BlogNomic: The First Dynasty of Desertfrog

Today we have a real six-pointer as two of the very best in the league match up. Amongst the Operators that have tested themselves in multiple Bouts, SupernovaStarbright has one of the best records - 5 wins from 7, a 71% win rate, and against some very tough opposition. The only Operator in the League with a better record than that is Brendan, the League’s own resident bad boy, with 5 wins from 6 - that’s 83% of his matches won. The audience is expecting a big bout tonight and - you know - I think they’re going to get one.

In position 4 is Dark Lord and I think there’s some kind of jiggery-pokery going on there. When it rolled into the bay it had a modular breakpoint, its LED Banner and a lead weight, but in the Staging area Brendan seems to have pulled a fast move - not just yanking out the Modular Breakpoint but somehow doing so in a way that he could stuff not just one extra system into its hardpoint but two - as it seems to have magically acquired both a Giant Mitt and an Axe. I think that may void the warrantee on the breakpoint but as far as the tournament rulebook goes it appears to be legal, so that’s where it stands - and it looks like today Brendan is determined to chop his way to the final.

DuckTank, meanwhile, is unchanged in position 16 - it’s a rough road, being a shover on a field with obstacles, but if anyone can pull it of it’s Supernova - with her experience in underground botfighting she is nothing if not adaptable.

There’s the blue light - they’re off!

Dark Lord jumps forward, getting right into DuckTank’s face by dumping itself into position 15, and DuckTank responds by revving up that big nuclear engine - in front of DuckTank is a rough place to be! Supernova launches her bot forward but - oh, no! This is a rare oversight for the young prodigy as she seems to have forgotten that Dark Lord’s lead weight makes it nigh-unshovable, and DuckTank just bounces off - a small dent from that battering ram in Dark Lord’s chassis is all DuckTank has to show for its efforts!

Dark Lord can take a scuff, though, because it has an axe to play with, and oof - DuckTank knows about it there, with a wicked swing crunching into its chassis!

DuckTank wheels around on an evasive move while Dark Lord blocks patiently blocks, and this is interesting - Dark Lord is using the same technique against DuckTank that Supernova used against Trapdoorspyder in her bout against B.A.D, frustrating her attempts to break out of the corner and keeping her option space small. DuckTank tries a shove from a different angle, but it fares no better - Dark Lord is rock solid, its base is solidly planted, and it won’t be moved. And there’s the axe again!

A note of desperation is creeping in for Supernova who again wheels away evasively before coming back in again - I get the sense now that she’s not so much trying to shove as facing up to the fact that the ram is the only option that she has, hoping that Dark Lord’s chassis might give way before hers does. Looks unlikely though! That ram is doing damage but nothing compared to Dark Lord’s axe, which takes another huge chunk out of DuckTank’s hull!

DuckTank makes one last attempt to evade but Dark Lord remains resolute, not falling for it - one more bash from the ram but then the axe falls again - and DuckTank is shattered, unable to compete! Brendan stands on the brink of greatness, with a fourth name now on that LED board, and three days left to find a fifth! The refs call the bout -

Dark Lord wins by TKO!