The Ambitions

Finally, a new season of Alliance Conquest was about to begin. For Biff, AC was one of his favorite events in GoT, and he was especially excited about his first season fighting alongside BDR.

Naturally, BDR had high ambitions. With a strong history in the competition, the alliance was eager to remain among the title contenders.

But the rivals weren't standing still. WxD, RoD and NBe continued to strengthen their accounts and had made significant additions to their rosters.

Biff had faced WxD, RoD and NBe in Alliance Conquest before, but at a very different level, with little chance of putting up a fight. Now he was curious to see how we would do this season. At some point, we would face the strongest alliances in the game.

One of the biggest questions was how quickly we could find our rhythm. We had never played together in this new setup before. We would have some time to find our roles in the match plan and get used to the calls, timings and execution. Still, with only six matches in the regular season, every match mattered.

The Season Opener

Everyone showed up in the season opener.

Facing RRH in the first match was an interesting matchup. RRH regularly finished in the Top 16 and qualified for the playoffs. On top of that, they had recently beaten us convincingly in SoW. AC, though, was a different stage.

We had a good start winning three out of four races and even managed to capture the Temple of Mother. Early map control always helps, but the need for more precise swap timings did not go unnoticed.

While we could hold firm in our first defensive sequences the race for the ports went split. The importance of swap timing was then proven when RRH managed to intercept Lannister Port. We were able to quickly correct our mistake and capture both ports with rally waves.

On Casterly Rock RRH again won the race, but this time they completely messed up their swap, and we were fast enough to capture it for ourselves. With increasing need of points RRH successfully challenged our defense at Targaryen Port but Temple of Mother also changed hands again, so we were in a solid position.

In the following minutes RRH kept pushing. They won both races on the strongholds and took our outpost. But our offensive power was too much for them and 20 minutes into the match we seized control over the whole map.

By the time the mines opened, victory was basically secured, so our next failed swap wasn't crucial. We responded with a rapid wave of solo attacks on both mines, but that wasn't enough to drain them. Rally calls went out for both mines, and we broke through RRH's defense.

The victory was ours. We could use the final ten minutes to share some early thoughts on the match and set our specific squad rally leads as favorites for quicker access in future fights.

The Reality Check

The first match showed that we were all a bit rusty, but there was no time to ease into the season. Our next opponent was RoD, and we had to switch from practice mode straight into the real thing.

At the start of the match, we lost three out of four races but managed a clean swap and even intercepted RoD's swap at the Temple of the Warrior. While RoD challenged us there, we attacked their Temple of the Mother. However, our reinforcements arrived too late during the second rally wave, and RoD broke through our defense.

The initial races for the ports ended with one port for each alliance after both swaps were intercepted. When we managed to jump back into the Temple of the Warrior, the map was evenly split. It was already clear that small details could have a big impact at this level.

But RoD didn't hesitate to strike back. We lost the Temple of the Warrior again, followed by Lannister Port. We fought back by capturing the Temple of the Mother and winning the race for Casterly Rock. Yet when RoD intercepted our swap there, the momentum shifted again.

However, it was too early to give up, especially against a rival like RoD. We won both races for the strongholds and successfully broke through RoD's defense at Casterly Rock with our second rally wave. We even went on to capture both ports but failed once again to defend Casterly Rock with proper reinforcements.

We were still in the game but often seemed to be one step too slow. Every time we gained ground, RoD pushed back and quickly denied our progress, especially when we made mistakes on swaps. While trading buildings, we were running out of time to close the points gap.

We landed another successful rally wave on the Temple of the Warrior, but RoD still held the most valuable buildings, and the gap kept growing. Recapturing Lannister Port and even Casterly Rock gave us some momentum again, but we needed both mines to stay within reach of victory.

Unfortunately, RoD secured both mines and got their swap right, leaving us no room for a late comeback. The match was lost, but the season was still young.

We had to accept that we weren't ready yet. The pace and pressure of the match had been too much for us that day, but we also knew that we still had things to learn and improve.

The Need to Improve

After the reality check against RoD, the next three matches gave us a chance to sharpen our routines and work on our execution.

Against 6NK, the match was expected to be one-sided. They fielded only 69 members, and some hadn't even brought the full 4M troops onto the battlefield. We won all four opening races and executed our swaps cleanly. The same continued across the ports, Casterly Rock and the strongholds, with successful swaps combined with a fake swap. By the time the mines opened, there was little left to prove. We won both mine races and secured the swaps. Match 3 was over.

The match against UTB had a different tone. They showed up with 95 members, ready to fight.

The start of the match was almost ironic. We won three out of four races but completely messed up all our swaps, one after the other. Whether it was poor timing or a lack of reinforcements, we clearly hadn’t had our heads in the game yet.

The response was immediate. Through several series of solo attacks, we regained control, building by building. Within nine minutes, the map was ours. We captured Casterly Rock and both Strongholds, secured the swaps and never looked back. UTB tried to put us under pressure, but our defense held firm.

