This War for the Kr0wn was declared in the aftermath of a clash between Team Cr0w and Team Kron! With the latter exiled from The Great Arena by their defeat at Supercard 6, the 'powers that be' can find only one way to restore balance and purity to competition seized by a Cr0w-led coup!
Tournament 5 began with one hundred and twenty-eight competitors in the biggest battle in the history of organized competition. The fourth stage marks the arrival of the Round of Sixteen, a pestigious bracket boasting some of the biggest names in the league fighting for the glorious claim of Tournament 5 winner, and rightful challenger to the Undisputed Champion, Ratt! With everything to fight for, these names and a dozen more collide with an end to the War for the Kr0wn now in sight!
Toryn, Hokey, TonyTheTiger, and Scott-Howell are among the big names shed from Round 3. With the weight of a Quarter Final berth on the horizon, Cr0w and Kron lead the charge in a storybook convergence that seems too appropriate to be true! Waiting to uspet them are the likes of ElJobber -- a man who tasted glory and missed it by a narrow margin, as well as mysterious new opponents, like Darkrai -- a surprise competitor who has drawn comparisons to the current Champion!
Round 4 Results:
1. Darkrai defeated Genku [#1] in a close fought blockbuster!
With an enthusiasm and power that has drawn comparisons to Ratt -- Darkrai made for a scintillating match-up against the recently revived Genku! Genku's feud with the current Undisputed Champion dates back to Supercard 3: The Long Hard Road and culminated in a surprise heel turn that followed Ratt and his brief union as a neutral party at Supercard 6, gaining revenge against Genku's oppressors, the Barons of Famine and Pestilence!
Seeded first as a result of his victory in the last 128-slot tournament (T1), Genku has bounced back from his life as a Revenant slave of Sinvida Von Grimm to be one of the major challengers in the War for the Kr0wn! Just as he had at Supercard 6, however, Genku came up short. It was an absolute nailbiting blockbuster as these two went head to head, but the mysterious masked man known as Darkrai had the edge when he needed it most! The result proves a shock dismissal of another seeded fighter, and sets Darkrai up as an overnight contender in his career debut!
2. The_Purple_Bunny d. Jammer2Omega in a decimation.
Jammer2Omega has been making strides since his debut in April, notably performing strong in Tournament 4 with wins over CCShadow and ScottK. Few momentum streams could compare to The_Purple_Bunny's, however, which saw a miraculous return at Supercard 4 interrupted slightly by a roadblock in The Tower of Power. Despite the hiccup, that extra experience and momentum proved to be the edge for TPB, as J2O walked in to a powerful +4 decimation in the biggest fight of his career!
Though the impact was severe, Jammer2Omega must walk away from this match with a sense of purpose, proving he has what it takes to rise above the lower ranks of the fighting field. The_Purple_Bunny, of course, sets up for an enticing challenge against Darkrai, who mirrors Ratt -- the perfect warm-up for a Championship match TPB would love to have!
3. Ninja_Mime defeated m0s in a solid win.
Ninja_Mime has been one of the many top tier fighters in The Great Arena, but with much of his success in recent times coming from duo competition alongside Hokey, his individual prowess has gone somewhat unnoticed. Quietly carving through the tournament to this stage, Ninja_Mime outlasted his characteristically fortunate partner, performing comfortably in a favourable draw. m0s had much more to prove coming in to Tournament 5, emerging as one of the few members of Team Kron to garner unofficial rankings status after Supercard 6, with a STEROLIZER in rare form threatening to stage an upset.
m0s was cool under pressure, delivering a winning fight against a legitimately contending STERO in Round 3, but had clearly met his match in Ninja_Mime's first opportunity to flex his muscles. It was a close encounter for the pair, who matched up better than might have been expected! Ninja_Mime, never the less, progresses as a true dark horse of this 128-person field, capable of upsetting any fighter, on the right day!
4. Kron defeated SubMan799 in a total annihilation!
SubMan799 is one of the newcomers to The Great Arena who, despite facing steep odds against seasoned opponents, benefitted greatly from the Team Cr0w win at Supercard 6! Finally coming in to form in Tournament 5, SubMan799 had the steep challenge of upsetting one of the most powerful fighters in competition today! Kron has been down on his luck since reengaging with longtime arch-nemesis, Cr0w, but after eliminating #3 seed, Mimik, in Round 2, and former Champion Toryn, in Round 3, has emerged as a hot favourite to win Tournament 5!
Kron absolutely lived up to the hype, crushing any hopes of an upset with a devastating +28 impact in one of the most powerful displays showcased in the entirety of the tournament. Both he and Cr0w have delivered maximum +30 annihilations in previous rounds, but none of these victories have been quite as demonstrative as the total destruction of SubMan799's hopes for a surprise victory! With the finals around the corner, the possibility of a Kron/Cr0w rematch becomes ever more likely, a poetic eventuality to the power struggle that created this War for the Kr0wn!
