Review [eSports] The Masters of the Sword -Group Stage- Knights vs Perci

[St.Guardian 514]

 

 

Introduction to the Match

 

As one of the last group stage matches, this, as most of its type, was a very tense and crucial match to both

participants. Both Knights (KN) and Perci (NEP) met in this battle with 1 win and 1 loss each, and in a group dominated 

by 'Invincible' (who beat both of these clans), a win was much needed to get out of the group. This was surely enough 

motivation as a loss meant no 'Gladiator', no chance of being a champion clan, and certainly no glory or prizes. 

 

That being said, KN had a slightly psychological advantage over their opponents NEP, as KN merely needed to tie the

match against NEP to advance to the knockout stage whereas NEP had to win to get enough points over KN in order to advance. This is because 'Knights' had lost to 'Invincible' only by a mere 1-0, but 'Perci' lost to 'Invincible' 3-0, and under

a tied battle circumstance between NEP and KN, these results against 'Invincible' would have deemed KN better than NEP on the technicality of scores. Keep reading to see how these two clans performed under such conditions!

 

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First Round

Throughout the first round, impressive drop control and map control was seen by both teams, though NEP was partially superior to KN in both of these aspects as NEP usually controlled more Double Powers and Speed Boosts. This allowed players such as S_E_R_G_E_I_C_H and  C-K-JI-E-O-O-3-H-U-K to momentarily take over key locations on the map Red Alert, providing cover fire for teammates, which ultimately lead to a higher 'freedom' in NEP (Red) players' routes. However, this was counteracted by KN's superior skill in managing their Double Armours, which rendered NEP's Double Powers nearly useless.

 

It was also seen that KN were more confined to their base on the Blue side, and NEP players took advantage of this; very often group-damaging their opponents stuck in the nooks of Blue base. But due to a lack of coordination, NEP just could not penetrate their opponents' compact defense. This was, of course, until near the end of the battle when NEP desperately moved to attack with four of their players, resulting in Modest capturing the flag in grace and a Double Armour/Speed Boost; making the score 1:0 to NEP in rounds.

 

 

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Second Round

Essentially, the start of a second round saw a role reversal, both in circumstance and tactics for the respective clans' players. KN began with outstanding drop control, taking the first two Double Powers as well as a full drop layout from NEP's (Blue) base. In addition, players from both clans were now attacking in time with each other, making for more devastating attacks and widening the potential for flag captures. Due to the density of bases in Red Alert though, most teammates respawned near to each other which allowed a thick defense to counter attacks from players such as Claw and Raffaelo. This intensified aspect of team play also made this round more compelling as now the balance could be tipped in just one moment.

 

Precisely this happened halfway through the battle. It began when attacker Modest entered KN's unguarded Red base and used his Double Armour and Speed Boost to efficiently get halfway through the map. Meanwhile, II.Last.Shot.II broke NEP's defense with a likewise drop layout and both players intersected in the centre of the map, with Modest emerging alive. However, a miscommunication lead to Modest's teammate kirill.132 being physically intersected by him, resulting in a flipped kirill.132 and a returned Red flag. This allowed Perfect_Hero to bring the flag for KN to capture. Thus the second round ended in KN's favour.

 

 

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Third Round

Again, it was apparent that coordination between players improved in the third round, and it was a rare occasion to see less than two players traversing the map together, for both NEP and KN. This made for some pretty dynamic and fluent attacks. First, around a third-way into the battle, KN's Blade and Perfect_Hero decimated their opponents' defense into chaos with a Double Power each. This distraction allowed Spote to take the flag and, after getting destroyed himself, his teammate II.Last.Shot.II tore through the center of the map with NEP's Red flag, and lifted the score to 1:0 to KN.

 

This flash of glory for KN would seem short-lived, when a few minutes later KN's Blue base went under the synchronized assault of Offensive-ON, kirill.132, Raffaelo, and C-K-JI-E-O-O-3-H-U-K. With two of those players providing cover fire from within KN's base, kirill.132 easily took the Blue flag to the Red base for an inevitable capture. This action leveled the score to 1:1, which made the round end in a tie and provided a hope for NEP in the subsequent but final round.

 

 

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Fourth Round

Simply put, this round was turbulent. For the first half of the battle, both teams were quite tense on their defensive lineup, and vigilant defenders such as Kaito and S_E_R_G_E_I_C_H rarely left their bases, though the rest of NEP were quite offensive in their movements as they knew that they had to capture at least one flag to qualify for the playoffs. This seemingly calm gameplay changed when the third wave of supply drops poured in from the sky. This is due to the fact that KN performed their drop control impeccably in comparison to NEP, who unfortunately struggled to take all of the drops in their Blue base. Of course, NEP's defense was disabled, allowing for two skillful captures by KN's Perfect_Hero and Kaito respectively; and a later capture by a fully-drugged Perfect_Hero.

 

NEP attempted valiantly to combat this abrupt change, and this effort was solidified when ex-StarSeries tanker kirill.132 managed a solo run (shielded by clanmates of course) capture which pushed the score to 3:1, though it was still in Knights' favour. For a following capture though, there was not enough time, nor would KN allow it. Therefore the round ended with Knights still on top.

 

 

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Conclusion on the Match

 

Both teams conducted increasingly excellent coordination and Drop Control. After all, that is the main reason that they qualified for the Major League. However, there must always be a winner and a loser, so congratulations to Knights for emerging victorious with a score of 2:1! They have supposedly qualified for Gladiator and should move to play in the Quarter-Finals (so long as no major upsets occur in this group). Perhaps better fortune awaits the clan Perci in future, but only time will tell. Until then, farewell!

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Yisroel.Rabin

[Al-Za7eF 33]

Wow bro. Great topic

[Lankbouv 6,347]

Peppers..not Perci, lul