by: Joseph "LukeJohn" Yang
Tournaments of the Blue Rose was held a few weeks back and there was fierce competition for the Blademaster title as each participant had an excellent showing of themselves. I don’t want to recap the results as that can already be seen here:(https://viewfromvalehaven.blogspot.com/2026/10/tournaments-of-blue-rose-26-tournament.html)
Not sure if this has been done before, but I’d like to instead give an account of “What you Missed” from the mental perspective of a tournament participant and some specific things you may have missed about the other people in the tournament.
Tournaments in general have an added pressure to them as I’ve always felt I’m putting my name on the line in some respects. Blue Rose is no different, especially since the winner gains the coveted Blademaster title. It feels like the lights are on and the stage is set. Anxieties skyrocket as there’s a “prize” to be had, and I have to fight in view of my peers and people I respect. What will they think of me? I’ve been training for years, and what if it’s not enough? That kind of pressure has consequences. It makes my movements stiffer and every action costs more energy. My attacks are more timid because what if they parry it, close the distance, then drumroll my armor down to kill me? My defense becomes predictable as I’m so used to retreating on the back foot when pressured and what greater pressure is there, mental and physical, than the Blademaster tournament right now?
These are all thoughts I legitimately had during the event. However I write this not to be discouraging, but the opposite actually. The nervousness from disappointing my current and former Highlords, the Knights of Ashenmark, my Wyvern College students, my training partners, and anyone else watching is assuaged with this. At the end of the day, what they think of me will be the same as it was yesterday, last week, last month, and whenever the last time they saw me fight was. Nobody ever remembers my losses besides me. They do however remember my victories. In other words, the people I love and respect will still love and respect me as long as I try my hardest, regardless of outcome. Tournaments are just fighting, and I LOVE fighting; it’s maybe my favorite thing on this planet. So just focus on my favorite thing to do and put the end results out of my mind. My body will do what it does; what I’ve been training it to do. If the practice wasn’t enough, then that means I get to do more of it. I get to do more of my favorite thing, and I fail to see how that’s a bad outcome. I’ll admit that the pressure does still get to me, but it’s important to recognize that those aren’t helpful thoughts and the ones written here can be used to reframe that pressure.
And now for some specific thoughts and observations you may have missed regarding competitors during the event:
Killian: Maybe the most impressive performance I’ve ever seen in a tournament from anyone. Absolutely dominated the event and was both a pleasure and an inspiration to have competed against them and watched their fights.
Daekara: A true display of grit and heart as they also did very well in spite of physical pains and injuries. There were moments where I myself would’ve thrown in the towel, but Daekara persevered through to the other side.
Torolf: Consistently one of the trickiest people to fight against with their lateral movement and what feels like constant pressure. But I’ll be damned if I say it isn’t fun to fight against, and there’s so much to be learned from them.
Anton: For as much as he and I practice with each other, I am consistently impressed with their abilities and the results speak for themselves. Also the efforts in their physical fitness show and it’s only getting better. I heard multiple people compliment Anton’s fitness and he absolutely deserves it.
Shader: Someone who you have to be on your A-game to fight. Anything less and it’s over. Every mistake, even the tiniest ones, is something Shader will capitalize on and they push everyone to be their best, including themself.
Grindin: An extremely honorable combatant with a deep bag of tricks and maneuvers they can draw from. They pulled off this single short parry/riposte against Killian that I’ve never seen done successfully in an armored fight before. Taking them lightly is a surefire way to lose. This applies to both days when they decided to armor up on day 1, but oddly chose not to on day 2. Still performed well though in spite of having no armor.
Jasper: I am pleasantly surprised by how much Jasper improves every event. Their progress is incredible and that was fully on display at Blue Rose. I would wager that at this rate, they will be an absolute menace in combat and someone to be aware of if you’re opposing them (even more so than they are now).
Cholsrea: For someone relatively new to the game, I thought they did spectacularly and have shown significant improvement since the last time we fought. They showed a very strong will to improve by being there both days and asking for specific training on weapon styles.
Second: Similar to the above, it’s not easy to enter a tournament as a newer player against people who’ve been in the game for decades. Full credit to Second as they showed up with a great attitude, willingness to train, and courage to get into the weeds of tournament fighting.
Varyk: Someone I haven’t fought against a great deal, but people spoke highly of their abilities and I can see why. In awe of their ability to fight in the phonebooth and get those inside shots in while maintaining their responsible defense. I had to have a side discussion with someone on Varyk as they were such a threat on the field.
Jericho: We didn’t get to fight each other during the event, but they are one of the friendliest competitors around. Always lending weapons when the need arises. I do recall them being very effective at leveraging their height to get off tricky shots quickly, particularly with sword and shield. They also displayed phenomenal defense as getting around their shield looked to be an absolute pain.
Raynor: I was only able to fight against them in Sword and Shield, but I remember being gassed after it. Their constant forward pressure while blocking shots was fantastic and the pace at which they pushed would tire anyone out. During the fight I distinctly thought “ I don’t know how many more rounds I got in me at this rate”.
Bones: Respect to the madman as they went in as a caster on some fights against fully armored opponents and pulled off some victories.
(If I missed anyone, I’m sorry. The event was weeks ago and this was an impromptu article from me)
As expected, the staff did a great job! Pilpus and Radstar did a just and terrific job marshalling; letting people know about shots they might not have felt in a respectful and unobtrusive manner. I know there was some questing, but I unfortunately missed it. Also shout out to the kitchen people, dinner was delicious and I didn’t know chicken wings could even be that large. Finally one last congratulations to Killian on Blademaster! You crushed it at the event and I don’t think I’ll forget this for the rest of my Realms career.
