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tohwitchesduels · 2 months ago

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SEMI-FINALS OF WITCHES DUELS - Battle 42: Luz Noceda vs Hunter The Golden Guard

Disclaimer: This is not a popularity contest or which character you prefer, in this tournament, you decide who is stronger/better/smarter/etc. opponent.

A longer disclaimer because I don't trust this fan base: please do not use your headcanons on what their relationship is like to you to determine the winner of this battle. I don't care if you see them as siblings or lovers or whatever, canonically they're just good/close friends, so when taking into consideration who wins don't go with the route of "because she's an annoying little sister she will win" or "he's too much in love with her to not fold because of her" none of that please, both of them have already their attitude explained in propaganda and both take this battle seriously so I'm asking for you when voting to do the same.

Also none of the racist white boy favoritism either (adding this because it's a serious issue and frankly the only thing I have on Hunter's side as usually people ridicule and infantilize Hunter so much to make Luz seem like a superior sibling or lover). Make your choices as objective as possible taking into account what happened in the show, not what you told yourself inside your head or once again your preferences and internal biases. This is a witch's duel, not sibling shenanigans or Romeo and Juliet, I specifically didn't include any of those headcanons here (Except for the tag of Hunter Noceda) so they wouldn't be taken into account as I don't care what you like or prefer, none of this has a place here, so also no discourses in the tags about whether or not it's a ship post or sibling post as it's neither. If I catch anyone not following this extra-long disclaimer you're blocked and not allowed to ever vote in this tournament again.

But I will forgive potential misclicks as long as you come forward with it being an actual misclick.

information for both opponents under the cut to those who don't know what they can do in their battle:

Because both of their profiles are large, I will just explain their motivations while the specifics of their moves will be linked in their names.

Luz Noceda

Luz Noceda, the protagonist of our story, is one and only. Unlike other competitors, Luz is a rare example of a jack of all trades who does not specialize in one specific magical track and studies all of them. Normally, Luz specializes in glyphs but according to the lore of my own tournament which happens after the final battle with Belos, Luz no longer has access to glyphs. However, she now does have a magical staff that allows her to still be able to cast spells just fine as proven by Owlbert in Young Blood, Old Souls. Now, since my rules specify how at times you're not allowed to use palismen in the battle, Luz is capable of avoiding this rule thanks to String Bean's shape-shifting nature, as String Bean possibly could transform into an accessory that would allow Luz to cast a spell like everyone is none the wiser, or maybe even shape-shift into an instrument to mimic bard magic (even though Luz has no vibration based spells). Outside of that Luz would also have access to some other supporting artifacts.

The number of spells she has will be right here, so here you go

Luz has never won against Hunter every time they battled, but you know what they say, the third time's a charm right? Luz knows that Hunter is not going to be easy to take down, especially now that he could potentially take her as a serious threat so now she's more determined than ever to put everything on the line and give it her all because she knows that if she won't, then there's no chance of winning against Hunter.

When it comes to Luz's fighting style, she in general prefers to outsmart and outpower her opponents with the raw strength of her magic. Luz has come far ever since she started to learn magic, currently with String Bean by her side she certainly is now more accustomed to spell-casting. Luz is quite proficient with magic now coming up with new creative ways to utilise her magic. She also now has more experience in combat meaning she's more willing to take down her opponents head-on. Luz can however be pretty reckless and impulsive when approaching her opponents, biting more than she can chew and sometimes jumping without thinking. Luz can however be quick on her feet and easily recover and come up with new ways to get an upper hand during battles.

Luz now possesses her own palisman as we all know it which happens to be none other than String Bean. String Bean showed that with her presence, Luz could be even stronger than she used to be, and Luz had plenty of experience with Owlbert beforehand to know how to use a witch's staff. Luz is a true aerial ace as Eda's Requiem episode proves as she could've won the race if it wasn't for King. She of course also knows how to correctly cast spells with staff alone and can use it in combat. String Bean also has a unique shape-shifting ability, allowing her to take on features of other creatures and use them to her advantage. Granted she can't change size with the ability so all animals will be miniature, but it can come in handy nonetheless, and she could change String Bean into other objects (like jewelry or instruments) in case she can't use witch's staff.

