TOP 8
- QueenOfdestiny
- Retired Contributor
- Posts: 2139
- Joined: Aug 9, 2016
- ESO: QueenOfdestiny
TOP 8
So this is what round-of-8s are like? Weâve seen two explosive series come to completion: Hazza54321 vs Mitoe and LordRaphael vs SomppuKunkku (see below for the results), the upshot of which is that two players who have looked dominant now line up, Sepoys-in-hand, for the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the tension is very much alive as Kaiserklein vs snowww (Sunday 14 GMT) and Tabben vs Kynesie (Monday 18:30 GMT) are yet to play.
Kaiserklein vs snowww
How to predict this matchup? Snowww aka KonigErik was one of the strongest 1v1 and team players for a long time: he used to throw down with the likes of Veni and was a training partner of sorts with Blackstar. Besides his pedigree, anyone who has played him knows his tough, aggressive style and he will be a potent threat to Kaiser, chiefly â itâs reasonable to presume â with the European civs. And did I forget to mention it? Erik defeated Erik beat Erik got lucky against the AOE 3 Deity himself â the mighty Garja! Of course, it lagged, and Garja had twice as many units as Erik, but sometimes you need a bit of luck and, to his credit, Erik played well himself and in any case finds himself in this intriguing ro-8 clash. In also overcoming Jerimuno, another tough opponent, Erik hasnât yet dropped a game. Not bad, not bad at all.
Kaiser for his part has shown in recent times what an allround top player looks like: game knowledge, micro, decision-making, itâs all there. He also hasnât dropped a game as he defeated orgi1234 and iamsoldier 3-0 each.
Itâs not easy to pick holes in his game, but we might want to look out for a stylistic clash as Erikâs teamgame pedigree leaves him a bit more inclined to focus on chaos and raiding than Kaiser, who prefers to control the tempo and assert his decision-making and micro.
Tabben v Kynesie
Fan-favourite cheatias tabben has cheated his way played his way from mid-tier to top player in a remarkably short ascent over recent months. Can anything stop him? Conquerer999 couldnât, as the fake-Swede overcame him 3-1. Neither could KnuschelbĂ€r, the talented wildcard-of-sorts who is a deservedly top player in his own right. The two fought a very close series with tabben securing the 3-2 victory with an vulnerable-looking fast-industrial play in the final game which ended up steamrolling his opponent with the higher-tech military he utilised.
And Kynesie? What can we say about Kynesie? AOE 3âs resident turtler-in-chief, we all know him for his defensive wall, boom and tech-up style. He defeated his long-time friend and recent tournament winning partner, the one and only Tit, 3-1, as well as Chusik 3-0 on his road to the ro-8.
The match is a contrast of both style and experience. Tabben is no fan of sea-based play and Iâm not sure Iâve ever seen him wall up either. But thereâs a reason heâs here: heâs a quick learner, plays all civs and has figured out something for them all to suit his own direct, efficient playstyle. It will be interesting to see whether Kynesieâs sheer experience and his dangerous builds win out over tabbenâs fluid, land-based strategies.
Mitoe vs Hazza54321
It was all rather impressive for Hazza54321 as the disciple of various AOE3 Hall-of-Famers including WickedCossack, Veni_Vidi_Vici and - one supposes also â his elder Elephantine colleague Aizamk defeated ESO-Câs deputy dictator and perennial birthday boy Mitoe in summary fashion, sweeping aside his decorated opponent (winner of no less than three ESO-C tournaments in 2017) four to nothing....
[spoiler=more...]The first game saw Mitoe assimilate to the culture of Tibet by embracing the Buddhist virtue of non-violence: marshalling his Japanese forces for strictly defensive purposes against his opponentâs Aztec, the Canadian must have hoped to avoid conflict. And yet, whilst he may not have factored the sheer degree of Hazzaâs belligerence and aggression into his preparation, prepared he was as a round of initial poking and probing on Hazzaâs part tipped into overextension, with Mitoe pouncing to exploit the mistake and command a military advantage.
Ever the gracious Canadian, Mitoe however immediately returned the favour and overzealously attacked Hazzaâs forward Warhut, trapping half his outgunned and (in consequence) retreating-yet-snared troops in the process. As some of the very best players do, Hazza reacted not by immediately counter-pushing on the back of his then larger army, but by consolidating both his economic and military advantages, building up for a slightly later attack which, in the event, was fatal rather than merely damaging.
