Game Fan League Discussion Thread

[Kaoz]

I suppose he is, but I didn't want to write the same paragraph twice. In a way Jackson fills a niche though since the only big servers that check for power are weaker characters. I was thinking about giving him some way to decrease the opponent's HP as well, but wasn't too convinced by it.

I rewatched Momoshiro vs Yushi the other day and thinking about that now, maybe giving Jackson the ability to numb his opponent's hand would be interesting. I guess that would lead to negation on the following point and patch up the usual server weakness - how's that sound?

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 24, 2017, Original Post Date: Jun 24, 2017 ---

Spoiler: Don Pacino

Don Pacino [28, SB: 3, HP: 13, CP, R]
(SPE: 6, POW: 6, STA: 7, MEN: 5, TEC: 4)

Don [Auto]:
Whenever partner's HP decreases, Mental permanently decreases by 2. Whenever HP or partner's HP decreases, Speed permanently increases by 1, Power permanently increases by 2, Technique permanently increases by 1 (max. 1 time per point).

Fated Survival [Auto]:
Cannot be copied. Whenever HP would decrease to 0 through an opponent's ability, it decreases to 1 instead. If HP is 1, when checked by an ACE effect, Mental returns at +2.

Dangerous Assignment [Auto]:
Partner can activate Suicide Mission.

Suicide Mission [Special - Lv 2 - 0 STA]:
Activation: Can only be activated by partner through Dangerous Assignment. Cannot be negated.
Extra: ACE if every opponent's combined Speed and Mental is less than [Technique]. If ACE, opponent's HP decreases by 2. If this ACE effect does not successfully activate, loses point and HP decreases by 3.

Quick Retaliation [Special - Lv 5 - 1 STA]:
Activation: Negated if Mental is 0.
Data: Speed increases by 5. Opponent's SB decreases to 0. Opponent's Technique cannot increase through Serves/Specials with Lv <= [Technique].
Extra: ACE if any opponent's Speed is less than 5. If ACE and an opponent's Speed is less than 5, opponent's HP decreases by [Power - 4].

I would've liked to include some references to Ohmagari's set here, but the issue is that Nitouryuu is a no-go and Ohmagari is pretty underdeveloped compared to his G10 colleagues otherwise, after taking a backseat to Tanegashima in his first match and getting the short end of the stick compared to Ochi and Tohno in the group league. Triathlete and Elitist are unappealing too in my eyes since the rest of the set is very coherent and they'd just be kinda tacked-on.

Judging Pacino on his own merits though, I'd say he's turned out pretty interesting. Note that Don's Mental drop only triggers in doubles, but the stat boost applies in singles as well. In turn it's possible to manipulate its activation in doubles, but not in singles, and the more often it activates the more powerful Quick Retaliation becomes (think of that one as a particularly ferocious Rising Counter aimed at the opponent).

 

[Seakay]

It looks like Tono might be getting some new friends with these Americans - Friendly Fire has some interesting uses, for sure.

I rewatched Momoshiro vs Yushi the other day and thinking about that now, maybe giving Jackson the ability to numb his opponent's hand would be interesting. I guess that would lead to negation on the following point and patch up the usual server weakness - how's that sound?

Something like “If Power exceeds any opponent’s Power, that opponent’s Serves/Specials with Level <= to the difference are negated during the following point” would work, right? I guess it could be an Auto but I like the idea of it being part of a Serve too.

Jackson could keep the Lv6 Vengeful Bullet but maybe Vengeful Bullet 60% could be reworked (and renamed?) to include the negation clause in the Extra step. I think choosing between a stronger serve stat-wise against a weaker but more versatile serve creates an interesting choice, not counting stamina management. It would also differentiate him from Ochi somewhat while keeping him serve-centric.

Also, I figure Amadeus will receive some changes once he starts playing in the upcoming chapters. (I do really like his set of abilities now though). But just because he looks cool, something I’ve been trying to figure out is how his shadowy appearance could work in the fan league. It feels like he should intimidate his opponent(s) with it, so I was thinking something similar to Irioporos’s Divine Aura but wasn’t sure how to make it different enough. Any thoughts?

 

[Kaoz]

Something like “If Power exceeds any opponent’s Power, that opponent’s Serves/Specials with Level <= to the difference are negated during the following point” would work, right? I guess it could be an Auto but I like the idea of it being part of a Serve too.

