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2019 Lore Tournament - Day 1: What once Sailed Free vs Aftermath

LordRedStone Nr1·12/1/2019, 4:26:04 PM·24 votes·18,219 views

Edit: With 30 to 27 votes, "What Once Sailed Free" wins this round!

#####Something old, something new

Welcome, everyone! The year is coming to an end, and just like last year, I want to honor the epic stories told in the Universe of Runeterra that were released this year. Credit for the idea goes to the lovely Bioluminescence of course, but this time, I'm doing it on my own.

#####Rules

Included in the tournament are all main universe stories released this year, as well as Halfway between the Stars and Earth and Demacian Heart from last December which could not fit into the last tournament. Likewise, if we see new stories towards the end of December, they will probably go into the next tournament. No comics, cinematics or AU stories. I will use the following format, which will correspond to one battle a day each. I plan for each post to go up around 5 pm CET / 8 am PST; at that time voting for the last post will conclude. ######I'm already late, but let's ignore that. My goal is to get each post out before 6pm. It's a standard KO-Bracket, so if a story loses, it's out.

Day     Story 1vs     Story 2
Day 1What Once Sailed FreevsAftermath
Day 2The Winterspike RoadvsThe Final Reign
Day 3The RecruitvsTrouble
Day 4Demacian HeartvsTurmoil
Day 5The Harder PathvsFit to Rule
Day 6Halfway Between the Stars and Earth     vsFor Those Who Have Fallen
Day 7The Echoes left BehindvsThe Whispering Doodad
Day 8AdaptationvsMessage on a Blade's Edge
Day 9In the Fires of JusticevsPrayer to a Crumbling Shrine
Day 10Canticle of the Winged SistersvsSnow Day
Day 11With the FlowersvsThorns of the Black Rose
Day 12HomecomingvsRoots of a Poisoned Tree
Day 13Silence for the Damnedvs?
Day 14The biggest CatchvsRemember Me
Day 15HomeboundvsThe Shackles of Belief
Day 16     The Voices of the Deadvs?

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/365550473429909504/648237903100510229/WT7mmUN.png

#####A troubled guardian

The first battle of the tournament revolves around Xin Zhao, the Viscero. In our first story, What Once sailed free, we learn about how he found new meaning in life after being defeated and ready to die, pledging his life to King Jarvan III of Demacia. In the second story, Aftermath, he reflects on what he could have done to honor this pledge. Was there any way to protect the king from the rebelling mages? In the end, he joins Prince Jarvan IV, apparent heir to the throne.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/365550473429909504/640814050506309647/unknown.png

What Once Sailed Free by Michael Luo

##vs

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/365550473429909504/640815795051429908/unknown.png

Aftermath by Anthony Reynolds

23 Comments

RiotCarnival Knights12/3/2019, 12:57:22 AM7 votes

sobs in cowboy another year

HonestJohnTheCon12/1/2019, 4:40:22 PM5 votes

This is a really close one, but I'm going to have to go with What Once Sailed Free simply because of how poetic and, for lack of a better word, awesome it is.

Both are great stories though, and I suspect Aftermath will win due to its effects on the larger plot of the world.

RiotSkiptoMyLuo12/6/2019, 11:32:24 PM5 votes

I'm honored to be even mentioned in the same post as Ant Reynolds. Honestly over the moon!

[sg-soraka]

TalontedM712/1/2019, 6:19:20 PM3 votes

They are both really good stories but I had to go with Aftermath since it pushes that original story forward! Though let us not forget we cannot have aftermath without having What Once Sailed Free!

RebeccaUCuber12/1/2019, 8:48:53 PM3 votes

Dont read below if u didn't read the stories!!!

Both of the stories were really well written. I think i never knew Xin Zhao till today ( i always told my self he was just he shouting demacian 2.0 xD)

He is a man that felt peace, then pain, fight for survival, lost honor and regained honor... the quintessence of a warrior. I voted for the first one cos yeah, the second one had more feeling and stuff, but i found similar grevious confrontantions somewhere already. I found prisoner's figure realyly the original and best attempt to define Xin Zhao as a whole.

