American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja - General Discussion

[OnceSane]

Discuss American Ninja Warrior: Ninja vs. Ninja Here!

[jvr]

This is good...but I'm already upset... my new girl crush, the 31 year old stunt woman on team G-Force (?) in baby blue..I can't recall their damn names!!! Are they done for good?...cause I just want to watch her crush the other woman over and over looking so calm, smooth and strong... catching that warped wall with one hand....uhhhhhhh ::drooling:: ... Her team member with the tat on his chest, the guy who went last, chocked twice...both times he was in the lead. The first time he hesitated before doing the warped wall and got passed and the second he had it won and fucking brain farted. I'm mad at him because my girl is gone!

 

Some other team should be able to pick her up because she is super strong and I doubt there are many women at her level competing. Can someone please supply her name? lol

Edited January 20, 2016 by jvr

[SophiaD]

From your description, that sounds like Jessie Graff?  She should be back on ANW next season.  At least, I hope she will.

[Chaos Theory]

I was hoping G-Force would win. I like that the girl was the captain and successfully did the course more then once when the men couldn't.

[jvr]

Thanks SophiaD. I just watched her ANW runs on youtube, I'm in love. lol I definitely hope she comes back.

 

I used to watch Ninja Warrior (Sasuke) on Spike back in the day (2006 or so) when it was the original Japanese show with the Japanese host yelling on it with english subtitles lol. I would watch it all night long, I loved that damn show. I even liked when G4 created the little competition to send a few Americans over there to try and conqueror Mt Midoriyama. I watched the beginning of the NBC spinoff a little bit but never really got into it, just too busy to keep up with it. I may try and stick around for this team version and definitely come back for ANW to at least stalk Jessie.

Edited January 20, 2016 by jvr

[JenMD]

I adore Jessie Graff so much.  I love that she got to captain her own team and that she nailed both her runs, and that she made it through the Pole Grab faster than anyone else, male or female (through her 2nd run, at least).  She is just one strong, tough competitor, but so calm about it (meanwhile, I'm yelling at the tv, heh).  I would have loved to see her advance.  Sigh.

 

Overall, I found the show a bit exhausting, those poor competitors.  That was a whole lot of runs.  Made me tired just watching them all run and run and run yet again.  Looking forward to seeing who else we have coming down the pipleline, but honestly, my favorite competitor is gone, so the shine is gone a bit for me.

[SophiaD]

I love Jessie Graff, too.  She had a great team, at least in theory.  I especially liked the relay, at the end of the course.

 

This is really going to be interesting, as there are only so many "elite" Ninja athletes out there and quite a few who are really good, but might not have the killer instinct.  I expect a lot of surprises.

[Lantern7]

Something feels wrong about competitors running side-by-side. It's supposed to be Man (or Woman) Versus Obstacle. On the other hand, Matt and Akbar turn their respective dials up to a new level, and that's entertaining to hear.

 

I liked the obstacles, though I'm a little alarmed that the spider and rope climb don't have the safety platform underneath. One slip and you have an ugly situation.

 

Any word as to whether Isaac or Geoff will be competing?

[OnceSane]

In the second week of competition, David Campbell's NorCal Ninjas take on the powerhouse team featuring Ian Dory and Meagan Martin.

[Meushell]

This is good...but I'm already upset... my new girl crush, the 31 year old stunt woman on team G-Force (?) in baby blue..I can't recall their damn names!!! Are they done for good?...cause I just want to watch her crush the other woman over and over looking so calm, smooth and strong... catching that warped wall with one hand....uhhhhhhh ::drooling:: ... Her team member with the tat on his chest, the guy who went last, chocked twice...both times he was in the lead. The first time he hesitated before doing the warped wall and got passed and the second he had it won and fucking brain farted. I'm mad at him because my girl is gone!

Some other team should be able to pick her up because she is super strong and I doubt there are many women at her level competing. Can someone please supply her name? lol

I agree. It was also kind of annoying that she was the only team captain who could not earn 2 points for her team. The 2 point issue seems silly anyway. The run is the same, and all it does is tie to force another of the same run. That got to be repetitive. I hope that each episode at least has a different run.

It's also annoying that Jessie and her team are out for basically tying for the actual runs...or winning if you take out the bonus run. I realize that is the rules, but when it was first explained, I thought there would be something different about the 2 point run.

