OG poster u/PlayFree_Bird

Alright, I hate to say it, but there is some less-than-ideal information circulating out there, particularly about the famed "gamma squeeze" we hear so much about these days. I'll get to that. Let's go through the questions you simpletons want to know, as explained by a mouth-breathing fool who has managed to convince you he knows what he's talking about:

Did we win today? Is it endgame?

Kind of. Be patient.

In what ways did we win?

First, there was the obvious victory of bouncing back 65% today after the worst market manipulation I've ever witnessed. We kept the upward momentum going.
Secondly, every day you finish higher is another day the shorts are underwater. If you are perpetually going up, the walls are closing in on them.
Finally, a lot of put options expired worthless today while a number of call options expired in-the-money. It's always good to make put holders lose money because you drain the bank accounts of people betting against you.

Yes! Call options! We finished above $320 and get a gamma squeeze to infinity now, right?

No. That's not how this works. Too many people don't quite understand what a gamma squeeze is.
A gamma squeeze happens when call option sellers (or "writers") have to hedge their naked calls by buying stocks. They do this because the risk of selling naked calls is theoretically infinite if they don't. It's called delta hedging. You don't need to know all the fancy math ("delta" and "gamma" are those greek symbols for nerds), just understand this: as it becomes more probable that the call option you sold will cost you money, you hedge more.
This is a continuous PROCESS, not a discreet moment in time. The market makers and hedge funds and institutions selling you calls don't wake up on Friday morning and think, "Shit! I think I'm going to lose everything if these stocks keep going up! I have to BUY NOW!!!" That would be stupid. They are hedging all the way up. I guarantee you that most of the calls that were exercised at $320 today were already covered. They already went out and bought those shares and most of the upwards pressure that places on the market is priced in already.

So, no gamma squeeze?

Probably not significantly. They're not going to be madly rushing out on Monday to buy shit they already own for the most part.

Why are people talking about a gamma squeeze at $320, then?

We did have a gamma squeeze at $320. On Wednesday, two days ago. The price exceeded $320 (then the highest strike price on the books) and promptly surged to $371 before coming back down to around $320. That's what a gamma squeeze is: a frenzied rush by call sellers to cover calls.
It typically happens BEFORE expiration, not after. It's rare for market makers to get so caught with their pants down that they have to get squeezed for the previous week's calls on a Monday. I don't know where this idea of a gamma squeeze now at $320 is coming from.

This hurts my feelings. So, what's so great about the $320 threshold, anyway? Did it matter at all?

It's still a good thing. There may have been a few lingering naked calls to cover. And, like I said, it's always good to make put-holders lose money because stick it to the 🌈🐻, that's why.
$320 was a significant level because there were quite a few open call options at that strike. You can see the entire option chain here: https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/gme/option-chain
Go through and count up all the January 29th options that were in-the-money at today's close. I think maybe 90,000 or something? Screw it, I didn't count. Somebody who can figure out how to use a calculator can add those up. Multiply that number by 100 (because option contracts are sold in groups of 100) and that's how many shares need to change hands thanks to contracts expiring ITM.
It may be that with so many shares needing to change hands and so little liquidity in this market, some weird things could happen.

What weird things?

Well, if nothing else, a lot of shares will need to be tied up as the process of settling calls plays out.
You have to remember that when somebody says they own shares, they don't necessarily own own the shares right at that moment.
When you press "buy" on your phone and it says your order was filled, that doesn't mean that the process happens instantaneously. For all intents and purposes as far as you are concerned, sure, the process looks instant. However, there's a lot of messy stuff that happens on the back-end of the system between the brokers and the clearing houses. The clearing houses are where the daily tab gets settled: who owes whom and what they owe and at what price, etc.
Monday could be interesting as this tab for millions of stocks (in a market with only 50-something million shares actively circulating) gets settled. It might not be crazy, but it could. We'll see.
Michael Burry (Christian Bale, for all you noobs) seems to think that all the naked short-selling above the float will result in a shit-storm when people actually go to get their shares back: https://twitter.com/michaeljburry/status/1355221824661983233
Liquidity crunch + lots of shares being moved around + nobody knows where they all are currently = potential nightmare for Wall Street.

I just want my infinite short squeeze and my tendies, so how do we get the MOASS?

Something needs to be the catalyst. Something needs to get the short sellers really underwater, so much so that they are drowning. That's why there's been so much hype about gamma squeezes; the gamma and short squeezes are two separate things, but the gamma squeezing has been really good to us lately. It has triggered some crazy upwards price movements. I still think one was about to happen yesterday morning that would have triggered the squeeze-pocalypse, the Mother of All Short Squeezes. The bastards at the brokerages (acting with and for the clearing houses), took your tendies. It's criminal what played out.
I actually think a gamma squeeze was possible today, as well, as the price shot up to $378 around noon. If it had gotten to $400, it stood a very good chance of running up to $500, which would have caused a run up to $650 and beyond. Then Robinhood said, "Oh, actually, you plebs cannot buy 5 shares anymore, only 2 now." The price came back down again.
Oddly enough, the S&P500 sold off over a full percentage point (that's a lot of money) right after GME hit that $378 peak. Do you think this doesn't freak the finance world out? They know a gamma squeeze is like the fuse on a firework. It consumes itself until it ignites the rocket.

How will Wall Street defend themselves?

They will try to keep snipping the fuse. That's what all these restrictions on brokerages are about. They are trying to defuse the situation slowly because having it all get sorted out quickly and frantically is no good for them.
We need enough upwards price momentum that those option chains keep going up and up and feeding on themselves. They need to become a self-sustaining chain reaction, fed by hedging pressure. And you need to put pressure on your elected representatives to tell them that Wall Street cannot be allowed to just shut down the game when they are losing. I hate to tell you this, but the squeeze has so far been stopped purely by the losers declaring that it will not happen at any cost. It's bullshit. Eat the rich. But there it is.

Do you feel you've used the word "squeeze" too much by now?

Yes. I've been writing and looking at the word "squeeze" so much that it is starting to lose its meaning. Squeeze. Squeeze. Squeeeeeeze.

EDIT:
TL;DR Shares most likely already bought so no gamma squeeze, doesn't matter anyway 🙌💎🚀 🙌💎🚀 🙌💎🚀
EDIT 2:
STOP THANKING ME FOR THIS POST, RETARDS! Literally the first sentence is me giving credit to the original poster, THANK HIM.

Stuff for new traders (No GME Discussion)

I gotta say, I see some good shit out there. I see new members trying to diversify their positions and learn about other stocks and other ways to make money. This is the path my fellow retards. I'm a nobody here, but I have good returns and some good insight. When I came to WSB, multiple people helped me figure out what the fuck I was doing, because I knew jack shit. I care more about my money than yours, but no retard should be left in the dark alone. So let me pass on a couple things. I can't prove shit to you, so read this or don't.
I mainly trade options (Calls and Puts), so that is what I will discuss
Generally the most insane gains will come from being in a specific stock and not an ETF or Index. While riskier, this is where you can hit the homeruns. So decide if you want to go for conservative gains or if you want those huge swings. While what I said is true, I am usually against putting everything into a single bet. Anything can go wrong at any time and no play is 100% guaranteed. The goal of this game is to stay alive. You will lose money on a play at some point, because it is inevitable. So never let yourself get wiped out, because you can always build yourself back up. This goes along with one of my other recommendations: always have SOME cash ready to go. You never know when there might be an incredible opportunity and you do not want to get caught with your ass hanging out.
Paper hands and diamond hands are just words. You ultimately decide when you want to sell or hold and how much profit you want to take. One of my favorite strategies is to say, buy an even number of options on a play, sell half at a modest level of gains (like enough to break even or gain a little bit) and then let the rest ride longer. Look guys, on many plays, you either paper hands at some point or diamond hands long enough to see your positions go red. Some people will bail at 40% gains and others might not take anything less than 500%. Just know that chasing endless profits ups the risk factor, so YOU decide when it's time. Having a target share price for the stock is also a good strategy.
Here's a couple psychological principles in investing. Studies have found that people tend to hold onto losing positions too long and sell winning positions too early. They let their losers lose and cut off their winners short. Apparently most people hate losing more than they like winning. Think about this before you sell. Stocks can often get hot and run multiple days in a row. Sometimes a stock will have one red day and then keep up going. This is why it's important to know WHY you got into a position. Trust your DD and stick to the plan. I had ideas for plays where they went red right away and I bailed... only to see them moon. "Diamond Hands" means that you don't dump your position instantly if it goes down. The hardest thing is knowing if you should cut losses or diamond hands. I'm a retard and we're in a bull market.. so often times the stock will eventually go up. Your call though.
The market makers and big boys want you to lose. They want your money. I'm not going to dive into the realm of possible illegal activities that they may use, but just point out some simpler tactics they will use. Big money often sees retail as "weak hands" aka Buy High and Sell Low. They know FOMO is strong when a stock is going up big and that fear takes over when a stock divebombs. We're in a bull market, which means stonks only go up. However, we still have negative days. Stocks sell off sometimes and things can look bad. Generally, the dip is not time to sell, but instead, time to buy. Case and point, we had a pretty big drilling 2 weeks ago. Do you know what the big money did? They bought the fuckin dip and snatched up everything for cheap. We've been mooning ever since.
Sometimes shit makes no sense. A company can have blowout earnings, exceed expectations, and the stock will tank. I was holding one stock a little while ago that reported a fantastic earnings and proceeded to drill to the core of the Earth that day. It was total bullshit and I knew it, I trusted my DD. So instead of panic selling, I added to my position. Sure enough, the stock began swinging upwards and hit an all-time high just 2 weeks later. This is why simply gambling can bite you in the ass. It's easy to get scared and sell when you doubt yourself because you picked a random thing to buy.
Option Expiration Dates matter. Buying a 1 week option is the cheapest and gives the biggest percentage of profits if it goes your way. However, it can often be a noob trap. One bad day or one piece of bad news can kill your entire position. Stocks trade sideways sometimes. Sometimes they don't do what you think they should do. And sometimes the whole fucking market shits itself for seemingly no reason. So give yourself TIME to work with. Time costs money and hurts profit margins. But it is better to consistently make 50% profit than to hit one play for 300% followed by 10 losers. Look, playing weekly stupidly OTM calls is fun as hell and is a huge rush when it hits. I do at least one or more every week. The key is not loading your entire portfolio into this shit. Remember, no tendies = no more fun.
Along the same lines, Strike Price matters. An OTM (Out of the Money) option means that the Strike Price is a bit of a ways from where the stock's price currently is. OTM options give huge profit margins the further you go out. I personally enjoy using them.. some people don't. But my advice is to balance risk with profit potential. If your call relies on a stock gaining 50% in 2 weeks.. then well, it's probably not gonna happen. ITM (In The Money) options means that your stock is already within the strike price. ITM is a more conservative play and sacrifices massive gains for lower risk.
https://www.optionsprofitcalculator.com/calculatolong-call.html - Use this to get an estimate of potential profits and how much of a move you need
Leaps are fuckin dope. A Leap is a call, but for a much longer period of time. I'm using the term loosely because we're degenerates and some people might consider anything more than 1 month a leap. Given that the market trends up over time, you might even make some money on a mediocre stock this way. A lot of people buy ITM leaps, but again, I'm a degenerate and go OTM a lot.
Implied Volatility (IV) - Extremely fucking important. IV is basically an estimation of how much a stock is predicted to move in either direction. High IV = Expensive Options. It's fucking weird to think, but you can make similar profits from a 2% move on a low IV stock as you can from a 5% move on a more volatile stock. Low IV is fantastic when buying an option on a stock that you think is about to moon. High IV is riskier, so you damn well better think the stock can make some big moves. Buying an option on a stock right before Earnings Report (ER) will be more expensive due to IV. Trying to play ER is usually for suckers, unless you have some really good DD about why a company might deliver a huge surprise. One of the textbook big boy moves is to pump a stock going into ER. The company will deliver great news and then dump hard. You may see people bitching about this very soon. Basically, big money knew ahead of time it would be good, so the stock got pumped and then they took profits.
Buy the rumor and sell the news. Events, press releases, and important dates that everyone knows about are another trap. You will get shit on. Ask someone about TESLA Battery Day. Positive rumors will send a stock soaring though.
Finally, get busy learning. Read about Options on Investopedia and any other things you do not understand. The big boys rely on us to not know what the fuck we're doing to take our money. Learn about the general market. Stocks are grouped into "Sectors" or categories. Start figuring out what they are and pay attention to where the money is going. I didn't even mention half of the shit that goes on in options, so that's on you. The first thing you need to do is to learn what the "Greeks" are. That will teach you how options function.
https://www.investopedia.com/trading/using-the-greeks-to-understand-options/
If anyone wants to talk or discuss, send me a message. I'm a degenerate with no life.
Oh and, if you follow someone's DD and lose money that's on you. I've come up with some genius shit, but I've also lost on some retarded calls. Nobody can pick you a guaranteed winner and hindsight is 20/20.
May the gains be with you

