On the other side was old man Tasslehofl. Current Baron of Old Temple and winner of the most recent Warlord Tournament, I'd like to have seen Tass as a #1 seed, but a 2 slot isn't so far off. Tass was the easy favorite considering his recent momentum, though skeptics might point out that winning two tournaments back to back is highly unlikely. Could lightning strike twice for Tass? After all, Gwarrr had been blowing through his competition with ease, while Tass just barely slipped by Sylus in the Final Four.

The ever lovely Sarah Mattews had the call as Tass took the opening lead with a quick step around Guaire's lateral parry in round two and a sweep of his staff to earn the point. Showing early signs of life, the warlord brought the score back to even as he thrust under Tass's high arced attack. Reversed positions in round 5 then put Tass back in the lead and he added to it the following round with an expert low block to halt Guaire's advance.

The thrust / high cut combination was popular this night, the third sighting came in round 7, again in Guaire's favor as he tried to make up the two point difference. Still back one though, with the score at 3-2, this would be the last point for the underdog. Rounds eight and nine belonged to Tass. A thrust, this time over a low attack nicely followed with a high defense to block CinderGwella's high follow and that was all she wrote.

After 9 rounds, Tass took the Championship with a 5-2 final. Taking his second tourney win in a row and crushing the -1.25 line.

Congratulations to the one time King of Commoners. For all you struggling duelists out there, take inspiration from this man. He's a true example of the success one can gain through perseverance.

]]> April 24, 2012 http://duelingzone.com/dzn/article.cfm?ID=443 Rhydin Newswire
April 20, 2012

Hey, you know, this is great. You toil away for years and years, watch countless hours of tape, write umpteen articles (that get hacked to death by witless editors*) and field complaint after complaint like "Gosh, Colin, can't you be nicer to the people who suck? When you tell them they suck, they feel bad and gollygee, we can't have that Up with sensitivity and emotional coddling! Down with truth!"

And now? All you whiny prats can piss the hell off -- your Governor knows talent when she reads it, and that's probably why she is where she is!

Imagine me, Colin Talvitie, forever known as the recipient of a Governor's Service Medal! Hell, I didn't know that just doing my job could get me one of those things (Captain Futility getting one too almost, but doesn't quite, take the luster off) but hey, when you're good, you're good, and good gets recognized. Good call, Governor! And my thanks!

Now, as for the upcoming Madness Finals Match...we've got anger (Guaire) vs. slobber (Tass). I didn't think Tass would make it this far in and picked him to lose way before now, but here he is anyway. Let's take a closer look at both journeys through Madness.

Tasslehofl's Opponent Seedings: 15th, 7th (forfeit), 6th, 5th, 7th

Guaire's Opponent Seedings: 2nd, 7th, 3rd, 1st, 7th

Guaire's definitely hauled the tougher road so far, knocking off his division's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd seeds! Tass hasn't fought anyone higher than 5th and got a pass in the Round of 32 when his opponent didn't bother to show up. Both defeated 7-seeds to make it into the Finals.

Guaire's giving up an average of 3.4 points per duel (a number skewed high due to the 8.5-7.0 score in the Sweet Sixteen) while Tass gives up 3.1 per duel (with 1 less duel to factor in, due to his forfeit victory). What's that tell us? It's not easy to score a lot of points against either of these guys. I'm betting Tass trips over his own kissy-face drool at least once during the match to give Guaire a free point.

Given that three of Guaire's matches have ended in a 5-2 score and that he's consistently knocking off high seeds in this tournament, I'm thinking he hasn't come this far to go home empty-handed. Seedings and oddsmakers be damned; Guaire oughta be the favoured dueler in this matchup. Like it or not, Guaire's your 2012 Madness Champion.

As for a final score, I'm going 5-3 Guaire, with an outside shot at 5-4 Guaire. We'll see if I'm right soon enough and hell, I might even go to this match live and in person! I'm sure that sets all your hearts aflutter.

Colin Talvitie
Staff Writer

*DZN Editor's note: Colin's referring to the editors at the Ringside Post.

]]> April 20, 2012 http://duelingzone.com/dzn/article.cfm?ID=441 Jake Thrash
April 14, 2012

The end of Madness is just around the corner, and what an interesting trip it's been! Guaire Byrne powered through Kheldar Drasinia, and Tasslehofl Momus slugged it out with Sylus Kurgen. It's down to a final duel between the "old man" and Gwarrr! One of them will be 5th winner of DoS Madness!

Guaire, perhaps anxious to get on to the final, wasted no time getting Kheldar into a ring. The pair faced off last Thursday night, and Gwarrr! shut down Kheldar in a match that was all about aggression and timing.

   LC -  TH <-- Guaire seizes with the lead.  1-0
   HC -  LC <-- Both duelers get aggressive.  2-1 Guaire.
   LC -  HC <-- More bloodletting!  3-2
  FSS -  DI <-- Some dancing and manoeuvring.
  FCP - FCP <-- More wariness.
   LC -  TH <-- Guaire leaps back on the attack.  4-2
  FDU - FSS <-- A quick jump back to defense for both.
   SH -  LC <-- Gwarrr! grabs the victory with more aggression.
  

The warlord we love to hate is still walking the walk. He was there at just the right time, with just the right attack, to claim his spot in the Madness final.

Tass and Sylus slugged it out earlier this evening, and this was a tight battle all the way down. The duelers traded points for five rounds before Tass was finally able to eke out a 2 point lead, which Sylus then promptly erased by tying the score up at 4-4.

  FLP -  HC <-- Tass scores the first point.  1-0
   LC -  TH <-- Sylus scores to tie it up.  1-1
   HC -  SH <-- Tass takes the lead again.  2-1
  FSS -  HC <-- Sylus ties it right back up.  2-2
   LC - FSS <-- Tass gains the lead again.  3-2
   TH -  LC <-- Tass widens his lead!  4-2
  FSS -  HC <-- Sylus fights back.  4-3
   TH - FLP <-- Sylus isn't going down without a fight.  4-4
   HC -  HC <-- No winner yet.
   LC -  SH <-- Sylus looks for another thrust, Tass cuts to win.  5-4
  

Sudden death, and Tass finally doubles up a cut and scores the winning point. This was a duel where dancing just didn't work. It was all about hacking and blocking. The kind of toe-to-toe brawling that an Orc can respect.

So, the 2012 final will between Tass, the once self-titled King of Commoners, versus Gwarrr! the Great! (Or is that being redundant?) Tune in this week to see who triumphs! It promises to be an exciting match! Can Tass be the one to take down Guaire? Or will this be the year of Gwarrr!

]]> April 14, 2012