Yeah, something like that. The other alternative that came to my mind was to let him lower the Lv of the opponent's moves and negate everything Lv <= 1 or 2 or so.

Also, I figure Amadeus will receive some changes once he starts playing in the upcoming chapters. (I do really like his set of abilities now though). But just because he looks cool, something I’ve been trying to figure out is how his shadowy appearance could work in the fan league. It feels like he should intimidate his opponent(s) with it, so I was thinking something similar to Irioporos’s Divine Aura but wasn’t sure how to make it different enough. Any thoughts?

I think working his appearance into the whole thing would be neat, yeah. Especially - and I'm still hoping this is gonna happen despite how unlikely it is - if Konomi keeps drawing him like that throughout the whole match (actually something even cooler to conceal Amadeus' face would be to draw the entire match from his point of view, but that's obviously not gonna happen either).

Anyway, I think a key question that needs to be answered first is on who it should work. Chances are Amadeus is better than Zeus, so should his aura be more effective too? For instance, Zeus' ability doesn't work against most of the G10 as it is right now, but would they feel pressure from Amadeus?

Also, maybe this is one way of looking at it conceptually: Zeus crushed Shiraishi's spirit in an instant. What if it's the opposite with Amadeus and it's more of a creeping effect with him? A feeling that the longer the match goes on for, the more likely you are to lose, something along those lines.

 

[Hardy]

Quick comment, I find Sea's alternative more entertaining in the sense that we don't have many things that "affect the next point", if anything -besides permanent decreases of course. So, something like "x difference is an ace, y lower difference -could maybe be tech +power btw- numbs the opponent the next turn". Maybe even Yips could do something similar to numb, and the opponent would remain in that state until it manages to score/snap out of it due to a partner's skill.

Edit: I had an idea for Amadeus but I forgot it '-''''''' if it comes back Im posting it. It was something related to his charisma.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 28, 2017, Original Post Date: Jun 28, 2017 ---

Random rough stuff I wrote in the airport. Its unfinished but wtv

Amadeus

5/6/5/8/6

Terrifying presence: If mental > every opponent's mental, Opponent's Mental decreases by 2, opponent is forced to use its highest level Special. If Opponent's Mental x2 < Own Mental, Opponent's total becomes 0.

Ferocious Loyalty: If HP is 50 % or lower, partner's power, mental and speed increases by 2. Both players' HP cannot decrease. Partner can use the special [Reliant Shot] (that shit I did some months ago, Kaoz '-'.

Amadeus' Requiem Play: when in decisive points, Mental increases by 2, HP decreases by 50 %.

Yay for Fallout references.

I didnt remember the charisma thing btw but welp.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 28, 2017 ---

For Don Pacino

Unrefusable Offer [Lvl 1]: Power increases by 1. Opponent's stats cannot increase. If negated, activate "Sleeping with the Sharks instead".

Sleeping with the Sharks/fish [Lvl 6]: can only be activated through Unrefusable Offer. Idk, opponent dies, body's hand is sent to the wife/coach of the team '-'

 

[Kaoz]

Spoiler: Jackson

Geisel Jackson [27, SB: 3, HP: 11, SV, R]
(SPE: 5, POW: 6, STA: 5, MEN: 7, TEC: 4)

Herculean Hitman [Auto]:
Cannot be copied. SB increases by 1. When serving, if, at the end of the Data step, Power exceeds opponent's combined Power and Technique, during the following point that opponent's Serves/Specials are negated.

Shepherd [Auto]:
Mental cannot decrease. Whenever partner's Mental or HP decreases, Power permanently increases by 1, Mental permanently increases by 1.

Vengeful Bullet Smash [Counter]:
Requires Herculean Hitman. Triggers whenever partner negates an opponent's Serve/Special. Only activates if Stamina is 0.5 or higher. Power increases by 6, Technique increases by 1. ACE if every opponent's combined Power and Mental is less than 12. After activation, Stamina decreases by 0.5.

Vengeful Bullet - 60% [Serve - Lv 4 - 0.5 STA]:
Activation: Requires Herculean Hitman.
Data: Power increases by 4, Technique increases by 1.
Extra: ACE if any opponent's combined Power and Mental is less than 9.

