Guest PostShareTweetContinuing our Alliance Tournament XII review we invite Julianus Soter of Villore Accords who covers day three.
Match 33: Clockwork Pineapple vs EXODUS
Null-Sec replay.
Clockwork Pineapple brought to bear the classic triple Sleipnir and Scimitar formation supported by Worms and Flycatchers. EXODUS., a pirate organization that lives in the Placid Region of lowsec, brought a similarly popular (it was even used by Pandemic Legion last week) Rattlesnake battleship squad with Harpies and Heretics, complemented by Maulus, Claymore and Basilisk support.
In the current metagame, Guristas Rattlesnake-class battleships have a huge amount of firepower. Once the combat drones drones landed on the GROON Sleipnir of Aloe Cloveris, the Scimitar simply could not keep up with the damage input. The locally-mounted ancillary shield booster allowed him to last until roughly 4 minutes into the match, but the destruction of GROON support wing vessels meant EXODUS could take a decisive lead through to the end of the match. The Sleipnir of Aloe Cloveris fell after the wings of repair drones were destroyed, and the match swing heavily against Clockwork Pineapple. GROON has not yet been eliminated, however, many will be watching to see if they can improve their performance this upcoming weekend.
Final Score: 23-100
Match 34: Pasta Syndicate vs Quebec United Legions
Null-Sec replay.
This match has the surprising use of a Machariel duo by Quebec United Legions, replacing the Rattlesnakes they used last week with the Angel Cartel battleships. Quebec rounded out their team with a wing of Asteros, Daredevils, and Cruors, with an Eos for gang links. Both teams fielded armor-oriented defenses, with the Pasta Syndicate fleet using an Armageddon and Eos combat wing with Heretic, Talwar, and Merlin support.
Unfortunately for Quebec, the match rapidly demonstrated the effectiveness of the Pasta Syndicate destroyer wing. For all the shininess of the Quebecois frigate screen, the destroyer light missile swarm just cut through them like a hot knife through butter. Due to the game mechanic where armor repair modules transfer hitpoints to their targets at the end of the activation cycle (causing a delay of roughly 4 seconds), the frigates could not receive sufficient friendly support to survive. With the frigates destroyed, the Pasta team eliminated a significant portion of enemy firepower and electronic warfare. The Quebec Machariels could not take down any enemy ships, and the match ended with a complete wipe-out.
Final Score: 100-0
Match 35: The Tuskers Co. vs The Initiative.
Null-Sec replay
Perhaps it shows my bias, but I’ve started to make an observation after the past few days of matches: every Alliance Tournament team thinks they can pull off the RR tinker setup, and it usually fails. The Initiative team fielded a Dominix/Navy Dominix/Eos/Proteus/Guardian tinker formation. Tuskers brought the classic Armageddon/Eos drone heavy armor fleet, which has a significant amount of Tank n’ Gank. The relative difference in attack bars demonstrated the wisdom of this choice. Had Tuskers fitted a more finessed, less damage-focused team, the Initiative tinker may have pulled it off. However, in the first few minutes, the RR Proteus of Garphos Trectes immediately took the full brunt of the Tusker’s damage output, and crumpled after a few minutes of sustained fire.
The rest of the match was simply a mop-up operation. Once again, folks, Tinker fleets…. generally a bad idea.
Final Score: 100-0
Match 36: Feign Disorder vs Solar Fleet
Null-Sec replay.
This matchup has an unconventional pair of fleets, with an unusual emphasis on the missile-focused Claymore command ship. The Feign Disorder team flew two Claymores, a Scimitar, along with a core of three damage-dealing Gila cruisers. Their support wing focused on Worms and Kestrels, allowing them to field a substantial electronic warfare squad in the form of sensor dampeners. Solar Fleet was credited one point at the start of the match for not maximizing their Point allocation. Whether this was on purpose or accidental, is unclear. They used a Claymore, Scimitar, and a 2/3 ratio of Vexor Navy issues and Gilas. The smaller, in comparison, support wing of two Worms and an Algos meant that Solar Fleet had essentially zero electronic warfare supporting their attack. This fleet composition had two less people than Feign Disorder, which will become important later in the match.
A Vexor Navy Issue was accidentally moved too quickly into the Feign Disorder team, and was almost immediately destroyed; however, Feign’s Scimitar was also destroyed, in an apparent positive trade for Solar Fleet. Claymores are very powerful defensive ships however, and the frigate support wing on Feign Disorder’s team proved to be too resilient and mobile for Solar Fleet to successfully pin down. An energy transfer tactic to prop up the Solar Fleet Scimitar simply could not keep it alive, and after its destruction, the Solar team began to crumble quickly. Solar Fleet primaried the Feign Disorder Claymore command ships in a questionable move: it is possible that Solar Fleet could have recovered if the Feign Gilas were isolated and destroyed early in the match. Regardless, the match ended with a decisive win for Feign Disorder.
Final Score: 100-38
Match 37: The R0NIN vs Easily Excited
Null-Sec replay.
