What can I say that I have not yet said before. We are down to the final four in this season and the matches are heating up. With the winners of these games going into the Finals and the losers going into the 3/4th place game no one's season ends today. But that chance for gold certainly does.
The powerhouse teams remaining all deserve a big round of applause for coming so far and no matter what happens truly deserve praise for showing up for games and producing such wonderful and entertaining recorded games for us to watch.
I have been quite busy lately so sorry if this post is not quite as good as usual. Hope you enjoy anyway!
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Match 1 - _XJL_ v PiA
Prediction from last week (2-1).
Game 1
Map - Arabia
Civ Chosen - Hun Mongol Maya v Hun Mongol Maya
Flank 1 - _XJL_ Maya v PiA Mongol
Pocket - Hun v Hun
Flank 2 - _XJL_ Mongol v PiA Maya
Comments: I was quite excited to see this game simply because _XJL_ has been exceeding expectations greatly all season and
there was even a bit of trash talking before this one. This was the first time i predicted that _XJL_ would win it and their arabia
games are always very good to watch. Having double hun pockets also made it more interesting of a game because the game
will probably become contingent on an early big castle push winning it. In short, the team with the better pocket should win
early by being able to crush a flank by winning the knight battle. On Flank 2, both drush and the _XJL_ mongol goes up
quicker and pushes forward with towers and men-at-arms. He towers the main PiA gold pile and multiple other places making
life for the PiA Maya more difficult. Pocket XJL floods knights to the weakened and trushed PiA on flank 2 making things
even more difficult. Pocket PiA goes to save flank 2. After the few m@a are killed and the towering vils are dead, flank 2 PiA
is hurt but it becomes clear the the advantage is held by PiA. By trushing Flank 2's _XJL_ is left very vulnerable. Flank 2 PiA
fights back by going full spears and tower pushing right back. A sneaky move by PiA's pocket makes a seige workshop
behind _XJL_'s pocket base and 4 rams and quite a lot of knights all push in for the kill. Quite a well orchestrated attack. It
ends up killing many knights for both teams some villagers and one tc of XJL pocket goes down. The game looks to be pretty
much over as flank 1 PiA rolls into flank 1 _XJL_'s town with FU emangudai and rams, but on the other flank the same thing is
happening but in reverse order. The score gap draws closed and it becomes anyone's game. A great comeback by _XJL_
and the game gets quite interesting. Flank 2 _XJL_ begins to try and make the switch from eew to plumes and loses 2 castles
in the process. Not well placed castles at all and 2 rams take them both down with relative ease. This is another turning point
and the scores show so. PiA then sneaks a few mangudai into the trade route of _XJL_ and does very serious damage killing
~20 trade carts before even noticed. The once almost completely dead PiA flank 2 does an amazing job staying alive and
contributing with halbs and skirms while trying to rebuild a lost economy. Pocket for PiA disconnects and _XJL_ says gg
instead of resuming the game. Quite a good one, definitely worth the watch. PiA wins
Civ Chosen - Hun Mongol Maya v Hun Mongol Maya
Flank 1 - _XJL_ Maya v PiA Mongol
Pocket - Hun v Hun
Flank 2 - _XJL_ Mongol v PiA Maya
Comments: I was quite excited to see this game simply because _XJL_ has been exceeding expectations greatly all season and
there was even a bit of trash talking before this one. This was the first time i predicted that _XJL_ would win it and their arabia
games are always very good to watch. Having double hun pockets also made it more interesting of a game because the game
will probably become contingent on an early big castle push winning it. In short, the team with the better pocket should win
early by being able to crush a flank by winning the knight battle. On Flank 2, both drush and the _XJL_ mongol goes up
