Arena of Honor | Season 6 - Round 11 | Victory Before Sunrise

Another Sunday had arrived, and with it another Arena of Honor day.

As always, there were four available time slots. The first one right after reset at 1 GMT, then 7 GMT, 13 GMT, and finally 19 GMT — the time that Rale and the SFu team had called home for a long time.

Normally, there would be no question about which match to play. The answer was always the same: 19 GMT, together with friends, familiar voices on Discord, and teammates who had shared countless victories and defeats.

But this Sunday was different.

Just like the previous week, real life had other plans. Rale knew he would not be available for the usual SFu match. However, unlike before, there was no uncertainty about who would take his place.

Beha had earned the trust of the team.

After his successful debut with SFu, everyone was happy to see him remain part of the main lineup, and Rale was no exception. In fact, knowing that Beha would once again be fighting alongside the team made it much easier to accept missing another Sunday evening battle.

Still, Rale was not ready to completely skip Arena of Honor.

Instead, he decided on something different.

If he could not play with his usual team, then he would experience the battlefield from another perspective. He signed up for two random teams, one in the first time slot after reset and another in the third time slot at 13 GMT.

It would be a completely different experience. Different players, different leaders, different strategies, and no familiar SFu voices guiding the way.

Part of him was disappointed that he would once again miss the match with his friends.

But another part was curious.

For one Sunday, there would not be one Arena of Honor story.

There would be three.

One with SFu and Beha at 19 GMT.

And two new adventures waiting for Rale in the random teams.

Rale already had two Arena of Honor tickets ready for that week and, as already mentioned, he decided to use them for the first and third time slots.

The first time slot is quite inconvenient for Europeans, as it takes place after the reset, which is usually 2 or 3 hours after midnight in Rale's local time, meaning +2 GMT after the reset (which happens at midnight).

Rale did not have a team, so he decided to join a random one. None of that stopped him from giving his best in the new challenge called Arena of Honor. The only thing that could stand in his way and affect his performance was sleep.

Everything was ready for the start. Rale was ready to learn the names of his teammates, and since it was already around 3 a.m., he prepared himself a cup of coffee, hoping it would keep him awake long enough.

"I have to drink this coffee and stay focused," he thought at that moment.

When he entered the battlefield, Rale first learned who his teammates were and that he would be playing for House Lannister.

His teammates were players from two alliances, FuK and PBr. Out of all nine teammates, Rale knew only one of them, FuK Palladin0, but he had never had the opportunity to play with or against him before.

Among the opponents, it is worth mentioning N2D Karai xd from House Stark and BwF EL MECA from House Targaryen. The other three houses, as you know, were NPC mirrors of the other teams.

At first glance, it seemed to Rale that the team might actually have a chance. He did not recognize any famous names among the opponents. However, he also did not know the strength of his own teammates, so he relied on his own abilities.

“Rale, maybe this is your chance to shine,” he quietly mumbled to himself.

He then started writing in the team group chat to introduce himself and learn about the plan and strategy.

His first impression was not a good one. The team was not communicating in English but in Spanish, which made communication more difficult.

As far as he could understand from the initial conversations, the plan was to play aggressively through Strongholds, then focus on Towers and Catapults, and finally fight for the Glory City.

In any case, it was too early to judge how the situation would develop. At first glance, it seemed that only House Lannister was a well-organized team whose members knew each other, while the other teams appeared to be mixed groups.

let the fight begin

Everything started in an unstable and unclear way.

The Strongholds were captured, but no army type was selected for the stats. The only encouraging thing was that the opponents also looked chaotic and uncoordinated.

Even after capturing the clan house of the NPC House Baratheon, nothing changed. Rale even had to write in the chat that someone should occupy it.

Each of the main houses captured the starting NPC house on their left side. Everything moved slowly during the first five minutes, and the teams kept exchanging the lead.

Rale was very dissatisfied and concerned because he simply could not understand what the team was doing or what their strategy was. What made things even worse was that nobody was writing in English in the chat.

For the time being, he decided to play independently and fight for Altars.

