SIDELINE REPORT: Nemion Oceanics vs Pelgar Mystics

This week, the Sphyr and the Judwan faced off on the Pitch. My friend Dan had not played his Judwan in quite some time and wanted to bring them out. They are a nicely painted team and it was good to see them back in the game. I decided to try out the Sphyr, and though I had seen them played before and played against them, it was my first time as their coach.

The Setup

Yellow - Judwan Strikers, Dark Blue - Sphyr Guard, Light Blue - Sphyr Jack, Green - Sphyr Striker

I set up in a pretty aggressive forward formation. Dan countered with a fairly standard defensive formation, except for the one strike are off to the side, assumingly  place there in order to be able to get to the ball later.

 The first rush went pretty well for the Sphyr. I ended up getting my guard to slam one of the outside defenders on the three point strike zone out of the way. While at the same time using a striker  to both assist with the slam, by threatening the Judwan player, and setting himself up to catch the ball. I easily got the ball through it to my other Striker, and scored a three point goal.

The second rush saw my opponents players head down the pitch and attempt to move my players out of the way for a three point strike. Just to not go as easily as he had planned, as his Feint actually ended up having him slammed onto the ground. My opponent ended up settling for a one point strike.

*Sigh*

I could go rush by rush at this point and describe what happened, but honestly it was a comedy of errors on my part -  I missed three strike attempts and flubbed picking up the ball once. That pretty much cost me the game.  On my opponents part, it was slowly moving down the pitch, moving my  players out of the way, and scoring three point strikes.  The job one finally ended up winning by a landslide in the 10th rush.

 In no way am I trying to take away from my opponents abilities. He played a pretty flawless game. He utilize the abilities the Judwan have to throw long distance and score 2 great advantage. Plus, he is experienced at using Feint like a pro. He won the game fair and square.

My dice were on a cold streak. Oh well, such is life.

"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear eats you." - the Stranger, The Big Lebowski

What did we learn:

• The Judwan are still quite a viable team. Now, take that with a grain of salt of course, because it will entirely depend on your opponent. The matchup against the Sphyr is actually a pretty good one for the Judwan.
• The Long Arms ability never ceases to amaze me. It is just fantastic. 
• The Sphyr all right quite remarkable team, even though I lost, I could tell that there potential is near limitless. They are like a human team, but with a couple of extra tricks, and Movement 6.
• Both teams in this game head Movement 6. Movement 6 is where it's at. 
• Tail vs the Judwan is useless.  OK, not entirely useless. I realize that it would be great if one of them were trying to steal from you, but being honest, I never had a single rush where that was even an option for them. There was always a time for me to attempt a strike -  I never had the ball on their rush. Wished it worked against Feint.
• Feint - in the hands of a skilled (and averagely lucky) player, this ability is really good, and very hard to counter. 

TEAM: Pelgar Mystics (Judwan Team)

Pelgar Mystics (Judwan Team)
Reviewed during Season 4 for DBO only

Strengths: 
Master Strikers - I don't know that you could ask for more in a Striker (and still want some game balance). Long Arms alone makes the Judwan amazing--it is a crazy good ability. Being able to reliably Throw the ball farther than any other team is a major advantage.

Misdirect - A way for Strikers to clear lanes, awesome! Man, this ability truly gets under your skin when you are playing against Judwan. It is frustrating in the extreme. Even with the Speed reduction, they can really manage a lot of board control using this ability, especially against a non-dexterity oriented team.

Weaknesses:
Bunches of Broken Bones - When you lose a Judwan, they are often out of the game! I know it is just me, but it seems that when they begin to drop to a bashy team, they drop like flies. Especially considering they have a Striker's armor check, and only average on the Dodge rolls, they are not a team that like to get hit.

Extra Pointless - No 2 or 4 point goals. This does not hurt their game too much, but it is definitely a drawback to playing the Judwan--and such an odd drawback too.


MVP Recommendations:
I will keep this short and sweet: 
ANY GUARD! 
I REPEAT, ANY GUARD!

:-)


Overall: 
In my opinion, the Judwan should have been play-tested a whole lot more before release. The initial Speed they had made them unstoppable, bending the distance for Throwing rules is clunky, and the "no extra point" thing just seems weird. Having said all that, the Pelgar Mystic are fun to play, and after the Speed reduction, not infuriating to play against. They are a solid team if your play style is board control and Scoring only.


Grade:
A -