Board Thread:News and Events/@comment-933831-20160123205543/@comment-26130256-20160125081415

How is what I wrote not canon? The "kingdom" in question is Vacuo, about which we know exactly nothing from the show. For all we know, the place could very well be a hotbed of organized crime, or it could not. Perhaps I'll tweak things once we learn more about the kingdoms. Also, the reviewers passed Azulius without problems, so they clearly didn't have any problem with it.

And just because a mob has numbers doesn't mean all their people are the same level of skill. Every crime group has their "experts" that they call in when they really need to send a message. Important part is, though, that Azzie has more experience than most, and his was in the "real world", if you're one of those that thinks that matters somehow.

As for the strategy matters, Spy has said that Leo is great at taking orders, and Azzie had a career of thinking on his feet and improvising plans with people he perhaps didn't know super well. If Leo is willing to listen, they can still put up a team effort. Their teamwork definitely won't be as good as two teammates, but if you think they're just going to trip over each other at the starting gate, you're mistaken.

And the purpose of the illusions isn't just for defense, it's for second guessing. Every time one of them charges at you, or you hear something, you have to ask yourself if they're bluffing or double-bluffing. The "Leo" charging at you may be an illusion, or the real thing. And as far as distractions go, even if you know that (for example), the streaking Professor Port in the arena is an illusion, it's still going to distract you for a second.*

As far as the concentration, I should have been more clear about this on his page, but logically, the bigger or more detailed the illusion is, the harder it is to concentrate on. A quick flash of light or a loud boom is easy, even under fire, with more difficult illusions going up from there. And since he's used to fighting, just shooting near him won't bother him too much. Actually hitting him or engaging in melee combat? That will probably make things much harder, except for the simple stuff.

And since Koryuu mentioned using Queen Caster's cards like a shield, I did a quick experiment with my deck of cards (I'm a magician IRL, so I almost always have one handy). 13 regular-sized U.S. poker cards will cover an area the size of (rounding up here) one and a half sheets of 8.5 x 11" printer paper.  Not much of a shield to hide behind, and even worse if you split the cards up to cover more area.  Also, illusion bullets, so Penelope has to guess which shots are real and which are fake.


 * I do not apologize for that mental image.

P.S. Does anyone else find it interesting that, of this entire giant conversation, only 4 people who can actually vote have given their opinion? Jester, Vincent, Formerhunter, and Jade.