N0X SoW S16 – Match 5: A One-Sided Game with a Nostalgic Twist and Taxi Service for Old Friends

After the fun with the alt alliance, it is time for the main event in N0X. Tonight we face NCR, and on paper this should be an easy matchup. Their power rating suggests they were lucky to get this high in the ratings. Still, no trash talk before kickoff, surprises do happen. I know these players well from my time in their alliance, so I respect them enough not to assume anything.

I check my assignment, which, as usual, has not changed since the last match. So it's the same story for me: Hot Springs main team. Personally I think my account is insignificant in the grand scheme of things; I will probably be more useful stacking pincer attacks than single handedly turning any objective. Still, I know Hot Springs by heart by now and it's become and second home for me this SoW season. It's now a comfortable place to be, and I know my way around it.

Truth be told, my excitement for this game is low to non existent. After the loss to UTB in match four, the playoffs look like a long shot. We should win this one and probably lose the final match, which would put us out of the top 12. So nothing huge is riding on this evening, and that makes the whole thing feel a bit pointless.

Match warmup gives me a small welcome distraction. I check my Adventure, not my favorite pastime, but tonight it feels fun. There is a camp right in our path and my account is fully buffed for combat! Time to teach those wildlings a quick lesson.😂You came to the wrong neighborhood, motherf..... Time to die now!

Back on the SoW map, my assignment looks clean even before I arrive. Hot Springs is already tipping in our favor and the fight is one sided from the start. Great for the scoreboard, but a little worrying in its own way. If we blow this team out too hard, matchmaking might punish us with a brutal opponent in the final round. And if we want even a shadow of a playoff chance, we need not just this win but also the sixth and final one. So while dominance feels good, there’s a little calculation in the back of my mind telling me to be careful what we wish for.

Before I can even reach Hot Springs, the call comes to push further up. The map is so clear that leadership orders us straight up to their Stronghold. That’s when it hits me, this is going to be a steamroll, isn't it? At this rate, full map control inside ten minutes seems very likely. Easy match, here we come. But do we really want it like this?

By the five minute mark we’re already parked at their Outpost, and the entire maps is painted in N0X baby blue. Ten percent of the match is done, and NCR is already confined to their base.

So what now? The Hot Springs team, my team, still has instructions to stay put, while Hot Springs Team 2, the package delivery crew, moves up past the midpoint.

After the initial skirmish at Hot Springs I recall, patch up my marches, and go back to Hot Springs. On the way back I peel one march off to help secure the first Statue and scoop up some bags. Not that it matters much, the first spawn happens to be on “our side” of the map, but let’s be real, the entire map is our side at this point. Wherever the Statues pop, we’ll take them without much effort.

And just as I suspected, the second Statue spawns without a hint of resistance. We march up, collect another buff and a fresh round of bags, and that’s that. By the end of the first quarter, the main “challenge” in this match seems to be stacking Statue coins for the alliance rewards.

Not exactly the edge-of-your-seat type of SoW gameplay that I've gotten used to this season.

When the next set of Statues appears, NCR finally shows a flicker of interest. They send a few marches to sniff at the bags, but it barely qualifies as resistance. And then something catches my eye: Agent Carter? That name stirs a memory. Weren’t we in the same alliance a long time ago? Could it really be the same player? I don’t have much time to think about it, their marches vanish almost instantly, erased before I can form the thought fully. Still, the name lingers in the back of my mind, like a ghost from the past.

The real “battle” turns out to be one of willpower, not strategy. With so little to do, the temptation to chase NCR around for easy eliminations grows stronger by the minute. Half the match has gone by and the only things really tested are our ability to follow instructions and how many times we can practice the Teleport function. Truly a worthy use of thirty minutes.

By the time the final Statue spawns near Winterfell, the outcome is already sealed. We take it without issue, but by now we don’t even need all the bags, we’re already close to maxed for the alliance rewards. And so, hilariously, we just leave them scattered on the ground. It’s almost unreal. In so many matches, bags are swarmed like they’re priceless treasure, fought over by stacked marches. But here? They just sit abandoned, unwanted, like spare change dropped on the sidewalk. Nobody even bends over to pick them up.

As we approach the final quarter of the game, the scoreboard is already getting close to the 80k threshold, which also means we’re close to maxing out the alliance match rewards. At this point my curiosity kicks in. What will leadership decide? From a shotcaller’s perspective,😏this is one of those pivotal moments that can shape a match.

If we crush NCR too hard, our score jumps too high and we risk being matched with top-tier alliances in the final round. And with our playoff hopes already hanging by a thread, that’s the last thing we need. On the other hand, we can’t afford to win with a low score either. The sweet spot is to win comfortably but not overwhelmingly, to keep our rating going up just enough, but without rocketing into dangerous territory at the top. So in my head, I imagine the call: a full recall as soon as we hit approach 80k, leaving NCR enough breathing room to put together some points and decrease the difference.

And wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly how things play out. We scoop up the last remaining bags we need to get max rewards, leaving the rest scattered on the ground for NCR to collect, and then the recall order goes out. First the upper half of the map is abandoned, then the lower half, until NCR has the whole board to themselves. The timing is perfect, just as the final package pushes us past 80k.

The shift is immediate. NCR surges out of their safe zone like runners at the sound of a starting gun. It’s obvious they’d been waiting for this moment, and honestly, who can blame them? Every alliance knows how matchmaking works, and everyone’s aware of the tricks big alliances use to manage their score. Still, watching them scramble to take buildings we just walked away from has a strange, almost comical feeling.

The shift is immediate. NCR surges out of their safe zone like runners at the sound of a starting gun. It’s obvious they’d been waiting for this moment, and honestly, who can blame them? Every alliance knows how matchmaking works, and everyone’s aware of the tricks big alliances use to manage their score. Still, watching them run to take buildings we just walked away from has a strange, almost comical feeling, like they didn't do that at the start as good as they are doing it now😂

With a few of those bags, we max out our points, but it doesn’t look like NCR has noticed the rest still lying around. Their troops heading to Winterfell for package runs march right past them, unwilling to bend down and pick them up.

Not even the package escort bothers to pick them up when there's clearly nothing else to do.

Eventually, after they secure full map control, they realize the bags are free for the taking. But then a new problem becomes painfully clear. Their reaction has been slow, and their package runner even slower, there’s no way they’ll manage three full deliveries before the timer runs out. And now, ironically, we need them to score more, otherwise the match will look far too one sided.

And you'll never guess what happens next.... We send out the ravens with an offer they can't refuse: we’ll run the package for them. Yes, you read that right, our alliance turning into a courier service for the enemy. And the sight is hilarious. Our runner is so fast that NCR can’t even click to target the march as it zips around Winterfell like it’s on rails.

Some of their players clearly got the message and stand aside, letting us prepare for the drop. But others? Either they never saw the ravens or their leadership never got through to them, because they keep trying to intercept our “taxi service,” thinking we’re stealing instead of gifting points.

Eventually their mistrust wins out and they pick up the package with their own runner. Trouble is, the march that looked quick while empty suddenly seems to crawl under the weight of the package. Honestly, our package guy carrying the package probably moves faster than their Cav guys normally do.

Still, they get up to 30k points in the end, enough to save face, but short of what could have been. One more clean delivery would have pushed them past 40k, giving them slightly better rewards and making the whole match look even tighter... on paper.😅

As the game winds down, I suddenly have an epiphany when I spot Lady War on the map. NCR... of course! This must be their new alliance. The names start clicking into place: their carrier, Insane Hound… I know these players from way back.

So I rush over to LW and poke her a few times, just to see if she remembers me. Luckily for me she’s Cav, meaning I don’t get deleted in three hits and I can get some damage done to show up in reports. At least this way she has a chance to notice me, instead of just wondering what that tiny bug was that splattered on her windshield while she was speeding down the highway.

The curtain falls on our penultimate game of the season, and I suppose you could call it a success. I wasn’t exactly thrilled going in, but I’m very happy coming out.😅So yeah… this must have been a thrilling masterpiece of a game to flip my mood, right?😂

After the match ends, a raven arrives. She probably didn’t notice my little pokes, but she was kind enough to send a shoutout anyway. That’s the kind of touch that makes these games feel a little more personal.

With only one game left in the season, we’ve now “barely” won this match,😜our third victory unlocking a few more rewards for this SoW season. Now it’s all on Saturday: waiting to see who our final opponent will be, praying it’s a winnable matchup, and praying even harder that we can win it hard. Because that’s the only path left to the Playoffs.

Realistically? Our chances are maybe one percent at best. But hope never really dies, does it?

We’ll keep fighting until the very last call, because it’s not over until the fat lady sings.