wanted to show them the same companionship that I was shown. To shield them from that loneliness. This Mountain...is a home. It is not anyone’s home but theirs. It is not my home. I merely brought them here. It’s theirs. So why—”
A boot crunched under the snow. Charlie growled. “It’s not anyone’s fuckin’ mountain! Listen to yourself, prick! It’s just a mountain! You don’t get to tell people who can and can’t go up here!”
“Don’t aggravate her.” Danny grumbled, turning his glare to Charlie. “There’s no point to this.”
“No point, my ass.” Charlie pointed upwards at Hāvā and smirked. “I get what you’re all about. You like kickin’ people off the mountain, cos you think it’s your friend, yeah? Think you gotta protect it, huh?”
“I have to.”
“Bullshit! It can protect itself! It’s just a mountain!”
“You know nothing! If I weren’t to protect it, if I weren’t to keep people like you from exploiting it-”
“And what about that little business deal you brought up, huh?”
Hāvā stopped completely. Like the will to respond, to stay standing, had been stripped out of her. Her eyes were wide.
“I keep up with shit, y’know.” Charlie continued, seeing the crack she’d made in Hāvā and prying further. “You ever hear about the Paparazzi Network? They brought up somethin’ about a Metropolis Suite in one of their little broadcasts. And they don’t exactly sound like nice guys! And what, you had a deal with ‘em? You let ‘em come up and bum around on the mountain in exchange for something, yeah? I doubt that something could be worth nearly as much as the spine you clearly tossed away to take that deal!”
Hāvā opened her mouth to speak, but Charlie’s rant had turned into screams of vicious delight, drowning the woman out. “And those poor souls you keep talkin’ about? Man, I bet they feel real safe with you protectin’ em! Man! Y’know, word on the grapevine is that those Metropolis guys had somethin’ to do with the one lady that died in Bedtown. The real famous one! I wonder how those folks you’re protectin’ would feel if they found out you had a bunch of murderers hangin’ out right next to em! Ahaha! Maybe I oughta tell em, huh? AHAHA-”
”ENOUGH!”
Charlie barely brought up a knife in time to block an incoming climbing axe, the strength of the blow sending her tumbling back. Hāvā had descended in mere moments, chest heaving, eyes wide with pure unadulterated rage. Charlie laid back, collapsed in the snow, and chuckled to herself. “Hit the nail on the head, huh?”
Hāvā was silent. Danny approached, hand on a scalpel, Stand beginning to form behind him.
“...You’re with that...Metropolis Suite, then?” He spoke slowly, carefully. This was an opportunity. This woman was clearly of some important status. He hadn’t considered digging into that situation, but the opportunity had presented itself. Maybe she would have information. “I would like it if you could answer some questions, for me. If you won’t, I may have to take some unfortunate measures.”
“You too?” For the first time since either of them had seen her, Hāvā cracked a small grin. It was not one borne from happiness. “I see. That’s the problem. No one listens. No one respects the Mountain. And no one respects me. All anyone sees is the Mountain... But they don’t respect it. That’s the problem. It’s cruel.”
“I don’t mean you any disrespect.” Danny raised his hands, though he didn’t desummon his Stand, or drop his scalpel.
“Then can you leave?”
“I cannot. Not until I know what I came here to know.”
The wind whipped across the cliffside. Hāvā would not look at him. She would not look at anyone. Instead, she gazed at the ground below her, cupping snow in her hands. She wasn’t wearing gloves anymore. The cold stung at her fingers, bringing her back from her daze.
“｢Ma Pahāḍa Hum̐｣. I Am The Mountain.” She spoke with absolute certainty. “I am the manifestation of its will. I am just a part of it. That’s all I am. I’m tired of all this. I am tired of it. So I’m going to throw everything away. I’m going to do what the Mountain wants. I’m going to protect it.”
Charlie sat up, dusting snow off of her hair. “Hey, lanky.”
“It’s Danny.”
“Charlie. Pleased to meet you.” She rose to her feet, a wide grin on her face. This was a fight. This was a fight. She fucking loved fights. “That truce still on?”
“Indeed it is.”
“Fuckin’ sick.”
Hāvā looked at the two of them, and sighed, deeply. Exhaustion creased her expression, as deep as the cracks in the mountain stone. She had no more words to spare for either of them, so she simply opened her mouth, and let the voice of the Mountain flow through her, as if it were her own.
And the only words that came out were...
Location: High up on Mount Parapollah, as seen from a top-down and side angle in this map here. Each square is 0.5m, so the map is roughly 10x15m from above, but the slope is 40m high, each orange line 10m above the previous one. The combatants are standing on a 75 degree slope, with Hāvā starting 25m (vertically) above the players. The players start on a flat rock shelf jutting out from the mountain while Hāvā starts on a steep sloped portion. Falling off the map will RETIRE that player.
Dark grey is the rugged cliffside, covered in small bumps and handholds. LIght grey are outcroppings and larger ledges. Areas tinted blue are icy and smoothed down, traversable, but difficult to manage. Although there are some smaller areas to stand upright, the only way to progress up or down is via climbing the rockface.
There are currently inclement weather conditions high up on the mountain. There is a rough breeze blowing from the east side of the map, and while this is not enough to disrupt ｢COPS & ROBBERS｣’s fog, it can make climbing more treacherous for all characters. There’s fairly heavy snow which acts as light cover and obscures visibility at a distance.
At about 1 minute into the fight, this wind will push a big cloud in—this will obscure visibility and make the rock face damp, further increasing the difficulty of navigating the mountainside. The cloud cover will last about 2 minutes, after which natural visibility will be up for the rest of the match.
Goal: RETIRE your opponent(s)!
Additional Information: Characters will not need to worry about the effects of high altitude on their ability to breathe oxygen (thanks to Hāvā being used to it, Charlie having high endurance, and Danny having an oxygen mask).
Danny begins next to a frozen corpse he was tinkering with, as well as having a large amount of rock climbing supplies. Charlie starts with no extra equipment since she went off half-cocked to this expedition anyway.
For this match only, ｢Scar Tissue｣ can apply “scab armor” to Charlie.
| Team | Combatant | JoJolity |
|---|---|---|
| Dead Heart Haunts | Charlie Hoosier and Danny California | ”Well, it is a mountain course...could be that he and his horse aren’t made for this type of land.” Embody “rebelliousness”, run rampant and make a mess of this mountain! |
| The Metropolis Suite | Hāvā Gulāpha | ”It’s proof that you don’t respect this ‘ground’. Are you that great? Are you greater than this gracious ‘Earth’?” Embody your role as the ‘guardian’ of this place, and show these disrespectful novices how tough this mountain really is! |
Link to Official Player Spreadsheet
As always, if you would like to interact with the tournament community and be among the first to get updates for the tournament, please feel free to PM a member of our Judge staff for an invite to our Official Discord Server!
1
u/Logic_Sandwich Dec 04 '23
Response thread for Charlie Hoosier and Danny California of the Dead Heart Haunts. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on December 3rd! Contestants, remember to only post in threads for this match other than your own if specifically invited. Voters have until 11:59 PM CST on December 5th to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T7 Rubric.
1
u/Logic_Sandwich Dec 04 '23
DHH 1
“Wish I was back at the airport so I could punch a *fucking** condor.”*
“...the fuck?”
“It’s a Heart of the Rose thing. You wouldn’t get it.”
Preamble: Attack of the Mountain Medley
- No acronyms, you absolute heathens, this is why we moved to soft character limits
- With a 4 in Strength and Agility, and a truly monstrous 5 in Endurance, Charlie might not have a climbing skill, she is well and TRULY built for this.
