Hello all. The Order of the List has been happy to kick off the new season with a pair of great opening events. We look forward to continuing another amazing season leading up the Invitational. We will attempt to update those who were unable to attend certain tournaments, as well as others who may be interested. During this issue, we will give an overall view of some of the happenings at the past two events. In the future, we will try and recap key points from the tournaments that have just past.
This past weekend, at the tournaments at 'We Got Your Back', there were a total of 13 Order of the List tournaments run, so plenty of points to be had. The pace was very fast, especially in the early portion of the event, and the fights were very clean and competitive. This is the type of competition we hope to see for the rest of the season.
Big Dog
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| Photo by Jay Bonci- 2012 |
The point’s winner for the tournaments this past weekend is someone familiar to the top 16 standings; William, Dog of Grimloch. William got off to a strong start at the Knights of the Eternal Flame tournaments last season as well, but faded and was unable to gain many points for the remainder of the season. Due to an unfortunate incident that turned him into an aspis, he was the only competitor who made the top 16 who wasn't able to compete. So, we don't really know what he would've done with the chance. Now cured of his affliction, and a newfound friendship with the dark one, he's ready to make his run at the championship. William used the tournaments at WGYB to serve notice to the other competitors. He not only won 4 tournaments, as well as placing in many others, but he was able to win the first and last tournaments of the day. This showed that not only does he have the skills to win hard fights, but the endurance to keep up with a hard day of fighting. The points he was able to gather from the tournament was enough to push him into Third seed, but only time will tell what is in store for this very young fighter. Was this a fluke hot streak or has he put the other competitors on notice?
Fight for First
Early this season there seems to be a strong battle for first brewing between Sir Guilliam and XT, both of Grimloch. XT is in a familiar position, sitting near the top of the rankings, holding 2nd place for virtually the entire season last year. He fell short of his goal at the invitational placing 5th overall. This season he's setting himself up to take it all by holding first place through the first two tournaments. Right behind him is Sir Guilliam, who was absent from the rankings for the early portion of last season but made a very strong push going into the invitational. He used that momentum to show up big in the final tournament, placing Third overall and being only 1 point out of the final 2. He seemed to continue ride it into this season with strong performances in both tournaments. They ended the KoEF Tournaments with only 9 points separating the two. Both showed up motivated this past weekend and won many fights and at the end of the tournament. They gained an equal number of points, neither able to gain any advantage over the other. This should prove to be a very entertaining fight for the top seed over the course of this season, pitting one of the great veteran fighters versus a rising talented warrior.
3 of 6
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| Photo by Jay Bonci - 2012 |
There is currently a three way tie for Sixth seed in the standings. One of them Grindin of Ashenmark made his way, barely, into the top 16 last year with a few strong performances late in the season. Unfortunately, the poor seed set him up with some very difficult fights throughout the day and he was unable to advance. With that lesson learned he's ready to position himself higher in the standings before the invitational. Tied with him is Killian of Ashenmark, who didn't attend many tournaments last season and was only able to gain 1 point for the season. This season seems different, as he was one of the more impressive competitors this past weekend. As the day went along, he seemed to perform better, gaining the majority of his points later in the day. Finally, there is a new name to the list: Sir Callin of Folkestone. Although he was only at the tournaments for the early portion of the day his impact was definitely felt. Although this may have been the first tournament he's amassed points at, Callin is no stranger to fighting and showed the other competitors that this past weekend. He only participated in a few tournaments and was able to place in 3 of them, winning one and placing second in two others. One of the second places came from a brutal round robin, which kept being reset, between Callin, Guilliam, and William, the second and third seeds. He places himself as one of the most interesting names among the current top 16. Will he actually be attempting to compete for points over the season? If he does gain enough points will he actually compete in the invitational? How well could he do if he made it? These are some of the questions we've already been hearing. He is one of the most experienced, talented and respected (maybe even feared?) fighters in history. I think everyone will be curious to see what's going to happen going forward.
[Editor's Note: The Feast of Creathorne this Saturday will be running tournaments that will be part of the Order of the List rankings, so go and get some points! In addition, we have a link to the Order of the List website on our Realms Links (on the right) so you can easily go and check out the standings whenever you want.]