blood totem resurrection thread

[Yellow Paint]

And Lunar made a vow, saying, “LORD Almighty, if you will only look on your player’s misplay and remember me, and not forget your servant but give him a dodge, then I will give this match to the LORD for all the days of its replay history, and no Scizor will ever be left in on Heatran.” - SamuelVGC 1:11

 

[Yellow Paint]

Also, for the unwashed heathens:

A Valid Strategy:

 

[Level 51]

Congratulations to Play on Birds for being the first ordinary human being to complete all 7 puzzles and win this mini competition! They've won themselves a custom title on the DOU Discord to commemorate this. Congratulations also to talkingtree and lovemathboy for completing all the puzzles, but they don't count because they're too good at puzzling :I

SOLUTIONS

Gyarados

The flavor text hints that we should look at different "forms" of water. The chemical formula for water is, of course, H2O, which contains both H and O. Each of the answers to these questions contains a group of 3 H and O, because apparently I'm so dumb I forgot that H2O meant HOH and not OHO. The numbers indicate the number of letters before and after this group; for example, TWO-HORSE becomes TW(OHO)RSE, which has 2 letters before the OHO and 3 letters after it.

• Poorly-contested kind of race (2~3) = TWO-HORSE
• Search engine (2~0) = YAHOO
• Stage of life after adolescence (5~1) = ADULTHOOD
• Untruth or lie (5~1) = FALSEHOOD
• Time at which an event commences, especially a military operation (3~2) = ZERO HOUR
• Booby-trapped variant of cushion (1~3) = WHOOPEE
• Ring-shaped toy spun around the body (4~1) = HULA HOOP
• Artist of Ice Angel, Salvation, LegenD, etc. (1~0) = YOOH
• Lower Manhattan neighborhood (1~0) = SOHO

As hinted by Gyarados not putting anything "before" water, we take the letters before the water group, extracting the final answer WATERWAYS.

I just realised this pretty significant (and unintended) OHO / HOH mixup right now while I'm writing the answers and I feel so dumb now. Sorry

Naganadel

Rearranging the puzzle pieces gives the following image:

The answer is thus HORNET FLY.

Gardevoir-Mega

The flavor text here hints at music that is "seen" and not "heard", which indicates sheet music. Each of the clues describes the name of a sheet music term, once with an oblique descriptor and once using its actual meaning.

• I can assure you that it was completely a mistake that I modified the pitch of the following notes. (1/10) = ACCIDENTAL
• It was cool as ice and quick as silver the way you repeated those previous bars! (3/6) = SIMILE (as in simile mark)
• I can play this musical instrument, but only softly. (1/5) = PIANO
• You don't have to fling derogatory insults at me to get me to play these two notes in one stroke! (2/4) = SLUR
• It sounded really exciting when you rapidly alternated between those two notes. (3/5) = TRILL (sounds like "thrill")
• The burst tire sounded a little off-pitch. (1/4) = FLAT
• I made the crucial mark on that petition, defining their ability to pitch it. (3/12) = KEY SIGNATURE

The numbers next to each clue show how many letters that answer has in total, and which letter to take from it. For example, ACCIDENTAL has 10 letters in total, but we take its first letter for A. Doing this for all 7 clues gives the final answer AMPLIFY.

Jynx

The flavor text hints at Jynx dreaming of a "White Christmas". Indeed, each of the clues hints a phrase starting with the word "White":

• 1985 film featuring the song "Say You, Say Me" = WHITE NIGHTS
• Weather condition where snow severely reduces visibility = WHITE OUT
• 2015 track by Post Malone = WHITE IVERSON
• In visual design, the portion of a page left unmarked = WHITESPACE
• Useless or troublesome possession that is expensive to maintain = WHITE ELEPHANT

The first letters of each non-white word spell out NOISE. Thus, the answer is WHITE NOISE.

Hydreigon

For each set of heads speaking, all three heads are actually describing the same thing, which is one letter from the alphabet. The letters are as follows:

Head 1: It's a common mathematical constant!
Head 2: No, it's like a currency symbol!
Head 3: No, it's like a set theory symbol!
This gives E, as in Euler's constant, the Euro, and ∈.

Head 2: It's associated with correctness!
Head 1: No, it's associated with time complexity!
Head 3: No, it's associated with nothing!
This gives O, as in a circle (as opposed to a cross), Big O notation, and zero.

Head 3: It's the sound in symbol!
Head 2: No, it's the sound in wash!
Head 1: No, it's the sound in king!
This gives C, as in the 3 sounds it commonly makes in words: /s/, /sh/, and /k/.

Head 3: It's me!
Head 1: No, it's an element!
Head 2: No, it's imaginary!
This gives I, as in myself, iodine, and the square root of negative 1.

