Group A
Hangry Nubs vs E is for Emotional Damage
Bans:
Hangry Nubs – Maulus, Gila, Abaddon, Curse
E is for Emotional Damage – Blackbird, Khizriel, Gila, Jackdaw
Comp Selection:
Hangry Nubs – Leshak, Guardian, Augoror Navy Issue, Keres, Magus, Maller, Maller
E is for Emotional Damage – Armageddon, Oneiros, Phobos, Vigilant, Sentinel, Magus, Nergal
Review:
As expected, both teams opted to roll with heavy armor brawl comps with Brave going for a Leshak variant with three cheaper damage cruisers while Horde went with the Geddon and opting to invest relatively heavily into their two cruisers and a bit more control.
Off the bat of particular importance, the Sentinel gets hard damped and cant immediately apply disruption to the Leshak. The whole Horde team slow approaches into the Leshak core even though they have range priority, particularly the sentinel gets right to 0 to apply disruption and gets pinned quickly, looking to get neut pressure onto the Guardian.
By the end, the Leshak was allowed to spool on the Geddon while maintaining enough capacitor to keep firing (I don’t see cap transfer effects from the guardian but I can’t rule it out given the camera angles) and broke the Geddon, while the lack of damage from range out of the Horde team could not get through the Guardian Reps.
Hangry Nubs 95 : 0 E is for Emotional Damage
Lazy Piglets vs Hangry Nubs
Bans:
Lazy Piglets – Orthrus, Loki, Khizriel
Hangry Nubs – Barghest, Gila, Curse
Comp Selection:
Lazy Piglets – Nighthawk, Scimitar, Cyclone, Rapier, Jackdaw, Jackdaw, Jackdaw
Hangry Nubs – Sleipnir, Sleipnir, Broadsword, Broadsword, Osprey, Raptor, Raptor
Review:
Tuskers bring out something quite unorthodox with a flykiller with Jackdaws and Rapier. They are able to kite for a significant amount of time and the Broadswords are unable to get their scrams applied at all being held off by the Rapier while the Sleipnirs are only web fit and cant pin down anything other than the Nighthawk. With losing the Raptors and Osprey they’re unable to catch anything and the Broadswords rapidly fall.
With this match, Tuskers all but guarantees going through in first place needing only 2 points against Horde in their next match. In all likelihood this group is set with Tuskers at 1, Brave at 2 and Horde at 3.
Lazy Piglets 150 : 1 Hangry Nubs
Group B
Lazerhawks vs Yamete Kudasai
Bans:
Lazerhawks – Gila, Armageddon, Sentinel
Yamete Kudasai – Barghest, Curse, Loki
Comp Selection:
Lazerhawks – Sleipnir, Sleipnir, Osprey, Cynabal, Cynabal, Kitsune, Svipul
Yamete Kudasai – Cyclone Fleet Issue, Cyclone Fleet Issue, Orthrus, Orthrus, Orthrus, Scalpel, Scalpel
Review:
As mentioned in my group B preview, Lazerhawks likes to typically go with low execution ceiling comps and again brought a minrush after the Barghest and Loki were banned by Yamete. Yamete brings a missile fly comp with double Scalpel with the goal of kiting to win.
Right off the start the whole Lazerhawks team including the Osprey hard dive into the missile team with heated props and the Osprey gets hard focused and deleted while they do manage to catch a Cyclone Fleet. The screening from the triple Orthrus actually plays well here in this comp as it manages to slow the rushing Cynabals from spreading tackle on second and third targets.
By the time the first fleet Cyclone dies, hawks have lost their Osprey, Svipul, Kitsune and and a Cynabal. Even still this match ends up being close with the triple Orthus needing to stagger dps cycles to break the Sleipnir ASBs and prevent them from reloading, which the pilots on Yamete manage and end up getting through a Sleipnir while losing only one Orthrus.
