We're back!
That's right, the Gaoling Bending Tournaments have made a long-awaited return this month. And a brand new tournament means a brand new Tournament Report to go alongside it.
It's good to be back!
This tournament was run on a double elimination format, meaning each fighter has to lose twice before being knocked out.
Opening this tournament up was a fight between makosigma and supahspider. A really nice way to start the tournament as both competitors engaged in a competitive bout, though it took a while for any meaningful hits to be made! Makosigma eventually came through to win after landing some good combos.
Next up was an intriguing fight between 17jlede and TheWuselig0ne. It was another quick start, but Wuselig quickly settled into a clear strategy, using their earthbending to raise a number of earth walls and forming the arena to their advantage. 17jlede never quite got into the fight, and Wuselig took an excellent victory.
Seppizza and Rasam_ gave us the classic fire vs water matchup. It was another fast start, as was becoming the case across all the fights. Seppizza looked to have the upper hand early on, with Rasam somewhat chasing their shadow. Rasam still thought hard though, sticking around for some time before Sepp finally landed a killer blow to win.
A former champion took to the ring next as KevinY3 made a return against waters_jax. Jax put up a decent fight, but Kevin ultimately took an impressive win to progress.
FireLordAzula_ vs superhaggis321 was a tasty looking matchup between two longserving players. It lived up to the hype as both players were evenly matched throughout. Long range attacks from Azula were contrasted with Haggis' close-quarters combat. It was hard to keep up with what was happening at times, but it was Haggis who held on to take the win after an excellent contest.
Movion and lemur68 played out cagey fight that took some time to get going. It was Movion who eventually took the upper hand in what was a match of attrition. A nice win for the earthbending Movion.
The final fight of Round 1 was between Dawidoperr and neutrinoboi. It was a difficult debut fight for Dawid, who has only come onto the server very recently, up against the experienced Neut. Despite ultimate defeat, Dawid was still able to give a decent account of themselves.
Round 2 kicked off with another returning champion, as daales (formerly known as Muffin) went up against makosigma. There was little contest here as the pre-tournament favourite, daales, took home an impressive win to underline his credentials.
TheWuselig0ne and Seppizza were next up. Wuselig was impressive from the off, once again molding the arena to his taste and landing their dangerous combos. Victory was looking assured, but then, disaster. They stopped moving, allowing Sepp to deal a huge amount of damage. Was this concussion from weeks of training? A sudden bout of muscle stiffness? Did they suddenly remember that they left the oven on back home? Whatever it was, they soon got over it and started to move again. But, it was too little too late. Seppizza took the victory and advanced.
Next up was KevinY3 vs superhaggis321, in what looked like a good matchup after their opening wins. However, it ended up being a slightly messy performance from Kevin, who couldn't really get going. Haggis claimed a memorable win over the former two times champion.
The final fight of the round saw Movion take on neutrinoboi. This was a good performance from Neut, who looked in very fine touch against the previously impressive Movion. Neutrino took an excellent win.
As we head into the business end of the tournament, we start with daales vs Seppizza. This had all the makings of a classic bout, as both had impressed thus far. Things didn't quite turn out that way though. The battle had hardly begun when Seppizza took to the skies, his feet ablaze. Whilst this would become a familiar tactic later on, this time it had a flaw. Fall damage. That's right, Seppizza had clearly forgotten the old adage "What goes up must come down" and the other adage "It's not the falling that kills you, it's the ground". Daales took the win without having to do anything.
Following that up was neutrinoboi and superhaggis321. This had a bit more quality than the last fight! It was a professional performance from Haggis, who was really starting to grow into the tournament as it went on.
The semi-final saw daales take on superhaggis321. This was a classic fight, exactly what you want at this stage of the competition. Both showed their quality throughout in a tight battle, displaying excellent mastery of their element (or not, as they both went for Non-bending...). In any case, it was a good fight that daales came on the right side of, propelling him straight through to the final.
Haggis would still have a chance for a rematch though, as he could still come through the losers' bracket final.
Now, let's take a look at exactly how the losers' bracket played out...
The losers' bracket features those who tasted defeat first time round. The winner of this bracket would eventually face off with daales in the Grand Final.
Just the two fights took place in the first round of the losers' bracket, as 17jlede was given a bye.
So the first proper fight was between waters_jax and FireLordAzula_. The fight was quick, but big on action as both trading quick blows. Jax took the victory, dumping Azula out of the tournament.
New met old as Dawidoperr and lemur68 took to the arena. Both looked well matched early on, which was perhaps a bit of a surprise. Lemur seemed to struggle to get much rhythm, and Dawid took advantage by landing regular hits to whittle Lemur down. The patient approach paid off, and Dawid took a very memorable maiden win.
TheWuselig0ne and waters_jax got the second round of losers matches underway. It was a good contest between a pair of well-matched fighters. Jax just came out of it with the victory. Wuselig may be disappointed not to progress further.
There was an, err, intriguing fight between KevinY3 and 17jlede next. I have begun to suspect that Kevin may not take these fights all that seriously, as we witness them typing in the middle of the fight. Despite this flagrant lack of respect for the competition, they were still able to take the win. 17jlede should probably take a long look at themselves...
Supahspider made short work of their fight with Movion, who rather limped out of the tournament after a promising looking first fight.
Meanwhile, Dawidoperr was handed a bye through to the next round.
