Ringo2023 is starting off to be the biggest and best year in US steel fighting history. AMCF qualifiers showed some amazing combatants and created what I think is the strongest IMCF US team to date. There are strong mens and womens teams in all categories and there isn’t a single duelist who isn’t high level with a ton of experience behind them. Of course it’s highly likely other countries have improved just as much or more so we definitely can’t rest and assume victory. Just a short couple of months to sharpen up skills for the big dance.
That alone would be a big US armored combat new, but in 3 weeks Carnage will kick off and it will be the single largest tournament of US soil and one of only a handful that have drawn intercontinental participation. Three days of fighting, with every event containing a host of unbelievably talented fighters. And then a few weeks after that Nashville Armored Combats AMMA(Armored MMA) season will kick off on the 22nd. And the week after that the Arnold Classic will once again put this sport in front of hundreds if not thousands of serious athletes.
Things are popping off. Not just events though. Today is the closing day of voting for 2 new AMCF BOD members helping usher in a new way of leadership completely divorced from the old battles and bullshit that plagued the sports first 10 years. Also that. This year will mark 10 years since the first Team USA ventured out, unknowing of the possible danger and eventual adventure they would find at BOTN 2012. So much has happened since then despite how young and new this sport is here.
It’s wild to me to think how far we’ve come. Having been withdrawn from much of the happenings over the first 2 years of covid and spending most of 2022 traveling in south america completely out of touch with happenings here in the states, I was blown away at the level of talent displayed. I had vastly underestimated the rebuilt Ordo Draconis, who showed why they still belong in talks about top teams in the states. I wrote off the Fire Drakes merc team thinking even with the individual there was no way they could pull together enough to be a threat. They were far more than a threat, coming within a hair of stopping my team from making the Gold medal rounds. Warlords were as deadly as ever with the Brett for Daniel trade.
How could I not mention the Merc Misfits upset victory over Ordo Draconis and slipping out of brackets by just a few points but same record as the Ordo who moved on. The Lost Boys also showed more than heart and grit, but skill and team unity as they smashed their way through two teams in their bracket and took an experienced San Jacinto Knights to 4 rounds in the brackets, narrowly missing earning a spot on Team USA. With Dominus looking like one of the favorites to win at Carnage this year may be the year of the mercs, proving that the Allstar method was right all along.
The skill of all the men’s teams was quite a step up from previous years, leading me to comment that the Executioners of pre-covid may have lost to most teams that didn’t make it out of their bracket. It’s a surprise and delight to see the growth in skill, something I wanted to put to the test as much as possible by myself in the duels category. I entered all, honestly on a lark and as a flex. Hell I even fought sword and shield with a buckler and a saber and almost a full melee kit in every category.
I was able to get through to bronze in Sword and Board but would have had no chance against Landon even with a full size shield and optimized sword. Also I know at least 3 of the best active sword and shield duelists didn’t fight for reasons(Greg Fisher, Mickey Gallus, and El Presidente Cyrus d’Ondre) so the skill is there too. The pole arm category was the deepest I’ve ever seen it, even with 7 people dropping and missing two of the favorites(Micah Nelson and Austin Ponticelli). I pulled out a gold there mostly because I had Pual Friedel in my corner helping me make the adjustments I needed and relying on grit hard won from years of fighting past the point of exhaustion. It’s not that my cardio is better, it’s just that when we’re both dying I’m more comfortable and lose less before my body fully gives out. And I barely made it into the brackets before getting waffle stomped in Longsword. There were at least 6 competitors in that pool who were world class and I would have bet on to go deep in an MCF championship pool.
And the Women’s skill? Also looking incredible compared to my memories of 2020 Carnage. I unfortunately missed most of Sword and Shield trying to recover from my duel fights, I was a counter for Longsword, and in Mari’s corner for Polearm so I caught less than I would have liked. Shoshana is a beast and just continues to get better though and that’s been known. Likewise Julie in Longsword remains crazy good. But Kira showed some really good mechanics and fight sense, while Spencer beastmoded to silver after fighting sword and shield as well(I believe she was the only duelist other than me to do all three forms, so mad respect I know how hard that is.) In Pole both Mari and Carli showed a whole new level of class to womens pole, both denting armor, overwhelming opponents, and showing a level of violence that just tickles my soul. And how about that mythics team? They are legit as fuck, with every lady on it a killer, and they were made to work to earn that gold.
The thing that’s really crazy about all of this though, is that in Carnage we will likely see entirely different results with far more teams coming and individuals coming. Not to mention of the two top teams from AMCF men’s going over, both will be fielding significantly different line ups, without a number of their starting lines. This speaks to the incredible growth in numbers in our community and will likely speak to the growth in talent, especially at the mid tier level of teams that just one or two more things to become threats to the established order of top teams.
The sport is starting its second decade in this country. I’m excited to see what that means and where we go from here. There’s so much more in the works for us. Lets fucking go.
I think the “All-Star” strat works when the individuals train with similar logic and expectations. Dominus is comprised of the top 4 fighters from Cerberus, Warlords, and Knyaz. All of which train similarly and with intensity. I don’t think It works if you smack random good fighters together who don’t understand each other.
Misfits beat Ordo, gave yall your hardest fight, and should have been through into the brackets. Lost boys made it to brackets and almost beat SJK. Hiredrakes took 3rd. All the “allstar” teams did good and few truly had any previous synergy.