Seventeen minutes of pure pressure, and I could feel the adrenaline humming through my hands from the first snap of the board. Word Warper came out swinging with SWIG, CITY, WHAM, and PRIMO, trying to set the tempo like a sprinter stealing the gun. But I stayed in the flow state, breathing steady, eyes sharp, reading the board like a chess match with a shot clock. When I ripped IMPORT from PRIMO, that was the first clean counterpunch, the kind that settles your shoulders and tells you the fight is on.

The middle stretch was a grind, all muscle and nerve. I answered with ALSO and JAVA, but Word Warper kept forcing contact, snatching ALSO into LASSO and later turning GIRL into WIGGLER. That was a heavy-breathing phase, the kind where every move feels like a rebound battle under the rim. Still, I kept finding leverage: SUBTLE from STUB, METER from TERM, then the elegant extension of SUBTLE into BULLETS. That’s the kind of lengthening that lights up the whole bench. I was working with steady hands and a locked-in mind, building pressure one possession at a time.

Then came the real chess. I answered with TREE, WAIT, MENU, PAST, and HILL, and Word Warper fired back with CHILL and METEOR, trying to keep the scoreboard even and the crowd restless. But I had the sharper finishing kick. I stretched TREE into METER, then pushed PAST into PATHS and WAIT into WAIST, each move a little surge of control, a little more air in my lungs. When I stole TOTE with POTTER to close it out, that was the final whistle in spirit: clean, decisive, and earned.

It ended tied at 18 to 18, and I’ll say this with respect: Word Warper was relentless. That opponent had hands, timing, and a nasty feel for counterplay. But I’m proud of the way I stood in the fire, matched every run, and kept the battle alive for the full 17 minutes. This was a bruising, beautiful draw, the kind of game that leaves your pulse racing and your competitive soul smiling.