Match Weekly Match-up thread (Fuji vs Seda)

[Hardy]

ROUND IS OVER

Spoiler: Winner

Mares de Colón

34th Round:

We are back and with one Math's suggestions. Can Fuji stand a chance against Spain's troublemaker?

Picture	Fuji Hardy Jan 15, 2024	Seda Hardy May 13, 2024
Name	Fuji Shuusuke	Seda
Title	Genius	Troublemaker
Rank	No. 9 (MSer Year 3)	Spain Representative (MSer Year 1)
Height	167cm	-
Weight	53 kg	-
Dominant Hand	Right	Right (Ambidextrous?)
Playstyle	Counter puncher	-
Stat Total	18	?
Speed	3	?
Power	3	?
Stamina	3	?
Mental	4	?
Technique	5	?
Techniques / Styles	Phoenix Return (1st+) Kirin Drop (2nd+) White Dragon (3rd+) Dragonfly Illusion (4th) Gate Keeper of Hecatoncheires (5th) Star Fireworks (6th) Closed Eyes Hollyhock Blizzard Light Wind Kitsune Fireball	Reverse Copy Olympian Iris' Light

Fuji's 10.5 profile.

Fuji's 23.5 profile.

Fuji's Tenipuri Party profile.

Zeus' 23.5 profile

"I'm not listing Seda's hypnosis since he seemingly stopped using it and it can be countered with freaking ear plugs.

...tho, for all intents and purposes, he can play aggressively as he did against Japan."

Will add a poll on Wednesday.

 

[-Ken-]

Kintarou didn't say so but he at least have a feat that surpass Bismarck in his latest AND doesn't say anything that show he's out of Duke league like what Yukimura state.

 

[LetalHawk]

I'm not seeing it 100% as a negative. In doubles, that is higher paced, experience is extra valuable... and to compensate that, so is instinct. Kin's doubles sense grew at an alarming rate in that match and Ohmagari was surprised by how quickly he was making decisions.

Of course, it's open to interpretation, but to me he was so absorved into this higher pace that Tanegashima's move didn't matter at all: Kintarou's sense ditacted that someone was going to be there and an opportunity to score would follow. This is capped off with Kin proclaiming "DOUBLES IS FUN" or what have you as he scored. It's great character development. Konomi admittedly "screwed up" when he made Ryoma return to Japan and I think he just didn't know what to do with Kin's character with Echizen around, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Singles and its slower pace is another story, and even then both him and Ohmagari hadn't managed to return regular Mu (together), which should be the starting point of the conversation.

If its just Kin being immune to the Ultimate Void, then he gained nothing in that match. Nor does it mean anything to his overall level. If Yuushi can close his heart and counter Saiki , that doesn't mean he was better than Chitose or Tezuka back at the Nationals. Tanegashima can return the Wibletraufe with Mu, but he cannot win against Volk. And a huge etcetera.

-

That information doesn't tell us anything. Ok, again, TnK Kin serving won 2 points in a row against TnK Oni. Now what? That doesn't mean that they are equal, the sample size is insignificant, he was already ahead and he was serving which had a huge impact. Sengoku won a game against Ryoma, too, that doesn't mean they aren't like 4 tiers apart.

Kintarou didn't say "I'm as good as Oni/Bismarck/Tanegashima's level" nor anything like that, like Atobe did (right as he scored).

--- Double Post Merged, Oct 31, 2023, Original Post Date: Oct 31, 2023 ---

Why cannot JJ just be weaker than Ludovic?

What did Atobe said exactly about that? (Being as strong as those you mentioned)

 

[Hardy]

What did Atobe said exactly about that? (Being as strong as those you mentioned)

Nah, I'm just saying Kin never got a scene like this to level him to Bismarck.

Kintarou didn't say so but he at least have a feat that surpass Bismarck in his latest AND doesn't say anything that show he's out of Duke league like what Yukimura state.

He has a cool feat. But there is context to this feat and it certainly doesn't mean he is immediately better. Again, he didn't even manage to return Mu with Ohmagari supporting him. Bismarck scored against it in a 1 on 1.

Fwiw Yukimura seemingly ran from the S2 race because he was mentlaly drained from playing Tezuka. Even then he seemed to be rallying head on against Kin in their 1 on 1 while Yanagi looked for opportunities to score.

