#but tt cc needs to communicate things to the community better

[cathalbravecog]

if the update tmrw is another arg or just an overhyped Nothing Sandwich Dissappointment update again im going t

[official-alan-dabiri]

So how about that CCL?

For those of you unaware, the CCL is a semi-pro league for Heroes of the Storm being run by Heroes Hearth. A lot of old familiar faces came back for this, either to play, or to operate the organizations (henceforth: orgs) in charge of the teams. They had their draft just this past weekend, and for those of you who care to follow the pro side of this game, I want to talk about those drafts, and hopefully shine a light on what to expect when the season gets underway.

For those of you here for memes and memes alone, I have considerately put the rest of this behind a read more for you to scroll on past. Thank you for your patience.

Names at the top are the team names (the orgs), names in blue cells are tank players, green are supports, red are dps, and orange are offlaners. Though there are some discrepancies - many players have wide hero pools and can fill multiple roles. As you can see, every team has a pretty solid mix of former pros, top-shelf streamers, Storm League GM regulars, and more than a few unknown names. There was one irregularity during the draft: 30k traded their 10th pick spot to Chilly Mountain to get the 16 and 17 double pick in the 2nd/3rd round. No other trades were made.

Largely, if you know these players, you can see that every team except Oxygen very highly prioritized shotcallers, which did lead to a bit of a tank choke early in the draft. Turk - the leader for Crowd Control - confirmed that he picked up Nightvision - a tank player who also plays supports - to intentionally force a tank choke down the line. Supports didn’t get choked, but many teams picked up a second support player, especially in the 6th pick sub position, owing to the power of double support strategies. The high priority on shotcallers, though, led to an unseen problem: many teams have two - or even more - strong leadership personalities on their team, which could lead to some butting heads and clashing strategies.

That said, let me talk about the teams.

Chilly Mountain

As mentioned, CM had a good position to start strong with the draft. They had the first pick, and then they had second pick in the second round. True to that expectation, the first half of their draft is extremely strong. Fury is considered one of the best tanks in the region, and one of the most flexible shotcallers in the whole talent pool. Similarly, Makke is a strong leadership figure and a good DPS. Darkmok is another very strong player in the offlane role, and while DarkChimera isn’t the best support - or even the best support available at that point in the draft - he has great personal synergy with Fury. The back half of the draft, though, is a bit of a joke. CPogX (more commonly known as CPX) is a talented player mechanically, but has a terrible attitude. He’s also known in the community as a transphobe and misogynist. If the CCL has any respectability, he’s going to need to be kept on a tight leash, or else he’s going to get the boot really quick. And then their last pick was Mysticleez, another offlane player, who is going to struggle to step into CPX’s role if he runs his mouth on social media and gets punted.

Side Step Kings

This team - selected by veteran player Fan - has the most potential. Fan was the only one brave enough to pick Korean players, highly prioritizing KyoCha, and then picking up Hide at the end of the draft. He also went for a few of his old friends, starting the draft with Cattle, and later picking up Jun, his former teammates from Tempo Storm. Jun has the added bonus of being bilingual in English and Korean, allowing him to bridge the gap between the Korean players and the English-speaking players. Also, he’s Fan’s roommate, but that’s beside the point. Three teams on this draft banked on ping not being a big issue, and SSK banked on it the hardest. If ping actually doesn’t matter, this team is easily at the top. The only remaining struggle is the language barrier. I’m hoping that Fan brings that big streamer money into it to hire a real translator. Jun is fluent enough in both languages to serve for right now, but he’s one of the best healers in NA. He shouldn’t be on the roster just to fill an admin role. I have high hopes for this team, but there’s a lot of room for mismanagement.

WildHeart

Now this is my pick for the dark horse underdog I want to see run away with the league. Justing (piTkiD) and Buds are old friends from Oct/R20/TT, my favorite NA team from the old HGC. Justing was NA’s mad scientist, pioneering weird compositions and developing his own unusual meta that demands respect, and Buds works extremely well with him. The rest of the team is very well-positioned to accommodate him. Unaverted is a strong DPS pick, with Zergling and Funz having very diverse hero pools to work around Justing’s unique brand of bullshit, and Wearyday to sub in when double support is the call. This is also the only team with 6 NA players. If ping does matter, WildHeart is poised to take over the whole tournament, and even if it doesn’t, Justing has been given the tools he needs to redefine the meta for the whole league. Win or lose, these will be games worth watching.

Crowd Control

On the other end of the spectrum, the next two teams banked on ping not mattering; Turk - the leader for CC - picked up five EU players, asserting confidently “EU are just better than we are” when announcing his first pick of Lauber. From there, Turk was one of the players leaning hard on his first pick’s advice, following up with more strong EU players. Reportedly, Lauber got to build his own personal dream team, especially with Dynouh and Kwazaa. Turk confirmed that the Nightvision pick was for his offrole as a support (It’s been said that he’s ten times better in his offrole than his main role) while at the same time draining the Tank pool since GG, SIM, and OXG hadn’t picked up their own tanks yet. Their sixth pick, Hebi, is the only NA player on the roster, and an obvious pickup in anticipation of a double support meta. If ping doesn’t matter - and if SSK are slowed down by language barriers - CC is lined up and ready to flatten everyone.

Granit Gaming

GG had a similar strategy to CC. They have five EU players, with a single NA on the team in Nintorii. The difference is that they’re more likely to field their NA player. Svampgroot can fill in the offlane, but he is much more likely to play his signature heroes in the 4-man than his goofball offlane picks. As with CC, GG picked a dream team of EU players, headed up by Nic, and followed by Burger and Henning, a serious powerhouse for teamfight, with Nintorii as the macro god who ran with Scythe Esports through the open division and into HGC just before its untimely demise in 2018. All things considered, I think CC has the stronger players individually, but GG can make up the difference on raw synergy. Between the two, there are ten of the best players EU has to offer, even if the games are going to be played on NA servers.

Simplicity

Back to a strong NA roster, SIM followed GG and CCs lead, but with an NA player. Kure got to build his own dream team with his old Team Freedom teammates in Killuzion and Lutano. Wit is the odd man out on this roster, as an EU player in the tank role, but at that point in the draft, all the best NA tanks had already been picked out of the pool. They also picked up the man, the myth, the legend, this Hosty guy I’ve heard so much about. There might be some smaller interpersonal struggles - three of these people are all from the same HGC team, leaving the rest of the team as odd men out, if conversations get too clique-y. But if everyone meshes together, this team is the quintessential standard NA roster. They aren’t going to break the meta, but they’re going to play standard, and play it as well as any NA team could. If ping matters - and if Justing’s weird homebrew meta doesn’t take off - SIM is going to dominate.

30k

The man who stole the draft: Michael Udall. Trading his 10th pick away for the double pick between rounds 2 and 3, he got literally the exact team he wanted, man for man. HasuObs was his first pick for a leader to build his team around, and then BBJ and Liam are bar none the best players in their respective roles, picked up while everyone else was still squabbling over shotcallers. Udall later admitted that he wanted to first pick Mascarade - his fourth pick - if it looked like the tank pool was getting pinched too hard. His last two picks were reportedly under a time crunch - Sammy is an EU player who was a rush pick to fill the DPS role alongside Hasu, and then Udall overrode everyone else to pick up Breakwood as a player he wanted to mentor into a force to be reckoned with in the next season. 30K has one of the strongest mixed-region rosters in the league right now, but that may be to their detriment. Big names come with big egos, and if the team hits adversity, there’s a chance that communication starts to break down as people butt heads. We’ll see if Udall - the biggest ego of them all - can keep everyone in line. It would also be a serious crime if Breakwood got picked up to warm the bench all season.

