My Order of the List Experience

by Nataliya "Shader" Kostenko

Hey Realms squad, picture this: 

Five years ago. It was my third, maybe fourth event. I was but a bright-eyed, wee Oaken Guard Newbie, just come to the (metaphorical) big city for Order of the List. In a totally not dweebie way, I thought all of the competitors were SO COOL, and I wanted to be just like them. (I even later asked to squire to the winner of that year!) So then, while I was watching all the super fast shots flying back and forth, I heard my name get called for the newbie tournament. I was all like “yo, this is my chance to start down that path!” So, I walked over, squared up against my opponent, heard my fellow Oakies cheering for me in the background, aaand 

Lost immediately. And then I lost the next fight after that. And the next one. And the next one. And then I lost again, and again, and about a thousand more times after that. And then a couple more resounding defeats and several crushing losses. For a while you wouldn’t even have to hit me, I’d just flinch away from a swing, close my eyes, and accept my death before I felt anything touch me. It pretty much took me until the next Invitational’s newbie tournament--a whole year--to learn to keep my eyes open when a sword started my way. 

So that was year one: learn to keep my eyes open. 

Year two: get my arms strong enough to be able to swing more than like once in a row. 

Year three: lift a shield for more than a minute? 

Year four: Step forward? Stand on one leg? Be more aggressive? (Just kidding, I can’t do any of those yet--still working on them.) 

And each one of those years I tried my best to get into the Invitational. First, no points. Then, not quite enough points. Then even back to no points again, though I entered every tournament I could make it to each of those years. 

Progress was slow and frustrating. It’s still slow and frustrating, as I’m sure my awesome OOTL coach Mike “Panther” Palumbo will confirm after having to watch me make some of the same mistakes over and over in almost every fight (don’t worry, I’m sure by around year 15 I’ll be able to back up in a circle). 

So why am I telling you all of this? Not because I have a lot of time on my hands, but because I think you shouldn’t give up. If you’re a newbie, or young, or a girl, or maybe older, or not particularly athletically gifted, but you’ve always wanted to get better at fighting, I think you should try. Even if you’re none of those things. Even if what you want to excel at is some other aspect of our game--casting, feast-o-crating, crafting, throwing events. If you aren’t naturally predisposed to be gifted at it, or if you’ve never tried and don’t know, you should give it a go. You won’t get to the top in a month, or a year, or maybe even ever. There will be lots of frustrations, off days, difficult moments, stressful and nerve-wracking situations. It won’t be easy, but I guarantee you will get better than you were when you started. 

I know you will. 

Aaand you’ll make new friendships and strengthen old ones along the way as your fellow Realms community members step up to help you out. And they will--I know this too. I had so many people help me along the way: countless trainers, supporters, cheerleaders, coaches, role models, and rivals. And I’m thankful to them all. As just a small sampling I’d like to thank my knight Eldritch, who coached me and trained me tirelessly through lots of frustration and poor listening skills; my day-of-coach Panther, who handled everything but the fighting so I wouldn’t have to worry and often trained me at practice as well; all my Ashenmark fellows, who have trained me along the way and supported me, whether from nearby or far away; Aeston, who called in with a motivational speech to help me get over my nervousness (is this in character? Did he send a raven or something?); and Kyntela, Gwen, Illy, Lupa, Kiira, Umbra, Keela, Phoenix, Freesia, Kite, Kara, Nhadala, Quinn and all the other amazing women who excel in leadership and combat and inspire me so much (that’s by no means an exhaustive list). 

Then you have all those people to celebrate each achievement with along the way. At first they’re gonna be small--keeping your eyes open, holding our shield up--but then they’ll get just a bit bigger--getting faster, making top 16, coming in 8th at the end. You gotta take the time to celebrate with your friends, but try not to let it make you late for next week’s practice. Don’t worry, just show up with the hangover. 

And then, who knows what next year’s accomplishment will be? Maybe improving my armor game for me, and probably something even cooler for you! I look forward to seeing what we all accomplish, yo.

Photo by Rachel DeRosa

What You Missed - Order of the List Invitational 7 (photos)

All photos by Rachel "Katya" DeRosa

What You Missed: Order of the List Invitational 7

As you might have expected, The Order of the List Invitational 7 was a tournament event. We had sixteen competitors, each of whom had participated in some tournaments earlier in the year in order to have been invited to the event.