Vengeful Bullet [Serve - Lv 6 - 1.5 STA]:
Activation: Requires Herculean Hitman.
Data: Power increases by 6, Technique increases by 1.
Extra: ACE if any opponent's combined Power and Mental is less than 12.

To address a few of the other points you guys made regarding him:

• The 60% version isn't supposed to be any different, functionally, from the 100% version. It wouldn't make sense for it to offer any benefits besides taking less effort to execute. If we changed it, it will imply that Jackson actually has two distinctly different serves, but personally I feel that's not likely to happen.
• I don't want to make it [Power + Technique] for the ACE check for balance reasons (although I did use it for the numbing). Power and Technique are both stats with relatively low average bases (most characters have 5 or less Power and few have more than 6 Technique at base) and while Jackson is supposed to be good, I think that would give him just a little too much potential.

Ferocious Loyalty: If HP is 50 % or lower, partner's power, mental and speed increases by 2. Both players' HP cannot decrease. Partner can use the special [Reliant Shot] (that shit I did some months ago, Kaoz '-'.

I don't remember which other Special you're referring to at the moment, but I'll see if I can find it again. That aside, I like this effect, just not really seeing it for Amadeus. I'll try to give it to a different character though.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 29, 2017, Original Post Date: Jun 29, 2017 ---

To be honest, the Loyalty ability could even be a global Lv 3+ pair skill, similarly to how all Lv S pairs get access to Synchronization. And I guess we could think of something for the first two levels as well then, what do you guys think about that?

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 29, 2017 ---

Reliant [Auto]: Cannot be copied. If partner's total is higher than both opponent's: Mental increases by 2 and cannot decrease. If it's lower: Mental decreases by 2 and cannot increase.

This one?

 

[Seakay]

About Amadeus, I assume his effect would start off strong, then gradually fade during the match. I would draw the comparison to his shadow starting strong but revealing more of himself as the match plays out and the opponent(s) see him in a better light. As to those it should affect, I think those players close to him in skill level wouldn't be that scared, right? So maybe this ability could check base totals, which also makes him different from Zeus too, if it matters. With all that, a basic idea might be an Auto that checks for "Each opponent with base total <= [32 - current point] to do an effect." This would make Amadeus stronger in the first half of a match, so he would probably be more aggressive in using his specials then.

Something in the upcoming chapters could make this all a moot point anyway, so it's just conjecture anyway.

@Hardy - Any chance you can remember what you wanted Charisma to do? I'd be interested in seeing it. I think we discussed him changing up the draft by getting his coach an earlier pick but that proved strong and/or problematic at the time.

To be honest, the Loyalty ability could even be a global Lv 3+ pair skill, similarly to how all Lv S pairs get access to Synchronization. And I guess we could think of something for the first two levels as well then, what do you guys think about that?

I'm not sure really - did you have any ideas for what could be used for the different support levels? You could have Fierce Loyalty as a global skill that checks the support level: "Fierce Loyalty [Counter] - If HP is 50% or lower, partner's Speed, Power and Mental permanently increases by [Support Level]. Both players' HP cannot decrease for the rest of the match." But I'm not sure how I feel about this, since it would hinder the use of power players in Doubles where they rely upon KOing an opponent instead of winning the match normally.

And I do like Jackson better now too, btw.

 

[Kaoz]

To be honest, I missed the HP part. I agree that shouldn't be included, in that fashion at least. At most you could argue for a Ban like version that only prevents the partner's HP from decreasing. I'd also keep the stat boost itself rather moderate - going by Support Lv would result in a +12 for a lv 3 pair (Speed, Power, Mental, Doubles Bonus) which is simply too much.

As for other possible effects, we could fall back on the pair categorization from PP4. At one point in the past we had different effects for each type, but that's not feasible anymore at this point, especially because we'd have to determine the pair type of every possible character combination. But what we could do is e.g. have Lv S provide Synchronization as it does now, Lv 3 something that represents the Mutual Trust Type, Lv 2 something for the Equal Footing Type and Lv 1 an ability fitting for the Leader and Follower Type.

