[MAG] PlayOffs Pamphlet : Issue 2 : Round 2

[Lucifa]

..Play-Off Pamphlet : Issue 2 : Round 2..

Welcome to the Official RSTL Play-Offs Pamphlet.
The Tribune will return next week and the Pamphlet will be incorporated in there until the tournament is concluded.

I. Introduction
II. Weekly Poll
III Round 2 Play-Off Ranks & Match-Ups
IV. How Round 2 Went Down
V. Jook’s Sonnage Of The Week
VI. Round 2 Highlights
VII. Semi-Finals Match-Ups
VIII. Beating The Final 4
IX. Lucifa Predicts The Semi-Finals
X. RSTL Season 3 Information
XI. Lucifa & Jook Predict [S3:WK1]
XII. … Of The Week
XIII. Jook’s Memory Lane
XIV. Outroduction

I. Introduction

Welcome to Semi-Finals week and Week 1 of Season 3. There’s a good vibe slowly creeping back in to this forum and I’m really hoping it stays and builds momentum as Season 3 progresses. Congratulations to all who made it in to the Play-Offs and further congratulations to our Semi-Finalists (vada, nah son, Got Life? and Eye-Rime), good luck in your battles this week.

I would also like to offer up a real big congratulations to Quriosity who (as far as I’m aware) became a father at the weekend. Hope everything went well for mother and child.



We’d like to welcome all the new faces we’re seeing in Week 1 of Season 3 and hope that you all enjoy your stint in the RSTL. Be sure to check the rules and stay within them as to not ruin your experience.

II. Weekly Poll

This weeks poll is created by Jook.

Weekly Poll

Welcome to the newest section of the RSTL Mag. The weekly poll. This is where us moderators and you participants can send in things you would like the leagues feed back on. I will post the results after each week in the following mag. This well help get everyone involved and also some insight out side of us Mods thinking. So when you reply to this thread it's simple, just leave your answer which will be A. B. or C. Easy money!

This weeks Poll is:

What do you think was the proper way to handle the nah son and IT situation?

A. It was handled well.

B. IT should have advanced because he voted.

C. Though he was shook and disgraced the league, since he voted the mods should have made it a Final Five.

[Lucifa]

III. Round 2 Play-Off Ranks & Match-Ups

16 became 8 as the race toward the champion of champions title heated up.

So this is how the Top 8 looked when all when said and done:

1. nah son
2. Eye-Rime
3. Infinite Truth
4. LDogg
5. DaAlmightyDolla
6. Pent uP
7. vada
8. Got Life?

So the battle card went as follows:

nah son vs Infinite Truth
vada vs DaAlmightyDolla
LDogg vs Got Life?
Eye-Rime vs Pent uP

With the brackets dictating the following Semi-Final match-ups, with “winner of” in mind:

Nah Son/Infinite Truth vs Eye-Rime/Pent uP
LDogg/Got Life? vs vada/DaAlmightyDolla

IV. How Round 2 Went Down

nah son vs Infinite Truth
The potential to be the battle of the week was lost when Infinite Truth decided to snub the league and nah son, by posting up a far from complete piece that handed the win to his opponent as long he showed with a ‘worthy’ piece. This happened, as nah son came with a competitive verse based around sailors forced in to cannibalism.
nah son wins 2-0 and advances to Semi-Finals

vada vs DaAlmightyDolla
Many predicted a vada whitewash here and it was almost the case. Only my own vote in favour of DaD stopped it being a TKO result. I felt justified in voting against the crowd as I found DaD’s to be a more enjoyable verse, but there was no doubting that vada definitely had the better writing talent on show. I feel sometimes that the mechanical aspects can strangle the life out of a verse and this sort of happened for me in reading vada’s verse. It was a good battle and worthy of a top 8 battle, and the rightful winner was probably reflected in the result, but props to DaD for a good showing.
vada wins 3-1 and advances to Semi-Finals

LDogg vs Got Life?
So what was set as a (non-happening) pink slip battle a few weeks ago gave us a good idea of how that would have gone, and it would seem we would have been without LDogg for a year as he was steamrollered in this match-up. 2 different approaches to content and writing where LDogg wasn’t given favour by the voters due to his ‘personal’ content as apposed to Got Life?’s more creative storyline piece.
Got Life? wins 5-(-3) and advances to Semi-Finals

Eye-Rime vs Pent uP
Although this went as most would have predicted it was a difficult battle to vote on. There were things to like and things not to like so much about both verses and the feedback to both reflected this by splits of opinions and how people perceived each piece. Pent’s verse read slightly awkward whilst having an interesting and fun concept, whilst Eye gave solid mechanics to a less interesting but slightly more entertaining verse. A good battle but a rather strange one at the same time.
Eye-Rime wins 3-(-2) and advances to Semi-Finals

[Lucifa]

V. Jook’s Sonnage Of The Week

S O N N A G E of the week


What does:



+



+



+



=

?