 

[-Ken-]

He has a cool feat. But there is context to this feat and it certainly doesn't mean he is immediately better. Again, he didn't even manage to return Mu with Ohmagari supporting him. Bismarck scored against it in a 1 on 1.

Fwiw Yukimura seemingly ran from the S2 race because he was mentlaly drained from playing Tezuka. Even then he seemed to be rallying head on against Kin in their 1 on 1 while Yanagi looked for opportunities to score.

He didn't return it before because of how doubles require faster reaction time and stuff thingy that was explained in the chapter. Basically playing in the doubles nerf Kintarou for majority of those two matches. Kintarou is handicapped. That doesn't mean he will have trouble with it in singles. The handicapped was severe enough to the point where Kintarou have trouble even with Renji and Shiraishi, much less Tanegashima.

Yukimura ACTUALLY have a doubles buff with Renji which is also stated in the chapter itself that they play well together. That praise is rarely given in the series, and extremely few pair have received that statement on scenes.

And while I agree it doesn't make it better, it at least make him debatably equal to Bismarck imo. But underestimating Kintarou is a trend in this forum ever since forever so I'm not really surprised either.

 

[mathematicianrcg]

He didn't return it before because of how doubles require faster reaction time and stuff thingy that was explained in the chapter. Basically playing in the doubles nerf Kintarou for majority of those two matches. Kintarou is handicapped. That doesn't mean he will have trouble with it in singles. The handicapped was severe enough to the point where Kintarou have trouble even with Renji and Shiraishi, much less Tanegashima.

Yukimura ACTUALLY have a doubles buff with Renji which is also stated in the chapter itself that they play well together. That praise is rarely given in the series, and extremely few pair have received that statement on scenes.

And while I agree it doesn't make it better, it at least make him debatably equal to Bismarck imo. But underestimating Kintarou is a trend in this forum ever since forever so I'm not really surprised either.

Wait.

If Kintarou is same level as Bismarck?

Does it mean Kin is stronger than Tezuka?

Or you think Tezuka is stronger than Bismarck? Iirc, the consensus here is Bismarck beats tezuka easily cause spinless sway counters Tezuka's spin techniques.

Or maybe its just a matchup advantage.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 1, 2023 ---

And while I agree it doesn't make it better, it at least make him debatably equal to Bismarck imo. But underestimating Kintarou is a trend in this forum ever since forever so I'm not really surprised either.

And if you are right in ur prediction. Kintarou is about to lose against Seda. So Kin might be more underestimated.. Jk

Unless Mares hard carry. Or We scale Seda as G5 level too.

 

[-Ken-]

Kintarou is going to lose D2 unless Spain will be the most anticlimatic last boss ever to get 0-2. However, it'll be in doubles that he apparently sucks at and he already got shit ton of highlight in his previous match and even already got a feat better than Bismarck so that's why I say it doesn't really matter for Kintarou anymore.

 

[Hardy]

He didn't return it before because of how doubles require faster reaction time and stuff thingy that was explained in the chapter. Basically playing in the doubles nerf Kintarou for majority of those two matches. Kintarou is handicapped. That doesn't mean he will have trouble with it in singles. The handicapped was severe enough to the point where Kintarou have trouble even with Renji and Shiraishi, much less Tanegashima.

Yukimura ACTUALLY have a doubles buff with Renji which is also stated in the chapter itself that they play well together. That praise is rarely given in the series, and extremely few pair have received that statement on scenes.

And while I agree it doesn't make it better, it at least make him debatably equal to Bismarck imo. But underestimating Kintarou is a trend in this forum ever since forever so I'm not really surprised either.

Kintarou by then had already been well adapted to doubles. The turning point was when he scored to make it 1-4, and from then on even if they were individually weaker than Shiraishi and Tanegashima head on, Ohmagari-Kintarou proceeded to break their opponent's service games twice to then force a tie-break. That is how strong Kintarou was at doubles. There is no reason to believe Tanegashima stopped using Mu for no reason either (it's likely how he kept the other service games).

And yet, despite all these developments, Kintarou still looked scared of facing Mu in the final point and it's Ohmagari who needs to reveal his special moves made to counter Tane.