Although we could also say you don't get anything for Lv 1 and make the LFT ability exclusive to pairs of characters with an age difference.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 30, 2017, Original Post Date: Jun 30, 2017 ---

Spoiler: Hopkins

Alan Hopkins [28, SB: 2, HP: 10, AR, L]
(SPE: 5, POW: 5, STA: 5, MEN: 8, TEC: 5)

Intelligence Report [Reserve]:
Name one character on the opposing team to learn their position in the line-up.

Obstruction [Reserve]:
Select one point. During that point, opponent's Serve/Special's Lv decreases by 3.

Rational Breakdown [Auto]:
Partner's Mental decreases at +2. If partner's Mental decrease is 0 or less, their Mental permanently increases by 1.

Tactical Server [Auto]:
During decisive points, SB increases by 1. When serving, ACE if any opponent's Speed, Power or Technique is less than 4.

Strength Negotiation [Special - Lv 5 - 1 STA]:
Activation: Negated if any opponent's Mental is 8 or higher. Cannot be negated otherwise.
Data: Speed increases by 3, Technique increases by 5. Power decreases by 2.
Extra: When checked by an ACE effect, stats return at +1. ACE if every opponent's Speed, Mental or Technique is less than 5.

Force Concentration [Special - Lv 5 - 1 STA]:
Activation: Negated if any opponent's Speed, Power or Technique is 7 or higher. Cannot be negated otherwise.
Data: Speed increases by 3, Power increases by 3, Technique increases by 3. Mental decreases by 2.
Extra: When checked by an ACE effect, stats return at -1. ACE if every opponent's combined Speed, Power and Technique is less than 18.

I'm a bit unhappy with this because it gets rid of some of the unique aspects of the previous set, but what can you do. Does anyone have concerns regarding the Reserve abilities? Since they're very specific I feel they're alright like that, but I could understand if someone else felt differently.

On the topic of Reserve abilities, one option I've been considering is to restrict their usage to one per match as well, or maybe all of a single character's abilities per match. Mostly since we're still introducing new ones and the more you get, the greater the accumulative effect is, obviously.

--- Double Post Merged, Jun 30, 2017 ---

Spoiler: Kentaro Aoi

Kentaro Aoi [14, SB: 1, HP: 5, AB, R]
(SPE: 2, POW: 2, STA: 3, MEN: 3, TEC: 4)

Adrenaline Junkie [Auto]:
Cannot be copied. After losing a point, Mental permanently increases by 1.

Clutch Winner [Special - Lv 3]:
Activation: Cannot be negated during decisive points. If opponent has won less than 2 points, activates at 50%.
Data: Technique increases by [Mental].
Extra: ACE if every opponent's combined Speed and Mental is less than 7.

I haven't really decided yet whether to include this guy or not, just throwing out a quick concept. He's a bit one-dimensional all things considered, but can get some pretty solid boosts and supposing he gets to 4 stamina via level-up, shouldn't be bad at all.

 

[Hardy]

Read everything but for the moment I'll ony comment on Aoi -Holy from Discord once told me that, if he were to improve something, he'd like to improve his volley skills to become an AR.

Btw yes Kaoz that was the reliant bs I wrote a while ago.

Any chance Jackson can get Jedi powers?

 

[Kaoz]

Read everything but for the moment I'll ony comment on Aoi -Holy from Discord once told me that, if he were to improve something, he'd like to improve his volley skills to become an AR.

Got a source for that? The closest I found was this from PP7: "I also aim for cord balls, so I want to become a volleyer like Marui-san and Akutagawa-san and be popular!"

Any chance Jackson can get Jedi powers?

No, that seems unlikely.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 1, 2017, Original Post Date: Jul 1, 2017 ---

Spoiler: Richard Sakata

Richard Sakata [15, SB: 1, HP: 4, CP, R]
(SPE: 5, POW: 2, STA: 2, MEN: 3, TEC: 3)

Michinoku's Shooting Star [Auto]:
Whenever partner activates a Serve/Special, Speed increases by [Lv / 2] and if that Serve/Special's Lv is >= 5, Stamina increases by 1.

Maniacal Laughter [Auto]:
Negated after losing consecutive points. Mental increases by 1.

Instant Direction Reversal [Auto]:
Speed cannot decrease. When checked by an ACE effect, Speed returns at +1.