You guessed it!!



Infinite Truth aka Trailer Trash Charlie

So I would just like to extend a fuck you very much to the kid whom failed at life. Infinite Truth posted the lamest verse of the playoffs EVER. Wow now that is an accomplishment, especially since he said he had a whole verse written that he "scrapped". Scrapped like his trailer home in the outskirts of Orlando? Very possible. I think that this kid is an embarrassment to the league. What does he say to justify his actions "it's just the net". LOL. What makes that statement so LOLable and ROTLish is that this queer actually tried to do some half ass voting in hopes of making it to the next round without having to write a verse for nahsy. LOLOLOL. But he doesn't care right? WRONG, this faggot cares a lot. Look at him the kid is a rapper who looks like Doogie Howser. WOW. The prime example of failing at life. I think L Dogg summed it up with this post about this herb:

Originally Posted by Lord Drama

this is what pussy's who get scared say when they know they are facing someone they cant win... keep being that guy who doesnt take anything seriously and end up being the low life loser you were destined to be. I'm drunk an just graduated and could give a fuck about gotlife or his verse or whether I win, but I still had the balls to drop somethin unlike your flaky 10 line submission... mind as well tattoo failure across your forehead and call it a day

Shook. Scared. Lame. Faggot. All words to describe IT's actions this week.

But here is the TOPPER. He has Got Life? backing him up. That deserves a big LOLZ. To have a convicted biter (yes he is BOXA from x.anga who took everyones shit and tried to pass them off as his own) and a recycler, (YES he recycles time and time again) backing him up is like having R Kelly as a character witness for Kobe Bryant in a rape case.

F A I L!

[Lucifa]

VI. Round 2 Highlights

Best Battle
vada vs DaAlmightyDolla

Best Verse
nah son

Best Voter
vada

Best Story
nah son

Best Story Progression
Eye-Rime

Best Imagery
vada

Best Flow
Got Life?

Best Overall Mechanics
vada

Biggest Surprise
Infinite Truth handing nah son a win.

Biggest Upset
Infinite Truth not showing a competitive verse.

[Lucifa]

VII. Semi-Final Match-Ups

nah son vs Eye-Rime
vada vs Got Life?

VIII. Beating The Final 4

Beating the Final Four

So people want to know what it takes to beat the last four standing. Well as a gift to you J o o k is going to walk you through what it takes to beat every last Final Four competitor.


1. nah son


Season ones champ is back in the Final Four. Is it a surprise? No, not really he's the champ of the entire season one as he puts it. Is he the man to beat? I really don't know. He hasn't shown any Godly verses, but on the other hand he hasn't had to. Going against two incomplete verses round one and two, he nonchalantly took the victory with a complete, mechanically apt piece accompanied by a well written, solid story.

So what does it take to beat nah son? Listen closely. You won't out class him, you won't out write him in a story, you may not even be more creative than him. So the key to beating nah son boils down to a few elements. I don't see him contending competitively with a well written topical piece like we've seen from the likes of Rikoshay, etc. The problem is those are nearly extinct. What I think will be the determining cause for nah being beat is enhanced creativity and an advanced rhyme scheme, all while still matching him in mechanics, structure, plot development, and class. This will be a very hard thing to do for Eye Rime because he is more of a mechanics guy and hasn't been too creative these past weeks. So he has to step it up if he's going to walk away with this one.

nah son's weaknesses:

rhyme scheme

creativity

story transition


Eye-Rime

Yes your favorite mod and new father is amidst the last standing. Shouts to Joseph for having his little girl, and shouts to God for making it a complication free birth, that's a real blessing. So Q has been a strong competitor for the last two seasons hands down. One of the best I might add. He lost early last season in the first round but now has something to prove as he gets closer to the Championship. He has had two good battles which puts him at an advantage over nah whom hasn't had one since he's been back.

