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[Review] Analysis of AoW vs BUNS in IBL in Infinity Kingdom

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Article Publish : 09/30/2024 06:45

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💠Introduction

What’s up, folks? Welcome back to my Illusion Battlefield(IB) series where I take a closer look at different matches. IB is different from the IB League tournament in that you will use your normal teams, skill sets, talents, and decoration skins so strength is extremely relevant. The mode is also much slower-paced. Relocations and marching speed are slower. The event is one of the most entertaining events in Infinity Kingdom, and players enjoy spectating, almost like a sporting event. In this article, I’m going to take a closer look at the Best of 4s match between Server 38’s Art of War(AoW) and Server 73’s Snugglebunnies(BUNS). BUNS’ positions in this match will be denoted in yellow while AoW’s will be in red.

💠Table of Contents

Overview
Starting Positions and Talents
BUNS
AoW
Tower 1
Tower 4
Central Tower
Altars
Home Towers
Play-by-Play
Summary

💠Overview

AoW went 5-0 in the Points Stage and proceeded to annihilate JF and KoZ before narrowly beating IMPK to secure their gold spot in the Group Elimination Stage. They went on to soundly beat PRD before matching BUNS. BUNS entered playoffs with a 7-1 record and has had an incredibly difficult strength of schedule on their way to the Group Elimination Stage. They defeated WOLF, NG+, and IMPF to secure their seat in the top 16. Then they defeated GN to get to this point.

💠Starting Positions and Talents

BUNS

Started and ended with 30 players
15 Attack talents
8 Defense talents
7 Support talents

AoW

Started with 28 players and ended with 30
11 Attack talents
11 Defense talents
6 Support talents

💠Tower 1

AoW sent eleven players to Tower 1 while BUNS only relocated nine. Both alliances chose to contest the corner position. BUNS had a better edge spawn so they should reach that spot faster than AoW. AoW’s relocations were standard and organized while BUNS’ were anything but. They had an overlap and gaps between their players which is fairly uncharacteristic of them. AoW has the clear advantage even if they lose the contest for the corner spot.

💠Tower 4

AoW only relocated four players to Tower 4 and BUNS sent seven. AoW knew BUNS had better spawns for Tower 4 and since Tower 4 is more advantageous for the yellow team, AoW decided not to commit too many resources and manpower to the tower. BUNS could have relocated a lot more aggressively. They had a nearly perfect spawn for Tower 4 and could have blocked two or three relocations. It would have won them the tower nearly instantly and two players could have just gone to the middle instead. BUNS has historically been very conservative in their relocations and that’s one aspect they need to leverage better if they want to win a championship.

💠Central Tower

AoW relocated twelve players to the Central Tower and BUNS sent ten players. Both teams knew the center was going to be the focus and the key to winning the game. AoW had significantly better positions. They had six players on each side of the tower in close proximity which gave them more support and lower marching times. BUNS had two players poking out from the sides with no support next to them. Also, ideally, the four players who are diagonal to the tower needed to spread out to the sides more. Diagonal positions are slightly worse because the distance between the tower and opponents is longer which means you waste more time.

💠Altars

AoW sent one player to the Sun Altar and BUNS chose to forgo the Moon Altar.

💠Home Towers

Both teams had two guards at their respective home towers.

💠Play-by-Play

At Tower 1, BUNS won the contest for the corner spot and made the numbers a little more even. They traded blows back and forth. AoW was launching far more solo attacks than rallies than BUNS were but they kept even for a while. The difference maker was that AoW was getting far more reinforcements than BUNS was. AoW kept their numbers around eight players but BUNS couldn’t spare the reinforcements. By ten minutes, it was clear BUNS was going to lose the tower soon and they should have rotated to the center. AoW went for the tower and with only five players, BUNS couldn’t stop them. AoW successfully captured it a minute later and proceeded to wipe the rest of BUNS from the area.

At Tower 4, BUNS destroyed two relocations, giving them a five-man advantage. Unfortunately, since the cooldown for relocation was over three minutes, all seven players were stuck there while the center needed more help. Had they been more aggressive with their near-perfect relocations, they could have committed fewer players to the tower and would still have it for free. BUNS took the tower as quickly as they could and deleted the two remaining AoW players. As soon as they could, one player started moving to the center. With how important the Central Tower is, they could have sent two more players, leaving four at Tower 4.

In the center, BUNS were getting crushed by AoW’s overwhelming pressure. AoW’s better positions around the tower and their solo attacks were slowly pushing BUNS back. With so much pressure, BUNS players from Tower 1 who were zeroed started moving to the center. Players at Tower 1 should have started rotating to the center as soon as they knew they were going to lose it too. AoW slowly wrapped the Central Tower, covering nearly three sides by the time the tower opened up at ten minutes and they immediately went for it. BUNS only harbored a corner of the tower so they couldn’t stop the siege. AoW captured it at the 12-minute mark. BUNS were only up 2,400 points by then.

As the battle raged on in the middle, two AoW players from the Sun Altar made a move on BUNS’ home tower at 12 minutes. It forced BUNS to respond and they successfully stopped their invasion. The numerous targets prompted AoW to leave only four players at Tower 1 and BUNS pulled the trigger at 24 minutes. Six players teleported in and one player moved to the tower. BUNS was able to zero a couple of players but AoW replied with their own teleports. With players already there and more players coming in with teleports, BUNS’ attempt was slowly fizzled out and BUNS had few options left.

By 30 minutes, BUNS had exhausted all their teleports and was not making any headway at the center. AoW opened up a 15,000-point lead and had their towers extremely guarded and secured. BUNS would try their hardest in the center for several more minutes but knew victory was out of sight. AoW cruised to a win from that point forward.

💠Summary

AoW won the match with 100,000 points to BUNS’ 65,200. AoW played a very standard game that focused on the Central Tower. BUNS was uncharacteristically worse at every facet of the game compared to their counterparts. BUNS was overly reliant on rallies when the meta had shifted from rallies to coin-flip solo attacks and their rotations are a step slower. They did not leverage their top-side advantage and better edge spawns at Tower 4. Their relocation positions paled in comparison to AoW’s. Had two players shifted to the center from the start and Tower 1 rotated a few minutes earlier, BUNS might have had a fighting chance. AoW made good moves everywhere and wisely saved their teleports to respond to BUNS’ attacks. BUNS is out of the tournament and AoW will move on the face SSQ in the semifinals.