Alliance Tournament V : Day Two : Matches 25-32
The second day of the Fifth Alliance Tournament is now behind us. Continuing our rundown of the matches from day two, we now bring you a review of the last eight matches.
Match 25: Triumvirate. Vs The Fourth District
It was another solid performance from Triumvirate. and another totalhelldeath for them, placing them in a strong position in their group and putting them next to the Green Alliance in terms of performance so far.
Triumvirate.: 2 Megathrons | 2 Onieros | 2 Griffins
The Fourth District: Abaddon | 2 Ishtars | Guardian | 4 Griffins | 2 Maulus
As The Fourth District griffins began to fall immediately, it began to look like there would be a tough fight ahead for the Caldari loyalists. They refused to give up however, bringing an opposition Oneiros into significant armor damage before it climbed back into safe grounds thanks to friendly logistics support. Having dealt with their own enemy's support, Triumvirate were now free to focus on The Fourth District Guardian, taking it apart with ease. From there, it was only the task of mopping up the Ishtars and then the Abaddon.
Match 26: Exa Nation Vs The Church.
A powerful showing by The Church. who tore apart the Exa Nation team with a well-executed and formulated team.
Exa Nation: 2 Basilisk | 4 Cerberus | Manticore | Griffin
The Church.: 4 Deimos | Rook | 4 Griffins
The Church. displayed some thoughtful placement in this match, sitting their Rook at extreme range with the Griffins slightly in front. Locking down their enemies from the beginning with a mass of ECM, they covered the approach of their Deimos, which arrived on top of the Basilisks by the time they’d lost their first Griffin. It wasn’t long until the Basilisks were taking heavy damage and destroyed, eventually followed by the losses of Exa Nation’s Griffins and Cerberus. An impressive first match for The Church, whom many are anticipating will deliver some stiff competition this tournament.
Match 27: DeStInY. Vs Divine 0rder
It was another long-lasting match this time, with DeStInY. pulling out an impressive win against Divine 0rder as they defied expectations and hung on against some tenacious Dominix.
DeStInY.: 2 Basilisks | Arbitrator | 4 Manticores | Hound | Nemesis
Divine 0rder: 3 Dominix | Curse | Rifter
Early on in the fight, it looked as if it was all over for Divine 0rder, who lost their Rifter and Curse quickly, with no losses to DeStInY. Refusing to give up however, they charged into the fray with their three Domini. For minutes it remained unclear who would emerge victorious, but as a Divine 0rder Dominix started to seep into low armor and hull damage, it started to look like they would be handing their opponents a totallhelldeath victory. When a Dominix dropped, warping out, it seemed almost a certainty. With some tenacious fighting however, they actually managed to whittle down their opponents with clever drone use, eventually denying their opponents full points by removing multiple bombers from the field before time was called.
Match 28: Atlas Alliance Vs Ev0ke
Ev0ke pulled out a totalhelldeath win against Atlas Alliance, with a solid team that was deployed with impressive efficiency.
Atlas Alliance: Apoc | 2 Guardian | 3 Thorax
Ev0ke: Harbinger | 2 Guardian | Curse | 2 Rupture
With both teams fielding a dual-logistics setup, it was set to be an interesting test of who could overcome the other's setup. Almost two minutes passed before there was any damage laid by either side. Eventually however, Ev0ke began to turn the tide by using ECM drones and cap neutralization to break past the logistics used by their opponents. It wasn’t long afterwards until an Atlas Thorax was in deep trouble and the other two were following it's fate. From there they set upon the Guardians, which were clearly jammed and incapacitated. An impressive counter by Ev0ke, to the often-used dual-logistics formation.
Match 29: GoonSwarm Vs Nebula Rasa
Nebula Rasa came away with their second win of the tournament with a totalhelldeath victory giving GoonSwarm their second loss.
GoonSwarm: 3 Abaddons | Rapier
Nebula Rasa: Dominix | Myrmidon | 2 Ishtar | Guardian
It was an interesting setup fielded from both teams; an alpha-heavy GoonSwarm team against another unique formation from Nebula Rasa who continue to impress with well formulated teams that are used to maximum efficiency. With GoonSwarm putting out some immense alpha-strike, they looked at some points as if they were going to break the tanks on Danton Marcellus' Ishtar and later, the Guardian. Their own Rapier dropped quickly early in the fight however, and the expertly-deployed remote logistics of Nebula Rasa proved too resilient even in the face of impressive damage.
Match 30: RONA Alliance VS HUN Reloaded
Last year’s Champions came away with a decisive and brutal victory against some interesting tactics from RONA Alliance.
RONA Alliance: Sleipnir | 2 Basilisks | 2 Arbitrators | 4 Griffins
HUN Reloaded: 9 Thorax | Blackbird
It looked at the beginning as if there was an error with warp in range from RONA, who had landed one of their Basilisks in amidst a menacing nine Thorax. HUN had a quick attempt at taking it down and found some stiff logistics resistance, which questions whether in fact it was an error after all. Pinning the close-ranged Basilisk and maintaining discipline; HUN focused more fully on removing the enemy Griffins from the field. From there they then turned their ECM drones upon their enemies logistics and a jam eventually came. The moment they had removed one logistics vessel from the fight things began to come apart for RONA. The Champions make a victorious re-entry to the tournament, but will face tough battle ahead in their group.
Match 31: Morsus Mihi VS Ushra'Khan
It was an absolute brawl of a fight this time around, and when it comes to brawls the Minmatar know best. Ushra'Khan come away with another impressive win and this time something of an upset.
Morsus Mihi: Myrmidon | 2 Vexors | 6 Arbitrators
Ushra'Khan: 4 Ruptures | 6 Thorax
Morsus Mihi immediately launched an impressive swarm of drones as the fight broke out, taking out a Rupture and Thorax in exchange for two of their own Arbitrators. Their drones however, had their own idea about who to target next and without a lock to direct them, MM fire was spread across three Ushra'Khan vessels, who continued to focus their own fire on a single target and pull ahead in this war of attrition. Three more Arbitrators fell before the next Ushra’Khan vessel and by the end of the match 3 Ruptures and 3 Thorax were still standing on the battlefield.
Match 32: KIA Alliance VS eXceed.
eXceed. went down against KIA Alliance who just barely managed to hold on to their victory.
KIA Alliance: 2 Megathrons | 2 Guardians | 2 Griffins
eXceed.: 10 Thorax
From the beginning it looked as if KIA Alliance were up for an almost impossible fight, with their small and critically-exposed team potentially facing a swathe of ECM drones and immense firepower from the amassed Thorax gang. It wasn’t to be however, as eXceed. opted instead for a pure firepower approach, sending off their drones first to destroy the Griffins and then working on the Guardian. It was a tremendously close fight for a while, with the Guardian only barely hanging on as the two Megathrons masterfully whittled away the approaching Thorax and slowly reduced their damage output to something unable to break the dual-logistics team.
Eve-TV Coverage: Day Two
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