He'd have to play to get low on health.

Well no, what if you spar 10 easy people? Then you could easily win 10 spars. But lets say you lose 3-4, but you we unscathed in a lot of them by 5 or so hearts. You technically would be the better sparrer than they guy who had 10 wins because you had to spar hard people - due to losses, and won a few by a lot of hearts (which is hard to do) which would prove your greatness. Idk, it seems to even out.

Judging by anonymous neg rep this may have hit a raw nerve in somebody.

Sparring on Graal is rock-paper-scissors. It's impossible to entitle someone as the 'best'.

no it rly isnt, some people really are just that good.

warhawk is up there.

I don't think Thom means it as being a matter of luck, I think he's referring to that vicious-triangle scenario I mentioned previously, which even the most knowledgeable sparrers can be a part of.

If you mean no one is going to win every match, you are correct. It is literally impossible to win all of your spars. (Presuming you have sparred over 1000 times or so.) There comes a time when even the best sparrers lose, and not even to necessarily good sparrers. Sometimes a certain person has a technique that you find difficult to beat, you lack focus, or whatever the variables go on and on. The best can be defined as the most consistent, in terms of sparring people with = rate or more. (even though people say rate doesn't mean anything, it is there for a reason to have comparable numbers). The best is simply someone who can handle almost any spar and win without messing up. If you are "that good" it doesn't matter the circumstances, you will win.

While this is true, I'd compare it to athletic running for instance where some people are very fast over 100 meters, but not so great over long distances, where long distance runners aren't so fast over 100 meters.
The complexity of sparring does change over larger numbers of spars, if there was ever some form of Graalympics again I'd like to see both a knockout tournament and a league setup.

the advantage of having played an active server like UN is that i got to witness top sparrers duking it out. they adapt to different sparring styles and can change their own.

just because someone is good at running and playing "defense" doesn't mean they'll outlast or do any better than someone specialized in offense.

I formally challenge the current spar champion, FACE ME COWARD!

That's kindof my point though, everybody has their default style where some do better than others at first or within a single spar, but given a greater number of spars and subsequent adaptation the tide can change.

Within tournaments you don't really get this time to settle, adapt or perhaps even become fully focussed, I'd say it's a different form of competition with a slightly different set of credentials to when you do get a group of sparrers slugging it out over a few hours.

Top sparrers on UN "series", where they spar eachother multiple times and more than just on one occasion.

This is why I suggested my point system, so you would get 10 spars just like the average series. I guess (in reference to your running analogy) the best runner is personal opinion. In today's flash-bang society we hear about Usain Bolt one of the fastest if not thee fastest man alive. When was the last time there was a lot of hype on a marathon runner? I guess the best is in favor and bias of the societies liking.

sparring tactics:
1:lag and slash n run and repeat(slight lag)
2:lag and slash all over(extreme lag)
3:actually have a non lag match and try to get around the player and hit from the side.
4:stand and slash(noob tactic but works)
5:corner lame
6:???