Alliance Tournament V : Day Two : Matches 17-24
Welcome to Day Two of the Fifth Alliance Tournament. Here are the initial results and reviews of the first eight matches.
Match 17: Blood Blind Vs Molotov Coalition
A second win and a totalhelldeath marked what has become an impressive showing by Molotov Coalition in this year’s tournament.
Blood Blind: Armageddon | Scorpion | Huginn | Curse | Arbitrator
Molotov Coalition: 2 Armageddons | 2 Guardians | 2 Punishers
With the a Curse dropping almost instantly, it looked over from the beginning for the pirates of Blood Blind. Next under fire was the Arbitrator, which surprised many by lasting far longer, suggesting the reason behind the Curse loss was simply a lack of immediate logistics support. For a moment there was a stalemate, but a spread of fire and some smart FC’ing saw Molotov eventually break the logistics chain and come away with a victory.
Match 18: The Star Fraction Vs When Fat Kids Attack
Backed into a corner due to yesterday’s loss, The Star Fraction bounced back with a win against When Fat Kids Attack.
The Star Fraction: 5 Cerburus | 5 Griffins
When Fat Kids Attack: 3 Abaddons | Rook | Tristan
Fielding a team identical to that used yesterday by their old enemies The Fourth District, The Star Fraction had a fortuitous turn of events with FATTY losing an Abaddon almost as the fight began. Capitalizing on the weakened logistics, they slowly whittled the oppositions Rook down, destroying the Tristan along with it. They looked set to come home with a much-needed totalhelldeath, but at the end stage of the fight lost a single Griffin – leaving what should be a tough fight for second place in the group against The Kadeshi.
Match 19: Hydra Alliance Vs Green Alliance
Fielding a unique setup, Green Alliance continued their strong showing to come away with both a win and the second totalhelldeath of the day (and for them so far in the tournament.)
Hydra Alliance: 5 Ishtars | 5 Griffins
Green Alliance: Prophecy | 2 Ishtars | 3 Rifters | Republic Fleet Firetail
Another match featuring the tried and tested 5 HAC and 5 Griffin teams, this time however, unsuccessfully. With multiple Hydra Griffins taking damage immediately from a spread of fire, the fight looked in Green Alliance’s favor early on. Not managing to break the logistics chain of their opponents, Hydra soon saw the first of their Ishtars taking heavy damage. This fight; between two of yesterday’s winners, determined who would take the top place in their group. With two very convincing wins so far from Green Alliance, they’re currently looking like a short-odds favorite for the Tournament Cup.
Match 20: SMASH Alliance Vs Notoriety Alliance
Changing their setup from yesterday SMASH Alliance met another loss, this time against Notoriety Alliance who made an impressive first showing today.
SMASH Alliance: 2 Basilisks | Sacrilege | Vagabond | 3 Manticores
Notoriety Alliance: 2 Basilisks | 3 Phantasms | 2 Sentinels | Rifter
This fight saw an unconventional and masterfully-used team formation from Notoriety, who fielded Sentinels and Phantasms, both previously unseen in the tournament. The savage alpha-strike from the Phantasms proved too difficult for the dual-Basilisks to counteract, and the Manticores began to fall very quickly. With some clever target-switching and capacitor neutralization from Notoriety, they managed to drop both Basilisks rapidly thereafter, coming away with today’s third totalhelldeath.
Match 21: Pandemic Legion Vs Cry Havoc.
Once again, two winners from yesterday vied for top placing in their group, this match resulted in a draw for both sides, and the first one of the tournament.
Pandemic Legion: Raven | 2 Basilisks | Curse | Daredevil | 3 Vigils
Cry Havoc.: Raven | Guardian | 2 Ishtars | Curse
The effectiveness of logistics was proved once again, with neither side able to break the strong defenses of their competitors. Both teams fielded similar formations with weak damage output that was hard to spread – making it difficult for either side to kill a ship, let alone come away with a win. There were a few moments where a spread of damage took some ships into armor, such as Pandemic Legion’s vigils, but with no ships eventually taken out, the match was called as a draw.
Match 22: Mercenary Coalition Vs Ethereal Dawn
Alliance newcomers Ethereal Dawn delivered a second loss to Mercenary Coalition, whose unique yet sensible setup proved no match for the more traditional logistics-centric one fielded by their opponents.
Mercenary Coalition: 5 Thorax | 2 Vexor Navy Issue | 3 Kitsune
Ethereal Dawn: Scorpion | 2 Basilisks | 2 Nemesis' | 2 Manticores
With a Kitsune traded for a Nemesis early on in the fight, it was shaping up to be a very close one. The second Ethereal Dawn Nemesis failed to fall as quickly however, lasting for around five minutes – suggesting that the first fell to a lack of immediate logistics support. Left with only cruisers, MC’s fate looked grim against the firepower of a Scorpion, which proved a successful variation on the traditional setup. It wasn’t long until the first Thorax fell, the others following slowly but surely. A strong entry to the tournament from Ethereal Dawn who claimed a big scalp.
Match 23: Cosa Nostra. Vs Phalanx Alliance
It was an absolute nail biter of a fight this time between the two group leaders fighting for top placement. Cosa Nostra. barely managing at times to cling on to a victory.
Cosa Nostra.: 2 Megathrons | 2 Guardians | Vengeance
Phalanx Alliance: 2 Hyperions | 2 Falcons | Blackbird
With two close-range warp-ins from both teams, it was shaping up to be an epic slugfest between the two heavy-hitting vessels of the Federation fleet and it turned out to be just that. From the very beginning, both a Megathron and Hyperion were dipping deep into armor at the same time. A Phalanx Alliance Hyperion was the first casualty of the match, with a Cosa Nostra. Megathron following not long after. The impressive tanking ability of the remaining P.A Hyperion, coupled with well-deployed electronic warfare meant that the fight continued on for many minutes, impossible to call an outcome despite the seeming uphill battle left for P.A.
With each new jamming cycle on one of the Guardians, the Cosa Nostra. Megathron looked at many times like it might fall, but eventually it was the second P.A. Hyperion to be the next ship down, which was soon followed by the rest of its team. It was a well-formulated and masterfully executed plan from Cosa Nostra., who made every ship right down to their vengeance a key to their success.
Match 24: The Crimson Federation Vs Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate
The Crimson Federation came away with a decisive win against Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate, grabbing a victory with a brutal onslaught that puts them back in the fight for their group.
The Crimson Federation: Dominix | Hyperion | Abaddon | 5 Griffins | 2 Maulus'
Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate: 2 Basilisks | Drake | 4 Moas
It was another close-range battle this time, with Crimson sitting on top of IAC before the match. With long-ranged Moa’s sitting right beneath the brutal blasters of Crimson, it looked grim for IAC from the beginning. Tyraxx Thorrk’s Basilisk came under immediate and savage fire from the beginning, dropping almost instantly under the onslaught. From there it was simply a matter of cleaning up the remains for Crimson, who despite a slowdown in the fighting still managed to come away with the win.
Eve-TV Coverage: Day Two
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