[oats]

Phone vote, excuse any simplifications without caveats.

This was one of the first battles I read, and one of the last I'll vote on. I've gone back and forth on it several times. Soulstice penned an exceptional character sketch, not just due to the high caliber language and rhymes, but also in poking in glimpses of his past to animate it, creating a sense of narrative. It was one of the best verses I've read in the tournament.

And I thought it would blow out Pent's tbh, but Pent had one of the top tournament entrants as well. Rhymes were strong, and conceptually it was far more interesting than soulstice. Though I tend to tire of "writing about writing" verses, this had a fresh spin on it. The interplay of hot and cold to mirror the process of writing worked flawlessly. The last line of warm responses cooling you off was very clever. Really no complaints here either.

I'm sure most of the votes have said this, but I can't imagine this being determined by something other than personal preference. Both are top notch pieces of writing, and I can find few flaws of any note. Soul had the slightly better sense of language, but pent was strong too. Pent had the more complex concept, but Soul had a dope angle as well. Ultimately, my gut is leaning to soulstice on this one. Might be my first time voting against pent tbh. But soul just had an artfully crafted verse that struck me more. Dope battle, def best one of the round.