The UC Finals: A Duke's Long-Awaited Dream

Friday, 4th of July

24 hours before the final match…

It’s been a quiet week so far. Our fighters had a small skirmish with other troops from NBe two days ago but managed to come out victorious without many losses. Our focus was entirely on the final battle tomorrow. I, ToothLess, the Grand Duke of BDR—despite my limited knowledge on how to run an alliance—decided to call an all-hands-on-deck meeting with our alliance’s council.

I sit at the head of the table on a very heavy wooden chair, with two dragons carved into each armrest. The chair was crafted by the best craftsman in the Seven Kingdoms, yet it still feels uncomfortable. A few minutes later, I hear footsteps in the hallway. That must be Polarix, I think. He is never late and always excited for another council meeting. I see the guards standing straight as Polarix passes through the big marble doors of the council hall. He’s holding a lot of scrolls—must be at least twenty—all filled with important information.

A few more minutes pass, and the council table slowly fills with people. Only one person is missing: the Lady of BDR, known by the nickname Baby. Finally, she comes through the door holding a small plate of food in one hand and something that looks like soup in the other. The whole council turns to look at her, and she quickly responds with, “I was waiting for my food, oki??”

I opened the council meeting by expressing how proud I was of this alliance. Every battle we fought together had been a great success—but there was one that broke our morale, even if only briefly: our last battle against RoD. Our current record stands at two wins and one defeat against them. One final battle remains. One last chance to be crowned champions of this season’s Ultimate Conquest.

It was time for Polarix and Baby to speak—our most veteran planners their planning skills are legendary and the strongest asset in our hands. They held all the information about our team as well as the strengths and weaknesses of our enemies. “We need to plan every little detail if we want to secure a strong lead,” said Baby. “We want to be fierce, fast, but also methodical,” added Polarix.

After many hours of intense discussion, everyone was exhausted. But the battle plan was finally complete—every tiny detail laid out, from start to finish. “What if it doesn’t work?” someone from the council murmured. I was too tired to recognize who it was, but I replied quickly: “It will work. We have the strength and the people to pull this through.”

Finally, I said the words everyone had been waiting for: “You are all dismissed. Get some rest—we prepare in the morning.”

As we all stood and slowly left the room, I handed the battle plan to my King’s Guard. “Make sure to give this to the maesters. I want seventy copies made by lunch,” I said. The guard took the scroll and exited through the small door at the back of the room.

As I passed the end of the table, I noticed the half-empty bowl of soup Baby had left behind. It smelled surprisingly good. Maybe I should’ve ordered some too after all, I thought. But my bed was calling me—and tomorrow, we would write history.

Saturday, 5th of July 8:23 AM

A young maester apprentice knocked on my door and slowly opened it. I could hear him struggling to push the thick, heavy doors, but he managed to slip inside.

“The copies you requested are ready, my lord,” he said.

“Very well. Here is the list of the lords they need to go to. I need you to hand them out as soon as possible—everyone must know the plan inside and out before the battle.”

I looked out the window at the large, old sundial in the middle of the city square. We had less than twelve hours before we would march our troops into battle.

At lunch, I gave orders for all the city taverns to serve their best meals to our soldiers. Whatever they asked for, they would receive. My only rule: each soldier was allowed no more than two mugs of ale. We needed everyone sober for the night battle—though I knew, in my heart, that for some of them, this would be their last meal.

Saturday, 5th of July 6:50 PM 

Both armies stood on the battleground, with millions of troops lined up on each side. You could feel the earth tremble as the heavy infantry marched into position. The tension was thick, like the calm before a storm.

With her familiar and commanding voice, Baby gave the final overview of the plan. Everyone stood ready—poised to write history as the champions of Season 21’s Ultimate Conquest.

Our strongest players' armies were positioned at the front, most notably ImperialRock’s cavalry and the infantrymen of Ganicus and Tholking. I knew these were elite forces—but even so, I had never seen anything like them in my lifetime.

All the horses were black and muscular, specially imported from the South. My advisors had told me that each one cost as much as a small village house. Their armor was a perfect balance—light enough for speed, yet heavy enough to protect all vital areas of both horse and rider.

The infantry, by contrast, were heavily armored and disciplined. They carried massive square shields, forming tight ranks that protected the soldier beside them. Ganicus, Tholking, and ImperialRock’s armies wielded handcrafted swords—each blade forged by our finest blacksmiths. Every weapon bore a unique pattern, made from a rare alloy known as Valyrian steel—capable of delivering critical blows to our enemies with devastating efficiency.

