QUARTERFINALS VIDEO MAGAZINE
Bags vs. Everyone
I’ve contracted our very own discussion heel, Bags, to provide a video mag for this round. The Second Round will be the last round with a decent number of matches to review so I figured this would be the last opportunity for a good video mag. Props to Bags for doing this on relatively short notice.
QUARTERFINAL MATCH PREDICTIONS
Coinflips. All the coinflips.
I’ll give my prediction for each of the four matches this round, along with an opinion of who the topic favors in this section. Some credit goes to Vulgar for the topics this round; I picked them out from an old discussion topic of his (EOW Art). Also, I’ll be using Certain’s titles for the topics as opposed to eating up space pasting the pictures in the mag.
(1)dead man vs. (9)big baby
Topic: “Dead People Around a Rock Hole”
I’ll be saying this for most of the matches this round, but this should be a classic. This being my third mag for this tournament, it’s difficult to keep coming up with superlatives for both these writers. As I’ve mentioned before, dead man hasn’t had a single vote cast against him in The Winter Topical, having beat breathless and Witty in shutout fashion. big baby, on the other hand, had three votes cast against him last round and won in no-show fashion in the first. Most consider his First Round verse to be one of, if not the, best of that round and it definitely could have been a shutout if Fig had shown. Both writers are in the highest echelon. dead man has been the go-to Open Mic writer of Netcees in my time here, and big baby has been the most prolific writer of the past few months. This match has an almost mainstream/indie feel to it. dead man is known throughout the board as the best and it’s well deserved. big baby’s just as talented but with a more underground following, if such a thing exists on this site. black has, as I said in the Opening Round Magazine, a style that he’s sharpened to a samurai sword, and it’s one of the best. big baby has a pretty identifiable style as well but he’s more liable to switch things up and hit the readers with a different type of flow/rhythm in his pieces. Both write some of the best content on the site; big baby’s is more irreverent and black’s is more philosophical although both can play the other role well. The topic favors dead man. I could see the picture being used for a study of human nature or possibly a character sketch, but it’s obviously biased towards writing a story. I don’t believe I’ve read a story/narrative piece from big baby yet; everything I’ve read from him has been a flex, love, or satirical piece. black often works in the same space as big baby, albeit with a different approach, but I’ve read some narrative pieces from him. The advantage in regards to the topic, then, goes to dead man simply because I’m more familiar with his work in terms of where the picture leads. Although dead man hasn’t been voted against once, his path has been slightly easier than big baby’s even figuring in big baby’s no show win. He also stated he wasn’t motivated last round which may give cause for concern. big baby has written arguably the best verse of each round thus far and seems to have the hot hand. I think that big baby will prove my doubts about the topic wrong and pull the upset here. It’s a veritable coin flip but I’m putting a lot of stock into the performance in-tournament, and big baby has been too on-point to ignore. Hopefully black’s motivated and proves me wrong; an inspired verse from each will make this the best battle of the tournament.
big baby 55/45
(R)Nigma vs. (21)oXus
Topic: “Strange Structures in the Desert”
As the #21 seed vs. a reserve, this is the surprise match-up of the Quarterfinals. Nigma won in the First Round against Frank in a controversial 5-4 decision and then was no showed by trap in the Second. Beating Frank is no small task but he has probably had the easiest route to the Quarters out of the remaining eight writers. oXus also benefited from a no-show, First Round vs. Orc, but beat NYC last round more convincingly than Nigma beat Frank (7-1). I think even Nigma would admit his First Round verse wasn’t his best work. His Second Round verse was better, but I saw the twist coming from a mile away. His mechanics are solid although some of his rhymes get too slanted at times. oXus wrote one of my favorite verses of the Second Round. After posting a solid if unspectacular verse in the First Round he really dialed in his style and wrote well towards the topic in the Second. I like his rhyming style; he uses breaks in sentences and punctuation to accent unique rhymes. Fun to read. Throw in his grasp of the English language and it all pools together to form an interesting style. As for the topic, I could see it favoring Nigma. He enjoys writing in the narrative format and all the topics this week tend towards that aspect of the topical writing spectrum. Being not as familiar with his work, oXus seems to work better in description and exploration of ideas. That could be wrong, just my impression from the handful of verses I’ve read from him. Nigma has the talent to drop dope pieces but I think oXus is the better writer and has the momentum.