Luz shall be allowed a multitude of tools to help her out during battles. One of them happens to be a crystal ball from her oracle class. Luz can use it to conjure up a single ghost that can be used to help Luz aid in the battle and also predict Luz's future. The ghost is usually chill but rather helpful. It's intangible meaning it's immune to physical attacks for the most part (but can be dispelled with special attacks) and can phase through solid objects to get to its opponents and be capable of touching them to inflict harm.

Another tool Luz would be allowed to use is tea leaves from oracle class which would also help her learn about her opponents, what they're capable of, and what they're going to do.

Luz is also equipped with a training wand in case she needs another source of magic to cast spells from. It's like a hidden dagger if someone would take her sword (as in her staff, I'm clearly alluding to Sasha Waybright's example) away.

Another tool Luz is free to use is her iconic bat which Luz can use for offensive purposes. Luz is allowed to have and use other weapons like a mace and a sword to aid her in the time of her need.

And of course, how could I not forget that Luz also has fireworks to help her in a fight to add more to her firepower.

While Luz doesn't have beast-keeping magic at all, she does seem to have an affinity to be able to tame most of the wild beasts as presented throughout the entire show with her knowledge and attitude. This means Luz is not really affected much by beast-keepers sending animals in her direction unless they're directly under the command of their masters (as in like pets. Sometimes some beasts are untamed and would not follow even the beast-keeper).

Luz also has brought snakes to her battle as she managed to tame them just enough so they would not attack her but certainly would attack her opponents. They're not venomous though considering now pressed any charges when Luz brought them to school. She will bring a few of them.

Another animal that Luz would bring with her to the battlefield are spiders. They're mostly used to just scare people during the fight by pouring them all over her opponents. Can be used as a great distraction. She has quite a large number of them and she can even naturally attract them as seen in TtT. The spiders are also not harmful and Luz is not phased by them either.

Smoke Potion - Another tool Luz would be granted to use is a smoke potion she could brew as seen in the First Day. Luz could potentially utilize it as a smokescreen or suffocation attempt.

Hunter The Golden Guard:

Hunter "Insert your preferred surname/s for him", also known as a former and the youngest Golden Guard in history, head of the Emperor's Coven, Emperor Belos's right-hand man. One must know that unlike other contestants (aside from Luz) he's not constricted to specific covens and tracks since as a former leader of the coven that allows all kinds of magic, Hunter will have expertise in all types of coven magic as well, and he's also very dedicated to studying wild magic.

Hunter himself was also known as a genius teen prodigy and is undeniably a child soldier who was raised by both hell and the library to get to the very top. While he was born magicless, it did not stop him from earning his title as the right-hand man of the most powerful witch of the Boiling Isles. Hunter spends days and nights both training and learning everything about magic both as a duty and as fun. He's incredibly knowledgeable regarding all kinds of magic, meaning it's hard to actually surprise him with anything. And since he's a child soldier raised in a magical military with no magic by himself, Hunter had to survive hell even worse than some of the adults that also were part of this coven went through, and he survived it all. Hunter has already been to countless witches' duels beforehand, he made it several times through a maze full of traps, and judging by how he calls getting from the top to the bottom of the mountain alive "a classic", this might as well suggest that this Hunter's version of "summer camp", as he did that numerous times and he considers it "fond memories". Hunter without a doubt has the most experience among all participants when it comes to battling, because you know Belos never gave him a break or easy time and for Hunter to be where he is today is all thanks to his own strength, intelligence, and resilience.

Hunter has defeated Luz with no effort every time they battled, and after getting to know Luz long enough he now knows all of her potential tricks and tactics even more so. Hunter recognizes both strengths and weaknesses of Luz, he knows how reckless yet talented she can be, what are her spells and tricks and how they work and since he was a trained soldier, he knows how to exploit her weaknesses and what's the best way to counter her strengths. On one hand, Hunter knows Luz takes this seriously and she shouldn't be taken too lightly, but he can't help it considering how effortlessly he managed to fight her off previously and how Luz still makes at times similar mistakes. Nonetheless, he is willing to give her the fight of her life.