??? [Special - Lv 3]:
Data: Power increases by [Speed - 2].
Extra: ACE if every opponent's Speed is less than [Boost].

That Special name is not a placeholder.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 2, 2017 ---

On the topic of Reserve abilities, one option I've been considering is to restrict their usage to one per match as well, or maybe all of a single character's abilities per match. Mostly since we're still introducing new ones and the more you get, the greater the accumulative effect is, obviously.

Still tossing around this idea and was thinking maybe the following might be a nice setup:
- Each team consists of exactly 12/14 characters.
- You essentially have 11/13 players that are being rotated through the Energy system.
- The 12th/14th character is the team's coach.
- Any character with a [Coach] (may double as [Reserve]) ability can be used for the coach slot.
- If you don't want to use a player as coach, you may pick a dedicated coach on your final pick.
- If you have multiple player coaches, you can rotate them?

Thoughts?

 

[Seakay]

I'd also keep the stat boost itself rather moderate - going by Support Lv would result in a +12 for a lv 3 pair (Speed, Power, Mental, Doubles Bonus) which is simply too much.

Maybe the global boost could be [Support Level]/2 and/or increase fewer stats? There should be a way to make it work. Although, I’m still not sure entirely what, or even, if bonuses should be included for support levels, not counting what pair categorizations could offer. I like the support system now because it’s relatively simple and straightforward.

That Special name is not a placeholder.

You can’t fool me that easily - I recognize a Sonic Bullet when I see it.

About Reserve abilities, I think they were fine overall last season because there weren’t too many. That changes obviously if more characters have them, which begs the question of what the limit is where they should be considered one time use.

Just to use Hopkins as an example, I think he is probably fine right now honestly. He seems like a 2nd/3rd round draft pick, so you’ll probably want to maximize his usage during the group league. That means he probably rests two rounds in an eight person league, so his Reserve abilities are used twice. If you want to use them more, then you sacrifice him a place in the line-up, which is a significant cost I believe.

I think if Reserve abilities scale in power to their character relatively, then they could do so without restricting usage. This does change with larger teams though, since you can afford not using character in the group stage.

Maybe another solution is that you are limited to one Reserve ability per match? I think that’s what you were getting at with the coach idea but might be wrong about that. This keeps Reserve abilities still reasonable and also reduces the complexity of multiple Reserves affecting a match.

 

[Kaoz]

Maybe the global boost could be [Support Level]/2 and/or increase fewer stats? There should be a way to make it work. Although, I’m still not sure entirely what, or even, if bonuses should be included for support levels, not counting what pair categorizations could offer. I like the support system now because it’s relatively simple and straightforward.

Yeah, that's fair. We don't have to have global doubles effects, it was just a possibility that crossed my mind. In a way not having them would be good too since there's no risk of me forgetting to include them in the calculation then.

Maybe another solution is that you are limited to one Reserve ability per match? I think that’s what you were getting at with the coach idea but might be wrong about that. This keeps Reserve abilities still reasonable and also reduces the complexity of multiple Reserves affecting a match.

Yeah, more or less. My idea was to essentially split the current [Reserve] into [Reserve] and [Coach]. The latter would include the global effects most of the current Reserve abilities are, e.g. Q.P.'s Research, and you'd only be allowed to use one of them each match. Furthermore I'd provide a list with actual coaches that people can pick from in exchange for not picking a final player character to ensure that everyone can get one of those global effects even if they didn't pick a player character with such an ability.

Then the new [Reserve] abilities would still always work, but be limited to those abilities that affect specific characters, e.g. Inui's Doctor or Yanagi's Professor.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 6, 2017, Original Post Date: Jul 3, 2017 ---

First of all, here's a couple [Coach] abilities for player characters. I've only included actual player coaches from the original as well as select high schoolers. I'd rather not add any more here though, otherwise there's little reason to add separate ones:

Spoiler

Kippei Tachibana
Inspiring Leader [Coach]:
The first [Support Lv] times HP would decrease to 0 through an opponent's ability, it decreases to 1 instead. If Support Lv >= 3, Speed increases by 1, Power increases by 1.

Hajime Mizuki
Perfect Scenario [Coach]:
Predict opponent's line-up. No character may be predicted for more than one position. When predicted correctly, Mental increases by 1 (max. 1) and the Lv of that opponent's Serves/Specials decreases by 2.