oXus 60/40
(2)Pent uP vs. (7)Lars
Topic: “Underwater City Also Has Whales”
This is a match-up of a couple legends of the topical scene, spanning across multiple years and websites. Also, this is the only match of the Quarterfinals to have chalk seeding. Pent had a close First Round contest after being forced to face Diode due to the reserve system. The match went down to the wire and finished 5-4. He was then no-showed by Wise Ways but wrote a verse that would’ve been tough to beat (would’ve liked to have seen that match go down). Lars has had arguably the best run in the tournament in terms of results and opponents showing. Both of his matches have gone to votes and he’s won by a combined 12-1, with one shut out. One of those matches included a win over Certain, one of the favorites (mis-seeded) prior to starting the tournament. Lars wrote one of the better verses of the last round, as did Pent. Both writers are seasoned champs of leagues and tournaments and now that we’re in the Quarterfinals you have to figure that both will be bringing their best to the table. Lars’ has the more fluid approach to writing, with his rhythm and rhymes being top notch and his content being just as good. Pent writes some of the best content on the site, though, and his mechanics are about on par with Lars’, albeit in a different way. As Certain said in the Discussion topic, the topic for this match is arguably the most difficult, at first glance, to write for. I think there’s a lot to work with, though, and multiple approaches can be taken in tackling it. It lends itself towards storytelling, obviously, but there’s room for philosophy/character sketching/exploration. I honestly don’t think the topic favors either writer here but if I were forced to pick one of the two I’d go with Pent. Just a gut call, no real reasoning behind it (strong analysis). Much like picking who the topic favors, I’ve gone back and forth in my mind as to who will win this match. On one hand, Lars has put forth the best run in the tournament aside from dead man and oats. On the other hand, Pent’s last verse was dope and it seems he’s rounding into form. Plus, he’s Pent. This is a coinflip, but gun to my head I think that Lars takes this in a closely disputed voting process. He’s been running through this tournament and seems motivated and focused. Much like every match this round, neither result would surprise me in the slightest.
Lars 55/45
(3)Vulgar vs. (R)oats *BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Topic: “Man Looks at City from Cliff”
The combination of the writers and topic makes this my pick for BOTW. dead man/big baby and Pent uP/Lars were given strong consideration as well, obviously. Vulgar’s up 11-3 in votes in the tournament, with one shut out, and both of his matches went to votes. He’s defeated Innovator and Split Eight, a solid resume. Oats is 13-1, with one shut out, and both his matches went to votes. He beat uh-oh and Just Write; a solid resume if not a bit weaker than Vulgar’s path. Both have written top tier verses each round, with, in my opinion, Vulgar writing better in the First and oats better in the Second. Both are among the best on the site with different styles. The topic lends itself perfectly to each of their writing styles and preferences. Both can handle a narrative piece with much aplomb, same with any other type of topical writing. There’s enough going on in this picture to allow for each to write to their strengths. Certain mentioned in his predictions that he believes Vulgar will write a “fundamental deconstruction of city life” and oats will “counter with the story of the man.” I agree, as both those routes would match their preferences, or at least my perception of their preferences. Then again, saying that may lead to a different outcome. Regardless, I expect this to be the best read of the Quarterfinals. Just as personal preference I usually enjoy oats’ approaches to topics over Vulgar’s, with their writing being relatively equal in my mind. With that, I’ll give the slight edge to oats here.
oats 55/45
CLOSING REMARKS
Keep up the good work.
We’ve reached the Quarterfinals, and we’re over halfway through with this tournament. It’s been a huge success so far, in my eyes. All the credit goes to the writers and voters; with only four no shows and an abundance of votes you all have made this the smoothest and best tournament on this site since I’ve been here. Keep up the good work and lets finish strong. All four match-ups this week are top-tier and every possible Semifinal and Championship match looks to be even better. Good luck to all the writers this round, I looks forward to reading and voting.