Cowboy Standoff on Hot Summer Day

If you know Lord Gitter, you probably know that I enjoy visiting other Kingdoms from time to time. I am not a big bully, and I am certainly not the strongest player in GoTWiC. I just enjoy a little action, espesially when I have some free time to burn. For me, merit hunting is like fishing. You look around, find a good target, wait for the right moment, and hopefully catch something big, and ofc, my advice to all of you is, that this game is for everyone, there is no weaker, there is no stronger, only you have to choose the right enemy, the enemy with your fit, your size, and maybe little weaker hehe. But there is always space for a mistake, and sometimes, the fish is so big that you start wondering if you should have stayed at home hehe

This time, my destination was K451, the Kingdom ruled by FuL.

For anyone who doesn't remember, FuL is the alliance that once tried to recruit some of our SFu players for their Alliance Conquest final. Since then, we have not exactly been best friends. They kept trying to disturb our alliance, and I decided that whenever I found a nice unbubbled target in K451, I would pay them a little visit. Nothing personal, ofc, just interesting gaming :) Just business, or my kind of business. So, I jumped into K451 and started looking around. It did not take long to find some delicious targets. One castle went down, then another. A little later, I found a few more players who had apparently forgotten one of the most important rules of GoTWiC- If you leave your castle without a bubble, Lord Gitter might be watching, or any hungry merit hunter, who is not sleeping. I was having a wonderful time. The merits were coming, my troops were doing their job, and everything was going according to plan.

Then I found him. A really juicy castle, 2B power in gathering gear, the kind of target that make you stop scrolling and look at the screen twice. I knew this one could bring me a serious amount of merits. I was preparing to attack when something unexpected happened. Another player appeared. His name was Im Sorry. Ahh that name is saying already something.

And he was not there to collect daily rewards. He was another merit hunter. For a few seconds, I just looked at the screen. Of all the Kingdoms in Westeros, of all the castles without bubbles, of all the possible moments to arrive, this guy had decided to show up at exactly the same time as me, wonderful. Now I had a problem, should I forget the target and run away before this stranger decided to make me his next meal? Or should I attack the castle I had already chosen? I had almost no time to think. My instinct said, Lord Gitter, man, leave! There are other castles in the world! But another voice inside my head said, millions merits could be waiting for you. Guess which voice won hehe

I attacked.

The castle fell, and the result was beautiful. Thirty-six million merits in one hit. THIRTY-SIX MILLION!

For a moment, I forgot about Im Sorry completely. I was too busy enjoying the result. That was the kind of hit every merit hunter dreams about. Then reality returned. The other hunter was still there. Maybe he tried to attack too, or maybe he did attack, I didn't have much time to follow everything that was going on the burning K451. And now I had to think about what would happen next. I immediately activated anti-scout. I wanted him to know as little as possible about what was inside my castle. Then I sat there, looking at the screen. Should I teleport away? Probably. Would that be the smart decision? Absolutely. Did I do it? Of course not. This is Lord Gitter we are talking about. Sometimes I make very good decisions, and sometimes curiosity takes control of my brain haha. I wanted to know what would happen if Im Sorry attacked me. There was just one small problem. He was stronger than me. The Kingdom rankings made that very clear. 

He had the advantage in power, and he was a Cavalry player. Cavalry was also a counter to my troop orientation. In other words, if he decided to attack, I could have a very bad evening. And yet, I stayed. I remained in my hive, protected by anti-scout, while he was standing next to me, looking at my castle and probably asking himself the same question I was asking. What does this guy have insid? Maybe he thought I was full of T5 troops and ready to destroy him. He know that I would not hit him, so all the decisions were his. Maybe he thought I was hiding something dangerous. Or maybe he simply wonder why this strange player had decided to stay instead of running away after stealing thirty-six million merits. I know exactly what he can think, cause I am in his shoes all the time, always thinking is there is some posibility that this is trap, and some other player is waiting somewhere else, just to eliminate you. The minutes passed. One minute, two minutes, nothing. I started sweating. Not because of the weather. Because of that little castle on my screen and the fact that I knew one wrong decision could turn my great merit hunt into a disaster. We were like two cowboys standing in the middle of a dusty street in Texas at noon. Nobody wanted to move first. He knew he was stronger. But he did not know what I had inside. I knew he was stronger, and I knew that his Cavalry could cause me serious problems. Every second felt longer than the previous one. Would he attack? Would I have to defend? Would my beautiful thirty-six-million-merit story end with me being zeroed? (and I would still write it about that hehe)

I was ready for anything, well, almost anything. After fifteen minutes, I finally decided that I had enjoyed enough excitement for one evening. I activated my bubble.

And just like that, the duel was over. Im Sorry never attacked me. He did not send a rally, and he did not try to test my defenses. Instead, he sent greetings through a good friend of mine. Then he left the Kingdom. No battle, no reports, no winner declared. Just two merit hunters who had looked at each other across the battlefield and decided that perhaps there were better ways to spend their troops. I had arrived in K451 looking for easy targets and left with thirty-six million merits from one attack, plus a story about a stranger who could have made my evening very painful.

Was I brave for staying?

Maybe.

Was I stupid for not teleporting away immediately?

Also maybe hehe

But that is part of merit hunting. Sometims you win because you are stronger. Sometimes you win because you are faster. And sometimes, you win because the other guy is just as curious and nervous as you are. And also sometimes there are traps, I would not say that I made a trap, that will ruin the surprise for the next stories hehe

As for Im Sorry, I have to respect him. He had the power advantage, the troop-type advantage, and probably several good reasons to attack me. But he chose not to. Maybe he thought I was dangerous, maybe I looked too confident, maybe cause some of my friendships or maybe he simply did not want to discover what Lord Gitter was hiding behind that anti-scout.

I guess we will never know. One thing is certain, though. I came to K451 for merits, found thirty-six million in one hit, and accidentally entered a cowboy duel with a stronger Cavalry player. And the funniest part? Neither of us fired the final shot. Next time, Im Sorry, I hope we meet again. Even go on hunts together.

But next time, please give me a little warning before you arrive.

My hands are still sweating LOL