Dramatic Gold It’s said “You’ll always remember your first time”. Now, I’m a believer. It’s as though it just happened. I’ll tell you all the juicy details, if I can wipe the smile off of my face. Polygon, yeah that’s it. Who’d have though that the Tanki-Online “Moshe Pit” could incite such intense feelings? I enter the fray as cocky as I can be, with my Mammoth hull and untiring Twins blazing a path of destruction and chaos as I go. I start off slowly, not knowing Polygons interior or the subtleties of the battle layout. I get some good licks in before being slapped down and respawning. “I want more!” leaps from my tongue as I awkwardly crash into the pit; I respawn again. Now in a frenzy I’m firing at anyone who crosses in front of me, friend or foe, I can’t tell the difference anymore. I’m caught up in a whirlwind of emotions. I become exhausted going up and down the ramps to the blue flag then going up and down the ramps into the pit then going up and down the ramp to nowhere near the bridge. Up and down … up and down … up and down, this wasn’t helping! I need to calm down, catch my breath and conceive a plan. I look for resource boxes but I’m too slow to catch any. Even my own blue team members won’t let me have any. I am seeing red! I think about going up the tall, large ramp but I’m afraid it’s too much for me. Everyone will laugh at me for being soooo slow and such an easy target. The smaller ramp behind the red flag has some cover and wait … there’s a double damage box dropping. I can make it … I can make it … I can make it … I can make it … I made it. The red box is mine. Now I’m half way up the concrete bunker with a view of all my targets. They’re mine for the plucking. I start firing my gun. I hit one tank then another but wait, what’s going on, something isn’t right. Tanks are climbing the tall ramp; it looks like rats abandoning a sinking ship. Some are falling off the edge and some are jumping. Suddenly I see it out of the corner of the screen on top of the small building next to the ledge; a large brightly lit … something. There’s a tank covering most of it so I don’t know what it is. Luckily someone shoots that tank and in a few seconds I see the loveliest looking gold and white diamond that I have ever seen. I just stared in amazement, admiring the beauty, paralyzed to act. There are more “rats” coming! I shoot another tank. I snap out of it just in time to gun it and go full speed ahead onto the roof, “Here I come!” … well, almost. Most of the tank makes it onto the roof; the right tread was hanging over the edge of the building. It appears I had premature acceleration. Now tanks are trying to push me off the roof but I’m wedged in fairly tight. Tanks are falling on me from above like rain but at the angle I’m at they would hit then slide off or flip over crashing onto the ground. As that beautiful, little gold box gently comes down from the heavens, every inch by agonizing inch my heart and breathing stop as I say a prayer to any and every deity who would listen, hoping that another tank wouldn’t steal “‘MY” box and then “YES, YES, YES”! It was just the two of us. Oh, eh, I mean, I got the 1000 Crystals.

How would you describe mid-ranked gameplay? Mostly, 'Fun' or even 'Exhilarating' when you have evenly matched teams. But sometimes you enter a battle and it seems like you're up against a Pro-team; your team slowly vanishes and you get re-spawned right in front of the enemy over and over again. BUMMER. How did you approach the gameplay of the mid-ranks to try and be a successful player? Only join a battle where your rank is near the top. Learn the Maps and the drop points. Scout the other team by being a bit reckless, at first, and see how they respond. Make a strategy to take advantage of any weakness you've discovered or to avoid their strengths. And finally, sum up your main advice for mid-ranked players in one sentence! The best revenge is not to get even with an enemy tank but it is to win the game. KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PRIZE!