It is with a heavy heart that I hereby announce my retirement from warlight. As of 6pm tonight, 26th June 2021, all invitations to ranked matches and tournaments will be rejected, and my withdrawal from the 1v1 and 2v2 ladders will be formalised. Upon the completion of my current matches my retirement will be officially complete.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who made this, my third stint on warlight, not only possible, but my most successful foray into the world of online risk yet. Some of my most cherished memories will be soaring to the upper echelons of the 1v1 ladder to cement my position in warlight's elite, gallivanting through the 2v2 ladder with my noble steed dannybhoy rebhorn (who, I must add, is a man truly rebhorn) and, of course, claiming a third world series crown - to name but a few. To all of you, thank you. I could not have done any of it without you.
Unsurprisingly, there have been disappointments, too. This is to be expected. Missing out on what would have been an unprecedented fourth consecutive world series crown stung deeply, and failing to win a single small earth tournament has been a great source of frustration. We fell short in the orgy of threeways, were outclassed in the 4v4 world championship, and the less said about GOING BANANAS 2: THE BANANARING the better. But these setbacks never tempered my enthusiasm, in fact, all they did was stoke it. Likewise, they do not taint my memories of better times - I do not see them as my defeats, but as other men's victories. Titles that were won by better men, with better minds, and more visually appealing bone structure. As our wise friend the oak tree once said 'You cannot win them all, especially when there are men like Joe Sansom out there'. We would all do well to remember that sometimes.
So it is with a click of the mouse and a changing of the tides that another chapter in the epic that is natto draws to a close. It has been a delight and a privilege to share it with all of you. Thank you, again, for making it all possible. It would never have been the same without you.