Lazerhawks 86 : 113 Yamete Kudasai
Lazerhawks vs No Spaceships for Old Men
Bans:
Lazerhawks – Khizriel, Sleipnir, Redeemer
No Spaceships for Old Men – Cynabal, Hyena, Jackdaw
Comp Selection:
Lazerhawks – Alligator, Basilisk, Gila, Gila, Gila, Bifrost, Flycatcher
No Spaceships for Old Men – Claymore, Scimitar, Orthrus, Orthrus, Orthrus, Keres, Maulus
Review:
The first review of a Florida Man comp with one Gator and three Gilas, in a semi mirror against the RLML missile variant with Claymore and triple Orthrus and Scimitar. The key here being, can the Scimitar outrun the Gila drones, with some fitting choices playing a key role in this matchup. We may also have seen an example of Thunderdrones plus the damps meaning the Gila drones don’t keep up enough with the Orthrus that is initially picked then decide to idle on their own and are unable to be reassigned. It’s also more than possible that the Gilas were not control range fit and the Orthrus was able to outrange their control range.
Lazerhawks 1 : 150 No Spaceships for Old Men
This is Suslik vs Yamete Kudasai
Bans:
This is Suslik – Orthrus, Gila, Widow, Curse
Yamete Kudasai – Loki, Barghest, Curse, Alligator
Comp Selection:
This is Suslik – Absolution, Prophecy Navy Issue, Prophecy Navy Issue, Deacon, Deacon, Maller, Maller
Yamete Kudasai – Oneiros, Ikitursa, Ikitursa, Vedmak, Draugur, Draugur, Sentinel
Review:
Suslik brought a beam gunboat comp and came in at absolute max range so the fight was very slow to kick off. This ended up hindering their ability to get damage out on the oneiros early and the majority of DPS ships remained well out of optimal damage range for the initial stages of the fight. They finally manage to get on top of the Oneiros but trade a Deacon and Maller for it then focus their damage onto a Vedmak that has a much stronger buffer than the Ikitursa and choose not to remove the Sentinel that is absolutely decimating their Battlecruiser damage output. From there the trig ships slowly spool through the remainder of Suslik and are able to maintain enough range that the Sentinel disruption is able to mitigate enough damage to carry the match.
This is Suslik 52 : 107 Yamete Kudasai
This is Suslik vs No Spaceships for Old Men
Bans:
This is Suslik – Gila, Widow, Keres
No Spaceships for Old Men – Cynabal, Hyena, Jackdaw
Comp Selection:
This is Suslik – Absolution, Prophecy Navy Issue, Prophecy Navy Issue, Deacon, Deacon, Maller, Maller
No Spaceship for Old Men – Sleipnir, Sleipnir, Khizriel, Osprey, Maulus, Maulus, Vigil Fleet Issue
Review:
Suslik again brought their beam comp while No Spaceships opted for a double Sleipnir, Khizriel flykiller. With Suslik attempting to kite the damage against two Mauluses they have no way of getting damage applied early before their first Deacon gets shredded. The Amarr core is far too slow to catch up to the Minmatar flykiller and ships get slowly chewed through by the high alpha and range of the artillery comp.
This is Suslik 0 : 150 No Spaceships for Old Men
Group C
New Eden Villain’s vs Of Essence
Bans:
New Eden Villain’s – Ishtar, Orthrus, Khizriel
Of Essence – Sleipnir, Alligator, Gila
Comp Selection:
New Eden Villain’s – Widow, Oneiros, Vigilant, Keres, Magus, Pontifex, Confessor
Of Essence – Armageddon Navy Issue, Typhoon, Typhoon, Magus, Malediction, Navitas, Navitas
Review:
NEV brought out a heavy core Widow with Keres damps and had a terrific matchup into a double tech 1 Typhoon + Armani kingslayer. This version of the kingslayer has one of the lowest potential clip damage caps of any format and given the restrictions on points for the remainder of the team making application much weaker is likely not a great comp to field.
As we see, Of Essence has one option and that’s to hard dive the Widow, heat a full clip and pray. The Widow does well to escape and the RHML battleships dive but slowly even with the Armani MJD play and get screened where they can be damped out by the Keres. With nothing particular for support, the low damage of the Confessor and Vigilant are more than enough to break through the support of Of Essence. They finally start to get damage onto the Widow, but have already wasted valuable early match time on shooting the Oneiros that can’t be broken, barely coming up short of breaking the ECM ship before their reload.
