Ultimate OOTS Book Tournament 2: Match 16

[137beth]

Greetings to all people of the Playground, and welcome to
The Ultimate Order of the Stick Book Tournament II!


Back in 2014, I ran a series of polls to determine the forum's favorite OOTS book. Start of Darkness won that tournament, defeating Blood Runs in the Family by one vote. Since that time, the number of available books has increased, and the readership has had more time to reflect on earlier stories in light of more recent events. Hence, I felt it was time for another tournament. Without further ado, I present

The Contestants

Start of Darkness
War and XP
Don't Split the Party
Blood Runs in the Family
Utterly Dwarfed

Dungeon Crawling Fools
On the Origins of the PCs
No Cure for the Paladin Blues
Snips, Snails and Dragon Tails
Haleo & Julelan + Uncivil Servant
Good Deeds Gone Unpunished


I have grouped together the two stories which are currently digital-only. The 11 contestants will compete in a double elimination tournament, with your votes deciding who wins each match. The winner of the entire tournament will be crowned Grand Champion of the Stick!

Due to the fact that there are more than 8 but fewer than 16 contestants, five books will get a free pass on the first round. The contestants were seeded randomly. You can see the entire tournament bracket on Challonge.

Vote once in each match by posting your vote in this thread. Voting for this match will close Saturday, March 28, at which time I will post the next match. I will vote only in the case where a tie-breaking vote is needed. Please put your votes in bold, since it makes it easier for me when tallying them.

Now that half of the matches for this tournament are complete, we will be doing only one match at a time for the remainder of the tournament.


The Current Match

Match 16: War and XP vs Utterly Dwarfed

[Schroeswald]

Yeah, its Utterly Dwarfed, because of course it is, (to be fair I thought that last time and somehow DStP won).

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I will vote for Utterly Dwarfed.

[Procyonpi]

Voting for WaXP, there were things I liked about UD but overall I found a lot of the plotting overly circuitous, and WaXP was basically the book that established OOTS as an epic saga.

[KorvinStarmast]

Utterly Dwarfed

The improved art style tips the scales here; very, very close.

[CriticalFailure]

WaXP it feels very epic in scale, the plot is very well paced, and it really ties together a bunch of different characters’ stories very well. I really like how it switches back and forth between the order and team evil, and they both have a lot of cool material. I like utterly dwarfed but I didn’t find Durkon’s memories as interesting in comparison. Generally speaking having team evil as the villains is much more interesting because their role in the story is larger than that of the single arc villains and they have their own ups and downs. I also just personally didn’t enjoy the airship arc. I know that’s personal taste and a lot of readers probably really loved the airship arc, but we all have different preferences and it’s one of my least favorites. Obviously in a story like this everyone will have different preferences based on what they like, that’s what makes it cool. Anyways the battle for Azure City is a really excellent sequence for so many characters it’s a highlight of the series overall and makes WaXP difficult to compete with.

[understatement]

IMHO probably Blood Runs In The Family. All of the OOTS had a moment to shine, Team Evil's evilness (specifically one member) stepped up by an enormous notch, the Linear Guild actually effective for once, art was fairly impressive--and the final battle sequence was great. Oddly enough, I really wasn't a fan of Tarquin, but the unceremonious way he got lopped off just made the whole arc better. The appearance of some of the Vector Legion was a nice touch too.

And it showed the Snarl!

(I can't wait to see how this last arc's going to wrap up, with facing down Team Evil in this new art style...*rubs hands*)

[Schroeswald]

IMHO probably Blood Runs In The Family. All of the OOTS had a moment to shine, Team Evil's evilness (specifically one member) stepped up by an enormous notch, the Linear Guild actually effective for once, art was fairly impressive--and the final battle sequence was great. Oddly enough, I really wasn't a fan of Tarquin, but the unceremonious way he got lopped off just made the whole arc better. The appearance of some of the Vector Legion was a nice touch too.

And it showed the Snarl!

(I can't wait to see how this last arc's going to wrap up, with facing down Team Evil in this new art style...*rubs hands*)

...um, BRitF isn't in this vote, its War and XPs and Utterly Dwarfed.

[understatement]

Whoops! I did not scroll down on the post enough.

War and XP, then. I loved how intense it was (although Utterly Dwarfed was pretty amazing too).

Apologies.

[LadyEowyn]

Voting for Utterly Dwarfed.

[rgrekejin]

War and XPs

[ByzantiumBhuka]

Voting for Utterly Dwarfed, probably because I started reading while it was going.

[Vulkos]

War and XPs

[137beth]

And voting is now closed! The results:
Match 16: War and XP vs Utterly Dwarfed (5-5)

We have our first tie of this tournament! I will break the tie in favor of Utterly Dwarfed.

The next match is up in a new thread.

[Linneris]

I would have voted for Utterly Dwarfed too, but forgot about the poll until it was too late. ._.

[Sylian]

I also would have voted for Utterly Dwarfed, but I guess I forgot about the date.