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So, the final has been played, now I can post reports. Glad to see the old Michurinsk crew, Michel, Tyoma, Lekha, pity Valera couldn't play the tournament fully due to work, there would have been more fierce battles, no doubt. Also pleasantly surprised by the appearance of Sasha Horn and Napalm, and two newcomers at such gatherings were unexpected - two Dimas :) It was especially great to meet a regular viewer in real life, such an opportunity doesn't come often.
In the first round I got to play against Michel, aka CaNNaBiS, aka KingBear, we've played quite a few games before, old rivals in general :)
1st round Mizrael(red, Conflux, random, Clavius) def KingBear(blue, Castle, Valeska, Alkin) 6lm10a 212
We took few restarts, ended up playing a hand where Clavius came with native Necro town. Took my time suppressing the native, gave him time to build more, but he didn't slot an amplifier :( Week result: birds in fort, native killed, Monere leveling so-so. Clavius grabbed earth magic right away, leveled up and started necromancy full scale. Monere flies around on birds, scouting. Roads laid out terribly - red got two one-way portals on important directions, with exits along the road, but entrances in the rear. Barely scouted, gathered meat, stats, and finally found a crack to the opponent. And things weren't rosy there, his native bot repelled his main with horses and bought them out... Still, by the time of the final fight, Alkin found control and was preparing to leave the map, but Clavius got him just in time :) Thanks for the game.
2nd round Mizrael(red, Inferno, Octavia, Luna) def Horn(blue, Conflux, random, Thant) 6lm10a 131
Again a few restarts, Luna came up, couldn't refuse that. The generation was weird as hell, in a couple of weeks I managed to run around all 4 multi-week zones on the map via free passages, on week 1 took a village, houses, and Efreeti in citadel. Luna burned 25 King Minotaurs with just level 2 magic, found two external Efreeti dwellings in the corridor, looking for early contact with the opponent, and he jumps out himself on 126 from an unguarded portal. Septienna with 4 birds and a Balrog... I attack with Luna and meat, he buys off, which was timely for the buyout on 131. Bought everything I could and dug towards the lake, on my turn Horn decided to gather his army into a fist and attack Luna with a Warlock. Lots of meat there: 20 ducks, angel, 7 birds, thick stacks of elementals, but Luna has 16 Efreeti, 8 spell power and Armorer. In the end, 13 Efreeti and 3 Pit Fiends came out of the fight, killing everything the opponent had, surrender follows. Thanks for the game.
3rd round Mizrael(blue, Stronghold, Crag Hack, Crag Hack) def Napalm(red, Inferno, Marius, Nimus) JC 132
A very sweaty game, we restarted plenty, ended up playing a hand with a void and 2 Dragon Fly Hives for some reason... Wolves on 2 heroes, wolves are home on day 1, on day 2 upgrade and off to wreak havoc. On day 3 delivered birds and took the first mini Dragon Fly Hive, then another mini, life is improving! Next Dragon Fly Hive with a bear - I go in without checking, it's a maxi! The famous Dragon Fly Hive with -all meat, -3 ducks, total 17 ducks, I scout hero chain hit 20+ orcs for a Pandora's Box - empty. Crag stocked up on a book, went to the Griffin Conservatory, by chain the wallet goes to the Dragon Fly Hive - another maxi!! Total 21 ducks... Crag is a man, cleared the Conservatory for three easily, ducks shot a stack. From prison got Solmyr, warmed them up on GO from Dreads a couple of times, minus 6 horses. 122 Crag exits with Mass Haste, immediately took the center town, refilled mana. Ate the center all week: 2 Pandora's Boxes for 10 Nagas, Wings, Bow of Shar, Dragon Utopia with stats, Bracers. At the end of the second week, reds appeared in the sands, snooped around, and Marusa on angels went forward for scouting, while the wallet went to respawn... I attack with Bracers and Mass Haste, a few artifacts dropped: Ribs and Shield, already have a Sword... Didn't go to the opponent's respawn with the drill, but broke through to the lower respawn of the ramp, there found towns, a few ducks and found a Helm +2! With this mess, it's not a sin to visit, flew over the lava, ate a Dragon Fly Hive and spent the night with Bracers, Bow of Shar, and Amulet of the Dragon Lord. Nimus attacked and a cunning combo won the fight. Thanks for the game.
4th round Mizrael(blue, Necropolis, Thant, Clavius) def Nevrotepichno(red, Castle, Caitlin, caitlin) 6lm10a 142
In addition to Thant, Clavius and Vokial came, both leveled well. I necromanced briskly on three fronts, captured towns, scouted the map, but couldn't find key objects anywhere. Saw a Dragon Utopia behind a wall and Cloak of the Undead King, but couldn't get there :( In the Mage Guild at home, Town Portal was given right away, only the catch - none of the Necros have Wisdom :D I hit resources, build Mage Guild 5 - Explosion. Finally found the Dragon Utopia, and there's a Necklace +3 all and that's it! At least nearby picked up Armageddon Scroll and Fire Amplifier, that decided the game... On 141 Dima jumps into my marsh, captures it with S growth, from there jumps to the Barbarian village and by mistake wastes moves and doesn't manage to take it! At that point the train interrupted our game, to avoid messing around we agreed to split the prize money, with a promise to finish the final online, then, after seeing Dima off in a taxi, I told Horn the winning plan in this situation, in detail!! Check for +speed, take the army off Thant, beat Thant, give him Armageddon and Amplifier, kill all angels and singles, attack with Clavius WITHOUT a Balrog, blind the Wyvern and GG through Lightning Bolt. Did everything exactly as planned, except I didn't remove the Balrog... had Teleport on skeletons as backup, in the end managed to pile on with Haste, but damage without the Necklace procced so-so and 3 ducks survived. On his turn, Adelaide with 7 singles attacks Clavius boosted on an angel, who takes back Armageddon and Amplifier with a Wave of Death :) Luna is nearby, she has nowhere to go, she attacks too, I blow up the Griffin stack and supported Clavius buys off, and with 3 singles Luna can't take the castle, surrender follows. Thanks for the game.
Haven't played this intensely in a long time, on the last day I didn't even take time to eat (which was certainly helped by the outing to entertainment venues the day before, with a hangover you don't really feel like eating :)), fell asleep at home to recover. The tournament was quite successful in my opinion, albeit small in number, but everyone played with passion. Respect to Eric for organizing, this business doesn't go without nerves, but what can you do, things rarely go smoothly. Thanks to everyone who attended the event, see you again (hopefully)!