Falrein12/1/2019, 4:52:02 PM3 votes

Aftermath in my humble opinion! But hey I have an Anthony Reynolds bias so... :x

dontspinbutwin12/1/2019, 11:59:49 PM2 votes

What once sailed free wins, but only slightly. Both stories were massively immersive, and both portrayed xin zhao well. Only reason I think What once Sailed Free wins, is simply preference. I liked seeing Xin Zhao's origins, and seeing how he acted as he did. Here, we are introduced to Xin Zhao's strength, his personality, and his loyalty, and these traits are seen again in Aftermath.

Ahhhh I wish this could end in a draw. These two were some of my favorite stories, its hard to say which is best.

Still gonna have to What once Sailed Free. Glorious stories on both sides!

WeAreDuo12/2/2019, 1:48:21 AM2 votes

What once sailed free - This story is amazing. I was not sure what it was when I first read the match-up so I read them both again and I must say... There is real emotion, I feel the sincerity of Xin, J3 and even Tianna. A man at the end of his days seeking out some meaning for it all and finding it in the least expected place. It's an amazing story and deserves to progress.

Aftermath - Even though it was written by a different author, I feel a likeness in the way the story was told to the first one. A shared respect for the characters and the world. I felt the loss of a man who had not just lost a beloved master, but a brother and a friend, and the way he assumed that everyone would judge him for not being there just shows the kind of honorable man he is. I couldn't help but think about Azir and Xerath and how the latter forgot his place while Xin remained firm even in his old age, truly a man for Demacian soldiers to aspire to be like. I was not a fan of the fighting and honestly I would have appreciated if that interaction was between Xin and Tianna instead (it's unfortunate a romance didn't develop there over the years... then again, who's to say it didn't? ;) ). I dont like this "Let's continue the war on magic" J4, but I feel that this is just a phase for him (Because shyvanna exists) so not too worried.

I ended up rambling about the second one but that's just because it's current, this is happening here and now and is wide open to speculation and that's exciting for any lore fanatic on here... But I'd have to give my vote to What once sailed free. It's a story that touches the heart, makes you fall in love with J3 and his wisdom and genuine spirit while making you feel passion for Xin, a man who had never known purpose, a man about to die after living an empty life being confronted with destiny and managing to grab hold of his true purpose... it really speak to me personally.

The Iceborn12/1/2019, 4:41:38 PM2 votes

These are awesome! I do wonder if Riot actually uses these polls and rankings as an indicator as to what we want to see more or if they more or less proceed with their work regardless of what these yearly reviews show... In any case good job on doing this :D

Ebonmaw Dragon12/2/2019, 3:50:25 PM1 votes

Wait... "THE TRUE AND GHASTLY TALE OF THE BEAST OF BOLEHAM TOWER" was released in 2018?

zaire9012/1/2019, 7:51:58 PM1 votes

Damn its really been a year since the last one. Luckily this one should be more fair since last year had those 2 monsters where icathia once stood and twilight of the gods.

Stained Spear12/2/2019, 2:01:50 PM1 votes

I felt that What Once Sailed Free did a great job of explaining Xin Zhao's background and how it shaped him as a warrior. Aftermath really showed who he is and what he stands for as a loyal Demacian. Not only was the premise of Aftermath better, the writing was way more intense. It had me eager to read more and more as I followed along. I reread it multiple times and would gladly buy a book on the whole Demacian mage war or even just a Demacian family/Xin Zhao biography.

ProtestantCaesar12/2/2019, 2:10:09 AM1 votes

I liked both. I really like the character of Xin Zhao. I think What Once Sailed Free was a little better than Aftermath. But I can't vote for it because it was basically just a rewrite of pre-existing Xin Zhao stories, a small retcon.

Naalith12/1/2019, 9:59:34 PM1 votes

It's a shame that All Kindred's Eve isn't in here, I think it would give a lot of these stories a run for their money (although Silence of the Damned and The Echoes Left Behind are admittedly major heavy hitters).