Yanagi was observed to be a non factor for pretty long, as pointed out by Ohmagari. Yukimura and Kin were fighting 1 on 1 and looked relatively even. When Yanagi started to get involved was the point when things got complicated. At the end of the day whatever bonus they had wasn't strong enough to offset the fact that Ohmagari has so much more experience in doubles (even if Yukimura faced Australia's D1 and Yanagi a doubles specialist that played against a top 3 nation).

I think after a decade both the members here and the story itself have changed plenty, and we are well past having members that do not give Kin a chance.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 1, 2023 ---

Kintarou is going to lose D2 unless Spain will be the most anticlimatic last boss ever to get 0-2. However, it'll be in doubles that he apparently sucks at and he already got shit ton of highlight in his previous match and even already got a feat better than Bismarck so that's why I say it doesn't really matter for Kintarou anymore.

Not psrticularly on topic but I think he's a doubles specialist rn and Spain eventually wins thanks to some sort of last second Howling.

 

[mathematicianrcg]

Kintarou by then had already been well adapted to doubles. The turning point was when he scored to make it 1-4, and from then on even if they were individually weaker than Shiraishi and Tanegashima head on, Ohmagari-Kintarou proceeded to break their opponent's service games twice to then force a tie-break. That is how strong Kintarou was at doubles. There is no reason to believe Tanegashima stopped using Mu for no reason either (it's likely how he kept the other service games).

And yet, despite all these developments, Kintarou still looked scared of facing Mu in the final point and it's Ohmagari who needs to reveal his special moves made to counter Tane.

Yanagi was observed to be a non factor for pretty long, as pointed out by Ohmagari. Yukimura and Kin were fighting 1 on 1 and looked relatively even. When Yanagi started to get involved was the point when things got complicated. At the end of the day whatever bonus they had wasn't strong enough to offset the fact that Ohmagari has so much more experience in doubles (even if Yukimura faced Australia's D1 and Yanagi a doubles specialist that played against a top 3 nation).

I think after a decade both the members here and the story itself have changed plenty, and we are well past having members that do not give Kin a chance.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 1, 2023 ---

Not psrticularly on topic but I think he's a doubles specialist rn and Spain eventually wins thanks to some sort of last second Howling.

But Kintarou became doubles specialist after 2 practice matches?

I think Kintarou is still better in Singles though.

He was introduced back in POT as Ryoma's Current and Future Rival with Same Age.

Kinda disappointing if he ends up being a doubles player mostly than a singles player.

And we know Ryoma will never play doubles on screen in a big match. Because he sucks 100% in doubles. Lmao.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023 ---

Not particularly on topic but I think he's a doubles specialist rn and Spain eventually wins thanks to some sort of last second Howling.

I think this should be discussed in spain thread. But I think Julio/Silva are the ones who will have Howling

I am havig a hard time how can make you a howling out of Mares sniping and Seda's mind control

 

[-Ken-]

Kintarou doesn't go from doubles noob to well adapted to doubles imo. Oh well, I think it'll just be agree to disagree. It's clear we won't come to agreement on this.

Even today even with feat that surpass Bismarck Kintarou is still treat like this. I don't think we are past that and probably never will. But it doesn't matter because it's clear you don't see Kintarou that high no matter what. Let's just agree to disagree.

 

[Hardy]

But Kintarou became doubles specialist after 2 practice matches?

I think Kintarou is still better in Singles though.

He was introduced back in POT as Ryoma's Current and Future Rival with Same Age.

Kinda disappointing if he ends up being a doubles player mostly than a singles player.

And we know Ryoma will never play doubles on screen in a big match. Because he sucks 100% in doubles. Lmao.

He went from not knowing what a racket was to turning into the best player in probably the second strongest school in the nation in just some months if not immediately despite being 13 years old. What is new here?

He received coaching/tutoring from the best doubles player in the nation, who remarked how quick he was at learning and making decisions and told him to just keep "doing whatever he was doing". Yes I do believe he is currently better at doubles now and that its higher pace fits him better, too.

Why is that disappointing? Generally I much prefer doubles matches over singles

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 1, 2023 ---

Kintarou doesn't go from doubles noob to well adapted to doubles imo. Oh well, I think it'll just be agree to disagree. It's clear we won't come to agreement on this.