Edited January 24, 2016 by Meushell

[jvr]

I mean I get why they have the last run be worth 2. They want that last run to always mean something if one team wins the first two runs but it could be implemented better. 

 

They maybe should have a rule of whomever runs the course the fastest gets to choose who does the tiebreaker on their team and force the hand of the other team.

 

If the team, say G-Force, had the fastest run of the 3 races and chose to have Jessie run the tiebreaker race then the other team would be forced to run their girl. Most of the time the teams probably wouldn't choose their woman unless she is epically awesome like Jessie. And if the team decided to run one of their guys again, they could choose which guy they run against on the other team. Might work, I don't know.

 

Don't know how to solve the women never running the 2 pointer.

[Adira]

I liked it.  I liked that there wasn't a ton of background and we got to actually watch most of the runs.  So bummer that Jessie Graff's team is out!!  She's amazing and deserved to go further!!

 

Also, did they make sure to switch up which side each team was running on?  Since the whole track was curved, whoever was on the inside had less distance to run between each obstacles.  Though it probably doesn't really matter...

[Chaos Theory]

Moved the group. Makes sense though.

Damn! You forget sometimes people can get hurt. It's all fun and games until someone loses their grip.

I always do like it when the women climb that wall.

[Lantern7]

"Crazy" Craver trains by climbing up a flaming Salmon Ladder? Wow. Ball's in your court, Stephen Amell and Arrow.

 

I'm happy Meagan Martin makes it to the next round with Team Midoryama (Mi-Dory-Ama?) I think she might be the difference in terms of being on another level from the other female ninjas.

 

How is the format going to work? Twenty-four teams and four-team episodes means there would be six finalists.

[SophiaD]

Having Meagan Martin and Ian Dory on the same team is ridiculous.  They have to be the favorites to win.  

 

I wish Jessie Graff had been with Travis Rosen or the guy who came in second last year.  She was really hampered by her team.

[mlp]

Travis Rosen and Joe Moravsky are two of my all-time favorites so I was sorry to see them competing right away because that meant one would have to lose.  Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the team competitions.  They've stayed away from long back stories which is a big improvement and the competitors seem to be having fun which makes it all enjoyable to watch.  

 

Meagan Martin is my favorite female so I'm glad she did well.

[SharonH58]

Still not sure how I feel about the team aspect.  And you cannot wait 'a' competitor. They are going fast at the same time so it's a blur.  The water touching and knocking each other out of the way.  :(

[Lantern7]

In case you didn't know, Esquire runs 15-minute previews of upcoming episodes of the show. With OnceSane's blessing, I'm starting a thread for those who saw a brief glimpse of 103.

 

Of course Brent and Kacy would be on "Team Alpha." The big takeaway I got from the preview is that the Warped Wall may be more challenging, because Kacy can't climb it. Of maybe she's lost a step. She tried three times, and she came up short. She wound up getting the point because she was the first person to reach the Wall. Then Brent lost his captain's heat to Ryan Stratis, giving Stratis Faction a 3-1 win. Oh, and the other teams on 103 are the Expenda-Bulls (led by Kevin Bull) and Tre's Amigoz (Tremayne Dortch).

[Lantern7]

Fun hour. Lots of close races, Kacy got to climb the Warped Wall (albeit after her opponent fell on a prior obstacle), and the relay final was close, despite Travis Stratis failing on the Dancing Stones, setting off a ten-second penalty for his anchor (the bellowing firefighter from DC). In the end, Kevin Bull and his Expendabulls wind up advancing.

 

ETA: Upon retrospection, I don't think Kacy lost any steps. She's just not blessed with the stamina needed for the new format. How long did it take for her to qualify in 2014? She likes to take her time.

[Chaos Theory]

That is the thing about the new format it mixes different abilities speed and stamina which some don't have. There were always those who battled the clock for the fastest time and there are those like Kacy who battle each obstacle.

[Lantern7]

Saw the preview for next week's episode. The first match pitted Team Ronin (led by Flip Rodriguez) against Karsonic Boom (Karson Voiles). The Ronins get off to a 2-0 start (thanks in part to Flip's pal, JJ Woods), and the anchor leg looks to be in the bag. But Karson manages to do the unthinkable . . . outrace Flip. Matt and Akbar flip out (no pun intended), as Karsonic Boom pulls even. The captains elect to race again, and the rematch is a lot closer, with Flip barely edging out Karson for the win. Next on the schedule: The Wild Bunch (captain: Lance Pekus) vs. Think Tank (Noah Kauffman).