Hunter certainly has one of the strongest wills among all characters in TOH, as despite going through a ridiculous amount of pain, he is capable of brushing it off and pushing forward, with his only weakness being Belos. Hunter's willpower was even able to withstand Gus's trauma bubble which specifically puts you through your worst memories and even renders you useless, but Hunter resisted its effect and calmed Gus down instead, despite his pain being very fresh and severe and Hunter in fact not being ok with it, but Hunter keeps on going anyway. One must know it's very hard to break him, trust Belos, he tried but didn't succeed. Hunter even managed to resist Belos's possession for some time, which is a lot considering Belos was his abuser and had power over him metaphorically and physically in that moment.

Hunter displayed throughout the series to have some great athletic skills and agility, being able to keep up pace with running Luz without breaking a sweat while proving he has experience in parkour and acrobatics as seen in him flying on staff. Certainly, he can use his skills to evade incoming attacks with his reflexes while keeping up with his opponents and close distance between him and his enemies. He also has plenty of brute strength at his disposal as well, considering he managed to shatter falling debris by just swinging his staff in one hand.

Hand-To-Hand Combat - Hunter has proven to be efficient in hand-to-hand combat throughout the series. While Hunter overall plays more on defense as a protector rather than offense, he is not afraid to throw a punch. This post goes more in-depth about Hunter's proficiency in staff-wielding, but I will explain some of it here too. Hunter as a trained soldier and experienced martial artist has his body be his weapon. He knows how the body works and has great control over it. He defeated both Luz and Eda in his debut with a quick kick while evading their attack, straight-up toyed with Kikimora, and had to be put to sleep to be restrained by coven scouts as he was still fighting and kicking. This also gives him a huge advantage against other competitors who are used to fighting across distance, whereas Hunter fights at a close range.

Back in EC Hunter learned how to be smart, resourceful, and strong, and as I've mentioned before multiple times, he's a child soldier. His opponents usually underestimate him, but he's not the one to be crossed. His victories compromise of defeating Eda and Luz on 2v1 in his debut; immediately defeating Luz in HP once he's recovered; defeating Kikimora in HP; and Tying with Amity in EL after being physically and mentally exhausted, in 2v1 with King (who was rather defeated by Hunter in this duel), while wielding a completely new staff and restraining himself to not kill her but just getting the key; winning flyer derby game on his first try; catching Darius off-guard (which is a feat with Darius's great reflexes); making a strong glyph combo on his very first try; resisting Gus's trauma bubble; kicking ass during Hexside against EC battle; he was defeated twice by coven scouts, which while fair, was also due to his poor condition and the second time he had to be put to sleep to be restrained; handling abomatons and scouts with rest of the Hexsquad during S2 finale; standing his ground and protecting Hexsquad from Belos while being severely weakened in KT; breaking through Willow's vines in FtF with his freshly awakened powers.

Hunter now is sub-merged with Flapjack meaning he does not require staff anymore to cast spells as magic now comes from within. What's more, I allow Hunter to also levitate/fly without the help of any staff. This is more of a fanon ability, but it's supposed to connect him to having the powers of a palisman (but no, he can't turn into a staff, nor is wooden) and abilities of a palisman are usually just enhanced abilities of the holder, meaning flight is in capacity of any witch, but all of them utilise staff since flight on its own is probably hard spell to pull off, but Hunter should do just fine for the sake of this tournament.

It's worth mentioning that Hunter will not be affected by Sleeping Smoke effects as he knows how such a spell works and would not be fooled by it.

And now finally, let's talk about his staff. For the purposes of this tournament, I will give Hunter Waffles. You know Hunter is the best staff wielder in the entire tournament only rivaled by Luz. I already mentioned how Hunter is absolutely proficient with his staff, utilizing it for both offensive and very effective strikes and flawless defense. Hunter is also a real aerial ace capable of flying at high speeds with agility to dodge attacks and is capable of even surfing on his staff as demonstrated when he showed off in ASIAS. His flying skills were also decisive in both forming EE and winning their very first game together.

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