New Eden Villain’s 60 : 0 Of Essence
Neural Nexus vs Spooky Action
Bans:
Neural Nexus – Oneiros, Gila, Widow, Augoror Navy Issue, Draugur
Spooky Action – Oneiros, Gila, Curse, Sleipnir, Sentinel
Comp Selection:
Neural Nexus – Praxis, Praxis, Praxis, Alligator
Spooky Action – Astarte, Astarte, Omen Navy Issue, Omen Navy Issue, Omen Navy Issue, Deacon, Deacon
Review:
Not much to say in these Neural Nexus matches, they weren’t able to field a full team but didn’t want to no show anyway.
Neural Nexus 2 : 150 Spooky Action
New Eden Villain’s vs Spooky Action
Bans:
New Eden Villain’s – Orthrus, Vigilant, Khizriel, Barghest
Spooky Action – Orthrus, Gila, Ishtar, Scimitar
Comp Selection:
New Eden Villain’s – Redeemer, Oneiros, Falcon, Keres, Magus, Pontifex, Confessor
Spooky Action – Alligator, Alligator, Loki, Onyx, Osprey Navy Issue, Bantam, Bantam
Review:
This match turned out quite close. The double Gator HAM rush comp was quite effective right off the bat at going unscreened except for the Loki that was permanently held by the Confessor at the beacon. The Maugs died extremely quickly and with that the HAM rush was able to finally get onto the Oneiros and start getting appreciable damage. However, given the Oneiros was 100mn fit it was able to withstand much of the scram and HAM dps mitigating it with speed. The Gator drones proved to be the decider while the Redeemer and Falcon were not enough to quickly break through the HAM ships. By the time the first Gator died, the Oneiros had also fallen and with that the Confessor fell freeing the damage of the Loki to clear the remainder of the grid.
New Eden Villain’s 35 : 150 Spooky Action
Neural Nexus vs Of Essence
Bans:
Neural Nexus – Leshak, Magus, Gila
Of Essence – Loki, Sleipnir, Alligator
Comp Selection:
Neural Nexus – Barghest, Machariel, Khizriel, Cynabal
Of Essence – Brutix, Oracle, Oracle, Augoror, Exequror Navy Issue, Augoror Navy Issue, Augoror Navy Issue
Review:
Not much to say in these Neural Nexus matches, they weren’t able to field a full team but didn’t want to no show anyway.
Neural Nexus 0 : 150 Of Essence
Group D
CAMELOT vs disaste
Bans:
CAMELOT – Crucifier, Scimitar, Barghest
disaste – Armageddon, Curse, Sentinel
Comp Selection:
CAMELOT – Megathron, Megathron, Oneiros, Keres, Pontifex, Vexor, Malediction
disaste – Cyclone Fleet Issue, Cyclone Fleet Issue, Orthrus, Orthrus, Orthrus, Kirin, Kirin
Review:
As a relative newcomer team, CAMELOT put together a straightforward blaster Rush comp with a Keres. This was an easy kite and kill for disaste and they walked away with a quick win.
CAMELOT 1 : 150 disaste
Snuffed Out vs Smile&Wave
Bans:
Snuffed Out – Abaddon, Scimitar, Curse
Smile&Wave – Sentinel, Alligator, Armageddon
Comp Selection:
Snuffed Out – Widow, Oneiros, Vigilant, Keres, Magus, Pontifex, Confessor
Smile&Wave – Paladin, Redeemer, Deacon, Deacon, Pontifex, Maller, Maller
Review:
So coming into this I rated S&W very highly given their pilots history on the winning AT 16 VYDRA team, yet arriving on grid they came in with a relatively standard pulse brawl armor core into a Widow + screening team.
Smile&Wave attempt to kite back to a beacon and make a jump to try to get to Snuffed’s backline but they play it well and slowly bring in tackle after the first beacon and scram the Redeemer on the second, well out of range of the Widow. At this point, the positioning match has been entirely won by Snuff but it’s not totally clear that they’ll hold against the Paladin and Redeemer damage with some of their lighter core. Good logi work from Blue Calari holds the entire Snuffed team throughout overtime as they manage to time jams and damps on the logistics of S&W and slowly break through a Maller and both Deacons.