[jvr]

Finally got around to watching this ep, had missed it and saw the 3rd ep out of order.

 

I think Team Midoryama with a strong female in Meagan Martin showed other teams how you might be able to kill the final relay (even though it got a little tight in the end). If you have a killer girl don't put her in the first heat like the other team is sure to do with their girl, place her in the middle where she should have a huge lead from their guy in the first part of the relay against the other teams girl. All she has to do is maintain some of that lead (half to a quarter).

 

Most teams wouldn't be confident in their girl being able to hit whatever the upper body component is or the warped wall consistently and I don't see any team putting their woman last so middle is the edge. I think it's damn obvious now that I saw it and I think it's a good strategy for anyone with a great girl on their team (I miss Jessie).

 

I go back and forth on what to do when there are two strong females. I want to say just mimic the other team, middle/middle and first/first but...

 

If both teams have really good girls I'd maybe wait for them to choose, if they place in the middle you do first, if they place first do the middle. With a really strong girl I doubt the lead for the other team would be big enough in the first heat (with no real upper body, mostly balance and swings, you just have to be fast) to stop their guy from creating a sizable gap in the second heat on upper body against a girl if it starts close.

Edited February 7, 2016 by jvr

[Lantern7]

Anybody else watching? Three takeaways from this week's episode, as Team Ronin advances:

 

1. Karson Voiles and Karsonic Boom are so boring, two of their runs were relegated to "While We Were Away" status, including Karson winning another anchor leg to force sudden death.

 

2. Tiana Webberly of Team Ronin becomes the fifth woman to scale the Warped Wall during competition.

 

3. TNW really does not work well for Lance Pekus. The Wild Bunch got swept in both of their matches.

[MyFavShows]

Finally got to watch a most of these shows last night. Love this format - it's amazing how close so many of them got. Like that they allowed them to hit the water and keep going and liked how at some points the competitors had to share an obstacle. How exciting so many of the races were.

Kacy running up that warped wall when she didn't have to annoyed me. The other woman was beating her and when she fell on the stones (cause she was hurrying) it meant Kacy got to take her time over that obstacle (which makes it 10 times easier). Then she had to showboat and do the rest of the course (at a snails pace cause that's the only way she can) just to prove a point - and it wasn't like she was close to the end like a few of the other people were and were like heck I'll just finish cause it's one more obstacle. She really wasted her energy by finishing the course when she didn't have to and she could have ended up hurting her team when they had to run again. Just thought it was really obnoxious and selfish of her and I'm glad that other team ended up winning in the end.

Most of the other women just as good as her or better. Especially Megan Martin!

Edited February 11, 2016 by MyFavShows

[mlp]

Totally agree.  ^^^^^^^^  I was just as impressed as everyone else when Kacy was the first woman to complete a course, especially because she's so small.  But that was two seasons ago and she hasn't done anything impressive since.  Matt and Akbar need to stop acting like she's the second coming.  I also like Meagan Martin much better.

 

Aside from that, I love the team competitions.  The events are exciting and the competitors are all good sports having fun.  I've already watched each episode twice and most likely will watch them all again.

[Lantern7]

I feel bad for Geoff Britten. First, we see him forced out of the USA/World meet due to sickness. You figured that his Ninja Brittens team (wife Jessica and Dustin McKinney) would have a successful first round against Elet-Trikz (Elet Hall, Dillon Gates, Cassie Craig). First, Dustin wipes out on the cargo net, giving Elet a win. Then Jessica followed suit. Dillon led the anchor leg for most of the way, but Geoff pulled even on the Doorknob Arch with his freakish forearms. The bad news was that Geoff's foot hit the water at one point, and he slipped on Warped Wall, which led to Elet-Trikz getting the 4-0 sweep. The other two teams look interesting: Iron Grip features Sam Sann and Daniel Gil, and The Lab Rats has Michelle Warnky.

[lilabennet]

I don't like that they had to run the captain on the last leg of the relay.  If Pilozzi was able to run against Dory I think the finish would have been closer than it was, and he may even have won for his team.  I think they should have been allowed to place any team member in any relay spot.  And what are they going to do when a team with a female captain makes it to the final relay?  It doesn't make sense.  I am a few episodes behind, so don't shoot me if this has already been addressed.

