Arena battle videos and discussion

[pokeytax]

Arena League III

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Northern Division

Save Me                        6-0
RAMROD                         4-2
Frozen Fist of the North Star  4-2
Electrifying                   3-3
Femme Fatale                   2-4
TIB                            2-4
Join the Frogs or Die!         0-6


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  Ba Me PX SA Sh Sq Za
Ba -- L  L  L  L  L  L
Me W  -- L  W  W  L  W
PX W  W  -- L  W  L  W
SA W  L  W  -- L  L  L
Sh W  L  L  W  -- L  L
Sq W  W  W  W  W  -- W
Za W  L  L  W  W  L  --

Save Me
As we already knew, Franz is a terrible ninja monster.
RAMROD
High-powered Draw Out is effective - sure, one of the kills in the quad-kill Chirijiraden was friendly, but it got the job done.
Frozen Fist of the North Star
Pretty wicked ice absorb machine, Cirno got plenty of kills but regen Lore can't keep up with Speed Save Lore. Fun use of Distribute. (Fun fact: when you're charmed, you Distribute to the other team.)
Electrifying
Better damage output, but still only one unit with real stopping power. MA-based Paladin and Thief not getting the job done.
Femme Fatale
Not much luck with Elemental and low damage. Teams are getting better!
TIB
40 Faith Bahamut procs are very underwhelming, PA Save doesn't help flails.
Join the Frogs or Die!
No Frog casts, maybe four Javelin/Octagon whacks with no procs: an AI disaster, as the computer favored Silf over Frog, Ruins over Steal Heart, and Life Drain over Paralyze.

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Southern Division

We Will Rock You      6-0
Bloody's Devils       5-1
Do Not Disturb        3-3
Xtreme Sandbagging    2-4
Gotwald and the 613's 2-4
World of Ruin         2-4
Future So Light       1-5


Code Select Expand

  CT DV Go Ot Po SS TD
CT -- L  W  L  L  W  W
DV W  -- L  L  L  L  W
Go L  W  -- L  L  W  L
Ot W  W  W  -- L  W  W
Po W  W  W  W  -- W  W
SS L  W  L  L  L  -- W
TD L  L  W  L  L  L  --
We Will Rock You
Different approach than the Lore-Save teams, but similar results.
Bloody's Devils
When the Paladins decided to stick around and guard the nest, indomitable.
Do Not Disturb
Clever Mime usage and an effective Ninja, but Cheer Song didn't have the oomph Battle Song did.
Xtreme Sandbagging
Lowish damage output and much harsher competition than previously.
Gotwald and the 613's
Good healing from Lore, but 40 Fury/base PA Monks are not a threat.
World of Ruin
Not a lot of healing or rez. Lots of elemental equipment and a subsequent lack of damage.
Future So Light
Polka Polka not so hot compared to Nameless Dance - the AI will spam it even after everyone's at 1 PA. Alia the only heavy damage character after hitting 30+ MA from Lores, but rooted and unable to rampage.


Good
Speed Save (significantly outclasses PA Save and MA Save)
Basic Skill (haste/revive/Ultima/utility physical)
Concentrate (aside from Shurikens six feet in diameter, quite a lot of bypassing physical evasion going on)
heavy hitters (between Move-HP Up, potions, and elemental healing, dropping bodies requires dedicated attackers)
Lore (much more effective this time with Save teams and optimized setups
Haste (becoming more mandatory as teams get better)
buff teams (too hard to catch up with on medium/large maps)

Bad
Silf (For some reason the AI loves this, possibly it expects both statuses)
wimps (as in FFT 1.3, the way to win is to score a kill and get your opponent spending turns on Phoenix Down)

Ugly
Iron Boots (very clever, and useful to keep a Scholar from hammering himself with Lore, but what's the point of Protect/Shell on a unit not in the fray?)

[Barren]

My frog team was a LOL team anyways, so not a really big deal

[PX_Timefordeath]

Yes, 2nd place in my division. I can make a good team when I try (I win tie breaker for beating the team that tied me)

Also, I will be getting rid of the lore user in my team. There's no point in her being there.

