Unfortunately, as we all know, WIC is paused at the moment. But instead of just sulking around and being sad and argumentative, let's appreciate some of the great recorded games that have already happened in the tournament. After all, that's the whole purpose of tournaments from a viewer's perspective. :D
I chose 5 of the best games from both the Loser's Bracket and the Winner's Bracket. However, only one of the games from each Bracket will be awarded the prize for Best game.
Quoting from the Rules & Settings:
I have included the casts (thanks to pumukel for making it very easy :D) as well as attached the recorded games in the post below
Losers' Bracket
SY B vs Nadya's Boys @ MFOFourSeas
Hong Power
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Vikings, Huns
Watch Cast
qiu, better known as _lx_forever and ilovehong, really put on a show this game, showcasing his excellent knowledge of the Mayan civ and his ability to maximize its strengths. Although the game was looking pretty bad for both of SY B's flanks, the strong play from qiu, assisted by the paladins of xiaoxiong, managed to make this game very memorable.
Vikingos Nomadas vs Poison of Zone @ Atacama
Stuck in the Feudal Age
Mirror civs: Mongols, Mayans, Spanish, Huns
Watch Cast
Both teams chose to have two players slinging from Feudal Age, some of whom were slinging not by choice, but because they fell so hopelessly far behind that it seemed to be the most reasonable strategy. The only real difference in strategy was poZ's decision to have tobi also sling, but from Castle Age. poZ wanted to win solely on the strength of kyo, playing with Mayans, going up against TatoH with mayans and Heimdall with Huns. kyo really did an awesome job, and this game was the best of the
set between poZ and VN because of him.
Dreamers vs Poison of Zone @ MFOFourSeas
Zoo Tycoon
Dreamers civs: Mongols, Persians, Vikings, Huns
poZ civs: Mongols, Mayans, Huns, Vikings
Watch Cast
Once I saw that Patin was massing Elite War Elephants, I was sure that Dreamers would be able to take the game, especially seeing that poZ had no obvious civ counter to Elephants. However, bvirus, with Mayans, was able to hold back the stampede with large amounts of halbs, plumed archers, and some monks that enabled him to open up a zoo of his own to compete with that of Patin. However, the match was decided by who would win on the opposite flank, with Ding and ratS going up against Nicov and Gary, both teams with Mongols and Huns.
Power of Japan vs Vietnam Strategy @ Decentring
Asymmetric Warfare
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Vikings, Huns
Watch Cast
Watching Escape this game was kind of scary. He was able to boom so far ahead of not only his team, but had twice the villagers of the highest on the opposing team at one point. Give him Mongols on top of that, and it was very very scary. I can't imagine how Yellow felt, slinging from the Feudal Age and finding Siege rams and Elite Mangudai outside of his walls. However, VNS implemented a very awesome strategy, and instead of trying to stop the fully-boomed Mongols head on, they decided to attack from another angle, and cut the trade of PoJ in half for a lot of the game. This was a game that got a lot better the longer it went on.
L_Clan vs PL @ Land Nomad
Vem Monstro
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Vikings, Huns
Watch Cast
Disaster struck for both Miguel and FeAge in this game, who really had no answer for Dziamdziak, who managed to thrash them both with the sling he was receiving. Luckily for L_Clan, Chris and Dogao were playing very well and were able to spare their team from an early defeat bringing the game well into the Imperial Age. I would have liked to see Dziam play even more aggressively, but his boom-oriented strategy seemed to work pretty well.
Winners' Bracket
TyRanT Legends vs STr8 @ Land Nomad
How To Counter Britons with Goths??
Mirror civs: Japanese, Huns, Britons, Goths
Watch Cast
It seems like kind of a strange question... because it is. However, it was a real problem for STr8 in this matchup, where Skull, with Goths was having a very hard time to slow down kkab's push with Britons. kkab just seemed to always be a few steps ahead. Some other good moments of this match was DauT defending vs Artras's monk rush and JorDan put in a very bad spot by Emin's crossbows and Skull's knights.
TyRanT Legends vs Nadya's Boys @ Bedouins
Surprise! kkab!
