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Originally Posted by cedec0
From the storytelling perspective, for a school to be known as the "strongest" doesn't provide any plot armor towards getting into the finals. Rather the opposite.
Tell me which of the following sounds more impressive:
1) Shiraitodai (the champion for the last two years) + some other school
2) The two schools "even stronger than Shiraitodai"
It happens all the time in fiction that someone is introduced as the "last boss" only to be defeated by someone even more powerful before the showdown with the heros ever happens. For example, Take Androids 17 and 18 who get taken out by Cell in Dragon Ball Z.
If all you want is the strongest possible opponents for the final, then two schools "even stronger than Shiraitodai" is the best you can get.
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There is one teensy eensy problem with this statement. There may be a hype about two school stronger than Shiraitodai in the media. But, we the reader are actually exposed to the actual powerlevel and have witnessed the match. And we know that the other teams isn't actually stronger than Shiraitodai. Heck, you can argue that they are possibly weaker. If the scenario you proposed happened off-screen ... sure, it can possibly work. But, not here.
What we will get if that happens is negative hype with the expectation that Side-B will stomp your candidate from Side-A.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cedec0
Teru can still get scarier, of course, but you can't say that about the other two. There is just as much chance that Sumire and Takami would get even weaker. All the other teams could figure out Sumire's tell, and, if there are less dealer repeats in her round and she isn't dealer at the end, Takami would also become even less impressive.
Teru (and Shizuno for now) are the only characters in the semi-finals who haven't "shown all their cards".
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Let's see, if you want to compare Achiga and Shiraitodai...
Let's see on Yuu vs. Sumire..
I have a confession to make. I absolutely loathe the idea of Sumire's tell. I think that it would be better if it didn't exist because it single-handedly made the plot armor of Achiga sing I'm here! I'm here! that I even took notice. Most of the time, I'm trying to avoid thinking that it happened because I really like Yuu and I don't want that single action to color my judgement. Kapeesh?
On Takami vs Ako
Even if Takami never got her stupid yakuman just the possibility of it happening is limiting to Ako. Ako's playstyle is fast hands and it really should be covered by dealer repeats to make most of it. This round by nature won't really gain much points. Or if Takami get her last dealer... a slaughter against Ako.
And your last point of comparison is err... Shizu vs. Teru and the possibility of their hidden ace...
Err... do I have to make a comparison of this? I don't think Monkey deserve a total curbstomp.
How about Awai vs. Shizu? A bit doable...
1 on 1. I think that Awai will win against Shizu. This is because Shizu has shown no way of stopping passive abilities like 6-shanten. Besides, I have a feeling that Shizu's ability is
conditional meaning it isn't active or consciously controlled. Its more likely that it will only be active if certain rolls of the dice are made.
On the other hand as a previous poster has pointed out, Awai's ability is active all the time. A big plus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cedec0
How exactly? Yuuki is going to communicate with Teru on Saki's behalf? ...
Besides, if Saki and Teru do manage to communicate, what happens to the epic Saki VS Teru showdown that will happen in the individuals? It becomes much less relevent and exciting.
Actually, given Saki's and Teru's personality, they probably wouldn't watch each others matches even in the finals.
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Are you saying that Saki and Teru will take a break or something when the captain and vanguard match rolled around? That would be incredibly out of character or at the very least showing quite a bad support for their teammates.
And no. Yuuki isn't going to communicate on Saki's behalf. Its just like Hisa vs. Bundou... Bundou or Hisa never communicated anything to each other but there is still something received from the battle on the watcher (Mihoko).
And a Shiraitodai vs. Kiyosumi won't devalue whatever fight Saki vs. Teru will have in the individuals. It is more likely that whatever the result, Saki vs. Teru will get even more intense because whoever might be the winner in this clash - it would result in the siblings being forced to confront each other than the outright avoidance they are currently doing right now.