The Anatomy of a Coming Disaster.

A Comprehensive Compilation of All Due Diligence

A Comprehensive Compilation of All Due Diligence on $GME

Extensive list of "improvement notes" I used to climb from Silver to Plat with Yuumi

I recently climbed to Plat for the first time playing nothing but Yuumi, and wanted to share some notes I compiled along the way. Ever since high Silver, after each game, I would try to think hard about mistakes I made, going back to watch the replay if necessary. If anything stuck out, I would make an "improvement note" in a text file. These really added up after a while, and I have pasted the entire list below. Those closer to the top are more recent. There may be a few typos here and there -- feel free to ask if you don't understand something.

When early game goes rough, you often start tunneling on immediate fights, and forget about vision set up around OBJECTIVES; try to calm down and think further ahead
Using Ignite+Exhaust on a seemingly isolated target while enemies are missing keeps baiting your allies to overcommit, and then die to the response
Basic: deep river wards are good against speedy junglers, but make no sense if your jungler is just about to take the crab in that same section of river...

In lane, highest payoff of mental energy seems to come from: 1) avoiding all CC; 2) hitting Qs (these add up!); 3) procing passive on enemy ADC while they last-hit
Reminder: continuing to lose 2v2's post-6 against Lulu in lane, even with significant HP advantage and good engages; stop underestimating her poly+R combo
When an ally is getting CC'd and potentially picked in an early invade, give them the heal and shield, then gtfo onto another ally; safer, and equally effective
Reminder: bush wards do NOT cut it against Hecarim, Nunu, Rammus, etc.; to be safe, you NEED a mid-river ward, and if possible, a control ward in your own jungle

With Tryndamere: even if he's fed, he's not a great anchor; your heals have anti-synergy with his kit, and may throw him off his ult; let him split if possible
Reminder: as games get later, not body-blocking a single Jhin W can mean ADC dies, which can in turn insta-lose the whole game on the spot
Best practice for ulting: ping your ult + target beforehand -> calculate best angle and fire -> continuously look for improvements using W and E for full duration
Missing P procs in crowded minion waves; try to better incorporate the target champion only key and use right-click on them

For first ward when on red side, putting it a bit further into the river, or bit left of the bush, will both give more time to see enemy jungler coming to gank
Reminder: whenever LeBlanc is anchor in a fight, you need to be holding space; crazy woman is constantly blinking, reverting, and cloning; very easy to get lost
When you get off to a really good start, you sometimes get too hype and want to perma-fight in lane; this is very dangerous if enemy jungle/mid are missing; careful
Weird aspect of Yuumi: perhaps because you often end up mainly supporting just one person, multiple teammates often feel useless; accept this and play, don't tilt

Against Sylas: in order to not get caught off guard by his CC and escape options, you MUST pay closer attention to whose ultimate he has
According to leagueofgraphs.com, my weakest stat by far is my gold income, relative to other Yuumis; seek out more quest procs -> get Moonstone sooner -> win more
If you're under 10% HP, just don't get off OR switch allies in any remotely hostile environment; sometimes weird effects proc and you just die to a light breeze
If you only have enough mana left for one heal, never use it to top off ADC, no matter how long they are; wait for right moment to use it to maximize MS/AS as well

Reminder: STILL forgetting to use heal when running it; try just permanently thinking about it?
Rather than wait out enemy CC before procing P, it's often better to ANTICIPATE ally CC, and then proc P during brief window where enemy can't retaliate
In a tight chase down on enemy target, E first to get your anchor closer, THEN Q to apply the slow; seems straight-forward, but you often mess it up
Playing a passive, safe lane is very coin-flippy (and boring), but against bad matchups (e.g. Thresh) that is better than trying to force an advantage and dying

When a teammate is tunneling and throwing, but doesn't seem outright tilted/toxic, try pinging them harder; may help snap them out of it
As games drag on and everyone tilts, both teams often seem to get dumber, regardless of who's winning; just chilling and looking for picks is weirdly effective
Even with Elder AND Baron, if your team doesn't have any tank/engage, and some members are weak, you can't just run it down mid; will have to split-push a bit to end
Reminder: if an important objective fight is coming up in ~1:30 min, you NEED to place wards there, back, and refill your wards; this is a critical responsibility

Observed: body-blocking works not just on Kaisa's W (missile), but also on her Q (burst), as some of the projectiles will naturally target you
Observed: if you are on Illaoi getting collapsed on 3v2, and she chills in a bush, the approaching enemies are in as much danger as you; stay calm, Illaoi strong
Observed: whenever anchor is backing, maximize downtime to scout whatever you safely can nearby, and W back to them at the end of their channel
Observed: you need to use W to laterally reposition during your ult more often; it's often key to rooting more enemies while your original anchor does their thing

Observed: you can proc passive on most forms of enemy clones, including Illaoi spirits
Observed: if enemy support keeps roaming and you can't follow, you should be attempting to freeze on enemy ADC
Reminder: you are a good tool for freezing waves; you can start tanking aggro if alone, then repeatedly apply aery to your ADC for free freezing
Observed: you are not utilizing Q to scout bushes enough; it's pretty cheap and can save a death

Observed: body blocking all types of enemy projectiles at the very last second is incredibly effective
Observed: if your ADC is absolutely going to be fatally hooked, and you can anticipate it, get off and take one for the team
Reminder: on ADCs like Ezreal and Tristana, if they get caught out and still have their dash, do NOT get off to proc P and then get left behind
Observed: on blue side, bush above red buff is a nice spot for an early control ward if you have a moment; try to use it more often

Client keeps resetting preference; ALWAYS make sure you have champion names visible over health bars, to prevent skins confusing you during key moments
Decent anti-tilt strat: after you make an "inexcusable" mistake, consider the game a well-deserved loss; then just play your best for your team, regardless of outcome
Against ANY type of engage/ambush/all-in lane opponents, just start E; you or your ADC keep giving up first blood from sudden, whacky shenanigans
When an ally makes you die, there will be a burning sting through your neck, stomach, and legs; if can feel it and not tilt, that's a major advantage over opponents

When a game is going well and there is no perfect support item to build, strongly consider building: mejai's, boots of lucidity, and redemption/mikael's
Major: you keep baiting in your ADC's with sudden exhaust+ignite on enemy ADC; instead, just ping they are ready and target, and let YOUR ADC be the one to initiate
In a way, every game starts as a coinflip either for or against you, just the degree varies; your goal: lose no games in your favor, and win those slightly against you
Reminder: you tilting leads to losses more directly than teammates throwing; enjoying or at least tolerating the game while losing is a very underrated "skill"

Even in high elo, good decisions are worth much more than perfect mechanics
10 minutes worth of smart lane trading can evaporate in an instant due to one slightly careless misposition; the game always hangs in the balance
Rage warding a new pink ward while your old pink ward is being destroyed is very rarely worth it
Reminder: don't blow your E for AS/MS alone unless there is zero danger of counter-kill; better to hold it for heal value in most cases

If possible, you want your lane to be a slow, safe war of attrition, not a violent fiesta of death
Reminder: when one enemy is uber-fed, you MUST save exhaust for them at all cost; doing anything else = directly lose the game
Reminder: ultimately, you will climb if you consistently outperform the enemy support; that means better lane trades, better vision, better objective/teamfight support
Against Rell/Tristana: if they hit level 2 first and all-in, they are capable of killing your ADC under tower, unless you start heal (!)