That's ok! Different opinions make the world interesting and all that.

 

[-Ken-]

Yeah but that's for me differences than 2 matches. For now I put him at being ok at doubles, as in unless state, he can probably play it and not have any handicap on him any longer.

 

[Hardy]

Poll is up!

Back to the match itself, I do wonder how well that Kaoz theory of "Ryoma couldn't use TnK" holds. It was sth like both the Sakuno and leaving America situations were making him conflicted and not tap into TnK, so he had to resort to other strategies. If that's the case, then Kin should fare better against the Aces since he has nothing like that in the back of his mind.

Re reading the match, I think Ludovic is at something like:

Stat Total26
Speed 5
Power 6
Stamina 4
Mental 5
Technique 6

Or something like that. Built as a one trick pony (pun intended) that aims to win every point as soon as possible. His peaks might be higher but I'm trying to not overdo it. Even the American team was wary of him and had scouted his abilities, so he's very likely one of the top players in the tournament despite his age (not unlike Ryoma).

Kin's best odds are, ironically, by playing like JJ did against him and hanging on for as much as possible in any way imaginable, and mixing up slow shots like Akutsu vs Echizen.Ryoma remarked that after just some rallies Ludovic's shot got slower, so Stamina is a deficiency of his that Kin can exploit by stalling as much as possible.

Kin's highlight is power but it wouldn't surprise me if Ludovic is just as strong + he now knows the SSS to return everything with twice as much power.

I think this stalling strategy + avoiding power would be really uncharacteristical for Kin so I have him losing here (even more if Ludovic can summon his Knight again) but Tooyama certainly has a way out.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 1, 2023 ---

Yeah but that's for me differences than 2 matches. For now I put him at being ok at doubles, as in unless state, he can probably play it and not have any handicap on him any longer.

But then wouldn't they be (at best since Tane is the best player on the court) even with Shiraishi and Tanegashima? Instead they were better than them and broke their service games twice.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023 ---

Checking here: it's stated that since he found his weak points attacked by Yanagi-Yukimura and then Shiraishi, Kintarou understood himself better and found what he was lacking to be a doubles player, so at the very least at 1-4 he was equally as good in singles and doubles. Besides his already rapid growth, he had that on top.

The match goes on and he keeps improving (based on comments from both Tanegashima and Ohmagari) capping it off with him scoring the winner playing pretty much just on instinct.

 

[mathematicianrcg]

He went from not knowing what a racket was to turning into the best player in probably the second strongest school in the nation in just some months if not immediately despite being 13 years old. What is new here?

He received coaching/tutoring from the best doubles player in the nation, who remarked how quick he was at learning and making decisions and told him to just keep "doing whatever he was doing". Yes I do believe he is currently better at doubles now and that its higher pace fits him better, too.

Why is that disappointing? Generally I much prefer doubles matches over singles

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 1, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 1, 2023 ---

That's ok! Different opinions make the world interesting and all that.

WAIT WHAT?

Ohmagari is the best doubles player in the Nation?

I meant disappointing in a way that Kintarou will not be a singles rival for Ryoma anymore. If he focus on doubles.

 

[Hardy]

WAIT WHAT?

Ohmagari is the best doubles player in the Nation?

I meant disappointing in a way that Kintarou will not be a singles rival for Ryoma anymore. If he focus on doubles.

More like the doubles and defense specialist, so he knows the ins and outs of the game probably better than anyone in the team. If you put Duke and Tanegashima together they likely outpower any pair with Ohmagari, though.

They could still be rivals. Honestly I don't care much about the rivalry at all (...nor any of them, thinking about it, other than thinking nods are cool) so it doesn't bug me either way.

 

[-Ken-]

But then wouldn't they be (at best since Tane is the best player on the court) even with Shiraishi and Tanegashima? Instead they were better than them and broke their service games twice.

That's because you are currently viewing Kintarou as below Tanegashima. If Kintarou is about even with Tanegashima, then what is happening is Kintarou=Tanegashima and Ohmagari>Shiraishi, which what I believe allow them to break the service games twice. Also at 1-4 just because he understand what's missing I highly doubt that raised his miserable and noob doubles level up to his singles level right away.

