-THE WINTER TOPICAL SEMIFINALS MAGAZINE ft. oats-

[PancakeBrah]

THE WINTER TOPICAL
Semifinals Magazine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBx9s5VnTN8

Welcome to The Winter Topical’s Semifinals Magazine. The Quarterfinal Round, as you probably already know, was a bit of a disappointment in comparison to the first two rounds in terms of no-shows. We seem to have a pattern of two no-shows per round and although that’s fine when we have sixteen or eight matches, when it’s down to four it’s a bit more of a problem. Thanks goes out to the six writers who did show; the verses that were dropped were enjoyable to read. Although Pent uP and oXus weren’t able to show they deserve some recognition as well for making it to the Quarterfinals in the first place. All four remaining writers have shown that they have the dedication to try to win this entire tournament and I would hope that we can expect both battles to go to votes.

This magazine will be the shortest of the tournament. With only two matches to review and two matches to preview there simply isn’t as much content to discuss. We’ll have a bracket breakdown, match reviews, and two sets of match previews. Props to oats for volunteering his time and writing up his previews; it’s good to have more than one opinion in regards to the matches. The Championship Magazine will, hopefully, be much more thorough and in-depth. I’m going to blatantly steal some of the concepts and sections Certain used in his AOWL magazine in addition to some unique sections. Until then I hope you enjoy this.

THE BRACKET
Nearing the Finish Line

<iframe src="http://challonge.com/wintertopical/module" width="100%" height="500" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" allowtransparency="true"></iframe>

We have two good Semifinal matches. Vulgar v. Lars is the better of the two both in seeding and expected quality. Both are of the highest tier within the topical scene and both seem motivated to win the tournament. Black v. Nigma is the more lopsided of the two; dead man still has not had a single vote cast against him and has reinforced his #1 Seeding while Nigma has gotten to the Semifinals with only one of his matches going to votes (in the First Round no less). Although Nigma is a writer not to be taken lightly in any topical match he’s the underdog out of the remaining four writers and thus the dead man/Nigma battle doesn’t have the same ***het as the Vulgar/Lars match.

Looking at the bracket overall, I still consider this tournament a success even with the two no-shows in the Quarterfinal Round. Out of 28 matches we’ve only had 6 no-shows which is a good rate for the average league/tournament on Netcees during this supposed ‘death of text’. Aside from last round’s Vulgar/oats match every match in the tournament has received more than enough votes and all the participants have been active in the Discussion/Prediction topics. Hopefully the remaining three matches all go to votes and we end on the strong note this tournament deserves.

As far as potential Championship Matches go, there really isn’t a bad possibility left on the board. If I were to rank the possible matches in terms of expected hype/quality it’d be

1. dead man vs. Vulgar
2. dead man vs. Lars
3. Vulgar vs. Nigma
4. Lars vs. Nigma

I do think that dead man/Vulgar would be the premiere Finals. They’ve had a sort of (amicable) Cold War in the Open Mic for who’s the most respected writer on the site since I’ve been here. It’s not overt, but that’s always how I’ve kind of pictured it in my mind. So to see them face-off in the Finals of the main topical tournament of the year would obviously be intriguing. dead man/Lars is about equal to the dead man/Vulgar but has the added twist of legacy and long-term history. Lars is his own hype machine so there’d be considerable interest. Vulgar/Nigma gets the nod over Lars/Nigma because I think Nigma’s style is relatively similar to Vulgar’s so it’d be interesting in a master/student kind of way. Egyptian Aliens and Third World plights due to capitalism and George Bush on deck. Like I said, there isn’t a dud among the four so no matter what Finals we get I think we’ll be satisfied.

[PancakeBrah]

QUARTERFINALS REVIEW
No-Shows Make Me Sad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InFbBlpDTfQ

The QuarterFinals looked like a monster on paper but was a let-down in practice. Only two matches went to votes, one of which was a shut-out, and both no-shows were arguably the favorites of their prospective match ups. Two of the writers who did show wrote their verses past the deadline, seemingly in a rush. I’ll give a quick run-down of each match before getting to the Semifinal Previews.

(1)dead man vs. (9)big baby
dead man went with an unexpected interpretation of the picture. Instead of taking the scene at face value and building around it he instead internalized the action and went with a very metaphorical analogy. He used his style well, a sort of shotgun spread of short phrases painting a picture intermixed with a couple sniper shots for depth. big baby wrote at the last minute. He didn’t hit a wall; he just didn’t manage his big baby feeding schedule properly enough to drop to his normal level of quality. I honestly thought he was going to win the tournament after the first two rounds but some big babys burn so bright they disintegrate before they grow up. He also employed his style, but not as effectively. He went with a humorous approach, something he usually excels in. But instead of irreverent and witty it seemed frivolous and quickly put together, which it was. It didn’t have the overarching bite and depth his comedic pieces usually have and, to me, goes down as a well written one-off. dead man won in a shutout 6-0.