Onto game two and Mitoe counter-picked Hazzaâs Japan on Gran Chaco (a non-TP map) with France. Some thought France an odd choice to counter with, but on the other hand, as we all know, France in the hands of a top player is always dangerous â which makes the ease of Hazzaâs win the more impressive. To be sure, it wasnât Mitoeâs best France game, nor his best laid plans, as his slow-burning one-rax opener achieved the grand sum of one razed shrine. But in a thematic repeat, Hazza reacted in the best way he could, using the hold-up to set himself up economically for a strong colonial naga-yumi (no pun intended) play which Mitoe had no answer for.
Game three saw an unpredictable Sioux vs Spain. Hazza seems to like Spain, and he will have felt good about dispatching Mitoeâs Sioux â always a strong civ â so convincingly. Both players aged to fortress and though Mitoe momentarily looked to be in a good spot, decisively outmassing his opponent in early fortress with a rifle rider â wakina composition, Hazza bought time with a decent defensive skirmish to hold Mitoeâs first push, and then with some raiding, and followed up by supplementing his buffed rods and skirmisher army with a game-winning 2 falconet shipment â game winning as Mitoe panicked and sacrificed too much military value to take them out.
With the series outcome looking grim, Mitoe lost a little of his composure, attempting to nootka-rush Hazzaâs Dutch with India in the final game. Once again though and to his credit Hazza reacted nicely and played a controlled and confident colonial Dutch, punishing the ineffective native opening and forcing Mitoe to concede defeat.
The win sets Hazza up for a tough clash against either Kaiserklein or snowww (thatâs KonigErik for the uninitiated) in the semis as he looks to complete the transition from dominating the teamgame arena to the 1v1 scene in what, if successful, would be his first major tournament victory. Suffice to say, it wonât be an easy task reaching the final whether the plucky Brit squares up against the newer or older top player: both (all three, we should say) look in great form, making the first semi final one to look out for, and which will be taking place shortly after the ro-8 finishes up (with Tabben vs Kynesie and Kaiser vs Erik still to play).[/spoiler]
LordRaphael vs. SomppuKunkku
Still the king? LordRaphael sends SomppuKunkku limping back to Finland, vodka-bottle in hand, as he dominated the heavyweight contest 4-1. Having switched on god-mode for the final three games, LordRaphael set himself up for a semi-final against either tabben or Kynesie.
[spoiler=more...]LordRaphael is one those strong-with-most-civs players, and he opened the series with Russia â not something every top player would do in a tournament. Somppuâs British turned out to be tough opposition and it looked close for a while, as Somppu held off some early pressure to age and counter push with vet-musks and falcs â but the age 2 pressure took its toll in a fashion typical for Raphael games as Somppu played out the fortress skirmishes with half (thatâs as Brit!) the economy of his Russian adversary. For this reason Somppu ended up tapping out with his army in Raphaelâs town, knowing he couldnât continue and one all-or-nothing push was his only hope.
Somppu struck back with classic abus-jan play on Tibet, a TP-rich map which defeated Raphaelâs attempt to win by sheer confusion as Sioux. He closed out the win showing dominance, as Hazza would put it, as he cruised to victory with Theorie economique in play.
The final three games saw two India mirrors, an interesting matchup given Somppuâs claim to expertise in sepoy-urumi play. The first of the mirrors, however, took an unexpected turn as Somppu defied (at least my) expectations with a forward Agra. But he didnât commit to age 2, instead opting for the high-risk-high-reward strategy of rushing into an age-up. In this case though Raphael was too solid and though Somppu found himself in a reasonable spot in age 3, Raphael was equal on tech and economy, but with a sizeable military advantage carried over from his more committed colonial play. Somppu tried to equalise militarily by leveraging the fact he had urumi out first against Raphaelâs standard army, but the gambit didnât pay off.
If there was an open question over how to play the mirror - whether age 4-urumi or standard play is best â Raphael made his argument in the second mirror: by confidently massing gurkahs, zambs and adding in mahouts in age 3 against Somppuâs industrial age-up, which he saw coming, and winning the one big fight decisively.
In between the mirrors Somppu tried out his Iro against one of Raphaelâs better known civs, Germany. Again showing how solid he always is, Raphael stayed cool vs age 2 pressure and forced the win with his superior skirm-uhlan army and better economy in age 3.[/spoiler]
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more coming soon, but nothing about tedere12
shit juice
Re: TOP 8 recap (Hazza54321 vs Mitoe)
tedere is still top 8 player, you can never take it away from him
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