If your ADC gets hooked and locked down, try to time and aim your ult to root the enemy ADC just as the CC chain ends; this gives your ADC the best chance at escaping
After Moonstone, a point-blank Q can actually provide a critical heal to another teammate; in this rare situation, point-blank Q is good
Teamfighting directly underneath an angry Baron is not a good environment for Yuumi; his AA's alone can quickly kill you
Bad habit: when low HP ally is running, you keep trying to proc passive on the pursuer, and getting caught in hard CC; sometimes, it's better to just pray

When your team is winning early, it's fine to play safer, but don't play lazy; at the very least, keep hitting your Q's
Against any melee support, whenever their dangerous spells are on CD, HARASS the living hell out of them; show no mercy (though watch out for enemy ADC of course)
Too often, you "go down with the first ship" in teamfights; unless they're the sole carry, just let your anchors die; because if you die too early, then EVERYONE dies
Reminder: respect enemy burst more at level 2, regardless of their comp; you keep giving up first blood, stop that

If you are solo guarding while enemy ignores you and whacks your tower, treat them as a gold sponge; +20 per quest proc is great
Observed: on blue side, you can often soak lane experience at full value while in river bush, in order to better support your jungler invading enemy bot side
Observed: on blue side especially, if enemy jungler can't dash over walls, no reason not to ward a bit DEEPER in river on first ward
If your W gets put on CD, don't take potshot Q's while off; they are very unlikely to empowered hit, and you can be much more effective in a few seconds

Don't neglect landing your empowered Q's during key teamfights; the slow and extra damage are significant; keep one eye on your anchos, but aim it properly
Against Swain: fyi, his W (eye) has an insane range (5500+); also, his E (claw) has 850 range, and gives least time to dodge root at very tip, making it quite deadly
When you and your anchor get collapsed on in neutral territory, sometimes breaking off and running in opposite directions makes the double-kill impossible for enemy
Against Alistar: his flash-Q with ADC follow-up will 100-to-0 you through all countermeasures at all levels, just like Sett

Reminder: STOP getting off for random greedy P procs; you are throwing fights
For squishy ADCs like Twitch into CC heavy enemies, consider starting Mikael's; test it out a bit
If things are going south for your anchor, start looking for Plan B anchor immediately; slight delay can make a big difference
Consider P proc in teamfights as risk/reward; better to lose one anchor and continue the fight than lose whole game from getting hard CC'd and dying

In ~3/4 of games, someone on your team will be making attrocious decisions; if they're not playing with the team, do not encourage them with heals
When chasing and weaving in AAs, be more mindful of W CD; sometimes it is better to do nothing and just wait for Q
Reminder: when facing a tank support in lane, hard focus their squishier ADC with Q poke; if they all-in, hard focus their ADC in counter-attack
Against Malphite: if he levels up sapling first, then you probably want to start E; starting Q and then having your ADC get chunked low can be pretty rough

When games devolve into total fiestas, just sitting on whoever is farming mid is an okay principle; you're pretty good in ARAMs, and less likely to die in a pick
When you feel someone on your team doesn't "deserve" the win, just go on someone else who does; feels better, and sometimes it works out
When a carry is on a full rampage, just stay on them; no use trying to keep the whole team together, as the carry may dive in without you while out of sync
Your mid-laners keep getting killed by roaming enemy support; since you usually can't really match well, you must ping better

Against Sett: careful, his flash-E will not just chunk you at level 2; with his ADC, it can straight-up 100-to-0 you even through your E, potion, and ADC heal
Reminder: champ icons are safer to W to than champ models; also, you can't just W around in later teamfights once you've been chunked once; will explode
Against Lulu: if all her CDs are up post 6, you can't 2v2, even with HP advantage; she will just polymorph your ADC while ulting hers, and you will quickly die
Against Galio support: if possible, you want to poke down the enemy ADC with AP, while your ADC pokes him down with AD

Not tilting seems to make you play about 25% better, which is usually enough to turn a game
Reminder against Jhin: later in lane, his 4th shot or 4th bounce will chunk you for like 50% or more; imperative to keep track of and avoid these
Consider: roaming before end of laning phase often disheartens ADC a bit, especially if they get 2v1'd; try to ensure the roam is worth the mental toll
When an ally is "medium raging," just sitting on them and healing them a bit more than usual can actually seem to calm them down...

Reminder: on average, roughly HALF the players are better than you; if an ally is carrying, try just trusting them unconditionally unless it repeatedly backfires
Reminder: hold onto Exhaust, and put it on a dps carry, NOT a tank or support
Somehow keep getting stuck on the wrong side of the dragon/baron pit; again: stick to the member with dashes to avoid this
Unless grinding for wins, looking up teammates before the game often seems to make you play worse, like when someone is first-timing their champ, etc.

Late-game, try to save ignite for large threats with high healing, or those about to leave vision; don't just slam it on anyone unless it's the FINAL fight
Weird: if you ditch the carry before they die, they may believe they would have lived with you there, and int more; sometimes it may be worth dying WITH them??
If a teammate does something that makes you lose the desire to win, remember we're all ignorant in different ways; play for the moment and limit test
As soon as a player toxic pings once, mute them until at least late game; repeated toxic pings are sapping your desire to win

Play purely for improvement (win/loss due to team is meaningless!), until you feel you are at goal elo threshold; then play hard for the wins to try and reach it
Don't type after the match either, unless it's something all-around positive; not good for mental health
Major: sometimes you know your ADC is bad, but enemy gets low; in such cases, going in usually backfires horribly; just play safe, and do NOT fight with them
Pay closer attention to ebb and flow of minion waves for Q and P procs; there are certain windows when it is much easier to strike

Against Poppy: getting off or on in her W field counts as a dash, and will severely mess you up; never do that
Be liberal in your use of caution/danger pings; don't assume people see or understand obvious risks; this is your best chance of "improving teammate IQ"
If your ADC gets chunked horribly low and looks to back, don't bait them to stay with heals; good junglers will just dive and kill you before you can recover
Against Ekko: his W stun is telegraphed enough that you should never get caught; don't cut it too close either

Even when there is nothing to be body-blocked, getting off and getting aggressive can sometimes distract enemy enough for your ADC to escape in close fights
Pattern: your ADCs keep trading 1 for 1 in early bot lane battles; if possible, YOU should be the one dying in these trades, not them
There is an art to abandoning a teammate; heal them if they can get a kill, heal yourself if they are totally doomed, save heal if a new anchor is closeby
Some carries do NOT want your help (i.e. exp share) until late game, and will actively int if you force it; may need to play "suboptimal" to increase win chance

Boots of lucidity work surprisingly well after second item; CDR makes a big difference
Rare: potentially lost an entire game by hovering cursor too near a teammate while trying to get off to proc passive; be more precise
If enemy team has a single carry tearing through everyone, ping them hard whenever you see them in standoffs and throughout fights
In wild skirmishes, if you have ample health, things are really coming down to the wire, and everything is on CD, just get off and start AA'ing/body-blocking

Against Jhin: by mid-game, 3 ult shots will kill you; be careful not to get too carried away blocking; also, just stand still to block if possible, safer
If a hard carry anchor is destroying a T1 or T2 turret, and you can back, you can do so before it falls to increase the local gold going to your carry
General: at least once a game, you seem to make some completely questionable ult/exhaust/W decision; try to slow things down a bit and not make nonsense plays
Against Morgana: W is too slow to dodge her bind if she fires it from medium distance; give it more respect

When you have low vision and feel a gank may be coming, don't just ping once and hope your ADC wards; ping a lot, back off, and stay safe
The first honey fruit spawns between 6:00 - 6:30 near dragon pit; consider going to get it at 6:20 if safe
The wall-jumping blast cone spawns between 5:00 - 5:30; factor this into gank considerations
River ward placed at 2:30 will expire just as second ward comes online at 4:00; together this can give uninterrupted river vision until 5:30

When an ADC is not stepping up for your Q's to land, try pinging your target just before you fire; may help them get the message
Minor: when steering by map and hopping off to path to different ally, you keep hopping off in wrong direction (towards map); stop doing that
Still not used to running heal; when ADC takes ignite, try crossing your toes or something to remember
Unless you're at max mana, just do not shoot low chance/impact Q's in lane; your mana conservation is usually more important than your quest item

Talk as little as possible during champ select; much better for your mental
Especially when with jungler, need to be aware which of you revealed the ward, so that the other one can clear it for more gold; basic fundamentals
If ADC is pushing up with no vision, neither should you sit on them nor facecheck bushes; just BACK off, they can die alone if they insist
Against Neeko: she can be a surprisingly tough support to deal with; her emp. AA stings, her root is deadly, and her disguise can bait important CDs; careful!

Reminder: Wukong's ult continues to put your W on CD at bad times; whenever he is in the game, pay special attention for it
Consider getting an elixir of sorcery a bit more often if you sense both teams are tilted; one big win at a mid-game objective often makes the other team ff
Wasteful double-wards with allies happening fairly often; try to anticipate ally ward, or else ping your own ward and the spot beforehand
When there is clear down-time with no objectives, priority is: ward / rotate for possible picks -> back for more wards -> soak exp.

Leading up to a river fight, if no one else is placing control wards, pixel bush often get more mileage than dragon/baron pit; sweep pit and ward later
When you are below average level, melee minions actually take 2 tower and 2 AA's to kill
In poke-heavy lane match-ups, make better use of aery shield as a blocking tool; especially good for Tristana and Zilean delayed explosions
Roaming to mid briefly after first back often has surprisingly good outcomes; even topping off their HP, hitting a Q, and leaving can give them an edge
Immediately going for free passive procs should be second nature; keep them in mind always until they are
Poke a bit more conservatively in lane, and try to focus the same target repeatedly -- whoever seems worse at positioning/dodging
When someone ganks you successfully once, there's a good chance they'll try again by the same angle; ward accordingly
In skirmishes and teamfights, work on holding Ult for an extra second; the improved angle once people burn their dashes can be devastating

Quick hop offs to land Exhaust/Ignite still need significant work; focus extra hard when you anticipate needing to land summs at longer range
Reminder: competent enemy supports will just clear your vision on objectives before fights; better to set it up well ahead, and then back for more wards
Sometimes, you really don't need to be fast and flashy; just give the heals and wards and hit your Q's, keep it simple; otherwise, risk a rushed misplay
When there's Leona+Wukong right on top of your anchor going nuts, you just can't get off; CC everywhere

When going for picks, there may be no "perfect" ult angle, as they can just dash diagonally out; then best to ult to cut off the max amount of retreat path
When it's too dangerous to get off, a point-blank Q can proc moonstone renewer and give an emergency heal to a nearby ally
Reminder: when getting invaded through tribush on blue side, run DOWN around the rock outcrop; cuts enemy vision of you, and you can ward back over
Reminder: when alone and getting invaded on either side, you must E in the proper direction within about 0.5 seconds, or you should die unless enemy messes up

Against Yasuo: don't forget or underestimate his tornados; they move fast, and getting hit by one at the wrong moment can lose the whole game
Minor: just put support item on proper key to begin with; it doesn't shift when it upgrades
When AA'ing a tower, rather than mindlessly kiting back and forth, better to position in safest place, and then inspect the map/scoreboard
In lane all-ins, once you've used all your CDs, it's often best to just stand directly in front of your ADC and AA; if you die and they live, it's ok

