Ultimate Conquest: N0X vs LEG | The Final Stand

Following an intense regular season of Alliance Conquest, N0X had finally arrived at the moment they had dreamed of for years. Their first Ultimate Conquest match - errr, second… (The first was played against WxC, and N0X took it very easy on them so the match wasn’t of much note.) But this one would be pivotal. It would be an opportunity to prove that our spot in the playoffs was well-earned, not to mention the high stakes of having been warned how many people had bet their feathers for N0X. 

By match time, N0X members had channeled all that tension into excitement, and rallying cries were heard all around as everyone made their way to the battlefield. Scythe’s familiar and spirited call to “shake your hands!” for good luck grounded us for what would surely be an intense match. Today’s fight would be against LEG, and our scouts had brought warning that we would have to face some very strong leaders among them. But we had confidence after playing so well in the regular season’s final matches that we could stand a chance against them.

That confidence was quickly shaken as the match began, and LEG managed to win the races for all four of the first buildings. Up to this point, N0X had been very successful with races in previous matches, and to find ourselves suddenly with the lower hand in this was the first knock to our confidence. Not only had they won the races, but each building had been secured with some of LEG’s strongest accounts, meaning they would have no need to perform swaps and we would have no chance to snipe the buildings if they tried. Trying not to let this first loss knock us off our feet, we were quick to launch rallies to the Warrior, but our attacks hit with little success.

With the opening of the valuable Ports just around the corner, there’s no time to try again. Instead, we encourage our racers to focus, hoping this time we will be able to outrun LEG. But, once again, their racers are lightning fast and they secure leaders in both Ports. While we wait for the chance to go for those, we take the opportunity to rally the nearby Outpost, securing Alysanne at its helm. The momentum of this success continued as our next rallies overtook LEG in the Mother, allowing us to finally have a foothold on the map. 

Unfortunately, the victories were short lived, as LEG soon removed us from the Outpost and quickly after that won yet another race for Casterly Rock. With one look at the strength of the leader who held the castle, we knew we could do nothing to touch it. Instead, we turned our attention to other objectives. 

Mid-match was a blur of rallies and constant defenses. It seemed for every building we won, we would lose something equal at the same time. We launched a wave of rallies to secure the Warrior, hoping the strength buff it provided would aid us against LEG’s overwhelming leaders. We manage to capture the near Outpost again, as well as Mother, the near Port, and survive some narrowly successful defenses in our Warrior. For a brief moment, N0X held every structure besides CR, having finally won some races for the Strongholds. Though our victories are mostly short-lived. We’re nearing the mid-point of the match, and LEG’s ability to hold onto the key buildings has left us with half their score on the board. When their attacks overwhelm us at the Warrior, a few beats of silence hang heavily in the air during what feels like the moment everyone realizes there will likely be no comeback for us in this match. 

But we resolved to continue the fight. When the Warrior’s bubble drops, our rallies are on their way with speed, and we manage to secure DYW as its holder, which gives us some relief. 

We knew our last hope would be in the Mines. Our racers once again gave their best, but LEG’s speed was overwhelming. Having lost the races for each Mine, we then launched back-to-back rallies. Our first attempt on the Lannister Mine was unsuccessful, but not by much, so after our rallies claimed the Targaryen Mine we gave it another attempt. This time we overwhelmed them, and now we had two Mines to defend. This moment of triumph sadly came too late in the match to make a difference for us, and with ten minutes left in the match the call came from leadership to stop healing.

There was a somber silence as we reflected on the match. This loss would be the end of N0X’s UC journey, not to mention the ire we must face for causing people who thought we would win to lose their feathers. But ultimately, it was a season to be proud of. We had developed great improvement in our team play and strategy, and reached historic heights for the alliance. It wasn’t the end to the season that we hoped for, but in many ways just having made it here was its own victory.