Since we're in something like the same timezone and were often 2 of the 4 people activating in the Box during that time, I've gotten to play studmandudebro quite a bit, as well as spectated a bunch of his matches. During this time I have developed a theory: studman is awesome for FUMBBL. I know a lot of you already wave your shirt like a helicopter while you kill all mens, but for the few unconverted this blog exists to lay down my reasoning. From what I can tell, most of resistance to his coaching style is due to his choice to coach the cheesiest minmax squad of them all: the lone wolf necro team. So to tease out the reason for not getting buff rowdy, first we have to consider the reasons that minmaxed teams are looked down on. From what I can see there are three main reasons:

1. They have the potential to destroy the other coach’s team when it is most vulnerable (when it’s just starting out) and, in the process, turn new coaches away from Blackbox. This mainly refers to minmaxed clawpomb teams (your Chaos Dwarf-and-hobbo-only teams, your two-wolves-and-a-carrier Necro teams, your legend marauders + fodder Pact teams, etc.), but I suppose a properly minmaxed Zon squad could take you out too. Of the three arguments against studman, this is probably the one I'd say has the most heft: I've seen squads (including my own) decimated by the rowdiness of aesthetic dog. However, MY absolute most devastating games when starting a rookie squad have all been against other rookie teams that just got hot dice, so it can easily happen in other ways. Luckily, a team with really low TV probably won’t have lots of super skilled mens to lose, that is unless it’s also a minmaxed team (in which case everyone wins!). And if the loss is FUN, the coach might still stick around. I recently lost a game against Topper but it was so enjoyable, with so much good banter, that it felt like a win. The next match the team was destroyed by a rookie chaos dwarf squad in a game where two players (including a gutter) died on dodges (in a game with almost no banter). Such is Blood Bowl.

2. They exploit the system/they make for boring teams. Well, we all exploit the system to one degree or another; minmaxing may be taking it to the extreme but the really great box Dark Elf and Vampire squads take advantage of the relatively low levels of tackle in the Box just as Ranked squads often go ultra-heavy on tackle to deal with all the elves that live there. Play to your environment. If you’re trying to play tournament games, build a diverse squad. If you just want to get through the day-to-day, do what you need. In the Human League, I am always looking for the most efficient team w/ re: skills and number of players, and the coaches there offer tips based on their own efficiency findings. I tend to get annoyed when my humans get matched up against a real killer squad, but I also relish a challenge, so there are some positives. Part of the reason I play in the box in the first place is that I’d be too much of a coward to challenge these teams in Ranked :D

3. They allow for efficient winning. This, to me, is the reason that most coaches decry super-minmaxing: it makes it easier for that team’s coach to win games. In conjunction with this is the belief that the coach in question will be artificially inflating his coach rating or status on the site (whether founded or not I really don’t know, nor do I much feel like exploring it - you can read through this thread if you want a semi-recent example of the CR debate). This is where an argument against studman falls apart. When faced with a team that has been reduced to two players, down 0-1 on turn 17, what does studman do? Piles on with the ball carrier, of course! When he can pick up the ball with aesthetic wolf, does he do it? No! He blitzes every time! Is this usually probably the “worse” strategy for the moment (with regard to making the game more likely to be won)? Mmmmm… yes. But is it the most fun? ABSOLUTELY!

That’s what makes a game with studman the best: even if your mens are all killed, the crazy fun of the whole thing is infectious (well, at least for me!). You can play any style of game against him you want and he will be fine with it. I’ve never once seen studman complain about dice, his men dying, losing, or anything else. In spirit, I’d put him in the same orbit as a super cool coach like Rabe: he is (or was) playing merely for the fun of the game on his own terms. And coaches like that make FUMBBL a better place.