(R)Nigma vs. (21)oXus
oXus was not able to show because he is afraid of commitment. Nigma wrote a pretty solid verse. It was actually his best effort of the tournament; a cohesive verse with a readily grasped concept and message. His mechanics were better than his other entries as well. His rhymes were more clearly defined and he neither used too many or too little. It seems he’s dialing it in a bit and drop some of the superfluous elements of his writing at exactly the right time. Well done by him, it would’ve been an interesting match had it gone to votes. Nigma wins via no-show, in the records as a 5-0 shutout.

(2)Pent uP vs. (7)Lars
Pent no-showed due to personal life stuff, whatever that means. Personal life. El oh el. Anyway, Lars started his verse with ‘As spermatozoa’ which is pretty cool. It’s an actual word, obviously, but it makes me think of a sperm dinosaur. Nah mean? Anyways, his verse was good. It was kind of in-line with the route dead man took with his topic, not to say either did it purposefully. He took a macro look at life as a series of adventures and explorations and instead of going into the specifics of the picture he used it as a theme. I think he pulled it off and enjoyed reading it. Pent would’ve made this a tightly-contested match, I think, if he had the wherewithal to buckle down and hone his craft whilst drinking a Schroederbrau. Instead he’s left with schadenfreude. That doesn’t really make sense but I liked how the words were similar, and it’s a Breaking Bad reference. Anyways, well done by Lars here. Lars won via no-show, in the records as a 5-0 shutout.

(3)Vulgar vs. (7)oats *Battle of the Week
I got my prediction of battle of the week correct. With the other three matches consisting of two no-shows and a shutout, this was the BOTW almost by default. It ended up with only five votes which was a bit disappointing but oats seemed to admit Vulgar had won and the round was dragging on a bit due to waiting for votes. Vulgar dropped a Vulgar verse, with a breadth and depth most writers strive for but fail to reach while wrapping it all together eloquently. A lot of his references went over my head because I’m an illiterate farmer but I got there after a few reads It was another excellent verse from a writer who’s lived up to expectations throughout the tournament. oats wrote a more accessible verse with strong rhyme and rhythm mechanics. His plot was simple yet effective, one I had genuine interest in while still grasping the point he was driving home. His ending, in particular, was a strong bit of creative writing and turns of phrase. In all honesty if I wasn’t preoccupied with real life and had time to vote I would’ve likely leaned towards oats. The voters disagreed and I can see both arguments as both writers showed very well in my opinion. Props to both. Vulgar won 4-1.

[PancakeBrah]

SEMIFINAL MATCH PREVIEWS
A Complete Breakfast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u3WRARlS1s

oats hit me up wanting to contribute something to the magazine and sent me a write up of previews for this round. Having written the past three magazines almost exclusively by myself it will be a nice change of pace to get a different opinion/look on the writers and matches. I’ll be giving my opinions as well, with oats going first and me second. Hopefully the more in-depth previews make up for the relative brevity of this magazine. Props to oats for helping out.

(1)dead man vs. (R)Nigma
Topic: Young Girl Smoking

Stats
dead man: 16-0 Vote Spread, 0 NS, 3 Shutouts
Nigma: 15-4 Vote Spread, 2 NS, 0 Shutouts

OATS: Intriguing matchup here, one that I've personally never witnessed before. Nigma is still largely foreign to me, though I've since gone back and checked out a couple verses. Clearly, he's top-tier to make it this far. He probably has had a slightly easier path to the semis, if only by virtue of his opponent no-showing last round (can't blame him there). Fuck you oXus. Before that he shut-out a game Trap in the second round, building off of his first round squeaker over Frank. Top-seeded Dead Man is easily the toughest matchup Nigma has had since that opening round, and he'll need to step up his game in order to book his ticket to the finals. Ever the smooth technician, Nigma has the writing chops to keep up with Dead Man. What I've yet to see from him thus far is that truly impressive idea, the thought-provoking insight that lingers with you after you finish reading. He'll need this to take the win here.

There's not a whole lot to be said about Dead Man that hasn't already been said. His path to the semifinals was stiffer than Nigma's, besting a solid showing from Breathless in the opening round en route to outmatching the talented Witty and Big Baby back-to-back. He's the overall number 1 seed for a reason; his rhyming is textbook, and he attacks your senses with an onslaught of unique imagery. That combination of conceptual profundity and mechanical mastery makes him a tremendous opponent. There are dents in his armor, though. He can be tangential, and at times he's played it safe and coasted to predictable conclusions. Against Nigma, he won't have that luxury, and will have to bring his A-game to secure the W.

Verdict: Dead Man wins by 2-3 votes. I think Nigma is up for the challenge, but the picture seems to favor Dead.