[Lantern7]

*sigh* At least Ninja Brittens scored one point, which puts them above Wild Bunch. Kinda sucks because we won't get to see Geoff until the summer, and Dustin is going to be deployed for two years.

 

Be honest . . . does anybody remember the Wilczewski brothers? I can only remember so many (male) ninjas. Michelle manages to beat the Warped Wall twice, albeit once when her opponent was already knocked out. I think the MVP of the episode was Daniel, who ran back-to-back races to win in the first round, and he kept things even in the second part of the relay finale. But then the purple-haired Wilczewski brother skipped three rungs -- backwards -- on the Salmon Ladder, and he was beat to beat Sam "Ageless Wonder" Sann to advance Lab Rats.

[mlp]

The only I remembered about the brothers was the background video from a year or two ago that showed them training together.  I don't recall their performances at all and I have no idea why I remember that much.  

 

Daniel Gill is impressive and I like him so I was disappointed that he didn't move on.  I understand why he picked Sam Sann for his team but I think that cost him in the end because Sam at his age just doesn't have the reserves of a younger man so he couldn't pull off a surge at the end.  

[fivestone]

Anybody else watching? Three takeaways from this week's episode, as Team Ronin advances:

 

 

 

3. TNW really does not work well for Lance Pekus. The Wild Bunch got swept in both of their matches.

 

Yep. Actually, it was surprising that Lance didn't so well, because isn't he generally one of the faster ninjas? Oh well, there's always the summer.

[Lantern7]

Not much to write about the previewed battle between Real Life Beasts (Drew Drechel, James McGrath, Erica Cook) and Invincabels (Abel Rodriguez, Nathan Jasso, Jeri D'aurelio). James wins the first heat handily. Jeri gets a nice lead, as Erica get hung up on the cargo net and eventually falls on the Dancing Stones. In the two-point heat, Drew performs an epic dismount from the Ring Toss, winning the match for Real Life Beasts. Up next: Rahnaways (captain: Jamie Rahn) vs. Party Time (Brian Arnold).

 

In other news, the hosts casually let it slip that there will be two wild card teams competing in the next round. I'm guessing it'll be the teams that finished second faster in the Relay Race. If the producers decide to plug in Team Alpha because of Kacy, there will be a lot of pissed fans.

[Kromm]

Anybody else watching? 

I think the sub-forum thing is backfiring. Nobody knows the forum exists.

 

Which is a shame. I think this show has been a huge creative success. I questioned if it would work from hearing about it before the premiere, but I've enjoyed this a lot more than the typical normal ANW episodes (which have so much filler).

[mlp]

I've wondered the same thing because there have been so few comments and the shows have been great.  I've re-watched each one more than once and am getting ready to watch tonight's episode again right now when I should be going to bed.

 

I'd be interested to know how they determined which teams would be wild cards.  I must say I'm glad team Alpha isn't one of them.

 

Those two small women getting up the warped wall at the same time was really something.

[Kromm]

There must be some alternative to the sub-forum (or a MUCH more prominent way to indicate it exists). 

I mean last season's ANW threads could have only 8 or 9 posts, sure, but some of them (same season) had 40 or 50 posts.  But TNW are all... 10 or less posts. Either people aren't watching the show at all (because it's not on NBC) or they ARE and don't know where to post about it.

It could just be the Esquire network thing, I admit. Even with the show talking about it (or G4) for years, I bet a lot of people barely know how to find it on their cable boxes.

[mlp]

 

It could just be the Esquire network thing, I admit. Even with the show talking about it (or G4) for years, I bet a lot of people barely know how to find it on their cable boxes.

 

I think you're right.  Esquire is 76 on my Comcast listing which is a much higher number than anything else I watch so I wouldn't be apt to find it accidentally.  Also it used to be called Style which is what it says on my (old) written guide.  I had to pencil in Esquire.  I don't remember how I figured it out originally but I do recall that it wasn't simple.

 

I hope they keep Alex Curry as the third host.  I like her much, much better than the two blondes.

