Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 11
Vegas - Stage 1 Part 1
The Course
Archer Alley aged much more quickly than I thought it would, still a decent stage 1 obstacle and glad to see the ladies have more success on it this year
Spin Your Wheels is an awful name for Roulette Row, and it's far too slow for a 1.2, especially when a competitor gets hung up
Double Dipper seems a lot less brutal this year but perhaps a lot of the fails were cut or shoved into part 2
Jumping Spider is the jumping spider - getting old but still decent for what it is
Tire Run is MUCH improved this year. I hated last year's version but moving the tire into the middle has made the obstacle immeasurably better to watch, and an actual threat on the course - plus it doesn't look like they are going out of bounds this year which is nice
Warped Wall looks very nice black actually (usually the Vegas one is red)
Diving Boards is much better in 1.7 than the razor beams, great choice but still would've been nicer to put in a brand new obstacle or at least one which hasn't been seen this season.
Twist and Fly is a good ending obstacle so nice to see it back.
Overall, I like this stage for the most part, especially as the three obstacles I hated last year have been removed (or modified in the case of tire run). Not the biggest fan of roulette Row as 1.2 but apart from that, very decent for a Vegas course.
Results
Archer Alley: 0
Spin Your Wheels: 4
Double Dipper: 3
Jumping Spider: 2
Tire Run: 4
Warped Wall: 1 (Timed out)
Diving Boards: 3 (One being Flip Rodriguez, who had a Safety Pass)
Twist and Fly: 4 (one timed out)
Time (2:30 limit): 2
Course completions: 12
Flip was the first to use the safety pass and is the only one so far. Was surprised at Najee's fail on tire run. Honestly thought Jesse was home when she reached the second twister on twist and fly so was shocked when she did a season 9 all over again. Travis retiring was sad but expected after his injury last year + his age. Loads of shock exits in this episode but it's also worth noting that Daniel Gil and Adam Rayl got lots of attention during broadcast so I think they could go far this year. Only time will tell...
A good episode I thought, could have been better but not a bad start to a Vegas which may finally break the tradition of a disastrous Stage 2.
Edited by Takeshi1, 28/Aug/19, 7:39 pm
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28/Aug/19, 6:19 pm
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 11
The updated stats for Vegas Stage 1:
Archer Alley: 0
Spin Your Wheels: 11
Double Dipper: 15
Jumping Spider: 6
Tire Run: 8 (One being Drew Drechsel, who had a Safety Pass)
Warped Wall: 3 (Timed out)
Diving Boards: 8 (One being Flip Rodriguez, who had a Safety Pass)
Twist and Fly: 9 (Three timed out)
Time limit (2:30): 6
Course completions: 28
A really good Stage 1 this year with some real shocks, especially this week. Now this is the point in the season where things normally go downhill; luckily Stage 2 has been given an almost complete renewal this year and finally the difficulty has been toned down so hopefully we'll have more than 2-3 clears. Looking forward to what will hopefully be another highly enjoyable episode!
Edited by Takeshi1, 7/Sep/19, 11:29 pm
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7/Sep/19, 11:28 pm
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Messup434
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Re: ANW 11
I have a lot of catching up to do!
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14/Sep/19, 4:46 pm
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Takeshi1
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Re: ANW 11
Stage 2 reviewed about two months after it aired. Oh well.
Results:
Falls on Giant Walk the Plank: 2 (One being Dave Cavanagh, who had a Safety Pass)
Falls on Extension Ladder: 2 (One being Dave Cavanagh during his Safety Pass run)
Falls on Snap Back: 2 (One being Karson Voiles, who had a Safety Pass)
Falls on Swing Surfer: 2
Falls on Grim Sweeper: 1 (Mathis Owhadi, who had a Safety Pass)
Fails in Water Walls: 1 (Timed out)
Timed out (3 minutes): 1
Course Completions: 21
A fantastic course, even more so when compared with the stage 2 courses of the previous three seasons. With both Wingnut Alley and Deja Vu gone, this stage was no longer complete overkill with only one prominent flaw: the time limit (more on that later).
Giant Walk The Plank is imo the best 2.1 we've had in Vegas - ever. I liked Epic C&R but WTP was a welcome return to a fast starting obstacle, the likes of which we haven't seen since season 5.
The extension ladder was basically the double Salmon Ladder so has very little originality. However, the concept of changing the sizes of the gaps between rungs is an interesting one which I wouldn't be surprised to see in the regionals next season.
I love Snap Back if you didn't know so great to see this return.
Swing Surfer is ageing badly at this point, simply removing the dismount rope won't change that - complete removal may be required.
Grim Sweeper was on the bland side but many of the ninjas said it was one of the most fun obstacles they've done on the show. Not very difficult but I'd take it any day over Wingnut Alley or Double Wedge.
I've mentioned before that I'm not a fan of the water walls. That's not because I don't like the concept of a water obstacle (although both this and the Backstream do lack entertainment value) but I find it far too slow. The final obstacle should be a fast sprint to the buzzer, one last push - not a minute of a boring gimmick with a drowning risk. Remove please, thank you
Overall the course was great, however 21 clears is clearly too many for Stage 2 and this was mainly caused by the time limit. At the taping the time limit was 3:30, in editing they reduced it down to 3:00 but the damage had already been done. Stage 2 was originally a speed stage and I think that is what ANW should be aiming for - this course was 110% a huge leap in the right direction, but they can definitely go further to unlock Stage 2's true potential.
Edited by Takeshi1, 29/Oct/19, 3:49 pm
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29/Oct/19, 3:45 pm
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