N0X UC (S24 M1): A Little Help From #1

If you followed my N0X AC story chain, you know we ended the season with the same points as another alliance, and it wasn't very clear who would actually be going to UC.

Well, after asking around and generally refusing in our hearts to accept that our UC dream was over by one single point, we eventually got moved up and made it into UC.

So after 6 matches, two expected unwinnable matches, some unexpected expensive wins, a few questionable races, a couple of heroic moments, and one absolutely brutal leaderboard refresh... N0X made it to UC!

And after all the pain we've been through and the rollercoaster of emotions when that leaderboard refreshed... I know we deserve it.

And now that the "N0X road to UC" is complete, it's time to get our asses whooped again, because the last alliance to qualify gets to play the 1st alliance. And one can only imagine how this game is going to play out, because we're facing WxD in our first match.

And now the real fun begins. After Rock and friends joined the CRY team and we bled a lot of speeds to win that match, I don't know if the WxD team will have mercy on us this time around.

As the game starts, neither team seems to have a full house. Classic first vs last matchup, lol.

We know we can't win, they know we can't win, so participation probably reflects the huge distance between our two alliances.

The gates open, we sprint like rabbits, but we only win 1 race.

WxD probably won't swap any of their buildings, but we still keep an eye on a potential swap we can intercept and get a few more points while the bubble holds.

We do win Warrior, and we're not really sure what to do. Is there any point in actually swapping for a rally lead?

Probably not, because WxD can realistically kick anyone of us out and we're giving up the initial capture bubble. So for the moment, we have to make do with only 1 building and the points it can generate while under the protection of the bubble.

Outpost races work out in a similar manner and we lose both races. Too bad. Looks like we won't be making many points here.

But for the moment, our Warrior is "safe". Is WxD going to let us hold it?

I don't think so, and before Ports open they will probably visit us there.

When the Ports open, we manage to win one race.

This is kind of typical with the Ports. Due to the marching distance, I'm constantly seeing each team win the race for their far Port. And this is exactly what happens now.

Also, by this time, I guess WxD had enough of us holding Warrior, so they decide that needs to stop. 😅

Now we're back to holding only one building, but this time we go for a swap.

Needless to say, the swap doesn't buy us any extra time. WxD soon removes us and our holder from the Port and, before 10 minutes are even up, they hold the entire map.

I can't say this wasn't expected.

The best we can hope for will be the initial capture points while the bubbles hold.

On the flip side, since this is UC, points don't really matter that much. It's either win or lose, and the points only give threshold rewards.

We knew we wouldn't be able to win this game, so the best we can do is get some rewards from the point thresholds.

That is... if WxD allows us to do so.

Casterly opens, and if we can win this race, it would be a nice twist for us to hold the central building in a sea of WxD red.

But as the bubble drops and we can race, the WxD line is already up before we even have the option to click the building.

So we've lost this one as well.

Now WxD controls the entire map, and at this point we usually start considering what buildings to defend and what we should attack.

But vs WxD... they hold everything. So we have nothing to attack, and the chances that we can realistically kick any of their holders are slim.

We do try some rallies, not really sure if we would win and mostly for fun, testing purposes and practice.

But to my surprise, some of our leads actually have winning reports here and there. That's refreshing to see!

Although we don't have enough to kick and flip a building, it means we're on the right path and our accounts are starting to rival the absolute best of the best in the game.

And honestly, that's a pretty nice thing to discover when you're getting your ass kicked by the #1 alliance.

As the Strongholds open, we have another chance at some fair races, but WxD wins 2/2 and GUA VAA is again inside insanely fast.

Now with the Stronghold phase out of the way, and knowing we don't have enough raw power to kick WxD out of anything, the rest of the game will definitely be more chill.

As our personal bubbles drop, we have a chance to increase our points a little.

So far, N0X has gotten close to nothing more than what we came in with from the AC research.

I have to say this has probably been our weakest match in this AC season, even compared to the NBe one.

But this is UC and we're fighting the #1 alliance, so it's somewhat expected.

Let's see if we can break some reward milestones with the points from the WxD hive.

But even with their hive points, we're not even going to make 30k points overall.

So the only thing remaining for us will be the mines.

And it's the 3rd time this season where we put our faith in the mines. It worked well vs RoD. It didn't work so well vs NBe.

And now we'll have to see how well it works vs WxD. But seeing their inhumane racing speed, I have some doubts we can actually win any races in the mines.

It would be great, but probably unrealistic, and we're probably going home under 30k points. Still, we can only hope.

If the win was clearly off the table, maybe some points are accessible to us.

But about 5 minutes before the mines open, we catch a break? WxD starts disbanding some of their buildings!

What's going on? Is this a trick? They can't be that nice to us... Simply because it's too early in the game. They are not guaranteed the win at this point and, with the mines still on the table, it's premature to think they are this confident.

Do they want us to hold only to farm some eliminations on us? I don't think so either.

So we should play it safe and just take the buildings, but without holders. Just like a fish nibbles on the bait but doesn't go in for the big bite that guarantees it gets the hook instead.

So let's see how the mines go and what WxD is actually doing.

But as the mines open, WxD has reclaimed control of the entire map and a miracle happens for us. We win one of the two races!

Okay! This means we have the door open to pull off a play similar to the RoD game.

Now, if we can just rotate the initial bubble with our best account as holder and some reinforcements to take a few WxD rallies before we use the Stratagem Bubble, then fix our marches to be able to tank a few more rallies...

We should at least clear the 30k milestone, right?

And considering how hard this match has been, I'd say an honest 30k points vs the top alliance is a decent result for N0X.

But before we can even start that impeccable plan...

The reinforcements for the swap don't arrive fast enough, and WxD is pummeling us into the ground with solos.

Before we even have time to react with the emergency bubble, we've already lost the mine.

And the sad part is... we didn't even hold it long enough to pass the 30k points threshold.

And just as it seems everything is lost, WxD passes the 80k threshold and they start to disband.😱

Now this time they actually look like they are in a position to disband.

The game has progressed long enough to guarantee we can't win, even if we hold the entire map.

But as a nice gesture, and since in UC there is no point going over 80k as that's the last checkpoint for rewards, we're gifted some points for a game well played.

As the game ends, not only do we cross the 30k checkpoint, but with the points from the mines, we double that and get past 60k.😊

That was a pretty nice parting gift from WxD, allowing us to pick up some extra rewards despite a match where we were unable to make much progress.

So there we have it.

Our first UC match was pretty much exactly what we expected. We were thrown straight at the #1 alliance, couldn't hold a single building, couldn't really contest the map, and spent most of the game watching WxD demonstrate why they are sitting at the top of the UC leaderboard.

But there were still a few positives.

Some of our rally leads managed to get winning reports against their accounts, which was nice boost to morale.

And then, when the game was already decided, WxD gave us the opportunity to push our score from not even 30k to over 60k.

Considering where we came from and who we were playing, I'll take it.

The good news is that this was the worst possible matchup we could have had.

The next one should be much more balanced, and for the first time in UC, we should actually have a game where there is something to fight for. And honestly, after getting our asses kicked by #1 in our first match, I'm kind of looking forward to it!