Special Training [Coach]:
Only activates against opponents predicted correctly by Perfect Scenario. When checked by an ACE effect, stats return at +1.

Seiichi Yukimura
Law of Absolute Victory [Coach]:
When checked by an ACE effect, Speed returns at +1. During decisive points, Mental increases by 1.

Yudai Yamato
Natural Weakness [Coach]:
Opponent's Autos/Counters that "cannot be copied" are negated.

Jujiro Oni
Gatekeeper of Hell [Coach]:
Activates before the 1st point and only if affiliation is MS. Stamina increases by 1.

Ikuto Kimijima
Sponsored Training [Coach]:
Negated if the opponent only has seven available characters. Within the first three days of the match period, choose two characters from the opposing team. The opponent may choose not to use one or both of them. Chosen character(s) that don’t participate gain [how much?] experience instead.

Q.P.
Research [Coach]:
Opponent's Serves/Specials with Lv <= 3 are negated.

Noah Dorgias
Checkmate [Coach]:
Receive hints regarding the opponent's line-up.

Alan Hopkins
Intelligence Report [Coach]:
Name one character on the opposing team to learn their position in the line-up.

Obstruction [Coach]:
Select one point. During that point, opponent's Serve/Special's Lv decreases by 3.

Secondly, my starting point for Amadeus looks like this right now in case anyone's interested:

Johann Amadeus [29, SB: 1, HP: 8, AR, L]
(SPE: 7, POW: 2, STA: 6, MEN: 7, TEC: 7)

Charisma of the Swiss [Auto]:
When checked, Power returns as [Technique]. ???

Reverse Advantage [Auto]:
Totals do not increase through SB on service points. Receiver's totals increase by [server's SB] on all receiving points.

Dark Side [Special - Lv 6 - 0.5 STA]:
???

Basically I'm thinking of keeping Byoudouin's stat spread and simply redistributing the numbers. Then the abilities that currently exist are mostly to patch up his weakness like how Byoudouin gets Speed from Spirit Pirate.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 7, 2017 ---

Also, I fear we might depart from Johann as first name regardless of whether Konomi reveals the real one or not. If Amadeus contrasts Byoudouin in this aspect as well, the most likely opposite to "phoenix" would be "dragon" I think. So something like Draco or Drakon seems like a plausible guess to me at the moment.

 

[Hardy]

This is a Lost Canvas reference, but how about Bennu ? Is a bit less "in your face" than anything Dragon related.

Spoiler: Lost Canvas Spoilers

In that series, Kagaho represents Bennu, which is a creature similar to a Phoenix... Except that he is a specter -aka the bad guys I guess. Later he redeems himself and is reincarnated as the Phoenix from the original Saint Seiya.

Edit: I admit Ben / Benny Amadeus sounds silly tho '-' it would have to be Benjamin.

 

[Kaoz]

Could work too depending on what we're expecting. It's not so much about being "in your face", but rather I feel that reference would put emphasis on them being the same whereas the other would be a yin and yang thing. I was thinking with the latter we could also dip into Taoism a bit and make a Howling out of that, but I dunno.

 

[Hardy]

Uhm, I see what you are saying. I actually wanted that same ying/yang approach but I don't think it's anything like that out of Saint Seiya, unfortunately.

According to this if you want something closer to an enemy, you'd have to go with a snake -which doesn't fit a lot... unless you wanna consider them dragons somehow and then go with your suggestions.

 

[Kaoz]

According to this if you want something closer to an enemy, you'd have to go with a snake -which doesn't fit a lot... unless you wanna consider them dragons somehow and then go with your suggestions.

Why snake? It says "The Feng-Huang and the dragon are often shown together, either as mortal enemies or a blissful lovers.", the snake is merely one of the Feng-Huang's body parts alongside cock, swallow, fowl, goose, tortoise, stag and fish.

 

[Hardy]

Missed that line tbh '-''' Ignored it considering what it said in the start and went straight to the part it mentions snakes. Sounds good then ^^

 

[Seakay]

So just to throw an idea out there for Amadeus. Looking at Reverse Advantage, he wants to turn an opponent's strength back against them, so Dark Side should have a similar theme then. My (vague) understanding from the RAW for Dark Side is that its darkening of the court shows the opponent(s) being blinded temporarily then the shot reappearing similar to a Kijin representing a significant threat. In terms of the Fan League, it would be similar to Spirit moves with the end of Data Step boost but maybe the boost can be gained from what the opponent(s) loses instead.

