INTRO
3 weeks into the playoffs and still no Zelph lol.
Despite that, Round 2 was excellent and the playoff field is now wide open with Cashius and Blue boyh being knocked out.
The semis will have a Rookies vs Vets feel, although not the matchups that you were probably expecting.
Body and myself still have a lot to prove and will be looking to add to the list of accomplisments we've racked up in our first year on Netcees.
Amen will be looking his return from retirement as a battler with a 1-2 Punch Championship under his belt. Lastly, Des an established veteran will be looking to add to his already decorated career.
Battle Reviews
Jabari Black vs Plot
This was a nice battle here. It turned out to be closer than I expected.
I decided to use a cement truck/barrel spinning flip. Plot decided to go fire with fire and dropped a gun bar as well. It was pretty good line with a gun repeating/stuttering problem flip.
I think the execution was the difference maker here. The imagery in the set up of my punch seemed to resonate with voters. I think if Plot would have tweaked his set up a bit and added in some clever tie ins, he might have secured the dub.
I ended up squeaking out the win in the end.
Destroyer vs Cashius
Two vets went to war in this one and the result might have come as a minor surprise to some. Cashius came into the match as the champ and the favorite, but if you pay attention to Destroyer, he’s had his best bars against his best opponents.
Both guys came with punches that had personal elements to them. Des had a nice punch pretty much calling a Cash a racist with a tiki torch flip. Cashius had a a stick and can flip about fucking Des’s wife but that tied in a personal about Des not liking gun bars.
Both punches tied in two concepts to one but Des did it cleaner. Des’s punch was concise and the personal angle really hit and felt relevant. Cash had a nice concept but I don’t think he executed the punch as well as Des.
I thought the battle was good but Des ended up taking the battle pretty comfortably, knocking out a playoff favorite in the process.
Blue Bayou vs Amen
In last week’s mag, Amen gave me some push back on calling his win against Flow an “upset”. There’s was no question here...this was a HUGE upset.
Both guys went with really intricate bars here. I enjoy intricate bars so I enjoyed this battle.
Blue had a name flip that was also a flip on the Egyptian god Ra. I really liked the reference and I think the bar was really creative. Amen had a “Blue in be face” flip that was worded really well with some subtle tie ins and a good set up.
This battle is very debatable and was extremely close in votes. I think it came down preference. I also think Blue’s reference might not have resonated with other voters as well as it did with me. Amen’s bar was crisp and he was able to narrowly edge the win.
BodySnatcher vs DynamiCz
Fire battle here. Going into the battle, this was my prediction for battle of the week. It definitely lived up to my expectations.
Both guys stayed true to form here. Dy came with a knife bar that had great imagery and a scar on body/emotional distress name flip. I thought the bar was dope, especially with the imagery on the set up.
Body was in his bag though. He had a dope machine banging/uneven dryer flip and it was a haymaker.
I think Body took the right approach in this battle. Both bars were technically sound, but Body decided to sacrifice intricate tie ins for an impactful punch. Body ended up sweeping the votes, but most voters expressed how close the battle was.
Good battle and Body advances to the semis.
BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Body Snatcher vs DynamiCz
BodySnatcher
I'ma wash this kid, roll up in his crib & for no reason fire
All he'll hear is a machine banging in his house like an uneven dryer
VS
DynamiCz
I make a mess! When I swing the blade....I aim it at his flesh
Slices on his skin....I'm leaving scars on body like emotional distress
TOP PUNCHES
***3***
Amen (vs Blue Bayou)
"The ugly dude’s a disgrace, the “GOAT”… really? Man look he’s just dense,
& If argued till I’m ‘Blue in the face”, a mirrors’ only way I’ll EVER see pussy again."
***2***
Destroyer (vs Cashius)
"des pops off mad shots. this grand wizard ain’t ever seen recoil
if sparks ever come off the end of dudes arm, it’s his tiki torch leaking oil"
***1***
BodySnatcher (vs DynamiCz)
"All you EVER do is complain about text losses...while I’m with your wife, hittin’ them buns hard
I could tell you how I ‘Stick’ it in her ‘Can’...and you’ll just start yelling some shit about gun bars"
PREVIEWS
Jabari Black vs Destroyer
This will be the first time that Des and I cross paths in the 1-2 League but this will be our third time battling each other in little over a month. Our last battle sparked some controversy, and Des will certainly be looking for retribution.
Destroyer is coming off of his biggest win this season, getting a clean sweep victory against Cashius. I'll be looking to continue to build momentum coming off of two contested wins in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
I think the challenge for both of us will be coming with a fresh approach for the battle. A lot of the personal angles we have on each other have been used at this point. This will likely come down to who can have the more impactful punch.
I expect this to be a war.
Body Snatcher vs Amen
This should be a dope battle. I don't think this is the semi finals matchup that people predicted going into the playoffs, but I really like the matchup.
BodySnatcher has been red hot since he won the BAL finals a few months ago. He has a lot of momentum winning his past 4 battles including an impressive win against DynamiCz last week.
Amen will be carrying a lot of momentum into the semis as well. He's won his last 4 as well and has been improving each week.
Body will almost certainly be coming with an aggressive bar this week. That's his style and what he's good at. Body went with a simpler approach last week as opposed to the intricate style he typically uses and it worked. I'll be interested to see what approach he takes against Amen.
Amen is versatile and can switch up his approach. He's always a threat because he's had recent success using gun bars and an aggressive style, but drifted away from them in his biggest win in the league so far against Blue.
This is a close battle to call, but I'm leaning slightly towards Body. I predicted against Amen in the first two rounds and was wrong both times; lets see if he can prove me wrong again.
LIVE BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Decided to go with a classic battle for Live Battle of the Week. This is one of the best battles of all time, and it's in my Top 5.
JC's style has aged better than Chilla's but this battle was extremely debatable when it happened. It's also interesting to see how both battlers' styles have evolved over the years.
My favorite moments:
Batman premier
Death comes in 3s
"Give him choices: Timberland or Nike...."
Chilla's Jaz the Rapper/Virgin Mary/Bible Scheme
Chilla's female battle rapper scheme
OUTRO
Didn't have much time to write this up. I've been out of town pretty much all week. This whole mag was purely off the strength of the muscle.
Salute to everyone who's helping to keep this league going.