CIII - KO stage matchmaking

[KFoged]

The much maligned Khemri team has made it to the finals, in a 2-0 match against the Amazons.

McFood -- you are my level 8 boss. Are you ready?

I'm ready

McFood

 

[Narly Bird]

This morning I lost my match to Scedeau 2-0. I attribute the loss to some very unlucky dice early in the game that I just couldn’t recover from and solid (although boring) play by my opponent. Also I was playing a bit sloppy as I was sleepy (we started 6am my time), in a rush (I was making and eating breakfast in between turns as I had to get to work) and getting frustrated at Scedeau’s style of play (stalling). And I burned my toast dammit!

Before summarising the match I will tell you a bit about my mood going into the game. The last 2 matches I had played (both on Friday night) saw me with incredibly unlucky dice. Never have I had such bad dice as those last 2 games, although actually the 1st one was still fun as my opponent had similarly terrible dice, so it was a comedy of errors on both sides. But the 2nd match my opponent didn’t have bad dice and so it was torture playing through the game and rolling all 1’s and skulls. Anyway, after those 2 horrible dice games I thought I had been punished enough by Nuffle and that I should go alright this match. How wrong I was…

He had purchased an assistant coach and cheerleader, bringing his tv 30 above mine. I could have sacked my assistant coach and got a potion, but am not that extreme on tv management (except when playing as Halfling/Goblins). I won the toss and elected to receive. I would always normally choose to kick, but due to extra time being a factor I thought it was smart to receive. My opponent got a blitz result on the kick - not the best thing that I could hope for, but hey, it happens. He broke through my line with a Blitz Ras and Thro Ras and did a blitz on my catcher with a TG so that she would be surfed next turn if I didn’t do a 4+ dodge. The ball was kicked fairly deep, so I was safe for my first turn.

My first turn and I had to decide whether to pick up the ball first or try and dodge my catcher away from the sideline. As the ball was under pressure and a pick was more likely to succeed (3+ with reroll compared to 4+ with dodge skill) I went for the ball. Of course the pick failed, the reroll failed, my Catcher got surfed and he moved to threaten the ball and put another Blitz Ras between the LOS and my Thrower. He also blocked a Linewoman so that she would be surfed if she didn’t do a 4+ dodge next turn.

This meant I was under a lot of pressure. But a block on a Skeleton left one of my Linewoman around LOS free. I decided against dodging away with my soon to be surfed linewoman as the cost of failing the dodge would be too high (he would basically get a free chance to pick up the ball). So I figured I would pick up the ball with my Thrower, run it up a bit and do a long pass to the linewoman (I had accurate, so 4+ with reroll). Risky, but not many options and less risky than you would think at first (3+ with reroll, 4+ with reroll, 3+ with reroll assuming pick up successful first time). I also saw an opening that would perhaps allow me to break free into his half, as I felt he had overcommitted. The pick up failed again (3 failed 3+ in a row…), but this time the reroll worked. This meant I wouldn’t have a reroll for the catch though. Still, I went for the throw as my thrower would be blitzed next turn otherwise. A 4+ with reroll and then 3+ without is more likely to to succeed than fail, right? So was my Linewoman able to catch the ball…? We will never know, as the damned Thro Ras thought it was an Elf and intercepted the ball. Gargh!?!? At least I now have 1 on Scedeau as he can’t deny being lucky!

What followed next was him pounding on me and stalling until turn 8 when he scored. I sacked the ball carrier once or maybe twice during this time?? but he was able to recover the ball each time due to his superior numbers (he also didn’t suffer from the butter fingers my thrower suffered from). I had 1 injured and 3 KO’d at the end of the half, only 1 of which got back up for the 2nd half.