 

[Hardy]

That's because you are currently viewing Kintarou as below Tanegashima. If Kintarou is about even with Tanegashima, then what is happening is Kintarou=Tanegashima and Ohmagari>Shiraishi, which what I believe allow them to break the service games twice. Also at 1-4 just because he understand what's missing I highly doubt that raised his miserable and noob doubles level up to his singles level right away.

Since Kintarou cannot return Mu I'd see him as worse yes. A single point that had him unaffected by the Ultimate Void doesn't change that.

Ryoma is better than Kin and just lost to Duke, who in turn lost to Tanegashima in Round 1.

Why do you doubt that? Other than real life logic that Kin consistently defies. If he has no more weaknesses in his doubles game, then he removed those shackles and can at the very least perform at relatively the same level as in singles. Sounds straightforward to me.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 2, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 2, 2023 ---

I don't have a real opinion on the thread's main question yet, but I want to weigh in on one of the arguments.







One of the reasons might be the way TnK explicitly got re-contextualized in Yukimura vs Tezuka. Up until that match, all we knew was that it provided some sort of stat boost to the user. Back in PoT 378, Inui even suggested that it simply builds on Ryoma moving Hyaku Ren's aura to different parts of his body. There was no mention of other effects, though, like Hyaku Ren's doubled return or Saiki's shot count prediction.



In Yukimura's match, we learned of the pressure the aura exerts and we saw how much this affects the way the match goes - Yukimura went from being overwhelmed to winning the set when he blocked out TnK's light. I guess we don't know if Konomi always worked with that in mind or made it up during the semifinals, but for the benefit of the argument, I will assume that this has been true somewhat consistently.



To circle back to Ryoma vs Ludwig, Ludwig did beat Hyaku Ren easily when Ryoma used it on his legs. Ryoma's main concern was even getting the ball back, so maybe in the sense of increasing his own abilities, TnK wouldn't have made a real difference. On the other hand, we saw that Ludwig easily caught up with Ryoma's attacks, so TnK might not have provided enough of an offensive boost either.



Of course that's not the whole picture. But if Ludwig essentially showed that he could deal with the way the aura would've improved Ryoma, the real question is how he would've dealt with the additional effect, the light itself. This might be a stretch, but I wonder if Ryoma opting for Hyaku Ren over TnK could imply that TnK's secondary effect wouldn't have worked? Maybe Ludwig is so conceited that he wouldn't have been taken in by the light. I'm not necessarily arguing that he has higher mental strength than e.g. Dorgias or Yukimura in general, but maybe his personality would've allowed him to pass that particular test more easily.

---

As for Drive B and COOL Drive, I think part of the problem is that Ryoma was never in a position to use them. Drive B is a move that requires forward momentum, but Ludwig was making Ryoma run from side to side all the time, even when Ryoma was finally able to get into rallies. Similarly, COOL Drive requires a high ball as setup and Ludwig never gave Ryoma any of those either. This is a case where I'd give Ludwig credit for sealing the shots instead of Ryoma choosing not to use them.



It seems to me that the only Glowing Shot candidate besides Hope would've been Twist Serve, but it's again unclear to me if that would've been more effective than the regular Twist Serve he used to set up Hope.

---

With all that said, I still agree that Ryoma probably didn't play his best tennis, at least during the first set. I also think the reason wasn't Ryoma holding back, though, but his mental state at the time. Before the match started when Ludwig provoked Ryoma, Fuji said that Ryoma was flustered or distressed. Getting aced point after point from the beginning probably didn't help matters. In the end it took Mifune to actively coach Ryoma for Ryoma to change his strategy and focus on attacking with Hope. I reckon he was at 100% either after that or at the latest after regaining consciousness at the end of the second set.



Finally, even though Ryoma won the last game of the second set by copying Ludwig, it doesn't seem like the copy was perfect. Troughout the match, the commentary was that Hope was Ryoma's only consistent way of scoring. I guess in the final set, Ludwig could still stick to his patterns all the way, but Ryoma had to keep changing it up and score with non-repeatable tactics.



This actually ties into the final point as well. Ryoma resorting to Hope again made Ludwig think that Ryoma had run out of novelties, but returning SSS was the final ace up Ryoma's sleeve. I think this should be read as Ryoma saving a trump card until the end, similarly to how he only scored once against Tanishi's Big Bang, and not as him holding anything back. If he had tried to win the whole set that way, Ludwig may well have found a counter to it.

