Wait Until The Edges Get Dark

So The last two weeks I’ve been in class learning about Combatives(hand to hand fighting). Hence the complete lack of posts in the last two weeks when we’ve gotten some amazing cards. We learned arm bars, chokes, and other nonlethal means of finishing the fight. One thing they told us at the beginning of the class ‘Don’t just tap because they get a choke. Try to break it, wait until the edges start getting dark’. For the most part, we tapped after they got the choke and we failed to fight it off. Normally we didn’t let the effects of the choke actually take hold.

The last day I made a small mistake. You have to understand, one of my classmates had been doing Judo for over 30 years and he took the time while we were rolling to teach me, not just win because he was the superior opponent. The last time I got the pleasure of rolling with him, I steeled my nerves and decided I was going to wait until the last moment to tap. I was going to go balls to the wall and at least not lose even if I couldn’t win. I believe the word that best describes that feeling is ‘Hubris’. He got a cross collar choke on me while I was in his guard. I pushed past it and went for a leaning choke(Those of you who are familiar with MMA are probably wincing… I know… bad idea). The edges got black and I thought ‘I’ve almost got him’. When my brain was working 60 seconds later, he checked to make sure I was OK, laughed a bit, and patted me on the back for not breaking down even if it wasn’t the most intelligent way to do. I was so embarassed to actually pass out, even if it was for such a short amount of time.

This little story does have a point: Act of Vengeance. You play it so that you can redirect any stun on Red Skull to another person. This combined with Red Skull, Johann Schmidt and Vengeance or Invulnerability characters makes for a nasty, nasty mid-late game scenario. Oh delicious Irony: the two best teams for this scario: Revenge Squad and Team Superman. While I’m no fan of TS, I think Revenge Squad is a bit too obvious a choice.

There’s an easy set-up: Maggie Sawyer behind Red Skull, two Invulnerable people on both sides of Red Skull. You drop your Acts of Vengeance, and all the sudden you don’t take damage when they hit Red Skull. Why? Maggie reinforces him, prevent break through. You redirect the stun to say… Superman, Man of Tomorrow. He takes the stun, I take no stun loss, and I burn my opponent for 5.

But wait, Kenpachi, what about ‘winning’. Sure you’re going to be burning people for 5-10 a turn once Red Skull drops, so it should end by turn 7 when combined with your counter attacks… but how do you keep from being whelmed, or even OVER whelmed by the fact that you’re getting beaten on without hitting back? Well, to those haters I proffer two thoughts:

-The 3 Drop Crime Lords Bucky. If I have to explain more, I don’t believe you deserve to know.

-Red Skull can be equipped with +ATK type stuff, along with Team Superman defensive pumps, Nasty Surprise, Etc. He counters people who attack him, redirects the stun, giggles… etc. Think about it: Your 5 swings into my 5. It’s a mutual. Acts redirects the stun to Man of Tomorrow. My opponent burns for 5, then they take 5 counterstun. If I don’t have a way to counter the attacker I can Flying High their attacker, then throw Bucky back on the top of my deck to stun the attacker I can’t counter. Those foolish enough to raise arms against me are punished, God is in Heaven, all is good in the world.

It’s a janktastic combo, but incredibly powerful. My pushing past the choke you can reverse it and make your opponents suffer for their hubris. Or you end up staring at your opponent thinking ‘Where the hell am I, I should get up’ over and over again. *sigh* At least I learned something from it.

Variations on a Theme

One thing my wife and I agree on about Bobby Flay is this: He’s no Alton Brown. No, instead of showing a deep knowledge of any given food he works with, down to the chemistry involved, our self obsessed chef friend is more or less a one trick pony. That’s not to say his culinary skills are lacking. By no means are they, but they’re very focused on one thing: South Western Style. The easy way to predict how any given episode of Iron Chef or Throw Down is going to work unless it’s a dessert: Take the most basic recipe, mix vigorously with chipotle and other south western style additives, stir in a half cup of experience and ta da! You have something bobby flay would make. Not Alton Brown, who is my favorite TV Chef ever. He shows a deep understanding of not just one style, but a deep understanding of the basics of culinary chemistry and craft. He’s not concerned with what style or what have you he’s working with. He’s concerned that the proteins of the egg need to be opened up and combined with an emulsifier so that the broth he’s adding with combine properly. He’s worried about mechnics, whereas bobby flay always seems like he’s pitching new ideas to Chili’s.

In my mind, I like to think I am more like Alton Brown than bobby flay in deck construction. Both are excellent chefs, and deserve respect. Alton, though, has a zen view of cooking: It’s mechanically influenced art. As such, by manipulating the mechanics you create new art. Bobby Flay’s great contribution to Culinary philosophy, namely the question of ‘How do I add more peppers?’ just seems lacking in comparison despite his skill and accomplishment.

This relates to Vs like this: I <3 Hush, Silent and Deadly. You’ve seen, if you’re one of the loyal 13 who still read post MUN preview, the Wall of Silence. Then the Illuminati started dropping and I resisted the urge to go “OMFG HUSH!’ to any large degree(I think I mentioned it with Iron Man). Then Clandestine Operation dropped. Need I say it? You run attack pumps, and hidden Illuminati members. Turn 3 releases the hounds. Turn 4 brings in Hush. Mixing SRA and a second Team-Up makes everyone F4, making Pier 4 viable for everyone. Turn 5 drops two mandroid prototypes on Hush, ensuring his ability to attack anyone they drop with impunity. You simply kill any curve they drop while you keep rocking your curve.

Example:

Turn 4: Hush and his opponent drop, both exhausted. No one attacks you because Hush is the only visible character.

Turn 5: The Mandroid Prototypes go on Hush and you bring in a third lowbie Illuminati member. Hush swings into their exhausted 5 drop as a 13/13. They die. Their 4 drop doesn’t dare attack a 13/13 Hush and a team attack is useless. Lock established. Rinse and repeat, killing their curve drop every turn with your buffed up Hush and maybe a savage beatdown or two.

I must build this deck. All I need is one of any number of late game finishers available now, and we’ve got nasty on a stick.

Still, despite the obvious power of this deck type, I still feel like Bobby Flay. One day though, I’ll be Alton Brown.

The Difference Between Saving a Life and Ending One is Volition

Last week I spent the week learning the different functions and uses of the Carotid and Radial arteries in the quest to save a life. This week we’ve taken that knowledge in the opposite direction. And by We, I mean my opponents. Needless to say I’m bruised, scraped up, I’ve sprained my finger, and I’m exhausted. To say nothing of the L5R Charity tourney/drunken birthday bash on the third. It’s been a long week and a half since I graced you all with my presence.

It’s been a hellish week, with next week promising even more fun. And by “fun” I mean injuries both internal and external. I’ve managed a meager presence on VSR, but as for blogging worth the time to read… it’s been beyond me emotionally and(Tuesday at least) physically.

Tomorrow we get the day off of the arm press and roll, arm trap and roll, and any other variation of abusing an arm for the sole purpose of gaining a dominant position. I wish I could explain how incredibly strange it is to hear ‘Worst case, check their Carotid artery to make sure they’re still alive. You have to do everything you can to keep them that way’ one week, followed by ‘This is their carotid artery. Push hard enough and their brain will stop getting the blood it needs. Normally you’ll just try this to make them black out.’ a mere 7 days later.

Also: The illuminati scare me.