ALTernate UC A league BwF vs I4I

Gather round the campfire y’all as I tell a tale of camaraderie, perseverance, a true testament of the Underdogs demanding some respect get put on their name by force of will.

You have heard me talk about BwF before,

It is the home of my mini me.

They are a mid-sized but growing active alliance that are very close knit and an overall fun bunch. (Also, they are recruiting, yes a shameless plug). They were kind enough to take my alt in despite her being abnormally small. Side note, it is nice to see an alliance not so hyper focused on some arbitrary number like power or merit. ALTernate Alliance Conquest in the A league had been a lot of fun. Watching the Bastards of Winterfell dominate in all their regular season matches. Then Came Ultimate Conquest, where the first couple matches also became easy wins for this team that had willed themselves from Underdogs to Contenders.

Then came the first loss of the season, it was a hard pill to swallow for a squad who had only tasted victory for so long. We were down but not out. Despite moving to what is lovingly referred to as the loser bracket, there was still a glimmer of hope. Realistically, even if we lost here, it was a season to be proud of.

This brings us to the 6^th round where we were to face I4I

They were a much larger alliance with many strong and seasoned fighters. Friends from around Westeros began to tease me that we had no chance.

My mini me did not play in this match but I did pilot an account hoping to help secure the victory that would allow us to place no lower than 4^th for the season. Bella emerged with a quiet confidence, having learned from the previous loss. The rest of the Bastards had that nervous anticipation. An excited desperation that you only know when everything is on the line in the battle ahead. No race boots, heal speeds or diamonds were to be spared. This match was for all the marbles. We win and our season continues, or we lose and wait for the season to end. 69 Beautiful Bastards of Winterfell took to the battlefield that day ready to give their all.

We had the numbers advantage, but I4I was stronger overall. We couldn’t think of this as an easy win just because the numbers were in our favor. This would be one of the more brutal matches of UC that I was to participate in.

Bella had done her homework, noting each of the enemies’ specialties, commanding their counters be ready to strike when the bubbles drop. The racers were waiting impatiently to try and start grabbing buildings and get on with it already.

Before I knew it the timer had flashed, and everyone was racing for the first four open buildings. I4I emerged with the Warrior and Mother, while we held the other 2 open buildings. Not having the mother would make healing more expensive, so we had to make a play to even have a chance at this match. Rallies up cried Bella, ensuring that the counters to the enemy all put up rallies to try and take it back. We all rushed to fill the rallies and began trying to time the rallies to hit close together. We would get close to kicking out the enemy but not close enough to take it the first couple attempts.

Each attempt was better than the last, and eventually we grabbed the Mother. “Heal NOW” cried leadership. For a while we were focused on the Mother, I4I had focused on our buildings as well. We would gain a building then lose a building. Once we grabbed one we would rush to reinforce and the rallies would shift to the next building on the too do list. We established a rhythm where while trying to keep the enemy on their heels, we also needed to maintain our calm in the most difficult match of the season.

At a certain point the loss became inevitable. We didn’t get the castle. We miss capitalizing on some swaps the enemy made. I4I was well seasoned in things like swapping and getting strong accounts into the various buildings. BwF held their own keeping this a match. Not letting the enemy pull ahead too far in the points. We even got and held one of the mines.

We started with a small lead in score and held it for a small while, but once I4I pulled ahead, we wouldn’t be able to regain the lead again. One thing these beautiful bastards did was finish with a much closer score than most anticipated. My own friends told me to expect an annihilation. Their determination and tenacity turned this match into a incredibly fun nail biting match. One that I had so rarely played in a season full of easy wins or certain losses. It was a true honor to fight along side this fun bunch.