Round 7

[Masahiro Sakurai]

This duel is set to be a fun one, even beyond the canon implications. Provided Pyra and Mythra or DK don't change their bans, Combo Locks is a concept that DK won as Gerald in Vietnam, but the Vietnam times across the board were slow, I felt. Meanwhile, I know that K Rool is strong at maths, so I'd make him the slight favourite to win regardless.

Meanwhile, the ongoing quest to be rid of Smashville continues to fail, and that sends me. It's not that luck-based, IMO.

[Masahiro Sakurai]

And, sure enough, Pythra prove me wrong by changing their ban to Paper Mario! No idea who will win this on any sort of previous form, but K Rool's reads have been on point all game so it would be poetic if they either fail him here or see him through.

[Masahiro Sakurai]

K Rool has gone and scored 11 here, compared to DK's 2. Not a bad effort for something with more variance. K Rool has had great success calling his shots thus far, I'd give him a decent shot at surviving at least a couple more votes, maybe even making merge?

Sucks to lose DK here, but I think he proved himself really well in the pre-swap phase. A rough swap is probably to be expected given his slower start, but the hustle it took to only have to duel here was awesome.

[Master Hand]

~THE MASTER FINGERS~

THE THUMB



The more this game progresses this less smooth Falco is becoming, I feel like? As the last addition to Pink he really needed to figure out the lay of the land and bide his time before asserting himself, but instead Falco was highly opinionated and confrontational in a way that I feel could be to his detriment later. I've seen talk from Robin, Samus, Dark Pit and King Dedede of having him as a 5th or joining an alliance of six with Pyra & Mythra attached, yet I also feel like they may decide he is too much trouble to keep around The meta he mentioned disliking may be his saving grace, despite himself.

THE INDEX FINGER



Yes this is another shared Index Finger situation, deal with it If I could split the difference between these two I would, but I don't see a substantial enough reason to give it to one and not the other? It was for sure the right play for Samus and Robin to insist on consolidating their numbers advantage first and forcing King K. Rool out of the Pink Team, ensuring Dark Pit and King Dedede had to rely on them. It also kept Falco in check after the way he was approaching things throughout the day. These two have to play things more delicately than they maybe realise to avoid becoming the sorest of sore thumbs for their successes, for now they're handling their cards well.

THE MIDDLE FINGER



So the actual cast is again on their best behaviour so I'm going to give to Crazy Hand for insinuating in the host discord I was comparable to George from Australian Survivor: Brains vs Brawn, all because I accepted my younger sister's offer to cut my hair during a global pandemic Would you believe this bitch is paying $50 for their haircuts in Melbourne? Crazy is as crazy does I suppose. Perhaps if they were more fiscally responsible they would be able to afford photoshoots, museum tours, barista lessons and fortune telling sessions like all the other staff members are able to.

THE RING FINGER



These two have had quite the journey together already, and while I know Sandbag was partial to the idea of me discussing Kazuya with Captain Falcon, I feel like it would be premature to do so right now. To me it is Captain Falcon and Squirtle whose connection has stood out more given everything they had to overcome at Blue. There was a time where Captain Falcon was willing to send Squirtle into the Ring had Falco not volunteered, and doubted his loyalty. As of now they're for sure on the same page and are at a curious fork in the road where they'll succeed together or go down in flames together. I eagerly await their messages when Squirtle returns online in in the next little while.

THE PINKY



I'd get it if this was considered a questionable choice because if an overthrow does happen, Kazuya could be at risk as soon as tomorrow night, but I think Kazuya's strengths largely speak well of him and if not for card plays he has the reputation to get by in most scenarios I feel. Wario will always be targeted before Kazuya, and I feel like King K. Rool would be also. He's made good impressions on those he is just meeting and chosen this exact time to invest in the Spectator Stands. Generally speaking at this stage of Arena it is ideal to create opportunities for oneself without doing unnecessary damage to your position, this is where I feel Kazuya has been playing well in comparison to his majority alliance focus at Green.

[Master Hand]

So as of now Duck Hunt is definitely going into the Ring, the question is who their opponent will be from Yellow.

Wario, Kazuya and King K. Rool are voting for Yoshi. Piranha Plant is voting for Wario. Yoshi certainly wants to vote for Wario but is restricted by his eggs, so it'll depend on what the original Blue members decide to do. Captain Falcon's confessionals and Squirtle's current voting list appear to suggest they at least are eager to change the state of play. Would they force the idea on Marth or go to rocks for it? That is the current question.

There's a lot of notable card plays happening at the moment. Duck Hunt has played two cards on Attack because he is going in and surely aware of it, however he'll be beaten by Piranha Plant of all players who has made a big investment while immune for some reason. Captain Falcon's Charlie Brown storyline will continue when he realises he wasted two very high cards on Shield Sandbag because King K. Rool bid two even higher ones. Falco is also set to snipe Dark Pit from the Spectator Stands unless Dark Pit uses his own cards to continue his role there.