[Lantern7]

Anybody else think that women making it up the Warped Wall may no longer be as big an achievement as when Kacy did it in 2014? Three women succeeded this week, including two at the same time. I think the announcers' booth needed a squeegee afterward. I didn't take notes . . . maybe I'll rerecord the episode when I free up enough space.

 

In the end, Party Time winds up beating Real Life Beasts in the Relay Race. They needed a substitute after Jake Murray banged his leg trying to dismount Ring Toss in the second heat. They join the five other winning teams, along with two wild card trios . ..  revealed as Storm Team Moravsky and Stratis Faction. Don't ask me how the final two teams will fill a whole hour.

 

ETA: Jake Murray was the guy that cleared Stage One in Vegas last year, then dove into the water. Of course he'd try a do-or-die dismount that wound up injuring him.

[Kromm]

You know, the purple hair on that one brother is no big deal. But someone really needs to send a memo to these guys who wear face-masks that they always--without exception--look like assholes doing that.

I understand why he picked Sam Sann for his team but I think that cost him in the end because Sam at his age just doesn't have the reserves of a younger man so he couldn't pull off a surge at the end.

Sann gets all this praise from the ninjas, I guess, because he's trained so many of them. But he's always seemed so overhyped to me otherwise. That, and even when he DID get up the wall last season I found myself SO irritated by his showboating with the sideways wall lean thing. If these guys as a body got into the habit of showboating for a couple of years (which thankfully they've been humbled a bit from 2 seasons ago when all the top guys back then DQed out), I've wondered if the third piece of that (besides those annoying Wolfpack guys and Flip Rodriguez), were the guys coming out of Sann's gym.

It is funny though that the "go fast at any expense" stuff that pissed us off so much in the normal ANW is actually cool to watch on this show. The flip side of that is that at least we're not getting showboating moves, like gesturing to the crowd or wall leans. The head to head nature of this forces them to not be able to do that shit.

[mlp]

I agree with all of that.  I never liked Flip Rodriguez just because of the ridiculous mask.  Now that he's grown up and discarded that ugly thing, he seems like an OK guy.  I don't understand Jo Jo and one other guy who pull a collar up over their noses either.  What is that supposed to accomplish?  It looks stupid.  Drew Dreschel still annoys me with his showing off but I have to admit - he's good.

[Kromm]

Anybody else think that women making it up the Warped Wall may no longer be as big an achievement as when Kacy did it in 2014?

Anything that's been done a lot SEEMS lessened by that.

However think about what it actually takes for a woman between lets say 5 foot and 5 foot 5 (the general range a lot of these competitors are) to get up that wall vs. some of the tall guys. It takes technique. Generally ANY woman getting up is far more impressive because of that. Whereas some of the guys can literally reach up from much lower on the curve and pull themselves up, even if they screw up the sprint to the wall, and the proper step placement. Whereas the woman literally can't make a mistake. It has to be absolutely perfect to get up the wall. You can't bulldoze or stretch your way through.

[Lantern7]

Esquire posted a sneak preview of the first semifinal, with Team TNT (Travis Rosen) taking on Team Ronin (Flip Rodriguez), with Team Midoryama (Ian Dory) and the wild card Stratis Faction (Ryan Stratis) waiting in the wings.

 

The Ronins wind up sweeping the first match, 4-0, but the last heat was dramatic. Much like Flip's first run against Karson Voiles, he trailed through most of it. Ryan wound up making it to the Warped Wall first, climbed it first . . . but Flip ran so smoothly, he beat Travis to the buzzer, which led to a shot of Matt and Akbar going apeshit in the booth. It's a "must-see" even if the rest of the episode turns out to be a dud.

[Lantern7]

Holy shit, you guys. You gotta check this out.

 

Team Ronin sweeps Team TNT, Then Team Midoryama sweeps Stratis Faction. The Ronins wind up running Flip first, and he and Tiana win the first two heats against Stratis Faction. But then JJ Woods stumbles on the Dancing Stones, and the score is tied.  Ryan follows that up by beating Flip to the buzzer, advancing the wild cards to the Relay.

 

Onto Midoryama vs. TNT. They spilt the first two, and Meagan Martin powers past an overmatched Grace Jones. But Travis Rosen beats Ian Dory in the last heat. The two teams that got swept in the first round muscled their way into the final.

 

As for the Relay? Ryan whiffs on the Warped Wall, and Travis cruises to a win. And apparently, next week's episode is the finale, meaning TNT will face the winners of the other semifinal.

