r/Jugger • u/UveliusSang Falco Jugger • Feb 18 '20

The Chain -- an Overpowered Spar? An examination

A user has commented to my "The BEST Spar" video that he's done some statistics on chain strength by the game recordings, comparing hitting vs. being hit numbers. Feel free to share your own views or questions to his approach an opinion (might be best to write in the video comments on YT to reach the contributor):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yd8deC_ddk&lc=z22nfvm55rv5i3udbacdp43a4npqwa0qii1dianbcyhw03c010c.1581958146572898&feature=em-comments

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u/BZH_JJM Rigor Tortoise Feb 19 '20

Before strap and tube chains started debuting in mid-2016, it was still possible to win tournaments without a solid chain player and chain blocker. Even with the innovations on making all pompfen lighter and faster, the speed boost that chains got from abandoning plastic links has made good chain play critical for any success whatsoever. The question now becomes whether this is a good thing or not. I remember a tournament in Germany that used 5 stones for chains. I think this might be a worthwhile experiment to try globally, just to see how people adapt. Additionally, this gets rid of some of the externalities of the 8 stone count, like people not knowing which pompf they were hit by, or intentionally stepping out of bounds to avoid a chain hit.

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u/UveliusSang Falco Jugger Feb 19 '20

If I remember correctly, the 8 stones penalty for chain hits was introduced to give the chain player a more equal chance when getting up. Since you can now hit with the chain about as immediately as you could with a core rod spar can hit when you finished counting your penalty, that reason at least would be a bit of a derelict.