What does it take to beat Eye-Rime? Well I think we all know what it takes to beat him. He's been in the league a lot unlike nah so his flaws have shown through out. He is a very strong story teller, has very strong mechanics, and his rhyme scheme is very well executed. So the keys to beating Q? Lets get to them. I think creativity, class, and story development will send Q home early. I say this because his creativity isn't his strongest hold, his class isn't the greatest as he tends to get too wordy in his pieces which take away from the natural flow of things and I say development because his stories haven't been crystal clear as of lately (especially last week). I think nah and Eye are pretty evenly matched per se because they have some of the same strengths and weaknesses. This is going to be a good one.

Eye-Rime's weaknesses:

Projecting clarity

Wording

Creativity


Vada

Now this is a man who needs no introduction. He is hands down the single most successful writer in the history of the RSTL. With well over 12 championships and way past 100 wins, Vada is second to none. Last season he blew it, more so because he wasn't motivated so I feel as if this man has something to prove this season as he is known as the best. I personally would love to see Vada win the Championship for old time sake. Will it happen? We'll see, only time will tell.

What does it take to beat Vada? Simply put, EVERYTHING. If Vada writes to his best ability, there is just no beating him. He is the only one to date that I've read a flawless verse from. That says a lot. Now will the question is will Vada show up to his full ability. I am going to say probably NOT. He hasn't for the past 2 seasons so what makes this battle any different? He has everything a sound writer should have. I can't even pick out his weaknesses because they truly are up to him that week. He can go from a well written no flawed verse to writing trash in one weeks transition. So it's very hard to pick out what will beat him. I'll tell you this though, Vada is the type of guy who will beat himself. Especially coming half assed against the likes of a solid writer like Got Life?. So if he is not motivated or doesn't come full force expect Got Life? to walk away with this battle hands down. IF Vada comes full force, the expect to see him in the Championship. It's THAT simple people.

Vada's weaknesses:

Lack of motivation

Writing only enough to win which may underestimate his opponent

Proof reading


Got Life?

First off this man should not even be here. He cheated throughout the season and was banned from the playoffs but must have sweet talked Q and Lucy into letting him sub in. Either way, he is here and he means business. Do I dread writing anything positive about him because lately he's been a little faggot? ABSOLUTELY. But I am a mod so I have to do what I have to do. This is the RSTL's iron man. He has been in the league week in and week out for years now. He has developed from an insecure writer into an egotistical slayer. He is the only one with experience from the Final Four of last season beside nah son, and will make it work in his favor.

What it takes to beat Got Life?. Well if he continues to write like he did last week it wont take much at all. But if he steps his game back up and comes to his full capability and stops biting IT's style then we have ourself a fucking battle. He writes with elegance, creativity, and class. Even the most gory rape pieces are touched with a bit of sophistication. So what are his weaknesses you ask? Well I simply say rhyme scheme, structure, and creativity. He can be creative but it's either hit or miss. His rhyme scheme isn't as strong as others in the league, and his structure (especially speaking of last week) is pretty ugly. So can Vada beat Got Life? Absolutely. Will he? Maybe. You see it all depends on Vada. Got life? has shown he can beat him before (twice). So if Vada slacks off in any aspect Got Life? will make him pay.

Got Lifes? weaknesses

Structure

Creativity

Rhyme scheme


My final thoughts, on each of these battles it is anyones game to win. I can honestly see anything happening. Any mixture going down. So good luck to the Final Four participants, lets make this one to remember.

[Lucifa]

IX. Lucifa Predicts The Semi-Finals

nah son vs Eye-Rime
I think this is bad timing for Q with the arrival of his daughter and because of that he may lack the time needed to craft a really competitive verse against tough opposition. As always, there’s drama in the air. This time about nah son advancing, when he thoroughly deserved to, causing drama with people suddenly changing their opinion on how the rules should and shouldn’t be applied to suit themselves (or their lovers). The ruling was made and nah son advances and I expect him to go on to make a push to the final. Should be pretty epic if Q can fit in the time needed, and if he does I fully expect this one to go to the wire.

vada vs Got Life?
So we have the rule breaker wanting rulings made to put his man through, after totally bagging on the league by posting a non-competitive verse. If we were to put Infinite Truth back in, it’d be to replace this disgrace and blight on the league, not to replace nah son. Got Life? should consider himself lucky to be involved at all and needs to hush his mouth on things that don’t concern his chunky face. Meanwhile we have vada who has made his way to the semis in convincing fashion and I think he is a strong enough writer to see off the self-proclaimed iron man. It should be a very good battle with their contrasts in style and I very much doubt we’ll see a whitewash with the voting, but I have vada edging this one.