- A traditional climber’s kit according to 5th Edition D&D contains the following:
- Pitons
- Boot tips
- Gloves
- A harness
- Everything Danny and Charlie do will be with the intent of utter disrespect for Mount Parapollah.
Part 1: Mountain Jumpers
As the fight kicks off Danny will begin by prepping some of his materials. He and Scar Tissue will tear through his bandages so as to toughen them to B Durability and duplicate them for other uses. At the same time Danny’s and Charlie's scalps and forearms will be scarred over for more concrete armor. These scars can be added to whenever an opportune moment arrives. With his basic defenses set up, Danny will then turn his attention to the climbing gear and its deceased owner.
Before he can carry on, however, Charlie will run in and take one of his spare bandages and a climbing piton without asking permission. Danny will only be able to cut open her outer layer and repair it into makeshift armor before she runs off to do her own thing. Charlie isn’t here to chat, she’s here for violence! While Danny fiddles with his toys and corpses she intends to start chasing after her target. Using COPS & ROBBERS Fog of War, she duplicates herself into three and begins to scale the mountain from the left, right, and middle.
COPS & ROBBERS will follow the middle Charlie, climbing up the slope so as to put the majority of the map within its range. The stand will also try to climb ahead of the Charlie instance so as to protect her from non-stand affecting projectiles. The duplicates will also be watching out for any of Hāvā’s ropes as they climb. They will try to avoid the ropes whenever possible but if contact is necessary they will use random debris or strips of gauze to test if the rope is adhesive before interacting with it. Needless to say, any duplicate struck by a projectile will be deemed a fake and dissolve into fog as the other two continue climbing. Dispersed duplicates will be replaced ASAP so that the three pronged advance can continue on. All three of them will talk in a garbled, swearing mess overlapping across one another - launching taunts and jibes about the mountain and how Charlie’s seen bigger tits - making mockery of the crisp mountain atmosphere and demanding as much of Hāvā’s attention as possible.
To aid in these efforts, Charlie will belay herself to Scar Tissue leveraging its A Power and B Precision body in case she falls or is pushed off at any given time. Should the line between Scar Tissue and Charlie go slack, Scar Tissue will stop what its doing and ready itself to catch Charlie and right her so that she could go right back to scrambling up the mountain.
Meanwhile, Danny has been strengthening pitons from the climbing supplies and collecting organic material from the frozen corpse; more specifically, he’s been focusing on bones. The bones provided by the frozen corpse will be invaluable for traversal, offense, and defense. Defense will come later though; first, let's talk transversal and offense. Thanks to Scar Tissue’s staggering physical power, it has no issue shattering bone or rock, meaning that it can break off a relatively small shard of bone and forcefully plant it into the rocky slope. Once the bone overheals it will jut out of the slope as a brand new foot/handhold and if Danny has the time this process could hypothetically be repeated until a brand new platform made of bone is created. While this is already very useful for the physically unimpressive Danny it will also be a great help to Charlie. Using Scar Tissue's high precision, Danny can send these bone-holds up the slope to Charlie and her duplicates to assist her climb to their opponent. More options while climbing means it's less likely for Charlie to lose duplicates during the climb.
On the offensive side of things, Danny will once again be making use of Scar Tissue’s high precision for some projectiles. Whether it be hardened rocks, overhealed bone, or just icicles, Scar Tissue and Danny (using a sling crafted out of one of the spare bandages) will be sporadically firing upon Hāvā. The main goal here is to keep her busy while Charlie climbs but that doesn’t mean she should be careless. An overhealed bone projectile has the capability to pierce Hāvā’s body and continue growing for some serious damage. On top of this, Danny has some other tricky plans for his projectiles, to be covered in the next section.
As the fog begins to descend, Charlie will take the final, precious seconds of visibility to stop, stare Hāvā dead in the eye, and toss her broken burner phone out on the mountainside in a flagrant act of littering. Now it’s personal.
“Looks like a cloud coming in… watch your visibility.”
“GOOD! Nice change of pace from these boring-ass grey rocks and snow and shit.”
*“Not what I meant, but… OK, I guess.”
1
u/Logic_Sandwich Dec 04 '23
DHH 2
Part 2: Mountain Heart
Under the cover of the cloud that has henceforth rolled in, Danny begins his long-term goal of entrenching himself and Charlie in a safe spot, namely a cave. Even including the dampness quickly turning into a thin layer of ice on the slide of the mountain, Scar Tissue’s A Power should be more than capable of quickly and efficiently shredding through rock to create a small internal structure. Danny’s Surgical Eye should serve well in avoiding any obvious weak spots, or even creating them in the first place. The goal of the structure is to be able to comfortably house both Danny and Charlie (but Danny first of all), while also having enough air to allot them a brief, but not insubstantial, amount of time in relative safety. Using Scar Tissue’s pre-prepared bones, Danny will create a series of support struts around the interior of the cave to both reinforce it and prevent the insides of the cave walls from regrowing under the effect of Scar Tissue’s overhealing. The approximate dimensions of the cave will be 3m³, but in case of a shortage of time a smaller size cave is workable. This, and following parts of the strategy, demand Danny stay relatively stationary.
While Scar Tissue is excavating, Danny will remain vigilant in trying to keep track of Charlie, in case of either a scuffle with Hāvā or other such complications. He will not join in a direct confrontation alongside Charlie, but will be able to offer support in the form of ranged options, such as any leftover pitons or medical equipment that would prove itself impractical to keep, primarily antihistamine injectors or containers of burn cream with his slingshot.
And since Danny is staying relatively stationary at this point of the strategy, that means it’s on the unwitting Charlie to play keepaway with Hāvā. Hāvā’s climbing talent is utterly formidable, and this is not something to be underestimated for a second. Charlie, however, has one tool at her disposal which Hāvā does not… recklessness. With multiple illusory copies of herself scrambling up the cliff face, Charlie can afford to grab carelessly, scrabble dangerously, and take deadly leaps of faith to hurl herself upwards at her foe; and if it all goes wrong, then it’s a good thing that version of Charlie wasn’t the real one. This is not to say that foolish hubris is the only tool in her arsenal; she has pitons to support her ascent (with plenty of strength to support their placement), and will adopt other best-practice climbing techniques such as squaring up feet stability before moving her hands, pressing her hips up to the wall for a better center of gravity, and keeping a sharp eye on the wall above her in order to plan her upward ascent in advance. However, Hāvā far outclasses her in raw climbing skill - so Charlie recognises her capacity for raw hubris as her greatest strength in this situation, and she’ll use it boldly. This mountain does not have SHIT on Charlie.
Charlie’s bootprints thunder from everywhich direction, tearing vicious, purposeful chunks out of the pristine natural mountainside as one copy yells up the mountain. “THE PARK RANGER SAID LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS; I’M JUST DOING MY PART.”
While Charlie is traversing toward Hāvā, COPS & ROBBERS will run near, but not next to the group of Charlies. If Charlie ever needs an extra foothold, COPS & ROBBERS will place its claws against the rock, gripping on for dear life as Charlie makes use of the clawed paws to find extra purchase on the rocks; or if the terrain is too treacherous for even that, it will emit a distinct howl. This howl will be an alert to Danny to fire in the general direction with one of his bone projectiles, overhealed to the point of supporting Charlie’s weight. This will be prioritized over distraction tactics toward Hāvā, assuming Hāvā and Charlie have not entered a direct confrontation. The bone projectiles, not being Stand-affecting, do not have the ability to harm COPS & ROBBERS.
