Arena of Honor | When Teammates Meet Again

The final week of Arena of Honor Season 5 had arrived.

For most players, it was just another Sunday. One last chance to collect points before the season came to an end.

For Rale, however, it was a little different.

He had two Arena tickets waiting to be used.

The second one was already taken care of. His SFu teammates were, as always, ready for the 19 GMT match, where they would play together one last time before the season ended.

But the first ticket was a different story.

The 13 GMT time slot was empty.

Missing the match meant wasting a valuable ticket, and Rale had never liked letting opportunities slip away. If there was a battle to fight, he wanted to be on the battlefield.

So, a few hours before the match, he started looking for a team.

He sent a few messages, checked the Arena chat, and waited to see if anyone still needed one more player.

"There has to be a team with one free spot," Rale thought with a smile. "One more battle before I join my friends tonight."

He had no idea where he would end up, who his teammates would be, or what kind of opponents were waiting for him.

But one thing was certain.

One last adventure before the grand finale of Season 5 was about to begin. 

It didn't take long before Rale had found a team. Almost everyone was from the SFu alliance, and nearly all of them were in the same situation as he was, with two Arena tickets to use.

Sebastian created the group, and it filled up quickly. Besides him and Rale, the team included Beha, Matrix, Lord Gitter, xDragonQuenn, Guts Black, Pembaa, Sura, and Dark Archer.

The preparation didn't take long either. Most of the team's key players had already played together before, so they immediately knew the different options and the strategy they would use during the match.

Everything was ready for the battlefield to open and for the first look at their opponents.

Rale and his team were assigned to House Lannister, while House Stark consisted of players from several alliances, led by RoD Arvandor III, WELLISA, and former SFu member, now RRH, remarkky.

House Targaryen was also made up of players from several alliances, including Lik Andrena, OBV Lord Jhogo, HOH pipilino, and others.

The other three Houses, as you already know, were the NPC mirror teams of these three main Houses.

For Rale and his team, all of this meant one thing—a tough and unpredictable battle. But they were ready for it.

The beginning of the match was slow. Everyone on the team was doing the job they had been assigned. Beha and Lord Gitter were responsible for the offensive, while everyone else focused on rebuilding Strongholds and sending reinforcements wherever they were needed.

All three Houses played in a similar way. The focus was on Trading Posts, while Towers and Catapults were simply a bonus if someone managed to capture them. Overall, nobody was making them a priority.

Our Lannisters, the Starks, and the Targaryens quickly captured the neighboring NPC Clan Houses.

Meanwhile, Rale was already busy rebuilding and defending the Strongholds on the Baratheon NPC side. He had set that as his main task, along with capturing an Altar whenever the opportunity appeared.

During the first twenty minutes, all three Houses spent some time in first place and some time in third. It was clear that this battle would stay close until the very end.

The first real change in the rankings came when our Lannisters somehow managed to capture every Tower and then all the Catapults. You could say it was luck, or maybe it was also part of the strategy, because one row of Strongholds on our side remained offensive with Infantry stats, which was apparently enough.

Sebastian and Matrix even mentioned it on voice chat, saying it had been a good decision.

Rale didn't talk much. He quietly did his part of the job. Beha and Lord Gitter were doing something similar, successfully holding off attacks from strong opponents, especially RoD Arvandor, B0S Arkanee, III WELISA, and the others.

The battle for Glory City had begun.

The score was now such that the Targaryens were already far behind. It looked as if they had suddenly stopped playing. Everyone knew that the fight for first place would now be between the Lannisters and the Starks. One thing was certain—there were still plenty of points to make.

The Starks were the first to capture Glory City. B0S Arkanee, a cavalry player with stats similar to Beha's, was defending it.

Since the team did not have a strong spear player, only Beha tried a rally on Glory City. However, he failed to remove the defender and capture the Center for the Lannisters.

Glory City remained under Stark control, and with it came first place on the leaderboard.

However, the Lannisters were still earning more points per minute, so there was no reason to panic.

A short discussion followed between Sebastian, Matrix, Lord Gitter, and Rale. They all agreed to continue playing for points just as they had from the beginning, forget about the Center, and let the yellow Starks and the purple Targaryens fight each other there.

"Let's focus on the Mine Shafts, and later maybe one Dragon Pit," said the team leader, Sebastian.

Everyone agreed and immediately went back to their tasks.

In the middle of all the chaos and movement across the battlefield, Rale noticed that the Targaryens had lost control of the Tyrell Clan House, located on the left side of the Lannisters.

"I have to stop upgrading the Strongholds and send my Lord expedition there immediately," he thought.

And that was exactly what he did.

He managed to capture it.

As soon as he got there, he started typing in several chats:

"Reinf! Reinf!"

Everyone was confused.

"Which Mine Shaft did you capture?" they asked.

"Not a Mine Shaft. I captured the Tyrell Clan House!"

Everyone was surprised, but it was already too late.

The enemy rally arrived. Rale had no reinforcements, and he quickly lost the Clan House.

A little disappointed, Rale simply said,

"Let's keep going. Focus on the Mine Shafts and keep earning points."

And that's exactly what the team did.

Rale wanted to be the little hero of the match, but it didn't work out. Still, he went right back to doing his job.

The Lannisters moved into first place even without holding Glory City. Their lead kept growing minute by minute, while Beha and Lord Gitter not only secured several Mine Shafts but also controlled all three Dragon Pits.

Until the end of the match, they kept increasing their lead.

It looked like the Starks had lost their fighting spirit. They had probably believed that holding Glory City would be enough to win, but when that wasn't the case, they had no backup plan.

The SFu team finished the match as the winner, with what could be called a convincing victory of more than 200,000 points.

Everyone on the team was extremely happy and was already looking forward to the final match of the day, hoping to finish Season 5 on a high note.

Sebastian, xDragonQueen, and King Rale would be teammates once again in what they hoped would be an exciting final battle of the season. 😄

Once again, there was no single MVP.

The MVP of this match was the entire team.

Everyone completed their role exactly as planned. Beha and Lord Gitter carried the offensive pressure, Sebastian kept the team organized, Matrix coordinated important decisions, while the rest of the team constantly rebuilt Strongholds, sent reinforcements, and earned points wherever they could.

It was another victory that proved one thing—Arena of Honor is not won by the team that controls Glory City, but by the team that works together from the first minute to the last.

From Rale's point of view, this match was another reminder that even the smallest role can make a difference. Although his attempt to capture the Tyrell Clan House did not succeed in the end, he never stopped focusing on the team's objective. Every rebuilt Stronghold, every reinforcement, every captured Altar or Mine Shaft was another small contribution toward the final victory.

As the celebration slowly came to an end, Rale smiled.

One Arena ticket had been used.

One victory had been secured.

And one final battle of Season 5 was still waiting.