A new feature of this year’s tournament is the use of double frigate-class repair frigates. Both teams also put the new Orthrus-class Mordu’s cruisers as their core damage-dealers. R0NIN fielded a double Vulture, triple Orthrus core with Cerberus and Bantams/EWAR as support. Easily Excited attempted to play the more traditional frigate support wing, using Worms and a Scimitar, along with their own Orthrus cruiser squad.
The decisiveness of electronic warfare became obvious as the Easily Excited team was prevented from being applied by the R0NIN Maulus squad. The sensor dampeners kept the Excited team’s ships from acquiring target logs, allowing R0NIN to slice and dice from their rapid light missile launcher combat range. The match never became truly competitive after the initial exchange of fire, and The R0NIN sailed through to a complete victory.
Final Score: 100-16
Match 38: Test Alliance Please Ignore vs Tactical Narcotics Team
Null-Sec replay.
TEST applied the lessons of the past few days to field a very conventional Eos/Vexor fleet, with substantially more firepower than their opponents, TNT, which fielded a control-focused Stratios/Armageddon team. The amount of sheer firepower from TEST’s fleet was a significant danger, but TNT maintained composure and destroyed the TEST Oneiros. However, the split damage from TEST against TNT after a set of critical ship-destruction trades might have gained them a better chance to win the match, and the TNT Armageddon managed to continue scoring kills because of apparent lack of command. The thrown away opportunity to neutralize the most important component of the TNT team led TEST to lose a very close brawl of a match.
Final Score: 76-92
“I’m not sure what this Fourth District team is doing here”
– CCP Fozzie
The Camel Empire team fielded a standard Claymore/Gila composition that has been seen before in the Feign Disorder match. The Caldari roleplaying alliance, The Fourth District, fielded a notably non-Caldari setup, a Proteus/Legion tinker with Ladel Terevada in a Rapier. The purpose of this composition was not immediately clear, nor were the formation’s maneuvers easily explained. The RR Legion allowed itself to become separated from Ladel’s Rapier, which appeared to be the primary range-control vessel on the District team. The result was an easy kill for Camel Empire, and eventually, a complete steamroll of the entire Fourth District team. The Law of Tinkers continues to hold true.
Final Score: 100-1
Match 40: M.I.F vs Sleeper Social Club
Null-Sec replay
A very conventional match, where M.I.F fielded a Sleipnir/Gila squad, versus a Sleeper Social Club Eos/Stratios fleet. The main decisive factor in this match appeared to be the support wings of both sides: the M.I.F support fleet had a complement of Worms that had superior tackle and firepower capabilities to the SSC Ishkurs and Tristans. The M.I.F armor-tanked Merlins also applied very effective sensor dampener EWAR across the SSC team, delaying their actions and reducing their ability to target and repair their friends in time. The result turned into a mostly one-sided wipe-out, as the SSC fleet unraveled under unabated pressure by M.I.F.
Final Score 100-19
Match 41: Rote Kapelle vs SCUM.
Null-Sec replay
Both Rote Kapelle and SCUM. have been common competitors in the Alliance Tournament, and this matchup was a classic brawl between two relatively small-gang fleet doctrine operators. The Rote Kapelle side fielded a very familiar drone/energy neutralizer armor tanking core fleet, using 2x Armageddons, 2x Eos, and Oneiros, flanked by missile-based destroyer anti-support platforms in the form of Heretics, Talwars, and Kestrels. SCUM appeared to be more concerned about a tinker RR setup, using Celestis, Maulus, and Kitsune supporting a core of Sleipnirs and a Scimitar.
The combat went decisively in Rote Kapelle’s favor. Target calling from the Rote Kapelle captain, Tyros Tenebros, immediately locked down the hostile electronic warfare. The heavily unbalanced Attack bars on the Alliance Tournament interface demonstrated the folly of the EWAR heavy focus of SCUM, which had no capacity to effectively retaliate against the fast-moving Rote Kapelle destroyer screen. The match went to Rote Kapelle.
Final Score: 100-3.
Match 42: Ministry of Inappropriate Footwork vs C0VEN
Null-Sec replay.
The standard triple Eos/Vexor fleet from Coven matched up against a Proteus/Eos tinker squad by Footwork. The bans of the match were Gila, Armageddon, Ishtar, and Dominix, but there are always more drone boats to make this meta build work out. A Footwork Hyena miraculously survived the first volley of damage with 2% structure, which would prove critical as this web ship allowed for their drone attack to be more effective. The first mistake by C0VEN was a catastrophic boundary violation by their Oneiros pilot. The drone swarm apparently was so terrifying that he forgot the boundary radius.
With the Oneiros destroyed, Footwork was able to slice apart the remainder of the C0VEN team. I’ll have to eat some crow for this match, as the tinker fleet build actually pulled it off. It becomes obvious that if a fleet fighting the tinker fleet loses their own logistics, then it becomes impossible to sustain the incoming damage from the tinker fleet, and the battle will swing rapidly towards the tinker’s slow bulldozing firepower.
