With phase 2 of the House Hunt just days away it is finally time for a proper recap of last year's competition, including some post season distinctions and of course the answer to the highly controversial, "who won House Hunt?"
Due to the secretive nature of the House Hunt, many specifics regarding the rules and scoring mechanisms remained shrowded in mystery. This was in part to protect against possible attempts to "game the system." And also because of the transience of any formal structure given to this activity. That being said, there are criteria for picking a winner that can be detailed out here for the different Houses to understand. While points by no means determine the champion, they are a useful indicator of success. When weighing the point system the most important elements were the number of House heirlooms collected with slightly less value given to the number of tasks completed as a house. As far as final point totals, this was a thriller. With less than 24 hours before all scores were finalized(as specified in the original House Hunt email) there was an unprecedented switch up between first and second place spurred by a sibling betrayal of biblical proportions. I'm referring of course to when Campbell Coughlin of 4th place Snowpex, snuck into Legendaw captain Tucker Coughlin's backpack to retrieve the 20 point variable plate which had been stolen by Legendaw from Brumblein hardly a week prior. In a move that hurt Legendaw far more than it helped Snowpex, Campbell allowed Brumblein to regain the lead they'd held so dominantly for the majority of the House Hunt. The final standings were then cemented as such: 1. Brumbelin 2. Legendaw 3. Snowpex 4. Pandor
Now as for variable factors what i considered most heavily were participation, grit and spirit. The first special acknowledgement here must be made to Ethan Escobar of Pandor. Ethan epitomized the determination of Pandor by his many attempts at tackling Fenner(R.I.P. - Rest In Prague) and overall zest with witch he approached the more physical challenges. He also gave new meaning to the term "street rules" in his acquisition of the coveted Santa painting which is important seeing as creativity and boundary pushing are always valued during the House Hunt scoring process.Other distinctions belong to Bella Brodsky and Lily Moreno-Sheridan of Brumbelin who maintained an unmatched level of consistency in their completion of House tasks, while simultaneously acquiring something of a villain status for Brumbelin.This is perhaps fitting given the reputation of their founder Beaux, in relation to the other Houses... Final credit should be given to the sibling power house of Cambell and Tucker Coughlin for carrying their respective, often dejected House members on their backs for a majority of the Hunt.
Personal honors aside, the key to winning phase 1 of House Hunt was commitment. Throwing yourself into something you don't totally understand can be difficult for many. But you can not win a phase, never mind the House crown by staying passive. This puts tremendous pressure on the captains to keep their house's focused and motivated. The only two teams that competed in every challenge were Pandor and Brumbelin making them the two finalists for a phase 1 victory. Snowpex and Legendaw both had occasions where they could have been participated but opted out, eliminating them from serious contention. This is a good example of where the points matter. Had Legendaw for instance finished with the most points, one of the perks is that they would have been exempt from any such a disqualification. Between Pandor and Brumbelin the victory went to whoever deciphered what the BWW tagline meant attached to all House emails. This was ultimately achieved by Brumbelin making them the rightful phase 1 champions. Only fitting that Brumbelin captain Fenner Stevens died for a winning cause. May the laurels of victory be spread across his grave.
Looking ahead, phase 2 will value different elements and will test new skills which will be detailed in the next HH Podcast. Until then, let the Brumbelin flag fly at EWW and as always, alea iacta est...