Not much time to play until january, but I did get a few games in this week. I'll come out and play when I can, but it'll be limited to casual 1-off games.

First, my long-awaited game against MasterMag in an OCCS tournament. As expected this proved to be much tough and fun, but I kept the match close until the very end. I did my best and with some luck almost stole the game away, but he ended up outclassing me and winning 2-1.
http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=match&op=view&id=2892529

The rest of my week didn't go great and I was mostly in a mood to beat up stuff. So when offered a game by fellow UDC player Blader, my first reaction was to offer my Khemri team. He played elfs. I managed my very first foul-RIP (with a skeleton called Ripsy!) but there was much less squishyness than I imagined. It was still very fun and the game was a 1-1 tie.
http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=match&op=view&id=2895285

And as I'm writing this, I just finished a game against Shades, who asked me for a game a while back. We ended up playing Norse vs Orcs. This was awesome, going on the awesomeness scale up there with the goblin-missile game. I was on the receiving end of no less than 7 CAS. He played great except when it came to actually reaching my end zone. I unexpectedly made a 2-turn TD with only 3 men to lead 1-0, and he didn't manage to score twice before the game ended. It was great. Go see the replay.
http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=match&id=2895967

What did I learn today this week?
- 1D blocks aren't too bad a solution when you got block, especially if your opponent doesn't
- Frenzy. An orc had it, I played Norse twice and agaisnt Norse once. I'm still unable to see all possible great plays of course, but I got tips. First, standing 2 squares beside the crowd is dangerous unless I get good assists. I lost a few players that way. Second : Frenzy traps. I don't do them all consciously, but it certainly helps. Frenzy means he HAS to try the second block, so in some cases it's better actually not trying at all.
- -2Dblocks can actually work sometimes. More often than I imagined anyway. Block helps a lot here, because that means if there's no skull you're not down!
- Fouls. Before this week I have't fouled in a long time. And I got back into it (and also hit by it). I'm better seeing a good opportunity, time and target to foul. And risk-managing. But I'm still confused : if my opponent fouls after me, do I still have the eye? If I GTR in first turn, score, then my opponent GTR, do I still have the ref?
- Pushing. Can't see it yet (Except a very few occasions). It seems pretty hard to pull though.

So, fouls and pixelhugging. I like my pixels. Dont destroy them uselessly. But I don't love them, I can live without them. Which is why I see fouls as a very good, but risky way to get a player off the field. He died? Too bad, he was in my way, I needed him out. Or he was too dangerous to be kept on the field. But I refrain from doing it too much (see : risk of getting caught), but also because I only do it if needed. I don't need to foul the liner first turn. I don't need to foul him T16 either unless he's about to score or something. If the game is in the bag or completely lost, I see no point in fouling either. This is what I would expect from just about anyone : use the "big red button" if it's needed. Plus, there's ths excitement about doing (or even receiving) CAS I can't shake off.

Oh and thanks Christer for the cool new options :) Funnily enough, my number of buddys is about the same as the number of coaches I've played :p Go guys, you're great, I enjoyed playing aganst almost every one of you.
EDIT : http://fumbbl.com/FUMBBL.php?page=coachopp&coach=110720 Apparently I played against 28 peoples as of right now. Cool, but I don't know how to find that link.