"Hookshot" Q's that you can bend all the way behind enemy minions have very high hit chance; keep them in mind as priority method
With Ekko: avoid procing shield when he's likely to ult; very easy to get left behind
Generally, the deeper up the river you can ward, the safe you'll be; ward near the actual crab early if convenient
When behind, just stay calm, set up vision ring, and predict where/when enemy team is most likely to greed; be ready to punish

When taking Baron and things get hairy, best to stay on champs with dashes that can gtfo/turn more easily; do NOT start wandering around on your own
Sometimes ulting your anchor's target gets them killed; e.g. it's often much better to proc passive on Karthus and shield ally, than to immediately ult him
In teamfights, focus more on your OWN positioning; which side you hop off on to proc passsive can make an enormous difference for avoiding CC
If your ADC ints once, chances are high they will int again; be extra ready to ditch them

With Trist: ask her to ping before she all-ins, or rocket jumps in general; helps prevent getting left behind
Against Jhin: easy to forget, if he roots you with W, you will probably just die
Dying early in lane is worse than just the initial effect; frequently ADCs will rage and int themselves later in the game...
When enemy places a yellow ward in lane bush, get into habit of (E+)AAx2 and pinging it for ADC; can insta-clear with good reflexes

Consider pinging objectives a bit harder if team is greeding/unfocused
Against Nami: if she's smart, she will send her bubble into your dash path, dangerous; her poke also stings quite a bit, don't underestimate
If there is an early skirmish, start E; it just gets way better value than Q outside of lane
When the game is a total fiesta, with no one really carrying, just sticking on the ADC seems best; they CS and survive better with you around

Get in the habit of checking the scoreboard EVERY time you back; quick scan over all champ levels/CS/items
Try not to panic when you or your anchors facechecks a bush and gets ambushed; mashing buttons (other than E) is never the best play there
With Lillia: she's a great anchor for roaming picks, but can be awkward to sit on in teamfights; squishy, and can be hard to reach teammates in need
Against Thresh: while his Flash-Flay is deadly, you should be able to bait his hook okay while in W range of ADC, as long as you're ready for it

Take more care with your ult angle; a few degrees can make a huge difference, especially in moving fights and around choke points
Basic: if you know there's a control ward in bush, don't place a yellow in unless you know you can clear it; otherwise just directly feeds gold/exp to enemy
Ideal lane skirmishing is complex: want to hit emp. Q and both summs on best targets, have ADC benefite from full passive+aery+E, all while weaving in AA's
When running heal, need to pay extra close attention during dense teamfights; be sure to use it at a good time

In lanes that feel awful, try to be more patient; just help your ADC farm and get through it
In crazy burst fiestas, you may get more mileage out of Mikael's than Redemption; instant heal and cleanse on carry is more consistent?
With Katarina: she can and will jump all over the place in strange ways; use ult more in the general direction of the enemy, can even zone with it
Important: really need to keep better track of whether current anchor has flash up; keep getting stranded when they use it unexpectedly

Against Soraka: watch out for the root at the end of her E, it is very dangerous; you can't really side-step her Q, must use W to dodge
Against Irelia: she likes to use her stun soon after she ults; it's not safe to get off until you're sure it's gone
Jumping off and repositioning while ulting can be good, but you can also just get CC'd and have the ult canceled entirely; be careful
Against Blitzcrank: in lane, his hook costs ~1/3 of his mana, on a ~20 sec CD; play around these numbers more consciously

Against Jhin: body-blocking his W on your ADC can be huge, always be ready to do so
When people are greeding, and backing out very slowly, try to avoid going back in to heal them; it often encourages them to int
Against Fiora: just don't hit her with summs until you see her blow parry; it's not worth having one blocked
Start thinking about toplaner TP flanks more, and set up a ward at mid bush at least if one is possible

With Kindred: you cannot heal allies who reach the 10% threshold inside her ult, which lasts 4 seconds; wait until after the ult's ending heal triggers
Against Kai'Sa: try to anticipate and body block her W missile in lane; she often uses it to try to poke/kill your ADC
Stop burning Exhaust when you are obviously already dead
Do not gamble your life by solo warding bushes that enemy champs could quite possibly be in

Reminder: stop spamming wards; you get 3 yellows up at once -- think consciously about the best places to put them; know where yours are
With Katarina and Leblanc: just hold space in fights; otherwise it is very easy to lose track of where you are
Reminder: it is very rarely ideal to use Exhaust on enemy support -- main exception is in lane when they are damage heavy
Against Thresh: watch out for his Flash-Flay combo; you can't really react, and it is very deadly; staying far away in a bush is your best bet

Against Maokai: even if you can't clear saplings with W, consider trying to block some of the damage onto your ADC with aery shield
Regardless of if you feel hype, you need to feel out enemy bot's playstyle before going too ham
I keep confusing small champs (e.g. Lulu vs. Fizz) in crucial moments; turn on champ names above HP bars; pay attention
Against Hecarim: need to ward further up the river; bush ward will be too late

Hopping off a CCed teammate to continue a moving ult can be huge; similarly, W'ing between allies while ulting can root more enemies
When you see CS going to waste in any free scenario, get into the habit of grabbing it with AAs or Q
Against Seraphine: keep track of her echo counter, and make sure not to get rooted by the 3rd ability
In weird chaotic games where different lanes are stomping on different teams, focus extra hard on the high priority target/s

Reminder: wait out the initial shitstorm in full 5v5's before ally hopping; you will just get caught by random CC and explode
One Q can make the difference on a gank, which can swing the game; if jungler is coming, pay extra close attention to mana, CDs, and ideal target
Against Soraka: to win the poke war, try very hard to avoid giving her free Q's
Against Ezreal: body blocking either his W or Q is quite helpful for your ADC

Try not to fire ult from super inflexible positions; if enemies respond quickly, it may just get wasted
In games that are getting away, try harder to save ult for enemy shutdown
Reminder: greedy ward clearing loses games
Against Nautilus: his ult is worse than it seems; the knockup will often catch you while it travels to someone else, be very careful

When a gank is imminent, try NOT to hop off, so as to preserve CD on W
Tacking ALL enemy CDs in lane is too hard for now; just focus harder on those that CC you
Keep forgetting I can't proc my passive during R; be more careful about that
If an anchor does something that seems questionable/greedy, give one caution ping at least before just going with it

W off for a little extra distance, ward, then W back on
Don't lose focus or play scared just because you get chunked once in lane; stay proactive and stick to the plan
With Hecarim: his E and R often put him behind the enemy target: careful not to fire your ult in the wrong direction
Against Rakan: watch out for his snappy engage from long distance, easy to get caught off guard

If an enemy tank appears caught out, but enemy carries are missing, do not hard commit to killing the tank; doing so may throw the ensuing teamfight
Keep better track of which enemies are a real threat vs non-threat; don't blow ult and summs on non-threats (very impactful)
Keep track of GA's on own team, and play around them more intelligently

When W is not on CD (especially post level 11) and teammate is running for their life, consider helping shield them with aery procs; it can make the difference
If someone is getting turbo-focused by entire enemy team, dashing to them is probably unsafe...
Don't back when fight may be about to break out, even if you need items/mana
Q's continuing to miss in lane; teamfight awareness needs further improvement

Put indicator-aimed Q on an easier key, for long-range solo snipes; helps clean up random CS, tag dragon while approaching, etc.
Reminder: usually passive is easiesafer to proc on ADC, since they are more focused on last-hitting
Enlarge map, and spend 5 games where overarching goal is to keep track of enemy jungler+mid through laning phase, warding and rotating accordingly

Be aggressive as hell around levels 1/2 if you think you can get away with it; may confuse enemies and inspire own ADC
If you need to jump around to proc Moonstone in grouped chaos, use W on hero icons; VERY useful under certain circumstances
Treat pre-level 11 W as a majorly important CD; getting stuck off an anchor during an early skirmish can be game-losing
If team is overextending and not heeding caution pings, just start backing on your own, and see if they get the message

Weird: consider hopping off and moving around a bit when there's clear downtime in lane, to avoid tilting unstable ADCs for being "afk"
Try to keep track of whether anchor has hourglass/zhonyas; don't get off if you think they are about to use it
Pay closer attention to when enemy ADC is about to last hit; that's usually a safer time to proc passive
If safe, consider helping hit minions after procing passive at level 1; level 2 comes after 6th melee minion

Still having some issues with proper ability buffering and ally hopping during intense skirmishes; make sure you at least always know WHO you are on
Don't get impatient under turret; look for rotation plays when possible, but try to move more intelligently
Reminder: once again, hit by hard CC in lane = death = deserved loss

Be more intentional with warding spots; don't just slam wards for the hell of it; first think about where enemy is most likely to go
If things are falling apart / desperate, don't even bother trying to heal squishy non-carries in chaotic fights; just make sure the carry survives
Try harder to stay oriented and aware of surroundings during skirmishes; choose and commit to Q and R targets properly
Reminder: NEED to not get hit by hard CC in early laning phase; it is very, very bad

Refocus on not missing Q's in lane; while steering it, shaking cursor back and forth slightly seems to help counter enemy jukes
Against Maokai, be very careful of his W (dash) -> Q (shockwave) combo; it comes out fast, and if you get hit by either part, your W goes on CD
Against Varus, avoid healing ADC while they are inside the GW zone from his E (arrow volley), unless absolutely necessary
In mid-game, look harder for reset opportunities when you are out of wards and have some time until next objective

Never get knocked up by dragon, herald, or baron
In loading screen, try making a mental checklist of every enemy ability that will put your W on CD
Be more conservative with pink wards; try not to waste them in indefensible places while laning
Don't try to fire off Q when surrounded by enemy minions; it will just get blocked

Don't underestimate the strength of top laners who have just been farming all game as potential anchors
Refocus on optimizing ward placements, at the very edge of bushes using green dot indicator
Look for chances to hop between allies while ulting / Q'ing; remain aware of best time to E while channeling Q/R
Try to keep moonstone renewer and ardent censer procs in back of mind once owned

Get better at quickly warding across the thick wall into the red side botlane river bush
Try to be consciously aware of key abilities you should be ready to body block, like Ashe W, Cait R, Nidalee spear, etc.
Try not to bait teammates into sketchy situations with low impact Q poke in mid-late game
Be more cautious about upgrading Dark Seal into Mejai's if things are still volatile

Keep better track of cursor and anchor during chaotic teamfights; hold space more if attached to someone "blinky" like Katarina
Basic: be sure you have actually started attaching before buffering E
Be more careful with W cooldowns before level 6; do not attach/detach for no reason; be intentional; default state is attached
Identify the key Exhaust+Ignite target/s ahead of time

Be careful not to run out of mana at critical times by throwing out low impact Q's
Try not to jump off of champions with dashes that might be about to dash
Don't just throw out R to engage with no warning; ping intentions a couple seconds ahead of time
Use the "quick cast with indicator" green highlighted ward option to ward in edges of bushes; try to ward more quickly and usefully

Hope at least some of these are useful to fellow Yuumi fans!

r/hockey NHL Power Rankings Week 1: First Protocol Edition

/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Jan 18, 2021 - Jan 24, 2021

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

deportalextrebek driftshade1 robtangle acescope sandman730 maxpowr9 goldwhale jchurch8073 tacotruckz eqoisbae suqqa_madiq nodessb silkeystev offraindrop13 rasera hrint philbob99 steckums thoseprose blueferret98 hockeycross admiralfartmore

Organizers

lang14 keepitsteadyidiots

Visualization

The visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /hockey opinion.
It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it here

Process

How does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.
The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /hockey!