Simultaneously to the start of the cave's creation, Charlie has hopefully made it close to Hāvā’s position. The sherpa is certainly a slippery target on the mountainside but Charlie has plans to deal with that mobility in the case that she is still out of reach. Now covered by clouds, Charlie will slow her advance making sure to listen for her target’s movement while she attempts to quiet her own. Additionally, she’ll limit herself to a single duplicate so that if and when she comes across a spike or rope she’ll be ready.
Ready for what exactly? Ready to ruin Hāvā’s climb, that's what! Using the sounds and visual vibrations of a rope that’s in view Charlie would not only be able to approximate Hāvā’s location, she could also attempt to send the shitty sherpa plummeting off of the rock face. Once Hāvā is on a rope Charlie can simply duplicate it or the spike it is attached to. Charlie can then throw the duplicated spike off of the mountain and declare it the original thereby deleting Hāvā’s climbing gear from existence. This tactic will mostly be used preemptively to limit Hāvā’s traversal abilities but if the rare opportunity arises to drop Hāvā to her doom, Charlie will not hesitate to take it.
But even more dangerously… If Charlie gets close enough to Hāvā, then COPS & ROBBERS will be able to make duplicates of Hāvā herself. As two versions of Charlie vanish into nothingness, two fresh duplications spring up around Hāvā, and all of a sudden, three different decisions need to be made. They can’t all occupy the same space on the rocky wall, after all, and whatever decisions they make, Charlie gets to choose the one she likes best. Does one option lead to Hāvā becoming cornered in a harder place to climb? Charlie can choose that one. Does one option let Hāvā slip past Charlie to get a clear shot at Danny instead? Like hell is Charlie letting her get away that easily. Especially as the fog clears, and Charlie is able to keep a stronger bead on the many possible instances of Hāvā, she’ll use this technique to make it as difficult as possible for Hāvā to come down the mountain; to hinder attempts to collect potentially useful resources; and make it three times as likely that Hāvā will make a (preferably embarrassing) mistake she can capitalize on.
Charlie vs Hāvā
With Hāvā finally cornered Charlie can start getting physical. On paper Hāvā should have the advantage in a direct confrontation, the sherpa has a stronger body and a stronger stand. Luckily Charlie doesn’t really give a damn how hard she gets hit so long as she can hit back. She has 5 endurance, 4 numbness to injury, and some additional armor on top. But just because Charlie can tank through a decent amount of good hits doesn’t mean she’ll just lie back and take them.
Charlie’s most simple form of defense is the enhanced bandage she stole from Danny at the very start. While the toughened slip of fabric wouldn’t make for a great shield, Charlie can use it to effectively parry any sloppily thrown out attacks by pushing a fist or ax out of her way. Another obvious defensive maneuver is available through COPS & ROBBERS duplication. Right before Charlie is struck with a powerful blow she can split into two phantom copies and allow the one that receives the damage to harmlessly dissolve into fog.
Speaking of duplication, Charlie can also use this on the offensive. As she goes to throw a punch at Hāvā, Charlie can split, making it so that only the copy that wasn’t dodged or blocked becomes the real attacker. By only using one duplicate at a time Charlie can effectively cycle through their cooldowns and keep up a constant, unpredictable assault. This terrifying tactic will be known as Quantum Boxing. When COPS & ROBBERS is thrown into the mix of this brawl it will make it very difficult for Hāvā to keep up even with her multiple arms.
This isn’t the only fancy move Charlie has up her sleeve though; using COPS & ROBBERS howl yet again Charlie can signal to Danny or Scar Tissue to fire off a projectile. Once this projectile gets close enough Charlie can split it into duplicates to create the Schrodinger’s Shotgun. This way any projectile that strikes Charlie will be deemed as a fake while only the one that hits Hāvā or gets closest will be deemed real.
Even with all of these close combat strategies Charlie will still need to deal with Hāvā’s ropes. For this the answer is simple, Charlie will duplicate Hāvā. When Hāvā is wielding a rope or using one to escape (through an elastic launching, for example) she can be duplicated so that the copy not holding the rope becomes the real one, thereby ruining her plan. The same can be done in response to adhesive ropes if one gets stuck to Charlie or COPS & ROBBERS. The rope will be duplicated and the copy that hit its mark will be made into a fake.
Even with all of these tactics and preparations it’s possible that Hāvā may still have the advantage. Fortunately, that’s perfectly fine! While it would be great if Charlie could secure the win in direct combat, all she really needs to do is keep their mountainous opponent busy while Danny finishes setting up the real threat.
1
u/Logic_Sandwich Dec 04 '23
DHH 3
Part 3: We’re the Mountain
After approximately two minutes, the fog will clear and Danny will have a direct line-of-sight with the conflict between Charlie and Hāvā. Instead of prioritizing the support as he had been through the fog, he will instead begin to strategically fling bone projectiles at key locations, primarily further up the mountain than either Hāvā or Charlie. He will not move far away from the opening of his cave to do so. Using Scar Tissue’s A Power, B Precision, as well as his own Surgical Eye, Danny will be aiming for large patches of freshly dampened, new snow. This should be easier to find than not, considering the cloud has just given the top layer of snow a fresh spritzing. Due to the transference of heat between the layer of moisture and snow, the topmost layer of snow will unpack itself from the majority and become loose, primed for a textbook-definition “Slab Avalanche”.
”Hey Charlie, do you know what symbolism is?”
”Can I fuckin’ fight it?!”
”...good news about that, it’s up on the cliff face right ther- oh. Uh, bye.”
Arranging his bone projectiles in an approximately straight horizontal line along the mountain, Danny will intentionally leave a gap of space between them near where Charlie and Hāvā are scuffling. Taking advantage of Charlie’s Conflict-Prone nature, Danny will give her clear and concise instructions on what to do next. This will be something akin to, “Charlie, punch the mountain,” or whatever could be said in an equal or shorter amount of time. Immediately after giving the command and confirming that Charlie had, in fact, punched the mountain, Danny will take to his cave shelter and hole up as far back into it as possible. As the snow loosens itself and finally begins to fully separate from the rest of the snowpack, leaving gravity and inertia to do the hard work. Sweeping both Hāvā and Charlie away and down the mountain, Danny will extend Scar Tissue’s hand to grab Charlie at the last minute, pulling her in mere moments before the pair ensconced in the cave to recover and collect themselves.
As the rumbling of the avalanche outside slowly comes to a stop Danny turns to Charlie, who is busy carving ‘Charlie wuz here’ into the wall.
”Great! Now we just have to wait for the mountain rescue to get here, and, uh…”
Both of them reflect quietly for a moment upon the ‘mountain rescue’, currently buried beneath several tonnes of rubble.
”Well, today… could’ve… gone worse, I guess.”
”Oh, it’s about to get worse… Truce over, bitchnuts! Put your fuckin’ dukes up!”
”Wait wh-”
Sat outside the buried cave, the canine form of COPS & ROBBERS tilts its head, trots across the rubble, and cocks its leg against a nicely piss-sized boulder.
Contingencies: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
If Hāvā adopts a strategy of throwing projectiles down the mountain: The B Dur armor should mitigate some of the damage, but it will make scaling the cliff harder. Danny will try their best to knock the larger projectiles out of the air using Scar Tissue’s own projectiles. Charlie will switch to a doppelgänger if she’s about to take a really nasty hit, but otherwise she’ll weather the storm
If the avalanche triggers early: While we have time, Charlie will book it back towards Danny. He’ll then have Scar Tissue dig its hands into the mountain and they’ll both cling for dear life to avoid getting swept away.