[Lucifa]

X. RSTL Season 3 Information

Week 1 of Season 3 has begun this week.
Competitors that drop from the Play-Offs will be automatically signed in to the following week’s competition.
New Rules & Regulations have been posted, giving clear rulings for all to see and save arguments over some previous rules and rulings not staying consistent or being clear from the outset.
[TOPICS] threads will be posted at the weekend before competition of the following week begins. Giving plenty of time to work on ideas before finding out who your opponent will be.
We will strive to have a Champ Match by Week 6 of the new season. Leaving a possible 10 Champ Titles up for grabs.
Season 3 Play-Offs will be after the completion of Week 16 and are only open to competitors of Season 3 itself, with the WINNER of Season 2 Play-Offs automatically taking the Number 1 Seed.
Points for the Play-Offs will tally from the 16 weeks of competition, plus points obtained in Season 2’s Play-Offs.
The points have been altered slightly to keep things competitive in the race for a top 16 rank, as well as easier to calculate for mods.
The Points System:
2pts for a win.
-1pt for a loss.
5pts for Champ match win (including defences).
5pts for making previous Play-Offs
5pts per round advanced.
10pts for the Play-Offs Champ.

(Points are subject to change, but for now, I feel this is the best system to keep it fair and competitive)

XI. Lucifa & Jook Predict [S3:WK1]

Lucifa:

LDogg vs rocket
via no-show = my prediction.

Pent uP vs 200PROOF
momentum vs the unknown.

DaAlmightyDolla vs DeSiMaTiOn
AnYoNe WhO dOeS tHiS sHiT sUcKs.

Infinite Truth vs Chin Kwon
Gotta go with the wordery master.

3-Planes vs Revanon
Rev has audio pedigree but I think this is weighted in 3-P’s favour.

.:Pain:. vs Extreme Venom
From memory this guy is pretty slick with it.

MetaSin vs Pharaohe Def
Hopefully Meta wants to make amends for his no-show in the Play-Offs.

Lucifa vs Master Peace
G’luck MP.

nom de plume. vs TheReturn
Both great writers but I see TR getting more votes.

RICO vs SpeedyCalhoun
Speedy is just the better writer IMO.

Cereal_Killer vs Ace The Prophet
Will be close but I like what I’ve seen in Open Mic from Ace.

Bodian vs Joe King vs MADDRAPPER II
Knowing nothing of the other 2 means I have to go with what I know.

Jook:

(LDogg 3-3) vs rocket 0-0

(Pent uP 7-1) vs 200PROOF 0-0

(.:Pain:. 0-0) vs Extreme Venom 0-0

(Cereal_Killer 8-3) vs Ace The Prophet 0-0

(RICO 4-9) vs SpeedyCalhoun 0-0

(MetaSin 9-4) vs Pharaohe Def 0-0

(DaAlmightyDolla 11-7) vs DeSiMaTiOn 0-0

(3-Planes 5-2) vs Revanon 0-0

(Infinite Truth 8-2) vs Chin Kwon 0-0

(Lucifa 21-9) vs Master Peace 0-0

nom de plume. 7-3 vs (TheReturn 11-3)

(Bodian 5-1) vs Joe King 0-0 vs MADDRAPPER II 0-0

[Lucifa]

XII. … Of The Week

Honey Of The Week
Rachel Bilson








Music Video Of The Week
I’m keeping this tied in with the RSTL, opting for my favourite storytelling tunes.
Next week, I may change to just any hot video and/or track I feel deserves some limelight.
This is an old track but the story telling is vivid and hard hitting.
Ladies, I give you: Eminem – Stan




Random Video Of The Week
Ronald Jenkees fucking around on his keyboard.
This guy looks like the kind of person to watch kiddy porn, but hella dope on the keyboard and beat making front.
You should seriously search him on youtube if you enjoy keyboard improv skills.
You just need to look beyond his perverted geek image lol.




Lucifa’s Joke Of The Week

3 Blonde women enter a bar and order a bottle of champagne and 3 glasses.
They pour the champers and toast each other, merrily declaring “3 years!”
The bar man walks over and says “sorry to interrupt but I couldn’t help overhearing your celebrations".
"May I ask what it is you’re celebrating 3 years of?” he asks.
One of the blondes turns and replies “We just completed a jigsaw puzzle in 3 years.”
The bar man looks baffled and asks “And that is worth celebrating?”
One of the other blondes replies “Yes! The box said 4-6 years.”

