User blog comment:Leolab/Ancient User Tourney, Round 7: Hirai Norio (Cfp) v Oliver Moreau (Winter)/@comment-422690-20160629052159

So...

Initial: Naginata wins. The Exiled's Companion has a longer blade by 6 inches, but the naginata has a longer reach. If Norio can get inside the blade, he can probably outmaneuver Moreau. He will probably have a tough time doing that, however. Hirai is probably familiar with how a naginata is used, but so is Moreau. Since the two start at 20m, he has the initial advantage. He will likely be able to maintain distance; he's not just standing there while Norio charges him, he's also mobile. All in all, I think Moreau will be able to maintain his distance and win this edge.

Short Range: Cutlass wins. Two similar blades with similar fighting styles, but there are two factors that let the cutlass win out. One is that it's a one-handed blade rather than the Exiled's Companion, which requires two hands to wield. This allows for a larger range of motion, which lets Moreau be more mobile. Two is the metallurgy. Japanese iron is actually of fairly poor quality, which extends to the steels. The repeated folding method that has been so mythologized was actually used in mainland Asia, Europe, and Africa before they found purer iron veins. Basically, in order to create steel similar to mainland Eurasian/African steel they had to go through all those additional steps.

Mid Range: Naginata wins. The kanabo runs counter to Norio's fighting style. It's a heavy power weapon; while it will break Moreau's bones and crush his armor, Norio's not going to be used to that style of combat. Moreau knows how to use his naginata - hell, he modified it to fit his fighting style better. The blade will shear through the leather coverings on Norio's limbs, severing the brachial or femoral arteries. You don't need a head or center-mass shot to kill.

Long Range: Tie. Both weapons are equally useless here. Good luck stringing, aiming, and firing a bow while you're being charged from under 20m.

Special: Katars win. Moreau's lack of skill compared to his other weapons won't hurt him here. Katars are simple to use, due to their straightforward design which will let them rip through Norio's lamellar. They'll likely compliment whatever martial art he picked up while learning combat. Norio's Twins are shorter, and while they will likely bite into Moreau's unprotected limbs, they're not going to hit. The Twins are mainly used to counter polearms; while the style described would be laughably ineffective in real life, this also shows that Norio is likely not used to using them against those wielding shorter weapons.

Overall: Moreau wins. While I personally like Norio's arsenal setup, since it uses the principle of "how will this complement his style/background?" rather than the "HURR DIS WAZ CUL ON DEADLIEST WARRIER" principle of Moreau's, it ultimately falls short. Moreau can play the distance game with everything except the cutlass, not to mention that Moreau likely has experience with Norio's weaponry due to his time in Japan while Norio's only experienced Moreau's naginata. The less-creative arsenal wins here, sadly, because it can keep the more creative one at bay.