As the town bells rang at exactly 7:00 PM, both armies charged into the battlefield. The map was perfectly symmetrical, with the same buildings on both sides. Our side moved fast and managed to take both the Temple of the Warrior and the Temple of the Mother, which gave us a strong buff from the Seven Gods. RoD, on the other hand, went straight for the two Outposts and got them early, giving them a better point-per-minute lead at the start.

While RoD tried to swap stronger leads into their outposts, Grombold, one of our quicker players, managed to sneak in and take one back. That put us up 3 buildings to 1.

RoD didn’t waste time—they sent their first rallies straight at our Temple of the Warrior. We held on with quick reinforcements and our infantry bleed formation, but the second wave of rallies hit hard. Shire led that push and ended up breaking through the gates, taking the temple for RoD.

Around the same time, both ports opened. We managed to take theirs, and they took ours, which evened things out again—same buildings, same point gain.

At around 10 minutes into the match, the only non-symmetrical building on the map opened. We were fast again—Light Yagami grabbed it right away for us. It was a big moment as Light Yagami doesn't need to be swapped out.

While that happened, we focused on retaking the Temple of the Warrior. Luckily for us, Meridianos, who was holding it, was set up with an infantry formation. That gave us an opening. We launched two rally waves back-to-back, and it worked. We got the temple back with Tolking, which is probably one of the most important buildings in the whole match but its attributes of an extra 15 base total attack.

The next 30 minutes can be summed up with three words: offense, defense, and reinforcements. Both alliances were attacking and defending at the same time, across different parts of the map. Buildings kept changing hands—it was a back-and-forth mess, but the match stayed balanced. The score difference never went above 3,000 points.

Then came the moment we were all waiting for: the mines were about to open.

The mines are two buildings that give out the most points—but only up to 9,000 each. That means once they’re empty, they stop generating points. So it’s absolutely crucial to take and hold at least one to keep the lead.

When the mines finally opened, both sides managed to take one. Each team swapped in their strongest accounts to defend. Everything looked even. But then we noticed something—a small mistake that could change everything.

CrimsonDawn was holding the enemy mine as rally lead. He’s one of RoD’s strongest accounts, no doubt—but his female cavalry formation wasn’t ideal for defending. It’s a strong setup, especially against infantry rally leads, but the problem is: during a long match like this, keeping full cavalry reinforcements is hard. Once other troop types start coming in, the formation weakens.

That was our chance.

We gave the signal, and our top rally leads started hitting the mine with solo attacks—nonstop. Some solos won, some failed, but the pressure was on. RoD tried reinforcing the mine, but their troops weren’t perfect either. It just made our solos hit harder.

And finally, it was Tholking who landed the final blow and took the mine. We couldn’t have asked for a better result—he’s one of the strongest accounts in the game. Holding both mines now, the clock started working against RoD. Every minute they didn’t take one back was a step closer to defeat.

RoD continued to rally our right-side mine, which was held by Mister X. His spearmen were elite, specialized troops trained in the art of Weakness attacks—masters of targeting weak points in enemy armor. With every blow, they inflicted massive damage, exploiting every gap in the enemy’s defenses.

July 5th, 7:47 PM

The score gap had grown to 15,000 points. RoD knew it was over. They called for a tactical retreat. But our troops weren’t done—we pushed forward, breaking through their last lines, smashing what was left of their defense.

And then the bells rang again.

That sound... the sweet, sweet sound of the event ending. BDR had done it. We took down our biggest rivals and secured the victory—not through luck, and not because the stars aligned—but because we had the will to prove to the Seven Kingdoms that we were the best.

It was a hard-fought win, and it cost both sides dearly. After the battle, envoys from many alliances arrived, congratulating us on the victory. Even RoD sent one. Their message simply said, “Good game.” Nothing more. Nothing less. But that’s how it should be—we gave them the same respect. They had beaten many strong alliances to get here. They deserved the final match just as much as we did.

At the end of the day, there was one last task left. The royal tailor had already been summoned. His job? To create a new banner to hang from the city walls—and of course, over the royal palace.

And as promised, by the next day, the entire city had a new look: bright red banners, bearing the sigil of BDR, and the letters S21, proudly marking the end of the twenty-first season of the Ultimate Conquest.

I can’t fully express what it means to win this championship with BDR. It’s more than just a victory—it’s the fulfillment of a dream I’ve had since I first started playing this game: winning the championship as the Duke.

And while we all know that “Duke” is just a title—nothing more than a fancy name—it still means something personal. But the truth is, none of this would have been possible without Baby and Polarix. Their planning, their shotcalling, their leadership through every phase of the fight—it was the backbone of our success.

There are so many people I wish I could name, but I know I’d miss someone, and every single BDR player went above and beyond to make this happen. So instead, I’ll just say this:

Thank you—to everyone in BDR—for your time, your energy, your effort, and your belief in this alliance. You made this dream real.