[Masahiro Sakurai]

They've done a really good job on Pink of completely snowing Mario with the carefully planned 5-3 vote. It's unfortunate for Mario, in its own way; the UTRN deceived lackey is not as good of a look on him as the OTTP underdog who keeps barely surviving. I feel for Falco and Duck Hunt, who both tried their best to get him on board at various moments, but it's a credit to how well Pink's cross-tribal majority have played this.

Yellow still haven't decided between Wario and Yoshi, so I'm curious to see what happens there. A Wario vs Duck Hunt duel could have super interesting implications no matter who lives.

[Tabuu]

Today's Tabuu Topic is.... the crippling weight of responsibility and how it can cause even the greatest cohost to be unable to recap for rounds at a time Not that I would ever be guilty of that.

Pink Team

Pink is in an odd state, where a few of the players clearly know that they are on the bottom of an alliance of four and need to make moves to avoid it. The problem? They're also not doing anything about it, excluding whoever the boot is each round and kinda Falco. Mario is content to stay at the bottom until it is his turn to go, and Duck Hunt didn't want to do anything last round and now it may be too late. I don't really feel bad for Duck Hunt since his lack of energy earlier did doom him here, but it's a little sad to see.

The four people that seem to be in control absolutely deserve that position though. Excluding Falco they've been the most social all week and have always made their presence known, so I have very few doubts they'll be able to survive this week.

Falco - A great character here, he's been running the gamut of emotions and I find myself very invested in his journey I think had he started on Green or Red he'd probably be in the best spot in the game, but he's still doing well with what he has and has managed to fully avoid being a target despite coming into a tribe with no allies at all, and now that Pythra is here she's taking the heat over him. I hope he survives the week.

King Dedede - Fun! Also very much a part of the core four with no reason to shift from that, but I like that he considered doing it anyway lol.

Robin - Solid, but also absolutely needs to keep this core alive at all costs or he's dead. He seems like the most likely target from the others if any move ever did happen.

Dark Pit - Has fallen a bit in relevance during this swap, but that might be for the best. He's probably the strongest connected in the entire cast and just needs to keep that on the down low for now until he can merge with all those connections.

Samus - Kinda irrelevant right now? Sad to see.

Pyra and Mythra - They're fine, I am interested in how this tribe shakes out for them.

Duck Hunt - props for the last minute attempt, but it was too little too late.

Mario - it's abundantly clear why he was booted so often early on lol, he's getting snowed so badly here and I don't think he even has a clue. Duck Hunt laid it all out to him and he just didn't acknowledge it at all. Underdog who kept surviving duels and finally found a home was a great look for him, this...... isn't.

[Tabuu]

Yellow Team

I waited to post about Yellow Team because their dynamics are far more interesting, and their players are actually willing to make moves! Love to see it, and you know you're not doing great on Pink if Piranha Plant is a more proactive player in the game.

This round on Yellow was the Greens potentially taking control of the entire game, and what results that could have. If they didn't make this move here and cut Yoshi loose, all of Piranha Plant, Squirtle and Falcon were going to be the next 3 boots unless a newcomer joined and got revolving doored. Marth was going to be safe as a temporary Green, but obviously would be a 4th to the group. And I did legitimately think Marth was content to be a 4th and had written him off a result, but Captain Falcon flipped him back and now they're making a big play on Wario

Kinda loving this tribe tbh, they're infinitely more interesting than Pink to me.

Captain Falcon - Legend, I think I saw "Charlie Brown arc" written about him and honestly yeah it's kinda true. The man has been down all game but has managed to avoid dueling through sheer luck and skillful moves. Fave of the game by a mile, I think the blues are just the key focal points of this swap.

Kazuya - Liking his new change into overconfident demon who gets his closest ally cut by making his preferences too obvious, and excited to see where it goes next.

Marth - Last round I might have had Marth last, thinking he was just a lackey for Green the same way Mario is for Red (though marth at least gets some benefir out of it). But him making this last minute switch is so good and I am ready for his next round Green won't protect him now, so he's either gonna sink or swim on his own.

Wario - Overconfident king Empires fall, clink clink.

Donkey Kong - so sad to see him go But he did really well to navigate a whole week after such a terrible start. He was never going to last much longer, but this was a good enough showing to make the DK experience worth it.

Yoshi - Terrible egg concept but I also stan it. Like yeah this should be a one time character portrayal never to be repeated, but I am enjoying it and how everyone is forced to take this egg concept seriously. Died when he said that he thinks his chances of winning would crumble if he abandoned this shtick that only he is enforcing, when really the egg concept is the reason he is a target at all.

King K Rool - I am happy that he's gonna be immune and have some time to figure out how he navigates this shit he's ended up in Very out of his depth right now but in an interesting way.

Squirtle - Objectively, narratively, Squirtle is very interesting. But I still cannot read his posts? So there's only so much I can really say here. I wish I liked the shtick more, I really want to.

Piranha Plant - Very glad he's sticking to his guns and just going for Wario instead of waiting until he duels forever. Is the Plant going to last much longer even after this move? Probably not, but I am glad he made the effort. Would still rank above half of Pink.

Top 5:

1. Captain Falcon

2. Falco

3. Kazuya

4. Marth

5. King Dedede

we said fuck original red today.