Welcome to the Top 20, a regular round up of the mortals with the highest scores who have played within the past 7 days at Viktor Toth's MUD2 site.

	3 June 1998
	1.      Mercury    2.        Toto    3.        Kenny    4.        Zalagar    5.        Sirkilalot    6.        Beermug    7.        Challenger    8.        Sonsie    9.        Shortcake   10.        Damned   11.        Emmapeel   12.        Slasher   13.        Joxer   14.        Angelmist   15.        Anthrax   16.        Barafundle   17.        Trillian   18.        Fujiyama   19.        Poledra   20.        Wombat
Next update: 10 June 1998 Previous update: 27 May 1998

Mercury the mage has comfortably remained at the top of the chart for the 3rd week in succession. This remarkable achievement has previously only been bettered by Dirk, who spent an unbeaten 4 weeks in the number 1 spot. We won't know 'til next Wednesday whether Mercury has the grit it'll take to hang in there. With more than one mage snapping at his heels it may be quite a battle. There is one mage, however, who should pose little problem: Toto spends a third week at number 2 and isn't making too much progress. Surely he hasn't turned into a tearoom lap-dog, content to hear The Land's goings on only second hand? All the same, congratulations to both Mercury and Toto for remaining the top duo for so long!

Kenny is bubbling under the top two, and could be the real threat next week. He's made astounding progress over the last 7 days. First heard of in The Land little more than a week ago, Kenny bounds into The Top 20 at number 3, and claims the title of this week's Highest New Entry. If it hadn't been for a minor set back (when Alcapone snuffed out his existence) Kenny might have made an even higher first entry into the chart. Oddly, last week, Alcapone (now absent) occupied the number 3 slot that Kenny now fills. Perhaps a ironic justice there?

So where is Alcapone? He was only ever seen bristling with wafers and throbbing with magic, and was reputedly faster on his feet than Damned (who this week made a record breaking run through the swamp). But even Alcapone wasn't fast enough to beat the dragon. Our fire-breathing friend wiped Alcapone's existence from The Land, leaving only the sound of a bell tolling in the distance. In other deaths, Laura and Tethys, last week at numbers 17 and 19 respectively, had their life force sapped within seconds of each other as the Grim Reaper prowled the Land.

Three players have made speedy progress up the Top 20 this week with Sonsie and Damned (up 6 places each) beaten to the title of Fastest Climber by Slasher. Last week Slasher languished at number 20, but this week shoots up a fantastic 8 places to number 12. I have to ask, with a name like that, did he kill someone? Sonsie's climb is, yet again, all the more remarkable when I tell you that since she claimed the number 14 spot last week a mean hunter orc snuffed her out, meaning she had to start again from novice! There were three fallers this week: Challenger, Shortcake and Emmapeel; although they each only slip a little. Shortcake deserves a special mention, so more of him in a moment.

Along with our afore-mentioned meteoric risers, Beermug and Angelmist have also gained ground this week (though more slowly) up one place a piece to numbers 6 and 14. Over the last few days Beermug has been working hard to make his first mage: a special moment for any mortal. He finally managed it yesterday at the end of a mobile bash with the assistance of the 3,000 point success bonus. Congrats, Beermug! However, remember the evil toad Shortcake's special mention? Beermug and Shortcake had double teamed the last mobile (the spider), having worked together throughout the bash. Every player knew how much Beermug was hoping to make mage for the first time, but when it came to the spider's demise and subsequent bonus, it was more than Shortcake could resist. Seeing Beermug had been sorely wounded by the arachnid he lept on the fresh mage and forced a flee from him, sending Beermug back down to warlock, and under Sirkilalot (at number 5) in the Top 20. Shame on Shortcake..! However, Beermug promises he'll be back with his second ever mage by next week. Hurrah!

With 5 new entries at the bottom of this week's Top 20 we can look forward to plenty of action over the next week. Good luck to Anthrax, Barafundle, Trillian, Fujiyama and Wombat... with the likes of Kenny, Challenger and Shortcake around, you'll need it!