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[Review] Analysis of 义 vs PRD in IBL Playoffs in Infinity Kingdom

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Article Publish : 03/23/2025 16:39

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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 38’s Ascendants of Asgard(义) and Server 73’s Prideland(PRD). PRD’s positions in this match will be denoted in green while 义’s will be in red.

💠Table of Contents

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

💠Overview

PRD entered the playoffs with a 7-1 record, losing once to SF in their second bout after beating them in their first meeting. They also defeated WP in the last match of the phase. PRD went on to have dominant wins over Server 277’s HoK, Server 191’s Inka, and Server 209’s WP to win the gold finals. On the other hand, 义, formerly VEX, is the merged product of SSQ and VEX. They entered the playoffs with a 4-1 record, only losing to BUNS. They went on to beat Server 14’s ZOO and Server 300’s KoV before losing to BUNS to fall to the silver bracket. They defeated KoV a second time to secure their spot in the Top 16. 义 was generally considered to be better than PRD and was favored to win this matchup.

💠Starting Positions and Talents

义

Started with 27 players and ended with 30
9 Attack talents
13 Defense talents
5 Support talents

PRD

Started with 29 players and ended with 30
14 Attack talents
8 Defense talents
7 Support talents

💠Tower 1

义 sent 10 players to Tower 1 and PRD relocated 8. 义 had the perfect spawn to move into PRD’s territory to take space and that’s exactly what they did. PRD gave too much space away despite having decent spawns for the top side of the tower. Too many players were in the third way and away from the targets. 义’s relocations were not stellar either. There were spots in the first and second rows that were left empty. The teams showed too much respect to each other. With more players around the towers and more space to work with, 义 had the advantage.

💠Tower 4

义 decided to forgo Tower 4 as the bottom-sided team. They knew PRD had edge spawns that would be able to block them if they got too close so they chose not to waste time retaking positions at Tower 4 and overload elsewhere. PRD only sent 5 players to the tower. Those marked for the second row smartly chose to wait and see how many players 义 would send to the tower. Once they saw that there would be no enemies, they relocated to the center instead.

💠Central Tower

义 sent 15 players to the Central Tower and PRD sent 13. Both teams had standard formations so whoever could zero more players faster would gain a necessary advantage.

💠Altars

Neither team sent anyone to either altar.

💠Home Towers

Both teams stationed 2 guards at their respective home towers.

💠Play-by-Play

At Tower 1, 义 zeroed one enemy instantly and PRD replied by zeroing one as well, but it meant PRD had fewer players around the tower. 义 tried to take the tower multiple times, but PRD was able to stop them each time. Minutes later, 义 zeroed another and then moved to surround the tower. PRD tried their best to destroy relocations, but one got through, giving 义 control of 3 sides of the tower. With more players in the area and around the tower, 义 captured the tower at 7 minutes. They traded a few more players. Once PRD saw 义 was relocating 2 more players to Tower 1 and they were getting no help, they made the call to give up Tower 1 and move to the center where control was more pivotal.

At Tower 4, PRD captured the tower at the 4-minute mark with no resistance. At 8 minutes, 2 players relocated to the Central Tower, leaving only 3 guards which I thought was an overcommitment.

In the center, 义 and PRD traded blows with PRD dealing just slightly more damage across the board. One player finally succumbed from 义’s side at halfway through minute 5 and another followed seconds later. 2 more 义 members were zeroed minutes later. PRD was also getting reinforcements from players who got zeroed at Tower 1. While 义 also had players relocating back to the center, they were falling faster than PRD was. Once PRD moved 2 players from Tower 4 to the middle and 义 lost a few more players, 义 started relocating to the altars and giving up on the Central Tower. PRD captured the tower with more than 20 members at 12 minutes.

As soon as 义 was thinning out in the center, they knew they lost it and needed to make a play at another tower. Most of them moved to the altars while one moved to Tower 4. As soon as PRD controlled the Central Tower, they knew they had to protect the other 2 towers they had so they dispersed. Those in spawn moved to protect their home tower and some from the middle moved to defend Tower 4. Some of 义’s relocations were poorly placed. They were either blocked or destroyed. 义 started surrounding the outskirts of Tower 4 and a couple teleported next to the tower. PRD answered in kind, teleported next to them, and zeroed those who were too far from their teammates. At 20 minutes, 义 had over a third of the team committed to taking Tower 4 while PRD had 10 defending it. PRD was up 9,000 points. The battle raged on for the rest of the match, but 义 was never able to get close to the tower and they never made another play.

💠Summary

PRD’s Unknown was the match MVP as they won with 100,000 points to 义’s 59,400. 义’s early game gambit gave them just enough firepower to win Tower 1, but they were too slow to rotate some players to the center once they had solidly secured it. Their players in the middle lost the battle despite having more players. PRD was just slightly better at garrisoning and focusing on their targets. Oftentimes, 义 left enemies who were a few hits away stay alive in the back row. Once PRD shifted to the center, 义 never had a chance to retake it. PRD did well in rotating to defend 义’s attack on Tower 4. It was telegraphed, too many relocations were destroyed, and too many teleports were poorly used. They were never able to gain any traction. PRD moves on to face IMPK while 义 is knocked out of the tournament.