Oxygen

The last team has a dramatically different draft strategy compared to the others. Every other team picked up strong leadership and worked with them to build a cohesive strategy, or had a strategy already that they drafted for. Meanwhile, Oxygen hit the draft as if they had a list of players sorted by skill level and they just picked whoever was still up from the top down. Despite this unusual strategy, they have a scary-looking roster. Prismaticism and Nazmas are two very strong players to start with, even if neither is a real leader. Their subsequent picks are similarly very strong players. Reportedly, they wanted Ultralisk as their 4th pick, not Madara, but were mistakenly told that he wasn’t available, because he was listed in the pool under his current battletag “GuessWhoIAm” which is honestly peak comedy. Just the same, their pick of Madara echoed through the rest of the draft; everyone else claimed that they had their eye on him for the later stages to fill. Their sixth pick of Cascon put the truth to all the memes about him being unskippable, too. But the problem remains: someone needs to step up to lead this team. If nobody does, they’re just going to be a SL fiesta and get rolled over by more organized competitors.

Every team obviously has their faults and flaws. Many of them come down to how big a problem ping is. Considering that the EU and even KR players performed admirably in the inhouse games and the exhibition matches, it may be that it’s less of a factor than traditionally thought. However, there were indeed some strategies built around punishing their slower connections. It was said that Cassia’s Valkyrie was the key anti-EU heroic: their ping made it impossible to dodge. We’ll have to see where it lands when the games really start. Some of the teams have bigger concerns that will take longer to figure out. There is no clear winners and losers here.

Except Chilly Mountain. How do you throw away a perfectly good draft for CPX, the XQC of HotS?

[migleefulmoments]

"No one will ever convince me he made that statement, and if you listen to his ACTUAL words about that, he didn’t say he wouldn’t take any more LGBTQ roles." Darren literally said that the gay community would have his head if he took another gay role but somehow to tinhats like Cassie, that means the next role he takes will be a gay character. I guess Darren meant that he knows the gay community will try to murder him, but he has faith in his ability to avoid their attempts. They're such freaks.

When they make grandiose and sweeping statements like this, I feel the full weight of the disinformation campaign they all embrace. Cassie claims “When you listen to his actual words…he didn’t say he wouldn’t take any more LGBTQ roles” so we have to see if she’s telling the truth or she’s manipulating reality in order to soothe their anxiety and allow them to easily fetishize the gay version of Darren. 

What did Darren say? (You can read the entire Bustle piece (X))

“There are certain [queer] roles that I’ll see that are just wonderful,“ Criss explains when we speak at a recent event for Clorox’s What Comes Next in New York, a few days after he returned from an overseas tour with his Glee co-star Lea Michele. ”But I want to make sure I won’t be another straight boy taking a gay man’s role.“Although Criss says it’s “been a real joy” playing queer characters like Blaine, Cunanan, and Hedwig in the Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, he now doesn’t feel comfortable taking those roles, which is “unfortunate,” he says. “The reason I say that is because getting to play those characters is inherently a wonderful dramatic experience,” he adds. “It has made for very, very compelling and interesting people.”

One of the reasons they claim they don’t think Darren said the words is because they claim that print interviews are fake: 

12/18/18  ajw720 answered: 

I would like to see a video as well, nonnie, as I don’t actually think he said any of this shit. Print articles are never, ever to be trusted. They are generally fabricated.  

If you recall nonnie, D himself called out an article earlier this year (it may even be the one referred to in this piece of crap) for taking a quote of his out of context about his Filipino Heritage, likely as he was sick of being called white repeatedly.  Fact is, while he is able to correct the “white” narrative, he, at this time, is not able to correct the straight narrative so he can’t even defend himself when this utter nonsense is published in his name.

First of all print articles aren’t generally fabricated and most CAN be trusted if you vet them properly. Claiming  “ALL print articles are fabricated”- and therefore not to be trusted is a perfect cctrope because it gives them the out they need to label everything they don’t like-every single quote, every single story, and every single description as fake news. It’s the perfect strategy for ignoring everything Darren talks about that proves he isn’t Blarren- all the puns and sexual innuendos, all the crude comments, all the sweet things he says about Mia or his sexuality. All they have to do is remind their followers that it was in a print article and Woosh- it’s invalid. Trump is doing the same thing with his base-he’s grooming them to believe that the media is dangerous and that everyone fabricates stories about him. He calls them “the enemy of the people” so when the. NYT proves he laundered money for years through the Russian mafia or that he actively cheated during the 2016 election and is trying to cheat in 2020, his base will scream “fake news” and threaten to go all 2nd amendment on the rest of us.  

Once again Abby uses something to prove her point but misses the fact that it actually proves she’s full of shit- Darren did push back on the interview where he was misquoted regarding his Filipino heritage but he hasn’t pushed back on any other interview he’s ever given. We can see he’s capable of pushing back, he’s interested in making sure he is quoted accurately and yet we’ve seen no other example- the reasonable conclusion is that is because the other interviews weren’t misquoted.    

e Bustle piece and understand that he said he will no longer play LGBTQ characters. It’s clear that Darren has a far deeper understanding of the issue than Cassie and Abby.  Splitting hairs and claiming he didn’t specifically say he would never play a bisexual or trans character is stupid. What Cassie and Abby are missing in the article is this paragraph:

This conversation about straight actors being cast in gay roles is about more than just LGBTQ actors losing out on Oscars, of course. It’s about Hollywood missing an opportunity to embrace new talent who would better serve these stories. And over the years, actors like Criss have become more sensitive to these types of concerns. The Versase star understands that there is an added honesty to actor getting to play characters who share their identities. “The commitment to that drama is told in such a way that it can really effectively reach people’s lives,” Criss says. “I think that really is important.”

Abby gets her wish- there is an audio recording of him making this statement-albeit it was 4 months prior to the Bustle interview and he seems to have evolved his understanding of the importance of representation in those 4 months. In the Hollywood Reporter interview he said:  

“….But I do think about that now, you know, if roles come by that are LGBT leaning - I really think it would be insensitive to the gay community if I were to take another role. I think they’d have my head. You know, I would totally understand that. So I’m certainly cognizant of it. And while it is very tricky, I think the discussion and the questioning is really really important. And I think it’s good that we’re uncertain and I hope that we can find some kind of balance.” -Darren Criss, 8/26/18 

I am an idiot and can’t remember how I got the audio portion of the interview on to my blog so I have to refer you to my old post if you want to hear Darren say the words (X). 

I think you are correct- Darren is well aware the gay community will kill him but he doesn’t care because he has superpowers. 

EDIT** I found this charming comment from Chrisdare who is a “journalist” yet she knows nothing about journalism. I got in an argument with her once and she schooled me that journalists aren’t educated.and will say anything a publicist tells them too.  Whatever, Valentina,  Google should be your friend.     

Anonymous asked: It wouldn’t matter if you saw a video because you wouldn’t believe it anyway. You would say he was being forced to say it. Fact is CCers haven’t believed a thing

ajw720 answered:I believe many things nonnie. I also have a deep and fundamental understanding about hollywood works nonnie and that is something you clearly lack.