Snuffed Out 36 : 0 Smile&Wave
CAMELOT vs Smile&Wave
Bans:
CAMELOT – Sentinel, Armageddon, Curse, Bhaalgorn, Loki
Smile&&Wave – Sentinel, Armageddon, Alligator, Keres, Orthrus
Comp Selection:
CAMELOT – Cyclone Fleet Issue, Cyclone Fleet Issue, Gila, Gila, Osprey Navy Issue, Kirin, Kirin
Smile&Wave – Astarte, Astarte, Augoror, Augoror Navy Issue, Augoror Navy Issue, Confessor, Confessor
Review:
CAMELOT put together a solid kite comp against an aggressive gunboat core from S&W. Some early ramming from S&W takes advantage of Kirins out of position as the Cyclone Fleet Issue gets rapidly deleted.
They spend the first several minutes of the match with their drones sitting on a Confessor that has an Augoror well within rep optimal keeping him alive and never find the time to swap Gila drone dps over to a weak tech 1 logistics that can’t outrun Gila drones. The match quickly snowballs in favor of Smile&Wave
CAMELOT 0 : 150 Smile&Wave
Snuffed Out vs disaste
Bans:
Snuffed Out – Scimitar, Gila, Abaddon, Curse
disaste – Gila, Widow, Curse, Sentinel
Comp Selection:
Snuffed Out – Cyclone Fleet Issue, Cyclone Fleet Issue, Cyclone Fleet Issue, Loki, Bellicose, Taranis, Taranis
disaste – Armageddon, Armageddon, Stratios, Deacon, Deacon, Pontifex, Vexor
Review:
I have now seen it all. A no-logi HAM all-in with just CyFIs for BCs, one Loki for webs, one Belli for paints and running two Taranis as tackle. Given the warp in ranges I almost assume the Armageddon of Alex has an MJD fit for instant backline jumps but it does play out relatively in their favor to have the split in warp ranges.
Initially the fight swings heavily into Snuffed’s favor as they take down the first Armageddon, but it turns out the local MJD on the second allows him to escape trouble given there appears to have been no scrams outside of the Taranis pair that died near instantly. It becomes a game of keep away where shockingly the minmatar ships are too slow to close to damage range of the drone boats that slowly break through their opponents.
Snuffed Out 42 : 117 disaste
Smile&Wave vs disaste
Bans:
Smile&Wave – Orthrus, Alligator, Armageddon
disaste – Paladin, Curse, Loki
Comp Selection:
Smile&Wave – Sleipnir, Sleipnir, Sleipnir, Scalpel, Scalpel, Svipul, Merlin
disaste – Barghest, Rapier, Augoror, Sentinel, Keres, Pontifex, Maulus
Review:
disaste pulled the perfect time to run the solo Barghest dps range control comp as S&W brings the triple Sleipnir rush with no cruiser support. S&W again pulls back for a MJU but disaste is on point and quickly closes to approximately 50km range from the Sleipnirs thereby negating any attempted jumps. disaste then juggles screens very solidly and prevents any approach from the rush and slowly wears through the low end. Impressively not a single tackle effect lands on any disaste ship and they go through the group 3-0 and eliminate a team I was expecting to easily get out of this group.
Smile&Wave 2 : 76 disaste
CAMELOT vs Snuffed Out
Bans:
CAMELOT – Khizriel, Orthrus, Sleipnir
Snuffed Out – Scimitar, Abaddon, Curse
Comp Selection:
CAMELOT – Megathron, Megathron, Oneiros, Celestis, Pontifex, Confessor, Malediction
Snuffed Out – Armageddon Navy Issue, Armageddon Navy Issue, Thalia, Thalia, Magus, Confessor, Confessor
Review:
CAMELOT brought out the double Megathron comp again and attempted to make another rush play but ran into a double Armani comp backed by Thalias which are likely the single most impossible logistics ships for Megathrons to kill. The Oneiros of Natali appears to forget they can move and is into structure before their speed is above 0 falling immediately after. From there, neuts get spread onto the Megas and remove the entirety of the CAMELOT damage, though CAMELOT does escape the tournament with at least one ship kill.