I found Kaoz's reasoning on Ryoma not using TnK against Ludovic. He believed Ryoma didn't use it because it wouldn't had helped at all, and that he was distressed up until his talk with Mifune.

 

[Hardy]

We are talking about Current kin right?

Yes.

Anyways, hot take but i think Kintarou will have a powerup that will make him a CLEAR G5 level too. I mean clear as AS CLEAR as Atobe. (Right now, we consider Atobe> Kin right?)



However, this will mean We will need to scale Seda as G5 level too.



Which is possible with his encounter with Zeus. Seda might be as strong as Zeus. Then its a matter of IF you think Zeus is g5 level (for me he is)



Who do you guys think is G5 level?



Mars or Seda?

Please keep the thread on topic.

 

[mathematicianrcg]

Yes.



Please keep the thread on topic.

Oh yeah sorry. Hahahah we kinda all off topic here because of kintarou discussion.

Anyways, as for the match.

Hmmm. My guts is telling me Kintarou will pull of a surprise win against Ludovic

 

[LetalHawk]

Ludovic wins. He has a Kijin of his own and rallied evenly with Samurai which is probably stronger or at least on another level than Kin’s TnK (Shiraishi pointed out Ryoma is much stronger than Kintarou at singles rn).

Speed wise Ludovic’s faster, when Ryoma returned Ludovic’s SSS at the last point he was fast enough to go to the bench, grab another racket and return the shot with two rackets, his lower body strength is amazing so his speed and leg strength should be considerable high.

Kin’s best bet would be to use Ryoma’s strategy to seal the aces and tire him out, but Ludovic ended the match fine and has plenty of stamina so I don’t think it would work.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 2, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 2, 2023 ---

Since Kintarou cannot return Mu I'd see him as worse yes. A single point that had him unaffected by the Ultimate Void doesn't change that.

Ryoma is better than Kin and just lost to Duke, who in turn lost to Tanegashima in Round 1.

Why do you doubt that? Other than real life logic that Kin consistently defies. If he has no more weaknesses in his doubles game, then he removed those shackles and can at the very least perform at relatively the same level as in singles. Sounds straightforward to me.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 2, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 2, 2023 ---

I found Kaoz's reasoning on Ryoma not using TnK against Ludovic. He believed Ryoma didn't use it because it wouldn't had helped at all, and that he was distressed up until his talk with Mifune.

I think Ryoma’s lost wasn’t fair. He would beat Duke fair and square but people think he would be Koed when he’s shown otherwise.

 

[Hardy]

Ludovic wins. He has a Kijin of his own and rallied evenly with Samurai which is probably stronger or at least on another level than Kin’s TnK (Shiraishi pointed out Ryoma is much stronger than Kintarou at singles rn).

Speed wise Ludovic’s faster, when Ryoma returned Ludovic’s SSS at the last point he was fast enough to go to the bench, grab another racket and return the shot with two rackets, his lower body strength is amazing so his speed and leg strength should be considerable high.

Kin’s best bet would be to use Ryoma’s strategy to seal the aces and tire him out, but Ludovic ended the match fine and has plenty of stamina so I don’t think it would work.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 2, 2023, Original Post Date: Nov 2, 2023 ---

I think Ryoma’s lost wasn’t fair. He would beat Duke fair and square but people think he would be Koed when he’s shown otherwise.

It's usually his upper body strength the one that is praised, not his lower one. If it was remarked, I missed it.

I wouldn't use logic to fit his speed either, I doubt we are supposed to take the "he went back and forth" feat at face value. That said, Speed usually remarks if the player's swing is fast whenever it applies, and I imagine Ludovic's is damn fast for Prince of Aces.

Despite struggling with individual long rallies, Ludovic might have a good recovery just like Echizen, that's a good point.

On last week, I think Duke can beat Ryoma fair and square and the KO threat is a nice plus. Yukimura (who vs Tezuka likely wasn't that much worse than Ryoma if at all) and Sanada saying they want to be as good as Duke and Tokugawa is pretty big. Ryoma could win the "1 every 10 chances" match if plot demands it but I reckon the Hser wins most of them.