Rankings

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Comments
1 (1.74)	Vegas Golden Knights	-	5-1-0	4-0 is an impressive start for the NHL's newest franchise. They excel in every area of the game, and to no one's surprise they are coming out as one of the best teams this season. They have proven to be good at getting close to cups, maybe a good start and a shortened season will be what it takes.
2 (3.26)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-	3-1-0	Still too early to really comment on anything, especially having only faced 2 other teams. Still have a few question marks in Schenn, Joseph, Volkov, and Stephens. But the rest of the team looks the same.
3 (3.48)	Montreal Canadiens	-	4-0-2	Montreal is atop the north division and that should come as no surprise to their fans. They have scoring, defense, and of course Price between the bars. The Canadian division winner will surely gloat for a while after this season, and Montreal is aiming for those bragging rights.
4 (5.17)	Toronto Maple Leafs	-	5-2-0	The Leafs have had a pretty solid start to their season. After two sloppy games against the Habs and Senators, they have buckled up defensively and have let up only 10 goals in their past 5 games. That being said, they've scored 14 in that time, with the majority being PP goals. So... the leafs need... 5v5 offense?? Not something we've heard in Toronto for a while. This is part of the reason that the Leafs are reportedly shopping for a forward, combined with long term injuries to rookie Nick Roberston and not-a-rookie Joe Thornton, it actually seems like a depth forward is a need.
5 (7.61)	Winnipeg Jets	-	4-2-0	Everybody who is worried or tooting their own horns, say it with me: "Sample size". A fantastic start to the season for the Jets that is ripe with deceiving takes. Ottawa's relative strength being a big question mark makes the 3 game win streak a big question mark. The two games prior were rust-filled .500 hockey spread over 6 days. Excluding the Connors, every player has looked shaky at times, and killer at others. Each game with a 20 minute effort, maybe 40 minutes tops. And of course, the Laine trade. But for all the downs, the ups are looking good thus far. The fan-dubbed 22 year old AHL lifer in Logan Stanley has made impressive strides in the summer, and has exceeded expectations thus far (of which there were none). Heinola looks fantastic, for all the 12 minutes we got to see. Forbort has been a steady rental, and the bottom 6 forwards (all 12 of them) seem like they all have something to prove. I'm sad about the Laine trade and I'm curious about Dubois. Good start Jets, keep going.
6 (8.09)	Colorado Avalanche	-	3-3-0	Welcome to the Covid Season! Avs have been off to a mixed start, lack of practice doesn't seem like a fair critique since every team was in the same situation, but Avs look rusty. Power Play is clicking, but hard to know if bad Pking is bumping it (Blues PK is barely over 50%). We have the youngest D in the league and none of the really young guys seem out of place. Girard-Toews have insane chemistry. We really need EJ to get up to speed so we stop playing Pateryn. Top Line is Fire and killing it. Middle 6 needs to wake up and start the season. Don't look now but Rantanen is tied for the league lead in goals, Big Moose is rumbling.
7 (8.22)	Minnesota Wild	-	4-2-0	Minnesota's not playing as well as their record would indicate, but clutch goals and solid defense goes far in this league. Kirill Kaprizov is better than advertised, which is hard to believe since fans have waited years for him to arrive. The blue line is one of the best in the league with the addition of Ian Cole, and the duo of Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen have been a much steadier presence in net than the Dubnyk/Stalock pairing of old. Talbot went down with an injury Friday night so this could be a very valuable insight into whether or not Big Kahk is the goalie of the future. There is still a glaring lack of skill up the middle - Victor Rask should not be a first-line center in this league - and the power play is abysmal, but in this shortened season it's all about maximizing your points in the standings.
8 (8.74)	Washington Capitals	-	3-0-3	It's been a great start overall for the Caps. They've picked up points in each of their first five games, and have been getting goals throughout their lineup. Their goaltending is weak to start, but I assume that they will find their rhythm as the season goes on.
9 (9.26)	Boston Bruins	-	3-1-1	WIth no preseason games, I am not surprised with the roster turnover that the Bruins would have a slow start. This is going to be a "prove it" year for a lot of the youth if they are an NHL-level player. Scoring in general was a major problem and it took 3 games to score a 5-on-5 goal, not to mention hardly any depth scoring. The second Philly game calmed my fears as the team is starting to click on all levels and hope it continues. I am also happy Nick Ritchie hasn't done anything stupid...yet.
10 (10.43)	New York Islanders	-	3-2-0	The isles are ready to make a statement. They had their chance at the cup last year cut off short by the champions, but they clearly still want to compete. Defensively, no team quite compares. They are definitely a team to watch in the East.
11 (10.83)	St. Louis Blues	-	3-2-1	Stick taps for Ville Husso. Dude's gotten no help in his first two appearances. Our Special Teams suck, and new arrivals Krug and Hoffman are taking a little time to get adjusted. That said, we're still 3-3 with Thomas, Faulk, and Kyrou all taking HUGE steps from last year, while Binnington has regained his form somewhat from the bubble last year. When the rest of the team gets rolling like we know they can, the Blues are a shoe-in playoff team for their 5v5 play alone. This team has earned some patience but let's hope they figure it out sooner rather than later, and stop taking so many damn penalties.
12 (12.48)	Calgary Flames	-	2-1-1	Calgary got better this offseason, and with another great start so far, they may be the team that climbs this ranking. They've outscore their opponents well this season and I wouldn't be surprised if this continued and lead to some real success for the Flames.
13 (13)	Dallas Stars	-	2-0-0	Potentially higher but only 2 games so far.
14 (13.04)	Carolina Hurricanes	-	2-1-0	Off to a solid start the Hurricanes exploded off the bat with a 3-0 shutout of the wings, seeing Teravainen, Hamilton, Aho, and Svechnikov show off how talented they were. Although they faltered, losing to the Wings in the second game, they came back strong against Nashville with their lines and defense again clicking. The team definitely has all the talent they need to compete this year - goaltending has looked good, offense has been excellent, and defense has continued to be one of the league's best. Going forward, the most impactful factor is going to be consistency across the neutral and defensive zone. While the offense looks solid, there are questions on bad giveaways, and poor possession down low - as this team continues to play, they should click and look up from here. They're off to a promising start, but the loss against Detroit sets them back in this week's rankings.
15 (13.17)	Philadelphia Flyers	-	3-2-1	Let me tell you the Flyers have the potential to be one of the biggest disappointments in the league this year, even the games we won we looked awful. I am convinced that the whole team is taking shots before each game because half of em look like they cannot skate straight. Thank god for Carter Hart and Moose.
16 (13.52)	Pittsburgh Penguins	-	4-2-0	Doesn't seem like this team has put together a full 60 minutes yet. I enjoy sneaking by with two points after OT, but we're going to need to start winning in regulation. Going to be an absolute battle to get into the playoffs.
17 (15.65)	Florida Panthers	-	2-0-0	Only this high because they haven't lost yet. I can't believe they will contend in this division but they've had a great start, even though it was a late one due to the great Texas Covid outbreak. Panthers are over preforming, and if they keep it up they may be able to become the 3rd or 4th team in this division.
18 (16.78)	New Jersey Devils	-	3-1-1	Hockey is back, 10 full months without Devils hockey, but we are finally back. After last year, you would probably be hard pressed to find a fan that came into the season with any sort of lofty aspirations for the team as a whole but 5 games into the season things look positive. Starting off with a SO loss to Boston followed by an OT win. A bit of a messy win against the Rangers. A 4-1 loss against the Isles wasnt great but it was Wedgewood's first game in net this season after Blackwood hit COVID protocol. At the very least it seems like the games will be entertaining to watch this year. Did I mention all of this happened with Nico still on IR? On an individual scale, the youth has shined. Ty Smith already has 6 points through 5 games this year and Hughes has hit 7, a third of his 2019-20 total. Yegor Sharangovich has seemed to be acclimating to NA ice fairly well too. For a team expected to be sitting at the bottom of the East most of the year, well at least we arent there right now.
19 (19.52)	Columbus Blue Jackets	-	2-2-2	Excited for the future after the Laine trade, but the first six games of the season looked alright. Power play is the usual garbage we're all used to by now. The Jackets have the worst PP in the whole NHL since 2017-2018. Our PK and defense are looking solid as usual. Saturday's game vs TBL just looked rough to play. The Bolts couldn't get anything done in the neutral zone for a majority of the game. The new blood has looked fantastic. Texier saw that Dubois didn't want the #1C and decided to elevate his game. Del Zotto is putting in work. Domi has been as good as advertised. Both goalies have been solid. There is still a lot of work to do and if the Laine trade didn't happen I'd mention the lack of major offense and anemic PP as huge problems we need to solve ASAP, but maybe I can finally stop writing about how terrible our PP is?
20 (21.17)	Nashville Predators	-	2-3-0	Nashville didn't get to play all their games this week due to Carolina's COVID outbreak, but all in all the Preds are starting off strong. Inconsistent Goalie play with Saros starting to get some time could cost them a few games. Inconsistent scoring could hurt too, but so far they've shown great things.
21 (21.43)	Arizona Coyotes	-	2-3-1	Arizona just can't get better. Their limbo of mediocrity may lose them their franchise and frankly they need a lot of help if they want to compete in their tough division. I don't see it happening though.
22 (23.04)	Edmonton Oilers	-	3-4-0	Turns out last year's MVP and McDavid isn't enough to carry a team through a whole season. The lack of depth and NHL caliber goalies has proven to be a detriment to this team, but the raw talent and excellence of it's stars is enough to win a few games, including one over the leafs this week.
23 (23.83)	San Jose Sharks	-	3-3-0	So far, the Sharks are looking much better than they did last season. They're playing ok, but if they continue their upward trend they'll be a wild card contender for sure. Our top forward lines have been solid to start the season, but we'll need to see more contribution from the bottom 6 to if we're gonna be in the playoff race. D has been pretty weak. Simek and Ferraro have been good, but Karlsson has still looked lethargic at times, and Vlasic doesn't seem to be bouncing back from last year as much as I'd hoped. Martin Jones is looking like a real goalie again! It's early, but he's looked more confident, and the high scoring games have been more of a defence issue. Hopefully a little time will help the Sharks shift into next gear, as it'll give the new guys time to get used to Boughner's system and the old guys a warm up after not playing games since March.
24 (23.87)	Buffalo Sabres	-	2-3-1	This year is going to be incredibly tough to get a read on how well teams are actually doing since there will only be in-division games. For the purposes of this ranking, I'll be using data from NHL.com to rank teams based on league averages in Corsi, goal scoring, and standings points. The first few weeks will be skewed and might look weird ffrom small sample size, so don't hate me. Anyway, Buffalo thus far has played six games, four against Washington and two against Philly, who I had thought were some of the best teams in the league last year. We were swept in the season series last year against Philly and split the series against the Caps, so the results so far roughly reflect recent history. Thanks to the shortened season, if we go on our yearly ten game tear, there won't be enough season left to throw it all away.
25 (25.13)	Los Angeles Kings	-	2-2-2	The Kings have played well, they have not been able to string a full 60 minutes together yet, their goalies have been keeping them from getting blown out, they need to be able to enter zones better and quicker, they have faced the hardest teams in their divisions and been able to stay in the game. The injury to Frk has held their Power Plays back, and the person in Frks place is a terrible replacement, they need to be able to revamp both of their powerplay's and score on them to win some games. Their 2 major off season additions have both played, very well AA has been perfect with Carter and carter has been fast and strong he is looking like his pre-2017 form. Andersson is playing great with Vilardi they are a great duo with some speed and good shots. Kale Clague and Mikey Anderson are very good with their d partners and excellent on the PK (Anderson) and has excellent PP skills when set up.
26 (25.52)	New York Rangers	-	1-3-1	The Rangers have had a...frustrating start to say the least. Game 1 against the Islanders was a sloppy opening display resulting in a 4-0 shutout by the Isles, but luckily the group only used it as fuel and came back next game to one up them 5-0. The following game against the Devils was an impressive showing by Blackwood to edge us out 4-3. The most recent game against the Pens was a definitely a learning experience for our young guys. We went up 3-1 only to blow the lead and go into OT 3-3. We eventually lost 4-3, and hopefully our boys will come out swinging next game. Pleasant surprises this season so far have definitely been our third line of PDG-Chytil-Kakko, Panarin heating up again, and Adam Fox's emergence as our possible #1 for hopefully the next decade. Some disappointments are definitely Jack Johnson, Ryan Strome, and David Quinn's decisions. Hopefully it starts to get solved now that we've gotten a few games under our belt. LGR.
27 (26.7)	Anaheim Ducks	-	2-2-2	The Anaheim Gibsons will live and die with the play of John Gibson, our lord and savior. This team will finish between 4-7th in the west depending on the goaltending tandem. Lead by top scoring wingers Nic Deslauriers and Max Comtois, this team has a very low expected goal total. If I were a betting man, I would bet the under in every game. The Ducks were in until the end on Pierre-Luc Dubios. The rumored package from the Ducks included Rakell and Steel. Personally, I am glad the Ducks did not pull the trigger on the trade or increase their offer to get Dubois. Not saying that he is not worth it, but for a rebuilding team like the Ducks, it would drag the team into a bubble playoff spot but they wouldn't have enough depth to really make noise in the playoffs. It would've prevented a rebuild from taking place and most likely wasted the prime of Gibson.
28 (27.26)	Vancouver Canucks	-	2-5-0	It has been an excellent start to the season for Canucks players who are no longer Canucks players. Indeed, things appear dismal out the gate for a club that had plenty of jump in the playoffs. It's still early in the season, but as they say, the early bird gets the worm, and the late whale gets the... opposite of the worm. Luckily, even with a sour start, Canucks fans get to enjoy proof that Hoglander's talent can translate to the NHL alongside proof that Juolevi does really exist. Otherwise, Bo Horvat is good and John Garrett is white.
29 (27.3)	Chicago Blackhawks	-	2-3-1	The Hawks are 8-for-19 on the PP with goals in all 6 games. Roster turnover has been intense with 4 players making their NHL debuts, and another 4 making their Blackhawks debuts. Pius Suter (3G, 1A - including a hat trick), Philipp Kurashev (2G), and Kevin Lankinen (2-0-1, .909 SV%) appear to be early wins for the European scouts. Connor Murphy leads the team in ATOI (22:27), has 2G, 3A and a 4-game point streak, and earned his 100th career point. The Hawks are currently in a playoff spot (but that may be a function of cancelled games in the Central).
30 (27.7)	Detroit Red Wings	-	2-4-0	The Red Wings this year came out with some decent performances to start the season. You could tell that the journeyman veterans that were brought in(Merrill, Staal, Stretcher,etc...)seem to fill enough of that gap so we could see three periods of competitive hockey during a red wings match. There are low expectations for this season however that shouldn't stop us from being able to stomach watching our team…Right??? In comes covid protocol wiping out six starters. We are back watching the, Wings with the depth of a kiddie pool flounder against teams not name Montreal, from last year. Bobby Ryan has been a fanatic story, Bertuzzi continues to dazzle with his tenacity, both Griess and Bernier are playing well enough, and Mantha is giving me Abdelkader flashbacks now that he has a nice big contract
31 (28.26)	Ottawa Senators	-	1-3-1	It's been a pretty interesting week and a half for the Senators. They won their first game by capitalizing on an (unsurprising) Toronto mental collapse, then lost their next game against Toronto but got the Jimmy Stü hype train off the tracks while playing them pretty closely. They then lost a game to Winnipeg that they should have won due to coaching decisions by DJ Smith that blew up in his face, before they just got outplayed in their second game against Winnipeg. The interesting thing (for me at least) is that winning the first game against Toronto and then keeping the second and third games pretty close (especially with Jimmy's amazing goal and the Chuk Norris line holding their own pretty well against competition), as well as the cool new jerseys being finally seen in action, seems to have raised expectations already for a lot of fans who were expecting another lottery pick going in. Playing against Vancouver next week should help fans figure out what this team is going to be this year.