After about 20 minutes in that chaotic situation, none of the teams had managed to organize themselves particularly well.

Rale was trying to create some balance with solo attacks and, together with Palladin0, somehow keep the Lannisters in the top two. However, it looked difficult at that moment, as the Targaryen team was in first place, while the Starks were managing to capture Towers and Catapults and gain additional points through them.

Meanwhile, Palladin0 and Sir Jocker had captured a Dragon Pit, while Rale was still fighting for Altars against players from House Stark and House Targaryen.

One thing was certain — a battle awaited them in the final 20 minutes of the match.

Rale then wrote in the chat:

“Guys, I hope you understand me, but we need to get organized and start playing for the best possible result. The first target is Glory City, we absolutely need it.”

Everyone on the team reacted positively. That gave Rale additional motivation because his teammates understood him.

Palladin0 added, “Yes, yes, that’s the idea. Sir Jocker or I will try to hold Glory, and Rale, pay attention to the NPC Tyrell clan house that the Targaryens are holding. Maybe our attack will manage to push them out of there at some point, and we need to be ready.”

Everyone immediately moved into action.

It was already half past three in the morning, but Rale was more awake than ever. He was ready and eager for victory, even in this team where he barely knew anyone.

To make things even better, the Starks suddenly began to struggle at that moment.

“Did they fall asleep?” Rale thought to himself and smiled.

But something had definitely happened, and they suddenly lost a lot of activity, which was reflected in the score.

The Targaryens took almost all of the Towers and Catapults from them, while Sir Jocker captured Glory City immediately after it opened, and now it had to be defended for the next four minutes.

The Starks did not attempt a single rally on Glory City. The only threat came from the Targaryens.

Several rallies later, and bam — they managed to remove Sir Jocker from it.

“Ah, damn it. Let’s try again,” said Palladin0, and the two of them immediately started new rallies.

Meanwhile, Rale was waiting for an opportunity to take the Tyrell clan house while at the same time defending attacked Altars and Dragon Pits.

This time, Sir Jocker was successful, and with good reinforcements, the Lannister team captured Glory City again and managed to withstand the enemy rallies.

One objective was accomplished.

Glory City was ours.

However, that was still not enough for victory. The team had only moved closer to the Targaryens.

The surprises never seemed to end.

At the exact moment when the final seconds were counting down for the complete capture of Glory City by the Lannisters, the Tyrell house became available.

King Rale did not wait even a second and was already there.

Now, with five minutes remaining, it seemed more and more likely that this would decide the winner.

For the first time, the entire team was happy. Even though Rale did not know Spanish, he could understand the eruption of excitement throughout the team.

During those final five minutes, the Lannisters even managed to extend their lead in first place.

The situation itself did not look nearly as convincing or straightforward as the final result would later suggest.

This time, there was no single player who could claim the MVP title.

This was a team victory in the truest sense of the word.

Palladin0 and Sir Jocker did a great job around Glory City, the other players contributed through defense, capturing objectives, and sending reinforcements, while Rale helped the comeback through his actions around Altars, Dragon Pits, and the capture of the Tyrell clan house.

In the end, everyone did what was needed at the right moment.

That is why the MVP of this match was not one player.

The MVP was the entire team.

When the match started, Rale did not know what to expect.

He knew almost nobody on the team, communication was difficult because of the language barrier, and during the first twenty minutes it seemed as if everyone was playing their own game.

Still, as time passed, the team began to find a common rhythm.

They may not have been perfectly organized, and they certainly did not have a system like SFu, but they had enough quality and enough determination to find a way to victory.

For Rale, this was an interesting lesson.

Sometimes you do not need to know your teammates for years to achieve a good result. Sometimes it is enough for a few people to agree on the same goal at the right moment.

After the victory, the fatigue finally started to catch up with him.

He looked at the clock.

It was almost five in the morning.

He smiled, closed the battlefield, and finished the last sips of his now cold coffee.

The first challenge of the week had been completed successfully.

But Arena of Honor was not over for him yet.

Later that day, the third time slot was waiting for him — a new random team, new teammates, new opponents, and a completely new story.