7th Heaven

The second board at the 15th Weasel Pyle was a mix of Weasels and guests helping to fill out boards (and perhaps becoming out-of-town Weasels in the process — welcome, Morgante!), with a couple juicy storylines to spice up the metagame.  Prime Weasel Bryan Pravel had a tenuous hold on the 7th seed for the Royale, but rookie Weasel Michael Stover was right on his heels.  As luck would have it, they drew France and Germany, meaning they’d an early decision of whether grip the knife together or grab it for themselves.  2018 Royale Champion Ali Adib entered the Pyle with a Royale birth secured but only a good board top away from claiming Weasel of the Year.  For fun, the Diplomacy gods put Ali in England.

It turns out Bryan and Michael didn’t struggle much with their choice.  They both sought Ali as an ally against the other, with Michael ultimately “winning” the battle.  Bryan was eliminated by 1905 and, despite only finishing with 4 centers, Michael moved into the 7th spot in the standings.

Ali looked poised to get the big result he needed to move into first place, but he was foiled by the crafty play of Morgante in Italy, who managed to keep Ivan Tchesnokov in Austria and Lei Saarlainen in Russia on side while adopting most of the East.  The game ended by draw vote with Morgante and Ali sharing a 12-center board top.

Players, care to add some more detail in the comments below?

Check out all the moves here.