Further, if D was straight, i believe he would never allow them to portray him as an asshole.  D is an incredibly intelligent human being, he knows exactly how negatively the straight push reflects on him. and frankly, it would not be necessary if he exclusively slept with female persons with vaginas.

Have a nice life living in delusionville.    

chrisdarebashfulsmiles JCS shut the f** up. 

When we talk about articles and how they are made we talk about facts. I hate when you come here busting balls on professional stuff when you don’t know anything. You can’t even imagine all the shit we do as journalist

It’s not a matter of cc but the fact they are ruining D’s life and career. And if you are a fan you need to start opening your eyes and stop being an enabler. I swear you should feel guilty when he will come out because you helped keeping him in the closet.

Talk about dellusionville! 

**********Edit Edit *******(X)

chrisdarebashfulsmiles  Because there’s a power of attorney that allows RR and Ab to do so. To say something D has to prove that the article is harmful and he has to do it through a legal action. And this means breach of contract with all it entails like the two years of stop from signing an anything.

That IS NOT how “power of attorney” works.  But nice try- 10 points for originality and imagination! 

***Edit Edit Edit *********

Anonymous asked: An article you should read to help you understand how journalism works .tinyurl/com/y9s49tms. German Reporter At Der Spiegel Fired for Fabricating Stories “On A Grand Scale”. “I’m so angry, horrified, shocked, stunned,” Der Spiegel deputy foreign editor Mathieu von Rohr tweeted Wednesday. “Claas Relotius faked, he cheated on us all.” Journalists can’t just make up stories or publish falsities no matter how much you want to believe that is happening in Hollywood.

chrisdarebashfulsmiles answered: It’s amazing how is crystal clear that you never worked in a magazine or in a PR firm. I work since 2004 and I don’t need an article… I know how it works. We aren’t talking about WSJ and serious stuff. We are talking about gossip and showbusiness so don’t try to be smug because you are failing.

Have nice day/ night wherever you are. :) it’s evening here and I’m enjoying my free time.

bjpb8 Oh, my gosh who is this person. People thrive on gossip and “Rags”. IT SELLS. First begain with papers like En/quire, The Globe, etc. Then spread to SM with blinds. You think other magazines and papers do not want to make money. Everyone prints what sells depending on audiences. Embellishment is part of the trade. They want to catch your interest, which feeds right into what PR wants to sell! Tts a sybiotic relationship at best! It is just some are more talented at making what sounds like truth out of lies. Its called entertainment. You might want ro “read” about it.

The author of the Bustle interview has a master’s degree in journalism from CUNY New York so it is more like the wall street journal than it is the “website” you work for Valentina. Journalists have a degree in journalism.  Anyone can be a blogger - you’ve proved that. 

****Edit Edit Edit Edit *******

D/arren did not write that post! (X) 

12/19/18

ajw720 I have enough faith in Dar/ren Cri/ss personality and his respect and love for his fans to know that the comments attributed to him were not his.  I’ve seem this happen before…I’m sure many of you have, also.  Darr/en is stuck between a rock and a hard place right now.  When he finally writes a memoir about this time, he will let us know about his anquish, anger and remorse.  If one is a TRUE CC and Dar/ren fan, after years of roller-coaster rides via PR, et al…I will continue to take the advice of the person that runse THIS SITE.  “Trust the process…”

***********************************************************************

@geminess We have to trust the process and believe that C and D are working hard towards an ending to this absolute tragedy that is legally clean and does not jeopardize either of their careers.  

I believe in them, I cannot accept that D would ever willingly choose to represent himself in this manner and to continue this nightmare of a charade surrounded by utterly and completely vile, disgusting human beings.

Please, please, please may we be right.  I cannot repeat enough there is no alternative ending that is acceptable but D breaking free by ending this sham of an encage, severing ties with his inhumane team, and eventually coming out.  

And yesterday proved once again just how frightening the alternative is.  I would fear for his career and his life.  And it baffles and amazes me that anyone watching, even if you believe he is the straightest man alive, cannot see how harmful that article was.  It was like he used the LGBT+ community to win his awards and is now ready to dismiss them.

(X) 12/19/18

Anonymous asked: On the bright side, this means we’re coming to the end right?

ajw720 answered: Anon, we honestly don’t know, but we can only hope. If D extends his time with these assholes, it will be very ugly for him personally and professionally.

But logic seems to say that this article, the literally offends every fan but the blind and naive, is wholly unnecessary if in fact they are going to continue a professional relationships. And it did not just the fans, think about how many award voters they offended yesterday with that utter piece of crap.

Absolutely and utterly unreal. Hard to believe they are able to get away with working against their client at every turn.

Logic? One thing the cc fandom has proven in the last 10 years is that they do not understand or care about logic. 

12/24/18 (X)

ajw720 It’s interesting how there are such varying opinions on the “straight boy” article. And I think it comes down to 2 questions:

1. Do you believe D is a willing participant in his closeting?

2. Do you believe he actually said what the article alleges?

My answer to both is a resounding no (though he will be forced to validate the comments) and I have good reason to think this. But I certainly see why ones perspective is different if you answer one or both as yes.

This being said, no matter your answers to the above, I don’t see how it can be justified that he would dismiss b/laine in such a manner. And the timing, because I still think it makes him look like an ass and /or a coward as awards are voted for playing queer. And to repeat, I don’t think he should play queer again until his team is dismissed, so I’m not disagreeing with the premise, just the manner it was done, which again, I believe was without his consent.

Not posting to start a fight. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I clearly am not afraid to state mine, which is very reasoned and based on a lot of information I’ve collected.

Just interesting that some very intelligent people, all of whom believe he’s closeted, can vary so much in what they believe.

[chrisbangs]

so i guess i could type like a practical person for once……. maybe………. but i probably won’t so i apologize ahead of time……… anyway, so i hit? 1k…..? after remaking only 3 months ago... to me that’s pretty crazy because as a lot of my older mutuals will know, i remake like every 0.38 seconds because i’m annoying like that… to the people who’ve been here since forever (you know who you are) it means a lot that you’ve stuck with me through blog type changes (there’s like 1 or 2 of you who’ve just been around since The Beginning and wowza thank you for dealing with me like that ifnawoeiawoef)!!! and to the people who i’ve only recently become mutuals with i apologize cause at any second i will probably be like hee honk time to remake. to all of you, mutuals and followers, thank you for dealing with my stupid lame text posts about chan or my crazy ‘content creators deserve better’ campaigns!! thank you for interacting with me through dms, asks, even just liking my posts and being kind to me when i’m down- i really appreciate that. i’ve been using tumblr for a very, very long time, and tbh, i feel like its not until recently that i’ve found a group of people that i feel very comfortable and happy around. you guys are all so talented and funny and warm and friendly, and i’m so thankful for you guys in my life! thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your dash !!! i’m really grateful if you’ve ever enjoyed my content (gifs, gfx, etc.) and i hope i can continue to make your dashes and hearts bright whether it be through content or my stupid dumb (i hope funny) tags! i love you all!

