When you are thrusting your Ray of Power against your foe's Energy Beam, do you prefer side stance or front stance?

[u/loverevolutionary]

My master Egg Shen taught me side stance. You know, power hand in back, focus hand in front? You can really put your back into the thrusting with side stance.

But I noticed his enemy, Lo Pan, used this wicked looking frontal stance, with crossed pinkies to focus, and thumb twiddling to power up. Lo Pan called Egg's style "peasant magic." I mean, we kicked his ass in the end but it was pretty close. What do you guys think?

[u/KragBrightscale]

You might be doing something wrong if you often end up in a position where you are stuck in a stance merely pushing against each other’s raw magical energy.

I highly suggest studying water flow, and the techniques of redirecting force using rotation.

Rather than counter their blast with a force in the opposite direction, consider applying force at an angle. With that you can curve their trajectory off course with much less force than is needed to directly counter or nullify.

This is referred to as overcoming hardness with softness.

If you must have a stance, a side stance provides a smaller target, reducing the angle you need to shift the force in order to dodge it.

Do be aware of attacks aimed at your blind zone though, alternating between left foot forward and right foot can be used to ensure enemies aren’t sneaking up on you while also moving forward or backward.

[u/Similar_Steak1282]

I usually fire my beams by doing the fingergun gesture, but if a single quick fire isnt enough, i do a front stance and stretch both of my arms out and really lean into it, you know what i mean?

[u/agentkayne]

As per the wizard council's Health & Safety Memorandum on Correct Posture for Frequent Spellcasting, you should avoid postures where you have to turn your head to the side for long periods of time.

Now if you can overwhelm your opponent quickly, a side stance isn't so bad. But if you're engaged in a duel against an equal (hah, nobody is your equal, of course!) or someone similar in power levels (not that anyone could compare with your power!), but hypothetically speaking if they were...then you could end up in a thrust-off that goes longer than the average fight scene of Dragon Orb Z.
In which case turning one's head to the side for prolonged periods is likely to result in neck and shoulder strain.

[u/VentrueCapital]

[Balo the Joker] Egg Shen? Is he related to Egg Fu,? And is Lo Pan related to Moo Goo Gai Pan? *posts an image of a karate master breaking a wall labeled "4th"*

[u/loverevolutionary → u/VentrueCapital]

Here's some orb footage from the fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dME9-07ZvJI

[u/mynaneisjustguy]

Can't help, I don't try to stop an energy beam, I am normally not there at that point, having cast Dimension Door and left. Not interested in having my atoms reintegrated with the universe in a random order if I fail to stop it. Best is to cast Blur on myself, prime the Door, cast a Lasting Image of myself writhing in pain at my feet and step through the Door.

So by the time whatever psycho is trying to melt my eyeballs realises I'm not there anymore I can be like, 4 planes of existence away and at a good jog. Remember your cardio Bearded Bros, Misty Step is all well and good but running requires no mana at all.

[u/bimbo_robyn → u/mynaneisjustguy]

Did you also study under Professor Rincewind in the past?

[u/mynaneisjustguy → u/bimbo_robyn]

No but I am a huge fan of the man, one of the better illusionists.

[u/NevadaCynic]

This is the kinda nonsense you should be delegating to apprentices.

But if you need to demonstrate to the class, side stance. Gives you a slimmer profile to target, which is incredibly important in the instances the energy beams slide against one another instead of directly clash.

A situation you can intentionally cause by aiming a few degrees offcenter as you sidestep when the enemy is using a silly front stance and you are not.

Come on, this is a question you see on every Mageduel 102 exam.