Things didn't start well for Dawidoperr in their fight against waters_jax, as they trapped themselves in their own ice cage with Jax. That sort of set the tone as Jax barely got out of first gear to knock Dawid out.
The round was closed out with an excellent fight between KevinY3 and supahspider. It was a high quality contest throughout, and both looked worthy of progression. Both were highly mobile, whilst also managing to land accurate hits on one another. However, the extra experience of Kevin seemed to make the difference here, as they knocked spider out of the running. Fight of the tournament so far!
The quality of competitors in the losers' bracket continued to rise as KevinY3 met Seppizza. This would prove to be a pivotal fight to the tournament, as Seppizza appeared to perfect a brand new tactic to deploy against Non-Benders. This involved the sky-walking tactic they tried to use in the fight against daales (which led to a slight splat on the arena floor). it was perfect this time though, Sepp walked across the sky, far out of Kevin's reach, and just shot down at them. The fight came to an end as Sepp finally put themselves back on terra firma and engaged Kevin at close quarters. Kevin had no answer and was knocked out of the tournament. Seppizza's win wasn't without controversy, as some in the crowd accused them of using an unfair tactic. Time would tell how that would play out...
After that furore, the next fight between neutrinoboi and waters_jax was a much more low key affair! It was actually an entertaining fight, and Jax performed well to claim a victory that set up a tasty fixture in the next round. Neutrino had performed well in the tournament, but wasn't really able to get going in this match.
That last fight set up a matchup between Seppizza and waters_jax. Once again, Seppizza went walking in the air. There was no moonlit sky or magical snowmen here though, as Seppizza rained fire on the people down below. It's fair to say that it's not exactly a thrill a minute fight, but Seppizza makes perfect use of his strategy to win the fight and head into the losers' bracket final.
So here we go, last chance saloon. Only one of Seppizza and superhaggis321 could make it through to the Grand Final, and one chance at glory against daales.
This was a near carbon copy of Sepp's last fight. The aerial tactic was displayed to full, devastating, effect once more. There is little to say about the fight, other than it gave a clear indication that Sepp had found the perfect way to defeat a Non-bender, and who would they be facing in the Grand Final? Why, only the top seeded Non-bender.
Once more, there was some controversy surrounding the manner of Seppizza's victory as a chorus of salty complaints ran out. To this untrained observers eye though, it looked like a completely legitimate tactic. Let's see how it plays out on the biggest stage of all...
So here we go. After a long absence, we finally get to crown another champion in this glorious arena. Would daales complete a hattrick of victories? Could Seppizza put a new name on the trophy? We were about to find out.
There was a curious start to the final, as Seppizza did not immediately reach for the skies to combat daales' Non-bending. Their wings seemingly clipped, Seppizza was put onto the back foot by the two-times champion, Muffin. Sepp fought hard, doing their best despite them seemingly failing to deploy their strategy, but it was always going to be a longshot when playing against an opponent of this quality. The fight tilted over further in daales' favour, and it came as little surprise when the killer blow was eventually landed.
It confirmed a historic victory as daales joined the pantheon of greats as a triple champion. A well deserved championship for the clear favourite and strongest player in the tournament.
However, some startling revelations were about to come to light. An anonymous whistleblower made allegations to us that Seppizza was ordered by tournament officials to not use the now legendary skywalking tactic in the final, with threats allegedly made against them.
This represents a clear overreach by the stewards, and could potentially be challenged in court, should Seppizza choose to appeal that decision. They would certainly have this humble reporters full support should they decide to go down that route.
This publication can exclusively report that the official in question was notorious tournament choker, martdamp. Martdamp was contacted for comment, in which he stated "Nerf Air".
Daales is a worthy champion and was the strongest fighter throughout the tournament, but these latest allegations do leave a bitter taste in ones mouth about the final we could've potentially had.
Best Fighter: A few candidates this month, but this one goes to Seppizza. New tactics and innovations should be celebrated, and the one shown by Sepp this month came very very close to securing overall victory. The skywalking strategy wasn't neccesarily popular with the punters, but to this experienced pundit it showed great inventiveness. Had they used it in the final, I have no doubt that Seppizza would've been standing on the top step of the podium. You are the Peoples Champion!
Best Fight: We were blessed with some very consistent fights this month as the quality of those competing continues to rise. However, the fight that stood out to me was KevinY3 and supahspider in the third round of the losers' bracket. A really tight and battle with plenty of action. A worthy winner!
The "Are you Actually Taking this Seriously?" Award: This one goes to KevinY3. Once again, they seemed to spend half of their fights typing into chat rather than actually doing the whole fighting thing.
The "NaCl Overdose" Award: This one goes to everyone complaining about Seppizza's tactic, including those who wanted it banned mid-tournament. You'd make the Dead Sea jealous!
Funniest Moment: A double whammy for Seppizza as he takes this award as well. It turns out that a reliable way to actually defeat the skywalking tactic is to simply bribe gravity to do the work for you! Their fall to the ground against daales in the early rounds takes this award.
I'm delighted to see these tournaments return, it's been a long time coming! But they don't happen without a lot of support behind the scenes. So our thanks should go to BarelyDecisive, GuoKao, GreyishCloud, martdamp, and Movion for keeping everything running smoothly.
Thank you to everyone who took part. Keep an eye out on the server Discord for announcements about the next tournament. We hope to see you there!
— QuietDove