(( if theres a 🖤 next to your name!! i’ve left a little message for you under the cut ;; v ;; !!! i hope you know how much i love and appreciate all of you! (i really didn’t proof read these so like… u know… just…….. i apologize foawinefoiwna) ))

@00hj 🖤, @1095, @19gf, @3rachha, @angelhyunjin​ 🖤, @binnieseason​, @binsungz​ 🖤, @boxerminho​, @changbeanie​, @chimneycloud​, @cosmicskz​ 🖤, @dhalfmoonbydean​, @f1owerlix​ 🖤, @huiracha​, @ilovedowoon​, @jedixuxi​ 🖤, @jinlix​ 🖤, @jisquish​ 🖤, @johfam​ 🖤, @kim-seungmins​ 🖤, @kim-woojins​, @kimwuujin​ 🖤, @kqngyounghyun​ 🖤, @luvknow​, @marriael​, @momowlw​, @mydays​, @noairmv​ 🖤, @naekkung​, @parkjinwoo​, @prodskz​ 🖤, @pouringmv​, @realstraykids​, @seofthours​, @seungminsmile​, @soohao​, @sk-z​ 🖤, @skzbffie​, @skzd​ 🖤, @stray-kids​, @straykisd​, @theminho​ 🖤, @uayv​ 🖤, @ultscb​ 🖤, @wayvgf​ 🖤, @yngbok​

@00hj​: hello karen! wow :( it feels like forever since we’ve been mutual… like i really cannot believe it’s been??? 7/8 months since we first became friends? like it doesn’t even feel that long. i know time flies and we’re at that point in our lives where every day just flashes by but :( even in those moments that do pass by, you’re always there making me smile. through your killer content or your funny jokes or those convos where we’re both just yelling abt how much we HATE group projects… its all fun :( you always make me smile and make me want to work harder. when i see how hard you work??? it just makes me want to work /that/ much harder. from your gfx to your gifs!! you are a pillar in this community and i am so honoured to be pals with u man faionwefoaie !!! to top that off, i feel like i can always ask you anything- any dumb questions i have abt making things, anything that’s just kinda eating at me, i feel like i can talk to you about it. you’re such a comfy place !! a comfy warm person !! and i love you dearly! i hope you get to kick back with jisung and hyunjin and enjoy a slice of pie!!

@angelhyunjin​: hello angi! my darling you work so so so hard! your art is always stellar and always wowing! i know sometimes you worry about posting, but please remember to put your health first;; its hard to think about yourself sometimes, i know, but remind yourself that !! to make smth nice, you need to be well first!!! anyway;; your art never fails to make me smile. like your style is sososo distinct and memorable?? and also?? you’re an amazing dancer!!! your covers are always so lovely and you do such a great job :( i can tell how passionate you are about things through both your art and your dance! thank you for always working hard and being kind to everyone around you! i love you dearly angel! hyunjin is sending his love!

@binsungz​: yooooo whaTS UP HOMIE FIAWNOFANWFO HELLO BABY!! MY WHORE PARTNER!!!!!!!! MY GIRL!!!!!!!!! literally what do i even say here that i haven’t already said to you??? you’re one of my closest friends online and you ALWAYS make me laugh. from talking abt nsfw things to cute things to minecraft and gaming!!! you always always get me !!! you just have a knack for understanding me?? and that’s just :( so appreciated!!!! you !!! are !!! amazing dude!!! ur gifs are always so clean; you’re one of the reasons i started working harder to make my gifs better bc you inspired me !! you’re always so kind and warm and loving ; and i can always talk with you abt sucking dicks or eating pussy like IT REALLY DO BE LIKE THAT !!!!!!!!! i was going through my old blog and i found those videos you did where you looked through my blog and when i heard your voice again and you being like ‘omg ur so funny’ i was ready to scream cause it was still so fuiowenaowieaoe fricking cute :(((( dude I LOVE YOU!!!! like you really are one of the kindest people in the world and i can’t stop !! saying !! how thankful!!! i am for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love you so much britt !! thank you for always dealing with me and being kind to me and just fjaoweifnaow you’re really the best :((( jisung and [redacted] love u but not as much as me ok foaiwneoaiwnfia ……..

@cosmicskz​: hello gumdrop!!! my love!!! thank you so much for always hyping – not just me- but everyone up!! you are sososo kind and so so so SO warm and cute and oawifenawo precious!!! please remember to take care of your health and of yourself too!! loving everyone around u is important but also take care of yourself TT TT !!! your content is also always so cute and thoughtful and you put 110% into everything you do ????? like !!!!!!!!  ma’am????? so talented and pure ;; ___ ;; like i don’t know how you do it but you do !!! also thank you for ALWAYS offering to look @ my work and give me advice etc etc!! i am so appreciative of it ;; also – i know i don’t always reply that often but !!!!!!!!!!!! i love you and i’m thankful that you’re so patient with me when it comes to dms fjaowiefnawoiefn TT TT you’re ! so ! lovely and sweet and i hope you know !! i’m here for you whenever you need !!! skz and i lovelovelove you!

@f1owerlix​: vale……….. vale………………. VALE……………………………. HELLO…………………. ??? i ??? can’t even find the words to tell you what you mean to me. i’d write a poem but its just gonna end up being long and i’d never be able to finish it bc i’d go back and keep adding bits and lines abt how you’re like the NICEST person in humanities history and that you’re just an all-around talented and wonderful person….. like….. are u KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!! she did that (that = being the kindest person EVER) you’re always using The Most amount of nicknames possible;; and it makes my heart so so so soft. not only that, but you’re also such a kind, genuine, warm person. i don’t know anyone who is as kind, and humble, and talented, and warm like you. i literally could list a billion wonderful things about you because you’re that frucaowienoawikingiawgo amazing…. dude like seriously…. we out here STANNING miss vale….. i was going through my blog a while ago and i saw this tag that was like ‘i got my vale fansite set up and we’re going to start making slogans and planning birthday events’ like past li had it right. you’re so kind and funny and warm and i always feel safe and comfy talking to you. i really appreciate the feedback you give me- because its always so thought out and GENUINE. like… you do this for EVERYONE… all the tags i read from you are so KIND and you always make ccs feel like they’re doing the best job ever…. like you really……. you really are an angel on this ea.rth…. huh….. also…? changbin is dropping by with flowers for you!!!!

@jedixuxi​: hello angel;; i hope you’re doing well!!! thank you for dealing with my blog change and staying mutuals with me regardless of content differing! thank you for always being kind and being patient with me- i know i don’t reply a lot but ;; you are a really good friend to me and i am so so so thankful;; you’re so sweet and warm and such a talented artist;; like everything you draw im always like fjawifeawoej :0000 !!!!! you really have so much love and warmth inside of you and !!! that’s why ur so tall ma’am.. foawiefnoaweifno :’( aaaa thank you so much beth for always being so warm to others; your brightness is like the sun on my dash and in my dms and you always make me smile or laugh its just ;; aofwienaiwneoi I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! and xuxi is also mailing his entire heart your way ok !!!