Second half and I should have had 10 players on the field – except that the stupid Cyanide bug only let me set up 9 players. The 10th then suddenly appeared deep in my backfield when I kicked off. I got a blitz result and made a stupid error by mistaking my non-guard blitzer for the guard one. I 1-diced a skeleton and got a push back, then dodged the other blitzer through to get the ball, only for her to fail the dodge (another 3+ with reroll failed at the beginning of the half) and get -1 strength, apoth’d to dead. I chose dead as it serves her right for falling over!

I then got bashed around and the Khemri probably had the chance to score around turn 12 or 13. Except that Scedeau didn’t want to. Instead he stalled for the remainder of the game. This led to a lucky 1-dice block bringing down the ball carrier once or twice?? but he was always able to pick it up again with no problems (so much for agility 2). I got kind of pissed off at this stage at Scedeau’s tactics. Stalling when the scores are tied is one thing, but when you are 1-0 up already and have the chance to score, why would you stall then? Is it really that likely I will be able to score twice in the remaining 3 or 4 turns? Especially considering all the KO’s and injuries I sustained he could always have the chance to recover and go 3-0 up. Even if he didn’t at least it would be more interesting than standing next to the end zone. I’m not saying Scedeau isn’t a good coach, but it sure is one hell of a boring game playing against him if he is up by 1.

As you can tell, I’m a bit of a sore loser. I’ve really had incredibly bad luck in my last few games and although this match wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous 2 (and I made some stupid errors that I was lucky to get away with), the timing of the bad luck right at the beginning of both halves really screwed me (and did I mention that I burnt my toast?). As for Scedeau’s aim of showing that Khemri aren’t a bad team, I think he has proven his point - although Thanatos already showed this when he got runner-up in div 2 of CCII. Even without playing as them though I can say Khemri definitely aren’t a team for me as they would have to be the most boring of all the teams out there (as proved by my opponent)!

As for my Amazon team, Slippery Nipple, I have decided to disband them and send them back to their night jobs, where they can earn more money and provide more entertainment (albeit to an exclusive audience). My thoughts on Amazon are that they are a very good team, especially early on, but are kind of boring. I’d much rather play with a more challenging team that has something different than the 6337 of the Zons. This was my first time to play as them, so at least I now know they are not the team for me. I’ve decided to play Pro Elf for CCIV, so it should be interesting to see how I go with them. I really like their positionals (especially the blitzers), but am worried about their fragility with little defensive skills early on and low armour. Just hoping that I don’t suffer from 1-itis and multiple injuries!

Edit: Just want to make clear that it was Scedeu’s play style that bugged me, not anything he said in game (stalling when up by a touchdown and players on the pitch). Although I am also slightly annoyed at his name, which I find impossible to spell!

 

[Gallows Bait]

Good to see the report Narly, and if you're in need of some good dice, we'll just have to try and fix a CTA game, most people seem to get good dice against me.

Except poor Netsmurf

I have to say I've been giving Khemri a go, but even if they are pretty sturdy, I find myself missing the "seat of your pants" thrills of more risky teams - so I'm still playing more Humans and Pro Elves myself.

Oddly enough my Humans have a better record of dodges, throws and catches than my Elves, my Pro Elves seem to come with their own set of dice that are covered only in 1s and 2s.

 

[Rusty]

I quite like playing with Khemri so far in CTA. They do bring their own fun to the person coaching them at least - any agility roll, especially pick ups, becomes a heart-in-mouth moment and due to their very nature any time you make an elf-like hero play (like a dodging, GFIing, 1-dice-blitzing TG) it's great fun. I find coaching Dwarfs much more boring.

 

[Narly Bird]

Good to see the report Narly, and if you're in need of some good dice, we'll just have to try and fix a CTA game, most people seem to get good dice against me.

Actually, 3 matches ago I was playing as Pro Elf vs a High Elf opponent (getting in some practice for CCIV). I consistently rolled 1’s, whilst he consistently rolled . By turn 4 my thrower had failed a short pass and my catcher had failed not 1, but 2 catches! It was hilarious how many dice we both failed. 2 matches ago I was playing as my Delf team in Middenheim vs a Necro team. I was rolling all 1’s whilst my opponent was consistently getting , breaking armour and causing injuries. I was down 4 players after turn 3 (3 of them injuries). At the end of the half none of my KO’s got up and then he rolled a blitz on the kick and caught the ball! That was my most unlucky game ever!

