5th Trials - Phase 3 - Community Vote

[kev]

Phase 3 - Community Vote

Phase ends when above poll expires.

It's time to vote for your favorite Master candidate!  Every community member has one vote. You can change your vote at any time as long as there is still time on the clock.

Vote based on who you think would make the best Master of that element. Do not vote based on who is the best player or who you know personally. Try to pick someone who you think would help the community the most.  Feel free to ask the candidates difficult questions to help you make your decision.

For reference, here are the 5th Trials Standings (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,35936.0.html) and Phase 1 Submission (http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,35922.0.html) threads.

[willng3]

Well, I don't feel like there's much else for me to say here that hasn't been said already in previous Trials.  I still love this Element, I still want to see it continue to progress and flourish in the approaching future, and I can't see myself feeling at ease in any other Element.

I didn't live up to my own expectations during War due to my own life unexpectedly taking over during that time.  Although I had high hopes that my team would have had my back in the event that such a thing happened, in the end it appeared we all just had our own things we had to take care of.  I had once believed that I would not be willing to lead another War as general, let alone participate in it at all, but I've started to have a change of heart lately.  I suppose that the final deciding factor lies in what changes are made to the next one as well as how my schedule looks during the next War.

But then again, my duties as Master are not solely based on War.  I'd be more than happy to serve as the "Boss" of Life should the Forum Brawl event ever start up in the future.

Although my performance in War didn't exactly reflect this (although War oftentimes doesn't in any case), I'm quite experienced with Life in PvP, I wouldn't have become a Master in the first place if this weren't true.  I feel that Life has a great deal of potential in PvP, but at the moment I'm discontent with the current situation surrounding its card pool.  You can read more about my thoughts here:  http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,33547.0.html

You can ask me additional questions in private or publicly on this thread if you wish.  I can't guarantee that I'll respond to them as quickly as I used to, but I won't ignore it if it's directed towards me.  Regardless, I can assure you that a vote for me is not a vote wasted.

[Bootsza]

I arrived late to the trials and there is a very good reason for that.

Life is one of my favourite elements but it was only when I saw that there was only one challenger that I decided to join in.  It is a bit sad that Life has such a low popularity level.  I consider the success of past grinders like USEM and how the, now defunct, Top50 was perpetually populated by Life based decks and I become a little bit irritated.

I understand that the game is cyclic: elements rise and fall.  I understand that Life has some perceived weaknesses in PvP: the lack of permanent control and creature control is undeniable.  However, there are some obvious strengths to compensate for this.  Mitosis is one of the most exciting new cards.  The healing power is second no other element.  Adrenaline and the sexiest of all the nymphs supply one of the best forms of sustainable burst damage.

Life has a lot going for it and deserves better than just one challenger.  Willng3 is a community legend and has been a great general and Life is lucky to have had him.  I honestly believe ak65ala is a solid challenger and great PvP competitor, who has proven his commitment to Life over time.  I happily acknowledge that I am not the perfect candidate but I am here in the belief that competition raises the bar and forces us all to be better.   Life deserves better and Elements will be a better game when that happens.

I play for fun and pure enjoyment of the game   Trials has been a blast in my experience so far and I recommend it to anyone considering participating.  Phase 3 promises to be really exciting too and I am looking forward to all the questions.

[Kuroaitou]

While this question will most likely not change who I'm going to vote for now, I figure I can still have a little fun with you Life guys. :3

Q: “Suppose Life were to receive another card based on a vegetable. What would that vegetable be if you were given the choice to design it?”

[willng3]

Q: “Suppose Life were to receive another card based on a vegetable. What would that vegetable be if you were given the choice to design it?”

Well when I think of vegetable I tend to think of things that you would find at the grocery store/supermarket...but I think that an idea around something such as a pumpkin or squash might be interesting.  I could see it being given a "Vines" type effect which either negates permanents somehow or protects your creatures from harm.  If not, then a mechanic which heals creatures would also work; something like a Giant Pumpkin providing them with nourishment while in play.  And then of course you could go the jack-o-lantern route and have some kind of synergy with Fire.  I'm interested in reflecting on this further.

[RavingRabbid]

Do you feel as an element being more cruel or gentle?


What element you duo with less, and why?


Would you mind bringing me a song about ?

[Calindu]

Q:"What happened with team life last war, not good enough strategy or life is really needing a new card/buff?"

[Bootsza]

While this question will most likely not change who I'm going to vote for now, I figure I can still have a little fun with you Life guys. :3

Q: “Suppose Life were to receive another card based on a vegetable. What would that vegetable be if you were given the choice to design it?”

