ARENA OF HONOR | SEASON 2 ROUND 14 | SO CLOSE BUT YET SO FAR.

Arena of Honor is back for its fourteenth round and as we come to the end of the season, only the best of the best remains. One of these teams is led by the enigmatic NO REAL, no longer is he satisfied with a top three placing, he wishes to elevate himself and his team to higher limits, craving consistent wins. Will this be the round he’s been waiting for, will everything fall in place for NO REAL or will he be damned to spend another round rueing his mistakes? 

NO REAL wished to shake things up, usually he would go for Trading Posts but now has been convinced by his team mates to try offensive strongholds,” most likely we will be making infantry strongholds for the first line, since Beyond will be in our clan castle,” NO REAL chose the infantry centric Beyond to hold his clan castle but he was still hesitant to go along with the offensive route. “This plan depends on what our opponents do at the end of the day, if we see multiple teams making offensive strongholds, we will switch it up and go all in on Trading Posts,” ChAoS was the second in command and formidable in his own right. 

The team in general knew each other’s strength and weaknesses, “I believe if we see three or more teams making offensive strongholds, we will make Trading Posts, does anyone else agree”? “We know what we are doing, we have done this so many times before, just the start is becoming more and more important, we have to choose correctly,” NO REAL would usually let ChAoS come up with the pep talks but wanted a new beginning. The main goal for the team was to finish with the Glory King rank for each member of the team but not knowing how much longer the season would last was putting the team on edge. Will the team be able to achieve their goals or will the arena have the last laugh, as the gates open once more. 

Finally, the teams enter the arena and begin scouting their opponents, “the arena has some strong warriors today but having multiple strong spearmen warriors is good for us,” NO REAL was referring to his team’s infantry centric foundation, thus they counter any spearmen centric teams. “Cavalry teams will have problems today with all these spearmen teams, which is good for us as well, we have a chance today,” ChAoS was happy with what he was seeing. With the strongholds opening, the strategies of the teams became apparent, “three teams making infantry strongholds, what should we do,” Moshow2 already knew the answer but wanted clarification. “Well looks like its back to the tried and trusted, Trading Posts,” NO REAL was relieved, he wanted to go Trading Posts from the beginning and now House Targaryen were being forced into that decision. 

House Stark led by the formidable Vi per, “we will fight for the Watch Towers, start building infantry strongholds, “Vi per had big goals and wished to get off to a great start with taking the first capture points of the Watch Towers. “It seems two other teams are also making Infantry strongholds, we will build cavalry strongholds in the second row to counter them,” Vi per was ready for everything and had eyes on the Glory City itself for later in the match. 

One of the favourites would be House Baratheon with both red jasper and their leader KyoShiro, two heavy hitters in terms of fighting for the Glory City, “ start with infantry strongholds and then we take the Glory City, a lot of spearmen teams could be a problem for my cavalry but that’s why we have red jasper as well, “ KyoShiro was confident in his team, the infantry strongholds were just icing on the cake, he wanted the Glory City for the win. Raw power has been a match winner for most teams but when the competition is this strong even raw power can be overcome.

Finally, we come to House Tyrell led by Subrio, he planned to fight for altars, especially the Altar of the Maiden, “both lines of Trading Posts, three teams are building infantry strongholds, this is great for us, we can take their Altars of the Maiden, they will most likely fight for Altar of the Warrior,” Subrio knew it would be a tough match but knew his win condition. As the first ten minutes passed by, it was clear which teams would be fighting each other, three teams fighting for Altar of the Maiden while the other three fighting for the Watch Towers and catapults. “The first altars are open, make sure we secure ours and take one of theirs, “NO REAL and House Targaryen didn’t come to play games. Will Subrio’s calculated play for the Altar of the Maiden pay off or will the intense competition for it wear his team down? Everything is up for grabs as the Arena of Honor gets into full swing, who will take the crown today, let the games begin!

The battlefield was quickly alit with the clanging of sword clash, “House Greyjoy are also one of the teams building infantry strongholds, take as many of their altars as possible,” ChAoS knew it would be crucial for House Targaryen to punish the teams vying for that strategy. House Greyjoy’s leader Platon90 wasn’t going to let House Targaryen bully them out of their own altars, “take our altars back from them, Watch Towers open soon, that’s our main goal but don’t give the Trading Post teams easy points,” Platon90 was a wise soul and knew his team was no match for the others, so he went all on in the Watch Tower strategy. 

This was the moment the infantry stronghold teams were waiting for, it would be crucial which amongst them got the first capture points, which would set them up for the later stages of the match. “Both House Stark and House Greyjoy went with cavalry strongholds in their second line but our clan castle holder is so much stronger than theirs, this should be our match to lose,” KyoShiro was confident that House Baratheon would receive the first capture points and remain in the Watch Towers for the entirety of the match. All three clan castle attacks went towards their closest Watch Towers, House Stark was close to House Greyjoy, so both of them would be fighting for one and on the other side of the map, House Baratheon’s attack went towards an unopposed Watch Tower. Two teams would be celebrating and one would be far behind the rest and probably end up in last place because of it. Two loud screams could be heard as the clan castle attacks hit their targets and it was House Stark and House Baratheon that would be the beneficiaries of the first capture points, launching them into first and second place respectively. The match was far from over but with the Dragonpits opening soon, it gave a much-needed lifeline to teams.