@jinlix​: hello madam ! hello to my lov e !!! my sweet lil gum drop !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hello KELLY!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my gosh hi bb :( thank you for everything you do; firstly, your gfx?? so incredible ok?? like i know your style immediately when i see it yet you always manage to surprise me?? like your work is so fucking GOOD. how does she do it :// like us plebeians will never kno and that’s how it fuckin be ig afoiwneoaiwnfeoawi ….. omg…. ok…. and like secondly??? youre always so humble and kind to other ppl??? like your tags on anyones work is always so so so so kind TT TT you always say the nicest things- and i still remember the tags you left on one of my very first skz gfxs … like you really made my heart flutter like that huh….. hm…. guess you’re an angel or smth like… that…. gmgamoweigna TT __ TT Kelly seriously you’re such a sweet heart? you love with all your heart and its so warm and soft and whenever you talk abt hyunjin im like jfjfaiweIFAIWo …. my heart !!!!!!!!!!! like he would totally be floored by your love bc of how soft u fuckin are oh ymgmymmym go d !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! anyway :( i love u so much and hope you’re well angel!! hyunjin is sending all his love your way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@jisquish​: ok here we go … ma’am… MA’AM… how do i even EXPLAIN the love i feel for u.. oh my gosh.. miss india.. you really exist like that.. like we STAN a whole ass legend huh… not only are you funny and smart and talented and kind and amazing?? you’re also just like.. the coolest bestest person in the world? like i still find it hard to believe you were one of my anons bc like… u just.. u r too … ://// cool… like i’m really just sitting here like… an idiot… from day 1 you’ve always been so fucking kind to me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you have just :( been so sweet and kind and just an all-around angel- and even if we only talk every now and then, i always feel so warm and happy whenever we do!! u know those ppl u don’t have to talk to 24/7 to know that there’s still a warm friendly hug waiting for you??? :(( yea you’re one of those people. you always always ALWAYS make me laugh like hfawoifenoawie :( hello how do u do this?? yet you also are so grounded and warm and understanding and like.. i can’t believe you’re also one of the most talented humans ever;; whenever i see your covers, i’m always like !!! wowowowo !!! you inspire me to work harder with my music and writing ;; you are such an angel :-( and i am so thankful for you! so so so so thankful!!! jeongin and changbin and jisung are sending all their love !!! and so am i bb !!!

@johfam​: if anyone deserves a thank you- it is you. miss nita… jejejsigaweg i feel like i’m gonna cry typing this so here we go…. you’ve been friends with me for more than a year now i believe :( i think we’ve actually hit our year since we became friends which is so wild to me?? you’ve been with me through SO MANY THINGS… like you’ve been my soundboard for so many things in my life.. i can’t believe we started talking bc a spider landed on your hand… and u stabbed ur own hand with a pencil.. like ig we have to thank that spider….. ghanwegoiawen….. you’ve really stuck with me through blog changes and through me being angry abt things and you’ve allowed me to be angry- which i appreciate so much.. you know me so well :// like… idk how you do it but you always make me feel safe and warm and like i can say anything to you and you’ll hear me out?? like oaiwnefaiwenof :( you just !! you’ve supported me so much through so many bad days and i can’t thank you enough. you are made of sunshine and stardust and your heart is literally the softest and warmest. thank you !!! for !!! always enjoying frogs with me and sending me cute frog things.. like.. :( it makes me SO happy that we can enjoy those lil squishy fuckers together.. also thank u for being my source of johnny content jfjawfieawio i’ve literally unfollowed every other nct blog and you’re one of the only ones left bc i still love johnny so much and seeing him on my dash- esp with your tags- makes me so so so happy;; thank you for everything you’ve done for me and !!! and for all the love you’ve given me :( and just for being there for me through some of the toughest places in my life;; i really love and appreciate you!!!!!!!!! johnny is sending his love and some kisses through the mail :’(

@kim-seungmins​: hfhawefaniow…………… hello dumm..y… :( u r the loml.. you’ve been there for me through so much shit in the short amt of the time we’ve been friends.. u were also one of my first friends in this fandom- and i’m so thankful you were bc we got really close during these last few months and it makes me so happy. you’re so funny and you always make me laugh!!! you give me so much confidence and happiness and you make me feel so warm and happy ;; !!!!!! you are a fajfowienawei whole ass angel who is always working hard both to make good content and in school. :( i’m so proud of you for all that you do dude like wowowwowo :( look @ you go ????? you’re also one of the funniest pals i have like u literally make me bust a LUNG laughing … like whenever i get any of my biases together in one screen i now literally think, without even pause, “abia voice: crumbs” likej faweiojaowefoi you’re such an icon!!!!!!!!! also?? like … you’ve just been s o kind to me and helped me with things that i’ve not talked to others with bc you never make me feel like i’ll be judged… like.. you’re so fucking understanding and warm and kind and considerate with how you reply; you always care and you’re just… :( u r angel or smth like that… i know i tease you and that’s kinda how i show my love but for real dude………………. i love u so much.. like if i could give you the whole world i really fucking would.. :( because you deserve nothing less!! thank u for always providing that good good seungmin content ;; seungmin and minho and woojin all told me to tell you that they love you!!!

@kimwuujin​: hello sugar drop!! thank you for being so kind and warm and always just !!! being so sweet :( you always tag me in funny/cute content and it’s always appreciated !!! i feel like i can always be dumb and say stupid soft things abt chan with you bc you’ll understand how i feel :((( you’re so sweet and i’m so glad we started talking more !! you’re not only like faoiwenfaowi incredibly cute and sweet but you’re also so so so so funny !!! :( like you make me laugh and aofwinewaoinoi i really appreciate that!! you’re also so grounded and understanding and !! you always know what to say and i’m really appreciative of the fact that you phrase things so well and eloquently- when will my dumbass ever- anyway fhawjeofaowein i love you with all my heart and hope you’re !! doing well sweetpea !!! chan and are yeeting every ounce of love we have for you to you!!!!!!!!!!!

@kqngyounghyun​: hello my love :( i can’t even remember the first time we talked bc it feels like its been so so so long; and through all of this time you’ve been one of my close friends who’s stuck around with me through so much. you’re always there, and always kind, and just always warm and friendly and a safe place to go. i love that we can bitch abt things with each other but also oiawenfowaie be super soft… but then also talk abt super nsfw things jfawieaoeif aofiwneoai you’ve always been so so kind to me and i really do appreciate it. thank you for sticking with me through all my blog changes and for always supporting me and my dumbassery;; i really hope you know how much i appreciate you and how much i love you! you’re such a hardworking person- like whenever you tell me abt the effort you’re putting in at school its just oifnawiefnaoi wowowow!!! you’re so amazing :(( !!!!! also, you were there for me during one of the Hardest Points In My Life- like a time when i really thought i was going to ofaiwneoiawen lose my mind bc of how much i was struggling……. but you seriously helped me get through that part of my life and i can never fully explain to you how thankful i am. but i love you so much and i’m so thankful. younghyun and i both love you to the ends of the earth ;; __ ;; !!!

@noairmv​: hello ! ! ! miss ai!! the loml!!! angel!! bb gumdrop!! jacob’s baby!!! all names we can use to refer to you!!! :( hello baby!! thankyou! for everything! for all you do! for all you are! you are always honest with me, always genuine, always kind and understanding. you do more than i could ever fucking ask for. i’ve told this to you before but, i think you’re the one person i can go to- without fail- for like.. real life advice… like things that i feel like i cannot ask anyone else, i can ask you. i remember when i was struggling financially i immediately went to you first to talk things through. you give me a lot of clarity and you help me understand my own thoughts and talking to you always puts things into perspective for me. you’re also always there to rant abt nsfw things with which is foaiwnefoaiwn so fun afnowienfao afjfaowefiao but also i get to be super soft with you which is also really :~( the best oof……… i love u so much…….. like, thank you for always looking @ my gfxs, and for always being supportive and understanding and giving me genuine advice. i love listening to you talk abt Jacob (and being rawed by others who are not … Jacob………… ahem………) aofiwnefoaiwno thank you for always being patient with me and for being so kind (and for always faowineoawi saying yes when i propOSE FAOIWNOAIWF ;;) you’re an angel (hee honk) from above and i will always be thankful for you in my life angel bean :( thank you so much for everything ai, i love you SO fucking much… jacob also loves u – he told me to tell u that !!!