Head 2: It's a drink usually served hot!
Head 3: No, it's a piece of golf equipment!
Head 1: No, it's a light afternoon snack!
This gives T, as in tea, tee, and tea.

Head 1: It's a number!
Head 3: No, it's a variable!
Head 2: No, it's an unknown!
This gives X, as in the Roman X for 10, the variable x, and the concept of X being used to represent the unknown.

Each of the different permutations the heads can speak in is represented here. Rearranging the letters so that they speak in the orders 123, 132, 213, 231, 312 and 321 gives the final answer EXOTIC.

Escavalier

There's exactly one way for White to force checkmate in 4 moves, such that Black only has 1 possible move a turn. This is: Bd5, fxe6, Be5+, ka7, b8=Q+, ka6, Qb7# (or, as a final move, Bc4#). Spelling out this sequence moves on the board on the right spells out the answer ASSAULT.

Meta

Looking at each of the Pokemon's categories, we see that the enumerations match up with that Pokemon's associated answer:
GYARADOS
ATROCIOUS
WATERWAYS

NAGANADEL
POISON PIN
HORNET FLY

GARDEVOIR
EMBRACE
AMPLIFY

JYNX
HUMAN SHAPE
WHITE NOISE


HYDREIGON
BRUTAL
EXOTIC

ESCAVALIER
CAVALRY
ASSAULT

Furthermore, in each pair, there's exactly one letter which is in the same position in both words ("align"). Taking these letters in order spells out the final answer, SO META. Once you get this answer, you get the DOU Discord role :someta:!

 

[Darkinium]

[22:27] +Darkinium: night
[22:27] @ bobochan: his gone
[22:27] %jmal98: a wild mishiimono appeared
[22:27] @ bobochan: as soon as dark goes, mish appears
[22:27] %jmal98: as one canadian leaves another enters
[22:27] +The Squash: mishi joins as dark leave
[22:27] @ bobochan: coincidence not

fuck

 

[Hashtag]

>how to win with lele incin squads

 

[laptops]

go storms!

 

[Arcticblast]

I decided to play with 80k credits this week instead of 67k

time will tell how well this works

 

[Vallex]

VAMOSSSS HIPPOSS

 

[Arcticblast]

67k was the play

 

[n10siT]

I know this is the meme thread but I'd like to make a serious™ post about DPL

I'm beyond proud of the group of players I drafted. I've never managed a team in a tournament like this before, and being stacked up against other managers who are all great pillars of the community, I felt like I had something to prove. Despite us not making playoffs, our record of 2-1-2 and winning over 50% of our games is something to be proud of. I had the utmost confidence in everybody I drafted and I felt confident playing them every single week. The team worked so well together, helping each other build and practice and giving invaluable support and uplifting comments. I view every single Hero as a better part of this community after getting to know them better. I'd like to talk about some individual people too:

Demantoid -

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I know 0-4 wasn't the record you wanted in DPL, but I have 0 regrets about drafting you. Your experience and help with team building was invaluable, as was providing the backbone of the :mish: emoji trio. You assisted in getting wins for other players and were flexible in practice and playing, and I appreciate that.

AuraRayquaza -

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I know 2-3 wasn't the record you had hoped for, but your :sobad: opinions on SM helped everybody prepare, and you were :sogood: at staying practiced and ready when you were realistically the only BW player on the team. You were an invaluable team member and I came to you many times with questions about the lineup because I valued your help that much.

Nido-Rus -

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I could not have asked for more from you this DPL. Your flexibility in playing XY even though you didn't really want to helped me out a lot, and you always push the boundaries in team building (sometimes to the point of frustration) but I know you made me a better player and manager through our discussions about DUU and Pokemon in general. A 3-1 record is outstanding and I'm really glad I was able to draft you.

SMB -

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I really didn't know you as a person before DPL, I had only watched you play, but through those games alone I knew how skilled you were and knew I wanted you on my team. What I didn't know, however, was how great of a team and chat presence you were. You helped prepare all 3 SM players every week while preparing yourself all while putting up a 3-2 record. You were absolutely fantastic for me and all of your teammates this year, I can't emphasize that enough.

Mint16 -

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I'm beyond proud of how you performed this DPL, 4-0 against the community's best is pretty fucking good. You were a great chat presence along with being a great player and I can't believe I got to steal you on draft day. I hope I'll see you at Internats!

Sorry I couldn't make a personal note about each of you, I'm tired at this point lol but I want all of you (DragonWhale, GRAND EMPRESS, zaaya, Mr.GX, Pigeons, Z strats) to know how much I appreciate your help in making us the best team we could be, being patient with me and your teammates, and doing your best to help us win each and every week. I really hope I can come back and manage next year and I hope you guys will be there to take another shot at getting that DPL win with me. Thank you guys and Go Heroes!

 

[laptops]

biggest mish of finals wasn't part of any game, but rather, was seeing this message after it was too late