Mirror Civs: Saracens, Mayans, Aztecs, Goths
Watch Cast
This matchup was back and forth and lasted well into the Imperial Age, but the most remarkable thing about it was how kkab managed to find himself located behind enemy lines, very close to both Zuppi and mentalist, and remained basically undetected for at least the first 10 minutes, until Zuppi scouted with sheep. It honestly didn't make much sense to me, since mentalist really should have known an enemy was nearby within about 2-3 minutes of the game, but never flared at all. From this position, kkab managed to cause signifcant damage to both Zuppi and Lojza. There were some other nice moments as well, like JorDan's monk rush being countered by mentalist's pikemen, and kkab farming side by side with his enemies :D
KGB vs SY B @ Team Acropolis
All the Marbles
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Huns, Vikings
Watch Cast
This match between SY B and KGB was the conclusion of the only 4-3 result that occurred in the Winner's Bracket. A lot was at stake in this match and neither team would go down without a fight. KGB planned on the game going to Imperial, as they designed a Castle age sling from Vikings to Mayans. SY B had other ideas, and planned to take an advantage with attacks early in the Castle Age, even from their Viking player. A fun activity for the viewer while watching would be to predict when Alive will research bloodlines for his Mangudai! Spoiler:
Power of Japan vs SY @ Bedouins
Where dem walls at doe?
Mirror Civs: Koreans, Vikings, Teutons, Mayans
Watch Cast
In this matchup, PoJ opted for a Feudal Sling, where their Koreans player slung resources to the Teutons. The teamwork of SY really amazed me, where they were able to brush off PoJ's Feudal sling aggression like it was nothing, without even walling. They were quickly able to go aggressive themselves with the support of a Castle age sling by their Vikings player.
Poison of Zone vs Power of Japan @ Reservoir
Cloud9
Mirror Civs: Vikings, Turks, Saracens, Chinese
Watch Cast
poZ and PoJ are two ever-present teams in competetive AoC, always making appearances in the final rounds of tournaments. This match did not disappoint. It involved both teams having one of their flanks fall far behind very early in the game, cloud with Saracens for poZ and dodonpa with Chinese for PoJ. The game was decided on who could use their boomed, post-imp civ better, Ding with Turks, or Escape with Saracens.
I chose 5 of the best games from both the Loser's Bracket and the Winner's Bracket. However, only one of the games from each Bracket will be awarded the prize for Best game.
Quoting from the Rules & Settings:
Both the Winner bracket and the Loser bracket will have a $ 1500 prize for the best game of the group. The prize will be split among the winning teams, giving $ 750 to each team.
I have included the casts (thanks to pumukel for making it very easy :D) as well as attached the recorded games in the post below
Losers' Bracket
SY B vs Nadya's Boys @ MFOFourSeas
Hong Power
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Vikings, Huns
Watch Cast
qiu, better known as _lx_forever and ilovehong, really put on a show this game, showcasing his excellent knowledge of the Mayan civ and his ability to maximize its strengths. Although the game was looking pretty bad for both of SY B's flanks, the strong play from qiu, assisted by the paladins of xiaoxiong, managed to make this game very memorable.
Vikingos Nomadas vs Poison of Zone @ Atacama
Stuck in the Feudal Age
Mirror civs: Mongols, Mayans, Spanish, Huns
Watch Cast
Both teams chose to have two players slinging from Feudal Age, some of whom were slinging not by choice, but because they fell so hopelessly far behind that it seemed to be the most reasonable strategy. The only real difference in strategy was poZ's decision to have tobi also sling, but from Castle Age. poZ wanted to win solely on the strength of kyo, playing with Mayans, going up against TatoH with mayans and Heimdall with Huns. kyo really did an awesome job, and this game was the best of the
4-3
Dreamers vs Poison of Zone @ MFOFourSeas
Zoo Tycoon
Dreamers civs: Mongols, Persians, Vikings, Huns
poZ civs: Mongols, Mayans, Huns, Vikings
Watch Cast
Once I saw that Patin was massing Elite War Elephants, I was sure that Dreamers would be able to take the game, especially seeing that poZ had no obvious civ counter to Elephants. However, bvirus, with Mayans, was able to hold back the stampede with large amounts of halbs, plumed archers, and some monks that enabled him to open up a zoo of his own to compete with that of Patin. However, the match was decided by who would win on the opposite flank, with Ding and ratS going up against Nicov and Gary, both teams with Mongols and Huns.
