Round 18

[Masahiro Sakurai]

Magicant with these two is something I have no hope of predicting, but I feel like Captain Falcon's experience will make a difference.

Meanwhile, since Yoshi is immune this round, their vote alone can actually send someone to The Ring. Of course, it's really just a matter of what Wario and maybe Captain Falcon tells them to do.

[Masahiro Sakurai]

I think Wario intends to go offline for the remainder of the day to fool people into thinking he is self-voting, so that he only receives one vote max. He's told Yoshi about it but I feel like a 2-1-1 is assured here. Weird plan, and I don't think those sorts of shenanigans will go very well with the jury anyway.

[Masahiro Sakurai]

Cap's score here is better than all of the testing scores, so it's a great way to survive. Funny that he was so pessimistic about his chances.

[Master Hand]

So with so few players left it is much harder to find clear winners for some of these titles, but there is credit I would be remiss not to allocate so I'm going to persist with this format

~THE MASTER FINGERS~

THE THUMB & THE INDEX FINGER



This is the first time someone has been a unique winner for consecutive master fingers, so I'm going to combine these together for ease of reading.

Needless to say Final 5 was Wario's best round for some time, perhaps in the entire game to date? He knew where all the votes were going and specifically manipulated the circumstances the get the matchup he wanted. Either Captain Falcon or Kazuya leaving would resolve a long-term narrative in his favour. I'd say that my incorrect discussion of Captain Falcon and Kazuya picking a duelist was an example of the blogger's curse, but I think I can be forgiven because it was such an unbelievable and inexplicable occurrence? And that is an occurrence that Wario deserves nothing but praise for. It goes to show that there is still time even this late for things to change. A clear Index Finger for me.

However this was such an obviously iconic play that both Captain Falcon and Falco are talking more of Wario as a credible threat to win, meaning he may find himself dueling and it would be a tricky scenario for him. Falco has even left a vote on Wario already. Still this shift was something Wario desperately needed to obtain for himself if he wanted to stay in contention, so I don't think his status as the Thumb his a discredit to him in any way. His intention to be MIA from the board all day is worrisome for him though.

THE MIDDLE FINGER




So I'm going to give Robin a pass for what I'm about to say because he has been trying to generate conversation, and Pyra & Mythra have completely understandable reasons to be away yet have given their input also. Kazuya also just arrived so I won't judge him yet.

Otherwise this is perhaps the most apathetic, indifferent jury I think I have seen in over a decade of ORGs and it is completely unacceptable. It isn't like this ORG is short on things to discuss and debate, or that they didn't all have strong connections with each other. To not bother engaging with this aspect of the process is unheard of in Australian ORGs and makes me very concerned for the Final 3 Meeting to come. The way they are now I do not trust this jury to analyse and hold the finalists to scrutiny. Given the potential state of play this is a massive problem.

Idk, I suppose I find it disheartening more than anything else that this sort of disrespect is occurring. Sakurai deserves so much better from his cast than this.

THE RING FINGER



I guess? I suppose I have these two here just because there an irony in Falco being so one-dimensionally against Yoshi for the entire first half of the merge, voting for him multiple times without any success, only to now be with him in the Final 4. I haven't been able to check Lakitu much these last couple days but I have seen these two are definitely talking more, which is expected when we're this late in the game.

THE PINKY



Captain Falcon has never been the Pinky before, with this he now has obtained all five master fingers over the course of the game gjsm

It is a weird one to give him, but I'm doing it because with the way the prevotes are going it suddenly seems like he may be able to make it to the Final 3 without dueling at Final 4? Wario and Falco have voted for each other, and Captain Falcon has voted for Wario. As long as Yoshi doesn't abandon his system and vote for Captain Falcon then he might not receive any votes at all? It hardly makes any sense given the way the game has played out, but I won't complain about it, lmao.

[Sandbag]

So, currently its 2-1-0

With Yoshi not voting

Falco and Cap voting Wario

Wario voting Falco

and with Wario not sending Yoshi anything and not logging in all day.. Meaning that Falcon dictates Yoshis vote lol.
Which would be dumb and exactly what I expect at this point.

[Master Hand]

Yoshi has voted for Falco. Unless something changes it'll be 2-2 Falco vs Yoshi and Captain Falcon will not even have any votes cast against him

[Masahiro Sakurai]

Wario hasn't even played his cards, which would amount to a ban for his own must-win duel. The F5 was great but this is a real blunder.

[Sandbag]

Mar 8, 2022 18:30:17 GMT 10 Masahiro Sakurai said:

Wario hasn't even played his cards, which would amount to a ban for his own must-win duel. The F5 was great but this is a real blunder.

But at least he did it in style?

[Sandbag]

Lol.. I live for Yoshi's style of data driven strategy confessional but my god its less than worthless given the input data.

[Tabuu]

Mar 8, 2022 18:45:10 GMT 10 Sandbag said:

Lol.. I live for Yoshi's style of data driven strategy confessional but my god its less than worthless given the input data.

Yeah I saw the coding and was like "ooh interesting " and then I saw how much he underestimates Captain Falcon's chances and just sighed a little.

[Sandbag]

How on earth is that his Squirtle read???

[Master Hand]

Mar 8, 2022 18:52:13 GMT 10 Sandbag said:

How on earth is that his Squirtle read???

It's not like Squirtle's actual prevote is rational or consistent in any way or form, to be fair.

[Tabuu]

And Captain Falcon is officially a finalist, somehow. With the Attack Bag despite Wario having higher cards because he didn't play them, somehow. This was an absolute blunder by all three of the others but I am beyond happy because I have been rooting for Falcon's win since the swap

[Masahiro Sakurai]

Let it be known that the indifference of the jury sucks as a host. I know it's naive to expect that your game is always going to be iconic and be a constant thrill ride and that the players don't owe me their time, but it does feel kind of shit to see the total lack of effort or interest in the conclusion from the people actually in the game.

[Tabuu]

edit: actually I should test this in the challenge forum hehe

Hi girls Captain Falcon is winning!