GoTWiC [AoH] S5R7 “Found at last”

For a player like Urli, it was a bit strange that he still didn't have a team in the Arena.

He had received several invites earlier but had refused them because he knew he was stronger than them and that they would get much tougher opponents because of him. In the last few matches, he had played with players from his alliance, but they couldn't manage to win first place because they were drawn against much stronger players. Urli couldn't defeat them on his own, so he decided to find another team this time where he would have several players of a similar strength.

However, at the very entrance to the battlefield, he ran into the very same teammates who were looking for one player. This time, they had two more in the alliance who were similar in strength to him. “Will you join us this time too? We need someone to guide us through the match,” they asked him from the alliance. 

Urli paused at the very entrance to the battlefield. He knew this scenario, the same people, the same story, all over again.

“Will you join us this time, too?” they asked him.

He was silent for a moment. The previous matches flashed through his mind, the same beginning, the same hope, and the same end. Defeats against stronger teams that they had suffered because of him.

“If I go in… we'll get stronger opponents again. And I'll have to carry everyone again,” he thought.

He looked at his teammates. They weren't just waiting for a player, they were waiting for a leader. Someone who would make the decisions when it got the hardest.

Then he realized, the problem wasn't the opponents. The problem was that he had never truly believed in the team.

“Alright... but this time we play as a team. There's no point without it,” he said more seriously than before.

This time, he wasn't just going in to win, he was going in to see if this team could hold together to the end.

This time they were representing House Stark.

Urli immediately looked at the other opponents, a little scared, hoping it wasn't Minity for the third time. “Phew, good. We're not playing against them this time.” He said with slight relief, because they had gotten players from very strong houses as opponents. The Lannisters were made up of a group from several strong alliances, and Urli recognized a few players from them who he knew were not weak at all,

while the main favorites were perhaps the Targeryan house, composed of RRH players.

“This isn't going to be easy at all. It seems like no one is as strong as Minity was, but they're definitely well-coordinated.” Urli told his teammates, preparing them for the match.

The match started. The goal was to capture both nearby clans as quickly as possible to gain points, and then take the Towers. “Let’s go for the spear camps, send all troops to the Strongholds fast.”

Urli took the lead right away. The first Altar that opened was the Stranger, often ignored but just as important. He didn’t want the Stranger to become another problem for his teammates like in the previous match, so he attacked first with his spearmen. At the same time, Urli was sending messages to the team, asking for help with defense. But only two teammates from the alliance responded. Another disappointment, but there was no time for that.

Luckily, the opponents were focused on other targets at that moment, and Urli secured the Stranger without any resistance. The first sparks of battle were over, and the Altar was in their hands. They also managed to take both clans, which would make the fight for first place much easier.

“Let’s wait until we capture the Towers, and if we don’t get them, we switch everything to the trading posts!” Urli ordered.

In the early part, they managed to get the most they could so far, but the important moments were still ahead.

The next key building was the Dragonpit. Two of us tried to capture the Dragonpits while the others sent extra troops. It was a good plan to have one spearman and one infantry unit so we’d have enough troops to fill the buildings.

Then the enemy attacks started, mainly from RRH players, but thanks to having more troops, we managed to defend.

The opponents tried to take our buildings with solo attacks, but our players were strong enough to hold them off. Urli watched all of this with great satisfaction.

“We’re doing great, everything is under control, but no relaxing yet, Glory hasn’t opened,” Urli said.

He stayed careful even though he knew they were on a good path to first place. The Targeryans are very strong, and if they capture Glory, anything could happen.

“I have to take Glory as soon as I can. I can’t let the opponents get close,” Urli thought to himself.

They had a solid lead, but it was still far from a guaranteed win.

Glory opened. Urli quickly sent troops, but the Targeryans were faster. It was a strong infantry unit.

“Start infantry rallies now, we don’t have a strong cavalry!”

This was the problem Urli had been worried about. They had four strong players, but none of them were cavalry. They started two infantry rallies, but only one was full. Urli started a spear rally and would attack first to make it easier for his teammates.

They managed to launch the rallies very quickly, but there were over 6 million troops in Glory, and they couldn’t win.

“Unbelievable… are we really going to lose because of Glory? Why aren’t the Lannisters attacking?” Urli wondered.

He immediately told them to try again, but the result was the same. The Targeryans captured Glory and got within just 5k points of them. This was exactly what Urli had feared. Even though they controlled almost everything before Glory, it could all fall apart now.

“Keep defending the buildings and spam the Targeryans as much as you can! We attack Glory as soon as the shield drops! This might come down to the wire.”

This time the opponents weren’t as strong as some others, but they still couldn’t win easily. They were fighting a very strong alliance and knew it wouldn’t be an easy match.

As soon as the shield dropped, Urli told them to start rallies, but one teammate said, “Wait, stop, they changed troops in Glory!”

Now it was cavalry. Urli immediately got excited and said, “Great, now they’re ours! We go with two spear attacks, I’ll go second!”

Urli got almost all T5 troops, while the other rally was weaker and not full, but it was meant to make things a bit easier for him. They launched at almost the same time.

Urli was sure they would win, but he was still worried. If they lost, it would mean they couldn’t take Glory and the ending would be very uncertain. The attacks hit just seconds apart. The first one failed, but in the second one, Urli managed to push the enemy out.

“Quick now, send spearmen as fast as you can, they’ll start attacking right away!”

The Targeryans immediately started a triple rally. It was all three different troop types, but teammates began sending other troops instead of just spearmen. Urli got angry and warned them not to do that, but it was too late to fix it because the enemies had already started their attacks.

They hit one after another, but Urli managed to defend.

“Great, now send only spearmen, quickly, they’ll attack again!”

This time, the Lannisters joined in too, even though they hadn’t attacked at all before.

“Why did they choose now to attack?!” Urli wondered as he watched the enemies coming at him.

Luckily, they didn’t attack at the same time, so teammates were able to send new troops between the attacks. There was less than a minute left until the shield, and if they managed to hold, it would mean a secure first place.

Urli felt the tension building up. He was so close and knew exactly what was at stake. Winning this match would greatly boost their confidence after a few bad matches and strong opponents today.

They kept hitting one after another. Urli was waiting, and because of the smoke he couldn’t see who was in the trap. Then he saw the enemies retreating back home and realized they had successfully defended.

“Great! Just a little more. Someone send new troops as fast as possible! We’re close to the goal!”

Suddenly, the opponents quickly pulled back and started sending solo attacks. But their teammates managed to send new troops in time and reinforce the stronghold.

There was nothing more they could do now.

Glory was theirs! And by capturing it, they earned extra points and created a huge lead on the scoreboard.

Because of the strong focus and pressure around Glory, they forgot that the Mine Shafts had opened, so they missed a chance to earn more points. But what mattered most was that they achieved the win.

Urli was very happy and proud of both himself and the team. They managed to beat very strong opponents. After a great start, they made things complicated by losing Glory, but in the final minutes of the match they still secured the victory.

This will definitely have an impact on the team, and also on Urli’s decision to stay in the team going forward.

He remembered the beginning, the doubts, the hesitation, the wish to find a “stronger team.” And in the end, the victory came exactly with the people he already had.

“We’re not the strongest… but we played like a team,” he said quietly, more to himself than to anyone else.

His teammates were celebrating, messages were coming in from everywhere, but Urli now saw everything differently. He wasn’t thinking about tougher opponents that his own strength could bring.

He was thinking about how they had beaten them together.

With a slight smile, he left the Arena, but this time without doubt.

He knew that next time he wouldn’t look for another team.

Because he had finally found his.