Sunday, September 4, 2016

FFX – Part 16: Season Opener

Summary: Practicing the fundamentals of blitzball. Two exhibition games and six league games.


Exhibition – Besaid Aurochs vs Kilika Beasts

-My goal here isn’t to win or anything. I mean, I guess it is, but mostly it’s to try to lock in the concepts I went over last time.

-Feeling really good so far. More comfortable with the choices that go into each encounter, which numbers go against which. EN vs AT, SH/PA vs BL/CA, etc.



-YES!! First goal of my blitzball career.

[Non-rhetorical question for y’all: is there a way to try to win the initial tip-off, or is it just random?]

-Up 2-0 at the half. Feeling way more comfortable than in that Goers game with the basics of Blitzball.

-Yeah, I haven’t won a blitz-off yet. Either the team that just got scored on automatically gets the ball, or I’m having bad luck, or there’s something I’m supposed to do to try winning the blitzoff that I’m not doing.

-Yay! I won 3-0. Didn’t pick up any new techniques from the marked targets. I suppose there’s a luck element there though – if the opponents never use their cool techniques, I don’t learn them.

-Just went back to the tutorial, and saw that there’s actually a blinking “Techcopy!” thing that appears where I have to press “B” to have a chance to learn the technique. Not a 100% chance. Also will have a lower chance of learning a technique if the marker is a lower level than the marked.

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Exhibition – vs. Guado Glories

-The Glories don’t seem to have any techniques as of yet.

-They’re defensively a stronger team than the Beasts. Stronger overall, but especially defensively.

-Pah Guado is basically Tidus’s nemesis. She’s got solid tackling.

-Finally broke through with a goal in the second half, an open pass to Tidus who broke through one defender, shot, and scored!

-Tied 0-0 at the half, but broke things up in the second half to win 2-0. Ok. Pretty comfortable with the basics. Let’s try league play.

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Season 1, Round 1 – vs. Guado Glories

-Down 1-0 early. Saved by the bell near the end of the half when the Glories had a breakaway.

-Arrgh!! Had a one-on-one with Tidus and got Venom Tackled to lose the ball. I didn’t see any techniques to mark at the start of the game. Maybe I should check during half-time as well as at the start.

-Curse you, Auda Guado! She’s foiled me like three times now lol. Lost 1-0.



-Neat! League standings.

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Season 1, Round 2 – vs. Luca Goers

-REMAAAATCH! Though like most regular season rematches of championship losses, even if we win it won’t alleviate the pain.

-Early lead for the Goers.

-Two attempts to techcopy so far, each failed.

-Datto, I love how you shake off tackles, but your tackling skill needs work.

-Keepa is a monster. Sure, one goal scored, but still.

-Lost 1-0. The Goers, Psyches, and Glories are al tied for first in the league with 6 points each.

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Season 1, Round 3 – vs. Kilika Beasts

-I seem to have acquired more techniques at some point. Like, Datto can do Volley Shot and Tidus can do Sphere Shot or Jecht Shot.

-I may have noticed a thing! So on the mark screen, some of the techniques are a regular font and others are a fuzzy kind of font. [Non-rhetorical question for y’all: Does the fuzzy font indicate that the technique belongs to a higher level player than the player doing the marking?]

-HAHAHA THAT WAS AWESOME!! I got Tidus to do a Sphere Shot, which is basically a bicycle kick.


1-0.

-Then got Datto free and he scored. 2-0. Are the Aurochs headed for their first league win? Still early.

-Oh – I see. The fuzzy font means that it’s a “Key Technique,” probably something especially good for the player’s position.

-There’s something intensely satisfying about spacing out well, passing well, and setting up a clean shot.

-Woohoo!! 4-1 victory. First league victory.

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Season 1, Round 4 – vs. Ronso Fangs

-Kinda nervous here. I mean, I don’t really want to be playing a tackling game against angry lions.

-The Fangs have probably my favorite logo yet.

-As you might expect, the Ronso players are incredibly tough to tackle. High endurance.



-Oops. Made the mistake of two Sphere Shots. Tidus may end up taking a nap.

-Halftime. Tied at 0. The main lesson I take away from that is that HP is fairly expendable. Shouldn’t hoard it.

-Also, to watch more closely for techcopy chances. There were a couple of times where their goalie used a techcopy and I didn’t press B in time.

-Yeah, they definitely can change techniques at halftime. I’ll have to adjust my marks accordingly.

-The Fangs are just breaking through literally everything! Their keeper is similarly strong.

-Tied. 0-0.

-lolol the players have contacts. Strange. I can’t imagine my Besaid players leaving.



-BIGGS IS A PLAYER IN THIS GAME XD XD XD - wearing his own uniform.

-We’re currently tied for 4th place with the Fangs. Two points behind the Guado Glories.

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Season 1, Round 5 – vs. Al Bhed Psyches

-The Psyches are in 2nd place.

-Certain moments in these blitzball games just make me laugh. Specifically, the moments where a player finds him or herself in a position where they’re just COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FUCKED.



-Actually got a message in game when I tried to techcopy a Nap Pass that Tidus’s level was too low. The next time I tried to copy, didn’t get that message. Hm.

-The Psyche keeper has a ridiculously high CA. Scored once on him with Sphere Shot – will have to rely on that I think.

-Ended in a 1-1 tie.

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-Apparently, the season is more than just a single round robin style where everyone plays everyone once. Played one more game against the Guado Glories and won, 2-1, to push into 3rd place.


Tidus is my top forward.

I also learned during this game that having Sleep on one of my players SUUUUCKS. Like trying to fend off a power play in hockey.

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Next time: moving on with the story. I’ll definitely come back to Blitzball not too far down the line.