Dae's AOH: A win or a loss ?

It had been many months since Dae last played AOH, and life had been busy; gaming had been on the backburner. But tonight, something stirred inside of him, a longing to dive into the excitement, strategy, and thrill of the game. He jumped into a match, knowing he was somewhat rusty, ready to give his skills a test.

Finding a team wasn't that easy, but after some searches, he got into a temporary group, just for this match. The team was well-balanced, experienced and newcomers-a typical 10-man force. The plan was simple: work with each other, play strategically, and just win.

On the sound of zero, it was game on. Dae's heart was pounding while his team hastily moved into reinforcing their strongholds. There was pretty little doubt as to what needed doing-increasing construction of the key buildings, spear camp buildings to get that solid frontline in place. Everyone is moving in haste, quick steps, nimble, flowing because it's just part of a plan.

The second line opened, and there was bedlam. Dae's team was quick with the moves: adding infantry camps to spear camps. Spear and infantry combined-the thought was versatility and strength. Confident, but the enemy wasn't going to make things easy.

The fight for the towers was one of the most complicated tasks they had been put through by that time. Their best was, however, not good enough to take the towers down as Dae's team finally emerged on the victorious side of that hard-fought fight. Their tactic-to put all their emphasis on spear camps-really paid off, giving them quite an edge. "We need to regroup," said one over the chat.

Dae nodded, though nobody could see him. He typed, "Let's focus on the altars. We can't lose those too."

Intense battling ensued for the two altars, where both teams huffed and struggled in no less tedious testing of strength and strategy in which Dae makes it his focal priority to defend as determinedly with his soul the altar his team conquers. For prestige was with it, unminding him an ounce of letting any of his companions down.

Then it was the dragon pits that opened when it couldn't get any hotter, and the green team immediately came in to lay claim to a dragon pit, but then another surprise from thin air-the rather quiet until that very moment red team took two dragon pits in one brilliant move; just utterly unexpected.

The battlefield was in a mess; there were players literally everywhere, contesting each and every inch for a better vantage point. It is at this juncture that Godzilla, that powerhouse of a player on Dae's team, took over. Super strong, he spearheaded a cleaning when the main adversaries were annihilated and reinforcement of the buildings was assured. That was the confidence boost his team was waiting for.

"Good job, Godzilla!" Dae typed onto chat.

GloryGlor City was the jewel in the crown. Whoever got hold of Glor City, pretty obviously, was to win. Both the teams were building an epic fight with or against each other.

Dae's team was the first to claim Glory City. During this moment, a high is reached: wild cheers ring out in the chat of the team. But there was no time for celebration. It would be much harder to hold the city, rather than to take it.

First of all, a tempest-spear, the commanders and T5 troops rammed hard on them in the enemy team. His team fought with all they could, but it was clear as day who was stronger. The assaulters proved too much, and they lost the city. Another team with a full ground force then came along and swooped in, stealing it.

"This isn't over," Godzilla said in chat.

Then came Godzilla with a stunning solo, recapturing Glory City. That changed the course of the match and sent Godzilla's team behind him as he took control of two dragon pits, starting to clear their mines for resources.

But neither would the enemy give up, as the same strong player who had desecrated them before rallied again. This time, Dae prepared himself for the inevitable. Despite fighting with their best shot, they lost the city once more. The general feeling now was that they were up against an opponent who was simply too strong for them to handle.

Time was running out ruthlessly, and with 16 minutes remaining, Glory City was still being contested by both teams; no team could hold onto it for longer, tension reached the peak.

The green team finally took Glory City and held it steadily. Dae's team made one last rally, pouring all the remaining resources into one desperate attempt to take it back. But that was not enough: the green team resisted, and its defense won the game.

And with that, the match was concluded and Dae's team won themselves a second place. Bittersweet it may be, but nobody could say they had been lax. Dae himself managed to place 12th in eliminations-respectable, considering he hadn't played in months.

The dust settles, and as the roar subsides to murmurs, Dae stands in the battlefield with a heavy weapon in his hand and heavier with his thoughts. It wasn't the bruises and cuts that stung but rather being outplayed on the playing field.

Dae spent the next days preparing for what was to come. He played the match over in his head, looking at all the mistakes he had made during this game, he studied the moves of his opponents searching for weaknesses to take advantage of in his new strategy, calling allies, listening to advice given by other people surrounding him, learning lessons from shared experiences. Certainly not easy, frustration over failure took his sleep from him many times, but on he pressed. He had never known setbacks, but he knew they'd been stepping stones to something greater in his life.