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1v1 Pangea Ultima
Games finished since last update : Malakkan (ONE!) defeats Emu Pub (MH)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15950178A confession first : I might bear some responsibility for the fact that Pangea Ultima was selected in that Clan League. And I start to regret to have made use of all my skills in rhetoric to convince my clanmates to vote that template first (comprehensive verbatim from the clan discord server : “It’s fun”).
Fun it is indeed. But I realise it is also an even worse pick lottery that SR MME; any single set of picks being vulnerable if your opponent choose another strategy, and accidently getting intel is just a game winner.
Anyway, let’s look at this game. Warning : luck haters will hate it.
Both players have coverage in the three important regions, and the only intel they have is their bordering territories in the east. However, Emu Pub picked big bonuses while Malakkan opted for smaller one. It is no real surprise (well, unless you don’t know that your opponent chose big bonuses) that Emu Pub tries to go for a smash and elimination in the bordering territory. In this template, such move on turn 1 is pretty risky : the minimax move is obviously to deploy 3 in the adjacent territory and take a card piece elsewhere, to make sure to have the reinforcement card while facing a small 20% odd to get eliminated. Well, Malakkan gambled, I don’t know why, we should ask him, and got punished for that.
Then Emu Pub can freely expand in the east while starting to harass Malakkan around his bonus in the West. The latter has to invest some precious income to go across a wastelanded bonus and reach Emu’s income. On turn 8, surprise, Emu Pub was hiding in that 5-bonus in the north at the door of Malakkan’s other bonus and completes it. The situation is critical : 19 vs 13 incomes (even though Malakkan kept his reinforcement card); two challenged bonus by Emu Pub and a double-border for Malakkan. The game is normally over, but Emu Pub plays just a bit too greedy that last turn, trying to take a big 6 bonus with three 3vs2 (among which one fails), gets outdelayed and is unlucky in his defense of his double-border. He could also have used a blockade in the west to make Malakkan’s stack there irrelevant. The definition of a nightmarish turn. Or the joys of Weighted Random miracles, depending on your perspective.
Malakkan (ONE!) defeats Master Shinrah (Masters)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15891283After picks, Malakkan has intel on one of Shinrah’s start and hopes to counter his opponent in two turns. But Rufus is too smart and that move counters nothing. Despite an aggressive counter-attacks, the income remains slightly in Malakkan’s favor (14v12), with less armies on the board though. On turn 6, a little bit of arithmetics allows Mallakkan to prevent Shinrah from completing a crucial bonus and a tricky guess/delay game follows. Malakkan manages to slowly decrease the army disadvantage and eventually get a slightly better position, where a conservative play should ensure him a win.
Rocky (VS) defeats Njord (Outlaws)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15950179In the first game above, picking in big bonus should have made Emu Pub win the game. In this game, you may look why this strategy is obviously risky : Njord comboes in two big (worth 5 and 6) bonuses in the east, and picks another 5-bonus in the north, while Rocky has spread his picks among the smallest bonuses. Watch out Njord, one of them is just around the corner. A brawl follows in the east but Rocky gets a decisive advantage with the control of a chokepoint in another area of the map. By blockading it, he releases the pressure and can start reexpanding. Both players have to travel quite a bit to threaten their opponent while keeping playing their brawl in the east and it remains pretty balanced, but Blockade cards are coming quickly in this template and Rocky wisely uses another one to make sure all of his income pocket is safe. Since at the same time, he has reached and broken a big northern bonus, there is no more hope for the crazy viking.
Rento (Lynx) defeats Rocky (VS)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=16012143I wouldn’t have liked to be Rocky after turn 1 in this game : his coverage on picks is not optimum and he inherits a combo around a central 3-bonus, as well as another 3-bonus not that far away. So when he realise that his opponent has picked in a double-border just where he had started to expand (and which is also only two territories away from his last pick), he must have thought that the game was starting poorly. Instead of trying to eliminate that annoying spots (which would have likely failed by the way), he chooses to complete another 3-bonus. Ouch, I wouldn’t have liked to be Rocky after turn 2 either , since it turns out Rento has just completed the 4-bonus with a double border on this bonus. Rocky tries to hammer that border but Rento knows out to count and doesn’t take any risk. The game is over.