Throughout the day we participated in various tournaments, starting off with a curveball of  armored single combatant. This was a curveball because traditionally we start with limited tournaments, going through the various weapon styles.

We went into that right after, so we had to strip off our armor. The fighting throughout the day was largely clean. Everyone misses shots sometimes, and from my perspective the marshals did their best to keep people honest.

The tournaments went as they usually do, where the winners stuck to the top, and the other competitors were at the bottom of the rankings. This can be frustrating for people at the bottom, because they can get caught fighting the same person over and over again that they have trouble with. This should not be taken too much to heart, though, as it’s sort of the nature of the tournament. If you win, you get benefits. You should want to win at order of the list. It’s kind of the point.

There were a few new tournaments, one called “V-Power’s Vendetta” which was actually pretty interesting. Each competitor got to choose what their opponent would use for a weapon, between the styles of mixed florentine, sword and board, and hand a half. This created an interesting dynamic because you needed to be aware of the advantages the style had with or without armor, and you had to be aware of your opponents’ skill level with each style. Over the course of the day we did this with armor, and without, and at the invitational I personally chose the type of weapon my opponent got based more on whether we had armor or not, and not their skill level. It was a fun tournament.

Round two of the tournaments consisted of us doing less common tournaments, like 5 points to victory, 3 lives, and ones and twos.

So something I should mention is how things were scored. Once we got to the Invitational our points were erased, and the seeding was used to determine our opponents. We got a point for every round within a tournament we won. If that match was best of three, and you lost but got 1 round of it, you got 1 point. If you won, you got 2 points. If it was something else, you could get more points, like for example, in 3 lives, you had 3 lives per opponent, so you might get 2 kills before losing, and you get 3 for winning. Make sense? After each cut, we maintained our seeding, but reset the scores to 0.

Seeding mattered though, because if you were tied in points you got the benefit of the higher position if you came in at the higher position at the beginning of the day. Trust me, this was a bane for me throughout the day.

The second cut lead us into the wild card. There was a change to the wild card this year in that, winning the wild card just got you the opportunity to fight the person in 4th position for the 4th position spot. The person in 4th at that time got the opportunity to fight in the wild card, and potentially earn the right to fight himself for his position. It was Daekara, and he did step into the wildcard and fight, but he sat out a little over halfway through, for reasons I don’t really know.

Rillan won the wild card, he and Daekara fought, and Rillan overcame Daekara, thus taking the 4th position going into the final 4.

The final 4 was all armored fights. It was, in my opinion, a weird mix of tournaments. We did mixed florentine, and then went into armored sword and dagger, V-Power’s Vendetta, and Single Combatant. Now we’d already done single combatant at the beginning of the day, mixed florentine is somewhat different from either of them being separated, but I don’t think any of us went without the marn. V-Powers Vendetta lead to me making different choices while wearing armor, but I still stuck with them throughout. These were fun fights, so don’t think that I didn’t enjoy them, but it was still an odd mix of things we’d more or less already done.

The final cut lead to Drike and V-Power being the two competitors vying for victory. Now, on paper this may not seem like it was a hard day, but these two fighters had been pushing themselves hard all day. As has happened in previous years, the fighters locked up, cramped up, and were just broken. At times watching them fight was like watching a couple of drunks fight as they pushed their muscles beyond their normal tolerances, needing to be carried off the field or tended to in the brief down times that they got.

It was a close match too. V- Power had started with a strong lead, but over the course of the grand slam, Drike began to overtake him.

Not enough though, because in the end the V was the victor.

If my rendtion of what you missed didn’t catch enough of the action, I have some good news for you. Alyssa “Sayeh” Weisblatt, did several live broadcasts throughout the day. She along with Michael “Swoop” Zajac, and Josh “Enlon” Whelan, having watched and witnessed some of the video, I can say it is well worth a gander.

That’s all for now though!

I’ll see you on the field!

