(s/o IAmFlow for the graphic)
Well, who saw this coming? In just his second recorded LBT battle, Kiwi has walked out as the champion. Winning 70% of the votes, the decisive victory has taken everyone back and shows that Kiwi isn’t someone anyone can underestimate. Shodan admittedly came into the battle lighter than usual, but this just shows how confident Shodan was of securing an easy victory. Unfortunately, it didn’t go to plan and Shodan relinquishes the belt to the better man on the night.
One of the most interesting aspects of this showdown is that Kiwi’s mandatory challenger is Gutz. We’re going to see him going from big underdog to big favourite in the space of two battles. Anyone who’s been here for a while knows how frustrating it can be to feel like voters are ‘let down by your verses and Kiwi has been put in a position similar to what Shodan was in last time out.
It’ll be very interesting to see how this works out in his first defence, but with challengers like Hall of Famer and LBT creator RULE knocking on his door, Kiwi’s stock on LB has skyrocketed with this victory.
Congratulations to the new champ!
Co Main Event
EtH (3-3) def. Rai (18-7) 79-21
I’ll try and write this through my own perspective. I never expected to win this battle. My verse was a little sloppy and Rai’s record isn’t one you can really ignore. He has beat the best and has a massive run of success on LB. He has the second most wins ever in LBT, currently holds the LBT King title (more on that later) and is a former multiple time champion. Myself? I’ve never won a title in 13 years on the site.
I think my stock has risen a lot recently and I’ll be a tough battle for anyone right now as a result. Rai has maybe struggled with consistency and taken a few losses he may not have on his best day as of late. I know from talking to him that he feels like he has a lot to prove, and in the face of accusations of all sorts he is getting frustrated at being questioned or overlooked.
I didn’t really expect to win and don’t feel comfortable putting myself in title shots, so wherever I go next is dependent on what battles make sense and which will be of specific interest.
Rai already has a mammoth battle in the pipeline where he risks everything, so he is immediately putting himself into a do or die position.
Main Card
Rieper (29-15) def. IAmFlow (0-3) 93-7
I was shocked by this battle. While Lock did take the battle decisively, I was the only guy I believe who voted for Flow. I was brought into this believing Flow has no chance and his time away from battling had blunted his skills. Maybe he was never that good and my memory was failing me anyways. But this was definitely not the case and we saw a slick verse in which Flow had done his research.
Lock managed to walk away with the win in what was a very tough challenge. We’re looking at what’s next for Rieper and I know Flow came into this not intending to battle again. It was a great final outing if that is the end of Flow’s battling career, while Lock is looking to mount a challenge towards the title in a couple of battles time.
Edgeworth (3-1) def. GrizzEAT (4-3) by No Show
Grizz no showed. Fantastic. I was brought this battle by Grizz as it was pre-arranged anyways. Both men were going to submit in just a matter of days and I’d have to quickly get the card up to make sure it was announced before it happened. Instead, Grizz bitched out and disappeared. The battle still hasn’t happened even though Grizz has turned up for the tournament since.
At least when he used to self vote and bite he actually turned up to the battle.
Edgeworth moves on, picks up a W for his short record in LBT, and will want a bigger clash next time out.
Fidel (7-4) def. CakedOut (8-6) 100-0
Two of the best records in LBT, I felt this was a good battle to put together with their respective experience. It turned out to be a fantastic battle and in my opinion a real turning point for both guys.
We saw some slick, well delivered punches from both which made this a really difficult matchup. Caked brought arguably his best verse to date, however he maybe lacked a tiny bit of execution which allowed Fidel to notch ahead.
It was a good win for Fidel and he’s positioned himself to get a big opportunity next time out, while Caked will take a step back and hopefully clean up that tiny bit he’s lacking before running back towards the main card in the near future.
Prelims
Autograph (5-0) def. TradeMark (0-1) 100-0
Brayne Ded (5-4) def. Student (3-6) 96-4
Subreal (2-5) def. ColossalMini (3-2) by No Show
Zezmer (1-1) def. Enfinite (2-6) by No Show