Hunter or Huntress Chapter 87: Knight In Shining Armor

So then 87 coming out on schedule. I know I'm spoiling you today ;) Time to crank up the wholesomeness possibly beat the shit out of some random guy in the street and generally figuring out what the fuck to do next.
As per usual UnwaveringGrey and TwoFlower68 have done their level best to sanitize the chapter. If I managed to slip one past them do please report it to your nearest execution squad so it may be dealt with properly.
In other news, proper art is officially commissioned and likely due sometime later this month. I'm so excited! But without further ado let's get on with the story.
ko-fi For having a pretty picture commissioned.
Sapphire
Wiki Discord
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Chapter 87: Knight In Shining Armor
“Wait, she is your only healer?” Tom questioned.
“Yes, they are a rare breed, young man,” The lady replied very apologetically, almost bowing before him.
“No, don't do that,” Tom protested. “You people both suffered and survived, not to mention your son technically saved me and Jackalope. Hopefully, Unkai can lend a hand when he gets here then, ‘cause she is spent,” Tom glanced at the healer who was still sleeping up against the wall where she had been when he woke up.
The Lady looked like she was going to protest until he reached the last sentence. “You brought a healer with you? Out here?” The lady questioned, clearly not believing him entirely.
“We did, yes, in case we found wounded. And that we certainly did. I was just hoping we could have Jacky’s ears looked at, but I guess that will have to wait.”
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have anything else that can help I’m afraid.”
“I hate not knowing what’s going on,” Jackalope exclaimed, crossing her arms looking at the two of them with a distinctly unimpressed expression.
“I guess I’ll be miming to you for a bit longer. Actually no, I brought the note block. I will be just a second,” Tom replied walking jogging over to his backpack, the confused Jackalope following along.
“You got something that can fix ears in there?” she questioned hopefully. She was getting a bit better at keeping the volume down, though she was still rather loud. Then again, that was pretty standard all things considered.
Tom got out the block to begin noting things down for her. ‘We can't fix your ears, not yet at least. Other people need to be looked at first. Maybe when we get home.’
She did seem a little annoyed after reading that, sighing a bit and looking back up at him.
“So what now, we help clean this place up? Take up watch? Or just sit back and relax?”
“You two sit back for now. I won’t have you risking your lives for our skins and then cleaning up the mess as well,” the old granny replied, trying to speak up enough to be heard across the room. Tom certainly didn’t have a problem with that. He did not really feel like hard work right now.
Jacky was clearly sore and her breathing still wasn’t quite right, so he guessed she could use the rest as well. “Do you have a place we can stay, or… ?”
“Infirmary is full I’m afraid. We do have some rooms,” the old lady replied.
“Actually I think we have a big friend in need of a bit of company when he wakes up,” Tom replied, looking towards Jarix. “We will keep our stuff with us if shit hits the fan.”
“If it does what?”
“Right, uhm… goes south. If bad things start happening,” the lady looked at him more than a little confused, but she relented eventually.
“Yes, we don’t have many people left who could fight. I will bring you something to eat, for the blood loss. I don’t know if it will help for your kind but it couldn’t hurt.”
They made their way to Jarix, who was sleeping like a rock. Tom began taking off the very uncomfortable holsters and belts. He looked like a fucking joke right now. Goddamn Florida Man running around with guns and ammo in his damn underpants. He put down the equipment in nice little piles, rechecking that everything was loaded if he needed it.
He could hear Jackalope getting out of her armor behind him. That stuff wasn't the most comfortable to sleep in after all.
“You okay?” Jacky asked in a rather worried tone after a bit. “After yesterday you’re… you’re not quite the same.” Tom turned around to look at her. She was looking at him with an expression of genuine worry.
‘That obvious, huh?’ Tom thought to himself, shoulders sagging even more. He couldn’t even blame her for catching it. His head just wasn’t in it right now, whether that was because of the fighting, the screaming, the blood loss, bodies flying everywhere last night, the fact they weren’t quite out of the woods yet, or that the ones back home would soon be getting worried. They were supposed to be back tonight after all. He didn't even know what time it was apart from rather early. He was also still tired as fuck despite just getting up. There was just too much to worry about right now.
“Look at me, would you?” Jackalope demanded, a hint of hurt in her voice. Tom snapped up to look her in the eyes, feeling more than a little ashamed of that. “Just like Sapphire said, you worry about everything. You can’t not worry… Well right now, just try not to, okay? It’s gonna be fine.”
Tom did crack a little smile before looking back down at the floor. That was very far from guaranteed, there were still many things which could go wrong. What if this wasn’t the only raiding party? What if Bizmati Keep was a ruin? What if something had found the kids in the forest? What if Jackalope's ears couldn't be fixed? what if…
Jackalope grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around to face away from her. Then she folded her arms and wings around him, lifted him off his feet, and backed up against Jarix's side. She sat down in the nook of the dragon’s armpit and snuggled up against the dragon while clutching Tom tightly.
“I’m never gonna have a cold night again,” she let out, sounding very content. “And you are in the safest place in the world. Here you're not allowed to worry about everything. You are in a locked-down keep, sleeping with a dragon and if that doesn't do it, Then I will, so relax… please dude.”
“That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” Tom replied, not that she could hear it of course. “Well, except for saving my life a few times… you people do that a lot don’t you?.. What did I do to deserve you?” He tried to snuggle up a bit closer to her, even if that was hard to achieve in her current grip. Jarix’s slow steady breathing almost rocking them to sleep.
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“Now I just want to ask you some questions, nothing more, so don’t panic,” Maiko went as they turned the guy around. The guy looked scared shitless to Sapphire. He was a rather short spindly fellow as well, so looked really unintimidating right about now.
“And just in case you think running is smart. I’m possibly the fastest flyer you have met and I won’t be gentle with my prey,” Sapphire added, trying to look menacing and baring her teeth, while Maiko was clearly going for the more friendly approach. The guy just swallowed once, looking at the two of them.
“I was just told to find out what you’re doing, I swear nothing more.”
“So what did you learn?” Maiko asked, still sounding very friendly.
“You go to the inventor's place regularly, you are making something weird, you have been to the Hashaw’s place, and you are staying at the Sweet Dragon.”
“And who are you supposed to give all this lovely information?” Maiko continued.
“I was just paid by some woman, I didn’t know her, I swear. She just asked if I wanted to make a bit of easy money.”
Sapphire opened her mouth a bit, letting out a deep growl. The guy was fidgeting nervously at that as Dakota, Balethon, and Junior trooped up behind him.
“I’m guessing rather fine clothes and perhaps some rather nice jewelry?” Dakota asked, causing the guy to go stiff.
“I mean yeah… she did look rather rich.”
“How were you supposed to let her know?”
“I should meet her at the big plaza in front of the trading guild tomorrow after breakfast.”
“Right, well first off that’s not going to happen,” Dakota went from behind him. “Secondly, if we catch you following us again I’ll let Sapphire here demonstrate why she isn't even allowed to compete in archery competitions. Am I clear?” Her voice was cold and calculating, the guy nodding rapidly. “Out of curiosity, what did she pay you.”
“15 silver.” ‘Well, for tailing someone that was a rather good pay.’ The guy didn't exactly look well off either, so Sapphire could see him taking that offer without a second thought.
“Actually, I think I might have a better idea,” Sapphire Interruptet. “What would we like them to know?” Dakota looked to Sapphire, her face turning into an evil grin.
“What do you say, Maiko?”
“I mean, if this guy doesn’t want to go to jail for disturbing the peace and spying on military matters he might be useful.” Sapphire was pretty sure you could not go to jail for that. Nor was this military matter, in any capacity. “So what do you say, willing to lend the Royal Guard and a few people in high standing with the king a hand, or do I need to get some manacles?” Maiko questioned, looking down at the guy.
“Treworian at your service, sir,” The man responded, eyes wide as the situation he found himself in seemingly hit him like a battering ram.
“Come with us then. We have some things to discuss,” Dakota went, nodding to the others.
They took the guy back to the workshop where Tink was currently busy repairing the damage to the magnet.
“Back so soon?”
“Yeah, we found a nosey little bastard.”
“And you brought him here?” Tink questioned, clearly not happy with that.
“Yes, we did. Now Treworian, may I call you Trewor?” Dakota questioned, turning to the man.
“Yes ma’am, of course,” he responded, eagerly. ‘God damn he’s scared,’ Sapphire mused to herself. They weren’t gonna hurt the dude unless they had to, but it was probably best he didn’t know that.
“As you can see, we are making very dangerous new weapons here, under the authority of the king no less.” Tink looked ready to protest when Junior kicked him in the shin, shutting him up. “Have you heard of the attacks on the outlying keeps?”
Trewor nodded, looking around the room worriedly at all the strange bits and bobs.
“We are looking to put an end to that once and for all. Now the reason I’m showing you all this is because if you tell anyone that is treason, and you know what that means.” ‘Oh you evil genius,’ Sapphire thought to herself, doing a gesture of Trewor falling a very long way down, convincing sounds included. The guy went even paler than before.
“So what I want you to do, is tell the sweet lady who hired you that we are making some kind of invention as a present for the King himself and that it looks very expensive and very complicated. So you can’t possibly figure out what it is. But you did manage to sneak in while we were out and read a very official-looking document, stating who had hired us, and that the present is expected to be done in time for… Anyone know when there is some sort of big event coming up with the royal family?” Dakota questioned looking around.
“One of the princes is graduating from the academy this summer I think,” Maiko responded.
“That will do. A present for the prince in time for his graduation. Can you do that?”
“Sure can, don’t you worry. I ain’t no traitor”
“Very good. Now, remember, if you tell her the truth it’s a long way down okay?”
“A very long way indeed,” Sapphire added, with as much venom in her voice as she could manage. Trewor just nodded furiously.
“Good lad, now run along now, you have work to do,” Dakota continued, letting go of him. Trewor stormed out the door, Junior going over to close it after him.
They all stood there for a second before everyone except Tink broke out laughing.
“You’re all crazy” The inventor finally went in a disapproving tone, Which only caused Sapphire to laugh even harder.
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When Tom woke up again, he was greeted by a dragon's head lying on the ground in front of him, staring at him with a sly smile.
“Someone got comfortable?” Jarix questioned, sounding very pleased with himself.
“You're just jealous; no one is big enough to wrap you up like this,” Tom replied from his prison of safety. “What time is it?”
“Hmmph, no clue, it’s getting late though. They brought you something because you decided to spray blood everywhere. Oh and your clothes. The girl tried to apologize for not being able to get them properly clean. That took a bit of explaining.”
Tom chuckled at that. “I’m sure it did... Wait did they use you as a washing line?”
“It looked wet, so why not?” Jarix responded. Tom cracked a proper smile at that.
“The world's most expensive washing assistant.”