After 3 matches with terrible luck im really keen to play another match, as im sure im due a healthy dose of good luck!

 

[Netsmurf]

Must say that eventhough stalling is incredible borring it is a proven gamewinner and in knockout stages I tend to do it my self. The risk of scorring to 2 up with 3 turns to the opponant are riot. I have had the worst luck in that way. Rolling riot and giving my adversary the extra turn to score and if there is a second riot all hell is lose.

Two times have a nice victory gone draw, be course of riot and me and my fragile players unable to stop the TD. A TD that would never have been possible without riot

 

[Narly Bird]

Sure i stall, but theres no way i will if im up by 1. If my opponent subsequently gets 2 riots, then good for him. If he's down in numbers and pulls something from out of his arse, then even better. He deserves it. I cheer hero plays and a gamestyle that lends itself to being more fun.

Khemri are a boring team by necessity of their stats. To choose to make them more boring by stalling when up 1TD... well, that just isn't cricket (at least in my rulebook).

 

[Sceadeau]

Narly,

Sorry to disappoint, I never consider interceptions lucky or unlucky. Giving your opponent a 1 out of 6 chance to take the ball away from you is on you. It's a 1/6 that you can't ever reroll. I find it tremendously risky.

Just as my style of play is one you find abhorrent, I find yours equally so. With all the dice that your threw, you would think that you could always blame the dice on a game you lost. You ended up making a total of 46 dodges. 3 a turn, almost, with 7 turns ending in failed dodges. I couldn't ever play that way, short of a team of elves who all had dodge.

As coaches, those decisions are what define us. I am methodical. I am a tactician. I don't ever want to roll dice if I can avoid it. If I'm up 1-0, I feel the onus is on my opponent to take the ball away from me and score. I don't even need to score to win, so stalling is the obvious thing to do. My stalling leads to ever increasingly riskier moves on my opponent's part, and I consider that winning.

As in poker, I play to make correct decisions. The luck decides how it all turns out, but I know that, most of the time, it will break towards me.

You seem to want excitement and equal chance for all to make interesting and awesome plays. It is a valid tactic. The style of play leads for great memories, great stories that can be told about the match. It leads to an after report and a replay worth watching. I have close friends who eschew my staid play and deride me for it.

To each their own. Perhaps next time we meet on the pitch, the outcome will be reversed and I will be bemoaning how you play

 

[Narly Bird]

I'm just not a fan of stalling if already winning.

Regarding my playstyle, I played this game different to the ones i normally play. The reason was the dice.

A blitz result on the kick, 3 failed 3+ rolls in a row. Then i had the choice to let my thrower be blitzed next turn or instead give a 6+ chance of intercept. I think i made the right decision, even though it failed. Also, as my opponent was Khemri, he put tackle zones on all my players. He forced me to dodge. I do not see how i could have played much differently given the circumstances. The same went for the 2nd half when a blitz and a failed dodge resulted in all my players being marked up (and being down 2 players on the pitch). Is Scedeu recommending that in an Amazon vs Khemri game Amazon should not dodge and instead go toe to toe with the TG's? Thats laughable <insert derisive laugh here>

But i tell you this. It will be a cold day in hell when someone convinces me to stall when up in numbers and already winning. Coincidentally it snowed this morning and my train was delayed. I was late to work even though Scedeaus tactic of stalling both halves meant the game finished early. But i am reliably informed that hell was 50+ degrees and the outlook is for more hot weather!

 

[Gallows Bait]

I have to admit I'm somewhere in the middle on this one, I'll stall to try and win (or draw - a draw is almost as good as a win to me because they're both rare), but I don't like it that much.