5. Shoe [#4] defeated DaMo in a decimation.
A much talked about debut victory in Tournament 4 earned Shoe seeded acknowledgment for Tournament 5, but with only a brief showing in The Tower of Power, Shoe remains a less certain quantity when matched against the upper echelon of the contending fighters. DaMo may not be one of these marquee names of the Championship ranks, but with an upset victory against Kron at this stage of Tournament 1, the more experienced DaMo makes for an unlikely test in what has otherwise been a confident run for Shoe.
With a +3 impact in a never-in-doubt result, Shoe added another name to the list of mid-rank fighters he has proven dominant over. It was in Round 2 that he reprised his role as victor over T4 finalist Casselman, before earning a solid victory against successful duo fighter, Scott-Howell, in Round 3. This arc of competition is undoubtedly a compelling case, but as the finals draw near, Shoe draws nearer to his first clash with the big names of The Great Arena and the question must remain -- is he truly ready?
6. CaTigeReptile defeated DeathScepter in a close battle.
Emerging from a curious corner of the Tournament 5 draw, CaTigeReptile rides a string of successes which have included feuds with some of other female fighters of The Great Arena. DeathScepter wasn't present to taste CTR's wrath in a Grand Prix Battle Royal, which included the vicious elimination of some of the sisterhood, but had his own string of successes to call upon, including a convincing win over Chromatose in the previous round!
The even base of this mid-tier match-up presented itself totally as the pair clashed in a close fought battle! CaTigeReptile had claws when it counted, repelling DeathScepter's best efforts in a bout that wasn't exactly a threat to the upper ranks. CTR, never the less, has been on an arc that has made her one of the characters to watch in The Great Arena. The Quarter Final will be her ultimate test when she runs afoul Shoe, whose tournament so far has been all about quashing the gauntlet of these second level contenders!
7. ElJobber defeated MINION.
Luck of the draw made MINION a surprise runner this deep into the bracket, but you wouldn't have heard ElJobber complaining! As one of the remaining legitimate contenders for the Undisputed Championship, ElJobber was undoubtedly grateful for a lighter load after dismissing rival TonyTheTiger in Round 3, and losing to Genku at Pre-Show 7!
It was ultimately a fairly unremarkable showing from ElJobber, who exhibited a bare minimum in his +2 defeated of MINION. His performance suggested a similar bout of the phantom fatigue that has troubled some of the best competitors in The Great Arena in recent months, but with a likely clash against Cr0w looming in the Quarter Finals, may have simply been part of a recovery strategy from the cunning fighter.
8. Cr0w [#2] defeated Onryo in a decimation.
Some commentators suggested Cr0w would struggle to go the distance given some of his recent performances, but if the first four rounds of Tournament 5 are any measure, then Cr0w has to be considered one of the absolute favourites in this War for the Kr0wn! Still riding high on his domination over Kron at Supercard 6, the unofficial ruler of The Great Arena has been indomintable so far! Onryo was just another victim in the list, fortunate to walk away from a total decimation with only the scars of a +2 impact!
Though far less intimidating than Kron's "Round of Sixteen" result; Cr0w's decimation is the second half to a preview that nobody thought possible! The War for the Kr0wn may have given the seeds to former tournament winners, but if there were two fighters destined to meet in the final, then it would have to Cr0w and Kron. As the Quarter Finals dawn, this destined encounter, the sixth meeting between the two, now seems to be fate, but with a purse of an Undisputed Championship match, there are still plenty of motivated obstacles to overcome!
With one of the better records against Cr0w, ElJobber is the looming threat who defeated #1 contender Toryn after a double defeat that included missing his shot at the Undisputed Championship! Darkrai is the mysterious unknown quantity who has delighted with his high impact victories and enthusiasm for competition which has been compared to the reigning Champion! The_Purple_Bunny rides high on his return from the grave, while Shoe seeks validation as a previous Tournament winner. Ninja_Mime has been the silent assassin of the tournament, with every chance to win, and CaTigeReptile is a feisty feline fatale with a name to be made if she can secure an upset victory!
Tournament 5: War for the Kr0wn reaches the Quarter Final stages next, with eight capable competitors ready and willing to earn their shot at the Undisputed Champion, Ratt! Destiny beckons but one, who will it be?!
Quarter Final Brackets:
1. Darkrai versus The_Purple_Bunny
2. Ninja_Mime versus Kron
3. Shoe [#4] versus CaTigeReptile
4. ElJobber versus Cr0w [#2]
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