“Yeah… Not exactly the world’s best night fighter, that’s for sure,” Jarix let out with a sigh. “I have never had my ass whopped that hard before.”
“Hey! You don’t get to feel sorry about that. You killed all three of those big bastards. And no one seems to know what they were... I never thought I would need to tell you this but be a little proud of that.” Jarix did perk up a bit at that, not much though.
“I only got two, and the last one would have gotten me I think... But I did tell you, you would be great at getting things off my back, hey. Even if that was not quite how I intended it”
“Can’t argue with that. By the way, have your decades of training to become a perfect killing machine told you what they might be?”
“No, I got nothing. Definitely a foul thing. It must have been able to see me approach to land that hit.”
“Yeah, if it sees like a bat then that thing sees using sound.”
“Wait, what?” Jarix questioned. “Can't they just see well in the dark?”
“Nope, they use their ears. That was no ordinary bat though, that is for damn sure.”
“No it was not… I’ve been thinking. My father said the darklings had a ride they kept falling back to when they attacked him… Do you think we just found what it was?”
Tom had to think about that for a bit. “Fuck, it might be… Is that bad?”
“Yes. Very! That means they have a new way of traveling long distances. That’s never good.” Tom felt Jackalope begin to stir as Jarix talking jostled the two of them around a bit.
“No Tom, you’re not leaving yet, this is nice,” she let out still half asleep, squeezing Tom tighter.
“I think for the Time being we need not worry, we just killed three of them there can’t be more around or they would be everywhere”
Jarix looked rather curiously at their arrangement. “Shouldn’t we worry? This could be very bad, we can't just sit here”
“Not much to do except let the people who can do something about it know. We were supposed to scout not fight. So let’s just worry about that and the kids for now. Besides, you aren't going anywhere in a hurry, right?” Jarix looked rather ashamed as he craned his head to look at this own back, expression turning pained.
“No, I am not.”
“Well then, neither am I and neither is Jacky. Unkai is needed here. And we aren’t sending Zarko alone. Even if Jacky or Unkai could find their way back to the keep… Actually, Jacky is deaf so that would be kinda hard… And Unkai might not even know… Well, that settles it then, we aren’t going anywhere 'till you can fly again.”
“Maybe we could get some of these nice people to fly the message. We were sent by the king remember”
“I mean maybe… perhaps at some point. Are my clothes dry yet?”
“They don’t feel cold anymore, so I guess so.”
Tom squirmed a bit to try and get free but Jackalope simply squeezed tighter. Jarix suppressed a snicker. “Uhh, I guess that’s nice to know. Jacky, I know you’re awake… goddammit.” Tom tried, Jarix starting to giggle properly.
“She’s got you now.”
“Well if you didn't want me to leave I don’t think I could either,” Tom retorted looking up at the dragon. “All joking aside, you did fucking amazing out there. I’m just sorry I couldn’t nail that bastard on your back sooner.”
“That hurt like hell. Also, don’t tell her, but I think Jackalope shot me.”
“Jarix, how bad is lead for a dragon?” Tom questioned.
“Don’t tell me they need to dig it out?”
“I mean they don't need to, but it’s in there now. And it’s made from copper and lead.”
Jarix looked over all the wounds strewn over him. The dragonettes had done a good job of patching most of them up, though several of the bandages were leaking fresh blood.
“I think it’ll stay in. Their healer would be done for 10 times over, trying to fix that mess I guess. So much for looking like a million gold.” Jarix seemed genuinely distraught at that.
“Hey think of it this way. You’re the first dragon ever to be shot with a gun. Have you ever heard the expression ‘Knight in shining armor’ by the way?”
“Yeah, like some young prince who everyone wants.”
“Well, would you look at that, a metaphor that transcends worlds? It actually means a man who has yet to be tested. That is why his armor is shiny. He hasn’t seen battle yet.”
“Couldn’t he just get it fixed and polished?”
“Maybe, but his armor would still carry scars of battle and most will leave them undisturbed as marks of experience. Just like you will now. Congratulations. You’ve been tested and you sure as fuck weren’t found wanting, you magnificent bastard.”
“Does that mean I passed a lesson?” Jarix questioned, seemingly very excited all of a sudden.
“With flying colors. Pun intended, not that I doubted you could fight” Tom joked cracking a smile “There are more to go through. And remember chicks dig scars.”
“Why do I want to impress a young chicken?”
“I guess that one doesn’t translate. Girls, Jarix. Girls love scars… Well some of them at least.”
“Ahhh that makes more sense, my back is gonna look wicked in that case… eventually.”
“Just think of Baron. He looked badass, didn’t he?”
“Sure, but most of those are from epic battles in the history books. He’s so freaking cool. I was told stories about him and the other veterans growing up.”
“You don’t think this one is going in there?”
“It’s just some battle for a keep. That happens all the time.”
‘Well, that is a rather depressing thought…' Tom hadn’t gotten that impression from the others though. “I don’t think you’re right, didn’t you say you had no clue what those bat things were? The first one is always remembered. You might be the first to ever kill one and the first to win a battle against them. First are always remembered.”
Jarix seemed to ponder that for a second before he lit up. “You mean I’m gonna be going in the history books for this?” he replied with genuine excitement in his voice.
“Well it’s possible, don’t you think? Besides if that doesn’t cut it, being the first dragon to carry a gun should damn well do the trick. You didn't even think of that?”
“I just wanted to win... “
“Bravo. That’s how it’s done,” Tom was actually genuinely surprised by that and really rather happy. It was clear this mattered to Jarix. Tom guessed he had been used to big battles with colorful depictions of heroes and their deeds. “You need to win no matter what, because history is written by the victor. I’m willing to bet that most of those stories you have heard aren’t really true. War is always a shit show, but if you win you can claim it wasn’t.”
“That is rather depressing,” Jarix responded.
“You remember what I said a while ago? Glory is your reward for doing terrible deeds, not to mention going through hell, hopefully for a good cause. We did that yesterday. That was all for a good cause, and that can’t be taken from you. So again, congratulations, big blue hero.”
“Well at what point are the two little ‘heroes’ gonna move? I haven't moved a muscle for an hour fearing I might squash you.”
“You are gonna have to take that one up with Jackalope,” Tom replied. He didn’t really want to get up, he was perfectly comfortable here, even if he was wondering how Jackalope wasn’t uncomfortable he was literally sitting in her lap and had been for hours by now. He should probably eat whatever was in that bowl too. It didn’t look particularly appetizing though.
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“Why haven't we heard anything yet?” Balethon questioned, between bites of dinner.
“Don’t know, might have stayed a little at Deriva? I would. It’s not often we get to see them, and the Lady there is very kind,” Sapphire replied in a hopeful tone. She was not sure she believed that though.
“They have Jarix with them. He could outrun almost anything,” Maiko replied. “If it was bad news, we would have heard from them by now. Likely this morning actually.”
“Unless they were dumb enough to try and help,” Dakota added in, sounding worried.
“I mean, Zarko follows orders, Unkai would likely be too scared, they won’t listen to Jacky. So that puts it down to Tom and Jarix,” Sapphire replied, thinking that over for a second. “Would Tom risk it?”
“I have no idea. Nunuk said he sounded troubled at the notion of even leaving the keep. But dammit if he is one to look the other way,” Dakota answered again before looking to Maiko. “What about Jarix?”
“Oh, he would for sure, but isn’t that what Tom had been trying to teach him not to do? Besides, I think he would listen to Zarko on that front. That and he has orders to follow, from the king no less.” Maiko certainly didn’t seem worried.
“Tom won’t give a shit about those orders though,” Sapphire stated plainly, scoring a double take from Maiko. “But he might decide to play hero, and with Jacky along… And Jarix possibly looking for an excuse...” ‘Fuck they might actually do it,’ Sapphire concluded to herself as she looked around at the others. “What would we do if they tried to help?”
“Not much we can do. We’re stuck here for the time being,” Dakota replied, looking like she had already arrived at Sapphire’s conclusion.
“Well if they don’t return… We would be launching an investigative force,” Maiko replied, clearly not pleased with that notion. “If they engaged, though, there is a good chance they are licking their wounds. I wouldn’t be concerned yet. As I said, Jarix is damn near the fastest flyer around these days. If you don’t need to go too far.”
“So they saw a keep in trouble, lent a hand, then ran away to lick their wounds. Or, they went in, won the battle, and are celebrating merrily with the people they saved. Sounds good to me. As long as too many didn't get hurt,” Balethon added, mouth half full of food. “How long until you send someone to mop up what’s left?”
“Oh, I don’t know. A few days... Maybe a week,” Maiko replied dismissively.
“I say we worry about it then, hey? Besides, as you said, we can’t do anything about it,” Balethon continued, while still eating. “I think we need to be more concerned with the people who might just be trying to kill us.”
Sapphire didn't really like this. In most of the situations they talked about, people would likely get hurt and it might well be someone she cared about. Tom was a good friend, sure. But she had known Jackalope for many years; she might be her closest friend in fact, despite their rivalry. “They better be fine. I've been doing too much praying as of late, and it doesn't seem to be working. I think it’s about time it does”
“Isn’t that something to do with only praying when you need something?” Balethon questioned.
“Well what should I pray for then? That someone got hurt or worse?” Sapphire replied in a rather annoyed tone.
“I think you need to give thanks for what you got. Not done much praying though,” he responded.
“Okay so. Dear Lotek, thank you for our safe journey here. Would you please ask Ishan not to take my friend from me?”
“Don’t say things like that, Everyone is fine. I’m sure.” Dakota demanded, sounding like she needed to convince herself just as much as the others. “Besides, even if they did decide to help a keep, they have both Tom and a damn dragon of the Royal Guard. What exactly survives that?” She didn’t sound entirely convinced of that statement either though. Even if it was one hell of an argument.
“Sorry. I’m just worried, okay?” Sapphire apologized.
“Let’s just give a prayer for everyone to get home safe tonight, and then worry about the things we can do something about.” Maiko interjected, clearly trying to ease things a bit.
When they had made it to bed, Dakota had a chat with Nunuk about what had happened. Even if there wasn’t much to report beyond Trewor. Crucially though, no news from the keep. Everything was as it should be apart from no Jarix and crew.
“Do you think this Trewor guy gonna stab us in the back?” Sapphire questioned after giving Dakota a second to catch her breath after the experience.
“I think he is too scared to try and double-cross us. He wants to live. That was damn clever of Maiko, I damn near believed it myself.”
“Yeah, the guy has a knack for this kind of thing it seems. I’m starting to see why Hashaw sent him. Besides just not wanting him around. And it was brilliant about the weapons. Even if Trewor does betray us, the bitch is gonna be scared shitless anyway.”
“She sure is,” Dakota replied with an evil grin.
__________________________________________________________________________________
So then. The girls in the big city are hitting back, Jacky is doing her best to help her stressed to shit boyfriend and Jarix might have gotten a childhood wish fulfilled. Did you enjoy the chapter if so do let me know down below. Alternatively, let me know just how badly I fucked up.
Until next time Have an awesome day.
ko-fi For having a pretty picture commissioned.
Sapphire
Wiki Discord
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calculate your bet winnings video