[Dewey Decimate]

I wonder about the way they conduct the finals (and the comps in general). Winning your first round of 3 gets you nothing except the advantage of going against the losing team from the other round. So is it perhaps better to "save" your strength for the second round regardless, maybe treat the first round as a trial run? Maybe it's just because I was mostly rooting for both the losing teams last night (Team Ronin looked so smooth and unbeatable for the first half!), but I'm thinking a better system might be some sort of accumulated performance score.

 

Either way, it's great to see the camaraderie among teams. For a second I was confused about who's on whose team because everyone was cheering at the end of one of the women's heats!

[mlp]

I don't quite understand the rationale behind the scoring either but it seems to work for the contestants.  I also think that, if I were on a winning team, I might resent a losing team coming back as a wild card and rising to the top.  However, Travis Rosen is one of my favorites so I was happy to see him do it.  I know that's inconsistent.  :)

 

I'm really going to miss this show when it's over.  How soon before the regular season starts?

[Lantern7]

Sometimes, I think there should be a system for runners who complete the course even when they don't win or have to finish . . . but the 1-1-2 format works for me.

 

mlp . . . I'm thinking NBC will air the season in late May or early June. I reckon it's the best show they have during the summer.

[Lantern7]

This is it  . . . the season finale. Apparently, Esquire will show the other semifinal, and the winner of that will meet Team TNT in a final Relay Race.

 

First up: Party Time (Brian Arnold, Jake Murray, Jennifer Tavernier) vs. Expendabulls (Kevin Bull, Alan Connealy, Luci Romberg). Jake manages to speed up, beating Alan narrowly. Luci wipes out on the cargo net, giving Party Time a 2-0 lead. The anchor leg is epically close, with Kevin beating Brian to the buzzer by 0.07 seconds. In the sudden death rematch, Brian manages Spin Cycle in three moves, while Kevin fails to duplicate that, giving Party Time the win. Next match: Lab Rats vs. Storm Team Moravsky.

[Lantern7]

Final headline: "PARTY TIME . ..  EXCELLENT!!" I'm kinda hoping they put the guy who filled in for Jake Murray in the preliminary Relay on the trophy. Also hoping that there's another TNW down the road, and that the female ninjas step their game up. Sure, we had the number of Warped Wall-beating women double, but a lot of the heats weren't fun to watch.

 

Also liked the big celebration at the very end. Wouldn't be surprised if the ninjas didn't toss all of Party Time into the water.

[mlp]

Travis Rosen is one of my all-time favorites so I was very disappointed when he fell off the platform.  I'm not crazy about the Wolf Pack but Brian Arnold earned his win so I can't complain.  It was all very exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire competition.  I think Matt and Akbar did too.  I'll be surprised if they don't do it again next winter.  Now I'm looking forward to the start of the regular season.

[SophiaD]

I finally caught up with this last night.  I'm not crazy about the number of runs they have to take over the same course, but it was entertaining and nice to see some of the less-visible guys and women get the spotlight.  I also really like Tiana Webberly.  She seems like the real deal.  

[Meushell]

Daniel Gill is impressive and I like him so I was disappointed that he didn't move on. I understand why he picked Sam Sann for his team but I think that cost him in the end because Sam at his age just doesn't have the reserves of a younger man so he couldn't pull off a surge at the end.

Sam is such an inspiration, and he was an early favorite for me. I agree though. Sam is more about slow and steady. Still, he gave an impressive show in the end.

[Meushell]

I wonder about the way they conduct the finals (and the comps in general). Winning your first round of 3 gets you nothing except the advantage of going against the losing team from the other round. So is it perhaps better to "save" your strength for the second round regardless, maybe treat the first round as a trial run? Maybe it's just because I was mostly rooting for both the losing teams last night (Team Ronin looked so smooth and unbeatable for the first half!), but I'm thinking a better system might be some sort of accumulated performance score.

Either way, it's great to see the camaraderie among teams. For a second I was confused about who's on whose team because everyone was cheering at the end of one of the women's heats!

Yeah, I find the whole setup strange, including the 1-1-2 point system. That first trial run seems to be more about learning the course. Would holding back be considered cheating?

Glad to see TNT win. Was kind of rooting for one of the other non-wild card teams though.