If I wasn't so bad on defence I would prefer not to, but handing my opponant 2 or 3 turns will see me lose.

I'm actually getting quite used to turning a 0-1 into 1-1 in a couple of turns before half time, so I know the risk it gives if I score early in the second half because I punish people for doing it to me in the first.

Add to that I also don't often get the chance to stall because the majority of my drives seem to go wrong, and if I'm up by a touchdown its a rare thing and I'll try to preserve it any way I can (40% W to L ratios will do that to you )

Yesterday was a case in point for me, my humans against a dwarf team. On the defense in the first half my defence broke on turn 6 (1 cas and 2 KOs in a single turn) and half time saw me 0-1 down. My drive was a struggle, but I managed to get a blitzer clear of the short fellows with the ball and I had to debate whether to stall and draw, or face an 11 dwarf cage play with only 8 players, no apothecary and 5 turns left.

In the end I stalled, I felt I wouldn't make the defence, but even then it nearly didn't work as a turnover on a 2 die block (double skulls re-rolled to double both down) left the dwarves making a dodge & 2 gfi's to try and catch my blitzer. I was lucky to make the dodge and score on turn 15. So I do question whether I should have just gone and scored a little earlier when I had a clean run in.

But I fear I'd have lost 1-2 if I had.

 

[Etheric]

Narly,

Sorry to disappoint, I never consider interceptions lucky or unlucky. Giving your opponent a 1 out of 6 chance to take the ball away from you is on you. It's a 1/6 that you can't ever reroll. I find it tremendously risky.

That is just BS. Sure every time you roll the dice it is risky, but sometimes you have to roll the dice. If the best option is to make the pass you make the pass. Sometimes it works sometimes it does not. You do your best to make the odds as much in your favour as you can, but 5/6 is the best you can do.

Failing a dice roll you have to make that you would expect to make 5/6 of the time is by definition unlucky.

A blitz followed by a failed pickup means againt any team (well probabably appart from dwarves) you are under pressure. Under pressure you have to take risks. A 3+ pass to a 3+ catch (wiht team RR) with a chance of a 6 to make an interception is not a great risk. Clearly it is dice you would not want to roll if you could avoid it, but if that is all you need to get a TD then I would be happy.

Complete = 65.8% (5120 / 7776)
Interception = 16.6% (1296/7776)
Fumble = 4.6% (360/7776)
Inaccuate = 4.6% (360/7776)
Dropped = 8.2% (640/7776)

Clearly a position to avoid if you can, but if that is your best option it is not a horrible one. And facing a blitz then a failed pickup then you do not have many great options.

I have not watched the replay yet, but what would your alternative be? We have a play that will most of the time get the ball downfield in a great scoring position. What would you have done? What move gives better odds than that.

It is all very well criticising something for not coming off, but if you take the action with the highest probability of sucess and it does not come off then you have done all you can, and been unlucky.

Just as my style of play is one you find abhorrent, I find yours equally so. With all the dice that your threw, you would think that you could always blame the dice on a game you lost. You ended up making a total of 46 dodges. 3 a turn, almost, with 7 turns ending in failed dodges. I couldn't ever play that way, short of a team of elves who all had dodge.

That I just find bizare. Amazons all have dodge. So dodging into an open space is about a 90% chance. Dodging into a TZ fine, that you should avoid unless you have a really good reason, as the odds drop dramatically (75%). Making 46 dodges and failing 7 is bucking the odds, again unless a lot of them are into a TZ. Clearly you should not be making them gratuously, but dodge is how amazons get mobility. I guess you should never play them. I do wonder how you managed to be sucessful at wood elves as you mentioned before.

Personally that is exactly how I would play amazon vs Khemri, dodging away from the TGs and trying to get 2D blocks on the other players.

As coaches, those decisions are what define us. I am methodical. I am a tactician. I don't ever want to roll dice if I can avoid it. If I'm up 1-0, I feel the onus is on my opponent to take the ball away from me and score. I don't even need to score to win, so stalling is the obvious thing to do. My stalling leads to ever increasingly riskier moves on my opponent's part, and I consider that winning.

