AC Round 2 - N0X vs J4Z!

N0X were coming in hot to game two of the Alliance Conqest season - a solid first win against a formidable German Jokers side was a perfect way to kick off the season and next up we found ourselves shaping up against the relatively unknown alliancd of J4Z. A few names were familiar, particularly the powerful Thor Storm, but the alliance itself and their synergies, capabilities and overall strength was an unknown. That only made the matchup all the more exciting - we weren't ones to shy away from fighting strong alliances, whether we knew what they were capable of or not! Let's see how it went!

Not an optimal start! The first trade was close to even as we took two buildings each, including sharing one of the more important buildings in the Mother and Warrior each as well. Unfortunately we couldn't keep hold of the warrior, and a swift solo when our building was poorly defended was enough to steal it away. Our focus was split and it was ultimately a silly, silly mistake to make giving away the warrior in such a manner. We have to really hope that wasn't a telltale sign for things to come in the rest of the game, cause you really hate to see that!

A glimmer of hope definitely as the ports first open up, and our racers redeem their shaky early start (and iffy first game showing) to steal away both the ports. The racing win was followed by another win with successful swaps, getting in Shado and Matrix, Matrix able to survive impressively against a sea of rallies that rained down on him within just a couple of minutes of him settling down into the beachside objective. Enough to turn the game around perhaps, as we were now significantly ahead in points per minute!

Initially that success only continued as Casterly Rock's bubble dropped and we took it, but that won race turned sour when a poorly timed swap saw our primary hitter Belore wasn't given reinforcements fast enough and several swift, deadly solos were able to knock him out and win the construction for J4Z. More than disappointing, dropping points and falling behind because your opponent is better on the day is one thing, losing because of your consistent mistakes is terrible. Clearly we have things to work on!

Almost with every passing minute we seemed to be slipping further and further behind. The great difference in participating players between the two alliances was really showing, and we were struggling to keep up. Our attempts to take the port closest to us after they'd stolen it away failed miserably, with the J4Z defenses never looking like they were in any real danger of dropping. We managed to win points here and there, but were never able to get a real foothold in the match, though fortunately we did secure one of the mines when they opened, giving us a much needed injection of points.

A look around the map just before the end of the game. A glimpse of my moment of my glory taking the Stronghold, along with a couple of other objectives we managed to grab away and help to tick us over the 60k points threshold for rewards was nice... but we could all feel as the minutes ticked away our opponents had very much taken their foot off the pedal and were relaxing, enjoying their victory and making sure to save speeds for future matches.

Game was winding down and we knew it was doomed - despite our best efforts we were going to be served up a fat L by the end of it, and so I was on the look out for some fun, soon finding it in the form of one spear player sitting happily in Lannister Stronghold. Channeling the spirit of yolo solo I went for it, sending 1.5 million of my infantry straight into his defenders, and after a couple of those yolo solos I managed to steal the building away. Not that those small points made any difference to the game, but it's a little bit of solo glory so I'll take it! 😅

A sad fgame, we felt looking at the lineups we were going on with a really good shot at victory - but it seems like there were two key factors that worked against us. One, J4Z had some bigger hitters in their rally leads that we struggled to compete with, and two - they had 16 more players, or 48 more armies present on the map... that's a pretty darn huge difference, any alliance would feel that discrepancy! But always looking on the bright side of life, at least we hit 60k points and we put in a good showering against a powerful opposition even with the odds stacked against us.

I can't say I know J4Z that well, but I think they'll do fairly well this season and perhaps get themselves a Ultimate Conquest spot. Good game to them!~