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

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Article Publish : 10/05/2024 18:26

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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 civil war semifinal match between Server 38’s Art of War(AoW) and Celestial Plains(SSQ). AoW’s positions in this match will be denoted in yellow while SSQ’s will be in red.

💠Table of Contents

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

💠Overview

AoW entered playoffs with a 5-0 record before going on to beat JF, KoZ, and IMPK in an extremely close game separated by less than 3,000 points. They dominated their side of the bracket with wins against PRD and BUNS in the top 16. SSQ was just as dominant. They defeated 52, KoS, and F8 to secure their spot in the top 16. They went on to beat QSS and HMB, two dark horses. AoW was considered the favorite to win this match.

💠Starting Positions and Talents

AoW

Started with 28 players and ended with 30
14 Attack talents
7 Defense talents
7 Support talents

SSQ

Started with 29 players and ended with 30
11 Attack talents
11 Defense talents
7 Support talents

💠Tower 1

AoW moved four players to Tower 1 while SSQ relocated 11. AoW had few good spawns for Tower 1 while SSQ had an abundance. Instead of forgoing Tower 1 entirely, AoW figured they send a few players there and keep them busy to buy time for the other towers. There were a couple of gaps in their formation but it’s overall fine since they’re just stalling for a little bit of time. SSQ wanted to leverage their edge spawns to block some AoW relocations but it was a moot effort. SSQ’s formation is standard. They would just need to cancel some relocations since not all 11 are needed to deal with the four AoW sent.

💠Tower 4

AoW sent six players to Tower 4 while SSQ gave it up without contesting.

💠Central Tower

With both teams essentially giving up a side tower, the Central Tower was the focus. AoW relocated 12 players and SSQ relocated 14 players to the center. One SSQ player tried to move deep into AoW’s territory and the relocation will be inevitably destroyed. It’s a huge waste of time. The battle of the center would likely decide the match given how heavily committed both teams are.

💠Altars

AoW moved three players to the Moon Altar and SSQ moved three to the Sun Altar.

💠Home Towers

AoW had two guards at their home tower while SSQ had one.

💠Play-by-Play

At Tower 1, none of SSQ’s player canceled their relocations. Committing 11 players to hold four players is a huge mistake, in my opinion. Seven or eight should have been more than enough. Regardless, SSQ managed to capture the tower immediately. SSQ had trouble zeroing the four AoW players and some even managed to relocate elsewhere. This was a huge failure on SSQ’s part. Instead of sending them packing and trapping them in their spawn for a while, SSQ over-committed to the tower and still couldn’t do anything productive. AoW bought so much time and would make that trade every single time.

Since Tower 4 was free for AoW, one player relocated to SSQ’s home tower along with two other players from the altar. SSQ moved their own players from the Sun Altar back to their home and successfully defended the tower. Both alliances nullified each other’s altar starts.

In the center, AoW destroyed one relocation, bringing the numbers a little closer. AoW was slowly dealing more damage than SSQ was able to despite having fewer players. By the time the tower became available at ten minutes, all but five SSQ players at Tower 1 should have been at the center already, but they stayed. At 11 minutes, SSQ was two seconds away from capturing the tower. Had a few more players been there, they would’ve succeeded and the onus and pressure would’ve been on AoW. Instead, AoW took the chance to zero several SSQ players around the tower, take their spots, and capture the tower for themselves a few minutes later. Until that point, both teams are basically tied.

At 21 minutes, SSQ started teleporting to AoW’s Tower 4 where only four guards reside. A minute later, one by one, SSQ surrounded the tower. One, then two, then five. AoW started teleporting in behind them. Imagine the Infinity Wars scene where Captain America’s teammates were teleporting in one by one, except both sides were appearing through the portals. With overwhelming numbers, SSQ zeroed most of AoW and stole the tower three minutes later. AoW was up 10,000 points with 34 minutes left.

Unfortunately, a couple of the teleports came from SSQ’s home tower. A couple of other players also relocated elsewhere, leaving only one person to defend Tower 3. Four AoW players teleported in and stole the tower before SSQ even realized what was happening. A couple of players tried to move back but it was too late.

In response, SSQ moved from Tower 4 and stragglers at the Central Tower to Tower 3. After a little bit of effort, they recaptured their home tower at 34 minutes, but it took over a third of the alliance. AoW built a 17,000-point lead before SSQ retook the tower. Unless SSQ could miraculously steal the Central Tower, the game was over for them. The three side towers would only net SSQ a total of 7,800 points.

The final nail in the coffin was that to retake their home tower, SSQ left only two players at Tower 4. AoW teleported in and retook the tower. With no time and teleports left, SSQ had run out of options and the game slipped away from them.

💠Summary

AoW won the match with 100,000 points to SSQ’s 58,850. Both alliances giving up a side tower due to their lack of good spawns was fine. SSQ’s not canceling relocations to Tower 1 so they can reinforce the center was a huge mistake and in my opinion, it’s a mistake that cost them the match. They were so close to taking the Central Tower. Whether they could’ve held it is another story. AoW played very well. While their teleports to defend Tower 4 were late, they successfully siege Tower 3 as a distraction and managed to grow the lead beyond repair. SSQ seems to lack a shot caller that can give actionable instructions. Too many players are trying to do too much without realizing their teammates are trying to do the exact same thing so actions become redundant. For example, too many players moved off of the home tower and no one replaced them and then everyone moved away from Tower 4 to recapture Tower 3. The over-commitment to different objectives leads me to believe AoW would have retaken the Central Tower before long even if SSQ did succeed first. AoW moves on to face CUBS in the finals while SSQ will play the third-place match against VEX.