AoH – Mid Season Meta Shift?

Two weeks ago our fearless leader was traveling and we didn’t get to play AoH, but this weekend we’re back with a vengeance and even bringing in a guest account to boost our team rating. With Balrum in the roster I’m a bit concerned about the level of opponents we might face, but overall I’m confident going in.

On the bright side, missing the previous match wasn’t that bad really. AoH lets you save tickets for later, and that flexibility is one of the reasons it's my favorite event. It just feels more polished than the original events in GoTWiC.

This weekend was tight for me as I was traveling for Easter, but I made it back just in time. And by “just in time” I mean my usual few minutes before start. I jump in, set presets on the fly, and get a quick rundown from the team while I'm "deploying" on the map.

We open Inf on the first row of Strongholds since towers are Spear and later Balrum is meant to hold the City of Glory. I skip taking the early Strongholds as I’m assigned to hold the second house and I don't want no trouble, like last time.😅

Just like clockwork, we secure the second NPC house and I rush in to hold it. Funny how I rush in… and nobody reinforces. This is becoming a classic meme at this point. Not a problem yet, but I know what’s coming. Wind clone & Balrum clone will be the real test.

https://youtu.be/xgxjRGp_juk

At least I’m actually in position this time, unlike that previous match disaster. Now the question is simple: can I hold?

Short answer: no.

Random hits, random comps, it doesn’t matter. The Balrum clone deletes me just the same. That’s frustrating because my account is already pushed to its current limits. No optimization left for me to do with the current setup. This is a pure stats gap, and my upgrades are still weeks away.

We rotate holders, move Hotep into the second house, and stabilize as best as we can. Meanwhile, for the second row Strongholds we go Spear. Standard game plan so far, second house secured, alternating troop types in the Strongholds. Everything looks right so far.

And that’s exactly where things start going wrong.

We grab initial capture points, but instantly lose buildings to House Stark. They didn’t build for first capture, they built to counter us, lol. And long term, their build is better. We’re first in but they will kick us out and remain in for the rest of the game.

As Stark starts taking "our" neutral buildings, reality hits. If everyone is countering everyone else... then this troop camps isn’t a viable strategy anymore. It’s just a form of chaos, a Russian roulette game where everyone has their turn. Time to rethink our strategy for this match.

And with troop camps out... trading posts it is then! Yup, back to basics. Feels like Season 3 again. Troop camps are the current meta, but if everyone perfected them, maybe the actual counter is to go backwards. Problem is… mid game transitions are painfully slow.

While all this is happening, I try to stay useful. I grab both Septs. Ours is not contested, so basically free, but the NPC Sept requires more attention so I have to send my lord march… and get kicked by the Wind clone. Just great! I send again, lose more time. Everything this game feels slightly wrong.

Shortly after center opens. This is our window. Balrum snipes it instantly. Perfect timing, we have the City of Glory!

Until a few seconds later when we lost it. Feels they were waiting of us or something. We don't even get all our troops in to reinforce. The loss is almost instant. We don’t even hold it for 10 seconds. At this point it’s kind of obvious: every move we make is being watched, anticipated and countered.

So let's recap: Troop camps? Failed! Trade camp switch? Too slow! Center denied! We’re running out of options… or are we?

In the meantime, I try to be useful where I can, contesting any altars that have spam marches and easy things like this.😂

With the game fast approaching the end... it's time for a final strategy change: mines phase. This is the last win condition!

Plan is rather simple on paper: Hold center until mines open, abandon it, maximize mine points, then ensure the leading enemy house doesn’t also hold center at the end.

Now let's see if we can actually pull it off!

https://youtu.be/OkAJAmksOZw

But nothing goes as planned.... Again! Still, we manage a decent mines phase. Personally, I clean one mine fully and pick up leftovers from two others, so at least on an individual level it feels solid.

Team wise, we’re still super clutch.

Heading into final moments, we are in second place, but right behind House Lannister. The plan is brutally simple now: kick them out of center and we win. We don’t even need to hold it. Just deny them.

Two rallies go out. Full commitment, as before.

First rally lands and kicks out a good chunk of defenders.

Second rally is everything. If it clears, we win. If not, it’s over for us.

https://youtu.be/Z2yI7e2A-GE

And just like last time… we fall short. Not by much, but enough. Final second, house Lannister still holds center, and we lock in second place... again...

It’s a frustrating ending, but also a somewhat revealing one. Every adjustment we made was the correct response to what we were facing. The problem wasn’t decision making or slow response, but we were consistently one step behind the counter game.

This match felt like a full mirror of our own playstyle turned against us. Our own strategy was used against us this time.

As for the meta… something is definitely shifting. Second NPC house is still mandatory, but troop camps versus trade camps is no longer a clear winner. There’s another meta shift coming, and matches like this are how it starts.😶

Next time, we need to be the ones forcing the answers.