Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, I present your SDL Winter Bash Winner.


Judges Verdicts:

Judge 1: Both Alamus and Koeb had great entries, with wonderful artwork, and compelling story, but in the end, it was Koeb's side that won my heart. Bringing closure to the yuuabe plot line, and involving all her past opponents is what really brought this tournament to an ideal end for me. Being able to involve, and keep track of so many characters at once, in a way that doesn't confuse the reader is a great skill to have, and I believe that Koeb was able to pull it off flawlessly. Alamus' side of the round was equally interesting and compelling, and using the end of the tournament to branch into the Sakura bowl was an interesting idea, but I feel that there should have been more involvement from some of the other characters, since they all had stories that needed closure, as well. In the end, it wasn't a deliberation between whose art was better, it was the story, and while both stories were excellent, it was Koeb's that reigned supreme.

Judge 2: I have to go with Koeb. When I judge, I look at the story before the art. Alumus tried hard to work with what she had, having two forfeits leading into the finals didn't really give her much to work with. It was a damn good entry, but Koeb's was stronger. As a final entry, it wrapped up everything she put out in each of the prior WB entries.

Judge 3: Alamus came pretty close I have to say. Like adapting her story to work with koeb's and not try and steer koebs story too much. Though Koeb did a similarly brilliant job and I felt her story made slightly more sense.
I especially liked the characterisation of Axen not caring about the plot she'd been involved in. It was consistent with how Axen had known about her name being falsely submitted but fighting anyway.
Koeb also handled the multiple events well. She overlayed the present fight with Axen with two flash backs and a tandem siege upon the GG. It's a really tricky story telling technique to do and she pulled it off fabulously.

Judge 4: I was deeply impressed by both artists story work. Both artists took character history and development to a level rarely seen in the SDL, fitting of a tournament finale. Alamus made a great comeback from the previous round and exceeded all expectations. Everything about her entry has outclassed her previous work on just about every level. Great story, great action, and great quality of art makes Alamus's entry a gem for her gallery. On the other hand, Koebs masterful pacing and organization of multiple parallel events took me by storm though. I dont think I've ever seen writing at that level in any OCT before... The art, while simplified, has a well grounded development and compliments the story well. Her entry is well balanced, and vibrant, even with the subdued color pallette.

Judge 5: While Alamus's entire entry is very impressive, with an engaging story (especially with the audience and Shado in particular), and quite wonderful action sequences (I particularly liked the creative use of paneling or non-use of paneling, as the page specified. I can't help but feel however that a few of the more essential panels that required a very specific emotion - a 'unch' - was not drawn in the best manner to do so; the example standing out being Madoka's look of shock as she realises that Axen knew all along. Additionally, another area where I felt that Koeb performed better than Alamus was use of backgrounds - Alamus's backgrounds feel flat and somehow unreal, especially when contrasted with foreground colouring, whereas Koeb's background flatness works well with her limited palette. I was also impressed with Keob's weaving of plot threads, with three seperate plotlines happening at the same time - flashback, audience/invasion, and the actual battle itself. Lastly, I feel that Koeb's writing somehow feels more 'real' and 'natural' than Alamus's; Koeb has always been a master of fleshing out the characters, and she really ramped it up for the finale.


While the SDL Winter Bash has officially ended, I'm sure we can expect far more material from both of these wonderful artists in the near future. Both put a stellar effort forth and I'm proud to have had them in the finale.

Winter Bash Past Rounds and Verdicts:


Oh... and we cant forget the Prizes now can we?

Total awards listings:
First place:
's Madoka
+28 rankups
Winter Bash First Place Snowflake Charm:

Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm

1 Full color picture done by Eternityhero of character of your choice
1 Full color picture done by Sketchfighter316 of character of your choice
Full CG Chibi Character of choice from Team Maigodan
3 month Sub courtesy of Seiji's saints.

Second place:
's Axen
+19 rankups
(+15 rankups for beating Aurelio)
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm

Inked Chibi Character of choice from Team Maigodan

Third and fourth place:
's Nuwan
+12 rankups
Sketched Character of choice from Team Maigodan
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm


's Darius
+12 rankups
Sketched Character of choice from Team Maigodan
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm


Fifth through Eighth place:
's Shado
+7 rankups
(+10 for beating seth aesir)
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm

's Sakana
+7 rankups
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm

's Dembe
+7 rankups
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm

's Aurelio
+7 rankups
Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm



's Phallin: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's Wokou: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's sakuya: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's Laine: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's Hanabi: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's Seth: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's Kaito: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm
's Takashi: +3 rankups, Winter Bash Competitor Snowball charm

Spectator entries: