WGLNA Season 2 Match Night – Play Offs!
7 min readFour Teams fight for a trip to the WGLNA Finals!
Coming into this season Déjà Vu looked to a be a team with loads of potential and to be an early favorite for Season 2. They doubled downed on this claim when on match day 4 they blasted eClipse to win 5 – 1. Since then they have been sponsored by Dare Rising and ended the season in 3rd place. The squad itself is a solid mix with last season’s MVP, MyLittlePutin, as the standout ably supported by Aggressor, BurdenFungus, Mactep Putin and the rest of the side. A victory tonight would see them play eClipse in the first round of the WGLNA but first they had to find a way past o7.
Way back on the first night of this season o7 defeated Dare 5 -4 in an exciting contest. This would be the precursor to a strong showing in the 1st round robin. Since then o7 has lost an ace player in Ledif when he left to join eClipse. Yet o7 did not simply fold up, as some expected. They are known as a tough, resilient team. They added veteran player and ArcLit, and were able to push eClipse on the last match day of the season. o7 were the definitive underdog going into this showdown with Dare Rising, but historically o7 had proven they could score of upsets.
Dare Rising Vs o7
In World of Tanks, doing damage is king. It is key to winning the game and though simple, one of the bedrock foundations of the game. But you cannot deliver that damage if you cannot spot the enemy. Fosta in an Udes found a spot just off the 1 Cap on Steppes that was as good as any invisibility ring o7 cloaking device. He could provide spots on Dare while his foes had no idea where he was. His spots led to his team cutting DR to pieces and taking a 1 – 0 lead for o7. That lead would double as o7 dispatched Dare to seize a 2 – 0 lead.
Match 3 would open on mines and o7 would surprise with a Maus push to seize the hill. Dare had not been idle setting up their defense. When Makos and Andepans attempted to rush north past the lighthouse island they were lit and deleted in a matter of seconds. Though there were still 3 Maus to be dealt with this moment was likely the beginning of the end as Dare would pick up their first win and make the score 1 -2.
.@DareRising wipes out two batchats from @o7gaming in the blink of an eye! #WGLNA @WorldofTanks pic.twitter.com/lQ0moRBog4
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
The next battle on mines was a nail biter as Dare took a tank lead early. But as the 2-min warning sounded, o7 had 4 tanks left to dares 6. In the end, it was DR taking this close match to tie things up 2 – 2.
This battle on Mines couldn't have gotten much closer but @DareRising squeaks out the win! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/oD4L9cxzwD
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
Murovanka was next up and while the odds favor the defender on this map, teams have continually worked on new strats to try find a way win on the attack. Dare Rising have helped with that research as they pushed 3 hvys onto cap while the rest of the team engaged in the middle of the map holding up o7 and keeping them at bay long enough to make the score 3 – 2 in favor of Dare.
.@DareRising win a Murovanka attack with a fast cap as @o7Gaming aren't able to respond! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/Il7FYbgQwy
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
Match 3 may have been the turning point but Dare pushed their advantage in the return Murovanka to take a 4 -2 lead and finished out the series on Ruinberg as they defeated o7 to earn their spot in the WGLNA Finals in Burbank on April 8th. We managed to get a quick comment from Dare Risings Chase_Potato “Sloppy start on steppes. But we didn’t tilt and we got comfortable with the following 3 maps, which brought us victories”
We hope and expect to see the always classy o7 back next season and with them the all the best.
We take the 5-2 win over @o7gaming to qualify for NA Regionals. We'll see you in Burbank. #DareToAchieve pic.twitter.com/KtANh1kvfp
— DareRising (@DareRising) March 10, 2017
Match 2
Aquatic M60s could not have been blamed if they felt a bit of déjà vu, as last year they stood just one win away from the live finals. This solid team had split with Top Tier early in the season to stand at 1 match a piece for the season. Word has it MrMan58, Morphic, and Felix had the team as prepared as they could as they sought after their first trip to a WGLNA Live final.
Earlier in the season Pompus shared in a face off that their captain, Rude_Awakening, had compared them to online game characters. They were at level 5 at the time with goal of improving up to level 10. From Match day 8 till match 16 Top Tier held an impressive undefeated steak including a victory over eClipse. This improvement has stood out as they face their last major obstacle to the Live Finals. Could
they level up and find a way to win or would Rude_Awakening have to wait till next year while Am60s went to Burbank?
Aquatic M60’s Vs Top Tier
On paper both teams are seen as even and the first map would bare this out as Aquatic would take the 1st match on Himmelsdorf with Top Tier taking the second.
.@Top_Tier_Wot rolls over @AquaticM60s on Himmelsdorf in order to tie the series at 1-1! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/xRNUjw90Di
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
Ghost Town stood as the next map as the teams now stood tied up at 1 match a piece. Match 3 had an amazing piece of calling by Rude_Awakening as he was able to find a series of isolations and sent the Top Tiers Bat Chats in first to eliminate MRMan58 and his Type 5 heavy before pushing hard and getting the victory. Aquatic must have been thinking about a clear defined push in the 2nd Ghost Town encounter but Top Tier was able to hold and now had the lead at 3 – 1.
The Mauses of @Top_Tier_WoT are able to overpower @AquaticM60s to take the lead 3-1! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/38akPcVWLl
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
Aquatic would find Murovanka on the attack a tough nut to crack as TT held to make it 4 -2 and match point. With all on the line M60s found their form and were able to hold on the return Murovanka match and win making it 2 -4.
Map picks can be an incredibly important part of the game as Mines was a 70%-win rate for AM60s. They would be on defense and would hold a 5 -3 tank lead as the match went into the final 90 seconds. Amazing play by Top Tier would lead to a razor thin ending with Aquatic getting the win and cutting the lead to 3 – 4.
.@Top_Tier_WoT tries to makes an epic comeback happen on Mines! #WGLNA @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/2p6V0LVjF4
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
The tension would begin to get thick as match 8 would hold no less than 4 major reversals, that I could count. In the it was Top Tier on defense with 2 tanks vs Aquatic with 3. Feelmypotato would be the hero as he clutched a shot to get the win and force the tiebreak. This match was one of the best I have seen this season, easily.
.@AquaticM60s tie the series! That game is going down in #WGLNA history as one best battles ever! @WorldofTankshttps://t.co/fSiFsYiksX pic.twitter.com/3P1SvG9exj
— WGLNA (@WGLNA) March 10, 2017
The tiebreak map was Prokhorovka and as they had the fastest attack win, Top Tier had the choice of sides. They took defense. The match was an amazing series of traps and counters. What stood out to me, was as much credit Rude_Awakening gets as a caller and strategist many forget his in game abilities. In the RU-251 he managed to get into the back field of Aquatic at a key point in the match and prove both a distraction and key in taking down MrMan58 in the S-Tank at a crucial moment. It was an amazing match that reminds me how exciting the WGLNA can be to watch.
I highly recommend going to the below link and going to the 3:30:00 mark to watch the last match in its entirety.
Top Tier may have defeated Aquatic M60’s but the amazing matches played were a gift from both teams to the fans. Top Tier now will face the undefeated Elevate in the first rounds of the April 8, Burbank WGLNA Finals. On the other side of the bracket, it will be Dare Rising facing off against eClipse. There is a very good chance that the winner of this match will be one of the 2 NA representatives at the Global Grand Final in Moscow.
Be sure you are following @WGLNA on Twitter and to tune in here http://live.wgleague.net/ on April 8th to see all the action of the WGLNA Finals.
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