By the time the mines opened the victory was already secured. We kept winning the races and captured both mines, but failed another swap.

Frustrated by our continued inconsistency, we sent everything we could to recapture the mine, and the match was effectively over.

The match against FDH took place at 1:00 GMT, not exactly our preferred time slot. Still, we showed up with almost the full roster.

FDH was a similar opponent to RRH, with a history of being one of the stronger alliances and regularly reaching the playoffs.

The match itself followed a similar pattern. We didn't win every race, and not every action went smoothly, but we maintained control and dictated the pace of the match. There were opportunities to practise and refine our routines or test different strategies, yet FDH never applied enough pressure to put us in real danger.

That was the downside of these three matches. We had opportunities to sharpen our execution, but we still hadn't experienced the kind of pressure that would truly test us.

However, these wins mattered in the race for the Top 16. With one more match to play, things weren't settled yet.

The Final Test

In this last match of the regular season, we faced RoD once again. Our first encounter had exposed how much we still needed to learn. But this match was about more than securing a spot in the Top 16. Both alliances had something to prove and showed up with full rosters. Everyone knew what was at stake.

We lost three of the four opening races, but recovered quickly when we intercepted RoD's swap at the Temple of the Mother and executed our own swap cleanly. At the Tower of the Warrior, we immediately felt the pressure of multiple rally waves, but managed to defend against them.

We won both races for the ports, but RoD intercepted our planned swap. Meanwhile, we captured the Lannister Outpost and continued to withstand the attacks. It felt like a good start to the match.

But RoD spread the pressure across the map and took advantage of our lack of attention to capture Targaryen Port. We wanted to respond to this setback and tried to fight back with a rally wave on the Lannister Port. At one point, we came painfully close to breaking through, but RoD managed to hold the defense.

They then used the momentum to capture the Lannister Outpost as well. We won the race for Casterly Rock, but our swap was intercepted once again, and we were in danger of falling behind early.

We tried to turn things around with further attacks on Lannister Port, but RoD caught us off guard again with a quick rally wave on the Temple of the Warrior. The next few minutes were chaotic. We kept a foot in the door when we intercepted another swap at the Warrior and recaptured the Lannister Outpost. But we messed up our own swap at the Warrior, and RoD shut down our push once again.

Our second rally wave on Casterly Rock finally succeeded, and winning both races for the strongholds helped us keep the points gap in check. We kept applying pressure to different buildings, but couldn't break through RoD's defense any further. Instead, we quickly lost Casterly Rock again and made another mistake with a failed swap at the Warrior.

We just couldn't find our footing.

We tried to turn things around, but kept getting stuck. RoD continued to shut down our attacks, and from the outside, the match must have looked increasingly one-sided.

Halfway through the match, we were trailing by a wide margin. But giving up was never an option. We kept pushing, regardless of the cost. Eventually, we broke through at Casterly Rock and followed up by capturing Targaryen Port. Even when RoD denied our next attempts, we finally managed to stabilize our defense. RoD, however, never eased the pressure and eventually took Targaryen Port again.

When the mines opened, victory was still within reach. We won both races, and this time our planned swap worked. For a moment, a close finish seemed possible.

We fought hard to hold both mines against wave after wave of RoD's attacks. The fighting shifted from one mine to the other, with both mines constantly getting reinforcements. But eventually, our defense at the Targaryen Mine broke, and the Lannister Mine followed shortly after.

We tried to push back and recaptured the Targaryen Mine. But without a slow march, we couldn't complete the swap as planned, and we quickly lost the mine again. That was the moment our chances of winning was gone.

The final ten minutes brought little more than scattered skirmishes, and we had to accept another defeat, this time by almost 28,000 points.

RoD seemed to be the stronger alliance for much of the match, at times dominating the map and pushing us close to collapse. Still, we managed to challenge them and create opportunities of our own. We knew that our own mistakes and lapses in attention had played into RoD's hands. There were moments when we could have made more of our chances, but in the end, the opportunity had passed. The match was over, and so was the regular season.

The Look Ahead

The regular season was over, and BDR finished in fifth place.

Our goal had been to remain among the title contenders, and we had secured our place in the playoffs. But the six matches had shown that there was still work to do. We could take control against some opponents, but facing the strongest alliances was a different challenge. Our first match against RoD had exposed how much we still needed to learn, and our second encounter showed that we hadn't yet overcome all those weaknesses.

Still, the regular season wasn't just about the results. We had gained experience, worked on our routines and learned more about what it takes to compete at this level. We had shown that we could fight back even when things weren't going our way, but we also knew that against the best, small mistakes could make all the difference.

Now, the regular season was behind us. The playoffs would bring a new challenge, with every match bringing us one step closer to the title or ending our journey altogether.

We had made it into the Top 16. But how far could we go?