SoW: N0X vs 6NK | Can We Recover?

Only a few days had passed since N0X’s loss to IlI in this Siege of Winterfell season’s second match. The defeat had heavily impacted our team morale, especially because we all understood it was a fight we should have won. Now as we prepared to move onto the next battlefield, we would need to shake off the lingering disappointment and find some focus. If we prove with this upcoming battle that the last defeat had taught us a lesson, it wouldn’t all be for nothing.

It was revealed that our next opponent would be the alliance 6NK, and at first glance we thought this would be a very manageable fight for us. But looking closer, we quickly noticed a concerning complication. The fighter light Yagami had joined 6NK’s ranks for this fight, and we knew he would be a strong force on this battlefield. Though he was an old friend to N0X we couldn’t expect that he would go easy on us. His presence would certainly raise the stakes of this fight.

Prepared to Fight

At battle time we found ourselves in our familiar positions, lined up along our base walls prepared to follow our leaders into the battle. But looking across the field at our enemies, we could see that we had an overwhelming player advantage for the first time this season. When the barriers fell and we began racing for the Hot Springs and the Armory, our 90 players versus their 70, we didn’t collide in the usual overwhelming clash. 

N0X had the clear numbers advantage from the start, on both sides, but the fighting was still intense. 6NK did not shy away from the fight, and light Yagami was able to plow through countless armies on his own. But our numbers allowed us to set the pace for this fight, and as we won the Hot Springs and Armory we were already prepared to push south to the enemy Strongholds. Unlike the previous fight, we were able to make moves together without splintering apart.

Moving to Strongholds

When the first dragons appeared, we continued to work easily together. For this first quarter of the fight, N0X had already established a strong map control that made it difficult for 6NK to contest the dragons even deep in their own territory. While we worked to deliver both dragons, they made a smart move at trying to capture our Stark Strongholds to cut off our teleport point, but we were able to react quickly enough to thwart their plans.

First Dragons

The next dragon would appear even deeper into the enemy territory, but we were already building a group of fighters there minutes ahead of time. It was a long journey to accompany that dragon all the way home, but we held firm control for the entire trip.

As the battle progressed, our hold on the map never truly lessened. It was still a nice fight against 6NK, who continued to send out small groups, looking for openings in our defenses, and appearing to contest for every dragon. Occasionally, it would appear that entire marches of ours would vanish almost instantly. This was the impact of light Yagami, and our leader Scythe was careful to instruct us “If you see light Yagami just…try to avoid him.” So instead of throwing ourselves at him, we were able to focus on the broader fight, keeping our buildings secure and maintaining pressure on the map.

By the halfway point of the fight, we were already feeling as if we had been fighting for hours. With the constant dragons we had to be always in motion, but all the work was paying off on the scoreboard. Having already made 55 thousand points to 6NK’s 8 thousand, it would take a miracle to sway the outcome of this fight. But that didn’t mean we would make any early celebrations. Considering how things went against IlI, no one wanted to be the one to let things slip again.

This fight presented the opportunity we needed to bounce back from our defeat. We remained engaged on the battlefield until the end, thus far we had managed to bring every single dragon back to base successfully. If the question of this fight was could we recover after a hard loss, we had certainly found that the answer was yes. 

The Last Second

It was such a nice feeling to notice the happiness on my teammate’s faces as the end of the battle approached. This was completely the opposite of how we had left the previous battlefield. In the fight’s last few moments, our dragon herding teams took up a race against the clock. We were already in route to deliver the match’s last two dragons, which would tip us over 130 thousand points on the scoreboard. It was going to be incredibly close, I almost thought that the pure excitement coming from us as we raced for the border was going to somehow make the dragons move fast enough to make it. But the last second ticked away just before the dragons could be delivered. But hey, 129 thousand points was nothing to be upset about.