The MTL stands for the Multi Template Ladder, and can be found on https://warlight-mtl.com/
We obviously encourage anyone reading this to join, it's fun!The weekly MTL update returns, so welcome! Ralph and I have stepped up to the plate, so let's see what this week has brought us. There's an important announcement to check out towards the end of the newsletter, which ended up longer than anticipated:
Since Beren reopened the ladder for Christmas, four players have managed to reach first place. Beelzebub was the first one, by virtue of being the first player to finish 20 games in order to get ranked. Then came Rufus, who's stuck around there ever since. A few times Octane has managed to overtake the first place spot, but he never managed to hold onto it long enough to grab the trophy. This week has seen a third challenger approach, as tornado managed to go past Rufus as well, though yet again not for long enough to actually grab the trophy.
So how does the trophy work, if getting first place isn't enough? Well, in order to grab the trophy you need to get to first place, and then maintain first place for ten straight games. With Rufus around this has proved quite the challenge to overcome. The current list of trophy holders is:
Rufus, Buns157, Deadman, master of desaster, Beep Beep I'm a Jeep, Timinator • apex, No.One, Malakkan, Pardon and FiveStarGeneral.
The Top 10:
Rank Player Rating W/L Rank Change
1 Rufus 2102 11/4 0
2 tornado 2049 5/3 0
3 Octane 2034 0/1 NEW
4 Beren Erchamion 2016 3/2 -1
5 Juan 2003 5/1 NEW
6 Buns157 1977 1/0 NEW
7 Photonic Symmetry 1972 10/6 -2
8 FiveStarGeneral 1967 2/3 -4
9 Forsaken 1954 9/2 0
10 Jacoþ thε Restle§°ⁿ³ 1932 4/2 -3
(NEW implies the player wasn't ranked a week ago, whatever the reason for that may be)
Three players joining means three players knocked out of the top 10, those three being malakkan, CraZy and Beelzebub.
Stats of the Week:Most Active: Photonic Symmetry, with 16 games played (10 wins, 6 losses)
Most Wins: Rufus, 11 wins
Biggest Rank Rise: Andrtych, rose 5 ranks
Biggest Rank Tumble: Syphen, dropped 11 ranks
Biggest Rating Rise: Forsaken, gained 58 points
Biggest Rating Drop: Bechaa, lost 120 points
Longest ongoing winstreak: 7ate9 with 6 wins in a row
Player of the Week:tornado
For the first weekly update, we have chosen tornado as the player of the week. A trophy holder on the 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 ladder, on top of being the winner of the Post-Melt Antarctica Seasonal (season XLVII) (while also holding two seasonal second places), it's safe to say tornado is one of the most decorated players on the platform. All of this is only further bolstered by a dominant performance in the AWP World Tour, where he's the defending champion.
Favourite template: Georgia Army Cap
Favourite player: tornado obviously
Peak Rating: 2218
Peak Rank: 1
So, tornado, a bit of an up and down week for you. First of all, congrats for holding first for a couple of games!
Thanks.
Unfortunately the streak ended rather abruptly, with a loss to Rufus on Pangea Ultima. Anything you want to say to the gatekeeper?
Love you, roofy.
Are you still going to chase the trophy, or do you need some time to reset?
Down to 2 at a time now. Rushing games did not help me. Don't really need time to reset but I'll keep playing at a steady pace.
You are one of the players with the most total days on top of the ladder. Was this the closest you have come to the trophy?
No. There have been a few times where I was closer.
The back-to-back losses to Jacob and Jache happened almost instantly, was there a degree of tilt involved?
Not really. I just wanted to get a few quick wins in a row to keep the hunt going but it backfired lol. I refer back to my answer to if I need to reset.
Last but not least: When are you getting the trophy?
Eventually. Oh and JOIN AWP!!!
Notable games:Rufus vs Tornado:
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=37504415 The game on Pangea Ultima was over quickly, and then so were tornados dream of getting the trophy. Poor leftover luck for Tornado, as well as a strong counter pick in a wasteland from Rufus, forced tornado to play the reinforcement card early. Rufus kept it in the back, and after figuring out the move order on turn 1, hit Tornado with everything first order turn 3. There was no coming back after that.
Rufus vs Octane:
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=37572735A 14 turn slugfest on Turkey LD between Rufus and Octane, the second challenger for the trophy. A passive turn 1 and 2 from Octane allowed Rufus a +3 as well as a counter on Octanes +2, setting the stage with 6 income vs 3 and handing Rufus the upper hand. While breaking Rufus and getting an elimination turn 3 almost seemed like turning the tide, the fact of the matter was Rufus were up 8 to 5 armies in the area that mattered. Octane got it down to 5 v 7 turn 5, but he never managed to take back the initiative. Hard fought by both, and ultimately won by Rufus.
Buns vs Photonic Symmetry:
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=375786866th place met 7th place on Battle for Middle Earth, and a battle it was. 12 income for both on turn 2. A positional advantage for Buns, who weaved back-and-forth between a double and a single border on PS´ bonus, allowed him to out-predict and stop a counter from PS in the north on the 4th turn, and also threatening to eliminate him there. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and promptly broke PS´ bonus in the south.
Malakkan vs Beelzebub:
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=37505491Two players knocking on the top 10 door met on Master Mania (a soon to be retired template). Malakkan predicted the first turn correctly, with Beelzebub running and blockading in the north. The advantage was converted into income the next turn, and Malakkan held a healthy 4-5 income advantage for the rest of the game.
Photonic Symmetry vs Beren Erchamion:
https://www.warzone.com/MultiPlayer?GameID=37514309The elitists met on Elitist Africa, as Beren tried to defend his top 5 rank. A questionable 7th pick by Beren let PS have the pick of the litter from the territories after that, handing him a slight advantage after pick. The 2 income advantage turn 1, became a 3 income advantage turn 2, as PS burnt both his Order Priority cards to counter Beren´s +3 bonus in the south. Turn 3 the income advantage was 17 vs 11, and Beren had no answer to PS as he converted the position to a win.
MTL Announcement:Yesterday there was a template competition stream hosted by Joi. Some of the templates evaluated in the competition will be added to the MTL. This will happen in tandem with some of the old templates being removed. A BIG thank you to the panel: Texx, Beren, Joi, Buns, Kenny and Jache, for dedicating the time and effort to evaluate the templates and having the stream. The community wouldn't be the same without you. And a big thank you to the template creators as well!
Tomorrow at 8:30 AM PST // 5:30PM CET // 1:30AM AEST there will be a stream with Beren and Ralph going through some of the upcoming changes to the ladder. We wont to spoil too much, but it features an overview of the updated templates and a revamped veto system. Be there or be square!
If you have anything you want to add, whether it be a nice game, a wish to interview or something entirely different, feel free to message either me or Ralph.
That's it for this week, see you next week :)
(it seriously cannot be overstated how much work Ralph put into this, big shoutouts to him)
