FFS VS NBE | Siege of Winterfell: Playoffs | Semifinals |

Finally came the long-awaited moment, it was the decisive day on which we would witness and discover which two alliances would reach the final of the Siege of Winterfell PlayOffs!

Neik, together with the ally Ferrious, after having played an excellent match in the Arena of Honor where they managed to achieve an unexpected second place thanks to the collaboration with their teammates, arrived today to play the first match of the day on the left side of the tournament bracket.

"Who knows which alliance will get the victory today," Neik wondered with sincere doubt, on one side there was the defending champion of the previous edition while on the other a group that season after season had added to its roster warriors of the highest level.

In this first match the warriors of... would cross their swords.

Guided by the fearsome QUEENY, jouzahf and Only Kaiser, the alliance that up to this point had reached this stage with a rather favorable path by facing factions that on paper were weaker than their group, today found itself facing a test to say the least challenging. To reach the final act of the competition they would have to defeat...

Nothing less than the defending champions!

The leadership composed of the incredible BARBAROSsA, TheOnlyKing and CH4RLIEE. the faction had many expectations on their shoulders as the winners of the previous edition of Siege of Winterfell. Their ferocity had certainly not decreased, quite the opposite. They were eager to prove once again that they were the strongest in Westeros, but today they would have to defeat a group in excellent form to reach the long-awaited final.

"I expect a close match, but the early stages of the fight could affect the morale of the deployed members," said Ferrious. She believed the match wouldn’t be one-sided, but if things went badly for FFS, their motivation could drop sharply against such a strong opponent on paper.

"I agree," replied Neik, who thought exactly like his ally. "But after the match where we were defeated by FFS, I don’t think they’ll give up so easily!" he concluded, recalling the regular season match of SoW.

The battle between the two factions was about to begin along with the imminent rain that would flood the battlefield. Winter was arriving ever more quickly in Westeros, and the cold wind blowing against the fighters’ skin gave them no rest — both factions had one more enemy today! The silence between them, caused by the tension before the fight, was broken only by the distant howling of wolves that sensed something was about to happen.

The competition began in a completely unexpected way!

The first to reach both main buildings were... the members of NBe! Despite their great experience in Siege of Winterfell, the members of FFS reached the two most important objectives with serious delay!

To try to patch up the bad start of the match, once they reached the already organized defenses of NBe, they had a hard time. The strategy adopted by QUEENY’s group was to send a greater number of troops into the Armory rather than dividing their forces — in there, the battle was definitely more intense!

Neik was visibly incredulous; he couldn’t understand how a faction with such experience could have such a start against the defending champions in the quarterfinals of the competition.

But right at that moment, the unexpected happened on the battlefield!

The troops deployed in the Armory by Queeny’s army were devastating, managing to snatch the capture of the building from their rivals’ hands!

"Honestly, I didn’t expect that," said Neik to his ally, who was also surprised.

But that was only part of the strategy of BARBAROSsA and his NBe companions…

After the initial capture of the two buildings, a change of strategy was immediately applied by the alliance leadership: to apply pressure from the very first moments around the strongholds and outposts near Winterfell!

This approach would help them during the upcoming battle for the Winterfell loot, but at the cost of sacrificing control of the positions they had captured in the first 10 minutes of the match. Would it pay off for them?

Meanwhile, the FFS leadership did not stand idly by and immediately launched an assault on their rivals’ objectives. The battle was more alive than ever!

NBe once again gained an early advantage in the four positions!

Using the tactic of reaching them well in advance allowed them to prepare in a more organized way to face their rivals who arrived for the assault!

"NBe is fighting very well," said Ferrious to her ally, seeing the group in control of most of the buildings on the battlefield. "That’s true, but the loot could change everything, let’s not underestimate FFS’s fighting strength," replied Neik, who didn’t see QUEENY’s group at a clear disadvantage despite the temporary score showing them behind.

Meanwhile, another twist occurred..!

Before the availability of the first loot of the clash, the army led by TheOnlyKing managed to regain control of the Armory, finding rather weak defenses inside.

The eagerness and rush to fight against a supposedly stronger rival like NBe in the areas near Winterfell did not allow them to set up effective defenses there, and thanks to that, their opponents took advantage, managing to obtain the buff that could prove decisive for the upcoming battle.

However, not everything happening on the battlefield was going against FFS!

The beginning of the clash near Winterfell saw a great deployment of forces from FFS!

Their plan to counter NBe’s superior strength on paper was to achieve numerical superiority and gain control of the loot as quickly as possible!

However, not everything went as they had hoped!

The response from BARBAROSsA and his companions did not take long, they too arrived in great numbers, trying to match the enemy’s troop count! This created an unprecedented battle in Winterfell!

The intense fight began to lean in favor of… NBe! Minute after minute, the greater strength of each individual member began to show, allowing them to carry the loot closer and closer to one of their bases until its inevitable delivery!

"Things are starting to go badly for them," commented Neik. "That’s true, but I doubt QUEENY and her allies will give up so easily," replied Ferrious.

After the long fight for the first loot, which went to NBe, in the following phases FFS showed they were still in the game despite the growing gap in the score..!

To try to keep the match still open, Josehf and his allies managed to snatch control of the HotSprings from their rivals before the imminent clash for the second loot of the battle. Although it alone wasn’t very influential for the result, it was a clear signal to their allies: we will keep trying!

The message was clearly received by the FFS members, who gathered in large numbers in Winterfell!

The numerical advantage gained for the fight over the second loot of the match was once again favorable for QUEENY’s group, who, taking control of it, began moving toward one of their bases! But the rival response, once again, did not take long…

Blocking their way was the NBe regrouping, which crossed their path, temporarily stopping them and then taking control of the precious treasure. From that moment on, it was like a flashback of the first fight: minute by minute, the NBe members gained numerical superiority, relentlessly moving toward the delivery of the loot. No matter how much FFS tried to stop their army, there was nothing they could do!

"I think at this point we have reached a point of no return," said Neik. He did not see the determination and organization among the FFS ranks necessary to try to overturn the outcome of a match that was now almost mathematically decided.

And indeed, that’s exactly what happened!

The incredible strength of BARBAROSsA and his companions, combined with great coordination and strategy, created a battle that, after the capture of the second loot and with a score gap between the two alliances more than recoverable, brought the group right up to FFS’s base, now completely out of hope, practically waiting only for the match to end.

At the end of the sixty minutes of the first semifinal, the alliance to secure a place in the final was… NBe!

A match that, all in all, went as expected: after a rather balanced initial phase despite FFS’s bad start, which they later managed to respond to on the battlefield, the fights for the loots were hard and intense but both were conquered by NBe. Combined with the greater number of buildings in their control, this created an unbridgeable advantage.

"The strength of NBe is incredible," commented Neik during his final thoughts on the match he had just witnessed. "I’m really curious who they will face in the final!" he added.

"I agree, whether it’s ROD or BDR, both will have a hard time against the defending champions; they look very fierce!" concluded Ferrious.

We were only halfway through this day, though! The battle fought was just the opening match, and to conclude in the next hours would be the most awaited fight in all of Westeros: BDR vs ROD!

Which of the two would manage to defeat their rivals to reach the final and face the defending champions of NBe? We will find out soon together!