My original impression from a quick look at the models presented was that CMaddison (Chris) would easily have the win simply because of the quantity of the builds made. Reticence (Mike) made 14 builds, and Chris made 28. However, Mike was able to keep up by making models that were motorized. Making models that move is another skill set that is starting to be used more and more, and I welcome it. Mike’s launcher is particularly impressive.
Individual Comments:

Chris: Some astounding work! There are several models you made that I really like:

The Haida Bird - great use of the part as a graphic element.
Orthanc - great use of the part all around.
Yo Dawg You Like Forklifts - besides the build, it’s a humorous take on what could have been just a forklift.
Nerdy Fett - Almost hidden use of the mystery part.

Your Sword in the Stone is a perfect presentation of the model and giving it a context. On the other hand, "Play it again, Sam” should have been in black and white to make the context clearer. That was the only ding on a group of MOCs!

Mike: Great work! The models I like here:

This is Duck - A funny story is in this MOC, and I really like storytelling. It’s one thing to build a model, but to make an environment and story takes a model to he next level
Hunting Season - A working launcher using the seed part! That’s very clever on many levels. Making a function model is one level, using the seed part to create that function is another.
Summer - Another story, but a different environment. Also a hidden seed part. The ‘gesture' of the girl is straight out wonderful - the illusion of motion is very well done!
Renji - This is a model closer to the style I am used to seeing from you and it’s easy to see how comfortable you are in building this way. Great motion is shown in the figure.
Creation - A model that is a completely different direction from the others - it’s art. It’s what we want it to be. Lovely work.

If you only built static models, you would have been overwhelmed by Chris. Hunting Season, and Up and Down changed the dynamic by introducing motion, which was a good strategy. The thing that held you back was that your presentation wasn’t as polished as Chris (lighting was a bit harsh on some builds) . This was really tough for me to judge, and could have been different if you had an animated figure. That’s how tight this was for me.

What made the determination was ultimately the presentation, and Mike was just below Chris in setup. Will talk about that below.

Also, black is a lousy color to photograph. Just sayin’.

CMaddison
Building Skill: 20/20
Presentation: 20/20
Use of Mystery Part: 20/20
TOTAL 60/60

Reticence
Building Skill: 20/20
Presentation: 19.5/20
Use of Mystery Part: 20/20
TOTAL 60/60 59.5/60

First off, the part choice for this round is very challenging. The unique shape of the tip presents opportunities to use it in ways where the typical rectangular bricks would not achieve the same effect. However, the size of the part and the 1x2 technic brick attached to it limits its use significantly. Part of the challenge of Iron Builder is demonstrating flexibility in one's building style to work with unusual parts outside one's familiarity. In this regard I think Chris excelled and was able to come up with many creative uses for the part. Both builders displayed similar levels in building skill, but Chris is slightly ahead again because I think his models showed was more comfortable working with this challenging part. In terms of presentation, I'd like to suggest to both builders to consider varying their backgrounds. Using different colors in the background makes each work more distinct, so having multiple colored poster boards would help. Below are comments on specific MOCs:

Hey Neighbor! is a solid entry with good presentation and great use of the part to bring out its unique shape.

This is Duck has a good use of the part for the bills, the eyes also add a lot of character to the birds.

Haida Bird is one of my favorite entries. This highlights the part in its entirely and has the technic hole contributing to the style of the creation.

Angry Birds uses the part again in a way where no other lego part could achieve the same purpose.

"Play it again, Sam" combines great use of the part with an atmospheric edit to enhance the presentation.

Howl Zabimaru shows off Mike's mastery of building figures and incorporating bionicle elements. The effect created with the mystery part is certainly creative.

Heartbreak is an example of a great way to use the piece. It really highlights the sharp point of the part as you'd see it on an EKG.

Art Deco Heels and Dress is a simple but effective way to use the part. The stiletto is spot on.

Cmaddison
Building skill: 18
Presentation:15
Use of the mystery part: 19

retinence
Building skill: 17
Presentation: 15
Use of the mystery part: 15

One again I find myself in the unenviable position of Iron Builder judge. It is an honor to serve, but you can imagine how difficult it is to do. The two builders this round are both incredibly skilled and creative, and the smack talk this time was pretty epic. So without further ado, here are my scores…

Cmaddison
So many of these MOCs speak to me, not only for my love of characters and Star Wars, but some were practically made for me with entries to NERDvember. There is certainly some highs and lows in this selection of MOCs though, so consistency could be better. But sheer quantity needs to be considered here with nearly double the entries as your opponent. And of course there’s the boobs, my intellectual side says “hmm, sort of a cop out there” but my neanderthal side says “ohh, boobies”. Overall you just eaked out the lead, for creative use of the part.

Retinence
The mechanical builds were the highlight for me this round. It’s hard enough just cranking out the MOCs during Iron Builder, but to make them actually do something, that’s impressive. While the genre of models and concepts was all over the map, the build quality was consistent, more so than your opponent, kudos for that. Keeping the quality up for so many builds is not easy. I also feel that more of your MOCs were on a higher level artistically, with some very provocative pieces. In the end, the use of the part was not quite as creative or unexpected as your opponent, but hold your head high, your work is still stunning.=

Cmaddison
Building skill 17/20
presentation 18/20
use of part 18/20

Retinence
Building skill 18/20
presentation 17/20
use of part 17/20