Springtime in the northern hemisphere. Everything is growing and starting to bloom. A new beginning in nature... So why not do something new in BB as well?

As I wrote in my prior post, I finished the ‘all Elf BBT run’ beginning of April and enrolled to the Elven Union and Necromantic Horror XLF as well as to the O[L]C Lightweight Championship.

Since I did not have too much experience with (scheduled) tournaments, this was a bit too much at once and I needed to face the consequences. I did not find the time to schedule all three round one games without risking to tear the deadline and thus decided to drop from the Elven Union XLF in time to prevent a delay for the whole tournament. While I knew this meant one less game for my opponent (Sorry Solaris!), I thought open and timely communication may be more important than sticking to the tournament (even if Elven Union is one of my favourite rosters!) as long as possible and creating a delay for the rest of the coaches.

And very soon I experienced the other side of the coin in the second XLF. I completed my round 1 match two days before the communicated deadline on April 9th. Unfortunately, the other two coaches could not agree upon a time for their match, and I needed to wait till April 14th for the coinflip decision on who would be my opponent in round 2, only to wait another 4 days for the forwarded coach to communicate that he will not play our match. I do not want to judge this, because I do not know the underlying reasons. Just wanted to bring this up as an example what can happen in a tournament as well. So, I played only one match, et voila I face Java in the final.

Compared to that the O[L]C Lightweight went as intended. All games were played! And with the help of Nuffle I was able to win the cup with the ‘Sisters of the Lake’ (Avelorn).

To fill the free slots that open spontaneously and cannot be filled with scheduled tournament or league games, I decided to try Norse. After all that Elven rosters - which I still love - a bit more bashing. WaffleIron convinced me with some of his comments in the 145 Discord channel that they may be fun and so I gave them a go. Without any real intention. But after 8 games and a record of 7/0/1, I may try to win the remaining 4 matches (one win not counting towards the IDT score because I messed up the first match and did not play it in the blackbox) to earn the IDT Norse badge... If time and Nuffle allows!

So, here we are 8 days left in the season. Having won my first ever tournament, facing the legend Java in another final, one of the IDT badges within reach and still hoping for a lucky slot in the Steel Gauntlet... Two weeks in April can really mean some changes!

Cheers,
Chris


EDIT I: I wrote about the patience I needed during the scheduled XLF, but this can also happen in a blackbox or Gamefinder match. I think the Disconnection procedure is very good and if all coaches act in good faith and understand/respect the coach on the other side of the line there should be no problems. But sometimes things happen that ask for some patience... even more that close to the end of the season.