First, Mr. Yo definitely outplayed TheViper. I'm not giving excuses to try to take anything away from Mr. Yo, but...
1) Battle Elephants in a wide open map vs Mayans? Mr. Yo was obviously going to expect knights and would have a monastery. It's not like he'd be dumb enough to take a fight with eagles, and it's not like Viper could force a fight in his position.
2) The Cumans strategy is hard-countered by fast castle siege, which is relatively easy to pull off on golden pit. Plus, Yo could have easily seen the civ pick coming from Viper's draft with Hera. Not sure if Saracens was a deliberate counter pick, but it was definitely a hard counter.
3) Was Viper caught off guard by the Malian maa? He knew that maa was the way to beat indians on that map, and maa are the obvious opening for Malians. Why didn't he build a defensive tower from the start, or open with his own maa to negate the early pressure? All Viper has to do is survive with some center presence and he'll get the civ win.
4) Viper had to know that Yo was casting his series vs Hera. He also had to know that his Teutons strategy was hard countered by a range opening. Did he really not expect Yo to go for the obvious counter?
I'm just saying all of this because I'm surprised. In the past, civ drafts and mind games have always been a strong suit of TheViper, but it seems like he was just outclassed in the draft and strategy choice by Yo in this series.
1) Battle Elephants in a wide open map vs Mayans? Mr. Yo was obviously going to expect knights and would have a monastery. It's not like he'd be dumb enough to take a fight with eagles, and it's not like Viper could force a fight in his position.
2) The Cumans strategy is hard-countered by fast castle siege, which is relatively easy to pull off on golden pit. Plus, Yo could have easily seen the civ pick coming from Viper's draft with Hera. Not sure if Saracens was a deliberate counter pick, but it was definitely a hard counter.
3) Was Viper caught off guard by the Malian maa? He knew that maa was the way to beat indians on that map, and maa are the obvious opening for Malians. Why didn't he build a defensive tower from the start, or open with his own maa to negate the early pressure? All Viper has to do is survive with some center presence and he'll get the civ win.
4) Viper had to know that Yo was casting his series vs Hera. He also had to know that his Teutons strategy was hard countered by a range opening. Did he really not expect Yo to go for the obvious counter?
I'm just saying all of this because I'm surprised. In the past, civ drafts and mind games have always been a strong suit of TheViper, but it seems like he was just outclassed in the draft and strategy choice by Yo in this series.