I had prepared this piece to promote the great work being done by @mungo__ and @marciocolombia over at https://aoe-elo.com/ and https://www.esportsearnings.com/games/179-age-of-empires-ii-the-age-of-kings
… Then @robo and @MaSmOrRa announced their amazing #2 Tournament and it became even more relevant.
(Disclaimer: all content is based on 1v1 tournament performance taken from the above sites)
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It’s now 3 tournaments in a row that The_Viper hasn’t progressed past the quarter-finals; his worst ever run in competition. After winning the final of Hidden Cup 2, he has faced early elimination from ECL Europe West, Nomad Summer Showdown and Mangrove Shallows Cup. While nobody is yet questioning his status as world number 1, is this the first sign of vulnerability in what has been nearly a decade of domination?
Unsurprisingly, Viper has a positive win ratio over all of his main opponents. But out of all those poised to depose the number 1, it is his compatriot MbL that has caused him the most problems; beating him 3 times in their previous encounters.
While MbL’s 21% win ration against Viper stacks up well compared to other challengers, 2 of those wins came in group stages of tournaments that he was subsequently eliminated from, with only 1 resulting in a conclusive knock-out. That victory came in Legacy of the Huns 2, which MbL went on to win. This, however, is MbL’s only tournament victory – a poor return for a player of such obvious ability – and raises questions about his ‘big game’ mentality; a monkey that MbL is no doubt keen to shake from his back.
MbL is half of one of the most intriguing rivalries in AoE at the current time; the yin to his yang being TaToH. The pair have a completely split record in competitive 1v1’s with 5 victories each. The main difference between them: TaToH has 8 winners medals in his trophy cabinet. He recent defeat in the Final of Mangrove Shallows Cup was his first loss after 8 straight victories, stretching back to the Hidden Cup 2 knockout phase (also at the hands of The_Yo), TaToH has legitimate claims to the ‘best of the rest’ title right now.
These claims look less solid, however, when you look at his inability to dominate opponents; managing only a 50-60% win ration against his main competitors, including his last two defeats dished out by The_Yo and a measly 17% win ratio against another player who has been tipped for the top; Liereyy.
Liereyy has attracted a label as being something of a bridesmaid; finishing as the beaten finalist in 5 tournaments – each time losing out to Viper. Liereyy seems to have no problem defeating other top players, a psychological vice grip on MbL has produced 5 wins out of 5 (perhaps more dominant than their skill gap would suggest) and an 83% win rate versus TaToH. Against Viper, however, Liereyy has only 2 wins from 15 attempts, and we have to go back to April 2017 for the last of these. So despite some previous signs that the skill gap was narrowing, perhaps these were false dawns.
Liereyy has only played The_Yo twice in competition (with 1 victory for each), surprising considering the amount of time Yo has been around and his consistent tournament performances; reaching semi-finals or finals on 13 occasions. This consistency over such a long period of activity could create a strong argument for Yo to be named true heir to the throne; but does he truly believe he has a claim to it? Mangrove Shallows Cup was his first tournament win since an understrength Paladin Cup and before that we have to go way back to April 2016’s Arabia Invitational for evidence of Yo beating the best around. In fact, if we want direct evidence of Yo beating the best, it is hard to come by – he has lost all 6 of his competitive match-ups against Viper.
Time will tell if the Viper can maintain his undisputed title as best in the world. The chasing pack are hot on his heels, but an obvious hierarchy is yet to emerge.
… Then @robo and @MaSmOrRa announced their amazing #2 Tournament and it became even more relevant.
(Disclaimer: all content is based on 1v1 tournament performance taken from the above sites)
_______________________________________________________________________________________
It’s now 3 tournaments in a row that The_Viper hasn’t progressed past the quarter-finals; his worst ever run in competition. After winning the final of Hidden Cup 2, he has faced early elimination from ECL Europe West, Nomad Summer Showdown and Mangrove Shallows Cup. While nobody is yet questioning his status as world number 1, is this the first sign of vulnerability in what has been nearly a decade of domination?
Unsurprisingly, Viper has a positive win ratio over all of his main opponents. But out of all those poised to depose the number 1, it is his compatriot MbL that has caused him the most problems; beating him 3 times in their previous encounters.
While MbL’s 21% win ration against Viper stacks up well compared to other challengers, 2 of those wins came in group stages of tournaments that he was subsequently eliminated from, with only 1 resulting in a conclusive knock-out. That victory came in Legacy of the Huns 2, which MbL went on to win. This, however, is MbL’s only tournament victory – a poor return for a player of such obvious ability – and raises questions about his ‘big game’ mentality; a monkey that MbL is no doubt keen to shake from his back.
MbL is half of one of the most intriguing rivalries in AoE at the current time; the yin to his yang being TaToH. The pair have a completely split record in competitive 1v1’s with 5 victories each. The main difference between them: TaToH has 8 winners medals in his trophy cabinet. He recent defeat in the Final of Mangrove Shallows Cup was his first loss after 8 straight victories, stretching back to the Hidden Cup 2 knockout phase (also at the hands of The_Yo), TaToH has legitimate claims to the ‘best of the rest’ title right now.
These claims look less solid, however, when you look at his inability to dominate opponents; managing only a 50-60% win ration against his main competitors, including his last two defeats dished out by The_Yo and a measly 17% win ratio against another player who has been tipped for the top; Liereyy.
Liereyy has attracted a label as being something of a bridesmaid; finishing as the beaten finalist in 5 tournaments – each time losing out to Viper. Liereyy seems to have no problem defeating other top players, a psychological vice grip on MbL has produced 5 wins out of 5 (perhaps more dominant than their skill gap would suggest) and an 83% win rate versus TaToH. Against Viper, however, Liereyy has only 2 wins from 15 attempts, and we have to go back to April 2017 for the last of these. So despite some previous signs that the skill gap was narrowing, perhaps these were false dawns.
Liereyy has only played The_Yo twice in competition (with 1 victory for each), surprising considering the amount of time Yo has been around and his consistent tournament performances; reaching semi-finals or finals on 13 occasions. This consistency over such a long period of activity could create a strong argument for Yo to be named true heir to the throne; but does he truly believe he has a claim to it? Mangrove Shallows Cup was his first tournament win since an understrength Paladin Cup and before that we have to go way back to April 2016’s Arabia Invitational for evidence of Yo beating the best around. In fact, if we want direct evidence of Yo beating the best, it is hard to come by – he has lost all 6 of his competitive match-ups against Viper.
Time will tell if the Viper can maintain his undisputed title as best in the world. The chasing pack are hot on his heels, but an obvious hierarchy is yet to emerge.