ARENA OF HONOR | SEASON 2 ROUND 10 | LEARNING FROM YOUR MISTAKES.

Arena of Honor is back again for its tenth round of fierce and jaw dropping action for only the most committed of competitors. One of these committed teams is led by the ingenious NO REAL, who plays with his heart on his sleeve. His team has been gaining points for the last two rounds with second and third places respectively but now they aim higher to achieve that win that has been eluding them thus far. Will this round be the one where they finally overcome the Arena of Honor? The competitors are ready and NO REAL's team is coming for that win. 

NO REALs plan is one of dominance, “take every Altar of the Maiden and constrict the points flow of our enemies.” He didn’t just want to win, he wanted to do it his way and his game plan had been working for the past two rounds, why change it now. “The altars give great first capture points as well, the more we take, the more our opponents lose,” ChAoS was the second in command and had fine tuned his play to complement NO REAL. Arena of Honor starts with six teams who fight for objectives on the map, each objective provides a first capture amount and then points over time, the team with the most points at the end of the match wins. NO REAL’s strategy controls the altars early boost and steady income, effectively starving the other teams by denying them opportunities to score. It’s a risky strategy as it completely ignores the Watch Towers and Catapults which may come to bite them in the future. 

Since the team had been working together for awhile now, they knew the strengths and weaknesses of their team mates, “Beyond will take our clan castle as usual, NO REAL and I will try to take enemy altars, while the rest hold our own,” ChAoS wanted their competitor’s attention on their own altars thus keeping their own safe. The team knew the stakes were high but their confidence lay in their preparation. “We have done this so many times before, we know what we must do, now just execute the plan and trust in each other,” NO REAL gave his last-minute pep talk as the gates of the Arena of Honor opened for the tenth round. 

Each team enter the arena and scan their opponents, wanting to get a gauge of each team’s power ranking,” lord asssss is on the battlefield with House Stark, also Sigrid1 with House Greyjoy, they will most likely be the ones to look out for,” Beyond was quick with his scouting and assessing the threats of each team. “We will need to watch out for House Tyrell, if they build offensive strongholds, we may need more reinforcements in our clan castle,” ChAoS knew the team to their left would be the one that could take their clan castle and that would be game over. The plan is tweaked on the fly, flexibility added to NO REAL’s core strategy. The team is prepared to launch an aggressive bid for the altars but ChAoS and Beyond have made it clear that they will need to be defensively sound if victory is what they seek. 

House Targaryen led by the formidable SHER have plans of their own, “we will take the Watch Towers with infantry strongholds, my guess is most the teams here will make Trading Posts and we will be left with the Watch Tower bounty,” SHER had seen NO REALs tactics before and wished to use that knowledge against him. SHER is taking a risk, hoping no other team builds offensive strongholds and the fact they have chosen infantry strongholds could also come back to haunt their dreams. 

Another contender for the win would be House Greyjoy with the powerhouse Sigrid1 leading the charge, “we need to stay in contention with the top three and then fight for the Glory City, we have a great chance against our opponents today,” Sigrid1 was right to feel bullish, he was one of the few in the arena strong enough to capture and hold the Glory City. Should they manage to take the Glory City, they will shift the balance of power, making House Greyjoy a serious contender for the win in this epic tenth round of Arena of Honor.

Finally, we come to House Baratheon led by kuzynkiller who also planned to use the Watch Towers first capture points mechanic to his team’s benefit, “Watch Towers are a must, once we have them all, catapults will come naturally,” kuzynkiller had used this tactic once before to great success. The difference between House Baratheon’s plan and House Targaryen’s plan is one has chosen infantry strongholds and the other cavalry strongholds, which team chose correctly, only time will tell. As the first ten minutes of the match passed by, two of the six have chosen offensive strongholds while the rest chose Trading Posts. The first battles for the altars are about to begin and it will be crucial House Lannister collect the easy first capture points or their whole strategy will crumble before them,” House Tyrell is also building Trading Posts, our clan castle is safe, get ready everyone, the games are about to begin.” NO REALs sights were set on the altars, the coming battles will test each team’s resolve but NO REAL and his allies are ready to dominate, one altar at a time.

ChAoS got to quick work taking House Targaryen's Altar of the Maiden, “Watch Towers will open up soon, House Targaryen and House Baratheon will be fighting over those, they won’t care about their Altar of the Maidens,” his assertion came to fruition and House Lannister would be off to a great start. NO REAL’s plan of altar dominance is unfolding with remarkable precision, as their early advantage starts to snowball. The battlefield is heating up but even with this early success the Watch Towers are a game changer not just in terms of points but psychological warfare, seeing the battlefield littered with the banners of your enemy can demoralize the best of warriors. 

This was the moment of truth for House Targaryen and House Baratheon, each choosing to build offensive strongholds, only one can claim their prize, will the Watch Towers be full of infantry, making House Baratheon the clear favourites to take them or will they possess spearmen, putting House Targaryen in the driving seat. The bubbles on the Watch Towers fell and both teams went for the scout,” I knew there would be infantry inside, I had a feeling, this match is ours for the taking,” kuzynkiller was in a celebratory mood as this revelation would firmly land House Baratheon a clear lead. “It’s ok, we can still fight for the Glory City, this match isn’t over yet,” SHER was putting all his eggs in one basket, either his team captured the Glory City or it would be last place for House Targaryen.