Boom!

[Lucifa]

XIII. Jook’s Memory Lane

A Flash Back in History

Originally Posted by RIKOSHAY

"Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is."

The faces keep changing but the cases are increasingly same.
Back when I first opened my practice I had feasible aims
and, as a psychoanalyst, I'm a success of decent acclaim
but I grow weary of being no more than a piece in the game.
Rather than look for scapegoats, I try releasing the blame
but still, I go nowhere and my burgeoning thesis is lame.
Something's missing but the hints are too capricious to name.
Then a door opened
I saw the fragments of a broken smile freeze in the frame.
By the swelling I could tell he'd been just recently maimed
and, just moments after his entrance, the reason became
clear as he recounted his tale without the least bit of shame…
…
The product he peddled could not be purchased or sold
yet its value, to some, was deemed worth more than gold.
He invited vagabonds, beggars and urchins to stroll
through his door to experience rebirth and behold…
salvation
The superlative goal of all human life
and, he whole heartedly believed, of Earth as a whole.
He was a pusher of promised paradise, a merchant of souls.
Dedicated to spreading faith under the church's control.
He spent sleepless days on end researching his scrolls
forsaking all else while intensely immersed in their rolls.
Only on every seventh day would he emerge to extol
virtues and dole advice from his elevated perch in the fold.
When tragedy struck, he was the first to console.
With unparalleled productivity he serviced his role.
Converting the new as well as reconverting the old.
Until the night he was found naked in the merciless cold…
…
I'm a man of science.
I've never believed in religion but I have analyzed it
and my teachings have helped me understand reliance
on higher powers by individuals who can't manage life when
they feel alone in this world or disenchanted by it.
What I can't abide is,
when they manipulate the vulnerable with grand disguises
and convince themselves their self serving rant is pious.
I knew what he'd done. The way his tears ran confided
more than his vacant words and pantomime did.
He said his battered face was God's will.
God's hand had guided some youth's to commit random violence.
I could tell he wasn't ready to confess his own sins
plus, I figured, he'd only romanticize it.
He claimed that wasn't why he'd come.
He was frantic, frightened, so we skipped the standard silence
and he expanded right into some fantasized glimpse
of Heaven he'd had and why he considered his stance enlightened…
…
The light was blinding yet illuminating.
It's warm glow consumed him, bathing
his entire body and soul in soothing safety.
He knew immediately it was not of human making.
A life flashed before him.
Beginning within the womb, a baby anticipating jubilation.
The baby soon became a youth parading through a daydream.
Succeeded by teenage years of excruciating
ostracism which transitioned to self mutilating.
Tedious treatment and time of recuperating.
Followed with adulthood of self ruminating
which lead to inspection of other's and their futile craving
to find their purpose in life in pursuit of staving
off the inevitable doom awaiting…
…
I realized I was crying.
My delusional patient had an exact description
of every intimate detail of my life. Every fact and fiction.
He said God had sent him to me, not simply because I lacked religion
but because I was the instrument he needed to enact his vision.
Amazing grace!
After 45 years of blindness, I now can see my own immaculate glimpse…
…
"The gods too are fond of a joke."…
To be continued?

Every week I will pull a piece from the archives that I think you guys could benefit from reading. This week is Rikos piece that was actually no showed against, but still was very strong. The use of vocabulary, mechanics, structure, and all topped with class and substance. It's just very nice to take a look back at the past to see what they had to offer. Keep writing RSTLiens!. Learn from these past pieces I will be posting up. Not to say you guys aren't better, but you can always take something new in to help develop your talents. A man who stops learning and elevating, is a man destined to be beaten.

[Lucifa]

XIV. Outroduction

So Season 3 is here and we’re looking forward to an exciting and competitive run up to the next Play-Off series in the RSTL. The new rules become active this week for the ranking competitors and once again, you are all urged to read and understand the rules to avoid having votes deducted. All the rules are there for the better of the league and to help mods make the same ruling on a consistent basis, and furthermore are there in print to avoid the usual bitching we get (usually from the same bitches).

See you next week, when The Tribune returns to the sticky area.

If anyone would like to submit material to the mag then feel free to contact me:
AIM = Lokoveli
MSN = lokinontoyou@hotmail.co.uk
Email = lokoproductions@hotmail.co.uk
Or simply PM via RM.com

[Got Life?]

lol...the hate is back in the building...

i love it.

[J o o k]

I knew you would : ).