Alliance Tournament V : Day Five : Matches 65-72

Welcome to Day Five of the Fifth Alliance Tournament. Here are the initial results and reviews of the first eight matches of the day.

Match 65: The Star Fraction Vs The Kadeshi

The Kadeshi come away with a points loss, still managing to knock The Star Fraction out of a finals placement and securing themselves a spot instead.

With the two team formations staring each other down at the beginning of the fight, it looked as if The Star Fraction would cruise through comfortably. As the Vagabonds and support picked up some immense speed from the beginning however, the fight was quickly swinging against SF with their missiles making no impact on anything except the Vigil and Kitsune.

CaptainOkuna’s Cerberus came under Vagabond fire and was all but dead, with only a sliver of hull remaining. Saved by some last-minute logistics however, he hung on just barely. Refusing to cave, SF kept up the pressure and slowly dropped the Fleet Issue Stabber, then scored some more needed points when the Keres dropped from the field. Unable to dent the speed tanks of the rest of the ships however, with all of them breaking 4km/s, SF sat there helplessly as they watched a finals placing slip away from them.

Match 66: When Fat Kids Attack Vs Molotov Coalition

This match didn’t matter for group placement, with Molotov sitting comfortable. They came through with another win, solidifying their place even further as the group leaders.

When Fat Kids Attack: Armageddon | 2 Dominix
Molotov Coalition: Absolution | 2 Hurricane | Harbinger | 2 Mallers

With some early pressure on a Molotov Hurricane, it looked as it the FATTY team might come away with a win. The fight swung quickly around however, as Molotov logistics kept their ship safe and their own offensive started chipping away at a Dominix. Exchanging a Dominix for a Maller, the fight started to slip away from FATTY, and their next two Battleships followed shortly afterwards.

Match 67: SMASH Alliance Vs Synchr0nicity

SMASH withdrew from the fight, refusing to field a team.

Match 68: Notoriety Alliance Vs Green Alliance

With both teams through to the final there was little riding on this match except training, pride and perhaps morale. Notoriety came out with a killer team however, and both sides clashed together in what must be one of the most amazing match ups so far.

It was easily one of the closest and most exciting matches yet, with Notoriety fielding a faction-heavy team and coming up against some very stiff opposition from Green Alliance. Early on in the fight Green Alliance was swamped by ECM drones and had their Curse made primary. The Notoriety team Succbus was first blood however, dropping shortly before the Curse was taken down. Another Succubus fell as an Ishtar went into armor.

Green continued to bring it hard, pressuring the logistics pilot of Notoriety to the absolute limit as they switched between Phantasms. Clinging on to what was only 3% structure by the end, with the other deep into hull, the logistics assistance to them both was timed to perfection. Green was slowly whittled down by the huge damage output, losing their Ishtars then Hurricanes as the Phantasms just managed to survive. It was another very impressive showing from Notoriety, their first two lost ships of the tournament costing them prime placing within their group.

Match 69: Mercenary Coalition Vs Brutally Clever Empire

Another match that didn’t determine finals placing, Bruce went for the highly-vaunted 10 Blackbird in honor of commentator SpiralJunkie.

Mercenary Coalition: Scorpion | Basilisk | 4 Phantasm
Brutally Clever Empire: The Spiral Formation™ of 10 Blackbirds

With the MC team thoroughly jammed from the beginning, Bruce made the call to clear their drones from the field slowly - all in order to stop what damage there was coming. It was a questionable decision of theirs, with 2 Blackbirds dropping whilst MC sat there helpless and vulnerable, watching their drones do the work. As the ECM capability dropped with every ship, Bruce found themselves at the end of Phantasm fire, which quickly cleared the field and gave MC a totalhelldeath.

Match 70: Ethereal Dawn Vs Cry Havoc.

Another battle for Finals placement this time, Cry Havoc came away with the win using some clever on-field strategy and team formations, denying their opponents a position in the final 16.

Ethereal Dawn: Scorpion | Basilisk | 2 Curse | Phantasm
Cry Havoc.: 3 Dominix | Guardian

Cry Havoc’s Dominix started the fight by launching sentries as they charged into the fray. Moments later as they’d cleared their own drones, they dropped in amidst the logistics ones of their enemies which supporting the Scorpion. A cleverly positioned and well-timed Dominix smartbomb cleared their enemies logistics support from the field and the Scorpion was first to drop as a result. The Cry Havoc Guardian dropped quickly afterwards, having taken a great amount of fire and cap neutralization from the Curse. Cry Havoc moved on to drop the Basilisk and the Phantoms next, managing to keep a Dominix in low armor alive as they cleared the rest of the field.

Match 71: The Crimson Federation Vs Blade.

An important match for Crimson who needed the points for finals placement. They were robbed of a fighting chance as their Hyperion dropped moments before the match.

Making the Curse primary, Crimson tried to hold out without their 3rd Battleship, but found some harsh firepower from Blade eating into their Harbinger quickly. Exchanging the loss of their Battlecruiser for a single Kitsune, the fight was never really looking in Crimson’s favor. They managed to just take down the Curse before their Abaddon, the last ship remaining, was removed from the field.

Match 72: Interstellar Alcohol Conglomerate Vs Phalanx Alliance

Another match that decided finals placement, and another massive bet riding on this one, IAC went down once again as Phalanx fielded a clever formation presumably designed to deal with the dual-logistics. They employed their strategy masterfully, using it well to knock IAC out of the tournament.

Very little happened in the opening moments of the match; a Phalanx Rook was threatened momentarily before ECM was applied once again. IAC sat there largely helpless as Phalanx laid down heavy fire on a Basilisk and jammed them, waiting for the ECM to deal with the other Basilisk. That jam came eventually and the Basilisk dropped fast without support. From there Phalanx was free to clear the rest of the field.

Eve-TV Coverage : Day Five -View