Meanwhile NO REAL was on the hunt for altars, “looks like House Baratheon have taken the lead, we have to keep the pressure on,” NO REAL wanted to cement a top three finish before deciding whether to put resources into fighting for the Glory City. House Stark would not be deterred by House Lannister and would fight tooth and nail for their altars, they also had a similar strategy to House Lannister, which would guarantee tough resistance. “Make sure we take every altar back from House Lannister, we can’t let them gain a big lead on us,” lord asssss was now doubting his strategy, with so many teams going for similar endeavours, it would only make altars harder to capture.

As things stand, House Baratheon have a huge lead with the help of the Watch Towers but the Dragonpits allow other teams to bridge the gap,” we don’t need to worry about the Dragonpits, our strongholds will take them for us, continue defending our altars, don’t give our enemies easy points, “kuzynkiller was giving clear and concise commands, leading House Baratheon to what looked like a comfortable victory. Meanwhile House Targaryen prepared themselves for the main event, as the Glory City was about to open their gates for the first time this match, “let them reel in their temporary success, we all know the Arena of Honor comes down to the Glory City and who controls it,” SHER was right in his assessment but with the huge lead House Baratheon had already accrued, even the capture of the Glory City would not be enough to claim first place. 

SHER quickly realized the situation House Targaryen was in, “if we want to win this, we need more points, Dragonpits could be easy pickings, while the rest fight for altars,” SHER used his raw power to take a Dragonpit from House Lannister and give his team a shot at winning the whole thing. SHER’s instinctive play and ability to adapt might just give House Targaryen the edge they need to reclaim dominance in the arena. The race for victory has intensified, with each team’s next move critical with the Glory City just moments away from being attainable.

The main attraction of the Arena of Honor was at full display with mere seconds of the bubble falling of the Glory City, multiple solo attacks ensued. “We are in third place, we need the City of Glory to win, start the rallies and let take the whole thing,” NO REAL was pushed into this situation by his altar strategy falling apart, with so many teams also using Trading Posts as their main supply of points, he found himself in a conundrum, does he continue fighting for altars and risk losing the Glory City to a team below him or does he take it himself but lose altars as a consequence. With Half the match behind the teams, it was House Lannister who held the Glory City, whether they could fully capture it remained to be seen, “here they come, reinforcements need to be perfect, the catapults of House Baratheon are doing a number on our troops, so remember to resend a full march,” NO REAL was taking a risk but one he was willing to take. 

On the other hand, House Baratheon knew they didn’t even need the Glory City at this point, with the Watch Towers and catapults in their possession, they had a lead that was insurmountable, “we will play spoiler at the Glory City, make it hard for one of them to fully capture it, the longer the fight goes on, the bigger our lead becomes,” kuzynkiller had beautifully masterminded his teams success and with that came the privilege of watching other teams fight for scraps. It would be the mighty lord asssss who took the Glory City from House Lannister, “this is our chance, we can come back from the ashes if we take the Glory City, give me everything you have now,” lord asssss still held hope House Stark stood a chance but little did he know about what House Targaryen had in store for him. 

It would all come down to this, could House Stark keep the Glory City or would House Targaryen plans get in the way of victory. Firstly, came the rallies from House Greyjoy, “he’s pretty strong, I can’t believe my rally bounced off,” Sigrid1 was in disbelief, his plan to take the Glory City was in disarray, House Greyjoy found themselves in fourth place and without the Glory City, it would be there where they would spend the rest of the match. Then came House Targaryen, “If I don’t get it, I need you guys ready with solo attacks to take it, “SHER was counting on his team to get the Glory City, last place was not something he was looking forward too. The electricity was palpable, each team focusing on the Glory City, they knew if SHER got inside, it would be near impossible to dislodge him, finally his cavalry crashed into the walls of the Glory City, removing lord asssss from the Glory City and giving House Targaryen a shot at second place. 

House Lannister watched in horror as their second place become a third place with House Targaryen now occupying the Glory City, “the mineshafts were not enough to catch House Targaryen, we need more Altars of the Maiden or we stay where we are,” ChAoS didn’t like admitting he was wrong but maybe a strategy that ignores the Watch Towers is not one that is viable anymore. While House Greyjoy and House Lannister rethought their strategies, House Baratheon started their early celebration, with only three minutes left in the match, it was not possible to lose their lead,” great job everyone, sometimes making a risky call, pays off, had House Targaryen also chosen cavalry strongholds, this match could have been completely different,” kuzynkiller knew how close he came to complete disaster but at the end of the day, his team would be the one taking the win today.

As the final minute ticked away, House Lannister realized the Watch Towers and catapults play too big of a role in Arena of Honor to ignore, “guys I think, we should start focusing on offensive strongholds in the future, what do you guys think”? ChAoS agreed with NO REAL, “even though I’m happy with third place, we make it too easy for our opponents to get easy Watch Tower points, we need to start fighting for them ourselves,” learning from mistakes it what makes teams reach that extra mile and NO REALs team look like they are willing to change their ways.

On the other hand, House Baratheon rejoiced with a clear victory, even without the Glory City, they had won the tenth round of the Arena of Honor, “next time we will get those extra points the Glory City provides, there’s always room for improvement, “kuzynkiller was already preparing for what ever challenge came before him. The stage is set for the next round, where these seasoned teams will return, wiser and hungrier than ever to conquer the Arena of Honor.