Mantis Quintinilad, Week 6, Day 1 of 3

(Based on the Mario Party Series)

It was time for the Mantis Quintinilad, composed of 15 days of physically and mentally exhausting events, plus digging. The digging was for points. Some places they went, they dug and lost points. Other times, they would gain points. If they won an event, they would gain 10 points. Once they had 20 points, they could then trade in the points to a medal manager, found somewhere on the course. 

Commentators stood by at the end of every 5 turns (There were 5 events in a day; any more, and the mantises got worn out) spoke and wrapped things up. 

This time, there were 4 people playing: John, Shea, Martin, and Mark, all of which were mantises who routinely went through the season. At the end of the season, the top 4 in their division would gain access to the playoffs. The winner of that division went on to play the winners of the other 3 divisions (4 divisions total) for a chance at 1,000,000 and the bragging rights for their division. 

Audra and Jenifer were commentating at the end of the game for the wrap-up of the first  day.

Audra: Through the first day, the scores are as follows: Mark leads the pack with 4 medals and 12 points. Followed by him is Martin, with 3 medals and 20 points. John is next with 0 medals and 38 points. Finally, Shea is in last with 16 points only.

Jenifer: Yes, indeed. There have been three times thus far that John could have taken the lead, but failed to do so. Shea has yet to get her game going. But the big story is Mark, scoring two medal managers and 2 upgrades. 

Audra: Reminder, folks, this is the upgrade stage, where you purchase a stationary medal manager and the value of your medal goes up or down depending on how many total points have been given to him. Managers can also be stolen by the other team.

Jenifer: That's right. Usually, those who do well here are the ones that go on to the playoffs. Let's not forget that Martin has uncovered the secret manager, which can only be accessed from certain hidden paths on the game. He comes fully upgraded and everything.

Audra: Right, but were someone else, say, Mark, to uncover the path as well, then Martin will lose all his stars. Do you think that anyone has a clear advantage?

Jenifer: No, and that's what's going to scare the players. For them to not be at an advantage or disadvantage, most of them will practice hard into the next day. They want to be fit.

Audra: Most of these challenges today dealt with manual dexterity, though there was a laser tag one. Does any competitor hold the upper edge in that?

Jenifer: John so far has. In the laser tag one, he developed a perfect strategy to get him the 10 points.

Audra: As the game goes on tomorrow, who will win? Only time will tell. Tune in tomorrow for day #2 of 3. Good night everybody.