@prodskz​: hello my love! ! ! ! i think i told you this once but!! my favourite kinds of relationships are those ones that have a good roast/love ratio!!! and i deeply feel that ours is that kinda relationship!!! no matter how many times we destroy each other aoiwnafienaiowe we’re always like ‘uwu anyway u r my baby’ 2 seconds later and foawinefoiane i love that!!! i love that you will send me 20 messages in a day and i’ll be like yoiNk i forgot but also let me reply to everything at once !! i love that you send me SO many skz memes throughout the day- they make me laugh so hard;; and also you always send me The Best Chan Pics so thank you for that fiawfenfoawienoiwe TT TT you’ve been so kind to me and so so so supportive of all my work ;; whether my gifs or my gfx or just my stupid posts- you are so supportive neha i :( i don’t even deserve the amt of love you give me but fjawoefawoe i ACCEPT ALL OF IT !!!!!!!!!! i’m such a dummy but please know that i love you WITH ALL MY FUCKIN HEART BABY!!!! you are so precious and talented and kind and funny and you are amazing !! like i mean it :( do not !! forget for a second how wonderful you are baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hyunjin would like to also remind you that he loves you to the moon and back (but i love u more ok)

@sk-z​: hi sweet pea !!! :’) i know we only started talking very recently but i already feel so close to you! i just wanted to say thank you for being there for me that night aofinweoianfew and thank you for always being a voice of reason; you’re so understanding and warm and !!! i really am floored but how kind you are!! i know i always say sorry and that’s ifonaweifnaio really just how i am but !! you really make me comfy and it feels easy to just say anything around you and not feel stressed out or judged?? like even things that i blame myself for, you help me see reason and feel better and i just :( i can’t thank you enough for that;; you’re so bright and warm and i really hope we get to continue talking for a long time angel!! i love you!!!

@skzd​: hi haleigh !! i know we haven’t talked in a while but you’re still one of my fav content creators!! even from back when i was an nctzen and we interacted there, to now over on these blogs!!! you’ve stayed such a constant in my life :( and you’ve honestly been nothing but supportive of me :( you’re always so kind whenever we do talk and you’re still one of the funniest people i know;; your tags will never fail to make me laugh;; i really appreciate your presence on my dash and i really want you to know all your content is so beautiful and appreciated;; :( you’re so talented my dude and i love you long time;; i really hope you’re doing well and taking care bc i do love you from the bottom of my heart angel!!! hyunjin is sending his love (and so am i !)

@theminho​: min my little gumdrop!! my sweet sugar bean!! my lil soft angel!!!!!!! hi angel!! :( darn i think you’re one of the ppl i’ve been following longest and oof… OOF.. like :( !! i’m so glad we started talking!! you always make me smile! you are so warm and thoughtful with your words. i’m not sure i know anyone who is as eloquent or as understanding as you. you just.. you really phrase things well. whenever we talk i !! i feel so grounded and like i know oafiwenoaw what you’re saying!! and you’re always so sweet and funny and expressive with what you say :( dude you’re just amazing ok!! and your gifs are always so so so beautiful like… omg…. WOW…. an angel huh TT TT ;; whenever i see your gifs or your tags i’m always so soft!! i’m so proud of you for working hard at school, and though i miss you!! i hope you’re spending your time resting when you get a chance and that school isn’t kicking your butt too much my love!!! i am so proud of you TT TT and i’m sending all my ‘fightings!!!’ and strength your way angel bean!!!! minho is also sending his love and energy!!!

@uayv​: hi darling!!! miss joyce! miss gfx queen! oh my goodness;; first of all- thank you for the BOMB ass content dude… your gfx… wowowowwo..w… secondly, thank you for sticking with me through a drastic blog change;; faoiwenfoaw i’m so glad that we’re still pals bc you’re one of those people that makes me laugh so hard from just your tags alone- and in dms i usually can’t stop smiling/laughing;; aoiwenfoiawenwa !!!!!! listen to me !!!!! the first time i found your blog was bc u rb’d one of my gfxs and left some of the nicest tags ever and i saw you had ‘gfx’ tagged in your bio so when i scrolled through your gfx and i was eMBARRASSED BC LIKE………… DUDE HOLY SHIT THIS PERSON HAD SOME OF THE BEST WORK I’D E V E R SEEN. i still think you are one of the MOST TALENTED GFX MAKERS EVER. you have so much of my respect and love and i wish i could aowiefnoawiefn give you … the whole world dude… awenfiawfeowia TT TT you are so kind to me whenever i ask for a second opinion on my gfx and you’re always so warm and funny- and your love for bread is so good- like i’m telling you whenever i see bread posts that aren’t from you i IMMEDIATELY either tag you or send them to you fawienoawien ;; you’re such a warm positive influence on my dash and in my life and i really love you from the bottom of my heart. i’m so thankful we’re pals bc you are a true angel and a true pal and just !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAA I LOVE U SO MUCH JOYCE OIANWFOIAWN TT TT (doyoung loves you loads too okay; he is sending big fat kisses ur way!)

@ultscb​: hi taryn!!! miss gif queen;; faoiwenfaown holy moly; you are such a talented person- but not only are you amazing at giffing ?? you’re also just ??? an amazing warm funny kind beautiful person??? like afnoiwnefowaienof hello?? you’re somehow always making me smile; whenever we talk or through your tags?? you’re just !! so !! lovely and fantastic and i!!!! really do love you!!! you’ve been so kind and warm to me and made me smile so much even if we don’t talk that often;; you always give me such kind feedback when you look at my work and it really foanwifeanwoe blows my ego into another dimension fanoweinaowienfao i love you so much angel!!! i hope you know that you’re an amazing and talented and funny and wonderful person! changbin is sending kisses !! (and so am i!!)

@wayvgf​: hi mara baby!!!!! :0 you are such a bright personality, whenever you’re excited ofiawneofai you’ll make like fawoniewi a bunch of posts back to back with 0 context and idk why that makes me laugh and feel so warm and happy- but the thought that someone who is so warm and bright exists really makes me so happy!!! you are literally the funniest and cutest person i’ve ever !! met !! you are so kind and warm and funny and idk man :(( you’ve just been very kind to me and listened to me rant abt some very dumb stuff faoiwnefoaiwne TT TT thank you for always dealing with that side of me, and for being so kind to me;; i know i always say this but : your nose is… really… afwioenaofiawoifwa the pinnacle of noses ok. u r s o cute :( and whenever i’m like “I LOVE MARA DOT ORG” i mean it !!! i love you SO much!!!!!!!!!!! you are such a fantastic, funny, hard working person and i love you SO much bb !!!!! hyunjin also loves u but :/  i love u mos t.

[martinlawless]

Velo-Schils BMCR Double Circuit Races

2 x Cat ABCD races 9 May 2021 Northern Gateway Sports Park, Colchester

The Northern Gateway Sports Park is a rubbish name for a really good brand new facility on the edge of Colchester. It features a one-mile cycle circuit loop. The Velo-Schils BMCR races there caught my eye as it was a chance to check it out.

This would be my first BMCR race and partly a plan to focus more and more on veteran’s racing, with a view to having a good go at some of the Vet 50+ races next year. The 30 spaces filled up pretty fast and I scanned the start list beforehand and did a crude calculation of who I might be able to get the best of, and who was better than me. My slide rule suggested I would be 14th.