As in poker, I play to make correct decisions. The luck decides how it all turns out, but I know that, most of the time, it will break towards me.

Ok in terms of rolling the dice. Sometimes the best odds are to roll them, sometimes the best odds are to let your opponent roll them.

Look at your game vs Rady, before your for your 1st TD, he had a chance of a 2d against block on your TG needing a push (odds 44.4%) followed by a blitz on your throwra (89% chance of surfing him). That is a touch under 40% success. I would have taken those odds. It almost certainally would have ended any chance of a TD stone dead. As it was you scored the following turn (possibly requiring a GFI, not sure), and he did not try it.

Was that bad planning from you? The odds there were worse than the risk Narly took. Did you not see it? Would you consider the 2d against block a crazy risk to take?

The lowest varience way to play poker is to fold every hand btw. Sometimes you have to up the varience a bit to have a chance of winning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. You calculate the odds, and if they are in your favour go for it, and take the best option. Somtimes you get lucky, sometimes unlucky.

An interception is always unlucky. An interception when you could have avoided it by doing something else is bad play. If you want to say this is bad play than lets hear the alternative. I need to watch the replay before commenting more, but in the end BB is about making the odds as favourable as possible then rolling the dice.

I have had some games where I got nuffled to hell and back, and I have to say it does teach you to think very carefully before you roll the dice, but you DO have to roll the dice and sometimes you have some luck, sometimes you don't.

 

[Gallows Bait]

I agree its odd to see a complaint about the dodges with the amazons, its how I'd expect them to play, I sure wouldn't want to see the odds of them succeeding in a 2 die against block on a TG or watch a player use 4 amazons just to get a favourable 2 die block on one.

Sure the odds aren't great for AG3 dodging, but with the dodge re-roll they're much better, certainly more so than the odds of achieving anything marked up by khemri who will punch you into the dirt.

I can't comment on individual plays without seeing the replay, but a lot of dodge rolls in itself isn't evidence of a bad tactic.

 

[Strobinator]

Failing a dice roll you have to make that you would expect to make 5/6 of the time is by definition unlucky.

I would add: if and only if you had to roll it.

 

[Strobinator]

I agree its odd to see a complaint about the dodges with the amazons, its how I'd expect them to play, I sure wouldn't want to see the odds of them succeeding in a 2 die against block on a TG or watch a player use 4 amazons just to get a favourable 2 die block on one.

Sure the odds aren't great for AG3 dodging, but with the dodge re-roll they're much better, certainly more so than the odds of achieving anything marked up by khemri who will punch you into the dirt.

I can't comment on individual plays without seeing the replay, but a lot of dodge rolls in itself isn't evidence of a bad tactic.

After playing a lot with zons, I am leary about dodging with them. I generally only do it as my last move and try to keep it to a minimum. A lot of turns I do not dodge. While 8/9 (odds of dodging to open space) succeeds more often than an elf dodge (5/6), there is no additional reroll on the amazon dodge. If it fails, you do not get another shot at no rolling a 1 or 2. If you dodge enough with the amazons, it gets very likely some of your turns will end at not so opportune moments.

In my write ups, I had a number of matches where I did very little dodging and it failed at times that were quite bad for me.

 

[Gallows Bait]

I'd agree at not taking the risk of dodging when there's situations where standing there marking is good enough. Against an equal strength team that is going to be the case a lot more.

With 4 Str 5 players you're automatically facing a lot of nasty blocks. Against a developed team that's going to be improved by block and mighty blow before it is tackle, most of the time.

So given the choice between a dodge and a 2 dice mighty blow block taking my player down, I'll dodge every time.

I agree its not a given in every match, but against a strong low agility opponant its your tacklezones you want to use, and your speed, dodging plays to that strength.