[Zaen]

Well, it's nice to see that my recent changes worked somewhat.

What to do...

[The Damned]

So, I changed crappy theme team to a theme team that I hope is less crappy, pokeytax. (I wasn't aware that Mike Tyson was a Cancer [or that his middle name is Gerard].)

Having a lot of upload issues - I actually ran that exact match before you posted, The Damned, and have been trying to put it up since, finally gave up (edit: until now!). Don't expect a lot of match videos from me in the near future. But if you can run ePSXe the cards are there and there's no tomfoolery required, just patch and play!

spoiler: The Damned vs. Shade:13fdg5ai

Oh, by Athena, I am so sorry for making you run such a crappy match.

Arena League III
Future So Light
Polka Polka not so hot compared to Nameless Dance - the AI will spam it even after everyone's at 1 PA. Alia the only heavy damage character after hitting 30+ MA from Lores, but rooted and unable to rampage.

Unlike philsov, I have pretty crap luck with Nameless Dance. That team sucked anyway, though.

Speaking of which, how the hell did I manage to beat someone? Whose team did I rob this time?

[FFMaster]

[The Damned]

Wow, that was amazingly quick to get posted. Thanks, FFMaster. GG, Skip.

Like I said on the video, I don't see why you thought you'd be hard to understand accent-wise. You sound fine.

[Zaen]

Great fight, really. The accent, if anything, is more of a positive.

[FFMaster]

Here is another battle. Sorry for the lag. I think my PC was having a fit of some sort, it's been doing it a lot recently.

[The Damned]

Lol at the initial image for that video. Wonder who won, hehe.

Thanks again, FFMaster.

spoiler: Youtube comments:1q035bmj

GG pokeytax. I guess dying to Throw Stone via one of your teams is going to become a habit. Not like I was surprised about losing going into this given the initial imagine. Ironically, though, Balrog not having Revive here didn't really matter because of Grand Cross. Nice to see Cachusha used, even if it's to absurd effect.

Thanks again, FFMaster.

Also, haha, nice FF8 names for your team. Makes me want to make an Edea one now. "We're all from the same orphanage, except you, Rinoa. You suck."

I think I might end up having to give Sagat a Santa Outfit (as well) and Vega a better spear (damn lack of Frog procs), but I'll give one or two more battles before I decide.

[Barren]

FFT Arena Division Final Match!! Squidgy vs SecondAdvent

spoiler: Test Your Might!:1l21o4ed

[Squidgy]

spoiler: ^^:2zmtade2

Wow... Petrify to the max. Good thing I'm giving the hastebot Esuna... think I'll change Niko back though, and accessories back too.

EDIT: Requesting battle of the Grand Cross teams, just for the lulz.

[Barren]

Yep. Nice going squidgy! in the arena division i called, you are a perfect 5-0! your team was never forced to a round 3...very nice job with the two palys (one with speed save and one with PA save), haste 2 loving squire and item bot scholar...very well done

[Barren]

spoiler: Barren vs Pride:y4v6iqaz

spoiler: Squidgy vs PX_Time For Death:y4v6iqaz

spoiler: Squidgy vs Zaen:y4v6iqaz

[pokeytax]

spoiler: BlameGod vs LightningHax:jbzu1cow

spoiler: CT5Holy vs Pokeytax (Grand Cross Prix):jbzu1cow

[LightningHax]

spoiler

Oh, Two Handed Spears, I love you.
On a side note, I'm surprised that they didn't jump. Oh well. GG BlameGod

[BlameGod]

spoiler

Okay well that's good to see, *goes to try and fix this team or make a new one*

Thanks for running that match!

Edit:

spoiler

Hopefully that one small change helps. Strange how Grand Cross seems to almost force Excalibur, I didn't realize it hit the user.