I packed well in advance. It’s nice to feel prepared. However, with 48 hrs to go, my rear wheel decided to fail. It is on its last legs. Or maybe even finished. Luckily, a word out through Strava and I had several offers of a spare wheel. I also found time to see Richard in Ashwell for some TLC on the wheel to patch it up as best as could be done.

The drive over is quite long, but it’s very easy and I’m there without fuss. The facility is really new. It reminds me of Lee Valley Velodrome in some ways: layout and general buzz. The circuit has a similar vibe too.

The loop is really quite straightforward, making it fast. The bends are mostly gentle, it’s as good as flat, so every corner is attacked at speed. It is a flatter version of the Lee Valley circuit, without the dead-ish corner at the far end. An MK Bowl-Lee Valley lovechild. It does have an oddly sketchy chicane - near the finish line too. In itself not a bad challenge, but the run off is into chunky gravel and pretty certain disaster if you need to ride into it. I would recommend they fringe it with some safer rideable edges. Like they have at Lee Valley.

I arrive in good time, register and pin up and get a good 20 minutes easy rollering in. Mostly to wake the driving legs up. It’s warm with a light breeze for the first race. This would be a double race event. Each half-hour race, half an hour apart. I have brief chats with CC Luton’s Matt who I met at the Ashwell chaingang a few weeks ago. And I get to congratulate Valentino on his great 6th place at last weekend’s Hog Hill race. I twiddle away in the car park whilst watching the 60+ age category race and hope I’ll be as fit and fast as those guys one day in the future.

We set off on a neutralised lap. We’re going clockwise. I hear later that British Cycling won’t approve the course to go anti-clockwise. But can’t work out why. Going clockwise means hitting the chicane hard near the finish line and adds considerable drama.

We glide over the start line, the flag goes and we’re off and full gas. As I’ve literally never raced a millimetre of the nice tarmac, I choose to tuck inside the bunch for the first few laps to try and figure out the best lines. It’s a northerly wind and I get into a gliding rhythm of drifting from one side of the bunch line to the other in search of shade from the breeze. At times, the bunch seem indifferent to the optimal protection from the wind, which is good news to me. I find out that the first left bend is too tricky to try and jump on the inside. It’s too tight and you lose all your speed. The far bend that brings on the return leg is gentle and swooping and quite easy to find the right line except for when you get over the rise where you need to be careful not to clip off the left edge of the track. There’s a significant drop in height to the left. If you come off the track here, it would be interesting to see if you could claw back on OK.

The return leg of the lap is gentle in curve. This will most often be a headwind and possibly where a break would most commonly be made or consolidated.

Then, turning to the lap start/finish, there’s a chicane. If you’re not being observant, it will catch you out and you’re off into the heavy gravel stuff. Past here and it’s a dash to the line. Really short.

After a short while I’m conscious of the burn I’m making being at the back. Too much braking and surging. Wasted watts. I try and climb higher into the bunch and have an easier time. I notice many riders are not carrying a bottle but I do - to keep the airways clear and cool and to swig and signal when you want to communicate you’re not going to push hard on the front.

There are some great riders in the mix and I am aware my chances of any success lies in keeping it a bunch and going long at the end. There are some brave moves at a breakaway. But everyone is too fresh to let anything go. Having said that, in to the last lap and one rider has a certain gap while we others chase down the rest of the places. I have a good go at things with half a lap to go and find myself in a decent position where there’s good momentum. It seems it won’t be a slow - then manic surging - finish. My least favourite race finish. We swoop the final corner and everyone is pretty locked into their position. I have a clean run in and am happy to come in 10th, 4th in Age Category (B, 45-49).

We clear the course, there’s a bit of banter and I make my way back to the rollers for 10 minutes to keep the legs turning ahead of race 2. It’s now hotter. The bike computer is saying 26 degrees, with heat bouncing off the tarmac. It’s also significantly windier.

Fresh energy drink. Another gel. A little chewy bar. An apple. We’re off into race 2. I can feel the lack of freshness this time but also know that others will feel it too. It’s a relaxed start and one guy goes rogue over the chicane and cuts across the course, to prove his cyclo-cross skills and maybe to make a point on this pokey-out bit. Laughter over, it dials up. Soon, it’s hot wattage again. I feel like I’m in the Ashwell chaingang, “lap 3”, where it’s biting but doable. I can feel we’re dropping riders here and soon start to see some on the opposing part of the track. But I’m doing OK and enjoying learning the curves. At one point I see Valentino and a few others consolidate a break and think that looks good. I breathe in a make a burst over to them. I’m pleased to have made the leap. Unfortunately, my effort wasn’t quite a clean break and I pull the bunch with me too much. But, I’m pleased to have been able to apply this effort without too much trouble.

Fresh legs. My strategy to get to today with fresh legs looked like this:

Sunday, hard short Zwift crit, full beans for 22 mins.

Monday, easy 2.5hrs road ride

Tuesday, hard Ashwell chaingang, 1 hr 15 mins

Wednesday, hard Ashwell 10m TT, 23 mins 40 secs.

Thursday, nothing really. Home-made 40 mins HIT gym session, + 5k light run.

Friday, 20 miles easy morning tailwind ride. Was thinking about a Zwift crit too, but exhausted by a stressful day at work.

Saturday, nothing. Sports physio in the afternoon.

Sunday, racin’. 48hrs of fresh legs.

I enjoy the level-headedness of my co-riders. No stoopid moves. Though one rider does lurch to the left and I have to be evasive to avoid getting chopped. A Rapha CC rider observes this and raises his eyebrows at me and laughs, while I roll my eyes invisibly from behind my fancy new shades. Drama - but no drama - sort of thing. Grown ups.

OK. Last few laps. I don’t quite know how, but I read the lap counter wrong. On reflection, I may have read “3 laps to go” as the sign was being put out - not to announce it was actually “3 laps to go”. Anyway, for whatever reason, when I see the Colourtech rider, followed by the nippy Stow CC rider ping off the front with what I think is the final lap, I go with. I cross the line and hear the bell and don’t see the chequered flag. Oops. Racing is planning and opportunism. What to do now? Without much thought, I figure, I may as well give it full beans and see what happens. There are no points to score this season. Colourtech chap is significantly ahead and not interested in teaming up. Stow CC fella is burning up fast and I’m catching him. But I’m frazzling quickly too. The bunch are around 8-10 bike lengths behind. Into the headwind and I can see and feel this is a desperate attempt to beat the bunch. They are not relenting and I am dipping below 25mph. This is hopeless.

Stow elbows me to take the front but my help is feeble. Into the final big bend and I can hear the wheels of the bunch. I’m pedalling squares in the final short sprint and swamped. 11th, 4th in Age Category again (B, 45-49). Ah well. I had a go. This might have worked if I had been allowed to escape with half a lap to go. Something to think about for another time. It was good to pressure the bunch and I will think about such a move again in the future. I need to use my TT more in races.

Race over. We’re all done. I say bye to Mark, Valentino and several other of my competitors for the day and get home without fuss. I think about a celebratory McDonalds from the one opposite the park, but the 40 car queue puts me right off an it’s a bobbins Wild Bean Cafe BP garage americano and a banana and clementine from my food bag instead.

I look forward to more adventures here and more BMCR racing too.