 

[Sceadeau]

I'm just saying, that method of play isn't mine. Nor is stalling his. I just expect most dice rolls to fail, so I abhor dodging.

Depending on the exact situation, either tagging all the Khemri so they couldn't hit the ball carrier without a blitz, or moving to the side and throwing the ball and not re-rolling if it was inaccurate. Probably both of those things. I would have moved in such a way that an interception attempt could not be made. Remember, I think handing the ball to Khemri is always wrong, and an interception does just that.

When I play amazons, I use their dodge advantage to tie up guys, not to get away from guys. I will mark with them, and not care if they get hit. Moving away is risky for the person moving away, and also frees up your opponent to be somewhere more useful.

I think there's more bullshit in saying one should not stall when ahead 1-0 (when it seems to be the best time TO stall) than saying amazons shouldn't dodge. I didn't say they shouldn't, just that the number of dodges were way above the number of dodges I would have had as them.

I also never said he played poorly. He did as well as he could do given the circumstances, doing some amazing things because he was forced into it. He also almost made me pay for stalling against him twice, as there was a turn in the first half and a turn in the second half where he got to my ball carrier and was able to roll dice against me. Both times, he got me down, but was unable to maintain pressure to keep me from recovering. I was just maintaining again that luck in blood bowl is overstated. It's a tactical and logistical game.

 

[Narly Bird]

Thanks for the comments guys. Before you go into the game in too much detail though, i really didnt play that well and Scedeau won quite fairly. Although i did manage to sack his ball carrier either 2 or 3 times with my "high variance dodging".

Overall i reckon the dice we quite average for me, its just the timing of the bad luck at the beginning of both halves meant i was unable to recover.

Sure i think its pretty lame stalling when your already up by 1 and theres only 4 turns to go, but really my beef with Scedeau comes down to not just with what went on the pitch, but what happened off it. I was following his team posts for the beginning part of the cup and he came across as incredibly arrogant. In my book there are 2 things that make a good coach - winning and humility. This guy obviously has 1 of those 2, but i sure cant see the second. I wouldn't be surprised if some of his opponents were offended by the stuff he wrote about them and their matches. I know i sure would be. Also his absolute refusal to acknowledge that luck played a part and attributing it instead to his skill and his opponents mistakes. I don't care if it is true, I wouldn't say it in a post. Good sportsmanship really does count.

But then writing can come across differently than speaking and i guess that it is not his intention to gloat. Also, if i were reading my posts i would think i sound like a bad loser. Thats the thing when you lose, its hard to criticise the victor. I would say the same goes with winning in that its hard to criticise the loser and still seem a good sport.

Anyway, we should probably put this baby to bed and move on. Hopefully it will sleep better than my 1.5 y/o old son...

I look forward to playing Scedeau in CCIV and having false praise heaped upon me if i lose! I will be sure to do the same if i beat him, although i can't promise i wont use the phrase "high variance" in my my post!

 

[Sceadeau]

Sportsmanship, et al

It is true, I come across as quite arrogant. It gives people an added incentive when playing me to win. For when they win, a happy dance is danced by them, and everyone who has ever lost to this loud mouth.

Here is something that was written about me recently, at a local game night:

Somewhere in the midst of game night this week, Sceadeau was heard to say, "I dominate with all my strategies," during his game of Egizia. Well, in addition to being a perfect example of his staggering (and mostly justified) ego, it also came very, very close to describing my level of success throughout the evening. A level of success, I might add, which also included a decisive win even against Sceadeau himself!

I love losing. I love matching wits with someone else and being proved lacking. There's a group of guys who live in Seattle who make me feel like the dumb kid in class when we play together, and it makes me want to pack up all my belongings and join them for non-stop gaming.

For me to get to the level I'm at, I have to strip emotion from the game itself and view it from the analytical level. When I lose, I need to know why. Some games, when I win, I want to deconstruct the game and figure out why -- my intuition is good, but I need to augment it with a deep understand of anything I'm playing.