quicker and pushes forward with towers and men-at-arms. He towers the main PiA gold pile and multiple other places making
life for the PiA Maya more difficult. Pocket XJL floods knights to the weakened and trushed PiA on flank 2 making things
even more difficult. Pocket PiA goes to save flank 2. After the few m@a are killed and the towering vils are dead, flank 2 PiA
is hurt but it becomes clear the the advantage is held by PiA. By trushing Flank 2's _XJL_ is left very vulnerable. Flank 2 PiA
fights back by going full spears and tower pushing right back. A sneaky move by PiA's pocket makes a seige workshop
behind _XJL_'s pocket base and 4 rams and quite a lot of knights all push in for the kill. Quite a well orchestrated attack. It
ends up killing many knights for both teams some villagers and one tc of XJL pocket goes down. The game looks to be pretty
much over as flank 1 PiA rolls into flank 1 _XJL_'s town with FU emangudai and rams, but on the other flank the same thing is
happening but in reverse order. The score gap draws closed and it becomes anyone's game. A great comeback by _XJL_
and the game gets quite interesting. Flank 2 _XJL_ begins to try and make the switch from eew to plumes and loses 2 castles
in the process. Not well placed castles at all and 2 rams take them both down with relative ease. This is another turning point
and the scores show so. PiA then sneaks a few mangudai into the trade route of _XJL_ and does very serious damage killing
~20 trade carts before even noticed. The once almost completely dead PiA flank 2 does an amazing job staying alive and
contributing with halbs and skirms while trying to rebuild a lost economy. Pocket for PiA disconnects and _XJL_ says gg
instead of resuming the game. Quite a good one, definitely worth the watch. PiA wins
Game 2
Map - Baltic
Civ Chosen - Viking Mongol Hun v Viking Mongol Maya
Flank 1 - _XJL_ Vik v PiA Maya
Pocket - _XJL_ Mong v PiA Mong
Flank 2 - _XJL_ Hun v PiA Vik
Comments: On Flank 2, _XJL_ tries to drush and sneak some vils in. The drush stops the walling from occurring at first, but
then once the drush goes into the Flank 2 PiA town, 4 villagers are sent and palisade the gap right before the sneaking vils can
get in. It was very close. So, instead, the hun uses transport to get vils in but is seen immediately and loses all of them. So far,
things not going to well for flank 2 _XJL_. On sea though, it is fairly even. Pocket PiA accidentally deletes tc. Blames it on
the lag :S I found it amusing that even though he deletes tc he is still first to get castle. The fight transfers to mainly fighting on
sea since landing and sneaking failed. _XJL_ loses on sea promptly after PiA begin castling. The flanks seem well guarded
against attacks. Flank 1's Maya does a castle push to try and finish his opponent off. Quite a short game, but once sea is won
and sides are secured it is gg. PiA wins
Civ Chosen - Viking Mongol Hun v Viking Mongol Maya
Flank 1 - _XJL_ Vik v PiA Maya
Pocket - _XJL_ Mong v PiA Mong
Flank 2 - _XJL_ Hun v PiA Vik
Comments: On Flank 2, _XJL_ tries to drush and sneak some vils in. The drush stops the walling from occurring at first, but
then once the drush goes into the Flank 2 PiA town, 4 villagers are sent and palisade the gap right before the sneaking vils can
get in. It was very close. So, instead, the hun uses transport to get vils in but is seen immediately and loses all of them. So far,
things not going to well for flank 2 _XJL_. On sea though, it is fairly even. Pocket PiA accidentally deletes tc. Blames it on
the lag :S I found it amusing that even though he deletes tc he is still first to get castle. The fight transfers to mainly fighting on
sea since landing and sneaking failed. _XJL_ loses on sea promptly after PiA begin castling. The flanks seem well guarded
against attacks. Flank 1's Maya does a castle push to try and finish his opponent off. Quite a short game, but once sea is won
and sides are secured it is gg. PiA wins
Game 3
No Game 3
Match 1 Results
Despite a couple very good games by _XJL_, PiA wins 0-2
Match 2 SlipKn0T v RoR
Prediction from last week (0-2).
