User blog comment:El Alamein/Day Two: Hunger Games Tournament Redux/@comment-4661256-20160603210720

THE DEATHS


 * 1)  DeJango Farchand:  DeJango has no supplies to help him as the Games progress (supplies that he will be in desperate need of), and he's still packing a pretty wonky arsenal. He says that he has no long ranged and no close ranged combat experience, making both his bow and his dagger pretty useless. It also means that at either of the two basic combat distances he's going to be at a severe disadvantage against an even mildly competent opponent (and these will be much more frequent as a lot of the stupid tributes are now dead). He only survived Day One by virtue of sheer numbers, and his luck will certainly run out here on Day Two.


 * 2)  Albert Amein:  As much as I hate to have to vote for my own guy, there's no way Al Amein is making it alive past the second day (although I am very pleased with myself that I tricked Battles and Deathblade nearly flawlessly). It doesn't help that he's been injured last round, which will hinder him further in combat, but even if he wasn't hurt he wouldn't have made it. He's simply not nearly trained or experienced enough to hold his own against the likes of Isaac Darkstone, Shiloh Zao, or Finn Müller, to name a few examples. To top it all off, his weapons aren't particularly good and his armor isn't very effective either. Everyone's favorite Capital contestant will meet his fate tonight.


 * 3)  Johann Nilson;  He beats out DeJango by virtue of having a slightly more balanced character and he beats out Albert by virtue of not being injured, but in all honesty Johann Nilson still was very lucky to simply have made it to Day Two. He has poor mental health and can't boast of anything that could compensate aside from physical strength, which is rarely, if ever, enough to carry someone through a fight alone. Plus, his arsenal just seems like a kind of random blend of weapons that don't complement each other in the slightest.


 * 4)  Isabella de Santa:  As much as I hate to vote for this character, I don't see her making it through an arena event. She's too old, which limits her mobility and her endurance significantly. While she is adept at evasion tactics and likely has the potential to simply wait out all of her opponents until they succumb to fatigue, disease, and starvation, the fact is the gamemakers won't let her win in such a boring way. Any arena event, be it a forest fire, flood, or some other cataclysmic event, will consume all those too slow to get out of the way, and Isabella is one of those unlucky tributes.


 * 5)  Finn Müller:  Shiloh Zao and Finn Müller are both betraying one another, but it's Müller who's going to die as a result of this encounter. As a serial killer and wandering merchant, he has far less combat-relevant skills than the trained nurse and experienced knife fighter Zao. Plus, his arsenal isn't all that impressive, if I'm being absolutely frank. The katar will be his best bet because he'll be able to have a chance at parrying some of his opponent's attacks, but, again, his overall lack of relevant training and combat experience will work strongly against him here.

THE INJURIES


 * 1)  Shiloh Zao:  While she will kill Finn Müller, he'll still leave some nasty wounds on her before he goes down. They're both planning to betray the other, so it's not like one will really "get the drop" on the other--it's just a matter of who decides to try and strike first. Müller's katars will pose a significant threat to Zao, who is proficient in close-quarters combat where such a weapon is dangerous, and she's going to be cut pretty badly before killing her former ally.

SPONSORSHIP


 *  Jessica Wilderson:  I like Jessica's dark horse contender status, and I hope to boost her chances by sending her a Medical Kit to help her fight off infection, illness, or injury.