Arena of Honor – The Fall in the Mines

After two AC matches and two AoH matches, this weekend is about to end, but before we wrap it up, let’s talk about my second Arena of Honor match, the 18:00 team, the A-Team.

Having two AoH weekends back-to-back feels like a bit much, but I actually enjoy this event. I’m not that active in KvK, and CCS has been kind of flat lately, with no great leads to support, so AoH feels like the best event to play outside of AC.

My team lineup looked solid, our usual heavy spear roster, which suits me perfectly since I’m a spear main myself.

The map didn’t look impossible, but it definitely wasn’t going to be easy. We probably weren’t going to hold center for first place, but second or third looked realistic.

At the start, we weren’t sure if we should focus on Trade Posts or Army Camps, but the idea of switching to Camps kept floating around. As we took our first row and built into Trade Posts, we kept an eye on the others. If no one else went for Camps... why not us?

And since no other House seemed interested, we took it as a sign and built our second row as Infantry Camps. The towers were Spear, so this setup gave us an advantage for the first capture points, the points that make or break the Troop Camp strategy.

And sure enough, being the only House with Troop Camps paid off really fast. Rank 1 by far came fast, thank you very much!

But being first is a blessing disguised as a curse. Now we had a target painted on our backs. Both our Maidens were under siege, and every move we made got immediate attention. Other houses started gaining points as were attacked from all directions.

As more rows of Altars opened, the battles for the Maidens became brutal. Only two Houses went for Camps, us and one other across the map, and they also only went half in. Suddenly, our advantage didn’t look so clear anymore. Since we weren’t the only ones with Camps, we weren’t guaranteed all the first capture points, and our Trade Posts weren’t fully benefiting from the Maidens we held. So, we had a tough call to make.

When the Sept opened, I was off flipping an abandoned Altar for our House, leaving someone else to handle it for a change.

Later, I tried (and failed) to take a Dragonpit, so that didn’t help either. I was not having a good time so far.

The midgame was chaos. We needed eight people just to defend one Altar, and the moment we moved, someone else was in there. The map turned into a constant back-and-forth race, even more than the usual madness.

It became clear our Army Camps wouldn’t be enough to win us the match. We had to change, and fast.

So we made a somewhat desperate call: switch back to full Trade Posts. It would cost us points and map presence while we rebuild, but if we didn’t do something drastic, we’d bleed our lead dry.

We were still first at that point, thanks to early first capture points. If we executed the swap quickly, it could save the game, as long as we held our Maidens through the rebuild phase.

But Trade Posts alone don’t win a game. There was still one critical step ahead: the Mine Shafts.

Throughout Season 4, this was our golden moment, the phase that always pushed us ahead in points. While most Houses were bust and distracted fighting over center or for Maidens, we’d blitz the Mines, secure them early, and get a few thousands of points in just a few minutes.

But not this time... We were under so much pressure on all fronts that the Mine Shafts opening went almost unnoticed.

I was still returning from an Altar attempt with my Lord march and couldn’t even race for a mine. By the time I got back, the slots were already full, sealed tight with defenders.

Two of our leads were still fighting over Maidens. Only one of us managed to grab a mine. And just like that, disaster struck.

The phase that usually defined our victories became the reason for our collapse. In seconds, we fell from first to last, the steepest drop I’ve ever seen in AoH.

By the time we realized what had happened, it was too late. The Mines were either depleted or stacked beyond recovery. After all the effort, all the rebuilding, we lost our momentum in a single phase.

From there, the comeback was impossible. The City of Glory wasn’t an option, our only Cav rally lead couldn’t punch through what they were holding.

Our only hope was that House Tyrell would lose their home, giving us a last-minute save from a shameful last place.

But that didn’t happen. The curtain fell with us in dead last... a sight I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.

As the results rolled in, I just stared at the screen. Shocked. This team is usually amazing, and we’d just fumbled one of our best strengths.

After the game, we discussed what went wrong, but nobody could quite pinpoint it. I think I know, though. The game was lightning fast, and instead of setting the rhythm like we usually do, we were only reacting. That chaos threw us off our timing and cost us every advantage we had.

And honestly? I don’t even mind. I play AoH for the team and the fun, the wins are just a bonus.

Speaking of bonuses… with this match, I finally unlocked the Elder Glory Dragon. Small consolation, but I’ll take it, since I'm not taking home any other prizes this day.

Alas, the weekend is over and a new week full of events and AC matches awaits. So no time to dwell on the past, as I set my eyes on the events that already loom on the horizon.