Game 1
Map - Arabia
Civ Chosen - Hun Mongol Persia v Hun Mongol Maya
Flank 1 - Slip Hun v RoR Maya
Pocket - Slip Persia v RoR Mongol
Flank 2 - Slip Mongol v RoR Hun
Comments: No drushing in dark age. I am already a fan of this game ^^ Flank 1 RoR Maya goes archers to the enemy pocket
and his base gets hit with skirms and archers cutting off gold supply for awhile. Flank 2 Slip towers wood and looks to make
RoR in a bit of trouble early but is eventually fended off. Worst map on this is definitely belonging to Flank 1's Slippy. I feel
bad for Rain here because of the dreadfully far and lonely wood that is just asking to get flooded with knights. The Persia
pocket for Slip does a marvelous job with a huge boom and many many knights and still makes imperial in a great time. He
spends gold on the heavy camel upgrade which I, personally, think was a waste since he was the one who had the greatest
number of knights and that stable time could have been used to continue pumping cavaliers or to get paladin sooner. Plus, you
know that to counter the cavaliers the Maya and Hun will both make halbs. So why make another unit that will get destroyed
by them? Flank 2's RoR Imperials and continues to go Cavalry archers but has some problems with being doubled by Slip's
Pocket and Flank 2. But Flank 1's Slip gets leveled and his town disappears quickly. When help arrives for Flank 2's RoR
SlipKn0T resigns. RoR wins.
Civ Chosen - Hun Mongol Persia v Hun Mongol Maya
Flank 1 - Slip Hun v RoR Maya
Pocket - Slip Persia v RoR Mongol
Flank 2 - Slip Mongol v RoR Hun
Comments: No drushing in dark age. I am already a fan of this game ^^ Flank 1 RoR Maya goes archers to the enemy pocket
and his base gets hit with skirms and archers cutting off gold supply for awhile. Flank 2 Slip towers wood and looks to make
RoR in a bit of trouble early but is eventually fended off. Worst map on this is definitely belonging to Flank 1's Slippy. I feel
bad for Rain here because of the dreadfully far and lonely wood that is just asking to get flooded with knights. The Persia
pocket for Slip does a marvelous job with a huge boom and many many knights and still makes imperial in a great time. He
spends gold on the heavy camel upgrade which I, personally, think was a waste since he was the one who had the greatest
number of knights and that stable time could have been used to continue pumping cavaliers or to get paladin sooner. Plus, you
know that to counter the cavaliers the Maya and Hun will both make halbs. So why make another unit that will get destroyed
by them? Flank 2's RoR Imperials and continues to go Cavalry archers but has some problems with being doubled by Slip's
Pocket and Flank 2. But Flank 1's Slip gets leveled and his town disappears quickly. When help arrives for Flank 2's RoR
SlipKn0T resigns. RoR wins.
Game 2
Map - Arena
Civ Chosen - Goth Mongol Spanish v Goth Mongol Spanish
Flank 1 - Slip Goth v RoR Mongol
Pocket - Spanish v Spanish
Flank 2 - Slip Mongol v RoR Goth
Comments: On Flank 2 Slip takes to walling in the RoR player and stealing his deer patch. The RoR does not seem to notice
until the wall is almost complete. He then immediately asks for ally's scouts to come help. The vil is killed as well as one Slip
scout but the wall gets completed. When Flank 2's Slip castles he proceeds to drop a castle on RoR's tc next to the wall. The
one castle covers both of Flank 2's stones and a wood area. The placement of the castle makes things more difficult for RoR.
Slip breaks into Flank 2's RoR and tries to do some raiding but RoR has made a defensive castle and a few husks that stop the
attack completely cold. So Slip has to push harder. He sends some villagers into Flank 2 RoR's town and drops a second
castle. He does not seem worried at all though. He ups to imp and shows that the Mongol castle push was a bigggg mistake vs
a good player using goth. In the course of a few minutes it goes from looking like the goth is on the defensive to the mongol
having nothing. Over at Flank 1 the 2v2 fight rages on with a Mongol and Spanish vs a Goth and Spanish. Both the Spain
players go with the knight line (eventually paladin obv). Flank 2 RoR eventually draws the Spain player to help Flank 2's Slip
and the RoR seems to be doing 2v1 with no problem. But on Flank 1 the Slip goth is doing the same thing, fighting both Flank
1 RoR and the pocket and still gaining ground. Eventually, when gold begins running low the Goth from Flank 1 slowly starts
getting pushed back until he cannot fight anymore. RoR wins.
