(2) Harris D'Artainian vs. (7) Kheldar Drasinia
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2007 12:57 am
Date: TBA
Time: TBA
First Duel: TBA
Second Duel: TBA
Third Duel: TBA
Results: TBA
Random Insight:
If Vanion vs. Art is the battle of the new blood, then Harris vs. Kheldar is the battle of the old blood. Both have long and impressive histories in the rings across all disciplines, and both took very solid victories in the first round. Unlike the new blood, whose volatility will be the main draw, the pleasure of watching the old blood face off is in the art of the duel: following the exchanges of two battle-hardened minds locked in conflict from discipline to discipline, savoring the flavors of each discipline's unique interactions and strategies. The Magic duel favors Harris, who has more experience with the energies that flow through that particular battleground, and who has been seen regularly practicing this discipline in order to return to peak performance after his hiatus. This practice seems to have born fruit for him, as he polished off Wyheree, the Keeper of Water, in their first round Magic duel 5-2.5, no mean feat. Kheldar has not been to the Isle recently to my knowledge, but his efforts in the Tour, long ago as they were, were quite respectable considering the field he fought against. He also made an impressive showing in the first round in Magic, beating G 5-1.5, but G has had little experience with Magic and as such the win's glory is somewhat sullied by this fact. Therefore, while I predict Harris will win the Magic duel, Kheldar's solid play so far makes me concede that it will not be by much. Fists, on the other hand, is less predictable. Both Harris and Kheld took close, but unexpected, losses in this discipline in the first round, even as they took wins in disciplines their opponents were favored in. Thus, I am inclined to conjecture that both are focusing on the Swords and Magic disciplines to cement their victory, and not as much on Fists. Therefore, I think it will be the one who carries their focus into Fists more strongly that will take the match in his favor. Swords, however, will be the most interesting of the duels, if not the most influential towards the match's outcome. Harris has shown that he has not lost his edge (pun unintended) in Swords as he beat Wyheree, a former Talon of Redwin, 5-2.5. However, it was Kheldar who took the astonishing victory in the first round, knocking the Madness's victor out of his seat with a huge win of 5-2. Therefore, I think Kheldar will take his momentum into this duel and take another Swords victory, though Harris will do his best to keep it close. With Harris winning Magic and Kheldar winning Swords, it is my belief that the Fists duel will decide the winner of this match. Normally, I would favor Kheldar, as his recent performance in the discipline has been far better than Harris's, but despite his victory over Wyheree I believe Harris still needs to justify his title of the 2nd seed. And who better to prove his prowess in dueling across all the disciplines than the 2nd place duelist in the 2006 Tour's overall standings? Therefore, I think Harris will have the drive to beat his current slump and take the overall victory, though the odds may be against him.
This is the place to post match dates and times, the order of the disciplines, predictions, previews/commentary (like my Random Insights) trash talking, shout-outs or other signs of support to the duelists, the announcement of the start of the duel, and the play-by-play results of each duel and the overall outcome of the match.
Let's have a good match and may the best duelist win!
Time: TBA
First Duel: TBA
Second Duel: TBA
Third Duel: TBA
Results: TBA
Random Insight:
If Vanion vs. Art is the battle of the new blood, then Harris vs. Kheldar is the battle of the old blood. Both have long and impressive histories in the rings across all disciplines, and both took very solid victories in the first round. Unlike the new blood, whose volatility will be the main draw, the pleasure of watching the old blood face off is in the art of the duel: following the exchanges of two battle-hardened minds locked in conflict from discipline to discipline, savoring the flavors of each discipline's unique interactions and strategies. The Magic duel favors Harris, who has more experience with the energies that flow through that particular battleground, and who has been seen regularly practicing this discipline in order to return to peak performance after his hiatus. This practice seems to have born fruit for him, as he polished off Wyheree, the Keeper of Water, in their first round Magic duel 5-2.5, no mean feat. Kheldar has not been to the Isle recently to my knowledge, but his efforts in the Tour, long ago as they were, were quite respectable considering the field he fought against. He also made an impressive showing in the first round in Magic, beating G 5-1.5, but G has had little experience with Magic and as such the win's glory is somewhat sullied by this fact. Therefore, while I predict Harris will win the Magic duel, Kheldar's solid play so far makes me concede that it will not be by much. Fists, on the other hand, is less predictable. Both Harris and Kheld took close, but unexpected, losses in this discipline in the first round, even as they took wins in disciplines their opponents were favored in. Thus, I am inclined to conjecture that both are focusing on the Swords and Magic disciplines to cement their victory, and not as much on Fists. Therefore, I think it will be the one who carries their focus into Fists more strongly that will take the match in his favor. Swords, however, will be the most interesting of the duels, if not the most influential towards the match's outcome. Harris has shown that he has not lost his edge (pun unintended) in Swords as he beat Wyheree, a former Talon of Redwin, 5-2.5. However, it was Kheldar who took the astonishing victory in the first round, knocking the Madness's victor out of his seat with a huge win of 5-2. Therefore, I think Kheldar will take his momentum into this duel and take another Swords victory, though Harris will do his best to keep it close. With Harris winning Magic and Kheldar winning Swords, it is my belief that the Fists duel will decide the winner of this match. Normally, I would favor Kheldar, as his recent performance in the discipline has been far better than Harris's, but despite his victory over Wyheree I believe Harris still needs to justify his title of the 2nd seed. And who better to prove his prowess in dueling across all the disciplines than the 2nd place duelist in the 2006 Tour's overall standings? Therefore, I think Harris will have the drive to beat his current slump and take the overall victory, though the odds may be against him.
This is the place to post match dates and times, the order of the disciplines, predictions, previews/commentary (like my Random Insights) trash talking, shout-outs or other signs of support to the duelists, the announcement of the start of the duel, and the play-by-play results of each duel and the overall outcome of the match.
Let's have a good match and may the best duelist win!