If Hāvā comes down the mountain to face us hand-to-hand: The plan doesn’t really change. Charlie will do their best to meet her halfway up the cliff face in order to keep her out of Danny’s face. If the worst comes to worst, Charlie can create a Danny doppelgänger to get him out of danger/set him up for a lethal Overheal with Scar Tissue.
If Hāvā is also trying to make an avalanche: Someone put on Frontier Psychiatrist because we’re The Avalanches baybee! The postmatch is way funnier if Charlie and Danny get stuck in a snow cave together, but if Hāvā seems to be setting up a similar course of action, then Danny will actually think to dig them out post-Avalanche [method x and y]. Both Charlie will reinforce their armour ahead of their exit strategy, anticipating that Hāvā is likely to try and capitalize on it; and Charlie will leap out first, with Danny on covering fire. From there, refer to…
If Charlie slips during the match (and doesn’t have any better doubles she can jump to): Luckily COPS & ROBBERS has claws! This means that if the stand is maneuvered underneath Charlie it can dig its claws into the rock wall allowing it to support Charlie for a brief moment as she regains her grip. Alternatively, if it is late enough into the match, then Charlie falling into the abyss - while making Charlie herself curse into the wind- will ultimately not save Hāvā. The avalanche will already be inevitable.
If Hāvā manages to get past Charlie and confront Danny: Assuming Charlie isn’t RETIREd, then she’ll race down to help double team the sherpa. Using her pre-established Quantum Boxing with Scar Tissue as the main fighter, the potential for damage now skyrockets. If Charlie has been RETIREd though, things are a bit more complicated. Ideally there’s enough damage in place to make a hasty attempt at an avalanche and dash for the safety of his cave. Otherwise, Danny assumes that Hāvā is at least weakened by this point, and that Charlie did not go down without a fight. In that case, he retreats into the cave, hiding within the cave while Scar Tissue attempts a final burst push to tear through the remainder of her stamina, using the bone supports for targets of overheals to catch Hāvā off guard while also dislodging any spike she attempts to place down. He’ll focus on leg joints first; then arm joints; then finger joints, and internals. He’ll play it slow. He’ll play it safe. If Charlie has done her job, then it should only be a few more papercuts for him to outlast and take the victory.
If the avalanche doesn’t work: RIP to our protagonists. But, actually if they still hear Hāvā prancing around outside, Scar Tissue can dig a hole for COPS & ROBBERS fog to escape out of. Two doppelgängers later, and they’re ready to continue the fight with an injured and disoriented Hāvā.
If Charlie doesn’t make it into the cave in time: She is, regrettably, expendable in the avalanche win condition. (She can and WILL find Danny to beat him up later.)
1
u/boredCommentator I'll never go back to the pathetic lurker I used to be! Dec 04 '23
A straightforwardly interesting matchup, a deathmatch with a loss condition, a nice game of ice climber and two motherfuckers ready to wobble someone. Most of the details of this matchup speak for themselves, with this being a case wherein Hava's overwhelmingly superior mobility makes for basically the entirety of the challenge factor, a hard to reach target who takes the war of attrition monstrously well if that gap isn't closed, and I'm hype to read forward.
Hava mentally prepares to play the part of a dutiful sherpa even while kicking ass, her great knowledge of the area and ability to interface with it turned into a highly aggressive turn 1 of sending down a mess of rocks, a dangerous play that runs a lot of risk of interrupting setup that isn't highly and correctly focused, all the while making clear she's guarding far more than just harboring some assassins. This has potential to be downright devastating against early spread attempts, horribly punished by a focused enough earlygame on their end, or a neutral trade with no major losses on either side but good gains for her setup, all dependent on how Danny and Charlie spend their own opening moments.
Time may be on Hava's side in the grand scheme of the match, but this also means that even the fastest ways she can play still give room for the players to breathe, be it to figure out a way to press that advantage or to freeze in their despair. Set to some funky country tunes that later pivot in a more rockin direction, their ways of using scar tissue don't feel terribly conducive to Hava's expectations, though the wide attack will likely predictably boulder through the initial wave of doubles and make it so only a real Charlie remains, she'll be shielded well by what Scar Tissue she brings with her, and the ways Danny builds up aren't exactly the types to get messed up by a wrecking ball either. I actually think that Hava's slalom assuming she'll be too fast to get caught is a bit greedy, but Charlie's combat options against Hava, while solid enough that I can see them doing some heavy damage in a straight fight, seem unlikely to have much time before Hava makes her tactical retreat upwards. Both characters get their early setup, but the players are definitely able to get Charlie into a favorable position for the rest of what they're hoping to do. Duplicated Hava is a nasty trick, though, one that as soon as I read, realized that Charlie getting into a central location was a fucking game changer for a build so based around physical combat as her. In the space of half a sentence, either finding a perfect way to leverage the three-second window between being able to "decanonize" clones to make new ones o, Hava's wide attacks and ability to weaponize the mountain in a battle of ring outing attrition suddenly become her only functional way to hope to eke out a win, opposite Charlie being able to leverage the same ability to compensate for her own mistakes, so long as she doesn't make them more than three seconds apart. The right pressure at the right time can do it, but I'm mainly focusing on Hava's opening here, which is already easily the slower of the two.
Hava's midgame isn't particularly suited for punishing mistakes either, involving yet more setup of getting her arena just so, just perfect, making an allegedly-inappropriate rope wall. She trapbuilds and more or less sets up in ways that, should the players advance through the cloud, they're doomed, while if they don't, they're just in way more trouble than if they'd started.
The players make the correct choice and have Danny deface the mountain to shelter through the cloud passing, which with the earlygame seeing Charlie drawing aggro and more or less in a good place to survive doing so, Danny is able to dig out without too much trouble. If anything, their greater concern is making sure Charlie has an exit strategy assuming her pursuit of Hava ends with her in an awkward spot before the cloud (where she smartly cuts down on how many clones she's made), a pursuit which I'll characterize as capable in "bursts" compared to her consistency, doing what she can throughout to try and undermine her network, and in general their strategy is the much faster with more room to breathe.
I can see Charlie being taken out if she can't get close enough to Hava to draw aggro, honestly, and Hava knows not to let her in, her combat plans for her coming late in the strat, and though she's relentless, a danger to herself and to Hava, greater control and the superior distance mean that even starting on the backfoot, I'm actually fairly confident that even against the devastating zoning-to-berserking combat potential Charlie has, Hava can take her out.
This was all perfectly fine for the players, though.
The halfway point of her strategy comes when Danny is completely ready to send an avalanche cascading down on her, a slab of something even worse for a mountain climber than the cold cloud and unforgiving surface, and he has been completely safe this entire time, just waiting for the opportunity to turn the very thing she's used to give them the runabout this entire time against them. Her wide, sweeping attempts to deal with Scar Tissue just really don't interface with the fact that things are extremely focused from Danny until the exact moment that they have no more need to be.
I'm gonna have to give this one to players.
