Games The 26th Jedi Draft - Congratulations to our victor, KenKenobi!

Playoffs Round 2 Match 2 Final Results

@Jordan1Kenobi (3) vs. @Wang Chi (3)

1. Kit Fisto / Aayla Secura vs. Cade Skywalker
5. Ki-Adi-Mundi / Plo Koon / Adi Gallia / Saesee Tiin (Trump) vs. Ben Solo
9. Galen Marek vs. Ferus Olin

@KenKenobi (4) vs. @DarthIntegral (2)

1. Darth Jadus/Darth Nyriss vs. Savage Opress TRUMPED with Darth Maul
5. Asajj Ventress vs. Darth Maul TRUMPED with Savage Opress (FORFEIT)
9. Luminara Unduli/Bariss Offee vs. Desann/Tavion

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Playoffs Round 2 Match 3

@Jordan1Kenobi (3) vs. @Wang Chi (3)

2. Ahsoka Tano vs. Darth Caedus
4. Kanan Jarrus / Ezra Bridger (prep) vs. An'ya Kuro
6. Agen Kolar / Eeth Koth / Maris Brood (trump) (FORFEIT) vs. Joruus C'baoth
7. Adi Gallia / Saesee Tiin / Ki-Adi-Mundi / Plo Koon (FORFEIT) vs. Vaylin

@KenKenobi (4) vs. @DarthIntegral (2)

2. Anakin Skywalkwer vs. Darth Sion
4. Quinlan Vos vs. Darth Vader
6. Obi-Wan Kenobi vs. Shak'Weth
7. Darth Krayt vs. Lumiya (Prepared)

 

And just like that, I’m out of the contest

Bad numbers luck right there with Ahsoka. Well done, Wang. You got me this time.

 

gg, sir.



Welp... I suppose it's time to see just how right I am.

 

*knows that Inty will argue it's Shaq to make me concede*

 

@KenKenobi

 

I mean, twist my arm lol

I'd love to do a more all-around dive on Krayt if he moves on-- like Wang already said, he's a second-rounder, and I honestly think he'd press the bubble of the first if that round wasn't already jam-packed. It's just really jam-packed.

But we can hyperfocus against Lumiya, since she's a perf draw for two reasons:

1.) He's practically prepped against her too, having watched her run around w/ "Ship" and Caeds while building up the One Sith on...Korriban, aka this location lol

2.) Lumiya primarily uses a lightwhip. The lightwhip's biggest weakness is two blades, aka Jar'Kai. Krayt primarily uses...Jar'Kai


Though since you gave the opportunity cubby, and I'm a giant ****ing nerd, figured it'd be fun to further double-click on his fighting style as a whole...


In the way that Yoda's fast-paced offense is a sort of Kung Fu, and Kenobi's Soresu is perfected Aikido, Krayt's dual-wielding seems to be very much a blend of two schools:

Niten Ichi-ryu— A two-bladed style developed by a badass samurai named Miyamoto Musashi. Where others would claim their styles were gifts from the gods, his was developed not by "divine inspiration"...but directly from combat experience. He literally fought 61 life-or-death duels, against opponents of various styles and weapons, in pursuit of perfecting his techniques. And he won all of them (I mean duh, would've been hard to compile the techniques otherwise )

The general idea is to block/defend with one weapon and then counter with the second (pretty much the exact gameplan against a lightwhip user-- ensare the strands, then strike). This is the kind of swordplay Krayt largely uses as A'Sharad Hett, getting understandably more aggressive as he gets darker.


Escrima— A Filipino martial art, it's the **** you see Bruce Lee use with the double sticks in Enter the Dragon. Which is reminiscent of early-Legacy Krayt storming Coruscant.

Two more notable things here:

1.) It emphasizes "ranges"-- employing principles/footwork that can shift depending on distance. This is valuable against anyone, but particularly someone like Lumiya who aims to control distance with her whip.

2.) It's a "complete" style in the sense that it focuses on both dual-weaponry AND "empty-hand" techniques-- b/c when the Spanish occupied the Phillipines, they immediately banned indigenous weapons like the machete. So the populace started incorporating hand-to-hand concepts and kept teaching it. Pretty nasty surprise for their oppressors when it was time to revolt.

Krayt starts with these concepts early, mastering the Star Wars hand-to-hand style of Teräs Käsi (itself based on another Southeast Asian martial art, pencak silat) and teaching it to his Tusken tribe as Chieftan. Then builds on them as he learns and unleashes more power as Darth Krayt.


You can see it visually in his fights too-- there are some clear moments where his Niten ichi-ryu evolves with Escrima as he "perfects his combat over many decades" (Villains of Star Wars, Insider #113).

Which, if you're not bored yet, is what I'm gonna look at right now WHY THE HELL NOT


Early on, Hett's main weakness was if someone got inside leverage on his two blades-- you can see Aurra Sing ding him as a Padawan this way:

Spoiler: Baby Krayt vs. Aurra

He recovers to whoop her ass. But also turns the weakness into a strength, mastering Teräs Käsi moves and pommel strikes to use against anymore enemies who got close-- which is how he finishes a Clone-Wars-era Anakin and scores hits on Peak Kenobi:

Spoiler: Clone Wars Krayt vs. Anakin

Spoiler: Desert Krayt vs. Obi-Wan

Of course, Almost-Alec-Guiness promptly proceeds to humiliate him in that last fight...but Kenobi notably does it by using the Force in tandem with his saber:

Spoiler: Kenobi palm strike

It's a turning point for Krayt's style. He'd nailed saber techniques, but realized he could blend them with more power, more effectively. He accepts his darkness, gets forged by the Yuuzhan Vong, and puts together the full package.

