Welcome back, commander. Here is the FTW #38 debrief you requested:
Results
Summary
Twelve players walked into the arena for this single elimination event. Flying through the ranks, we saw quick wins from Vindies and Moh.kohaji (formerly known as Happy), securing their slots in the semis. However, connection issues cropped up in the early stages, granting Andrey a free ride through to the round of 4 to face Moh.kohaji, while BlackOps was placed against Vindies.
The semi-finals were harsh on BlackOps, with him struggling to keep up with the 12-time champion. Unfortunately, he was unable to take a single game, bringing the upper series to a 3-0 sweep for Vindies. On the other side Andrey duked it out versus Moh.kohaji. In a series that went all the way to the ace match, Moh.kohaji clinched victory 3-2, putting him up against Vindies in the final.
Finals
Here is XcpksniperX's cast of the finals:
Game 1 brought us to Fire Island. Two barracks openers spawned from both sides, bringing us some peacekeeper wars in classic AvA style. While Vindies transitioned into air before moving to his 3rd refinery location, Moh.kohaji kept up the relentless aggression with a constant stream of infantry flowing towards his opponent. Whilst the aggression eventually halted, both players took their 4th refineries to lead into the late game. But Moh.kohaji continued building infantry. At this point Vindies was scared to leave his base with the constant threat of infantry knocking at his doorstep, which allowed Moh.kohaji to take the rest of the map and even move into a base push. The pressure got too much for Vindies to handle and Moh.kohaji took game number 1.
Industrial Strength was Vindies’ loser’s map of choice. Once again, 2 barracks from both players, but this time it was Moh.kohaji taking the air transition. Vindies never had the intention to drag this game out - with walls quickly being placed on his 3rd refinery side – he went straight for the base push. But once he started moving he took a breather to wall off the front of his base from the outside, blocking off all entrances to infantry. This hesitation in the base push gave Moh.kohaji the time he needed to send a small peacekeeper hit squad around the back with the aid of a vindicator to open their path, rendering Vindies’ attempt at a full wall off futile. But Vindies was focused on the aggression, making good use of his mcv and javelins to take out all of Moh.kohaji’s unit production structures. As Vindies’ main base was undefended, enemy peacekeepers kept marching their way in, picking off vulnerable targets. Vindies’ mcv was trapped in an awkward position and he could not build up to the army he wanted. Eventually, he threw in the towel to give Moh.kohaji his second win.
Cabana Republic was up next. In a recurring theme, Moh.kohaji started with 2 barracks before moving into his airfield, while Vindies opened up with javelin riptide play complimented with a base push. As the mcv of Vindies made its way towards his opponent’s base, Moh.kohaji’s was in position to take his 3rd on the high ground to the north. Unfortunately for Moh.kohaji, his mcv position meant that he could not defend from the inevitable aggression with turrets; he had to rely solely on his vindicator and infantry micro. It was not enough. When Moh.kohaji realised his mistake and started moving back down to the low ground, it was too late. Vindies took game number 3.
Moh.kohaji chose Infinity Isle as the next map. Mass peacekeepers dominated the field from both players at the start, with both sides delaying all other production to eke out any extra peacekeepers that they could. Vindies took the better side of the engagement and decided that it was safe to expand to the water. Moh.kohaji however, continued the infantry production and pushed through the centre with his mcv. Finding a gap in Vindies’ defence, the infantry rolled in and quickly took down a refinery. Vindies knew he couldn’t take a straight on engagement with his army, so slowly started shelling at Moh.kohaji’s mcv and it wasn’t long before it was blown to pieces. With no clear way of destroying Vindies’ water base, Moh.kohaji tapped out, tying up the series 2-2.
Snow Plow was the map of choice for game 5. In usual Snow Plow AvA fashion, they both opted for a 2 barracks into airfield, mcv push to the central path build. As Moh.kohaji moved on low power, he got set up more quickly and was ready to place down multigunner turrets in no time. With back and forth engagements in the centre with peacekeepers, turrets and vindicators fighting for a better position, both players had each other at a stalemate until Moh.kohaji started bombing Vindies’ power plants. Soon after, a javelin from Moh.kohaji managed to creep its way into the heart of Vindies’ base, doing significant damage to a refinery. Moh.kohaji’s vindicators continued their bombing runs and Vindies attempted a last-ditch attempt at a base push. Moh.kohaji’s forces were too strong for Vindies to break, so he regained the lead 3-2.
Vindies selected Temple Prime as map 6 to try and bring back the series. In a predictable style, Moh.kohaji opened with 2 barracks, but Vindies saw it coming and went for a counter build – peacekeeper IFVs. Keeping Moh.kohaji occupied in his main base with 4 IFVs, Vindies took a quick, hidden expansion behind his base in the water before moving back to build up on land. It wasn’t long before Vindies took his 4th refinery, but Moh.kohaji was still only on 2. Eventually, Moh.kohaji managed to take his 3rd, but by this time Vindies had a good amount of units moving forward. With the superior economy, Vindies overran his opponent's forces on the high ground and drove Moh.kohaji into a base push. Despite his attempts at rebuilding, Moh.kohaji was too far behind and said gg, bringing the final series to its ace match.
So now map number 7 had to be Battlebase Beta. Two barracks came out from both players as they attempted to gain control of the centre garrisons, but Moh.kohaji won the fight. Moh.kohaji took the safe land expansion and Vindies went through the water path to a risky fast 3rd and 4th. When Moh.kohaji clicked onto what was happening, he raced into Vindies’ main base for a turret push as coming back in the economic game seemed like too steep of a hill to climb. The push started well, with all barracks being taken out and a turret being placed down between the refineries. However, with Vindies’ airfield in the water near his 3rd, vindicators were rapidly reloading and getting swift bombing runs on the mcv. Meanwhile, Vindies responded in kind with a base push of his own into Moh.kohaji’s main base. Unfortunately for Moh.kohaji, the bombing runs were coming in hard and his mcv was raised to the ground. With only an airfield left and very few forces to work with, Moh.kohaji could take no more, which meant that Vindies would be the FTW #38 victor!
Vindies
Moh.kohaji
BlackOps & Andrey