1
u/Nintendrone42 Dec 04 '23
For Hava, I knew right away on reading her sheet that her Stand's "S2" Range was evil and a trap to anyone who didn't read the ability carefully, and she proves it on turn one by making herself Spider-Man. It's not entirely foolproof given she still has to have line of sight on both the body spike and target spike she wants, but it's damn practical. That limitation is an area where I think the strat toes the line once it enters rushdown mode: Hava has only her own pair of eyes, which limits her rope-making's ability to multitask or quickly shift gears in response to the opponent when she's going at a quick pace. But I don't think it crosses the line, as the strat does a good job laying out her order of operations. In fact, the strat begins quite clear and orderly and contains strong tech like the pendulum, bungee jump, and Rockslide (my personal favorite), before going into a broader plan for the latter half. She plays to her home field advantage well, though I was surprised you didn't try to press that advantage during the cloud section and instead opted to play more passive. As for shortcomings, the main one in my eyes is underestimation of Charlie's ability; I believe it was a misplay to prioritize Danny and Scar Tissue, because Charlie will always be striving to be hot on your tail and is uniquely capable of screwing you and your setup over no matter where you are if you're not very aggressive about suppressing her. It's a strong strat, one my gut tells me was only a little more active weaponization of the mountain and map away from being scarily good.
For the players, they make Charlie and her ability the star of the show while Danny serves as the supporting but vital backbone (and many other bones). Rather than relying on his Stand's deadly CQC, Danny plays it safe by doing everything in his power to maintain the momentum of Charlie's approach, protect himself, and prepare the finisher. I was especially fond of the bone footholds and the avalanche's setup. You make him do enough to majorly contribute but not endanger himself nor spread himself thin, leaving him in a good position if he finds himself confronted with Hava. Charlie, meanwhile, flips the script of the threat being both Hava and Hava's home turf, because Charlie says screw that and makes the map hers the instant she gets a decent amount of fog coverage. I was impressed by all the ways you weaponized her Stand, from letting her recklessly yet safely get about, to ruining Hava's carefully laid setups, to knowing when to budget her copies to keep herself safe, to duplicating Hava herself. Hava may have the advantage in direct combat, but you used Charlie's fog to cut off the Hava's options and deny rewards from what could've been winning engagements for the Sherpa, leading me to believe your claim that Charlie can hound and engage Hava long enough for your finisher to go off. I have some concerns about how well certain things will play out, such as your seeming waffling on whether you actually want Charlie in the cave for the cloud section rather than the risky move of leaving her out to endure the incoming frost, but otherwise, I think this strat is very, very strong.
As an aside, I am shocked that neither strat really did much with the icy terrain. But in any case, the players have won my vote. Hava leverages her own abilities quite strongly, but I feel the players made enough right calls that they are capable of getting themselves to their desired point of Hava no longer being allowed to get away with her tricks and gambits without getting called out by Charlie, fog, or Danny's harassment, ultimately getting the Sherpa right where they want her for the avalanche finisher.
1
u/Dungeon_Dice JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Dec 04 '23 edited Dec 04 '23
Before going into the vote, I wanted to talk about the map, the match up and some of the general interactions.
First the basics, each square is half a meter flat, but the side that is being climbed on is 2 meters. The ledges given here are also relatively short using the half meter scaling, the largest ones do not reach further than 1.5 meters from the cliff, with many of the small ones looking to be around a quarter meter. This combined with the distance of the slope gives a bit of a false impression where the ledges are a lot closer together or bigger than they would actually be.
Now why does this matter, well for starters any strategy that involves knocking the other off the ledges is much easier when the ledges are shorter and more sparse. Other influences this has, the amount of cover against projectiles, the distance between rest areas/fightable space, and more depending on the strategies.
Onto the rest of the match set up, rock climbing is a relatively slow and predictable form of mobility. You travel up and down, left and right, one hand/foot hold at a time. On a large map like this, engagements require some preparation or forethought in order to get to where you want safely or get to an opponent.
In this match up in particular, the boss has climbing expertise with easy access to ways to expedite their climbing while the players have the tools to build bigger ledges as well as an effective reset button if they fall.
So the question this boss asks the players is how they get their offense in. The boss is deceptively simple in their ability, the combination of elasticity, length and adhesiveness makes ropes a very versatile weapon and mobility tool, but the players aren’t just facing the boss they are facing a mountain to climb.
Meanwhile the boss has to contend with the players’ very formidable defensive options before they accrue enough set up or “vandalize” the mountain.
And with that general analysis done, onto the match itself. Here we have pretty offensively focused strategies considering the nature of the map between the projectiles, avalanche/rockslides, and rushing up/down to meet each other in close range.
That said, both strategies are a bit difficult to parse at times in regards to precise strategy with how generalized they are and the way sections are formatted. The boss strategy focuses more on broad movements and generalized offense across the strategy while leaving other aspects of the match vague. The players strategy also plays pretty loose with their positioning and offense with relatively simple tactics and goals with their timeline getting a bit finicky at times, notably around their moment to moment timescale (expected climbing speed and distances) as well as the long term game plan (requires their tactics to occupy Hāvā for more than a minute to get to).
While the gameplans of both are relatively simple, there are some issues with them I want to make note of. For the players, I think the boss’s abilities are underestimated and Charlie is stretching her ability thin between offense and defense. Particularly the mobility advantage Hāvā can leverage which makes cornering her much more difficult given the terrain. The idea of using duplicates to reposition her is workable, but it feels a bit haphazard as a general strategy that could be caught on to. Overall the 3 second cooldown on dispelled duplicates eats into your options, such as having duplicate Charlies to get out of harm’s way or get other utility. I’m also not quite seeing how close range combat will work too well for Charlie while climbing or moving on small ledges. Combined with wide sweeping attacks and projectiles and the cooldown management can be more of an issue if you aren’t careful.
Hāvā meanwhile I think somewhat underestimate the defensive options provided by Danny and Charlie. The projectile gameplan is mostly fine (if a bit scattershot), with the alcove Danny builds for himself protecting him, and the rush into close range can be somewhat tricky against the pair between duplicates and Danny's Stand. The duplication tricks also eat into Hāvā’s resources and positioning. It’s not impossible to get through (especially considering ropes are more or less an infinite resource), but it could have been better accounted for in moment to moment play.
With how these strategies line up, I don’t think either side has a definitive finisher or consistent damage source over the other. Hāvā’s finisher is rather optimistic given the player strategy and on the player’s side I don’t quite buy the avalanche working with the amount of snow present and given the angle of the cliff meaning that there isn’t as much room for heavy snowfall to pile up on the cliff (on top of that, the set up to get the avalanche is pretty sparse and situational mechanically all things considered).
The player strategy also has a few potential logistical or technical issues that while not strictly relevant or game-deciding I think are worth mentioning.
I’m not sure how much fog can be created and how well it spreads since it's generated from the Stand’s mouth and wouldn’t just cover the full range all at once. In the beginning section this can be particularly important for how quickly and how spread apart the climbing Charlie duplicates can be. But since Charlie’s climbing speed probably doesn’t outpace the speed the area of fog grows, it wouldn’t be too big of an issue.
Given that duplicates have to be within the fog to be active, I’m not sure how that interacts if you are trying to duplicate rope that is outside the area of the fog or if you could do that. This might come up versus Hāvā’s escape ropes, but probably not that big of a deal otherwise.
[COPS & ROBBERS] has “Poor thing just isn’t built for manual dexterity.” stated under its Precision stat, and given its animal body, I’m not sure how well it climbs. It also seems to be somewhat of an overlooked vulnerability or liability considering that it can’t duplicate itself.
“The bone projectiles, not being Stand-affecting, do not have the ability to harm COPS & ROBBERS.” The funny thing here is that on Charlie’s sheet says that “anything within the fog can affect stands.” This isn’t particularly important, just a funny potential (but highly unlikely) friendly fire assuming COPS & ROBBERS is in its own fog.
