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Old 06-08-2015, 07:48 PM   #27 (permalink)
Govoni


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Join Date: Aug 2009
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Hogwarts RPG Name:
Lyric Bayliss-Black
Slytherin
Fourth Year

Ministry RPG Name:
Marilyn Romalotti
Minister's Office

Ministry RPG Name:
Gabriel P. Banner
Law Enforcement
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Zombie Apocalypse Team Leader ★ ★ in a crown of pepperoni and artisan cheese

presents
Gobstones: The Race for the Cup
by Sophie Brown


A new school year means a new chance for the houses to build their Gobstones teams; all in the hopes of taking the title of Gobstones Champions. Last term, Hufflepuff ran away with the cup, winning the Championship Match against Gryffindor 27-3 under the leadership of Hufflepuff Prefect Aditya Rehman - who was named the Player of the Match in both of Hufflepuff's games - with the help of current fifth year Leah Abbott. Neither of these star Hufflepuffs graduated, so the other three houses had their work cut out for them in their recruiting efforts moving forward! Fortunately for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, all members on both of their teams have returned to Hogwarts as well, but Slytherin lost key players Bianca Rush and Zoe Tillstorm to graduation. How would these spots be filled, and which houses would get a strong start to the term? Let's take a look!

In the first preliminary match of the term, the returning champion Hufflepuff team faced off against Gryffindor in a rematch. The crowd was filled with supporters for both camps, but Professor Flamsteed's enthusiasm and efforts to build up Gryffindor morale after their devastating loss in the championship last term were most prominent. As expected, both Rehman and Abbott returned this term for Hufflepuff, scoring the first 13 points of the match before Gryffindor Prefect Zander Adair stepped up with a great shot, earning 2 points for Gryffindor! It seemed as though Adair's success gave the Gryffindors the confidence boost they needed, for new fifth year Jackson Hwang won 3 more points for Gryffindor in the next shot, bringing the tally to 13-5 in favor of Hufflepuff. Unfortunately, a miscommunication on the Gryffindor team between third year Zeke Rogers and sixth year Cinnamon Bayless cost Rogers one point, but Prefect Adair was back in action to redeem his house for 3 more points! Though it was a roller coaster ride for the Gryffindors and it seemed they might have a shot at making a comeback, they were no match for the mighty Hufflepuff team of Rehman (named Player of the Match), Abbott, and newcomer Torie Yenorin, who went on to lead their team to an incredible victory of 22-8!

Our second preliminary match of the term pitted Ravenclaw and Slytherin against each other, whose teams came in third and fourth place respectively last term. With Ravenclaw having beaten Slytherin 19-11 in the consolation game last term, there was no doubt that the Slytherins would fight to establish themselves as top competitors for the cup! At the start of the match, seventh year Eden McGee and sixth year Evangeline Shacklebolt got Ravenclaw off to a strong start, but third year Jenna Hensley and sixth year Ethan Mordaunt answered back for Slytherin, giving Slytherin a 4-3 lead! There was more back-and-forth action between Ravenclaw's McGee and Slytherin's Mordaunt and seventh year Zhenya Burton, until Ravenclaw sixth year Sophie Brown swooped in to take four well-placed shots in a row, followed by a great shot by McGee, bringing the match score to 16-8 in Ravenclaw's favor! It looked like Ravenclaw was set to run away with the lead and dominate the second half of the match, but Hensley and Mordaunt both continued to fight the good fight for Slytherin, only losing out to McGee (named Player of the Match) one final time before the match was called to an end. Though Slytherin put up a valiant effort, Ravenclaw took the win in this close match with a score of 18-12!

These results just prove that while there may be power in numbers, the real keys to success are teamwork and communication. One would think the nine-person Gryffindor team of Zander Adair, Cinnamon Bayless, Emmylou Duchannes, Marsha Hanover, Jackson Hwang, Zeke Rogers, Michael Toussaint, Angel Valentine, and Aubrey Valentine would have a better shot at bringing home a win over Hufflepuff's three-person team of Aditya Rehman, Leah Abbott, and Torie Yenorin (as there would theoretically be more skill and experience on such a team), but it evidently wasn't so. Comparatively, there was a much more level playing ground between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, with each team having four players each - Priscilla Ashcroft, Zhenya Burton, Jenna Hensley, and Ethan Mordaunt representing Slytherin and Sophie Brown, TiaMarie Mancini, Eden McGee, and Evangeline Shacklebolt representing Ravenclaw - and the score reflected such. Perhaps Gryffindor would benefit from trimming down their team numbers to three or four core players, a strategy that seems to work well for the other teams, hm?

If we see no roster changes for the upcoming contests, we're curious to see: could Gryffindor's huge, diverse team learn to work together, or will they be no match for the tight-knit Slytherins in the consolation match? And will Ravenclaw's strong team of upperclassmen be enough to defeat the reigning Hufflepuff champions for the cup?

It's too close to call, but we're placing our galleons on two entertaining, well-played matches!
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