Hehe, an excellent question!

I desperately want to use Brussel Sprouts as my answer, but Life doesn't need another "grower".  I then wanted to use potatoes as some form of permanent control - think Steam Machine mechanics brought to PC.  Ultimately, I think of peppers as being vegetables (are they?!) and I think they would make a superb form of CC.

Hot.

[willng3]

Do you feel as an element being more cruel or gentle?

If I had to choose I would say gentle, if only because I'm brought to mind the bond shared between parents and offspring in some parts of the Animalia kingdom.  But realistically I would prefer to go with "neither" or "indifferent".  Thematically, it's the reason why Life lacks what I would call "true control".  It doesn't concern itself with what the opponent is doing but instead tries to reach its goal as quickly as possible.  As such, its creatures are fast, but indifferent and could care less about the opponent's creatures or the opponent themselves.  It prefers healing over the destruction of creatures for the simple reason that it does not have a reason to care about them.  Thorn Carapace, the one form of control that Life possesses is also extremely passive and will only react on the condition that you are attacked first.  To me this seems to me a similar situation as can be found from observing a rose:  The flower itself has thorns to protect itself from predators or pests, but otherwise feels no sense of loathing/love for anything that crosses its path.  Its only concern is to live and to continue living.  I'll also note that oftentimes in the wild the act of killing itself is in itself neutral because predators kill out of necessity and not out of any form of hate or malice.

What element you duo with less, and why?

Fire.  Off of the top of my head I can only think of Adrenaline + Phoenixes and Epinephrine + Brimstone Eater + Fahrenheit/Fire Lance as the most direct synergies.  Firestall is of course a more common use, but Firestall itself is such a common deck build for all Elements that I would hardly consider it real synergy.  If I don't gain some type of synergistic thrill from playing with a set of Elements then I usually won't use it; it just bores me.

Would you mind bringing me a song about ?

I'm forced to post the one that we used during War #4 for Team Life simply because I feel it fits so perfectly - Livin' On A Prayer (

&ob=av3e)

And another that I had also considered but didn't think would attract the most support from the community mainly because I'm pretty sure most people aren't as big a fan of rap as I am - Lose Yourself (

)I've already answered most of this in my very first post on this thread.  It was mainly due to inactivity in combination with a number of weaknesses that lie within Element (which I outlined in the link in my first post).  If the team isn't active, you have issues formulating strategies.  If the Element possesses multiple weak points then by attempting to counter one of those weaknesses you open yourself up to another weakness.  Simple as that.

[Bootsza]

Do you feel as an element being more cruel or gentle?

Life definitely has both characteristics but in the context of Elements The Game: "gentle" has the upper hand. "cruel" needs to be promoted more here 

What element you duo with less, and why?

If I am understanding correctly, Earth.  I just can't make the duo work.  Even in my trials match against ak65ala when I wanted to use diamond shield, I ended up using animate weapon for half of the off element cards.  This is a pity.  Conceptually Life and Earth should go together very naturally.

Would you mind bringing me a song about ?

You know how old school I am: Opus - Live is life.

It kinda fits well on my feelings about Life entering these trials.  Check out these sample lyrics:

When we all give the power
We all give the best
Every Minute of an hour
Don't think about a rest
When you all get the power
You all get the best

[Bootsza]

Q:"What happened with team life last war, not good enough strategy or life is really needing a new card/buff?"

I agree with willng3's answer to this. 

Inactivity is the number one enemy of any War team.  It is something that has affected many other elements in War...

[majofa]

The following questions/comments will be sharp and pointed. They may hurt your feelings, but they are meant to help me and the community see how you handled adversity and tough questions. So, don't take too much offense to it, I'm gonna be grilling everyone. Also, I don't hate any of you, it's just my RL interviewing being used for the community vote.

willng3
Two of Life's greatest weaknesses are Dim Shield and Wings, yet a lot of the decks you brought during War were weak to these two cards. People aren't gonna play nice just because your Life. So no complaining afterwards... what WILL be changed this time?
ak65ala
You didn't win a single match during Phase II, yet you find yourself as the #1 Challenger simply because Bootsza has 0 Phase I points. This is your 3rd Life trials and PvP keeps failing you, what will you do differently this time in preparing for willng3? You were close to winning last Trials, but lost a game to an illegal deck. In War having an illegal deck can be disastrous. How did this error occur?
Bootsza
Do you want to be Life Master, or did you just join to make there be two Challengers?