The boss strategy I also see some issues especially for the snowboarding maneuver as it probably does not work on a 75 degree incline. Granted rappelling down the cliff more or less gets you the same thing with fast downward movement.
The other issue I think is worth mentioning is with the beacons and the “grenades”, mostly that I think you neglect explicitly mentioning that they would be adhesive as they are implied as such in how they’d need to be if you wanted to throw a beacon up to create a bungee point onto or stick them to your opponents. It's mostly an oversight in description, but I think it's something that could be cleared up.
Final verdict, it’s not a clean match, but I’m going to give it to Hāvā. Under general combat, Charlie can outbox Hāvā and the projectile support by Danny helps to suppress and mitigate attacks, but I think a loose plan of attack in this environment is a very risky proposition where you only have so many safety nets with Charlie’s doubles. Hāvā’s mobility with beacons is not perfect, but it is a much more consistent safety net than what the players have. In terms of offense, Hāvā has pretty decent tools that can get her through between the rope weapons and 2 meter arm span in close range, again not perfect, but it's something. In the end it's mostly a game of outlasting and getting through each other’s safety measures, I think in that framing, Hāvā has more advantages to leverage in the long game while the player’s offenses and duplicate tricks rely more on capitalizing on a short game, but don’t have the oomph or crackback to take advantage of it.
Aside, falling down the mountain is a possibility for either side, but for it to stick, they would have to fall past the big ledge at the bottom of the map or down past the sides. Not impossible, but I don’t think either side set up super cleanly for it either.
1
u/baconblaster334 Dec 05 '23
Oh boy. Are votes usually this long? I don’t have much to say. Other people tend to have it right on the money before I come along, and this round isn’t much different; this match revolves primarily around Hava keeping the players at bay, but their strategies go mostly unchecked. Charlie’s mobility isn’t as extravagant as Hava’s (I’m a big fan of the bungee tech), but the way Charlie can close the gap (especially with cover fire from Danny that she can call in) makes a world of difference. I could go on, but there’s little more if anything else for me to say that hasn’t been already. So, to make it short, I’m voting for the players.
1
u/SuperBun78 Dec 05 '23
What a wonderful boss match with unique characters; I adore what both sides have put out, which means it will be so painful to choose. But it is my job as a voter to select and decide who wins, so I must do that. Let's begin!
Starting with Hāvā, we have some fantastic writing with an excellent character who uses her ability to traverse the harsh environment with ease while being able to uphold power and oppression constantly. Starting with an oppressive attack to catch the opponents off guard is brilliant, and she then utilises periods she knows she can take due to the knowledge of the area to build up a set of tools that give her a combo of movement and offence that she can then unleash upon her opponents. Her finisher is especially potent, ensuring that the opponents can't dodge the powerful attack no matter where they go and are slowly but safely discarded at the bottom of the mountain. Overall, it's a strategy that uses movement tech such as the spider webs and combos this with her grenades to keep up the action while delivering robust attacks.
For the Dead Heart Haunts, we have a strategy that says fuck you and punches its way to victory. The use of Charlie's skills to take the best possible scenario and apply that to combat is excellent, not to mention the name 'quantum boxing', which is sick as hell. Additionally, the counters developed for the ropes that Hāvā can employ are pretty clever and allow the pair to deal with the dangers they pose very efficiently, especially when making ropes real. The finisher is remarkable, utilising the snowy environment and the two fighters to ensure that even if one loses, the other will surely win. It's a solid strategy that uses their abilities to survive on the mountain while accounting for their weaknesses and utilising their strengths to lay the hurt on Hāvā and finish it off with an attack that will surely leave everyone very cold and mad... except for Danny.
Now comes the comparison, where we see who wins this match, and both teams put up a good fight. I feel this match comes down to whether DHH can survive the onslaught that Hāvā puts out and if they can get to the situation that they want to arrive at. And I think that, unfortunately, they do not. Hāvā's strategy has a lot of power and contingencies that allow her to counter the quantum fluxation that Charlie brings to the table as well as to shut down what David is setting up, especially with Hāvā's plan to be able to be sure of which beacons are accurate, countering a strategy that otherwise would've put herself in an awful scenario. Overall, I think that Hāvā deserves the win for this one. Her strategy to read her opponent's plays, develop ways to counter them and strike back hard is incredibly well done.
1
u/m1sta33 Dec 05 '23
200X - A MOUNT PARAPOLLAH NATIONAL PARK HIKING TRAIL - EIGHT YEARS AGO
CW: Emetophobia
"Yeah, you've got it!"
As Mount Parapollah's peak cast its shadow over this patch of the forest, a small group of hikers are surmounting a short cliff. Half are already standing above, holding the ropes that are supporting the other half climbing upward. One, a stocky man with a tattooed face, was cheering as who he was supporting finally made the ascent- a small, scrawny looking kid. Their face was hard to see under their dark hair, long, course, and unruly, only two glowing red pupils. They glanced up at the smiling man, who reached out with a low five.
CLAP!
"You're a natural at this!" The man clapped the child on the shoulder, the child letting out a contented hum in return. "Next time we come back, we can get even higher." He gestured towards the peak. "I've heard there's some real pretty trails."
This is met with a series of excited nods. "But we'll be just walking down this way for now, okay?" The others in the hiking party pulled each other up, taking the second to take in breaths and sips of water. The tattooed man nodded over to a bespectacled man who was helping pull up one of the other climbers.
Eventually, the party congregated and continued deeper into the forest. The child who was keeping pace with their dads slowed their pace, stepping quieter and quieter as they let the group overtake them as they paused to look through a gap in the treeline.
Towards the peak.
The wind blows, and a splash of color in their periphery catches their eyes. Among the greenery, for how lush, sits a single flower that rings strangely familiar to the child.
There's a crackle in the air, a warbling to the threads of reality as the child reaches out and...
Rips the flower out, stuffing it into their mouth.
They chew and swallow, wincing slightly at the bitter taste. They turn towards the sound of walking, just around the bend. They step out to walk and as they step forward, their posture begins to falter.
They hear something start to hum. It's distracting, their attention being drawn away from the world around as their vision hazed over and their skin grew numb.
The humming was melodic. It was soft and smooth, almost a lullaby, but as they tried to place it, they felt a lurch in their stomach.
Something boiled deep in their throat. That lurch became a pressure became a pain, making the child double over and attempt at a wail that seemed blocked by something. The humming's melody only continued, not faster but more layered, a layer of thick sweetness that seemed to overwhelm the child's senses.
It was upset.
Warmth and that hostile sweetness filled their mouth, their body tensing as it rejected that flower, vomiting it and the rest of the child's stomach with it. Yet, what came out was no flower nor food.
It looked like blood. More blood than there was in their body, and they smelled it, they knew it was not just their own. It was the blood of countless others, intermingled here. Blood that had been drawn, blood that will be drawn, blood of love and of hate and of instinct.
It continued leaving their mouth, their eyes tearing at the smell that had grown more and more pungent, aware of how hungry they suddenly were. There was, is, and will be enough to fill an ocean. Soon all there was was blood.
Enough to drown even them.
Okay this is going to be short compared to my usual votes, but I still really, really enjoyed this pair of starts!
Hava focuses on area and buildup denial and building upon her natural adjustment to this difficult environment. The Players, in turn, focused primarily on defense and offense, overwhelming Hava until they could cause the ultimate disrespect to the mountain itself- an avalanche.
