DoGaming League : A2K match

*The following is a highly accurate account of A2K match, only names and places have been changed to protect the innocent.

“What the Fuck did you do to my team!!!” yelled Hubris, captain of the Grrr team

“It wasn’t us, it was j0nny! He… he… well… he… it was just j0nny’s fault!!” replied Paul the magnanimous leader of Grrr. This was the first time he had shown any weakness to his subjects, the reason for this was because of the disappointing loss to SiB in the previous week.

Hubris had returned from his travels to Bali where he had tasted some of the exotic pleasures on offer. Upon his return he found that the well oiled machine he had left was now a rust bucket and Grrr were in a must win situation. In order to make the top 3 in their group and qualify for rAge, Grrr had to win at least 1 of their remaining 2 matches in the leg. The first match was against A2K, the current leaders in the group and so far an undefeated team. The following day they would have to face up against BzK.

Slipperyduck pipes up “Who is going to be our knife champion?” This question puts fear into the hearts of all the players and the comms go silent. “Me, me, me! Pick me!” can be heard in a strangely high pitched tone. “Who the fuck is messing with my buzz?” mumbles j0nny to which Phatso promptly responds “It is me you chop. I am the only one who has ever won a knife fight so I will do it.”

And so it is agreed that Phatso will be the champion and will duel with the A2K challenger. The entire team heads off to the SOD server where they find half of the A2K team waiting, pleasantries are exchanged and it is agreed the fight will begin on the next grenade explosion. Pfft…. off goes a grenade and the A2K challenger rushes at Phatso, as he approaches though he throws a med pack to the floor. What is this? Is this some kind of diversionary tactic? Well it doesn’t matter as Phatso cuts him down like a turkey on thanksgiving.

Hubris eliminates Metro as the first map followed by Sharqi from the A2K captain. Hubris then kicks out Bazaar, a surprise move by A2K sees them kicking out Tehran, a map that they previously beat Grrr on. That only leaves Karkand, Davamand and Siene. After some consultation Hubris eliminates Karkand and it is decided the first map will be Davamand.

The map changes to Davamand and A2K still don’t have all their players loaded, they inform Grrr that the 1 player is having connection issues, this will plague A2K for the entire map with random disconnects on their side. Once everyone is on the go ahead is given and the match begins

“High ho silver away!” screams Slipperyduck as the entire forces moves out. Dryman and Phatso, in the chopper, stay back to cap Grrr’s back flag and hold off any attack from their chopper while the rest of the team head for the B flag. They make it there just before the A2K team arrives but are quickly overwhelmed and sent packing. With the tank and infantry squad down the only hope is that the chopper is up and can get to the back flag of A2K.

Just then a whimper from Dryman “Their chopper is down……..but so is ours”. This is the worst possible start for Grrr; all of a sudden Cronos decides to unleash some inspirational commentary “Ouens, ons moet hierdie hoener naaiers op fok”. With those wise words filtering though the bodies of the Grrr players they regroup and launch a counter attack. This time though they head straight for the back flag with the chopper. Phatso is able to deliver his cargo and Grrr regain a flag.

It is a tussle between the flags with no team getting the upper hand until the dying moments of the game. After getting repeatedly repelled from the A2K back flag Grrr decide to launch a final attack using both infantry and Armor on the B flag. 1, 2, 3 down! The A2K tank is overwhelmed with rockets and tank shells, exploding and taking the engineers with it. Grrr clear out the remaining players and dig in to grind out a win. Over turning a 36 – 11 deficit they bleed out A2K to take the round by 8 tickets.

Round 2 starts, with confidence of the previous round Grrr head once again straight to B, having learnt from their mistake though in the previous round they are able to capture and hold the B flag. At the same time Phatso and Dryman down the enemy chopper and Phatso retains air dominance for the entire round. The only option for A2K is to attack B, they constantly throw their bodies at B but Grrr hold stead fast, other than a brief moment when A2K re-capture B, they are not able to make a dent in the Grrr defense. The result, a 220 ticket win and MAP 1 to Grrr.

“Holy Shit! Holy Shit! That was way too intense!” says Paul, a sentiment that is echoed by the rest of the team.

With 5 min break between maps the spirits are high as players recount their glorious moments from the previous map but keep reminding each other that it is not over. A2K in the meantime swap out their player who had been having connection issues and then give the go ahead that they are ready.

With an unwelcome comment from Dryman followed by a nervous giggle the round starts. Having received tips from a member of a premier league team, Grrr had tweaked their tactics slightly to take advantage of the map dynamics but on the whole they were going to play the game they knew.

Both of the rounds on Siene played out very similarly, the teams holding 2 flags each for extended periods and no one showing real dominance. A one flag is gained, another is lost. This however was exactly how Grrr thought the match would go, they knew they would need to abandon flags and capture weak flags in order to win. Trying to hold onto flags would result in a loss. So with excellent direction from both Slipperyduck and Hubris, the squads were able to adapt quickly to the ever changing situations.

“Shut the fuck up guys! I can’t hear anything!” yells Paul, this kind of grounding was needed on a few occasions as the intensity of battle heated up.

Phatso and Tyger both had excellent rounds mowing down A2K troops with reckless abandon, Phatso was also able to C4 their tank on numerous occasion which resulted in maniacal laughter and firm chastising from Hubris exclaiming “Dude! Stop stealing my kills”

Dryman and Cronos were able to hold key flags that allowed the infantry to launch attacks on unprotected flags; Dryman also thought it was necessary to de-Tag Reckitt the A2K captain on 2 occasions. All the while the veterans of the team j0nny and Paul just sat back watching 6 years of Grrr game play unfolding in a spectacle not seen before!

The end results was a 66 ticket win in round 1 and 45 ticket win in round 2. This meant Grrr won the match 2 – 0 and was 1 step closer to the finals.

Their next opponent is BzK, after the dust settles tomorrow Grrr will know if this victory over A2K has given them the confidence to beat BzK or if it made them too cocky and would then allow BzK to once again defeat them.