Njord (Outlaws) defeats Emu Pub (MH)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=16012144In this game, Emu Pub’s excessive prudence costs him the game in 6 turns.
When they face each other after two turns, Njord and Emu Pub have respectively completed a 5 and a 4 bonus. Emu Pub decides to stack on the front, while Njord, whose bonus is not under direct threat can complete another bonus. On turn 4, Emu Pub catches up and income is back to 15-14, but he still doesn’t dare to attack his opponent the following turn. Which lets Njord complete another bonus. Despite having a lower income Emu Pub eventually decides to attack but he doesn’t use the OD card, and his opponent can counter-smash him. With more income, more armies on the board and a card piece advance, Njord wins the game.
2v2 Final Earth
Games finished since last update : MIFRAN and Ko (GG) defeat Rocky and Vicnus (VS)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15730346Rocky and Vicnus mirror their first three picks in South America and monopolise that nice and safe area. But that also means that their coverage of the map is not as good as GG’s team. Though the latter soon see Ko a bit under pressure, having two fronts to handle in North America and in the disputed chokepoint of St Helena between Africa and South America. By blockading in North America, Ko releases the duress and successfully wins his dispute over Napoleon last home. But Vicnus has no worry to defend South America, being ahead in income : all the GG’s caravel sink off Pernambuco, and soon Vicnus can launch a counter-attack. In the meantime, Mifran has expanded like crazy in Siberia, Africa and Oceania (with a peak income of 27) and can start threatening his opponents by crossing the Beiring Strait and smashing any resistance in Polynesia. At this point, he doesn’t really care to lose a few bonus in Africa or Oceania : all he wants is to reduce his opponents’ income down to zero. He just needs 2 turns to do so.
2v2 Szeurope 
Games finished since last update : Buns and Nackickwind (VS) defeat Timinator and Xenophon (Masters)
https://www.warlight.net/MultiPlayer?GameID=15540376Both teams have shared the combos accross the board with Masters owning scandinavia and the Baltic states, and VS being alone in the Iberic peninsula and Russia. VS can combo around Austria but Timinator is not far away in Eastern Balkans and Xenophon quiet in Benelux. However, Timinator’s pick are safer and Xenophon is more exposed, while VS starting spots are remarkably balanced. After three turns of expansion, the first fight can start, but Xenophon has not less than 3 fronts to deal with, while Timinator is too far to be a serious threat. That allows Buns to quickly complete Spain while Nack destroys Xeno in the east (Finland) and west (Ireland). At the end of turn of turn 8, VS has a bit more income globally (28 vs 26), but it is much more balanced among his players; while at this point Xenophon is just here to make up the numbers. So Buns and Nack can choose to jointly focus on Russia to eventually break in Scandinavia. Congrats Turtles !
Juan and 90 (Lynx) defeat Buns and Nackickwind (VS)
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=15873803This game is a collector since you can witness Buns getting eliminated in 6 turns. When the lynx is hungry, it is not an old icelandic shell that will prevent him from ingesting some precious calories.
To be fair, Buns put himself on the back alone in this game, with a fail gamble on turn 2, when he decides to take Norway without knowing whether Denmark has been picked by his opponents and get countered; and felt comfortable enough to attack his teammate to take in charge the Russian front in the same turn. So at the end of this turn, Buns has no bonus, and three fronts open. Oups. The lynxes will happily focus on him while keeping Nack busy in the center from the crucial control tower of Lower Austria.
Edited 7/26/2018 22:03:52
Outlaws - Kezzo
ONE! - Beren
[Lynx] - Wini
VS - Nackickwind
M'Hunters - Rogue NK
MASTER Clan - Pardon99
|GG| - Mikaela
2v2 Volcano Islands
3v3 Biomes of America