CAMELOT 13 : 150 Snuffed Out
Group E
Aggressively Mid-Tier vs Paid Actors
Bans:
Aggressively Mid-Tier – Gila, Orthrus, Ishtar
Paid Actors – Loki, Scimitar, Armageddon
Comp Selection:
Aggressively Mid-Tier – Zarmazd, Dominix, Stratios, Vexor Navy Issue, Arbitrator, Magus, Pontifex
Paid Actors – Tempest, Khizriel, Khizriel, Osprey, Rupture, Rupture, Rupture
Review:
Paid Actors have been NOTORIOUS for bringing heavy rush comps favoring even battleships like Vargurs in the past and it appears this was Rote attempting to outsmart the drone bans while also trying to play an anti-rush core.
The initial screening and kite goes well for Rote and they get their neuting VNI on the Osprey effectively shutting it out, but a Khizriel finally runs down the Zarmazd and the lack of appreciable damage from the drone comp begins to be noticeable as the Ruptures take significant time to kill and the Opsrey and Khizriel take just long enough for the Zarm and Dominix to fall. The match turns out to be exceptionally close coming down to the last few seconds, but unable to close to scram range the Khizriel is able to MJD away from the drones as it enters structure.
Aggressively Mid-Tier 79 : 131 Paid Actors
DrakeSide. vs Odin’s Call
Bans:
DrakeSide. – Scimitar, Bhaalgorn, Khizriel, Barghest
Odin’s Call – Curse, Bhaalgorn, Paladin, Deacon
Comp Selection:
DrakeSide. – Cyclone Fleet Issue, Cyclone Fleet Issue, Loki, Loki, Caracal, Bantam, Bantam
Odin’s Call – Cyclone Fleet Issue, Basilisk, Orthrus, Orthrus, Orthrus, Keres, Hyena
Review:
Odin’s brought a missile kite with a Basilisk to replace the banned Scimitar, a bold move that paid off very well when they came up against the HAM rush core from DrakeSide. The Bantams die immediately and the Hyena suicides to buy a short amount of time, but the kiting CyFI gets caught and killed and the Basilisk finds itself too close to the high damage HAM team and dies almost immediately after. From there Odin’s is way behind but DrakeSide. has no logistics and no way to catch the remaining three Orthruses. The rapid lights slowly work through the remaining Loki and one of the CyFIs to end the match.
DrakeSide. 79 : 117 Odin’s Call
DrakeSide. vs Paid Actors
Bans:
DrakeSide. – Khizriel, Scimitar, Gila, Keres
Paid Actors – Scimitar, Abaddon, Curse, Loki
Comp Selection:
DrakeSide. – Alligator, Alligator, Alligator, Osprey, Maulus, Maulus, Flycatcher
Paid Actors – Alligator, Alligator, Orthrus, Orthrus, Caracal Navy Issue, Scalpel, Scalpel
Review:
This is a relative mirror Florida Man matchup. However, the double Orthrus prove to be the turning point in the match as they are able to nearly outrun the Alligator drones and buy tons of time for the Paid actors Alligators to start working through the Osprey and three Gators. Perhaps different target selection from DrakeSide could have changed the outcome of the match as the Orthrus selections let do several minutes of wasted drone travel time. That said, had Ayumi managed to get an MJD pay off and escape from the paid actors dps they may have found a way to turn the match around.
DrakeSide. 54 : 107 Paid Actors
Aggressively Mid-Tier vs Odin’s Call
Bans:
Aggressively Mid-Tier – Orthrus, Gila, Loki
Odin’s Call – Zarmazd, Paladin, Curse
Comp Selection:
Aggressively Mid-Tier – Armageddon Navy Issue, Oneiros, Vexor Navy Issue, Vexor Navy Issue, Sentinel, Magus, Pontifex
Odin’s Call – Nighthawk, Scimitar, Cyclone, Rapier, Jackdaw, Jackdaw, Jackdaw
Review:
Odin’s won the match on the comp selection with a kite control into a slow armor drone core that Rote brought for the second straight matchup. With nearly no way to close distance against the Odin’s team the speedy shield ships were able to keep away and outrep the drone damage while clearing the lowend of Rote.