[Barren]

spoiler: BlameGod vs Skip Sandwhich:d8sjz446

spoiler: Pokeytax vs Barren:d8sjz446

spoiler: Pokeytax vs Squidgy:d8sjz446

[The Damned]

(Oh, you posted new videos while I was watching those....)

@Barren (first batch of videos): Wow, first time I've ever seen the computer use the (new) Reflect spell.

@pokeytax: As I said on the Youtube video, that ending was absurd. Also, the fact that Grand Cross isn't auto-range is also absurd.

@You both: Thanks, as ever.

[pokeytax]

Thanks, as ever.

It's okay, I've got a disease where I enjoy this. But for the benefit of new people and others, let me point out that it's really easy to run matches, easier than the S4 patch - it's patch, download premade card, play. My computer was bottom-of-the-line five years ago, has an integrated video card, and still records fine with HyperCam, so unless you have a laptop with rickets you should be good.

Arena League IV (based on ArenaBETA128 Memory Cards IV)

Earth Division

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Gotwald and the 613's  5-0
The Jumpmen            3-2
Four Kings of Shadaloo 3-2
Bloody's Devils        2-3
Girls Take Initiative  2-3
World of Ruin          0-5


Code Select Expand

  Go LH Ot Po SS TD
Go -- W  W  W  W  W
LH L  -- W  W  W  L
Ot L  L  -- L  W  W
Po L  L  W  -- W  L
SS L  L  L  L  -- L
TD L  W  L  W  W  --

Gotwald and the 613's
Wow, what a difference 30 Brave makes. It tripled punch damage to put down those pesky floaters.
The Jumpmen
Meaty spears and item abuse carried the day. Took a lot to bring them down.
Four Kings of Shadaloo
Wave Fist dropped some bodies. Claw and Dictator were pretty peripheral, but hey, it beats getting killed and initiating a res loop!
Bloody's Devils
Two slippery Abandon units, but two magic guns isn't exactly turbocharged offense, especially with every odd turn spent Aiming.
Girls Take Initiative
Paine was too into her dance to bother with reviving or Chakra. Talk about MP hogs! But the quad-kill Bahamut was worth it...
World of Ruin
Single-target nukes packed some punch but just got trumped by Summon AoE, instant magic gunfire, and bruising melee.


Heaven Division

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Counter Cowards               4-1
Standstill                    3-2
RAMROD                        3-2
A Chilly Storm                2-3
Dearly Beloved                2-3
Frozen Fist of the North Star 1-4


Code Select Expand

  Ba BG CT Me PX Sq
Ba -- L  W  L  W  L
BG W  -- L  L  W  L
CT L  W  -- L  W  W
Me W  W  W  -- L  L
PX L  L  L  W  -- L
Sq W  W  L  W  W  --


Counter Cowards
Pretty wicked Geomancy and plenty of Charm. Typical Squidgy team - haste up, never say die, and sandbag like hell if by chance you do.
Standstill
Brilliant team design - root them with Hunting Bow, then snipe away. Sure makes that enhanced range support a lot scarier sounding...
RAMROD
Back, with bigger spears! Still a good mix of AoE damage, AoE healing, and heavy pokes.
A Chilly Storm
Poison Bow proved surprisingly nettlesome, but overall low-octane offense and less unkillable than other teams.
Dearly Beloved
Charm is still a pretty good status ailment even with Arena's duration nerf, but not worth waiting for. Especially when your gunner likes gunning them down in the meantime - not a story to pass on.
Frozen Fist of the North Star
PX, I dunno what to say. I guess you shouldn't have stopped the beatings! Outranged by the other teams.


Good
Crossbows (not overpowering, but nifty and worth using right)
Monks (male PA/HP plus ribbons and bags, pretty lethal)
hitting things (preferable to not hitting things, also to spellcasting like babies)
elemental absorb (really, just a better way to heal than Cure)
fundamentals (rez & Haste)

Bad
Faith-based magic (magical teams just got massacred. we'll do more testing but they aren't keeping up well with the PA/WP arms race)
Faith-based magic (seriously, look at the standings; probably some bad luck involved but jeez)