What You Missed - Order of the List Invitational 2015

The Order of the List is an organization dedicated not only to the promotion of excellence in combat, but also sportsmanship and training of others.  Throughout the year, event-holders who run tournaments at their events can request to register their events with the Order and have the results certified, meaning that the top four finishers in each tournament style at a certified event are awarded a number of points, which are recorded by the Order. A running score tally is kept by the Order and updated after each such event; at the close of each "season" the sixteen fighters with the highest point totals are invited to participate in that year's Invitational Tournament. Throughout this intense and day-long tournament, the competitors battle each other through a series of rounds, fighting for a decreasing number of spots as the rounds progress until only two competitors are left; the winner is then inducted into the Order of the List as a full member. 

This year the Invitational was held in the nation of Creathorne.  While only the top sixteen fighters participated in the actual tournament, there was a good crowd of spectators on-hand as well to cheer on the contestants in addition to getting in a little time to do some socializing. The Gilded Lion, Rhiassa's multipurpose shop/ casino, was open and taking bets, allowing spectators to place wagers on various competitors and outcomes and adding an extra layer of excitement on top of the fierce fighting. The Creathorne Hula Girl Casino was also on hand for those who wanted to gamble in a different way, and for those wanted to spend a few greenbacks, the Huntress Guild had thier "Sweets for Swords" bakesale set up with an array of tempting and tasty offerings (with all proceeds going towards the re-stocking of the Huntress armory). Syruss of Neden and Eldritch of Invictus, two Order members, also ran a newbie or "Young Blood" tournament.

 So then on to the actual fighting!

The Invitational kicked off with the introduction of the competitors. Each person was presented to the crowd accompanied by specially selected theme music.  The initial seeding of this year's top sixteen competitors:

1) Saegan - 113	5) Vuel - 38	9) Enlon - 24	13) Malaki - 17
2) Illy - 53	6) Wiliam - 37	10) Raynor -22	14) Sir K - 14
3) Guilliam - 53	7) Tao - 31	11) Rillan - 21	15) Grebinar - 13
4) Drike - 45	8) Loken - 26	12) Luke John - 21	16) Vex - 13

Note: Dygen at 81 points was originally #2 in the standings, Kirk at 37 points was #7,  Skarda at 18 points was #15, however, these competitors were not able to make the Invitational this year, nor was Blade, #17 at 14 points; therefore, Sir K, Grebinar, and Vex (#18, 19, and 20 respectively) moved up into the open tournament slots.

Round One 

The first round consisted of  limited fights with a variety of weapon styles . Fights were done bracket-style, best two-out-of-three,  with the lower-seed competitors fighting the higher-seed competitors; first and second place in each weapon style tournament was decided by best three-out-of-five. Points were awarded based on the number of wins each competitor achieved, with the brackets being re-drawn before each new tournament based on each competitor's current point total at that time. These styles, in addition to the winner of each tournament, were as follows:

Sword & Dagger:  William	Single Short:  William	Sword & Shield:  Guilliam	Hand & Half:   William
Dagger:  Luken	Great Weapon:  William	Florentine:   Tao	Sword & Marn:  Drike

The point totals at the end of the first round, with the top eight in these standings advancing to the next level of competition:

1) William - 47	5) Luke John - 23	9) Enlon - 17	13) Sir K - 11
2) Guilliam - 36	6)  Loken - 22	10) Malaki - 15	14) Vex - 10
3) Rillan - 27	7) Vuel - 20	11) Grebinar - 15	15) Illy - 6
4) Drike - 24	8) Saegan - 19	12) Tao - 13	16) Raynor - 4

Round Two

The intensity was stepped up in this round with several more complex tournaments. These were done round-robin style and were all limited fights. All fights were best two-out-of-three, with first and second place in each tournament being decided by best three-out-of-five.

The winners of each tournament in round two:

Single Competitor:  Saegan	Ones and Twos:  William
Grimloch Grudge Match:  William	Five Points to Victory:  Rillan
Three Lives:  William

The points totals at the end of the second round, with the top three in these standings advancing to the third level of competition:

1) William - 56	4) Drike - 29	7) Vuel - 21
2) Guilliam -  49	5)  Loken - 28	8) Luke John - 17
3) Rillan - 30	6) Saegan - 26

Wildcard

All eliminated competitors now had a chance to get back into the standings. This was a limited fight that was done in large grand-melee style, with competitors garnering a point for each kill he or she made. The results were very close, with Grebinar emerging victorous with 40 points.  So the Top Three became the Top Four, and we moved on to the third round.

Round Three

The third round was fully unlimited and consisted of four different fights. First Seed's Choice (Sword & Shield)  and Wildcard's Revenge (Sword and Dagger) were each picked by that specific individual.

The winners of each:

One Man Unlimited: William	First Seed's Choice: William
Duncan's Challenge: Guilliam	Wildcard's Revenge: William

The point scores at the end of round three, with the top two competitors moving on to the final round of competition: 

1) William - 15	3) Grebinar - 4
2) Guilliam - 13	4) Rillian - 3

 Round Four (The "Grand Slam")

This round consisted of straight-up one-on-one fights between the top two; the fights could be limited or unlimited by choice of the competitors and weapon-styles were swapped after each fight.  The first competitor to win two "sets" would become the winner of round four and thus, the winner of the tournament; the first competitor to reach seven wins would win that particular "set." William chose limited fights for the first set; Guilliam chose unlimited fights for the second set.

	Set  1 (# of wins)	Set 2 (# of wins)
William	7	7
Guilliam	3	5

 Throughout a grueling day of non-stop fighting, William emerges as the winner of the 2015 Order of the List Invitational.

However, all sixteen competitors must be recognized not only for their performance during the Invitational, but also for the dedication and effort that that each as put in throughout this past Order of the List season. Earning a spot in the Invitational is an honor that must be constantly fought for, and does not come easy. To that end, all players who attend Order-registered tournaments and fight for points must also be acknowledged, as the difference between 16th and 17th in the rankings is often only a point or two.  It is a testament to the level of combat in our game and the impact that the Order of the List has had upon fighter culture that the competition is always so stiff each year, and the Invitational always offers some amazing fights.

Newbie Tourney

This was fought similar to the first round of the actual competition; players with three or less years in the game faced off against each other in a series of different weapon-style tournaments.  Critiques were offered by Syruss and Eldritch after each round, and the newer players were given a chance to ask questions at the end of the tournament.  The  top four finishers:

1) Kanye	3) Runeris
2) Daekara	4) Hunter

So that's what you missed at the Order of the List Invitational this year! Plenty of good fights to watch, plenty of time to socialize, and plenty of time to cheer on your favorite combatant! Great atmosphere, great skills on display, and great non-fighting content as well.

[Editor's note: special thanks to Ben "Kyro" Hamilton for compiling the tournament results this year for this article. For more information on the Order of the List, you can visit the official website at http://orderofthelist.com/]