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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 4 match between Server 73’s Snuggle-Cubs(CUBS) and Server 170’s Sexy as Fck(SF). CUBS’ positions in this match will be denoted in yellow while SF’s will be in red.
💠Table of Contents
- Overview
- Starting Positions and Talents
- CUBS
- SF
- Tower 1
- Tower 4
- Central Tower
- Altars
- Home Towers
- Play-by-Play
- Summary
💠Overview
SF had a 6-1 record in the Points stage, losing only to BUNS. In the Group Elimination stage, SF mopped the floor with AVR, GN, and PXR to secure their golden seat in the Top 16s. They defeated WV in the first match before reaching this point. CUBS went 8-0 in the Points stage. They barely broke a sweat in the Group Elimination stage defeating all three relatively unknown teams rather quickly. They then beat SF’s sister team, IMPK, in their toughest match of the season. SF is the defending champions so they should be favored, but CUBS is no slouch.
💠Starting Positions and Talents
CUBS
- Started with 28 players and ended with 30
- 12 Attack talents
- 11 Defense talents
- 5 Support talents
SF
- Started with 28 players and ended with 30
- 10 Attack talents
- 13 Defense talents
- 5 Support talents
💠Tower 1
CUBS relocated nine players to Tower 1 and SF relocated eight. Both teams were contesting a spot on SF’s bottom side. Since SF and CUBS both had excellent edge spawns, CUBS’ attempt was a little ambitious. SF would very clearly reach that tile first. Neither team had particularly great relocations. CUBS ceded a couple of their spots in fear of getting blocked and only had two players adjacent to the tower. SF had four players next to the tower, but they also had an overlap.
💠Tower 4
CUBS relocated eight players to Tower 4 and SF sent ten. CUBS had the perfect spawn to block multiple SF players but they only attempted to block one. This is an issue that plagues teams from Server 73. They are far too conservative and don’t leverage their spawns for Tower 4 as much as they should. They could learn a thing or two from VEX. CUBS had aggressive relocations, attempting to control at least two and a half sides of the tower relatively early with fewer players.
💠Central Tower
CUBS sent nine players to the center and SF moved eight. CUBS’ relocations were a little more compact and surrounded less of the tower than SF. A couple of players who are diagonal from the tower could move further left or down their spots to occupy more space and take more control. You always want to have two players next to each other when they are on the front lines so their marches are quicker and can reinforce each other.
💠Altars
Neither team sent any players to capture either altar.
💠Home Towers
Both teams had one guard at their respective home towers.
💠Play-by-Play
At Tower 1, SF won the contest for the spot but also blocked one of their own teammates. CUBS quickly zeroed two players, mixing in a few rallies with mostly solo attacks after learning from their BUNS loss against AoW. By five minutes, CUBS outnumbered SF nine-to-five and destroyed numerous relocations from SF’s spawn. SF players were extremely negligent at garrisoning their teammates’ relocations, almost as if they forgot all the fundamentals of IBL. At seven minutes and when there were only three SF players left, CUBS went for the tower and captured it a minute later. CUBS could have pulled the trigger quicker and captured the tower several minutes earlier. Five players could have also started their relocations to the center as soon as seven minutes, but they were loitering around for too long.
At Tower 4, CUBS blocked one relocation. CUBS quickly zeroed one player and SF did the same after a couple of minutes. CUBS were holding SF at bay with fewer players. Even if they didn’t capture the tower, as long as they prevented SF from taking it, they were winning out due to CUBS having already captured Tower 1. CUBS and SF kept sending reinforcements and traded blow for blow. CUBS could have done a far better job at destroying enemy relocations than they did. At 15 minutes, they let SF surround them and CUBS were slowly losing ground. Both teams did a really good job at blocking relocations that were far away to delay reinforcements. Despite having more control around the tower and more players, SF couldn’t seem to capture the tower.
The battle in the center was extremely one-sided. For every attack SF sent, CUBS sent three. SF relied too much on rallies and SF was losing ground quickly. CUBS did a fantastic job at destroying relocations and preventing any support from coming to help. By the time the Central Tower opened, SF only had four players left and it was free for CUBS to siege. They went for the tower immediately while zeroing the rest of SF from the vicinity and captured it a minute later. By the 15-minute mark, CUBS opened up a 7,000-point lead and controlled three towers to SF’s one.
SF tried to make a play at CUBS home tower at the 11-minute mark by expending their teleports. CUBS easily put a stop to it. Even if the opposition captures your home tower, it’s extremely difficult for them to hold it due to the tower’s proximity to your spawn area. It takes longer for them to get reinforcements to the tower than it would take your team. It usually only works as a distraction, but with CUBS winning four side towers, it was a worthless attempt.
From there, CUBS moved players from the center and teleported to Tower 4 to help. Half of SF was stuck in their spawn with CUBS diligently destroying and blocking relocations. The support from the center enabled CUBS to push back at Tower 4 and they were able to occupy the tower at the 21-minute mark. SF had just as many players at the tower but still couldn’t stop the wave. By 25 minutes, CUBS already had a 25,000-point lead and controlled four towers.
It was evident by that point that SF didn’t have a chance to come back into the game. They were down 35,000 points halfway through the match and had used all their teleports. They were losing every solo attack and had no plan in mind. Their players played with no cohesion and the team overall had no macro plan. CUBS unexpectedly destroyed SF in a one-sided affair.
💠Summary
CUBS won the match with 100,000 points to SF’s 26,600 off the back of CUBS’ LEO who was the MVP. Both teams had a fairly standard strategy plan, but CUBS crushed SF on every level. It’s so difficult for SF to change anything to make a difference because they were losing everywhere. Even at Tower 4 where they stopped CUBS from capturing the tower, they were committing far more members to the tower than CUBS was. CUBS also didn’t need that tower to win so the onus was on SF to make the difference there and then make another play elsewhere. SF needs to revamp their roster because no strategic plan would’ve helped when they played like that. It’s uncanny of the previous defending champions.
Why do you think SF underperformed and has such a stark difference in their gameplay than previously? Let me know in the comments below!
💠References
Version 2.7.3
💠Related Links
Infinity Kingdom Official Website
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