Strava links: https://www.strava.com/activities/5266417763 https://www.strava.com/activities/5266971821

[tony-fftcg-logs-blog]

TTT Locals: 14.05.19 - Ice/Earth Control

I’ve been meaning to create a tournament log for a while to log my games and make note of things that I thought went well, and things that didn’t.  This is the first of what will be many posts going over my experiences at the tournaments I participate in. I have been developing and testing Ice/Earth since the beginning of Opus 8, and I showed up today with a decklist I am fairly confident in.  I’ve been testing and theory crafting pretty heavily in regards to all of the different nuances and options that Ice/Earth offers, and I think I’ve finally found a good mix of plucking resources out of my opponent’s hand via discarding, and controlling the field in a meaningful way.  Here’s the decklist I ran tonight: https://ffdecks.com/deck/5974004292648960

Today was 4 rounds of swiss, and my overall record was 2-2.  Here’s what transpired:

Round 1: Ice/Earth mirror - WIN

It’s always exciting playing the mirror match.  Ice/Earth is such a versatile archetype, which leads to a variety that you wouldn’t see in any other archetype.  My opponent was playing a discard heavy deck, utilizing cards like Serah, Sephiroth and Glasya Labolas to make sure I have little to no hand to work with.  My opponent was able to pressure my hand really well, but I ended up playing conservative enough and keeping enough cards in hand to not allow their Sephiroth to lock down my board state.  I was able to get an early Scale Toad on them, and that mixed with Flan, Sephiroth, and Genesis, I was able to keep on a similar level of pressure.  My opponent ended up bricking on backups while I was able to flourish, which ultimately led to my victory in the matchup.

Round 2: Mono Earth FFXV - LOSS

This is a matchup I have little experience with, and the lack of experience mixed with playing one of our strongest local players led to a pretty convincing loss.  They were in control the whole match, getting a lot of value off of a turn 1 Noctis into a turn 2 Gladiolas.  The early Noctis made playing Scale Toad and/or Flan early a difficult decision, because it wouldn’t take much to wipe them off the board with his special.  That pressure mixed with excellent value off of damage made this a hard matchup to get anything going in.  My opponent ended up getting both copies of Wol, Shantotto, Veritas, Minfilia, and a few other useful cards into my damage zone.  That mixed with a few poor plays on my end resulted in a loss.  I’ll definitely be thinking more about this matchup, because I have a feeling that this is something I’ll be seeing outside of my local community.

Round 3: Moogles - WIN

This matchup was disgusting.  My opponent played well, but I started with an early Garland (IX) they never found an answer to, slammed a Veritas on the table when he finally played a forward, and carried an insane amount of momentum to make this a 7-0 shutout.  One of my favorite plays that came out of this matchup was getting my opponent down to a Veritas on board, and me using Rinoa to flicker my own Veritas, killing their copy, which chained into killing mine to remove a backup of theirs.  It was brutal, but hey, these kinds of games happen from time-to-time.  I did get to play another game with this person which ended up being a lot closer, and they ended up winning due to a bone-headed move on my part.  Note to self: Never waste Wol’s ability to make your forwards unable to be targeted by EX Bursts, even on the 6th damage.

Round 4: Ice/Water Value - LOSS

This is honestly the hottest deck of the night.  My opponent is one of the many well-regarded players at a local and national level, and they hit me with some real hotness.  Turn 1 Agrias flipped into a Brahne, and was followed by a 2CP DGS.  My deck doesn’t handle early aggression well like this, and that coupled with Leila/Viking and backups that kept my board state locked down, it was over pretty quick.

Deck Analysis: The Good and the Bad

While I went 2-2, this is the most consistent my deck has ever felt in my experience playing it.  Veritas was the MVP, but it always has and will be.  If Square Enix and Hobby Japan instate a limited/semi-limited list, I expect him to be on there day 1.  Garland (IX) was fantastic as well, and him mixed with Veritas in the early game is absolutely disgusting  Miner ended up being a huge value in the deck as well due to recursion of Veritas, or any other key forward I needed to make some ridiculous plays happen. 

I’ve been a champion of Ark Angel TT since I saw the card in pre-release, but honestly this is the most underwhelming it’s felt in any iteration of Ice/Earth I have run in the past.  I suspect this is due to Veritas being a 3-of, which it normally has been a 1-of in the past, but I think I’m going to need to move away from Taru Taru if I want to push this deck even farther.  Luminous Puma never felt useful either since I was never sitting on 5 consistent backups, and that’s generally the time I would play it.  Gumbah is also a silly meme card, but in a matchup where Veritas is featured heavily, I do expect it to be extremely useful to have on board.  Epitav never saw the board, but is an excellent, basically 1CP backup that I could use to ramp into another play due to Undead Princess being just as good, if not better in the break zone.  I always ended up getting both of my copies before doing anything with Epitav, but I think he’s still worth including for now.

Changes

-2 Ark Angel TT: Taru Taru never felt as valuable as it used to be in the deck.  This card could easily be replaced by the likes of Cid Raines, Lasswell, or any other forward that could provide more immediate value.  Lasswell might be a poor choice due to the smaller amount of ice characters in the deck, but we’ll see.

-1 Luminous Puma: I never got the value I wanted out of it with it being in the deck.  I used it one time to get Veritas and Snow out of my break zone, which in itself is a reason worth using it, but I found myself pitching it to play cards more often than not.  It’s a great card that I would love to have in the deck, but I feel like I need Galdes in the deck to consider having it in future builds of Ice/Earth.

+1 Garland (IX): This card is huge for this deck.  Similarly to Veritas, I find myself wanting a 3rd copy for the sake of getting it into my hand sooner rather than later.

+ 2 Noctis 7-077L.  After seeing an Ice/Earth player find success with this card at the Water CC, and after overhauling my backup line to be primarily Earth, I think this card has a lot of potential to slow down the tempo of certain matchups that I would normally fall over and die in.  Replacing Ark Angel TT with Noctis does skew my curve a bit into the heavier side, but with my sweet spot sitting around having 3 backups on board, this might not be a bad call.  It’s worth testing, for sure.

Suspect Cards

Kam’lanaut: It’s great for fixing my backup line with Chaos if I need it, and it’s great for pulling a Veritas into my hand.  I’m not 100% sold on having it back in the deck right now, but it definitely serves a purpose.

Glasya Labolas: I found myself wanting Hecatoncheir so many times with Veritas on board.  That’s what the replacement would be if I went that route, but the 7000 damage to a dull forward, the freeze, and the discard are HUGE for this deck.  The jury is out on this decision for now.

Goblin: This card is SO useful when I need it, but is completely passable if I have a Flan and Scale Toad on the board.  I’m still keeping it in for monster fixing, but it’s definitely suspect.

I hope this gave you some insight on what happened tonight!  Seeing all of the variants of Ice/Earth out there has been really exciting to me, but I think what we saw at the Water CC is where this archetype should be headed.  My decklist is getting dangerously close to being a carbon copy of that deck, and with good reason.  Instead of focusing on either discard or control, it does both well.  I like what I’m running just a BIT more than what was played at the CC, mainly because it’s able to get more consistent discard up and running, and still controls the board in a fairly convincing way.

My next big tournaments are going to be the Acen win-a-box tournaments this weekend, and the Local Qualifier happening in Iowa next weekend.

I’ll be bringing this list to Acen with me for the win-a-box tournaments that will be hosted there, I’ll be spending a ridiculous amount of time and money at the Cystore popup, and trying to mingle with all the iM@S producers that will be there.  As much as I love this game, I’m a weeb first ;)

Thanks for reading!