Power of Japan vs Vietnam Strategy @ Decentring
Asymmetric Warfare
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Vikings, Huns
Watch Cast
Watching Escape this game was kind of scary. He was able to boom so far ahead of not only his team, but had twice the villagers of the highest on the opposing team at one point. Give him Mongols on top of that, and it was very very scary. I can't imagine how Yellow felt, slinging from the Feudal Age and finding Siege rams and Elite Mangudai outside of his walls. However, VNS implemented a very awesome strategy, and instead of trying to stop the fully-boomed Mongols head on, they decided to attack from another angle, and cut the trade of PoJ in half for a lot of the game. This was a game that got a lot better the longer it went on.
L_Clan vs PL @ Land Nomad
Vem Monstro
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Vikings, Huns
Watch Cast
Disaster struck for both Miguel and FeAge in this game, who really had no answer for Dziamdziak, who managed to thrash them both with the sling he was receiving. Luckily for L_Clan, Chris and Dogao were playing very well and were able to spare their team from an early defeat bringing the game well into the Imperial Age. I would have liked to see Dziam play even more aggressively, but his boom-oriented strategy seemed to work pretty well.
Winners' Bracket
TyRanT Legends vs STr8 @ Land Nomad
How To Counter Britons with Goths??
Mirror civs: Japanese, Huns, Britons, Goths
Watch Cast
It seems like kind of a strange question... because it is. However, it was a real problem for STr8 in this matchup, where Skull, with Goths was having a very hard time to slow down kkab's push with Britons. kkab just seemed to always be a few steps ahead. Some other good moments of this match was DauT defending vs Artras's monk rush and JorDan put in a very bad spot by Emin's crossbows and Skull's knights.
TyRanT Legends vs Nadya's Boys @ Bedouins
Surprise! kkab!
Mirror Civs: Saracens, Mayans, Aztecs, Goths
Watch Cast
This matchup was back and forth and lasted well into the Imperial Age, but the most remarkable thing about it was how kkab managed to find himself located behind enemy lines, very close to both Zuppi and mentalist, and remained basically undetected for at least the first 10 minutes, until Zuppi scouted with sheep. It honestly didn't make much sense to me, since mentalist really should have known an enemy was nearby within about 2-3 minutes of the game, but never flared at all. From this position, kkab managed to cause signifcant damage to both Zuppi and Lojza. There were some other nice moments as well, like JorDan's monk rush being countered by mentalist's pikemen, and kkab farming side by side with his enemies :D
KGB vs SY B @ Team Acropolis
All the Marbles
Mirror civs: Mayans, Mongols, Huns, Vikings
Watch Cast
This match between SY B and KGB was the conclusion of the only 4-3 result that occurred in the Winner's Bracket. A lot was at stake in this match and neither team would go down without a fight. KGB planned on the game going to Imperial, as they designed a Castle age sling from Vikings to Mayans. SY B had other ideas, and planned to take an advantage with attacks early in the Castle Age, even from their Viking player. A fun activity for the viewer while watching would be to predict when Alive will research bloodlines for his Mangudai! Spoiler:
Never!
Power of Japan vs SY @ Bedouins
Where dem walls at doe?
Mirror Civs: Koreans, Vikings, Teutons, Mayans
Watch Cast
In this matchup, PoJ opted for a Feudal Sling, where their Koreans player slung resources to the Teutons. The teamwork of SY really amazed me, where they were able to brush off PoJ's Feudal sling aggression like it was nothing, without even walling. They were quickly able to go aggressive themselves with the support of a Castle age sling by their Vikings player.
Poison of Zone vs Power of Japan @ Reservoir
Cloud9
Mirror Civs: Vikings, Turks, Saracens, Chinese
Watch Cast
poZ and PoJ are two ever-present teams in competetive AoC, always making appearances in the final rounds of tournaments. This match did not disappoint. It involved both teams having one of their flanks fall far behind very early in the game, cloud with Saracens for poZ and dodonpa with Chinese for PoJ. The game was decided on who could use their boomed, post-imp civ better, Ding with Turks, or Escape with Saracens.