PANCAKE: Despite beating Frank in the First Round, Nigma has had the easiest path of the remaining four writers. He’s won via no-show twice, which is no fault of his own. Each successive verse has been better than the last and he’s earned his spot here through dedication and consistency. He’s shown he can go toe-to-toe with the best on the site by edging that win over Frank. Black has had the best performance, quantitatively, out of anyone in the tournament, period. He still has yet to have a single vote cast against him and every one of his matches has gone to votes. His wins include Witty and big baby, that latter of which was the best writer of the tournament to that point. Somehow someway black’s gone 16-0 in votes while flying under the radar, at least to me. Aside from last round he hasn’t had the best verse every round; he’s just quietly taken care of business.

Nigma is at an obvious disadvantage. In reading his collection of writing on Netcees I see someone who’s still tinkering with his mechanics. Almost everyone here, including myself, is in the same boat, but at this point in a tournament this stacked he needs to know his direction and route. At times he puts too much emphasis on rhyme, and others not enough. His last round remedied that; it was a measured verse in terms of rhymes with enough little tricks to make it interesting. My advice would be to keep that same format with maybe a few more internals and non-standard rhymes. Regardless, he needs to keep his mechanics on that level or better to even have a chance. When it comes to content, he leans towards the mysterious, ephemeral, or scientific in actual topics. I find that when he’s less vague and more straightforward his writing finds a groove. Although he often tackles esoteric topics he should do so in a standard way, if that makes sense. In regards to beating his opponent, it’s a tall order. I’m picturing his verses and style and trying to figure out a scenario wherein he can take this. While it’s difficult, it’s not out of the realm of possibility. In my estimation he’s going have to write the best verse he’s ever dropped on this site to take this. He may know that and that pressure can be a bit stifling as a writer. The topic really doesn’t do him any favors as it lends itself to the personal, human route. He works in different regions. All the galactic fractals have to align here for the upset.

dead man is the favorite of the tournament currently. He’s earned his #1 seed and after an easy First round and lack of motivation in the Second he put it all together last round. In giving Black the #1 seed there was a thought in the back of my mind that he may get upset early due to his (excellent) style only tangentially touching on topics while an opponent goes full board topical. While he has been a bit more tangential than most, the voters seem to appreciate the nuance and in turn he’s run over everybody. His highly literate, punctuated, and imagery/thought-based writing is tough for anyone to go up against. He reels the reader in, often with a non-standard, interesting opening line, and then lets loose a flurry of interconnected, well worded thoughts until you arrive at the end. Somewhere along the line you give in to the precise wording and nostalgia, and he gets the vote. He’s the favorite here, but he should write to the same level he did last round against big baby. Nigma takes writing seriously and will take advantage of a sleeping opponent, every time. He’s too consistent and dedicated, with the requisite chops, to take lightly. The topic lends itself well to his style. He mentions cigarette smoking here and there in his writing and in posts, and the tangential approach is actually very viable here.

dead man 70/30

[PancakeBrah]

(3)Vulgar vs. (7)Lars
*BATTLE OF THE WEEK
Topic: Old Men Playing Cards

Stats
Vulgar: 15-4 Vote Spread, 0 NS, 1 Shutout
Lars: 17-1 Vote Spread, 1 NS, 1 Shutout

OATS: This is the topical version of a striker vs. grappler. Lars is an all-time titan, a fine-tuned topical machine. His storytelling is unparalleled as far as the remaining competition, and his rhyming is always immaculate. He enters the semifinals with a strong resume, pitching a perfect opener against Objective before toppling highly-regarded Certain in the second round, coasting in the quarterfinals with a no-show win. Where Lars will be at a disadvantage is against the daunting creativity of Vulgar. For all of Lars' skills, he can approach a topic with in a straight-forward manner that leaves him vulnerable against Vulgar's hyper-imaginative musings. Lars will have to forego the first few ideas that come to him and wait to find the stronger concept to compliment his elite level writing.

Vulgar is one of the expected semifinalists in many ways. As the overall third seed, Vulgar has clearly carved his spot among the most talented writers on the net. Vulgar is probably the most original writer of the semifinalists, which is saying something considering the other participants. Of course, this is his greatest asset as a writer, as he is wont to overwhelm just about anyone conceptually, giving him a headstart off the line. He's shown his consistency through arguably the hardest path to the semifinals, eliciting the mercy rule in his opener against Innovator on his way to handily defeating Split Eight in one of the best matches of the tournament, as well as the ever-so-handsome oatmeal. In Lars, Vulgar faces his toughest test so far, and will have to avoid going too deep in the rabbit hole conceptually while also maintaining a higher standard of mechanics than he has needed to thus far.