Civ Chosen - Goth Mongol Spanish v Goth Mongol Spanish
Flank 1 - Slip Goth v RoR Mongol
Pocket - Spanish v Spanish
Flank 2 - Slip Mongol v RoR Goth
Comments: On Flank 2 Slip takes to walling in the RoR player and stealing his deer patch. The RoR does not seem to notice
until the wall is almost complete. He then immediately asks for ally's scouts to come help. The vil is killed as well as one Slip
scout but the wall gets completed. When Flank 2's Slip castles he proceeds to drop a castle on RoR's tc next to the wall. The
one castle covers both of Flank 2's stones and a wood area. The placement of the castle makes things more difficult for RoR.
Slip breaks into Flank 2's RoR and tries to do some raiding but RoR has made a defensive castle and a few husks that stop the
attack completely cold. So Slip has to push harder. He sends some villagers into Flank 2 RoR's town and drops a second
castle. He does not seem worried at all though. He ups to imp and shows that the Mongol castle push was a bigggg mistake vs
a good player using goth. In the course of a few minutes it goes from looking like the goth is on the defensive to the mongol
having nothing. Over at Flank 1 the 2v2 fight rages on with a Mongol and Spanish vs a Goth and Spanish. Both the Spain
players go with the knight line (eventually paladin obv). Flank 2 RoR eventually draws the Spain player to help Flank 2's Slip
and the RoR seems to be doing 2v1 with no problem. But on Flank 1 the Slip goth is doing the same thing, fighting both Flank
1 RoR and the pocket and still gaining ground. Eventually, when gold begins running low the Goth from Flank 1 slowly starts
getting pushed back until he cannot fight anymore. RoR wins.
Game 3
No Game 3
Match 2 Results
RoR wins over a very good team and advances to the finals (2-0)
Summary:
Next Week's predictions:
Gold/Silver Match - PiA v RoR (3:2)
I have to go with PiA here against my own personal bias. This week against _XJL_ they simply showed dominance on water and their prowess beating (in my opinion) the single best Arabia team in this season's RTS-League. RoR will most likely pick arena as the home map and I do believe that they can win that. PiA will most likely pick Baltic and I believe that they will win that. The last map is going to decide it I think. And, I think that as an all around team PiA can edge out RoR and win the gold here.
1 - Regicide Fortress ( Use of water is not allowed ) (RoR win)
2 - Homemap of the clan who lost Regicide Fortress (PiA win)
3 - Homemap of the clan who won Regicide Fortress (RoR win)
4- Crater Lake (PiA win)
5 - Blind Random (PiA win)
Bronze/Honourable Mention Match - _XJL_ v SlipKn0T (2:0)
The reason I choose _XJL_ here is because I really think that they can win on their home map of Arabia vs anybody (even though they lost to PiA on it this week). From what I have recently seen from SlipKn0T, they also prefer Arabia map and I do not think can quite make this a contest. Maybe an island or migra victory is possible for SlipKn0T but I really do believe that _XJL_ will earn the bronze this season.
As always, thank you for reading. This version was a bit shorter than most because of me having my big tests this coming week that I am probably studying too much for. But good luck to all the teams. Next week is the last, leave it all out on the battlefield, keep those hands moving and that mind working and at the end of it all be able to say "I played my best." Because that is what makes the best recorded games of all. All these four teams have earned their place here and maybe wanted even more. Go out with a bang and reach for perfection. I cannot wait to see these games guys.
I wish you very good luck
And have fun ^_^
~Nainai