Ultimate Conquest: N0X vs UTB | Inside the Pressure Cooker

By the time our N0X team stepped foot onto today’s battlefield, we were already victorious in many ways. A grueling regular season had pushed us to our limits, which turned out to be exactly what we needed to be able to reach new highs as an alliance. In the 6th match we made one final desperate push to make it into the Ultimate Conquest season, by fighting FuK at a wildly irregular hour, with attendance numbers down and knowing that we couldn’t spare a single misstep. But that turned into a victory that left us sitting right at the coveted rank 16 spot, meaning we had clawed our way into the playoffs. It was a spot that felt earned, as our leadership, strategy, and team execution had finally snapped into alignment at exactly the right moment.

Even our first Ultimate Conquest match against WxD wasn’t enough to kill our high feeling. We of course weren’t surprised that fighting one of the strongest alliances in the game at reset time wouldn’t exactly go well for us. But instead of putting us in a discouraged state, that match gave us time to celebrate our place on the UC stage, with no added stress. We treated it as training, and a chance to gather fuel for the real fight that was just around the corner. 

That real fight would be against UTB. Despite their roster of very heavy hitters, and their name, UTB was dangerous but not untouchable. This was not a pairing we were expected to win, but there was a strong belief among us that it was a fight that we definitely could win. The loss against WxD was easy to accept, but a loss in this second match would hurt. N0X had only made it to the UC bracket once before, and never had our alliance claimed a UC match win. The opportunity to make new history for our team was here in front of us.

As the battlefield opened, the tension was already present. The playoff matches allow for only 70 fighters for each team, and entered with only 66. In the quiet as we prepared for opening races, that small gap was hard to ignore. For the racers it was important to take a breath and clear all distractions from our minds, and by the time the final countdown appeared we were in complete focus.

In that first wave we were the first to capture every building but the nearest Outpost. This was a great first surge forward for N0X, and it was a treasure to have the momentum on our side for the first few moments. But of course it wouldn’t last too long. The quick seamless swaps we had been practicing all season faltered, and UTB reacted quickly. Our promising start was now a frantic scramble to stabilize our hold on the map. Warrior, Mother, and Outposts began to change hands so often it was difficult to track. 

But thankfully we had become comfortable with chaos. When it was time for Ports to open, they were split evenly. From there, as rallies constantly were called and clashed from both sides, we began to regain our footing. Once we had conquered everything but the Warrior and nearest Port, we had the first glimpse of our miraculous victory becoming a reality. Winning the race for Casterly Rock further solidified our vision, but after this hectic first quarter we only had the lead by a few hundred points on the scoreboard. 

The vision was again snatched away when our Casterly Rock swap was shockingly intercepted. It was a moment that could have broken all our morale just then, but the reminder of just how thin the margins would be in this battle only strengthened our resolve.

It’s a good thing our shotcaller Belore doesn’t require a second to breathe between calls, as there was never any to spare for us in this fight. Through it all his calls remained calm and deliberate. In the meantime before we could claw our way back into Casterly Rock, we reclaimed the warrior, and held up defenses in the far Port. That allowed for our team to click back into a discipline that had become familiar this season. We launched waves of rally after rally on Casterly Rock, forcing UTB to commit fully to its defense.

The Castle would change hands again and again, a perfect illustration of the relentless back and forth that took place throughout this battle. Each flip would be almost immediately answered by the other alliance, and the scoreboard reflected it clearly. There was no real separation, and absolutely no certainty in today’s fight. 

By the time the Mines opened, both teams were prepared to draw the final lines in the sand. The tug of war continued as we each won a race, timed our strategems, and lost our Mines only to flip them again. I can tell you I had developed a real stomach ache by this point of the match. I think I could hear the heartbeats of all my teammates ringing in my ears as Belore said “Mine points could cost us this game.” 

In the end, UTB were the ones to drain the final points from both Mines. But not before N0X had extracted just enough points to hang onto the lead by a few hundred points. In our final five minutes of battle, we had to still give as much focus and determination as we had in the first five minutes. Belore made the final call to most importantly hold what we had, and apply pressure to CR to split some attention from the deluge of rallies they were launching at our Port. With so few points in between us, any of these buildings could have altered the ending of this fight.

The final rallies landed as the clock ran out, and with it we had written a new page in N0X’s history book. As we reeled from the mental and physical exhaustion from the fight, our dear Gloriee called out, “Guys, we just won a UC match.” Scythe’s voice was shaking as she congratulated our team, and the feeling of our hardest fought victory yet settled around us.