Season 52, Week 3
Tibarn
(Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance)
 
Tibarn might feel a bit of kinship this week, facing another fighter who can shift between man and beast forms, but all that will mean here is that he'll fight even harder for victory in this brutal match of monster vs. Laguz. After all, it's the Laguz way that only the strongest will prevail in battle, and Tibarn is the Hawk King, peerless amongst his own kin in wing and power. With his speed and strength, it'll be easy enough for Tibarn to keep the pressure up on the fellow morpher and prevent his tricks from coming to fruition - and by stopping Yuri from getting his buffing game going, the Laguz royal will be yet another step closer to a Godlike championship.

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So Yuri's made it past eliminations. Big surprise! But can he really defeat one of the most powerful Laguz in the world? Of course! Yuri brings his usual repetoire of stat buffs, overwhelming physical and magical damage, full healing, and all sorts of fun little goodies that he can use effortlessly. Tibarn...brings the ability to grow feathers and wings. Unfortunately for Tibarn he's entirely dependant on his good damage...but Yuri has roughly a million different ways of bringing the pain better than Tibarn ever could, AND heal whatever Tibarn throws his way. Yuri's fought many an illustrious opponent in Godlike, but Tibarn is just a bird-shaped road bump.


Gatewalker
"I've got to admit, you're pretty damn impressive for a Beorc." Tibarn considered his opponent and his options, taking time to make sure he made exactly the right move.

Yuri laughed, "Hey man, I've got the best of both worlds going on. Turn into some kind of all powerful beast? Got that...well, demon in my case, but you get the idea. Then I can use magic while in that form. Don't really believe in limiting my options, you know?" Looking down at the board, he shrugged, "Come on, you gonna move or not?"

"Sure thing." Moving a piece on the board, the Hawk King smiled, "Check. And yeah, I can see how that's good if you can do it. Just not the way things work where I'm from. Well, some of the crows have a very limited magic, but it's nothing to write home about."

Moving to protect his king, Yuri grumbled, "Man, how much longer until we get the arena?"

"Another ten minutes. Trust me, I've been watching the clock like a hawk."

Snorting at the lame joke, Yuri fired back, "That eager to lose, huh? Come on, you know you're not in my league."

Making another move, Tibarn just grinned, "Says the man who's three pieces down and by the way, back in check."

"Yeah, except we won't be playing chess in there."

"So you really don't think I can beat you, then?"

Yuri just laughed, "Come on, man. You're good and all, but I can keep myself going forever and just pick you off with magic at range. I get too close to death, boom, back to Amon and heal. I don't need to heal, I get some damage in. Your dodging game is good, but I've got a better defense and my offense is just as good as yours." Moving his king out of the way, he added, "Your go."

Without hesitation, Tibarn moved again, "Check. And you might think you've got it all worked out, but once we're in there I could always outsmart you. I'm managing it out here afterall."

"Hey, I thought you Laguz didn't care about stuff like tactics. Where'd you get a head for it?" Another piece moves, "Back to you."

"Most of us don't, no. But as a king, I need to not only be stronger then my subjects, but smart enough to lead them properly as well. And to be honest, there's a reason we don't use much strategy when we fight. Also, check."

Moving his king yet again, Yuri was admittedly curious, "What's that? And your move."

The Hawk King slid another piece into place as he explained, "Simple. Because of our strength, we almost always have the advantage in a straight up open conflict. And it's usually a whole lot easier to force one of those then trying to set up any complex tactics. In a sense, forcing direct confrontations IS our strategy. Most Beorc want to avoid that unless they have enough overwhelming force that tactics don't actually matter." Then he grinned widely, "Also, checkmate."

"What?" Looking down at the board, Yuri groaned, "Dammit. Alright, you took that one. Man, I never figured a straight up bruiser like you would be good at this stuff."

Standing up, Tibarn shrugged, "In fairness, it's not like I'm beating an expert here. I haven't even managed to beat Ike at this yet, and he doesn't even like the game. Anyway, it's almost time. You ready?"

Yuri just walked towards the door, "Let's do it."

- - -

What, the actual fight? Oh, it went down pretty much exactly as Yuri said it would. There were a couple of tense moments, but overall the conversation in the waiting room was alot more interesting, so you got that instead.

Tibarn: 20
Yuri Volte Hyuga: 23