This is never more true than in blood bowl. A near perfect game in my book. That said, when I write about it afterwards, it is with a cold and calculating eye. It may make me come across as the villain, but I can live with that.

I know there will be many cheers if McFood is able to beat me -- what you may not realize is I will be one of them. I look forward to matching wits with him, and seeing who emerges from this pile of broken teams as the victor of Crunch Cup III.

 

[Gallows Bait]

I think then, perhaps, that your willingness to put the players in harms way rather than use the dodge reflects something.

Whether its your confidence in playing with fewer players on the pitch, a lower casualty rate than some of us, or just a faith in statistical averages, I'm not sure which.

If I leave an AV7 player marking I always expect KO or worse, because on average if I'm playing an AV7 team I end a game heavily down on players no matter how hard I try to avoid it. With AV8 my fortunes don't improve that much either.

If outnumbered its hard for humans or other AG3 teams to pull off the plays needed for a win, in my experience.

Edit: Well said last comments both - I know I for one am motivated often picking myself up and trying again, but I'd also temper it that after a while it gets painful and you walk away - my logs for both Elves and Humans show that - a few losses I can learn from 6, 7, 8 in a row and I end up giving it up and assuming I can't get better, its taken a lot for me to perceivere with these teams now.

 

[Etheric]

This is never more true than in blood bowl. A near perfect game in my book. That said, when I write about it afterwards, it is with a cold and calculating eye. It may make me come across as the villain, but I can live with that.

Well you say that then in your write up of your match with Ghaz

He surprised me again by setting up what I like to call a "not-a-cage" near my sideline. All it took was a little unwinding of events for me to be able to blitz his ghoul with my MB/SF mummy, on the first roll, I rolled and decided not to reroll it. His ghoul was KOd, my mummy just prone, and the ball near my sideline.

He wasn't ever able to get the ball back, and I scored at the end of the first half.

Which is completely untrue, he got the ball back the very next turn (surfing one of your TGs in the process), and the following turn had a 4+ 2+ to score (wiht a team RR), which he did not see, and chose to 2d against blitz instead. Clearly a mistake, but for some reason completely absent from your writeup.

In your 2nd match vs Rady we have

I had a textbook drive capped with a GFI to even the score up at 1-1 by the end of turn 6(!) giving him two turns to score back on me. It wasn't to be (though he did KO a TG who wouldn't be waking up for the rest of this game).

Note the *shock* gfi to score on turn 6 rather than turn 7 (which would have been a bit dangerous I agree). I could not tell you if there was a team RR in the bank or not at that point. You also fail to mention the rather jucy 40% chance he had to surf your throwra (but did not see it/decided against it).

At least in your first game you were a bit more generous

5th turn was really his turn to move down field, a simple blitz of my skeleton tagging his lone guy to push him off and leaving his guy tagged on my TG, he could've formed a loose cage and scored fairly easily. What instead happened was couple of pushes and then a blitz on my TG from his Mino, where he both wasted a reroll and knocked himself and my TG down -- his ball carrier didn't get a chance to move!

That was the key mistake really. Plus focusing too much on the TG and not enough on the ball carrier in the 2nd half.

Of course

Due to my superior play skills, I was able to wake up 2 of my 3 KOd guys, those 2 being the TGs. A lesser player rolls 3s or less there.

just makes you sound, hmm trying to find the word. I guess that was intentional though. Not funny I guess is about the nicest thing to say there.

Anyway if you are going to say

That said, when I write about it afterwards, it is with a cold and calculating eye

you need ot watch the replays more before you do it. At least now you know how wide the pitch is though, so I hope that was useful info .

I know there will be many cheers if McFood is able to beat me

It is true, I come across as quite arrogant. It gives people an added incentive when playing me to win. For when they win, a happy dance is danced by them, and everyone who has ever lost to this loud mouth.

Well to be honest it makes me not want to play with you at all, but yeah as plan B is to win.

On that note what would you say would be a team that is good against a necromatic team? .