Dark Side [Special - Lv 6 - 0.5 STA]
Data: Speed increases by 3. Each opponent's stats increase at -3 through Serves/Specials. At the end of the Data Step, Power increases by [amount prevented] this way.
Extra: ACE if [Boost] exceeds every opponent's Mental. If ACE, every opponent's HP decreases by 8.

I'm not sure on the power level of this as a Lv 6 ability though since it can vary drastically. How high should the stat prevention be? Frankensteiner has it at -4 as a baseline, but it would be be twice as effective here though. Amadeus should still gain a stat boost in case his opponents don't use a Serve/Special. Maybe the ACE effect should reflect that then, while the HP decrease is enough to not knock out Akutsu.

 

[Kaoz]

The way Dark Side is drawn is the same as World of Ice, so I'm inclined to adopt part of that effect (probably the negation). Other than that, I could see Data and the ACE effect being similar to the Spirit moves. Although, I was wondering if Mental is really the check Spirit should have. After seeing two more shots with this effect now, I'm wondering if there shouldn't be other components like Speed as well (e.g. Amadeus wasn't intimidated by Akutsu's last return, but it looks like the shot was too fast for him to react when he wasn't expecting it).

As for Akutsu, I was thinking of giving him an ability that would let him continue playing even if his HP is 0 since he technically was KO'd.

 

[Hardy]

As for Akutsu, I was thinking of giving him an ability that would let him continue playing even if his HP is 0 since he technically was KO'd.

Any tentative set for Akutsu, just for the fun of it? (as I know we should just wait for the next chapters).

 

[Kaoz]

Any tentative set for Akutsu, just for the fun of it? (as I know we should just wait for the next chapters).

Hm not directly yet. But there's lots to discuss regarding him already anyway:

- Do we need to adjust his stats and if so which ones and by how much? I'm not so sure anymore about the 6 in Power, but I do think he definitely needs a Technique boost, possibly Mental as well.
- Should Formless Tennis' ACE effect be improved? I think the answer is yes.
- Is Monster outdated by now or would the Echizen brothers still get the better of him?
- Related to the Mental boost mentioned above, what about his Glowing Destruction? As it stands it'll be weaker than the others' even though it was the standard size. Does this mean GD's Data needs to be reworked.
- What does Eighth Consciousness actually do? And should it be an Auto or a Special? A Mental boost seems appropriate, but other than that it just seems like a fast SSS return.

--- Double Post Merged, Jul 12, 2017, Original Post Date: Jul 11, 2017 ---

Spoiler: Amadeus Update

Draco Amadeus [29, SB: 1, HP: 8, AR, L]
(SPE: 7, POW: 2, STA: 6, MEN: 7, TEC: 7)

Charisma of the Swiss [Auto]:
Cannot be copied. Mental cannot decrease. If Mental is equal to or exceeds any opponent's Mental, Speed increases by 2, Technique increases by 2. When partner's HP decreases to 0 for the first time, it does not increase instead.

Reverse Advantage [Auto]:
Totals do not increase through SB on service points. Receiver's totals increase by [server's SB] on all receiving points.

Draconic Descent [Counter]:
Triggers after losing 3 points. SB permanently decreases by 1, Lv of opponent's Serves/Specials permanently decreases by 1.

Dark Side [Special - Lv 6 - 0.5 STA]:

I tried to work various spiritual gifts into Charisma of the Swiss, namely discerning spirits/immunity to deception (Mental cannot decrease), prophecy (basically the Data part from Pinnacle of Brilliance) and healing (restoring partner's HP). Draconic Descent is an ability similar to Phoenix Revival, but takes advantage of Amadeus' other abilities.

Regarding Dark Side, I'm still not really sure. Going with Seakay's idea that it should be an inverse Spirit of sorts (or at least that's how I interpreted your suggestion), I almost feel like it would have to decrease the opponent's Speed instead of increasing Amadeus' own. The issue is that a -4 would be incredibly powerful, so I'm don't really know how to handle it yet.