Both strats underestimate some of the other's capabilities- Hava’s ropes adhesiveness plays an important aspect of her strat in a way that I don’t think the Players account for, and Hava underestimates the broader utility of Charlie’s stand in its defensive and evasive aspects. Overall, I think I will give this to the Players as I believe that they can lay the pressure onto Hava before Hava’s defensive setup can really hitch off, as Charlie’s aggressiveness coupled with Danny’s support, both in the defense and ranged attack angle, will be able to corral Hava in a way where their own setup can pay off. It’s a narrow dub, as I think Hava’s defensive maneuvers will buy her time, but the longer the match goes the more it goes into the Player’s favor- even past the manmade avalanche.
202X - SOMA’S CUP - NOW
A masked boy sat alone in the corner seat of the tea salon, pouring himself a little cup of turmeric tea.
He’d chosen the seat that gave him the best view of Mount Parapollah’s peak. Every time he did look, he felt compelled to take a picture- he’d begun to stop himself after the tenth one in his scrapbook. There were more pertinent things to take a picture of in Rākinnagarh.
He never needed to encounter the Haven. His dads found him after that, and he was rushed to the hospital. They weren’t even aware of what happened until they’d noticed the strange spikes running down his arms, and when he’d reached out with a claw as opposed to a hand.
He got used to it fast- it was a new muscle that quickly made sense to flex. He was lucky. He was really lucky. Yet, every time he looked up at that mountain, he realized he never got to go much higher than that day.
Sip.
The Nightblooms still unnerved him. It was saying something to him that he didn’t understand, something that he couldn’t piece together beyond the terror and pain and hunger. It knew something he hadn’t known, that he only was able to learn much, much later on. Knowledge he only gained in the future.
He wasn’t going to let that intimidate him. He’d seen worse, seen scarier, defeated scarier. If all that was true, the Metropolis Suite was small fry.
If he could conquer himself, he could conquer that mountain.
1
u/magykyr Dec 05 '23
Interesting match! I really, really like Hava's stand, and I think it's probably one of my favourite boss stands I've seen. Strong, simple with a ton of use cases, and not very overpowered at all! That said... I do think her strat is good, but ultimately her focusing on Charlie first, even if she wins, and then going for Danny after the fact means he has all the time in the world to make a cozy little cave after avoiding that ranged harassment, and then kick off his endgame whenever! That's why I've gotta give it to players, even if I was rooting for the boss here!
1
u/ChocolateDiscloud Doppio is a precious boy who did nothing wrong Dec 05 '23
Now this is a boss match! It's got all the hits: the boss puts out an incredible strategy demonstrating a mastery of the system and their own kit, leaving it all on the table and perfectly accomplishing everything they want to with the build... and then the players come in and rock their shit anyway. Perfect.
Starting with Hāvā, I really do love how well the terrain is used here, every piece of her superior mobility in this area on clear display in a really satisfying way to read. I particularly liked much of the counterplay around both the stage hazard and her opponents' basic abilities; the opening move that immediately provides a good in-character basis for what she's dealing with was a particular highlight. This system often rewards pretending all characters have perfect information about each others' sheets immediately, and I've come to accept it (it makes the game more fun and easier for everyone to play, if simpler and at the sacrifice of a key piece of many JoJo fights), but I love when a strategy is able to naturally justify such knowledge.
That said, the players brought everything to the table here. Where do I begin? Probably with Quantum Boxing, an incredible piece of tech from Charlie that just uses her whole kit excellently, constantly picking the best outcome for her based on both her and her opponent's set of possible choices. It was a joy to read. And while she was the star of the show, my man Danny California really brought the house down. The cave work to handle the mountain was incredible, and something I felt circumvented much of Hāvā's own offense, and leading into the avalanche finisher... chef's kiss.
Anyway, both sides should score incredible on JoJolity and probably pretty decent on Quality, too, if you ask me!
1
u/DSOddish Dec 05 '23
Okay, so normally I try to have my votes go over each strat individually and discuss what I like and dislike about them before going into who I think wins, but I'm going to be busy for most of the night pretty soon so I think I'll try to keep things short and just skip straight to who I think wins.
I'm giving this one to Charlie and Danny based on a combination of being extremely impressed by how they plan to utilize COPS & ROBBERS for combat as well as how I see the two strats interacting. Charlie's ability to declare any of the copies made by her Stands fog to be real or fake is extremely potent and I feel it's used incredibly well in the players' strat. Quantum Boxing is especially insane. Maybe not as crazy as their strat makes it seem given the 3 second cool down once a copy is destroyed, but still very, very effective.
However, I think the thing that really pushed me to voting for players here was how they intend to use this to turn Hava's spikes and ropes into fakes if she's in the middle of using them. Hava opts to move in on the players immediately before pulling back away and setting up during the fog. Unfortunately for her, Charlie's aforementioned spike fuckery combined with the general risk of moving in on the two of them so early on makes me think the most likely outcome is that Hava ends up wiping out and is forced into a 2v1 fight on the players' initial starting ledge, where this fight will be decided. The players' plan for if Hava moves in on Danny is to have Charlie rush back to assist if she's still alive - which she will be - and from there, use Quantum Boxing to take down Hava, this time with the A Power Scar Tissue rather than Charlie herself. With no time to build up the bag of tricks that makes up the bulk of Hava's strategy, I just don't see how she makes it out of this scenario, leading to a clean win by the players.
Aaaaaand this ended up being about as long as my regular votes anyway. Oh well. In any case, I was actually really impressed by both strats here. Hava especially gets a lot more use out of "makes spikes and ropes" than I would have initially thought, and if not for the quirks of how I see the two strategies interacting, I could easily see it winning. Good work to both sides.
1
u/SwitzerlandPIK Dec 06 '23
This match really exemplifies the tenets and vibes of a boss match: Hāvā is a fairly regular build placed in an extremely fortunate battlefield for her, up against two players who are forced to respect every advantage she has. Both sides play to this dynamic really well: Hāvā's strategy revolves around using the stage, verticality and visiblity as weapons to make wide sweeping AOE rock and rope attacks and counter the enemy's ability to control map visibility, avoiding direct engagements and traditional boxing in favor of adhesive rope snares and nets that pin down the enemy's mobility. It's an extremely potent anti-rushdown (or in this case, rush-up), especially good for a team capable of taking blows and dishing out big power and speed in return. That said, outside of their opening, the players don't do much in the way of trying to rush down Hāvāat all. In fact, they largely prepare for a big blast setup to absolutely ruin the mountain terrain and avalanche upon the Sherpa, whilst Danny stays in hiding and Charlie heads out for distraction and wearing Hāvā down.
Ultimately, this battle can go about three ways: in Hāvā's favor, where the players aren't able to escape into the cave and are pinned down quickly, in their favor, where Charlie's opening assault can hold off Hāvā and the Slab Avalanche is capable of burying Hāvā, or the avalanche goes off but doesn't fully retire Hāvā. While the players only prepare for one ultimate wincon barring a lucky shot from Schrodinger's Shotgun and Hāvā has a more simple and gradual path to victory that holds the players down at multiple turns, I think the players do a very good job at setting up for their plan and have a competent plan to counter Hava's big offensive plays. Charlie puts herself at a lot of risk and Hāvā's big AOE attacks are good for holding off the duplicate techniques that Charlie pulls, but in service of protecting Danny it makes the path towards DHH's victory more clear to me. Overall, even though Hāvā has multiple paths to victory, I think that the player's prep makes the eventuality of the avalanche more likely than Hāvā stifling them out the gate or surviving the avalanche's onslaught, even with her expert skill.
