We’re previewing Schmoedown Spectacular this week with a look at the four title matches. Up first is the battle for the Star Wars championship between the current champion, Thomas Harper, and the number one contender, Nicki Dimalanta.
What’s At Stake
While this match has no implications on the faction race, the outcome might have the biggest historical implications. After all, this is the first rookie vs rookie title match at Spectacular, and that alone is historic. For Thomas Harper, getting his first defense is crucial. Harper is fighting to be in the class of champions with Alex Damon and Andrew Dimalanta, both of whom had title runs that contained multiple defenses. He has the potential to become the Star Wars GOAT and to achieve that he needs to defend multiple times. With how competitive the division is, securing a first title defense sooner rather than later would be key for Harper as it might be a while before he would get the opportunity to compete for the championship again. Nicki Dimalanta might be his opponent in the match, but Harper is going up against Griffin Newman for the Rookie of the Year accolade. In any other year, Harper would have probably won by a landslide, but the race between him and Newman is close. Some already say that it’s over. However, the one thing Harper can achieve this season that Newman cannot is a title defense. A win here could be a tiebreaker in a neck and neck Rookie of the Year race. Overall, Harper is trying to cement himself in Schmoedown history and add to his already impressive legacy, and a win would put him in a different tier of champions.
On the other side, Nicki Dimalanta is trying to become the first female Schmoedown Star Wars champion. If Dimalanta can achieve this, then she might steal the show and become the most memorable part of Spectacular. Ending the season as an undefeated Schmoedown Star Wars champion, defeating Alex Damon, Gold Leader, and Harper along the way, would cap off a mind-blowingly impressive season. It would put her in the ranks of Adam Collins, Paul Oyama, and Harper for greatest rookie runs to the title. Especially in this division, Dimalanta needs to make the most of her opportunities. Star Wars is one of the toughest divisions to win a title in. Greats like Laura Kelly, Joseph Scrimshaw, Andres Cabrera, and Gold Leader have not been able to win the belt, and there is no guarantee that Dimalanta would be able to return to a title match anytime soon. To become a champion is a legacy-defining moment, putting oneself in a different class of competitors. This is a chance for Dimalanta has the chance to make history, but this is also a chance that is tough to take advantage of.
The Argument for Harper Winning
Harper has more than lived up to the hype. With a 95% percent accuracy rate, Harper has looked unstoppable. He’s the clear favorite due to that accuracy. With the betting round most likely having both competitors bet three points and probably answer correctly, whoever has the lead going into the speed round will have a huge advantage and most would probably bet that Harper would have the lead at that point in the game. Harper has more experience in sudden death if it comes to that. Overall, Harper is just a stone-cold killer. In every match he’s played, no matter what happened, there was nothing that seemed to rattle him. When he can’t afford to miss a question, he usually doesn’t.
The Argument for Dimalanta Winning
While it seems that Dimalanta is the less accurate player, she’s not far behind Harper with a 91% accuracy rate. She most likely wouldn’t be intimidated by the stakes of the match (or at least won’t let it affect her) given that she had to beat the current GOAT of Star Wars, Alex Damon, to get to this title match. She has a killer crew to train with for her first live event. Having experienced champions in her manager, Samm Levine, and her husband, Andrew Dimalanta, helping to train her could come in clutch, especially in the speed round. Given that it’s the first live event for both competitors, the speed round could determine the match. If Levine can help Ethan Erwin get better at the speed round, it is likely that he can do the same for Dimalanta. While the Den clearly has its advantages in helping Harper train, they don’t have the experienced champions like Dimalanta has in her corner from the Usual Suspects. The writers have stepped up their game when it comes to Star Wars question difficulty, and Dimalanta has more experience with those newer questions than Harper since it has been a while since Harper played. Not playing for this long can easily affect a player, and Dimalanta must take advantage of that. In the end, all Dimalanta needs to be is within five points because she has been a killer at the final round and all it takes is one tough five-point question to make any champion fall. I think Dimalanta is clearly good enough to be at least within five points heading into the final round, and if Harper picks the wrong numbers, she can easily take advantage of that and win the match.
Predictions
In the end, I am going chalk and picking Thomas Harper. In general, I have trouble picking the upset in Star Wars, and in the history of the division, it’s usually the champions who defend. I think Dimalanta can easily pull the upset, but there is just something about Harper that makes me scared to bet against him. No matter who wins, this match will greatly impact Schmoedown history.