By Legacy he's aggressively dicing multiple Force-users (including Skywalkers) at different ranges. But he also complements that bladework by channeling his now prodigous power...to the point that he again turns a weakness, the kind he showed years ago against Kenobi, into solid strength:

Spoiler: Krayt palm strike

Pretty cool to see how he developed, and formed that Niten Ichi-ryu/Escrima blended style.


In Conclusion...

By the time he reaches absolute peak, Krayt's a 5-tool player-- like prime Trout or Griffey in somehow combining jaw-dropping body control/speed with Hall-of-Fame power.

And he gets there, like greats do, by constantly improving his game. Hett starts his career perfecting ballet-like skill with multiple blades...then by the time he's War Emperor Krayt, he's combined it with power that can shatter a Skywalker.

This makes sense given the absurd length of his career, the multitude of conflicts he's been through, and the work ethic instilled early as a Tusken. All of which culminate in that dope list of high-points-- besting Anakin, hanging with Kenobi, hammering Cade (in addition to things not mentioned here, like Dark Transfer and Abeloth).

Lumiya isn't quite in that class, and the prep + lightwhip gimmick that occasionally allows her to jump up a level is a poor matchup against Krayt specifically. She's on track to get a tomb named after her here. And then maybe Disney reboots KotOR and we find her lightwhip as a playable item.

 

gg as always KK. disappointed we didn't get Vader vs. Anakin

You up for a third place game?

 

A most excellent battle my dude. Enjoyed but feared it. Our top 5's have more beef between them than a hundred Cheeseburger Matches.

To your team, and this alternate ending to RotS:




AND NOW THE FINALS HOLY ****

Somehow coinciding with the NBA Finals lol. Horax would be proud.

@Darth_Furio If we're doing best 2 of 3, any chance to get all locations beforehand? Might help choose prep/which trump to try out. No sweat if you're keeping it a ~surprise~

 

Sure am!

 

All right all. Numbers please.


@Wang Chi vs. @KenKenobi


3rd place.

@Jordan1Kenobi vs. @DarthIntegral

Locations for Best two out of three!

Location 1:

Tython



Location 2:

Durmund Kaas



Location 3:

The Senate

 

@KenKenobi is writing a letter to the league already asking for more foul calls.

 

numbers in for all three - good luck Jordan

 

lol to keep that Finals analogy Horax, cue the Sirius intros. Pipe the virtual fans into Tython. The numeros are in.

Wang, good luck my friend.

 

@Wang Chi

Still waiting on you.

 

Guess he forfeits then.

 

Hey, can't a guy mean to get his numbers in last night, but then forget and fall asleep without being ridiculed around here!

Let's do this, Kenneth! Good luck to you as well.

Say wha?! Image fail?

Eh, too tired to look for another.

 

The Finals

@Wang Chi vs. @KenKenobi

3. Cade Skywalker trumped with Celeste Morne vs. Xesh
8. Aryn Leneer/Ven Zallow trumped with Ganner Rhysode vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi
10. Dark Woman vs. Darth Jadus/Darth Nyriss

3rd place.

@Jordan1Kenobi vs. @DarthIntegral

3. Mace Windu vs. Shak'Weth
8. Saesee Tiin / Adi Gallia / Maris Brood vs. Desann/Tavion
10. Maris Brood / Saesee Tiin / Adi Gallia (FORFEIT) vs. Savage Oppress TRUMP Darth Maul

 

OH MAN Xesh vs. Cade is AWESOME, somewhere @Jan_Duursema & @jfostrander01 just perked up and got a weird feeling in their chests haha. I love this game.

While Cade has Celeste (who without Muur doesn't do much), Xesh has major home field advantage— Tython is the planet he locates & invades early in Dawn of the Jedi, finding symbiosis with it to create a whirlwind of power like this:





It took a whole council of peeps to defeat him like that. With it at his fingertips, this is even more of a slobberknocker.


Other two are pretty straightforward— Kenobi whoopa dat ass (FINALLY he gets to wreck **** after running the Rey, Yoda, Sithperor gauntlet lol)

And Nyriss by herself torched a Textile/Lord Scourge trump. Dark Woman isn’t on the level of either, let alone both, and Nyriss gets Jadus to boot.

Happy to blow out the trump more if any judges want-- Nyriss is a big part of the Revan novel, but Jadus is part of the Imperial Agent class story in the original SWTOR and so maybe a bit more obscure. He's a beast of a partner though, and funny enough can even match Kuro's teleporting lol:

Spoiler: Sith version of Nightcrawler

 

Desann has been hanging out with Shaq during team meetings, and would like to provide a freestyle rap as his argument



My Name is Desann / and none of you is even decent
you got no real feats / Legends EU or the Recent
Maybe in a ship, or maybe in a plane
But in this fight you'll get my lightsaber to your brain
Saesee Tiin ... you'll never win
You were part of the four / in a four on one
but you went down quicker than McNeely vs. Tyson
Marris Brood, what you got like two scenes?
You're the counterbalance to luke to bring Force Power to the mean.
Your video game mechanics might make you feel neat
But we got Luke and Katarn for our high end feat
Adi Gallia - you couldn't handle Greivous / And he ain't got the Force
Savage ****ed you up once / we'll **** you up worse
You can't handle both of us / you probably can't beat just the Dino
We're gonna leave you feeling worse / than a rehabbing French whino

 

I’m getting that tattooed in script on my ribcage

 

I spat out my water. lol