The Glory City would open soon but before that the Dragonpits is where most teams would come to clash. “ This is great three teams fighting for the Watch Towers, their strongholds are less likely to attack Dragonpits, lets get one for ourselves, “ ChAoS would use the situation to his advantage, anything to get closer to the coveted Glory King rank. “Some of us are only two wins away from getting in the top 100, this could be the path to our goals, we can’t waste this match, give me everything you have,” NO REAL saw the light at the end of the tunnel but his team would need to put the pressure on with taking more altars and securing at least one Dragonpit, if they want to have a chance of winning this match. House Greyjoy who found themselves in the firing line without a Watch Tower to their name, had no choice but to pivot and prepare themselves for the Glory City, “ it’s Glory City or bust for us but I believe we have it in us, the fire is in all of us, come help me secure this win, “ Platon90 was hoping for a miracle at this stage of the match but funnier things have happened in the Arena of Honor. 

As the mood changed in the arena, you could hear a pin drop, it was now time for the main event, the Glory City was open for business. The team that secured the Glory City would win the entire match but all the teams knew that would be the tricky part. As the first rallies struck the Glory City, it would be House Tyrell who set up camp inside the walls but that would be short lived as House Targaryen charged through the gates and took the structure for themselves, “House Stark is on their way, reinforce while you still can, “ChAoS was mindful of the clock, if they could keep resetting the Glory City, they would catch up to House Tyrell in first place. It would be House Stark that had the last laugh with the ousting of House Targaryen, “we have lost our lead, these Trading Post teams obtained a lot through altars, we need to keep the Glory City, “Vi per was scared his team would fall further behind, now in fourth place due to clever positioning from House Tyrell and House Targaryen. 

With less than 25 minutes left in the match, it was House Baratheon that currently resided in the Glory City but with many powerful spearmen rallies marching towards his gates, it wasn’t looking good for the cavalry master KyoShiro. “If we time it well, we can hit after the spearmen rallies and take the Glory City, “NO REAL was hoping other teams wouldn’t fail in taking out the powerhouse KyoShiro. Unfortunately for House Targaryen they only had time for one spearman rally to hit House Baratheon, which was a disaster for the infantry master NO REAL. “I’m getting tired with all these spearmen rallies, you need to refresh your troops, they are cutting down our forces, “KyoShiro was indeed the strongest warrior on the battlefield but it was unfortunate for him that the arena was filled with spearmen warriors. With all the spearmen rallies hitting it was House Tyrell that would take out the cavalry master and once again reset the Glory City. “Perhaps, we should give up on the Glory City and prepare for the Mineshafts, they would be the way, we secure our first place, “Subrio was thinking further ahead and this foresight could be the reason his team found themselves in such a dominating position. 

As most teams concentrated on the coveted Glory City in the middle of the battlefield, smarter teams pivoted and took easy points from the Mineshafts, “take the Mineshafts while we can, House Tyrell has the same idea, we are so close to them in points, it will come down to who takes more points from the Mineshafts, “NO REAL how close he was to achieving his goals but House Tyrell stood in his way. “Don’t let our hard work go in vain, take every Mineshaft you can, forget about the Glory City for now, “Subrio and House Tyrell were in first place and the gap between them and House Targaryen were a pitiful 2000 points, it was coming down to the wire in the final ten minutes of Arena of Honor. 

As things stand, House Tyrell would be the winners of this match but the Glory City could still put everything on its head, “ House Baratheon currently hold Glory City with one minute left to fully capture it, we have done enough with the Mineshafts, fill my rally immediately, his cavalry are no match for my spears,” Subrio knew how important it was to reset the Glory City and so did the other teams around him, as a further three rallies were being started at the same time. It was all down to this with two spearmen rallies heading towards the Glory City, if they failed to reset the counter, it was all but over for House Tyrell. As the first rally hit and crashed against the mighty walls of the Glory City, House Baratheon’s banner still flew proudly in the wind, it was now all on Subrio, his destiny was in his hands, as the final spearmen rally hit the Glory City, silence hit the air and then a loud gasp for air as Subrio would be victorious and threw out the powerhouse that was KyoShiro. “Well done to House Tyrell, even if we take it from them there’s not enough time to fully capture it anymore, “ChAoS knew the writing was on the wall but still let his rally hit the Glory City, which funnily enough won and there they would remain for the final two minutes of the match.

As the final minutes ticked away, House Targaryen would be content with second place, “not enough fame points to get us close to the Glory King rank but we will take it, hopefully there’s five more games in the season,” ChAoS was a little disappointed with the outcome, the Glory King rank gets further away with each round passing. On the other hand, NO REAL was happy with the decision they made at the start, “if we had gone with offensive strongholds, we wouldn’t have finished so high, I’m glad we pivoted so quickly, we made the right call,” even though NO REAL was further way from the Glory King rank, he was happy that his team were so flexible.

On the other side of the battlefield, House Tyrell could be seen celebrating a much-deserved win, “we dominated the altars and the Mineshaft pivot won us the match, I’m glad to have such warriors on my side, “Subrio had masterminded the win for his team but the team made everything so easy for Subrio and his shot calling.

More lesson’s learnt for NO REAL but the adaptability he saw from his team put new hope in his dream to finally achieve the Glory King rank and be known as one of the most feared warriors in all of Westeros.