Verdict: This matchup becomes closer given the picture, which I expect to favor Lars and his narrative finesse. Vulgar is on a roll though, and looks to be a serious contender to win it all. I predict Vulgar to win by 1, maybe two votes

PANCAKE: This is basically a coin flip, with two diametrically opposed styles. Lars has had the second best run in the tournament, next to dead man. He’s gone 12-1 in matches that have actually gone to votes with wins over Objective and Certain. He was no-showed by Pent but wrote a verse that would’ve held its own against another submission. Vulgar has had arguably the toughest road to the Semis; after Innovator he beat Split Eight and oats, two writers who have the skill to be in this round. After shutting out Innovator he won his next two matches by a three each. Lars is a topical legend, having champed leagues and tournaments over countless years and sites. Vulgar also has been writing for quite some time and is more of a name on the current version of Netcees.

Although Lars is a topical mainstay, I was relatively unfamiliar with his writing before the tournament. Aside from the random Open Mic or brief NWL appearance I knew him more by name and reputation than as a writer. In this tournament, though, he’s backed up that reputation. His rhyming mechanics and style are understatedly complex; he uses relatively standard scheming with a nice dash of internals but focuses on slightly off-kilter or non-normal word usage to make them unique. He can drop the occasional vocab as well which is always a nice weapon when in deft hands. Also, it seems his readily accessible style and content works well with voters which can’t be overlooked. In terms of concepts used towards the topic he often goes straightforward but writes with enough nuance and uniqueness that it leaves the reader interested and satisfied. He’s yet to truly blow me away in this tournament, though. He’s simply written better than each of his opponents. In this match I agree with oats; Lars will have to be a bit more clever in his approach. I have no worries that he can match Vulgar on a technical level. It’s losing the battle before it’s even started that he has to worry about. I think it’d be short-sighted to say a writer of his caliber and repute is incapable of stepping up in the big stage and crafting a unique concept. I expect we’ll see a great verse from end to end; concept to execution.

Vulgar is a writer unto himself within the Netcees topical scene. Along with Black, he has the most distinct style on the site. As someone who’s usually more interested in the rhyming as opposed to the content of a piece I have a high level of respect for Vulgar’s technical ability. He writes some of the most unique rhymes on the site, often complex, rhymes I’ve never seen before. His content is almost without exception deep. He employs metaphors, imagery, and commands to detail the human condition or situations and topics he’s interested. I find that no matter what he’s writing about it’s couched within the framework of his view on life; a verse as an explanation of how and why. Sometimes he gets to be a bit highfalutin for my tastes, but that’s a good side to err on when writing here, I think. Every style has a possible negative, whether it be complex rhymers having ‘no content’ or dour writers being ‘too serious’, and that possible negative of his style isn’t that bad. That’s a bit too many words talking about his negatives; he’s almost always razor sharp in his execution and can out write basically everyone when he’s at the top of his game.

The topic is even, in my mind. For some reason I think Vulgar will do well with the age aspect of the picture and Lars will do well with interaction of the people, whether it be in the present of the picture or in the past.

As I said, this is a coin flip. I’ve underestimated Lars every round of the tournament thus far, having picked him to lose the last two rounds. I think this will be slightly against the grain but I’ll go with Lars. Gut call, and I expect this battle will be a great one.

Lars 51/49

[PancakeBrah]

CLOSING REMARKS
Rawn has small hands

Well, there it is. I hope the in-depth previews made up for the lack of content this round. I’m confident that all four writers are going to show; the Championship’s right there for the taking. I’d like the thank everyone again for making this tournament as good as it is. Again, props to oats for the excellent breakdowns. I look forward to reading what the writer’s come up with this round, as I think most of the community does. Best of luck, we’re in the home stretch fellas.

-Pancake



http://www.alanaragonblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/dual-clean.gif

[Ghost1]

These mags r crazy

[oats]

dope, thanks for the work, Cake

[Vulgar]

Time to write something good. Thanks fellas.

[Certain]

Pancake, you took the word "white" out my photo descriptions. Are you racist?

[Eŋg]

thanks for the love oatcakes... definitely terrified of commitment. worried i'll never sate my wanderlust if tied to a house and home.

stellar work.

[Certain]

I like that oats said Nigma "probably" has had an easier path to the semifinals. He's had consecutive no-show wins while dead man has beaten Witty and big baby.

[Witty]

CLOSING REMARKS
Rawn has small hands

haaaaaaaaaaa

[oats]

I like that oats said Nigma "probably" has had an easier path to the semifinals. He's had consecutive no-show wins while dead man has beaten Witty and big baby.

I try to divorce from as much bias as possible, hence the ever-so-handsome description.

[PancakeBrah]

Yeah I also have a tendency to qualify everything I say in these mags as to not be too declarative.

[big baby]

lars and deadman would be a great final opposed to nigma and vulgar. or any of the other possibilities.

[Lars]

haaaaaaaaaaa

lmao that got me too