With twenty-two matches played over the first weekend, already the New Eden Open competitors have delivered some surprises and some great matches. Early favourites Why Dash have been knocked out, which is surprising considering they hail from Pandemic Legion, a feared and respected Alliance of PvPers from the sharp end of EVE. The team informally representing the infamous Goonswarm Federation, Oxygen Isonopes, went out in dramatic fashion in a to-the-wire nailbiter against Tinkerhell and Alts.
We’ve seen fleet setups and tactics both classic and creative, from simple hard-hitting brawler teams to some more innovative (if flawed) tactics from the likes of My Little Nulli‘s static Nightmare generator and Baaaramu‘s potentially suicidal, but admittedly successful, droneship/bomber combo. We’ve seen popular tournament ships like the Vargur, Kronos and Sleipnir alongside more exotic choices like the Eris, Oracle and Navy Megathron.
The beauty of the New Eden Open, as opposed to it’s older, more famous cousin The Alliance Tournament, is that it allows teams of players from across the breadth of EVE Online’s diverse player base to take part, rather than exclusively being a competition for the organised alliances. As a result we’ve seen a team of unknowns in Last Huzzah pull off surprise victories against teams from renowned organisations like Raiden and Guiding Hand Social Club. We’ve also seen a kind of devil-may-care craziness from The Exiled Gaming with their unconventional lucky-dip battleship selection. A team of high-sec PvE-ers, ISN – Incursion Shiny Network, played a part too before sadly being knocked out.
But twenty-four teams remain, some riding high with two victories, some having only played one match so far, and many already drinking in the last chance saloon. As a double elimination tournament, lose once and you get another chance. Lose twice and you’re gone. The only teams who have won both of their first two matches are; Africa’s Finest, Asine Hitama’s team, Goggle Wearing Internet Crime Fighters, Last Huzzah, RONIN and pixies and The Reputation Cartel.
But don’t write the rest off quite yet. I think the first weekend has already shown that anything could happen.
See you next weekend at 1800UTC on CCP Games’ own3D.tv stream for the second instalment of the New Eden Open story.