Free Bet Calculator. You can use our main free bet calculator below to work out the winning of any bet: Fill in the ENTER BET DETAILS box. Firstly, select your BET TYPE and choose which type of bet you are wanting to calculate the winnings for. Select if the bet was win or each way. Choose the number of selections in your bet (if an accumulator). Being able to calculate how much a bet returns for any given stake is one of the basics of betting and our Bet Calculator simplifies this process for bettors. A bet can be broken down into two elements; the Stake - how much you risk, and the Payout - your potential return including your Stake. The most common type of bet is a single, but bettors can combine different bets into one and place a ... Bet Calculator. Work out potential winnings for any type of bet or check winning bets have been settled correctly with our bet calculator. Enter your stake, bet type, odds (fractional or decimal), place terms (if applicable) and then hit the calculate button. Calculate bet returns for Accumulators, Lucky 15's, Doubles, Trebles, Football, Horse Racing and more. The most comprehensive and reliable bet calculator. Calculate your winnings with the bet calculator for Singles, Doubles, Trebles, Accumulators, Lucky 15 / 31 / 63, Trixies, Patents, Round Robins, Goliaths and. Total payout. Profit for hedging X bet. Arbitrage calculator In addition to welcoming arbitrage bettors, Calculator also provides an Arbitrage Calculator to help. How to Use an Odds Calculator. Poker odds calculate the chances of you ... Bet Calculators Explained. A bet calculator is another innovation brought on by the modern era of online sports betting. Simply put, it is an app or program which allows punters to quickly calculate the potential winnings before they make a bet.Other calculators also allow you to things like implied chances. These calculations are based on the betting odds the bookie offers, the type of bet ... Before making any bet, it helps to know what you're risking for the expected payout. Enter Your 'Bet Amount' - that's what you're risking, along with the American, fractional or decimal odds. See what your total payout and winnings will be. In order to calculate your potential profit, simply multiply this number by your wager, and then subtract the amount of your wager to get your profit. So, if you bet $100 on this fighter at 1.80, your calculation would look like this: $100 * 1.80 = $180 $180 - $100 = $80 You'd be looking at a profit of $80. If the odds were something like 3.60, it would look like this: $100 * 3.60 = $360 $360 - $100 = $260 Your potential profit in this case would be $260 American Odds Multiply this number by your original bet to calculate total winnings. In the example, if you had bet $200, you would receive $1,300. The returns are then combined to calculate your winnings. If you have specified ‘Equally divided’ The returns from each event are split 50/50, half to the win, and half to the each way and then subsequently combined to calculate your winnings. Place odds vary according to the number of ‘runners’ within an event. In horse racing this is defined as:

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F1 ManagerBest Winning Strategies With Hard Tires - YouTube

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Bet calculator - Free betting calculator Pinnacle

calculate your bet winnings

calculate your bet winnings - win

I made a calculator to check if the horse betting is in your favour to improve your chance of winning!

With all of TI4 betting going on I wrote this little python script to calculate your winnings.

READ THIS if you expected a huge gamma squeeze today after close above $320