Level on match victories, whichever team won this next bout would be one win from taking the prize. The pressure was immense and much rode on the ship selections in what is essentially an incredibly complex rock, paper, scissors decision. The fleet layouts saw advantage to Asine Hitama’s team‘s choice of 3 hard-hitting and solid Vargur marauder battleships, with RONIN and pixies weaker but more mobile Tengu strategic cruiser team pressurised to attempt hit and runs to take down the smaller, more vulnerable enemy ships.
The match opened cagily, with shots fired at distance across the arena. Sniping salvoes from Asine Hitama’s team‘s Vargurs resulted in early frigate losses for RONIN and pixies. With only 2 minutes gone, RONIN and pixies found themselves shorn of all frigate support and struggling to find a way back into the match without further losses. Like an opportunistic hyena pack, Enyo assault frigates attempted to tackle the RONIN Huginn cruiser to bring it down, but are picked off in the attempt, levelling the scores to 8 a-piece.
The Huginn desperately attempted to withstand the barrages from the distant Vargurs, but one salvo stripped away much of its armour before it managed to recharge shields. The match became taut, with the RONIN Huginn’s defiant survival and the remaining risk-taking Asine Hitama’s team pursuit frigates providing razor-edge potential to unbalance the scoring. Suddenly, at the end of the fourth minute, the Huginn took another salvo from the Vargurs, incinerating it. A Tengu soon followed due to a boundary violation and RONIN resistance collapsed.
Match Score: Asine Hitama’s team 70 – 8 RONIN and pixies
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