Keith “Saegan” Cronyn

What You Missed: Order of the List Invitational 2016

by Alex "Elouan" Groom

Overview

Over the course of this year, many individuals fought in tournaments sanctioned by the Order of the List. On this day, the top 16 individuals were invited to compete to be inducted into this organization; a difficult competition indeed, given that only one new member is inducted every year.  Driven by the spirit of competition, and the ambition to be the best, these individuals competed against each other to prove their mettle as fighters.  More than a mere test of skill, the Order of the List Invitational pushed those who competed in it to the limits of their physical endurance, as they fought over the course of the entire day, culminating in the top two fighters slugging it out in a grueling grand slam match.  Even those who were eliminated early would not find reprieve, having the chance to claw their way back into the competition in the wild card round.

In addition to the 16 fighters invited to compete, a large crowd of spectators and fans attended this year.  Bets were accepted by the Gilded Lion.  New this year was the betting format.  All gamblers bet a small amount to a large pool, and made a number of predictions on a single sheet.  Such predictions included seeding for the next round, the winners of individual tournaments, and other such aspects.  At the end of each round, the first, second, and third place winners each received a portion of the pot.

    Finally, while the fighting and gambling raged on, a young squire toiled under the exercises of her knight…

The First Round

The tournament started with the announcing of the 16 competitors.  These competitors were:

• Guilliam
• Vuel
• Dygen
• Drile
• Rillan
• Tao
• Nazir
• Torolf
• Saegan
• Tower
• Daekara
• Illy
• Janus
• Damion
• Bludwin
• Jean-Baptiste

The first round of the tournament saw all 16 fighters competing in order to get to the next round.  Only 8 spots were open, so half of those competing would be eliminated.  The fights of this tournament consisted of limited combat involving matched styles.  Each fight was done bracket style, with each competitor fighting in a best two out of three match in each round. The weapon styles fought with in this round winners of those fights were:

• Dagger: Vuel
• Single Short: Vuel
• Hand and a half: Vuel
• Sword and shield: Rillan
• Sword and Marne: Vuel
• True Florentine: Guilliam
• Sword and Dagger: Drike
• Great Weapon: Guilliam

The seed listing at the end of the round was as follows:

Seed	Name	Points
1	Guilliam	55
2	Vuel	53
3	Dygen	36
4	Drike	35
5	Rillan	24
6	Tao	19
7	Nazir	18
8	Torolf	14
9	Saegan	12
10	Tower	11
11	Daekara	9
12	Illy	7
13	Janus	6
14	Damion	6
15	Bludwin	2
16	Jean Baptiste	0

A Squire and a Tire

As this was going on, I could not help but noticing an interesting scene developing in a quiet corner of the arena.  Sir Eldritch had hung a tire from the ceiling.  With him was his squire, Shader of Ashenmarke.  Out of curiosity, I approached the scene and watched as Eldritch instructed his squire.

“Your form needs work.  You swing with just your arms, but need to fight using your whole body,” Eldritch informed his squire.  Using the cane he had brought with him, Eldritch demonstrated the proper form, swinging swiftly at the tire and connecting with a loud “THUD!”

He instructed his squire to do the same.  Her first swing tapped the tire, lightly knocking it aside.

“No, swing harder! As hard as you can!”  Eldritch said to his squire.

Shader complied with the instructions.  Ten swings later, and with a loud crack, Eldritch’s cane snapped.  Both squire and knight looked in bewilderment at the shattered remains of the cane.  The training was cut short, for now, as a suitable replacement was sought out.

Round Two

    With the end of round one, the top eight competed to secure the top three spots, and move on to the semifinals.  The tournaments of this round were less simplistic, and featured a number of additional rules in order to make things both more difficult and more interesting.  These tournaments (and their winners) were:

• Single Competitor: Dygen
• Grimlock Grudge Match: Guilliam
• Three Lives: Vuel
• Ones+Twos: Dygen
• Five Points to Victory: Guilliam

The seeding at the end of this round was:

Seed	Name	Points
1	Guilliam	51
2	Vuel	50
3	Dygen	48
4	Drike	40
5	Rillan	30
6	Tao	21
7	Nazir	20
8	Torolf	15

With that, the top three had secured their place in the semifinals.  The rest of the competitors would compete against each other for the fourth a final slot in a wildcard round.

Scraping By

    Elsewhere in the arena, a suitable replacement for Eldritch’s cane was sought out by Squire Shader.  After a lengthy search, I offered up a tool used to scrape ice from the sides of carriages that I owned.  This tool had a metal core, and we assumed that it would last longer.