Aggressively Mid-Tier 1 : 150 Odin’s Call
Paid Actors vs Odin’s Call
Bans:
Paid Actors – Scimitar, Orthrus, Armageddon
Odin’s Call – Curse, Paladin, Khizriel
Comp Selection:
Paid Actors – Alligator, Alligator, Gila, Gila, Scalpel, Scalpel, Hyena
Odin’s Call – Nighthawk, Basilisk, Cyclone, Rapier, Jackdaw, Jackdaw, Jackdaw
Review:
Odin’s brought back the kite control again but ran into Florida man from Paid actors. With solid hefty damage ships and the ability to get Gator drones on the Basilisk, Odin’s was on a timer to start clearing dps. They quickly remove the Scalpels, and the Gilas prove to be very lightly tanked when caught, falling quickly to the damage from Odins team. Sadly there was just too little in the way of damage from the high end of the Odin’s team to finally crack through the second Gator and it manages to hold the grid in a super close match. With three very close wins Paid Actors makes it through to the main bracket and relegates Odin’s to second.
Paid Actors 125 : 115 Odin’s Call
Aggressively Mid-Tier vs DrakeSide.
Bans:
Aggressively Mid-Tier – Orthrus, Armageddon, Gila, Loki
DrakeSide. – Orthrus, Khizriel, Scimitar, Bhaalgorn
Comp Selection:
Aggressively Mid-Tier – Widow, Oneiros, Vexor Navy Issue, Vexor Navy Issue, Magus, Pontifex, Vexor
DrakeSide. – Guardian, Pilgrim, Pilgrim, Draugur, Draugur, Draugur, Arbitrator
Review:
Rote brings a drone comp for the third consecutive match, but this time is into a comp they almost perfectly counter with three pure disruption cruisers and only three Draugurs for damage and a slow Guardian as logistics. They permajam the Guardian, and clear out the three Draugurs and take the match easily. Regretfully, this match was more about pride as both teams had been previously eliminated by being 0-2 in their groups before this fight.
Aggressively Mid-Tier 150 : 0 DrakeSide.
Group F
Note: Worm’Hub no showed and was disqualified from the tournament.
Module Clickers Anonymous vs Slow People
Bans:
Module Clickers Anonymous – Gila, Jackdaw, Barghest, Scimitar
Slow People – Gila, Loki, Curse, Sleipnir
Comp Selection:
Module Clickers Anonymous – Leshak, Oneiros, Blackbird, Blackbird, Pontifex, Vexor, Maulus
Slow People – Tengu, Tengu, Drake, Broadsword, Osprey, Stork, Griffin
Review:
SPERG brough an interesting take on HAM rush into a hefty control setup with solo Leshak. As expected, they were unable to get any appreciable damage out onto any of the MCA ships and were killed off one by one with the power of Occult L.
Module Clickers Anonymous 128 : 2 Slow People
Module Clickers Anonymous vs Templis CALSF
Bans:
Module Clickers Anonymous – Jackdaw, Gila, Barghest, Sleipnir
Templis CALSF – Armageddon Navy Issue, Armageddon, Widow, Gila
Comp Selection:
Module Clickers Anonymous – Claymore, Loki, Loki, Loki, Hawk, Burst, Burst
Templis CALSF – Leshak, Pilgrim, Ashimmu, Thalia, Thalia, Magus, Magus
Review:
Just from the comp selection I would think that if MCA could get their dps onto the solo Leshak quickly they’d be able to carry the match through pure DPS mismatch. However, the Leshak is able to hold in mid structure as it may have coasted out of the disrupted Loki damage range and the Magus scrams. With this, CALSF needs 3 points in their match with SPERG to take the top spot. and SPERG needs at least 126 points and a win to move on to Redemption.
Module Clickers Anonymous 0 : 150 Templis CALSF
EVE Tourneylytics 