Great Clash.... But who really won?

I was in the building for Steelie's Dancehall Nice Again clash on Saturday, March 26 and it was amazing.  It's the first good clash I have been to in a long time.  The crowd was good, it wasn't rammed but the spirits of the patrons made up for those who were absent.  The format was set in honor of the arena's "blueprint style of clashing".  No host, no rules, no referee, just straight steel until the wee hours of the morning.   The performances from both sounds were challenging at points but for the most part Earth Ruler had a huge edge as far as the rounds were concern.  They put Black Kat under pressure with their huge catalog of anthems and Biltmore selections.  Panther fought back hard but his resistance was limited in the early segments of the competition because he was by himself (he came alone).  Earth Ruler was a 3-4 man team and they definitely put on the pressure. Now!!! there were some points in the dance where Earth Ruler lost the fire and Black Kat was able to capitalize on their lack of crowd response.  But the same can be said about Black Kat, when he fell short Earth Ruler blazed a fire.  In all I counted six rounds followed by a tune fi tune segment.  It was a great dance.  It's been awhile since any one on one clash has featured so many rounds.

So here is the thing, who really won the competition?  The rounds were clearly dominated by Earth Ruler despite Black Kat grasping huge responses from the patrons in that segment. There was a time when it seems like Black Kat was down for the count Earth Ruler lead Panther so much that Panther was forced to declare an early tune fi tune faceoff.  It was a genius move and the only way for Panther to redeem himself, nevertheless it didn't work...Earth Ruler never fell for the trick.  The end result was; Panther was obligated to finish his half an hour round bearing very little forward/response from the audience.  Here is the twist though: instead of Earth Ruler coming in and capitalizing off Panther's failure to deliver, they came in to a lukewarm reception and very little forward (smiling).  Panther then came in and played a round of fire, ultimately redeeming himself by winning the final round (round 6) and entered the tune fi tune with a big momentum.

The outcome of tune fi tune was left to one's interpretation. You know is the glass half empty or is it half full?!  I say this because Panther played strong in the tune fi tune, very strong. Earth Ruler played some good songs but didn't get as much response as Panther did. However after awhile both sounds somehow lost the connection with the audience and tune fi tune was just being played with little crowd participation.  In plain words, it got boring. The lights came on and the night was ended on a down note. No winner was declared outright because the winner of the tune fi tune was never decided.

Please note, in a one and one, all or nothing competition the victor has only two ways to clinch an undeniable victory.  Either by winning the tune fi tune or convincing the crowd to lock off their opponent.  Rounds are simply played just to win the love of the audience. Winning the most rounds can never be the deciding factor in a clash of this format.

Big up to Earth Ruler for a remarkable comeback performance.  Big up to Panther and Black Kat for keeping the clash torch burning for so many years.... but I am officially calling this one a DRAW.