    As Eldritch looked upon the ice scraper, he merely shook his head.  “This will break just as quickly,” he said.  As we walked away, I could swear that I heard him say under his breath something about “carriages” and “wax on, wax off,” though this may have just been my imagination.  

    Shader continued with her hitting of the tire.  Much to Eldritch’s surprise, the ice scraper bent, but did not break.  This went on for about ten minutes.  Sadly, an attempt to bend the ice scraper back into shape ended up snapping it into two, thus bringing Shader’s training to a halt once more.

The Wild Card Round

While the top three had been decided, a fourth slot was still open.  In order to obtain this spot, competitors would fight each other in a non-stop brawl for several minutes straight, fighting one competitor and moving on to the next without pause.  Several helpers kept track of their kills, and at the end of the time limit, whoever had the most kills would be declared the winner.  Ultimately, the scores were as follows:

1. Illy: 39
2. Rillan: 38
3. Damion: 34
4. Drike: 32
5. Saegan: 29
6. Daekara: 24
7. Torolof: 23
8. Nazir: 22
9. Tao: 18
10. Bludwin: 14
11. Tower: 10
12. Janus: 10
13. Jean-Baptiste: 6

By a single point, Illy had secured the wildcard slot as hers, and would go on to fight in the semifinals.

Handling the Situation

    As Shader looked upon the remains of the ice scraper, we heard the sound of a bottle being flipped and landing perfectly in the distance.  Following this was one Sir Syruss O’Leary shouting in victory.  After this, he turned his attention to the crestfallen squire.

    “Why aren’t you hitting the tire anymore?” shouted Sir Syruss.

        “I keep breaking everything!” responded Shader.  Somewhere in the distance, Lord Temorse agreed silently.

   

    “Have no fear, Sir Syruss is on the case!” responded Sir Syruss.

       

    Within minutes, Sir Syurss had procured what appeared to be a quite long broom handle, and Shader’s training resumed.

The Third Round

The third round consisted entirely of armored fighting.  The first competition was the 1st seed’s choice.  This was followed by a series of other tournaments.  The winners of these tournaments were as follows:

• 1st Seed’s Choice: Vuel
• Wild Card’s Revenge: Vuel
• Duncan’s Challenge: Guilliam
• 1 Man Unlimited: Guilliam
• 3 Lives Unlimited: Vuel

The scores at the end of this round were:

Seed	Name	Points
1	Guilliam	23
2	Vuel	22
3	Dygen	6
4	Illy	1

With that, Guilliam and Vuel had secured their spots in the finals.

The Final Round

    The entire day had been leading up to these fights.  The final round consisted of but a single fight: the grand slam.  The grand slam was fought in three rounds: a limited round, unlimited round, and another limited round.  Each round consisted of consecutive fights of matched weapon styles, with styles changing from fight to fight.  Once a competitor had won 7 fights and at least two more than the other competitor, that competitor was awarded that round.

    Guilliam and Vuel slugged it out for a total of 30 grueling fights.  The results of the rounds were as follows:

	Number of Wins  (Round 1)	Number of Wins  (Round 2)	Number of Wins    (Round 3)
Guilliam	4	7	7
Vuel	7	3	2

Winning in the final round, Guilliam secured his induction into the Order of the List.

Newbie Tournament

    While the main event was going on, a newbie tournament was thrown as well. In order to compete in this tournament, a competitor had to be in the game for three years or less.  This tournament was not just a competition, but also set up to be a learning experience, with the marshalls offering advice to the competitors after their fights.   Interesting this year was that a quarter of the competitors were eligible to fight in the newbie tournament as well.

In the end, Tower took the win.  Daekara took second place.  In third place was Sybil.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, all of the individuals who competed today are to be lauded.  These individuals spent months (if not years) training for this event.  All put in the time and effort to make tournaments throughout the year, in order to fight on this day.  Throughout the day, though facing stiff competition, not a single competitor put in less than the maximum effort that they could.  In many ways, these fighters represent the pinnacle of skill, endurance, and personal honor within our game.

On a final note, a special shout out to Sir Syrus O’Leary: Shader was unable to break the broom handle.