[oats]

Mike: A lot to like about this verse, it was like the story of everyone's grandpa. You nailed a lot of the key points in a person's life, and kept the specter of death looming in the underbelly to give it a tragic sense of nostalgia. As a side note, I think I would have preferred this without the pictures. Not that the pictures were enough to sway the battle in any which way, just personal preference.

I think the only thing this verse lacked was a zing of some sort, a standout bar or idea that stays with me after I finished. The whole verse felt very safe, which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but it just doesn't stick out to me in one way or another. Overall I'd say this was good, but not great.


Ra: You opened by enveloping us into an Indiana Jones type world, which immediately sucked me into the atmosphere. There's always something lurking in your writing, something sinister and mysterious that hints at more. It makes your work fun to read, a very distinct voice that I enjoy.

The story was strong, and it never lost my attention, but I did have a gripe, and that was that it's hard to deliver on such a massive promise (the ancient secret of life!), and this fell short on that delivery. You nailed the feeling of ancient, but the secret part felt a little underwhelming as a climax. I almost would have preferred to have my emotions subverted and have Andrew get slaughtered unceremoniously, yielding the secret of life: it is pointless. Or something like that, maybe not so nihilistic, but you get what I'm saying. If you don't actually know a secret of life, it's better to leave it a little more open I guess is what I'm saying.


Vote: This was a tough decision. Both came correct on all but minor gripes I had, and the writing was pretty much equal as well. The strength of Wrecka's was the emotion, and the strength of Ra's was the atmosphere, and in that regard King Ra stuck out a little bit more to me. This is one of those personal preference battles that will have an arbitrary outcome, both did their thing and had very dope verses. Good match, gentlemen.