First off, aplogies for getting in this final fight later than expected. But for the tournament to end this week works out very nicely. And I would also like to say my sorries to all the watchers who have been bombarded with AFL journals for the past 6 weeks. Its official safe to watch me again.

And now thank you. Thanks to everyone who took part in the AFL tournament. Thanks to the 64 individuals who made this tournament work with this input and drawings. Thanks to the people who contributed with AFL fan pics. And thanks to everyone who simply enjoyed watching the events unfold.

I am overwhelmed by how much you guys support this community that we have created for ourselves. I thought last AFLs turnout was unbelievable with 280 fight pictures. In AFL 2, you guys have truly outdone yourselves, with 480 fight pics in the initial month, and a total of 488 fight pics altogether! That has to be some sort of record guys, and its all because of you. We saw 296 fights over this tournament, another staggering statistic, compared to 148 in the previous tournament.

The Result!

This is it! You've waited longer than you had to, but you loved the suspense I am sure! Both Fowl and Ragdoll went into this final only losing once in their 11 matches. Fittingly, it was a battle of gender. Either a King or Queen of AFL was going to be crowned, and honoured like previous champion, Cell. This was a close, nailbiting fight to judge. But you dont want to read all this, and probably skipped it just to see who won. So without further adu...the winner of AFL 2...

Final
Vs

Winner -

Congratulations to Ragdoll and loura, and commiserations to the Fowl and dan. Both excellent artists, characters and worthy to be in this very final. I am sure everyone found Ragdoll an exciting and refreshing character, and also enjoyed her amazing artwork along the way. For a newcomer to come along, and be accepted by everyone is such a great sight to see, and I think this friendliness to one another is why AFL succeeds so much over other battle tournaments. Welcome to the family Ragdoll!

I hope you guys have had fun these past weeks, and met new friends and artists, or even strengthen bonds from last time around. I hope you all enjoyed the new format of AFL. I am sorry for any mistakes that may have risen, and know a few pointed them out (most notably *valemeister - thanks!), but I hope you felt things ran smoothly. If there are any problems, or any ideas to make this better, I hope to have things sorted in a future AFL tournament.

A special thanks to the unseen heroes (to me) of AFL, the secret judges that always gave me quick and thoughtful responses on their decision.
Judges

They volunteered their time to go through every single entry of your 488 pics and reply to each one of my notes quickly. It certainly gave AFL a new dynamic. Some decisions they picked, I wouldnt have, and vice versa. A funny thing to be overruled in your own tournament! lol But seriously, thanks very much for pouring in the time and generally being thankless for these past 6 weeks. I think its about time you had your dues for your services over this drawn out tournament.

What Now?
Now we can cool down for the rest of September. Give yourselves a well earned break, or just do whatever you want now. But don't forget to honour the winner of AFL just like we did last time around! [link]

So October's Theme will be drawing the AFL Queen, Ragdoll. I still want to do that AFL award show, so maybe I will get that done during October, along with the prize for the winner.

Thanks again everyone. Take a break, join in drawing the champion during October...and we'll do all this again in AFL3...a long way down the future.

Character References: [link]
Fight 1: [link]
Fight 2: [link]
Fight 3: [link]
Fight 4: [link]
Fight 5 - [link]
Fight 6 - [link]
Fight 7 - [link]
Fight 8/9/10 - [link]
Semi-Finals - [link]
Final - [link]

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04.2006 - 03.2007 Themes - Last Years Themes
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