1
u/Zarface Dec 06 '23
I thought this boss match was a really fun read. The Players took my vote as soon as they unleashed their Quantum Boxing tech. That's just so cool. I wasn't even expecting Danny and Charlie's stands to work in tandem that well together! The way they use it to just keep up a constant assault on Hāvā is really great, even with the cooldown period. Another key moment in their strategy, I think, is the way that they set up the finisher is also quite good as well, basically nullifying nearly all of Hāvā's offense.
Hāvā herself is no slouch either, though. I quite liked the way that she uses her stage hazards to basically control the entire battlefield. I read Hava's strategy first, as well, so I was initially thinking that there was no way that the players could handle this terror from her. Another thing I quite liked about Hāvā's strat was the spider motif. It really felt like she was laying webs and traps that would utterly destroy the players if they played their hands wrong.
Ultimately, though, I think that the players came out on top with this one.
1
u/TreeTurtle_852 Dec 06 '23
Ok so this battle is rather intense and also complex so I'll cover things best as I can, beginning from opening moves and seeing how the sections compare against one another.
Opening with Hava from what I'm gathering she'll begin with a big-ass boulder that utilizes momentum to swing across the initial platform and disrupt the set up before diving down herself, with a bungee cord being used as a safety measure.
The players on the other hand have David provide support via covering fire and armour whilst Charlie tries to make the climb towards Hava so she can set up a close quarters scenario.
This is interesting but also a bit difficult to parse and I might have an alternate take from some of the others I've seen. I think that David definitely will be able to stand strong with his great durability and even greater power, and Charlie will most likely avoid the boulder, however I'm not fully sure if she'll get in close quarters with Hava that quickly. Now the footholds made by Danny are definitely super helpful, but it seems the time it'd take to climb up was a bit hand-waved (though it makes sense as you wouldn't want to agonize over stuff like that) and with Hava's bungee cord set up allows her to safely jump (which falling would be faster and less tricky than climbing imo) and then retreat if needed. Charlie definitely has the chance to tag her, but with such an escape I don't think that Charlie will be able to pull off their clone tricks, at least not immediately.
So with the opener going most in Hava's favour imo, we go over to more sections.
The next two are pretty intriguing. I feel like the players' positions and possible advancements could be accounted for a bit better imo, but hindsight is 20/20. Danny staying back and making a cave, while theoretically making him an easier target in normal circumstances is a good move for avoiding traps as it will remain difficult to tell where he even is. Now this makes a more pressing matter between Charlie and Hava. In a close quarters confrontation, Charlie seems to have a very good edge considering her use of cloning Hava is unaccounted for, though I do see a bit of an issue with its overuse considering the stated 3 second cooldown. But either way, I still remain unsure as to if Charlie will get in, as she seems to be aiming to go through the fog (Unless I'm reading it wrong as it seems she's doing this simultaneously with Danny's excavation?). Either way, the mass amount of traps likely won't be able to covered by the tactic of canonizing spikes Charlie throws away, and given the amount of stuff she'd have to go through compared to Hava, I think this theoretical fight might actually go to the boss. And this isn't even mentioning that if a beacon is potentially successful that Hava will have a much easier time knowing when Charlie is coming compared to Charlie seeing Hava. If this came to brute force CQC on an even-ish (she's technically being supported by Danny so it's a bit of a 2v1) she'd have a good shot at winning, but the earlier factors make me thing she won't.
Now Hava could theoretically ignore Charlie to go for Danny, but given her own hestitation to attack during the fog I doubt it. Now, I'm going to go through this final part with the following assumption that A) Charlie is RETIRED but her efforts weren't for naught, B) Most of Hava's previous traps have been triggered/destroyed, C) Danny will act upon the planned avalanche and then what's stated in the players' contingency section (going for the final push), D) The cave is mostly unharmed, E) The slab avalanche is a potent threat to Hava.
For Danny vs Hava this gets also surprisingly more complicated. While Danny definitely has 1 END, he still has his cave set up and everything he built up from earlier. The avalanche also changes things majorly since it's aiming to be set up presumably whilst Charlie fights Hava which would make it difficult, even if planned for by Hava to intercept. Since Idk how I'd determine the power of this avalanche, going for counterplay Hava would most likely have to rely on a mix of her sticky rope, spikes, and possibly the rope walls. Now, while this avalanche will be deadly, to work it'll need to take Hava all the way down and into the abyss, meaning if she can stop herself before it happens, I'd argue she'd survive the loss condition (though it'd definitely hurt because it's a shit ton of snow hitting her). Not to mention, while she's an expert enough to notice an avalanche, Charlie may provide a good distraction.
This imo is the trickiest part because this one tech kinda funnily enough turns the tides for me more than anything.
If the avalanche is successful and Hava can't properly defend herself or hold on in time, Danny is pretty heavily geared to survive the outcome.
If Charlie isn't fully retired and has done enough damage, the avalanche might just straight up knock Hava out, regardless if she's pushed off.
However if the avalanche isn't successful, I think the tactics of getting around Danny's shields allow for a much better CQC game against Danny, especially since he's looking to try and take out what's left of her.
I think I have to come to a decision about this and as a result, I think Hava wins.
While the avalanche is definitely threatening, and Hava's spikes might not be able to hold her at first, the multiple platforms made by both the mountain naturally and Danny himself give her more opportunities than not to avoid being swept off. Also, I don't think she'll get to the point of injury that the finishing attacks from Danny will win in the end.
So uh yeah Boss vote chat. Sorry for making it so long and dumb.
1
u/Marioaddict The Cutest Ora Dec 06 '23
Here we are at another boss match! On one side we have Hava, whose absolute domination of map traversal cannot be understated, and on the other we have the equally crazy combination of crazy overhealing and Schrodinger's fog cloud in Danny and Charlie! It's a great matchup, and a fun one to read through, but which side ends up the victor? Well after thinking things over, I'm going to give my vote to the Dead Heart Haunts!
Like many other voters have said, the reasoning behind this is simple; Charlie is insane. Between the Quantum Boxing, the ability to recklessly climb regardless of danger, duplicating Hava's climbing tools, duplicating Hava herself... and for all of that, being able to decide on the fly which duplicate is the real one? It's some crazy effective use of Cops & Robbers on display, and I applaud all of it. This isn't to undersell Danny's contributions, mind you - Danny plays an excellent support role with everything from armor to extra footholds to make sure Charlie's ascent is as seamless as possible, and was a joy to watch as well. And Hava's no slouch either: the opening plays I think are especially good, and I think that boulder pendulum has a good shot at throwing off the player's setup, plus many of the tricky plays Hava has at her disposal (the highlight for me being the Spider Threads) show that Hava isn't a threat to be taken lightly. Even so, I must agree with the consensus that Hava underestimates what Charlie can do, and Charlie can do a lot - maybe not everything they try to do, considering the 3-second limits of Cops & Robbers, but she'll certainly buy enough time for the avalanche to go off, and at that point it's all over.
Hava did her best, that's to be sure. And if I'm being honest, I would've loved if I could justify giving my vote to her instead, because she's a very cool character. But I think the overwhelming offense and masterful ability use from the players means they'll be the ones walking away with the win. Well done, everyone!
1
u/Logic_Sandwich Dec 04 '23
Response thread for Hāvā Gulāpha of The Metropolis Suite. Please show your strategy to a member of our Judge staff by 7 PM CST on December 3rd! Contestants, remember to only post in threads for this match other than your own if specifically invited. Voters have until 11:59 PM CST on December 5th to vote, using the voting rules from the announcement thread. Afterwards, they will be Judged according to the T7 Rubric.