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[Review] Lion vs 火燵 in IBL Playoffs in Infinity Kingdom

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Article Publish : 02/17/2025 01:48

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💠Introduction

What’s up, folks? Welcome back to my Illusion Battlefield League(IBL) 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 playoff match between Server 139’s 最之楽園(火燵) and Server 205’s Humble Warriors(Lion). 火燵’s positions in this match will be denoted in green while Lion’s will be in red.

💠Table of Contents

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

💠Overview

火燵 had a 4-0 record going into playoffs with no notable wins against mid or top-tier teams. They got a free win in the first round of playoffs due to their opponents completely forgoing and forfeiting the match. Lion had a little more success. They ended the first stage of the tournament with a 6-1 record with their only loss coming from MYK, an alliance established by ex-members of Lion. They narrowly defeated NG+, who I would consider a mid-tier team. They also got a bye in the first round of playoffs against Server 38’s WOLF. Both alliances are a shell of their former selves and cannot even muster up enough participants for the event. Lion was once a top-tier team so they should have the experience to win this match.

💠 Starting Positions and Talents

Lion

Started with 15 players and ended with 17
11 Attack talents
2 Defense talents
2 Support talents

火燵

Started with 15 players and ended with 18
8 Attack talents
7 Defense talents
0 Support talents

💠Tower 1

Lion sent 4 players to Tower 1 while 火燵 sent 5 with 1 overlap. 1 of Lion’s members could be closer to the other 3 and next to the tower, but they are still far more organized than 火燵. 火燵’s 5 players were all over the place and only 2 were adjacent to the tower. There were gaps between every player so their rallies and garrisons are going to be significantly slower than Lion’s. It also means that players who are closest to the enemies would likely get zeroed more quickly without help.

💠Tower 4

Lion sent 6 players to Tower 4 and 火燵 relocated 8 with 1 overlap. Again, Lion’s formation is a lot more compact with multiple teammates next to each other. Several of 火燵’s players are nowhere near the tower or their allies. What makes it worse is that 火燵 had multiple edge spawns they could have used to block a couple of relocations due to Tower 4 being placed closer to the green team. 火燵 could benefit from having someone mark where players are supposed to move to. With fewer than 20 players, there are enough markers and it should not take a long time to figure out who goes where.

💠Central Tower

Lion chose to send 3 members to the Central Tower while 火燵 only sent 1. Typically, as the red team, Lion should have given up Tower 4 to control the center, but it worked out for them in this case as 火燵 halfheartedly decided to give up the center. The fewer the number of players an alliance has, the more impact each individual can have. The single lone wolf would just get zeroed by the 3 Lions and therefore, it is a waste of time for him to go there. Instead, he should have gone to Tower 1 or Tower 4 to secure them.

💠Altars

Lion did not send anyone to the Sun Altar and 火燵 sent 1 player to the Moon Altar.

💠Home Towers

Both alliances stationed 2 guards at their respective home towers.

💠Play-by-Play

At Tower 1, 火燵 blocked 1 of its own relocations. A couple of 火燵 members kept trying for the tower while others in the front were rallying their closest enemies and they were quite effective. Within 5 minutes, 火燵 managed to zero a player despite slow rallies. Lion sent another player to reinforce the tower and 火燵 should have blocked the relocation, but they failed to do so. 火燵 players in the back also did not move up to surround the tower and that cost them dearly. 火燵 came close to capturing the tower several times, but Lion stopped them every time. It would help if 火燵 moved closer to the tower. It took nearly 25 minutes, but 火燵 finally captured the tower and zeroed all of Lion’s players from the vicinity. Had 火燵 taken Support talents, they could have grabbed Tower 1 far earlier and more easily.

At Tower 4, 火燵 destroyed 1 relocation, but Lion quickly turned around and zeroed 1 in response. There was not much 火燵 players could do to defend their teammates since many of them were far away. Lion did a far better job at rallying and moving up into 火燵’s side of the map as soon as their relocation cooldowns were up. 火燵 failed to destroy many relocations that were next to them. Lion surrounded the tower at 7 minutes and zeroed the remaining 4 players in the next 4 minutes. Lion had a Support talent user available at Tower 4 and they easily seized it with little resistance.

The center was a slaughter fest. All 3 Lion players kept sending solo attacks to the lone 火燵 player. He was losing almost every single defense which suggests Lion has a far better build than 火燵 does. By 5 minutes, they took him out and at 13 minutes, they captured the tower. With that, they controlled 3 towers to 火燵’s 2 and had a slight 1,800-point lead. At 14 minutes, 火燵 started moving to the center to try to retake the tower, but Lion was already preemptively relocating multiple members back to the middle to defend.

Games with fewer players are more volatile and comebacks are more frequent due to the lackluster defenses with fewer guards. 火燵 needed 1 more tower so they split their forces to defend and attack at the same time. 5 players were defending Tower 1, 2 were defending Tower 2, 1 was invading Tower 3, 1 was attacking Tower 4, and 6 were in the middle. They should have consolidated players from Towers 3 and 4 and attacked the center as a team. They only needed 1 tower to secure a win condition. Lion, on the other hand, was holding their territories well and also aimed to invade 火燵’s home tower. At 20 minutes, 3 Lion members teleported and moved to Tower 2. They quickly zeroed a guard and proceeded to steal the tower 5 minutes later. That gave Lion control of 4 towers and a 20,000-point lead.

火燵 surrounded their home tower and slowly dwindled Lion’s prosperity. Eventually, they zeroed all 3 invaders and reclaimed their tower at 34 minutes, but the damage was already done. Lion created a 37,000-point lead with 25 minutes to go. That large of a deficit would require 火燵 to control 4 towers for the majority of the remaining time. Unfortunately, they never made that miraculous comeback. They failed to take any additional towers and even lost Tower 1. Lion stood their ground and defended their victory.

💠Summary

Lion’s Moon was the match MVP as they won the match with 100,000 points to 火燵’s 33,100. The lack of players aside, Lion was far better at the basics than 火燵 was. Lion relocated better, they rallied faster, and their builds were better. Lion’s game plan was also a lot sounder. They could have given up Tower 4 to secure Tower 1 and prioritize the center more. 火燵 should have committed to Towers 1 and 4 fully without anyone wasting time in the center and at the altars. 火燵 should also leverage the use of markers to help newer or inexperienced players know where to relocate. While both teams will likely not make it far into the tournament, it is evident which alliance is the better team. Lion will move on to fight Server 300’s FT in 2 weeks while 火燵 will have to battle Server 316’s HS in the silver bracket next week.