Final score: 78-6
Match 43: Shadow Cartel vs Pandemic Legion
Null-Sec replay.
A high-profile matchup, for sure. Both organizations are famous around the game for being able to smash massive supercapitals into other supercapitals; however the question is how they will do in more finessed small-scale combat. The two teams brought drone-focused builds, with a focus on destroyer Heretic support with Shadow Cartel, along with sensor dampeners. Pandemic Legion flew a worm support wing and Gila core.
The boundary would score the first two kills in the match, in the form of both Pandemic Legion Burst, the core of their remote repair, and immediately two Gilas would follow. This was a critical moment, as the Pandemic Legion shield ships appeared more susceptible to damage and could not sustain their attack in the face of all of the Shadow Cartel drones and Heretics. The Shadow Cartel logistics would eventually be destroyed, causing a slug match of trading ships. However, Pandemic Legion seemed unable to pull back, through a hair-raising series of trades, and would win the match with an incredible finish, with their Eos surviving with a sliver of structure hitpoints. A micro jump unit Heretic loss by Shadow Cartel may have swung the match; that pilot can’t be happy this week.
Final Score: 72-76
Match 44: The Methodical Alliance vs The Gorgon Empire
Null-Sec replay.
Methodical would bring a Paladin-focused Armageddon tinker with Bantam logistics (???). Gorgon Empire flew a more conventional Astarte brawl build with two Cruors and an Armageddon with a heavy focus on capacitor warfare. Gorgon’s build was perfectly designed to engage this tinker setup, with a huge amount of neutralizers just slicing apart the Armageddon tinker setup. Sensor dampeners also prevented useful retaliation from Methodical. Only the Methodical Damnation survived the end of the match, and Gorgon scored a decisive win.
Final Score 0-84
Match 45: Agony Empire vs Red vs Blue
Null-Sec replay.
This is a classic matchup between two training-oriented PvP organizations. Both fleets flew drone-focused comps, in a now familiar combination of Eos, Vexors, and Ishtars. Eventually this would become a brawl between the two sides, with trading ship losses, logistics being left alone and instead using split-damage to whittle down enemy targets.
The Agony Empire Eos squad survived somewhat longer than the core group of RvB’s DPS, and allowed the match to go into overtime with a last-second tie. Eventually however, RvB fire would break the last Agony Eos and win them the match. Some quite humorous smacktalk ensued between the two noobie-friendly groups after the match, with Agony saying that they will no longer accept applications from RvB pilots, as ‘they already know how to PVP’.
Final Score: 82-100
Match 46: Nulli Secunda vs Surely You’re Joking
Null-Sec replay.
Nulli Secunda went with the classic Gila/Eos combination for this match, clearly a composition they have become comfortable with. Surely You’re Joking flew a much more unconventional missile-based team with Cerberus, Flycatchers, and Vultures, with significantly less damage output. Drones appeared to be Surely’s primary target initially, however their Scimitar and Heron would be the initial casualties in the match. It is possible that Surely spent too much time attacking drones, and wasted their opportunity to bring their missile alpha strike to bear against enemy ships. With the Scimitar destroyed, the match ended swiftly with a catastrophic loss for Surely you’re Joking. The drone ship crusade continues unabated… will anything be capable of stopping it?
Final Score: 100-2
Match 47: Curatores Veritatis Alliance vs Outbreak.
Null-Sec replay.
CVA broke their tradition of using Amarrian-themed ships and flew a Sleipnir/Gila fleet composition with Worm support, against the traditional Gila/Eos/Ishtar fleet of Outbreak. It’s interesting to note however that Outbreak gambled and stacked their support squad with Flycatcher interdictors, which are effective against small ships using light missile launchers. The influence on this match would be discovered later.
As the match began both teams came in from maximum warp range, to perform a long-range dance to avoid each other’s damage. Eventually, however, the CVA DPS started to apply with their autocannon Sleipnirs tearing into an Outbreak Gila. Trading a Sleipnir for the Outbreak frigate logistics and a Gila, CVA stared to draw ahead, and the Outbreak ships began to drop quickly. The match swung rapidly into CVA’s control, and they would end up winning the match quite decisively after the critical destruction of those frigate logistic Bursts.
Final Score: 100-38
Match 48: Hydra Reloaded vs No Holes Barred
Null-Sec replay.
Hydra Reloaded is a common alliance tournament participant, usually ending in the top for of the competition. The Hydra fleet flew a classic triple Sleipnir composition, using artillery, against Barred’s Paladin tinker. However, the tinker Tengu got jammed early in the match, and immediately the Gila damage output on the Barred team was completely wiped out. The match ended up being a complete stomping of No Holes Barred, with the Kitsune and sensor dampeners on Hydra Reloaded being the critical deciding factor. Only their Paladin would survive the end of the match.
Final score: 74-5
Tags: ATXII, Julianus Soter
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Match 38: Test Alliance Please Ignore vs Tactical Narcotics Team
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