This month saw a strong crop of battles released by DF, KOTD, URL and some upstart leagues, led by footage from Battle of the Bay 6 and 5th Birthday Weekend. Here we highlight some of the most interesting battles from November.

BIGG K VS ILLMACULATE

It’s a tired, overused line to describe a close battle as having as having “no losers.” But the Illmaculate/Bigg K battle is one time when that’s undeniably the case. Sure, there are some people firmly entrenched in the pro-Illmac or pro-Bigg K camps, but so many others shift their allegiances with each viewing.

For Illmac, it was a glorious return to KOTD, enough so that any future Fresh Coast card will feel incomplete without him. For Bigg K, it was perhaps the finest KOTD debut in history, making instant fans out of those who weren’t familiar with his work. Bigg K recently said on Facebook that his battle career is done. Fortunately, he has a battle booked against Jonny Storm in April and posted this on RMBVA.

CHARRON VS ARSONAL

Yes, Arsonal/Charron was a bizarre match-up when it was announced, and yes, the result was pretty damn awkward at times. But it was notable for several reasons. For starters, Arsonal choked for the first time, fumbling on his phone and stalling for a good chunk of his second round. And yet, he did just enough (ie. punking Charron in his third) that his most hardcore supporters can argue a 2-1 result in his favour.

For Charron, it’s yet another successful result in what has been a transcendent year for him. His form was perhaps better against Unanymous and DNA, but that’s beside the point: every time Charron faces a tougher opponent, he meets the challenge and exceeds expectations. And next time he faces a big-name URL opponent, the match-up won’t sound so bizarre.

CEE MAJOR/CRACKER VS SHUFFLE T/MARLO

Cee Major and Cracker spent most of 2013 tearing through Don’t Flop’s 2-vs-2 tournament, but in this battle, Marlo and Shuffle T prove themselves to be the best doubles team in the league, and, undeniably, the world.

There are spots where the battle drags on a bit, but the “we’re-better-best-friends-than you angle” in the second is wildly entertaining. The content also works better if you know the stories of Cee Major converting to Islam for his girlfriend.

Now that Marlo and Shuffle are 2-on-2 champions with no real competition in sight, the next question is: Which one of them will get the first title shot?

N-POSE VS HOODROW TRILLSON

N-Pose has been one of our favourite up-and-comers for a while now, and it’s good to see him back on track with bars rather than the antics he was trying out. This battle went down only a week after Pose faced 100 Bulletz in Windsor’s Rhyme Runners league and it seems to have thrown off his usual energy.

Trillson brings killer lines and has a style that would please the crowd if he had a crowd that could keep up with his references. “Bang out a fricken (African) drum, no djembe” was fire, but barely made a spark.

If you’ve been following N-Pose’s career, make sure to check Trillson’s vivisection of his KOTD appearances in the second round. Deadly.

DAYLYT VS MYCALL MILLION

We suppose you could call this a rap battle, although it feels a lot more like performance art. Daylyt has three full rounds of punches and haymakers … just not how you’d expect. Maybe it’s meta-rap? Or maybe he’s been so busy battling lately he just didn’t have time to write anything.

_________________

Did we miss any good battles? Let us know on Twitter. Want more updates? Join our Facebook page. Need to watch more battles? Check our favourites from August, September and October.

Hyped for Blackout 4? Us too. Listen to our podcast about who we want to see there.